Résumé

The son of architect Samuel C. Bugbee and brother of architect Charles Bugbee, Sumner Weld Bugbee likely worked for his father's San Francisco architectural firm during the 1870s. He worked on his own as an architect but also was listed as being employed throughout his life as a "business agent" or "general agent" in various sources.

Manager, Hawthorne Club, San Francisco, CA, 1868. (See "Hawthorne Club Hall, San Francisco Chronicle, 02/08/1868, p. 3.)

The San Francisco Directory, 1869, (p. 125.), listed Sumner Bugbee as a "business agent" working at 402 Montgomery Street, the location of S.C. Bugbee and Son, Architects. He was listed as a business agent working at 402 Montgomery until at least 1876. (SeeSan Francisco Directory, 1876, p. 167)

Manager, "The Pavilion," San Francisco, CA, 1870. (See

General Agent, Oakland, CA, 1896. Alameda County voter rolls from 1896 indicated that Bugbee worked as a "general agent" in that year. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation California State Library; Sacramento, California; Great Registers, 1866-1898; Collection Number: 4-2A; CSL Roll Number: 4; FHL Roll Number: 976450, accessed 08/26/2024.)

Principal, Sumner, W. Bugbee, Architect, San Francisco, CA, 1897.

Relocation

Sumner Weld Bugbee was born in Roxbury, MA on 08/16/1846, the son of the architect Samuel C. Bugbee and Abigail Stephenson. Sumner was baptized 05/07/1848 in Roxbury. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation New England Historical Genealogical Society; Boston, Massachusetts; Massachusetts Vitals to 1850, accessed 08/26/2024.)

He lived with his family at 641 Harrison Street in San Francisco, CA, in 1869. (See San Francisco Directory, 1869, p. 125.) A year later, he continued to reside with his parents, nine relatives and two servants in San Francisco's 9th Census ward. The architect John P. Gaynor (born c. 1825-d. 1888), who had been born in ME, lived very close by to the Bugbees at this time.

Sumner Bugbee moved to Oakland, CA, by at least 1875.(See Langley's San Francisco, California, City Directory, 1875, p. 158.) He resided in "Oakland Point" by 1876. (SeeSan Francisco Directory, 1876, p. 167)

Sumner, like his brother, Charles, lived in Oakland, CA. He resided in a dwelling on the north side of Lake Street near Madison Street in 1878. (See Oakland, California, City Directory, 1878, p. 127.)

In 1889, Bugbee applied for a US passport. This passport application indicated that Bugbee considered his permanent address to have been in Oakland, CA, although he completed the form while living at 44 Linden Street in Brooklyn, NY. It is likely that he lived in Brooklyn while his wife attended to family matters in that city. This passport document, although hard to read, seems to have indicated that Sumner Bugbee intended to go abroad for up to two years. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, 1795-1905; Roll #: 337; Volume #: Roll 337 - 10 Jul 1889-19 Jul 1889, accessed 08/24/2024.)

In 1897, Bugbee lived at 146 Lake Street in Oakland, CA. (See Oakland, California, City Directory, 1897, p. 130.)

Sumner Weld Bugbee died in 1899. According to Ruth Franklin, the biographer of author, Shirley Jackson, Sumner suffered a sudden, death, like his brother Charles, and father Samuel. "Sumner Bugbee, too, died uneexpectedly during a long-distance train journey from New York, where he had been living, back to California; he was buried in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery." (See Ruth Franklin, Shirley Jackson A Rather Haunted Life, [New York: Liveright Publishing Company, 2016], p. 18.) His wife's family came from Brooklyn, and he was buried within her family plot at Green-Wood Cemetery.

Parents

His father was the well-known architect, Samuel Charles Bugbee (born 1811 in Canada-d. 1877 in CA), his mother, Abigail Deborah Stephenson(c.1816-1879).They married on 05/12/1836 in ME.

After her husband's death in 1877, Abby Bugbee resided on the south side of 10th Street between Jackson and Madison Streets. (See Oakland, California, City Directory, 1878, p. 127.)

Spouse

Elizabeth Meeker (born 05/14/1846 in Brooklyn, NY-d. 04/05/1842 in Pasadena, CA).

This was Elizabeth's second marriage. She first wed Gorham Noble (born 02/25/1841-d. 07/18/1870) in 1864.

Sumner and Elizabeth Bugbee were quite active in Oakland social circles, their names frequently appearing in the social columns of Bay Area newspapers. (See, for example, "Social Events," Oakland Tribune, 11/17/1883, p. 10, "The Bugbee Dinner," Oakland Tribune, 03/28/1895, p. 5, "A Dinner Up To Date," San Francisco Sunday Chronicle, 04/28/1895, p. 20 or "Miss Fuller's Reception," Oakland Tribune, 11/28/1896, p. 6.)

Biographical Notes

In 1889, at age 42, Sumner Bugbee stood 5-feet, 8-and-½-inches tall, and blue eyes and dark brown hair, as per a US passport application. He was described as Caucasian, with a fair complexion. His facial features were described as follows: forehead, medium; nose, large; mouth, small; chin, medium; face, round. (See Ancestry.com, Source Citation National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; NARA Series: Passport Applications, 1795-1905; Roll #: 337; Volume #: Roll 337 - 10 Jul 1889-19 Jul 1889, accessed 08/24/2024.)

• Roxbury, MA (Architect's Birth)
  Roxbury, MA

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