USA > Pennsylvania > Historic homes and institutions and genealogical and personal memoirs of the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania Vol. II > Part 34
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Phaon C. Weaver, the father of Alfred R. Weaver, was born in Vera Cruz, Upper Milford township, Lehigh county, February 1, 1839. He acquired a common school education, and to a limited extent engaged in teaching school. He was for eight years assessor of Upper Milford township, for fifteen years justice of the peace there, and in 1886, two years after his removal to Emaus, was again elected justice of the peace, and served for ten years. In 1897 he was ap- pointed notary public, and has since acted in that
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capacity. He is a stockholder and notary public of the Home Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Lehigh county, his connection therewith covering twenty-two years, while for four years he has served as its secretary, and for ten years he has been civil engineer of the borough of Emaus. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity, and to Zionsville Reformed church. In 1866 Mr. Weaver was married to Miss Amanda Brinker, a daughter of Charles and Elizabeth Brinker, and they have become the parents of twelve children, eight of whom are now living, namely: Mrs. Annie Jordan, Mrs. Lillie Arndt, Mrs. Mantana Stahler, Mrs. Lizzie Smith, Ellen, Alfred R., Mrs. Jonas Kuns, and George Weaver.
Alfred R. Weaver spent the days of his boy- hood and youth in his parents' home, and attend- ed the public schools, being for some time a high school student in his native county. He filled the position of station agent for the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad from 1889 until 1893, at which time he was made traveling auditor for the road, and is now efficiently serving in that capacity. He is also chief burgess of Emaus (1903) and for three years served as auditor of the borough. Fraternally, he is connected with Barger Lodge, No. 333, F. & A. M., of which he is a past master, and with Mystic Star Lodge, No. 73, I. O. O. F.
In 1893 Alfred R. Weaver was united in mar- riage to Miss Quena V. Kemmerer, a daughter of Charles and Elmina Kemmerer, of Emaus, and they have two interesting children, Clara M., born in 1895 and Elva K., born in 1902.
HON. JOHN LEISENRING, Mauch Chunk's highly esteemed citizen and widely- known business man, was born in 1819, at Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, his paternal ancestors be- ing of Saxon descent, and his maternal ancestors Scotch. His great-grandfather came to America in 1765 and settled in Whitehall township, Le- high county, on the Lehigh river, in 1765, on a farm bought from the original proprietors, while the native Indians still occupied that portion of the state. This farm still remains in possession of his descendants.
The father of Hon. John Leisenring was a morocco dresser in Philadelphia, which business he left to engage in the war of 1812. In 1828 he removed with his family to Mauch Chunk, where the family has since resided. His education was directed with special reference to the profession of civil engineering, which he adopted at an early age under the direction of E. A. Douglas, prin- cipal engineer of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, then controlled by Josiah White and Erskine Hazard, who were engaged in construct- ing a slackwater navigation of the Lehigh river, from Mauch Chunk to White Haven, and also in building a railroad from White Haven to Wilkes- Barre. John Leisenring, at the age of seventeen years, had full charge of a division of the canal and railroad, while George Law and Asa Packer were contractors on the same division, and he re- mained in charge until its completion. After com- pleting this work the Morris Canal Company, who were then enlarging their canal from Easton to Jersey City, through their chief engineer, se- cured his services as assistant, and he was placed in charge of the division between Dover, New Jersey, and Jersey City. He was also engaged in locating and surveying the railroad now known as the Belvidere Delaware Railroad, in which work he was associated with E. A. Douglass and Gen- eral H. M. Negley.
About this time he engaged in the coal busi- ness, then in its infancy, which he saw was to be the controlling business of the region. He also built Sharp Mountain planes, on the property of the. Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, for conveying the coal which he and others mined. This interesting engineering feature, which, christened the Switchback Railroad, after being used for many years, was abandoned at the com- pletion of the Nesquehoning Valley Railroad tun- nel into the Panther Creek Valley. In 1854 he removed from Ashton, now Lansford, Carbon county, where he had lived for nine years, to Eckly. Luzerne county, where he opened the Council Ridge mines, which are now operated by him, as well as many other mines in the same lo- cality, he being specially identified with the pro-
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duction of coal from the Buck Mountain vein, pro- ducing in 1881, in all, about one million tons. He organized and is still president of the Upper Le- high Coal Company, known as one of the most successful mining companies in the country.
On the death of E. A. Douglass, in 1859, Mr. Leisenring was chosen as his successor in charge of the works of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, during which time the navigation from White Haven down was almost totally destroyed by the great freshet of June, 1862. The works from Mauch Chunk to Easton were repaired with wonderful rapidity, and the energy and efficiency shown by Mr. Leisenring in their construction was commended on all hands. The navigation from White Haven to Mauch Chunk was not re- stored, because in the judgment of Mr. Leisen- ring, the destruction of life and property was so great as to be sufficient ground for declining to incur the risk of a repetition, and in order to re- tain the business he suggested and recommended the building of a railroad between the same points.
After completing this work, which gave the company a line of railroad from Wilkes-Barre to Mauch Chunk, Mr. Leisenring saw that to secure the full benefit of this road it would be necessary to have a railroad from Mauch Chunk to Easton, to connect with roads in New Jersey, so that the operations of the company need not be suspended during the winter months, but that business could go on continuously. In carrying out this plan, which was promptly adopted by the com- pany, the road was laid out and completed with steel rails, which were the first importation of any consequence, and the whole fifty miles are still in use and doing good service, showing the fore- thought and sound judgment of its promoter. The iron bridges crossing the two rivers, Lehigh and Delaware, at Easton, have been considered a masterly piece of engineering both in their loca- tion and construction. In view of the large busi- ness which he expected from the Wyoming re- gion, he designed and built three inclined planes which were used to raise the coal from the Wyom- ing Valley, a perpendicular height of about one
thousand feet, divided in planes of about a mile each in length. These planes are constructed with a capacity to raise daily two thousand cars, or ten thousand to twelve thousand tons, at an expense of but little more than the minimum cost per mile of transportation on a railroad of ordinary grade, thus saving to the company over four-fifths of the cost of hauling the same coal in cars by locomo- tives, as it would have required over thirteen miles of railroad to overcome the same elevation. These are thought to be the most effective planes in the world.
Having brought to a successful issue all these plans for the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Com- pany's canals and railroads, the increasing cares of his various enterprises made it necessary for him to resign the active charge of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company's extended busi- ness ; and, the company being loath to lose his services, urged upon his acceptance the position of consulting engineer and member of the board of managers, which latter position he still holds. About this time there came a struggle among transporting companies to secure control of coal lands, in which, owing to his well-known famil- iarity with the geological formations in the coal regions, Mr. Leisenring was invited to join the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, of which he was elected a director, and whose ter- minal facilities were such as to enable them to compete successfully for a large business. A lease was secured by the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey of the canals and roads of the Le- high Coal and Navigation Company, securing thereby the tonnage of the mines owned by that. company and others, including those of the Wil- kes-Barre Coal and Iron Company. The mines of the latter company, together with other pur- chases, were merged into the property of the com- pany, now known as the Lehigh and Wilkes- Barre Coal and Iron Company. In gathering these properties the advice and counsel of Mr. Leisenring were sought, and he selected the lands. which are now conceded to be as valuable as any. and to be the finest body of connected coal land
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owned by any of the corporations in the same neighborhood, and having all of the best veins of coal in perfection.
Mr. Leisenring was also a director of this latter company, and was appointed its consulting engineer. He originated the Lehigh and Luzerne Coal Company, which purchased three thousand acres of excellent coal land in Newport township, Luzerne county, and was made its president, in which office he continued until the property passed into the possession of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company by an advantageous sale. This property afterward was merged into the Le- high and Wilkes-Barre Coal and Iron Company. The near approach of the time when the anthra- cite coal fields would be unable to supply the in- creasing demands made upon them, and the neces- sity of providing new avenues for business oper- tions, led him to the consideration of coke as a fuel for the manufacture of iron, steel and other manufactures. With this end in view, an exam- ination was made of several tracts from which he and his associates selected the property which now belongs to the Connellsville Coke and Iron Company. The Connellsville coking-coal basin is about thirty miles long, by an average of two and one-half miles wide. The company's prop- erty occupies about six miles in length of the heart of this basin, covering eight thousand five hundred acres of land, every foot of which con- tains the celebrated seam of coking-coal. These facts, together with other advantages, demon- strated the great value of this company's estate. Judge Leisenring is president of the board of directors.
After the dissolution of the Carbon Iron Com- pany, at Parryville, in 1876, which was caused by the financial panic of 1873, Judge Leisenring, together with others, bought in the property and organized the Carbon Iron and Pipe Company, which has since been doing a prosperous business. Among the more recent and extensive enterprises he has engaged in is the organization of the Vir- ginia Coal and Iron Company, in 1881, under the laws of the state of Virginia, he being elected
president of the same. The property bought by this company embraces one hundred thousand acres of land located in Virginia, near the Ten- nessee and Kentucky border lines, covering a fine agricultural country, and containing large quan- tities of hematite and fossil iron ore, together with six veins of different varieties of coal, among others a rich vein of cannel coal, which until late years was imported and sold at an exorbitant price. There is enough coal above the water- level on this land alone to supply the market with one million tons a year for one thousand years. It also contains large quantities of valuable black walnut and white oak. In the following year the Holsten Steel and Iron Company was organized, with Judge Leisenring as president, its object being to utilize the products of the above com- pany in preparing them for market. They built a narrow-gauge railroad from Bristol, Tennessee, sixty-five miles long, which when completed gave them an outlet for their products. He is also owner of a tract of land that contains large beds of Tennessee marble, and is one of the originators and heaviest stockholders of the Shenandoah Na- tional Bank.
In the year 1861 Mr. Leisenring returned to Mauch Chunk, taking up his abode in his present beautiful residence, which together with its de- sirable location and handsomely laid-out and well cared for grounds, places it among the most ele- gant homes in the state. Being a man of generous heart, his acts of kindness and benevolence have been many. His sympathies and assistance have always been with the citizens of Mauch Chunk in their hour of need, or when any public improve- ment was needed or desired. In him we have a man who is universally esteemed, honored and respected by all who know him. He has no de- sire for political advancement, preferring the more congenial walks of private life, although he accepted the office of associate judge, to which he was elected in 1871, for a five-year term, by a very handsome majority. The Republican state convention which met at Harrisburg, Pennsyl- vania, May 16, 1884, showed its appreciation of
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a trusted member of the party and citizen of the commonwealth by placing his name at the head of the line of presidential electors.
Mr. Leisenring married, May 12, 1844, Caro- line Bertsch, eldest daughter of Daniel and Kath- erine Bertsch, five children being the issue of their union, three daughters and two sons.
COLONEL CHRISTOPHER T. O'NEILL, active in commercial circles in Allentown, Penn- sylvania, is distinguished by a brilliant military record which includes twenty-five years service in the National Guard of Pennsylvania, in which he has risen from the ranks to the command of a regiment, active participation in the Spanish American War, and his elevation to the high po- sition of commander of the Spanish-American War Veterans, Department of Pennsylvania, with the relative rank of brigadier-general.
Colonel O'Neill was born in Merthyr-Tydvil, South Wales, June 24, 1856. His parents were Christopher and Elizabeth (Jones) O'Neill. The father was a native of Swansea, South Wales, born December 24, 1831 ; he was a Roman Cath- olic in religion, and after coming to America was a Democrat in politics. The mother was a daugh- ter of Edward Jones, and was born in Hereford, England. Young O'Neill was an infant when his parents immigrated, and his training was essentially American. He received a liberal edu- cation in the parochial schools of Allentown, Pennsylvania, and completed a broad business course in a commercial college. In early manhood he entered upon what was destined to be an ac- tive career, in which his ability and fidelity se- cured for him repeated advancement to more important positions. From 1879 to 1884 he was telegraph operator and clerk in the office of the Allentown Rolling Mills. For a year following he was bookkeeper for the Vulcan Dynamite Company, and made a successful closure of its affairs. He was then for a short time chief clerk for the Hancock Chemical Company in New York City. In 1886 he returned to Allentown to take a position in the offices of the Lehigh Valley Rail- road. This he soon resigned to become private secretary to Mr. Louis Soleliac at the Adelaide
Silk Mills. In 1887 he returned to the Allentown Rolling Mills, where he remained until February I, 1891, when he was appointed superintendent of the state arsenal at Harrisburg by Governor Robert E. Pattison. On the expiration of his commission in 1895 he became identified with the Hanover Silk Company, opening a sales of- fice in New York city, but retainng his residence in Allentown. In 1896 he engaged in a mercan- tile business in Allentown, and in connection therewith inaugurated an independent telephone system connecting the neighboring cities and towns, and was so engaged until the breaking out of the Spanish-American war, when he laid aside all interests to devote his services to his country.
He was excellently prepared for the latter service by reason of his previous long connection with the National Guard of Pennsylvania. He had enlisted as a private in Company D, Fourth Regiment, August 16, 1879, and had been rap- idly advanced in rank. He was made corporal August II, 1881 ; sergeant June 21, 1884; ap- pointed sergeant-major by Colonel T. H. Good, August 16, 1884, and adjutant by Colonel S. D. Lehr, August 3, 1887. He was elected major on July 1, 1890, and lieutenant-colonel on Decem- ber II, same year and was re-elected July 18, 1896.
When the National Guard of Pennsylvania was being organized for active service for the' Spanish-American war, he was lieutenant-colonel of the Fourth Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers -the first regiment in the state to be mustered into the service of the United States, and one of the three regiments out of the fifteen furnished by Pennsylvania which saw v actual service abroad. Colonel O'Neill was with his regiment in the rendezvous camp at Mount Gretna, Penn- sylvania, and in the United States encampment at Chickamauga, Georgia. It formed a part of the Porto Rico expedition, and in active campaign was divided, the Second Battalion being posted at Guayama, and the Third at Arroyo. The First Battalion, under command of Colonel O'Neill, was posted on the Cayey road, in sup- port of the United States field batteries, and was
Queile
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about to go into service on the morning of Au- gust 13, 1898, when General Miles made an- nouncement of the peace protocol, and the im- pending hostilities were arrested. Although these operations were unattended by actual battle, the services engaged in by Colonel O'Neill and his men were arduous and exhausting, involving great hardships on forced marches, ceaseless vigi- lance in outpost duty, incessant skirmishing, and severe privations owing to an inefficient com- missariat. His regiment was mustered out of the service of the United States on November 16, 1898, and Colonel O'Neill returned home.
In April following (1898) he was elected highway commissioner, in which capacity, he served until July 15, 1901, when he resigned to accept his present responsibl : situation with the Lehigh Portland Cement Company. While dis- charging faithfully and with signal ability the du- ties attaching to his vocation, Colonel O'Neill continued an unabated interest in the National Guard. After his discharge from the service of the United States, he was, on November 18, 1899, elected to the colonelcy of the Fourth Reg- iment, succeeding Colonel David B. Case and was unanimously re-elected November 16, 1904. The latter ceremony was brief but exceedingly inter- esting. Twenty-seven officers of the regiment took part in the election. After the result was announced, General Gobin addressed Colonel O'Neill, congratulating him upon the excellent service he had performed, commending the regi- ment for its efficiency, and wishing for it and its commander a happy and prosperous future. Colonel O'Neill thanked the officers for their confidence and approval, and then entertained them at the Livingston Club. The day was made further notable by a peculiarly impressive event. On this very day, six years before, the Fourth Regiment had been mustered out of service at the ending of the Spanish-American war. The Daughters of the American Revolution consid- ered the occasion propitious for the unveiling of a tablet in front of the court house, and to this end held their annual state conference in Allen- town. The various military organizations pa- raded, and included Colonel S. D. Lehr and the
former officers and members of the Fourth Reg- iment ; the United Spanish War Veterans; the field and staff of the Fourth Regiment, with Com- panies D and B; Company I of the Thirteenth Regiment ; the Union Veteran Legion, and the local Grand Army Posts. The tablet was un- veiled by Mrs. Robert Iredell, regent of Liberty Bell Chapter, Daughters of the American Revo- lution. It bore the insignia of the order which she represented, and the following inscription : "In grateful recognition of the patriotic services rendered by Companies B and D, Fourth Regi- ment, P. V. I., this tablet is erected by Liberty Bell Chapter, Daughters of the American Revo- lution. November 16, 1904." Mrs. Iredell's re- marks were responded to by Judge Frank M. Trexler in behalf of the county, and by Mayor F. E. Lewis in behalf of the city. Extended re- marks were made by General Gobin.
As commander of his regiment Colonel O'Neill has participated in four annual encamp- ments of the state troups, and in the parade at Washington City upon the occasion of the in- auguration of President Mckinley on March 4, 1901. With his regiment he was under arms for forty days restoring law and order at Shenan- doah and the Panther Creek Valley, in September and October, 1900. This was a most exacting. tour of duty, under conditions the most critical. Three regiments-the Fourth, Eighth and Twelfth-were placed under the command of General J. P. S. Gobin. The Eighth and Twelfth were relieved from duty after three weeks' ser- vice, leaving the Fourth to alone meet the crisis. So admirable was the discipline of the regiment and determined the spirit of its commander that the distrubance was quelled and the mob of five thousand men dispersed, on the morning of Octo- ber 17, without the firing of a shot.
Again in the great strike of 1902, his regi- ment was called into service, and succeeding in restoring order at Mt. Carmel, Northumberland county, after which the regiment was sent to Luzerne county and divided in two sections-one posted with headquarters at Nanticoke, and the other at Plymouth, performing a most satisfac- tory tour of active duty for thirty-eight days.
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Colonel O'Neill was among the founders of the military order of Spanish-Amercan War Vet- erans, and in January, 1900, he was appointed by Commander-in-Chief Hul'ngs to the post of provisional commander of the Department of Pennsylvania, with the relative rank of brigadier- general, and he devoted himself to the duties of the position with such diligence and enthusiasm that in less than two months he had formed more than twenty camps of the order in his department. At the annual department meeting at Harrisburg, in July, 1901, Colonel O'Neill was unanimously elected department commander, despite his earn- est wish to be relieved, and at the urgent solici- tation of all the delegates he consented to serve another term. During his administration more than fifty camps were organized in Pennsylvania, and it was General O'Neill's distinction to receive generous recognition as the able, efficient and genial commander of the banner department of the organization.
Colonel O'Neill is also a member of other leading military societies-the Military Order of Foreign Wars: the United States Service Insti- tution : the National Guard Association of Penn- sylvania ; and an associate member of Post No. 13, Grand Army of the Republic. He is also con- nected with various fraternal and social bodies- Court Manhattan, Foresters of America, in which he is past chief ranger and representative to the Grand and Supreme Courts of the Order; the Ancient Order of Hibernians, in which he has been recording secretary and treasurer, and dele- gate to the state convention ; Calvary Council, Knights of Columbus, in which he is a past grand knight and a delegate to state and national con- ventions ; and Red Hawk Tribe, Improved Or- der of Red Men. In religion he is a Roman Catholic. His political affiliations are with the Democratic party. In addition to the public po- sitions which he has filled, as heretofore noted, he was clerk of the common council of Allentown from 1883 to 1885, and was re-elected in 1885 to serve a second two year term.
Colonel O'Neill was married May 30, 1880. to Miss Margaret Cecelia Gorman, a native of
Allentown, and a graduate of its public schools. Of this marriage have been born two children, John anl Anne.
GEN. WILLIAM LILLY. In the death of General William Lilly, the city of Mauch Chunk was deprived of one of its most talented and hon- ored citizens, and the commonwealth of one of its most accomplished statesmen.
He was born at Penn Yan, New York, June 3, 1821. He was a lad of seventeen when he came with his parents to Mauch Chunk, and he at once entered upon a life of industry and re- sponsibility, at that early age being entrusted with the duties of a conductor on the Beaver Meadow Railroad. He rendered acceptable service in that capacity for a period of six years, and then be- came identified with the Hazelton Railway, a branch of line which included the Penn Haven inclined-plane track to Hazelton, this branch also connecting with Parryville by canal, and each in the coal carrying business. Mr. Lilly later be- came associated with Ario Pardee, J. Gillingham Fell and George B. Markle, in the coal business at Jeddo. The last but by no means least im- portant enterprise which engaged his attention was the management of the extensive colliery at Park Place, in which he was associated with the firm of Lentz. Lilly & Company. In all these relations he displayed the best qualities of a well equipped man of affairs, and he contributed in large degree to the development of the mining and transportation interests of the region, and was ranked among the leading promoters and managers along those lines.
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