text: Samuel Van Leer was a well-known ironmaster and a United States Army officer during the American Revolutionary War. He started a military career with enthusiasm with his neighbor General Anthony Wayne in 1775. His furnace, Reading Furnace in Pennsylvania, supplied cannon and cannonballs for the Continental Army. Van Leers furnace was a center of colonial ironmaking and is associated with the introduction of the Franklin Stove, and the retreat of George Washingtons army following its defeat at the Battle of Brandywine, where they came for musket repairs. The location is listed as a temporary George Washington Headquarter.W Van Leer's children all joined the iron business as well.