Sharpe, Weiss and Company Papers
name: label: Creator
content: Sharpe, Weiss and Company
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources
label: Collector
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry
topic: label: Topic
content: Merchants -- 19th century
label: Topic
content: Anthracite coal industry
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
creator: label: Creator
content: Sharpe, Weiss and Company
setName: label: See more items in
content: Sharpe, Weiss and Company Papers
bioghist: label: Biographical / Historical
content: Sharpe, Leisenring and Company was formed in 1854 as a partnership of Richard Sharpe, John Leisenring, Asa Lansford Foster, George Belford, Francis Weiss and Williams Reed. Most of the partners had been associated with the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company (LC&N). Weiss was the grandson of Jacob Weiss, founder of the predecessor Lehigh Coal Mine Company in 1792. Foster was a contemporary of John Leisenring, Sr., who had been brought to Mauch Chunk to run the LC&N's first company store. He founded the town's first newspaper in 1829. Most of the men had been partners in Belford, Sharpe & Company or Daniel Bertsch & Company, contract operators of the LC&N's mines at Summit Hill and Ashton (now Lansford) in the late 1840s and 1850s.

John Leisenring moved from Ashton to Eckley in 1854 and remained in charge of operations there until he was appointed Chief Engineer and Superintendent of the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company in July 1860. As one of the conditions, he was required to devote full time to the LC&N's affairs, and he returned to Mauch Chunk. The firm was then reconstituted as Sharpe, Weiss & Company, which it remained until the end of 1874, when Richard Sharpe surrendered the lease and moved to Wilkes Barre. William Reed had sold out his interest in 1867, Foster had died early in the following year, and George Belford died in 1873.

At this point John Leisenring, now operating at Upper Lehigh, took over. The new firm of John Leisenring & Co. was formed on January 1, 1875, the other partners being Dr. John S. Wentz, Samuel B. Price and Daniel Bertsch, Jr. In later years, the firm appears to have been limited to John Leisenring, his sons Edward B. and John, Jr. and his sons-in-law J. S. Wentz and M.S. Kemmerer. Dr. Wentz was sent to Eckley as Superintendent. The firm was continued after John Leisenring's death until the end of 1885, when E. B. Coxe terminated the lease and assumed the operations of the mines himself. During the tenure of John Leisenring and Company the town of Eckley reached its maximum size with a population of 1500.

No records of John Leisenring & Company have survived. The Sharpe, Weiss & Company records from 1850 to 1874 were given to the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, and the village of Eckley has been restored as part of the Pennsylvania Anthracite Museum Complex.

Source

From Eleuthuerian Mills Historical Library, Wilmington, Delaware
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 4.75 Cubic feet (13 boxes, 1 map folder)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1856-1889
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Found in the collections of the Division of Engineering and Industry (now called the Division of Work and Industry) in 2000 and transferred to the Archives Center. The Division transferred a 1.75 cubic foot addenda in 2007.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0399
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Business records
label: Type
content: Microfilms
label: Type
content: Account books
label: Type
content: Letters (correspondence)
label: Type
content: Invoices
arrangement: label: Arrangement
content: This collection is divided into seven series.

Series 1: Invoices to Sharpe, Weiss & Company, 1872-1874

Series 2: Invoices to Mr. H. C. Miler, 1884-1889

Series 3: Transportation Records for Sharpe, Weiss & Company, 1856-1859

Series 4: Receipts and correspondence for Sharpe, Weiss & Company, 1863-1889

Series 5: Summaries of Coal Shipments 1856-1874

Series 6: Other company's documents including Lehigh Coal Mine Company, Breaver Meadow, Lehigh Valley and Lehigh Cumberland Broadtop, 1792-1869 (not inclusive)

Series 7:Two rolls of microfilm containing company account books 1847-1874
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: This collection was processed by Grace Meyer, Archives Center volunteer.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Business records -- 19th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Microfilms
label: Genre/Form
content: Account books -- 19th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Letters (correspondence) -- 19th century
label: Genre/Form
content: Invoices
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Invoices and letters from merchants and manufacturers with whom Sharpe, Weiss and Company, and their successors, did business; and two reels of microfilm of Sharpe and Weiss's account books.