Born: August 25, 1865
Died: July 26, 1961
Married: Alice Paye (died, 1904), Lenore Parks
Children: Mrs. Hazel McLaughlin
John English bought the Hotel St. Regis in the early 1920s with Ed Murnane and continued to operate the hotel with his grandson, Hugh McLaughlin IV after Murnane's death in 1939. In 1959 he sold it to Gilbert Jones. He was a brother of Anna Toof and Edward English.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, July 27, 1961
JOHN ENGLISH DIES AT AGE 95
Pioneer Hotelman
Pioneer hotelman John English died last night at his home at 69 Margaret Street. He was 95. He had been in ill health for several years following his retirement from business in Saranac Lake where he operated the Hotel St. Regis.
Born at Silver Lake on August 25, 1865, Mr. English was the son of Philip and Hannah Gleason English. He came to Saranac Lake in 1883 and had made his home in this village since that time.
The well-known hotelman worked at the old Gilligan House for Jabe Alexander as porter and in 1888 was hired by the Algonquin Hotel as porter when the famous Adirondack hostelry was located on the shores of Lower Saranac Lake.
One of the finest horsemen in the North Country, he drove stagecoach for the Algonquin along with his other duties at the resort hotel.
After learning the business, he came to the St. Regis Hotel in 1914 and was associated there with his brother-in-law, John Morgan.
In 1923, Mr. English and Edward Murnane purchased the St. Regis and an active partnership was formed which continued for 17 years until the death of Murnane in 1940. The hotel was very popular through these years as a commercial house and most of the salesmen in the country who came to this area stayed there.
John English continued to operate the hotel after his partner's death and relied on the help of his grandson, Hugh McLaughlin, until the time of the sale of the Hotel to Gilbert Jones about 4 years ago.
His wife, Alice Paye, whom he married in 1890, died in 1904. He is survived by his widow, Mrs. Lenore Parks English, one daughter, Mrs. Hazel McLaughlin, of West Palm Beach, Florida, a sister, Mrs. Bradford Flint, of Glen Falls, two grandsons , Hugh and William McLaughlin, and four great grandchildren of Saranac Lake and several nieces and nephews.
Mr. English was a charter member of the local Elks Lodge and local Knights of Columbus, in which he attained the rank of Fourth Degree Knight. He had been active in the Moose Lodge for several years and was the oldest living volunteer fireman in New York State at the time of his death.
Mr. English is at the Fortune Funeral Home. A Funeral Mass will be said at St. Bernard's Catholic Church at 11 a. m, Saturday before burial in the Catholic section of Pine Ridge Cemetery.
From Famous people you might meet on the street by Phil Gallos, Adirondack Daily Enterprise, February 8, 2006
[Christy Mathewson] loved his checkers. He would while away the afternoons at the St. Regis taking on all comers, though he enjoyed most playing the St. Regis's proprietor, John English, whom he almost invariably defeated. Mr. English was the grandfather of Bill McLaughlin, a popular writer for this newspaper for many years. Matty lost his final inning against tuberculosis in 1925. John English sold the St Regis in 1957, and the five story building burned to the ground one January night in 1964 in what was called the worst fire in Saranac Lake in 40 years.
