My Genealogy Hound

George Newberry, mayor of Rochester and a prominent and representative citizen of Avon township, Oakland County, was born in Rochester in 1834 and is a son of Seneca and Mercy (Jones) Newberry. The father was born December 23, 1802, in Windsor, Connecticut, removed to Detroit in 1827, and secured employment with his relative, Oliver Newberry, for some two years and then removed to Rochester, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He accumulated a large fortune and was able to retire from business in 1847. He was a man of prominence and reliability and was selected a member of the first and second State conventions which were called for the purpose of forming a State Constitution. He was a stanch Democrat and served two terms from Oakland County in the State Senate.

The Newberry family originated in Devonshire, England, and it has been said that John Newberry was the discoverer of the art of weaving. The family is very old and has always been one of respectability and prominence in public affairs. The grandparents of Mayor Newberry were Dyer and Ruth (Birge) Newberry, natives of Connecticut, the former of whom, a sea captain and a soldier in the Revolutionary War, was one of the guards placed over Governor Franklyn when he was taken from Connecticut to New Jersey.

Mayor Newberry is the second member of a family of seven children born to his parents, as follows: Seneca, of St. Louis; George; Elizabeth, Homer, Joseph, and Catherine, all deceased; and Oliver, of Detroit. Our subject was reared in Rochester and attended the public schools until the age of 19 years, when he went to Detroit and there for three years was employed by Zachariah Chandler & Company, who were engaged in the wholesale dry goods business. He then became interested in the same city in a paper business which he continued for 25 years or until 1890. In 1895 he removed from Detroit to Rochester and met with a hearty welcome, becoming since one of the most prominent citizens. In politics he has always been a Democrat and takes a lively interest in the success of his party.

In 1858 Mr. Newberry was married to Mary J. Bemis, who was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, of old New England ancestry. Their one son, Louis, resides in Detroit, engaged with the Martin Baker Company.

Fraternally Mayor Newberry is a Mason and belongs to Lodge No. 5, F. & A. M., of Rochester. If he acknowledges a hobby, it is yachting, concerning which healthful enjoyment he has been enthusiastic for a number of years. He was a member of the Detroit Yacht Club and for seven years its commodore, as he afterwards was of the Citizens’ Yacht Club Association, an organization he was instrumental in founding.