Washburn County WIGenWeb Project

People Histories

Hon. Albert L. Bugbee
(31 Mar 1850 - 17 Aug 1916¹)

-As transcribed from the "COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF THE UPPER LAKES REGION"

by J. H. Beers & Co., Chicago, IL, 1905

page 72

Hon. Albert L. Bugbee, probate judge of Washburn county, has been a resident of Shell Lake since 1882. His birth occurred in Springfield, Mass., March 31, 1850, son of Jesse and Mary (Ashley) Bugbee, the former a native of Connecticut.

The Bugbee family is of English origin, the emigrant ancestor settling in Connecticut in Colonial days. Great-grandfather Bugbee was a soldier in the Continental army, and his son, Jesse, lived and died on a farm near Hartford, Conn. Jesse Bugbee (2), father of Albert L., went to Massachusetts whena young man, and in 1871 moved to Oshkosh, Wis., where he passed the remainder of his life, dying in 1878, at the age of seventy-three. Mrs. Mary (Ashley) Bugbee died in Springfield, Mass., in 1858, when fifty-three years of age. She was born at Long Meadow, near Springfield, where her father, a farmer, lived and died. Her mother, Mrs. Mary Ashley, came to this country from England.

As a boy Albert L. Bugbee attended the public school in Long Meadow, where Senator Wolcott of Montana was one of his fellow students. Later he was a pupil in the Springfield high school. In 1867 he went to Oshkosh, where he studied law with Judge Burnell. He moved to Burnett county in 1873, and was admitted to the Bar there in 1882. On first coming to Burnett county he invested in cranberry lands, on which he raised several crops. He has had a general law practice in Shell Lake since locating there, in 1882, giving some attention also to fire insurance, and acting as agent for the Fidelity & Deposit Co., of Maryland. He has filled various official positions, having been the first register of deeds for Washburn county, serving two terms as district attorney, and since 1897 filling the office of county judge. For four years Judge Bugbee was postmaster at Shell Lake, by appointment of President Harrison. He has taken part in many political conventions, and is one of the most influential Republicans in the county.

In 1874 Judge Bugbee married Millie Otis, daughter of Joshua and Mary Otis, of St. Albans, Vt. Mrs. Bugbee died July 4, 1899, at the age of fifty-five. She was a communicant of the Episcopal Church, of which Judge Bugbee is also a member. Fraternally the Judge is connected with the Masons.

1 - Editorial Note - Hon. Albert Lucien Bugbee's death date was derived from the Washburn Co. Register of Deeds Death Index. The death record is on file at the Register of Deeds Office in Shell Lake, in Volume 6, page 423. He and his wife Millie are buried in the Shell Lake Memorial Cemetery.