Drugstore owner J.E. Janney was a Waynesville community servant

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By Rosalie Yoakam 8:33 PM Wednesday, October 26, 2011

James Edwin Janney was a long time Waynesville druggist who was active in serving the community in various ways.

Janney was born on Oct. 27, 1852, near Jamestown in Greene County. His parents were Jonas and Ruth Davis Janney. He was the youngest of their five children.

In 1833, Jonas Janney and his then new wife, plus several family members, moved from Loudon County, Va., to Springboro. They were members of the Society of Friends, and chose to come to Ohio, where slavery was forbidden. Later the Jonas Janney family relocated to Greene County, and then the Waynesville area.

Janney attended school in Waynesville. In 1872, he was a member of the first class to graduate from Waynesville High School. There was one other graduate.

According to information written in 1985 by Dennis E. Dalton, a community historian, Janney “apprenticed with Jonah Sands, a Spring Valley pharmacist.” The pair then opened a store in Waynesville in 1876, and named it Sands and Janney. Two years later, Sands bought the original business and Janney opened his own drug store. Dalton states that “Janney wrote his first prescription December 23, 1878.” He then served as a druggist in Waynesville for more than 30 years.

Janney married Ruth Ellis on Dec. 7, 1892. She was the daughter of Seth Ellis, the founder of the Ohio Grange in Springboro, and active in the national organization. The Janneys had four daughters: Ruth, Louella, Loren and Frances.

The J.E. Janney Drug Store was a popular meeting place for the community. People liked to gather around an old stove in the back of the store. Janney enjoyed asking the school children about what they were learning in their classrooms.

Janney served the community in several ways. He provided entertainment events by sponsoring lecture programs and artists. He then sold tickets to the programs. Before there was a public library in town he had a lending library in his store. Books were loaned for ten days at a cost of ten cents. Patrons were charged two cents per book per day for overdue books.

A special edition of the Miami Gazette of Waynesville was produced in October 1906. It was the souvenir and homecoming edition. In it the Janney Drug store is described as “always neat and attractive. ... In addition to a full line of drugs Mr. Janney carries a varied assortment of school supplies, fancy articles and druggist’s sundries, paints and cigars.”

The article described Janney as “progressive and public spirited and takes an active part in every movement affecting the welfare of the community.”

Janney retired from business in 1922.

The family spent winters in Florida, and summers in Waynesville.

Janney died May 11, 1928, in Deland, Fla. His body was brought back to Waynesville for a service and burial at Miami Cemetery in Corwin.

Contact this columnist at rdyoakam58@yahoo.com.

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