The origin of this prominent Wayne County family is somewhat shrouded by the dust of the passing centuries, although there is reason to believe it to be of Welsh extraction, inasmuch as Thomas and Peleg Mumford, two brothers from Wales, settled in Rhode Island, the country of the Narragansetts,
just previous to 1700. Thomas had six children, one of whom, Jirah, born 1702, married 1721, was probably the progenitor of the family. In support of this theory we find Jirah born 1747, married March 14, 1776, to Deborah Lillibridge, born 1756, moved to the smiling valley of the Connecticut in 1780, and had thirteen children, Jirah, born February 16, 1778, being the eldest son.
On March 25, 1793, another removal was made, and the entire family settled in Mount Pleasant township, Wayne County, Pa., after the father had purchased land near Belmont and prepared a home for them. It would seem that Jirah was sent to Orange County, N. Y., probably to procure the education unattainable here in those days, and on February 26, 1800, he there married Polly Baker, afterwards returning to Wayne County to commence lumbering. He was one of that association known as the "Nine Partners," their mill being located about two miles north of Starrucca, at the point now called Melrose.
His children were Deborah (married James Dickison), John, James, Phoebe (married Joseph Hyatt), Thomas R. (a physician and county official of some prominence, who died in 1850), Stephen Decatur, Dolly Maria (married J. M. Sampson) and Sally Ann, who died young. Mary ("Polly"), one of the sisters of Jirah Mumford, was one of the participants in the first wedding in Mount Pleasant township, being united to Silas Kellogg, on January 1, 1796, by Rev. Ezekiel Sampson, the pioneer pastor of Starrucca borough. His Uncle Thomas was married to Eliza Fisher, and had two children, one of whom, Thomas, born 1780, married Theodosia Carr, who bore him five children, Mary Ann, born August 9, 1811, being the youngest. Jirah Mumford, the third child of this couple, was born in Mount Pleasant township, on December 20, 1805. Owing to the lack of educational facilities in those early days of the county, he received but limited advantages, and has frequently said his education was obtained almost entirely by the light of a pine knot, or seated before a blazing wood fire during the long winter evenings. When he was about nine years old the family moved to what is now the borough of Starrucca, and Jirah Mumford took up several thousand acres of land for farming and lumbering purposes, and his name appears on the tax-list of 1823 for a mill located on the Starrucca Creek proper. In this employ the youth of James was passed, and a hardy, self-reliant, energetic manhood obtained. In 1830 he bought a beaver dam, below his father's home, on which he put up a house in which he boarded the men working on his various business ventures. On December 8, 1831, he married his relative, Mary Ann, daughter of Thomas Mumford, before mentioned, and, aided by her wise counsel and judicious advice, was enabled to extend his operations and increase in value and standing. Taking an interest in public affairs, he was, in 1834, elected justice of the peace, and continued in such office until 1846, when he received from the Governor the appointment of associate judge. When, in 1850, the Constitution was amended providing for the election of judges by the people, Judge Mumford and T. H. R. Tracy were the first associate judges elected, and both served until the expiration of the term, in September, 1856.
In 1840 he erected the grist-mill on the stream, and in 1850 had purchased three thousand acres of timber land at Melrose; hence, on the expiration of his term of office, he determined to devote his life to his family and the large and constantly increasing demands of business. During the next sixteen years he engaged in cutting and manufacturing
the timber from his extensive tracts of land, and in 1872 sold the remaining bark to Major E. P. Strong, and the land to Bennett & Webster.
Then he bought some six hundred acres, nearly surrounding the Coxtown Pond, which now is in the hands of Hon. Warren W. and Clinton D., two of his sons.
On August 9, 1870, the life's journey of Mrs. Mumford came to an end and her husband did not long survive, he dying August 18, 1873. At the time of his death he owned and operated two saw-mills and one grist-mill, and some twelve hundred acres of farm and timber land, and was employing considerable labor. He was a tender husband, a devoted
father, a firm friend and kind neighbor, ever ready with aid and advice, always foremost in good works and honorable in all transactions, both public and private.
The children of Judge James and Mary Ann Mumford were twelve in number, viz.: Oliver, born December 10, 1832; Olive, born July 29, 1834, married V. M. Keene; James L., born May 28, 1836; Mary Adelaide, born May 30, 1839, married Colonel George B. Osborn; Warren W., born December 5, 1840; Hattie E., born April 24, 1842, married Daniel Cargill, and died June 18, 1866, leaving one child (son), Daniel C.; Clarence G., born March 2, 1844, married Susie Avery; Clinton D., born November 24, 1845, married Joanna Pickering and has one child, Louis; Urban B., born November 14, 1847, married Emma Ball; Elwin C., born
August 8, 1849, married Ella Sutton and has one child, Mary A.; and Thomas J., born August 13, 1857.
Of this large family, two entered the army when the country needed their services
during the late Rebellion, and gave their lives to perpetuate the Union, -- Oliver, lieutenant Company A, Fifty-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers, being killed while leading the regiment into
action at Petersburg, Va., and James L., captain Company G, One Hundred and Forty-first Pennsylvania Volunteers, losing his life on the field at Chancellorsville, Va.. Clarence G. was one of the three months' men and went out into the State militia. Another son, Hon. Warren W., was elected to the State Legislature in 1874. Two other sons, Urban B. and Elwin C., chose the law, and are rapidly building a good name and lucrative practice in such profession, the first in Washington Territory, the latter at Honesdale, this county. Warren W. and Clinton D. are heavily engaged in business here and elsewhere. They built and still operate the Starrucca Chemical Works, which were the first of such character in the county, and are prominent factors in the prosperity of the county at large. Mary Adelaide and Thomas J. still reside on the homestead, within the limits of Starrucca borough.
This sketch would be incomplete without a certain special mention. Oliver Mumford married Anne Legg, who bore him one child, whose life went out shortly after the death of the heroic father. The widow devoted her remaining years to the spreading of Gospel truths and has during the past fourteen years been located in Turkey in Europe, a highly
successful missionary of the Presbyterian Church Society. One church at Philippopolis had been erected through her, and much valuable service rendered. During the Russo-Turkish War (during all of which she maintained her position) she adopted two children, whose father had been slain in one of the numerous fights, and has them in this country,
undergoing a course of education with a view to giving their life-work to the cause of Christianity in their native country. She it was who hung the American flag to the breeze from the window of her house in Philippopolis while the victorious Russian troops marched through the city, as was described by the correspondent of the New York Herald at the time.
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