[p. 735] secretary, treasurer
and general manager of the Ellwood Lumber
Company of Ellwood City, Pa., has
thus far had a very active and varied
career in the field of business, dating back
to his early years, and few young men
there are who deserve more credit for taking
advantage of meager opportunities in
life than he, and if space would permit us
to write of even a comparatively small portion
of the incidents connected with his
early struggle for even the necessaries of
life, it would show that very few have had
more adverse circumstances with which to
contend. It can be truly said of Mr. Haines
that he is a self-made man. He was not
"born with a silver spoon in his mouth,"
but of very humble, though sturdy, honest
and patriotic parentage.
John Fox Haines was born in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, March 24, 1871, and is a son of Thomas and Emaline (Fox) Haines, his mother being a lineal descendant of the well known old Quaker, John Fox, spoken of in the history of Pennsylvania and one of its prominent early settlers. His father, Thomas Haines, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., and for nearly thirty years served as a sailor under the United States flag. He served with credit in the navy throughout the Mexican War, and after remaining in the service a while longer, settled in Reading, Pa., and learned the trade of a boiler maker, being employed for quite a number of years by the Pennsylvania R. R. Company. As soon as the great Civil War broke out he at once re-entered the service in the navy, serving until the war was over. He helped organize the first volunteer fire department and the first K. of P. Lodge in the city of Reading. It was after the death of his wife, leaving him with five small boys on his hands, that his real struggle commenced, which he often said took more of his strength and courage than eating wormy biscuit or facing shot and shell on board a man-of-war. Shortly after the death of his wife, which occurred Nov. 11, 1876, he moved with his four younger boys to Sandusky, Ohio, then after two or three years' hard struggle trying to keep soul and body of himself and little ones together, he got out of work and moved the three younger ones to Akron, Ohio, where they remained for close to three years and then moved to Canton, Ohio. While at Canton, he became intimately acquainted with the martyred president, William McKinley, then merely a prominent citizen of Canton and a director in the Fairmount Children's Home, near Alliance, Ohio, and upon the advice of Mr. McKinley, Mr. Haines placed his three children, John, George and Thomas, in that home, where they might be better provided for than he could provide for them, owing to his advanced years and failing health. His four children were as follows: Jediah P., a resident of Reading, Pa., engaged in the produce business; Henry J., a resident of Toledo, Ohio, and a conductor on what is known as the Clover Leaf Railroad; John F., whose name heads this sketch; Thomas L. (twin), a resident of Ellworth City, Pa., and a traveling salesman for the Goodwin Lumber Co., Pittsburg, Pa., and vice president of the Ellwood Lumber Co.; and George W. (twin) who is a conductor on the Pittsburg and Lake Erie R. R. and a resident of Youngstown, Ohio.
John F. Haines was only between five and six years old at the time of his mother's death and the twins were some three years younger. He was about nine years of age when he was taken to Akron, Ohio, and made his first pennies selling newspapers on the streets of Akron; and while in this city he earned money to purchase the first pair of shoes he ever bought for himself, by working at 25 cents per day for the Diamond Match Co. He had but little opportunity to attend school until after his two younger brothers and himself were taken to the Fairmount Children's Home, which was on February 3, 1882, and up to this time scarcely knew more than his alphabet. He remained in the Home until October 18, 1882, at which time he was taken into the family of Dr. John B. Moody, of Harlem Springs, Carroll County, Ohio. The doctor was quite a prominent country physician and a very extensive landowner, owning over 2,000 acres of land in Carroll County. He lived to the advanced age of ninety-eight years, dying in March, 1908. According to the rules of the Children's Home, Mr. Haines was to be free from the jurisdiction of the Home or of Dr. Moody when he reached the age of eighteen, at which time the doctor was to give him $100, two suits of clothes and a Bible, and during his apprenticeship the doctor had to pledge himself to send him to school at least four months in the year, and the authorities of the Children's Home made it a rule to see that these provisions were strictly enforced on those who took children from them. Owing to Dr. Moody having so much land and stock to look after, Mr. Haines was compelled to work very hard, and during all his service with Dr. Moody he was never more than twenty-five miles away and never on a railroad train, in fact was very seldom further away from the farm than Harlem Springs, two and one-half miles distant, where he attended Presbyterian Church and Sunday-school services regularly each Sabbath, rain or shine, and where for a few months he attended college, riding back and forth to the college on horseback. While attending college, John was obliged to get up a 4 o'clock each morning and assist in feeding the stock and get his horse ready to ride to school about 7:30; then he would come home about 1 p.m., and study until about 4 p.m., and again work at farm chores until after dark, then study by the light of tallow candles (which the old doctor always preferred and used) until nearly midnight. Notwithstanding these various handicaps, John always learned rapidly at school and kept at the head of his classes, and at the early age of eighteen was ready to teach public school. The doctor, while perfectly able to have helped him financially, was somewhat peculiar in his ideas of how a boy should be reared, and often told John that he believed every boy should be compelled to work out his own destiny and learn to depend entirely upon himself. After John was eighteen he hired with the doctor as a farm hand for a term of six months, at $13 per month, and when his time was up, in the fall of 1889, he visited his brother, Henry, at Sandusky, Ohio, whom he had not seen for about nine years, and after this visit, with only about $130 left, he started to Cleveland, Ohio, to attend the Euclid Avenue Business College, under the management of M. J. Caton. Appearing before Mr. Caton, John made a frank confession of his circumstances and the difficulties he had been obliged to contend with thus far in life, and asked Mr. Caton how he could get through a business course and clothe and board himself on his small amount of capital. Mr. Caton at once said, "I will take your note for a life scholarship in both the shorthand and bookkeeping departments, for $150, you to take the shorthand course first and pay me when and as you can after you get a position. Then, when you get a position as a stenographer, you can attend night school and take up bookkeeping." This proposition looked good to John, and was at once accepted, and he entered into the study of shorthand and typewriting with all his might, completing the course and graduating in less time than any student Mr. Caton ever had up to that time. Within about three months he had a position at $10 per week, as stenographer and typewriter for the well known wholesale lumber firm of N. Mills & Co., Cleveland, Ohio; now doing business under the firm name of Mills, Carleton Company. After three years with this firm, during which time his wages were twice raised, he accepted a more lucrative position as stenographer and assistant bookkeeper with the Lutcher & Moore Cypress Lumber Co., of Lutcher La., the largest cypress concern in the South. He remained there for about one and one-half years, then, owing to the ill health of his wife, whom he had married during this period, and upon the earnest solicitation of Mr. E. M. Carleton, of the firm he had worked for in Cleveland, Ohio, he moved his wife to Ellwood City, Pa., in the spring of 1894, to become secretary, and a few months later, also treasurer, of the newly organized Ellwood Lumber Co., an account of which company is to be found on another page in this work. After about three years' successful work with this company, he decided to sell his stock and take up the study of law, and a few weeks later, with this end in view, he purchased a half interest in the Ellwood City Motor, a weekly newspaper, of Dr. L. F. Cain, who had formerly been an attorney, and who promised to assist him with his studies in law. After about six months Mr. Haines found that he had not formed the right partnership, and purchased the half interest of Mr. Cain, and was compelled to continue the newspaper work for about three years, which work of itself was so great that he was compelled to give up the study of law. During his newspaper period he again purchased a small interest in the Ellwood Lumber Co., and was elected a director, so that the new management would have the advantage of his valuable advice as a lumberman. He has retained his interest and added greatly to it ever since, and now is its leading spirit. While running the newspaper he held a commission as notary public, and also did considerable fire insurance business, always being a very hard worker. His shorthand experience served him well as an editor, enabling him to report speeches and sermons verbatim for his paper. After disposing of his paper to Mr. A. C. Grove and Dr. George J. Boyd, he, in connection with his brother-in-law, purchased a controlling interest in the Ellwood Lumber Co., which they immediately reorganized, and added to by the purchase of various branch yards, building the company up very rapidly. In 1906 Mr. Harris took charge of the East Ohio Lumber Co., of Steubenville, Ohio, since which time Mr. Haines has acted as general manager in addition to discharging the duties of secretary and treasurer and a director.
John F. Haines was married September 14, 1893, coming north from his position in Louisiana for the purpose, to Miss Lillian May Grunder, the estimable daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Grunder, of Minerna, Ohio, her father being a retired farmer of that place at the present time. To this happy union were born two sets of twins, a boy and girl each time, one of each pair being now living, namely: Harold G., born November 16, 1894, already attends the Elwood City high school; and, Catherine Elizabeth, born December 31, 1902. Religiously, the family belongs to, the First Methodist Episcopal Church, in which Mr. Haines has been very active as a worker. He served quite a number of years as president of the board of trustees, and a number of years as president of the Epworth League, and last year was president of the board of stewards and this year is again a member of the board of trustees. He has also been quite active in the affairs of the borough of Ellwood City. He served three years as auditor, and for some time as president of the Board of Health, and is now treasurer of the Ellwood City Board of Trade. Fraternally, he is a member of Ellwood Lodge 599, F. and A. M., and has been a member of the I.O.O.F. and of the Sons of Veterans, as well as the Protected Home Circle. The Haines family residence is located on the southeast corner of Wayne Avenue and Sixth Street, and was erected in the fall of 1907. It is of cottage design, the first, story being of brick, veneered, and the second story covered on the outside with stained red cedar shingles. It has numerout [sic] art-glass windows and a very large handsome front porch, and is acknowledged to be one of the most beautiful dwellings in the town.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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