Herbert Henry Dow was born on February 26, 1866, and died on October 15, 1930. He was an American businessperson who started the large international company known as Dow Chemical. He graduated from the Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland, Ohio. He created many chemical processes, compounds, and products. He is especially known for developing a method to extract bromine from saltwater. He was also a successful businessman.

Biography

Herbert Henry Dow was born in 1866 in Belleville, Ontario, as the oldest child of Joseph Henry Dow, an inventor and mechanical engineer, and Sarah Bunnell, who were both from Derby, Connecticut. When the baby was six weeks old, the family returned to their hometown. In 1878, the family moved again, this time to Cleveland, to follow Joseph’s job with the Derby Shovel Manufacturing Company.

After finishing high school in 1884, Dow enrolled at the Case School of Applied Science, now called Case Western Reserve University. While there, he joined the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. He began studying the chemical makeup of brines in Ohio and nearby areas. He found that brine samples from Canton, Ohio, and Midland, Michigan, contained high levels of bromine, a key ingredient in medicines and an important material in the emerging photographic industry. After graduating in 1888, Dow worked for a year as a chemistry professor at Huron Street Hospital College in Cleveland, while continuing his research on extracting chemicals from brine.

In 1889, Dow received his first patent for inventing a more cost-effective and efficient method to extract bromine. He quickly started his own company, but it failed within a year. His associates admired his work and helped him found the Midland Chemical Company in Midland, Michigan, in 1890. Dow continued his research and, by early 1891, developed the Dow process, a method to extract bromine using electrolysis to change bromide into bromine.

Dow wanted to use electrolysis to produce other chemicals. However, his financial backers disagreed with his research and fired him from the Midland Chemical Company. He continued his work, creating a process to extract chlorine and caustic soda from sodium chloride.

After seeking support from people in Cleveland, including family friends and former classmates from the Case School of Applied Science, Dow received funding from James T. Pardee, Albert W. Smith, J. H. Osborn, and Cady Staley. In 1895, Dow moved his family to Massillon, Ohio, and founded the Dow Process Company to develop his method. The next year, he returned to Midland and created the Dow Chemical Company as a successor to the Dow Process Company. The Dow Process Company was started with 57 original investors. Within three years, his new company bought the Midland Chemical Company.

With his new company and technology, Dow produced bromine at a low cost, selling it in the United States for 36 cents per pound. At the same time, the German government supported a bromine cartel, the Deutsche Bromkonvention, which controlled most of the bromine supply in the United States, selling it for 49 cents per pound. The Germans warned Dow not to sell his bromine abroad, threatening to flood the market with cheap bromine. In 1904, Dow ignored the warning and began exporting his bromine to England at the lower price. Soon after, a representative from the cartel visited Dow and told him to stop exporting.

Unfazed, Dow continued sending bromine to England and Japan. The cartel responded by selling bromine in the United States at 15 cents per pound to drive Dow out of business. Unable to compete with this low price, Dow ordered his agents to buy large amounts of the German bromine locally. The company repackaged the bromine and sold it to Europe, including Germany, for 27 cents per pound. The cartel was confused by the sudden demand for bromine in the United States and the source of the cheap bromine flooding their market. They suspected some members of the cartel were breaking their agreement. The cartel kept lowering their prices in the United States, first to 12 cents per pound and then to 10.5 cents per pound. Eventually, the cartel realized Dow’s strategy and stopped selling below cost.

Dow Chemical Company focused on research and soon extracted many more chemicals from brine. During World War I, demand for wartime supplies grew because Britain blocked German ports, which were home to many of the world’s largest chemical companies. Dow Chemical quickly filled the gap by creating processes to produce magnesium for incendiary flares, phenol and monochlorobenzene for explosives, and bromine for medicines and tear gas. By 1918, 90% of the company’s production supported the war effort. During this time, the company also created the diamond logo, which is still used today.

After the war ended, Dow studied the uses of magnesium, which the company had in large amounts. He discovered that magnesium could be used to make automobile pistons that improved speed and fuel efficiency. These pistons, called Dowmetal, were used in racing cars, including the 1921 winner of the Indianapolis 500.

Dow married Grace Anna Ball, a teacher in Midland, on November 16, 1892. They had seven children between 1894 and 1908: Helen, Ruth, Willard, Osborn, Alden, Margaret, and Dorothy Darling. One child, Osborn Curtis, died from spinal meningitis before his third birthday in 1902. Willard became a chemist with his father’s company and later became chief executive in 1930. Alden became a leading architect in the United States.

The family lived in a house shared with Herbert Dow’s parents, Joseph and Sarah Dow, and his sisters, Helen and Mary Dow.

Dow died on October 15, 1930, from cirrhosis of the liver while receiving treatment at the Mayo Clinic. He had received over 90 patents during his lifetime. He was survived by his wife, Grace, and five of their seven children. His son, Willard H. Dow, became president of the Dow Chemical Company.

Commemoration

In 1899, Dow created the Dow Gardens in Midland, Michigan, as a personal project on the property of his home.

Herbert Henry Dow High School in Midland, Michigan, opened in 1968 and is named after Dow. He received the Perkin Medal in 1930 as one of his honors.

Dow’s home in Midland, called the Herbert H. Dow House, was recognized as a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1976.

Grace founded the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation in 1936 to honor her husband, Herbert. The foundation’s goal is to improve life for people in Midland and Michigan. Since its start, the foundation has given away about half a billion dollars to support important projects and programs in the state. The foundation’s offices are located in a building on the grounds of the Dow home and gardens.