USA > Michigan > Genesee County > History of Genesee County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions, Volume II > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85
FRED ABBOTT ALDRICH.
Fred Abbott Aldrich, secretary-treasurer of the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, secretary-treasurer of the Dort Motor Car Company and secre- tary of the Copeman Electric Stove Company, all of Flint, is a native son of Michigan and has lived in this state all his life. He was born in Hamil- ton township. Van Buren county, this state, November 10, 1861, son of Ahmon Lyman and Dency (Abbott) Aldrich, natives of New York state. who later became well-known and influential residents of Flint.
63
GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
Almon Lyman Aldrich was graduated from the University of Michi- gan at Ann Arbor and engaged in the newspaper business at St. Joseph, this state, where he was editor of a paper for three or four years, but in 1869, he moved to Flint and became editor and proprietor of the Flint Globe, which he conducted for many years, or until failing health caused him to retire. He was a stalwart Republican and his newspaper for years exerted a wide influence in behalf of the principles of that party in this sec- tion of the state. Mr. Aldrich was ever interested in local public affairs and at one time was a member of the board of trustees of the state school for the deaf at Flint. In the later years of his life he traveled quite exten- sively and after awhile went to live with his daughter. then living on a ranch in Texas, and he died there on October 27, 1912, at the age of seventy-eight years. His widow, who was born in New York state, daugh- ter of Solomon and Lois ( Hyde) Abbott, died at Ottawa, Kansas, February 19. 1916. G. L. Aldrich for years served as vestryman of the Episcopal church at Flint. He and his wife were the parents of three children, Fred A. Aldrich, Ralph Lconard .Aldrich, of Detroit, and Mand, wife of William .A. Bass, of Ottawa, Kansas.
Fred A. Aldrich was eight years old when his parents moved to Flint and his elementary education was received in the public schools of that city. He supplemented his high-school work by a course in Phillips-Exeter Acad- emmy, at Exeter, New Hampshire, and passed entrance examination for Har- vard College. He learned the printer's trade, and served on the staff of his father's paper, the Globe, at Flint. On December 10, 1889, he entered the employ of Durant & Dort, at that time operating a manufacturing con- cern known as the Flint Road Cart Company, which, with a small force of men, was engaged in the manufacture of road carts. Upon the incor- poration of that company on September 9, 1893, Mr. Aldrich was elected secretary of the company. In September, 1900, that company was re-incor- porated as the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, for the manufacture of all kinds of road vehicles. Upon the organization of the Dort Motor Car Company, in 1916, Mr. Aldrich was elected secretary-treasurer of the latter company and has been secretary of the Copeman Electric Stove Company from its organization in 1910. He also is secretary and treasurer of Glenwood Cemetery Association of Flint and a member of the board of directors of the Genesee County Savings Bank.
On November 18, 1886, Fred A. Aldrich was married to Annie E. D. Chase, who was born at Flint, daughter of Zacheus and Lucy (Howard) Chase, the former a native of the state of Massachusetts and the latter of
6.1
GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
this state, born at Flint. Zacheus Chase died at the age of fifty-nine years, and Mrs. Chase died in 1885, when she was a little past forty years of age. They were the parents of four children, Charles S. H., Annie E. D., George and Lucy. To Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich one child has been born, a daughter, Lucy Abbott, who married Niel J. Berston, Jr., of Flint, and has one child, a daughter, Elizabeth. Mr. and Mrs. Aldrich are members of the Episcopal church, of which Mr. Aldrich has been a vestryman and secretary for many years. He is a member of Flint Lodge No. 23, Free and Accepted Masons : of Washington Chapter No. 15, Royal Arch Masons, of Genesee Valley Com- mandery No. 15, Knights Templar, of which he is a past commander, and for the year of 1916 was grand commander of Knights Templar of the state of Michigan. He is a thirty-second-degree Mason of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, and a noble of the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He also is a member of the Loyal Guard. He served twelve years in the National Guard of the state of Michigan, and retired from that service as first lieutenant and regimental quartermaster of the Third Regiment, Michigan National Guard.
CHARLES TORREY BRIDGMAN.
Charles Torrey Bridgman, president of the Union Trust and Savings Bank of Flint and for many years one of the most energetic and influential figures in the business and civic life of that city, is a native of Ohio, born on a farm in the town of Huntsburg, in Geauga county, December 6, 1845. He is a son of Charles and Julianna ( Warren) Bridgman, natives of Mas- sachusetts, both of old New England stock, who were the parents of three sons who grew to maturity, Lewis Warren, William Henry and Charles Torrey, the latter of whom now alone survives. The Bridgman family in America was founded by James Bridgman, who came to this country from England about 1640 and settled in Massachusetts, where he married a Ley- man. According to a recent work on genealogy, the Bridgman ancestry is traced back along a direct line to Hengst, King of the Saxons, 434 A. D., and along other lines to Alfred the Great, the early Scottish kings and French kings, including Charlemagne and William the Conqueror. On the Warren side the ancestry is traced back to the Warren and White families that settled in New England about the same time the Bridgman family se- cured a footing there, Elder White having been one of the early ministers
Dr. Mitqueau
65
GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
of the Plymouth colony, and the Warrens tracing to Cotton Mather, the eminent theologian of early New England, a family represented along simi- lar lines in the present generation by Bishop Henry W. Warren, of the Methodist Episcopal church, and by William F. Warren, for many years president of Boston University, cousins of Charles T. Bridgman.
Charles Bridgman, who was reared in Massachusetts, was a son of Noah and Sarah (Webb) Bridgman, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of Vermont. Noah Bridgman was a cooper and became an early settler in Ohio, where he spent his last days. He and his wife were the parents of five children, Charles, Isaac, Lewis, Amanda and Lucinda. Charles Bridgman married, in Massachusetts, Juliana Warren, who was born at Williamsburg, that state, daughter of Cotton Mather and Lois (White) Warren, the former a descendant of Cotton Mather and the latter of Elder White, of Plymouth colony. Cotton Mather Warren and his wife spent all their days in Massachusetts. They were the parents of five chil- dren, Mather, George, Juliana, Mrs. Bryant and Mrs. Seely. Mather War- ren, the first-born of these children, was the father of a famous family, among his sons being Bishop Henry W. Warren, who was a noted Meth- odist preacher in Philadelphia and Denver and who presided at the general quadrennial conference of that church at Minneapolis in 1912, and William F. Warren, who was for many years president of Boston University. Some years after their marriage, along in the latter thirties, Charles Bridgman and his wife and the two children who were born to them in Massachusetts moved into Ohio and settled in Huntsburg township, Geauga county. There Charles Bridgman entered a claim to a tract of "Congress land," on which he established his home, and there he spent the rest of his life. In addition to his general farming he engaged in the manufacture of brooms, raising the broom corn on his farm. He was a man of very strong convictions and was an outspoken Abolitionist in the days before that cause had gained any large degree of popularity, having been one of the two men in his home township who cast their votes for the Abolition party in 1844. He and his wife were members of the Congregational church. His wife died in 1873, at the age of sixty-nine years, and he survived her about eight years, he being eighty-one years of age at the time of his death, in 1881.
Charles T. Bridgman was reared on the paternal farm in Geauga county, Ohio, and received his elementary education in the district school in the neighborhood of his home, supplementing the same by a course in a private school and in the preparatory department of the old Chicago Uni-
(5a)
66
GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
versity. Later he took a course in Russell's Military School at New Haven, Connecticut, after which, in 1864. he came to Michigan and located at Flint, where he began clerking in the store of William L. Smith & Company and was thus engaged for several years, or until 1871. In that year he became a partner in the firm now known as Smith, Bridgman & Company, which was incorporated in 1907, with a capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars, and of which Mr. Bridgman is secretary and treasurer and Walter O. Smith, son of the late William L. Smith, president and general manager. The store. one of the oldest established commercial concerns in this part of the state, employs about one hundred clerks. In addition to his extensive commercial interests, Mr. Bridgman has long been actively connected with the banking interests of Flint and has also done his part in promoting the best civic interests of the community. When the Union Trust and Savings Bank was established in 1893 Mr. Bridgman was elected president of the same and has ever since occupied that position. The capital stock of the Union Trust and Savings Bank is one hundred thousand dollars, with a surplus of one hundred twenty thousand dollars and footings of more than three million dollars. Mr. Bridgman also has been honored by selection to many positions of business trust, some of the largest estates ever probated in Genesee county having had his services as administrator. In a civic capacity he has served as a member of the common council of Flint and for six years was a member of the city board of education and president of that board during the last two years of his incumbency, 1888-90. Mr. Bridgman is a Republican and, socially, is a member of the Flint Country Club and the Shakespeare Club, while for many years he has been one of the most active members of the Board of Commerce.
On September 13, 1870, at Caledonia, New York, Charles T. Bridg- man was united in marriage to Sarah Mckay, who was born at that place. June 23, 1847, daughter of James B. and Ann (Dean) Mckay. Her father was a native of the state of Pennsylvania and her mother of New York. They were the parents of five children, of whom Mrs. Bridgman was second in order of birth, the others being Anna, Charles, Jennie and Francis. James B. Mckay was the son of Mordecai Mckay and his wife was a daugh- ter of Orange Dean and wife, the latter of whom was a Fuller, both being natives of New York state. They were the parents of eight children, Ann. Abigail, Mary, Esther, John, Orange, Martin and Alexander. To Mr. and Mrs. Bridgman one son has been born, Lewis Henry Bridgman, now cash- ier of the Union Trust and Savings Bank at Flint. Lewis H. Bridgman maried Nellie J. Davison, now deceased, who was the mother of three
67
GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
children, Charles, Lewis (now deceased) and Helen. Seven years later Lewis H. Bridgman married Anna Wright, daughter of the superintendent of the state school for the deaf.
Mr. and Mrs. Charles T. Bridgman are members of the Congregational church and Mr. Bridgman is a member of the board of trustees of the same. He is a thirty-second-degree Mason, having local connection with Genesee Lodge No. 174. Free and Accepted Masons, the local chapter of Royal Arch Masons, and the local commandery of Knights Templar; is affiliated with the Michigan Sovereign Consistory of Detroit, Ancient Ac- cepted Scottish Rite Mason, and is a noble of El Khurafeh Temple, Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Saginaw. Mr. Bridgman has been an extensive traveler, not only in North and South America, but in Europe, Asia and Africa, and has made one trip around the world.
ARTHUR GILES BISHOP.
Arthur Giles Bishop, president of the Genesee County Savings Bank at Flint and prominently connected with numerous of the leading commer- cial and industrial concerns of that city, is a native son of Flint and has lived there all his life. He was born on April 12, 1851, son of Russell and Mary (Thomson) Bishop, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of Kendal, England, whose last days were spent in Flint, Russell Bishop having been for many years one of the leaders in the com- mercial and financial life of that city.
Russell Bishop was born in LeRoy, Genesee county, New York, one of the seven children born to his parents, Giles and Phoebe (Wait) Bishop, natives of the state of Connecticut, whose last days were spent in New York state, but whose remains were brought to Michigan and buried in the ceme- tery at Flint. In 1837, the year Michigan was admitted to statehood, Rus- sell Bishop came to this state and located at Flint, where he opened a gen- eral store and was for many years engaged in conducting the same, long having been one of the foremost merchants of that city. Under the admin- istration of James K. Polk, he was appointed receiver of the land office at Flint and in other ways took a prominent part in the public life of this part of the state during the early days. He was one of the incorporators of the Genesee County Savings Bank at Flint, organized in 1872, was elected vice-president of the same, later being elected president of the bank.
68
GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
and in this latter capacity served until his death, August 5, 1896, he then being eighty-one years of age. His wife had long preceded him to the grave, her death having occurred in 1861, at the age of forty-one years. They 'were members of the Episcopal church and their children were reared in that faith. There were four of these children, of whom the subject of this sketch, the third in order of birth, is now the only survivor, the others hav- ing been Sarah Elizabeth, who was the wife of Judge H. W. Stevens, of Port Huron, this state; Russell H., who died unmarried, and Tessie, who died at the age of six years. Mrs. Bishop's parents spent all their lives in England. They were the parents of two children, Mrs. Bishop having had a brother, Edward.
Arthur G. Bishop grew to manhood in Flint, the place of his birth. He was graduated from the Flint high school in 1869 and from the University of Michigan in 1873. Immediately afterward he was employed as collector . and teller in the Genesce County Savings Bank and has ever since been actively connected with that sound old financial institution. Not long after beginning his service with the bank, Mr. Bishop was promoted to the posi- tion of cashier, some years later became vice-president and since the year 1912 has been president of the same. The Genesee County Savings Bank, as noted above, was organized on May 1, 1872, with a capital stock of $50,000, its first president being James B. Walker. In the spring of 1916 the capital of the bank was $100,000, with a surplus of $400,000 and assets in excess of $6,000,000, the officers being as follow: President, A. G. Bishop; vice-president, H. C. Spencer, and cashier, James Martin. On June 21, 1916, the Genesee County Savings Bank and the National Bank of Flint were consolidated, thus making one of the strongest financial institu- tions in the state of Michigan. The officers of the Genesce Bank were retained as officers of the new bank, the capital of which was increased to $500,000, with $500,000 surplus and $100,000 in undivided profits. In addition to his banking connection, Mr. Bishop is a member of the board of directors of the General Motors Company, a director of the Chevrolet Motor Company, director and treasurer of the Monroe Motor Company and director and treasurer of the Copeman Electric Stove Company.
On September 24, 1879, Arthur G. Bishop was united in marriage to Carrie E. Spencer, who was born in Springville, Erie county, New York, May 8, 1855, daughter and only child of Horace C. and Catherine ( Morris) Spencer, natives of New York state, who came to Michigan in 1871 and located at Flint, where they are still living. For years Horace C. Spencer was engaged in the hardware business at Flint; was also cashier of the Citi-
69
GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
zens Commercial and Savings Bank and is now director and vice-presi- dent of the Genesee County Savings Bank and chairman of the board. To Mr. and Mrs. Bishop two children have been born, Russell Spencer and Katherine. Russell S. Bishop, an assistant to his father in the bank, mar- ried Mary Beasom, of Nashua, New Hampshire, and has two sons, Arthur William and Russell Spencer. The Bishops are members of St. Paul's Episcopal church, of which Mr. Bishop is a vestryman. By political persua- sion Mr. Bishop is a Republican.
LEWIS BUCKINGHAM.
Lewis Buckingham, former president and now vice-president of the Flint Board of Commerce and one of the leading merchants of that city (he and his brother, Capt. Frank D. Buckingham, operating as a partner- ship concern the clothing store established by their father, the late Major George W. Buckingham), is one of Flint's most energetic native sons. He was born in that city, January 26, 1877, son of Major George W. and Jean- nette (Dibble) Buckingham, both natives of Michigan, the former also a native son of Flint and the latter born at Dexter.
The late Major George W. Buckingham had been a witness to the development of the city of Flint from the days when it was but a straggling hamlet. He was born on a homestead farm, land now covered by the city of Flint, on October 28, 1839, son of Lewis and Anna (Beach) Buckingham, natives of the state of New York, who came to Michigan in 1837. They entered a homestead claim on a tract of land now within the city limits of Flint and there established their home, being thus among the earliest settlers of that section. Michigan was admitted as a state in that year and the destinies of Flint seemed assured from the very first. Grandfather Bucking- ham became one of the prominent pioneers of this section and was a witness to its development for many years. He was the first sheriff of Genesee county. He lived to the great old age of ninety-three years and his widow survived him but a few weeks. On that pioneer farm George W. Bucking- ham grew to manhood, familiar with every detail of the early growth of his home town. As a young man his inclinations turned to merchandising and he secured employment in the general store of D. S. Fox & Company. where he was engaged as a clerk for some time. He later was elected sheriff of Genesee county and for eight years served in that important public
70
GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
capacity. Upon the completion of his official service he engaged in the milling business at Mullett Lake and was doing well in that enterprise when his mill was destroyed by fire, entailing upon him a considerable loss. He then returned to Flint and again entered commercial pursuits as an employee of Smith, Bridgman & Company, who later financed him in the establishment of a clothing store at Flint, under the firm name of Buckingham, Smith & Company, which arrangement continued for about ten years. At the end of that time Mr. Buckingham bought the interests of his partners in the store and continued the business alone until his death, on June 14, 1901, victim of a railway accident, since which time the business has been con- tinued by his sons.
Major Buckingham was for years one of Flint's leading merchants and built up a prosperous business. He was an honored veteran of the Civil War, having gone to the front as a lieutenant in the Twenty-third Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and being mustered ont as captain and brev- etted major at the conclusion of his military service. He was an active member of the Grand Army of the Republic and ever took a warm interest in the affairs of the local post of that patriotic organization. As a Repub- lican, he took a prominent part in the early politics of Genesee county and was a man of much influence hereabout all his life. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and ever took a warm interest in the affairs of that order. He and his wife were devoted members of the Presbyterian church and for years were looked upon as among the leaders in the good works of
their home town. Mrs. Buckingham preceded her husband to the grave about four years, her death having occurred on April 17, 1897, at the age of fifty-six years. She was born at Dexter, this state, her parents having been pioneers of that section. Her father died when she was a young girl and her mother, Abigail (Cranson) Dibble, married, secondly, a Mr. Litch- field and moved to Corunna and thence to Flint. To Major Buckingham and wife five children were born, of whom the subject of this sketch was the youngest, the others being as follow: Capt. Frank D. Buckingham, part- ner in the Buckingham store; Florence, who married Stanley E. Parkhill and lives at Venice, California; Anna, who died in her young womanhood, and Abigail, who lives at Los Angeles, California.
Following his graduation from the Flint high school, Lewis Bucking- ham went to Columbus, Ohio, where he was engaged with the American Machine Company for a year, at the end of which time he was transferred back to Flint in the same employ. He was thus engaged until about a year before his father's death, when he entered the latter's store, in preparation
71
GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
to taking general charge of the same, pending his father's ultimate retire- ment from business. At the time of his father's tragic death, his brother, Capt. Frank D. Buckingham, was in the army, but he resigned his com- mission and returned home and the two brothers since then have continued the business at the old stand, though still operating under the name of George W. Buckingham. Lewis Buckingham is regarded as one of Flint's most active merchants and takes an active part in the commercial life of the city. He was for some time president of the Flint Board of Commerce, his term of service expiring November 23, 1915, since which time he has been serving as vice-president of the board. He is a Republican, but does not take a particularly active part in politics.
On September 12, 1905, Lewis Buckingham was united in marriage to Emma Farnum, who was born at Owasso, in the neighboring county of Shiawasee, June 24, 1878, daughter of the Rev. W. L. and Harriet A. (Isham) Farnun, who came to Michigan from Delevan, Wisconsin. The Rev. W. L. Farnum was for many years pastor of the First Baptist church at Flint. He died at Tecumseh, this state, and his widow is still living. They were the parents of two children, Mrs. Buckingham having had a brother, who died in childhood. To Mr. and Mrs. Buckingham three chil- dren have been born, Lee Farnum, Lewis, Jr., and Harriet Jeannette. Mrs. Buckingham is a member of the Baptist church and both she and Mr. Buck- ingham take a warm interest in local good works.
Capt. Frank D. Buckingham, the other member of the Buckingham firmi, also is a native of Flint. He was born on June 30, 1868, and upon completing the course in the local high school, entered his father's store and was engaged there until the breaking out of the Spanish-American War in 1898, when he enlisted for service in the Thirty-fifth Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and, as captain of Company B of that regi- ment, went to the "front," which in the case of the Thirty-fifth Michigan happened to be Augusta, Georgia. Upon the conclusion of that term of enlistment, Captain Buckingham enlisted in the regular army and was sent to the Philippine Islands, where he served for two years as captain of Company D, Thirtieth Regiment, United States Infantry. Upon receipt of news of his father's tragic death, he resigned his commission, returned to Flint and, in association with his brother, Lewis, has ever since been engaged in the affairs of the old Buckingham store. Captain Buckingham is an energetic business man and is one of the directors of the Citizens Bank of Flint. He is a Republican, but is not active in political affairs.
On September 21, 1904, Capt. Frank D. Buckingham was united in
72
GENESEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN.
marriage to Nancy Hascall, who also was born at Flint, daughter of Henry and Isabella (Decker) Hascall, natives of Flint. The father was a well- known lumberman of that city, who died at the age of sixty and whose widow is still living. Mrs. Hascall is a daughter of Grant Decker, a well- remembered pioneer of Genesee county. To her and her husband five chil- dren were born, Harry G., Gertrude, Genevieve, Nancy and Carlton. To Captain and Mrs. Buckingham two children have been born, George Waite and Nancy Isabella. Mrs. Buckingham is a member of the Episcopal church and both she and her husband are warmly interested in local good works. Captain Buckingham is a member of Flint Lodge No. 25, Free and Accepted Masons; Flint Chapter No. 15, Royal Arch Masons; Flint Com- mandery No. 15, Knights Templar, and is a noble of Moslem Temple, An- cient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, at Detroit.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.