James B. Bennett and Nancy Ann Hughes
Husband James B. Bennett 1 2 3
Born: 14 Jan 1827 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA Christened: Died: 23 Feb 1909 - Emlenton, Venango Co, PA 3 Buried: - Emlenton Cemetery, Emlenton, Venango Co, PA 4Marriage: 28 Mar 1850 5
Wife Nancy Ann Hughes 1 3
Born: 2 Dec 1831 3 Christened: Died: 12 Apr 1904 3 Buried: - Emlenton Cemetery, Emlenton, Venango Co, PA 4
Father: William H. Hughes (1806-1900) 1 6 7 8 9 Mother: Sarah Cousins (1814-1877) 1 6 8 9
Children
1 F Sarah Jeanette Bennett 10
Born: 27 Jun 1851 Christened: Died: 28 Dec 1924 Buried: - Emlenton Cemetery, Emlenton, Venango Co, PA 11Spouse: John Anderson Crawford (1848-1912) 10
2 F Mary Bennett 5
Born: 3 Jul 1854 5 Christened: Died: Jan 1855 5 Buried:Spouse: Did Not Marry
3 F Nettie Bennett 5
Born: Christened: Died: Buried:
4 F Laura Bennett 5 7
Born: 1854 - Franklin, Venango Co, PA Christened: Died: Buried: 8 Jan 1926 - Emlenton Cemetery, Emlenton, Venango Co, PA 12Spouse: John Wesley Widel (1848-1919)
5 F Harriet Bennett 5 7
Born: 1856 Christened: Died: 1899 Buried: - Emlenton Cemetery, Emlenton, Venango Co, PA 13Spouse: Dr. Winthrop Randall ( - ) 7
6 M Benjamin F. Bennett 5
Born: 1859 Christened: Died: Dec 1932 Buried: - Emlenton Cemetery, Emlenton, Venango Co, PA 4Spouse: Elizabeth I. Perry (1864-1938) Marr: 1899 - ? Venango Co, PA
7 M John A. Bennett
AKA: John O. Bennett 5 Born: 1863 Christened: Died: Buried: 26 Oct 1915 - Emlenton Cemetery, Emlenton, Venango Co, PA 4
8 M James D. Bennett 5
Born: 1866 5 Christened: Died: 25 May 1912 7 Buried: 26 May 1912 - Emlenton Cemetery, Emlenton, Venango Co, PA 4Spouse: Did Not Marry
9 M Harry Mack Bennett 5 7
Born: 6 Feb 1869 - Emlenton, Venango Co, PA 7 Christened: Died: Buried: 5 Jan 1923 - Emlenton Cemetery, Emlenton, Venango Co, PA 4Spouse: Lillie E. Murphy (1873- ) 14 Marr: 7 Jan 1890 14
10 F Adelaide M. Bennett 7
AKA: Adda Bennett 5 Born: Abt 1871 Christened: Died: Buried:Spouse: William Clinton McKee (Abt 1870-Aft 1919) 7 15 16 Marr: 14 Oct 1896 - Emlenton, Venango Co, PA 17
General Notes: Husband - James B. Bennett
He lost his father when a boy and was thus early deprived of school privileges to become a wage earner. He worked at different kinds of labor until he was twenty years of age, then apprenticed himself to John P. Greer, of Clarion, Pennsylvania, to learn the tinner's trade. He completed his years of apprenticeship, then worked as journeyman, becoming a skillful workman, familiar with every department of his employer's business. In 1849 he established a small tinner's shop in Franklin, Pennsylvania, continuing with a very small capital and against adverse circumstances for nine years, then closed up and came to Emlenton. From 1858 until 1861 he worked for the firm of Widel & Crawford in the tinning department of their foundry. During this period he managed to save one hundred dollars from his small wages of one dollar and twenty-five cents daily, and with this tiny capital he again established in business for himself. He located on Water street in a small shop, sixteen by twenty-four feet, and there he successfully operated for several years, slowly increasing his capital. He prospered and finally reached a point where he could safely enlarge his business by adding a line of general hardware. In 1869 his business and capital justified still another enlarging of his lines, and he erected a large store building which he filled with a complete stock of heavy and shelf hardware, and with the coming of the oil boom he added an oil well supply department, at once becoming the leading dealer in supplies for the oil well con-tractor and the oil producer. With his three departments all running profitably he added a fourth, agricultural machinery and implements. The farmers of the locality appreciated this feature and they gave him a generous patronage. His little shop had now grown to a three-story brick building, fifty by eighty feet, with basement, each floor well stocked and especially fitted for the uses intended. In fact his establishment would have been a credit to a much larger town then Emlenton, while the volume of business yearly transacted would have far surpassed many more pretentious establishments. His little capital of one hundred dollars had grown to one of thirty thousand dollars.
In building up this business Mr. Bennett had not neglected the interests of Emlenton as a whole, but had been largely instrumental in the establishment of other great enterprises. In 1873 he was the leader in founding the Emlenton Bank and continued one of its leading stockholders until his death. In 1877 he built and started in operation the Emlenton Flouring Mills, one of the most successful enterprises in the town. In 1876 he saw the completion of the Emlenton & Shippensville railroad, an enterprise of which he may justly be called the "father," as his was the mastermind in the undertaking, although other leading citizens were associated with him in carrying the enterprise to successful completion. To his public spirit, influence, energy and generosity Emlenton was indebted for much of her civic prosperity. He fathered the erection of the public school building and obtained from the state legislature an act giving the town authority to issue bonds to the amount of ten thousand dollars for its erection. He also championed the Opera House enterprise and pushed it to completion. In fact he left nothing undone that would add to the prosperity or betterment of Emlenton. His was a life of constant effort and his success came as a result of hard work, close, careful attention to business and a determined ambition. He let no opportunity pass by unheeded and none can fail to be deeply impressed by the story of his life from a poor boy to the leading position in the business life of Emlenton. [GPHAV, 967]
General Notes: Wife - Nancy Ann Hughes
Another source gives her date of birth as Dec 12.
1 —, History of Venango County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk, & Co., Publishers, 1890), Pg 1144.
2 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913), Pg 967.
3 Alan R. Jones, Threads of Venango (Indiana, PA: A. G. Halldin Publishing Co., 1984), Pg 291.
4 Margaret Segui Kahle, Emlenton Cemetery Interments (Emlenton, PA: Self-published, 1977), Pg 10.
5 Alan R. Jones, Threads of Venango (Indiana, PA: A. G. Halldin Publishing Co., 1984), Pg 292.
6 Charles A. Babcock, Venango County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1919), Pg 466.
7 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913), Pg 968.
8 Alan R. Jones, Threads of Venango (Indiana, PA: A. G. Halldin Publishing Co., 1984), Pg 280.
9 Roger N. Whiting, The William Cousins Family of Venango County, Pennsylvania (Chippewa Falls, WI: Personal genealogy research, 2012), Pg 36.
10 —, History of Venango County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk, & Co., Publishers, 1890), Pg 939.
11 Margaret Segui Kahle, Emlenton Cemetery Interments (Emlenton, PA: Self-published, 1977), Pg 22.
12 Margaret Segui Kahle, Emlenton Cemetery Interments (Emlenton, PA: Self-published, 1977), Pg 109.
13 Margaret Segui Kahle, Emlenton Cemetery Interments (Emlenton, PA: Self-published, 1977), Pg 85.
14 John W. Jordan, LL.D., Genealogical and Personal History of the Allegheny Valley, Pennsylvania (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1913), Pg 969.
15 —, History of Venango County, Pennsylvania (Chicago, IL: Brown, Runk, & Co., Publishers, 1890), Pg 893.
16 Charles A. Babcock, Venango County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1919), Pg 598.
17
Venango Co, PA, Marriage License, #3496.
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