BIOGRAPHY: Jeremiah Bump; Peterboro, Madison co., NY

submitted by W. D. Samuelsen
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Biographical Review
The Leading Citizens of Madison County, New York
pub. 1894, Boston, Biographical Review Publishing Company

JEREMIAH BUMP, deceased, was for many years an honored and respected
citizen of Peterboro, closely identified with its industrial interests, an
earnest advocate of all measures conducive to its growth and prosperity; and
his death, at the advanced age of fourscore years, was deemed a loss to the
village and community at large as well as to his immediate family. He was a
native of Madison County, born in the town of Smithfield, August 6, 1811. His
father, Ithamar Bump, was one of the original settlers of the town, coming
here from Massachusetts in 1797, and settling in the almost trackless wilds of
this vicinity. In common with the other pioneers of those times he suffered
from the discomforts incidental to new locations,-the cramped cabins, absence
of schools and markets, depredations of wild beasts, and dreaded calls from
the untamed savages. Nothing daunted, he began the improvement of a farm,
clearing a goodly number of acres before his death, which occurred August
14,1815. His faithful wife, whose maiden name was Eunice Kinney, was left with
a family of five children, all of whom grew to maturity, but are now dead. She
spent the remainder of her life on the homestead, dying at the advanced age of
seventy-nine years.

Jeremiah Bump, the subject of this biography, was but four years of age when
his mother was left a widow. She was a woman of courage and ability, and
continued the improvement of the farm. with the assistance of her sons; and
our subject, though such a young lad, soon made himself useful in doing
errands and chores about the farm . He remained at home until he attained his
majority, then, preferring some mechanical labor, learned the carpenter's
trade, and followed it successfully, becoming one of the leading con-tractors
and builders of Peterboro, where many of the buildings were erected under his
supervision, among them being the Children's Home. He was a man of enterprise
and sagacity, possessing excellent judgment in financial matters, and invested
part of his money in a saw and grist mill, from which he derived pecuniary
benefits. He led a long and useful life, honorable in every respect, dying at
his home in the village of Peterboro, October 6, 1891.

Mr. Bump was twice married. The maiden name of his first wife, to whom he was
wedded in 1839, was Harriet Gray. She was born in Springfield, Otsego County,
and lived but two years after her marriage, dying in 1841. In 1855 our subject
was married the second time, taking for a wife Miss Sophia R. Fitch, a native
of this county, born in Cazenovia, April 22, 1825. She is of New England
ancestry, her grandfather, John Fitch, having been born in Berkshire County,
Massachusetts, April 3, 1760. Leaving the rugged hills of his native State, he
emigrated to Chenango County, being a pioneer of Oxford, where he lived until
his death, July 2, 1823. Derrick H. Fitch, father of Mrs. Bump, was born in
Oxford, Chenango County, in September, 1798, and died in Peterboro at the
venerable age of eighty-one years. He was a man of sterling worth, and a
valued member of the Methodist Episcopal church. In politics he was a
Republican. He married Jerusha Vibbert, who was born in Hartford, Conn.,
October 2, 1799, and died in Cazenovia, July 19, 1840. She was a kind mother,
a generous neighbor, and a true Christian, being a consistent member of the
Universalist church. Mrs. Bump resides in the home left her by her husband,
where she is most pleasantly situated, and is spending her declining years in
ease and comfort.