Packer, Asa
lawyer, jurist, state legislator, congressman, was born Dec. 20, 1806, in Groton, Conn. He designed and built the Lehigh Valley railroad, as well as the railroad leading from Mauch Chunk to Erie. He gave five hundred thousand dollars and land to found the Lehigh university. He was elected to the Pennsylvania state legislature; served as judge of a county court; and was a representative in congress from Pennsylvania from 1853 to 1857. In 1875 he was appointed a commissioner to the centennial exhibition. He died May 17, 1879, in Philadelphia, Pa.