Henry Lomb
{{Short description|German-American businessman}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Henry Lomb
|image = HenryLomb.jpg
|caption =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1828|11|24}}
|birth_place = Burghaun
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1908|6|13|1828|11|24}}
|death_place =
|resting_place = Mount Hope Cemetery,
Rochester, New York
|other_names =
|known_for = Co-Founder Bausch and Lomb
|occupation = Optician, Businessman
|nationality = American
|footnotes =
}}
Henry Lomb (born Heinrich Lomb; {{Birth date|1828|11|24}} – {{Death date|1908|6|13}}) was a German-American optician who co-founded Bausch & Lomb (with John Jacob Bausch) and led a group of businessmen to found The Mechanics Institute, the forerunner of Rochester Institute of Technology.{{Cite web|url=https://archivesspace.rit.edu/repositories/2/resources/24|title=Guide to the Henry Lomb Memorial scrapbook and program|website=RIT Archive Collections |access-date=2017-05-24}}
Biography
Lomb was born in Burghaun, Electorate of Hessen. He emigrated to the United States in 1849 and settled in Rochester, New York, where he worked as a cabinet-maker.{{cite web |url=https://spartacus-educational.com/USAlomb.htm |title=Henry Lomb |website=Spartacus Educational |first= John |last=Simkin |date=2014}}{{cite web |url=http://www.germanheritage.com/biographies/atol/bausch.html |title=John Jacob Bausch & Henry Lomb |website=German American Corner}}
When his friend, John Jacob Bausch, the owner of a retail optical shop in Rochester, needed additional capital in 1854, he loaned him $60 on Bausch's promise that, if the business ever grew to such an extent that he needed a partner, Lomb would be brought in. The business did grow and together they formed the Bausch & Lomb Company.
Lomb enlisted in the 13th New York Volunteer Infantry and fought in the American Civil War as sergeant, lieutenant and captain. He was mustered out in May 1863 when the company was dissolved.{{cite web|url=https://museum.dmna.ny.gov/application/files/5215/5059/1841/13th_Infantry_CW_Roster.pdf |title=Thirteenth Infantry Roster|website=New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center}}
In 1885, Lomb, along with Max Lowenthal, Ezra R. Andrews, Frank Ritter, William F. Peck and others, founded the Mechanics Institute (now Rochester Institute of Technology), whose mission was to offer "education for making a living." Lomb served as chairman of the Institute Board until 1891, and continued to be a strong supporter of the school until his death.{{Cite web|url=https://www.rit.edu/alumni/ihf/inductee.php?inductee=9|title=Innovation Hall of Fame: Henry Lomb |website=Rochester Institute of Technology|access-date=2017-05-24}}
Henry Lomb died suddenly in Pittsford, New York at the age of 79.{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1908/06/14/104731216.pdf |title=Capt. Henry Lomb dies suddenly |work=New York Times |date=June 14, 1908}} He is buried in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester.{{Cite web|url=https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/3016|title=John J. Bausch and Henry Lomb|website=Rochester's Hope|publisher=University of Rochester|access-date=2018-09-19}}
Legacy
The following have been named in Henry Lomb's honor:
- World War II Liberty Ship SS Henry Lomb, hull number 1784
- Henry Lomb School, elementary school #20 in Rochester, New York{{cite web |url=http://www.greatschools.net/modperl/browse_school/ny/3370 |website=Great Schools |title=School 20 Henry Lomb School}}
- Lomb Memorial Drive and the Bausch & Lomb Center, both on the campus of the Rochester Institute of Technology
References
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
- {{cite journal |last1=Barbour |first1=Clarence |title=An Appreciation of Henry Lomb |journal= American Journal of Public Health|date=November 1915 |volume=5 |issue=11 |pages=1120–3 |doi=10.2105/ajph.5.11.1120 |pmid=18009349|pmc=1286746 }}
- {{Find a Grave |grid=2637 }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lomb, Henry}}
Category:American Civil War industrialists
Category:Burials at Mount Hope Cemetery (Rochester)
Category:Immigrants to the United States
Category:Businesspeople from Rochester, New York