Descendants of Captain Arthur Fenner

Milton Marion Fenner

[b 28 July 1837 at South Stockton, Chautauqua, NY; d 14 Mar. 1905 at Fredonia, Chautauqua, NY] Milton’s father Christopher died when Milton was only 13, one of nine living children. At first, Milton took to working the family farm, and sometimes also gaining employment at neighboring farms. He enrolled in Allegheny College (Meadville, PA), paying his own way, and went into teaching schools in New York and Michigan. His real interest being in medicine, he enrolled in the Eclectic Medical College in Cincinnati and obtained his M.D. on 22 May 1860.

Milton initially practiced medicine in Flint, MI, but the onset of the Civil War led him to enlist on 12 July 1861 in Company A, 8th Regiment of Michigan, for which he acted as a hospital steward. He later was transferred to Company I of the same regiment and became second lieutenant, then commander of the regiment. In May 1862, he was appointed to the signal corps under General Hunter at Hilton Head, SC, and made first lieutenant in October. He was in command of an outpost station at Spanish Wells, Hilton Head, SC, during an attack by Confederates on 12 March 1863. He was present at the fall of Fort Wagner, Charleston, SC, in July 1863.

After the attack on Fort Wagner, Milton was invited to take up the position of assistant surgeon in the U.S. Navy, under Admiral John A. Dahlgren, who was an innovator in Navy weaponry. Milton was on board a flag ship during the attack on Fort Sumter, 8–9 September 1863. In 1864, while on leave, he opted to resign his post to go back to practicing medicine in Jamestown, Chautauqua, NY. He started a periodical called The Medical Progress, and in 1866 was named city physician of Jamestown. Here Milton met and married Louisa Georgiana Grandin [b 1843; d 5 Sept. 1881], daughter of wool manufacturer Daniel H. Grandin, on 15 June 1866.

In March 1869, he sold all of his assets in Jamestown and moved to Fredonia, NY, where he restarted publication of The Medical Progress and opened the People’s Dispensary of Medicine and Surgery. From there, he became known widely as an expert doctor, writer, and lecturer. Milton served as the United States Examining Surgeon, 1870–1872, and president of the Eclectic Medical Society of New York, 1871–1872. He also invested in the railroad industry, buying a controlling interest and taking leadership of the Dunkirk and Fredonia Railroad in 1880. Milton was active in the Republican party. For two years, 1878–1879, he was elected supervisor of the town of Pomfret, NY, then 1880–1881 was elected to the State Assembly.

After Louisa’s death in 1881, Milton m 2nd Florence E. Bondeson [b 19 Aug. 1860 at Warren, PA; d 29 Dec. 1922], daughter of John Peter Bondeson and Charlotte Glen, on 28 Mar. 1883. He served as deputy collector for the port of New York, 1890–1891, which required him to spend much of his time in New York City while his family remained in Fredonia. For the last several years of his life, he was Vice President of Fredonia National Bank. He bought a publishing operation, through which he published Dr. Fenner’s People’s Remedies for the Family Cook Book. Among the proprietary products he sold through his medical practice were Dr. Fenner’s Capitol Bitters, Dr. Fenner’s Golden Relief, and Dr. Fenner’s Kidney and Backache Cure. The latter was advertised in newspapers across the country, sometimes with testimonies. One advertisement in the Junction City Republic (Junction City, KS), 17 March 1905, included this endorsement from I.N. Poole of Muncie, IN:

I have taken several bottles of your Kidney and Backache Cure, have used many other kinds of so-called kidney cures, but none are to be compared with Dr. M.M. Fenner’s, as all others have failed and Dr. Fenner’s has completed a cure. I had been troubled with kidney disease for many months; some doctors thought I had Bright’s Disease as I had all the symptoms, but I took your advice and now I am a well man. You may send all who doubts to me and I will convince them that Dr. Fenner’s Kidney and Backache Cure is a genuine healing and creative remedy.

In another advertisement in The Daily Times (New Philadelphia, OH), 1 April 1905, W.T. Oakes of Orrix, VA, wrote:

I was afflicted with kidney disease and gravel and growling constantly worse. Finally one of the gravels lodged in my bladder and I was about to have a surgical operation to remove it. I was induced to try Dr. Fenner’s Kidney and Backache Cure, and after using a few bottles I passed a stone half as large as a marble. The medicine prevented further formations and effected a cure.

Upon Milton’s death in 1905, the following was printed in the Buffalo Evening News (Buffalo, NY), 15 March 1905:

Hon. Milton M. Fenner

Fredonia’s Most Prominent Business Man Died Yesterday. Funeral Will Be Friday Afternoon.

Dr. Milton M. Fenner died at his home yesterday after an illness of six months. He was 68 years old. Dr. Fenner was chief stockholder and managing officer of the M.M. Fenner Co., manufacturer of proprietary medicines, the Dunkirk & Fredonia Street Railway Co., the Fredonia Gas Co., and the Fredonia Lighting and Heating Co., and was Fredonia’s most prominent business man. He was a strong and ardent Republican in politics.

Dr. Fenner was born at South Stockton, Chautauqua county, and had filled many offices of political trust, including supervisor, assemblyman, and deputy collector of the port of New York. He served in the Civil War, first as a hospital steward and war correspondent, afterward as lieutenant and captain in the Eighth New York. Resigning from infantry service he received a commission as assistant surgeon in the navy and served through the war.

Dr. Fenner is survived by his second wife, Mrs. Florence Bondeson Fenner, his son, Milton M. Fenner Jr., and his brother, F.P. Fenner of Fredonia. The funeral will be Friday at 2:30 o’clock.

Milton’s home at 178 Central Ave., Fredonia, was gutted by a fire in 1979, restored, and for many years served as the Admissions office for State University of New York (SUNY) in Fredonia, until the house was abandoned in 2018 owing to structural deterioration. It was slated to be razed and turned into a park in 2019.

Child of Milton and Florence:

1. Milton Marion Jr. [b 19 Aug. 1887 at Tully, Onondaga, NY; d 20 Dec. 1980 at Sewickley, Allegheney, PA] m Margueretta Winn.

Lineage:
Arthur | Arthur | Edward | John | John | Resolved | Christopher | Milton

Sources:
1. Email from Richard Arthur Fenner, 12 May 2020.
2. Milton’s memorial at FindaGrave, no. 15743985
3. Buffalo Evening News (Buffalo, NY: 15 March 1905): PDF
4. Junction City Republic (Junction City, KS: 17 March 1905): PDF
5. The Daily Times (New Philadelphia, OH: 1 April 1905): PDF
6. “Milton Marion Fenner,” Signal Corps Association: http://www.civilwarsignals.org/brown/signalmen/248/miltonmfenner.pdf
7. “Hon. Milton M. Fenner,” Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Chautauqua County, New York (Philadelphia: John M. Gresham & Co., 1891), pp. 390–395: Archive.org
8. Historical Atlas of the County of Chautauqua, New York (NY: F.W. Beers, 1881).
9. Douglas H. Shepard, “Milton Marion Fenner and his times” (Fredonia: Darwin R. Barker Historical Museum, 2009): http://app.chautauquacounty.com/hist_struct/Pomfret/Shepard-Fenner_MiltonMarion.html
10. Daniel D. Reiff, Architecture in Fredonia 1811–1997 (White Pine Press, 1997), pp. 54–55.