Today in Wheeling History: February 14--Andrew J. Sweeney, who brought electricity to Wheeling, served as its longest-tenured mayor, operated the North Wheeling Manufacturing Co., founded the Wheeling Electric Co., and was instrumental in civic improvements like the railway, fire department, and bridges, died (1893).
Andrew J. Sweeney was a prominent businessman and the longest-serving mayor of Wheeling, West Virginia. He brought electricity to the city in 1882, just days after Thomas Edison's first practical demonstration. Sweeney saw electric lighting in Paris and, upon returning to Wheeling, became president of the Brush Electric Light Co. but it dissolved. Undeterred, he established the Wheeling Electric Co. with his son John and employee W.P. Hix at his machine shop. Sweeney also headed his family's North Wheeling Manufacturing Co., producing engines, machinery, and steamboats. He served nine terms as Wheeling's mayor from 1855 to 1881 and was a colonel in the militia during the Civil War. Sweeney married twice, fathered 13 children, and was actively involved in civic improvements like the railway, fire department, and bridges until his death on Valentine's Day 1893. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.
To learn more: (http://tinyurl.com/7ead8jza) (http://tinyurl.com/499w33u7) (http://tinyurl.com/35mnf7c6)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV
Andrew J. Sweeney was a prominent businessman and the longest-serving mayor of Wheeling, West Virginia. He brought electricity to the city in 1882, just days after Thomas Edison's first practical demonstration. Sweeney saw electric lighting in Paris and, upon returning to Wheeling, became president of the Brush Electric Light Co. but it dissolved. Undeterred, he established the Wheeling Electric Co. with his son John and employee W.P. Hix at his machine shop. Sweeney also headed his family's North Wheeling Manufacturing Co., producing engines, machinery, and steamboats. He served nine terms as Wheeling's mayor from 1855 to 1881 and was a colonel in the militia during the Civil War. Sweeney married twice, fathered 13 children, and was actively involved in civic improvements like the railway, fire department, and bridges until his death on Valentine's Day 1893. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery.
To learn more: (http://tinyurl.com/7ead8jza) (http://tinyurl.com/499w33u7) (http://tinyurl.com/35mnf7c6)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV
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