My City May 2022

MYHISTORY

Samuel C. Randall 1896-97 Born in Vestal, NY in 1837 Randall came to Flint in the early 1850s.When the Civil War broke out, he enlisted in the Army and served as a captain with Company K of the 23rd Infantry from Genesee County. He took part in numerous battles includ ing Campbell’s Station, the Siege of Knoxville, the Capture of Wilmington and the battles of Atlan ta, Jonesboro, Franklin and Nashville. He made it through unscathed and was mustered out of the Army in 1865. Upon his return to Flint, he went into busi ness with his brother to found the Randall Lumber & Coal Company and quickly thereafter, the Randall Carriage Company. After his mayorship, he became the director and vice president of the National Bank of Flint.While Randall was mayor, even more carriage companies started operations in and around Greater Flint including the Diamond Buggy Co. and the Spot Cash Carriage Co. In 1927, the Industrial Mutual Association (IMA) bought the Randall Lumber & Coal Company property to build the IMA Auditorium in 1929. Randall died in 1909.

John C. Zimmerman, Sr. 1895-96 Born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1835 Zimmerman emigrated to the U.S. in 1853. He arrived unable to speak a word of English and was taken on by Alexander Ward’s brick company as an apprentice working alongside An drew J. Ward. In this position, he had a hand in building a majority of the city including Flint ’s ‡rst two brick buildings: the Crapo store (1853) located on N. Sagi naw St. and the Hazelton store (1854) to the south. ’e buildings were home to the business interests of former mayors Henry Crapo and Jerome Eddings. (In the Crapo building, it seems a mysterious love story took place as evidenced by a box of old love letters found hidden in a brick wall. ’e letters were addressed to Edward James Curren from a mysterious woman from New York … but that is a tale for another time.) After his mayoral term, Zimmerman acted as city alderman for as long as he was able. His son, John C. Zimmerman, Jr. was elected sheri• in 1904 and re-elected for consecutive terms. Zimmerman died in 1935 and was buried in Glenwood Cemetery.

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