Joseph C. Sibley

Joseph C. Sibley (Pennsylvania Congressman)

Joseph Crocker Sibley (February 18, 1850 – May 18, 1926) was a U.S. Representative from the state of Pennsylvania.

Biography

Joseph C. Sibley was born in Friendship, New York. In 1859 he moved with his parents to Boston, New York. He attended the county schools and the local academies at Springville and Friendship. He taught school and studied medicine. He was engaged in the oil-refining business in Franklin, Pennsylvania as co-founder (with his brother-in-law Charles Miller) of the Galena Oil Company, specializing in high-quality railroad lubricant. Sibley actually landed that contract on an ill-fated trip to Chicago for a meeting with the major railroad barons of the day—he won the contract, but woke up the next day to find himself in the middle of the Great Chicago Fire. Galena was soon to be one of the early acquisitions for John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company. With his money, Sibley established himself in agricultural circles, particularly as a breeder of fine horses. His wealth also enabled him to launch a political career. He was mayor of Franklin, Pennsylvania, in 1879.

River Ridge Farm in 2009.

Sibley was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-third Congress. He was unsuccessful candidate of the Democratic and Populist Parties for reelection in 1894 and for election in 1896. He was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-sixth Congress. He was elected as a Republican to the Fifty-seventh, Fifty-eighth, and Fifty-ninth Congresses. He served as chairman of the United States House Committee on Manufactures during the Fifty-eighth and Fifty-ninth Congresses. He declined renomination in 1906. He was nominated for Congress in 1910, but declined to make the campaign because of ill health. He served as chairman of the Republican State convention in 1902. He resumed his former manufacturing and agricultural pursuits, and died at his home, “River Ridge Farm,”near Franklin, Pennsylvania, in 1926. Interment in Franklin Cemetery.

Sources

• Joseph C. Sibley at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• The Political Graveyard
• Mays, Jack. Destiny's Gentleman. 1979.