Asa Packer

Asa Packer

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Asa Packer
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
In office 1842–1843
Associate Judge of Carbon County
In office 1843–1844
4th President of the Lehigh Valley Railroad
In office 1862–1864
Preceded by	J. Gillingham Fell
Succeeded by	William M. Longstreth
6th President of the Lehigh Valley Railroad
In office 1868–1879
Preceded by	William M. Longstreth
Succeeded by	Charles Hartshorne
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 13th district
In office March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1857
Preceded by	James Gamble
Succeeded by	William H. Dimmick
Personal details
Born	(1805-12-29)December 29, 1805 Mystic, Connecticut
Died	May 17, 1879(1879-05-17) (aged 73) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Sarah Minerva Blakslee
Occupation	Businessman, railroad executive, politician

Asa Packer (December 29, 1805 – May 17, 1879) was an American businessman who pioneered railroad construction, was active in Pennsylvania politics, and founded Lehigh University. A conservative and religious man, he reflected the image of the typical Connecticut Yankee. His knowledge of construction and engineering was put to good use on behalf of his university. Packer also served two terms in the United States House of Representatives (1853–1857).

Contents

• 1Early life
• 2Business activities
• 3Politics
• 4Lehigh University
• 5Family
• 6Legacies
• 7See also
• 8References
• 9External links

Early life[edit]

Packer was born in Mystic, Connecticut in 1805. There was a long history of persons from Connecticut migrating westward to the many branch valleys of the Susquehanna River and in his turn he became a carpenter's apprentice to his cousin, Edward Packer, at Brooklyn, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, a county on the Pennsylvania-New York border. He also worked seasonally as a carpenter in New York City and later in Springville, in the lower part of the county. It was in Springville where he met his wife, Sarah Minerva Blakslee. Dr. Yates writes of his early life: "Asa and Sarah settled on a farm, and in the winter he went to Tunkhannock on the [Upper] Susquehanna and used his skill in carpentry to build and repair canal boats." This continued for 11 years.^[1] In 1833, Packer settled at Mauch Chunk (present day Jim Thorpe), in Carbon County, where he became the owner of a canal boat (carrying coal to Philadelphia). Packer then established the firm of A. & R. W. Packer, which built canal-boats and locks for the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, probably the first through shippers to New York.^[2]

Business activities[edit]

He urged the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company to adopt a steam railway as a coal carrier, but the project was not then considered feasible.^[3] In 1851, the majority of the stock of the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill & Susquehanna Railroad Company (incorporated in 1846), later to become the known as the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company (January 1853), came into his control, and between November 1852 and September 1855 a railway line was built for the company, from Mauch Chunk to Easton.^[4] Construction commenced on the Mauch Chunk-Easton line just as Packer's five year charter was to expire.^[3] He built railways connecting the main line with coal mines in Luzerne and Schuylkill counties; and he planned and built the extension (completed in 1868) of the line into the Susquehanna Valley and thence into New York state to connect at Waverly with the Erie Railroad.^[2] Among his clerks and associates during this period was future businessman and soldier George Washington Helme.

Politics[edit]

Packer also took an active part in politics. In 1842–1843, he was a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. In 1843–1844, he was county judge of Carbon County under Governor David R. Porter. He served two terms as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives beginning in 1853.^[2] Packer made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic Party's Presidential nomination in 1868. He got the party's nod for the 1869 Pennsylvania Governor's race, but lost the campaign to John W. Geary by 4,596 votes, one of the closest statewide races in Pennsylvania history.

Lehigh University[edit]

Asa Packer was rather laconic and reticent, when word spread that Packer was to found a university, or aid one, there were various speculations.^[5] The final spot chosen, on South Mountain in Bethlehem, could not have been much happier: as it nestled in with a preexisting religious community, the Moravians, and additionally was the future home of benefactor, and collaborator, Bethlehem Steel Co. So then, in 1865, he gave $500,000 and 60 acres (243,000 m²), later increased to 115 acres (465,000 m²) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, as a technical school for the engineering professions, designed to help the growth and development of the Lehigh Valley. Lehigh University was chartered, and instruction began, in 1866.^[2] The first main building, Packer Hall (now the University Center) was completed in 1869, and of stone, as Packer himself stipulated.^[6] With Packer's generosity, Lehigh was able to offer education tuition free for 20 years, 1871–1891, before the economic troubles of the 1890s forced the University to reverse this policy.

Two other important buildings were either constructed, or construction had commenced, while Packer was still alive: the other two being The President's House, to the West, and slightly downhill of Packer Hall, and Linderman Library (after daughter Lucy Packer Linderman), to the east, and again slightly downhill from the center building, Packer Hall. Both were relatively large prominent structures, and all of stone. The more utilitarian buildings were constructed immediately adjacent to Packer Ave. (south side), while the larger, and more important structures for the university as a whole, tended to be set back, and up the hill. After the initial gift of one half million dollars, Packer was still able to consistently give to the young University. He was active in management, though his ideas were not always determinative.

Tuition free education was instituted in 1871, intended as a means to compete with other young technical schools, especially Lafayette and Cornell, boost the size of the student body, and increase popular interest and recognition generally. This was not due to the generosity of Packer's initial gift, which had been by then near entirely spent on stone buildings and laboratory equipment, but rather his continual giving, and that of the estate upon his death.^[7] His will bequeathed $1,500,000 as an endowment for the university and $500,000 to the university library, and gave the university an interest of nearly one third in his estate when finally distributed.^[2]

Family[edit]

Packer was married to Sarah Minerva Blakslee (1807–1882), daughter to Zophar and Clarinda Whitmer Blakslee. The Packers had seven children: Lucy Packer Linderman (1832–1873), Catherine Packer (1836–1837), Mary Packer Cummings (1839–1912), Malvina Fitzrandolph Packer (1841–1841), Robert Asa Packer (1842–1883), Gertrude Packer (1846–1848), and Harry Eldred Packer (1850–1884).

Legacies[edit]

Stereotype card of the Asa Packer Mansion photographed by M. A. Kleckner

Packer's residence, the Asa Packer Mansion became a museum, opened for tours in 1956, and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1985. Packer was a member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church and contributed large amounts of money to this beautiful Gothic Revival Church that is located in downtown Jim Thorpe. St. Mark's was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987. There is also an elementary school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, named after Packer. The university naturally continues to honor its founder: Lehigh has a large and quite attractive portrait by Boutelle of him, now in the Alumni Mem. Bld., a quaint statue, and there is Founder's Day.^[8] The first meeting of the Board of Trustees, July 27, 1865, was held at the Sun Hotel, now the Sun Inn, still standing and serving guests.^[9]

• Legacy
• 

  Lehigh University's first library, constructed at the cost of $100,000 by Asa Packer as a memorial to his daughter, Lucy Packer Linderman.

• 

  Packer Memorial Church of Lehigh University, which was erected by Mrs. Mary Packer Cummings in memory of her family.

See also[edit]

• List of railroad executives

References[edit]

1. Jump up ^ Yates 1983, p. 9.
2. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b c d e}  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Packer, Asa". Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 441–442.
3. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Yates 1983, p. 13.
4. Jump up ^ "Lehigh Valley Railroad".
5. Jump up ^ Yates 1992, pp. 27–28.
6. Jump up ^ Yates 1983, p. 17.
7. Jump up ^ Yates 1992, pp. 38–39, 41–42.
8. Jump up ^ Yates 1983, p. 19.
9. Jump up ^ Yates 1992, p. 29.

• Yates, W. Ross (1983). Asa Packer: A Perspective (PDF). Bethlehem, PA: Asa Packer Society.
• Yates, W. Ross (1992). Lehigh University : a history of education in engineering, business, and the human condition. Bethlehem Pa: Lehigh University Press. ISBN 978-0-934223-17-1.
• The Asa Packer Mansion Museum.
• Asa Packer at The Political Graveyard

• United States Congress. "Asa Packer (id: P000006)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2009-03-24

External links[edit]

• Asa Packer letters and ephemera. Available online through Lehigh University's I Remain: A Digital Archive of Letters, Manuscripts, and Ephemera.

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by James Gamble	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district 1853–1857	Succeeded by William H. Dimmick

show v t e Lehigh University
Academics	Engineering highlights Faculty Lehigh University Press Tau Beta Pi
Athletics	Lehigh Mountain Hawks Men's basketball Women's basketball Football Men's lacrosse Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association Goodman Stadium Lehigh Baseball Field Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association Patriot League The Rivalry (Lehigh–Lafayette) Saucon Valley Country Club Stabler Arena
Geography	Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Buildings Packer Memorial Chapel South Mountain Zoellner Arts Center
History	Alumni Presidents Clery Act Henry Coppée Thomas Messinger Drown East Coast Conference Gregory C. Farrington Alice Gast John McDowell Leavitt Lehigh Valley Railroad Peter Likins Asa Packer William Bacon Stevens Charles L. Taylor Taylor Stadium

show v t e (1864 ←) United States presidential election, 1868 (1872 →)
Democratic Party Convention	Nominee Horatio Seymour VP nominee Francis P. Blair Jr. Candidates George H. Pendleton Thomas A. Hendricks Winfield S. Hancock Andrew Johnson Sanford E. Church Asa Packer James E. English Joel Parker James R. Doolittle Stephen J. Field Francis P. Blair Jr. Salmon P. Chase John T. Hoffman
Republican Party Convention	Nominee Ulysses S. Grant VP nominee Schuyler Colfax
Other 1868 elections: House Senate

Authority control	WorldCat Identities ISNI: 0000 0000 3292 6239 LCCN: n92050990 SNAC: w6hh6msp US Congress: P000006 VIAF: 23794265

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Categories:

• 1805 births
• 1879 deaths
• 19th-century American railroad executives
• Lehigh University people
• Members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
• American Civil War industrialists
• United States presidential candidates, 1868
• University and college founders
• People from Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania
• People from Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania
• People from Mystic, Connecticut
• 19th-century American Episcopalians
• Pennsylvania Democrats
• Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives
• 19th-century American politicians