John Pridgeon Jr.

John Pridgeon Jr. (August 1, 1852 – March 16, 1929) was an American businessman and politician who was the mayor of Detroit from 1888 to 1889. He was president of the Pridgeon Transportation Company, a marine transport company.

Biography Pridgeon was born in Detroit on August 1, 1852, the son of Captain John and Emma Nicholson Pridgeon. Pridgeon was educated in the Detroit Public Schools and the Detroit Business University.

In 1871, he joined as a clerk his father's business of buying, selling, and operating sailing ships and tugs;

In 1874, Pridgeon married Cora Edgar; the couple had two sons, neither of whom outlived their parents. In 1915, Pridgeon married a second time to Mrs. Blanche Pridgeon Cate, the widow of a classmate of Woodrow Wilson and a distant relative.

In 1876 he became an agent of the Chicago and Grand Trunk line of steamers, stationed at Port Huron, Michigan; in 1879 the line was dismantled and he rejoined his father's business.