Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1259

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

0.2 linear_foot (1 box)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Jacob Miller Haldeman business letters, 1813-1853, Ms. Coll. 1259, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1813-1853 (inclusive)

Creator:

Haldeman, Jacob Miller

Form:

Correspondence

Abstract:

Jacob Miller Haldeman (1781-1857) was a successful iron monger and businessman. He was one of the incorporators of the Chestnut Hill Iron Ore Company, of Columbia, in 1851, and was also one of the incorporators and managers of the Susquehanna Tide Water Canal Company. Additionally, he was one of the founders and a director of the Dauphin Deposit Bank in Harrisburg and was a large stockholder in the Harrisburg Bank, of which he was president starting in 1853, until the time of his death. The bulk of this collection consists of business letters to Jacob Miller Haldeman, most of which are from businessmen in Baltimore, Maryland. The letters address businesses that Haldeman was involved in, including iron, flour, canals, and property.

Jacob Miller Haldeman (1781-1857), an ironmonger businessman, was born in Manheim Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and died in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he lived during the later years of his life. He was the son of John Haldeman (1753-1832), a successful businessman and operator of gristmills and distilleries.

Around 1806, Jacob Miller Haldeman purchased, with a $30,000 loan from his father, the water power and forge at the mouth of the Yellow Breeches Creek in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and established himself in the iron business. Haldeman manufactured a superior grade of iron which found a ready market and he added a rolling and slitting mill to his business. In 1809, he purchased with Thomas Fisher the mill and forge of John Walker, situated on the Conodoguinet Creek, a mile due north of Hogestown, and jointly operated both until 1814 when Haldeman sold the business to his partner. During the war of 1812, he supplied the government with iron, which he forwarded across the South Mountain on mule back to the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, where it was manufactured into guns. In 1814, he established the town of Haldeman, later known as New Cumberland, where he built a sawmill and gristmill. In 1830, Haldeman purchased the Mary Ann and Augusta furnaces, situated along the "Old Baltimore Road" in Southampton Township, and operated them for several years.

In 1810, Jacob Miller Haldeman married Eliza Ewing Jacobs (1789-1884), who was born at Mount Hope Furnace, Lancaster County. In 1830, they moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where they lived until his death. He was one of the incorporators of the Chestnut Hill Iron Ore Company, of Columbia, in 1851, and was also one of the incorporators and managers of the Susquehanna Tide Water Canal Company. Additionally, he was one of the founders and a director of the Dauphin Deposit Bank in Harrisburg and was a large stockholder in the Harrisburg Bank, of which he was president starting in 1853, until the time of his death.

Richard Jacobs Haldeman (1831-1885), the youngest child of Jacob Miller Haldeman and Eliza Ewing Jacobs, was born in, and died in, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. In 1869, he was elected to congress from the Fifteenth District, Cumberland, Perry, and York Counties, where he served two terms. He married Margaretta Cameron in 1870 and had three children: Donald Cameron, Eliza Ewing, and Richard Cameron.

The bulk of this collection consists of business letters to Jacob Miller Haldeman, most of which are from businessmen in Baltimore, Maryland. The letters address businesses that Haldeman was involved in, including iron, flour, canals, and property. Some letters concern the passage of a Canal Bill, requests made to Haldeman for collection of funds due by stockholders in Harrisburg, a proposed court case for which witnesses were being gathered, assessment of property, taxes paid on property, and dissolution of the Little Canal by its trustees. There is one printed sheet for the Philadelphia Commercial List and Prices Current, dated 1853 September 10, and one manuscript page of accounts for an estate that was being settled during the years 1819 to 1824. While the majority of the letters are written to Haldeman, there are four that are neither written by or addressed to Haldeman; these letters relate to business and are arranged in chronological order. The collection also contains two undated used envelopes, one of which is addressed to Michael [Shouse] of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and one of which is not addressed.