A Place in Time

Somebody asked if I knew where the Jennings House was located; fortunately, I know exactly where it was, within a couple feet of the actual spot. Using Sketchup's export function, I flew it out into Google Earth -- giving us a look at where the hotel was located using imaging of the surroundings as it looks today.

While the model isn't complete (and correct -- the roof is off lacking some crucial dimensions), this is, too date, the best visualizations of a building that time forgot. Almost.

"There is (actually, three) a tavern in the town, in the town!"

"…The third tavern was part of the Jennings House (Hotel) which was located in the Mehoopany end of town across the big Mehoopany Creek. A part of the front of the building was put up by Daniel Hicks in 1838 and in 1850 John Maynard built the addition. This was known as the Jennings House or Gaylord House."

Wyoming County, 1842-1992, Wyoming County Sesquicentennial Committee, 1992, Page 60

The hotel was probably a family-operated business. What is known is that Franklin Livingworth Jennings -- William's son -- was the barkeeper. 

Imagining the JENNINGS HOUSE

Early Sketchup model of "Jennings House"

I've taken another stab at creating a model of William's hotel in Sketchup, a 3d modeling application. This is a screenshot of my progress. The building doesn't exist today: it was destroyed by fire a little more than a century ago, along with a handful of other buildings.Most of my information about the original hotel comes from less than a half-dozen photos taken of the building, with a couple images from postcards thrown in for good measure.

Speaking of good measure (sorry), the most help I've received for this project came from a high school drafting teacher -- now retired -- who offered insight into the building conventions of the times. For example, he offered his best guesses about the dimensions of the doors and windows, ceiling heights, etc. His help is greatly appreciated; unfortunately, there is only one very blurry view of the rear of the hotel.

Sketchup is free (unless you want to buy the full version), and may be found here. It's a fabulous program that is easy to use and yet yields tremendous results. And did I mention it was free :) ?

So, you might be asking why go to all this bother? I'm not sure, except that I feel it serves as just one more attempt to bring a little history to light -- my history, and to a lesser extent, the history of a once-bustling little Northeast Pennsylvania town.

Long ago, the Jennings family probably didn't like a guy named "French Joe" very much...

JENNINGS BARN FIRE

TUNKHANNOCK REPUBLICAN, 15 Feb. 1871

Mehoopany Barn. Photo-illustration by Bruce Jennings, 2012

"A barn belonging to Wm. Jennings in Mehoopany, near Robinson's Ferry was totally destroyed by fire at about 7 o'clock p.m., last Saturday. An institution on the town properly known as "French Joe," who was ejected from the hotel but a short time before, was found in the vicinity drunk, upon whose person was found pipe and matches, who may have set the building on fire accidentally. The barn was fully insured."

Reprinted from LEST-WE-FORGET Wyoming County Pioneers, published by the Wyoming County Historical Society, 15 September, 2012, VOL. 32, NO.1, page 19.

The Ontario

According to a record I can't locate at the present, this was the ship on which William traveled to America. He would only have been 14 or 15 years of age, which probably meant that he financed his trip to America by being an indentured servant. 

A Nation of Shopkeepers

"To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers may at first sight appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers; but extremely fit for a nation whose government is influenced by shopkeepers."

—Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations


I heard this quotation on the radio  today, and I found it quite fitting that the patriarches of the first two generations of my family in America were -- essentially -- shopkeepers, tailors, and inn keepers!

Will's Will

WYOMING COUNTY

REGISTRY OF WIILS

COUNTY 066

YEAR 1873

ESTATE NUMBER 009

William Jennings

Inventory & Appointment of Estate

Some time ago, Cousin Tom Currier surprised me by stoping by the Wyoming County Historical Society and acquiring a copy of William Jennings' will. I'm surprised I hadn't written here about it sooner than now, but I may have wanted to wait until I could transcribe it all. Unfortunately, I haven't lived up to my best intentions, resulting in a less than steller roll-out!

The original paper documents Tom sent me were hardcopies of microfilm. I scanned them and reversed the negative images to the current black text on a white background. They are almost entirely legible; most of the first page contains the wording of the form, but subsequent pages detail William's possessions at the time of his death.

 

All pages are saved online in a Picasa album. I would greatly appreciate someone to collaborate with me on a transcription of his will. Let me know, and we can get started!

Girl's Night Out: Part III

ANTIQUE PHOTO OF 4 YOUNG WOMEN HAVING TEA

FRED H. JENNINGS

MEHOOPANY ,PA.

Well, great-uncle Fred is coming through again with another photo of Mehoopany Women. My ancestors?  Don't know; there is no inscription on the back. I think you'll agree that the unfortunate woman seated second from left bears a resemblance to me.

Frederick Jennings operated a "portrait studio" as it was called, it North Mehoopany, Pennsylvania around the turn of the 20th century. Most likely, it burned in 1910.   

A Clearer View of "JENNINGS HOUSE"

Not sure how this one got away, but I found this clinging to an email as an attachment; the email was from a distant cousin who had the original scanned at the Wyoming County Historical Society and sent to me. I've had a similar photo in my collection for a long time, but this one has a much MUCH better resolution -- one can almost make out faces, and the woodwork on the balconies stand out so much more. What a treat. Maybe I should go back through my email and see what else I overlooked!

It's been a while -- I'm sure the ancestors forgive me, as long as I keep them in my thoughts. One of the best way to renew my spark in family history is to see what eBay has to offer. Subsequently, it has provided two auctions in the past couple weeks with great Jennings Family significance. One was a photo of Mehoopany that shows the little part of the town where the hotel and store was, and it looks something like -- actually, quite a bit like this:

Yeah, so this is a screen-grab of a photo that I didn't win. If you follow the bridge over the creek and follow the road, that little cluster of buildings contained the Jennings House (hotel) and C.E. Jennings's store, further up the hill. I'm not sure I feel too bad about using the screen-grab...hey, it's not like I'm re-selling it or anything; it's purely for family use, right? The other screen grab is this:

An envelope containing the printed address of my great-grandfather's store. Who knows, this may even be Charles' handwriting (and maybe even Jennings Spit on the back of the stamp?). In any event, it's so strange how I get little tiny pieces of the puzzle all the time...and that's what makes family history such an enduring and interesting hobby.