John S. Ketcham

John Sylvester Ketcham was the third generation of his family engaged in the building trades. He apprenticed in his father's firm, Benjamin Ketcham's Sons, which in 1914 became Ketcham and McQuade. Like his grandfather Benjamin and his father John K. Ketcham, John S. Ketcham was elected a member of the Carpenters' Company of Philadelphia, in 1924. And like his father, he served as President of the Company, in 1935.

When he died, he was eulogized in the minutes of the Company:

Mr. Ketcham was the grandson of Benjamin Ketcham who was elected to the Carpenters' Company in 1865. His father, John Ketcham, was elected to the Company in 1878, his uncle, Mahlon Levis Ketcham, in 1891 and Mr. Ketcham became a member of this company in 1924.

This meeting of the company marks the first time in over 100 years that the name of a member of this family has not been called in the roll of the Carpenters' Company.

— Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia, "Minutes, 1943-1968", Carpenters' Company Digital Archive & Museum, page 392.

Updated February 14, 2026.