Biography

05/23/1818 - 05/24/1888

Colonel Eli Slifer (Whig26) Juniata, Mifflin and Union Counties 1851-1854

Early Life: 

Colonel Eli Slifer, born May 23, 1818, Coventry Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania, son of Abraham Jr. and Mary Coulter Slifer; received little education; apprenticed, hat-maker; entered, canal cargo business; boat and barge building, Northumberland; married, Catharine Motter Frick, 1840, children, William Henry Slifer; Eli Slifer, Jr.; Clara Green; John Eli Slifer, Catherine Slifer Dill; engaged, boat building partnership, brother-in-law William Frick; managed, barge company, moved, business, Lewisburg, 1845; engaged, lumber transportation business; elected, Whig Party, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1850-1851; elected, Whig Party, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1852-1854; charter member, Lewisburg, Centre, and Spruce Creek Railroad Company, 1853; selected, board of managers, Lewisburg and Mifflinburg Turnpike Company, 1858; co-founder, Lewisburg Gas Company, 1859; Board of Curators, University at Lewisburg (Bucknell) 1854-1882, Secretary, University at Lewisburg (Bucknell)  1861-1867; established, Slifer, Walls, Shriner and Company, a consortium managing the Central Foundry, producing farm equipment, 1860; elected, Pennsylvania State Treasurer, 1855–1856, Republican, Pennsylvania State Treasurer, 1859- resigned 1861; appointed, Governor Andrew Curtin, Secretary, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1861-1867; engaged, banking, founder, director, Lewisburg Dimes Savings Institution (Lewisburg National Bank), 1865; founded, Union National Bank, 1865; president, Union National Bank, 1869; president, Lewisburg Bridge Company; charter member, president, Lewisburg and Tyrone Railroad, 1879; president, Lewisburg Water Works, 1883; died, May 24, 1888, returning from the cemetery, after placing flowers on his wife’s grave, horse was spooked by train, was thrown from his carriage, never recovered from injuries, Lewisburg, Union County, Pennsylvania, interment, Lewisburg Cemetery, Lewisburg, Union County, Pennsylvania. 

Early Career:

The family struggled economically and then both parents died. Orphaned at thirteen, was sent to live with his father's sister, where he was raised in a German-speaking household in Chester County; At the age of 16, walked 100 miles back to Lewisburg, where he reunited with his brother, found work as an apprentice hat-maker, and learned to speak English, 1834.

Engaged, boat building partnership, brother-in-law William Frick; managed, barge company, moved, business, Lewisburg, 1845; engaged lumber transportation business; established, Slifer, Walls, Shriner and Company, a consortium managing the Central Foundry, producing farm equipment, 1860.

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

Roman Catholic. Charter member, Lewisburg, Centre, and Spruce Creek Railroad Company, 1853; selected, board of managers, Lewisburg and Mifflinburg Turnpike Company, 1858; co-founder, Lewisburg Gas Company, 1859; Board of Curators, University at Lewisburg (now Bucknell) 1854-1882, Secretary, University at Lewisburg (now Bucknell) 1861-1867; president, Lewisburg Bridge Company; instrumental in the construction of the railroad bridge across the Susquehanna River, 1869; charter member, president, Lewisburg and Tyrone Railroad, 1879; president, Lewisburg Water Works, 1883; organizer, Lewisburg Centennial Celebration, 1885.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1850-1851. 

Elected, Whig, Pennsylvania State Senate, 26th district, Juniata, Mifflin and Union Counties, 1851-1854. 

Continued Government Service:

Elected, Pennsylvania State Treasurer, 1855–1856, Republican, Pennsylvania State Treasurer, 1859- resigned, 1861. 

Appointed, Governor Andrew Curtin, Secretary, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1861-1867; played a critical role in Pennsylvania’s prosecution of the Civil War, as well as Reconstruction efforts. Organized, Loyal Governors Conference, Altoona, Pennsylvania, September 24, 1862. Retired from public office, 1867, due to poor health. 

Pennsylvania House of Representatives Biography:

Not currently available. 

Legacy: 

Played a key role of the forming of Snyder County from parts Union County 1855. 

Slifer and his wife Catharine were married nearly fifty years. Their wartime letters, now available among Slifer's papers at Bucknell University, tell a poignant story of separation and mutual anxiety. "My heart is sick when I see our utter failure," Slifer wrote as Confederates first crossed the Potomac River in 1862. "I fear that I shall not be able to get home, things are looking very badly." The Slifer House, formerly headquarters of the Evangelical Home, is now a period museum run by the Albright Care Services.

Eli Slifer Historical Marker text inscription. Home, 1861-1888, of Civil War Secretary of the Commonwealth, who as assistant to Governor Andrew Curtin had leading role in mobilizing State's men and resources for war. Elected State Assemblyman, State Treasurer. Born 1818, died 1888. House is now office of Evangelical Home.

Marker is in Kelly Township, Pennsylvania, in Union County. Marker is on Westbranch Highway (U.S. 15) 0.2 miles north of William Penn Drive (County Route 1018), on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 7055 Westbranch Highway, Lewisburg PA 17837, United States of America. 

Daughter, Catherine Slifer Dill married, Andrew Hemphill Dill, Pennsylvania State Senate, 14th district, Lycoming, Snyder and Union Counties, 1871, 17th district, Northumberland, Perry, Snyder and Union Counties, 1872-1874, 27th district, Northumberland, Snyder and Union Counties, 1875-1878.

Andrew Hemphill Dill  - Pennsylvania Senate Library (pasen.gov)

Pall bearers, former Governor Andrew Curtin, former Pennsylvania State Senators, John Walls and William B. Hart. The Philadelphia Times called him "one of the few unobtrusively great men of Pennsylvania." Monday May 28, 1888, Page 2.

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members S". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

The Valley Spirit (Chambersburg, Pennsylvania) Monday May 28, 1888, Page 4.

explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-122

Eli Coulter Slifer (1818-1888) - Find a Grave Memorial