Frank F. Bumps
{{Short description|American attorney (1861–1914)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox person
|name = Frank F. Bumps
|image =
|caption =
|birth_name =
|birth_date = June 21, 1861
|birth_place = Bangor, Maine
|death_date = {{Death date and age|1914|7|8|1861|6|21}}
|death_place = Detroit
|body_discovered =
|death_cause =
|resting_place =
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|nationality =
|citizenship = United States
|known_for =
|alma_mater = University of Michigan
|employer =
|occupation = Attorney
|years_active = 1892-1914
|title =
|height =
|party = Republican
|opponents =
|spouse = Edith L. Knapp
|partner =
|children =
|parents =
|relations =
}}
Frank F. Bumps (June 21, 1861 – July 18, 1914) was an American attorney. He was one of the most prominent attorneys in Detroit from 1898 until his death in 1914. He also played American football as a forward on the undefeated 1885 and 1886 Michigan Wolverines football teams.
Early years
Bumps was born in 1861 in Bangor, Maine. As a boy of approximately 12 years, he moved with his family to Muskegon, Michigan. He enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1881 and, after missing two years due to illness, graduated from the Literary Department in 1887 with a Ph.B. degree.{{cite book|title=History of Detroit, Volume II|author=Paul Leake|publisher=Lewis Publishing|year=1912|pages=604–605|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkUOAQAAMAAJ}} While attending the university, he played at the forward position on the undefeated 1885 and 1886 Michigan Wolverines football teams.{{cite web|title=1885 Football Team|publisher=Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan|access-date=January 30, 2020|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1885fbt.htm}}{{cite web|title=1886 Football Team|publisher=Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan|access-date=January 30, 2020|url=https://bentley.umich.edu/athdept/football/fbteam/1886fbt.htm}} While at Michigan, he was also a champion wrestler, a sprinter on the track team, and a member of the baseball team.
After receiving his degree, he taught school in Bancroft and Corunna, Michigan.
Legal career
Bumps later studied law in the office of Judge S.S. Miner. He was admitted to practice as an attorney in 1892 and served as a circuit court commissioner in Shiawassee County and city attorney for Owosso, Michigan. In 1898, he moved to Detroit. He served as the First Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in Wayne County for five years commencing in 1901. He later practiced in partnership with Matthew H. Bishop, became one of Detroit's most prominent criminal attorneys, and tried some of the city's most famous cases. Bumps' prominent cases included:
- In 1904, after a five-week trial, he won the conviction of Emil Waltz for the murder of a young boy, Alphonse Welmes.{{cite news|title=To Prison For Life: Emil Waltz Was Convicted and Sentenced|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=March 18, 1904|pages=1, 4}}
- In 1905, he prosecuted Rose Barron, an elderly woman accused of serving biscuits poisoned with arsenic to multiple occupants at the Alhambra Apartments, resulting in the death of a baby. The Barron trial received detailed daily coverage for more than two weeks in the Detroit press.{{cite news|title=Mrs. Barron's Trial Begun|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=April 27, 1905|page=5}}{{cite news|title=Testified as to Illness|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=April 28, 1905|page=5}}{{cite news|title=Defense Hit Hard: Prosecution Scored in Barron Case|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=May 2, 1905|pages=1}}{{cite news|title=Collapsed on Stand: Mrs. Clayton Broke Down at Barron Trial|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=May 3, 1905|pages=1, 9}}{{cite news|title=Doctors, Lawyers: They Held Stage in Barron Trial Yesterday|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=May 4, 1905|pages=1, 3}}{{cite news|title=Bought Arsenic: Rose Barron Wanted It To Kill Rats|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=May 5, 1905|pages=1, 3}}{{cite news|title=Mrs. Barron on Stand|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=May 7, 1904|pages=1, 6}}{{cite news|title=Blow for Defense: Prosecutor Administered It in Barron Case|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=May 9, 1905|pages=1, 3|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43397845/blow_for_defense_prosecutor/|via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news|title=Bad Day for the Defense: Theories of Mrs. Barron's Attorneys Upset|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=May 10, 1905|pages=1, 3}}{{cite news|title=Now Faces the Crisis: Rose Barron's Trial Is Nearing Its End|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=May 11, 1905|pages=1, 3}}{{cite news|title=Host of Women in Gay Attire|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=May 12, 1905|page=12}}{{cite news|title=Woman Wept Bitterly|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=May 13, 1905|page=12}} It ended with a hung jury.{{cite news|title=Failed To Agree: Jury in Rose Barron Case Discharged|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=May 14, 1905|pages=1, 6}}
- He conducted the grand jury investigation into the Department of Public Works.
- In 1909, he defended Dr. Garabed K. Boyajian in two trials on charges of murdering his nephew. Boyajian admitted the killing but claimed he had been rendered temporarily insane on hearing from his wife that the deceased was a fiend who had victimized her.{{cite news|title=Boyajian's Sister Accuses Her Nephew|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=May 27, 1909|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43398558/boyajians_sister_accuses_her_nephew/|via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news|title=Frenzied By Story, Boyajian Goes Wild|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=July 4, 1909|page=1}}{{cite news|title=Sure Doctor Was Crazed|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=July 3, 1909|page=1}}{{cite news|title="Gostanian Annoyed By Mrs. Boyajian"|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=July 14, 1909|page=1}} The first trial resulted in a hung jury,{{cite news|title=Boyajian Jurors Ask To Be Discharged; Hopeless|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=July 17, 1909|page=1}} and the second in an acquittal after seven weeks. The Detroit Free Press described the trial as "thrilling and dramatic" and credited Bumps for the outcome: "The defendant's case seemed hopeless as far as acquittal was concerned, yet Mr. Bumps by his clever questioning of witnesses and by a stirring closing address acquitted his client."{{cite news|title=Frank F. Bumps|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=May 3, 1911|page=35|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43399074/frank_f_bumps/|via=Newspapers.com}}
In 1912, he ran unsuccessfully for Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney.{{cite news|title=Frank F. Bumps Republican Candidate for Prosecuting Attorney|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=August 25, 1912|page=18|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43399275/frank_f_bumps_republican_candidate_for/|via=Newspapers.com}} Bumps was a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and a sergeant in the Michigan National Guard.{{cite news|title=Frank F. Bumps, Noted In State As Attorney, Is Dead|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=July 9, 1914|page=14|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43396487/frank_f_bumps_noted_in_state_as/|via=Newspapers.com}}
Family and death
In 1893, Bumps married Edith L. Knapp. They had three daughters, Dorothy, Francis, and Marjorie. They were divorced in 1904.{{cite news|title=Wants Bump's Coin: Wife of Assistant Prosecutor After $400 Alimony|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=January 26, 1906|page=1|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43396814/wants_bumps_coin/|via=Newspapers.com}} He died in 1914 at age 53 at Harper Hospital in Detroit. The cause of death was peritonitis.
References
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Category:19th-century players of American football
Category:Michigan Wolverines football players
Category:Players of American football from Maine