Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie
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AUTOBIOGRAPHY
OF
ANDREW CARNEGIE
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
London
CONSTABLE & CO. LIMITED
1920
COPYRIGHT, 1920, BY LOUISE WHITFIELD CARNEGIE
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
PREFACE
After retiring from active business my husband yielded to the earnest
solicitations of friends, both here and in Great Britain, and began to
jot down from time to time recollections of his early days. He soon
found, however, that instead of the leisure he expected, his life was
more occupied with affairs than ever before, and the writing of these
memoirs was reserved for his play-time in Scotland. For a few weeks
each summer we retired to our little bungalow on the moors at
Aultnagar to enjoy the simple life, and it was there that Mr. Carnegie
did most of his writing. He delighted in going back to those early
times, and as he wrote he lived them all over again. He was thus
engaged in July, 1914, when the war clouds began to gather, and when
the fateful news of the 4th of August reached us, we immediately left
our retreat in the hills and returned to Skibo to be more in touch
with the situation.
These memoirs ended at that time. Henceforth he was never able to
interest himself in private affairs. Many times he made the attempt to
continue writing, but found it useless. Until then he had lived the
life of a man in middle life--and a young one at that--golfing,
fishing, swimming each day, sometimes doing all three in one day.
Optimist as he always was and tried to be, even in the face of the
failure of his hopes, the world disaster was too much. His heart was
broken. A severe attack of influenza followed by two serious attacks
of pneumonia precipitated old age upon him.
It was said of a contemporary who passed away a few months before Mr.
Carnegie that "he never could have borne the burden of old age."
Perhaps the most inspiring part of Mr. Carnegie's life, to those who
were privileged to know it intimately, was the way he bore his "burden
of old age." Always patient, considerate, cheerful, grateful for any
little pleasure or service, never thinking of himself, but always of
the dawning of the better day, his spirit ever shone brighter and
brighter until "he was not, for God took him."
Written with his own hand on the fly-leaf of his manuscript are these
words: "It is probable that material for a small volume might be
collected from these memoirs which the public would care to read, and
that a private and larger volume might please my relatives and
friends. Much I have written from time to time may, I think, wisely be
omitted. Whoever arranges these notes should be careful not to burden
the public with too much. A man with a heart as well as a head should
be chosen."
Who, then, could so well fill this description as our friend Professor
John C. Van Dyke? When the manuscript was shown to him, he remarked,
without having read Mr. Carnegie's notation, "It would be a labor of
love to prepare this for publication." Here, then, the choice was
mutual, and the manner in which he has performed this "labor" proves
the wisdom of the choice--a choice made and carried out in the name of
a rare and beautiful friendship.
LOUISE WHITFIELD CARNEGIE
_New York_
_April 16, 1920_
EDITOR'S NOTE
The story of a man's life, especially when it is told by the man
himself, should not be interrupted by the hecklings of an editor. He
should be allowed to tell the tale in his own way, and enthusiasm,
even extravagance in recitation should be received as a part of the
story. The quality of the man may underlie exuberance of spirit, as
truth may be found in apparent exaggeration. Therefore, in preparing
these chapters for publication the editor has done little more than
arrange the material chronologically and sequentially so that the
narrative might run on unbrokenly to the end. Some footnotes by way of
explanation, some illustrations that offer sight-help to the text,
have been added; but the narrative is the thing.
This is neither the time nor the place to characterize or eulogize the
maker of "this strange eventful history," but perhaps it is worth
while to recognize that the history really was eventful. And strange.
Nothing stranger ever came out of the _Arabian Nights_ than the story
of this poor Scotch boy who came to America and step by step, through
many trials and triumphs, became the great steel master, built up a
colossal industry, amassed an enormous fortune, and then deliberately
and systematically gave away the whole of it for the enlightenment and
betterment of mankind. Not only that. He established a gospel of
wealth that can be neither ignored nor forgotten, and set a pace in
distribution that succeeding millionaires have followed as a
precedent. In the course of his career he became a nation-builder, a
leader in thought, a writer, a speaker, the friend of workmen,
schoolmen, and statesmen, the associate of both the lowly and the
lofty. But these were merely interesting happenings in his life as
compared with his great inspirations--his distribution of wealth, his
passion for world peace, and his love for mankind.
Perhaps we are too near this history to see it in proper proportions,
but in the time to come it should gain in perspective and in interest.
The generations hereafter may realize the wonder of it more fully than
we of to-day. Happily it is preserved to us, and that, too, in Mr.
Carnegie's own words and in his own buoyant style. It is a very
memorable record--a record perhaps the like of which we shall not look
upon again.
JOHN C. VAN DYKE
_New York_
_August, 1920_
CONTENTS
I. PARENTS AND CHILDHOOD 1
II. DUNFERMLINE AND AMERICA 20
III. PITTSBURGH AND WORK 32
IV. COLONEL ANDERSON AND BOOKS 45
V. THE TELEGRAPH OFFICE 54
VI. RAILROAD SERVICE 65
VII. SUPERINTENDENT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA 84
VIII. CIVIL WAR PERIOD 99
IX. BRIDGE-BUILDING 115
X. THE IRON WORKS 130
XI. NEW YORK AS HEADQUARTERS 149
XII. BUSINESS NEGOTIATIONS 167
XIII. THE AGE OF STEEL 181
XIV. PARTNERS, BOOKS, AND TRAVEL 198
XV. COACHING TRIP AND MARRIAGE 210
XVI. MILLS AND THE MEN 220
XVII. THE HOMESTEAD STRIKE 228
XVIII. PROBLEMS OF LABOR 240
XIX. THE "GOSPEL OF WEALTH" 255
XX. EDUCATIONAL AND PENSION FUNDS 268
XXI. THE PEACE PALACE AND PITTENCRIEFF 282
XXII. MATTHEW ARNOLD AND OTHERS 298
XXIII. BRITISH POLITICAL LEADERS 309
XXIV. GLADSTONE AND MORLEY 318
XXV. HERBERT SPENCER AND HIS DISCIPLE 333
XXVI. BLAINE AND HARRISON 341
XXVII. WASHINGTON DIPLOMACY 350
XXVIII. HAY AND MCKINLEY 358
XXIX. MEETING THE GERMAN EMPEROR 366
BIBLIOGRAPHY 373
INDEX 377
ILLUSTRATIONS
ANDREW CARNEGIE _Photogravure frontispiece_
ANDREW CARNEGIE'S BIRTHPLACE 2
DUNFERMLINE ABBEY 6
MR. CARNEGIE'S MOTHER 22
ANDREW CARNEGIE AT SIXTEEN WITH HIS BROTHER THOMAS 30
DAVID MCCARGO 38
ROBERT PITCAIRN 42
COLONEL JAMES ANDERSON 46
HENRY PHIPPS 58
THOMAS A. SCOTT 72
JOHN EDGAR THOMSON 72
THOMAS MORRISON CARNEGIE 118
GEORGE LAUDER 144
JUNIUS SPENCER MORGAN 156
JOHN PIERPONT MORGAN 172
AN AMERICAN FOUR-IN-HAND IN BRITAIN 210
ANDREW CARNEGIE (ABOUT 1878) 214
MRS. ANDREW CARNEGIE 218
MARGARET CARNEGIE AT FIFTEEN 240
CHARLES M. SCHWAB 256
THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTE AT PITTSBURGH 262
MR. CARNEGIE AND VISCOUNT BRYCE 270
MATTHEW ARNOLD 298
WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE 318
VISCOUNT MORLEY OF BLACKBURN 322
MR. CARNEGIE AND VISCOUNT MORLEY 326
THE CARNEGIE FAMILY AT SKIBO 326
HERBERT SPENCER 334
JAMES G. BLAINE 342
SKIBO CASTLE 356
MR. CARNEGIE AT SKIBO, 1914 370
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
OF
ANDREW CARNEGIE
CHAPTER I
PARENTS AND CHILDHOOD
If the story of any man's life, truly told, must be interesting, as
some sage avers, those of my relatives and immediate friends who have
insisted upon having an account of mine may not be unduly disappointed
with this result. I may console myself with the assurance that such a
story must interest at least a certain number of people who have known
me, and that knowledge will encourage me to proceed.
A book of this kind, written years ago by my friend, Judge Mellon, of
Pittsburgh, gave me so much pleasure that I am inclined to agree with
the wise one whose opinion I have given above; for, certainly, the
story which the Judge told has proved a source of infinite
satisfaction to his friends, and must continue to influence succeeding
generations of his family to live life well. And not only this; to
some beyond his immediate circle it holds rank with their favorite
authors. The book contains one essential feature of value--it reveals
the man. It was written without any intention of attracting public
notice, being designed only for his family. In like manner I intend to
tell my story, not as one posturing before the public, but as in the
midst of my own people and friends, tried and true, to whom I can
speak with the utmost freedom, feeling that even trifling incidents
may not be wholly destitute of interest for them.
To begin, then, I was born in Dunfermline, in the attic of the small
one-story house, corner of Moodie Street and Priory Lane, on the 25th
of November, 1835, and, as the saying is, "of poor but honest parents,
of good kith and kin." Dunfermline had long been noted as the center
of the damask trade in Scotland.[1] My father, William Carnegie, was a
damask weaver, the son of Andrew Carnegie after whom I was named.
[Footnote 1: The Eighteenth-Century Carnegies lived at the picturesque
hamlet of Patiemuir, two miles south of Dunfermline. The growing
importance of the linen industry in Dunfermline finally led the