Ransom Bird Shelden Sr. (July 7, 1814 – May 17, 1878) was the founder of
Houghton, a city in the county of
Houghton County, Michigan.
Early life
Shelden was born in
Essex County, New York on July 7, 1814.
Shelden's father George Shelden was a farmer in Essex County for many years.
In 1832, Ransom Shelden moved to Chicago, building the first hotel in what was then known as "Fort Dearborn."
However, he soon moved again to a farm near
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Lake Geneva is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located in Walworth County and situated on Geneva Lake, it is home to an estimated 8,105 people as of 2019, up from 7,651 at the 2010 census. It is located about 40 miles southwest of Milwa ...
.
Shelden married Theresa M. Douglas, also of Essex County, in 1839.
She was a cousin of
Douglass Houghton.
The couple had four sons: Carlos D. Shelden, George C. Shelden, Christine M. Shelden, and Ransom B. Shelden Jr.
Houghton
In 1847, Shelden moved to Portage Entry in the
Keweenaw Peninsula
The Keweenaw Peninsula ( , sometimes locally ) is the northernmost part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It projects into Lake Superior and was the site of the first copper boom in the United States, leading to its moniker of "Copper Country." As o ...
with his brother-in-law and began trading and fishing.
Four years later they moved to the
Quincy Mine and opened a mine store. Around the same time, Sheldon bought land on the south side of
Portage Lake, and in 1852 moved his store there.
Shelden and his brother-in-law had also been purchasing swaths of land throughout the
Upper Peninsula, and by 1852 owned around 55,000 acres. Shelden invested in copper mines, lumber yards, and real estate, as well as
iron mines in
Iron Mountain and
Crystal Falls and platted the village of Houghton.
In about 1862, Shelden built Pewabic House, the oldest still-extant building in
Hancock, Michigan
Hancock is a city in Houghton County, Michigan, Houghton County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is across the Keweenaw Waterway from the city of Houghton, Michigan, Houghton on the Keweenaw Peninsula. The population was 4,634 at the 2010 United ...
.
In 1871 Shelden was elected as president of the town, a position he held for seven years until his death on May 17, 1878.
The main street of Houghton, variously called "Sheldon Street," (inaccurately) "Shelden Avenue" and "Sheldon Avenue," was named in Shelden's honour, as was the "
Sheldon Center".
References
1814 births
1878 deaths
People from Hancock, Michigan
People from Essex County, New York
19th-century American businesspeople
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