Bundesarchiv Bild 102-12257, Harvey Firestone

Harvey Samuel Firestone (December 20, 1868 – February 7, 1938) was an American businessman, and the founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, one of the first global makers of automobile tires.

Family background

Firestone was born on the Columbiana, Ohio farm built by his paternal grandfather. He was the second of Benjamin and Catherine (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Flickinger) Firestone's three sons; Benjamin had a son and a daughter by his first wife. In 1983 the original farm was disassembled and moved to Greenfield Village, an historical site founded by Henry Ford, and is now part of a larger outdoor museum. Firestone's paternal great-great-great-grandfather, Hans Nicholas Feuerstein, immigrated from

Berg, Bas-Rhin Berg () is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in northeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Bas-Rhin department The following is a list of the 514 communes of the Bas-Rhin department of France. The commun ...

, France, in 1753, and settled in Pennsylvania. Three of Nicholas' sons – including Harvey's great-great-grandfather, Johan Nicholas – changed their surname to "Firestone", the English translation of the family's German name "Feuerstein". On November 20, 1895, Firestone married Idabelle Smith. They eventually had seven children. Notable great-grandchildren include:

Andrew Firestone Andrew Boulton Firestone (born July 10, 1975) is an American television personality and businessman. He is the son of Brooks Firestone, a grandson of Leonard Firestone, and a great-grandson of Firestone Tire and Rubber Company founder Harvey F ...

Nick Firestone Nicholas Stanley Firestone (born March 31, 1966) is an American former race car driver. A great-grandson of Harvey Samuel Firestone (founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company) and Idabelle Smith Firestone, Idabelle Smith, grandson of Rog ...

, and William Clay Ford Jr. (the son of Henry Ford's grandson and Harvey and Idabelle's granddaughter Martha).

Education and career

After graduating from Columbiana High School, Firestone worked for the

Columbus Buggy Company The Columbus Buggy Company was an early buggy and automotive manufacturer based in Columbus, Ohio, United States, from 1875 to 1913. Begun by three business partners, the company set up its manufacturing facilities in what is today the Arena ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

before starting his own company in 1890, making rubber tires for

carriage A carriage is a private four-wheeled vehicle for people and is most commonly horse-drawn. Second-hand private carriages were common public transport, the equivalent of modern cars used as taxis. Carriage suspensions are by leather strapping an ...

s. In 1900 he soon saw the huge potential for marketing tires for automobiles and then founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, a pioneer in the mass production of tires. In 1926 he published a book, ''Men and Rubber: The Story of Business'', which was written in collaboration with Samuel Crowther.

Death

In 1938, Firestone died of coronary thrombosis.

The Vagabonds

Firestone, Henry Ford, and Thomas Edison were generally considered the three leaders in American industry at the time, and often worked and vacationed together, calling themselves the Vagabonds, along with naturalist

John Burroughs John Burroughs (April 3, 1837 – March 29, 1921) was an American naturalist and nature essayist, active in the conservation movement in the United States. The first of his essay collections was ''Wake-Robin'' in 1871. In the words of his bio ...

and, sometimes, President Herbert Hoover.

Legacy

The main library of Princeton University is named

Firestone Library Princeton University Library is the main library system of Princeton University. With holdings of more than 7 million books, 6 million microforms, and 48,000 linear feet of manuscripts, it is among the largest libraries in the world by number of ...

in his honor. It is among the largest university libraries in the world. On August 3, 1950, the

Harvey S Firestone Memorial The Harvey S. Firestone Memorial is a large sculpture ensemble dedicated to Harvey Firestone, created by sculptors James Earle Fraser and Donald De Lue in Akron, Ohio. The monument was designed by architect Eric Gugler and was dedicated on Augus ...

, a large sculpture ensemble dedicated to Firestone, created by sculptors James Earle Fraser and Donald De Lue was dedicated. It is located at Bridgestone Firestone Inc., 1200 Firestone Parkway in Akron, Ohio. In 1974, Firestone was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame. Firestone High School in Akron, Ohio, is named in his honor. There is a Harvey S Firestone Park in Columbiana, Ohio. The town

Harbel Harbel is a town in Margibi County, Liberia. It lies along the Farmington River, about 15 miles upstream from the Atlantic Ocean.

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

, home to Firestone's rubber plantation, the largest in the world, is named after Firestone and his wife Idabelle. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2013.Harvey Firestone
at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Firestone, Harvey 1868 births 1938 deaths Firestone family People from Columbiana, Ohio Businesspeople from Akron, Ohio Tire industry people Henry Ford family American automotive pioneers Asheville School alumni Deaths from coronary thrombosis