My Genealogy Hound

Claudius B. Bancraft, one of the representative farmers of Oakland County, Michigan, was born on his present farm in section 21, Pontiac township, November 9, 1832. He is a son of Capt. Joseph and Polly (Dalrymple) Bancraft.

Capt. Joseph Bancraft, who was one of the earliest pioneers of Oakland County, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, April 13, 1781, and became a captain in the American Army during the War of 1812. He served throughout the war and participated in a number of notable engagements. He was married at Colerain, Massachusetts, just after, the close of the war and then moved to New York State, where his three oldest children were born. He came to Michigan on a sail boat and landed in Detroit, then made his way overland with ox teams to Oakland County, where he acquired a patent from the government to 87 acres in Pontiac township, on February 10, 1824. The Bancraft family lived on their farm in a very primitive way for a long time and for many things were dependent upon the Indians with whom they were on good terms and traded. They made maple sugar, which they strained through blankets, and also pumpkin molasses. He first built a board house, without floor or windows, and a ladder furnished the means of ingress and egress. They hung blankets around the beds to protect them from the snow which would sift through the cracks of the walls, and had to contend with many similar difficulties. Captain Bancraft was a good friend of Chief Pontiac, and ofttimes Indians slept before his fire-place. The land was all wild and had to be cleared before cultivation could be undertaken, a task which meant years of incessant labor. Captain Bancraft lived to reach the age of 72 years, dying on March 24, 1853. He was the only son of a family of three children, his sisters being Lucinda (Ross) and Abigail (Felton), both of whom died in Michigan. Captain Bancraft married Polly Dalrymple at Pittsford, New York, August 12, 1814, a native of Colerain, Massachusetts, and a daughter of James Dalrymple, and they had 10 children, as follows: Joseph; Hull; Lefa (Johnson); John; Damaris; David; Claudius B.; Stewart; Maria (Watson); and Agues (Surrhyne).

Claudius B. Bancraft was born and reared on the old home farm, and with the exception of one year in the “sixties,” which he spent in California, has lived there all his life. He has been a tireless worker and a practical man of business, acquiring a handsome competency during his long and active career. He is a man of the highest type and has many stanch friends throughout the county.

Mr. Bancraft was united in marriage with Marbury Clark, who was born in Granville, Washington County, New York, December 18, 1848, and is a daughter of William and Esther (Whitmore) Clark. She came to Michigan in 1870. Four children were born of this union: Duane, Polly, Agnes, and Ethel, deceased. Polly Bancraft married Fred Terry, of Waterford, and now resides in Detroit; they have a daughter, Loraine. Like his father, Mr. Bancraft is a Democrat in politics, and has served on the School Board more then a quarter of a century.