My Genealogy Hound

COL. ROLLIN HENRY WILBUR is General Superintendent of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, and in 1891 was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel on the staff of Governor Pattison, of Pennsylvania. In February, 1894, he was elected a member of the Borough Council of Fountain Hill, in which place he has his residence. In many of the leading corporations, enterprises and industries of Northampton County and of eastern Pennsylvania, he has long been prominently identified, and his financial sagacity and foresight being generally known, his name is a guarantee of success.

Colonel Wilbur was born in Bethlehem, September 3, 1863, his parents being Elisha Packer and Stella (Abbott) Wilbur. The former was a native of Mystic, Conn., born January 31, 1833, a son of Henry and Eveline Wilbur, the latter of whom was a sister of Judge Asa Packer, late of Pennsylvania. When Elisha Wilbur was six years old his father removed to the Lehigh Valley, joining his fortunes with those of his now illustrious kinsman, Judge Packer. The lad attended school for some time, and after completing his studies was furnished employment by the Judge at the Nesquehoning Mines, where he attained to a responsible position, and there remained until 1851. After leaving that position he was for five months a student at Woodbridge Hall, Perth Amboy, N. J., and then, returning to his uncle’s employ, he lived in Mauch Chunk until 1856. During this time he assisted Robert H. Sayre, a civil engineer, in surveying the route of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Afterwards he kept the accounts of Judge Packer, disbursing all the funds required by contractors and others connected with the enterprise. In 1856 he entered the office of E. A. Packer & Co., in Philadelphia, and remained there for several years. In 1870 he opened the banking house of E. P. Wilbur & Co., in South Bethlehem. He has been active in many corporations and has held the office of Burgess of South Bethlehem. At the present time he is connected with the Lehigh Valley Railroad as President of that justly celebrated and paying corporation.

Rollin Henry Wilbur was educated in a private school, and in Mt. Pleasant Military Academy at Sing Sing, N. Y., where he was located from 1876 to 1880. In the latter year he entered Lehigh University and took a special four-years course. In 1884 he entered the service of the Lehigh Valley Railroad, being in the office of H. Stanley Goodwin, General Superintendent, for two years. He was then made Assistant to the General Superintendent, and in 1888 became Assistant to the Second Vice-President. When the Lehigh Valley was leased to the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad in 1892, he became assistant to A. A. McLeod, President and General Manager, and the same year was given the position of Assistant to the Third Vice-President of the Philadelphia & Reading Road, with authority to act as Third Vice-President in the absence of that officer.

January 1, 1893, Colonel Wilbur was appointed General Superintendent of the Eastern Division of the Philadelphia & Reading system, and in March, 1894, the territory was extended to cover all railroad lines of the Lehigh Valley, this having returned to its old management. When the office of General Manager of the Lehigh Valley was abolished, May 1, 1894, our subject was given entire charge of the operating department, and also of the Lehigh Valley Transportation Company. He is a Director in the Lehigh Valley, the Easton & Amboy, and the Easton & Northwestern Railroad Companies, and is also a Director in the E. P. Wilbur Trust Company, the Sayre Metal Company, the Sayre Water Company, the Sayre Land Company, the Lehigh Valley Creosoting Company, the Eynon-Evans Manufacturing Company, and others. In addition to those named he is President of the Glenn Summit Hotel and Land Company, the Lehigh Valley Creosoting Company, and the Eynon-Evans Manufacturing Company. In the American Institute of Mining Engineers he is interested as a member, belongs to the Military Service Institute of the United States, and is a Director of the McClelland Memorial Association; he is also a member of the Pennsylvania Society of Sons of the Revolution, and Director of the New York Lighterage and Transportation Company.

In 1884 Colonel Wilbur married Nanny, daughter of the late Hon. Robert A. Lamberton, LL. D., President of Lehigh University, and they have two daughters, Dorothy and Isabel.