Twelve-year-old Henry bolted into the kitchen crying, “Look Ma!” and proudly held out his empty basket. An hour before it had been full of fresh produce, grown himself on the family farm in Sharpsburg, PA (near Pittsburgh).
Now his pocket was full—of change. Just as he’d hoped, townswomen had purchased every vegetable.
“Well done, Henry!” exclaimed his mother, ruffling his hair. “Your hard work paid off!”
It wasn’t long after that first sales excursion in 1856 that Henry required a wheelbarrow for his deliveries. By age fifteen, Henry was caring for three-plus acres of produce and required a wagon for transport. Not only did he sell to those nearby, but also to grocers in town.
The teenager became known for his quality produce, positive attitude, and honest business dealings, making his mother proud as he lived up to the Christian principles taught at home and church.
One day he approached his mother with a new possibility. “Could I use your recipe for horseradish and try to sell it along with my vegetables?”
She agreed the area’s German immigrants just might buy the popular sauce, saving them time and nuisance during the busy canning season.
Horseradish had to be grated, which often resulted in nicked knuckles. It also caused the eyes to sting and water—just like onions. As a result, many women of Sharpsburg were glad to forego the chore and buy Henry’s horseradish.
His entrepreneurial instincts led him to additional ways for growing his business. Henry chose white vinegar instead of brown and clear glass bottles instead of the traditional green, even though both were more expensive. The former resulted in a more appetizing product, the latter allowed his customers to see his top quality horseradish–with no fillers like some companies used.
Over the next few years Henry added pickles, sauerkraut, and vinegar to his product-line. He also expanded deliveries to Pittsburgh’s grocers, restaurants, and hotels.
Meanwhile Henry experimented with different seeds, taking careful notes to track results. He arranged for the design of attractive jars and labels to entice even more customers.
At age 24, Henry took on two partners and moved the company to Pittsburgh. They added fruit preserves, mustard, and catsup to the product-line, while expanding their market east and west via the new railroads.
Another important event that year: Henry married Sarah Young. They would have five children; one would die in infancy.
19th Century Pittsburgh
By 1872 the partners employed 150 people during harvesttime, producing 500 barrels of sauerkraut, 15,000 of pickles, and 50,000 of vinegar.
But when the economic Panic of 1873 occurred, Henry and his partners were forced to claim bankruptcy. Deep disappointment sunk him into depression.
Henry soon recovered, however, and determined to rebuild his company by doing what he’d always done—work hard and trust God [1].
With financing from two of his seven siblings and his mother, Henry set about reestablishing himself. Five years later he’d not only achieved success again, he’d repaid all his debts—even though that wasn’t required.
Henry continued adding new products, including apple butter, baked beans, and tomato soup. Always he sought new ways to market his wares, like free pickle pins with the company name, distributed at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893.
Columbian Exposition 1893
But out of reverence for God, he never allowed his newspaper advertisements to run on Sunday [2].
Henry applied Christian integrity to his treatment of employees, providing many more benefits than other factories including: free dental and health care onsite, lunchtime concerts and lectures, English lessons and assistance to obtain citizenship, and advancement of women to managerial positions.
Henry also “worked hard to encourage his employees to live the ‘righteous life’” [3].
During these years of company-development, Henry taught Sunday School and became a promoter of Sunday Schools not only in Pittsburgh but around the world.
He faithfully tithed his income his entire life beginning with 10%, but increasing over the years until Henry was giving away almost 100% of his income [4].
By 1896, Henry’s company produced over one hundred products. He put a new slogan on each bottle and jar: “57 Varieties,” thinking the number fifty-seven (based on Sarah’s and his favorite numbers) [5], was more memorable than one hundred.
Once again, Henry John Heinz had created a winning marketing strategy as “Heinz 57” became a familiar phrase all over the country.
Throughout his career, Henry kept experimenting to improve his products and production, provide eye-catching packaging, upgrade working conditions for his employees, and expand distribution and marketing.
Before his death in 1919, Heinz products were being produced and sold in Europe as well as all over America.
In his will, Heinz wrote:
“I desire to set forth at the very beginning of this will, as the most important item in it, a confession of my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior.
“I also desire to bear witness to the fact that throughout my life, in which there were unusual joys and sorrows, I have been wonderfully sustained by my faith in God through Jesus Christ. This legacy was left to me by my consecrated mother, a woman of strong faith, and to it I attribute any success I have attained [6].”
John Henry Heinz
[1] (https://www.365christianmen.com/podcast/1146-henry-j-heinz-us-entrepreneur/
[2] https://positivelypittsburgh.com/heinz-legacy/#:~:text=Religious%20Roots&text=Heinz%20devoted%20time%20and%20energy,devoted%20that%20day%20to%20God
[3] https://profectusmag.com/american-original-hj-heinz/
[4] https://stories4homilies.blogspot.com/2016/12/tithing-colgate-kraft-and-heinz.html
[5] https://www.ai-bees.io/post/henry-john-heinz-founder-of-the-condiment-empire
[6] https://bibletruthpublishers.com/the-heinz-will/christian-treasury-volume-5/la155191
Other sources:
https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-37
https://welcomechurch.co.uk/the-story-of-heinz-57-varieties
Photo credits: http://www.pickpik.com; http://www.picryl.com; http://www.flickr.com; http://www.rawpixel.com; jenikirbyhistory.getarchive.net; timelessmoon.getarchive.net; http://www.pickryl.com.
Thanks for sharing. I had no idea this company was founded by a Christian. It is great what God does when we trust in Him.
You’re welcome, Barb. I wasn’t aware that Heinz had been a Christian either. God certainly used him in numerous ways!
Nancy,
It all started with a faith and a pocketful of change. But that’s how it all works a dream upon a dream.
In Christ, Gary
Gary Avants Forbear Productions * *garyavants66@gmail.com garyavants66@gmail.com
You’re right–one dream led to another for Henry. It IS amazing to see how God grew such humble beginnings into something so monumental!
The perfect story of a man who achieved the American Dream through hard work, ingenuity and an unfailing faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. I absolutely loved Henry’s story that you’ve retold beautifully here, Nancy. May we be quick to share the stories of faith-filled individuals who helped to build our great nation.
Blessings!
Indeed, our nation was built by MANY who were firm believers in Christ. I’m always encouraged when I come across their stories and see how God directed their lives and accomplished much through them. I’m glad you enjoy these mini-biographies too, Martha!
I so love these portraits of patriots, Nancy. Keep sharing them!
Thank you, Martha. I’m so glad for those who appreciate the stories of faithful Christians who’ve gone before us on the path of life (Psalm 16:11). I will indeed keep sharing them!
Being a Christian isn’t always a guarantee of success. Into every life some rain will fall, the bottom may fall out and you might lose it all. Those who trust in Jesus will have problems just as much as others. Making it through those times is much easier when your business and lifetime partner is the one who gave his life for all.
AMEN, and so well said, Kathy. Thank you!
Learning about Henry,’s life and goodwill towards others is a great reason to buy his company’s products. Thank you for writing such an inspiring bio, Nancy. And the ending was fabulous!. 🙂
love love love this story. I have said this before to you and will say it again you are blessed to be a story teller!!!
I loved Heinz’ story also. Who knew this giant company started with a fifteen-year-old boy and his mother’s horseradish recipe?! Thank you for your encouragement, Jean; I enjoy writing these stories!
Thank you for sharing such a wonderful historical story. I love that Heinz put Christ first throughout his life and his business. I wonder what the company is like today. Keep telling these great stories, Nancy.
I do know that Heinz merged with Kraft some years ago–don’t remember exactly when. I’d like to think that they’ve continued offering stellar employee benefits, but that’s probably too much to ask! 😊
Thank you for sharing his story. Never doubt the influence of a Godly mother!
Amen to that last statement, Linda–grandmothers too! Each of mine left a legacy of faith and provided worthy examples of that faith put into practice. I think of them frequently, and they inspire me now that I’M a grandmother!
I so love these biographies. I’ve learned so much over the years from you. Thank you, not only for educating me, but always reminding me that Jesus is the most important part of any success story. ❤️🙏✝️
Thank you, MHK! I love doing the research for these stories and learning about the heroes of our faith. You are so right: Jesus is the most important part of any success story!
Wow – what an incredible life story. Faith, hard work, resilience, honesty – so inspiring! Thanks, Nancy!
You’re welcome, Wynne. I too was inspired by Henry John Heinz’ story!
An incredible story of faith in motion.
Couldn’t agree more, RH!
Nancy, thank you for this inspiring story of faith, hard work, and perseverance. I was unaware of this personal story as to the beginnings of Heinz 57!
I was too, Pam. I wonder how many men and women of distinction were/are Christians, and that fact is just not well-publicized? I’m so glad you found inspiration in Henry J. Heinz’ story!
Nancy, I don’t know how you come up with these unbelievably inspirational stories, but they encourage and uplift us and the wonder and awe of God as He works through His people. I love Henry’s integrity in business and life, how he treated his employees with compassion and respect, how he honored his mom in his will. It makes me smile to imagine a young Henry so intentional and committed to doing things well that he just wouldn’t give up. A great lesson for all of us to learn today. Thanks for this, my friend.
I’m so glad there are others like you who enjoy learning about our heroes of faith, past and present. As for where the ideas come from, sometimes a brief mention of a person in my reading will spark my curiosity, sometimes I come across an interesting factoid on one of those “This-Day-in-Christian-History” perpetual calendars, or one of our pastors will share an illustration or quote that catches my interest. I love your summary, Dayle. You captured the essence of this post very effectively!
Another wonderful historical post! Halfway through reading this I guessed you were writing about Henry Heinz. I recently watched a documentary about his life. The spiritual aspect of his life was not mentioned, so it is very inspiring to realize that he had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
It’s a sad reality these days that a person’s Christian faith is often left out of biographical/historical information. The writers would like to pretend that Christ has no meaningful impact on the character of a person or the events in his/her life. Little do they know! May God open the eyes of their hearts as we pray for revival!
There was a documentary series ‘American Dynasty’ on Fox Nation profiling Heinz, DuPont, Ford, Vanderbilt, Morgan, Getty, etc. Some of these original businessmen seemed to be decent guys who gave much of their wealth to charity instead of willing it to their descendants. It was their descendants who inherited that tarnished the brands with greediness, etc., because they didn’t have to work for their wealth.
That often happens. Paul has been proven right time and time again: “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10).
I love your story and the history surrounding it. Honesty and integrity pays off in the end! I grew up fifty miles south of Pittsburgh.
You must have been on your way to Pittsburgh when you saw some of those trains you’ve painted, Dwight! Did you know Henry’s story already? I’m curious: at what point in this telling did you know the hero of the faith was H. J. Heinz?