Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 9

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin, 1837-1917; Hand, Alfred, 1835-; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921; Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1026

USA > Pennsylvania > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 9
USA > Wyoming > Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II > Part 9

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Isaac Jones, seventh child and youngest son of Deputy Governor William and Hannah (Eaton) Jones, was born in New Haven, June 21, 1671. He moved to Stratford, Connecticut, and married Deborah Clark, of that town. He was the founder of the Stratford and Stamford branch of the Jones family. Their children were : Daniel, William, Timothy, Mary, Deborah, Isaac, Hannah, Jacob, James, and Ebenezer.

Isaac Jones, sixth child of Isaac Jones named above, was born December 23, 1702. His son John married Elizabeth Cluxton, and their son Josiah married Sarah Smith. Isaac, son of the parents last named, was born at Stamford, Con- necticut, November II, 1794. He married Lois Curtis, and had issue as follows: Louisa Jane, born January 20, 1817 : Sally Ann, born Decem- ber 18, 1818; Isaac S., born July 15, 1821 ; Mary Elizabeth, born May 6, 1824; Daniel Cyrus, born May 14. 1827: Henrietta, born November 12, 1832; Lois A., born December 2, 1834 ; Cornelia Gertrude, born October 10, 1844.

Isaac S. Jones, third child and eldest son of Isaac and Lois (Curtis) Jones, was born in Stam- ford, Connecticut. He was a merchant and be- came a man of considerable importance, repre- senting his town in the legislature and being called to various local offices. He married Frances J. Weed, of Pound Ridge, New York, a descendant probably of the Weed family of Stamford, Con- necticut. Their children were: Francis S., Mary E., Frank S .. Cyrus D., and Charles F. Jones.

Cyrus D. Jones was born in Stamford town- ship, Connecticut, May 1, 1852. He was there reared until he was twelve years old, attending the village schools, where he was well grounded in the English branches. He subsequently took a commercial course in Gardiner's Business College in Scranton. After leaving school he clerked in his father's store, leaving this to enter upon sim- ilar employment in New York City, and for a vear afterward served in the wholesale wood and willow ware house of J. H. Knapp & Co., in the same city. At the age of nineteen he came to Scranton, to which place his father had meantime removed, and there clerked in a store for one year. At the expiration of that time he sought the co- operation of his brothers-Frank S. and Charles F. Jones-and September 1, 1872, shortly before he attained his majority, the firm of Jones Broth- ers was organized for the conduct of a retail tea business in Scranton, and they became known as the Grand Union Tea Company in 1877. How enormously the business was developed from this small beginning is to be discerned in the fact that it is today one of the most mammoth retailing

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enterprises in the country, with its one hundred and seventy-six stores in leading cities, the annual sales amounting to from six to eight millions of dollars, and providing employment for an army of more than three thousand people. The gen- eral offices of this vast business are in Brooklyn, New York. Mr. Jones and his brother, Frank S. Jones, as an individual firm, their brother Charles F. having retired from the firm several years ago, purchase all the products and materials used by the company, importing great quantities of tea, and furnishing the capital for a large coffee in- porting business. They also own the Anchor Pottery, of Trenton, New Jersey, the output of which is required in its entirety for the use of the Grand Union Tea Company. Success has crowned the efforts of the brothers from the beginning, yet this result has not been accomplished without the exercise of the best powers of the merchant- incessant industry, careful judgment and discrim- inating sagacity. During the more than thirty years in which is contained the history of the company, the country has passed through some of the most serious financial crises, in which scores of similar enterprises have ended in failure, some- times of colossal extent. The Grand Union Tea Company, however, has successfully weathered every storm, maintaining its prestige unimpaired, and so holding in hand its resources as to be enabled to constantly extend instead of curtailing its operations. In the corporation as it exists to- day, with its houses dotting the entire country, Mr. Jones has lived to witness a monument to his own endeavor of which any man might well be proud, and which is worthy of being held up as an example of what may be accomplished by earnest and honorable effort, and as a complete answer to the pessimists who would have us be- lieve that fortune and fame are no longer to be achieved in this day and through exercise of res- olution and honorable methods.

In addition to his connection with the Grand Union Tea Company, of which he is vice-presi- dent, Mr. Jones holds official position in some thirty other corporations and firms, among them the following: The United States Lumber Com- pany, in which he is vice-president : the Peoples' Bank of Scranton, of which he is president ; and the Traders' Bank of the same city, in which he is a director. He is at the same time practically retired from active connection with the great in- stitutions with which his name is so closely iden- tified, and, in pursuance of a determination made many years ago, whereby he limited the period of his personal effort, is residing in semi-retirement, in the enjoyment of a beautiful home and all the

surroundings which are grateful to one of culture and refined tastes. Yet, as necessity requires, he takes an advisorial interest in all the concerns. with which he is associated, and he has never ceased to be to his home community one of its most helpful and liberal members, affording his influence and means to every worthy object. He was a trustee in the construction of the Young Men's Christian Association Building at Scran- ton, to which he was a large contributor. His religious affiliations are with the Elm Park Meth- odist Church, in which he is a trustee and member of the official board. His personal traits are those which well mark the ideal neighbor and citizen. Modestly and without ostentation he is a liberal benefactor of many charitable and philanthropic institutions, as well as of the well-deserving about him who are buffeted by misfortune in. mind, body and estate. He has traveled much throughout the United States and Europe. Mr. Jones is one of the most highly esteemed men in Scranton, a man of rare genial nature and pleas- ing personality, who is exteremely popular among. a wide circle of friends, and who is admired in business circles for the phenomenal success which has always attended his well-directed efforts.

Mr. Jones married Miss Mary S. Horn, of Scranton, and of this marriage have been born four children: Arthur A., who is secretary and treasurer of the Grand Union Tea Company ; he- married Miss Elzena Bixby, and they reside in Brooklyn, New York. Harvey L., who is also connected with the corporation named, and mar- ried Miss Edna Caryl; they also reside in Brook- lyn, New York. Helen F. and Frederick B. Jones, who reside at home.

Frank S. Jones, third child of Isaac S. and Frances J. (Weed) Jones, was born in Stam- ford, Connecticut, August 19, 1847. He pursued an ordinary course of study in his native town, and at the age of fourteen entered Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, New York, from which he was graduated in 1862. He soon after- ward entered a New York publishing house as- assistant bookkeeper, and in a few years was ad- vanced to the position of confidential clerk. Dur- ing his ten years experience with this firm he was laying the foundation for his future achievements and success in life. In 1872, as has been before- narrated, he became associated with his brothers in the formation of the Grand Union Tea Com- pany. He is known for his large benefactions to. religious, charitable and philanthropic institu- tions and causes. His residence is in Brooklyn,. New York.

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THOMAS MONIE, M. D. It is a true saying that some men are born poets, and it is equally true that some men are born physicians and surgeons. Education can do much in mas- tering the path which nature prompts us to fol- low, but if we would be true poets, accomplished physicians or skillful surgeons we must travel the road to which Dame Nature points. We are pleased to say that Dr. Monie is one of those gen- tlemen who by nature and education is well qual- ified to fill his present position and profession. He is by nativity a Scotchman, born June 9, 1868. He is the son of Charles and Helen Monie, na- tives of Scotland, who with their family emi- grated to this country in 1871. They located at Pittston, Pennsylvania, and later removed to Old Forge and Moosic. Charles Monie (father) is an engineer by trade. Twelve children were born to Charles and Helen Monie, nine of whom are living, namely: James B., Helen, John C., Isa- belle N., Elizabeth M., Thomas, Charles, Mary, and William Monie.

Dr. Thomas Monie acquired his preliminary education in the common schools of Old Forge and Moosic, and this knowledge was supple- mented by a course at the Scranton Business Col- lege, from which institution he was graduated ; subsequently he entered the Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia, graduating therefrom in the year 1899. During the same year he settled in Archbald, Pennsylvania, where he has since been successfully engaged in the practice of medi- cine and surgery. He enjoys the reputation of being one of the most skillful surgeons in the Lackawanna Valley, and his services are in con- stant demand in critical surgical cases. His patronage is steadily increasing, owing to his skill and ability in the diagnosis and treatment of dis- ease. He is a member of the Lackawanna Med- iacl Society, the Scranton Clinical and Pathologi- cal Society, the Pennsylvania State Medical So- ciety, and the American Medical Association. He is an honored member of Aurora Lodge, No. 523. Free and Accepted Masons, of Jermyn, Pennsylvania : the Independent Order of Odd Fellows ; Royal Arcanum ; and the Heptasophs.

Dr. Monie was married in 1894 to Mary E. Van Doran, to whom five children were born, four of whom are living, namely: Margaret I., Thomas R., Allen S., and Norval V. Mrs. Monie, mother of these children, died June 2, 1903. Her demise was sincerely mourned by her own family, and also by a large circle of friends and acquaint- ances who esteemed her at her true value.

JACOB THEODORE NYHART, of Scran- ton, Pennsylvania, is a representative of that class of men who by their industry, energy and. perseverance have gained an enviable position in business circles, and whose name is a synonym for integrity and honorable transactions. He was born in Hamilton, Monroe county, Pennsylvania, April 21, 1842, a son of Simon and Elizabeth (Ruth) Nyhart, descendants of a good old Dutch extraction.

Simon Nyhart (father) was a native of Mon- roe county, Pennsylvania, a tailor by trade, which line of work he followed during his entire active career and from which lie derived a good liveli -- hood. By his marriage to Elizabeth Ruth, also a native of Monroe county, Pennsylvania, he was the father of seven children, three of whom are living at the present time (1904) : Catherine,. Lana, and Jacob T. Catherine resides near Tay- lorville, Lackawanna county ; Lana resides in Nazareth, Northampton county; and Jacob T. will be mentioned at length in the following par- agraph. Simon Nyhart died in early manhood, being only forty-five years of age ; he was sur- vived by his wife, who attained the age of seven- ty-six years.

Jacob T. Nyhart was a boy of eight years when his father died, and being thus early thrown. upon his own resources, his education was neces- sarily limited, having been mostly acquired in the . school of experience, from which we never grad- uate. The family took up their residence in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1851, and the follow -. ing year he was employed by his brother Samuel, who was a miller by trade. He spent one year in Luzerne, now Lackawanna county, and then moved to Wyoming county, in and about Tunk- hannock, where he remained for a number of years. He finally moved to Waverly, Pennsyl- vania, where he engaged at his trade for two years. He then returned to Wyoming county, in the neighborhood of Tunkhannock, where he . operated on shares a mill for two and half years, after which he removed to La Grange where he and his brother had previously operated a mill. His next move was to the mill owned by Mr. Mil- ler at Tunkhannock, and after operating this for one and one-half years he located in Factoryville, where he operated a flouring mill for five and one- half years. His next place of residence was Providence, Lackawanna county, now a part of Scranton), where he operated a mill for nineteen years, and at the expiration of this period of time - (in 1891) he purchased his present mill in Peck- -

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ville. This mill was built by Samuel Peck in 1839. and operated by him for a number of years. It was finally rented to others, and passed through a number of hands before it was purchased by Mr. Nyhart.

The mill is operated by a forty-horse power ·engine with a sixty-horse boiler, and has a ca- pacity of twenty-five tons per day. While Mr. Nyhart is a dealer in all kinds of grain and feed, including hay and straw, yet his mill is confined to making feed. He understands the milling business from start to finish, conducts his affairs in a practical and efficient manner, and well merits the success which has attended his well-directed efforts. Although a loyal citizen and deeply in- terested in the affairs of his country and state, Mr. Nyhart is no politician, his life having been too busy to allow him the time to take an active part in politics. His principle in local affairs is the best man for the office. During the early years of his life he cast his vote for the candidates of the Democratic party on national issues, but of late years his allegiance has been transferred to the opposite party. He has long been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which body he holds the office of class leader and trustee. In former years he was active in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and an official in his lodge, and he has received the seventh degree in the Masonic fraternity.

In 1865, while a resident of Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania, Mr. Nyhart was united in marriage to Sarah A. Shook, of Wyoming county, and two children were the issue of this union: I. Stan- ley W., born in Wyoming county, April 11, 1866, received his education in the public schools, Wyoming Seminary and Eastman's Business Col- lege in Poughkeepsie, New York, and has been in the employ of his father ever since his graduation from the latter named institution. He married Blanche Brown, and they are the parents of four children, namely: Hilda, Mae, Dorothy, and Jacob T. 2. Magdalene, an accomplished young woman, resides with her parents.

THE JERMYN FAMILY. John Jermyn, Sr., was born in England and was married ( first) to a Miss Dunthorne, also a native of that coun- try. He emigrated to America with his two sons, John and William, in 1847, and settled in Penn- sylvania at Slocum Hollow, now Scranton. His second wife was Esther Barnes. The children of John Jermyn were: Miranda, Mary, William, John and another daughter.

Of these children, Miranda married Joseph : Smith and her children were: Marion, who be-

came the wife of Arthur Keston; Annie, who married Joseph Kirk; Alice, who married Thomas Hill ; Florence, who became Mrs. Smith ; Constance, who married Frederick Friend ; and Jermyn, who died in childhood. Mary, second daughter of John Jermyn, Sr., became the wife of Henry Beeson, but had no children.

William Jermyn, eldest son of John Jermyn, married a daughter of Joseph Smith, and their children were: William, who died in infancy ; Alice, who married a Miss Blackman ; and Dun- thorne.

John Jermyn, Jr., son of John Jermyn, Sr., was born at Rendham, Suffolk county, England, in October, 1825, and was married in 1851 to Susan Knight, whose birth occurred in 1834, and who was a daughter of Joseph Knight of Corn- wall, England. The children of John and Susan (Knight) Jermyn are: Joseph J., born July 31, 1852: William C., born in 1854, died in 1874; Francis H., born in 1856, married Grace Griffin, by whom he had a daughter Frances ; Myron A., died in infancy ; George B., born in 1862, married Mary Anna Olds by whom he had a son, John, and for his second wife chose Annie Adams, by whom he has two daughters, Margaret and Ruth ; Walter M., born in 1864, married Lena Keagh ; Edmond Beeson, born in 1866, married Mamie Decker, by whom he has three children, Edmond, Jr., Elizabeth, and William; Susan M., born in 1871, is the wife of Robert A. Downey, by whom she has one son, Robert, Jr. ; Rollo, who married Kate Jay, and has a son Rollo.

John Jermyn, the younger son of John Jermyn, Sr., was reared and educated in London, Eng- land, to which place his father removed from Rendham, Suffolk county. He remained in Lon- don until he was twenty-two years of age when he emigrated to America with his father and brother William. He settled in Scranton, Pennsylvania, in 1847, and entered upon his business career in this country by working for the firm of Scranton & Platt, engaged in the coal and iron business. He assisted in opening the Diamond coal mine, the first mine opened in Scranton, and was em- ployed there as foreman. Later he started in business for himself in partnership with Stephen Clark in the Clark mine located in northern Scranton. Shortly afterward, however, he sold his interest in this mine and secured a mine at Archbald, which he operated for two years and then sold. He next removed to Jermyn, hecom- ing the founder of the town and giving to it his name. There he remained for eighteen years, when he disposed of his interest there and again located at Scranton. At Priceburg he opened

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two more mines, which he operated for a few years and then again sold out. He afterward opened the mine known as the Manville, and one at Peckville, which he operated for a year, when he sold. He also owned a mine at Rendham, which was named for his birthplace in England. He also became a prominent factor in other busi- ness pursuits aside from the development of the large coal resources of the state. He was at one time the most extensive stockholder of the First National Bank of Scranton, also of the Mechanics' Savings Bank at Carbondale, and made judicious investment in real estate in Scranton. In 1896 he built the palatial hotel which still bears his name, and which is now owned by the Jermyn estate. He was largely instrumental in securing the building of the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad to Scranton, and for a few years acted as its manager.

Few men have figured so prominently in the business development and material upbuilding of Scranton and this portion of the state as did John Jermyn. His educational advantages in youth were limited, and without pecuniary assistance or the aid of influential friends or relatives he started out in life determined to make the most of his op- portunities and to win advancement if it could be gained through strong purpose and honorable effort. His self-reliance and natural powers proved the basis of a success that was as com- mendable as it was notable. Difficulties and ob- stacles seemed not to deter him in his onward march, but rather proved an impetus for renewed effort. Realizing in his youth that the business opportunities of the new world were superior to those in the old country, he accordingly crossed the Atlantic and without a moment's hesitation sought employment, which he soon secured. From that time forward his course was marked by steady and consecutive advancement, which came in recognition of his close application and fidelity to every interest entrusted to his care by his employers. Only a comparatively brief pe- riod had passed when he was enabled, as the re- sult of his industry and economy, to embark in business on his own account and the history of his operations in the coal fields forms an important chapter in the record of the material development of this part of the state. He saw that profits would accrue from the employment of the labors of others, and prepared to enter the contracting field. In speaking of this portion of his career a contemporary biographer has said: "He sought and secured the contract for opening the Diamond coal mines at Scranton, and was the first man to put a shovel into that important work. His con-

tract here having been pushed to a successful and satisfactory close during the years 1851 to 1854,. he soon after entered into a contract to open and develop the coal of the New York & Pennsylvania Coal Company situated in the notch of the moun- tain above Providence, known as Rockwell's. mines. In this undertaking he was engaged some four or five years and was highly success- ful. The contract having been filled and the work accepted by the company in the year 1859, he en- tered into a contract with Judson Clark, Esq., for the sinking of a shaft and mining the coal from the lands of' the said Clark, situated on the Abington turnpike and near the mines of the New York & Pennsyl- vania Coal Company. He was engaged for some two years, when Judson Clark having died, he- together with Messrs. Wells and Clark, of Car- bondale, Pennsylvania, became the proprietors of the mines under a lease with the estate, under the firm name of Jermyn, Wells & Company. This lease continued for three years, when the mining of the coal at this point was abandoned. Always on the alert for an opening and with a wonderful- ly penetrating mind, we find Mr. Jermyn always looking in advance, and before he closed his en- gagement at one point had another in waiting for him. Thus before his lease expired with the Judson Clark estate, he had effected another with Judge Birdseye, of New York City, for the work- ing of his mines at Archbald, Pennsylvania. These . mines had been badly managed for many ; ears, and their reputation was such that the proprietor found it difficult to operate them successfully. This Mr. Jermyn soon remedied, however, and he had not been in possession of the mines more than three years when the proprietor was enabled to . sell his mines and coal lands to the Boston and Lackawanna Coal Company at a very large profit. Mr. Jermyn, having closed his engagement with the same success which seemed ever to attend him with the same foresight which had all through life characterized him, sought out and before closing his business at Arch- bald effected a contract for mining the coal land of the Gibson estate, at what was then known as Rushdale. Here, as at Arch- bald, the reputation of the community and quality of coal to be mined was such that mining opera- tions had been abandoned entirely and the oper- ators almost literally driven from the field, the . mines having stood idle for several years. With all these discouragements and contrary to the ad- vice of his friends, who could see nothing but failure and disaster in the undertaking, Mr. Jermyn, after having examined the mines for -

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THE WYOMING AND LACKAWANNA VALLEYS.

himself and satisfied his own mind that there was money in it, pushed steadily forward with his im- provements, keeping his own counsel until he should be fully prepared to enter upon his mining operations. Having put his machinery and build- ings in thorough repair and added largely to his facilities for mining and preparing coal, in 1865, Mr. Jermyn entered upon the most successful un- dertaking of his life, and laid the foundation for a large share of property and wealth which after- wards crowned his career, having effected two new leases of coal to the amount of one million tons each, besides filling successfully the original contract of one million tons from the same estate, and with the facilities for mining and delivering the entire two million tons of coal within the next ten or fifteen years. When the borough of Gibsonburg was incorporated in the year 1869, it was thought fitting that it should bear the name of the estate on which it was founded, hence the "name of Gibsonburg. During the year 1873. the growth and interests of the borough having from its formation been so entirely connected with the Jermyn family, it was thought but just and the spontaneous expression of the entire community was given that the name of the borough be changed to that of Jermyn.

John Jermyn died in 1902, leaving to his fam- ily a large estate that had been acquired through ·a lifetime of activity well directed by sound busi- ness judgment. His career is an indication of the business advantages afforded by the new world to the men who have the foresight to rec- ognize and utilize them, and while he acquired wealth, his efforts were also of a character to ben- efit the entire locality in which he operated, and his life work, therefore, became of signal useful- ness to Scranton and the surrounding districts.

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Genealogical and family history of the Wyoming and Lackawanna Valleys, Pennsylvania, Volume II, Part 9

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin, 1837-1917; Hand, Alfred, 1835-; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921; Lewis Publishing Company Publication date: 1906 Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company Number of Pages: 1026

Author: Hayden, Horace Edwin, 1837-1917; Hand, Alfred, 1835-; Jordan, John W. (John Woolf), 1840-1921; Lewis Publishing Company
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: New York, Chicago, The Lewis publishing company
Number of Pages: 1026