BIO: Owen James, Cumberland County, PA Contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Bookwalter Copyright 2010. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/ ______________________________________________________________________ History of Cumberland and Adams Counties, Pennsylvania. Containing History of the Counties, Their Townships, Towns, Villages, Schools, Churches, Industries, Etc.; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; Biographies; History of Pennsylvania; Statistical and Miscellaneous Matter, Etc., Etc. Illustrated. Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1886. http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/cumberland/beers/beers.htm ______________________________________________________________________ PART II. HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY. PENNSYLVANIA. CHAPTER XLIX. LOWER ALLEN TOWNSHIP AND BOROUGH OF NEW CUMBERLAND. OWEN JAMES, retired, P. O. New Cumberland. It was with the greatest reluctance that Mr. James allowed this brief sketch to appear. His modesty and good deeds are so proverbial, however, that common report would furnish a voluminous history, did he not seriously object. He was born in Lower Allen Township, on the old Peter Zimmerman farm, March 15, 1815. His parents, Thomas and Hannah James, moved to the old home- 494 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: stead, in Fairview Township, York County, two weeks after his birth, and from that date Owen James resided there until he was twenty-two years of age. There were ten children in the family: Lewis, Jane, Owen, Mary A., Eliza, William, Hannah, Thomas, Sarah and Harriet. Their grandfather, Owen James, was a soldier in the war of 1812, serving until the close of that campaign, and, upon his return home, in 1815, he was taken sick, and died at Painted Post, N. Y. Thomas and Hannah James then took charge of the two grandmothers, and with their ten children resided on the farm until the death of Thomas James in 1843. In 1858 Mrs. James left the farm and came to New Cumberland, all the children having married, and made her home until death, in 1876, at the ripe age of eighty six years, with a sister, Mrs. Hannah Lee. Owen James for a time worked with his father on the farm. In 1830 he was driving a team freighted with iron and nails between New Cumberland and Duncannon. In 1833 he carted stone for the turnpike between York Haven and Harrisburg. The next year he hauled lumber from York Haven for the Cumberland Valley Railroad bridge at Harrisburg. In 1837 Owen James left his home, and without a dollar engaged as mason's helper at 50 cents per day. He engaged later in the stock business, on a small scale, in which he prospered until 1840, when, aided by Messrs. B. H. Mosser and George Crist, he engaged in the butcher's trade. From this time he prospered, everything he touched seemingly turning to gold. In 1843 he was married to Esther Prowell, of York County, Penn., daughter of James and Rebecca Prowell. Their housekeeping was commenced across the street from their present residence in New Cumberland. In 1849 Mr. James formed a partnership with B. H. Mosser & Son, continuing in same until 1864, when ill health caused his retirement. Since then, with the exception of four years (1867 to 1871), Mr. James has done no active business, confining himself to settling estates and managing farms for other parties. He still owns the farm which belonged to his grandfather, the deed bearing the date 1783 for 100 acres and allowances. Mr. and Mrs. James have never had any children, but their good and kindly acts have endeared them to all who know them. Mr. James is the last of his name in this State, but his fame as a man, a neighbor and a Christian are proverbial. He and his wife have, for nearly half a century, been members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. They have had the pleasure of seeing the borough transformed from a stage of comparative vice to one of the most moral places in the valley, made so by the continuous vigilance on the part of the Christian people among whom they are numbered. From the first half- dollar earned by the sweat of his brow Mr. James has accumulated a handsome fortune, not one dollar of which was dishonestly earned, nor to increase his gains was the poor man ever oppressed. He is one of the few men in Cumberland County who has seen six generations come here, and is still hale and hearty, although his locks are as white as the driven snow.