Henry Timken Biography

Henry Timken

Emigrating to America as a child with his family, he left the family's Missouri farm to enter the wagon-making business. He opened his own company in St. Louis in 1855, and introduced several improvements to the carriages his firm produced, including his patented “Timken spring,” which made him a fortune. Other patents included the Timken roller bearing. He retired in 1897 and settled in California.