Anthony Wayne Van Leer


Anthony Wayne Van Leer was a prominent Iron works owner in Tennessee, son of revolutionary officer Samuel Van Leer and nephew of General Anthony Wayne. The town of VanLeer, Tennessee is named after him.

Biography

Anthony Van Leer was born in Pennsylvania on April 6, 1783 and named after his uncle Anthony Wayne. His father, Captain Samuel Van Leer was a well known Pennsylvania Ironmaster and a United States Army officer. All of his brothers were in the Iron trade when Anthony moved to Nashville. In the mid 1800s, Anthony purchased one of the more prominent iron furnaces from Montgomery Bell who was known as the "Iron Master of Middle Tennessee." For years Nashville was considered one of the wealthiest southern capitals and a large portion of its prominence was from the iron business. Nashville led the south for iron production. Van Leer would eventually become one of the state's wealthiest capitalists and industrialists. His granddaughter married a Union Captain and built the historical Drouillard House on his property. His mansion was also used as a Union headquarters.
Van Leer's family and history is also part of historical tour for the Van Leer Cabin and his family's home Van Leer Pleasant Hill Plantation. His family was considered one of the more well known families in the iron business at the time and noted in the anti-slavery cause.   Another Van Leer Cabin was used as a station for the Underground Railroad. Stations like these consisted of a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early to mid-19th century, and used by enslaved African-Americans to escape into free states.
His descendants and relatives would go on to play various notable roles in American history.
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