Jacob Weiss
Jacob Weiss (August 21, 1750 - January 9, 1839) was a Revolutionary War officer and an early coal businessman. During the Revolution, Weiss served as the Quartermaster-General under General Nathanael Greene. After the war, he and several business partners ran coal mining operations in the Lehigh Valley.
Jacob Weiss was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on August 21, 1750. He was the son of native German physician John Jacob Weiss (July 20, 1781 – September 22, 1788), who emigrated to Philadelphia in 1740. His father became a citizen on September 27, 1740. He later married Rebecca Cox on October 14, 1746, and purchased land in the area of Fort Allen, which would become later known as Lehighton and Weissport. They had 11 children, one of whom was Jacob Weiss.
Early in his military career, Jacob Weiss served for the first company of the Philadelphia Volunteers under Captain Cadwalader. He was then appointed acting Quartermaster-General by General Mifflin. After only serving one tour of duty, he was appointed Quartermaster-General and served under General Nathanael Greene of the Continental Army. After serving under Gen. Greene, Mr. Weiss was assigned a post in 1780 as the Deputy Quartermaster General in Easton, Northampton County, Pennsylvania. This was under considerable recommendation of his previous post served under General Greene. His last move of the service was in 1780 to a place called Nazareth, Pennsylvania, with his family. Mr. Weiss then concluded service there in 1783. He returned to his home in the Lehigh Valley and purchased a tract of land next to the Lehigh River, then called New Gnadenhuetton, from the Moravians who lived there.
Philip Ginder, often called Ginter, made the early discovery of coal in this remote area in 1791 according to local historians. Ginder was a local miller who was out hunting along "Sharpe Mountain" and found an outcrop of a hard rock that was called "stone coal", or anthracite, which he recognized as possibly being coal. To verify this discovery, Mr. Ginder gave it to Col. Weiss the very next day. Col. Weiss said he would give Mr. Ginder 300 acres (1.2 km2) of land if he showed where the coal was found, and Mr. Ginder agreed to the deal. Col. Weiss took the specimen by horseback to Philadelphia and had it further inspected by John Nicholson, Michael Hillegas, and brother-in-law Charlie Cist; Hillegas had been the Treasurer of the United States under the Continental Congress through the American Revolution. Upon authentication, Weiss was authorized to grant Ginter what he propositioned for his discovery upon pointing out the exact location where it was found. Ginter built a mill on the tract of land he acquired but was later deprived of it by the owner who had filed a prior claim at the US patent office.
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