Thank You, Agnes!

With the help of a mom of a friend (who happens to be a very fine genealogist) I might have some interestly leads in finding out who William's pre-America family was. Acting on a lead that our old, elusive friend Jabez could be William's brother, she offers this interesting tidbit:

In the Mehoopany census of 1850, Jabez was living in Mehoopany at the time. "Age 30, farmer; Susan, age 26 and Samuel age 4".

Some time before that, records show Jabez Wallace Jennings was born in 1819 and his chritening was in 1820 in Wesleyan, Bath, Somerset, England. Parents are listed as Samuel Jennings and Martha. The custom then was to name your first-born after your paternal father.

So, if this all pans out, once we get to look at who Samuel's other children were, if there is a William among them, we may have an idea who William's family in England was. That is, if Jabez was his brother.

Included in this post is an image from the Bath Post Office Directory of 1852. It lists Samuel Jennings as a "boot and shoe maker".

Also, if the Samuel was

I Spoke With Mr. B.

Earlier this week, I spoke with a Mr. B., a man who is very familiar with the Mehoopany photographs (these photos include views of the Jennings/Gaylord Hotel, as well as the aftermath of the 1910 fire).

He said that while some of the photos can be attributed to his father, others were taken by a "deaf-mute itinerant photographer"!

When I visited Mehoopany last month I saw the same images in a collection of a Mr. W., who lives in a house that was built on the site of the hotel. I took some photos of these photos; still, I'm hoping to obtain much better copies from Mr. B. The picture of the hotel in a previous blog post is from that colection.

(The names in the story are edited in order to preserve privacy.)

The Jennings & Kintner Enterprise, Mehoopany

Recently, the cousins and I had a hot email debate was about a photograph that was recently posted on the website of the Wyoming Valley Historical Society. The undated photograph showed a two-story structure that sported a sign that read, "JENNINGS & KINTNER".

Through the efforts of some Ohio-area period clothes experts, a consensus was reached as to an approximate date, which is in the span immediately following the Civil War, specifically 1865-1870.

After my whirlwind Tunkhannock-Mehoopany tour last Wednesday, July 1, I feel I'm a lot closer to knowing what the photo is all about; so much closer, in fact, that I feel I can put this mystery to bed for a while. In other words, it's no longer quite the mystery.

While I was at the historical society, I was able to obtain a nice print of the photograph, although they could not provide the source of the photo, nor could they tell me anything about the building. But their map, which I'll tell you about later, helped a great deal to pinpoint the building's location.

My next stop that day was the Mehoopany Library, where I met with Ina Hunter, the librarian. In fact, when I walked through the door she said, "Are you here to do some family research?" She must have seen my licence plate! When I told her I was looking for information about the JENNINGS & KINTNER, she immediately showed me the book that would explain it all. In fact, she allowed me to check out a duplicate copy of the book! Talk about trust!

The book is "Wyoming County, 1842-1992, Compiled by the Sesquicentennial Committee and the Wyoming County Historical Society of Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, 1992". This book has an extensive history of Mehoopany Township, as well as surrounding towns. On page 65, you can find the JENNINGS & KINTNER photo with the following caption, possibly written by Dorothy Cavalier, the author of the Mehoopany Township chapter:

"Jennings and Kintner Store just south of the Little Arch Bridge Corner of Main Street and Bridge in North Mehoopany. Upstairs was a tailoring shop -- also a photography studio at one time. The canal boats came into the Little Mehoopany Creek and unloaded their wares at the store. The building was renovated and used as a garage and finally torn down."

So, where exactly was this? This takes us back to Tunkhannock. According to the historical society map of the county, the area around Jenningsville, Laceyville and Mehoopany were peppered with enterprises that were founded, owned, or operated by the Jennings families -- I say "families", because one must remember that there were many people named Jennings in the vicinity before William came to America.

So, look at the intersection of Main, Depot and Race Street in the map in this post. There you will find a building and the following description: "Store & P.O., Jennings & Kintner". That's it.

Of the identities of the people in the picture, not much can be proven. I have some thoughts, but I'll reserve them for another post.

I read the news today, oh boy!

From the Wyoming Democrat, 21 February, 1872. Thanks to the Wyoming County Historical Society...

You Have a Room in the Jennings Hotel

This is it, cousins. Wasn't she a beauty?

I'm visiting friends who live about an hour from Mehoopany. Yesterday, I spent the better part of the day at Tunkhannock and Mehoopany!

I have many more awesome discoveries, but I don't want to be rude to my guests -- I've already spent a lot of time at a computer and not being sociable.

When I get back home you'll get the full story!

Other Jennings English Immigrants Found

Last night, I was looking over some Xeroxes of notes taken of the Vaughn Cemetery. I found at least two, maybe three instances where it was noted that they, like our William, were born in England. They were of William's generation and older.

From what I can gather, there were two specific areas where the English Jennings were from. One, of course, was Bath, and the other was Holt, which is further north. For example, Paul Bishop Jennings was from Holt.

(By the way, did you know poor Paul Bishop had three children die quite young before he and his wife finally had a child who survived to adulthood?)

I have yet to link any of these other contemporary Jennings immigrants to William, but if I can I think it would be a huge help, especially to get closer to the reason why William came to America.

Jennings & Kintner Building

Here is a link to this week's star attraction: the mysterious Jennings & Kintner Building. Over the next few days I'll sort out the correspondence between cousins Sandy, Paula and myself, and post a transcript of our views.

As it stands now, a panel of volunteer theatrical costume experts has weighed in on the date of the photo. They feel that the period that fits the clothing styles is the post-Civil War era, but not too long after it. Look for the link at the bottom of the blogs main page.

In my humble opinion the photo is not of the hotel William owned and operated, but is of a side-business he either set up or was a partner in. The "JENNINGS" in the sign may not necessarily represent him, but possibly one of his sons (my money is on Frank). AND...here's the kicker...the two woman standing by the chair to his right are his wife Harriet and his daughter Lizzie. Ameila, his other daughter, would only have been 12 years old when I suspect this photo would have been taken. That leads me to a ballpark date of...drumroll...1870.