Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Guide to the Sharpe, Weiss and Company Papers

Summary
Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0399
Creators:
Sharpe, Weiss and Company
Dates:
1856-1889
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
4.75 Cubic feet
13 boxes, 1 map folder
Repository:
Scope and Contents
Scope and Contents
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.
Arrangement
Arrangement
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
Biographical / Historical
Biographical / Historical
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
Administration
Author
Grace Meyer
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
Custodial History
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.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Grace Meyer, Archives Center volunteer.
Using the Collection
Preferred Citation
Sharpe, Weiss and Company Papers, 1856-1889, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Keywords
Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Merchants -- 19th century Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Business records -- 19th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Microfilms Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Account books -- 19th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Letters (correspondence) -- 19th century Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Invoices Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Anthracite coal industry Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
Business Number: Phone: 202-633-3270
Fax Number: Fax: 202-786-2453
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