Robert Habersham Coleman

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. The Cornwall Ore Mines was"the world's richest iron mine." Samuel Small, Coleman's guardian, protected the estate through economic crises by investing in farmland and herds of prize livestock. He also played first base and was manager of Trinity's baseball team. He also gained full ownership and control of the mines, iron furnaces, and land—his total inheritance was worth an estimate $7 million (equivalent to $ in today's money). == 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." Coleman took care of the widows and children. The CRR was an industrial line that served the Coleman mines and furnaces. 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." Coleman's seventeen-mile long railroad started in Lebanon and went to Cornwall and Elizabethtown. Mount Gretna Railroad Initially, Mount Gretna offered visitors a picnic grove with wildflowers and natural springs. The Governor Dick train only operated in the warmer months because its cars were open-air. He also took out a mortgage for $62,500 (or $ in today's money) on June 30, 1892, to cover the interest that was due and past-due. In On May 14, 1894, the Lackawanna Iron Company of Scranton, Pennsylvania purchased Coleman's mines and furnaces for a reported $3 million (equivalent to $ in today's money), with a third of that being in cash. Their purchase included a 15% share in the Cornwall ore banks, two Cornwall anthracite furnaces, a 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 ==

at Trinity College is listed on the National Register of Historic Places When he gained control of his trust fund in 1877, Coleman made a $10,000 (equivalent to $ in today's money) gift to the York Collegiate Institute in honor of his former guardian, Samuel Small Sr. When he graduated from Trinity in June 1877, Coleman paid for a "magnificent ball" on the college's new campus. 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. This Ruskinian gothic style church was built of grey stone and included a tall tower, seating for 500 people, floor tiles from Valencia, and a 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. 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 use 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 ==

On 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 had been a clergyman in New Haven Connecticut. On November 8, 1879, the couple sailed on a six-month trip to Europe where they planned on purchasing furnishings for Cornwall Hall. Her body was returned to Pennsylvania and entombed in the crypt underneath the altar at St. Luke’s in Lebanon, that was dedicated in her honor. Edith was an orphan from Savannah, Georgia that Coleman's family adopted during the Civil War. 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. This organ was said to be the finest work of its maker, the Rosewalt Pipe Organ Company of New York. The auction catalog of 177 items gives insight to the art that once decorated the Coleman mansion; most items were chosen for him by art collector James Jackson Jarves. Coleman built his home on top of the hill, to the rear of the regular set-back of the neighborhood. 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 $10,000 ($ in today's money). 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 $1,200 ($ in today's money) by Coleman's assignees. In 1910, his 22-year-old son, Ralph, committed suicide, and Coleman became "almost a complete recluse" in his grief. Coleman opened a store that specialized in Havana Cigars in Saranac Lake around 1912, with 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 his father. As he became increasingly ill from tuberculosis, Coleman's 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. == Honors ==

• Trinity College presented a loving cup to Coleman during commencement week in May 1890 in honor of his generous support. == References ==

• Robert H. Coleman mansion and outbuildings, Lebanon County Historical Society • Cornwall Heritage Trail