Genesee-Wayne-Sanilac County MI Archives Biographies.....Medbury, Lewis O. 1837 -
************************************************
Copyright. All rights reserved.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/copyright.htm
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/mi/mifiles.htm
************************************************
File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb(a)yahoo.com January 1, 2007, 3:30 am
Author: Chapman Bros. (1892)
LEWIS O. MEDBURY. Prominent among the wealthy and public-spirited citizens of
Genesee County is Mr. Medbury, who resides in Atlas Township. A native of
Chenango County, N. Y., he was born July 9, 1837, and is a son of Samuel and
Lucetta R. (Moss) Medbury, both of whom were born in New Berlin, Chenango
County, N. Y., of English and Scotch ancestry.
In 1857 Samuel Medbury was Cashier and a large stockholder in the Peninsular
Bank, of Detroit; in the latter part of his life he speculated extensively in
pine lands and other real estate. At one time he was engaged in the wholesale
tobacco business as a member of the firm of K. C. Barker & Co. He died in 1874,
leaving one daughter, Esther, wife of George Easton, of Detroit, and one son.
Lewis Medbury was reared in New Berlin, Chenango County, N. Y., and after
studying in the public schools attended the High School. In 1855 he came West,
where he was engaged for some three years as bookkeeper in the Peninsular Bank.
Subsequently a new bank was organized by his father and Lorenzo Clark, son of
ex-Governor Clark, of New York. This corporation was known as the State Bank of
Michigan, and Samuel Medbury was its President for a number of years.
After leaving the Peninsular Bank our subject went to Sanilac County, in the
Lake Huron region, and engaged in lumbering, operating a large steam sawmill and
entering upon the mercantile business in connection with it. He also owned an
interest in three vessels in partnership with Moss Bros., and shipped lumber to
different ports, bringing provisions as a return cargo. About the year 1861 he
returned to Detroit and became a member of the firm of K. C. Barker & Co.,
wholesale tobacconists, and he also handled real estate to some extent. In 1873
he located with his family in Genesee County, and ever since that time they have
made their home in Atlas Township, where he owns a pleasant farm of over four
hundred acres, with an attractive and commodious home, well furnished and fitted
up with every comfort, constituting altogether one of the most delightful and
comfortable rural homes in Michigan. A view of his residence and the pleasant
surroundings is shown elsewhere in this volume.
This gentleman is a stockholder in the Detroit, Windsor & Belle Isle Ferry
Company. He is also a stockholder in the Michigan Iron and Wire Works, of
Detroit, and has extensive real estate interests there, and also in Windsor,
Canada. He is likewise proprietor of the Medbury Gas Works, at Pontiac, this
State. His marriage, in 1866, united him with Mary E. Clark, a native of
Chenango County, N. Y., and to them have been born six children, namely: Lucy
R., Truman, Samuel, Julia L., Rhoda M. and Lewis N. The eldest daughter is the
wife of G. M. Bosworth, general freight and tariff manager of the Canadian
Pacific Railroad, with headquarters, at Toronto, Canada, and the eldest son is a
clerk in the Detroit offices for the same road. Samuel is a student at the
University at Ann Arbor, and the three younger children receive private
instruction under the father's roof.
The political views of Mr. Medbury bring him into alliance with the Democratic
party, and socially he is identified with the Masonic fraternity at Detroit. He
and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and highly esteemed
among the leading people of Detroit and Genesee County. A courteous and
hospitable gentleman, his beautiful home is ever open to the friends of the
family.
Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
Portrait and Biographical Record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola Counties,
Michigan, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative
Citizens, Together with Biographies of all the Governors of the State, and of
the Presidents of the United States
Chicago:
Chapman Bros.
1892
File at:
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/mi/genesee/bios/medbury69nbs.txt
This file has been created by a form at
http://www.genrecords.net/mifiles/
File size: 4.4 Kb