Commemorative Biographical Record of the Upper Wisconsin Counties 
of Waupaca, Portage, Wood, Marathon, Lincoln, Oneida, Vilas, Langlade, and Shawano

J. H. Beers & Co. [Chicago] 1895 - pp 35 - 36
Transcribed by Anne Taylor-Czaplewski

EDWARD PAYSON BRIDGMAN was one of the first settlers of Antigo, Langlade county, and comes of well-known New England ancestors, who have been mostly farmers, and also active in religious matters, being identified with the Congregational Church.

The parents of our subject were Ansel and Salome (Graves) Bridgman, the former of whom was born in Northampton, Mass., in 1802, and was a Congregational minister. 

The father of Ansel was Joseph Bridgman, who married Mary Judd, and they had eight children. The Bridgman’s date their ancestry back to James Bridgman, who came to this country in 1640 from Winchester, England, and our subject is of the eighth generation, and is the only son of his parents.  Ansel Bridgman was first married in Massachusetts to Salome Graves, who died in 1836. He then, in 1837, married Sarepta Pool, and died in 1838. No children were born of this union. Mrs. Bridgman afterward married a Mr. Ellsworth, and they had one son, Ansel, who lives in Ludington, Michigan.

Edward. P. Bridgman, the subject of this sketch, was born in Huntsburg, Ohio, March 7, 1834, and when five years of age was adopted by his uncle, John Bridgman, who lived in Northampton, Mass, and was a farmer. Here Edward lived until he was of age, in the meantime pursuing his studies at the State Normal School in Westfield, Mass. In 1856 he went to Kansas, enlisted under the famous John Brown, and was in the fight at Ossawatomie. Owing to political conditions and pro-slavery sentiment of Missouri, it was unsafe to remain, so he returned to his former home, and again took up his studies in the Normal School, from which institution he was graduated in 1860. In August 1862, he enlisted as a private in the Thirty-seventh Mass. V. I., and served three years in the Army of the Potomac, being in seventeen battles and engagements, but escaping without a wound. His first battle was that of Fredericksburg, his last being the memorable one at which Lee surrendered in 1865.

After his discharge from the army in 1865, Mr. Bridgman returned to Northampton, Mass., and engaged in the boot and shoe business, which he carried on some eight years. In 1874 he came to Wisconsin, and was connected with a trading post store on the Menominee reservation, remaining there four years. In 1879 Mr. Bridgman took up a homestead in Polar township, Langlade county, being piloted to his new home by Indians, Mrs. Bridgman riding a pony for thirty miles. Here they lived three years, cleared seven acres of land, enduring some hardships, but being fairly prospered in their work. In the fall of 1882 they returned east on a visit, and remained until June of the following year, when they came back to the farm. In October of that year, they settled in Antigo and Mr. Bridgman started a store, but did not continue it very long.   Since that time, he has dealt in real estate, and in 1888 became interested in a broom-handle factory.  In 1893 a stock company was formed for this industry, in which Mr. Bridgman took stock, and was made one of the directors and also secretary of the company. 

Our subject was married January 1, 1877, on the Indian reservation to Miss Sophia B. Dresser, who was born at Goshen, Hampshire Co., Mass., March 30, 1846, a daughter of Caleb C. and Julia M. (White) Dresser.    In this family were eight children, as follows: Sophia B., Albert B., Helen M., Edward W., Charles, Martha H., Laura M., and Hattie F., also two that died in infancy. The father, who was a carpenter and millwright, was born in Peru, Mass., December 19, 1813, and died at Goshen, same State, March 25, 1880.    His father, Moses Dresser, was also a native of Massachusetts. The Dresser family date back for many years, and are characterized by their anti-slavery sentiments and strong character. Caleb Cushman, Grandmother Dresser's father, was a descendant of Robert Cushman—one of the Pilgrim Fathers, who was born about the year 1580—and Mary Allerton, the youngest passenger on the "Mayflower." He preached the first sermon ever   printed in America. This was in Plymouth, Mass., where a fine monument has been erected to his memory.  In early times they were mostly farmers, but later were engaged largely in the professions, many being ministers and missionaries. Mrs. Julia White Dresser, mother of Mrs. Bridgman, was the daughter of Deacon Benjamin White, a farmer, who was born in Massachusetts, and was the son of William White.  The family was a very prominent one in the early history of that State and succeeding generations find them well known in the professional as well as the mercantile world.  Mrs. Dresser died June 26, 1877. To Mr. and Mrs. Bridgman five children have been born, of whom two died in infancy; the others are: Edward P., Jr., born July 13, 1880; Lewis W., born August 28, 1882, and Roberts W., born June 16, 1884. 

Mr. Bridgman is a self-made man, and is highly respected in the community.  He is a Republican, but is no politician.  He is a charter member of the Congregational Church in Antigo, and a deacon in the same.  He is a member of the Blue Lodge, F. & A. M., and also of John A. Kellogg Post, G. A. R. Mr. Bridgman’s uncle and adopted father, John Bridgman, was a strong anti-slavery man, and intimate friend of those great humanitarians, William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips and Fred Douglass.  Indeed, on both his own and his wife’s side, Mr. Bridgman has good reason to be proud of his family, who have some of the best blood in the country in their veins, and who were people distinguished for their integrity, religious characters, and progressive ideas.