The cover of Laura Evans’ book Granville’s Tycoon.
Granville author Laura Evans will discuss her new book, Granville’s Tycoon: John Sutphin Jones and the Gilded Age, in a wine and cheese reception Wednesday, Sept. 8, at 7 p.m. in the Granville Historical Society’s Robinson Research Center downtown.
This event will also be live-streamed. If you can’t join us in person, see the info below on participating on Zoom!
The book, the eighth in the Society’s “pocket history” series, looks into the life and times of Jones, a late 19th century coal mining and railroad magnate who built the Granville Inn and the Granville Golf Course in addition to renovating what became Monomoy Place, the house at the northwest corner of West Broadway and North Mulberry Street, and McCune’s Villa, which he expanded and renamed Bryn Du — the Bryn Du Mansion off Newark-Granville Road.
Evans, a longtime Granville resident, spent three years working on the pocket history, traveling as far south as Naples, Fla., and as far north as Ashland, Wis., in the process.
The book was published in the spring of 2020, just after the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, which postponed plans for a reception at that time.
Copies of the book will be available for purchase.
During the last half of the 19th century, several American entrepreneurs amassed vast personal fortunes — the largest in history up to that time — among them men named Carnegie, Vanderbilt and Rockefeller. Chicago, New York and Cleveland were among the seats of these empires, notes Society past-president Tom Martin in the book’s preface, but so was Granville, Ohio, which Jones called home despite its small population of less than 1,000. Jones’ presence here left its mark not only on architecture but also culturally, all of which still resonate.
The pocket history also includes two short features:
“To the Mansion Born,” a portrait of Jones’ daughter, Sally Sexton, a fascinating “character” in her own right, written by Wayne Piper.
“Monomoy Place: A brief History” by James Hale, on the Joneses’ village residence which until recently was the home of the Denison University president’s family.
The Society’s pocket history series presents short, accessible single-topic volumes — short takes on various aspects of Granville history. Other pocket history titles include The Founding of Granville Ohio (in its second printing), Granville’s Industrial Past, Granville Firefighters: The Story of a Community Institution and The Civil War and Granville: An Ohio Community’s Outsized Contribution.
Pocket histories may also be purchased at the Granville Historical Museum at 115 East Broadway downtown and online at granvillehistory.org.
WHEN: Wednesday, Sep. 8, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.
WHERE: The Robinson Research Center, 115 E. Broadway, Granville, OH 43023
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Chuck Peterson at capgvill@roadrunner.com or 740-403-1438
This event is free and open to the public.
Zoom Info
This event will also be live-streamed. Here is the information for joining us by Zoom:
Topic: Granville Historical Society - Evans Presentation
Time: Sep 8, 2021 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84940912155
Meeting ID: 849 4091 2155
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