In 1850, Chisholm won a contract to build a breakwater for docks of the
Cleveland and Pittsburgh Railroad, which was in the process of completing its line into Cleveland and through the city to its rail yard on the shores of
Lake Erie. The breakwater was completed in 1853, and Chisholm won several more contracts to build docks and piers in the city. By 1857, he had amassed a fortune worth $25,000 ($ in dollars).
Cleveland Rolling Mill What would, in time, become the Cleveland Rolling Mill was established by brothers and
Welsh immigrants David and John Jones in 1856 to manufacture
flat bottomed railway rails. The brothers ran out of money that same year, and shut down. Henry Chisholm and his brother, William, made a major investment in the Jones plant in 1857, and the company was renamed Chisholm, Jones and Co. The plant was expanded and began rerolling iron
flanged railway rails into
flat bottomed rails. In 1860,
Amasa Stone and his brother, Andros, made a further investment in the company, which took the name Stone, Chisholm & Jones. The new capital enabled to firm to add a
blast furnace and
puddling plant, which opened in 1859. A second blast furnace was added in 1860. It was the first blast furnace to operate in the Cleveland region. On November 9, 1862, Stone, Chisholm & Jones reorganized and became the Cleveland Rolling Mill after receiving investments from
Henry B. Payne,
Jeptha Wade, and
Stillman Witt. The company built a high, wide blast furnace in 1864 near the west end of what is now Saxe Avenue, and the following year erected its first
Bessemer converter. This made the Cleveland Rolling Mill only the second Bessemer steel works in the United States. Cleveland Rolling Mill expanded its presence in 1868 with the construction of the Newburgh Steel Works next to its existing plant. The new works included an
open hearth Bessemer furnace; it was the first continuous open hearth Bessemer furnace west of the
Allegheny Mountains and only the fifth such furnace in the nation. By the end of 1872, the combined Cleveland plants had two puddling mills; two blast furnaces; two Bessemer converters; a boiler plate mill; two rail and rod mills; a wire mill; and a bolt, nut, and spike manufacturing shop. The Newburgh plants were producing so much
pig iron, cast iron, and steel that Cleveland Rolling Mill became one of the principal metalworks in the state. Cleveland Rolling Mill continued to expand in the last two decades of the century. In April 1880, the firm issued new
stock to double its
capitalization, purchased the "Canal Tract" from
John D. Rockefeller, built the Central Furnaces on the site from 1881 to 1882 In 1882, the firm erected a Garrett rod mill, the first of its kind anywhere in the world.
Other steel interests In 1864, Chisholm purchased the Lake Shore Rolling Mill, an iron and steel works which had been constructed on the shore of Lake Erie at Wason Street (now E. 38th Street). In 1871, Chisholm, Charles Crumb Jr., and five other investors, co-founded the King Iron Bridge Company. That same year, Chisholm founded the Union Rolling Mill of Chicago, and put his son, William, in charge of the plant. He also erected a rolling mill at
Decatur, Illinois, which included two blast furnaces to furnish the Chicago plant with pig iron. Chisholm sold his interest in the Chicago firm in 1879. To supply his mills with
iron ore, Chisholm also invested in iron mines in
Michigan, which in time employed more than 300 workers. His companies eventually controlled much of the raw material the mills used.
Steel legacy Unlike fellow Scottish American immigrant and steel magnate
Andrew Carnegie, whose career and Chisholm's mirrored one another, Henry Chisholm focused on eliminating waste in iron and steel manufacturing rather than lowering the cost of production. Chisholm pioneered the reuse of scrap in steel production. His plants were the first to successfully roll rods and wire from steel, and in 1871 his plants produced the first steel screws. At the time of his death, Chisholm's companies employed more than 8,000 people and were generating about $25 million ($ in dollars) a year in revenue. During his life and since, Chisholm was called the "father of the Cleveland steel trade", and historians consider him the most prominent person in the history of the Cleveland iron and steel industry. Historian William E. Van Vugt has called Chisholm one of the most "outstanding" Scottish immigrants in American history both for his "historical significance" and for being one of the most successful at business.
Other interests Henry Chisholm also invested heavily in bank and manufacturing stocks. He was elected a director at three of Cleveland's largest banks, including the Second National Bank. Chisholm was active in both religious and charitable affairs, and was a director of four charitable institutions in Cleveland. ==Personal life==