Henry Shaw (philanthropist) - Business Career

Business Career

On his return to Sheffield, Henry began to assist his father with the business. Searching for new markets, the elder Shaw turned his sights on the vast markets of the Americas. Iron and steel manufacturing in the former colonies was not as advanced as in England, and indeed, Sheffield steel products were some of the finest in the world. In 1818, Henry accompanied his father on his first trip across the Atlantic Ocean where the pair did business in Quebec, Canada. Young Henry must have impressed his father with his business acumen, because the next year he was sent to New Orleans alone on business, even though he was still a teenager.

A shipment of goods to New Orleans had been lost or misplaced and Henry was sent to find the shipment. Although he recovered the goods, he could not find a buyer in New Orleans. With the business acumen and entrepreneurial spirit that was to mark his adult life, Shaw was determined to find a market for the goods in the interior of the country. Vast territories of the American Midwest had been opened up in the previous decade by the Louisiana Purchase, which nearly doubled the size of the United States. In about 1817, New Orleans had become the gateway to this vast interior markets when the first steam powered paddlewheel boat made its way up the Mississippi River from the port of New Orleans.

In the Spring of 1819, Henry Shaw purchased passage for himself and his goods on a steamship called the Maid of Orleans. The trip, which took 40 days, cost Shaw $120. On May 3, 1819, Shaw landed in a small French village on the Mississippi called St. Louis. At the time, the village was about fifty years old. It ran about three blocks deep for about a mile along the bank of the river. Shaw set up a hardware store in St. Louis, selling high quality cutlery and other metal products. His first storefront was at Four North Main, on the west side of the street between Market and Chestnut. The goods were purchased by Shaw’s uncle, James Hoole, back home in Sheffield and shipped to St. Louis. Hoole also provided the initial capital for the business. It turned out to be a good investment. It was a good time to be in the hardware business in St. Louis.

During the two decades he stayed in this business, roughly 1819 to 1839, St. Louis grew quite rapidly. Shaw sold his goods to the people of St. Louis, to soldiers and farmers, and to the other new immigrants to the area. He also found a ready market in the pioneers making their way to the open lands of the West. Many of the pioneers moving westward were outfitted in St. Louis before moving West, and Shaw had the kind of hardware, tools and cutlery they would need to make the trip and set up a new homestead. By the age of 40 he was one of the largest landholders in the city and was able to retire. This gave him the freedom to travel and to pursue his great interest in botany.