Henry Fairchild DeBardeleben (July 22, 1840 - December 6, 1910) was an American coal magnate and town founder from

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

Early life

Henry F. DeBardeleben was born on July 22, 1840, in Autauga County, Alabama.John N. Ingham
''Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders''
Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1983, volume 1, pp. 246-247
, Samford University His father, Henry DeBardeleben, was a cotton plantation owner. After his father died when he was ten years old, DeBardeleben moved to

Montgomery, Alabama Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...

, with his mother, where he worked in a grocery store. At the age of sixteen, he became Daniel Pratt's ward.Henry DeBardeleben
Encyclopedia of Alabama During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

of 1861-1865, he served in the Prattville Dragoons of the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

Career

After the war, DeBardeleben was appointed by Pratt as the manager of the Helena Mines in Helena, Alabama. In the 1870s, he helped rebuild the Oxmoor furnace. When Pratt died in 1873, DeBardeleben inherited Red Mountain Iron and Coal Company. A few years later, in 1878, he co-founded Pratt Coal and Coke Company with other investors. He also founded the Alice Furnace Company. Later, he co-founded the DeBardeleben Coal and Iron Company. By 1887, the company owned 150,000 acres of land for coal and iron mining, and it was worth US$13 million. It merged with the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company in 1891, when DeBardeleben was appointed as its Vice Chairman. DeBardeleben served as the President of the Alabama Fuel and Iron Company. With his sons, DeBardeleben established coal and iron mines in

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

in St. Clair County and

Acton Acton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Acton Australia * Acton, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Acton, Tasmania, a suburb of Burnie * Acton Park, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly known as Acton Canada ...

in Shelby County. He also established two mines in Acmar, St. Clair County. He was the first person to produce

pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the production of steel which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with silic ...

in the Birmingham area. DeBardeleben also founded the Bessemer Land and Improvement Company, which developed the town of

Bessemer, Alabama Bessemer is a southwestern suburb of Birmingham in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. The population was 26,019 at the 2020 census. It is within the Birmingham- Hoover, AL Metropolitan Statistical Area, of which Jefferson County is the ...

. He was an investor in the Birmingham Rolling Mills and the Birmingham National Bank.

Personal life

DeBardeleben married Ellen Pratt, who was Daniel Pratt's only daughter, in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War. After she died in 1893, he got married a second time to Katherine McCrossin in 1898. DeBardeleben was a member of the

Methodist Episcopal Church, South The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...

, and a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Death and legacy

DeBardeleben died on December 6, 1910. He was buried at the Oak Hill Cemetery in Birmingham, Alabama.Birmingham Public Library: Oak Hill Memorial Cemetery Interments
/ref> He was inducted into the

Alabama Men's Hall of Fame (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

in 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DeBardeleben, Henry F. 1840 births 1910 deaths People from Autauga County, Alabama Military personnel from Birmingham, Alabama People of Alabama in the American Civil War Confederate States Army personnel Businesspeople from Birmingham, Alabama American businesspeople in the coal industry American company founders Alabama Democrats 19th-century American businesspeople