History of Bay County, Michigan, and representative citizens, Part 45

Author: Gansser, Augustus H., 1872-
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : Richmond & Arnold
Number of Pages: 738

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Look about us where we will, in this month of April, 1905, we find much of encouragement and satisfaction in our living conditions. The booming days of the lumber industry are gone beyond recall, but to this place have come hun-

dreds of smaller but more permanent indus- tries. Many cozy new homes, and a number of palatial residences on Center avenue, will in 1905 add to the wealth and beauty of the metropolis of Northern Michigan. All our industries are in motion, no one need be idle, and our future prospects are brighter than be- fore in many years. Providence has done much indeed for the "Garden Spot of Michi- gan." Let every one enjoying these blessings contribute a little effort in the years to come for progress, wholesome growth, and the gen- eral advancement of individual and collective. prosperity.

HORACE TUPPER, M. D.

Representative Citizens

5 ORACE TUPPER, M. D. The pages of a history of Bay County would lack completeness without the hon- ored name of the late Dr. Horace Tupper, that good man, kind and genial gen- tleman and skilled and experienced physician. The late Dr. Tupper, whose portrait is here- with shown, was born at Pine Plains, Colum- bia County, New York, October 2, 1830, and was a son of Dr. Archelaus and Leah (Strever) Tupper.

His father was a very prominent physician in Columbia County, and the young man seems to have been divided in his affection for medi- cine and mechanics. After completing the pub- lic school course, he secured his father's permis- sion to enter a machine shop where he could be instructed in mechanical engineering, spend- ing his days among the whirring of wheels and the turning of great lathes, and his evenings in his father's study, just as much absorbed in works on physiology and anatomy. As a result of his work in the machine shop, he invented and patented several valuable devices, one of these being a fare-box for cars and another being a street railway switch. The latter he introduced in the street railway system at Buf- falo, New York, and it is yearly becoming more and more used on all street railway lines.

Until he was 20 years old, Dr. Tupper read medicine under his able father, and then en-

tered the office of Dr. Frank Hamilton, who at that time was professor of surgery in the Buf- falo Medical School. He thus enjoyed more than usual advantages, as he had full access. during his term of study with Dr. Hamilton, to. the Sisters' General Hospital. He then entered the Edward Street Female Hospital at Buffalo, where he combined study and practice for some. two years and was graduated from the Buffalo Medical School in February, 1862.

The young surgeon found a coveted open- ing in the Civil War, then in progress, and, first as assistant and later as full surgeon, with rank of major, he entered an Ohio regiment and was- assigned to service in a battery of the Sixth Division of the Army of the Tennessee. Dr. Tupper remained with his battery until he reached Corinth, Mississippi, participating in the meanwhile in the battles of Pittsburg Land- ing, Farmington and Corinth, and in many minor engagements. His preceptor, Dr. Ham- ilton, had gone into the service in order to make a special study of gunshot wounds. Both sub- sequently left the army and Dr. Hamilton lo- cated in New York City, where he became a. great surgical authority.

In 1863, Dr. Tupper became interested with Samuel Bolton, a capitalist and lumber- man of Philadelphia, in the manufacture of salt in the Saginaw Valley, building and oper- ating a salt-block in connection with a sawmill

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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY

which they had purchased. Without technical language, their plan was to use exhaust steam from the mill and also use the slabs and saw- dust to keep up the required amount of heat to crystalize the salt. The plan proved successful and was quickly adopted by others and is still used in the salt-blocks of the Saginaw Valley.

By this time Bay City had grown into quite a village and Dr. Tupper was recalled to his profession, for years being the only accredited surgeon in all this locality, for 15 years travel- ing all over this territory to answer calls for his surgical skill, and even continued to prac- tice until the close of his life. After the gradu- ation of his nephew, Dr. Virgil L. Tupper, from medical school, he had delegated his night work to the latter and had gradually retired from practice, but many of the older families could never feel safe in any other medical hands than those of the older doctor, who had so faithfully ministered to them. His death oc- curred on April 16, 1902.

On December 24, 1862, the year of his graduation from the Buffalo Medical School, Dr. Tupper was married to Elizabeth Trinder, a refined and cultured English lady, who is a daughter of William Trinder, of Chadlington, Oxfordshire, England. After her father's death, her mother married again and died at Bridgeport, Connecticut. Dr. and Mrs. Tup- per had one son, Horace Tupper, Jr., who is an attorney at Bay City.

The late Dr. Tupper was always identified with the Republican party and was something of a politician, although he never was willing to accept political honors. He was actively in- terested in the Grand Army of the Republic and served as commander of the H. P. Merrill Post at Bay City. In all medical progress in this section, he was a leader for years. With Dr. Thomas he organized the Bay County Med- ical Society and was one of the organizers of

the Michigan State Medical Society. He was one of the valued members of the American Medical Association and seldom missed one :of its meetings and continually contributed to its literature. He had many pleasant social con- nections and the Tupper home has long been known as a center of literary refreshment and refined hospitality.

In this beautiful home; in the homes of others to which his presence brought comfort and healing; along the city streets ; in the con- ventions where men of science prove their mar- velous discoveries; at the meetings of civic bodies and boards of public charities ; and in a hundred other avenues of honor and usefulness, this great-hearted, kind, genial, able man will long be remembered.

E. JENNISON, president of the Jennison Hardware Company, of e Bay City, Michigan, is one of the city's early business men and rep- resentative citizens. He was born in 1829, at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is a son of Wil- liam Jennison, who removed to New York City when our subject was five years old.

William Jennison engaged there in the iron business in the metropolis under the firm name of Mackey, Oakley & Jennison. His home was in Brooklyn, but his death occurred in the city of Philadelphia.

C. E. Jennison came to Lower Saginaw (now Bay City) in 1850 and entered into gen- eral business in partnership with James Fraser. In 1864 he sold his other interests and entered into the hardware line, but is no longer active in its work, the business being under the man- agement of William F., G. B. and D. M. Jen- nison. Formerly, Mr. Jennison was interested in other industries of this section and was one of the first to engage in the salt business.

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For many years after coming to this city, Mr. Jennison took a very prominent part in its development along all lines, and he served on civic bodies and assisted in the founding of the present school system. Politically he has always been in sympathy with the Republican party. In earlier years he was active in the Masonic and other fraternal societies.

Mr. Jennison was married to Florence Bir- ney, who is the surviving daughter of the late Hon. James G. Birney, of national fame.

AMES FRASER, deceased, one of the original proprietors of Lower Sagi- naw, Michigan, and one of the orig- inal promoters of Bay City, was born in Inverness, Scotland, February 5, 1803. His father was a British soldier in early life and participated in the war against the French in 1796. He lost his leg at the Island of St. Luce, and thereafter received a pension from the British government. His wife survived him some years, and spent the last year of her life with her son at Saginaw and her daughter at Lower Saginaw, dying in 1850.

When James Fraser was quite young, he engaged in business for himself, early showing those qualities which enabled him in later years to overcome successive reverses and rise tri- umphant to a station among the foremost finan- ciers of his section of the State. He had no early educational advantages and frequently in the days of his youth waded barelegged through snow to carry a message to earn his ha' penny, and daily took a brick of turf under his arm to the village school as fuel for the fire. He achieved some success in his native country and upon coming to America in 1829 was pos- sessed of several thousand dollars. His first business venture, however, was not a success.

In company with two or three Scotchmen, he attempted to build a sawmill in Rochester, Oak- land County, Michigan. He spent his first winter in this country making preparations. They paid exhorbitant prices for materials and supplies and in the spring found their funds about exhausted, necessitating the abandon- ment of their enterprise. Mr. Fraser's experi- ence proved costly though valuable in the les- sons it taught, for he had only $100 left of the money he brought to this country. With this sum he went to Detroit, established a small grocery and made money rapidly. In the fall of 1833, he moved to the vicinity of Saginaw and occupied a piece of land along the Tittaba- wassee River, which he had previously pur- chased. At this time there was only an Indian trail between Flint and Saginaw, and the trip had to be made on horseback or on foot. He took his family with him; his wife, being then but 17 years old and having an infant in her arms, was pulled along on a sort of sled, al- though it was not winter time and there was no snow on the ground. After seeing his family well-located, he returned to Detroit to purchase cattle for his farm. While driving the cattle on foot, between Flint and Saginaw they be- came wild and left the trail. He ran after them until he was tired out and heated, when he took off his coat and carried it. Finding what he thought to be the trail, he hung his coat on a shrub, while he ran to head off the cattle from again going astray. But when he returned to get his coat, he could not find it, al- though he searched for it several hours. After he had become a very wealthy man he used to tell that that was his severest loss, as the pocket of that coat contained $500, all the money he had in the world. He cleared some land and planted an orchard, which became the most flourishing in this section of the State. In the division of his estate after his death, this farm

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went to his daughter,-Mrs. A. B. Paine, of Saginaw. He found locating and dealing in government lands more profitable than farm- ing, and devoted his energies to that end, re- moving with his family to Saginaw in 1836. In 1835 and 1836 land in good locations brought big prices, and his keen foresight and good judgment enabled him to multiply his fortune. In 1836, he was one of the pro- moters of the Saginaw Bay Company, which purchased the site of Bay City, but the panic of 1837 wrecked the company and most of the stockholders.

His remarkable record in business from 1835 to 1838 and the fact that he withstood the panic, which carried nearly all down to ruin, marks him as a master of finance. He bought lands when they were cheap and held them until they greatly increased in value. After the failure of the Saginaw Bay Com- pany, in association with several others he pur- chased considerable scrip and became one of the proprietors of Lower Saginaw. In 1845, he built a water-mill on the Kawkawlin River and began the manufacture of lumber. During the next three years he was interested in building and operating two steam sawmills on the Sag- inaw River, and later a steam-mill on the Kaw- kawlin River. He succeeded Judge Riggs as Indian farmer, the only office he ever held for which he received pay.

About 1857 he and his family removed to Lower Saginaw (now Bay City) and here in a commodious mansion was dispensed a most liberal hospitality. In this city his energies were devoted not alone to private enterprises, but to public improvements as well. The church edifice on Washington street, in which the Baptists worshiped, was almost wholly a gift from him. About the last of his business enterprises was the erection of the Fraser House at the corner of Center and Water

streets, which he did not live to see completed. In 1864, feeling the necessity of rest and quiet after so many years of activity, he retired with his family to Brooklyn, New York, where they resided a few months, then removed to Westport, Connecticut, where he resided until his death on January 28, 1866. His last sick- ness came on as an ordinary cold and developed into typhoid pneumonia, from which he never recovered. His death was sadly mourned in Bay City, where the impress of his deeds and accomplishments stand as a monument to his memory. His remains were buried at West- port, Connecticut, but were afterward removed to Elm Lawn Cemetery, Bay City.

In 1832, Mr. Fraser was united in marriage with Elizabeth Busby, a young English woman of more than ordinary attractions who came to this country with her parents in 1831. She was born in London, England, March 23, 1817, and was a daughter of James and Ann (Perry) Busby. James Busby was a native of Somer- setshire, and was reared on a farm. He came to this country with his family and first settled in Detroit, then removed to Saginaw in 1833, he and James Fraser taking up farms on oppo- site sides of the river. He died at Saginaw in 1840. He married Ann Perry, also a native of England and a daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Brittain) Perry. To this union came the following offspring: Joseph, who died at De Land, Florida, January 29, 1905, aged 92 years ; James; Elizabeth, wife of James Fraser ; Thomas, of Ypsilanti, Michigan; Lucy, de- ceased, who first married Ebenezer W. Perry, and, after the latter's death, married a Mr. Shaw; and Edward, who lives in New York City. Mrs. Fraser was a devout Christian and a member of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church of Detroit. She died in 1848, aged 31 years to a day. James Fraser and his wife became the parents of the following children :

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Alexander D., born October 6, 1833, deceased in 1850; Annie, born July 30, 1836, who is the widow of William McEwan, a record of whose life appears elsewhere in this work; Elizabeth, born August 31, 1838, who is the wife of Elias B. Dennison, of Mobile, Alabama ; Jennie, born October II, 1842, and deceased in 1900, who was the wife of Alderman B. Paine, who died in 1904; John J., born December 4, 1844, de- ceased in 1866; and William Wallace, born March 14, 1848, deceased in 1862.

On October. 28, 1850, Mr. Fraser formed a second marriage, with Susan Moulton, of Westport, Connecticut, a woman of beautiful character and during his life she continued his faithful helpmeet. The life and character of Mr. Fraser were above reproach. He was a man of untiring energy and perseverance, and once having determined upon a policy he fought his way to the end, overcoming obsta- cle after obstacle. Few are possessed of the hardihood and courage required by the kind of life he led. The volume of his business would be considered enormous even at the present day, when we have modern facilities such as railroads and telegraphs. He had a retentive memory and although for years his head was his ledger, he transacted his affairs with the utmost exactness as to details. In his intercourse with men he was most genial and pleasant, and enjoyed the friendship of everyone.

ON. NATHAN B. BRADLEY, the first mayor of Bay City, Michigan, ex-Member of Congress, founder and head of the firm of N. B. Bradley & Sons, and for a great many years one of the most active business men of Bay County, was born in Lee, Berkshire Coun- ty, Massachusetts, on May 28, 1831. The Sag-

inaw Valley has had few lumber men who have operated so long and successively as has Mr. Bradley.

The father of the subject of this sketch was a native of Massachusetts, where he was en- gaged in the tanning business until 1835. In' that year he removed to Ohio, where the sub- ject of this sketch attended the common schools. After finishing his schooling, Nathan B. Brad- ley began at the age of 16 years to learn the trade of a custom clothier. Having mastered this trade, he journeyed to Wisconsin in the fall of 1849 and there secured employment in a sawmill. He returned to Ohio in 1850 and in partnership with a brother engaged in the sawmill business until 1852. In that year Mr. Bradley came to Michigan. After living three years near Lexington, in Sanilac County, he removed in 1855 to St. Charles, in the Sagi- naw Valley, where he took a position as super- intendent of a lumbering plant. In 1858 he removed to Lower Saginaw (now Bay City), and in the following year assumed the manage- ment of what was then called the "Frost & Bradley Mill." After managing this mill in 1859, he rented and operated it in 1860, and in 1861, with two of his brothers, purchased it and operated it under the name of N. B. Brad- ley & Company. The manufacture of salt was added to the lumber business in 1864 when this company built the first modern steam salt-block in the Saginaw Valley. It was located near the foot of 16th street, in Bay City. This company afterward built two other blocks in connection with the lumber business, and was successfully engaged in the manufacture of lumber and salt until 1891. The firm of N. B. Bradley & Company was composed of Nathan B. and his two brothers, Charles and Frederick E., of Chicago. About the year 1878, Frederick E. withdrew and Nathan B. and Charles continued under the original company name and style

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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY

until about the year 1880 or 1881 when, Charles having previously died, Nathan B. took his two sons into the business as partners, under the name of N. B. Bradley & Sons, which firm is still in business in Bay City. Mr. Bradley was one of the active organizers of the Bay County Salt Association, and was for years a director therein and for some years treasurer thereof. He also took a prominent part in the early de- velopment of the beet sugar industry, which has since grown to large proportions.

In January, 1867, Mr. Bradley engaged in the banking business in association with B. E. Warren. On the reorganization of the First National Bank of Bay City after its failure, he became one of the stockholders and served as vice-president of the institution for several years.

Mr. Bradley's political career has been ex- tended and honorable, and he has rendered val- uable service to his city, county and State. In 1865, when Bay City was incorporated, he was elected its first mayor. In the fall of 1866 he was elected to the State Senate, and in 1872 was elected to the 43rd Congress, in which he was a member of the committee on public lands and rendered valuable service thereon. While in Congress, he secured appropriations for dredging the channel of the Saginaw River and for improving other harbors in his district. This work was of prime importance. Mr. Bradley was also a member of the 44th Con- gress, and served on the committee on claims, on which he maintained a creditable record. During these two sessions of Congress, he rep- resented what was then the 8th Congres- sional District of Michigan, since which time the district has been divided and Bay City is now in the Ioth Congressional District.

The subject of this sketch joined the Ma- sons in 1853. He is a demitted member of Bay City Commandery, Knights Templar, and

was a charter member of Bay City and Joppa lodges, F. & A. M., and of Blanchard Chap- ter, R. A. M.

HE OLD SECOND NATIONAL BANK of Bay City has long been considered one of the leading finan- cial institutions of the Saginaw Val- ley. It has age, experience and capital to back it. It was organized May 5, 1874, with a capi- tal of $100,000, with 30 original shareholders, of whom only two are now living in Bay City. Of the other 28 original members, 14 have re- moved to other points and the hand of Death has laid the others low. The great institution they founded, however, continues to grow along the same lines of conservatism and safety that its founders laid out.

The first board of directors of the Second National Bank, by which title the bank was known during the life of its first charter, in- cluded these prominent citizens : W. H. Sage; John McGraw; William Westover; A. J. Cooke; Wheeler L. Plum; Judge Albert Miller ; W. H. Tonsey and George E. Smith, all of Bay City ; and F. F. Hyatt, William L. Smith and Alexander McFarlen, of Flint, Michigan. The first officers were: William Westover, presi- dent; John McGraw, vice-president; and Wheeler L. Plum, cashier. The first banking office was situated on the corner of Fourth and Water streets, Bay City. In the fall of 1876, the office was moved to No. 723 North Water street, at the foot of Center avenue. The first commercial deposit was made by A. Hyman, a clothing merchant of Bay City.

The first change came about upon the death of Wheeler L. Plum, on January 10, 1878, when Martin M. Andrews was elected to suc- ceed as cashier. On the first of the following

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AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS.

May, 1878, the State Bank, an old-established institution, consolidated with, or was absorbed by, the Second National Bank, with the follow- ing official staff : William Westover, president ; Alonzo Chesbrough, vice-president; Orrin Bump, Cashier ; and M. M. Andrews, assistant ·cashier.

The banking office was now removed to the Westover Opera House Block, on the cor- ner of Washington and Center avenues. This building was destroyed by fire on January 17, 1886, and was replaced by the present stately and commodious structure. At the time of uniting with the State Bank, the capital was increased to $200,000, and at a later date, to $250,000. On May 5, 1894, the first charter 'expired and the bank was reorganized under its present title,-The Old Second National Bank.

During the first 20 years of its charter ex -. istence, the bank enjoyed a large share of the business patronage of the community at a time when the lumbering interests of this part of the State were in the most flourishing condition. Shareholders were paid regular dividends of five per cent., semi- annually, and at the close of the 20 years they were paid, in addition to the par value of stock, 50 cents on the dollar in accrued profits. The Old Second National Bank began business with a capital of $400,000, but during the panic of 1897-99 it was conservatively re- duced to its present amount,-$200,000.

The new bank officials, after the above re- organization, were: Orrin Bump, president ; D. C. Smalley, vice-president ; Martin M. An- drews, cashier ; and Charles M. Bump, assist- ant cashier. In July, 1899, D. C. Smalley died and was succeeded by Capt. James E. David- son as vice-president. On May 31, 1903, Pres- ident Orrin Bump retired on account of fail- ing health, and Capt. James E. Davidson be-

came president and Frank P. Chesbrough, vice- president. Mr. Bump, who had so long been executive head of the bank and its active man- ager, removed to California, and M. M. An- Andrews became the manager. At the annual meeting on January 10, 1905, Capt. James E. Davidson was elected president; Frank T. Woodworth, vice-president ; and John L. Stod- dard and George B. Jennison, directors. In addition to the two directors just named, the board is made up as follows: Edgar B. Foss, Capt. James E. Davidson, Frank P. Ches- brough, Frank T. Woodworth and Martin M. Andrews.

Since its organization this bank has shown a steady growth. At the close of business on December 31, 1877, the daily statement showed amount of bills discounted to be $180,888 and deposits $141,566. In November, 1904, the bank statement showed: Bills discounted, $897.613.00, and deposits, $196,725.00. Dur- ing the first 10 years of the present corporate existence,-from May 5, 1894, to May 5. 1904,-the shareholders were paid $113,000 in dividends. In addition to that, there were credited to surplus fund $75,000. with still a balance of over $46,000 to credit of undivided profits. Thus it will be seen that the bank has well sustained its reputation of being one of the leading financial institutions of this section of the State.

ILLIAM D. FITZHUGH. The late William D. Fitzhugh was identi- fied so closely with the early inter- ests of the Saginaw Valley, to which he came with his bride in 1849, that a history of the notable men of Bay County, men whose enterprise, energy, judgment and capital contributed to its development, must include

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HISTORY OF BAY COUNTY

his name among the leading characters. Mr. Fitzhugh came of a family of substance and influential connections. He was born in Liv- inston County, New York, and was a son of Dr. Daniel Hughes Fitzhugh and Anne Frisby Dana, his wife.

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History of Bay County, Michigan, and representative citizens, Part 45

Author: Gansser, Augustus H., 1872- Publication date: 1905 Publisher: Chicago : Richmond & Arnold Number of Pages: 738

Author: Gansser, Augustus H., 1872-
Publication date: 1905
Publisher: Chicago : Richmond & Arnold
Number of Pages: 738