Liebel was born December 12, 1870, in Erie, Pennsylvania, and is the son of Michael and Clara Liebel. His father, Michael Liebel Sr. was born June 17, 1843, in Germany and was the son of John and Barbara Liebel, who also lived in Erie, Pennsylvania. Michael Liebel Sr. was 14 years old when his parents came to Erie, Pennsylvania, from Germany. He served an apprenticeship at the shoemaking trade, and in 1861 he started his own boot and shoe business, which he continued for five years. He invested in local realty with his brother Reinhard Liebel, which eventually became very extensive. Liebel Sr. died in May 1906. Michael and Clara Liebel had three sons: Eugene Liebel, who died in 1923, Michael Liebel Jr., and Frederick W. Liebel, who died in 1896. Liebel was educated in the public and parochial schools of Erie and attended college Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, graduating in 1887.
A member of the Democratic party, Liebel served as Mayor of Erie, Pennsylvania, from 1906 to 1911. His first term started in September, 1906, when he received the appointment to fill a vacancy caused by the death of Mayor Robert J. Saltsman. In the subsequent election of 1907, he was chosen by the popular vote to fill the remainder of the unexpired term until April 1, 1908. Liebel served in office as Mayor until 1911. After leaving office as Mayor, Liebel organized and became President of the Vulcan Rubber Company which manufactured tires, tubes and hard rubber accessories.
Liebel ran and was elected the Democratic representative of the 25th district of Pennsylvania to the Sixty-fourth Congress serving in that office from March 4, 1915, until March 4, 1917. While in office, he served on the Naval Committee. In 1916, Liebel challenged A. Mitchell Palmer of Stroudsburg to be the National Committeemean of the Pennsylvania State Democratic Party, but was defeated by Palmer. He was not a candidate for renomination and after retiring from political office in 1917, he resumed his former business activities as president of the Vulcan Rubber Company, as well as President of the Erie Reduction Company, an Erie-based fertilizer manufacturer, with offices in Sandusky, Ohio.
Liebel was a lifelong member of the Catholic Church and belonged to the Elks, Eagles and Moose lodges. He was described as "an enterprising and progressive business man" who was "widely known." Liebel died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1927, and is interred was at Trinity Cemetery in Erie. Liebel lived in a home built by his father in 1882 known as the "Michael Liebel House," at 139 West 21st Street in Erie, Pennsylvania. The mansion is an 8,198 sq. ft. Colonial Revival, centered on a large lot and constructed of buff-colored brick. It features a massive porch with Corinthian columns and a bracketed dentiled cornice. Three pedimented dormers adorn the roof which is accented with a cornice matching that of the porch roof. The "Michael Liebel House" is part of the West 21st Street Historic District that was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. The home was used as the "Merle E. Wood Funeral Home" until 1992. Currently, the "Village at Luther Square," a domestic care provider, owns the building and uses is as a domestic care home that houses several elderly Erieites. VALS purportedly invested over $300,000 in refurbishing this building for its current use.
