My Genealogy Hound

JOHN J. LANE, baggage agent for the Fall Brook Railroad, and agent for the Fall Brook Coal Company at Watkins, was born in Mill Port, Chemung County, September 4, 1834, and is a son of George and Harriet (Justin) Lane. His father was born in Oneida County, N. Y., and there grew to manhood. By trade he was a contractor, and engaged in work on the various canals of the state, including the Chemung Canal. Later he became largely interested in canal property and boats. He died suddenly of apoplexy at Weedsport, where he was buried.

Our subject spent his boyhood at Mill Port, and remained under the parental roof until after he attained his majority. He received but a limited education in the public schools of his native village, and in his youth worked in a mill at that place. At the age of twenty-two he came to Watkins and took a position as clerk in a grocery store, where he remained fifteen years. In 1869 he was employed in the Collector’s office at Watkins, and in 1874 was appointed Collector of the port, which position he retained for two years. In 1876 he entered the employ of the Fall Brook Coal Company, and seven years later came to Watkins as baggage agent, which position he still retains. For the past nine years he has been in the coal business, handling upon an average a thousand tons of hard and soft coal per year.

On the 7th of July, 1859, Mr. Lane was married, in the town of Reading, to Mary E. Abbott, a native of that town, and a daughter of James A. and Betsey (Benham) Abbott. Her parents were early settlers in that town, and were among its most highly respected citizens. By this union two children were born: George J., who resides in Worcester, Mass., where he is engaged in the publishing business; and Lottie L., the wife of John Wallerson, of Reading, Pa., a retired capitalist and prominent man of that place.

In his younger days Mr. Lane was connected with the Presbyterian Church, and still attends its services, though not holding membership with it. Twenty-five years ago he became a Master Mason in Jefferson Lodge No. 332, at Watkins, and has been prominently identified with the order since that time. In politics he has always been a Democrat, and cast his first Presidential vote for James Buchanan. A good business man and a most worthy citizen, he enjoys the respect and confidence of the entire community in which he lives.