Francis Weiss

Francis Weiss started out in life a poor boy, working on a farm and in a sawmill until eighteen years of age. He educated himself and taught school for a while in Weissport, in the old octagon stone school house, which is still standing, though not in use. At the age of eighteen he joined the engineers' corps of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, beginning as an axe man and working his way up until he had charge of the corps.

While with them he assisted in surveying the Lehigh and Morriss Canals laying out some of the locks along the former, and later in life helped to survey the Lehigh Valley Railroad. In partnership with Messrs, Belford, Sharp and John Leisenring, he embarked in business, and as they had no capital, the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company advanced them their mules, with which to start mining at Summit Hill. There they mined for four years with success, and during that time planned and built the Gravity Railroad from Summit Hill to Mauch Chunk, in order to convey the coal to the latter place. This was one of the most remarkable railroads ever constructed, and is now the famous “Switchback.” The firm leased a valuable tract of land from the Cox estate at Eckley, and engaged in mining, under the firm name of Sharp, Weiss & Co., the latter being the superintendent of the mines and the former the financier of the concern. Shortly before the war Mr. Leisenring retired from the firm and became President of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company.

For a few years but little headway was made. It was about 1860 that the coal business commenced to be a grand success in this region, and the firm became immensely wealthy. When their twenty years' lease had expired they dissolved partnership, and Mr. Sharp located at Wilkes Barre, our subject becoming a resident of Bethlehem in 1870. In the mean time they had, however, purchased over five hundred acres of coal land in Newport Township, Luzerne County, nine miles south of Wilkes Barre, now operated by the Alton Coal Company. The mines were not opened until 1886, when Mr. Weiss formed and incorporated the company, being made president, which position he held until his death. He and Mr. Sharp owned the land, and the company paid a royalty to them. They were also the largest stockholders in the concern.

Francis Weiss planned the building of the colliery and the breakers, which are operated by means of automatic machinery, constructed so as to save a great deal of labor. When a boy our subject traveled on foot all over the mountains, and during the surveying expeditions made geological discoveries and investigated the science, until he was considered an authority on the subject. He often gave lectures on this, his favorite study. One of the organizers of the Lehigh Valley National Bank, he was president of it until his death. He was also a stockholder in the Lehigh Valley Railroad, the Bethlehem Iron Company, the old Bangor Slate Company, the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, and held stock in banks in different cities.

Elizabeth, wife of Mr. Weiss, was born in Weissport, being a daughter of Jacob Koons, a farmer of German descent. Ten children were born of the marriage, eight of whom grew to man hood and womanhood: Rebecca, Mrs. Joseph E. Smaltz, of Philadelphia; Thomas, a resident of Bethlehem, whose sketch will be found elsewhere in this work, as also those of his brothers, Harry, Francis and William; Caroline, the wife of George H. Meyers, President of the First National bank of Bethlehem, whose record appears elsewhere in this volume; Lewis, who died in 1888, aged thirty years; and Kate, Mrs. L. R. Meyers, wife of the well known attorney of Bethlehem. The mother of these children is still living at the old homestead, and is now in her seventy-fifth year.

Francis Weiss was called from this life February 14, 1889, when nearly sixty-nine years of age, He was a straight republican, but not an aspirant of office. Quiet and unassuming in manner, he was well liked by everyone and was an interesting conversationalist. He was prominent and liberal in the work of the Episcopal Church, of which he was a charter member and in which he officiated as Senior Warden. He it was who gave the lot on which the edifice stands, and he was also one of the principal contributors toward the erection of the building.