BIO: JACOB MILLER HALDEMAN, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Joe Patterson OCRed by Judy Banja Copyright 2004. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/ _____________________________________________________________ >From Biographical Annals of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Chicago: The Genealogical Publishing Co., 1905, pages 829-831 _____________________________________________________________ NOTE: Use this web address to access other bios: http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/zeamer/ JACOB MILLER HALDEMAN was born March 4, 1781, in Manheim township, Lancaster Co., Pa., and died Dec. 15, 1857, in Harrisburg, Pa., where he resided the latter years of his life, aged seventy-six years, nine months and eleven days. Jacob Haldeman, the grandfather of Jacob Miller Haldeman, was born Oct. 7, 1722, in the Canton of Neufchatel, Switzerland, and died Feb. 27, 1783, in Rapho township, Lancaster Co., Pa. During the troubles which resulted in the war of the Revolution he was one of the Committee of Public Safety for Rapho township, and appears as a member of the "Committee of Observation" for Rapho township, Lancaster county. [Vide proceedings of Nov. 8, 1775, Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. XIII, pp. 275 and 294.] He was a near relative of the noted British general, Sir Frederick Haldimand, K. B., who served with distinction in the armies of Sardinia and Prussia, entered the military service of King George in 1754, and was appointed lieutenant-colonel of the 16th Regiment of Royal Americans in January, 1756. In 1776 Sir Frederick was commissioned a general in America, and subsequently became commander-in-chief of His Majesty's forces and governor of the province of Quebec. Jacob Haldeman was one of the earliest settlers in Rapho township, Lancaster county, and died possessed of very considerable land there. He married Maria Miller, a daughter of Henry Miller, of Earl township, Lancaster county, who survived him together with a family of some twelve children. John Haldeman, a son of Jacob, was born in 1753, and died in 1832. He married Maria Breneman, and they became the parents of Jacob M. Haldeman, the subject of our sketch. John Haldeman moved to Locust Grove, Conoy township, Lancaster county, where, in 1790, he built a large stone gristmill and, in 1800, a distillery. Bayard Taylor's grandfather, a mason, worked on this mill, and ran away with and married a relative of Mr. Haldeman's wife, the match having been bitterly opposed. John Haldeman was one of the boldest and most successful business men in the State, gradually increasing the number of his acres and extending his business until his operations frequently extended far beyond his own State. As an instance of his activity and hardiness, it is related of him that he would occasionally make the trip to Philadelphia in one day, a distance of nearly ninety miles, starting early in the morning and arriving the same evening. His flour and produce he sent down the Susquehanna river to Wright's Ferry and thence to Philadelphia. He was elected to the Legislature in 1800. After retirement from active business he took up his residence in Columbia, Lancaster county, where he died, after first having the pleasure 830 CUMBERLAND COUNTY. of seeing all his sons become successful men of business. Jacob Miller Haldeman obtained a good English and German education under the private instructions of an English officer. At the age of nineteen years he was sent by his father to Pittsburg, making the journey on horseback, through many Indian settlements, to purchase flour to send down the river in flatboats to New Orleans. Not finding a good market there, he chartered a vessel and took his cargo to Havana, Cuba. About 1806, or before, assisted by his father to the extent of some $30,000, Jacob M. purchased the water power and forge at the mouth of the Yellow Breeches creek, Cumberland county, and established himself in the iron business. In six years he had paid back in full the $30,000 borrowed from his father. Mr. Haldeman manufactured a superior grade of iron which found a ready market, and he soon added a rolling and slitting mill to his works. During the war of 1812 he supplied the Government with iron which he forwarded across the South Mountain on muleback to the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, where it was manufactured into guns. All of this iron he gave to the Government. In 1814 he established the town of Haldeman, now New Cumberland, where he built a sawmill and gristmill. He managed all his business without the assistance of a manager or clerk. In August, 1809, he and Thomas Fisher bought the mill and forge of John Walker, situated on the Conedoguinet creek, a mile due north of Hogestown, and jointly operated both until in December, 1814, when Mr. Haldeman sold out to his partner, who in his own name carried on an extensive business at that place until in 1834, when he died. In June, 1830, Mr. Haldeman, with John Moore and John D. Mahon, bought the Mary Ann and Augusta furnaces, situated along the "Old Baltimore Road" in Southampton township, and operated them for several years. In 1810 Mr. Haldeman married Eliza Ewing Jacobs, who was born at Mount Hope Furnace, Lancaster county, on June 13, 1789. Her grandfather, Richard Jacobs, was of Welsh birth and was one of the early iron manufacturers of Pennsylvania, while her father, Samuel Jacobs, was engaged in the same industry, not only at Mount Hope but also at Colebrook. After the war of 1812 he invested largely in real estate in Dauphin county, and in 1830 he moved to Harrisburg, Pa., and purchased a residence on Front street (Nos. 25 and 27 North Front street), in which he 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. He was largely interested in all local enterprises, aiding greatly in building the bridge over the river at Harrisburg, and was president of the company owning it, the Harrisburg Bridge Company. He was one of the founders and a director of the Dauphin Deposit Bank at Harrisburg, also became a large stockholder in the Harrisburg Bank, of which he was chosen president in 1853, and held the position until his death. Mr. Haldeman was independent and liberal in his political views, but was known as a Whig, and in his religious affiliations was a Presbyterian. He enjoyed the acquaintance of many prominent men of his day and derived great pleasure in intercourse with them when opportunity permitted or they visited this part of the country. By those who knew him he was regarded a man of extraordinary foresight and judgment, whom they considered in advance of his time and environment. CUMBERLAND COUNTY. 831 RICHARD JACOBS HALDEMAN, youngest child of Jacob Miller Haldeman and Eliza Ewing (Jacobs) Haldeman, was born at Harrisburg, Pa., May 19, 1831, and died in the city of his birth, Oct. 1, 1885. His early teaching was obtained in private schools, among them the academy and Capt. Partridge's military school at Harrisburg, when he was sent to Yale College, Connecticut, entering and graduating with the class of 1851, with high honors. The same year he visited Europe to complete his education and studied at the Universities of Heidelberg and Berlin, at both of which institutions he received marked commendation from his professors for scholarship. In 1853 he went with Hon. John Y. Mason (of Virginia), United States minister to France, as attache of legation in Paris, and later accompanied Hon. Thomas H. Seymour in a similar capacity to St. Petersburg. Because of his acquaintance with the European languages, especially French and German, Mr. Haldeman was peculiarly valuable to his chiefs in his diplomatic services. During his residence abroad and later visits he traveled extensively and minutely throughout Scandinavia, central and southern Europe, and the far East. In 1857 he purchased the Daily and Weekly Patriot and Union, in Harrisburg, and edited it until 1860. In politics Mr. Haldeman was a Democrat and first became a nominee of his party for the office of State senator in Dauphin county, fall of 1857, but was defeated by John B. Rutherford in a Republican district, after one of the fiercest campaigns ever recalled there. In 1860 he was a delegate to the Charleston and Baltimore conventions. Some time in 1867 Mr. Haldeman took up his residence in Cumberland county, upon a farm inherited from his father, known in the neighborhood as the "Bunker Hill" farm,and situated along the river at the confluence of the Conedoguinet creek with the Susquehanna river. Here he retained his residence until the late years of his life, when he began to reside more continuously in Harrisburg on account of the schooling of his children. In 1869 he was elected to Congress from the Fifteenth District, Cumberland, Perry and York counties, where he served two terms, obtaining marked recognition because of his ability as a speaker and a forceful writer. Upon retirement from Congress Mr. Haldeman retired from politics. On May 12, 1870, he married Margaretta Cameron, daughter of Gen. Simon Cameron, and Margaretta (Brua) Cameron, of Harrisburg, Pa., who survives, together with their three children: Donald Cameron; Eliza Ewing, of Harrisburg, and Richard Cameron, of Pittsburg, Pa. An older, brother of Mr. Haldeman, Jacob Samils Haldeman, was at one time a member of the State Senate and was later sent as United States Minister to Sweden.