BIO: Jacob M. HALDEMAN, Dauphin County, PA

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Commemorative Biographical Encyclopedia of Dauphin County, 
Containing Sketches of Representative Citizens, and Many of the 
Early Scotch-Irish and German Settlers.  Chambersburg, Pa.: 
J. M. Runk & Company, 1896, pages 172-173.
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  HALDEMAN, JACOB M. - Honeste Gaspard Haldimand (Caspar Haldeman), of 
Thun, Switzerland, became a citizen of Yverdun, Canton de Vaud, in 
1671.  His grandson, Jacob, born October 7, 1722, in the Canton of 
Neufchatel, died December 31, 1784, in Rapho township, Lancaster 
county, Pa., where he settled on first coming to this country, and 
purchased a considerable tract of land. He was a member of the 
Committee of Safety for his adopted shire on the breaking out of the 
war of the Revolution.
  Jacob Haldeman's near relative was the 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 II, in 1754, 
was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Sixtieth regiment, Royal 
Americans, 1756.  In 1776 he was commissioned a general in America, and 
subsequently commander-in-chief of His Majesty's forces as governor of 
the Province of Quebec, where he received the honor of knighthood, May 
10, 1778. A tablet has been erected to the memory of General Haldimand 
in Westminster Abbey, in the chapel of Henry VII. A niece of Sir 
Frederick was Jane Haldimand, Mrs. Dr. Alexander Marcet, a 
distinguished woman, and the first writer to attempt to popularize 
science by the publication of her "Conversation on Chemistry, Natural 
Philosophy, Botany, Mineralogy, Language, and Political Economy."  Of 
this last work Macaulay said, "Every girl who has read Mrs. Marcet's 
little dialogues on political economy could teach Montague or Walpole 
many lessons in finance," and Faraday gleaned his first knowledge of 
science from the book which heads the list.  
  Jacob Haldeman's son John (1753-1832) settled at Locust Grove, 
Lancaster county, Pa.  John's fourth son, Henry Haldeman, was the 
father of the distinguished Samuel Stehman Haldeman, LL. D., professor 
of comparative philology in the University of Pennsylvania.
  John Haldeman was an enterprising and influential citizen. He was a 
large landowner and engaged largely in business pursuits, in 
partnership with Robert Ralston, of Philadelphia, in the China trade, 
and he was a member of the Bingham Court and first General Assembly of 
Pennsylvania.  He resided at Locust Grove until late in life, when he 
removed to Columbia, in the same county, where both himself and wife 
died.
  Jacob M. Haldeman, second son of John and Mary (Breneman) Haldeman, 
obtained a good English and German education under the private 
instruction of an English officer, and seemingly inherited practical 
ideas from his father.  At the age of nineteen he was sent on horseback 
by his father to Pittsburgh, making his journey through many Indian 
settlements, to purchase flour to send down the river in flat-boats to 
New Orleans.
  About 1806, assisted by his father, he purchased the waterpower and 
forge at the mouth of Yellow Breeches creek and established himself in 
the iron business. He added a rolling and slitting mill, and by his 
energy and industry soon became one of the foremost iron manufacturers 
in the State. His superior iron found steady market, and upon the 
establishment of the arsenal at Harper's Ferry he supplied the 
Government with iron, especially during the war of 1812-14, which he 
forwarded across the South mountain on mule back to the Ferry, where it 
was manufactured into guns, many of which may be seen to-day, stamped 
1812.  At that time he founded Haldemanstown, now called New 
Cumberland, at the junction of the creek and river, and it may be here 
remarked that it had been one of the points in question in the Congress 
at New York as the proposed site of the national capital, and he also 
built a saw mill and grist mill at the same place.
  Following the war of 1812, during the depression, he invested largely 
in farms and real estate, and engaged in the management of the same, a 
business so varied and so large as to require his constant attention, 
and he managed it all without the aid of an assistant or clerk.  In 
1830 he removed to Harrisburg and purchased a residence built by 
Stephen A. Hills, architect of the capitol building, on Front street, 
on the bank of the Susquehanna, where he continued to reside until his 
death.  His connection with the Harrisburg Bank and the Harrisburg 
Bridge Company as president, with the Harrisburg Car Company as one of 
its founders, and a director with the Dauphin Deposit Bank, as one of 
its founders, made his name familiar in business and financial circles 
during his residence here, and made him known to the community as a man 
of sterling integrity, discretion and superior business ability. He was 
never solicitous of public place or the emoluments of office, and led a 
strictly business life.  As a citizen, he was independent in his 
political views, was an attendant of the Presbyterian Church, and a 
contributor to all worthy local enterprises.
  His wife, Eliza E., daughter of Samuel Jacobs and Sarah Templin, and 
granddaughter of Richard Jacobs, of Wales, was born June 13,1789, at 
Mount Hope Furnace, Lancaster county, Pa.  Mrs. Haldeman is a member of 
the Presbyterian Church. Their children are Sara Jacobs, widow of the 
late William W. Haly, of Cork, Ireland, a distinguished lawyer of 
Philadelphia, and author of "Troubat & Haly's Practice," resided at the 
homestead in Harrisburg. Mary Ewing was the wife of Robert J. Ross, a 
banker of Harrisburg, and died in 1873.  Caroline Jacobs, Elizabeth 
Templin and Anne died young. John, born September 19, 1821, died in 
Denver, Col., July13, 1865.  Jacob S., born October 13, 1823, for many 
years president of the State Agricultural Society, ex-member of the 
State Legislature, and ex-Minister to Sweden, resided in Harrisburg.  
Susan Frances, wife of Dr. Mortimer O'Connor, a graduate of the Dublin 
schools of medicine, and formerly a surgeon in the British service, and 
Richard Jacobs Haldeman, born May 19, 1831, educated at Yale, 
Heidelberg, Germany, and Berlin, was editor and proprietor of the 
Harrisburg Patriot for several years, and the founder of the Harrisburg 
Daily Patriot, and member of Congress for two terms.