Charles Carter Comstock (Michigan Congressman)

Charles Carter Comstock (March 5, 1818 – February 20, 1900) was a businessman and politician from the US state of

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Family and early life

Comstock was born in

Sullivan, New Hampshire Sullivan is a New England town, town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 658 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It includes the villages of East Sullivan and Ellisville. ...

, the son of William and Ruth Crane Comstock. He was educated in the common schools and lived on the family farm in New Hampshire until he went into the lumber business at age 24. In 1853 he moved with his family to

Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, Kent County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 198,917 which ranks it as the List of municipalities in Mi ...

and continued in the lumber business, soon expanding into manufacturing wood products. With E. T. Ward & Co. he brought the first machinery to the city for the manufacture of

sash A sash is a large and usually colorful ribbon or band of material worn around the body, either draping from one shoulder to the opposing hip and back up, or else running around the waist. The sash around the waist may be worn in daily attire, bu ...

, doors and blinds. In 1857, he bought the Winchester furniture factory. The

Panic of 1857 The Panic of 1857 was a financial panic in the United States caused by the declining international economy and over-expansion of the domestic economy. Because of the invention of the telegraph by Samuel F. Morse in 1844, the Panic of 1857 was ...

nearly drove him out of business, but he persevered through the difficulties and within about four years he had satisfied all financial obligations and had put his enterprises on a sound basis. In 1863, he sold a half interest in the business to James M. and Ezra T. Nelson, forming the Comstock, Nelson & Company. In 1865, after Comstock sold his interest to his son, Tileston A. Comstock and others, it became the Nelson, Comstock & Company. In the fall of 1863, Comstock formed a partnership with E.E. Bolles for the manufacture of pails and tubs. In the following year, he purchased his partner's interest and continued the business until 1883. He built a large factory on Canal and Newberry streets and employed more than a 200 persons and using about 10,000,000 feet of timber annually. His three

saw mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ( dimens ...

s and lumber camps employed over 150 men. In 1872, Comstock organized the Grand Rapids Chair Company, and continued as its largest shareholder until his death. Charles-C-Comstock

In 1840, Comstock married Mary Winchester, who died in 1863. They had four children. Their only son, Tileston, died in 1870. The eldest daughter, Alzina, with her husband Albert A. Stone and their young son, were lost in the wreck of the steamer ''

Brother Jonathan Brother Jonathan is the personification of New England. He was also used as an emblem of the U.S. in general, and can be an allegory of capitalism. His too-short pants, too-tight waistcoat and old-fashioned style reflect his taste for inexpensi ...

'' off the coast of California in July 1865. The other daughters are Julia C. Goldsmith and Mary Konkle. In 1865, Comstock married Cornelia Guild Davis, the daughter of Daniel Guild, one of the pioneers of the Grand River Valley. They had two daughters, Etta (Mrs. Lucius Boltwood) and Clara (Mrs. Huntley Russell) (1866–1935). Clara Comstock Russell (http://www.historygrandrapids.org/photoessay/4480/clara-comstock-russell-woman-a) was chairman of the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Women's State Executive Committee, and Vice-president of the Michigan Equal

Suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in representative democracy, public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally i ...

Association. She married Huntley Russell (1858–1928), a Republican

State Senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

, State Land Commissioner and real estate developer.Abstract for Russell Family Papers
Grand Rapids Public Library

Political career

He was the

Mayor of Grand Rapids This is a list of mayors of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The current mayor is Rosalynn Bliss, who was sworn into office on January 1, 2016. References {{Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids, Michigan Grand Rapids is a city and county seat ...

in 1863 and 1864. He was the Democratic candidate for

Governor of Michigan The governor of Michigan is the head of state, head of government, and chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the stat ...

in 1870, losing to

Henry P. Baldwin Henry Porter Baldwin (February 22, 1814 – December 31, 1892), a descendant of pilgrim father Nathaniel Baldwin, was the 15th governor of Michigan and U.S. Senator from the state of Michigan. Early life in Rhode Island Baldwin was born to Jo ...

. He also ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat for a seat in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

in a special election in 1873. He was also a candidate for

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

with the

Greenback Party The Greenback Party (known successively as the Independent Party, the National Independent Party and the Greenback Labor Party) was an American political party with an anti-monopoly ideology which was active between 1874 and 1889. The party ran ...

in 1878. In 1884, he was elected on a

fusion ticket Electoral fusion is an arrangement where two or more political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, pooling the votes for that candidate. It is distinct from the process of electoral alliances in that the political parties remain separa ...

of Democrat and Greenback parties from

Michigan's 5th congressional district Michigan's 5th congressional district is a United States congressional district in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. The district is represented by Republican Tim Walberg. Predecessors From 1873 to 1993, the 5th was based in the Grand Rapids a ...

to the

49th United States Congress The 49th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1885, ...

, serving from March 4, 1885 to March 3, 1887. He was not a candidate for re-election in 1886. He died in Grand Rapids and is buried there in the Fulton Street Cemetery.

References

;General sources
The Political Graveyard
Pioneer Society of the State of Michigan, Annual Meeting of 1900, Memorials Report-Michigan Pioneer Collection, Volume XXIX 1899–1900, pp. 450–456 * * ;Notes

External links

Charles C. Comstock letters received, MSS SC 847
at L. Tom Perry Special Collections,

Harold B. Lee Library The Harold B. Lee Library (HBLL) is the main academic library of Brigham Young University (BYU) located in Provo, Utah. The library started as a small collection of books in the president's office in 1876 before moving in 1891. The Heber J. Gran ...

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Comstock, Charles Carter 1818 births 1900 deaths People from Sullivan, New Hampshire Burials in Michigan Businesspeople from Michigan Businesspeople in wood products Mayors of Grand Rapids, Michigan Michigan Greenbacks Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American businesspeople