transcription of Biographies->9.386.jpg

"Portrait and Biographical Record of Hunterdon and Warren Counties,
  New Jersey"
Chapman Publishing Company
1898

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J Ross Lake.  On the corner of Belvidere avenue and Church street
in Washington, stands the New Windsor Hotel, of which Mr. Lake is the
proprietor.  The hotel is one of the best in the county.  It contains about
forty rooms, lighted by electricity, heated by steam, and equipped with all
modern improvements.  The wide piazzas and large grounds give it a homelike
appearance that at once attracts the traveler.  Two free buses run between
the hotel and the depot.  Much of the popularity of the place is due to the
proprietor, who is a model landlord, accommodating and agreeable, striving
in every way possible to secure the comfort of his guests.
  Born in Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, N. J., April 22, 1848, our
subject is the second son of Jacob and Sarah (Ross) Lake.  His father,
who was born in Hunterdon County in 1808, was a successful farmer and
also took a deep interest and active part in the affairs of this county.
In politics he was a Democrat and by this party he was elected to a number
of local offices.  He died in 1880 when he was seventy-three years of age.
His wife, who still survives, was born in Pennsylvania and now resides with
her sons J. Ross and W. Howard, dividing her time between them.  Her older
son, M. Harris, resides at Copper Hill, N. J., and is proprietor of the
wheelwright and carriage works there.
  In the common schools of Hunterdon County and Locktown Academy our
subject obtained his education.  At the age of nineteen he embarked in the
mercantile business at Lambertville, N. J., where he remained for five years,
and then went to Philadelphia.  For sixteen years he was connected with the
well-known firm of Strawbridge & Clothier, in that city.  From 1884 to 1888
he was in the railroad postal business.  In 1894 he came to Washington and
began the management of the New Windsor Hotel, of which he has since been
the head.  Fraternally he is connected with Mansfield Lodge No. 36, F. &
A.M., at Washington.
  The marriage of Mr. Lake took place in 1880 and united him with Miss
Martha Thomas, an estimable lady, and the daughter of Jonathan Thomas, who
for many years was a successful business man in Montgomery County, Pa., but
now makes his home with his daughter at the New Windsor Hotel.  Though now
eighty-nine years of age, he retains the use of his mental facilities,
is hale and hearty, and always cheerful and pleasant.  The only daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Lake is Emily Thomas Lake, who is now attending school in
Hackettstown, N.J., and is being given excellent educational advantages.

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