Robert Habersham Coleman
Robert Habersham Coleman (March 27, 1856– March 15, 1930) was an iron industrialist, railroad president, and owner of extensive farmland in Pennsylvania. He was nationally know as the "Iron King of Pennsylvania." In 1879, he was worth about $7 million. By 1889, he had turned that into $30 thirty million. At the time, he had more money than his contemporaries A. J. Drexel, Marshall Field, J. P. Morgan or Frederick William Vanderbilt. He was "rich, progressive, generous, honest—he was utterly crushed by the financial panic of 1893." Early life. Coleman was born in Savanah , Georgia, the son of Susan Ellen Habersham (1835 – 1892) and William Coleman (1826 – 1864). His paternal great-grandfather, Robert Coleman, established an ironmaking dynasty in Cornwall, Pennsylvania in last quarter of the 1700s. When his father died in 1864, nine-year-old Coleman and his seven-year-old sister Anne jointly inherited 1/3 of the Cornwall Ore Mines in Pennsylvania, as well as $1.2 million each in a trust. This was "the world's richest iron mine." Their wealth grew during the Civil War because of the need for munitions. Samuel Small, Coleman's guardian, protected the estate through  economic crises by investing in farmland and herds of prize livestock. Small also expanded the inherited ironmaking business, purchasing Donaghmore Furnace in Lebanon and constructing the Burd Cole­man Furnaces in North Cornwall, Pennsylvania. Ellen Coleman purchased a residence on Madison Avenue in New York City. The family also spent time in her hometown of Savannah, Georgia, and traveled to England, France, and Germany in the summers. Coleman was educated by his mother. When he was fifteen, he enrolled in the Rectory, a school in Hamden, Connecticut. Three years later, he attended Trinity Collage where he became interested in all things  mechanical, especially trains. He became class president, president of the chess club, and a member and president of the Fraternity of Delta Psi (aka St. Anthony Hall). He also played first base and was manager of Trinity's baseball team. He was elected by his classmates to give the oratory at the exercises of February 22,1877. He graduated from Trinity in 1877, next to last in his class academically—but he was selected most popular. His popularity was probably influenced by "his generous parties, dances, sports and musical pursuits." When he turned 21 in 1877, Coleman received access to his  trust fund of $1,200,000. He also gained full ownership and control of the mines, iron furnaces, and land—his total inheritance was worth an estimate $7 million. Career. Iron business. In 1879 at the age of 22, Coleman became president of the Cornwall Ore Bank Company and quickly proved to be "a man of brains and enterprise." He was the fourth-generation in his family to manage the Cornwall Iron Furnace, in Cornwall, Pennsylvania. He was influenced by the new manager of the Cornwall ironworks, Artemus Wilhelm, who was a risk taker. In 1879, he acquired land in  western Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and began constructing two modern anthracite furnaces, Colebrook I and Colebrook II, at Sixteenth and Cumberland Streets. He also worked to create the Lebanon Iron Company which utilized the raw material created in his furnaces. In 1883, he closed the old family Cornwall Furnace which was obsolete. He also bought all of his sister's shares in the family business. No longer needed a mentor, he terminated Wilhelm's services in 1885. Railroads. Cornwall & Lebanon Railroad. In 1881, Coleman attempted to purchase a controlling interest in the Cornwall Railroad (CRR) which was owned by his uncle -by-marriage,William Coleman Freeman. The CRR was an industrial line that served the Coleman mines and furnaces. Freeman turned Coleman down—twice. Freeman had also turned down the Pennsylvania Railroad's offer the year before, but Coleman must have taken Freeman's refusal hard as this was "the inciting incident in what has long been reported as a personal and business rivalry between the two cousins." In 1882, Coleman built his own railroad, the Cornwall & Lebanon Railroad (C&L) at his own expense. He also founded the Colebrook Railroad, merging it with the C&L in 1886. To build the C&L , Coleman had to cross the CRR, which ended up in litigation and a great deal of expenses, including building a large fill and iron bridge over the Cornwall. At one point, Freeman brought in 250 men to tear up 400 feet of a newly constructed C&L branch, dumping its materials over a steep embankment. Coleman eventually won the court cases and his railroad was more profitable than his cousin's because it served both industry and passengers, and connected to the Pennsylvania Railroad at Conewago Junction near Cornwall. In 1880, the Pennsylvania was the largest railroad in the world. The  rivalry between the two cousins continued. One historian notes, “Often the passenger trains of the Cornwall Railroad and the Cornwall & Lebanon Railroad would race each other from Cornwall to Lebanon. One train would sometimes delay its schedule to wait for the other—and then the race was on! This must have been a great thrill for the more hardy passengers. I have been told that Mr. Robert Coleman himself took over the engineer’s job on a few occasions in order to race." Coleman maintained his trains with "fierce pride, making sure that metal remained polished and the interiors spotless ." In 1885, Coleman hired architects G. W. & W. D. Hewitt to design a Queen Ann style railroad station in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. Coleman's seventeen-mile long railroad went started in Lebanon and went to Cornwall and out to Elizabethtown. Along the way, it passed through lovely wooded area in the mountains along Conewago Creek. There in 1882, Coleman created Mount Gretna, a pleasure stop on the railroad. Initially, Mount Gretna included a picnic grove with wildflowers and natural springs. Although Mount Gretna gave people another reason to ride his railroad, Coleman was still competitive with Freeman who had previously created  a pleasure resort, Penryn Park. In a few years, Coleman added an hotel, pavilions, playground, amusement park with carousel, a store, a dance hall, and a skating rink to Mount Gretna. In 1885, Coleman dammed Conewago Creek, creating Lake Conewago for swimming and boating. One of Mount Gretna's main attractions was a narrow gauge railway to the top of Governor Dick mountain, built by Coleman in twelve weeks in the spring of 1889. This train was unique for several reasons—its rail was only two-feet wide and it was the only track in the country to run 4 -4-0 type locomotives. Coleman ordered three of these scaled-down locomotives from the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia. As one historian noted, “[Coleman] wanted a choo-choo, and he had the money to buy one.” The Governor Dick narrow gauge was "Coleman's greatest pride" and an immediate success; it attracted 36,000 visitors its first season. That summer, Coleman entertained a large group of Trinity College alumni at Mount Gretna. Th Governor Dick train operated in just the warmer months because its cars were open-air. It ran for some four miles, traveling along the lake, passing over Conewago  Creek, and climbing Governor Dick to a 200-foot loop. Coleman built a pavilion and a 60-foot tall observatory at the summit. There were six train excursions daily, leaving from Lebanon. The trip cost a quarter. An ad noted that the train "throws open for view the magnificent scenery of the South Mountain, and this novel attraction is supplemented by the erection of an Observatory 60 feet high on the mountain's highest peak, Gov. Dick from which a sight may be obtained than which there are few grander, the view taking in an area of forty miles square , and presenting a landscape of unparalleled beauty." In 1890, Coleman added a 1.5 mile branch to the narrow gauge railroad, running to the rifle range that he built for the annual Pennsylvania National Guard encampment at Mount Gretna. This branch operated until 1916. Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Railroad. In 1883, Coleman invested in a Florida company that manufactured of railroad parts, purchasing $356,000 of capital stock. Then, he partnered with several New York backers to expanded his railroad interests into Florida. He purchased a fifty-mile stretch of the Jacksonville to Palatka Railroad and a railroad company n anticipation  of building the Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Railway. However, it construction plans were so challenging that his backers withdrew, leaving Coleman to fund the railroad on is own. He was so convinced in the value of this railroad, that he went forward by mortgaging virtually all of his assets, including the ore mines, furnaces, and bank holdings. Other businesses. Coleman tackled his family's farms in Lancaster County, Lebanon County, and York County which consisted of 25000 of acres. He modernized production and marketing, increasing profits. He founded a rolling mill. He also acquired majority interest in the Lebanon Dimes  Savings Bank and built a new building at 8th and Cumberland Streets. Collapse. Around 1891, the Coleman family lost a lawsuit against the Grubb family—descendants of the original builder of Cornwall Furnace who still owned 1/6 of the ironworks and mines—who had been taking increasingly more ore without compensating the Colemans. In 1891, Coleman lost $1.5 million to the Pennsylvania Trust Company in court. When the financial Panic of 1893 started in November 1892 and the stock market virtually collapsed, Coleman was without the cash needed to repay his various mortgages for the Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West  Railway. When foreclosure proceedings started, he had no choice but to let the railroad go. However, its sale took place during the height of the economic depression and the company was rendered valueless. Ironically, Coleman's vision for the Jacksonville, Tampa & Key West Railway was sound; within five years, it was profitable and would have made him millions. However, being over leveraged, he was instead made penniless. Coleman also lost the Cornwall & Lebanon Railroad during the crisis; about 1/3 of the nation's railroads went into bankruptcy during this time. Coleman then lacked the funds to pay employees to operate  the iron mines and furnaces. He closed the Cornwall Furnace forever on February 11, 1883. Next, the Lebanon Dimes Savings Bank began to teeter. Coleman attempted to keep the bank afloat by paying its creditors with his own funds. He would have been successful if not for another court case where he lost $2 million to the Pennsylvania Trust Company in August 1893. This destroyed what was left of Coleman's fortune. When he could no longer cover the bank's debts, it collapsed in late August 1893, taking its depositors' savings. In September 1893, the last operating Coleman  furnace also closed. Coleman's bankruptcy assignee was the Pennsylvania Company for Insurance on Lives and Granting Annuities. On May 14, 1894, the Lackawanna Iron Company of Scranton, Pennsylvania purchased Coleman's mines and furnaces for a reported $3 million, with a third of that being in cash. Their purchase included a 15% share in the Cornwall ore banks, two Cornwall anthracite furnaces, an 125 acre farm connected to the ore banks, and the controlling interest in the Cornwall & Lebanon Railroad. The assignee said this sale would pay for all of Coleman's debts. Without Coleman's backing Mount  Gretna suffered. The Governor Dick line stopped operating after 1894 or 1896. Beginning in 1913, the Pennsylvania Railroad began to purchase the Cornwall & Lebanon Railroad stock, owning it outright by 1918. Philanthropy. In 1877 when he received his trust fund, Coleman made a $10,000 gift to the York Collegiate Institute in honor of his former guardian, Samuel Small Sr. Small, a wealthy banker in New York City, managed the Coleman siblings' trusts without compensation for sixteen years. In 1877, Coleman also donated $25,000 toward a $28,000 chapter house for his fraternity of St. Anthony Hall—while he  was still a student at Trinity. The new Saint Anthony Hall chapter house was designed by architect and fraternity brother J. Cleaveland Cady. When he graduated from Trinity in June 1877, Coleman paid for a "magnificent ball" on the college's new campus. In 1878, he donated a large organ to Trinity College. Around 1883, Coleman was one of two major donors for the construction of Alumni Hall, a new gymnasium for Trinity. The gym was dedicated in 1887 and used until it burned in 1967. Coleman also served three terms as a trustee of Trinity College. In 1879, with  funding from the Coleman family, construction of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania was underway. In 1880, Coleman paid for its completion. Designed by Henry Martyn Congdon of New York City, the church was consecrated in October 1880 in memory of his late wife Lillie. This Ruskinian gothic style church was built of grey stone and included an hundred foot tall tower, seating for 500 people, floor tiles from Valencia, and an hydraulic engine in its basement to supply air for the organ. Later, Coleman provided funds to build a church in Mt. Pleasant, the village attached to  the Colebrook Furnace. Called Trinity Chapel, its cornerstone was laid on May 27, 1888. Coleman directed a portion of his wealth to support his 5,000 workers and their families. He built houses and schools for his workers. He paid their hospital bills. He also organized regular outings for employees. At Christmas, each employee received a bonus check, and each Cornwall family was given a turkey and toys for the children. In 1887 Coleman donated musical instruments to the Perseverance Band of Lebanon. He ordered the finest instruments available from Paris and Germany, including a bassoon, euphonium, concert flute, two French  horns, an oboe, an alto saxophone, a bass saxophone, a soprano saxophone, and a tenor saxophone. In 1892, Coleman invited the Pennsylvania Chautauqua and the United Brethren Camp Meeting to used Mount Gretna without charge. In 1894, he also built a rifle range and lured the Pennsylvania National Guard's annual encampment to Mount Gretna. Personal. In January 15, 1879, Coleman married Jennie Lillie Clarke (1853 – 1880) in Hartford, Connecticut. She was the foster daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lucius Barbour of Hartford, and the daughter of the late Sylvester Clarke who was a clergyman in New Haven Connecticut. The  couple spent their honeymoon traveling in a private railroad car, returning to live with the Coleman family house in Lebanon. This was a temporary arrangement, as Coleman hired William Bleddyn Powell, a Philadelphia architect to plan their new home. In 1879, the three-year construction project began for Cornwall Hall, on the family property in Lebanon. In November 8, 1879, the couple sailed on a six-month trip to Europe where they planned on purchasing furnishings for Cornwall Hall. When Lillie became ill with malaria in February, they went to Italy for its curative climate. When she did not recover , they traveled to France for doctors. However, Lillie died in Paris on May 10, 1880. Her body was returned to Pennsylvania and entombed under the alter of a new church that was dedicated in her honor. In his grief, Coleman stopped work on Cornwall Hall and ordered that it be razed, obliterating "every trace of what was intended" in two weeks. Coleman married Edith Elliott Johnstone (1858 – 1903) on October 1, 1884. Edith was an orphan from Savannah, Georgia that Coleman's family adopted during the Civil War. Not only did the Coleman and Edith grow up together, she had  also been Lillie's bridesmaid. They had five children: Robert Coleman Jr. (born 1885), William Cassatt Coleman (born 1886), Ralph Elliott Coleman (born 1888), Neyle Habersham Coleman (born 1889), and Annie Caroline Coleman (born 1890). They lived in Elizabeth Farms, the house built by his great-grandfather which was located near he Cornwall Iron Furnace facility in Cornwall, Pennsylvania. They decorated their home with furniture from Napoleon's palace and relics from Pompeii and Herculaneum. Around 1886, Coleman added a stable, designed by architect William Bleddyn Powell, that was large enough for nineteen horses and several carriages, with rooms above  for grooms and attendants. Other additions to the estate included greenhouses, dog kennels, a swimming pool, bowling alleys, and Coleman's workshop where he tinkered and ran model trains. Coleman, who was a talented musician, also added a music hall or conservatory in 1887, along with pianos and a $10,000 pipe organ with three manuals, fifty stops, and 2,000 pipes. This organ was said to be the finest work of its maker, the Rosewalt Pipe Organ Company of New York. In November 29, 1892, Coleman auctioned his collection of relics and antique works of art through The Fifth Avenue  Auction Rooms in New York City. The auction catalog of 177 items gives insight to the art that once decorated the Coleman mansion; most items were chosen for him by James Jackson Jarves. The catalog says, "The collection consists of objects of art, in gold, silver, and the various applications of high-class gilt work, upon the finest models of the present and past centuries; of choice pieces of tapestry and embroidery, sculpture, wood-carving, pottery, marbles, paintings and antiques of every sort." Coleman and Jarves acquired the majority of the collection from the estate of Prince Nikolay Demidov of  Villa San Donato. Highlights included items from the 18th-century French Court, Marie Antoinette, and Napoleon Bonaparte. Another item of note is a stiletto once owned by Corsini de Medici, circa 1540. In late1893, Coleman gave up on salvaging his family's fortune. He was also diagnosed with tuberculosis. The Colemans left Lebanon County for New York. However, before he left, Coleman took one last ride up the Governor Dick narrow gauge line with his son, an engineer, a fireman, and a photographer. Reportedly, all they left Pennsylvania with was a horse, buggy and clothes. However, he still owned his  mother's house in New York City. Around 1896, they decided to live in Saranac Lake, New York in the Adirondack Mountains for Coleman's health. He hired architect William L. Coulter of Renwick, Aspinwall & Renwick in New York City to design a shingle style cottage. Its construction was underway by September 1896. Coleman Cottage was located on 3/5 of an acre at 33 Church Street, but also had frontage on River Street. The Colemans built their home on top of the hill, to the rear of the regular set-back of the nieghborhood. This gave them a view of  Lake Flower, and also provided privacy. The Coleman Cottage had a tennis court and boat house. The deed for their new home was in Edith's name. Coleman lived a quiet life in Saranac Lake for 34 years. He was a bird-watcher—his "List of Adirondack Birds" was included in Alfred L. Donaldson's "A History of the Adirondacks" (1921)"." However, he was a charter member of the Pontiac Club which sponsors Saranac Lake's Winter Carnival. He also was the treasure of the building committee for Lake Placid Episcopal Mission when it entered into a contract with architect  William L. Coulter on December 1, 1897. He also had to raise his children after Edith died from tuberculosis on May 20, 1903. Coleman's sister Anne helped, but the children were eventually sent away to school. In 1900, the Lancaster newspapers reported that Coleman was a Wall Street stockbroker at a leading firm and was "growing wealthy again." This seems to be confirmed by "The New York Times" which mentions the New York Security and Trust Company assigning a mortgage to Robert H. Coleman, trustee, for $10,000. However he still had debts; that same year, Coleman's beloved  pipe organ was sold to the Longswamp Reformed Church of Mertztown, Pennsylvania at the bargain price of $1,200 by Coleman's assignees. In 1910, his 22-year-old son, Ralph, committed suicide, and Coleman became "almost a complete recluse" in his grief. However, Coleman opened a store that specialized in Havana Cigars in Saranac Lake around 1912, with the help of his son William who had recently returned home from Trinity College, followed by travels out west. When the store failed, William stayed to help care for Coleman. As he became increasingly ill from tuberculosis, his sister Anne cared  for him. Between 1912 and 1921, Coleman Cottage was the winter home and private commercial sanatorium of the Arthur Duncan Moir family. It is unclear if Coleman still occupied the cottage in summer or if he had permanently moved to his sister's home.Coleman slipped into a coma in 1930. He died three days later at Annie's home in Hyde Park, New York. He was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia with only his sister and children in attendance.