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Our History:
The legacy of Martin Caufield Memorial Works began in March 1877 when Martin Caufield and his son, Martin, Jr., purchased the property and marble business from Jacob DeWitt. It was located on Park Street, Honesdale, next to John Brown’s furniture, (the old Blum Furniture store). It was sandwiched between the furniture store to the left and the Wayne Hotel to the right. Caufield, Sr. born in Westport County, Mayo, Ireland in 1819 traveled to Honesdale in 1848, and held various jobs before purchasing the marble business. At that time, he was living in Cherry Ridge on a farm. His son, Martin Caufield, Jr. was born in Honesdale in 1849 and attended the public schools and Prompton Academy. In 1868, Caufield, Jr. began his education in the marble business in Scranton. He continued in the business until the time he and his father purchased the marble works from DeWitt in 1877.
The Caufield’s marble works remained on Park Street until moving to Main Street in 1878 near the site of the present First National Community Bank. It was during this time that Martin Jr. met and married Mary. Two sons were born to him: J. Joseph in 1879 and Eugene in 1885. In 1886 the marble works was moved across the street as they purchased the property at 1036 Main Street, the present location of the “Other Shop,” a retail outlet of the Wayne Memorial Hospital’s Women’s Auxiliary. Martin and his wife had two more children, daughters Anna in 1888 and Elizabeth in 1890.
As the business continued to prosper, the Caufield’s erected buildings and added machinery. Soon, eighteen men were employed at Martin Caufield Memorial Works. In the Illustrated Wayne County book, it was touted as being the ‘best equipped establishment of the kind in this section of the country. Some of the most artistic monuments, in both marble and granite, are made at these works.” Martin Caufield, Sr. passed away in 1895 at age 76. His wife died at age 82 two years following his death. Martin Jr. was then the sole owner of Caufield Memorial Works. Mr. Caufield gave special attention to detail. A beautiful example of his workmanship is the sitting angel in the Glen Dyberry Cemetery in Honesdale. Another example of Caufield’s work is the granite monument which the life-sized statue of Samuel Meredith in Pleasant Mount sits. It was said that monument design or price could not be touched by any other competitor. We are proud to say that it is still the case here at the present day Martin Caufield Memorial Works.
Father Eugene Caufield, son to Martin Caufield, Jr., was ordained a priest in 1915 and became the head of St. Michael’s Orphanage in Scranton. He would take twelve year old boys from the orphanage and farm them out to various businesses as indentured servants. On of these boys was Frank J. Monaghan. His mother died during his birth in 1903 and his father, a coal miner, couldn’t raise his son so Frank was given a home with his aunts. For some reason, they could no longer care for him, so they give him up to live at St. Michael’s. When Frank was twelve, Father Caufield took Frank and some other boys to Honesdale to work in his father’s marble and granite works. When it was time to go back to the orphanage after an undetermined amount of time, Frank refused to leave. So, Martin Jr. took him in and raised him although he never was treated as a son and was never legally adopted. Frank continued working at Caufield’s with Martin Caufield Jr. maintaining control of the granite and marble business until his death at age 75 in 1924. It was then turned over to his children: J. Joseph, Anna and Elizabeth but not Frank Monaghan who was at that time, 21 years old. They ran the business leaving Frank as just an employee of Martin Caufield Memorial Works. Frank did hand tooled work and sandblasting and eventually worked as a salesmen. He would go from town to town, hauling various samples of monuments, taking orders. Returning months later, he would deliver the finished pieces. He married Kathryn Fox and had five children.
In 1956, Anna passed away, leaving in her will the option for Frank Monaghan who was 53 years old at the time to either inherit fifteen thousand dollars from the Caufield estate or buy the granite and marble business of Martin Caufield for the same amount. It was a hard choice as money was tight, but Frank opted to purchase the memorial works from Anna Caufield’s estate. He only purchased the business in the form of the Martin Caufield name, the inventory and all machinery, but he was not able to buy the building in which the business was housed. Frank continued in the tradition of Martin Caufield, choosing to keep the Caufield business name.
Only after four years of sole ownership, Frank’s wife, Kathryn passed away in 1960. He had five employees, one of which was his son, Robert. When he was 27 years old, Robert purchased the business from his father, Frank in 1968. The opportunity arose in 1969 for Robert to also buy the building at 1036 Main Street from Elizabeth Caufield, the last of Martin Caufield’s children. She lived until 1978.
As sole owner, Robert employed a few men to help him run the memorial works. In the mid-1980’s, his middle son, Phillip showed an interest and began helping his father in the shop. By the end of the 20th century, Robert made the decision to move his business to Route 191, south of Honesdale, across from Dirlam Lumber Company. By 2002, Phillip purchased Martin Caufield Memorial Works from his father at the age of 36. This business has flourished under Phillip’s direction. He is able to offer many choices with low prices because of being able to buy granite direct.
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Hours
Monday- Friday 9am – 4pm
Saturday 9am – 12pm
Call for other appointment times.
Toll Free: 1-800-824-5293.
Local: 570-253-3300
Email Us: [email protected]
Directions
Located on Route 191 South of Honesdale, PA at
249 Sunrise Avenue, Honesdale, PA 18431.