Biographical Sketch of Charles Sumner PASSMORE (1858- ); Chester County, PA Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by John Morris . Copyright. All Rights Reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/pafiles.htm ********************************************************* From "Progressive Men of The State of Montana, A. W. Bowen & Co., Engravers and Publishers, Chicago, IL, 1902, pp. 790-1 "CHARLES SUMNER PASSMORE - In his origin, his family history, the extent and variety of his work at different places and the substantial business results he has achieved, Charles Sumner Passmore, of Butte, presents to the biographer a theme replete with interest. He was born in Cecil county, Md., on July 11, 1858, a son of Ellis Pusey and Mary E. (Lincoln) Passmore, natives of Chester county, Pa., of good old Quaker stock, whose children have a birthright in the old William Penn church, which Mr. Passmore jealously retains. His father was a prosperous dairy farmer in Maryland for many years, but after the death of his wife at Rising Sun in that state in 1889, he retired from business and is now living at Westchester (sic), Pa. The Passmores came originally from Nor- mandy in the triumphal expedition of William the Conqueror, and settled in Berkshire, England, whence they emigrated to America in 1717 and have been here, as they were in France and England, people of consequence. The maternal grandmother of Mr. Passmore is an aunt of Hon. Wayne MacVeagh, United State attorney-general under President Garfield, and one of his brothers is vice- president of the Union League Club of Philadelphia, an organization of power and influence in local politics. He is also manager for I. M. Parr & Sons, the heaviest grain shippers in the city, having ascended to this position from a service bringing the meager salary of two dollars per week. Mr. Passmore was reared on his father's farm and received his education from private instructors, the public schools and the Friends' Academy at Rising Sun. After finishing the course at that institution, he taught public schools to earn money to pay for a course at the Millersville (Pa.) Normal School. In 1880 he secured a position in Philadelphia in a wholesale cracker house, leav- ing this soon after for a better one at the Marine Exchange. He next went to New Jersey and took charge of extensive improvements at what is now Lake Como, a fine coast town and summer resort, then only a rugged and undeveloped possi- bility. He laid out graded streets, arranged for sewerage, etc., superintend- ing about thirty-five men. After a year's labor at Lake Como he removed to Fargo, N. D., in 1883, and was here joined by Walter Brown, a former school- mate, and at Page, about fifty-four miles distant from Fargo, on a branch of the Great Northern Railroad they bought lots, erected buildings, engaged in merchandising, and operated with great success for four years. During this time Mr. Passmore met the lady who is now his wife, and after their marriage he sold his interests to his partner. He arrived at Page with less than $100 and left with more than $4,500. Returning east he bought an interest in a hardware and roofing business at Salem, Ohio, where his brother John was living. He remained there two years and a half, sold out and came to Montana, locating in Butte in September, 1889. Here he purchased the interest of S. V. Kemper in the real estate firm of Kemper & Jeffries, the firm becoming Passmore & Jeffries and seven months later he bought out Mr. Jeffries. From this time excepting short periods of partnership, he has conducted the business alone as Passmore & Co. In this business he has been very successful, but before engaging in it he had reverses. He arrived in Butte with only $10 in money and borrowed $100 to make his first payment on the business. But the opportunities were excellent. He reached Butte just after a disastrous fire had destroyed a large part of the city, and by close attention to his work, giving it fully seventeen hours a day for several years, he reaped a golden harvest and firmly established himself on solid ground. He believed in the future of Butte and invested every available dollar he had in real estate, and his present fiscal condition is unanswerable proof of his wisdom. In addition to dealing in real estate and making loans, Mr. Passmore does an extensive architectural business, employing accomplished architects as his assistants. One of these, George E. Snell, of considerable local eminence, has been with him seven years. Mr. Passmore also reaps handsome returns from a good fidelity insurance business. He represents the American Bonding and Trust Company, and the Maryland Casualty Company, both of Baltimore, Md., and two of the largest and strongest companies in the country, which carry every feature of the liability and surety business. He also represents the Patent Title and Guaranty Company, of New York, the only organization in the United States which guarantees on patents. He also inaugurated in Butte the plan of building on installments, and he has been a leading factor in developing this method of making homes, which has been an extensive and important part of his business for the last seven years. A conspicuous item of Mr. Passmore's real estate holdings in Butte is in the Maryland Block, at 23 West Quartz street, a three story and basement modern building which he erected in 1898. He has also many residence properties which he built for renting purposes, in dif- ferent portions of the city, and owns a fine ranch of 400 acres up the canyon south of the city, to which he has recently acquired patents. He has always been a Republican, but takes no active share in party work, and has no aspira- tions for official station, being strictly a business man and seeking no pre- ferment outside his work. He has been an ardent temperance worker for years and is now grand chief templar of the state. He was a delegate to the inter- national convention fo the organization which met at Toronto, Canada, in 1899, and to the semicentennial reunion at Utica, N. Y., in August, 1901. He is also a member of the Royal Arcanum, and is the present deputy supreme regent fo the state. Mr. Passmore married at Andover, Mass., on December 8, 1887, Miss Susie M. Came, whom he met in North Dakota. She was born near Portland, Maine, a daughter of Joseph and Nancy F. (Blair) Came, natives of Scotland, who emi- grated to America while they were young and married in this country. Mr. Came died in Maine when Mrs. Passmore was of tender age, and Mrs. Came makes her home with her daughter in Butte. Mr. and Mrs. Passmore have four children, Blair S., Paul B., Linnie E. and Abigail. They are all active members of the Presbyterian church." NOTES: He was the son of Ellis Pusey and Mary Eliza (Lincoln) Passmore. Grandparents were John Wardle and Deborah (Brown) Passmore and John and Francina K. (Reynolds) Lincoln. Great-grandparents included Ellis Pusey and Ruth (Moore) Passmore and Samuel and Elizabeth (Brown) Brown. Great-great grandparents included John and Phebe (Pusey) Passmore and Andrew and Ruth (Birdsall) Pusey. Great-great-great grandparents included George and Margaret (Strode) Passmore and Joshua and Mary (Lewis) Pusey This file is located at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/chester/bios/p/passmore-cs.txt