Michael Late Benedum
Lynn Vance
The Bridgeport News

To those in the oil business he was known as the "Great Wildcatter" for his expertise in the petroleum industry. In Bridgeport, he is known more as the "Great Benefactor" thanks to his enormous contributions to his hometown. It is largely because of that Bridgeport residents and others throughout the area will celebrate his life at the twelfth annual Michael Benedum Festival. The three-day event is an opportunity for the community to have fun and look back on the life of Benedum. Benedum's contributions may not have seemed possible when he was born July 16, 1869 to Emanuel and Caroline Southworth Benedum. Oddly, he was born on the very spot where the Benedum Civic Center now stands. Although Benedum, whose middle name is derived in honor of family friend Dr. Michael Late who delivered him, was not born into the trenches poverty, he was not born into wealth. Benedum actually grew up in a poor family and received little in the way of formal education. He attended school with his siblings for four months a year for a period of just 10 years. What he learned came through his reading of numerous books or anything else he could get his hands on. Despite his acquired knowledge, Benedum did not meet his father's dream of sending him to West Point. The slow economy forced Benedum to take a job at a local mill to assist the family income. Benedum's work in the mills led to a job where he managed a Lumberport mill by the age of 20. It was here that Benedum almost lost his right arm when his shirt sleeve got caught in the cogwheels of the machinery. Although he recovered, at 21 Benedum decided to seek further employment and boarded a train to Parkersburg. It was after this decision that he had a chance meeting with John Worthington, the general superintendent of South Penn Oil Company, who offered him a job in the oil business. Benedum went on to become a company representative, buying leases and making land deals. It would prove to be the start of a business career that spanned more than 70 years. Shortly after getting into the business, he became an expert in his field, both nationally and abroad.

By 1896, Benedum left the South Penn Oil Company to establish his own business with lifelong partner Joseph Trees, a petroleum engineer. The company was named the Benedum -Trees Oil Company. In the same year, Benedum married Sarah Lantz in May and they parented one son, Claude Worthington Benedum. The 20-year-old Claude Benedum seemed well on his way to success in 1917 as he was enlisted in the Chemical Warfare Corps. Fate, however, stepped in. Soon after his enlistment, however, he contracted pneumonia and died. After his son's death, the Benedums devoted themselves to various humanitarian objectives. In remembrance of their son, they established the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation "to keep their son’s memory alive and to represent the keen interest in his fellow men, especially the underprivileged, which he had shown before his early death ... " Funds were specified to be used exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals. The giving, however, didn't end there. The Benedums contributed to the Bridgeport Methodist Church, the church which Michael himself funded, by donating a stained glass window in the memory of their son. They also invested in repair of the Bridgeport Cemetery, another Michael Benedum contribution, by building a stone wall around the grounds and hiring a landscaper to beautify it. All of the giving did not go unnoticed. Showing his gratitude toward the Benedum family, land owned by Dr. Late was purchased by the city in 1945 and an airport was built.

It was named Benedum Airport in his honor. The naming of the airport at Benedum is one of many streets, buildings and parks named after the benefactor. Many of the honors came after Benedum passed away in 1959 at the age of 90. Even at that ripe old age, Benedum was working in Cuba, searching for oil, and still building on a worldwide legacy that continues to this day.


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The following article appeared in the Oct. 29, 1954 edition of the Bridgeport High School newspaper, Shawnee Powwow:

Location of Building Oil Man’s Birthplace

  Michael Benedum, world famous oil magnate and philanthropist, will again show his generosity toward his birthplace with the Benedum Civic Center, which will soon be under construction. The civic center will be constructed on the site of Mr. Benedum’s birthplace, and in general contour will be a duplicate of it. The ground floor of the building will be primarily for a youth center.

One of the most attractive features of the building will be a library, located on the second floor, which will contain 10,000 books. There will also be a music room with a record player and a collection of recordings. Back of the building will be a play area, which will be equipped with outdoor recreational equipment and floodlights. The center, with its large auditorium, dining room, kitchen and snack bar, will meet the needs of the many groups in Bridgeport. On the advisory committee are Mayor Richard Cutlip, Dr. F.C. Chandler, Mrs. Chester Conrad, W. Lyle Jones. According to Mayor Richard Cutlip, Mr. Benedum requested that provisions be made for small children. This is in keeping with the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, whose charter states that it was formed exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, literary or educational purposes for for the prevention of cruelty to children and animals. Through the years, Mr. Benedum has done much for Bridgeport. One of his first projects was the restoration of the cemetery and the building of the beautiful Benedum chapel. There is also the Benedum airport, which makes Bridgeport easily accessible to all parts of the country. One of the most beautiful of his gifts is the Bridgeport church, which sands on the site of the building where Mr. Benedum worshipped as a boy. It’s slender spire is visible from all parts of the town, and its chimes, which ring out the hour of day and night, clearly audible. They are a constant reminder of the generosity of Bridgeport’s most famous citizen.