Anthony Wayne Van Leer (March 3, 1783 – July 9, 1863) was an American

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a large ...

and owner of the Cumberland Furnace in

Dickson County, Tennessee Dickson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 54,315. Its county seat is Charlotte. Dickson County is part of the Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN Metropoli ...

. He was a member of the influential

Van Leer family The Van Leer family, originally spelled Von Lohr, is an influential German-American family that emigrated to the Province of Pennsylvania in the 17th century from the Electorate of Hesse near Isenberg, Germany. The family made their fortune in the U ...

, the son of

Samuel Van Leer Captain Samuel Van Leer (January 7, 1747 – October 15, 1825) was a military officer from Pennsylvania who served as a captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and as lieutenant in the Chester County Light Horse Volu ...

, captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and nephew of General

Anthony Wayne Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his mil ...

. The town of

Vanleer, Tennessee Vanleer is a town in Dickson County, Tennessee, Dickson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was estimated to be 422 in 2019, up from 395 at the 2010 census. The town is approximately 49 miles northwest of Nashville and is located withi ...

is named after him.

Biography

Van Leer was born in

Chester County, Pennsylvania Chester County (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Tscheschter Kaundi''), colloquially known as Chesco, is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the De ...

on April 6, 1783, to Samuel and Hannah (Wayne) Van Leer. His father,

was a captain in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Van Leer would join his family's iron business in Pennsylvania. On June 12, 1816, he married Rebecca Brady and together they had seven children but only 2 daughters survived to adulthood. In 1825, Van Leer began to invest in the iron business in Tennessee and purchased the Cumberland Furnace with partners from

Montgomery Bell Montgomery Bell (January 3, 1769, Chester County, Pennsylvania – April 1, 1855, Dickson County, Tennessee) was a manufacturing entrepreneur who was crucial to the economic development of early Middle Tennessee. He was known as the "Iron Ma ...

who was known as the "Iron Master of Middle Tennessee." Van Leer became one of the wealthiest ironmasters in Tennessee. By 1840, the Cumberland Furnace employed 114 slaves. Despite their status as slaves, men were paid on average $12 a month and women $5. During the American Civil War, his family had close ties to the Union. Furnace operations ceased in 1862 for the remainder of the war. Despite the fact that the Union army utilized

scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...

tactics, and unlike other furnaces in the area, the Cumberland Furnace was not destroyed by the Union Army. His home was also used as a headquarters. He died on July 9, 1863, in Nashville, Tennessee and the ownership of Cumberland Furnace passed to his grandchildren Vanleer Kirkman and Mary Florence Kirkman. Mary and her husband bought out her brother's share of the furnace. Mary's husband was a Union Captain. All former slaves were kept on payroll.

Legacy

The town of

is named in his honor.A Brief History of Vanleer
," Dickson County Historical and Genealogical Society website, originally published in ''Heritage Book of Dickson County, 1803-2006''. Retrieved: 28 February 2013. Van Leer hired famed William Strickland to design his children's homes.

External links

A Cultural Resource Survey of Tennessee's Western Highland Rim Iron Industry, 1790s-1930s
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Leer, Anthony Wayne 1783 births 1863 deaths 19th-century American businesspeople American ironmasters American people of Scotch-Irish descent American slave owners Burials at Mount Olivet Cemetery (Nashville) People from Chester County, Pennsylvania Businesspeople from Tennessee People from Nashville, Tennessee Southern Unionists in the American Civil War Van Leer family