Robert Coleman (industrialist)
| Robert Coleman | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
November 4, 1748 County Donegal, Ireland |
| Died | August 14, 1825 (aged 76) Lancaster, Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | Industrial baron |
| Spouse(s) | Anne Old |
| Children | Edward, James, Anne Caroline, Sarah, William, Thomas Bird |
Robert Coleman (November 4 [O.S. October 23] 1748 - August 14, 1825) was an Irish-American industrialist who rose from a holding clerkship at a prothonotary's office in Philadelphia to bookkeeper at Cornwall Iron Furnace to becoming Pennsylvania's first millionaire.
Coleman was born in County Donegal, and arrived in Philadelphia from Ireland in 1764. After serving as a clerk and bookkeeper he went on to acquire a lease on Salford Forge near Norristown in 1773 and immediately made a sizeable profit by manufacturing cannonballs and shot at Salford and Elizabeth Furnaces. He then used his profits to purchase a two-thirds share of Elizabeth Furnace, shares of Cornwall and the Upper and Lower Hopewell Forges (not the similarly named Hopewell Furnace), and ownership of Speedwell Forge. Soon Coleman was able to construct Colebrook Furnace, purchase the rest of Elizabeth Furnace and acquired 80% ownership of Cornwall Furnace and the ore mines nearby. His business acquisitions and the profits turned from them enabled him to become the first millionaire in the history of Pennsylvania.
Coleman spent more than three decades as a politician in Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Federalist Party. His career in government began when he attended the Pennsylvania State Constitutional Convention in 1776. Additionally, he served in the Pennsylvania Legislature in 1783, attended the Pennsylvania convention to ratify the United States Constitution in 1787, was chosen as a Presidential elector in both 1792 and 1796, and held the position of Associate Judge from 1791 to 1811. In 1795, Coleman achieved his lone military accomplishment when, as Captain of the Lancaster Troop of Light Horse, he led a company of thirty-five cavalrymen to Western Pennsylvania to assist in the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion.
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