Col. Albert Augustus Pope

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Col. Albert Augustus Pope

Also Known As: "Father of Good Roads"
Birthdate:
Birthplace: Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States
Death: August 10, 1909 (66)
Cohasset, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States
Place of Burial: Jamaica Plain, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States
Immediate Family:

Son of Charles Pope and Elizabeth Pope
Husband of Abby Linder Pope
Father of Margaret Roberts Pope; Mary Linder Pope; Charles Linder Pope; Ralph Linder Pope; Harold Linder Pope and 1 other
Brother of Adelaide Leonora Pope; Mary Elizabeth Pope; Lt. Colonel George Pope; Dr. Caroline Augusta Pope; Dr. Emily Frances Pope and 3 others

Occupation: Manufacturer, Founder of Pope Mfg Co.
Managed by: Private User
Last Updated:

About Col. Albert Augustus Pope

Colonel Albert Augustus Pope

Bicycle and Automobile Manufacturer. During the Civil War he served in the 35th Massachusetts Infantry, leaving with the rank of Brevet Lieutenant Colonel at war's end. After the war he entered the manufacturing field. In 1877 he founded the Pope Manufacturing Company. The company made the popular Columbia Bicycle and was the largest manufacturer of bicycles in the United States in the late 1800s. In 1897, he started manufacturing electric vehicles and soon after automobiles, but neither venture was as successful as his bicycles. He was well known as an early advocate for paved roads in the United States, earning him the title "Father of Good Roads".



At the age of 19, he joined the Union Army attached to the 35th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment, commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. The unit crossed the Potomac River on September 7, and just ten days later, fought at Antietam. The 35th Massachusetts confronted a Confederate crossfire and was stranded behind enemy lines with its ammunition exhausted before answering an order to retreat. Seventy-nine men from Pope's unit died that day. Pope survived a bout with cholera, and his unit served at the Battles of Fredericksburg, Vicksburg, and Knoxville. He mustered out as a Captain, though he received the honorary title of Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel for distinguished service.

Albert Pope was known as the "Founder of the American Bicycle Industry." He founded the Pope Manufacturing Company in 1878 which produced the highly successful Colombia bicycle.

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Col. Albert Augustus Pope's Timeline

1843
May 20, 1843
Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States
1872
July 14, 1872
Hartford, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States
1874
March 9, 1874
1874
1879
November 5, 1879
Newton, Middlesex County, MA, United States
1881
November 15, 1881
1887
March 23, 1887
1909
August 10, 1909
Age 66
Cohasset, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States
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Forest Hills Cemetery and Crematory, Jamaica Plain, Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States