Copyright USGenNet Inc., 2013, All Rights Reserved U.S. Data Repository Please read U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on this page: Transcribed and submitted by Linda Talbott for the US Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ ========================================================================= U.S. Data Repository NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization. Non-commercial organizations desiring to use this material must obtain the consent of the transcriber prior to use. Individuals desiring to use this material in their own research may do so. ========================================================================= Formatted by U.S. Data Repository Chief Archivist, Linda Talbott All of the above information must remain when copied or downloaded. =========================================================================== Biographical Record of Houghton, Baraga and Marquette Counties Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago; 1903 Page 13-16 CHARLES A. WRIGHT CHARLES A. WRIGHT, one of the leading and most progressive men of Houghton County, Michigan, residing at Hancock, is president of the Superior Savings Bank of Hancock, president of the Superior Trust Company, and has been identified with many of the leading business enterprises of the Northern Peninsula that have foremost in the development of its resources. The Superior Savings Bank of Hancock was organized in 1890, the first savings bank in Houghton County, and Mr. WRIGHT was one of its most active promoters. Its officers are: CHARLES A. WRIGHT, president; JACOB BAER, vice-president; and M. C. GETCHELL, cashier. These gentlemen, with JAMES R. COOPER and E. L. WRIGHT, complete the directorate. The banks has $50,000 in capital, and a surplus of $20,000, and it is in a very prosperous condition. It was mainly due to Mr. WRIGHT'S efforts that the Superior Trust Company was organized in 1902 under the laws of the State of Michigan. It has a capital stock of $150,000, a surplus of $30,000, and is one of the four trust companies in the State, being the only one in Houghton County. The officers are the same as those of the Superior Savings Bank, and its board of directors is made up of the following promi- nent business men: JACOB BAER, CHARLES BRIGGS, JAMES CHYNOWETH, JAMES B. COOPER, JOHN J. CASE, JOHN D. CUDDIHY, HARRY F. FAY, ALBERT R. GRAY, RUFUS R. GOODELL, C. H. HALL, LESSING KARGER, JAMES Mac- NAUGHTON, WILLIAM A. PAINE, WILLIAM E. PARNELL, GRAHAM POPE, GEORGE RUPPE, ALLEN F. REES, EDGAR H. TOWAR, A. J. SCOTT and CHARLES A. WRIGHT. This company acts as executor, adminstrator, receiver, assignee, guardian, trustee and fiscal agent, and takes entire charge of real and personal estates. Mr. WRIGHT, in 1896, organized the State Savings Bank at Laurium, Houghton County, which is being conducted on a firm financial basis. He is president of the Hancock Evening Journal Company, publishers of the Hancock Evening Journal, and has been identified with many of the successful industries and enterprises of the city, where he has resided for nearly thirty years, having located in Hancock in 1873. He was formerly for many years prominent in railroad circles, being general manager of the Mineral Range Railroad, and of the Han- cock and Calumet Railway. In early years he was teller of the First National Bank of Hancock. Mr. WRIGHT was an important factor in bringing about the organi- zation of the Copper Range Company and the construction of the Copper Range Railroad, as the following account will demonstrate. The South Range territory was known to possess great mineral value, which, taken together with the great timber resources of the section, was thought by Mr. WRIGHT to be sufficient to warrant the construction of a railroad from Houghton to Watersmeet, Gogebic County, Michigan, a distance of about eighty miles. In the futherance of this idea, in 1889, he invited a number of Houghton County gentlemen to attend a meeting at his office to consider the feasibility of such a pro- ject. Those in attendance were T. L. CHADBOURNE, JAMES B. STURGIS, JAMES R. COOPER, JOHNSON VIVIAN, RUFUS R. GOODELL, JOHN DUNCAN and our subject. They expressed themselves favorably, and the result was the organization of the Northern Michigan Railroad Company, - JAY A. HUBBELL, JOHN DANIELL and EDGAR H. TOWAR joined those named above in promoting the enterprise. Each of the ten gentlemen named subscribed an equal amount and the survey of the proposed road was completed in 1890. CHARLES A. WRIGHT was chosen president of the company and JAMES B. STURGIS, secretary and treasurer. Now came the question of the road's construction. Mr. WRIGHT made many trips and devoted much of his time toward interesting other roads and Eastern capital, and many times he was just at the point of success when some unforeseen circumstance would prevent. Any man of less energy and perseverance would have failed, but Mr. WRIGHT kept working in his tireless fashion until the means were devised whereby the road could be constructed. About 11,500 acres of land of great possible mineral value were secured as capital, and Mr. WRIGHT con- ceived the idea of organizing a mining and development company which should have as an important motive the construction of a line of railroad over a part or whole of the route surveyed by the Northern Michigan Railroad Company. The rights and charter of the latter company were purchased and in March, 1898, was organized the Copper Range Company, which owns and controls the lands above mentioned and has completed its railroad from Houghton to Range Junction, a distance of forty miles. This company was organized under the mining laws of the State, and has 100,000 shares of stock at $20 per share, paid in. WILLIAM A. PAINE of Boston, Massachusetts, who was one of the first to become interested in the project and advanced much capital to aid in its furtherance, became president of the com- pany, which owns all the stock of the Copper Range Railroad Company, by which name the new road is known. Mr. WRIGHT was general manager of this railroad during the period of its construction from Houghton to a junction with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway at Mass City. Mr. WRIGHT, as general manager of the Mineral Range Railroad, was also a power in promoting and building the original railroad bridge across Portage Lake, between Hancock and Houghton. In 1900 Mr. WRIGHT erected the WRIGHT Building at Hancock, in which is located the Super- ior Savings Bank, and the Superior Trust Company. It is probably the finest building of its kind in the county and faces on Quincy street. He recently sold one-half of this building to J. T. GARTNER, proprietor of the only department store on Lake Portage. Our subject owns many other business and residence properties in Houghton County, and is one of the most prosperous citizens. Mr. WRIGHT has been very active in politics, and for years was chairman of the Houghton County Republican Committee, resigning in 1902. He has served three terms as a member of the Republican State Central Committee. He was at one time a candidate for Congress from the Twelfth Congressional District of Michigan, being supported by Houghton County for the nomination in the Republican convention. Religiously he is a member of the Congregational Church. He is a man of great strength of character, and has a pleasing personality, making friends of everyone with whom he comes in contact. ===========================================================================