John Holland (August 25, 1838 – 1917) was a prominent American businessman and industrialist whose eponymous company, John Holland Gold Pen Company, was a large maker of pens and related products during the late 19th century. In his business activities, he made several metallurgical and mechanical advancements, the most notable being a process for creating stable bars and other usable forms of

iridium Iridium is a chemical element with the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, it is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density of ...

Early years

He was born on August 25, 1838, in

Kilcrohane Kilcrohane () is a village in County Cork, Ireland. It is the last coastal village on the Sheep's Head Peninsula after Durrus and Ahakista. Kilcrohane lies under the 'Shadow of Seefin' (the area's highest hill) and is also close to Caher Mounta ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, and emigrated, with his parents, to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1848. The family settled in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, where he stayed for the rest of his life. He served an apprenticeship, then worked for the pen maker George W. Sheppard. In 1862, he acquired the entire business and quickly expanded it.

Success

Before 1900, the John Holland Pen Company was a major fountain pens manufacturer. George S. Parker, founder of the most famous brand at the time, was a reseller. In 1880, Holland discovered the ability to melt and make castings of iridium by fusing the white-hot ore with phosphorus, and patented the process in the United States. He invoked the help of

William Lofland Dudley William Lofland Dudley (April 16, 1859 – September 8, 1914) was an American chemistry professor at both the University of Cincinnati and Vanderbilt University and an athletics pioneer during the Progressive Era. At Vanderbilt, he was appoint ...

in getting rid of the phosphorus, who did so by repeated applications of lime at great heat. This is the first reported method of refining iridium. Dudley then found new applications for iridium, and formed the American Iridium Company with Holland.

Death and decline

After John Holland's death in 1917 the company started to decline, and was closed around 1950.

References

The Biographical Encyclopaedia of Ohio of the Nineteenth Century
published 1882. reprinted at:

The New York Times, May 13, 1881
A History of Iridium, Overcoming the Difficulties of Melting and Fabrication
L. B. Hunt, The Johnson Matthey Group

External links

Ad from the John Holland Gold Pen Company

A company history
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holland, John Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) 1838 births 1917 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople