ISAAC LEADBETER The life of this gentleman is a history in itself, illustrative of what can be attained by indomitable perseverance, a stout heart and a willing pair of hands. He is a son of the rugged and romantic land of the Cymri, having been born in Blaenavon, Monmouthshire, South Wales, in 1828. In 1840, then a lad of twelve summers, he came with a brother-in-law and family to America, the passage across the Atlantic being made in an American sailing vessel. Landing in Alexandria, Va., after a voyage of seven weeks and two days, the party proceeded to Washington, D. C., thence by train to Baltimore, from which city they traveled by canal to a place called Trout Run, on the Susquehanna, and from there by stage some twenty-five miles through the wilderness to a small town in Tioga county, Penn., called Blossburg, where they resided three years. At the end of that time they retraced their steps by the same route to Trout Run, and from there journeyed to Pittsburgh by canal. The canal boat which conveyed them was built in three sections, which were taken apart when they reached the Alleghanies, being brought separate over the mountains ---five inclines up and five inclines down, into the canal again, and then once more hitched together. They crossed the Allegheny river in the aqueduct, and landed at Bayardstown, near where the Union depot now stands. There they took boat to Young's Landing on the Monongahela, two miles below Greenfield, now called Coal Centre. At the time of the California "gold fever" Mr. Leadbeter, in company with six others, set out for the new Eldorado in the spring of 1850, taking the overland route, and arriving in Hangtown six months after the day of their starting, many hardships being endured on the journey. After two years' sojourn in the mines, he returned home via the Isthmus of Panama, and in 1856 he revisited California, traveling by the Nicaragua route, and again remained in the "gold diggins" two years. In 1863 the Smith & Co. Coal Company was organized, the firm being composed of Isaac Leadbeter, L. E. Smith and Edward Blinco, which was dissolved on the death of Mr. Smith in the year 1873. In 1874 a new company came into existence, styled the I. Leadbeter Company, which did business until 1878, and in the following year our subject and family moved to Cherokee county, Kans., but the fascination of his early manhood home still haunted him, and impelled him in 1880 to once more become a citizen of the Keystone State. Up to the year 1880, when he retired from active life, Mr. Leadbeter's occupation was for the most part mining and shipping coal. He began life with a coal pick in his hand, and has felt the cutting edge of poverty's lance; but by industry and perseverance, coupled with sound judgment and solid business principles, he succeeded in conquering every opposition, and to day he ranks with the most prosperous men in the land. In June, 1849, our subject was united in marriage with Isabel, daughter of Robert and Margaret Smiley, and six children have been born to them one son and five daughters, viz.: Sarah Crow, wife of John Crow; Nancy, wife of John Young; Robert Leonard, a general merchant of Coal Centre, married to Cora Hicks; Mary Eliza, wife of Jacob Hormell; Harriet Malinda, wife of A. E. Freeman, and Cora Belle, living at home with her parents. The parents have given their children excellent school advantages, and all have been brought up to a Christian life. Mr. Leadbeter's home since 1855 has been in Coal Centre, with the exception of two years he and his family lived in Kansas (as already related), from which place he and the family moved to their present residence in 1880. In 1858 Mr. Leadbeter united with Pike Run Lodge, No. 491, I.0.0. F., of California, and was one of the organizers and charter members of Vesta Lodge, No.696, Coal Centre. He has proven a most zealous and active member, and has passed all the Chairs. Mr. Leadbeter has extensive real-estate interests in the boroughs of California, Granville and Coal Centre. In church affairs he has ever been especially prominent. From the days of his early youth he has been identified with the Methodist Episcopal denomination, and has served in every official capacity, being at the present time district steward. In the Sunday-school he is recognized as a leader, and when the Sabbath day comes Mr. Leadbeter appears in armor, at his post. It is but fair to add that in business circles few in his line of trade are better known throughout the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys than Isaac Leadbeter, whose name is the synonym for honor and integrity. As a man he is genial as the sunshine, generous to a fault, respected and beloved by all.

Text taken from page 526 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed May 1997 by George & Mary Ann Plance of Gainesville, FL as part of the Beers Project. Published June 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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