Title: Comstock Family Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1834-1966

Creators:

• Comstock Family
• Comstock, Cicero

Call Number: Local History Manuscript Collection 7

Quantity: 3.7 cubic ft. (11 boxes)

Repository:

Milwaukee Public Library, Frank P. Zeidler Room

Archival Location:

Milwaukee Public Library (Map)

Abstract:

This collection contains papers regarding various members of the Comstock family from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Cicero Comstock (1817-1871) and his brother Leander Comstock (1820-1910) were involved in real estate, local businessmen and active in local government holding positions within the City of Milwaukee. Other family members also included in the collection are: Henry Griswold Comstock (1850-1937), James Tyng Comstock (1853-1943), Mabel Jose Comstock Summers (1873-1966), Cicero Glidden Comstock (1877-1964), Alonzo James Comstock (1878-1952), Enos Benjamin Comstock (1879-1945), Bessie Comstock (1881-1968), Effie Comstock Norton (1881-1950), Florence (Floy) Comstock (1884-1976), and Amy Comstock (1886-1944).

Note:

To request materials from this collection, create/login to your Special Collections Account.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.mwpl-lhmc0007

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Cicero Comstock (1817-1871) moved from Ohio to Wisconsin in 1844. In Milwaukee he became involved in real estate and the mercantile business. Cicero also participated in local government; he served as Milwaukee’s first comptroller in 1852 and was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1858. In 1862 he became a member of the board of managers for the State Reform School. Beginning in 1862 until his death on February 8, 1871, Cicero collaborated with Carlos Glidden to invent and advertise farm implements. Cicero had two wives, Charlotte Stiles and Caroline Griswold, and ten children which included Henry Griswold and James Tyng. Cicero’s brother, Leander Comstock (1820-1910), moved to Milwaukee in 1845 after graduating from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. In Milwaukee, he started a real estate and mercantile partnership with Cicero known as the Comstock Brothers. Like Cicero, Leander was active in government. He served two terms as the Second Ward Alderman, and he was a delegate to the Republican State Convention. Leander also helped establish the Milwaukee Public Library. He is given credit for opening the first flour mill in Milwaukee, and he became prominent in the lumber industry. In 1845, Leander married Mary Young Hurd; they had six children. Leander died in 1910.

Henry Griswold Comstock (1850-1937) was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 12, 1850 to Cicero and Caroline Griswold. He and his brother James Tyng moved to the western part of the United States and became cowboys during the 1870's. They moved back to Milwaukee and started a celery farm on the land they inherited from their father. Henry Griswold and James eventually became known as the “celery kings” by commercially growing and shipping celery. Henry Griswold married Mary Elizabeth Jordan on October 24, 1872. Mary Elizabeth died on April 16, 1907. Henry Griswold died in 1937. They had five children. Their first child, Mabel Jose Comstock Summers (1873-1966), was born on July 23, 1873 in Milwaukee. She became a teacher in 1896, and married Livingston Lee Summers on July 6, 1926. Mabel died on July 2, 1966. Cicero Glidden Comstock (1877-1964), the second child, was born on April 7, 1877. He became a professional baseball player for a sandlot team in Milwaukee. Cicero worked in the family’s celery business and later ran a resort in Nemahbin, Wisconsin. He died on January 13, 1964. The third child, Alonzo James Comstock (1878-1952), was born on July 22, 1878. He married Leila Crilly in April 1906. Alonzo served in the army during World War I as a Major. He died July 29, 1952. Enos Benjamin Comstock (1879-1945), their fifth child, was born on December 24, 1879. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago and became a well-known illustrator. Enos married Frances Basset June 22, 1905; they had two children, Henry Basset and Alfred Jordan. Frances died in 1922, and Enos married Nellie Julien Werner August 13, 1924. He died on March 19, 1945. Henry Griswold and Mary Elizabeth’s last child, Bessie Comstock (1881-1968) was born on March 2, 1881. She became a teacher and lived her entire life in Milwaukee; Bessie died in 1968.

James Tyng Comstock (1853-1943) was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on October 6, 1853 to Cicero and Caroline Griswold. He worked with his brother Henry Griswold to become one of the leading celery growers in the country. He married Florence Bissell on September 16, 1879. In 1906 James retired from the celery business and in 1927 he moved to Glendale California with his wife. James died on September 12, 1943. Florence died on February 6, 1947. They had three children. Their first daughter, Effie Comstock Norton (1881-1950), was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 7, 1881. In 1902, Effie graduated from the Milwaukee Normal School, and in 1905 she received a degree in social work from the University of Wisconsin. She then went to work for the Goodrich House, a settlement house in Cleveland, Ohio. There she met William John Norton, the director of boys activities. They married on September 3, 1908. William and Effie had four children: John Comstock, James Horace, William John Jr., and Florence. Effie was an active member of the Detroit community; she belonged to countless organizations and was a trustee for the Women’s Hospital in Detroit. William was the secretary of the department of charities and corrections in Cleveland, and eventually became the executive vice president of the Children’s Fund of Michigan. Effie died in Pleasant Ridge, Michigan on January 3, 1950. William Norton died in 1975. Their second child, Florence (Floy) Comstock (1884-1976), was born on July 24, 1884. She attended the University of Wisconsin. Florence dedicated her life taking care of her parents; she moved to California with them in 1927. Florence remained in Glendale, California and died on February 24, 1976. Amy Comstock (1886-1944), James and Florence’s last child, was born on July 21, 1886. In 1909 she received a degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin. She actively participated in the women’s suffrage movement. Amy became the associate editor for the Tulsa Tribune in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and one of the first women to be a member of the American Society of Newspaper Editors. She died on July 21, 1944.

The bulk of this collection contains materials in relating to the business ventures and life of Cicero Comstock during the years 1834 through 1879. Specifically, his careers in real estate and mercantile businesses. Some of these papers contain references to contemporary notable Milwaukee residents, including Increase Lapham, Solomon Juneau, and Byron Kilbourn. The collection also contains correspondence, photographs, maps, deeds, journals, account books, miscellaneous artifacts and newspaper clippings. Various materials from and on second and third generations of the Comstock family in Milwaukee are also included.

The subjects are generally arranged alphabetically and then chronologically within each folder. Cicero Comstock is the exception as he was the bulk of the initial donations; his materials remain at the beginning.

Comstock Family Papers, 1834-1966, Collection 7. Local History Manuscript Collections, Milwaukee Public Library, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Milwaukee on Camera. Mrs. Mabel Comstock Summers

A Family Album, 1844-1950, The Comstock Family of Milwaukee and the Story of Effie Comstock and William Norton

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on the materials. The collection is open to all in accordance with state law. The public may view Local History Manuscript Collections by appointment at the Central Library. To request an in-person appointment, create/login to your Special Collections Account. If you have any questions, please contact the Archives and Special Collections Department at mplarchives@milwaukee.gov.

Use Restrictions

The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

Acquisition Information

The initial donation was given in 1958 by Bessie Comstock, granddaughter of Leander Comstock. The second donation was collected by Effie Comstock Norton and her family, and donated to the Milwaukee Public Library by Jane Edwards Norton. Materials were accessioned as Local History Manuscripts.

Processing Information

Initial processing by Michele [C.], Archives Volunteer, 1998. Completed by Casey Lapworth, 2019.

	Comstock, Cicero
Box   7 Folder   5	Account Books, 1855-1873
Box   6 Folder   12	Agriculture Machinery, 1860-1869
Box   7 Folder   6	Bank Books, 1834-1857
Box   10 Folder   5	Biography, 1900
Box   8 Folder	Cash Book, 1847
Box   7 Folder   7	Check Stubs, 1854-1855
Box   6 Folder   9	Griswold, Henry, 1870
Box   6 Folder   8	Kilbourn, 1837-1848
Box   8	Ledgers, 1847, 1853-1854
Box   8	Letterpress Book, 1844
Box   7 Folder   1	Map of Section 5 and West ½ of Section 4, Township 7, Range 22, undated
Box   7 Folder   2	Miscellaneous Papers, 1850-1869, undated
Box   6 Folder   11	Paddle Correspondence, 1860-1861
	Papers
Box   1 Folder   1-8	1853-1848
Box   2 Folder   1-5	1849-1852
Box   3 Folder   1-6	1853-1856
Box   4 Folder   1-5	1856-1859
Box   5 Folder   1-6	1860-1875, undated
Box   7 Folder   3	Patents for Rotary Spader, 1862, 1865
Box   7 Folder   4	Pattern, undated
Box   6 Folder   1-7	Personal Correspondence, 1838-1869, undated
Box   10 Folder   6	Photographs, undated
Box   6 Folder   10	Reform School Papers, 1859-1860
Box   7 Folder   8	Sales Books, 1847
Box   7 Folder   9	Time Books, 1855, 1857
	Comstock, Amy
Box   10 Folder   1	Correspondence and newspaper clippings, 1922-1947
Box   10 Folder   2	Photographs, 1888-1940, undated
	Comstock, Bessie
Box   10 Folder   3	Letters and newspaper clippings, 1959-1964
Box   10 Folder   4	Photographs, 1900-1966
	Comstock Coat of Arms
Box   10 Folder   7	Correspondence, 1865-1942
Box   10 Folder   8	Photograph, undated
	Comstock, Enos
Box   10 Folder   9	Correspondence and newspaper clippings, 1899-1949
Box   10 Folder   10	Photographs, undated
	Comstock Family
Box   9	Artifacts, undated Physical Description: 3 small notebooks, 1 photo, 1 small purse
Box   10 Folder   11	Photocopies of Photographs, undated
	Comstock, Florence (Floy)
Box   10 Folder   12	Letters, 1925-1943
Box   10 Folder   13	Photographs, undated
	Comstock, Henry Griswold
Box   10 Folder   14	Correspondence and newspaper clippings, 1914-1937
Box   10 Folder   16	Family photographs, 1898-1942
Box   10 Folder   15	Memoirs, undated
	Comstock Home
Box   10 Folder   17	Correspondence, newspaper clippings, and maps, 1932-1966
Box   10 Folder   18	Photographs, undated
	Comstock, James Tyng
Box   10 Folder   19	Correspondence and newspaper clippings, 1888-1949
Box   10 Folder   21	Family photographs, 1870-1938
Box   10 Folder   20	Memoirs, undated
	Comstock, Leander
Box   8 Folder	Account Book, undated
Box   11 Folder   22	Memorial and newspaper clippings, 1897-1909, undated
Box   11 Folder   23	Photographs, undated
Box   11 Folder   24	Comstock, Lemmora - Correspondence, 1863-1876
Box   8	Comstock, Mabel - Books of Handy Knowledge, undated
	Norton, Effie Comstock
Box   11 Folder   1	Correspondence and documents, 1881-1950
Box   11 Folder   2-5	Journal, original / typescript, 1897-1903
Box   11 Folder   6	Photographs, 1884-1902
Box   11 Folder   7-8	Travel log, 1901-1902
	Summers, Mabel Comstock
Box   11 Folder   9	Correspondence and newspaper clippings, 1941-1964
Box   11 Folder   10	Photographs, 1953