James Archbald (1793–1870) was a

Scottish-American Scottish Americans or Scots Americans (; ) are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scotch-Irish Americans, descendants of Ulster Scots, and communities emphasize and cel ...

railroad executive and politician. After immigrating to the United States with his family in 1805, he later was elected as

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

state representative and as the first mayor of

Carbondale, Pennsylvania Carbondale is a city in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carbondale is located approximately 15 miles due northeast of the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, Scranton in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 8,828 at the 2020 ...

Early life and family

Archbald was born March 3, 1793, on

Little Cumbrae Little Cumbrae () is an island in the Firth of Clyde, in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It lies south of Great Cumbrae, its larger neighbour. The underlying geology is igneous with limited outcrops of sedimentary rock. Little Cumbrae House is of 20th ...

island, off the Ayrshire coast of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, to a family of

shepherd A shepherd is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations; it exists in many parts of the globe, and it is an important part of Pastoralism, pastoralist animal husbandry. ...

s. His family was one of many displaced by the

Lowland Clearances The Lowland Clearances were one of the results of the Scottish Agricultural Revolution, which changed the traditional system of agriculture which had existed in Lowland Scotland in the seventeenth century. Thousands of cottars and tenant far ...

; they emigrated to the United States when he was 12. They purchased a farm in the

Mohawk Valley The Mohawk Valley region of the U.S. state of New York is the area surrounding the Mohawk River, sandwiched between the Adirondack Mountains and Catskill Mountains, northwest of the Capital District. As of the 2010 United States Census, ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. In 1832 he married Sarah Augusta Frothingham (born 1805), the daughter of Major Thomas and Elizabeth Frost Frothingham of Sand Lake, New York. They had seven children: James, Mary, Augusta, Thomas,

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...

, a son who died in infancy, and a daughter Elizabeth, who died at age 12.

Railroad career

From his location in the Mohawk Valley, Archbald had become familiar with the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

, which was completed through the Mohawk Valley in 1824. He went into the canal and railroad industry, which was displacing canals as the transportation of choice. Succeeding

John B. Jervis John Bloomfield Jervis (December 14, 1795 – January 12, 1885) was an American civil engineer. America's leading consulting engineer of the antebellum era (1820–60), Jervis designed and supervised the construction of five of America's earliest ...

, Archbald served as the general superintendent of the

Delaware and Hudson Canal Company The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States. In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP, which would it ...

(D&H) from 1829 to 1854. He helped plan the construction of the Pennsylvania Coal Company's railroad from

Pittston Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city lies in the Wyoming Valley on the east side of the Susquehanna River and on the south side of the Lackawanna River. It is approximately midway between Wilkes-Barre, Pen ...

to Hawley in 1847. He left D&H to become the vice president of

Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana Railroad The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1833, and sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, New York, to Chicago, Illinois, primarily alon ...

in 1854. Two years later in 1856, he became the general manager and chief engineer of the

Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, also known as the DL&W or Lackawanna Railroad, was a U.S. Class 1 railroad that connected Buffalo, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey, and by ferry with New York City, a distance of . The railroad was ...

and relocated to

Scranton Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

, where it had its headquarters. He lived there until his death in 1870.

Political career

In 1851 Archbald was elected as the first mayor of Carbondale, Pennsylvania. He was reelected three times and served four terms. His last year of office was 1855. He was nominated at the

Lackawanna County Lackawanna County (; ) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It had a population of 215,615 in 2022. Its county seat and most populous city is Scranton. The county is part of the Northeast region of the commonwealth. The county was ...

Convention held at

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( , alternatively or ) is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. ...

September 4, 1866, to represent the 133rd district in the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

. He had no partisan affiliation.

Legacy and honors

* Archbald borough is named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Archbald, James 1793 births 1870 deaths Scottish emigrants to the United States People from North Ayrshire 19th-century American railroad executives Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives American railway civil engineers Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad Mayors of places in Pennsylvania People from Carbondale, Pennsylvania People associated with Scottish islands 19th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly