Northumberland County PA Archives Biographies.....Haas, John Packer 1849 - 

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Author: Biographical Publishing Co.



JOHN PACKER HAAS, one of the representative business men of Sunbury,

Northumberland County, Pa., is a man of considerable influence, being held in

the highest esteem by his innumerable acquaintances. He was born in Sunbury,

September 30, 1849, and is a son of John and Mary (Gheen) Haas. He is descended

from Revolutionary stock, his great-grandfather on the paternal side having

participated in the War of the Revolution.



  Daniel Haas, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Shamokin

township, Northumberland County, Pa., where he engaged in tilling the soil,

becoming a man of prominence in that locality. In political attachments he was a

Democrat. He married Eve Reed, a member of a well-known family of Shamokin

township, and their union was blessed by the birth of eleven children, among

whom was John Haas, the father of our subject.



  John Haas was born June 22, 1822, in Shamokin township, Pa., and spent his

younger days in work upon his father's farm. After leaving home he engaged in

mercantile business and in mining coal, spending many years in that business. He

was a member of the firm of John Haas & Company and of Haas & Fageley of

Shamokin, a firm very well-known at the time, but he retired from the ccal

business in 1875. He then was interested in the Sunbury Nail Works, with which

he was identified until 1894, when he resigned as its president. He was always

interested in public improvements and was connected with numerous public

enterprises, namely: as director of the First National Bank; one of the first

directors of the Shamokin, Sunbury & Lewisburg Railroad, and was for many years

president of the missionary institute, now known as Susquehanna University. He

has been an elder in the Lutheran Church at Sunbury for thirty-five years, and

was superintendent of the Sunday School for thirty years. Politically he is a

Republican, and during the Civil War was a very strong Unionist. He is now

enjoying life at the advanced age of nearly seventy-seven years. His union with

Mary Gheen resulted in the birth of four children: John Packer, the subject of

this sketch; J. Clementine, who married L. T. Rohrbach; Mary Alice, wife of the

late Dr. C. M. Martin; and Louisa, who died in infancy.



  John Packer Haas received his intellectual training at Susquehanna University

and at Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg, Pa. Upon leaving school he was

employed by his father at Sunbury, and later was extensively engaged in the

wholesale and retail coal business at Baltimore, Md. While ..residing in that

city he was appointed treasurer of the Baltimore postoffice to serve under

Postmaster Harrison Adreon. Upon the expiration of his term of four years he

returned to Sunbury, Pa., where he engaged in the iron business until the

Sunbury mill closed down for a few years. He then engaged as New York State

agent for the Pottstown Iron Company, with his office located at Syracuse, N.

Y., and he efficiently served in that capacity until the company closed the

works. He has since devoted his attention to his private interests. He is a man

of exceptional business ability, energetic and always trustworthy. He has the

explicit confidence of his fellow-citizens and is everywhere respected. In

politics he is a stanch Republican. He was honored by the unanimous nomination

for Congress from his county and declined the nomination from the Seventeenth

Congressional District.



  On November 4, 1872, Mr. Haas was united in marriage with Sally Schaffle of

Lewisburg, Pa., eldest daughter of C. W. Schaffle, deceased, and they became the

parents of three children: Mary G., now Mrs. A. J. Carter of Waynesburg, Pa.;

Gertrude, who lives at home; and Jennie, deceased. In religious attachments the

family are members of the Lutheran Church.





Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

  

  Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District

  Published by 

  Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899)









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