John Sephus Mack
John Sephus Mack (March 9, 1880 – September 27, 1940), was an American businessperson and philanthropist. He was the president of the G. C. Murphy Company, a prominent variety-store chain during the early 20th century.
Biography
Mack was the son of a farmer and educated in the public schools of Indiana County, Pennsylvania and at a business college in Johnstown. "Seph" Mack began his career as a stock room clerk at McCrory Stores in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, which was owned by his cousin, J. G. McCory. By 1908, Mack had become general manager.[1]
In 1911, he and another employee, Walter C. Shaw, resigned from McCrory and purchased
Employee benefits included free life insurance, two weeks paid vacation, and Christmas bonuses of up to $15 in gold.[3] Only a few Murphy stores were organized by unions, "partially because of intense antiunion campaigns mounted by management, but, more importantly, because many of G. C. Murphy's twenty-three thousand employees didn't feel the need for protection from a company they viewed as benevolent and even generous."[4]
Mack enjoyed maintaining and enlarging his family farm, Old Home Manor, and frequently spent his weekends tending show horses and
A devout Presbyterian who decorated the main assembly room of the Murphy Company with Bible verses,
Death and interment
Although Mack was only 60 in 1940, his health gave way, and he died after a stroke on September 27. Four colleges sent their choirs, and Bob Jones delivered the eulogy at the funeral.[11]
Notes
- ^ Togyer, 14.
- ^ Togyer, 17. Mack and Shaw had complementary talents and personalities, Mack the stern, long-range thinker; Shaw the genial detail man.
- ^ Togyer, 48.
- ^ Togyer, 57.
- ^ Togyer, 81.
- ^ Togyer, 49.
- ^ Togyer, 87.
- ^ Togyer, 250.
- ^ Togyer, 17-18.
- ^ Togyer, 87.
- ^ Togyer, 89. Mack was buried in Indiana's Greenwood Cemetery.
References
- Jason Togyer, For the Love of Murphy's: The Behind-the-Counter Story of a Great American Retailer (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2008)
- Who Was Who in America, 1 (1897–1942).
- "Death Takes Business Man Back to Childhood Scenes," Pittsburgh Press, September 20, 1940.
- "Murphy Memories"
- BJU Library
- Reminiscences about the Murphy Stores at the Wayback Machine (archived February 7, 2008)
- Pittsburgh Tribune feature article on Brush Valley