Joseph Brush Fenton

JOSEPH BRUSH FENTON 

            Joseph Brush Fenton, a veteran of the Civil War, was born in Fenton, Genesee County, Michigan, June 28, 1843. He was the son of Col. William M. and Adelaide S. (Birdsall) Fenton, who were born at Norwich, Chenango County, New York, and were the parents of four children. They were: Ada B., who was the wife of William B. McCreery, of Flint, for years prominent in the United States diplomatic service; John Brush, Henry and Sarah R.

            Col. William M. Fenton was the son of Joseph S. Fenton, a native of Norwich, New York, whose wife was a Brush. Joseph S. Fenton was a banker in the East and in the early days of the settlement of this section of Michigan came to Genesee County and settled at Fentonville, which had been Dibbleville, but was changed to Fentonville in honor of his son, who had preceded him to this part of the state. The name of the township in which it is situated was also changed to Fenton. Joseph S. Fenton took a leading part in the general affairs of the community and for some time served as a member of the state Senate from this district. He and his wife were the parents of six children, of whom Colonel Fenton was the eldest, the others being as follow: J. Brush, who died at the age of thirty years; Julia, who married Grant Decker; Lavinia, who married Benjamin Rockwell; Jennie, who married Samuel Lewis, a prominent citizen of Detroit, and Sarah F., who married Professor Sanborn of Dartmouth College.

 Colonel Fenton’s education was received in the East. At age fourteen he entered Hamilton College, with the class of 1826, and was graduated at the head of his class at eighteen years of age. He then followed the sea for four or five years, at the end of which time he returned home, married and came to this county where he spent the rest of his life. His wife was a daughter of Judge James Birdsall, a native of New York, a lawyer and one-time member of Congress from his home district in New York, who later became a pioneer of this county and for years served as justice of the peace in Flint. Judge Birdsall and his wife, the latter of whom was a Steer, were the parents of nine children, namely: Adelaide S., wife of Colonel Fenton; Mrs. H. A. Dillaye of Syracuse, new York; Mrs. Elizabeth Henry, who died in California; Mrs. Risbah Kellogg, of San Francisco; Mrs. Kate Johnson, of San Francisco; Henry, of New York state; Charles; Benjamin, who lived in Fenton, and Maurice, also of Fenton.

Colonel Fenton took up the study of law after coming to this county, although he had given some attention to that subject in college. Upon coming here he engaged in the mercantile and milling business in the village which afterward was given his name, but presently began the study of law, was admitted to the bar and moved to Flint, where he ever afterward made his home. In 1846 he was elected to the state Senate and in 1848 was elected lieutenant governor of Michigan, serving four years. When the Civil War broke out he was commissioned major of the Seventh Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and later was commissioned by the governor to raise the Eighth Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, of which me was made Colonel and at the head of which he went to the front, acting much of the time as brigadier general and division commander. After about two years of service, during which he participated in a number of important battles, Colonel Fenton resigned his commission, in 1863, and returned to Flint where he resumed his law practice. In 1864 he was the Democratic Party’s nominee for governor, but was defeated by Governor Crapo. He was elected mayor of Flint and in that official capacity did much to promote the growing interests of the town. When the fire department was reorganized he was appointed chief engineer to get the new system under way and during the department’s first run after his appointment met with an accident that resulted in his death two days later, November 12, 1871 at 63 years of age. His wife had died a few years earlier, at the age of fifty-six. They were members of the Episcopal Church and for years were among the leaders in local good works. Colonel Fenton was active in all movements having to do with the building of his hometown, and the Fenton building, which he erected in 1865. He was prominent in Masonic and Odd Fellow circles and served as grand commander of Knights Templar in Michigan.

            J. Brush Fenton was about four years old when his parents moved from Fenton to Flint, and in the latter city he grew to manhood. At the age of twelve he entered Professor Nutting’s Academy at Lodi Plains, near Ann Arbor, and from there went to Madison University at Hamilton, New York. Upon completing the academic course in the latter institution he entered Cazenovia Seminary, Cazenovia, New York, where he was pursuing his studies when the Civil War broke out. He hastened home and enlisted in his father’s regiment, the eighth Michigan, with which he served until honorably discharged in 1863 on account of disability due to wounds received in battle. During his service he acted as aide-de-camp under his father, Colonel Fenton, and Gen. O. M. Poe, and rose to the rank of first lieutenant. He participated in numerous important engagements, including the battle of Bull Run, and at the battle of Chantilly, Virginia, received the wound which compelled his retirement from the service. After being wounded he was conveyed to Washington, where he was cared for in the house of Mr. Treadway, which  afterwards was occupied by Mrs. Surratt, who was connected with the conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln. So serious was his injury that for nine weeks he lay without turning over. After his convalescence he returned to his home in Flint, and presently engaged in the grocery and crockery business, his store being situated at the northeast corner of Saginaw and Kearsley streets. In the fall of 1867 Mr. Fenton took a trip through New Mexico and the Rocky Mountains region and finally settled at Wichita, Kansas, becoming one of the earliest settlers of that place, and there he lived until 1875. In the summer of 1874 he returned to Flint and was married there, but straightway returned to Wichita. Upon his return to Flint the next year he made his permanent home there and has lived in that city ever since, his time being devoted to the general real estate business, in which he has been very successful. Mr. Fenton is the owner of a fine farm of two hundred acres in Mt. Morris Township, but has always made his home in town. He is a democrat and gives thoughtful attention to local political affairs, but has never been a seeker after public office.

            On June 30, 1874, J. Brush Fenton was united in marriage to Mary V. Thayer, who was born in Flint, daughter of Artemas and M. Louise (Miles) Thayer, natives of New York state, the latter of “Mayflower” descent, and early settlers in Flint, where their last days were spent. Artemas Thayer was a prominent attorney at Flint and was noted as a builder, it being said that he erected more houses during his residence in the town than any other man during that period. He and his wife were the parents of five children, Floy, Paris, Mary V., Edward M., and Herbert A.

            To J. Brush and Mary V. (Thayer) Fenton four children were born, as follow: Adelaide, who died at the age of nine years; Mary L., who married Donald M. McCall, of Muskegon, Michigan and has two children, Donald F., and William T.; Virginia B., who married William H. Davison, of Flint, and died in 1915, leaving two children, daughters, Mary Thayer, and Louise Richmond; and Louise T., who married Fritz R. Miller of Flint and has two children, William Fenton and Virginia Frances. Mr. And Mrs. Fenton also reared another girl child, Mary Louis, now the wife of James Martin, cashier of the Genesee County Bank at Flint. Mrs. Fenton died in November 1912, at the age of sixty-one years. She was a member of the Presbyterian Church, of which Mr. Fenton is an attendant. Mr. Fenton is a member of the Michigan Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and is a member of Governor Crapo Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, in the affairs of both patriotic organizations he takes a warm interest.
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 This article was transcribed by Mrs. Mary E. Byam from a work by Edwin O. Wood, LL.D., President Michigan Historical Commission, History of Genesee County Michigan Volume II, Her People, Industries and Institutions (Federal Publishing Company: Indianapolis, Indiana, 1916), Pages 192ff
 

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