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JAMES POLLOCK
JAMES POLLOCK, the
genial proprietor of the Pollock House, Doylestown, was born in county
Down, Ireland, February 4, 1858, and is a son of James and Esther (Kerr)
Pollock, who, with their two sons, James and Robert, and a daughter,
Sarah Jane, now the wife of George Turkington
of Plumstead, emigrated to America in 1866 and settled in Philadelphia,
where both parents died in 1873.
The subject
of this sketch spent his boyhood days in Philadelphia, and obtained a
meagre education at the public schools.
He was compelled to earn his own livelihood at a very early age,
and sought such employment as was available to boys of his age.
At the age of eighteen years he opened a small store for the sale
of coffees and tea, and supplemented the local trade by running a team out
into the country, taking orders and delivering the goods.
In 1880 he removed to Doylestown and opened a store there for the
sale of coffees and tea, which he conducted for two years.
In 1883 he bought out the bottling establishment on State street,
Doylestown, and conducted it until 1891, when he sold out and purchased
the Lenape cigar store, which he conducted for over a year.
About this time he purchased a tract of land at West Court and
Franklin streets and erected several houses thereon.
In the summer of 1895 he conducted a hotel at Atlantic City.
Returning to Doylestown he began the manufacture of bicycles, a
business which he conducted for nearly two years.
In 1898 he purchased the Armstrong property on the north side of
the borough, and, opening Shewell and Harvey avenues, laid it out into
building lots, many of which have been since built upon.
In 1899 he was proprietor of the Union House, Lambertville.
In 1900 he purchased the present site of the Pollock House,
then a restaurant, which he conducted for two years, and then erected the
present hotel building. A
unique feature of the popular hostelry is the Sixteenth Century Café,
known as “The Jug in the Wall,” fitted up in the quaint style of
centuries past, that attracts a great deal of attention from visitors to
the county town. Mr. Pollock
has always taken a deep interest in everything that pertains to the
improvement of the town. He
was one of the organizers and a member of the first board of directors of
the Doylestown Electric Company, and was superintendent of their plant for
about one and a half years. He
was an original stockholder and director in the Worstall and Cart Wheel
Works, and has been an active promoter of other local enterprises.
In politics he is an ardent Republican.
He has served three years in borough council, and was one of the
most active members in the advocacy of municipal improvements.
Mr. Pollock is strictly a self-made man, and by industry,
integrity and a close application of good business qualifications has won
a fair competence.
He
was married, April 4, 1879, to Emma, daughter of Charles and Wilhelmina Miller, of Philadelphia, who has borne him two children:
Emma, born 1880, died 1884; and Laura, born March 29, 1881, who
resides at home.
Text
taken from page 480 of:
Davis,
William W.H., A.M. History of Bucks
County, Pennsylvania [New York-Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company,
1905] Volume III
Transcribed
February 2004 by Thera Schwenk-Hammond; tsh@harborside.com;
http:// www..rootsweb.com/~schwenk
as part of the Bucks Co., Pa.,
Early Family Project, www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/bucksindex.html
Published
April 2004 on the Bucks County, Pa., USGenWeb pages at www.rootsweb.com/~pabucks/ |
Page was last edited:
11/15/2008