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Monument of Jones Ordway |
Jones Ordway was born in 1813. The records indicate that his name was pronounced Jones and Jonas, and the spelling appears as Jonas in many papers. Ordway was a Vermonter who chopped wood and worked the canals for a living. He married Clarissa Chambers in 1835 and had two children, Helen and James. They both died in their early 20's. In 1840 he moved to North River and went into the hotel business, farmed, and worked in lumbering. He bought real estate in four counties. He organized the Morgan Lumber Co. in 1873 as a successor to the 1834 Wing Mill. He was vice-president of the firm which grew to be the largest company on the Hudson River. He also became president of the Glens Falls Gas and Light Co. On January 14, 1890 he wrote a check for $50,000 to purchase land owned by the Glens Falls Insurance Co. so that the building of a YMCA could "meet the needs of young men and boys." The original "Y" was over the J. E. Sawyer's store on Warren Street and it contained a library of over 250 volumes. However, it lacked space to carry out the work of the association. The new Y was to be built at 151 Glen Street. The cornerstone was laid September 1, 1891, and the building was opened on June 21, 1892. It was named Ordway Hall in his honor. That name still appears on the outside of the building which is now a furniture store. When it opened, it was lit by gas. The Ordway home was at 86 Warren Street, but it is now number 142 Warren and is at the corner of Locust Street. In his will, Ordway left $237,000 to several people with the Ordway name in the North Country that were alleged to be the children of a mistress. Acknowledging children from an out-of-marriage relationship was practically unheard of at that time. In addition to the money, he left property to these same people in North River, Indian Lake, Minerva, as well as in Glens Falls. The money part of the will was paid out in annual payments over a four year period. An interesting footnote to this story: the name Ordway is spelled this exact way in all the historic papers, but on his monument in the Glens Falls Cemetery, it is spelled "Ordaway." The monument is in fact, the tallest obelisk there.
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