Henry Wick Lemuel Wick, the father of Henry, was among the early settlers of Youngstown. The Rev. William Wick, his uncle, preached from time to time as a missionary of the Presbyterian church, in the settlements on the border of Pennsylvania and Ohio, as early as 1779. Henry's father was a merchant, in whose store be became a clerk at the age of fifteen. At twenty-one he engaged in the project of a rolling-mill at Youngstown, which proved successful. In company with a brother, his father's interest in the store was purchased, and, having a successful future in prospect, Mr. Wick married, about that time, Miss Mary Hine, of Youngstown, whose father was a prominent lawyer of that place. In 1848, he became a citizen of Cleveland, disposing of the rolling mill to Brown, Bonnell & Co., who have since become leading iron men of the Mahoning Valley. After a few years of mercantile business at Cleveland, the banking house of Wick, Otis & Brownell was formed, and was successfully managed for two years, when the brothers Wick purchased the interest of the other partners, and continued together until 1857, when the firm name was changed to Henry & A. H. Wick, father and son, and has thus continued until the present time. Mr. Wick is a man of more than ordinary business ability, and has, throughout his long commercial life, so directed his talent as to preserve an unsullied character, and enjoy the unlimited confidence of his fellow citizens, in addition to a handsome competence. Speculations were always avoided by him, because he believed that, in a young and healthy country like this, men may accumulate property fast enough in the legitimate channels of trade, coupled with frugality, temperance and industry. Many of his employees, by following his example, have become eminently successful in business. Mr. Wick was born February 28, 1807, and, consequently, is in his sixty-third year, although he has lost little of the elasticity of his step or his business faculty.
In 1872, a joint stock company established the Girard Rolling Mill on the south side along the river. The president was Henry Wick, the secretary-treasurer, Myron Wick, and the general manager, John Wick. Built in a functional Victorian industrial style, the mill grew to have fourteen puddling furnaces and a ten-inch rolling mill, and employed 153 workers. It specialized in steel for agricultural implements, chains,and nuts and bolts, and reached a capacity of 1,000 tons a month. The fire and smoke from the Rolling Mill and the Iron Company on the south side along the river was so reminiscent of Pittsburgh that this area became known as Allegeheny. The first workers in these mills were Welsh, followed by Italians in the 1880's. Often they were very young. During their breaks from puddling, they often heated their lunches on hot surfaces in the mill. In response to the wealth this industry produced, the Girard Savings Bank was built in 1873 on the south side of Liberty Street in a Renaissance Revival Style. The first president was R. H. Walker and the initial capital was $50,000. Many new stores were built. On Liberty Street, a number of stores, along with the Opera House, were located in the Lotze Building, which was built in an elegant Renaissance Revival style. The Lotze Store had the first telephone in Girard. A volunteer fire department was organized around 1878, with a horse drawn engine. Its water supply came from a large cistern at the southwest corner of Liberty and Market Streets, where the town pump was located. This intersection was considered the center of town. The first newspaper, the Girard News, was established in 1882, but soon went out of business and there was no paper until the establishment in 1887 of the Girard Grit, a name reflecting the quality of the local air. The original wooden bridge was replaced with a cast iron bridge to handle the increasingly heavy traffic crossing the river.
Henry WICK & Co., Cleveland Clearing House Association, Truman P. HANDY, president, A. H. WICK, secretary
Blue Goose In 1902, prominent area businessman Henry Wick engaged an engineer named L. B. Smyser to build a car for his personal use. The royal blue luxury car, known as the "Blue Goose", was said to have cost somewhere between $8,000 and $20,000 to make. The car's chassis was built in Youngstown on Wick Avenue near the Mahoning Courthouse, and was considered to be the largest and most expensive car in America at the time. The car was sold for $765 in 1904.
Titanic Passengers Local historical and biographical folders contain information regarding the April 15, 1912 sinking of the Titanic and a list passengers with links to the Youngstown area: George Dennick Wick, Mary Hitchcock Wick, Mary Natalie Wick, Caroline Bonnell, Elizabeth Bonnell, Jessie Wills Leitch, Elin Matilda Hakkarainen-Nummi, Banoura Ayoub, Tannous J. Thomas, Tannous Doharr, Gerios Yousseff, and Shawneene "Jennie" George Whabee. Note: Bolded names did not survive. (Source: Y - Titanic folder)