About this collection

Henry C. Walton was an industrial chemist who worked at Andrew Carnegie's Edgar Thomson Steel Works near Pittsburgh in the 1870s. In 1880 Walton became associated with Emile Geyelin, a Philadelphia engineer who had done considerable work for E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. as both a machinist and hydraulic engineer. Walton and Geyelin joined with J.A. Mathieu, a charcoal manufacturer, to form Mathieu Geyelin & Walton, Ltd. The firm manufactured lead and calcium acetates for sale to Pittsburgh area steel manufacturers.

The Henry C. Walton diary (Accession 1883) describes Walton's work as a chemist at the Edgar Thomson Works, including notations on the Bessemer process and analyses of steel produced by Carnegie and other manufacturers. It also contains information on the formation of Mathieu, Geyelin & Walton, Ltd., including subsequent contracts with carpenters and merchants.

Image: Teeming ladle, Edgar Thomson Works, Carnegie Steel Company (Braddock, Pa.), December 12, 1903. American Iron and Steel Institute photographs and audiovisual materials (Accession 1986.268). Click here to view this image in its collection.