Family and Biography
Thaddeus Chase Joy, more commonly referred to as T. C., was one of five children born in Ludlowville, NY on May 22, 1835. He died in Titusville at his home on 24 West Elm Street on August 22, 1895 at the age of 60. An obituary published in 1895 by the Metal Worker reported, “He had been a sufferer from stomach trouble, which, by sapping his vitality, paved the way for the attack of heart failure which caused his death.” The Titusville Morning Herald summed up the man with four words, “integrity, magnanimity, energy…perseverance” (1895). By the end of his life, he had established a family, become a prominent member and trustee of the Presbyterian Church in Titusville, and contributed to the vitality of the local economy, and beyond. He was perhaps best known for his industrial contributions, building up…“one of the largest and best equipped radiator manufacturing establishments in the country” (The Metal Worker, 1895). In addition, he was beloved on a local level for his civic contributions, such as his involvement in the Presbyterian Church of Titusville, which still stands today.
Like so many entrepreneurs of past and present, T. C.’s path would be plagued with ups and downs. It seemed that just as soon as he would grasp fortune, it would be stripped away. And like so many other entrepreneurs, it all started with a passion that was developed into deep purpose. In T. C.’s case, his passion was ignited by mechanics which, when combined with a studied trade in tinsmith, lead to the invention of “a number of useful improvements in stoves, including the Howe ventilator stove” (The Metal Worker,1885). From 1855 to about 1865, Joy owned a prominent hardware and tin business in Groton, N.Y. It was here that his fascination for heating and ventilation flourished. In 1865 he would sell his business in order to break into the heating and ventilation manufacturing sector. However, this path would take a detour with the allure of speculative returns presented by prospects in the oil fields of Pennsylvania. This cost the young T. C. over a decade-long setback. Eventually, though, T. C. would leave the petroleum business and return to his first loves of inventing and heating systems, thereby solidifying his contributions to history while creating a fortune.
T. C. married Emmeline W. Clark in May of 1856 and they had one child: Charles C. (also referred to as C. C.), born May 16, 1857. Charles moved to Titusville with his family in 1865 but was born in Groton, Tompkins County, New York. After receiving his common education in Titusville, Charles pursued work in the oil business, where he went on to develop several different oil regions such as the Grand Valley district, the Tiona district, the Sugar run district in Warren County, and the Shamburg district. Shamburg was where “he developed his theory as to the existence of oil in paying quantities in districts supposed to have been exhausted years ago” (Bell, 1890, 1103). On September 5th, 1878, C. C. married Ella J. Senour, the daughter of Reverend F. L. Senour, a Presbyterian minister from Pittsburgh. The Joy’s dedication and connection to the Presbyterian Church would remain a constant amidst the boom and bust of the oil and heating business that would come to define this family.
“There are circumstances of peculiar sadness in connection with this bereavement. Our departed friend was a young man, the only son, the only child of his father and mother; he was the affectionate and devoted husband of a loving wife—all these ties and many others which bound him in the esteem of friends have been severed by death’s blow. May the Great Physician tenderly bind up and heal all these surely wounded hearts.” –the Reverend W. P. Stevenson at the funeral of C. C. Joy, transcribed by The Titusville Morning Herald, July 7, 1892
In 1892, tragedy struck the Joy family. At the age of 36, young Charles contracted typhoid fever and, after four weeks of battling the illness, died. His family was said to be completely devastated by his sudden demise. “He had contracted a malarial fever in the flooded districts of Missouri and Arkansas, while on his way to Pueblo, Colorado. The disease developed in a malignant form on his arrival at Chautauqua from Chicago, where he had remained a week under the doctor’s care” (The Titusville Morning Herald, 1892). Chautauqua was where the Joy’s had a summer cottage but Charles had contracted typhoid while traveling for business on behalf of T. C. Joy & Co. The papers of the time described Charles as “a kind and tender husband generous almost to a fault and unselfish of his own interests…capable and energetic” (The Titusville Herald, 1892). Like T. C.’s own funeral, Charles’s was held at the family home, 24 Elm Street in Titusville. The Rev. W. P. Stevenson officiated and the Rev. F.W. Lockwood assisted. The service was relegated to friends and family, with the former governor John Davis in attendance. Later, as with T. C., the interment took place at Woodlawn cemetery (The Titusville Morning Herald, 1892).
When T. C. died in 1895, just a few years later, the Titusville Morning Herald connected the two deaths and wrote that, “it was a shock from which [T. C.] never fully recovered, and it is probable that [T. C.’s] demise was hastened by the blow” (The Titusville Morning Herald, 1895).