JOHN J. MAHEDY, proprietor of restaurant, Duryea, was born in Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland, November 1, 1847. He is a son of Thomas and Winifred (Swift) Mahedy, also natives of the same place, who reared a family of ten children, of whom our subject was the eldest. The family went to England when John J. was but two years old, and settled in Leeds, Yorkshire, where he received his education in the common school, and was employed in the iron works until 1865, in which year he came to America, settling in Plains, this county, where he learned the trade of a blacksmith. In 1882 he removed to Port Griffith, Jenkins township, and in 1884 to Pittston, thence in 1891 going to Avoca, where he went into the hotel business, and the latter part of that year settled in Duryea.
Mr. Mahedy was united in marriage December 23, 1868, with Jane, daughter of Edward and Ellen (Brown) Devlin, natives of County Kilkenny, Ireland, and Wales, respectively. Their union has been blessed with the following children: Ellen, born October 16, 1869, married July 1, 1891, to William Barret, an engineer in Genesee county, N.Y.; Mary, born November 18, 1871; Samuel, born July 7, 1873; Winifred, born October 3, 1879, and George, born October 18, 1883. Our subject is a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and of the A. O. H.; in politics he is a Democrat."
Source: History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, with BIOGRAPHICAL SELECTIONS H. C. Bradsby, Editor Chicago: S. B. Nelson & Co., Publishers 1893