History of Michigan, / by Charles Moore. [Vol. 3]

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

1487,

George Wickham and wife were the parents of six sons, mentioned
briefly as follows: Orson F., who is a partner in the Sands and Maxwell
Lumber Company at Pentwater; George, who is a nurseryman near
Geneva, New York; Lee Kenyon, who lives at Mottville, New York;
Louis, who is a paper maker at Mottville; Burt; and Harry, who is also
a paper maker at Mottville. The father of these children is a Universalist in religion, while his wife is a Methodist. He is a Republican, and
had two brothers, DeWitt Clinton and Fernando, who served as union
soldiers in the Civil war.
Burt Wickham grew up in the vicinity of Mottville, New York, where
he attended school, but his early advantages in that direction were limited.
In I888, when sixteen years old, he came west, and spent a year at Pentwater, where he attended high school for a time. Returning to New York,
he remained there a year, and in I890, once more located in Pentwater,
where he was for ten years engaged as shipping clerk with the Pentwater
Bedstead Company. After the factory burned, he became a candidate
for county clerk of courts, and his first election to this important office
came in 900o, since which time he has been regularly returned to his
official duty at the end of each term.
In I896 Mr. Wickham married Laura Adelaide Dumont, a daughter
of William S. Dumont, one of the early settlers of Pentwater, where he
settled in 1865, and where he conducted a hotel for many years. He is
now living retired, and is a veteran of the Civil war, having gone out with
Company I of the Fifth Iowa Regiment. Mr. and Mrs. Wickham have
three children: Dorothy A., in school; Solomon Stuart, also in school; and
Burt, Jr. The family attend the Congregational church, and Mr. Wickham is president of the Men's Club of that church. Fraternally he is
affiliated with Wigton Lodge No. 251, A. F. & A. M. at Hart; with Chapter
No. 148, R. A. M., of which he has been king; with the Knights of Pythias,
of which he is past chancellor commander, and the Modern Woodmen of
America. A Republican in politics, besides his present office he has served
as village clerk of Pentwater for six years. He was for a long time chairman of the Republican County Committee.
WILLIAM GRANT BIRD, M. D. In the special line of his calling there
are few men in Michigan who have attained greater distinction than
that which has come to Dr. William Grant Bird, a leading oculist and
aurist of Flint. Belonging to one of the pioneer families of the state,
he was born at Eagle Harbor, Michigan, June 6, i868, and is a son of
Peter C. and Mary J. (Morris) Bird. The father was born at Romulus,
Michigan, a son of Richard Bird, who was one of the first settlers of
Wavne county, whence he came overland from New York. The grandfather cleared a farm from the virgin forests, carried on successful agricultural pursuits for many years, and contributed materially to the
upbuilding and development of the community in which he resided. He
was a man of sterling character, a prominent and active member of the
Methodist church, and a helpful force in the cause of education, morality
and good citizenship, and when he died, at the age of eighty-two years,
was widely mourned by a wide circle of friends.
Peter C. Bird was born at Romulus, Michigan, and was reared to
agricultural pursuits, his education being secured in the district schools.
He was thus engaged until his enlistment, in I86I, in the Twenty-fourth
Regiment, Michigan Volunteer Infantry, as a private, and participated in
numerous engagements until wounded severely at the first day's fighting
at Gettysburg. He received his honorable discharge on account of disability, his record showing that he had always been a brave and faithful
soldier, and he at once returned to the ranks of peace where he fulfilled