Born in Londonderry Township, at the age of 16 he was apprenticed as a blacksmith and later became a mechanic at the Norristown Iron Company. In 1854 he moved to the Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown Pennsylvania, where he designed the first three-high rolling mill. In 1860 he became General Superintendent and Chief Engineer of the Bethlehem Iron Works in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. While there he was responsible for installing a Bessemer Converter and other developments at the company.

The John Fritz Medal, often described as the “Nobel Prize for engineering, has been awarded annually since 1902 by the American Association of Engineering Societies for “outstanding scientific or industrial achievements”. 

Photograph - Public Domain, c1894

Iron and Steel Hall of Fame Induction - 2020