JOHN HEISLEY WEAVER
1860-1934

John Heisley Weaver was born May 15, 1860 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, the son of George and Elizabeth (Heisley) Weaver. A prominent businessman in the area, George was a dealer in salt, lime, plaster and cement. Although he had the means to offer his son educational advantages, the elder Weaver educated his son through the Williamsport public school system.

J.H. Weaver found his first employment with the Western Union Telegraph Company as a messenger. He next joined the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in the same capacity, quickly advancing to a clerkship. He then worked for the Williamsport Iron & Nail Company in a managerial position, and eventually went to the Donaldson & Thomas, Coal & Coke Merchants of Philadelphia as a salesman.

By the age of 25, Weaver had become president of a bank then known as the West Philadelphia Bank. But the coal and coke business seemed to offer him the most rewards. Working as an agent representative for large mining operators, he was successful enough that in 1889, he formed his own business - J.H. Weaver & Company, Handlers of Coal and Coke, based in Philadelphia.

As early as 1899, Weaver was purchasing coal properties in western Pennsylvania (in both Indiana County and Cambria County) and northern West Virginia. By 1904, Weaver had considerable holdings in Pine, Green, and Cherryhill Townships (Indiana County) and was ready to begin building his own “model town.” Located in Pine Township, he named it “Heilwood,” which was probably a combination of his nickname (“Heil”) and the name of his first coal mine in Kingwood (Preston County), West Virginia (“Heisleywood”).

With an initial capital investment of $100,000, Weaver began building homes and businesses in this rural area. By 1906, with six mines in operation producing over 112,000 tons of coal, Weaver divested himself of the entire operation, selling it to the Pennsylvania & Maryland Coal Company (aka Penn Mary Coal Company) for a reported $1.8 million dollars.

Heilwood was just one of the many coal and railroad-related businesses Weaver was involved in throughout the region.

To facilitate movement of the coal from his West Virginia holdings, Weaver became the founder and president of the West Virginia Northern Railroad.

Weaver also purchased both the ‘B’ and ‘D’ seams of coal on land owned by the Hines Coal Company around Starford, Pennsylvania, a town on the Cherry Tree & Dixonville Railroad (named after James Starford, one of Weaver’s mine superintendents). The Hines Coal Company drove five headings (No. 1 through No. 5) around Starford, but by 1911 newspaper accounts report that the Starford mine was “worked out” and that some houses were being torn down and taken to Colver to be rebuilt.

After divesting himself his holdings in and around Heilwood, Weaver purchased the Dixon Coal Company at Idamar (four miles north of Clymer, Pennsylvania), also on the Cherry Tree & Dixonville Railroad.

Around the year 1909, Weaver became partners with B. Dawson Coleman and together they began to buy and invest in coal properties in Cambria County, Pennsylvania. The two men first acquired the Nanty-Glo Coal Company and its two mines. In 1910, they purchased the Ebensburg Coal Company and opened the Colver Mine.

In addition to the coal lands, they purchased an old logging railroad called the Blacklick & Yellow Creek Railroad in Cambria County, which in 1911 became known as the Cambria & Indiana Railroad when it was extended into Indiana County. The C&I later connected to the New York Central at Manver (now known as Pine Flats), Pennsylvania.

In 1915, the Heisley Coal Company was established to operate the Nanty-Glo No. 3 mine. The following year, the Monroe Coal Company was formed in order to oversee the operation of the newly opened Revloc Mine. Together, the Colver, Revloc, and Nanty-Glo mines were among the most productive in Cambria County, and remained in operation for over 50 years.

In 1922, Weaver and Coleman dissolved their partnership, with Weaver gaining control of both the Heisley Coal Company and the Monroe Coal Mining Company. Weaver also retained a controlling interest in the Cambria & Indiana Railroad. Coleman took sole ownership of the Ebensburg Coal Company and its related pieces.

With his business successes, Weaver purchased the home of a former Pennsylvania Railroad president, Frank Thomson, in 1921. The 15-acre property was located along the exclusive “Main Line” in Merion, Pennsylvania (outside of Philadelphia), and Weaver soon had the original home “Corkerhill” demolished, in order to build a new home called “Maroebe” (named after his two daughters: MAR-ion and ph-OEBE).

Horace Trumbauer, a prominent architect known for his conspicuous shows of wealth, designed and built the new house. It was reported that many of the furnishings and the wood used to finish the interior were imported from Europe. There was a staff of 29, including a watchman for the grounds, a personal maid for Mrs. Weaver, and a valet for Mr. Weaver. There was also a personal railroad car for Weaver kept at the Overbrook Station on the Pennsylvania Railroad. Weaver also had a summer home in Ventnor City, New Jersey.

During World War I, Weaver was very active in various patriotic affairs, and did much to expedite the movement of coal to the Allies. In recognition of this activity, the King of Italy conferred on him the “Order of a Knight of the Crown of Italy” in 1921. This award was designed to honor military men, but was also given to foreigners as a reward for signal merit and direct interest in Italy. Weaver accepted the honor from Rolandi Ricci, Italian Ambassador to the United States, at a dinner at the Hotel Biltmore in New York City.

In 1924, Bucknell University awarded a Doctor of Law degree to Weaver, who had been elected a trustee of that institution some time before.

Weaver was also very involved with various activities and societies. He was a member of: the Union League of Philadelphia; the Lotos of New York; Philadelphia Country Club; Gulph Mills Golf Club of Philadelphia; Metropolitan Club of Washington, D.C.; Williamsport Country Club; Ross Club of Williamsport; the Pennsylvania Society (New York City); and the Surf Club of Miami, Florida. Governor John K. Tener of Pennsylvania appointed Weaver a member of the commission to select the site and build the Industrial Home for Women, which was constructed at Muncy, Pennsylvania in 1920.

John Heisley Weaver married Ida Irona Davidson, daughter of Alexander Davidson of South Williamsport, Pa., on April 28, 1887. They had two daughters: Phoebe (who later married John Farrell Macklin) and Marion, (who was first married to Robert Simpson Kampmann, and later to E. Hall Downes).

On April 26, 1934, John Heisley Weaver died at his home in Merion, Pennsylvania and was buried in the Weaver mausoleum in Wildwood Cemetery, Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

John Heisley Weaver

J.H. Weaver & Company letterhead

Harry Patton Dowler
Superintendent of the
Penn Mary Coal Company (1906-1914)

HARRY PATTON DOWLER
Superintendent of the Penn Mary Coal Company (1906-1914)

Harry was born June 5, 1869, the son of Captain James and Cornelia (Patton) Dowler. His early education was obtained in the public schools of Clearfield County, and in 1894 he graduated from the Pennsylvania State College in Mining Engineering.

His first position was with the Mitchell Coal Company of Tyrone, Pennsylvania, where he remained for four years.  During this time, he also served as First Lieutenant in the State Cavalry, 2nd Sheridan Troop. From 1899 to 1900 he was employed in coal operations at Glen Campbell, and then went to Pittsburg, where he started dealing in coal and timber lands. In 1906, he accepted the position of Superintendent of Mines for the Penn Mary Coal Company in Heilwood.

While employed in Heilwood, Dowler began a safety program whereby each mine not only had a facility for first aid and rescue, but the employees also received training in first aid. In addition, he had specific teams from the mines undergo extensive training in first aid and mine rescue. These teams participated in annual meets with other coal companies, winning many awards for their proficiency. In 1914, the entire Penn Mary Coal Company operation in Heilwood was purchased by the Cambria Steel Company of Johnstown, and all upper management positions were terminated. Mr. Dowler then moved his family back to Clearfield, Pennsylvania.

JOHN McMURRAY THOMPSON
Manager of the first Heilwood Company Store & Postmaster (1904-1914)

John was born April 11, 1872 at Marion Center (Indiana County), the son of Horace John Thompson and Annie I. McMurray. He attended his first school at Decker’s Point and later in Marion Center. In addition, he spent two years at the Indiana Normal School in Indiana, Pennsylvania.

At 19, he became associated with his father’s mercantile business in Decker’s Point and became sole owner of the business in 1894, when his father returned to Marion Center and turned his attention to real estate.  In 1904, John moved to Heilwood to assume the manager’s position in the newly constructed Heilwood Company Store. 

During his time in Heilwood, J. M. Thompson would hold the position of store manager, postmaster, and manager of the Heilwood dairy farms. In 1914, when the Cambria Steel Company of Johnstown purchased the Penn Mary Coal Company operations, Thompson was relieved of all his duties and replaced by James Eck.

John went back to work for his father in the Marion Center National Bank, where his father was one of the founders as well as president. On May 5, 1928, at the age of 56, John McMurray Thompson passed away.

View of the original company store (circa 1908)

Dr. Ralph McHenry (1869-1915)
Heilwood's First Physician (1905-1914)

DR. RALPH McHENRY
Heilwood's First Physician (1905-1914)

Ralph F. McHenry was born in Frostburg, Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, on August 30, 1869, the son of George and Anna McHenry.  Living in Jefferson County for sixteen years, McHenry received his early education in the Frostburg schools. Upon moving to Indiana County, he attended Pickering Run school and afterwards, taught for four years in the public schools. In 1892, he entered the Western Pennsylvania Medical College and in 1895, he graduated with his M.D.

Upon graduation, McHenry bought the practice and property of Dr. William E. Dodson of Marion Center, Pennsylvania and worked there for ten years. In March 1905, he left his practice in Marion Center to become the chief physician and surgeon for John H. Weaver in Heilwood. He would remain in Heilwood until October 1914, at which time he resigned and shortly thereafter, became the resident physician at the hospital in nearby Windber, Pennsylvania. In 1915, Dr. McHenry died at the age of 46 from typhoid fever.

JOHN S. BOWERS
Farmer & Land Owner (1842-1925)

John S. Bowers was born on January 3, 1842 in Cherryhill Township (Indiana County). His father was also named John Bowers, and his mother's maiden name was Mary Hempfield. Bowers received his education in the country schools of Cherryhill Township and at the age of 17, he and his family moved to Pine Township.

During the Civil War in 1863, Bowers enlisted in the Union army at Pittsburgh, becoming a private in the 2nd Battalion (Company E) of the Pennsylvania volunteer infantry for six months service. Upon returning from the war in 1864, he purchased a small farm in Cherryhill Township and along with his wife Sarah Jane (Deyarmie), farmed there until 1869. Bowers then purchased 106 acres in Pine Township, which he continued to farm until 1901, when John Heisley Weaver purchased his property. This property became the primary piece of land upon which the town of Heilwood was begun in 1904, including the acreage for the first school.

With the sale of his property, Bowers retired from farming and moved his wife and son to Indiana, Pennsylvania, residing at 244 Church Street. Bowers passed away on June 18, 1925 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery (Indiana, Pennsylvania).