JT's Lumber | History


		James T. O'Connell, the son of Irish immigrants, quit high school because he felt he was wasting his time studying Latin, bought his own boat and went to work as a commercial fisherman. From such humble beginnings sprang a successful business empire that included a prosperous lumber yard and hardware store as well as interests in coal and oil, fishing, banking and real estate. The name “J.T...” became a Newport institution, and O’Connell created a legacy that continues to this day. “ J.T.” became a Newport institution...”
	As a young fisherman, O’Connell learned that fish fetched higher prices in the winter months and began salting some of his summer catch to keep for winter sale. After buying three cases of copper paint for his boat, because buying it in bulk saved him money, he turned a profit by selling the paint he did not need to other fishermen. He then bought rope and sold it at a profit, according to his first business invoice form the year 1909. O’Connell’s business interest included J.T. O’Connell Inc., Newport Oil Corp., Peckham Coal and Ice Co., Broadway Hardware Co., Hammett Lumber Co., Tallman & Mack, Commercial Finance Corp., as well as Harris Lumber Co. in Providence and a lumber and shingle mill in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He also served as a director of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust National Bank and was a founder and first president of the community Hotel Corp., which built and operated the hotel Viking.
	When he died on April 4, 1974, two weeks before his 85th birthday, The Daily News published an obituary that included the following anecdote: “ During a court case, at which O’Connell was a witness, an out-of-town lawyer asked, “What business are you in, Mr. O’Connell?” The judge interrupted to suggest to the lawyer that he would save considerable time if he asked O’Connell what business he was not in.” O’Connell headed a local group during the Depression that supervised the building of the Freebody park stadium and wall as a
	work relief project. He also served on the Mount Hope Bridge Authority. He once aspired to public office, when he was one of about a half dozen men who sought the mayor’s post after the death of Mayor Patrick J. Boyle in 1923. The victory went to Mortimer A. Sullivan. O’Connell did hold office in the Old Park Commission and the Newport Sinking Fund. He was a member of many organizations and had been a charter member of the Newport Rotary. The youngest of the O’Connell’s three daughters, Elizabeth Rooney of Middletown, remembers sitting at the family’s dinner table with her parents discussing her father’s busy schedule. “ I can remember my mother saying, ”How many meetings do you have tonight?” Rooney said Rooney’s son Patrick is president of J.T.'S Lumber, which has three building materials stores in Middletown, Bristol and North Kingstown. Reprinted with permission, Newport (RI) Daily News, Dec 31, 1999-Jan1,2000

James T. O'Connell,

the son of Irish immigrants, quit high school because he felt he was wasting his time studying Latin, bought his own boat and went to work as a commercial fisherman.

“ I can remember my mother saying, ”How many meetings do you have tonight?” Rooney said