Northumberland-Lackawanna County PA Archives Biographies.....Derby, James M. 1851 - living in 1899 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com July 8, 2005, 3:27 pm Author: Biographical Publishing Co. JAMES M. DERBY, secretary and treasurer of the Mount Carmel Iron Works, is one of the most popular and prominent men in Mount Carmel, where he stands very high as a business man of unusual ability who has been very successful. Mr. Derby is a son of Chauncey H. and Esther P. (Cary) Derby, and was born at Dunmore, near Scranton, Pa., September 10, 1851. Our subject was educated in the common schools near Scranton and at an early age learned the trade of tinsmith with his father and also learned the details of the hardware business. He followed both the trade and business for a few years, when he engaged in business as a general merchant, conducting a very successful store until 1880, in which year he branched out and sought a larger field and more opportunities for his ability and his business talent. He removed to Mount Carmel in 1880 and established a business as a general merchant, having sold out a quite prosperous general store which he had established a short time previous in Shamokin. He conducted his general store in Mount Carmel until Jan-nary 1, 1896, when he was active in the formation of the Mount Carmel Iron Company, which was chartered July 15, 1895. He resigned a clerkship with the Union Coal Company to form the Mount Carmel Iron Company. He was the first superintendent and general manager, which position he filled with great ability, and he was later made secretary and treasurer. The works do a very large business, manufacturing all sorts of iron used in connection with mining machinery. In politics Mr. Derby formerly was a Republican, but he now is classed as a Prohibitionist. He is prominent in fraternal circles, being a member of Mount Carmel Lodge No. 378, F. & A. M., and of the R. A. M. Chapter and Knights Templar; also a leading member of Mount Carmel Lodge No. 630, I. O. O. F. He is an active member of the Methodist Church. Mr. Derby was united in marriage on July 22, 1873, to Helen M. Clarkson of Ashland, Pa., and to them have been born these children : Archibald, who is employed in the Mount Carmel Iron Works, and married Minnie, a daughter of F. M. Everett; Ethel M.; Robert Wilson; Florence; and Louella. Through the efforts of Mr. Derby a post-office was established two miles west of Mount Carmel, which is called Strong, and of which he was the first postmaster appointed. Mr. Derby always has taken great interest in everything which has had a tendency to advance the commercial and industrial interests of Mount Carmel. He has been prominent in every movement for the general good of the public and is looked upon as one of the most progressive, energetic and public-spirited citizens of the town in which he is so popular, both in business and social circles. The father of our subject, Chauncey H. Derby, was a native of Lackawanna County; so also were several other members of the family on the paternal side. The family originally came from Ireland and were the founders of Derby, Conn. Many of its members have resided in the state of Pennsylvania for generations. The grandfather of our subject, John Derby, located in Lackawanna County, this state. He was a Presbyterian clergyman and followed-the work of the church during his life-time. Mr. Derby's father, Chauncey H. Derby, was born in 1805. He was the first hardware merchant in Scranton. He is also recalled as the second Mason in Scranton, Joseph Godfrey having been the first citizen of the town to enter the Masonic fraternity. Mr. Derby was a man of great energy and was fond of travel. He saw much of the world. He was one of the organizers of the Republican party and a colleague of that sturdy statesman, Galusha A. Grow. He never sought office, although he always was very active in party politics. He was an active member of the Presbyterian Church and a pronounced temperance man. The family from which the mother of our subject descended, the Carys, may be traced back for several generations. The family originated in Somersetshire, England. The ancestor from whom the Carys date was Sir Lucius Cary, who was born in Somersetshire, England, in 1504. He married a sister of the celebrated Anne Boleyn, becoming by his marriage an uncle to Queen Elizabeth. In a direct line was the Earl of Hunsdon, a cousin of the queen. The next was Sir Robert Cary, who was at the death-bed of Queen Elizabeth and was the first to convey the news of her expressed desire that her cousin, James I., should succeed to the throne. The oldest son became Lord Faulkner, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer under Charles II. One of the younger sons, John Cary, the immediate ancestor, was sent to France to complete his education. While he was in France his father died and there followed some difficulty in settling the estate. He took a younger son's part, £10, and in 1634 came to Connecticut where he joined the Pilgrims. He was among the original settlers and property holders at Duxbury and Bridgewater, Conn. The first purchase of lands was made from the native Indians in 1639 and the deed was made to four distinguished men, Miles Standish, Capt. Mayflower, Samuel Nash, and Constant Southworth, as trustees for William Bradford, John Cary and fifty-two other settlers. The consideration named in the deed is interesting reading in this age. It was as follows: Seven coats, to contain one and a half yards of cloth to each coat; nine hatchets; eight hoes; twenty knives; four mooseskins; and ten and a half yards of cotton. John Cary married Elizabeth Godfrey in 1644. Their second child, Francis, was born in 1647 and he married Hannah Britt in 1676. They reared a family of five children, the oldest, Samuel, born in 1667, married Mary Poole in 1704. Samuel and Mary (Poole) Cary came to this country after their marriage and located in Dutchess County, N. Y. They had eight children of whom the eighth, Eleazer, was born in 1718 and was a direct ancestor of the subject. Eleazer migrated from Connecticut in 1769, whither he had gone from New York, and located in the Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania. He married a Miss Sturtevant and they had a family of six children. Their second child, John, was born May 7, 1756, and was the great-grand-father of our subject. He was noted as a man of herculean build and strength. He served under Capt. Durkee in the War of the Revolution and was at the memorable Wyoming Massacre. He died in 1844 at the age of eighty-eight years and was buried in Wilkes-barre. One of his brothers, Samuel, a small, active man, was also in the battle at Wyoming and was captured by the Indians and held by them for six years, and was supposed by the family to have been killed. In 1744 Samuel returned to the Valley where he passed the remainder of his days. The great-grandfather of our subject had eleven children, the sixth being the maternal grandfather of our subject, Miner Cary. He was one of the earliest settlers in the vicinity of what is now Scranton and owned a large part of the land which is now occupied by the site of the city of Scranton. He married Sarah Deans and to them were born eleven children, of whom Esther P. Cary, mother of our subject, was born in Scranton, Pa., March 17, 1817. Additional Comments: Extracted from: Book of Biographies of the Seventeenth Congressional District Published by Biographical Publishing Company of Chicago, Ill. and Buffalo, NY (1899) This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/pafiles/ File size: 7.8 Kb