Ransom Bird Sheldon, Sr. (July 7, 1814 – May 17, 1878) was the founder of Houghton

Houghton, Michigan

Houghton is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper Peninsula and largest city in the Copper Country on the Keweenaw Peninsula. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,708. It is the county seat of Houghton County...

, a city in the county of Houghton

Houghton County, Michigan

-National protected areas:* Keweenaw National Historical Park * Ottawa National Forest -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 36,016 people, 13,793 households, and 8,137 families residing in the county. The population density was 36 people per square mile . There were 17,748 housing...

, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

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Early life

Ransom B. Sheldon, Sr. was born in Essex County, New York

Essex County, New York

Essex County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 39,370. Its name is from the English county of Essex. Its county seat is Elizabethtown...

 on July 7, 1814. Shelden's father George Shelden was a farmer in Essex County for many years. In 1832, Ransom Shelden moved to Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, building the first hotel in what was then known as "Fort Dearborn." However, he soon moved again to a farm near Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Lake Geneva is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,148 at the 2000 census. A resort city located on Geneva Lake, it is southwest of Milwaukee and popular with tourists from metropolitan Chicago and Milwaukee.-History:...

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Shelden married Theresa M. Douglas, also of Essex County, in 1839. She was a cousin of Douglass Houghton

Douglass Houghton

Douglass Houghton was an American geologist and physician, primarily known for his exploration of the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan.-Early life and education:...

. The couple had four sons: Carlos D. Shelden, George C. Shelden, Christine M. Shelden, and Ransom B. Shelden, Jr.

Houghton

In 1847, Shelden moved to Portage Entry in the Keweenaw Peninsula

Keweenaw Peninsula

The Keweenaw Peninsula is the northern-most part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It projects into Lake Superior and was the site of the first copper boom in the United States. As of the 2000 census, its population was roughly 43,200...

 with his brother-in-law and began trading and fishing. Four years later they moved to the Quincy Mine

Quincy Mine

The Quincy Mine is an extensive set of copper mines located near Hancock, Michigan. The mine was owned by the Quincy Mining Company and operated between 1846 and 1945, although some activities continued through the 1970s. The Quincy Mine was known as "Old Reliable," as the Quincy Mine Company paid...

 and opened a mine store. Around the same time, Sheldon bought land on the south side of Portage Lake, and in 1852 moved his store there.

Shelden and his brother-in-law had also been purchasing swaths of land throughout the Upper Peninsula, and by 1852 owned around 55,000 acres. Shelden invested in copper mines, lumber yards, and real estate, as well as iron mines in Iron Mountain

Iron Mountain, Michigan

Iron Mountain is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8,154. It is the county seat of Dickinson County, in the state's Upper Peninsula....

 and Crystal Falls

Crystal Falls, Michigan

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,791 people, 795 households, and 470 families residing in the city. The population density was 530.6 per square mile . There were 913 housing units at an average density of 270.5 per square mile...

 and platted the village of Houghton. In about 1862, Shelden built Pewabic House, the oldest still-extant building in Hancock, Michigan

Hancock, Michigan

Hancock is a city in Houghton County; the northernmost in the U.S. state of Michigan, located on the Keweenaw Peninsula, or, depending on terminology, Copper Island. The population was 4,634 at the 2010 census...

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In 1871 Shelden was elected as president of the town, a position he held for seven years until his death on May 17, 1878. The main street of Houghton, variously called "Sheldon Street," (inaccurately) "Shelden Avenue" and "Sheldon Avenue," was named in Sheldon's honour, as was the "Sheldon Center

Sheldon Center

Sheldon Center is the connection of a number of restaurants, coffeehouses, stores and other businesses along Sheldon Avenue, some of its sidestreets, and Lake Street in Houghton, Michigan, USA, by means of doors between them so they can be accessed without going outside...

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