Henry Disston (1819-1878) - Find a Grave Memorial

Business Magnate, Social Reformer. Orphaned at fourteen, with a sixteen-year-old sister to support, he got a job as an apprentice saw maker. He learned to make saws and the machines that produced them. He developed a tempered steel that ensured that his saws were both flexible and strong. Operating out of a basement, Disston started his own business in 1840. Despite obstacles, he had real success when he chose to build his factory in the Tacony section of Philadelphia. He not only saw himself a building a factory, but also a working-class community in which workers would live in houses with open space and have a chance to own their own homes. Disston saw a responsibility to meet his workers' economic, social, and cultural needs. In 1872, construction began on the saw factory. By 1876 the workers' homes were built. Money to buy homes was available through a building and loan association established by Disston; he even gave cash advances to guarantee that his employees could buy their homes. Disston even piped fresh water from the Delaware River to Tacony. He built a school, the Tacony Music Hall, and a library containing two thousand books. A newspaper was established. A firehouse was built; Disston's eldest son, Hamilton , was an integral part of it. Tacony even had its own scientific society. All of these projects were supported by Henry Disston's money. His wife, Mary, built Disston Memorial Presbyterian Church in honor of her husband, a devout Presbyterian. A community park was laid out by Disston to provide a visual barrier between the houses and the factories.

Bio by: rjschatz