Asa Packer
Encyclopedia
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businessman who pioneered railroad construction, was active in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
politics, and founded Lehigh University
Lehigh University
Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...
.
Early life
Packer was born in Mystic, ConnecticutMystic, Connecticut
Mystic is a village and census-designated place in New London County, Connecticut, in the United States. The population was 4,001 at the 2000 census. A historic locality, Mystic has no independent government because it is not a legally recognized municipality in the state of Connecticut...
. In 1805, he became a carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
's apprentice to his cousin, Edward Packer, at Brooklyn
Brooklyn Township, Pennsylvania
Brooklyn Township is a township in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 889 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.-Demographics:As of the census of...
, Susquehanna County
Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 42,238 people, 16,529 households, and 11,785 families residing in the county. The population density was 51 people per square mile . There were 21,829 housing units at an average density of 26 per square mile...
, Pennsylvania. He also worked as a carpenter in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and in Springville
Springville Township, Pennsylvania
Springville Township is a township in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, United States that was formed during the April Session in 1814...
, Pennsylvania. In 1833, Packer settled at Mauch Chunk (present day Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania
Jim Thorpe is a borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, USA. The population was 4,804 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Carbon County. The town has been called the "Switzerland of America" due to the picturesque scenery, mountainous location, and architecture; as well as the "Gateway to...
), in the Lehigh Valley
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley, known officially by the United States Census Bureau as the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area and referred to locally as The Valley and A-B-E, is a metropolitan region consisting of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, and Carbon counties in eastern Pennsylvania and...
, where he became the owner of a canal boat
Barge
A barge is a flat-bottomed boat, built mainly for river and canal transport of heavy goods. Some barges are not self-propelled and need to be towed by tugboats or pushed by towboats...
(carrying coal to Philadelphia). Packer then established the firm of A. & R. W. Packer, which built canal-boats and locks for the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company
Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company
The Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, also known in the Lehigh Valley as the Old Company, was a mining and transportation company which grew out of the Lehigh Coal Mine Company. It was created from the merger of the Lehigh Coal Company and the Lehigh Navigation Company.-Development:The Lehigh Coal...
, probably the first through shippers to New York.
Business Activities
He urged upon the Coal & Navigation Company the advantage of a steam railway as a coal carrier, but the project was not then considered feasible. In 1851 the majority of the stock of the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill & Susquehanna Railroad Company (incorporated in 1846), which became the Lehigh Valley RailroadLehigh Valley Railroad
The Lehigh Valley Railroad was one of a number of railroads built in the northeastern United States primarily to haul anthracite coal.It was authorized April 21, 1846 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and incorporated September 20, 1847 as the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad...
Company in January 1853, came into his control, and between November 1852 and September 1855 a railway line was built for the Company, largely by Packer's personal credit, from Mauch Chunk to Easton
Easton, Pennsylvania
Easton is a city in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 26,800 as of the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Northampton County....
. He built railways connecting the main line with coal-mines in Luzerne
Luzerne County, Pennsylvania
- Demographics :As of the 2010 census, the county was 90.7% White, 3.4% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 3.3% were of some other race, and 1.5% were two or more races. 6.7% of the population was of Hispanic or Latino ancestry...
and Schuylkill
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania
-Notable people:*Boxing heavyweight great Muhammad Ali had his training camp in Deer Lake.*Charles Justin Bailey, commanding general of the 81st Division in World War I, was born in Tamaqua on June 21, 1859....
counties; and he planned and built the extension (completed in 1868) of the line into the Susquehanna Valley and thence into New York state to connect at Waverly, New York
Waverly, New York
Waverly is the name of some places in the U.S. state of New York:*Waverly, Tioga County, New York, a village in New York's Southern Tier*Waverly, Franklin County, New York, a town in Northern New York...
with the Erie railway. Among his clerks and associates during this period was future businessman and soldier George Washington Helme
George Washington Helme
George Washington Helme , the founder of Helmetta, New Jersey, was the ninth child and fifth son of Major Oliver Helme by his second wife Sarah Pease Fish....
.
Politics
Packer also took an active part in politics. In 1841 and 1842 he was a member of the Pennsylvania House of RepresentativesPennsylvania House of Representatives
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two year terms from single member districts....
. In 1843-1848, he was county judge of Carbon County
Carbon County, Pennsylvania
As of the census of 2000, there were 58,802 people, 23,701 households, and 16,424 families residing in the county. The population density was 154 people per square mile . There were 30,492 housing units at an average density of 80 per square mile...
under Governor David R. Porter
David R. Porter
David Rittenhouse Porter was the ninth Governor of Pennsylvania. He served from 1839 to 1845.-Life:Porter, the first governor under the State Constitution of 1838 was born October 31, 1788, near Norristown, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania spending his boyhood at Selma Mansion, a home built by his...
. He served two terms as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives beginning in 1853. Packer made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic Party's Presidential nomination in 1868. He got the party's nod for the 1869 Pennsylvania Governor's race, but lost the campaign to John W. Geary
John W. Geary
John White Geary was an American lawyer, politician, Freemason, and a Union general in the American Civil War...
by 4,596 votes, one of the closest statewide races in Pennsylvania history.
Lehigh University
In 1865 he gave $500,000 and 60 acres (243,000 m²), later increased to 115 acres (465,000 m²) in Bethlehem, PennsylvaniaBethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh and Northampton Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 74,982, making it the seventh largest city in Pennsylvania, after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie,...
, for a technical school for the professions represented in the development of the Lehigh Valley
Lehigh Valley
The Lehigh Valley, known officially by the United States Census Bureau as the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area and referred to locally as The Valley and A-B-E, is a metropolitan region consisting of Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, and Carbon counties in eastern Pennsylvania and...
. Lehigh University
Lehigh University
Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States. It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school, but has grown to include studies in a wide variety of disciplines...
was chartered in 1866, and its main building, Packer Hall, was completed in 1869. For the first 26 years of Lehigh's existence, the university was tuition free.
Family
Packer was married to Sarah Minerva Blakslee (1807-1882), daughter to Zophar and Clarinda Whitmer Blakslee. The Packers had seven children: Lucy Packer Linderman (1832-1873), Catherine Packer (1836-1837), Mary Packer Cummings (1839-1912), Malvina Fitzrandolph Packer (1841-1841), Robert Asa Packer (1842-1883), Gertrude Packer (1846-1848), and Harry Eldred Packer (1850-1884). The only living descendants of Asa Packer are descended from the children of Lucy Packer Linderman.Legacies
Mr. Packer's residence, the Asa Packer MansionAsa Packer Mansion
The Asa Packer Mansion, in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, was the home of Asa Packer , coal and railroad magnate and founder of Lehigh University. It is one of the best preserved Italianate Villa homes in the United States.-History:...
became a museum, opened for tours in 1956, and was named a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1985. Asa Packer was a member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church and contributed large amounts of money to this beautiful Gothic Revival Church that is located in downtown Jim Thorpe. St. Mark's was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987. There is also an elementary school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania named Asa Packer.