George W. Scranton

George Whitfield Scranton (May 11, 1811 – March 24, 1861) was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from March 4, 1859, until his death in 1861. George Scranton was born in Madison, Connecticut. He attended Lee’s Academy. He moved to Belvidere, New Jersey in 1828 and became a teamster. From 1835 to 1839, Scranton was interested in agricultural pursuits and in the latter year engaged in the manufacture of iron, and began experimenting with the practicability of smelting ore by means of anthracite coal in Slocum (now Scranton, Pennsylvania). He was the founder of the Lackawanna Iron & Coal Company and the city of Scranton. He projected and constructed the Northumberland division of the Lackawanna...