#26 - Skinner, John & Mary Good
Mark Davies, AoR Archives Team
Born December 25, 1846 in Thornville, Perry County, Ohio, Rev. Dr. John Resin Skinner was educated at Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio. He was ordained as a Presbyterian pastor in 1873, and served 48 years in Christian ministry. On March 13, 1876, he married Mary A. Good in Winamac, Indiana. Together they raised two sons: Elgie Skinner of Oak Park, Chicago, Illinois, a mechanical engineer; and Dr. Nevin Skinner, superintendent of a golf club factory in Newark, New Jersey.
The Skinners temporarily interrupted their parish ministry at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. John volunteered as Chaplain of the 4thIllinois Volunteers, which saw action in Cuba, while Mary served as a nurse there during the same period. John was active in several fraternal organizations, including the Masons, Oddfellows, and Good Templars – groups popular with many American 19thcentury temperance-oriented American Protestants.
The Skinners were among the first to respond to J. C. Penney’s 1925 invitation to ministers across the United States to apply for housing in Florida. Their application was chosen by D. Walter Morton as one of the first 30 families accepted for residence in the abandoned sawmill workers’ cottages in Green Cove Springs. On October 10, 1925, the Skinners arrived from Winamac, Indiana, becoming the third family to join the riverside community that would later be known as Penmor Place, Memorial Home Community, and today, Penney Retirement Community. The Skinners were active members of the community when it was located on the river in Green Cove Springs, and after the relocation to Long Branch City (Penney Farms).
The initial meeting to “discuss the organization of the group in order to provide for the general interest and welfare of all” the ministers and their wives – resulting in the formation of the Penmor Place Association - was held in the Skinners’ home in November 2025. On March 13, 1926, the Skinners became the first of many couples to celebrate a Golden Wedding Anniversary within the community. Their celebration was held in Green Cove Springs; in later years, the event became an annual observance in the Memorial Chapel built by Penney later that year. Today, the celebration is held in the Golden Rule Dining facility.
Mary Skinner was an active member of the Penmor Roundtable, the organization that dissolved after the community’s move to Long Branch City. She authored minutes from numerous association meetings at the Memorial Home Community, and served on multiple committees.
In 1936, the manager of the J.C. Penney store in Jacksonville presented a walking cane to the Memorial Home Community to be awarded to the oldest living minister in the community. Rev. Dr. Skinner was the first recipient of the cane. His name is engraved on the first 14K gold ring affixed to the cane. As those who attended my November symposium, ”The Penney Cane: Silent Witness to PRC’s First Century,” will recall, a total of 15 ministers were eventually honored with the cane. Future installments of this column will feature other cane recipients.
Rev. Dr. John Resin Skinner died in a Jacksonville hospital on July 5, 1939, at the age of 92. Mary Skinner died in Penney Farms on April 11, 1946, at the age of 87. The Skinners are buried together in Indiana.
CENTENNIAL TRIVIA
On Valentine’s Day 1926, the Social Committee of the Penmor Association planned a special gathering. “Word was sent out that the admittance charge would be an original valentine. It developed that in the colony were all sorts of poets, artists, and humorists. Those Valentines would make a book. Mr Penney, Mr. & Mrs. Ralph Gwinn, and other visitors were in attendance on this occasion and entered into the merry making. The ladies had provided two prizes. A First Prize and a Booby Prize. Mr. Penney and Mr. Gwinn sat on the committee that determined the merits of the various valentines. To the Rev. William Layport went the first prize, and to the Rev. R. A. Cody went the booby prize.”
Excerpt from A Brief Historical Sketch pg.5-6