Bio: Bump, Franklin Elisha (1873 – 19??)

Contact: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Bump, Gurley, Browne, Hetzel, Canon, Van Hecke, Kreutzer, Rosenberry, Marchetti, Schmidtman, Warner, Brown, Pradt, Manson, Smith, Crown, Millard

---Source: History of Marathon County Wisconsin and Representative Citizens, by Louis Marchetti, 1913.

Bump, Franklin Elisha (9 November 1873 – 19??)

FRANKLIN ELISHA BUMP, member of the law firm of Bump & Manson, at Wausau, a practitioner in the United States Supreme Court, and from 1898 to 1913 a United States Commissioner for the Western District of Wisconsin, was born at Wausau, November 9, 1873, a son of Elisha L. and Lillie A. (Gurley) Bump.  

Elisha L. Bump was born on a farm in Otsego County, N. Y. In 1864 he removed with his parents to Wisconsin and settled on a farm near Almond, Portage County. He was educated in the public schools and at Alleghany Institute, Alleghany County, N. Y., studied law in the office of E. L. Browne at Waupaca, Wis., and was admitted to the bar in December, 1870, in the fall of the following year beginning the practice of law at Wausau. In 1872 he was elected district attorney of Marathon County as an independent candidate and served during 1873 and 1874. During 1880 and 1883 he divided his time between his practice at Wausau and that of the firm of Bump, Hetzel & Canon, at Merrill, of which he was senior member, and in 1883 removed to Merrill, the firm subsequently becoming Bump & Hetzel. Endorsed by both political parties he was elected mayor of Merrill and sensed as such during 1885 and 1886. From 1890 to 1891 was senior member of the law firm of Bump & Van Hecke. In the spring of 1892 he returned to Wausau, entering into a law partnership with Senator A. L. Kreutzer and in January, 1895, the firm of Bump & Kreutzer became Bump, Kreutzer & Rosenberry, and in the same year Mr. Bump was chosen city attorney of Wausau and served two terms. In January, 1901, he retired from the above firm to form the firm of Bump, Marchetti & Bump, composed of himself, Judge Louis Marchetti and Franklin E. Bump, his son. For more than thirty years he was in active practice in all the courts, state and federal. His death occurred July 15, 1904.

In 1872 Elisha L. Bump was married at Waupaca, Wis., to Miss Lillie A. Gurley, who survives. They had three children: Franklin E., Mary E., who is the wife of J. C. Schmidtman of Manitowoc, and Florence, who is the wife of Seth N. Warner, of Minneapolis.

Franklin E. Bump passed from the high school into the University of Wisconsin, graduated in law at the University of Michigan, and took his A. B. degree at Leland Stanford University, the last named honor having been attained in 1897. He was admitted to the Wisconsin Bar, June 24, 1896, and entered into practice in the following year with Neal Brown and L. A. Pradt, the firm being Brown, Pradt & Bump. In 1900 he entered into partnership with Judge Marchetti under the style of Marchetti & Bump, and in 1901 the firm became Bump, Marchetti & Bump, of which his father was the senior member. After Judge Marchetti was elected to the bench the firm became E. L. & F. E. Bump, which name prevailed until April, 1909, when Mr. Bump became associated with H. H. Manson and the firm caption has been Bump & Manson since that time. Mr. Bump's professional ability has been frequently acknowledged. From 1900 to 1901 he served as city attorney of Wausau; from 1906 to 1907 he was district attorney of Marathon county; from May, 1910, until May, 1912, was again city attorney, and at the judicial election of 1913 was elected county judge for the six-year term, beginning in January, 1914, and has served in other public offices.  

In 1897 Mr. Bump was united in marriage with Miss Laura Smith, a daughter of Doctor Theophilus and Harriet (Crown) Smith. The mother of Mrs. Bump at the time of her marriage with Doctor Smith was the widow of Burton Millard, who was killed while serving as a soldier in the Civil War. Mr. and Mrs. Bump have four children: Franklin E. Jr., born in 1898, Warner, born in 1901; Millard, born in 1903; and Laura Virginia, born in 1906. Mr. Bump and family belong to St. John's Episcopal Church at Wausau. He retains his membership in his college fraternities and is active and interested in both the Wausau City and the Wausau Country Clubs. He is identified fraternally with Forest Lodge, No. 130, F. & A. M.; Wausau Chapter, No. 51, Royal Arch Masons; Wausau Council. No. 23, Royal and Select Masters, and St. Omer Commandery, No. 19, Knights Templar; also to Marathon Lodge, No. 145, Knights of Pythias.