Michael Liebel    

MICHAEL LIEBEL, JR. A native son of the city of Erie who has well upheld the prestige of a name honored in the history of this county and who has marked by distinctive personal accomplishment a place of his own in connection with the economic, industrial and civic affairs of Erie, is the city’s present able and popular mayor, whose name introduces this paragraph.

Mr. Liebel was born in the city of Erie, Pennsylvania, on the 12th of December, 1870, and is a son of Michael and Clara (Uhr) Liebel. Michael Liebel was a native of Germany, where he was born on the 17th of June, 1843, a son of John and Barbara (Hammer) Liebel, who passed the closing years of their lives in Erie. Michael Liebel was afforded the advantages of the excellent schools of his native land, and was fourteen years of age when he came to America in company with his parents. The family located in Erie soon after their arrival in America, and here Michael served an apprenticeship at the shoemaker’s trade, in which he became an expert workman. In 1861 he engaged in the boot and shoe business, in which he here continued for a period of five years. In the meanwhile he had commenced to make judicious investments in local realty, and his interests in this line eventually became very extensive, while he also identified himself, in a capitalistic way, with various enterprises of importance. After he retired from the shoe business these varied interests placed ample demands upon his time and attention, and he became one of the substantial capitalists and influential citizens of Erie, where he gained success through his own well directed efforts and confidence and honors through his sterling character and generous personality. He did much for the advancement and material upbuilding of Erie, where he erected many buildings of substantial type, including the Liebel Hotel, a fine brick and stone structure of four stories, on State street, which is still owned by his estate.

Michael Liebel, Sr., was a man of strong individuality and excellent mentality, so that he naturally had a due appreciation of the responsibilities of citizenship in the land of his adoption. His political allegiance was given to the Democratic party, and he took a deep and intelligent interest in public affairs, especially those of a local order. His hold upon the esteem of the community was shown in the fact that he was called upon to serve in both the select and common councils of the city, in each of which bodies he was chosen president within his term of membership. In 1877 he was elected a member of the board of water commissioners, and for one year he was president of this board. He was a communicant of the Catholic church, and held membership in the parish of St. Peter’s cathedral, in which his widow is a devout communicant. He was summoned to the life eternal in May, 1906, and his record is that of a man who accomplished much and whose career was marked by the most impregnable integrity and honor. His marriage to Miss Clara Uhr, daughter of John Uhr, of Erie, was solemnized in 1865, and they became the parents of three sons—Eugene, who is a representative business man of Oil City, Pennsylvania; Frederick W., who died in 1896; and Michael, Jr., who is the immediate subject of this review. Mrs. Liebel who survives her honored husband still occupies the attractive family homestead in Erie, with whose social affairs she has been identified for many years, having a wide circle of loyal and valued friends.

Michael Liebel, Jr., gained his early educational training in the parochial and public schools of Erie, after which he was matriculated in St. Canisius College, in the city of Buffalo, New York, in which institution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1887. For a brief interval after leaving college he was employed in the Buffalo offices of the Nickle Plate Railroad, and he then returned to Erie, where for five years he was employed in the office of Jackson Koehler, at that time conducting one of the leading breweries of this section of the state. After his retirement from the position last noted Mr. Liebel engaged in the wholesale liquor business, tinder the title of the M. Liebel, Jr., Company, and with this line of enterprise he continued to be identified for a period of three years. He was one of the organizers and incorporators of the Cascade Brewing Company, and of the same he was secretary and treasurer until the business was consolidated with that of the Erie Brewing Company, under which latter title the combined enterprise was continued. Of the Erie Brewing Company Mayor Liebel was secretary for seven years, at the expiration of which he resigned the office and disposed of his interest in the business. He still has many business and capitalistic interests, both in Erie and elsewhere, and has charge of his father’s large estate. He is the owner of a considerable amount of improved real estate in Erie, is a member of the directorate of the Security & Savings Bank of Erie, and is president of the Youngstown Heating Company, of Youngstown, Ohio. He is a valued member of the Erie Chamber of Commerce and the Erie Board of Trade, and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Order of Moose, besides which he holds membership in the Erie Maennerchor and the Country Club.

The political allegiance of Mayor Liebel is given to the Democratic party, and he has shown a commendable interest in all that has tended to conserve the progress and prosperity of his native city, which has honored him by calling him to serve in the chief executive office of the municipal government. In September, 1906, Mr. Liebel received from the city council the appointment to the office of mayor, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Mayor Robert J. Saltsman. At the regular city election of 1907 he was chosen by the popular vote to fill out the remainder of the unexpired term of Mayor Saltsman, which term expired on the 1st of April, 1908. The popular appreciation of the administration of Mayor Liebel was even more distinctly shown in the election of February 7, 1907, when he was elected to the mayoralty for the full term, while still serving the unexpired term of his honored predecessor in the office. His administration has been sane, progressive, and directed according to business principles, so that his name will pass into the annals of the city as that of one of its excellent and popular chief executives. His present term of office will expire April 1, 1911. So far as superficial evidences can indicate, Erie’s popular mayor is still “heart whole and fancy free,”—at least he still clings to the life of the bachelor.

A twentieth century history of Erie County, Pennsylvania : a narrative account of its historical progress, its people and its principal interests, Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., 1909, pages 461-463. More Erie County History Books   Search Hundreds of 1880s-1890s Pennsylvania County History Books for biographies and historical information on your ancestors.  View the book page images on line and print them out for your genealogy file!  Free Access to the old history books - plus birth & death records, census images and ALL other records at ancestry.com.