Biographical Notes of Pine Grove, Schuylkill County, PA, 1916



John Derby Biography

DERBY, JOHN F., came to Pine Grove about 1843; he was a machinist and built the foundry and machine shop where John Werner's lumber yard now is. He had a boiler explosion which forced him to rebuild it; a few years after it burned down, then he started to rebuild and in 1852 the S. & S. was started to be built and came through the ground where he wanted to build; then he bought the ground where the brick factory now is; he built it and ran it as a foundry and machine shop with J. L. Nutting as partner.

Mr. Derby sold his interest to J. L. Nutting in 1858 and moved to Plymouth, Luzerne Co. and established a foundry there.

He was married to Antoneta Blank, a sister of Mrs. Guy Wheeler; he had four sons and one daughter. John and John live in California, Lewis lives in Wilkes- Barre, Levi and the daughter died some years ago. He did a large business in building stationary engines and most of the machinery used at coal breakers in the west end from 1844 to 1858.



Source: Biographical Notes, 1841-1916, of Pine Grove, Pa: J. W. Barr: Achenbach & Reber: 1916











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