John Penman (ca. 1845-1931) was a founder of the Penman mill, which grew into a large, multi-factory operation in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Personal life

John Penman was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

(c.1845) to Daniel and Clementina Penman. All are buried in family plot in Greenwood Cemetery,

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, NY. John Penman of Penman Mills,

Paris, Ontario Paris (2021 population, 14,956) is a community located in the County of Brant, Ontario, Canada. It lies just northwest from the city of Brantford at the spot where the Nith River empties into the Grand River. Paris was voted "the Prettiest Littl ...

, married Martha McVicar. Martha is buried in the Paris Cemetery. In 1868 John Penman moved to Paris, Ontario, where he founded a new mill with W.E. Adams. The company was incorporated as the Penman Manufacturing Company Limited in 1882. John Penman also helped to found the Central School at Paris, was a patron of the Y.M.C.A., and helped to establish buildings for that organization at Paris, Ontario, and Hankow, China. He was a member of the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

and was on the board of administration and Senate of Knox College.

Penmarvian

John Penman’s home, Penmarvian, was originally called Riverview Hall and was built by the founder of Paris

Hiram Capron Hiram Capron (February 12, 1796 – September 10, 1872) was the founder of the town of Paris in Ontario, Canada, which was incorporated in 1849. An immigrant from the United States, he purchased large plots of land by the Grand River and Nith Riv ...

in 1845. At the time it was a modest two storey building overlooking the Grand River and it stayed that way until 1887 when Penman purchased the home and began an ambitious plan to turn the building into what we now recognize as Penmarvian with all of its glorious and extensive arrays of turrets, towers and arches. When Penman died in 1931, he willed the home along with an operating budget to the local Presbyterian Church for use as a retirement residence for church clergy.

References

* Parr, Joy. ''The gender of breadwinners: women, men, and change in two industrial towns, 1880-1950''. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press, 1990. * Smith, Donald A. ''At the Forks of the Grand: 20 historical essays on Paris, Ontario''. Paris, ON: Paris Centennial Committee, 1956. * Smith, Donald A. ''At the forks of the Grand''. v. 2. Paris, ON: Paris Friends of the Library, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Penman, John Year of birth uncertain 1931 deaths 1845 births Businesspeople from New York City University of Toronto people