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THE HISTORY

DETROIT AND MICHIGAN

"ght lE^tr^^xrlis lllttstrakd

A CHRONOLOGICAL CYCLOPEDIA OF THE

PAST AND PRESENT

INCLUDING A FULL RECORD OF TERRITORIAL DAYS IN MICHIGAN
AND THE ANNALS OF WAYNE COUNTY

By SILAS FARMER, City Historiographer

" native here, and to the manner born "

^\<:i^xxip\xxta\ ®&iti0n

DETROIT

SILAS FARMER & CO

Corner of Monroe Avenue and Farmer Street
1889

Electrotyped and Printed by
The Detroit Free 1'ress Company.

PREFACE.

The insertion of biographical sketches in the first edition of this work was suggested to the
author, but it was deemed best to postpone the preparation of such material until the subject
could be given greater attention.

The successful sale of the first edition, and the gratifying demand for a second, has now
given opportunity for this addition, which is certainly appropriate in a local history ; for without citizens
there would be neither city nor history, and brief biographies of representatives of various classes
of its business and professional men will give a fairly representative idea of the city.

Some of the biographies are of necessity brief, as no other facts could be obtained. In
gathering material for several of the biographies, I am indebted to Lanman's Red Book of
Michigan, to the American Biographical History (Michigan volume), and to the Magazine of Western
History.

Many other names might have appeared with propriety; indeed, other biographies were pre-
pared, and other portraits engraved, which, almost at the last moment, were omitted, as it was found
that they would increase the volume to an unreasonable size.

In addition to the large amount of entirely new matter, the w^ork as a whole has been
thoroughly revised.

The Author.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART XIII-BIOGRAPHICAL.

CHAPTER XC.

Mayors of Detroit.— Solomon Sibley — Elijah Brush — John R. Williams — Henry J. Hunt — John
Biddle — Jonathan Kearsley — Marshall Chapin— Levi Cook — Charles C. Trowbridge — Andrew
Mack — Henry Howard — Augustus S. Porter — Asher B. Bates — DeGarmo Jones — Zina Pitcher —
Douglass Houghton — James A. Van Dyke — Frederick Buhl — Charles Howard — John Ladue —
Zachariah Chandler — John H. Harmon — Oliver M. Hyde — Henry Ledyard — John Patton — Chris-
tian H. Buhl — William C. Duncan — Kirkland C. Barker — Merrill I. Mills — William W. Wheaton —
Hugh Moffat — Alexander Lewis —George C. Langdon^ William G. Thompson — Stephen B. Grum-
mond — Marvin H. Chamberlain — John Pridgeon, Jr. 1031-1050

CHAPTER XCI.

Governors, Senators, Bankers, and Capitalists.— Russell A. Alger — John J. Bagley — Henry P.
Baldwin — Lewis Cass — S. Dow Elwood — Jacob M. Howard — James F. Joy — Henry B. Ledyard —
James McMillan — Hugh McMillan — John S. Newberry — John Owen — David Preston — Thomas
W. Palmer — F'rancis Palms — Martin S. Smith — William H. Stevens — William B. Wesson —
William Woodbridge. 105 1 -1077

CHAPTER XCII.

Authors, Editors, Publishers, Physicians, and Military Officers.— Hugh Brady —James B. Book —
William H. Brearley — J. Henry Carstens — Henry A. Cleland — George Dawson — Arent S.
DePeyster — John Farmer — Charles Hastings — Edward W. Jenks — Herman Kiefer — Alexander
Macomb — Frederick Morley — RoUin C. Olin — John Pulford — William E. Ouinby — James E.
Scripps — John P. Sheldon — Morse Stewart — Francis X. Spranger — John Trumbull — ^ William A.
Throop— Henry O. Walker — Anthony Wayne — Richard S. Willis — Orlando B. Wilcox — Hal C.
Wyman — Charles C. Yemans. 1078-1109

CHAPTER XCIII.

Judges and Lawyers.— John Atkinson — Levi Bishop — James V. Campbell — Don M. Dickinson —
Julian G. Dickinson -— Samuel T. Douglass — D. Bethune Duffield — Henry M. Duffield — Edmund
Hall — DeWitt C. Holbrook — George H. Hopkins — Willard M. Lillibridge — George V. N. Lothrop
— William A. Moore— George F. Porter — Charles L Walker — Edward C. Walker — William P.
Wells— Albert H. Wilkinson — James Witherell — Benjamin F. H. Witherell. 1110-1134

VI TABLE OF CONTENTS,

CHAPTER X C I V .

Merchants. — Henry J. Buckley — James Burns — William K. Coyl — Thomas R. Dudley — William H.
Elliott — James L. Edson — Jacob S. Farrand — John Farrar — Benjamin F. Farrington — Dexter
M. Ferry — Aaron C. Fisher — Richard H. Fyfe — Rufus W. Gillett — Henry Glover — Jeremiah
Godfrey — Bruce Goodfellow — Theodore P. Hall — George H. Hammond — Samuel Heavenrich —
Emil S. Heineman — Chauncey Flurlbut — Joshua S. Ingalls — Charles S. Lsham — Richard Macauley

— Thomas McGraw — Nicol Mitchell — George F. Moore — James V. Moran — Cyrenius A. Newcomb

— Henry A. Nevvland — Thomas Palmer — George Peck — James E. Pittman^ William Reid —
William D. Robinson — Alanson Sheley — Osias W. Shipman -- Aaron L. Watkins— Frederick
Wetmore — George C. Wetherbee — H. Kirke White. i 1351-174

CHAPTER XC V.

Manufacturers and Inventors. — William S. Armitage — Absalom Backus, Jr. — Carleton A Beardsley —
Thomas Berry — Calvin K. Brandon — William A. Burt — Wells Burt — John Burt — George S.
Davis — Solomon Davis — Alexander Delano — Jeremiah Dwyer — Jacob B. Fox — George H. Gale —
John S. Gray — Thomas F. Griffin — Gilbert Hart — Samuel F. Hodge — F. A. Hubel — James Mc-
Gregor — Joseph B. Moore — Michael J. Murphy — David O. Paige — Hervey C. Parke — Hazen S.
Pingree — David M. Richardson — Fordyce H. Rogers — ^ Frederick Stearns — Joseph I'oynton —
J. Hill Whiting. 1175-1207

CHAPTER XCVI.

Land Dealers, Lumber Manufacturers, Vessel Owners, Railroad and Insurance Managers, Etc.—

Francis Adams — James A. Armstrong — Stephen Baldwin — Edmund A. Brush — W^illiam N.
Carpenter — 'John P. Clark — Darius Cole — Alfred A. Dvvight — Eralsy Ferguson — Moses W.
Field — George S. Frost — J. Huff Jones — Edward Lyon — Charles Merrill — Franklin Moore —
Stephen Moore — John B. Mulliken — Joseph Nicholson — Charles Noble — Charles W. Noble —
Charles L. Ortmann — Samuel Pitts — .John E. Potts — -Henry P. Pulling — David R. Shaw — Elliott
T. Slocum — Giles B. Slocum — John D. Standish — Isaac N. Swain — Anson Waring — Jared C.
Warner — Deodatus C. Whitwood. 1208-1234

LIST OF PORTRAITS

The Author,
Marshall Chapin,
C. C. Trowbridge,
Asher B. Bates,
James A. Van Dyke,
Frederick Buhl,
O. M. Hyde,
Henry Ledyard,
C. H. Buhl,'
M. I. Mills,
Hugh Moffat,
Alexander Lewis,
S. B. Grunimond,
Marvin H. Chamberlain,
Russell A. Alger,
John J. Bagley,
H. P. Baldwin,
Lewis Cass,
S. Dow Elwood,
James F. Joy,
Henry B. Ledyard,
James McMillan,
Hugh McMillan,
John S. Newberry,
John Owen,
David Preston,
Thomas W. Palmer,
Francis Palms,
M. S. Smith,
William H. Stevens,
William B. Wesson,
William Woodbridge,
J. B. Book,
William H. Brearley,
J. Henry Carstens,
H. A. Cleland,
Arent S. De Peyster,
Charles Hastings,
E. W. Jenks,
Herman Kiefer,
Alexander Macomb,
Rollin C, Olin, "

acing title

John Pulford,

1032

William E. ()uinby,

1034

Morse Stewart,

1034

F. X. Spranger,

1036

H. 0. Walker,

1038

Anthony Wayne,

1040

Richards Willis,

1042

(3rlando I^. Wilcox,

1044

H. C. Wyman,

1044

C. C. Ye mans,

1046

John Atkinson,

1046

Levi Bishop,

1048

James V. Campbell,

1048

Julian G. Dickinson,

1050

S. T. Douglass,

1052

D. Bethune Duffield,

1054

Henry M. Duffield.

1056

Edmund Hall,

1058

De Witt C, Holbrook,

1060

George H. Hopkins,

1062

W. M Lillibridge,

1064

George V. N. Lothrop

1064

William A. Moore,

1066

George F. Porter, '

1068

C. I. Walker,

1068

E. C. Walker,

1070

William P. Wells,

1070

A. H. Wilkinson,

1072

James Witherell.

1072

Henry J. Buckley,

1074

James Burns,

1076

William K. Coyl,

1078

Thomas R. Dudley,

1078

W. H. Elliott,

1080

James L. Edson,

1082

Jacob S. Farrand,

1084

John Farrar,

1086

B. F. Farrington,

1088

Dexter M. Ferry,

1090

Aaron C. Fisher,

1090

Richard H. Fyfe,

1092

Rufus W. Giliett,

Vlll

LIST OF PORTRAITS.

Henry Glover,
Jeremiah Godfrey,
Bruce Goodfellow,
Theodore P. Hall,
George H. Hammond,
Samuel Heavenrich,
Emil S. Heineman,
Chauncey Hurlbut,
Joshua S. Ingalls,
Charles S. Isham,
Richard Macauley,
Thomas McGraw,
Nicol Mitchell,
George F. Moore,
John V. Moran,
Cyrenius A. Newcomb.
Henry A. Newland,
Thomas Palmer,
George Peck,
James E. Pittman,
WilHam Reid,
William D. Robinson,
Alanson Sheley,
Osias W. Shipman,
Aaron L. Watkins,
Frederick Wetmore,
George C. Wetherbee,
H. Kirke White,
A. Backus, Jr.,
Carlton A. Beardsley,
Thomas Berry,
C. K. Brandon,
WilHam A. Burt,
Wells Burt,
John Burt,
George S. Davis,
Solomon Davis,
Alexander Delano,
Jeremiah Dwyer,
Jacob B. Fox,
George H. Gale,
John S. Gray,
Thomas F. Griffin,
Gilbert Hart,

1148

Samuel F. Hodge,

1 192

II50

F. A. Hubel.

1 192

1 1 50

James McGregor,

1 192

II52

Joseph B. Moore,

1 194

1 1 52

Michael J. Murphy,

1 194

II54

David 0. Paige,

1 1 96

1154

Hervey C. Parke,

1 196

II56

Hazen S. Pingree,

1 198

II56

David M. Richardson,

1200

1158

Fordyce H. Rogers,

1202

II58

Frederick Stearns,

1204

1 1 60

Joseph Toynton,

1204

1 160

J. Hill Whiting,

1206

II62

Francis Adams,

1206

II62

James A. Armstrong,

1206

1 164

Stephen Baldwin,

1208

1 164

William N. Carpenter,

1208

1166

John P. Clarke.

1210

1166

Darius Cole,

1210

1 166

Alfred A. Dwight,

1212

1168

Eralsy Ferguson,

1212

1 168

Moses W. Field.

1214

1 170

George S. Frost,

1216

1170

J Huff Jones,

1216

II72

Edward Lyon,

1216

II72

Charles Merrill,

1218

1174

Stephen Moore,

1220

1 174

John B. Mulliken,

1220

1 174

Joseph Nicholson,

1222

II76

Charles Noble,

1222

II76

C. W. Noble,

1222

II78

Charles L. Ortmann,

1224

1 180

Samuel Pitts,

1226

II80

J. E. Potts,

1226

1 182

Henry P. Pulling,

1226

II84

D. R. Shaw,

1228

1186

Elliott T. Slocum,

1228

II86

Giles B. Slocum,

1228

II88

J. D. Standish,

1230

1188

Isaac N. Swain,

1230

II88

Anson Waring,

1232

1190

Jared C. Warner,

1232

1 1 90

D. C. Whitwood,

1232

II92

PART )C1II

BIOGRAPHICAL

CHAPTER XC

MAYORS.

SOLOMON SIBLEY was born in Sutton, Massa-
chusetts, October 7, 1769. He came to Detroit very
soon after the Territory was surrendered by the
English, and in January, 1799, was elected a mem-
ber, from Wayne County, of the General Assembly
of the Northwest Territory, and was largely instru-
mental in procuring the passage of the Act of 1802,
incorporating the town of Detroit.

In recognition of his services the electors of the
town, at the first election, conferred upon him the
freedom of the corporation, and after the second
election he became Chairman of the Board of Trus-
tees, and under the first city charter of 1806, was
made Mayor of the city.

He also held numerous other offices, serving as
Auditor of the Territory from 18 14 to 1817, was
United States Attorney from 181 5 to 1823, and
Delegate in Congress, from Michigan, from 1821 to
1823, and one of the Judges of the Supreme Court
of the Territory from 1823 to 1837.

The recital of the offices he filled, is abundant
indication of the esteem in which he was held, and
in ability he was the peer of any who were then in
office in the Territory, or citizens of Detroit.

He was married in October, 1802, to Sarah
Whipple Sproat. They had eight children, as fol-
lows : Colonel Ebenezer Sproat Sibley, of United
States Army; Katherine Whipple, wife of C. C.
Trowbridge ; Henry Hastings Sibley, ex-Governor
of Minnesota; Augusta, wife of James A. Arm-
stong ; Mary, wife of Charles S. Adams ; Alexan-
der Hamilton Sibley; Sarah Alexandrine Sibley,
and Frederic Baker Sibley, of Detroit.

Solomon Sibley died at Detroit, April 4, 1846.

ELIJAH BRUSH was born at Bennington, Ver-
mont, and came to Detroit in 1798. His father
was a Colonel in the Revolutionary Army, and
took part in the battle of Bennington.

Elijah Brush graduated at Dartmouth College,
began the study of law, and was admitted to the
bar. He first practised his profession in Detroit.

In 1803, within five years after he arrived in
Detroit, he was elected a trustee of the town cor-

poration, and in the same year served also as super-
visor.

In 1805 he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of
the Legionary Corps of Territorial Militia, and un-
der the Act of 1806 was appointed the second Mayor
of Detroit.

In 1806 he was also appointed Treasurer of the
Territory, and served until December 13, 181 3, and
from 1811 to 1814 also held the office of United
States Attorney.

After the surrender of Detroit to the English, in
i8t2, Colonel Brush with other citizens was com-
pelled by General Proctor to leave the Territory.
Reaching Toronto, then known as York, he met
his brother-in-law, a British officer, through whose
interposition he was paroled, and sent within the
American lines.

In October, 181 3, with General Harrison's troops,
he re-entered Detroit, and in December, 18 13, he
died.

Colonel Brush married Adelaide Askin, a daughter
of John Askin, of Detroit, and in 1806 became the
owner of the Askin, afterwards known as the Brush
Farm.

He left three sons and a daughter.

JOHN R. WILLIAMS was born at Detroit, May
4, 1782, and was the only son of Thomas Williams,
a native of Albany, New York, who came to Detroit
in 1765, and married a sister of the late Joseph
Campau.

He received an appointment in the Army in 1 796,
and entered the service under General Wilkinson,
at Fort Marsac, on the Cumberland River, in Ten-
nessee.

In 1799 he resigned, at the solicitation of Mr.
Campau, and returned to Detroit, to engage in
business. They formed a partnership to engage in
the Indian trade, and Mr. Williams went to Mon-
treal to purchase goods. While on board a small
sloop at Queenstown, he became engaged in an
altercation with a Frenchman named La Salle, a de-
scendant of the renowned navigator and explorer.
It resulted in their fighting a duel across a table, in

L1031]

I032

MAYORS.

which La Salle was shot and severely wounded,
Mr. Williams was arrested and carried to Montreal,
where he remained under bail for several months,
but was finally discharged.

In 1802 he returned to Detroit, and embarked in
the fur trade and general mercantile business.

During the war of 181 2 he was made Captain of
an artillery company. At the time of Hull's sur-
render he became a prisoner, but was paroled, and
moved with his family to Albany, where he re-
mained until 181 5, when he returned to Detroit and
resumed business.

In the year 181 5 he was appointed Associate Jus-
tice of the County Court, and in 181 8 was made
one of the County Commissioners, and in the same
year was also appointed Adjutant General of the
Territory, and served until 1829.

He was the author of the City Charter of 1824,
and served as the first Mayor under it, and was
elected to the same office in 1830, 1844, 1845, and
1846.

He served as President of the Constitutional Con-
vention held at Ann Arbor in 1835, and was active
at all times in all political matters.

He was also always interested in military affairs,
and at the breaking out of the Black Hawk war was
in command of the Territorial troops, and went to
Chicago to aid in defending the western settlements.

He owned a large amount of real estate, and his
name and the names of members of his family are
perpetuated in the names of several of the streets of
the city.

lie married Mary Mott, daughter of Major Ger-
shom Mott, on October 25, 1804.

They had ten children, viz.: Ferdinand ; Theo-
dore ; G. Mott ; Thomas ; John C. ; James Mott ; J.
C. Devereux ; Elizabeth, first wife of Colonel John
Winder ; Cecilia ; Mary C. A., married first to David
Smart, second to Commodore J. P. McKinstry ; she
died in 1876.

Mr. Williams died at Detroit, October 20, 1854.

HENRY JACKSON HUNT was the eldest son
of Colonel Thomas Hunt, of the Revolutionary
Army, afterwards Colonel of the Second Regiment
of the United States Army, who died in St. Louis.
It fell to the lot of his son, Henry Jackson Hunt, to
care for the orphaned children.

He came from New York to Detroit soon after
the Americans obtained possession, and served as
Colonel of the Militia during most or all of the time
from 1800 to 1813.

He was a leading merchant and also held various
offices ; was one of the Judges of the County Court
in 181 5, City Assessor in 181 7, Trustee of the Uni-
versity in 1 82 1, one of the Trustees of the Corpora-
tion of Detroit in 1823, and in 1826 was elected

Mayor of the city, and died on September 15, 1826,
before the expiration of his term of office.

He was universally esteemed as a citizen and was
prominent in all the literary, philanthropic, and re-
ligious projects of his time, and few persons in
Detroit were as well and favorably known.

He was almost universally spoken of as Henry I.
Hunt, but his middle name was Jackson.

He had but few relatives in Detroit. Cleveland
Hunt, a nephew, is the only representative left in
the city.

JOHN BIDDLE was born in Philadelphia in
March, 1792.

He was the son of Charles Biddle, Vice-President
of Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War, and
a nephew of Commodore Nicholas Biddle, of the
Revolutionary Navy.

He graduated at Princeton College, and a few
years later entered the United States Army.

During most of the War of 18 f 2 he served un-
der General Scott upon the Niagara frontier,
during a portion of the time attached to his staff,
and was promoted from a Captain of Artillery to
the position of Major. His brother. Major Thomas
Biddle, was also in the United States Army, and
served in the same campaigns, and an older
brother. Commodore James Biddle, was a noted
naval officer.

At the close of the war. Major Biddle was sta-
tioned at Detroit. After some years he resigned his
commission and went east.

In 1819 he married Eliza F. Bradish, of New
York, and, returning to Detroit, made quite exten-
sive purchases of lands.

In 1823 he was appointed Register of the Land
Office for the district of Detroit, and held the office
until 1837.

In 1827 and 1828 he served as Mayor of Detroit,
and from 1829 to 1831 was a delegate in Congress
from Michigan, and in 1841 served in the State
Legislature. He took great interest in political
matters, and was President of the convention which
framed the State Constitution of 1835. He was a
fine scholar, wrote easily and fluently, and his lit-
erary productions were always valuable.

He was a member of St. Paul's P. E. Church and
interested in all the general religious and philan-
thropic reforms and efforts of his time. He was
President of the original corporation that built the
Michigan Central Railroad, and also in 1838 Presi-
dent of the Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank.

In his later years he spent much of his time on
his farm, which covered the site of the present city
of Wyandotte, and also traveled extensively. On
his return from a trip to Europe, in 1859, he spent
the summer at White Sulphur Springs, Virginia,

MARSHALL { IiAPlA

MAYORS.

1033

where he died suddenly on August 25, after taking
a cold bath.

He had a large family several of whom survived
him. Among these were the widow of General
Andrew Porter, William S. Biddle, Major James
Biddle and Edward I. Biddle.

JONATHAN KEARSLEY was born in Dau-
phin County, Pennsylvania, on August 20, 1786,
and was the son of Captain Samuel Kearsley, an
officer of merit and distinction in the Revolutionary
war. The son graduated at Washington College,
in Pennsylvania, in May, 181 1, and about a year
later, on July 6, 181 2, he was commissioned by
President Madison as a First Lieutenant in the
Second Regiment of Artillery. He was soon after
appointed Assistant Deputy Quartermaster-Gen-
eral and attached to the staff of Colonel Izard, at
Philadelphia.

In 1 81 3 he was appointed Adjutant of the regi-
ment commanded by Colonel Winfield Scott, after-
wards Lieutenant-General Scott. He accompanied
this distinguished officer at the storming of Fort
George, crossing the river in the same boat. He
w^as shortly after engaged in the battle at Stony
Creek, and was brevetted Captain for his gallant
conduct on that occasion.

He also served as Garrison Major under General
Porter and Brigadier Major under General Wil-
liams. He was with the army in the descent of the
St. Lawrence under General Wilkinson, and partici-
pated in the action at Chrystler's Field.

On April 21, 18 14, he was transferred to the
Fourth Rifles, and during the following summer
was in the left division of the northern army, until
in a skirmish on August 20, preceding the sortie at
Fort Erie, he was so badly wounded that it
became necessary to amputate his leg. He was
subsequently commissioned Assistant Adjutant-
General with the rank of Major, to take effect from
the day of the action in which he was wounded.
Soon afterwards he was appointed to the charge of
the State Arsenal at Harrisburg and was also made
a Collector of the internal revenue taxes.

On March 20, 18 19, he was appointed Receiver
of Public Moneys at Detroit and removed to this
city. He held the office until 1850. He also served
as Recorder of the city in 1826 and as Justice of
the Peace in 1827.

In 1829 he was elected Mayor of the city, and
from 1836 to 1850 served as one of the Regents of
the University.

Major Kearsley was twice married. The name of
his first wife was Margaret Hetich, daughter of
George Hetich, of Chambersburgh, Pennsylvania.
They had three children, one of whom died in
childhood; a son, Edward R. Kearsley, lives in

Crawford County, Ohio, and a daughter, the late
Mrs. M. Howard Webster, lived in Detroit.

The second wife of Mr. Kearsley, Rachel Valen-
tine, was the daughter of Robert Valentine, of
Chester County, Pennsylvania. She died on Janu-
ary 6, 1859. Mr. Kearsley died on August 31 of
the same year.

MARSHALL CHAPIN, M. D., was born in
Bernardstown, Massachusetts, February 27, 1798,
and was the son of Caleb and Mary Chapin, who
had nine children. His ancestors lived in and about
Springfield and the Connecticut River Valley for
over 200 years. His father was a physician, but
owned and operated a farm.

The family removed to Caledonia, New York, and
after having attended the usual schools of that day
Mr. Chapin took a medical course at Geneva. He
subsequently studied with his uncle. Dr. Cyrenius
Chapin, of Buffalo, New York, and graduated at
the age of twenty-one.

In 1 819 he established, with the help of his uncle,
the first drug store in Detroit. Very soon after
coming to the city he became prominent in public
life. He served as Alderman at large in 1826 and
1827, and as Mayor of Detroit in 1831 and 1833,
and as Chief Engineer of the Fire Department in
1832.

In 1832, during the first visitation of the cholera,
he was appointed City Physician and won golden
opinions from all classes by his faithfulness and de-
votion ; and two years later, when the scourge again
appeared, he was equally active and efficient.

In addition to his professional labors he gave
close attention to his drug store, and under the firm
names of J. Owen & Co., T. & J. Hinchman, and
T. H. Hinchman & Sons, the business has been
continuously maintained ; but for more than two
score of years has been exclusively a wholesale
establishment.

As a physician Mr. Chapin was greatly beloved,
and he invariably refused all compensation for his
services from those not readily able to pay.

He was married in 1823 to Mary Crosby. They
had four children. Their names were: Louisa,
who married Theodore H. Hinchman ; Helen, who
married Norton Strong; Charles, who died when
twelve years old; and Marshall, now dead, who
served as a Colonel in the Union army.

Dr. Chapin died December 26, 1838.

LEVI COOK was born December 16, 1792, at
Bellingham, Massachusetts, and came to Detroit in
1 81 5. The same year he became one of the Trus-
tees of the city and continued to hold from one to
several offices almost every year thereafter.

In 1822 he served as City Treasurer; from 1824

I034

MAYORS.

to 1827 as County Commissioner ; as Superintend-
ent of the City Poor in 1827 and 1828, and also as
Alderman at large in 1828. Reserved as Treas-
urer of the Territory from 1830 to 1836, and as
Chief Engineer of the Fire Department during the
same period. In 1834 he was Supervisor of Detroit,
and in 1835 and 1836 Mayor. In 1838 he repre-
sented Wayne County in the House of Representa-
tives, and in 1840 and 1841 served on the Board of
Review of the city.

He was prominently connected with various
banking organizations, was a Director in the Farm-
ers' and Mechanics' Bank in 1829, and President
from 1838 to 1845. H^ was a leading and very
influential member of the Masonic body, and was
tall, portly and commanding in appearance. He
married Eliza Sanderson.

He died December 2, 1866, but left neither wife
nor children.

CHARLES CHRISTOPHER TROWBRIDGE
was born in Albany, New York, on December 29,
1800, and was the youngest of six children. His
father, Luther Trowbridge, who died in 1802, was
a native of Framingham, Massachusetts, and when
the Revolution broke out was a law student, but
immediately volunteered in the army.

At the age of seventeen he received an Ensign's
commission in the Massachusetts' line and contin-
ued in the service until peace was declared, when
he retired with the rank of Brevet Captain and
Quartermaster.

After the war he settled at Albany, where his
wife (whose maiden name was Elizabeth Tillman)
had relatives. Here he held various offices, was
prominent in public affairs, and died greatly re-
spected.

After his death the children were scattered,
Charles 'C. finding a friend in Major Horatio Ross,
of Owego, who proposed to initiate him into mer-
cantile life. In accordance with this plan his first
year was spent at Elmira; the next year he was
taken into the family of Major Ross, where he was
treated as a favored son.

The business troubles that followed the peace of
181 5 ruined his patron's business, and the creditors
put the property into the hands of Mr. Trowbridge,
who was then not quite eighteen years old, and he
went down the Susquehanna with a cargo of salt,
gypsum and lumber, disposed of it in Pennsylvania
and came back safely with the proceeds. The next
year Mr. William A. Ely, of Owego, engaged him
to go as supercargo to Havre de Grace and Balti-
more.

Shortly after his return from Baltimore he decided
to seek a home in Michigan. Some of his friends,
through the intervention of Rev. John Monteith,

secured him an appointment under Major Thomas
Rowland, who was then holding various offices, and
in the fall of 18 19 Mr. Trowbridge came to Detroit.

He was soon on intimate terms with the best and
most influential persons in the city, and in 1820 was
selected as one of the party to accompany Governor
Cass on his exploring expedition to Lake Superior.
The trip made Mr. Trowbridge intimately ac-
quainted with Governor Cass, and he became and
continued through life a kind and helpful friend.

On his return from the expedition Mr. Trow-
bridge was sent with Colonel Beaufait, an Indian
interpreter, to make a payment to the Saginaw In-
dians, and soon after his return he began to act as
private secretary to General Cass, and in that capa-
city wrote from dictation various public documents
and literary productions, and was also employed in
other positions of great responsibility.

In 1 82 1 he was made Secretary of the Board of
Regents of the University, holding the office until
1835.

In December, 1823, he was employed by the Sec-
retary of War under the direction of General Cass
to take down, from the Indians, statements of the
relation of different tribes to each other, and the
character and resemblance of their customs and
languages.

In December, Mr. Trowbridge set out for White
River to spend the winter with William Conner, a
Delaware interpreter and agent who lived about
eighteen miles from the town of Indianapolis. On
returning from the winter's work he employed him-
self, at General Cass's request, in visiting the old
French people and taking down their recitals of
events occurring during the Pontiac War. During
this same year he was sent to Fort Wayne to make
further investigation among the Miamies.

In 1825 Mr. Trowbridge was made cashier of the
Bank of Michigan, serving until 1836, and as Pres-
ident in 1839. In 1833 he, with several Boston
capitalists, laid out the village of Allegan. He was
also interested during the next few years in many
similar enterprises. In 1844 he was made President
of the Michigan State Bank, and continued to serve
until the winding up of its affairs in 1853. He then
became Secretary and Treasurer and afterwards
President of the Oakland & Ottawa Railroad Com-
pany, and its successor, the Detroit & Milwaukee
Railway Company.

The only political offices he held were those of
Alderman of Detroit in 1833 and Mayor in 1834.
During this period he greatly served the city by the
introduction of system in the keeping of the various
accounts.

The early months of his mayoralty were burdened
by cares growing out of the prevalence of the chol-
era. While the plague remained he gave personal

ASHER B. P>ArES.

MAYORS.

1035

attention without stint to the suffering, and when it
ceased he resigned the office of Mayor.

He was one of the organizers of Elmwood Cem-
etery—one of the original trustees— and remained
actively interested as an officer of the corporation
until his death. In 1847 he was influential in secur-
ing large donations from Detroit and Michigan for
the starving poor of Ireland.

He took a lively interest in everything which was
calculated to promote intellectual, moral and relig-
ious culture, was active in the promotion of various
local schools and seminaries, served as President of
the Detroit Association of Charities, and indeed
there seemed no limit to his cheerful helpfulness
in any and every department of social and religious
reform.

He was always attentive to the poor and found
time to receive kindly and entertain cheerfully the
numerous visitors who sought information or help
from him.

He was one of the earliest members of St. Paul's
Protestant Episcopal Church and subsequently one
of the organizers of Christ Church, and from the
time the Diocese of Michigan was organized was a
member of the standing committee, and was also a
member of every General Convention of the Pro-
testant Episcopal Church from 1835 up to the time
of his death.

In all of the affairs and interests of the church of
his choice he took a deep and continuous interest,
and was also always evidently gratified at the
growth and progress of other evangelical denomi-
nations ; indeed, he did not know how to be narrow
or mean-spirited, and his nature was broad and
generous in an eminent degree.

The esteem in which he was universally held was
emphasized in a remarkable manner in the banquet
tendered him on the occasion of his eighty-third
birthday, and participated in by a class of citizens
whose very presence was in itself an honor.

Within a few months after this event, on April 3,
1883, the public was called upon to mourn his de-
cease.

He was married in 1826 to Miss Catherine Whip-
ple Sibley, eldest daughter of Judge Solomon Sib-
ley. She died on March 24, 1880.

Mr. Trowbridge left five children, viz. : Mrs.
Sidney D. Miller, Mrs. William D. Wilkins, Mrs.
George Hendrie, Miss Mary Trowbridge and Mr.
Harry Trowbridge.

ANDREW MACK was the son of Stephen
Mack and was born in New London, Connecticut.
In his early manhood he became a sailor and event-
ually captain of a vessel, and sailed three times
around the world.

In 1808 he took a drove of sheep from the east

to Cincinnati and settled there, and in the war of
181 2 was captain of a company and subsequently a
member of the Assembly of the State of Ohio. He
came to Detroit about 1830, and in that year kept
the Mansion House Hotel. He was connected with
the Territorial militia and was generally known as
Colonel Mack. In 1830 he was one of the proprie-
tors of the Detroit Free Press, and in 1834 was
elected Mayor of the city to fill out the unexpired
term of Mr. Trowbridge, who resigned.

From 1829 to 1839 he served as Collector of Cus-
toms, and in the latter year represented Wayne
County in the State Legislature.

He eventually moved to a farm on the St. Clair
River, in the town of St. Clair, and died there in
1857, when seventy-five years of age.

The business enterprises in which he was en-
gaged and the positions he held indicate that he was
capable, energetic, and well-informed.

HENRY HOWARD, who served as Mayor dur-
ing 1837, came here with Ralph Wadhams from
Geneva. New York. They were in partnership in
the dry goods trade in the old Smart Block, and
subsequently had a warehouse at the foot of Ran-
dolph street.

Mr. Howard served as Alderman at large in 1834,
and at the time he was Mayor was in the lumber
business and lived at No. 290 Woodbridge street
east. He also served as State Treasurer from 1836
to 1839.

AUGUSTUS S. PORTER was born in Canan-
daigua. New York, January 18, 1798 ; graduated at
Union College in 181 8 ; studied law as a profession,
and practiced for twenty years in Detroit. He was
Recorder of the city in 1830 and was elected Mayor
in 1838, and in the same year was one of the pro-
prietors of the Daily Advertiser.

In 1840 he was elected United States Senator
from Michigan and served until 1845.

In 1846 he removed to Niagara Falls, the resi-
dence of his father.

In 1866 he was a delegate to the Philadelphia
National Union Convention. He died about 1873.

ASHER B. BATES was born at Le Roy, Gen-
esee County, New York,on May 2, 1810. He came
here as early as 1831.

In 1833 he was serving as a Justice of the Peace,
and in 1835 was City Attorney. In 1838, on the
resignation of Augustus S. Porter, he was elected
Mayor of the city.

In the summer of 1848 he went to the Sandwich
Islands, where he became Attorney-General, and
remained until 1863 or 1864, when he moved to San
Francisco, where he died on June i, 1873.

1036

MAYORS.

He was married to Lucilla Beals in Canandaigua,
New York, on October 24, 1832. She died at De-
troit in 1839, leaving one son, Dudley C. Bates, now
a resident of San Francisco.

He was married to Elizabeth G. Judd, of Troy,
Oakland County, Michigan, on December 6, 1843.
She was living in 1 887.

DE GARMO JONES was born at Albany, New
York, November 11, 1787, and came to Detroit a
few years subsequent to the War of 181 2, and soon
became, and for many years remained, a prominent
factor in many of the business enterprises of De-
troit and Michigan.

It was through his sagacity and means that the
plaster beds on the Grand River were first brought
to light.

He purchased at an early period the farm that
bears his name, and it made him and his heirs
wealthy.

He was one of the first stockholders of the Bank
of Michigan, was one of the contractors for the
building of the old Capitol, and was largely inter-
ested in vessels at an early date. He was also
engaged in the forwarding business and owned and
occupied a large warehouse.

In 1835 he was one of the first Directors of the
Detroit & St. Joseph, now the Michigan Central
Railroad. He served as Alderman at large in 1827,
1830, and 1838; as Adjutant-General of the State
during part of the year 1829; as Mayor of the city
in 1839, and as State Senator in 1840 and 1841.

He was well educated, active in moral reform, a
Trustee of the First Protestant Church in 1820.
and universally esteemed.

He died November 14, 1846.

His son, bearing the same name, served with
credit as an officer during the Rebellion.

ZINA PITCHER, M. D., was born at Fort Ed-
wards, Washington County, New York, April 14,
1797. He received a common-school education,
and at the age of twenty went to the Castleton
school to attend a course of medical lectures.

After having completed his term at Castleton he
went to Woodstock, Vermont, where he graduated
in 1822, and was shortly afterwards appointed by
President Monroe Assistant Surgeon in the United
States Army. He was subsequently promoted by
President Jackson to the position of Surgeon.

While in the army he saw much service in the far
southwest, the south and the southeast, as well as
in the country of the Great Lakes In 1835 he
became President of the Army Medical Board, and
upon his resignation, after fifteen years' service, his
rank was within two or three of that of Surgeon-
General.

In 1836 he fixed his permanent residence in De-
troit, and from 1837 to 1852 served as Regent of
the University of Michigan, and took an active part
in the organization of the Medical Department.

In 1840, 184 c and 1843 he served as Mayor of
Detroit; in 1845 as County Physician; in 1847 as
City Physician, and from 1848 to 1867 he was the
physician and surgeon of St. Mary's Hospital, and
from 1857 to 1 861 of the United States Marine
Hospital.

During all these years he did not neglect his en-
gagements as a private practitioner, and found time
to prepare various professional and literary papers
for publication, and to attend at least nine of the
annual meetings of the American Medical Associa-
tion, and was president of the meeting held in De-
troit.

As a physician he was a type of the best ever
produced — careful, skillful, gentle, kind and cour-
teous ; his very presence was reassuring to his
patients, and few, if any, ever had occasion to re-
gret that they were under his care.

Throughout his long residence in Detroit he pos-
sessed the confidence of the whole people. His in-
tegrity, probity and faithfulness to every obligation
were proverbial. In social life he was ever the cour-
teous gentleman.

He died on April 4, 1872, leaving two children,
Nathaniel Pitcher and Mrs. L. E. Higby.

His name is fitly preserved in the name of one of
our streets and in the Pitcher School.

DOUGLASS HOUGHTON was born in Troy,
New York, September 21, 1809. He was educated
for a physician at the Rensselaer Institute and grad-
uated in 1829. The following year he was ap-
pointed Assistant Professor of Chemistry and
Natural History in the Institute , and while occu-
pying this position he came to Detroit, by request
of a number of citizens, to deliver a course of lec-
tures on scientific subjects.

In 1 83 1 he was appointed surgeon and botanist
to the expedition sent out by the Government to
explore the sources of the Mississippi River. On
his return he settled in Detroit and practised as a
physician.

In 1833 he was elected President of the Young
Men's Society, and in 1837 was appointed State
Geologist, and continued to hold the position until
his death, doing much to develop the resources of
the State, and being instrumental in attracting the
attention of many capitalists to its mineral wealth.
He also served as one of the Professors in the Uni-
versity.

He was a member of the National Institute in
Washington, of the Boston Society of Natural His-
tory, and an honorary member of the Royal Anti-

/-^r /J.

( -.

MAYORS.

1037

quarian Society of Copenhagen and of many other
scientific and literary associations. He served as
Mayor of the city in 1842.

He was drowned in Lake Superior, near the
mouth of Eagle River, during a violent storm, on
October 13, 1845. The body was recovered and he
was buried at Detroit on May 15, 1846. His death
was deemed a great public loss.

Houghton County in Michigan is named after
him and fitly perpetuates his memory.

Three children are living— Douglass Houghton,
Jr., of Detroit ; Mrs. Harraun, of Santa Fe, New
Mexico, and Mrs. F. E. Morgan, of Coldwater.

JAMES A. VAN DYKE, for many years a
prominent member of the Detroit bar, and closely
identified with the earlier history of the Fire De-
partment, was born in Mercersburg, Franklin Coun-
ty, Pennsylvania, in December, 181 3, and was the
son of William and Nancy (Duncan) Van Dyke.
His education commenced under private tutors at
Mercersburg, and at the age of fifteen he entered
Madison College at Uniontown, Pennsylvania, grad-
uated in 1832, and commenced the study of law in
the office of George Chambers, at Chambersburg,
Pennsylvania, where he remained one year. He then
went to Hagerstown, Maryland, where he continued
his legal studies under the direction of William
Price, and subsequently went to Baltimore, where he
remained some months.

In 1834 he came to Detroit, entered the law office
of A. D. Eraser, and within six months was admit-
ted to the bar, and entered upon the practice of his
profession. In 1835 he formed a partnership with
Charles W. Whipple, which lasted until the lat-
ter's election in 1838 as one of the Judges of the
Supreme Court. Mr. Van Dyke then entered into
a partnership with E. B. Harrington, which contin-
ued until the death of Mr. Harrington in 1844, after
which Mr. Van Dyke became a partner of H. H.
Emmons, which relation lasted until the practical
retirement of both gentlemen from general practice
in 1852. Mr. Van Dyke was then appointed attor-
ney of the Michigan Central Railroad.

In 1835 and again in 1839 he was appointed City
Attorney, and in 1840 received the appointment of
Prosecuting Attorney of Wayne County. During
the two years he held the latter office he conducted
the criminal prosecutions with such energy and
success as to merit public approval. In 1843 he was
elected an Alderman from the Third Ward, and
again elected to the same position in 1844. His pub-
lic services as chairman of the Committee of Ways
and Means at this period, when the city was in finan-
cial straits, was especially beneficial to Detroit and
did much to avert financial disgrace. His subse-
quent election as Mayor in 1847 enabled him to

perfect the system of recuperation he had so well
commenced, and to mature permanent plans for the
future prosperity of the city, and his entire admin-
istration was marked by close and careful superin-
tendence of city affairs. From 1853 until his death
he served as a member of the first Board of Com-
missioners of the Detroit Water Works.

He was best known, however, from his connec-
tion with the early history of the Detroit Fire De-
partment. His name was enrolled on the list of
members composing Protection Fire Company No.
I, the first duly organized company in Detroit, and
until his death no man in the city took a more active
interest in building up and extending the usefulness
of the Fire Department. He served as President of
the department from 1847 to 185 1, and to his finan-
cial tact, energy and determination, no less than to
an honest pride in the Fire Department, all citizens
are greatly indebted. In 1840 he framed and pro-
cured the passage of the law incorporating the Fire
Department, and it was largely his efforts that
secured the erection of Fireman's Hall. His death,
which occurred May 7, 1855. was an especially
severe loss to the Fire Department, the feeling
being fitly expressed in the following resolutions
adopted by its officers :

" Resolved, That in the death of Mr. Van Dyke the Fire Depart-
ment of Detroit has lost one of its benefactors ; that his name is so
closely interwoven with its fortune, from its origin as a benevo-
lent and chartered organization, through the vicissitudes of its
early and precarious existence until its successful and triumphant
development as one of the prominent institutions of the city, that
it may with truth be said that its history is almost comprised
within the limits of his active participation in its affairs.

'"'' Resolvedy That as a fireman, beginning and serving his full
term in one of the companies of this city, his aim seemed to be
rather to discharge well the duties of a private than to accept the
proffered honors of this company, save as trustee in the Board.
But of those duties he had a high appreciation, deeming it a
worthy ambition, as inculcated by hira in an address to the de-
partment, ' to dedicate one's self to the work with heart brave and
steadfast, tenacious of obedience to law and order, with an ele-
vated and stern determination to tread only the paths of recti-
tude.* "

In order to further honor his memory the Fire
Department issued a memorial volume containing
the proceedings of the department, of the Detroit
bar, and of the Common Council, relative to his
death, as well as several tributes to his memory
from those who knew him best. As a lawyer, Mr.
Van Dyke occupied a leading place at the Detroit
bar. He early gained notoriety as a ready and pow-
erful debater, and showed marked ability and taste
in his public addresses. By his learning, talents and
perseverance, and more than all else by his spotless
integrity, he rapidly obtained the highest honors of
his profession and had an enviable reputation as a
sound, judicious lawyer and able and eloquent ad-
vocate. Few men had in so strong a degree the

I038

MAYORS.

power to win and retain friends; and among his
professional brethren he was not only respected for
legal ability, but was beloved as a friend and com-
panion. He was courteous in manner and of win-
ning and gentlemanly deportment. The following
tribute of respect to his memory was adopted by his
associates of the Detroit bar at a time when the bar
of Detroit had a larger proportion of worthy and
honorable men than it now contains :

" Resolved^ That we, who have been witnesses and sharers of
his professional labors, can best give full testimony of the
genius, skill, learning and industry which he brought to that
profession to which he devoted the chivalrous fire of his youth
and the ripe powers of his manhood, in which he cherished a
manly pride, and whose best honors and success he so rapidly and
honorably achieved.

*' Resolved^ That while we bear this just tribute to the fine in-
tellect of our deceased brother, we turn with greater pride to
those generous qualities of his heart which endeared him to us all
as a companion and friend, which left tender memorials with so
many of his younger brethren of grateful sympathy and assist-
ance, rendered when most needed, and which made his life a
bright example of just and honorable conduct in all its relations.

^^ Risolved^ That though devoted to the profession of his
choice, yet he was never indifferent to the wider duties devolved
upon him in society at large ; and he filled the many public sta-
tions to which he was called by the confidence and esteem of his
fellow-citizens with an earnestness, purity, and ability which
were alike honorable to himself and useful to the public."

For many years he occupied throughout the State
of Michigan a prominent position politically as a
conservative Whig, but with the exception of his
election to the mayoralty he never suffered his name
to be used as a candidate for public office. His
sympathies were easily excited. His donations to
charitable and religious objects were generous and
liberal, and his home life ideal in its domestic hap-
piness. In the early prime of life he had gathered
riches, fame, and honors to an extent rarely found
save in connection with gray hairs. He left a name
dear to his friends and a rich inheritance to his
children, consecrated by the remembrance of the
genial qualities and virtues with which he was so
richly endowed.

He was married in 1835 to Elizabeth Desnoyers,
daughter of Peter J. Desnoyers. They had eleven
children. Philip J. D., their third son, died in 1883.
He was a lawyer by profession and in great measure
inherited his father's legal ability. He was Prose-
cuting Attorney for two terms. The living children
are : George W. ; Mrs. William Casgrain ; Rev.
Ernest, pastor of Pro-Cathedral Catholic Church;
Mrs. Henry Brownson and Madame Van Dyke, Su-
perior of Sacred Heart Convent, Grosse Pointe.

FREDERICK BUHL was born in Butler Coun-
ty, Pennsylvania, November 27, 1806. His parents
were natives of Saxony and emigrated to this coun-
try prior to their marriage. Frederick was the sec-
ond son in a family of eleven children and received

comparatively little schooling. At the age of sixteen
he went to Pittsburgh to learn the jeweler's trade,
but ill-health forced him into other pursuits, and in
1833 he came to Detroit, where he formed a part-
nership with his brother, C. H. Buhl, and embarked
in the fur and hat business. The firm remained in
existence for tw^enty years. At the end of this time his
brother retired and Mr. Buhl continued alone, until
he became one of the largest shippers of furs in the
country, as well as an importer and manufacturer of
everything pertaining to furs. For many years this
house was known under the firm name of F. Buhl
& Co., Mr. Buhl being actively connected with the
firm until February, 1887, when the business was
sold to his son, Walter Buhl, and is now conducted
under the name of Walter Buhl & Co.

For more than half a century, Mr. Buhl has occu-
pied a prominent position among the active, aggres-
sive business men of Detroit. Possessed of quick
discernment, sound business judgment, with the
power of close application, accompanied with cease-
less energy, he has accumulated a comfortable for-
tune. During the years of his business life he has
occupied many positions of trust and honor. He and
his brother, C. H. Buhl, have both served as Mayors
of the city ; and it is doubtful if there is another in-
stance in the country where two brothers have both
occupied the highest municipal office in the gift of
their fellow-citizens. Frederick Buhl served as
Mayor in 1848 and C. H. Buhl in i860 and 1861.

Frederick Buhl has been connected with various
business enterprises pertaining to Detroit. He has
been Director of the State Bank ; President of the
FortWayne&Elmwood Railway Company; Director
of the Second National Bank of Detroit, and Presi-
dent of Harper's Hospital. He was one of the orig-
inal Directors of the Merchants' Exchange and
Board of Trade organized in 1847, and has ever
been ready to lend a helping hand to all commend-
able public projects.

A consistent Christian, he has rendered willing
and substantial aid to religious and charitable work.
From its incipiency he has been a warm friend of
Harper's Hospital ; as an officer rendering valuable
aid in its management by his wise counsel, while his
contributions of time and money have been gener-
ous and liberal. As a public official his course was
marked by good judgment and a firm and inflexible
purpose. Public station or official position was not
congenial to him, and only assumed when to have
refused would have been an evasion of duty. As a
business man his life has been marked by singular
probity, honor, and high-mindedness. Positive and
direct in all things, no one could put a doubtful
construction on his actions. He is benevolent and
kind of heart and in social life is affable and ap-
proachable.

, ^^^-/^7^

S^rc-^^^

MAYORS.

1039

He has found leisure amid the cares of business
to travel quite extensively through Europe and the
United States. Of a robust constitution, which right
living has kept unimpaired, his more than four-
score years rest lightly upon him, and he enjoys
mental and physical vigor which belies his years.

He was married in 1836 to Mis^ Beatty, of Butler
County, Pennsylvania, and has had five children.
His wife died March i, 1884. The oldest son, Cap-
tain F. A. Buhl, entered the Union Army at the
breaking out of the civil war. He was wounded
and died at Annapolis, Maryland, in September,
1864. The remaining children all live in Detroit.

CHARLES HOWARD was born August 7,
1804, in Chenango County, New York. When a
lad his parents moved to Port Jervis, New York,
where they remained several years. Mr. Howard
began business in Sackett's Harbor and afterwards
moved to Oswego, where he invested in marine in-
terests, and for a long time was a member of the
well-known firm of Bronson, Crocker & Co.

in 1840 Mr. Howard came to Detroit and en-
gaged in the forwarding and commission business.
Subsequently, he and N P. Stewart engaged in
busmess as railroad contractors, and constructed a
large portion of the Detroit, Grand Haven & Mil-
waukee Railroad between Pontiac and Corunna.

From 1846 to 1851 he w^as President of the
Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank, and in 1849 be-
came the first President of the Peninsular Bank and
served until 1857. In 1848 he was elected Mayor
of the city, and his administration was careful and
conservative, In business life he was methodical,
active and generous.

On December 10, 1834, he married Margaret
Vosburg, who was a direct descendant of Everar-
dus Bogardus, the first minister in Manhattan, now
New York City. He died November 6, 1883, leav-
ing two children Mrs. William J. Waterman and
Bronson Howard, the well-known dramatic author.

JOHN LADUE w^as the son of Peter and Mary
(Tallman) Ladue, and w^as born November, 1803,
at Lansingburgh, New York.

He was married in 1827 to j\Iary Angel, daugh-
ter of Thomas Angel, of New York. In 1847 he
came to Detroit and engaged in the manufacture of
morocco leather and in wool buying. He soon be-
came popular with the business men, and within
three years after his arrival was elected Mayor.

During his term of office there was much excite-
ment over the arrest of a fugitive slave, and Mayor
Ladue was compelled to request the military to
preserve the peace. His action met the approval of
many citizens, and a vote of thanks was tendered
him by the council.

He died in 1854. His wife and the following
children are living: John T., E A., Charlotte M.,
George N.,and Austin Y. Ladue.

ZACHARIAH CHANDLER was born in Bed-
ford, New Hampshire, December 10, 181 3. He
came to Detroit in December, 1 833, and engaged in
the dry goods business. His first store was on the
site of the present Biddle Flouse; from there he
moved to the block on the west side of Woodward
avenue between Woodbridge and At water streets.

I'he establishment which he founded has been
managed under different firm names, but for many
years past has been conducted under the firm name
of Allan Shelden & Co. Mr. Chandler was very
successful in his business affairs and was known as
a wealthy merchant w^ithin a few years after his
arrival in Detroit. He was also known as a public-
spirited citizen, and in 1848 served as Treasurer of
the Young Men's Benevolent Society, and in the
same year was influential in the building of several
plank roads that greatly served the city In 1851
he was elected Mayor of Detroit, and in 1857 suc-
ceeded Lewis Cass as United States Senator

As an aggressive, fearless Republican he soon
made himself felt and feared in the Senate. He
had courage of a high order, and a fearlessness and
frankness of utterance that were especially needed
at the time he took his seat in the Senate The
administration of President Buchanan began simul-
taneously with his career as a Senator, and the
vacillation and shuffling of the President afforded a
sharp contrast to the boldness and high patriotism
of Mr. Chandler.

Among the principal speeches which he made
during the administration of President Buchanan
were those in opposition to the admission of Kansas
under the Lecompton Constitution ; in opposition to
the annexation of Cuba to the United States , and
in favor of appropriations for the construction of a
ship can^il through the St. Clair Flats He also
made a vigorous protest against the partisan char-
acter of the standing committees of the Senate
under Democratic rule.

Mr. Chandler was re-elected to the Senate in 1863
and in 1869, and in all served eighteen years. It
was upon his motion in December. i86r, that a
joint committee of the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives on the conduct of the war was appointed.
This celebrated committee was continued until
after the close of the war, many changes taking
place among its members ; but Mr. Chandler re-
mained and was always the ruling spirit, and his
abilities and methods were effective in securing the
unity of the Republican party in its war measures.

When the Republican party obtained control of
the Senate, Mr. Chandler was made Chairman of

\o4o

MAYORS.

the Committee on Commerce, and held that position
until March 3, 1875, when his term expired. He
was at all times an earnest and eificient supporter
of the administration of President Lincoln and also
of President Grant, and possessed their full confi-
dence.

The most notable speech delivered by Mr. Chand-
ler was in relation to the conduct of the war. In
this he severely criticised General McClellan's mili-
tary career as Commander of the Army of the
Potomac, and his speech undoubtedly had much to
do with the transfer of General Grant to that com-
mand.

Mr. Chandler had no sooner entered political life
than he showed that he possessed great ability as a
politician, and when his advice was followed, party
success was generally assured. He was among the
foremost of those who favored the overthrow of
slave power, the preservation of the integrity and
honor of the country, and the protection by law of
all the rights of the humblest citizen. He was
Chairman of the Union Congressional Committee
for four years, and was a member of the National
Republican Committee in 1876.

On October 19, 1875, he was appointed by Pres-
ident Grant, Secretary of the Interior, and held the
position until after the inauguration of President
Hayes. His careful and personal administration of
affairs in connection with the position was a sur-
prise to all, and gained him praise even among
those of opposite political faith. He introduced and
carried out a series of reforms in the Indian Depart-
ment, the Land and Pension Offices, and exhibited
an amount of personal knowledge concerning the
affairs of his office, and displayed a moral courage
that were like a revelation to corrupt officials.

Mr Chandler died on November i, 1879, ^t Chi-
cago. He left a wife and one daughter, the wife of
Eugene Hale, Representative to Congress from
Maine.

JOHN H. HARMON was born in Portage
County, Ohio, June 21, 181 9. His father, John
Harmon, a native of Connecticut, emigrated to Ohio
in 1800, and was for many years the publisher of a
newspaper at Ravenna. The son entered his fath-
er's office and became an accurate and skilful
printer. In 1838 he came to Detroit and was em-
ployed on the Detroit Free Press. Four years later
he became one of the publishers, and continued as
such until 1850. In his career as a publisher and
journalist Mr. Harmon was very prosperous, and he
personally exerted a wide influence in political mat-
ters. He served as an Alderman in 1847, and in
1852 was elected Mayor of Detroit, serving two
years.

In 1853 he was appointed by President Pierce,

Collector of the Port of Detroit, and served for four
years. From 1857 he spent most of his time in
Washington City, and was an influential factor
in connection with much of the national legislation.
He was always prominent as a Democrat, and his
personal acquaintance wdth the prominent and pub-
lic men of the nation was probably unequaled.

He was married in 1841 to Miss Sarah S. Rood.
He died on August 6, 1888, leaving three children,
namely, John Harmon, Mrs. S. H. Bell and Miss
Emma Harmon.

OLIVER MOULTON HYDE, born at Sud-
bury, Vermont, March 10, 1804, was the third son
of Pitt William Hyde, a descendant of WiUiam
Hyde, a noted landlord of Norwich, Connecticut,
who emigrated to this country in 1633. His earlier
years were spent at the homestead acquiring such
education as a village school and the seminary at
Castleton could afford.

When twenty-three years of age he married Julia
Ann, daughter of Daniel Sprague, of Poultney, and
subsequently engaged in the dry goods business at
Castleton, Vermont ; but feeling a desire to engage
in more extended enterprises, when about thirty
years of age he sold out his store in Vermont
and removed to Mt. Hope, New York, where he
established and successfully managed two large
blast furnaces.

After a few years he became possessed with what
was known in those days as the "western fever,"
and being influenced by his brother-in-law, Benja-
min F. H. Witherell, he located in Detroit. Here,
in 1838, he first engaged in the hardware trade,
opening a store on Woodward near Jefferson ave-
nue. Subsequently he established an extensive
foundry and machine shop on At water street near
Riopelle, where for several years he manufactured
engines and steamboat machinery. In 1852 he
associated himself with Captain Eber B. Ward in
the construction of a floating dry-dock, a venture
that was at that time considered of much import-
ance. The dock was launched amid great excite-
ment on December 10 of that year.

Mr. Hyde's personal popularity and admirable
capacity for business brought him into official posi-
tions that were oftentimes assumed much against
his inclination. Being a staunch member of the
Whig and afterwards of the Republican party, he
was frequently forced to accept office in political
emergencies to save his party from defeat.

He was repeatedly a member of the Common
Council, was elected Mayor of Detroit in 1854, serv-
ing again in 1856 and 1857, and was Collector of the
Port under the administrations of Presidents Tay-
lor and Fillmore.

During his term as Mayor, in 1857, he recom-

C^^'lL^.^^c^^^

MAYORS.

IO4I

mended the establishment of a House of Correc-
tion, and his communication to the Common Coun-
cil is the first Unk in the chain of events that
secured the establishment of the present Detroit
House of Correction, which has a national reputa-
tion for its completeness and the satisfactory results
it has exhibited.

Mr. Hyde had rare energy of character, untiring
industry, wonderful application and activity ; and
with great aptitude for business he accomplished
very much more than many persons would have
done under the same circumstances.

His private life was simple and unostentatious,
and his home was at the disposal of any one claim-
ing his acqaintance, however humble, his unbounded
hospitality often causing comment. Upon one occa-
sion, while on his way home from the City Hall
building, expecting to meet at dinner the Mayor of
London, Ontario, who with his son had that morning
arrived as guests, he was accosted by a man with
carpet bag in hand, evidently just from the country,
requesting to be shown the way to Hyde's. Mr.
Hyde replied that he was then going in that direc-
tion, and as they walked along he engaged the
stranger in conversation, and learned that he had
been assured by country acquaintances of a hearty
welcome if he applied directly to the Hyde home-
stead. Much to the stranger's surprise, on being
seated at the dining-table, he found his companion
of a few moments before to be also his host, and
upon his right was the Mayor of London. This latter
gentleman, not being accustomed to such open hos-
pitalit3% could hardly understand it.

On November 25, 1863, ^^ the zenith of his popu-
larity and usefulness, Mr. Hyde was stricken with
paralysis. From that time, though only partially
disabled by this first shock, he was almost en-
tirely confined to the house. Four years later a
second shock resulted in his being made completely
helpless. In this condition he remained for three
years. Although so suddenly and completely sep-
arated from active life and the busy world, he pre-
served in a remarkable degree the pleasant, genial
disposition which characterized his former years.
He was cheerful, uncomplaining, interested in the
affairs of his household and in the outside world,
keeping himself thoroughly posted on what was
transpiring.

Upon the breaking out of the civil war, he deeply
deplored his inability to be of some service. Believ-
ing, however, that an earnest expression by the older
citizens would result in an increased interest on the
part of those younger and more able, he aided in
organizing a company of the older citizens, styling
them the "Silver Greys." The qualifications for
membership were that the applicant should be over

fifty years of age, and prepared to enter service,
should occasion require.

During the entire war the office of Mr. Hyde was
at the disposal of the United States Recruiting Ser-
vice. He lived to see the successful termination of
the struggle for national existence, and in the early
morning of June 28, 1870, he quietly passed away
without pain or struggle.

He is remembered chiefly as a kind, charitable
neighbor and as a man of warm affections and un-
bounded liberality. Few citizens who have passed
aw^ay have been more generally mourned. Hun-
dreds had been aided by him. By advice, by sym-
pathy, by gifts of suitable and necessary articles, by
credit, and by the loan of money, he had, in innu-
merable instances, aided those whom he knew or
believed to be deserving. His charities were so
large and frequent as sometimes to lead to his own
personal embarrassment, but he never closed his
hand or heart to the appeal of distress. The relief
that he gave was not through public channels, or by
recorded subscriptions, or through the instrumen-
tality of societies ; he gave directly on personal ap-
plication, after an examination of the necessities
and merits of the applicant. His nearest friends,
even his own family, never knew the full extent of
his benefactions.

The love and esteem of his fellow-citizens were
cordial in the extreme, and frequently found expres-
sion in gifts of rare value. His intimate friends
included the most prominent men of that period ;
among them were Zachariah Chandler, Lewis Cass,
William A. Howard, Horace Greeley, and others.

Besides his widow, there survived him two sons
and a daughter. The oldest son, Henry S. Hyde, is
a resident of Springfield, Massachusetts, and is one
of the most prominent men of his State, ranking
among the highest in banking and other financial
circles. The daughter, Hattie S., is the wife of Asa
D. Dickinson, a resident of New York. The young-
est son, Louis C, was with his father through his
entire sickness, and afterwards joined his brother in
Massachusetts in one of the largest manufacturing
interests in New England.

HENRY LED YARD, one of the early Mayors
of Detroit, was born in the City of New York on
the 5th of March, 181 2. Among his ancestors were
men who had occupied important positions of public
trust, and who had achieved distinction in the ser-
vice of the country. H/s grandfather, Benjamin Led-
yard, was Major of a New York regiment of infantry
in the Revolutionary war, and was one of the original
members and founders of the New York State So-
ciety of the Cincinnati in 1783. He was a cousin
of John Ledyard, the traveler, and of Colonel Wil-

1042

MAYORS.

Ham Ledyard, who, while in command of Fort
Griswold at Groton, Connecticut, was treacherously
killed by a British officer at the time of the memor-
able massacre of the garrison in 1781.

His father, Benjamin Ledyard, was a well-known
lawyer of New York City. His mother was Susan
French Livingston, a daughter of Brockholst Liv-
ingston, who graduated at Princeton in 1774, served
as aide-de-camp to General Schuyler and General
St. Clair, and became a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1778.
After the close of the Revolutionary war Brockholst
Livingston practised law in New York City until
1802, when he became one of the Judges of the
Supreme Court of New York, an office which he
held until his appointment as one of the Associate
Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States
in 1807. He held this office until his death in
1823.

Henry Ledyard's great-grandfather was William
Livingston, the third son of Philip Livingston, who
was the second lord of the manor of Livingston,
and whose eldest son was the third and last lord of
the manor, and whose second son, Philip, was one
of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
William Livingston graduated at Yale College in
1 74 1, became a member of the Middle Temple,
London, in 1742, a member of the Colonial Assem-
bly of New York in 1759, fforn his brother's manor
of Livingston (which at that time had the privilege
of representation under its patent), removed to New
Jersey in 1772, was a member of the Colonial Con-
gress from New Jersey in 1774-75, and was recalled
from Congress, June 5, 1775, to take command of
the New Jersey forces as Brigadier-General He
became Governor of New Jersey in 1776, and held
that position continuously until his death in 1790.

After graduating from Columbia College in 1830,
Henry Ledyard entered upon the practice of the law
in the City of New York.

When General Lewis Cass was appointed Minis-
ter to France, Mr. Ledyard was attached to the
Legation. A gentleman of elegant manners and
high culture, he was eminently qualified for a diplo-
matic position. In 1839 he became Secretary of
Legation, and in 1842 Charge d' Affaires, a posi-
tion which he filled for about two years with credit
to himself and to the satisfaction of his country.
On the 19th of September, 1839, he married Matilda
Frances, daughter of General Cass.

On his return to this country in 1844, Mr. Led-
yard took up his residence at Detroit, where for
nearly twenty years he took an active and promi-
nent part in all that concerned the welfare of that
city. In 1845 h^ was one of the founders of the
State Bank ; in 1846, one of the original promoters
and trustees of Elm wood Cemetery, serving for
many years as its Secretary. In 1846-47 he was a

member of the Board of Education, and was largely
instrumental in introducing and establishing the
system of Union Schools which has ever since been
in operation.

The year 1847 was a memorable one on account
of the dreadful destitution which prevailed in Ire-
land. Contributions for its relief were called for all
over the country, and Mr. Ledyard, in conjunction
with Mr. C. C. Trowbridge, was especially active
and successful in gathering funds and supplies to
be forwarded from Detroit and other parts of Mich-
igan.

He was one of the first to realize the great ad-
vantages to be gained by the city through improved
means of communication with the interior of the
State. In 1848 he became one of the promoters
and corporators of the first Plank Road Company
organized in Michigan, and for many years he was
a director in the various enterprises of this charac-
ter. In 1849-50 he was a member of the Board of
Aldermen, and when the Board of Water Commis-
sioners was organized he was one of the original
Commissioners named in the act creating the Board,
of which he continued to be a member from 1853
to 1859. Ii^ ^^55 he was elected Mayor of Detroit,
and in 1857 State Senator.

When General Cass became Secretary of State
under Mr. Buchanan's administration, Mr. Ledyard
accompanied him to Washington, where he re-
mained until x86i. He then removed to Newport,
Rhode Island, and continued to reside there until
his death in 1880.

Mr. Ledyard was distinguished by a deep sense
of public duty and a broad and well-considered
charity, and during his residence in Newport he
found employment for his active and energetic tem-
perament in untiring efforts to promote the public
good. He became a member of the Commission
appointed by the Mayor to prepare a new charter
for the city. Chiefly through his efforts, a large
fund was raised for the establishment and main-
tenance of the Newport Hospital, and he became
its first President. He also took a prominent part
in the organization and maintenance of various
societies for the relief of the poor and unfortunate.

Although a great sufferer during the later years
of his life, his zeal for the welfare of others showed
no abatement. No considerations of personal dis-
comfort or inconvenience deterred him from his
active efforts of benevolence. He was a daily vis-
itor at the hospital which he had established, and
many a sufferer within its walls gained renewed
hope and life from his tender sympathy and cheer-
ful words of encouragement. It was said of him
that his presence in the hospital was felt as a bene-
diction.

A great lover of books, and possessed of a fine

6JU

.JL

MAYORS.

1043

and critical literary taste, he was an earnest advo-
cate of the usefulness of public libraries as a means
of education for the people, and for many years he
took an active interest in the management of that
venerable institution in Newport, the Redwood
Library, and was at one time its President. In
works such as these the last twenty years of his life
were passed.

His death occurred on the 7th of June, 1880, at
London, during a brief visit to Europe.

JOHN PATTON was born in the county of
Down, Ireland, March i, 1822, and is one of the six
children of James and Eliza (Cathcart) Patton, both
of Scotch descent. At eight years of age John
I'atton came with his father to Albany, New York,
and they were followed by the mother and the rest
of the children the ensuing year.

At seventeen years of age John was apprenticed
to the trade of carriagesmith, and in 1843 came to
Detroit, followed his calling for two years, and then
started in business for himself; the same year,
on March 3, 1845, he married Eliza J. Anderson.
His business grew, and he carried on the business
of carriage manufacturing on a large scale, and
continued it until a few years ago.

Mr. Patton has a genial nature, and that he has
the faculty of making friends is evident by the
numerous offices he has held. He was Chief Engi-
neer of the Fire Department from 1852 to 1854,
and President of the department from 1855 to 1857.
\n 1853 and 1854 he was Alderman from the Third
Ward, and in 1858 and 1859 Mayor of the city.
From 1864 to 1869 County Auditor, in 1869 and
1870 Sheriff of the county, and since 1880 he has
been a Justice of the Peace.

CHRISTIAN H. BUHL is one of the oldest mer-
chants of Detroit, there being few others having as
many years of active experience in mercantile life.
His record covers a period of fifty-five years, and
during all of that time he has been continuously
identified with the city as a leading merchant. His
father. Christian Buhl, was born in Germany in
1776, came to America in 1802, and settled in
western Pennsylvania, where he died in 1864 He
was a merchant and farmer, and gave his sons not
only a common school education, but a business
training that has been well improved.

Christian H. Buhl was born in Butler County,
Pennsylvania, May 9, 181 2. The first business he
learned was that of a hatter. At the age of twen-
ty-one he was proficient in the trade and set out to
explore the west, reaching Detroit in 1833, where he
decided to remain, and joined his brother Frederick
in the manufacture and sale of hats and caps. De-
troit was then too small a town to support two per-

sons exclusively engaged in the hat and cap business,
and the two brothers engaged also in the fur trade,
and in this department Christian H. was, at first,
the leading spirit. Their operations in furs stead-
ily broadened and strengthened, and ere long
covered the entire northwest. In 1842 they
joined the successors of the American Fur Com-
pany in the purchase of furs throughout Canada
and the states bordering on the Great Lakes, and
for ten years they carried on an extensive and profit-
able business. The combination then terminated,
and in 1855 Christian H Buhl retired from the firm
of F & C. H. Buhl, and with Charles Ducharme
established a wholesale hardware store. They soon
succeeded to the extensive trade of Alexander H.
Newbold and Ducharme & Bartholomew, and
created one of the most extensive establishments in
the west. In 1873 Mr. Ducharme died, and was
succeeded in the firm by Theodore D., a son of Mr.
Buhl. A second son, Frank H., was subsequently
admitted, the firm since then being Buhl, Sons
&Co.

In 1863 Mr. Buhl and others bought the Wester-
man Iron Works at Sharon, Pennsylvania, and the
name was then changed to the Sharon Iron Works.
At these works upwards of one thousand men are
employed, and the average daily output is over one
hundred tons of merchant bar, sheet and pig iron,
and nails. The firm also mine coal quite extensively
for use at these works and for the market.

In 1864 Mr. Buhl purchased a controlling interest
in the Detroit Locomotive Works, and put not only
more capital but renewed vitality into the concern,
and for fifteen years or more it was largely profitable
to the stockholders and of much advantage to the
city. In 1880 these works were incorporated as the
Buhl Iron Works, with Mr. Buhl as President.

About 1 88 1 he organized the Detroit Copper and
Brass Rolling Mill Company, and serves as Presi-
dent. The corporation began in large buildings on
the corner of Earned and Fourth streets, but in a few
years outgrew^ these limits, and in 1887 new works
were constructed on the River Rouge, near the city
limits, and the business is carried on with greatly
increased facilities.

In addition to other enterprises, Mr. Buhl has had
much to do with Michigan railways. He was chiefly
instrumental in the building of the Detroit, Hillsdale
& Indiana and the Detroit, Eel River & Illinois
Railroads, and for many years was President of
both companies.

He has also been actively connected with the
banking history of the city. In 1845 he, with sev-
eral others, revived the old Michigan State Bank,
and thirty-eight years later took a prominent part
in the organization of the Second National Bank of
Detroit, and when its charter expired assisted ia

I044

MAYORS.

organizing its successor, the Detroit National Bank,
and in 1 887 was elected President of the same.

He has large interests in real estate, and has been
exceptionally fortunate in securing desirable loca-
tions.

Mr. Buhl has been a Republican since the birth
of the party, and has taken a strong interest in
political affairs, but has never in any sense been a
politician. In 1851 he was elected Alderman from
the Second Ward, and from i860 to 1862 was
Mayor of the city, and it was during his term that
the erection of the present City Hall was begun.

Mr. Buhl has always responded to the demands
of charity, and has made liberal donations to De-
troit institutions. He also gave a very valuable and
complete law library to the University of Michigan.
He was one of the original promoters of the Art
Museum, a Trustee of the original Detroit Medical
College, and is prominently identified with the Fort
Street Presbyterian Church.

He was married in 1842 to Miss Caroline De-
Long, of Utica, New York. They have had five
children, two of whom are now living — Theodore
D., who has charge of the firm's interests in De-
troit, and Frank H., who lives at Sharon, Pennsyl-
vania, and looks after the branch of their business
located in that place.

WILLIAM C. DUNCAN was born in Lyons,
New York, May 18, 1820. His father's family re-
moved from Lyons to Rochester, New York, about
1825, where he remained until 1841, when he
secured employment on one of the passenger
steamers plying on the lakes. While thus engaged
Mr. Duncan aided in taking the ** Julia Palmer "
across the Portage at the Sault Ste. Marie. She was
the first side- wheel steamer that ever floated on
Lake Superior.

In 1849 Mr. Duncan became a permanent resi-
dent of Detroit and engaged in the brewing busi-
ness. He was elected an Alderman in 1853 and
served for five ^'■ears, and in 186 1 was elected Mayor
of the city, serving in 1862 and 1863. In the fall
of 1862 he was elected State Senator.

In 1865 Mr. Duncan engaged in the banking
business, the firm being Duncan, Kibbee & Co.
They soon dissolved, and he gave his attention to
the care of the property he had accumulated, and
twice visited Europe for health and recreation. He
died December 19, 1877. He had no children.

KIRKLAND C. BARKER was born September
8, 1 81 9, in East Schuyler, Herkimer County, New
York. He was the second son of Mason Barker,
who emigrated from Massachusetts to Central New
York early in this century. The elder Mr. Barker
was a practical builder and a contractor for the

buiding of canals and railroads. He died at the age
of seventy-three years. His wife survived him some
years, but also died at the age of seventy-three.

The son, Kirkland C. Barker, received the rudi-
ments of an English education in the old red school
house of his native village, and when fourteen
years of age attended a manual labor school at
Whitesboro, After leaving this school he entered a
store at Frankfort, New York, and served as clerk
for about a year, and then went to Utica, where he
filled a similar position.

When he was eighteen years of age he went
to Cleveland, Ohio, where in the house of a relative
he found a home, and obtained employment in a
public warehouse. His business ability was soon
recognized and he was often sent to New York in
charge of a vessel.

Leaving the house in Cleveland, he became a
traveling salesman for a tobacco house at Logans-
port, Indiana, but lived in Detroit. After becoming
well acquainted with the trade he determined to go
into business for himself, and while on his way to
New York for goods he stopped at Utica and there
entered into partnership, and established stores in
Detroit and New York and a factory in Jersey City.
The business did not prove successful and the part-
nership was dissolved. Mr. Barker then concluded
to start anew in Detroit. He was successful in his
plans, paid off the indebtedness of the old firm, and
established the firm of K. C. Barker & Co., the pre-
decessor of the American Eagle Tobacco Company.

Mr. Barker served as Alderman of the First
Ward in 1863, and in 1864 was elected Mayor of
the city, serving two years.
^He was married in 1847 to a daughter of Gilbert
Bedell, of Ann Arbor. He died on May 20, 1875.
His death was in part the result of an accident.
While sailing a small yacht opposite his residence at
Grosse Isle he had an attack of apoplexy and fell
into the water. The boat capsized, and when he
was taken out of the river life was extinct. He left
a wife, two sons, and a daughter— Mrs. Charles B.
Hull.

MERRILL I. MILLS was born November 4th,
1 8 19, in Canton, Connecticut, and was one of the
many sons of the far east who hav^e had much to do
with the development and prosperity of the city.

In obedience to his father's desire that he should
enter a professional life, he took a course at the
Connecticut Literary Institute at Suffield, prepara-
tory to a course at Yale. He, however, had little
taste for college life, and expressed strongly his
preference for a business career, and in 1833 he
joined his father in the manufacture of gunpowder.
For five years he was actively engaged in the prac-
tical departments of that business, and in 1838 went

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MAYORS.

1045

to Southern Alabama, as the representative of his
father in a mercantile establishment there located.
In 1 840 he was called home by his father's illness,
and for the next live years remained in Canton, de-
voting himself to the management of his father's
business.

By this time New England methods had ceased
to suit his ambition. He had gained practical expe-
rience as a merchant and manufacturer, and turned
to the west as an inviting field for more extended
enterprises. He carefully studied the field and its
prospects, and, determining to give his attention to
merchandising through the west, he set out in 1845
for Fort Wayne, Indiana. The close of navigation
stopped the transit of his goods at Detroit, and this
fact caused a radical change in his original purpose.
He saw in Detroit a promising city, and without
much delay decided to locate here. Establishing
himself as a dealer in Yankee Notions, he pushed the
business energetically, and extended his trade to
many points in the west. He employed a number
of teams and wagons, and they traversed the inte-
rior of several western States, and especially the fur
regions. He exchanged his goods largely for furs,
and incidentally built up a fur trade of extensive
proportions, shipping liberally to foreign markets.
Prosperity attended his efforts and he became one
of the best known traders in the States of Michi-
gan, Ohio and Indiana.

About 1850 he began the manufacture of cigars,
sold large quantities throughout the west, and con-
tinued the cigar and fur business, in connection with
later and more important enterprises, up to the time
of his death. In 186 1 he joined the late Frank Nevin
in the manufacture of tobacco. This enterprise was
prosperous from the beginning, and the firm contin-
ued until the death of Mr. Nevin in 1878. Mr. Mills
then took as an associate the late W. H. Tefft, and
organized the Banner Tobacco Company, of which
he was chosen president and manager.

He was also prominently identified with other
manufacturing interests. In 1867, with W. H.
Tefft and Jeremiah Dwyer, he organized the
Detroit Stove Works, and in 1872, with Charles
Ducharme and Jeremiah Dwyer, the Michigan
Stove Company. He was made vice-president of
each company and held both positions until his death.
He organized and was for many years president
of the Detroit Transit Railway Company. He was
also vice-president of the Frankfort Furnace Com-
pany, the Detroit Fire and Marine Insurance Com-
pany, and president of the Eldredge Sewing Machine
Company of Chicago, and was for many years a
director of the First National Bank of Detroit.

He was active in public affairs whenever his aid
and counsel were needed. In politics he was a
staunch Democrat, and was a prominent factor in

the political field. In 1857 and 1858 he was chair-
man of the Democratic State Committee. During
the late war he was among the most earnest
workers in the cause of the Federal Union. His
means, his influence and his time were all enlisted
in the recruiting and equipment of regiments in
Detroit. He served as Mayor of the city in 1866
and 1867, and his administration was marked by
watchfulness and a conscientious regard for the
promotion of all measures that promised to benefit
and develop the best interests of the city. In 1868
he was the Democratic nommee for Representative
to Congress from the First District. The District
had. in 1866, given a Republican majority of four
thousand five hundred. Mr. Mills was not elected,
but he won a notable triumph in reducing the Re-
publican majority to fifteen hundred. He was sub-
sequently a member of the Board of Estimates, and
in 1876 was a delegate-at-large to the Democratic
National Convention which nominated Samuel J.
Tilden for the Presidency. The same year he was
appointed by Governor Bagley one of the Centen-
nial Commissioners for the State of Michigan, but
except that in 1881 he served as one of the first
Board of Park Commissioners, the Centennial year
marked his retirement from politics. He had partici-
pated to the full extent of his inclinations, and was
content thereafter to leave to others the winning of
honors in that field.

About 1880 the cares of a busy life brought indi-
cations of failing health, but, like all active spirits,
he protested against yielding to the statement that ]
his physical infirmities called for a halt. He did,
however, in obedience to the advice of his physician,
journey to Manitou Springs, Colorado. The journey
proved a fruitless one, and he returned home in a
feeble condition, and, amid his family and friends,
passed away, September 14th, 1882, leaving as sur-
vivors his wife and two children.

The extended and important business interests
left by Mr, Mills fell at once in charge of his son,
Merrill B. Mills, who had entered upon a business
career at an early age, and his father's death con-
sequently found him fully equipped for the duties
which had devolved upon him. He is president of
the Banner Tobacco Company and Frankfort Fur-
nace Company; treasurer of the Michigan Stove
Company; vice-president of the Detroit Stove'
Works ; a director in the Detroit Transit Railroad
and in the Detroit Fire and Marine Insurance Com-
pany.

WILLIAM W. WHEATON was born in New
Haven, Connecticut, April 5, 1833, and is the son of
John and Orit C. (Johnson) Wheaton, and a direct
descendant of Captain William Wheaton, of Revo-
lutionary celebrity. He attended school in Hart-

1046

MAYORS.

ford and also in New Haven, and at the age of
sixteen entered the wholesale house of Charles H.
Northam & Co., of Hartford.

In 1853, when twenty years old, he came to De-
troit, and entered the employ of Moore, Foote &
Co., wholesale grocers. In 1855 he became the
junior partner of the firm of Farrand & Wheaton,
wholesale druggists and grocers. From 1859 to
1862 Mr. Wheaton was in business by himself. In

1862 the firm name was Wheaton & Peek, and in

1863 he established the firm of Wheaton, Leonard
& Burr, the firm changing in 1 869 to Wheaton &
Poppleton.

In 1867 Mr. Wheaton was elected Mayor of the
city, and re-elected in 1870, serving two terms. He
subsequently served as chairman of the Democratic
State Convention.

In 1873 and for several years following he served
as treasurer and general agent of the Marquette
and Pacific Rolling Mill Company, and of late years
has been engaged in a variety of enterprises.

HUGH MOFFAT, late Mayor of Detroit, was
born at Coldstream, Scotland, in the year 18 10.
Early in life he migrated to the United States,
settling first in the City of Albany, New York, In
the year 1837 he sought to better his fortune by
moving to the City of the Straits. Commencing
business here as a carpenter, he soon achieved emi-
nence in his employment through the erection of
many of the prominent buildings of other days.
Some of these structures still stand as monuments of
his honest skill. In later years he was the architect
and superintendent of the elegant and substantial
building that bears his name.

From the building business he, in 1852, drifted
naturally into the lumber trade, purchasing large
tracts of pine land and in his own mill transforming
the rough logs into lumber, continuing alone in the
business in 1878, when he formed a copartnership
with his son Addison, and Florance D. Fatherly,
the latter having been, for many years previous, a
confidential employee and faithful friend. In con-
nection with his business, one of his last enterprises
was the erection of a very extensiv^e and complete
saw-mill, one of the best in the State. It occupies
the same site as his two previous mills, the first of
which was burned, and the second removed to make
room for the new structure.

In the lumber traffic Mr. Moffat was even more
successful than in his previous occupation, and year
by year he saw his wealth increase. This, how-
ever, did not have the effect of making him
either haughty or vain. He always retained a pro-
found sense of a common brotherhood with all sons
of toil. Connected with this feeling was an abhor-
rence of all sham or pretense. If a man was really

willing to work and could prove his willingness, he
could always depend on fair treatment and honest
compensation ; but if there seemed a disposition to
shirk a duty or conceal indifference, it was sure to
be reproved in words that would scorch and wither.

He was an early and active member of the old
Fire Department Society, and influential in the
Mechanics' Society when it was in its best estate.
He was also a leading member of and served as
president of St. Andrew's Society.

A typical Scotchman, he was as sturdy and strong
as one of the oaks in his native land. He had little
sympathy with the weak and vacillating, but once
convince him that a person or a cause was worthy
or deserving and his sympathies were warm and
active. Always acting upon the idea that what was
worth doing was worth doing well, all who did
business with him found that his part was honestly
performed — that his word was as good as his bond.

He possessed unbending courage, high intelli-
gence and marked firmness of purpose. Enjoying
his privileges as a responsible citizen, he acted with
the Republican party, but he was in no sense a
politician, and his party fealty never interfered with
or hindered him in the discharge of any public duty.
These characteristics specially fitted him for the
position he was destined to occupy.

In 1 87 1 his fellow-citizens elected him Mayor,
because they thought his firmness and integrity
were then particularly needed. It certainly seemed
as though he came "to the kingdom for such a
time." A crisis was at hand in municipal affairs,
and it is certain that no Mayor, before or since, had
so good an opportunity to serve the taxpayers of the
city, and also to serve the best and purest of all
faiths, and no one could have more fully and per-
fectly met the responsibility than did Mr. Moffat.

During the first year of his service as Mayor he
undoubtedly saved hundreds of thousands of dollars
to the citizens by reason of his numerous vetoes of
resolutions for paving the streets, the resolutions
vetoed being clearly drawn in the interest of those
who would have made large fortunes by foisting
upon the public a score of new-fangled and untried
methods of paving.

A second occasion in which he demonstrated his
fitness for the position of Mayor occurred in con-
nection with a proposal and effort to compel the city
to purchase grounds in Hamtramck for a park. It
seemed clearly evident that a majority of the citizens
did not approve of the proposed purchase; and
although a majority of the Common Council favored
the proposition and ordered the issue of bonds to
make the purchase, Mayor Moffat, with true Scotch
grit, refused to sign the bonds, declared that the
Council could not compel him to do so, and when
legal process was invoked tQ compel him to sign

.;,>>-%%*:

MAYORS.

1047

them, he, at his own expense, carried the case to the
Supreme Court, and a decision was rendered which
clearly stated that the Legislature had no power to
direct that the city issue bonds for a purpose not
necessarily connected with the government or good
management of the city, and that the Council were
in error in assuming that the issue of the bonds was
mandatory. Mayor Moffat was thus triumphant
and unjustifiable legislation was very properly re-
buked.

The question of Sunday observance and a decent
respect for the proprieties of American civilization
was also a leading issue during his mayoralty.
The subject came up in the form of a resolution
passed by the Common Council authorizing the
saloons to keep open on Sunday afternoons. Al-
though repeatedly passed, Mayor Moffat did not
dodge the issue, but each time vetoed the resolution
which authorized and attempted to legalize the
business of selling liquors on Sunday. For his
action on this question he merits grateful remem-
brance from all who have at heart the best interests
of the city.

After having served two terms as Mayor, Mr.
Moffat's characteristic traits became so well known
that citizens generally spoke of him as "Honest
Hugh Moffat," and this cognomen is one of the
noblest legacies that he left.

He died August 6, 1884. Several of the courts
immediately adjourned as a mark of respect and
various associations passed resolutions testifying to
his worthy life.

Mr. Moffat was married three times. His first
wife, whose maiden name was Margery McLachlan,
was of Scotch descent, and her parents came from
Callander, Siirlingshire. They were married at
Albany, November 23, 1836. She died June 16,
1856. His second wife, a cousin of the first, was
Miss Isabella McLachlan. They were married on
July 14, 1859, at New York. Ten years later, in
August, 1869, she passed away. Her remains were
taken to Greenwood, Long Island. On January 21,
1879, he married Mrs. Julia E. Hubbard, sister of
Thomas W. Palmer. She died November 20, 1880.

His son, Addison Moffat, died about two months
before his father, leaving as his widow Mrs. Grace
Buhl Moffat.

Hugh Moffat left three daughters and one son,
viz., Mrs. George McMillan, Mrs. Edward W. Bis-
sell. Miss Alice E. Moffat and William Moffat, all
of them residents of Detroit.

ALEXANDER LEWIS was born at Sandwich,
Ontario, October 24, 1822, and is the son of Thomas
and Jeanette (Velaire) Lewis. The family on the
father's side were originally from Wales and came
to this country early in the seventeenth century.

The mother's family, as the name shows, were from
France.

Thomas Lewis was born at Three Rivers, Cana-
da, and his wife at the locality formerly known as
Ottawa, part of w^hich is now Windsor.

Alexander Lewis came here when a boy of fif-
teen on May i, 1837, and began clerking in the
store of E. W. Cole & Co., on the corner of Wood-
ward avenue and Atwater street, remaining about
two years, and then entering the employ of G. & J.
G. Hill, Druggists, on Jefferson avenue, between
Woodward avenue and Griswold street.

Two years later he left this firm and went to
Pontiac, where he remained until 1 843, when he re-
turned to Detroit and entered the forwarding and
commission warehouse of Gray & Lewis, the firm
consisting of his brother Samuel Lewis, and Hor-
ace Gray. Two years later, in 1845, he went into
the forwarding and commission business with H. P.
Bridge, under the firm name of Bridge & Lewis.
They began at the foot of Bates street on the east
side, and from there removed to the foot of Ran-
dolph street. The firm continued seventeen years,
and then, in 1862, Mr. Lewis established himself in
the flour and grain business at Nos. 44 to 48 West
Woodbridge street, and continued there until 1884,
when he gave up active connection with that line of
business, and since then has devoted himself to the
care of various property interests.

He is one of the directors of the Detroit Fire and
Marine Insurance Company and of the Detroit
National Bank, is President of the Detroit Gas
Light Company, and is largely interested in real
estate.

He served as President of the Board of Trade in
1862, as Police Commissioner from 1865 to 1875, ^s
Mayor of the city in 1876 and 1877, and as one of
the Commissioners of the Public Library from i88[
to 1887.

Mr. Lewis was elected as Mayor of the city under
circumstances of the hio:hest possible honor. The
distinct issue in the election was as to whether the
laws should be observed, and especially whether the
law providing for the proper observance of the Sab-
bath, should be enforced. Mr. Lewis, as the candi-
date of those who favored law^ and order, was sup-
ported almost unanimously by the religious and
moral elements of the community, was triumphantly
elected, and fully and squarely and repeatedly op-
posed the violation of law, successfully carrying out
the desires of those who elected him. As a leading
and influential member of the Democratic party, he
thus conferred upon it a lasting laurel.

He believes in his party, but evidently holds that
the title of true manhood and good citizenship is a
higher title than that of a partisan. He is eminently
a reliable and responsible citizen, and compels the

1048

MAYORS.

respect of all with whom he comes in contact. He
is a member of the Roman Catholic Church and
one of the oldest members of the original parish of
Ste. Anne's.

He was married on June 10, 1850, to Elizabeth J.
Ingersoll, daughter of Justus Ingersoll. They have
had thirteen children, eight of whom are living :
Ida Frances, wife of W. P. Healy, of Marquette ;
Edgar L., of Detroit ; Josephine, wife of Clarence
Carpenter ; Hattie I., wife of Cameron Currie ;
Harry B., Julia Velaire, Marion Marie and Alexan-
der Ingersoll.

GEORGE C. LANGDON was born in Geneva,
New York, in 1833. He attended school in Batavia,
New York, and afterwards in Farmington, Connec-
ticut, where he remained until he was eighteen years
old He then became a clerk in the wholesale dry
goods house of Lord, Warren, Slater & Co., of New
York. After about a year he returned to Geneva,
and his father, who was largely interested in Mich-
igan lands, sent him to Flint to engage in farm-
ing. He remained there three years and then came
to Detroit and entered Gregory's Commercial Col-
lege, where he soon mastered the art of bookkeep-
ing. After leaving the college he obtained a position
as bookkeeper in the Copper Smelting Works at
Springwells, and was afterwards bookkeeper for S.
H. Ives & Co., bankers. From there he went into
partnership with Captain Carey in the commission
business.

In 1864, with N. G, Williams, he purchased the
Central brewery, which was operated under the
name of Langdon & Co. In 1870 he became sole
proprietor of the business, and a few years later he
sold out and engaged in business as a maltster.

In 1877 he was elected Mayor of Detroit and
served during 1878 and 1879.

He married Miss Fannie Vallee, of this city. She
died in May, 1887, leaving two daughters.

WILLIAM G. THOMPSON was born in Lan-
caster, Pennsylvania, July 23, 1842. His father was
a lawyer in that city. Mr. Thompson was educated
at Amherst College, Massachusetts.

In 1 86 1, at the age of nineteen, he enlisted in the
Fourth Pennsylvania Cavalry for three months.
When his term of enlistment expired he removed to
Toledo at his mother's request, who imagined that
he would have less chance of contracting the war
fever in a western city. But when Colonel Arthur
Rankin organized a lancer regiment he came here,
received a commission as First Lieutenant, and
spent the winter of 1861-62 in Detroit. The lancer
regiment was disbanded and he went back to Lan-
caster, and was subsequently appointed an aide-de-
camp with the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Sixth

New Jersey Infantry. He was severely wounded
at Chancellorsville and won his grade as First
Lieutenant by gallantry on the field.

When his regiment was mustered out in 1864 he
studied law in New York for a time, and then came
to Detroit and entered the law office of D. B. & H.
M. Duffield. In 1867 he was admitted to the bar,
and in the same year he married Adelaide Mary
Brush, daughter of the late E. A. Brush. Mrs.
Thompson died in 1875, leaving one daughter.

In November, 1878, Mr. Thompson married
Adele Campau, daughter of the late D. J. Campau.

He served as one of the first Board of Estimates
in 1873, ^s Alderman of the Third Ward in 1874
and 1875, and as Mayor of the city from 1880 to
1884.

STEPHEN BENEDICT GRUMMOND, of
Detroit, widely known in connection with extensive
interests in lake navigation, was born near what is
now Marine City, on the St. Clair river, September 1 8,
1834, and is the son of Stephen Benedict and Mary
(Harrow) Grummond. His father, who was born in
the western part of NewYork State, came to Michigan
in 1807 and settled near Marine City, where he was
engaged in farming, and kept a general store, the
first on the river. He was successful in business,
accumulated a competency, and was respected as an
influential and useful citizen. He died in 1856. His
wife, who died in 1 877, was of Scotch descent, and
was the daughter of Alexander Harrow, who came
to Michigan while it was under British rule. For
many years he was connected with the English
navy as commander of His Majesty's sloop *' Wel-
come " and other war vessels. He became one of
the best known navigators of the lakes, and ren-
dered efficient services to the English government.

S. B. Grummond's early life was passed in St.
Clair county. Possessing a restless and ambitious
nature, at the age of fifteen he began his business
career by securing a position on a vessel engaged
in lake navigation ; but when navigation closed,
spent the winters at school. At the age of twenty-
one, with the savings from his own industry and a
little aid from his father, he purchased a vessel and
sailed her for several years. In 1855 he retired from
the command, came to Detroit, bought another ves-
sel, and has ever since been engaged in buying, selling
and runnirlg vessels of various kinds. His business
has extended from year to year, until at the present
time he is one of the principal owners of lake ves-
sels, and his line of boats is well known and
largely patronized. He is the proprietor of Grum-
mond's Mackinac Line of steamers, and does the
largest tug and wrecking business on the lakes.
His efforts have resulted in the accumulation of a
large fortune, which is invested in Detroit real

/jfi'^'^C (^Cr\/^ c re

^^^^y^<^c

MAYORS.

1049

estate and in various business enterprises. His
success can be attributed to thorough mastery of
his business, practical experience in all its details,
good judgment and judicious management.

Originally a member of the Democratic party, ever
since the election of Abraham Lincoln he has been
an earnest supporter of the Republican party. His
connection with political affairs as a public officer has
not been the result of any desire on his part for politi-
cal honors. Official trusts have only been assumed
upon the urgent request of friends, and when he
honestly believed the public good would be advanced
thereby. In 1879 he was elected a member of the
Board of Estimates, and at the expiration of his
term in 1881 was elected a member of the newly
created City Council or Upper House for the long
term. After two years 'service in this capacity he was
made without solicitation on his part, and even
against his wishes, the unanimous choice of his party
as its candidate for Mayor. He was successfully elec-
ted, and during his term of office fulfilled the duties
of the position in such a manner as to win the ap-
proval of the best element of the city. A practical
business man, his administration was marked by the
same good sense and sound business principles which
in his private career had ensured success. He used
all his influence towards getting the city affairs into
a sound financial condition, and against public
clamor had the courage to veto measures he be-
lieved against the public good ; the result in almost
every case has proved that the course he favored
was both wise and prudent. His administration
met the approval of the people generalI3^ regardless
of party. Near the close of his term of office the
Detroit Free Press, the leading Democratic paper
in the State, said : " He has been in the main
an excellent Mayor, and has discharged the duties
of his office, as he understood them, with painstak-
ing fidelity, entire honesty, and no greater display
of partisanship than M^ould be naturally expected of
an official chosen by partisan vote." This, from a
paper politically opposed to him, was praise indeed.

As a business man, Mr. Grummond's main power
lies in the spirit of perseverance with which his
plans are pursued. That his undertakings, both in
public and private affairs, have been sagacious, is
undeniable, and his success in various directions
has vindicated his business foresight. He is inde-
pendent and courageous, but modest and unassum-
ing ; dislikes publicity, finds his chief enjoyment in
the prosecution of his numerous business ventures,
but is public spirited and progressive in his ideas,
and readily gives his support to deserving public
enterprises, and by his ability and integrity com-
mands the confidence of his fellow citizens.

He was married December 12, 1 861, to Louisa B.
Prouty, of Detroit. They have had eleven chil-

dren, seven of whom are living, four girls and three
boys.

M. H. CHAMBERLAIN was born in Wood-
stock, Lenawee County, Michigan, November 5,
1842. His father, Philonzo Chamberlain, was born
in New York State in 1804, and, at the age of
eighty-four, is hale and hearty. Mr. Chamberlain
is of the English family of Chamberlain, whose
descendants came to America early in old colonial
times. His great-grandfather was a soldier in the
Revolutionary war and fought at Bunker Hill and
on other bloody fields. The gun used by him at
Bunker Hill is now in the possession of the family,
who jealousy guard it as a memorial of great value.

Mr. Chamberlain's maternal ancestors came from
Scotland. His mother was born in New York State
in 1798 'and died in Detroit, January 25th, 1884.
Early in life she and her husband settled in Niagara
County, New York, and in 1835 removed to Michi-
gan, purchasing a farm in Lenawee County Their
next home was in Litchfield, Hillsdale County, and
in the spring of 1869 they located in Detroit.

M. H. Chamberlain is the youngest in a family of
eight children, six boys and two girls, seven of
whom are living. He attended a district school
until about fifteen years of age. In the winter of
1859-60 he taught school in Lenawee County, and
in the spring of i860 entered Hillsdale College.
Soon after leaving college he taught school in Oak-
land County. In 1864 he came to Detroit, attended
a commercial college until May, 1865, and then took
a position in the office of F. A. Stokes, on the
corner of Jefferson avenue and Wayne street.
During the first year he was employed as book-
keeper,, and the year following as traveling salesman.
In November, 1867, he, with his brother, Mr. A. H.
Chamberlain, purchased Mr. Stokes' interest in the
business, and the firm of M. H. Chamberlain & Co.
was formed. Starting with comparatively small
capital and only a few months' experience in the
business, their success has been quite remarkable,
and in their line they are among the leading firms
in the country.

In the spring of 1873 the Chamberlains organized
the Fearless Tobacco Company. Mr. M. H. Cham-
berlain continued as a partner until March, 1876,
when he sold his interest to his brother. In 1874
Mr. M. H. Chamberlain, with others, organized the
Commercial Travelers' Association of Michigan,
and he was elected its first president.

In 1882 he was elected to the City Council, and
in 1885 was made president of that body. In the
fall of 1885 he was elected Mayor of Detroit on the
Democratic ticket by a majority of about eighteen
hundred over the Republican nominee.

When a boy he was a recognized leader among

I050

MAYORS.

his playmates. At school he was always prominent
in debate, is said to have been very fond of speech-
making, and is possessed of a remarkable memory.
He is agreeable, well-informed, tenacious in follow-
ing out a purpose, and possessed of excellent
judgment. These characteristics, with other ad-
vantages, had naturally much to do with his election
to the position of chief municipal officer of the city.
He was married to Miss Ellen Wilson, of Niagara
County, New York, in 1876.

JOHN PRIDGEON, Jr., was born at Detroit,
August I, 1852, and is the son of John and Emma
(Nicholson) Pridgeon. His father is of English
descent and has been for many years largely inter-
ested in vessels of various kinds.

John Pridgeon, Jr., attended the public schools of

Detroit, and about 187 1 was first employed as clerk
on one of his father's boats, continuing in this posi-
tion about five years.

From 1876 to 1879 he was agent at Port Huron
of the Chicago and Grand Trunk line of steamers
running between Chicago and Point Edward. When
this line was discontinued he came to Detroit and
has since been interested with his father in their ex-
tensive business of buying, selling, and operating
tugs, sailing vessels, and propellers

In 1885 he was elected a member of the City
Council, serving two years, and in the fall of 1887
was elected Mayor of the city.

He was married in December, 1874, to Cora
Edgar. She was born in Pittsburgh. They have
had two sons, neither of whom are now living. His
wife is a member of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal
Church.

CHAPTER XCI.

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS, AND CAPITALISTS.

RUSSELL A. ALGER, recently Governor of of ill-health caused by hard study and close confine-

Michigan, was born in the township of Lafayette,
Medina County, Ohio, February 27, 1836. On the
paternal side the genealogy of the family can be
traced through English channels to the time of
William the Conqueror. The earliest of the name
in this country was John Alger, the great-grand-
father of R. A Alger. He served in the Revolu-
tionary war and took part in many of its battles.
Russell Alger, the father of R. A. Alger, married
Caroline Moulton, a descendant of Robert Moulton,
of England, who came to Massachusetts in 1627 '^^
charge of a vessel laden with ship-building material
and having a number of skilled carpenters as -pas-
sengers. It is probable that the first vessel built in
Massachusetts was constructed by Mr. Moulton.
Both in England and America the Moultons are
numerous and many of them have attained distinc-
tion.

The Alger family went to Ohio in 1800 and took
a leading part in the development of that now great
State. When he was eleven years old. the parents
of R. A. Alger died, leaving dependent upon him a
younger brother and sister. With a cheerful and
heroic spirit, an important element in his after suc-
cesses, he at once engaged in farm work, and during
the greater part of the next seven years worked
upon a farm in Richfield, Ohio, saving his money
and applying it for the benefit of his brother and
sister. In the winter, during the suspension of farm
work, he improved his time by attending the Rich-
field Academy, and by self-denial and hard work
he obtained a good English education, and at the
age of eighteen secured a position as a teacher,
and taught school during the winter months for
several years.

In March, 1857, he entered the office of Wolcott
& Upson, at Akron, Ohio, and began the study of
law, remaining until 1859, when he was admitted to
the bar by the Supreme Court of Ohio. Soon after-
wards he removed to Cleveland and entered the law
office of Otis & Coffinbury, remaining but a few
months, and retiring in the fall of 1859 on account

ment. This retirement from the pursuits of a pro-
fession which had proved uncongenial was final, as
he soon after removed to Grand Rapids, Michigan,
where he engaged in the lumber business. He had
but fairly begun to obtain a foothold in business
when the war with the South began, and in August,

1 86 1, he responded to his country's call, and from
the time of his enlistment until he left the service
the record of his heroic military service is a record
of honor. He first enlisted in the Second Michigan
Cavalry, and in the autumn, when that regiment
was mustered into service, he was commissioned as
Captain and assigned to the command of Com-
pany C.

His first important service occurred on July i,

1862, at the battle of Booneville, Mississippi. That
engagement, which was one of the most important
minor battles of the war and fought against tremen-
dous odds, arose from an attack made by General
Chalmers, of the Confederate service, with seven
thousand mounted men— eleven regiments and por-
tions of regiments— upon Colonel Philip H. Sheri-
dan with two small regiments, the Second Iowa and
the Second Michigan Cavalry. Sheridan's command
from the start fought desperately. Seeing that he
was outflanked and in danger of being surrounded,
he sent ninety-two p'cked men, commanded by
Captain Alger, with orders to make a circuit and
charge the enemy upon the rear with sabers and
cheers. The cheers were to be the signal for Sheri-
dan to simultaneously charge the enemy in front.
The brave ninety-two charged as ordered and
Sheridan immediately dashed upon the front, and
so well executed were the two movements that the
Confederate forces broke and ran. One hundred
and twenty-five of the enemy's killed were buried
upon the field, and a large number of their wounded
were carried away. The ninety-two sent on this
forlorn hope lost forty-two killed and wounded.
Captain Alger was both wounded and captured,
but escaped in the confusion of the rebel stampede.

' For his gallant service in the battle he was pro-

[1051!

I052

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

moted to the rank of Major, and it was in this bat-
tle that Colonel Sheridan gained his earliest fame
and was soon after promoted to the rank of Briga-
dier-General.

Major Alger continued to merit the approval of
his superior ofificers, and on October i6, 1862, was
promoted to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the Sixth
Michigan Cavalry, and on June 2, 1863, to the
Colonelcy of the Fifth Michigan Cavalry, his regi-
ment being in General Custer's famous Michigan
cavalry brigade.

On June 28, 1863, Colonel Alger's command
entered the village of Gettysburg, being the first of
the Federal forces to reach that place and receive
definite information as to the movements of the
enemy. In the great battle, then so little expected,
which was fought at the very doors of Gettysburg,
he with his regiment did most effective service. In
General Custer's official report of the part taken by
the cavalry at Gettysburg, the name of Colonel
Alger frequently appears, and acknowledgment is
made of the distinguished part he bore in the en-
gagement. On July 4, 1863, during the pursuit of
the enemy which followed the battle. Colonel Alger
led the advance with the Fifth Michigan Cavalry,
and when near Monterey, on the top of South
Mountain, Maryland, with great daring and equally
great confidence in his men, he dismounted, crossed
a bridge guarded by more than 1,500 infantry, and
succeeded in capturing the enemy's train, together
with 1,500 prisoners.

On July 8, 1863, at the battle of Boonsboro, he
was so severely wounded as to be unable to assume
command of his regiment until the following Sep-
tember. His subsequent famous charge with his
regiment at Trevillian Station, Virginia, on June 11,
1864, when with only three hundred men he cap-
tured a large force of the enemy, is memorable as
one of the most brilliant and daring deeds of the
war. General Sheridan's report concerning this
engagement, on file in the War Department, says :

" The cavalry engagement of the eleventh and twelfth was by
far the most brilliant one of the present campaign. The enemy's
loss was very heavy. My loss in captured will not exceed one
hundred and sixty. They are principally from the Fifth Michi-
gan Cavalry. This regiment. Colonel Russell A. Alger com-
manding, gallantly charged down the Gordonville road, captur-
ing 1,500 horses and about 800 prisoners, but were finally sur-
rounded and had to give them up."

During the winter of 1863 and 1864 Colonel
Alger was assigned to special service, reporting
directly to President Lincoln, and while so engaged
visited nearly every army in the field.

It was his fortune to serve in or command regi-
ments better armed than most, and they were fre-
quently engaged in fatiguing and perilous service.
At finst he served in the west and south, but from
the invasion of Maryland by General Lee in 1 863

until the day of his retirement, Colonel Alger was
with the Army of the Potomac and in constant
service except when disabled by wounds. His bri-
gade accompanied General Sheridan to the Shenan-
doah Valley in 1864, and served through that cam-
paign. On September 20, 1864, he resigned on
account of physical disability, and was honorably
discharged, having during his period of service
taken part in sixty-six battles and skirmishes. At
the close of the war he was made Brevet Brigadier-
General for gallant and meritorious services to rank
from the battle of Trevillian Station, and on June
II, 1865, he was made Brevet Major-General for
gallant and meritorious services during the war.

When he returned from the field of strife he re-
moved to Detroit, and in company with Franklin and
Stephen Moore engaged in the lumber trade, deal-
ing especially in long pine timber, and also in
pine lands. After a few years the firm of Moore,
Alger & Co. was succeeded by the firm of Moore &
Alger and then by R. A. Alger & Co., which con-
tinued until 1874, when the corporation of Alger,
Smith & Co. was organized with General Alger as
President. In these various business associations
he has displayed remarkable ability, and the cor-
poration of which he is the head has become the
largest operator in pine timber in the world. The
corporation own extensive tracts of pine lands in
Alcona, Alger, Chippewa, and Schoolcraft counties
in the Upper Peninsula, and on the Canadian shore
of Lake Huron. In addition to the interests above
named. General Alger is President of the Manis-
tique Lumber Company, organized in 1882 with a
capital of $3,000,000. He also has large investments
in red wood lands in California and Washington Ter-
ritory, and in the pine lands of Wisconsin and
Louisiana, and is largely mterested in an exten-
sive cattle ranch in New Mexico, and is President of
the company. He is President and the largest
stockholder in the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena
Railroad, and owns a large amount of stock in the
Peninsular Car Company, the Detroit National and
State Savings Banks, in which he is a Director ; he
is also a stockholder in the Detroit Copper and
Brass Rolling Mills, and in several other extensive
corporations. Coming to Detroit at the close of the
war, rich only in honors gained in fighting the bat-
tles of his country, he entered the business world,
and by his exceptional native abilities he long since
gained a foremost place among the business men of
Michigan. He is a man of strong will, resolute
courage, great tenacity of purpose, a high order of
financial generalship and rare administrative ability.
When a course of action has been determined upon,
he is self-reliant and trustful of his own judgment,
and inspires others with perfect confidence in his
capacity to accomplish what he undertakes. He is

''ir~'-^-

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GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

1053

not discouraged or baffled even by the most formid-
able obstacles, but is fertile in resources, prompt in
action, energetic in execution and uniformly suc-
cessful.

He has been a Republican ever since he reached
his majority, and constantly active in the service of
his party. Though possessed of a strong taste for
politics, his time has been so completely engrossed
by business responsibilities that until recent years he
avoided the cares of office. He was a delegate to
the Chicago Convention of 1884 that nominated
Blaine and Logan, and in 1884 was elected Gover-
nor of Michigan. His administration of state
affairs was in all respects equally as successful as
his management of his personal interests, and that
is almost ideal. Keen, sagacious and penetrating,
the business interests of the state were carefully
guarded and all the charitable and educational in-
stitutions fostered, protected and enlarged. Com-
bining the practicalities of a thorough business
man with the training of a lawyer and the experi-
ence of a soldier, his state papers were models of
clearness, simplicity and force. At the end of his
term he laid aside the duties of his gubernatorial
position, secure in the confidence of the people,
whose good opinion he had so richly earned. In
1888 he was a leading candidate for the presidential
nomination, and if he had been a resident of a
really doubtful Republican State would probably
have received the nomination.

In personal appearance General Alger is tall,
slender in form, with an erect, dignified bearing.
He is quick and incisive in speech, never brusque,
but approachable, courteous and considerate toward
all. He begets and retains warm friendships, and
those who are numbered among his friends and
confidantes are sure to be profited by his judgment
and helpfulness. Although so deeply engrossed
with business duties, he is a lover of books and a
devoted patron of art, and is among the first to re-
spond to deserving public enterprises. Possessed of
a generous and sympathetic nature, he is ever atten-
tive to the needs of those less fortunate than him-
self, and does not wait for others, but seeks out
opportunities for doing good, and thousands of
people have reason to feel grateful for timely bene-
factions received from him. In public life and in
his private affairs his achievements, coupled with
his irreproachable life, reflect credit upon the state
and city of his adoption.

He was married in 1861 to Annette H. Henry, of
Grand Rapids, Their family consists of three
daughters and three sons.

JOHN JUDSON BAGLEY, formerly Governor
of Michigan, was born at Medina, Orleans County,
New York, July 24, 1832. He was a descendant of

the Bagley family who came from England early in
the seventeenth century. His grandmother, Olive
Judson, was a daughter of Captain Timothy Jud-
son, a soldier of the Revolution. The Judsons
were a prominent family in Connecticut, descended
from an old English family in Yorkshire, who came
to America in 1634 and first settled in Concord,
Massachusetts. There were many ministers in the
family, among them the Rev. Adoniram Judson. the
noted foreign missionary. Mr. Bagley was also a
direct descendant of Rev. Thomas Hooker, who
came from Hertfordshire, England, and established
the first church in Connecticut.

John Bagley, the father of Governor Bagley, was
born in Durham, Greene County, New York. He
established himself in business at Medina, but
afterwards moved to Lockport. His wife was a
native of Connecticut, a woman of education and
refinement, with great strength and force of charac-
ter. Both parents were devout and active members
of the Episcopal Church. John was one of a family
of eight children, and his mother intended to edu-
cate him for the ministry ; but financial reverses
came to the family, and they found what in those
days was considered a fortune suddenly swept away.
Michigan had recently been admitted as a State,
and John's father, hoping to regain what he had
lost, moved from Lockport to St. Joseph County, in
this state, stopping a few months at Mottville, and
then going to Constantine, and from there to
Owosso, in Shiawassee County.

John J. Bagley attended school at Constantine,
White Pigeon and Owosso, He began his business
life in a country store in Constantine, and after the
family moved to Owosso he was engaged as clerk
in the firm of Dewey & Goodhue. In these coun-
try stores everything was sold from calico to drugs,
and here he received his early business training.
The hours of work were early and late, but a little
time could always be found for reading and study.
When fourteen years of age he left Owosso and
found employment in the tobacco store and factory
of Isaac S. Miller, in Detroit.

In 1853, when twenty-one years of age, he estab-
lished a manufactory of his own on Woodward
avenue, below Jefferson, and started the well-known
" Mayflower " brand of fine-cut chewing tobacco.
As his business prospered he engaged in other
important enterprises. He possessed wise fore-
thought, good judgment, and keen perception,
grasped great affairs and managed them with a
skill that commanded confidence and success.

He was one of the organizers of the Michigan
Mutual Life Insurance Company, and served as
President from 1867 to 1872 ; was one of the orig-
inal stockholders and for several years President of
the Detroit Safe Company ; he was a corporator of

I054

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

the Wayne County Savings Bank, and one of the
charter members of the American National Bank ;
helped to organize the Merchants' and Manufac-
turers* Exchange, and was actively interested in the
creation of Woodmere Cemetery, and served as its
first President.

Soon after he cast his first vote he was elected a
member of the Board of Education from the Third
Ward in the City of Detroit, and remained a mem-
ber from 1855 to 1858. He served as a member of
the Common Council in i860 and i86r, and did
much to secure the establishment of the Detroit
House of Correction, and was one of its first Inspec-
tors. As a member of the Council he recognized
the necessity of a more thorough and efficient police
system for the city. For him to see was to act, and
he rested not till the plan which he drafted was a
law, and the present metropolitan police system
organized. He was one of the original Commis-
sioners and remained on the Board from February
28, 1865, to August 24, 1872. In all public affairs
he weighed carefully the opinions of others, formed
his own convictions and followed them.

Long before he had attained his majority he was
a pronounced Whig, although his father was a
Democrat. He was an active Republican from the
organization of the party, his name appearing
among the signers to the call for the Convention
which organized the Republican party, and he was
one of the most zealous and efficient in the prelim-
inary work of the organization. In 1868 he was
made chairman of the Republican State Central
Committee.

At the breaking out of the rebellion he was one
of the most active citizens of Michigan in every-
thing looking to a vigorous prosecution of the war.
During those sad days he seemed to lead a double
life. All the time and energy that any man should
give to business he gave to his, and yet he seemed
to devote all his time to his party, his state and his
country. He was frequently at Washington and
with the armies in the field, giving aid, comfort and
counsel when most needed.

In 1872 he became the Republican candidate for
Governor and was elected by nearly 60,000 major-
ity, receiving 1,400 more votes than the Grant
electors, a plurality which at once proved the
strength of the party and his personal popularity.
He was renominated in 1874, and although the
Democrats swept the whole country that year, car-
rying more than two-thirds of the House of Repre-
sentatives and electing a Governor in Massachu-
setts, Governor Bagley's personal popularity saved
Michigan to his party by a majority of 6,000 over
the Democratic candidate. In January, 1880, he
was a candidate for United States Senator from
Michigan, and came within one vote of receiving the

nomination by the Republican caucus of the Legis-
lature.

While serving as Governor he manifested the
same intelligent force that had made his many busi-
ness ventures a success. With a zeal rarely found
he gave both time and money to promote the wel-
fare of the various educational and charitable insti-
tutions of the state, and his gifts were always made
for such definite objects that it was evident careful
thought and a well recognized need had prompted
the gift. During his administration the State
Militia was reorganized, a new life infused into its
membership, and for the first time it was placed
upon a serviceable footing. He was an earnest
advocate of the tax system as applied to the liquor
traffic, in place of the then inoperative prohibitory
system, and presented strong reasons for the change.
The State Reform School was through his efforts
relieved of many of its prison features, and made
more of an educational institution.

The law providing for a Board of Charities and
Corrections, and the present system of dealing with
juvenile offenders through county agents, was orig-
inated during his administration, and received his
hearty support. He inspired and di-ected a wise
amelioration in the methods of the Reform School,
the State Prison and the House of Correction, and
by his personal influence and private benevolence
adorned their walls with beautifi:! pictures, stocked
their library shelves, and regaled them with luxu-
ries not provided by the State, the influences of which
have left their imprint for personal good upon thou-
sands of characters.

He was one of the original Board of Control of
the State Public School at Coldwater, and suggested
and applied many important changes in its organi-
zation. The plans of the building were adopted
and the institution located there, when he was a
member. He subsequently, as Governor, became
an ex-officio member of the Board and acted as
such up to the time of the opening of the school for
the children in May, 1874, After retiring from the
Board he was a frequent and welcome visitor, and
every Christmas day the scholars were remembered
in a substantial manner. A fountain was given them,
to ornament the grounds, illustrative of child life,
and one thousand dollars as a perpetual fund, to be
held in trust by the Board and its successors, the
interest each year to be expend 3 :1 on Christmas for
the individual benefit of the children. This gift is
known as the Kittie Bagley fund, in memory of a
little daughter of the donor, who died some years
before her father.

Among the notable measures of his administra-
tion was the entire revision of the general railroad
laws and the bringing of all the companies under
the supervision of a State Commissioner. As

GOVERNORS. SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

1055

chairman of the State Centennial Board he worked
indefatigably to insure the success of Michigan's
representation in Philadelphia, giving largely of his
own private means for that purpose.

His state papers were models of compact, busi-
ness-like statements, bold, original and full of prac-
tical suggestions, and his administration will long
be considered among the ablest in this or any other
State. During his leisure hours, especially during
the last few years of his life, he devoted much time
to becoming acquainted with the best authors, and
biography was his delight. He was a generous and
intelligent patron of the arts, and his elegant home
was a study and pleasure to his many friends, who
always found there a hearty welcome. He never
flagged in any task he undertook, but worked un-
ceasingly and with a determination that knew no
such word as fail. It led him to labor beyond his
strength, to do in a brief time what he might better
have taken months or years to accomplish. Such
determination won rapid success, but it caused the
wick to burn low and go out at an age when most
men are just beginning to see a bright prospect
ahead. His nature was many-sided, and there was
something in him with which everybody could feel
at home. The uncultured workman and the scholar
or scientist found in him appreciation and compan-
ionship.

Every line of his genial face was honest and true,
and his clear eyes looked through all hollowness or
sham. His strong loyalty of character was manifest
in all the relations of life. He had a very tender
love of home, and one of his favorite mottoes was,
" East or West, Home is best." The city where he
lived was his larger home, to which he always re-
turned with satisfaction, and for the welfare of
which he loved to labor.

Although born and educated as an Episcopalian,
he connected himself with the Unitarian Church as
most nearly expressing his ideas ; but his interest
was not confined to that denomination. Wherever
good men and women met and worshiped the Liv-
ing God, there was his church ; such he was ever
ready to join in every good word and work. For
many years he was connected with the Unitarian
Conference as Vice-President and President.

In 1855 he married Miss Frances E. Newbury, of
Dubuque, Iowa, whose father. Rev. Samuel New-
bury, a Presbyterian clergyman, was one of the
pioneers in the establishment of the educational in-
stitutions of the State, helping to do in Michigan
what his friend and correspondent, Horace Mann,
did in Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Bagley had
eight children. Seven of them are living and in
Detroit, namely : Mrs. Florence B. Sherman, John
N. Bagley, Mrs. Frances B. Brown, Margaret, Olive,
Paul Frederick and Helen Bagley.

With a large, powerful frame and great bodily
strength. Governor Bagley seemed the embodiment
of health and cheerfulness, until the winter of
1876-77, when he felt the first indications that his
strength was giving way, and at no time afterwards
was he a well man. In September, 1880, he had
a slight stroke of paralysis, and from this he never
fully recovered. Early in the spring of 1881 he
journeyed to California to try the climate of the
Pacific coast, but it brought no permanent relief,
and he died in San Francisco, July 27, i88r, at the
age of forty-nine.

Governor Bagley *s will was characteristic of the
man, containing bequests for many local charities.
Catholic and Protestant being alike remembered.
He also made generous gifts to all who had been in
his employ for five years or more, and left the sum
of $5,000 with which to erect a public drinking
fountain in Detroit. The fountain was erected on
the open square at the head of Fort street west,
and was unveiled on May 30, 1887. The hundreds
who daily quench their thirst at this elegant memo-
rial are constantly reminded of the liberal donor.

HENRY P. BALDWIN, Ex-Governor and Ex-
United States Senator, is one of the oldest living
residents of Detroit, his residence covering a period
of fully fifty years. He traces his ancestry in this
country to Nathaniel Baldwin, an English Puritan,
who settled in Milford, Connecticut, in 1639. One
of his descendants was the Rev. Moses Baldwin,
who in 1757 received the first collegiate honors that
Princeton College bestowed, and for upwards of
half a century was pastor of a Presbyterian church
in Palmer, Massachusetts, where he died in 181 3.
One of his sons, John Baldwin, who graduated at
Dartmouth in 1791, and died in North Providence,
Rhode Island, in 1826, was the father of Henry P.
Baldwin.

On the maternal side the ancestry of Mr. Baldwin
is traced to Robert Williams, a Puritan, whose place
of settlement in 1638 was Roxbury, Massachusetts.
The Governor's maternal grandfather was the Rev.
Nehemiah Williams, a Harvard graduate. He was
pastor of the Congregational church at Brimfield,
Massachusetts, for the space of twenty-one years,
and died at that place in 1 796.

Henry P. Baldwin was born at Coventry, Rhode
Island, February 22, 18 14. He received a public
school education, supplemented by a brief academic
course. The death of both his parents forced him,
at an early age, into active service for the gaining of
a livelihood. He went into a store as clerk and re-
mained there until twenty years of age, when he
engaged in business on his own account at Woon-
socket, Rhode Island.

Three years later, in 1837, he made a visit to the

1056

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

west, and during that trip became so impressed with
the commercial advantages of Detroit that, in the
spring of 1838, he located permanently in the city.
His career as a merchant covered a record of many
years. Beginning in a small way, he broadened his
business plans and pushed them rapidly forward
with unfaltering energy. He became a prosperous
and progressive citizen and identified his name with
the mercantile history, not only of Detroit, but of
the West. Retiring, a few years ago, from active
participation in the establishment he founded, he
left it to his successors as a valuable heritage.

From the year i860 Mr. Baldwin has been prom-
inently identified with the political history of the
State. He was chosen to the State Senate and
served during the years 1861 and 1862. During his
term of service he was chairman of the Finance
Committee, a member of the Committee on Banks
and Corporations, and chairman of the Select Joint
Committee of the two Houses for the investigation
of the acts of the State Treasurer. He was like-
wise chairman of the legislative committee charged
with the important work of improving the Sault Ste.
Marie ship canal. This was the chief work in the
line of internal improvement then under the control
of the State, and Mr. Baldwin was influential in the
prosecution of the work.

In 1868 he was elected by the Republican party
to the office of Governor of Michigan, and two
years later re-elected, thus serving four years as the
chief executive of the State. The period of his
incumbency was marked by the establishment and
improvement of several public enterprises. He
assisted materially in the advancement and in broad-
ening the scope of the State Charities He founded
the State Public School for Dependent Children,
which is a model of its kind. He also secured the
permanent organization of a commission to super-
vise the State Charities and Penal Institutions.
He recommended the establishment of the Eastern
Insane Asylum, the State Board of Health, and the
State House of Correction. He obtained appro-
priations for the enlargement of the University and
was instrumental in the erection of the elegant
State Capitol building at Lansing. He not only
recommended the appropriation for its construc-
tion, but the contracts for all the work were let
under his administration, and he appointed the
building commission under whose direction and
supervision the Capitol was begun and completed.

During his last term the fires of 1871 destroyed
the city of Chicago, and other fires swept, with
devastating consequences, through the State of
Michigan. Governor Baldwin issued a call to the
State of Michigan on behalf of the western me-
tropolis, and it is a matter of history that that call
was nobly answered. Soon afterwards he issued a

similar appeal in aid of the people of his own State,
and supplemented it with such admirable and sys-
tematic methods for the collecting of donations and
administering relief, that within three months he
was enabled to make the gratifying public announce-
ment that no further aid was needed.

In 1876 Mr. Baldwin served as a member of the
Republican National Convention which nominated
R. B. Hayes for the Presidency. In 1879 the sud-
den death of Senator Zachariah Chandler created a
vacancy in the United States Senate, and Mr. Bald-
win was appointed to fill the position, and did so
with great credit and ability. In addition to other
engagements Mr. Baldwin has, for nearly forty
years, been conspicuously identified with the bank-
ing history of Detroit. He was a director in the old
Michigan State Bank up to the time the charter of
the bank expired. In J 863, upon the organization
of the Second National Bank of Detroit, he was
chosen its President and remained so until the re-
organization of the institution in 1883, as the De-
troit National Bank, when he was again elected
President, which position he retained until 1887,
when he resigned because of proposed absence on
on extended tour to the Old World.

His connection with the affairs of the Protestant
Episcopal Church of Detroit has had much to do
with the remarkable prosperity of that denomina-
tion. When he first came to Detroit he joined St.
Paul's Church, which was then the sole occupant of
the Protestant Episcopal field in Detroit. He was
soon chosen vestryman and warden, and has ever
since filled important positions in connection with the
church. In 1858 he, with other churchmen, organ-
ized a new parish called St. John's. In 1859 work
was begun upon the church building, chapel, and
rectory, at the corner of High- street and Wood-
ward avenue, and a very large proportion of the
entire expense of the undertaking was cont ibuted
by Mr. Baldwin, with whom it has ever been a prin-
ciple to bestow a liberal portion of his income in
religious enterprises. In the history of the Diocese
of Michigan he has been an important factor. For
more than forty years he was a fellow-member,
with Charles C. Trowbridge, of the Standing Com-
mittee of the Diocese, and with him bore the
burden of active labors in an endeavor that achieved
much in the way of useful and valuable results, and
both of them were continuously appointed to repre-
sent the Diocese in the General Convention of the
Protestant Episcopal Church, Mr. Baldwin is still
a member of the Standing Committee of the Dio-
cese.

In 1852 his health led him to seek rest and recrea-
tion abroad, and he made an extended tour of the
European continent. In 1864 and 1865, accompa-
nied by the Rev. Mr. Armitage, Rector of St.

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

1057

John's, he made a second European trip. In the
winter of 1862 and 1863, in pursuit of relaxation
from business cares, he made a sea voyage to Cali-
fornia via the Isthmus. The steamer in which he
was a passenger was captured near the West Indies
by the Alabama, a Confederate vessel. This mis-
hap resulted in a detention of two days, but the
captives were finally released upon the officers of
the steamer giving a bond to pay ransom money
after the acknowledgment of the independence of
the Confederate States ; fortunately for the officers
of the steamer, and for the country as well, the
conditional pledge never became an obligation.

In addition to his connection with the political,
religious and financial history of the city and State,
Mr. Baldwin has had much to do with the social
life of the city. He served as President of the
Young Men's Society, and also of St. Luke's Hos-
pital and Church Home, and has for several years
been President of the Michigan Soldiers' and Sail-
ors' Monument Association. He has been promi-
nently identified with the Detroit Museum of Art,
his interest in art matters is not of a recent date,
and for a number of years he has possessed many
valuable works obtained by himself, and by Major
Cass while United States Minister in Rome

His social qualities make his company desirable.
He is frank and outspoken, but dignified, courteous
and generous, and any one who has him for a coun-
selor and friend is fortunate indeed.

LEWIS CASS, second Governor of the Territory
of Michigan, was born in Exeter, New Hampshire,
October 9, 1782, and his ancestors were among the
early pioneers of that State. His father, Major Jona-
than Cass, joined the Patriot Army the day after the
skirmish at Lexington, and fought for the indepen-
dence of the Colonies at Bunker Hill, Trenton,
Princeton, Germantown, Saratoga and Monmouth.

Lewis Cass received a classical education in Exe-
ter Academy, and after teaching school for some
time in Delaware, his father being then stationed
there under General Wayne, he set out, in his nine-
teenth year, for the Northwest Territory and crossed
the AUeghanies on foot. He studied law under
Return J. Meigs at Marietta, and was admitted to
the bar in 1802, His success was rapid, and in i8o6
he was in the Legislature of Ohio.

The following year he was appointed Marshal of
Ohio, and filled the office until the War of 181 2,
when he resigned his commis^aon, and, at the head
of the Third Regiment of Ohio Volunteers, marched
to the frontier, and there is: every reason to believe
that, if he had been in command instead of Gover-
nor Hull, Detroit and Michigan would not have
been surrendered. In the subsequent recapture
of the city he rendered efficient service, and at the

close of the campaign was appointed Governor of
the Territory, serving until 1831, a period the length
of which has rarely or never been equalled in the
governorship of any territory. Soon after his ap-
pointment as Governor he removed his family to
Detroit. One of the earliest acts passed under his
administration was the law of 1 8 1 5 which restored
the control of local affairs to the people of Detroit.

In the year 1820, wnth the approval of the Secre-
tary of War, he organized a canoe expedition to
Lake Superior and the source of the Mississippi,
with the special object of establishing friendly rela-
tions with various Indian tribes. The expedition
w^as notably successful, and as on previous occasions
Governor Cass proved himself an adept in manag-
ing the wily and much-dreaded red men. During
his administration he negotiated no less than twen-
ty-one treaties with the Indians.

In 183 [ he became Secretary of War under Pres-
ident Jackson, and served until 1836, when he was
appointed United States Minister to France. Dur-
ing his residence at the French court the English
Government sought to secure the adoption of a
treaty by the several European powers that would
have conceded the "right of search " as to Ameri-
can vessels. Mr. Cass was determined to defeat
the project and made a formal protest against the
ratification of the treaty by France, and wrote a
pamphlet on the "Right of Search," which was
generally read by European statesmen, and as a
result the treaty was defeated. While serving as
United States Minister, General Cass visited vari-
ous portions of Europe and also Palestine. He
returned to this country in 1842.

In 1845 he was elected to the United States Sen-
ate, but resigned in 1848 when nominated for the
Presidency, but the next year was re-elected as
Senator, serving until 1857, and then entering the
cabinet of President Buchanan as Secretary of
State. The cares and anxieties of the office during
the closing period of Buchanan's administration, and
General Cass's lack of sympathy with the methods
of the President, caused him to resign, and he re-
turned to Detroit quite feeble and broken in health.
The writer well remembers a brief interview with
him soon after his return. He seemed to be Op-
pressed with the dangers that threatened the Gov-
ernment and with tears in his eyes said : " Sixty
years ago I crossed the Ohio river with all that I had
in the world tied in a handkerchief. Since then I
have witnessed the unparalleled growth of this great
nation and have been greatly honored by the peo-
ple, but now it almost seems as though they were
willing to destroy it or let it crumble into ruin."

Fortunately for all people his fears were not
realized. He grew somewhat stronger physically,
and, on April 25, 1861, addressed a public meeting

I058

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

in favor of the preservation of the Union and was
permitted to witness the close of the war. He died
on June 17, 1866.

For over sixty years he was a prominent figure in
the military and political life of the nation and
was almost uniformly successful in his undertakings.
He was a careful student, an elegant writer, and
thoroughly familiar with the literature of his day.

While residing at Detroit he was actively inter-
ested in various literary endeavors, wrote num-
erous articles for the North American Review
and delivered addresses on a variety of topics. He
was the author of a volume, entitled ** France, its
King, Court, and Government," and the Detroit
Gazette, the first successful newspaper in Detroit, was
begun and continued under his special patronage.

Socially he was warm-hearted and of great ser-
vice to those privileged with his acquaintance.
He was an earnest believer in the Christian faith
and was one of the corporators of the First Prot-
estant Society of Detroit. His possession of the
Cass farm, the name of one of the public schools
and also the name of a leading avenue, perpetuate
his memory in Detroit, and the State has recently
provided for the placing of his statue in the capi-
tol at Washington.

S. DOW ELWOOD was born on Christmas-day,
1824, in Otsego County, N. Y., near the historic
Mohawk Valley, and is the son of Daniel and Hannah
(Bushnell) El wood. His paternal ancestors emi-
grated from Holland early in the seventeenth century:
and his mother's family w^ere pioneers in New Eng-
land. While he was still an infant his father died, and
a few years later his mother remarried and moved to
Oneida Castle, N. Y., where she died in 1838. His
parents were in modest circumstances and after
their death he was left alone in the world. For-
tune, however, interposed in his behalf- and he
found a home, with all that the most sacred and
tender significance of the word suggests, in the
family of a friend and neighbor, by the name of
Patten. Though many years have passed he does
not fail to cherish the memory of the noble souls
who gave him so abundantly of their love and care.
Mrs. Patten still lives, and it is one of his valued
privileges to contribute to the comforts and pleasures
of her declining years.

He attended school at Oneida Castle, and a few
years later, at the age of eighteen, in the same
building, he found himself the proud occupant of
the master's chair. That spot is one of the loveliest
in the most attractive section of the Empire State,
and as the scene of his childish struggles and the
arena where his ambitions first took form, it is revis-
ited as often as his busy life will permit, and always
with increasingf interest,

In 1844 he moved to Rochester, N. Y., where two
paternal uncles, John B. and Isaac R. Elwood, and
his two older brothers were living. He soon found
employment as clerk in a grocery house, and the
following year received an appointment as clerk in
the United States Post Office. He remained in
this position about a year and was then promoted
to the position of U. S. Railway Mail Agent, and
continued in this office without interruption until
March 7, 1849. A Whig administration then suc-
ceeded the Democratic under which his appoint-
ment was made, and he was removed. In Sep-
tember, 1 849, he joined the Argonauts and sailed
to California in search of the "Golden Fleece."
Reaching California he engaged in trading in the
mines and also established an Express between San
Francisco and the southern mining region via
Stockton. 7 he California episode covered a period
of one year, at the close of which he returned to
Rochester, and in February, 1851, was married to
a daughter of the Hon. E. M. Parsons.

He soon after came to Detroit and engaged in
the book and stationery trade, continuing in it until
1866. He then sold out and visited the Canadian
oil region and, as a careful survey of the grounds
satisfied him that it possessed favorable business
prospects, he opened a banking office at Petrolia,
where he remained about four years, prospering
steadily.

In 1 87 1, having in the meantime resumed his resi-
dence in Detroit, Mr. Elwood interested several busi-
ness men in the establishment of the \\ ayne County
Savings' Bank. This institution has grown to large
proportions and is regarded as one of the strongest
financial institutions of Michigan's metropolis. Its
deposit account aggregates $4,000,000, and it has
been in every sense a notable success. It is due to
Mr. Elwood to say that he has been its principal
manager from its organization to the present, and
to it he devotes all of his business hours and most of
his thought.

Politically, Mr. Elwood is a Democrat. His
earliest remembered affiliations and convictions
were of the democratic order, and he has been
uninterruptedly loyal to that party. He is extreme-
ly averse to notoriety, and it is a matter of common
knowledge that he has, more than once, put aside
the offer of political preferment and declined many
a nomination that would have been equivalent to an
election— the sole exception in the way of office hold-
ing being a three years' term in the Board of Alder-
men—serving from 1863 to 1866— most of that time
in the President's chair. The sincerity of his politi-
cal preferences is so fully believed, and so resolutely
has he always defended them, that even those most
opposed to him in these matters are glad to be en-
rolled among his personal friends. His sagacity as

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

1059

a politician and his devotion to his principles were
abundantly illustrated during his career as chair-
man for six years, of the Democratic State Cen-
tral Committee of Michigan.

When the Young Men's Society of Detroit was
in its best days, he was at its head as President.

As the possessor of abundant means, in a charac-
teristic and unobtrusive way^ he has all his life
been a liberal giver, a bountiful friend. In his per-
sonality, he is affable and among his intimates, dis-
tinctly " sociable." He never forgets to be courte-
ous, kind and considerate, and not only enjoys the
companionship of his friends, but attaches them
strongly to himself.

For many years he has been an adherent of the
Unitarian Church and a regular attendant upon its
services. Mr. Elwood's family is composed of his
wife and one daughter, now nearing womanhood.

JACOB M. HOWARD was born in Shaftsbury,
Vt., July 10, 1805, and was educated at the Acad-
emies of Bennington and Brattleboro, and at Wil-
liams College, where he graduated in 1830. He
studied law and engaged in teaching for about two
years and in 1 832 came to Detroit ; was admitted
to the bar in 1833, and was soon prominent among
the leading young men of the city. In 1834 he was
made City Attorney and in 1838 was a member of
the State Legislature; from 1841 to 1843 he served
as Representative in Congress ; in 1851 he appeared
for the people in the great trial known as the Rail-
road Conspiracy Case ; in 1S54 he was elected
Attorney-General of the State and was twice
re-elected, serving in all six years. In 1862 he was
elected as U. S. Senator from Michigan, in place of
K. S. Bingham, deceased, and in 1865 was elected
for the full term, serving until 1871.

While acting as Senator he served as chairman of
the Committee on the Pacific Railroad, and as one
of the Committee on Military Affairs, Judiciary
Private Land Claims, and Library, and also as one
of the Special Joint Committee on the Recon-
structed States.

He received from Williams College, in 1866, the
degree of LL. D., and was a delegate to the Phila-
delphia " Loyalists' Convention" of the same year.

In 1847 he published a translation of the *' Secret
Memoirs of the Empress Josephine." He drew up
the platform of the first convention of the Republi-
can party in 1854, and is said to have given the
party its name. Whether this be so or not, there
can be no doubt that he was one of the ablest leaders
the party ever possessed, and, indeed, his equals
were few in number. During the war for the
Union he rendered the country great service by his
ability and patriotism, and all felt that when he
died a statesman had passed away.

He died on April 2, 1871. His wife's maiden
name was Catherine A. Shaw. The children liv-
ing at the time of his death were Mrs. Mary E.
Hildreth, wife of Joseph S. Hildreth, Col. J. M.
Howard, of Litchfield, Minnesota; Hamilton G.
Howard, Charles M. and Jennie D. Howard, now
Mrs. Samuel Brady.

JAMES F. JOY, whose name for nearly fifty
years has been a household word in Detroit and for
nearly the same length of time also well known
throughout the country, is of New England an-
cestry, and was born in Durham, New Hamp-
shire, December 2d, 18 10. His father, James Joy,
was a man of much enterprise and intelligence, was
decided in his opinions and character, a Federalist
in politics, and a Calvinist in religion, whose influ-
ence for good was felt by all to whom he became
known. He had a large family, and the characters
and careers of his children w^ere largely shaped by
his influence, teaching, and example. He was a
blacksmith by trade, but later in life became a
manufacturer of scythes. The maiden name of his
wife was Sarah Pickering.

James F. Joy attended a common school until he
was sixteen and was then sent to an academy, and
in two years was well fitted for the college course
and able to enter Dartmouth College, He gradu-
ated there at the head of his class in 1833 and im-
mediately commenced the study of law in the Har-
vard Law School at Cambridge, with Judge Storey
and Professor Greenleaf as his instructors. After
remaining there a year he became principal of the
academy at Pittsfield, in his native state, and re-
mained there some months. He was then ap-
pointed tutor in the Latin language in Dartmouth
College, which position he retained for about a
year. He then resumed the study of law at Cam-
bridge ; was admitted to the bar in Boston, and
immediately went west, landing in Detroit in Sep-
tember, 1836. Here he entered the oflice of Augus-
tus S. Porter, where he remained till May, 1837,
when he opened an office for himself, and in the
fall of that year George F. Porter became associated
with him as a partner in business. They continued
in practice for about twenty-five years, and were
eminent in their profession. Their most important
early client was the old Bank of Michigan, and sub-
sequently "The Dwights." so-called, then well
known men of ability and wealth who were en-
gaged in banking in Massachusetts, Michigan, and
Ohio. About this time Gen. Jackson removed the
public money from the United States Bank, the
state banks became its depositories, and the Bank of
Michigan received about $1,200,000 of government
money. These public funds were deposited in local
banks all over the country, and as a result there

io6o

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

was vast speculation everywhere, and soon a panic
and almost universal bankruptcy. The D wights
undertook to sustain the Bank of Michigan, they
loaned it about $400,000, and took its suspended
debt, secured by mortgages, on the property of its
debtors. All of these assets came into the office of
Joy & Porter for collection, and the litigation grow-
ing out of these collections was a source of much
profit and gave the firm a wide reputation as
lawyers.

In 1846 when it was proposed to sell the Michi-
gan Central Railroad to a corporation, Mr. Joy
was employed in the interest of the proposed com-
pany. He largely framed its charter and organized
the company which purchased the road of the State,
and undertook to build it through to Chicago. It
was the important litigation of that company in
Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois which drew Mr.
Joy away from his practice in Detroit. He was also
compelled to shape the legislation in Indiana and Illi-
nois, under which the road was finally extended to
Chicago. The history of the controversy, with re-
gard to the extension of the road to Chicago, is full
of interesting detail, and its importance was such
as to compel Mr. Joy to make railway law a special-
ty, and he soon became, and for a long time contin-
ued, perhaps the most noted lawyer in railw^ay liti-
gation in the country.and for many years his prac-
tice was both extensive and profitable. From serv-
ing as their counsel he was drawn into their man-
agement, and by degrees became prominent in ex-
tending railway connections, and in their manage-
ment and construction. One of his principal clients
was the Illinois Central Railroad Company, and the
entrance of their road into Chicago was attended
with much difficulty and litigation. The most cele-
brated suit, however, which he was called upon to
manage was that of George C. Bates against the
Michigan Central and Illinois Central Railroad
Companies, involving the title to all the station
grounds of both companies in that city. The occa-
sion of the suit was as follows : In the early days
of Chicago, before the harbor was built by the
Government, the Chicago River, at its mouth, ran
south for more than a mile below where the harbor
now is. Outside of the river and between it and
the lake was a wide sand bar; this bar had been
platted into city lots and contained a good many
acres of land. The Government excavated a chan-
nel across it, and built its piers directly through it
into the lake. As the pier was extended the south-
ward current (produced by the winds on the west
side of the lake running south past the end of the
pier) caused an eddy on the south side which began
to wear away this sand bar, and in the course of six
or eight years it entirely disappeared.

When the Illinois and Michigan Central Com-

panies reached Chicago they located their station
grounds in the lake exactly where this sand bar had
been, deposited earth upon it, raised it and erected
freight and passenger houses upon the ground.
Mr. Bates bought up the titles to the lots and
property located on the sand bar, and brought a
suit to recover the grounds. A very interesting
and important question then arose as to who really
owned this land. Mr. Joy took the position that
when the water had gradually worn away the
land all private titles went with it, and that when
it all had disappeared under the water all private
ownership to it, however perfect, was lost, and that
the railway companies, having occupied the site
under the authority of the State, and filled it up,
were the legal owners. The litigation as to its
ownership was long and complicated. It was twice
tried by and finally settled by the United States Su-
preme Court, the position of Mr. Joy being sustained.
The value of the property involved was about
|2,ooo,ooo. It is a curious fact that the law rela-
tive to riparian rights is based upon a decision made
at Rome in the time of Augustus by Trebatius, a
learned praetor, to whom Horace addressed one of
his satires. The principles of the decision of Tre-
batius were adopted by the English courts, and its
authority prevailed in the Chicago case, which is
one of great celebrity.

Mr. Joy now became extensively identified with
the railway interests of the country, and was
largely engaged in extending their lines. He or-
ganized and for many years was at the head of the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Com-
pany. Under his charge it was planned and con-
structed to Quincy and Omaha. The country
through which it passed was rich but largely un-
developed, but soon after the road was built, it was
rapidly settled, and the enterprise, all the time he
was connected with it, was the most successful
and profitable to its security holders of any simi-
lar enterprise in the country, and it has been
good property ever since. The railroad from Kan-
sas City to the Indian Territory is one among many
enterprises of the kind that he promoted. With
other inducements to build it was a tract of 800.-
000 acres, called the neutral lands, belonging to
the Cherokee Indians. These lands, by a treaty
between the Senate, the Indian Nation, and him-
self, Mr. Joy purchased. The road was to be built
across these lands, which were, to some extent,
occupied by lawless squatters, who undertook to
prevent the construction of the road unless Mr. Joy
would give them the lands they occupied. Their
demands led to violence, the engineers of the road
were driven off, and ties and timber designed for
the road were burned. It was only through the
aid of two cavalry companies of United States

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

IO61

troops, stationed there by the Government, that he
was enabled to complete the road. He also built
the first bridge across the Missouri River at Kan-
sas City, and the building of the bridge gave a
great impetus to the progress of that now large and
prosperous city. While he had been acting as
counsel for the Michigan Central Railroad Company,
he became connected with the project of building
the Sault St. Mary's Canal. The Government had
granted the State of Michigan 750,000 acres of land
to aid in the construction of the canal. The grant
was several years old and various attempts had
been made to induce parties to take the land and
build the canal. About 1857 Mr. Joy, in connection
with J. W. Brooks, then managing the Michigan
Central, concluded to undertake the work. The
requisite legislation was secured, and they organ-
ized a company to undertake the enterprise, and a
contract was made with the authorities of the State
to build the canal and take the land in payment.
The work was undertaken, and within two years
from the date of the contract the first ship canal be-
tween Lake Superior and the St. Mary's River was
open, and the advantages of the route thus opened
are not second to those afforded by the more cele-
brated, but not more useful, Suez Canal.

After having been several years connected with
roads farther west, Mr. Joy, about 1867, returned to
Michigan and became President of the Michigan
Central Railroad Company, which had many years
before employed him as its counsel. The great
civil war was over, and the country was beginning
to spring forward to new life. Not much progress
had been made in railroads in Michigan for ten
years. The Michigan Central was an iron instead
of a steel road. Its equipment was about the same
as it had been ten years before, but its business had
increased very largely, and it was necessary that it
be rebuilt with steel rail and newly equipped. It
was equally desirable to so shape and control the
railway construction of the State, that it should be
the least detrimental to, and most promote the
interests of the Michigan Central, which was by
far the most important road in the State. In ac-
cordance with his plans the Michigan Central was
rebuilt, largely double-tracked, and every depart-
ment renewed and enlarged and made adequate to
the demands of the times. This was done at great
cost, steel rails then costing in gold something more
than $130 per ton. During these years Mr. Joy
promoted the building, and finally obtained control,
of the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw road from Jack-
son to Saginaw and Mackinac, and also of the road
from Jackson to Grand Rapids. He also raised
the money for and built the Detroit & Bay City
Railroad, in order to secure the best connection
between Detroit and the northern part of the State

by connection with the road to Mackinac. All
these lines were secured for the Michigan Central,
thus continuing its prestige as the most important
road in Michigan. While they promote the inter-
est of the country through which they run. these
several roads have also largely contributed to build
up the city of Detroit. Meantime the parties who
had undertaken to build the Detroit, Lansing &
Northern road, failed in their effort. Mr. Joy then
took up the enterprise, raised the money, built the
road, and it has become an important element in
the prosperity both of the State and city. Several
other enterprises, valuable to the State and the west,
are also the result of his efforts and of his ability
to command capital. The last public enterprise
with which he has been connected is the effort to
secure a connection with the Wabash system of
railroads for Detroit, and provide adequate station
buildings and grounds in Detroit for its business.
In furtherance of the object he, with Messrs. C. H.
Buhl, Allan Shelden. James McMillan, R. A. Alger
and John S. Newberry, of Detroit, furnished most
of the money with which to build the road from
Detroit to Logansport, and Messrs. Joy, Buhl, Shel-
den, McMillan and Newberry built the Detroit
Union Depot and Station Grounds, and the rail-
road through the western part of the city connecting
with the Wabash road. These local facilities are
now partly leased to the Wabash Company, and
furnish adequate grounds, freight house and eleva-
tor for the accommodation of the business of Detroit
in connection with that railway. It rarely happens,
that a few men such as Mr. Joy and his associates
are able and willing to hazard so much in promot-
ing the interests of the city and State in which they
live.

Mr. Joy's life has been a very busy and useful
one and of great advantage to the city and State
in which he lives, and to the city of Chicago and
the country west as well. Few men have had it in
their power for so many years, to guide and direct
the investment of so large an amount of capital.

Although Mr. Joy has led so active a life, and
been engaged in so many and important enterprises,
he has not neglected mental recreation and im-
provement, but has at all times kept up his early
acquaintance with the ancient classics and with
those of modern times as well. His large library
contains the choicest literature of both ancient and
modern times, including all the Latin and French
classics. His chief recreation in all his busy life
has been in his library, and his case is a rare in-
stance of a busy life closely connected with books,
not only in his own, but in foreign and dead lan-
guages. He has been often heard to say that he
would willingly give $1,000 for the lost books of
either Livy or Tacitus. He attributes much of the

io62

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS,

freshness of his mind, and even much of his health,
to his recreation in his library.

Notwithstanding he is nearing fourscore his
health is robust, and his faculties all seem as per-
fect as at any time in his life. His strength holds
good and he is, perhaps, as active and vigorous in
business as at any time in his career. He has had
the happy faculty of always putting business out of
his mind when the hour for business v^as past, and
has never carried his cares home with him. In his
long life he has met with many and large losses, but
it is believed that however great they may have
been there never was an evening when he w^ould
not lose all thought of them in reading the pages of
some favorite author. He is a man of regular
habits, has never used tobacco in any form, and
has never been in the habit of drinking anything
stronger than coffee and tea. During most of his
life he has been in the habit of taking exercise for
an hour or two each day, and his favorite method is
v^alking.

He has never sought political honors, but when
it became evident that there was to be a great civil
war he w^as elected to the Legislature. He ac-
cepted the position and aided in preparing the
State for the part it was to take in that great con-
test. He was in old times a Whig, but in time be-
came a member of the Free Soil party, and after-
. wards an earnest Republican.

Mr. Joy has been twice married. The name of
his first wife was Martha Alger Reed. She was the
daughter of Hon. John Reed, of Yarmouth, Massa-
chusetts, who was a member of Congress for sev-
eral years, and served also as Lieutenant-Governor
of that State. The maiden name of his second wife
was Mary Bourne, who was a resident of Hartford,
Connecticut. The children of Mr. Joy are as follows:
Sarah R., wife of Dr. Edward W. Jenks ; Martha
A., wife of Henry A. Newland ; James, Frederick,
Henry B., and Richard Pickering Joy.

HENRY BROCKHOLST LEDYARD, son of
Henry and Matilda (Cass) Ledyard, was born at
Paris, France, on February 20th, 1844, during the
residence of his father in that city as Secretary of
the United States Legation.

After the return of his father to Detroit, he at-
tended the excellent and well known school of
Washington A. Bacon. From here he went to
Columbia College at Washington, where he spent
two years, and from there to the West Point Mili-
tary Academy. He was appointed as a Cadet at
Large by President Buchanan in 186 1. He entered
as a cadet on July ist, 1861, graduated on June
23d, 1865, and on the same day, by two different
commissions, was appointed Second and then First
Lieutenant in the Nineteenth U. S. Infantry.

He was first sent to Fort Wayne near Detroit,
from thence to Augusta, Georgia, with recruits, and
then to Newport Barracks, Kentucky, where he
served during October and November, 1865. From
November 20th, 1865, to September 6th, 1866, he
was Quartermaster of his regiment, and from Sep-
tember 6th, 1866, to November 2d, 1866, he was
Quartermaster of the third battalion.

During this period he was at Newport from No-
vember, 1865, to March, 1866, on frontier duty at
Little Rock, Arkansas, in May and June, 1866, in
charge of rebel prisoners at Columbus, Ohio, from
June 15th to July loth, 1866, and then again at Lit-
tle Rock in July, August and September, acting
during a portion of the time as Chief Commissary
of the Department of the Arkansas.

From October, 1866. to February, 1867, he was
at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Meantime, on Sep-
tember 2 1st, 1866, he was transferred to the Thirty-
seventh Infantry, and served as Quartermaster of the
regiment from November 2d, 1866, to February 25th,
1867. He was then transferred to the Fourth Artil-
lery and served on General Hancock's staff as acting
Chief Commissary of Subsistence of the Department
of the Missouri in the field in an expedition against
hostile Indians on the plains. In 1867 he was
ordered to West Point as Assistant Professor of
French, and in 1868 joined his battery at Fort Mc-
Henry, Maryland.

Three years later, in 1 870, when the army was
reorganized, seeing but little prospect of promotion,
and acting under the advice of Gen. Sherman, he
obtained leave of absence for six months and en-
tered the Engineering Department of the Northern
Pacific Railroad, then under construction. His pre-
ference being for a connection with the operating
of a railway rather than with its construction, he
applied for a position with James F. Joy, then the
foremost railway manager of the country, being
President of the Michigan Central, Chicago, Bur-
lington & Quincy, and several other important
western railroads. Mr. Joy, who had been for many
years a \yarm personal friend of his father's, offered
him a position as clerk in the office of the Division
Superintendent of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Railroad. He entered the service of that company
in July, 1870, and in November of the same year re-
signed his commission in the army, and was hon-
orably discharged from the service, in* accordance
with the Act of Congress. Two years afterwards
he was made Assistant Superintendent of the road,
and in 1873 became Division Superintendent of the
Eastern Division.

In October, 1874, Mr. Joy offered the position of
General Superintendent of the Michigan Central
to W. B. Strong, then Assistant General Superin-
tendent of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Rail-

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

1063

road (now President of the Atchison, Topeka &
Santa Fe Railroad). Mr. Strong accepted the
position, and persuaded Mr. Ledyard to accompany
him as Assistant General Superintendent, and in
the following spring he also assumed the duties of
Chief Engineer. In 1876 Mr. Strong resigned to
accept the General Superintendency of the Chi-
cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and Mr. Led-
yard was appointed as his successor. The appoint-
ment came from Mr Joy, and Mr. Ledyard ascribes
much of his success to the valuable aid and wise
counsel of this experienced financier.

In 1877, Mr- Ledyard was made General Mana-
ger of the Michigan Central Railroad, and in 1883
on the retirement of W. H. Vanderbilt from active
railway management, succeeded him as President
of the corporation, being probably the youngest
President in the country of so lari^e a corporation.

His military and engineering education give him
special qualifications for the position he occupies,
and these with rare administrative ability, insure
method and accuracy in all that he attempts.
These qualities largely account for his rapid ad-
vancement to his present position It would be
difficult to find in the United States his superior in
knowledge in all departments of his work, as he is
one of the few skilled railroad presidents in the
country. His memory is amazing with regard to the
history of railroad agreements, bonds, pools, and
other complexities, which during the last twenty
years have become such an intricacy that few minds
can disentangle or trace them ; his memory is
equally good in general intellectual and literary
matters.

It is his nature to be aggressive, and he keeps his
railroad in the front rank by instinctively doing in
advance what necessity w^ould compel later on. His
labors are in the highest degree intelligent, and he
mastered all the details of the whole intricate and
comprehensive system of railway management. He
does not fear responsibility, but having confi-
dence in his own powers, he readily assumes addi-
tional responsibilities, his grasp becoming more
comprehensive and his abilities rising as occasion
demands. Although of a nervous temperament, he
is by no means a nervous man, but his feelings are
constantly on the alert. It is not his habit to con-
sult others on the bearing of facts and conditions.
His natural perception is remarkably quick and ac-
curate ; he grasps readily the ideas of others and
has a wonderful retentive memory concerning all
things brought to his attention, and is always
prompt and self-reliant, and there is apparently no
limit to his powers of endurance, and yet he is al-
ways eminently modest, neglecting almost con-
stantly rights and honors belonging to him as the
president of a great and wealthy corporation.

He is especially careful of the interests of others
gives patient consideration to all suggestions of pro-
posed improvements and almost by intuition selects
those of value. His prompt methods of doing busi-
ness, and the rapidity with which he arrives at a
decision, causes him to be sometimes misunder-
stood, but this, only for a moment, or by those who
have no real opportunity of knowing him. Those
who are brought into close relationship with him
always learn to appreciate his courtesy and the con-
sideration which he con.stantly bestows upon the
welfare of all the employes of the road, and they
know that he is as lenient as is possibly consistent
with wise and judicious management.

Socially, Mr. Ledyard is distinguished for sincer-
ity and a thorough devotion to his friends. He
has little love for the formal round of fashionable
living, prefers home to all other places, and at his
own fireside, or with a circle of familiar spirits, his
kindly sentiments, genial humor, and rare intellect-
ual gifts make him a delightful companion and a
universal favorite.

He was married on October 15th, 1867, to Mary
L'Hommedieu, of Cincinnati, daughter of Stephen
L'Hommedieu, the projector, and for twenty-five
years the President of the Cincinnati, Plamilton &
Dayton Railroad. Their children are Matilda Cass,
Henry, Augustus Canfield, and Hugh.

JAMES MCMILLAN was born May 12, 1838,
at Hamilton, Ontario, and is the son of William and
Grace McMillan of Scotland, who emigrated to
Canada and settled in Hamilton in 1836. William
McMillan was a man of exceptionally strong and
symmetrical character and of the highest integrity.
His business connections were wide and his identi-
fication with many important enterprises made his
name well known throughout Ontario. From the
inception of the Great Western Railway Company
until his death in 1874, he was one of its officers.

James McMillan began his educational course in
the grammar school at Hamilton, a preparatory
institution of the Toronto College, presided over by
Dr. Tassie, an able and well known teacher. At
the age of fourteen, having acquired a thoroughly
practical education, he began his remarkably suc-
cessful career. Entering a hardware establishment,
he spent four years in learning the detail of the busi-
ness, and then removed to Detroit and obtained a
situation in the wholesale hardware store of Buhl &
Ducharme. At the end of two years' service he was
appointed to the position of purchasing agent of the
Detroit and Milwaukee Railway. While perform-
ing these duties he attracted the attention of an ex-
tensive railroad contractor and was employed by him
to secure men, purchase supplies, and care for the
finances in connection with the execution of a large

1064

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

contract. At this time he was only twenty years
old, but proved abundantly able to fulfill the duties
required of him, and the experience gained during
this period was especially profitable as a prepara-
tion for his future career. When the contracts
upon which he was engaged were completed, he
again obtained the position of purchasing agent of
the Detroit and Milwaukee Railway.

In 1864 Mr. McMillan associated himself with
Messrs. Newberry, Dean and Eaton, in the forma-
tion of the Michigan Car Company, from which has
grown the immense industrial enterprises which
have made the names of Newberry & McMillan
famous in financial circles throughout the country.
Among the most important of their enterprises are
the Detroit Car Wheel Company, the Baugh Steam
Forge Company and the Detroit Iron Furnace
Company. Of all these immense concerns Mr.
McMillan is president and the principal owner.
The business of these establishments varies from
$3,500,000 to $5,000,000 annually, and the number
of employees averages over 2,500. Mr. McMillan's
car building enterprises have not been confined to
Detroit. He was long prominently connected and
heavily interested in car works at London, Ontario,
and St. Louis, Missouri, both of which enterprises
are indebted largely to his sagacity and administra-
tive ability for their success. He is also largely
interested in the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic
Railway, and has been its only president. In addi-
tion to this line he is actively engaged in the further-
ing of other railroad lines that are destined to be
of great service both to Northern Michigan and
Detroit. He is a large stockholder in the Detroit
and Cleveland Steam Navigation Company, in the
Detroit Transportation Company, and in other
freight and passenger lines, and is a director in the
First National Bank, and the Detroit Saving Bank,
besides being largely interested in other banks.
He is prominently connected with the Detroit City
Railway Company, with the D. M. Ferry & Co.
Seed Company, the Detroit Railroad Elevator, the
Union fJepot Company, and with numerous other
large enterprises in Detroit and elsewhere. For
many years he has owned a large amount of cen-
trally located business property, and the business
blocks he has erected have added greatly to the
architectural beauty of the city. In fact his aggres-
sive energies have been felt in many directions and
wherever exerted have been rewarded with large
and merited success, and thousands of individuals
and the city at large have been profited by the re-
sults of his sagacity. He has not sought to keep
his gains to himself, but has always liberally and
judiciously expended a large share of them for the
promotion of the public good.

Added to the strong sense and clear foresight

derived from his Scotch parentage, he obtained a
business training that step by step has prepared
him for every change and made him master of each
successive situation. An executive ability of com-
manding character, with wonderful power of concen-
tration upon any given subject, capacity for compli-
cated details, ability to keep in mind the whole
field of his immense interests without losing sight
of a single important link in their best and most
profitable relation, serve in a measure to explain the
results he has secured. He is quick and sure in
his judgment of character, trusting fearlessly when
he has once given his confidence, thus enlisting
the loyal and sympathetic support of those who
labor with him. He is ready in decision, broad,
clear and liberal in his views and wise and just in
administration. Thoroughly quiet and unostenta-
tious in manner, he has a heartiness of greeting and
a genuine love of humor, that makes him an agree-
able friend. Despite the arduous work he has per-
formed, he has kept the physical man in the best of
conditions, and as a result his natural kindliness of
disposition remains unchanged, and he never shows
the fatigue or impatience that so often repel. At
all times approachable and agreeable, he is an ideal
business man. His charities are numerous, un-
ceasing and extensive. He is a member of the
Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church and is nota-
bly liberal, not only to that church, but to other
denominations, and indeed to religious and philan-
thropic movements of any kind. One of his most
recent benefactions is the gift of $100,000 for the
erection of a Free Homoeopathic Hospital in De-
troit. He is ever ready to lend a helping hand and
many young men have cause to remember his time-
ly assistance.

A Republican in politics, he has been actively
interested and influential in the success of his party,
giving freely of both money and time. For several
years he was Chairman of the Republican State
Committee, and his genius for thorough organiza-
tion was a valuable factor in securing party vic-
tories. He is regarded not only as a consistent and
very valuable party man, but as one of no slight
authority upon general political matters. He has
thus far refused the proffered nomination by party
friends to high and responsible official position, con-
tenting himself by aiding effectively in the election
of his friends, but it is none the less certain that
his abilities admirably qualify him for any position
in the gift of the State or Nation.

Although only in middle life, he has reaped a
princely fortune and is secure in the respect and
esteem of his fellow citizens.

He was married in i860 to Mary L. Wetmore of
Detroit. They have five children living, four sons
and one daughter. The eldest son graduated from

"^/^■y^'t-r^ ^^"^ ■ "-^%^/:^V^^^ .?,,,.,

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS,

1065

Yale College and is interested in various enterprises
in connection with his father. The second son
graduated also from Yale and is now studying law.

HUGH McMillan is among the foremost of
the comparatively few young business men of De-
troit who have won distinction in the establishment
of large business enterprises. His business life has
exhibited tireless' energy, unyielding perseverance,
a keen foresight of events and the intelligent use of
definite means to accomplish a well defined pur-
pose. He was born at Hamilton, Ontario, Septem-
ber 28, 1845, and is a son of William and Grace
McMillan, both natives of Scotland. His father
was born in Glasgow, where for several years he
was engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1836 he
emigrated to Canada, settling in Hamilton ; became
one of the first officers of the Great Western Rail-
way Company, and continued as such until his death
in 1874. He was a man of broad ideas, great moral
courage, perfect confidence in his own judgment,
well informed and possessed of a genial sunny dis-
position, good presence, and ready natural wit.
Through his extensive business transactions he be-
came well known throughout Ontario and was
everywhere highly esteemed.

Hugh McMillan, the fifth son in a family of six
sons and one daughter, began his educational
course in the public school and continued his stud-
ies until he graduated in Phillips' Academy, at Ham-
ilton. Early in life Mr. McMillan determined to
devote his energies to a business career and at the
age of fourteen obtained a clerkship in the Great
Western Railway, and after two years' experience
as bookkeeper was induced in i86i to go to Detroit.
Here he became a clerk in the office of the General
Superintendent of the Detroit and Milwaukee Rail-
way, and remained in the employ of the road for
three years, and then thinking that a mercantile life
offered greater inducements than a railroad career,
he became a clerk in the hardware store of Du-
charme & Prentice. In 1872 he became associated
with his brother, James McMillan, accepting the
position of Secretary of the Michigan Car Company,
which was just beginning to assume large propor-
tions. Those essential qualities of executive ability,
good judgment and quick perception, so requisite in
the building up of extensive enterprises, were soon
manifested, and his indefatigable exertions contrib-
uted greatly to the success of the company. Some
years after he became connected with the company
he was made Vice-President and General Manager,
positions which he still retains. In the Detroit Car
Wheel Company and the Baugh Steam Forge Com-
pany, established about the same time, connected
with the Michigan Car Company and virtually under
the same management, he has been greatly influen-

tial. He is Vice-President and Manager of the
former and Vice-President and Treasurer of the last
named corporation In every stage of the rapid
growth of these establishments, the personal energy
and arduous labors of Mr. McMillan have been
manifest. A fair idea of the growth and present
condition of the three enterprises with which Mr.
McMillan is so inseparably connected can be gained
by the fact, that during the first year of his connec-
tion with the Michigan Car Company 2,000 cars
were built, while of late years the yearly product
has averaged over 7,000. The business of the
establishments named aggregates several millions of
dollars yearly, and thousands of employees are con-
stantly engaged.

In the construction of the Detroit, Mackinac &
Marquette Railroad, Mr. McMillan was a leading
spirit. This road is 150 miles in length, extends
through a large part of the upper peninsula of
Michigan, and opened up a tract of country prac-
tically a wilderness, and to-day flourishing vil-
lages exist and valuable land is being rapidly
devoted to profitable farming purposes, greatly aid-
ing the material wealth and prosperity of the State.
It was commenced in 1877 and finished within
two years, and from its inception Mr. McMillan
was a director, secretary and treasurer. During
1886 a syndicate of Chicago, Detroit and New York
capitalists formed the Duluth, South Shore & At-
lantic Railway Co., with a capital of $10,000,000,
for the purpose of purchasing the road and con-
structing some two hundred miles of additional
road in order to connect it with the western ter-
minus of the Northern Pacific line at Duluth and
eastern railroads at Sault Ste. Marie. As the finan-
cial agent of the syndicate, Mr. McMillan in Octo-
ber, 1886, completed the negotiations for the pur-
chase of the Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette Rail-
road of the bondholders for a sum exceeding
$3,000,000. This undertaking is opening for busi-
ness and settlement a large area of new country
and cannot fail to be of great benefit to the State
of Michigan.

In the organization and development of the
Michigan Telephone Company in 1877, Mr. Mc-
Millan was actively engaged, and by his personal
exertions obtained, fortunately for those who lis-
tened to him, many subscriptions to its stock when
doubts were entertained of the success of the
undertaking. Of this corporation, which owns and
controls the entire telephone business of the State
of Michigan, he is secretary and treasurer.

The establishment and prosperity of the Com-
mercial National Bank of Detroit is also largely
owing to his business sagacity and financial direc-
tion, and he has been its President from the begin-
ning. When the establishment of this bank was

io66

GOVERNORS, SENATORS. BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

determined upon, few were able to foresee the suc-
cess which has accompanied it during the seven
years of its life, a success accompanied by so large
a share of public confidence that it has been for
some time past recognized as one of the leading
institutions of Detroit. Mr. McMillan feels a
natural pride in the establishment and develop-
ment of this bank, and it is not among the least of
his successes. He is also an active director and
large stockholder in the State Savings Bank of De-
troit, an institution which is recognized as one of
the most reliable and conservative in the country,
and is the depository for thousands of mechanics
and working people in the city of Detroit and
throughout the entire State of Michigan.

The various interests enumerated comprise but
a small part of the complicated and varied enter-
prises in which he is engaged. He is Vice-Presi-
dent and Treasurer of the Detroit Iron Furnace
Company and of the Newberry Furnace Company ;
Vice-President and General Manager of the De-
troit Pipe and Foundry Co.. Vice-President of the
Detroit Iron Mining Co., and of the Fulton Iron
and Engine Works, and President of the Ham-
tramck Transportation Co., and Red Star Line of
steamers. Mr. McMillan is also officially, or as a
director, connected with and largely interested in
the following substantial and successful corpora-
tions: The Detroit Railroad Elevator Company;
Detroit Electrical Works; Detroit & Cleveland
Steam Navigation Co.; Duluth & Atlantic Trans-
portation Co.; Mackinac Transportation Co.; and
the Detroit Transportation Co. The qualities which
have contributed to his success embrace not only the
highest order of executive ability, but quick appre-
hension, easy grasp of details, a retentive memory and
keen sagacity. The ability to thoroughly systema-
tize every department of large enterprises and to select
capable subordinates has had much to do with his
success. Naturally unostentatious, a lover of books
and society, his friends find him at all times an
affable and agreeable companion. He was Presi-
dent of the Detroit Club for three years. His home
on Jefferson avenue and country residence near
Lake St. Clair reflect a cultivated and artistic taste.
He is a member and officer in the Jefferson Avenue
Presbyterian Church, and takes an active interest
in its welfare. He was married May 2, 1867, to
Ellen Dyar. They have one daughter and three
sons.

JOHN STOUGHTEN NEWBERRY, for many
years one of the chief factors in the industrial
affairs of Detroit, was born at Waterville, Oneida
County, New York, November 18, 1826, and was
the son of Elihu and Rhoda (Phelps) Newberry,
both of English parentage and natives of Windsor,

Connecticut His father was a descendant of
Thomas Newberry, who emigrated from England
in 1625, and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts.
John S. Newberry, at the age of five, accompanied
his parents to Detroit, and a few years after to
Romeo, Michigan. His rudimentary education
begun at Detroit was continued at Romeo, where he
prepared for the Michigan University, and graduated
in 1845, taking the honors of his class. He early
developed a taste and aptitude for the practical sci-
ences, and following the natural bent of his mind
acquired a thorough knowledge of civil engineering
and surveying, and for two years was employed in the
construction department of the Michigan Central
Railroad, under Colonel J. M. Berrien. He subse-
quently spent a year in traveling, and then entered
the law ofiice of Van Dyke & Emmons. He was
admitted to the bar in 1853, and at once com-
menced practice with that energy and ability which
distinguished him in all his undertakings. At that
time the commerce of the lakes was just beginning
to assume an importance in maritime affairs, and
appreciating the future possibilities of admiralty
business, he devoted his attention to that branch of
practice, and as the maritime interests increased in
importance, he acquired a large practice in the
United States Courts. He was one of the first to
contribute to the legal literature of the West an
authoritative compilation of admiralty cases arising
on the lakes and western rivers. This volume was
of great practical use, and still serves a valuable
purpose as a standard work of reference. At
different times Mr. Newberry was associated with
several prominent practitioners of the Detroit bar.
He was first a partner in the law firm of Towle.
Hunt & Newberry, later on he was associated with
Ashley Pond, under the firm name of Pond &
Newberry, and then as Pond, Newberry & Brown,
the latter member being Henry B. Brown, the
present judge of the United States Circuit Court at
Detroit. After Mr. Pond withdrew from the firm,
the style was changed to Newberry & Brown. It
was while a member of this firm that Mr. New-
berry's attention was turned to manufactures. In
1863 James McMillan, then purchasing agent of the
Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad, became associated
with him in a contract with the Government for the
building of a large number of cars for use in the
Southern States for the transportation of soldiers
and munitions of war. This venture proved a suc-
cess, and was the beginning of the several immense
industrial enterprises with which he became con-
nected.

In 1864, Mr. Newberry assisted in the establish-
ment of the Michigan Car Works, and at that
time withdrew from the practice of law, that his
time and energies might be fully devoted to this

^^,-...</^

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

1067

interest. In this great enterprise his business
ability was tested in many ways, and aided by his
strict surveillance the business grew rapidly, and
at the time of his death was the largest manufac-
turing establishment in Detroit. He was also
largely and influentially interested in the various
industrial undertakings operated in connection with
the Michigan Car Company, such as the Detroit
Car Wheel Company, the Baugh Steam Forge
Works, the Fulton Iron and Engine Works, the
Missouri Car Company of St. Louis, the Detroit
Mining Company, and the Vulcan Furnace Com-
pany, at Newberry, Michigan. He was also a direc-
tor and treasurer of the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena
Railroad, a director in the Detroit, Mackinac &
Marquette Railroad Company, as well as in the De-
troit and Cleveland Navigation Company, the Ham-
tramck Navigation Company, the Detroit Transporta-
tion Company, and the Detroit National Bank, and
had a financial and advisory connection in numerous
other interests. As a business man he possessed
rare ability; his judgment concerning the merits of
new and untried enterprises was seldom at fault ;
his intuitive power of foreseeing the possibilities of
every venture, gave him boldness in the execution
of plans which needed only time to vindicate their
wisdom. His self-control was perfect; he never
lost his balance, and no matter how harassed or
perplexed he might be, he held himself beyond any
exhibition of temper or impatience. He had that
magnetic power over men which commands esteem,
and is only possessed by men of great character
and force. His name was the synonym of business
strength and integrity. So well managed were all
his business ventures, involving millions of invested
capital, that at his death they were in a condition to
be continued without change.

In political affairs he was at first a Whig, but
from 1856 was a member of the Republican party.
In 1862 he was appointed by President Lincoln the
first Provost Marshal for the State of Michigan,
with the rank of Captain of Cavalry. This position
he held for two years, and during that time he had
charge of two drafts, and enrolled and sent to the
field the drafted men and substitutes. During his
busy life he had little time had he possessed the
ambition for political position. He sought political
preferment but once, when he was elected to Con-
gress from the First District, and served with credit
for a single term, his most notable effort being an
able speech on the national finances. At the end
of his term of service he declined a renomination,
and from that time until failing health compelled
him to desist, his time, energies and ability were
given entirely to the management of his various
business interests.

About two years before his death, Mr. Newberry

was attacked by a complication of ailments, which
baffled medical skill. After traveling extensively
to various health resorts, in hope of receiving
relief, he returned home, where the last few months
of his life were passed, surrounded by his family
and friends. He died on January 2, 1887. The
death of one who had been so thoroughly identified
with the greatest industrial enterprises of his city,
and State, called forth widespread expressions of
genuine sorrow; and this was especially true
in Detroit. For many years his life had been
closely interwoven with the city's growth and pros-
perity, while his active mind, tireless energies, and
rapidly accumulating wealth gave him a prominent
place among the citizens of Michigan, and his hon-
est and high-minded business methods inspired
unlimited confidence and trust. At the age of
fourteen he united with the First Congregational
Church of Romeo, but during the entire period of
his residence in Detroit he was a member of the
Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church, to which
denomination he was a most liberal contributor, and
for many y^rs a worker in benevolent enterprises.

He accumulated one of the largest estates in
Michigan, and his wealth was invested in channels
which gave prosperity and comfort to thousands of
his fellows. He was generous in support of every
public enterprise, and one of the last acts of his life
was to join with James McMillan in the establish-
ment of a Homoeopathic Hospital in Detroit, to the
endowment of which he contributed $100,000. By
his will more than half a million was bequeathed to
various charitable objects Of his personal charac-
teristics much indeed might be said. He was a
man of fine attainments, and by study and extensive
travel had acquired a wide and varied education. In
social life he was generally regarded as austere and
unapproachable, but those who enjoyed his friend-
ship knew that he possessed a kindly disposition,
and his family life was pleasing in its love and de-
votion. He lived a pure and noble life ; was brave,
generous, and true to his convictions of duty, and
the work he accomplished for the good of his city
and State gives him a worthy place among the most
distinguished citizens of Michigan.

He was twice married, first in 1855 to Harriet
Newell Robinson, of Buffalo, who died within a
year, leaving one son, Harry R. Newberry. In 1859
he married Helen P., daughter of Truman P. Handy,
of Cleveland, by whom he had three children, Tru-
man H., John S. and Helen H. Newberry.

JOHN OWEN was born near Toronto, Canada
West, March 20, 1809, His father died when Mr.
Owen was quite young, and in the year 181 8, with
his mother, he came to Detroit. Soon after coming
here he began to attend school in the old University

io68

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

building on Bates street, paying for his tuition by
services rendered the preceptor.

When twelve years old he became an errand boy
in the drug store of Dr. Chapin, remaining with him
several years, and making himself so useful that
when only twenty years old he was taken in as a
partner, his energy and faithfulness being placed
against the capital of his former employer. Sub-
sequently the firm became J. Owen & Co. In 1853
he retired from trade, and the present firm of T. H.
Hinchman & Son is the successor of the old firms of
Chapin & Owen and J. Owen & Co.

After he retired from mercantile life, Mr. Owen
gave his attention largely to vessel and banking
interests. He was one of the earliest and largest
stockholders in the Detroit and Cleveland Steam
Navigation Company, and for many years president
of the corporation. He is also largely interested in
the Detroit Dry Dock Company. He was presi-
dent of the Michigan Insurance Co. Bank, and of
its successor, the National Insurance Bank, and in
1857, while serving as president of the first named
institution, it was the unbounded persona* confidence
that the people had in him that enabled the bank
to go safely through those perilous times, and his
integrity and good name was the wall that pre-
vented the financial breakers from overwhelming
not only the bank but scores of individuals as well.
It was also fortunate that he was at the head of
the State treasury from 1861 to 1867, for in the first
years of the war, without his personal credit and
well known honesty, it would have been almost
impossible for the State to have met the demands
then made upon it in paying for the equipment of
the troops.

Aside from the office of State Treasurer, the only
public offices he has held were those of Alderman at
Large in 1836, and of the First Ward in 1844 and
1845. He also served as one of the School Direc-
tors in 1839 and 1840, as Commissioner of Grades
from 1859 tc> 1870, and as one of the Board of
Water Commissioners from 1865 to 1879. From
1 841 to 1848 he was one of the Board of Regents of
Michigan University. During his earlier years he was
a member of the Volunteer Fire Department, serv-
ing as foreman of Company No. i in 1837, and as
president of the Department Society from 1841 to
1 843. He has also been actively interested in various
philanthropic and patriotic societies, serving as
treasurer of a State Temperance Society in 1837, as
president of the Michigan Soldiers' Relief Society
in 1864, and as trustee and treasurer of the cor-
poration of Elmwood Cemetery from its organiza-
tion, for over forty years.

His connection with the Central Methodist Epis-
copal Church as trustee and treasurer covers even
a longer period, and he did more than any other

person during a period of nearly fifty years to pro-
tect and preserve its credit, by the prompt payment
of all bills, without regard to the possession of
church funds at the time. During all this time he
Was recognized as the foremost member in the
State of the church of his choice, and contributed
very largely to its building up, not only in Detroit,
but in the State at large. He is one of the prin-
cipal trustees of Albion College, and has given
largely to that institution.

His benefactions have not been confined within
denominational lines, but whenever time and influ-
ence and means could help solve social problems,
he has been ready to help. His long residence in
the city, his upright life and careful judgment, and
the many services he has rendered the public, have
made his name a synonym for character and worth,
and he occupies a position that comparatively few
attain.

DAVID PRESTON was born September 20,
1826, in Harmony, Chautauqua County, N. Y., and
was the son of Rev. David Preston, for thirty years
a member of the Erie Conference of the Methodist
Episcopal Church. He was educated in that vicin-
ity and his earliest occupation was that of a teacher,
in which he continued four years.

In 1848 he came to Detroit and found employ-
ment in the banking office of G. F. Lewis. He
remained with him four years, his total salary for
that time being $950. Out of this amount he saved
a few hundred dollars, and in May, 1852, began
business as a banker and broker. From the very
outset he was successful, and from time to time
was compelled to change his location in order to
obtain room to meet the demands of his growing
business. His longest tarry and most successful
years were while located on the southeast corner of
Woodward avenue and Earned street, and while
there located, in connection w4th S, A. Kean, he
established a banking office in Chicago. During
his stay in the location named, John L. Harper was
a partner with him, the partnership being dissolved
in 1 88 1. The Chicago bank was organized as a
National bank in 1884, and the Detroit bank as the
Preston Bank in 1885, and after his death reorgan-
ized as the Preston National Bank.

During his entire career as a banker Mr. Preston
possessed the almost unlimited confidence of the
public, and even those who differed from him in
judgment were compelled to respect his evident sin-
cerity and honesty of purpose. In addition to his
banking business he was a very large dealer in pine
lands as well as in city real estate.

The only municipal office he ever held was that
of Alderman of the Fifth Ward of Detroit in 1872
and 1873. He voted and worked with the Repub-

JwOt^^^

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

1069

lican party until a few years prior to his death when
he gave his time, and money, and influence, to the
full, to the cause of Prohibition, and this not as an
office-seeker, but because he believed that through
that party the liquor traffic could be destroyed.
His labors were ardent, unceasing, and laborious,
especially in trying to promote the adoption of a
constitutional amendment to prohibit the sale of
liquors, and there is little doubt but that those labors
were the immediate cause of his death. His health
had been poor for several years and he had made
two trips to Europe to secure needed rest. Both
journeys resulted in good, but he was not strong
enough to endure the fatigue of the duties which his
prominence in the church and in the cause of prohibi-
tion imposed upon him, and he might have said truth-
fully, " the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up."

It is safe to say that up to the time of his death
no other person in Detroit was as widely known,
for general and generous benevolence. He gave
liberally, he gave unostentatiously, he gave system-
atically, he gave constantly, and it may be doubted
whether he ever refused any legitimate call for aid.
The local charities, patriotic memorials, and bene-
volences of every kind were all gladly aided. In
his owm denomination he stood at the head of all
the givers in the State. Through his own efforts,
in 1873, he raised $60,000 for Albion College, and
in the raising of funds for the building of the
various Methodist Episcopal churches of Detroit he
was particularly useful. His manner of presiding
and his methods at any meeting where money was
to be raised were peculiarly his own. His appeals
were unique and sometimes wonderfully thrilling
and persuasive, and he not only induced others to
give, but always gave himself. Although a zealous
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he was
large hearted in his feelings towards those of other
creeds and often helped in their plans.

In 1869 and 1870 he served as president of the
Y. M. C. A., and was always interested in its w^ork.
Personally he was simple hearted and approachable,
with a warm and kindly nature. He was often
humorous in his remarks and yet apparently al-
ways devotional and considerate. His place was
rarely vacant, either in the public services or in the
prayer meeting. He held for many years the
offices of trustee and class leader in the Central
Methodist Episcopal Church, and his departure was
regarded as a personal loss by the entire member-
ship. He died on Sunday, April 24, 1887.

He was married to Jane B. Hawk, of Conneaut,
Ohio, on May 5, 1852. They had a large family of
children of whom seven are now living. Their
names are : William D.. Frank B., and Ellery D.,
Mrs. F. W. Hayes and Misses Minnie, Mabel and
Bessie Preston.

THOMAS WITHERELL PALMER was born
in Detroit, January 25th, 1830, and is the only sur-
viving child of the nine children of Thomas and
Mary A. (Witherell) Palmer. Part of his boyhood
was spent in the village of Palmer, now the city of
St. Clair, where he attended a school taught by Rev.
O. C. Thompson. He subsequently entered the
University of Michigan, but owing to ill health did
not fully complete his course and received no degree
until he had proved his fitness for it by travel and
experience in the broader university of the world.

On leaving Ann Arbor he visited Europe, traveled
through Spain on foot, and subsequently spent sev-
eral months in South America. Returning to De-
troit in 1853, he engaged in buying and selling pine
lands, and soon became a partner with the late
Charles Merrill, a large operator in pine lands and
lumber. Mr. Merrill, Mr. J. A. Whittier and Mr.
Palmer were engaged for years in the manufacture
of lumber at East Saginaw, and on Mr. Merrill's
death the business was continued under the old firm
name of C. Merrill & Co., Mrs. Palmer inheriting
her father's interest. Mr. J. B. Whittier has since
been added to the firm.

In addition to other business interests, Mr. Palmer
is a director in the American Exchange National
Bank, the Wayne County Savings Bank, and the
Security and Safe Deposit Company, and the Gale
Sulky Harrow Company, and is interested in the
Detroit Steam Navigation Company, the Michigan
Lake Navigation Company, the Frontier Iron Works,
the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Company, the
Iron Silver Mining Company of Leadville, Colorado,
and other important and profitable enterprises.

He is fortunate in being able to have no less than
three residences. One of them, an elegant house
with extensive grounds is in Detroit, another a log
house, that cost many thousand dollars, is located a
few miles out of the city in Greenfield, on his farm of
about a mile square, a third, a palatial establish-
ment, is located in Washington. His log house, and
the 657 acre farm upon which it is located, are his
especial pride. Here he has scores of valuable Per-
cheron horses, and Jersey cows, and all the appur-
tenances of a large stock farm, which is kept up in
the most admirable manner.

Mr. Palmer's natural disposition did not lead him
into public life, but he has been gradually pushed
into it, and once in the arena he has been kept there.
His first political office was as one of the first Board
of Estimates elected from the city at large in 1873.
In 1878 he was elected to the State Senate from the
city of Detroit, and while there he introduced, and
pushed to its passage, the bill creating the reform
school for girls, and aided by Representative E. W.
Cottrell, he secured the passage of the bill provid-
ing for a boulevard about the city of Detroit, fie

I070

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

also served as chairman of the caucus which nomi-
nated Z. Chandler to the United States Senate. In
1883 he was elected by the Legislature as the suc-
cessor of Thomas W. Ferry in the United States
Senate. In this body he ranks easily with its best
speakers and most influential members.

One would think that with means to gratify every
wish, and with strong literary tastes, he would be
unwilling to serve in any position involving so much
self-denial and labor. He, however, seems to enjoy
what to many would be martyrdom, and being inde-
pendent in all his thoughts and actions, he is able
to serve his native commonwealth as well as any of
its previous Senators could have served it in the
same period.

A thorough philosopher, he accepts the inevitable
gracefully, and somehow or other reaches the goal.
Some would say of him he is *' lucky," but his luck
is of the kind that is born of sound judgment and
a general mastery of the situation.

His addresses give evidence not only of wide
reading but of extensive travel, thoughtful observa-
tion and a clear conception. His thoughts and words
are neither plain nor monotonous, but full of bright-
ness, beauty, and vigor, and abundant in sentiment
and sagacity. His language is always clear, choice,
forcible, elegant, and especially noticeable for per-
fect classical allusions and abundant historical
references. His illustrations and figures are his
own, and always appropriate, effective, and pleasing.
He is by turns humorous, grave, and pathetic, and
his addresses withal are packed with facts, and if
need be, with statistics, in support of his positions.

His principal addresses, and the occasion of their
delivery, have been as follows : Oration on Decora-
tion Day, May 30, 1879, ^t Detroit; speech on Uni-
versal Suffrage in the Senate, February 6, 1885 ;
response at reunion of the Army of the Cumber-
land, at Grand Rapids, on "The Soldier as a
Schoolmaster," September 17, 1885; speech on
" Governmental Regulation of Railroads," in Sen-
ate, April 14, 1886; speech on "Dairy Protection,"
in Senate, July 17, 1886; eulogies on "John A.
Logan, of Illinois, and A. F. Pike, of New Hamp-
shire," in Senate, February 9 and 16, 1887 ; address
on " Relation of Educated Men to the State,"
delivered at the semi-centennial celebration of the
University of Michigan, June 29, 1887; "The Sol-
dier Dead," a response made at the banquet of the
Army of the Tennessee, at Detroit, September 1 5,
1887 ; speech in support of his bill for the restric-
tion of immigration, January 24, 1888; address at
Arlington Cemetery, Virginia, May 30, 1888, on
"The Nation's Dead and the Nation's Debt." He
was the first to suggest the erection of a soldiers'
monument in Detroit, and was the first secretary
of the organisation that secured the erection of that

memorial. Mr. Palmer has also for many years
served as president of the Society for the Preven-
tion of Cruelty to Animals.

In his social life he is an excellent conversation-
alist and entertains generously. He is broadly
philanthropic, earnestly patriotic, and thoroughly
democratic in all his thoughts and doings. In reli-
gious views he is a cosmopolite, believes in all the
virtues, and practices most of them, and perhaps
all. An ardent admirer of his mother, he com-
memorated her memory in a church largely erected
at his expense. He makes friends, not through his
wealth, but because his wealth does not prevent him
from acting the part of a whole-souled, manly man.
He is so universally esteemed, that nothing but
strict party discipline would prevent those of oppo-
site political faith from praising and endorsing him

He was married on October 16, 1855, to Miss
Lizzie P. Merrill, who makes and retains friends
universally, and although they have no children,
they contrive, by gathering in young and old, to
keep the spirit of youth in their home.

FRANCIS PALMS, for many years the largest
land owner, and one of the most prominent factors
in the commercial affairs of Michigan, was born at
Antwerp, Belgium, in 18 10. His father, Ange
Palms, was a commissary in the French army, while
the first Napoleon was in the zenith of his power.
Mr. Palms followed the fortunes of his great com-
mander until the disastrous battle of Waterloo put
an end to the Emperor's career. He then returned
to Antwerp, and engaged in manufacturing and
conducted an extensive business. In 1831 the en-
tire establishment was destroyed by fire, and he
gathered the remnant of his fortune and with a
family of four sons and two daughters came to
America, settling in Detroit in the summer of 1833.
The father remained here a few years, and then
with all his family, except Francis and his daugh-
ter, the late Mrs. Daniel J. Campau, he removed to
New Orleans. Establishing himself in a manu-
facturing business, he remained there until his
death, in 1876, at an advanced age. Of his children
the only one now living is Ange, who resides in
Texas.

Francis Palms received a liberal education in the
public schools of Antwerp, and when a young man
of twenty-three began his business career in Detroit
as a clerk for a Mr. Goodwin, but soon after com-
menced the manufacture of linseed oil at the coraer
of Gratiot Avenue and St. Antoine Street. Dis-
continuing this enterprise in 1837, he entered the
employ of Franklin Moore & Co., wholesale gro-
cers, and remained in their service until 1842. when
he became a partner in the reorganized firm of
Moore, Footc & Co., remaining four years, and

%^^:^

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'797.

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

IO71

during this period acting as financial manager of
the house. His connection with this firm proved a
profitable one, and upon his retirement, with the
capital he had accumulated, he began buying and
selling land. Perhaps the largest of his early land
transactions was the purchase of 40,000 acres of
government land in Macomb and St. Clair counties,
a venture made when the State of Michigan was
still suffering from the panic of 1836-7. In the tide
of prosperity ten years later his lands were readily
sold, and it is said he realized from this trans-
action alone between $300,000 and $400,000. The
success of this venture was the stepping-stone to
great wealth. It revealed to him the vast possi-
bilities lying in the pine forests, which then cov-
ered nearly three-quarters of the State of Michi-
gan. He immediately invested all his means in
pine lands, obtaining the title to immense tracts in
the States of Michigan and Wisconsin, and became
not only the largest land owner in the northwest, but
possibly the largest individual land owner in the
United States. At one time he owned a large tract
of timber land in Wisconsin, on a river which another
company unlawfully assumed to control and ob-
structed, rendering navigation impossible. Mr.
Palms ordered his foreman to get force enough to cut
away the obstructions. The foreman replied that
the opposing company had 250 men. Mr. Palms
then said, "get 1,000 men if necessary, but the river
must be opened." The contest cost him $250,000; but
the river being opened his lands increased in value
$800,0 DO. In many cases he sold only the timber,
and retained the fee interest, especially when there
was any evidence of mineral deposit. His foresight
in this was evinced by the subsequent discovery of
many valuable mines in lands thus retained. All of
his vast property was under his personal care and
supervision. Aided by careful and thorough meth-
ods, and a wonderful memory, with little assistance
he was able to thoroughly grasp and manage every
detail. A few years ago, finding his business very
much extended and involving an immense amount
of attention, he began contracting his land business
and investing in Detroit city property. He built
the block on Jefferson Avenue now occupied by the
Heavenrich Brothers, and also the large block occu-
pied by Edson, Moore & Co., on the corner of
Jefferson Avenue and Bates Street ; the block oppo-
site the Michigan Exchange ; two large blocks on
Gratiot Avenue, and numerous smaller business
buildings in various parts of the city. He was also
largely interested in manufacturing enterprises and
touched the business life of Detroit at many points,
and wherever his energies were directed he was
a helpful factor. For many years he was the presi-
dent and largest stockholder in the People's Sav-
ings Bank, and in the Michigan Stove Company;

president of the Michigan Fire and Marine Insur-
ance Company, and interested in the Galvin Brass
and Iron Company, the Union Iron Company, the
Vulcan Furnace and the Peninsular Land Company.
His largest railroad investment was in the Detroit,
Mackinac & Marquette road, of which he was vice-
president and director. He also had large interests
in other railways in the Upper Peninsula.

In 1875 Mr. Palms was prostrated by a paralytic
stroke, and from that time his physical force gradu-
ally declined. His mind, however, remained vigor-
ous, and to the very end he participated in numerous
business projects. For several weeks preceding his
death he suffered from disease of the heart, but
attended to his usual business, and only two days
before his death walked from his residence to the
People's Savings Bank, to attend a meeting of the
directors. He died on Wednesday, November 4,
1886. Long one of the most prominent characters
of Michigan, his death called forth wide comment.
The officers and stockholders of the People's Sav-
ings Bank, with whom he had been long and inti-
mately associated, adopted the following tribute to
his memory:

Resolved^ That we learn with deep sorrow and regret of the
death of our late president and associate, Francis Palms. He
was a man of high honor, strict integrity of character, and
"honest in all things," diligent in the fulfillment of every duty,
and punctual in the discharge of every obligation. Character-
ized by gentleness and amiability of manner, and of a modest and
retiring disposition, he was incapable of inflicting injury on any
man, yet in defense of justice and fair dealing he exhibited cool
and stern determination, unflinching courage, and remarkable
strength of character. Clear-headed and prompt in arriving at
conclusions, patient, persevering and resolute in purpose, he was
a man of indomitable will, of great intellectual force, of broad
and comprehensive mind, and of unusual foresight.

Physically Mr. Palms was of slight figure and
rather below the medium height. The expression
of his face indicated a man of great character and
force. He was polite, affable, and approachable,
never haughty or arrogant, and self-conceit or false
pride was foreign to his nature. Every person
intent upon business, no matter how trifling the
matter to be presented, was invariably treated with
attention. Among his friends he was social, and
being a man of classical education and an accom-
plished linguist, he was a delightful companion with
those who shared his full confidence. In religious
faith he was a Catholic, and a regular attendant
at the church of SS. Peter and Paul. He was
married in 1836 to Miss Martha Burnett, a lady of
refinement, and culture. They had one son, Francis
F. Palms ; shortly after his birth Mrs. Palms died,
and three years later Mr. Palms married the daugh-
ter of the late Joseph Campau, by whom he had
one daughter, Clothilde Palms. Soon after his
father's second marriage, his son became an inmate
of his grandfather's family at New Orleans, and on

1072

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

the outbreak of the war of the rebellion he entered
the Confederate Army, and remained in the field
until the war ended in 1865. For several years
prior to his father's death he was closely associated
with him in the management of his various enter-
prises, and inherits his father's genial and careful
nature. The Palms estate, aggregating in value
several millions of dollars, was equally divided
between Francis F. Palms and his sister, Clothilde
Palms.

MARTIN S. SMITH was born at Lima, Liv-
ingston County, New York, November, 12, 1834.
His parents, Ira D. and Sarah Smith, were natives
of Columbia County, New York. When M. S. Smith
was but a small child his parents removed to Gene-
seo, Livingston County, New York, and when he was
ten years old, he accompanied them to Michigan,
where they located near Pontiac. His early education
was received in the district school. When fourteen
years old he commenced work in a clothing store
at Pontiac and was afterwards employed in the
office of the Pontiac Gazette, then owned by Wil-
liam M, Thompson. At end of two years he left
the Gazette to accept a position in the dry goods
store of J. C. Goodsell, where he remained about a
year.

In 1 85 1 he came to Detroit, and after one year's
service in the dry goods house of Holmes & Co., he
became a clerk in a jewelry store, and after nearly
eight years' experience in this line of trade, during
which he became proficient in every department of
the business, he purchased with limited capital the
stock and business of his employers and began
business for himself. As the result of his diligence
and thoughtfulness his success was rapid and unin-
terrupted, and for many years the house of M. S.
Smith & Co., of which he was long the recognized
head, has held the first place among the jewelry
firms of Michigan. From the small trade of 1859
the business has increased to about half a million
dollars yearly. Their first store was located at
No. 51 Woodward Avenue. In 1863 it was moved
to the northwest corner of Woodward and Jeffer-
son Avenues, remaining there until 1 883, when the
fine building on the corner of Woodward Avenue
and State Street was completed and occupied. In
1879 the firm was incorporated under the name of
M. S. Smith & Co., and at that time Mr. Smith
retired from its personal management and has since
devoted his time to other important business inter-
ests.

His substantial and well earned success in the
jewelry trade gives but a limited idea of the versa-
tility of his business capacity. For many years his
active energies have been directed to other chan-
nels, where his success has been even more marked.

In 1874 he became a member of the lumber firm
of Alger, Smith & Co., which owns extensive tracts
of land in Alcona, Alger, Chippewa and Schoolcraft
Counties, in the Upper Peninsula, as well as in Can-
ada, on the north shore of Lake Huron, and deal
very extensively in long timber. Mr. Smith is also
one of the directors and treasurer of the Manistique
Lumber Company, which was organized in 1 882 with
a capital of $3,000,000 and owns 80,000 acres of tim-
ber land. He is president of the American Eagle
Tobacco Company, president and treasurer of the
Detroit and St. Clair Plank Road Company, vice-
president of the Detroit, Bay City & Alpena Rail-
way Company, vice-president of the American Ex-
change National Bank, and also vice-president of
the State Savings Bank, and a director in the Mich-
igan Mutual Life Insurance Company, and in the
Woodmere Cemetery Association. In all these
various enterprises the force of his personal efforts
and wise counsel have been helpful factors and have
largely conduced to their success.

Indomitable will and energy, unflagging indus-
try and clear perception, have placed him among the
foremost of the business men of Michigan. In the
conduct of his business he has been always progres-
sive, almost to radicalism, and has gained the first
and largest profit from the adoption of new lines of
policy, in which others followed after their safety
had been proven by his success. He possesses the
business courage which comes from faith in his own
abilities and judgment. A self-made man in the
best sense, he is unassuming in demeanor, but firm
and persevering in a course he decides to be right.
Thorough and earnest in every undertaking, all his
affairs are conducted with systematic exactness.
There has been nothing sensational or speculative
in his career, and he has used his large fortune in
ways that have contributed much to the material
advancement of Detroit, and is enthusiastic in every
undertaking by which the best interests of the city
can be advanced. A natural lover of art and a dis-
criminating critic, his daily occupation for many
years compelled an attention to its details which
would have educated a less sensitive eye and he
has naturally given generous encouragement to the
art movement in Detroit, aiding in securing the
erection of a permanent museum.

Personally he is an agreeable, courteous gentle-
man, and easily makes warm friends. Generous
and warm hearted, and possessing a kindly and
sympathetic spirit, he has been a liberal contributor
to all worthy and benevolent enterprises. He is a
regular attendant at the Fort Street Presbyterian
Church, but is in no sense denominational in his
sympathies and gifts. In sterling good sense,
genuine public spirit, thorough integrity and a pri-
vate life above reproach, he is one of the very best

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

1073

representatives of Detroit's most honored citizens.
He is prominently identified with the masonic fra-
ternity and has filled the office of Grand Treasurer
of the Grand Commandery of Michigan. His politi-
cal affiliations have been with the Republican
party, but he has manifested no ambition for politi-
cal honors and has never held an elective office.
In 1872 he was appointed Police Commissioner to
succeed the late Governor John J. Bagley, and has
held the position ever since.

He was married in 1862 to Mary E. Judson of
Detroit.

WILLIAM H. STEVENS is the grandson of
Phineas Stevens and the son of Phineas Stevens, Jr.,
and was born September 13, 1820. Phineas Stevens
served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War,
and after the war settled in the city of Geneva,
New York, and there became the proprietor of a
large landed estate, upon which he raised his fam-
ily. In the war of 181 2 he and four of his sons
enlisted, served during the war, and were honorably
discharged in 18 16.

One of the sons, Phineas Stevens, Jr., married
Rhoda Glover ; entered into the lumbering business
on the Chemung, Canisteo, Conhocton, and Tioga
rivers and their tributaries, and from year to year
increased his business until he became one of the
largest lumber and timber dealers in western New
York. His first son Alexander C. Stevens, was born
in 18 18, and was also engaged in the lumber trade,
and about the year 1827, when he had a very
large stock of lumber, timber and shingles, a finan-
cial panic swept over the country, and his stock,
which he had rafted to tide-water, would not bring
what it cost at the point where it was manufactured,
and within two or three years the falling off in the
price of his goods, caused him to lose all that he had
made and left him in debt, and under the iniquitous
laws of that period, as he could not pay, he was
sent to jail, and his family left in such straitened
circumstances that his wife was obliged to engage
in various sorts of employment in order to support
the family.

His son, William H. Stevens, at the age of eleven
engaged with a farmer and worked for his board
for two years. When thirteen years old he com-
menced to learn locomotive engineering; served
four years in the shop and on the road and was
soon promoted to run a wrecking train. He then
secured a freight train, and finally, before he was
eighteen years old, ran a passenger train. After-
wards he served as head fireman on a steamboat ply-
ing between Horseheads and Geneva, and followed
that occupation during the season. At the close of
navigation he commenced to learn the business of a
locomotive fireman on a railroad running between

Geneva and Rochester, New York, and in the
spring of 1839 was again employed as fireman on a
steamboat running between Buffalo and Chicago.
In all these operations Mr. Stevens was not merely
learning a business, but was employed in solving the
problem of burning Blossburg bituminous coal for
steam purposes on locomotives and steamboats,
and he solved the problem so successfully that the
Blossburg coal interests became of immense value.
During the year 1839 he quit steamboating and
in the spring of 1840 began taking cattle and
horses from Ohio, Indiana and Illinois to Wiscon-
sin. In the winter of 1841 he returned with the
remnant of his herd to Chicago, and wintered them
on prairie hay. After selecting and breaking a
team for his own use, he traded off the remainder of
his herd for land warrants and located government
lands near Chicago and also near Big Foot Prairie,
on Geneva Lake. At the last named place he broke
up the prairie and farmed for about three years, and
then went on an exploring expedition in the North-
west, and finally settled in the Lake Superior region,
where he remained for twenty years, being em-
ployed in exploring timber lands and in mining.
After being identified with explorations as a woods-
man and axeman for some time, he became an ex-
plorer of pine lands, becoming acquainted with
scientific and experienced men and gathering valua-
ble information in regard to timber, minerals and
the geology of the district. His abilities were soon
recognized, and he entered into an arrangement
with several parties, under which he was to explore
for, select and obtain the title to valuable lands and
become jointly interested with the parties who fur-
nished the capital, they agreeing to give him
twenty-five per cent, of the profits arising from said
explorations. This arrangement continued until
1 86 1, during which period he gave his undivided
time and attention to the exploring, working, open-
ing and developing of the mines that he had discov-
ered. Between 1861 and 1864 he closed up his
accounts after a faithful service of about twenty-
five years with the parties forming the association,
his proportion of the profits during the period
amounting to about $300,000. In the meantime, in
1857, he was married to Ellen Petherick, and in 1862
he concluded to wind up his mining business and
remove to Philadelphia, his wife's first home in this
country. After living a retired life for a year or two,
he again entered into active business, and hearing
very favorable representations of the mines and
minerals in the Oregon mountains, and after study-
ing the mineralogy and vein phenomena of that great
range, he again entered the field, and with rare
energy and determination he for many years en-
dured great risks, privations and dangers in making
geological ex^niinations in search of metalliferous

I074

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

zones, mineral deposits and lodes, examining a range
of country extending north and south from Oregon
Territory to Old Mexico, and east and west from
Colorado to Nevada, traversing a range of moun-
tain country of an area of about a thousand miles
in length by about six or seven hundred miles in
breadth, which for the most part was an unbroken
mountain wilderness. During his explorations he
met with many hostile tribes of Indians, with whom
he had to contend for the right of way through their
country, and he was often involved in skirmishes
with their war parties, greatly delaying his plans
and sometimes reducing him almost to starvation.
During his travels for weeks and months he de-
pended for his support entirely upon his pistol and
fish-hook. He was also oftentimes in great peril from
the desperadoes of the West, who lie in wait upon
the trails, and who do not stop at murder if neces-
sary to secure their booty. In what was literally the
" wild West," he traveled hither and thither in search
of mineral deposits with varied success, experiment-
ing with various kinds of minerals, gold, silver, lead
and copper, and considering their accessibility and
prospective value, sometimes settling down at cer-
tain points for one, two, or three years, and mak-
ing it profitable, and at other times losing. He also
often experimented with new methods of separating,
refining and treating ores of various kinds and fre-
quently made a perfect failure of what was repre-
sented as a very available process . His success in the
discovery and development of argentiferous lead
mines in Montana was q ijte satisfactory in quality
and in value, but not quite so in points of accessi-
bility, as it was about four hundred miles over the
mountain ranges, valleys, canyons and roCks, and
the locality could be reached only with mule teams.
Concluding to make further researches for minerals
more accessible, he left the Montana mines for future
consideration and development and visited Utah,
New Mexico and Colorado. While in Colorado he
discovered several valuable locations and in 1873
located the most accessible and promising one near
Ore City, now known as Leadville, and between the
years 1873 ^o 1876, he built an extensive canal or
ditch, some fourteen miles in length, for the pur-
pose of placer mining. In the meantime, in 1875,
he discovered the so-called carbonate of lead mines
in that district. In 1875-6, he continued his ex-
plorations in the placer mines and also to some
extent developed his carbonate of lead mines. The
development proving satisfactory, he made applica-
tion to the government for title, made expenditure
sufficient to comply with the law, secured his gov-
ernment title and began to ship ore from the mine.
When it was discovered by others that he had se-
cured the title to mineral lands of value, opposition
began to be manifested by the bunkos, mine-jumpers

and highwaymen who had flocked to that country
during the war. Their endeavors caused much liti-
gation and heavy expenditure to defend the rights
of the legal and moral owners of the mining estates,
as well as of the corporations which succeeded
them. In the end, however, the company which
had been organized was successful not only in
defending their rights, but in the management and
working of the mine.

The company which Mr. Stevens organized is
known as the Iron Silver Mining Company, and has
realized from the sale of ore over six millions of
dollars. Over $2,444,000 of this amount has been
earned profits and dividends, and has been di-
vided among its shareholders. In the meantime,
during all the period alluded to, Mr. Stevens was
engaged in various other enterprises. He is a large
land proprietor, with heavy interests in steam-
boats and in manufacturing concerns, and has an
extensive stock farm near Detroit. He is also a
leading stockholder and the President of the Third
National Bank.

Notwithstanding the great amount of hard work
that he has performed and the many privations he
has endured, he is still active and vigorous, and
while he has accumulated a large fortune he has
exercised so much self-denial in obtaining it that he
is entitled to ail the satisfaction and comfort it can
bring. Personally he is rather blunt in his address,
but is thoroughly reliable and is using his means in
a way that is an advantage to others as well as to
himself.

WILLIAM BRIGHAM WESSON was born in
Hard wick, Worcester County, Massachusetts, March
21, 1823, and is the son of Rev. William B. Wesson,
who for many years was pastor of the Congrega-
tional Church of Hardwick. The family is easily
traced for two hundred years in New England, and
some of the name have lived in the same town, and
in the same homestead, for nearly a century. The
English ancestors are traced for several centuries.
The ancient records of the English cathedral of
Ely show their names in regular order back to the
twelfth century. The American branch of the fam-
ily dates from the arrival of Wm. Wesson, who
came from Ely in 1636, and settled in Hopkinton,
twenty miles from Boston. His descendants parti-
cipated in the French and Indian wars, and in the
war of the Revolution, and were engaged in many
skirmishes with the Indians, and as the country
grew prosperous and settled, numbers of the family
established new homes here and there in various
parts of New England and the west.

Mr. W. B. Wesson's connection with Detroit
dates from the year 1 833. He came when a lad of
thirteen with his brother-in-law, the late Moses F,

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lA/y^

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

I<^7S

Dickinson. Soon after his arrival he attended a
private school taught by D. B. Crane, in the old
University building, on Bates Street, and when a
branch of the University was opened in the same
building, he continued his studies under the same
roof, and, in 1841, entered the Hterary department
of the University at Ann Arbor, being the first
member of the Sophomore class, and the only one
that year. Before he had completed his studies he
was taken ill and compelled to take a rest at his
old home in Hardwick, where he remained for six
months.

On his return he entered the law office of Van
Dyke & Emmons, at Detroit, and two years later
was admitted to the bar. His attention, however,
was almost immediately attracted to the possibilities
connected w^th the real estate business, and he soon
formed a partnership with Albert Crane, and entered
actively upon an uninterrupted career of success.
Their business early assumed such proportions that,
practically, they had no competitors. They became
the pioneers in the business of subdividing large
tracts of land and disposing of the lots, and were
the first to sell lots upon long time, with only a small
payment down. This method not only created a
brisk demand for their property, but by encouraging
persons of limited means to become lot holders,
they stimulated habits of thrift and industry, and
thereby greatly served hundreds of their fellow-
citizens. There are many persons in Detroit to-day
owning comfortable homes who probably would
not be so well situated but for the opportunities
offered them by Messrs. Crane & Wesson.

Their methods also greatly aided the manufactur-
ing interests of the city, because of the encourage-
ment afforded to laboring men to obtain a home, and
many were drawn hither and remained here because
of these opportunities. So widely and favorably
known did their firm become, that they soon had
their hands full of business, investing for others as
well as for themselves. They operated not only in
Detroit, but in Chicago as well ; and after twenty
years, when they dissolved partnership, Mr. Wes-
son's share of the business amounted to over half a
million dollars.

Mr. Crane removed to Chicago and Mr. Wesson
retained the Detroit business, and continued it with
constant success, increasing his capital several times
over. He has himself erected over a thousand
buildings, and probably owns more improved and
productive property than any other person in Detroit.

The names of scores of streets, dedicated with-
out cost to the city, fitly perpetuate the record of
his extensive landed transactions. His long experi-
ence in real estate matters has made his judgment
almost infallible as to present and prospective values
of real estate in any part of Detroit or its vicinity,

and his knowledge is frequently utilized in the set-
tling of landed estates, and in the determining of
values for various purposes. His investments, how-
ever, have not been wholly in the line of real estate,
and he has found time to engage in various public
enterprises. He was for several years president of
the Detroit, Lansing & Howell Railroad, and aided
materially in securing its completion, and it may be
stated, as a remarkable fact, that his services were
rendered to the company for a series of years with-
out drawing the salary attached to the office, and
he declined to receive any pay for his services. He
was also prominent in the building of the Grand
River and Hamtramck street railroads. He has
served as president of the Wayne County Savings
Bank and of the Safe Deposit Company since the
organization of these corporations. He is also
president of the Detroit Safe Works, and director
and large stockholder in the P^irst National Bank.
He is also a large holder of railroad stocks, and
owns both wild and farming lands in many counties
in Michigan, besides real estate in other States, and
hundreds of pieces of valuable property in Detroit,
w^hich he is continually improving.

His political faith is that of a strong Republican,
but he takes little active part in political life. He
has been frequently solicited to run for Congress,
and could have easily secured a nomination if he
would have accepted. In 1872 he was nominated
for State Senator, and although the district was
strongly Democratic, he was elected by a large
majority, carrying every ward and town in the dis-
trict. As State Senator he proved so useful a friend
to the University that the faculty, without his pre-
vious knowledge of their purpose, conferred upon
him an honorary degree.

Notwithstanding the care of his varied and ex-
tensive business interests, Mr. Wesson never seems
to be hurried; each item of business receives its
proper share of attention, and each caller as well ;
he treats all with uniform courtesy, and no one
is ever made unpleasantly conscious of the fact that
he is dealing with a person possessed of large
wealth. He is apparently always even-tempered,
friendly, and has no hard lines in his face or dispo-
sition. He is always liberal, kind-hearted, gener-
ous, and scrupulously unostentatious. He is a
member of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

In his intellectual life he keeps pace with the best
thought of the day, and his library gives abundant
evidence of personal and skilled selection. His
residence at Wessonside, on the river, in the extreme
eastern part of the city, is unsurpassed by any in
Detroit in its elegance and in the beauty of its loca-
tion. The grounds embrace eight acres, slope
gently towards the river, and include all that one
could wish in way of trees and flowers, with boat-

1076

GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

ing facilities and various other enjoyments amply
arranged for.

Mr. Wesson married Lacyra Eugenia Hill, eldest
daughter of the late Lyman Baldwin, in 1852. His
only surviving child is Mrs. Edith W. Seyburn, wife
of Lieutenant S. Y. Seyburn, of the Tenth United
States Infantry.

WILLIAM WOODBRIDGE was born in Nor-
wich, Conn., August 20, 1780. His father, Dudley
Woodbridge, was a graduate of Yale College, and
educated for the bar, but the breaking out oi the
Revolutionary War about the time he was ready to
practice, closed the courts of justice, and he aban-
doned his profession, and became one of the " minute
men " of Connecticut. After the war he emigrated
from Norwich, Conn., to the Northw^est Territory,
and became one of the earliest settlers of Marietta,
removing his family there as soon as a residence
could be provided. Three of his children, including
William, were left at school in their native
State, until a few months before St. Clair's defeat
in 1 791, when William was brought to Marietta,
and for a time attended a school in the Block
House, taught by a Mr. Baldwin. He remained
four or five years in the Territory, spending a year
at school among the French colonists, at Galliopolis.
From there he went back to Connecticut, where he
remained until 1799. ^^ ^^en returned to Marietta
to assist his father, who was then engaged in mer-
cantile affairs. As the population increased his
father's business enlarged, and he constructed a ves-
sel, loaded it with furs, and, taking advantage of the
freshets, sent it to France, making a successful voy-
age. This ship was the first square-rigged vessel
that ever descended the falls of the Ohio.

In 1802 William commenced reading law and sub-
sequently entered the celebrated Litchfield, Conn.,
law school, where he remained nearly three years,
and was then admitted as a member of the bar of
Connecticut, and soon after, upon his return to
Ohio, he was admitted to the bar of that State,
and immediately commenced his professional ca-
reer.

In 1807 he was sent as a Representative to the
General Assembly of Ohio, and took a leading part
in the discussion of many important questions.
Early in 1808 he was appointed Prosecuting Attor-
ney for the county in which he resided, and
held the office until he removed from the State.
In 1809 he was elected a member of the State
Senate, an office which he continued to occupy for
five years. Late in the autumn of 18 14 he received
notice of his appointment, by President Madison,
as Secretary of the Territory of Michigan, and in
addition was also appointed Collector of Customs
at Detroit.

In 1 8 19 he was elected delegate to Congress
from the Territory of Michigan, and during his term
in Congress the project of fitting out an expedition
for exploring the Indian country around the bor-
ders of Lake Superior and along the valley of the
upper Mississippi was matured and determined
upon. Through his efforts also, Congress made ap-
propriations for the Chicago and Grand River Roads,
and for the road through the Black Swamp. After
his return to Detroit in 1820, he again became Sec-
retary of the Territory of Michigan, holding the
office altogether for eight years, and oftentimes in
the absence of Governor Cass, performing the duties
of Governor.

In the beginning of 1828, Judge James Witherell,
who had been for many years the presiding Judge
of the Territory, resigned his position, and Mr.
Woodbridge was appointed by President John
Quincy Adams as his successor. Mr. Woodbridge
entered upon his duties in 1828, was made the pre-
siding Judge of the court, his associates on the
Bench being Henry Chipman and Solomon Sib-
ley, both of whom were men with whom it was
a source of gratification to be associated, and
it has been said that the Bar of Michigan, at that
particular period, was not surpassed in ability by
that of any State in the Union. The term of
office of Mr. Woodbridge expired in January, 1832,
and he resumed the practice of his profession.

In 1835 he was elected a member of the conven-
tion to form a State constitution, and was the only
Whig elected in the district in which he resided,
and one of the only four members of that party in
the convention. He was also a member of the
first State Senate of 1837, and two years later was
elected Governor of the State. He entered upon
his duties as Governor in January, 1840.

In 1 841 he was elected as United States Senator
from Michigan, and took his seat on the fourth of
March. From the beginning of the session he en-
tered with activity into its proceedings. He was
made chairman of the committee on the Library of
Congress, and was appointed a member of the
standing committees on Agriculture, Claims, Com-
merce, Manufactures, and Public Lands. The re-
ports submitted by him on various subjects were
numerous and invariably commanded attention, and
the Journal of the Senate shows that during his six
years of service, he was attentive and industrious.
His senatorial term ended in 1847, and he returned
to Detroit, resumed his professional pursuits and
cultivated the extensive farm that still bears his
name. In addition to the offices named, he held
various city, county and State offices and served as
Trustee of the University. He was always inter-
ested in the educational and religious welfare of the
city, was one of the first officers of the local Bible

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GOVERNORS, SENATORS, BANKERS AND CAPITALISTS.

1077

Society, president of the association that established
the first Sunday school in Detroit, and one of the cor-
porators of the First Protestant Society, and in later
years gave several lots in order to encourage the
erection of churches of various denominations. In
his business career he was actively connected v^ith
the organization of the Bank of Michigan, the first
successful bank in Detroit. It is a notable fact
that with his own hand, as Collector of Customs,
he noted the arrival at this port of the first steam-
boat that ever moved through the river.

A deep grief came to him by the decease on Feb-
ruary 19, i860, of his talented wife. They were
married on June 29, 1806, at Hartford ; his wife's
maiden name was Juliana Trumbull ; she was a
daughter of John Trumbull, the author of " McFin-
gal," and other poems. She was born in Hartford,
Connecticut on April 23, 1786, was highly edu-
cated and inherited a large share of the genius of
her father.

Mr. Woodbridge had a frail constitution and did
not long survive his wife ; he died on October 20,
1 86 1. The United States District Court, then in
session, the Bar of Detroit, the Grand Jury, and
other public bodies immediately adopted resolutions
in testimony of the public bereavement. In one
of the addresses Senator Howard gave the follow-
ing personal testimony as to his worth : " He was
a man of very thorough professional attainments,
familiar with all the standard English writers, and
with the principles of English and American law.
He loved law books, and especially old ones, and
delved with alacrity into the oldest reports and
treaties. But it must not be inferred that he was
inattentive to modern decisions, whether English or
American, or to the general progress of the science
of jurisprudence. He was a scholarly, able man.
In the conduct of a case at the bar, though always
earnest and persevering, he was uniformly cour-
teous. No opponent ever had cause to reproach
him with the slightest remissness in his intercourse

as counsel. His learning, his wit, and his gentlemanly
manner always won for him the adhiiration of the
bench, the bar, and the bystanders, He was not,
perhaps, the most powerful advocate in analyzing
testimony and exposing falsehood or improbabilities,
but rather relied for success upon hig points of lawi
which he certainly put with great force and clear-
ness, and yet his efforts before a jury were so per-
suasive, kind and smooth that he seldom lost a ver-
dict. His taste was highly cultivated and refined,
and rather easily offended by coarse expressions or
unbecoming conduct."

He was always prominent at the term of the
Supreme Court, and took part in most, if not all,
the important cases of his time. In writing, his
style was clear, perspicuous and attractive, and in
all his literary production^ he represented the best
intelligence and most cultivated thought of his New
England ancestry. His law library was very com-
plete and valuable, and he prized it as the apple of
his eye. He was uniformly distinguished for cour-
tesy, mtegrity, fidelity, learning, industry, and great
ability. As a lawyer, he was faithful to his clients,
but always in subordination to his conviction of
what was required by law and justice ; strong in his
dislikes and frank in the expression of them, they
were always founded in his own sincere views of
what was equitable and proper. He possessed
great social and conversational powers, and could
sit for hours at a time and discuss a subject with
the utmost vivacity. His love for his family was
deep, strong, fervent, almost passionate. He was
a^ great lover of the quiet of home and was emi-
nently kind, patient, and loving in ail his intercourse
wnth his family and with his neighbors also, and was
sincerely loved by all who knew him intimately.

At the time of his death he had three living chil-
dren, namely : Mrs. Henry T. Backus, Dudley B.
Woodbridge, and Wm. Leverett Woodbridge. A
daughter, Mrs. Lucy M. Henderson, died about six
months before her father.

CHAPTER XCII.

AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS. MILITARY OFFICERS.

HUGH BRADY, Major-General U. S. A., was
born at Standingstone, Huntingdon County, Penn-
sylvania, July 29, 1768, and was the fifth son
of John and Mary Brady. His father was a Cap-
tain in the Twelfth Pennsylvania Regiment of the
Revolutionary army. He, with two of his sons,
was killed by the Indians,and his wife left a widow
with two sons.

As he grew to manhood, Hugh frequently joined
small parties who retaliated on the Indians for their
misdeeds, and early gained an insight into their
manners and habits of warfare. In 1792 he re-
ceived from General Washington a commission as
Ensign in General Wayne's army, was made Lieu-
tenant in 1794, and took part in his celebrated
western campaign of that year. In 1799 he received
from President Adams an appointment as Captain,
and subsequently undertook the improvement of a
lot of land located on a branch of the Mahoning
river, about fifty miles from Pittsburgh. He re-
mained there until 1807, and, becoming convinced
that his fortune could not be made at farming, he
removed to Northumberland, where he remained
until 1 81 2, when he received a commission from
Mr. Jefferson, and again joined the army. He was
soon promoted to the command of the Twenty-
second Regiment of Infantry, and received, at the
battle of Lundy's Lane, a wound which disabled him
for further service during the war.

In 18 19 he was transferred to the Second Infan-
try, then stationed at Sackett's Harbor, New York.
In 1822 he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-
General for ten years' faithful service. In 1828 he
was in command at Detroit, and in 1837 was placed
in command of Military Department No. 7, having
his head-quarters at Detroit. He continued in com-
mand seven years, and during this time superin-
tended the removal of several tribes to the country
west of the Mississippi river, and did much to allay
the troublesome border difficulties known as the
"Patriot War."

At the breaking out of the Mexican war, although
past the age for active field service, he took a
prominent part, superintending the raising and

equipment of troops and shipping supplies to the
seat of war. He was made a Major-General in
1848.

As a soldier, he was eminent for his bravery and
faithfulness ; and as a citizen, he was free from re-
proach, and won the esteem of those with whom
he was associated.

He was married in October, 1805, to Sarah
Wallis. They had six children, namely : Sarah
Wallis, wife of Colonel Electus Backus ; Samuel
Preston; Mary Laithy, wife of Colonel Electus
Brady; Elizabeth Hall; Jane, wife of Captain James
L. Thompson; Cassandra, wife of B. J. H. With-
erell. He died at Detroit, April 15, 1851, his death
being caused by his horses running away.

JAMES BURGESS BOOK, M. D., was born at
Palermo, Halton County, Canada, November 7,
1844, and is the son of Johnson and Priscilla Book,
both of German descent. His father was an exten-
sive speculator in real estate and laid out several
towns in Halton County.

The son received his education at the Milton
County Grammar School, from which he graduated
in 1858. The same year he entered the literary
department of the Toronto University, and at the
end of the Sophomore year began a course of study
in the Medical College connected with the Univer-
sity ; but before completing the course, having
decided that it would be to his advantage to gradu-
ate elsewhere, he left that institution and entered the
Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, Pennsyl-
vania. He graduated from there in March, 1865,
and then returned to Toronto and completed his
medical course at the University. In the fall of the
same year he began the practice of his profession at
Windsor, Ontario, but after a few months he
crossed the river, settled in Detroit, and for a year
pursued professional duties with good success.
Anxious, however, to still further perfect and extend
his knowledge of medical science, he went to Europe
in 1S67 and attended a full course of lectures at
the celebrated Guy's Hospital Medical School, one
of the oldest medical institutions in London or the

[1078I

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AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

1079

world. His studies were further supplemented by
a year's attendance at the ficole de Medecin of
Paris, and with three months' practical experience in
the General Hospital at Vienna.

In 1869 he returned to Detroit,and as a result of
thorough preparation, coupled with exceptionally
good professional judgment, his practice has grown
to large proportions. He served as Professor of
Surgery and Clinical Surgery in the Michigan Medi-
cal College until that institution consolidated with
the Detroit Medical College, forming the Detroit
College of Medicine. After the consolidation he
continued to serve as Professor of Surgery, and is
one of the largest stockholders in the college. From
1872 to 1876 he was surgeon of St. Luke's Hospi-
tal and is now attending surgeon of Harper Hospi-
tal, and has been surgeon-in-chief of the D., L. &
N. R. R. since 1882. He is a member of the
Wayne County Medical Society, of the Medical and
Library Association, and of the State and Ameri-
can Medical Associations. He is also medical
director of the Imperial Life Insurance Company of
Detroit, organized in 1 886.

• He is a frequent contributor to the medical jour-
na]s,and among the more important of his contri-
butions may be named, an article on " Nerve
Stretching," recounting a series of experiments in
this comparatively new departure in surgery. The
titles of some of his other articles have been as fol-
lows : *' Old Dislocations, with Cases and Results,"
" The Influence of Syphilis and Other Diseases,"
" Fever Following Internal Urethrotomy," "Idio-
pathic Erysipelas," "Malarial Neuralgia," and
" Inhalation in Diseases of the Air Passages."

Although his practice is general in its character,
it is more especially in the difficult and delicate
branches of surgery that he excels. In this depart-
ment he has gained deserved distinction and has
an enviable reputation in his profession. A nota-
ble instance of his skill was furnished in 1882, when
he successfully performed an operation before the
students and faculty of the Michigan College of
Medicine, requiring the removal of the Meckels
ganglion. It was the only case of its kind ever
treated with success in the west and but few simi-
lar instances are reported in surgical history. Dr.
Book is a close and careful student of medical sub-
jects and professionally a hard worker. A sincere *
liking for his profession, an extended and diversified
course of instruction in this and other countries,
and the experience of many years of practice, have
given him a prestige equalled by few among the
many notable physicians of Detroit.

Dr. Book has taken an active interest in home
military organizations and was elected Surgeon of
the Independent Battalion of Detroit in 1881, and
since that organization became a part of the Fourth

Regiment of the State militia, he has served as
Regimental Surgeon. He is a Republican in poli-
tics but has never taken an active interest in politi-
cal affairs. In 188 1 he was elected an Alderman of
the Third Ward at the first election held under the
present division of the city wards. He resigned his
aldermanic position in 1882 to accept the position
of Police Surgeon, an office he still retains. Socially
agreeable, frank and candid in his manner, he
makes friends easily, and retains their esteem.

WILLIAM HENRY BREARLEY was born
July 18, 1846, at Plymouth, Michigan, and is the
son of Joseph and Hannah (Van Etten) Brearley,
who were both natives of Lyons, New York. Their
children were John Harrison who died in 1832,
E. Cordelia, Kate, Sarah A., who died in 1842, a
son who died in infancy in 1844, William H. and
Minnie.

James Brearley, an early English ancestor, was
born at York, England, in 151 5. One of his de-
scendants, John Brearley, the great -great-great-
grandfather of Joseph Brearley, came to America
with the Duke of York about 1680, and became the
possessor of several thousand acres of land between
the Three and Five Mile Runs on the Assanpink
River, midway between Trenton and Princeton, and
also of a tract of sixteen hundred acres ten miles
south of Newton, New Jersey, besides a 500 acre
plantation on the Delaware river, near the Washing-
ton Crossing. He died near Trenton, New Jersey, in
17 10. He was a slaveholder and his house is still
standing five miles west of Trenton and is over two
hundred years old ; a " new part " was added to it by
General Joseph Brearley in 1784. The most prom-
inent representative of the family was Judge David
Brearley, who was born in 1745 ^^id died in 1790.
He was a Colonel in the Continental Army and after-
ward the first Chief Justice of New Jersey. He
was a grand master of the masonic bodies of that
State, and one of those who, in 1787, framed and
signed the Constitution of the United States.

Joseph Brearley and Hannah Van Etten were
married May 1 2, 1 830, and removed to Plymouth,
Michigan, in 1837, and there, on August 8th, 1852,
the mother died, leaving the care of the two younger
children to the two older sisters, who continued this
responsibility until 1859, when the eldest, Cordelia,
married Rev. A. C. Merritt, now of South Haven,
Michigan, and the next in age, Kate, now Mrs. H.
A. Ford, of Detroit, went with the two younger
children to the State Normal School at Ypsilanti.

The instruction of his sisters at home and about
three years in the public school at Plymouth, enabled
W. H. Brearley, at the age of thirteen, to enter the
second class at the Normal School, he being several
years younger than any other member of the class*

Io8o AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

On account of delicate health, the summer of i860
was spent on a farm near Coldwater. He returned
to the Normal School in the fall, but as his health
again failed he resumed farm work, this time with
his brother-in-law. Rev. A. C. Merritt, near Flint,
Michigan. On the breaking out of the war in the
spring of 1 861, he attempted to enlist in the 14th
and then in the i6th Michigan Infantry, but his
father's permission could not be obtained, as he
was but fourteen years of age. He, however, felt
an increasing conviction that his duty required him
to become a soldier,and walked four miles several
times a week, in the evening, to Flushing, to get
the Detroit daily papers, that he might obtain and
devour the war news. In May, 1862, when fifteen
years old, he learned through Professor Austin
George of the organizing of a company among the
students of the Normal School. This time permis-
sion to enlist was reluctantly given by his father, and
on August 1 5th, he was enrolled as a member of
Company E, 17th Michigan Infantry, being smug-
gled in through an "error" of the enlisting officer,
who entered his age on the rolls as 18. The day of
large bounties had not then been reached, and the
company was officered by an election at a company
meeting when the older and more advanced pupils
were complimented with being selected as officers.
On August 27 the regiment took part in the demon-
stration in honor of the return, on that day, of Gen-
eral O. B. Wilcox, and in the evening, after having
been well drenched by a heavy fall of rain, they em-
barked on the Cleveland steamer en route for Wash-
ington, sleeping on the wet lower deck. Reaching
Washington, the 17th Michigan began active service
at once by participating in th'e battles of South
Mountain and Antietam on September 14 and 17,
1862, and continued with the 9th Army Corps, going
in January to Newport News, thence west to Ken-
tucky, and then down the Mississippi to Vicksburg,
back again to Kentucky and over into Tennessee,
and finally back to the Army of the Potomac in the
east, where Mr. Brearley participated in all the
engagements of the " Grant " campaign. This
service included the twenty-four battles of South
Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburgh, the siege of
Vicksburg, Blue Springs, Lenoire Station, Camp-
bell Station, siege of Knoxville, Wilderness, Ny
River, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Bethesda Church,
Cold Harbor, Petersburgh, The Crater, Welden
Railroad, Ream's Station, Poplar Springs Church,
Pegram Farm, Boydton Road, Hatcher's Run, Fort
Steadman, and the final assault on Petersburgh, be-
sides many skirmishes. At the close of the war
the regiment returned to Detroit, arriving June 7,
1865, and on July 10 following it was paid off and
discharged.

Soon after his return Mr. Brearley entered Gold-

smith's Business College, went through the course of
studies and was subsequently engaged in the office of
the Detroit Locomotive Works, afterwards known
as the Buhl Iron Works, where he remained nearly
five years. He spent the winter of 1870 and 1871
in Kansas, and after returning to Detroit visited
New York, Philadelphia, and Boston in the interest
of the Detroit Tribune, Post, and Free Press, and
three months later he was offered and accepted an
engagement on the Tribune, by which he was to
receive a stipulated salary and a percentage upon all
the advertising receipts in excess of the highest
average received for several years preceding. The
year following the receipts of the Tribune were
nearly doubled. His success and income, however,
led to complications that were followed by the with-
drawal of both Mr. J . E. Scripps and himself, and
they united in establishing August 23, 1873,' the
Detroit Evening News.

Mr. Scripps edited and printed the paper and
Mr. Brearley was its sole customer for advertising,
paying his own canvassers, bookkeeper and collec-
tor, and taking his own risk upon all accounts.

The paper was started about two weeks before the
''panic" of 1873, which brought scores of business
houses to bankruptcy and nearly swamped the new
enterprise. The point of danger was, however, at
length passed and the tide of success set in.

After being connected with the paper fourteen
years, on May i, 1887, Mr. Brearley withdrew from
the News, and seven days later purchased the entire
stock of the Detroit Journal, a rival evening paper,
which had been established September ist, 1883,
and which under Mr. Brearley 's management and
an editorial force that is second to none in Detroit,
has achieved a leading position.

Mr. Brearley's connection with the Detroit Mu-
seum of Art is indicated elsewhere in this work.
He began by interesting Thomas W. Palmer, James
McMillan and others in the project, and on Decem-
ber 6, 1882, at a meeting of ladies called at the resi-
dence of Mrs. James F. Joy, Mr. Brearley gave an
outline of his plans for an Art Loan Exhibition, to
awaken an interest in art, to be followed by the
raising of money and establishing a permanent
Museum of Art. He personally advanced the
$10,000 needed to erect thebuilding,and the exhibi-
tion was carried through successfully, and created
an interest in art that was before unknown in the
city. Mr. Brearley was subsequently the principal
instrument in raising $100,000 for the erection and
endowment of the Museum, giving about one tenth
of the whole amount himself. There can be no
question but that to him more than to any other
person is to be attributed the successful completion
of the project, and he succeeded by dint of sheer
purpose and untiring determination.

AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS. io8l

He is a member of the First Baptist Church and
is active in various departments of church and
Sunday school work. In 1878 while Associational
Superintendent of Sunday school work, he visited
the thirty-three Sunday schools of the Michigan
association, and noticing the lack of convenience
for holding their services, he designed and copy-
righted a set of six church plans, which have been
adopted by over 120 churches in all parts of the
country. In 1872 he invented for the use of news-
paper men a diary of peculiar construction which
he calls an "office system atizer," and over fifteen
hundred are in use in various newspaper offices.

In 1877 he inaugurated a series of summer excur-
sions to the White Mountains and sea-shore, and
during the seven years ending in 1 883, he took east
thirteen largely patronized excursions. He origi-
nated and planned the successful national organi-
zation, known as the American Newspaper Pub-
lisher's Association, with head-quarters now at 104
Temple Court, New York. Its first meeting was
held at Rochester on February 11, 1887, and dur-
ing its first year he was one of the executive com-
mittee and served as secretary. He also suggested
the idea of a Press Brotherhood, prepared a ritual
for the same, and an organization w^as effected on
July 26, 1887, and at this and also at the meeting of
June 30, 1888, he was elected president of the so-
ciety, which is in a prosperous condition and
expected to spread throughout the United States.

He is a member of the Detroit, Grosse Pointe
and Rushmere Clubs, and of the Michigan Yacht
Club ; also of Detroit Commandery of Knights
Templars, and of Detroit Post G. A. R. His busi-
ness career abundantly evidences his business fore-
sight and push, and his success in overcoming ob-
stacles in various directions, shows that he pos-
sesses high courage and an obstinacy of devotion to
whatever he undertakes, that could hardly fail to
win.

As is usually the case with those who possess
such marked persistency of purpose, he does not
count upon every person as a friend, but his record
will bear examination, and he has proved a better
citizen for Detroit than many who have had larger
opportunities. He is genial among his friends, lib-
eral in his gifts to worthy objects, and zealously
alive to all the interests recognized as contributing
to the well-being of society.

He was married August 27, 1868, to Miss Lina
De Land, of East Saginaw, daughter of Milton B.
De Land. Their oldest son, Harry C, born Octo-
ber 2, 1870, is assistant manager of the Detroit
Journal. Their three other children are named
Rachel, born May 30, 1873, Benjamin W., born
September i, 1881, and Margaret, born September
2, 1883.

J. HENRY CARSTENS, M. D., of Detroit, was
born June 9, 1848, in the city of Kiel, in the Ger-
man province of Schleswig-Holstein. His father,
John Henry Carstens, a merchant tailor, was an
ardent revolutionist and participated in the various
revolts in the memorable years of 1848-49. He
had been captured and was in prison when his son
was born ; after some months he was released and
began attending to his business, but fearing that
he might be again imprisoned, he packed up a few
goods, and with his family left in the dead of the
night for America, and on his arrival settled in
Detroit, where he has since remained. One of his
grandfathers was an architect and builder, another
a ship builder ; many of his uncles, with other rela-
tives, were officers in the army and navy, and nearly
all of them participated in the revolution and were
forced to leave Germany and come to the United
States.

J. H. Carstens is the eldest of two children. His
earlier education was received in the public schools
of Detroit, supplemented by six years' attendance at
the German-American Seminary. While receiving
instruction at the latter institution, his parents lived
on a farm four and a half miles from the city,
which distance he w^as compelled to walk twice a
day. He evinced even as a boy an eager desire for
intellectual work, excelled as a student and took
high rank in his studies, especially in those pertain-
ing to natural sciences and mathematics. Before
he had attained his fifteenth year, he was com-
pelled to engage in business, and after some time
devoted to lithography, he entered the drug store
of Wm. Thum, and afterwards served in Duffield's
drug store, and with B. E. Sickler. He became
proficient in the various details of the business,
served one year as prescription clerk in Stearns's
drug store, and then began the study of medicine,
his name being the first on the matriculation book
of the Detroit Medical College. Even before gradu-
ation he had charge of the college dispensary, and
after his graduation in 1870, he was immediately
put in charge of the dispensary, and a few years
later held the same position in St. Mary's Hospital
Infirmary. He was appointed lecturer on Minor
Surgery in the Detroit Medical College in 1871, and
afterwards lecturer on Diseases of the Skin, and
Clinical Medicine.

He has lectured on almost every branch of medi-
cal science, the most important subjects so treated
being, Diseases of Women and Children, Differen-
tial Diagnosis, Nervous Diseases, Physical Diagno-
sis, Pathology, Chemistry, Materia Medica, and
Therapeutics. His taste and practice gradually
tended to the diseases of women, and after holding
the professorship of Materia Medica and Therapeu-
tics in the Detroit Medical College for some years,

1082 AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

in 1 88 1 he accepted the professorship of Obstetrics
and Clinical Gynecology, a position he has ever
since held, and on the consolidation with the Michi-
gan College of Medicine, he was appointed to the
same position in the Detroit College of Medicine.
As a lecturer on medical subjects he has performed
most satisfactory labors, is thorough in his investi-
gations and in the application of knowledge gained
by practical experience and unremitting research.
He is terse, clear, and practical, and easily wins the
respect of those who come under his teaching.

In view of the experiences of his father, it is but
natural that Dr. Carstens should have a strong
taste for politics. Ever since he has been old
enough to understand the political situation in this
country he has been a staunch Republican. Before
his twentieth year he delivered political speeches,
and this he continued for many years, speaking in
either English or German in many parts of the
State of Michigan. In 1876 he was elected chair-
man of the Republican City Committee, and at the
same time was a member of the County Committee.
During the year he held these positions, he materi-
ally assisted in securing Republican control of the
city and county. Both as an organizer and as an
earnest, effective worker, he has rendered valuable
aid in gaining victories for his party, and has been
often tendered party nominations. He has, how-
ever, thus far refused to become a candidate for
office, with the exception of a nomination as mem-
ber of the Board of Education, to which he was
elected in 1875 and re-elected in 1879. ^^ ^^77 he
was appointed president of the Board of Health,
and during his term of office rendered valuable
assistance in checking the spread of small-pox,
which was then prevalent. On the organization of
the Michigan Republican Club, he was elected a
director. His rapidly increasing professional duties,
of late years, have prevented active political work,
and with the exception of an occasional speech, his
whole time has been devoted to his profession. His
contributions to medical literature have been vari-
ous and extended.

He has reported many clinical lectures and has
translated various articles from German and French
medical journals. Among the more important of
the articles written by him may be named : Cleft-
palate and Iodoform, Medical Education, Embol-
ism, Vaccination, Household Remedies, Phantasia,
Clinical Lectures, A Case of Obstetrics, Dysentery
cured without Opium, Strangulated Hernia, Hem-
orrhoids, Clinical Lectures on Gynecology, A Case
of Epilepsy caused by Uterine Stenosis, Three Cases
of Battey's Operation, Uterine Cancer, Menorrha-
gia and Metrorrhagia, Cancer, Ergot in Labor,
Mechanical Therapeutics of Amenorrhoea, A Dif-
ferent Method of Treating a Case of Freshly Rup-

tured Perinccum, Fibroid Tumor Removed by Lapa-
rotomy, Vesico- Vaginical Fistula, Loewenthal The-
ory of Menstruation, Mastitis, Laceration of the
Cervix Uteri, A small Book on Amenorrhoea,
Dysmenorrhoea and Menorrhagia. Nearly all of his
articles have been extensively copied by medical
journals in this country, and some by European
journals. He holds the position of gynecologist
to Harper Hospital, attending physician at the
Woman's Hospital and obstetrician of the House
of Providence. He is a member of the American
Medical Association, and of the Michigan State
Medical Society, of which he was vice-president in
1885, president of the Detroit Medical and Library
Society, a member of the Detroit Academy of
Medicine, and of the British Gynecological Society,
honorary member of the Owosso and Kalamazoo
Academy of Medicine and the Northeastern District
Medical Society, and vice-president of the Ameri-
can Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

His advance as a physician has been steady and
sure; he has been a continuous student and a hard
worker ; his practice has grown into an extensive
and remunerative one and he finds his time and
hands fully occupied. He has given to certain dis-
eases close and special attention and has worked
out for them peculiar, independent, and success-
ful modes of treatment. Among his professional
brethren he holds the place due to his talents and
manly character, and is ever ready to aid any enter-
prise that may be originated for the good of the
public. Although his professional duties are oner-
ous, he finds time for general reading and keeps
well informed in a wide range of intellectual cul-
ture ; is thorough and earnest in all that he under-
takes, and has the undivided good will and respect
of the community in which he dwells.

He was married October 18, 1870, to Hattie
Rohnert, who had for some time been a teacher
in one of the public schools.

HENRY ALEXANDER CLELAND, M. D.

of Detroit, was born in Sterling, Scotland, March
14, 1839, and is the son of Henry and Mary (Young'
Cleland, and a lineal descendant of William Cleland,
the covenanter, who during the sixteenth century
was a conspicuous character in the war of the cov-
enanters, having great influence as a leader of the
West country Whigs. In 1689, when the extortion
and persecutions of Viscount Dundee, to whom King
James entrusted the management of affairs in Scot-
land, had justly aroused the anger of the covenant-
ers, it was William Cleland, then living in Edin-
burgh, who became the recognized head of the move-
ment which for a time threatened to destroy the
forces of Dundee. At that time, says Lord Macau-
ley in his History of England, "the enemy whom

l^\N-N^

>'A

K. <^v^....c

AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS. 1083

Dundee had most to fear was a youth of distin-
guished courage and abilities, named William Cle-
land. * * * Cleland had, when little more than
sixteen years old, borne arms in the insurrection at
Bothwell Bridge. He had since disgusted some
virulent fanatics by his humanity and moderation,
but with the great body of Presbyterians his name
stood high. With the strict morality and ardent zeal
of a puritan he united accomplishments of which few
puritans could boast : his manners were polished
and his literary and scientific attainments respect-
able. He was a linguist, a mathematician, and a
poet, and his poems written when a mere boy,
* * * showed considerable vigor of mind."
He was killed in 1 689, at the age of twenty-seven
years. His namesake, an uncle of Henry Cleland,
was for many years a prominent merchant of
Wishaw, Lanarkshire. The ancestors of Dr. Cle-
land's mother were farmers for many generations
in the town of Stirling of the immediate vicinity.

Henry Cleland spent the earlier years of his life
in London, England, where he learned the business
of a cutler and instrument maker. At the age of
twenty-five he went to Stirling and began business
for himself, and died there in 1844, at the age of for-
ty-five, leaving his widow with eight children and
with but limited means for support. The family
remained at Stirling until 1851, where Henry A.
received his rudimentary education in the grammar
school. The family then removed to Glasgow, and
here for one year young Cleland attended St. James's
Parish School. He then became an errand boy in
a paint and music store, but diligently pursued
his studies, attending the evening schools and the
Mechanics' Institute, and later, the Andersonian
University, and managed to secure not only a good
English education, but a fair knowledge of the
classics, physics, and natural sciences. Believing
that superior advantage existed in America for
advancement, he left Scotland in 1858 and came
to Detroit, where an elder brother, named Wil-
liam, had located a few years previously. Here
he at first secured employment in the insurance
office of M. S. Frost, but after a few months' service,
he entered the office of Dr. Richard Inglis, to take
charge of the financial management of his practice,
and upon his advice soon began the study of
medicine, and in 1859 became a student in the Med-
ical Department of the University of Michigan. He
graduated in 1861, and soon after enlisted as a pri-
vate in Co. I, 2d Regiment of Michigan Infantry,
and after a short period of service was made hospi-
tal steward. During the Peninsular Campaign of
Gen. McCIellan he acted as assistant surgeon of
his regiment, and was slightly wounded at the bat-
tle of Wiiliamsburgh. At the battle of Charles City
Cross Roads, he was taken prisoner, and for four ,

weeks was confined at Libby Prison, when he was
exchanged, rejoining his regiment just prior to the
second battle of Bull Run. He continued with his
regiment until the battle of the Wilderness, when he
resigned his commission and returned to Detroit to
take charge of the medical practice of Dr. Inglis,
who on account of ill health desired to retire from
professional work. Since then Dr. Cleland has
been constantly engaged in the practice of his pro-
fession, and it has steadily grown in extent. He
has a natural liking for his calling, and possesses an
untiring, painstaking, and studious nature; these
qualities with a high order of skill, good judgment,
and pleasing address, attract confidence and trust,
and easily account for his success. He is modest
and retiring in his nature, and his patients esteem
him,notonly as a physician but as a friend. He has
cultivated a family practice, and his professional
labors have, resulted in securing a large competence
which has been judiciously invested in real estate in
Detroit. His time is thoroughly engrossed in his
professional duties and he finds little opportunity
for any projects not connected with his profession.

He is a member of the State Medical Associa-
tion, and is a charter member of the Detroit Acad-
emy of Medicine, the oldest medical society of
Detroit. In 1873 he went to Europe, and remained
one year, spending considerable time in the hospi-
tals of London, Edinburgh, and Paris. At one-
time he was a member of the staff of St. Mary's
Hospital, and is now connected with Harper Hos-
pital. He was married in 1865 to Agnes M. Cowie,
daughter of Wm. Cowie, President of the Detroit
Dry Dock Engine Works, and sister of Dr. Henry
Cowie, Dentist, of Detroit.

GEORGE DAWSON was born at Falkirk,
Scotland, March 14, 181 3. His father was a book-
binder, and resided near Edinburgh. He was mar-
ried in 1 8 10 to Mary Chapman and removed to
Falkirk, where George was born. The father came
to America in 18 16, and found employment in New
York. Two years later he removed to Toronto,
and subsequently to Niagara County, New York.
While there, when he was eleven years old, George
was entered as an apprentice in the printing busi-
ness in the office of the Niagara Gleaner, and
remained two years.

In 1826, with his father, he went to Rochester,
where he entered the office of the Anti-Masonic
Inquirer, then conducted by Thurlow Weed, and
in March, 1830, he aided Weed in starting the
Albany Evening Journal. In 1836 he became ed-
itor of the Rochester Daily Democrat, but in Sep-
tember, 1839, left it to become editor and proprietor,
with Morgan Bates, of the Detroit Daily Advertiser,
and continued to manage that paper nearly three

I0S4 AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

years, and his labors on the Advertiser had very
much to do with the prosperity of the Whig cause in
Michigan. After the fire of 1842 had destroyed
the Advertiser office, he sold out to his partner, and
returned to Rochester to resume control of the
Democrat, and subsequently went to Albany and
again connected himself with the Journal.

In 1 86 1 he was appointed postmaster of Albany,
and served six years. He retired from editorial
work on the Journal on September 2, 1882.

He ranked high as a journalist, was elegant and
and graceful in his style, and made a very honora-
ble record. He was domestic in his tastes, fond of
angling, and wrote a little work "On the Pleasures
of Angling." As a politician he firmly adhered to
his principles, but was always gentle and pleasant
in asserting them. He became a member of the
Baptist church in 1831, and ever remained an
earnest and consistent Christian. He married
Nancy M. Terrell in June, 1834, and died on Feb-
ruary 17, 1883.

COLONEL ARENT SCHUYLER DE PEY-
STER, whose name is associated with Detroit
during its early occupancy by the British, was the
second son of Pierre Guillaume de Peyster, of New
Amsterdam. His ancestors were driven from
France by the persecutions of Charles IX. and sev-
eral of them settled in Holland.

Johannes de Peyster, the founder of the family in
this country, was an eminent merchant in New
York in the seventeenth century. He was born at
Harlem early in that century, and in 1653, although
he had just arrived in this country, he offered an
amount only exceeded by twelve of the richest set-
tlers, toward erecting the city palisades. He died
about 1686, after a long life of activity and useful-
ness. His second son, Isaac, was for many years
a member of the Provincial Legislature, and one of
the aldermen of New York from 1730 to 1734.
His third son, Johannes, in 1698-9 was at the same
time Mayor of the City of New York and a Repre-
sentative of the municipality of the Provincial
Legislature. The fourth son, Cornelius, was the
first Chamberlain of the city, and was Captain of
the Fifth Company of Foot, in the regiment of
which his eldest brother was Colonel.

Colonel de Heer Abraham de Peyster, the eldest
son of Johannes, was a prominent politician, and
possessed of great wealth, being one of the largest
owners of real estate in his native city. He was
born in New Amsterdam, July 8, 1657. On April
5, 1684, at Amsterdam, in Holland, he married
Catharine de Peyster. He filled many prominent
offices, and died on August 2, 1728. His eldest
daughter, Catharine, married Philip van Cortlandt,
whose son was the well-known Lieutenant-Gov-

ernor Pierre van Cortlandt, of Croton. His second
daughter, Elizabeth, married John Hamilton, Gov-
ernor of the Province of New Jersey. His seventh
son, Pierre Guillaume, married Catherine Schuy-
ler, sister of Colonel Peter Schuyler, famous for
his influence over the five nations of Indians.
The second son of Pierre Guillaume was Colonel
Arent Schuyler de Peyster, whose picture accom-
panies this article. His nephew, namesake, pro-
tege, and intended heir, was a veritable rover, by
sea and shore. In the course of his wanderings,
he sailed twice around the world, doubled the Cape
of Good Hope fifteen times, visited most of the
Polynesian Islands, and in passing from the western
coast of America to Calcutta, discovered the group
of islands since known as the DePeyster or Peyster
Islands. He married Sarah Macomb, the sister of
Major General Alexander Macomb, of the United
States army. He had in his possession an elegant
testimonial given by the merchants of Michilimack-
inac to his uncle, as a token of their grateful appre-
ciation of his efforts to protect and prosper com-
merce, and conserve the English interests in that
region.

The funds collected for the testimonial were sent
to England to secure a service of plate, but the
gift never reached the hands for which it was
intended. By the time the silver was shipped, the
Revolutionary War was raging throughout the
thirteen colonies, and a privateer belonging to
Salem, Massachusetts, captured the vessel and the
silver also. The service remained in the family
of the owner of the privateer for some years and
was eventually distributed among various persons.
The punch bowl forming part of the service was
sent to New York to be sold, and was purchased
by Captain de Peyster ; in the course of its wan-
derings the cover had been lost. The bowl is
about fifteen inches high and nearly fifty inches in
circumference ; it is said to have cost a hundred
guineas, and a more beautiful specimen of the
silversmith's art is seldom seen. It bears a figure
of a tortoise or turtle, which was the emblem of
Mackinaw, and in French the following inscrip-
tion :

Thine image, Tortoise, ever will a fond memorial be,

My sphere of duty and my home were six long years with thee.

From the Merchants
Trading at Michilimackinac,
To A. S. DE Peyster, Esq.

Major to the King's or 8th Regiment, as a testimony of the high
sense they entertain of his just and upright conduct, and the
encouragement he gave trade during the six years he commanded
at that post.

Colonel de Peyster came to Detroit in 1776. and

if^i^^

AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS. 1085

was here most of the time up to 1784, and his con-
nection with this city is alluded to in various places
in other parts of this work. Soon after the conclu-
sion of the Revolutionary war he settled in Dum-
fries, the native town of Mrs. de Peyster. During
the French Revolution, his zeal and talents were
called into exercise for the training of the first regi-
ment of the Dumfries volunteers, Robert Burns him-
self being a member of the company, and a warm
friend of the commanding officer.

Colonel de Peyster was tall, soldier-like, and
commanding ; in his manners, easy, affable and
open ; in his affections, warm, generous and sincere ;
in his principles, and particularly in his political
creed, firm even to inflexibility. He died on No-
vember 26, 1822. The remains were interred in
St. Michael's churchyard.

The late Frederick de Peyster, President of the
New York Historical Society, was a relative ; his son,
the well-known author, General J. Watts de Pey-
ster, has preserved many memorials of his distin-
guished ancestor.

JOHN FARMER, engraver and publisher, was
born at Half Moon, Saratoga County, New York,
on February 9, 1798. His paternal ancestors for
two generations bore the same christian name and
were natives of Boston, Massachusetts.

His father removed from Boston to Long Island
about 1770. He was a staunch, warm and zealous
friend of the American cause, and upon the British
invasion of Long Island in 1776 he was captured
and confined, at first in a dungeon and then on one
of the British prison ships, and when released was
so nearly dead that only the most careful medical
attendance preserved him. In order to secure his
release, Richard Sands, of the well-known firm of
Prime, Ward & Sands, of Brooklyn, with Joshua
Cornwall and Henry Sands, gave bonds in the sum
of ^1,500, for his continuance within the British
lines during the war. After the war he married
Catharine Jacokes Stoutenburgh, widow of Dr.
Abraham Stoutenburgh, and settled in the town of
Malta, Saratoga County, New York.

His son, the engraver and publisher, was edu-
cated in the vicinity of and at Albany, New York,
and taught a Lancasterian school in that city. By
invitation of Governor Cass and the Trustees of the
University of Michigan, he came to Detroit from
Albany in 1821 to take charge of one of the Uni-
versity schools, the said schools being the nucleus
of the present University of Michigan.

Within two or three years after his arrival at
Detroit, Mr. Farmer was engaged in surveying and
preparing hand-made maps of the territory. In 1 825
he published the first map of Michigan, and the
certificate of copyright bears the signature of Henry

Clay, \vho was then Secretary of State. He sub-
sequently published, under various titles, twelve
different maps of Michigan, Lake Superior, and
Detroit, most of them being engraved by his own
hand, and all who are acquainted with his works
concede that they have never been excelled, and
rarely if ever equaled in accuracy and completeness.

He was a remarkably elegant penman, and as a
surveyor and draftsman had no superior in his day.
In 1 83 1 he compiled and drew for the Governor
and Judges the first and only map transmitted by
them to Congress, and that map is to this day the
only legal authority and guide as to the surveys in
the older portions of the city. It was accepted by
Congress as authoritative and is reproduced in
Volume V of the American State Papers, Public
Land Series. In January, 1835, he issued the first
published map of the city, which showed the size
and correct outlines of the several lots.

His early maps of the Territory and State were
sold by the thousands in all the leading eastern cities,
and are conceded to have been greatly influential
in promoting the extensive immigration to Michi-
gan between the years 1825 to 1840. In 1830, at
Albany, New York, he issued the first Gazetteer of
Michigan , a work relatively as complete as any
gazetteer since issued. He served repeatedly as
District, City, and County Surveyor, and laid out
many of the earlier roads and villages.

He had much to do with early educational
matters in Detroit and was the first chairman of the
first Board of School Inspectors in the city and was
continued in the office of chairman for four succes-
sive years, retiring in 1842. He subsequently
served as a member of the Board of Education, and
also as City Treasurer in 1838.

He was one of the corporators of the first Metho-
dist Episcopal Church of Detroit and one of its
earliest trustees. He took an active part in discuss-
ing the interests of, and in moulding the affairs of
the city, especially during the years from 1830 to
1850, and was energetic and successful in whatever
he undertook. He was intense in his convictions,
and in expressing his opinion w^as always clear and
forceful. He was an early advocate of the abolition
of slavery, and would have sympathized with any
and every effort made by the slaves to secure their
freedom.

In his profession as an engraver and publisher, he
had a passion for accuracy and a tireless energy
that hesitated at no expenditure of time or money
to secure perfection of detail, and accuracy of in-
formation, and it may well be doubted whether any
person ever labored more assiduously in the prose-
cution of their vocation. He seemed to love work
for work's sake and seldom spent less than twelve
to fifteen hours per day at his desk.

I086 AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILI PARY OFFICERS.

As a neighbor and friend he was trusted and
esteemed, and to him home was the most desirable
of all places. He was married on April 5, 1826, to
Roxana Hamilton, of Half Moon, Saratoga County,
New York. Her father, Dr. Silas Hamilton, with
his father and brother, were in the Revolutionary
army and participated in the battles of Bennington,
Ticonderoga, and in other campaigns,

Mr. Farmer died on March 24, 1859, leaving
three children, John H., Esther A., and Silas Farmer.
His wife is still living, and has been a resident of
Detroit for over sixty years.

CHARLES HASTINGS, M. D., was born in
Junius, Seneca County, New York, September i,
1820. In early youth he was thrown upon his own
resources, and by his industry and studious habits
acquired the education which fitted him for his
chosen profession. He studied medicine with Dr.
N. W. Bell, at Geneva, New York, and graduated
at the Columbian (allopathic) College of Medicine,
and also at the Cleveland Homoeopathic Medical
College.

After practicing for some time in Cleveland and
going through the cholera epidemic at Sandusky,
where he was at one time reported as dead, he
came to Detroit in 1852 and practiced here for over
thirty-four years, and at the time of his death was
the oldest homoeopathic physician in the city. In
1853 he was appointed by the Board of Auditors,
County Physician, and was the first of his school to
receive an appointment to that position in Detroit.
He was subsequently an officer of the Detroit
Homoeopathic Institute, and did much to sustain
it. He was also a prominent member of the State
Homoeopathic Medical Society.

His practice was large and required close and
laborious application, but in the midst of exhaustive
professional duties he devoted much labor to the
defense of the principles which underlie his school
of practice, and was among the ablest exponents of
those principles, both in professional success and
in the strength and cogency of the arguments
which he employed. He wrote many letters and
articles which bear marks not only of his scholar-
ship and comprehensive knowledge, but above all,
of that candor and courteous demeanor toward
opponents which always distinguished him. He
read many papers upon different medical topics
before the societies to which he belonged, and took
a leading part in their discussions and always
aimed to elevate the standard of the profession.
He was an avowed opponent of all superficial and
sensational methods in connection with the pro-
fession of medicine, which he ever regarded as a
sacred trust, and was always planning for the wel-
fare of the profession and particularly of his patients.

Possessing a knowledge of both schools, he was free
from the prejudices of either, and was liberal and
catholic both in his sentiments and aims.

He was influential in getting the homoeopathic
department established in the State University, and
by his weight of character, no less than by his suc-
cess in practice, did much to remove the preju-
dice which had existed against the system he repre-
sented. Though known as a strict homoeopathist,
he had the respect and confidence of the profession
generally, and was often called to consult with allo-
pathic physicians. He had a quiet and somewhat
retiring disposition and made but few intimates, but
by those who knew him best and in his family, where
he was a kind father and devoted husband, he was
dearly loved.

St. John's commendation of Gains ; " Thou doest
faithfully whatever thou doest to the brethren and
strangers," applied with truth to Dr. Hastings.
The characteristic of his self-centered, well-poised,
reticent nature, was faithfulness. To his patients,
his steady, discriminating watchfulness, was a source
of comfort and confidence. It was no unusual thing
for him, when anxious about a patient, to go dur-
ing the time between midnight and morning, when
the tide of life runs low in the human frame, to the
house, and whatever the weather, to watch outside.
If all seemed quiet and the indications favorable, he
returned to his house, and the patient was never
conscious of the visit. The tenderness and endur-
ing patience endeared him in an unusual degree to
those that depended upon his skill for themselves
or those dear to them.

During his many years of practice in Detroit,
many of the families to w^hom he had ministered
continuously had experienced various vicissitudes of
fortune ; to those to whom reverses had come he
was an unfailing friend — sympathy, counsel, medi-
cal service and help were given as freely and cheer-
fully as though prompt payment and future reward
depended upon it, and he possessed the love and
veneration of many of his patients.

Into his inner religious life few were admitted,
but it is known that the desire for a higher faith
was ever present. The integrity of his life and
intense scorn of sham or cant, gave to his manner,
at times, an austerity that might have impressed
strangers with an idea of harsh judgment and im-
patience of opposing opinions, but those that knew
him, knew how instantaneously and genially he
responded to any truth or goodness in the lives or
words of others, and how strongly he held to truth
wherever found.

Those who knew how bravely he responded in
his early manhood to the urgent call from cholera
infected Sandusky, and how unselfishly, without
thought of reward, he gave weeks of work and

.^^S--

AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, 'PHYSiCiANS, MILItARY OFFICERS. IO87

nearly gave his life, honor him as his heroism de-
serves. It may be said of him that he was faithful
to every trust, faithful in every relation of life,
faithful to his own clear idea of right, and faithful to
the end.

He was married in 1849 to Miss Anna E. Coman,
of Luzerne, New York. She died in Detroit in
1859, and in 1861 he was married to Miss Mary L.
Kirby, daughter of Geo. Kirby of Detroit. He died
May 23, 1886, leaving his widow and four daughters,
Mrs. Louis Hay ward and Misses Louise M., Lizzie
K. and Sarah B. Hastings.

EDWARD W. JENKS, physician and surgeon,
was born in Victor, Ontario County, New York, in
1833, and is the son of Nathan and Jane B. Jenks.
His father was of Quaker descent and a leading
merchant of Victor for many years, and became the
purchaser of large tracts of land in Northern Indiana,
particularly in LaGrange County, where he laid out
the village of Ontario. In 1843 he removed there
with his family, and established and endowed the La-
Grange Collegiate Institution, which for many years
maintained a high reputation in Indiana and adjoin-
ing States. At this institute Edward W. Jenks
received his earlier school training, which was sup-
plemented by instruction under private tutors.

He began the study of medicine in the medical
department of New York University, but before
completing the course his health failed and he was
obliged to return home. In July, 1855, he left
home, expecting, after spending a vacation in
New England,to resume his studies in New York
University, but was induced by friends to attend
the Castleton Medical College, which he did in the
latter part of the summer and autumn of 1855,
graduating in November, 1855, and immediately
proceeding to New York to carry out his long
cherished purpose ; but after remaining at the Uni-
versity about a month he found himself so much
enfeebled by long confinement and study that he
followed the advice of friends and returned home,
and was soon employed in a country practice,
which greatly improved his health. From 1853
to 1864 he was engaged in the practice of medi-
cine in LaGrange County, Indiana, in the ad-
joining county of St. Joseph, Michigan, and in
Warsaw, New York, then the home of some of his
family. After the establishment of Bellevue Hos-
pital College in New York, chiefly owing to the fact
that his former preceptor, the distinguished surgeon
Dn James R. Wood, was one of the professors in its
faculty, he entered this institution instead of return-
ing to the New York University. In 1 864 he received
the Ad Eundem degree from Bellevue Hospital Col-
lege, and during the same year removed to Detroit.
Here he rapidly secured a large practice and re-

ceived the recognition genuine ability is sure to
command. He was one of the founders and for
four years one of the editors of the Detroit Review
of Medicine, the predecessor of the present Ameri-
can Lancet, and in 1868 was elected Professor of
Obstetrics and Diseases of Women, and President
of the Faculty of the Detroit Medical College, of
which institution he was the projector and one of
the founders. He held the chair of surgical
diseases of women in Bowdoin College, Maine, lec-
turing in that institution each year in the spring
months after the close of the college session in
Detroit. He resigned in 1875, owing solely to the
labor it involved. He was for many years surgeon
in the department for diseases of women in St.
Luke's and St. Mary's Hospital and consulting sur-
geon of the Woman's Hospital of Detroit. From
its organization till his resignation in 1872 he was
one of the physicians of Harper Hospital, For sev-
eral years he was Surgeon-in-Chief of the Michigan
Central Railroad and President of the Michigan
State Medical Society in 1873, and after his removal
to Chicago was elected an honorary member
thereof. He has also been President of the Detroit
Academy of Medicine, is an honorary member of
the Maine Medical Association, of the Ohio State
Medical Society, of the Toledo Medical Associa-
tion, the Cincinnati Obstetrical Society, the North-
western Medical Society of Ohio and of several minor
medical organizations He is corresponding mem-
ber of the Gynecological Society of Boston, a Fellow
of the Obstetrical Society of London, England, an
active member and one of the founders of the
American Gynecological Society, and of the Detroit
Medical and Library Association. In 1878 he was
chairman of the obstetrical section of the American
Medical Association.

In 1879 Albion College conferred upon him the
honorary degree of LL.D , and in the same year he
was selected to fill the chair of medical and surgical
diseases of women and clinical gynecology in the
Chicago Medical College, which the distinguished
surgeon. Dr. W. H. Byford had resigned, to accept
a similar position in another medical college. The
selection of Dr. Jenks was warmly endorsed by
medical journals all over the country. The Michi-
gan Medical News said : " During the past year
a similar position has been offered him in no fewer
than three of the leading medical colleges in the
country, and his conclusion to go to Chicago is the
result of mature deHberation. While congratulat-
ing Dr. Jenks on his advancement, we cannot but
regret the removal from our midst which his
appointment will necessitate. During his residence
of fifteen years in this city Dr. Jenks, besides estab-
lishing a national reputation in his specialty, has
not been * without honor in his own country,' but

1088 AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS. PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

has by his uniformly courteous demeanor and his
scholarly attainments won the respect and admira-
tion of the profession of this city. In leaving for
his new and enlarged field of labor he will carry
with him the kindest regards and the best wishes
of all with whom he has had either professional or
social relations. Few men remove from a place
and leave so few enemies behind." Dr. Jenks re-
moved to Chicago and entered upon his new field
of labor in October, 1879, and in addition to his
college duties, opened an office and soon estab-
lished a lucrative private practice. His health now
became impaired, and in 1882 he was obliged to
resign his position in the medical college. During
the same year he established a private hospital for
the treatment of the diseases of women at Geneva,
Illinois, but continued to reside in Chicago. Suc-
cess followed his labors, but his health was not
equal to the strain, while the climate of Chicago
did not agree with him or with his family, and in
1884 he returned to Detroit, where he has since
resided. In 1888 he was nominated by the Medical
Faculty of Michigan University to fill the chair of
Obstetrics and Gynecology.

While Dr. Jenks has been successful as a general
practitioner, it is to the departments of obstetrics
and gynecology that he has devoted special atten-
tion, and in these departments he has gained a
national reputation as a skillful operator, teacher,
and author. His numerous articles on these sub-
jects have been widely circulated, and are consid-
ered valuable additions to medical literature.
Among the most important of these contributions
may be named : " The use of Viburnum Pruni-
folium in Diseases of Women," a paper read before
the American Gynecological Society, and reprinted
by nearly all American and very many European
medical journals ; ** The Cause of Sudden Death of
Puerperal Women," a paper read before the Ameri-
can Medical Association ; " Perineorrhaphy, with
Special Reference to its Benefits in Slight Laceration
and a Description of a New Mode of Operating," "On
the Postural Treatment of Tympanites Intestinalis
following Ovariotomy," '* The Relation of Goitre
to the Generative Organs of Women," "Atresia,"
a paper read before the Chicago Medical Society
in 1880; " The Treatment of Puerperal Septicemia
by Intra-Uterine Injections, " The Practice of Gyne-
cology in Ancient Times," translated and published
in the Deutsche Archiv fiir Geschichte der Medi-
cin und Med. Geographic, by Dr. Kleinwachter, to
which an extended introduction is given, warmly
commending the research and investigation of Dr.
Jenks; "On Coccygodynia," a lecture before the
Chicago Medical Society in 1880 ; " New Mode of
Operating in Fistula in Ano," " Report of a Suc-
cessful Case of Cassarean Section after Seven Days'
Labor," "Contribution to Surgical Gynecology,"

read before the Illinois State Medical Society in
1882. He is also one of the contributors to Pep-
per's System of Practical Medicine, one of the
largest treatises by American authors. During the
last year he has written two articles for the System
of American Gynecology, a work of two volumes
just prepared by well known specialists in this
branch of medical science. He is also a contributor
to the Physician's Leisure Library Series on the
" Disorders of Menstruation."

Some of the most distinguished members of
the medical profession have expressed in high terms
their appreciation of his professional excellence.
Said Dr. Thaddeus A. Reamy,of Cincinnati : " His
reputation as a writer is so thoroughly interna-
tional that we need not speak of it, for I could
add nothing to it. His articles show great re-
search, especially in classic history along the line
of obstetrics and gynecological art and literature.
He has long since proved himself an able teacher.
He is a skillful operator in gynecological and ob-
stetric surgery." " I have known Dr. Jenks," say.s
Dr. . W. H. Byford, " for many years as a writer.
teacher and gynecologist. His reputation in all
these IS national in extent."

In 1887 Dr. Jenks established a private home for
the medical and surgical treatment of diseases
of women, at 626 Fort Street West, known as
"Willow Lawn," putting into execution a plan
which he has long entertained. He has given
himself to his profession with undeviating atten-
tion, and has not allowed the allurements of public
or political life to come between him and his work.
His chief relaxation from professional duties is
found in study and investigation, ranging through
a wide range of literary subjects. His extensive
medical library is the result of patient, careful work
of years, and his varied collection of books reflects
a cultivated literary taste rarely found in one who
has gained distinction as a specialist. Naturally a
student, a lover of books, a great reader, and pos-
sessed of a fluent command of language, he is a
graceful writer, an entertaining lecturer, and an in-
structive conversationalist.

He is a strong, positive character, arrives at a con-
clusion after careful deliberation, but has the moral
courage to readily change a line of action when
convinced he is in the wrong. The social element in
his character is strong and conspicuous. Not that
he cares for what is generally termed society, but
in the little coterie where friend is knit to friend by
sincere affection, his light is always brilliant. He is
charitable, but with judicious selection and from a
sense of duty, and never with vulgar and ostenta-
tious parade. His home, his family, and all the
quiet comforts of the domestic circle are dear to
him. Here all the reserve of his nature among
strangers vanishes and he reveals the genial, social

AUTHORS, EDITORS. PUBLISHERS. PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

1089

side of his nature and that kindness of heart which
endears him to those who know him best.

He was first married in 1857 to a daughter of
J. H. Darling, of Warsaw, New York, who died
soon after his removal to Detroit. In 1867 he mar-
ried Sarah R. Joy, eldest daughter of James F. Joy.
They have two children, a son and a daughter.

HERMAN KIEFER, M. D., was born Novem-
ber 19, 1825, at Sulzburg, Grand Dukedom of
Baden, Germany, and is the only son of Dr. Conrad
and Frederica Schweyckert Kiefer. His academic
and professional studies were thorough and liberal.
He first attended the high school of Freiburg,
beginning at his ninth year, and afterwards in turn
those at Mannheim and Carlsruhe, completing his
preparatory course at the age of eighteen years.
He then began the study of medicine at the Uni-
versity of Freiburg, continued the following year at
Heidelberg, and later attended the medical institu-
tions at Prague and Vienna. At various times he
was under the instruction of such distinguished
masters of medical science as Arnold, Henle, Opp-
holzer, Stromeyer, Pitha, and Scanzoni. and in
May, 1849, was graduated with the highest honors
upon his examination before the State Board of
Examiners at Carlsruhe. Such a degree received
from such a source implies a prolonged and assidu-
ous study, which America is but now beginning to
appreciate, and, in a modified degree, to imitate in
its requirements. The venerable institutions at
which Dr. Kiefer spent fifteen y^ars of his boyhood
and young manhood, stand before the educated
world as favorable examples of the vast and perfect
machinery, by the agency of which, Germany has
so well earned the name of being a nation of
scholars.

There is very slight probability that Dr. Kiefer
would ever have become an American but for one
agency— the same which has given to the United
States much of the best blood and best brains of
Germany — that of revolution. He had scarcely
received his doctorate when the revolution of 1849
occurred. In common with thousands of his fel-
lows among the educated youth of his country, he
embraced the side of the people with all the ardor
and enthusiasm of his years, flinging his future
carelessly aside to espouse the cause of a down-
trodden race, against the almost invincible power
of organized authority. He joined the volunteer
regiment of Emmendingen, and was at once ap-
pointed its surgeon. With that regiment he was
present at the battle of Phillipsburg, on June 20,
1849, and at that of Upstadt, on the twenty-third
of the same month. It was at the former engage-
ment that Prince Carl, afterwards Field-Marshal of
Germany, was wounded and narrowly escaped cap-

ture by the regiment to which Dr. Kiefer was
attached.

When the revolution was suppressed, Dr. Kiefer,
in common with thousands of others, was com-
pelled to flee the consequences of his patriotic ser-
vice. He took refuge in the city of Strasburg, then
under the dominion of the French Republic, of
which Louis Napoleon was President. Even there
he did not find a safe asylum, for the Republic de-
clined to shelter the refugees from Baden. The
spies of Napoleon — a tyrant under the cloak of
popular leadership — discovered his place of con-
cealment, arrested him, and he was again compelled
to fly. Making his way to the sea-board he took
passage upon a sailing vessel for the United States,
leaving port August 18, and arriving in New York
on the nineteenth day of September, 1 849.

America was then far less cosmopolitan than
now, and lacked much of having attained its pres-
ent advanced standard of professional and general
scientific attainment. It did not present a promis-
ing field to a highly educated German, and we can
imagine that the necessity for leaving behind him
the possibilities of success and distinction in his
own country must have been a bitter one to an
ambitious young man, fresh from the scholastic
atmosphere of Heidelberg and the gaiety of Vienna.
Still, there was no question of the necessity, and he
made the best of it. After a brief sojourn in New
York, he turned his face westward, intending to
establish himself permanently in St. Louis. On
the way, however, he met a countryman who had
lived for several years at Detroit, and was led to
change his intention and turn aside to that place.

The population of Detroit in the autumn of 1 849
was little more than twenty thousand. Michigan
was still provincial, and neither social nor business
methods had outgrown the crudity of its earlier
days. Less than five months before. Dr. Kiefer
had stood before the state examiners at Carlsruhe,
and received his diploma, with no other thought
than that he should live, work, and die in Father-
land. Since then he had been a soldier, a fugitive,
and now found himself, by force of circumstances,
an alien in tongue and blood, facing fortune in a
very American western city.

He opened an office for the practice of his pro-
fession on October 19, 1849, ^^^' i" spi^e of all his
disadvantages, soon won a pronounced success.
His practice, almost from the first, was sufficient
for his needs, and grew year by year, until it came
to be exceedingly absorbing and lucrative.

Dr. Kiefer has always held very dear, and given
every effort to preserve the spirit and the literature
of the Teutonic race. That he is also a thorough and
loyal American is only an apparent anomaly. His
devotion to the country which gave him shelter in

logo AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

his exile, is not at all impeached by his desire to see
the language, the grand literature, and the social
and historical traditions of Germany, perpetuated
among his compatriots.

He has always taken a deep interest in educa-
tional matters. He was one of the founders of the
German- American seminary, a school incorporated
by the State for finished instruction in all depart-
ments of learning, to be given equally in the Ger-
man and English language, so far as practicable or
desirable. Of this institution he was President and
Treasurer from the time of its foundation, in 1861,
until 1872, when he resigned, and severed all con-
nection with it, because of a disagreement with
other members upon what he regarded as a vital
matter of educational ethics. It has always been
his belief that no teaching of religious doctrine or
creed should be introduced into school instruction.
His associates proposed to make the seminary a
sectarian institution, and his withdrawal was the
consequence.

During the years 1866 and 1867 Dr. Kiefer was
a member of the Detroit Board of Education, and
used his utmost influence to induce that body to
introduce the teaching of German into the public
schools of the city. He made repeated efforts in
this direction, urging his point upon the grounds of
the practical utility of the language, and also as a
right which German citizens were justified in de-
manding. In spite, however, of his utmost efforts,
he failed to secure the desired legislation.

In 1882 Dr. Kiefer was elected a member of the
Public Library Commission, to fill a vacancy for a
period of one year; in 1883 he was re-elected for
the full term of six years. When he assumed this
office there were very few German books in the
library, and the fine and thoroughly representative
collection of works in that language now upon the
shelves, was almost entirely selected and purchased
under his personal supervision. Considering the
number of volumes and the sum expended, it
would be difficult to find a library which better
illustrates the thought and literary methods of Ger-
many, in science, history, and the belles lettres, and
Dr. Kiefer deserves the thanks, not only of Germans,
but of all scholars and investigators, for the import-
ant service thus rendered.

Dr. Kiefer is a member of the Wayne County
and the State Medical Societies and the American
Medical Association. He is recognized at home
and by physicians throughout the country as a skill-
ful, successful, and scientific physician. Until
recently he has been devoted to his practice with
the greatest assiduity, finding time only for the
public services mentioned. This close attention to
his professional duties has prevented his making
any elaborate contributions to medical literature.

but his papers in various periodicals devoted to the
interests of his profession, have been many, and
have done no little to spread his reputation in other
cities and States.

For many years Dr. Kiefer has held a repre-
sentative position among the German citizens of
Detroit and Michigan, and has, upon all occasions,
been their champion. In all his public life he has
endeavored, by tongue and pen, to convince the
public that the German born population of the
United States should be respected as fully equal to
the native born people. He claims nothing for his
countrymen as Germans, but as citizens of the
United States defends their rights to the fullest
political and social recognition. Among the claims
which he makes for them are recognition of their
language and social customs, and the right to pur-
sue their happiness in any way which shall not
infringe upon the equally sacred rights and liberties
of others. In his own family Dr. Kiefer has paid a
tribute to Germany by insisting upon the exclusive
use of its language, and this influence he has sup-
plemented by educating several of his children in
the schools of his native land.

He has been an active member of many of the
German societies of Detroit, and has represented
his countrymen upon various important occasions.
He took a prominent place at the Singers' Festival
held at Detroit in 1857 ; at the festival commemo-
rative of Schiller's centennial in the year 1859; at
the festival of Humboldt in 1869; and in 1871,
when all German America w^as wild with joy at the
successful ending of the Franco-German war, he
acted as President and orator of the day at the
peace celebration held by the German citizens of
Detroit on the first day of May.

In politics Dr. Kiefer has been a steadfast and
consistent Republican since the organization of that
party in 1854. There is nothing in his character
that would render "trimming" or vacillation pos-
sible to him, no matter how dearly his political
allegiance might cost him. During the futile cam-
paign made by the Republicans in 1854; he was
chairman of the German Republican executive
committee of the State of Michigan. In 1872 he
was one of the Presidential electors of the State,
and in 1876 was a delegate to the Republican Na-
tional Convention held at Cincinnati. At that
convention, w^hen after four ineffective ballots the
delegates were seeking to unite upon a compromise
candidate, he was influential in inducing the Michi-
gan delegation to give their united support to Ruth-
erford B. Hayes. In every Presidential campaign
from 1854 until 1880, he worked actively for the
success of the Republican party, going upon the
stump and exerting his influence very effectively
among the German citizens of the State. He is an

AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS. 109I

eloquent speaker, recognized by all as holding his
opinions with as much honesty as tenacity, and his
leading position among his compatriots gives him
an influence which has been invaluable to the Re-
publican party.

In spite of his long and arduous service, Dr.
Kiefer has held but one federal office, and that very
recently. During the month of July, 1883, he was
appointed by President Arthur Consul to Stettin.
Once before, in 1873, he had revisited his native
land, spending six months in travel, but his return
as an official representative of the United States to
the Fatherland, which he left as a political fugitive
less than twenty-five years before, was an especial
gratification to him.

The office, too, was much to his taste. He did
not make a holiday of his residence at Stettin, but
gave a close attention to his duties and an intelli-
gent study to political, social and trade conditions,
the results of which he transmitted to the Secretary
of State in a large number of valuable reports,
many of which were published by the Government.
Among these may be named his "Report on Beet
Sugar," published in Volume XXXIX of the United
States Consular Reports; "Report on Base Burn-
ers," in Volume XL ; " Report on the Extension of
European Trade in the Orient," in Volume XLII ;
" Report on American Trade with Stettin," in Vol-
ume XLVI; " Report on Agricultural Machinery,"
in Volume XLVIII ; " How Germany is Governed,"
in Volume L; "Report on Labor in Europe," pub-
lished by the Department of State in a separate
volume. These are by no means all the reports
made by Dr. Kiefer, during an official service of
but eighteen months, and they furnish a sufficient
evidence of the activity and zeal with which he per-
formed his duties.

Upon the election of a Democratic president. Dr.
Kiefer was one of the first officials to resign his
office. This he did in a characteristic letter, ad-
dressed to the Department of State immediately
after the election, and while the cabinet, of course,
was still Republican, in which he expressed his
unwillingness either to be " a victim of the political
guillotine or to see civil service reform managed by
the Democrats."

On the twenty-first of January, 1885, he retired
from his office. For several months thereafter he
remained in Europe, traveling extensively upon the
continent. In September of the same year he
returned to America, and, upon his arrival at Detroit,
was complimented with two formal receptions — one
tendered by his fellow physicians and the other by
German residents of the city. He brought with
him, from his brief official life, an enviable reputa-
tion for the zeal and ability with which he had dis-

charged its duties. During 1886 he made a pro-
longed visit to California.

Dr. Kiefer was reared a Protestant, but his views
have greatly changed, and he now disavows any
religious belief, holding that every individual must
be judged purely by his own acts.

Soon after coming to America, Dr. Kiefer was
joined by his mother, who was accompanied by
Francesca Kehle, to whom he was affianced in Ger-
many. The two were married July 21, 1850.
During the year 1851 his father also came to Detroit,
but both father and mother returned to the old
country after a brief residence in America. Dr. and
Mrs. Kiefer have passed together nearly thirty-six
happy and prosperous years. They have had seven
sons and two daughters, and of these five sons and
one daughter are now living. These children are :
Alfred K. Kiefer, who is connected with the Wayne
County Savings Bank of Detroit; Arthur E., Man-
ager of the Detroit Edge Tools Works ; Edwin H.,
a resident of New York ; Edgar L., of the firm of
Kiefer & Heyn, of Detroit ; Minnie C, the wife of
Dr. C. Bonning, Dr. Kiefer's partner, and Guy
Lincoln, now at Ann Arbor University.

For the foregoing biography we are indebted to
the Magazine of Western History.

ALEXANDER MACOMB, Major-General U.
S. A., was born in Detroit on April 3, 1782, and
was the son of Alexander Macomb, a prominent
merchant of Detroit in Revolutionary days. His
mother's maiden name was Catharine Navarre. He
received a good education and in 1779 was enrolled
as one of the " New York Rangers," a volunteer col-
onial corps. He subsequently served on the staff of
General North, and with General Wilkinson in the
southwest, and was for a time connected with the
Academy at West Point, where he compiled a
treatise on martial law, which was published in
1809.

He became a Captain in 1805, a Major in 1808,
commanded an artillery corps in 181 2, and won
special renown at the battle of Plattsburgh in Sep-
tember, 1 8 14, receiving the thanks of Congress,
accompanied by a gold medal. From 181 5 to 1821
he was in command of Military District No. 5, with
head-quarters at Detroit. In 1821 he was made
Chief Engineer of the Army and removed to
Washington. Before leaving Detroit he was pre-
sented by the citizens with a silver tankard and
several engravings as a testimonial of their esteem
and regret at his departure. In 1835 he was made
Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the United
States. He was universally respected as a model
and accomplished soldier, a worthy and honorable

1092

AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

citizen and a useful and agreeable friend. He was
married on July 18, 1803, to his cousin, Catharine
Macomb, the third daughter of Wm. Macomb, of
Detroit. She died in September, 1822, and on
April 27, 1827, at Georgetown, D. C, he married
Mrs. Harriet Balch Wilson. He had twelve chil-
dren, as follows : Catharine, wife of John Mason,
of Virginia ; Alexandrine, wife of General Henry
Stanton, U. S. A.; Czarina Carolina, wife of Gen-
eral John Navarre Macomb, the sixth child of J. N.
Macomb and Christina Livingston; Alexander Sara-
nac, husband of Susan Kearney, daughter of Gen-
eral Philip Kearney, of New York ; William Henry
Alexander, husband of Mary Eliza Stanton, second
daughter of General Henry Stanton ; Jane Octavia,
wife of Lieutenant Morris L. Miller, U. S. Artillery,
and Sarah, married first to Captain H. W. Stanton,
of the U. S. Dragoons, and after his death to J. C.
Devereux Williams, of Detroit. The other chil-
dren, Robert Kennedy, Alexander Catawba, Anna
Matilda, Francis Alexander Napoleon and Oc-
tavia Eliza were unmarried. Only Mrs. Alexan-
drine Stanton and Mrs. Jane Octavia Miller are
living.

General Macomb died in Washington on June 25,
1 841.

FREDERICK MORLEY, the Nestor among the
newspaper publishers of Detroit, was born in Derby,
England, December 23, 1 82 1 . His father was a Bap-
tist minister and with his family came to this country
in 1830. Their first home was in Wayne County,
New York, and in an adjoining county, at Seneca
Falls, Mr. Morley learned the " art preservative of
all arts." In 1841, when only nineteen years of age,
he became one of the publishers of the Wayne
County Whig, issued at Lyons, New York, and four
years later, in May, 1845, ^^ Palmyra, in the same
county, he established a new paper named the
Courier.

In 1853 he left New York State and came to
Detroit, and a few months later engaged with
Rufus Hosmer in the editorial management of the
Detroit Inquirer, which was first issued on January
18, 1854. During his connection with the Inquirer
he had much to do with the work that inspired the
Republican movement of 1854 and brought it to
the front, and in point of fact is one of the several
fathers of the Republican party.

Mr. Morley retained his position with the paper
until a month or two prior to its consolidation with
the Free Democrat, when he left to engage in the
book and stationery trade, under the firm name of
Kerr, Morley & Company. His love for the edi-
torial tripod soon took him back into the profession,
and in 1858 he became editor and publisher of the
Daily Advertiser, and continued in the position

until near the close of the year 1861, when he sold
out his interest to Messrs. Geiger and Scripps.

In May, 1862, he was appointed Assistant Adju-
tant General under the administration of Governor
Blair, and initiated and organized the system which
gave to the State its detailed military record, and
after five years in the office, in April, 1867, he
retired. In the meantime the Daily Post had been
established as a Republican paper by persons who
were dissatisfied with the management of the
Advertiser and Tribune. It was edited by Carl
Schurz, and the first issue was dated March 27,
1866. Differences, however, arose between him and
the stockholders, and after serving one year, on
March i, 1867, Mr. Morley became his successor
and also had the care of the business management,
continuing in charge of the paper for nine years, or
up to January i, 1876.

During this period it is safe to say that no other
paper in Detroit approached the Post in complete-
ness of its news, attractiveness of its make-up and
general typographic excellence, and as a stalwart
Republican organ it was never excelled. While at
the head of the Daily Post, Mr Morley also from
1 87 1 to 1876, served as Register of the United
States Land Office of Detroit. After leaving the
paper he was appointed by President Grant and
confirmed by the Senate, as Consul General to
Egypt, but personal reasons induced him to decline
the position.

During 1881 and 1882 he served as Commis-
sioner of Immigration for the State of Michigan, and
in the discharge of his duties aided by the efficient
and accomplished Assistant Commissioner, Charles
K. Backus, prepared the most complete compen-
dium of the advantages and resources of the State
ever issued. It was circulated very extensively,
especially in the Eastern States, and probably no
public document was ever of more service to the
State.

In the fall of 1883 he became editor and business
manager of the Post and Tribune, and held the
position until August, i, 1884, when he withdrew
from active participation in the conduct of any
newspaper. He ever and anon, however, finds
himself writing out some interesting reminiscences,
and his matter is so instructive and entertaining,
and style so clear and captivating, that whatever he
is willing to write, the public are willing to read.

Always unpretentious and always able and ready
to convey information upon many subjects of inter-
est, he is an excellent conversationalist and has the
rare gift of being an equally good listener, and is
thus doubly qualified to serve his friends and asso-
ciates. He was married at Lyons, New York, on
January 12, 1843, to Eleanor Ninde, daughter of
Rev. Wm. Ninde, a Protestant Episcopal minister

7F.C

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AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS. 1093

of Maryland, and aunt of Bishop W. X. Ninde of
the Methodist Episcopal Church.

ROLLIN CHARLES OLIN, M. D.. of Detroit,
was born near Waukesha, Wisconsin, August 17,
1839, His parents, Thomas H. and Sarah (Church)
Olin, were of Welsh-Irish descent, and their ances-
tors settled in Vermont at an early date. The
great-great-grandfather of R. C. Olin settled in
Rhode Island, and was a revolutionary soldier
under General Greene. Thomas H. Olin was a
farmer, and when his son was five years old, re-
moved with his family to Waukesha, and was for
several years engaged in the milling business. He
afterwards settled on a farm in Northfield, Minne-
sota, where he remained until a short time before
his death, in July, 1883. His wife is still living and
resides with her son in Detroit.

R. C. Olin remained at home during his earlier
years, receiving the best educational advantages
that the schools of his native place afforded, and
subsequently attending for one year Carroll College
at Waukesha. He then decided to adopt the calling
of a teacher, and as a preparation to that end en-
tered the State Normal School at Winona, Minne-
sota. At the end of his second term the war of the
rebellion began, and in August, 1 861, he enlisted as
a private in Company B, of the Third Minnesota
Infantry. Promotions to a Second Lieutenancy and
then to a First Lieutenancy soon after followed, and
while acting in the latter capacity he took part in
the battles of Pittsburgh Landing, Shiloh, and Mur-
freesboro. In the last named engagement his regi-
ment was captured, and all of the officers then pres-
ent except Lieutenant Olin and two others, were
sent to Libby Prison. Lieutenant Olin was paroled
with the regiment and sent to the parole barracks
at St. Louis, remaining until September, 1862, when
the regiment, with himself as the only commis-
sioned officer present for duty, was ordered to the
Minnesota frontier to aid in subduing an insurrec-
tion of the Sioux Indians, his command forming
part of the Army of the Northwest, commanded by
(General Pope. During the campaign Lieutenant
Olin was appointed Judge Advocate of the military
commission which tried four hundred Sioux In-
dians for insurrection, twenty-eight of whom were
executed. While acting as commander of the
regiment in the notable encounters at Yellow
Medicine and Lone Tree Lane, where many Union
soldiers were killed. Lieutenant Olin attracted the
favorable attention of General Sibley, and after this
campaign he was appointed on his staff as Adjutant
General, with the rank of Captain, and served in
this capacity during General Sibley's subsequent
expedition against the Indians on the Missouri River
in 1863, in which three pitched battles were fought

In the winter of 1862-3, General Sibley took up
his headquarters at St. Paul, Minn., where he re-
mained until the opening of the campaign in May,
1863. In September he returned to St. Paul,
where he remained until relieved by General John
M. Corse, to whose staff Captain Olin was trans-
ferred. In February, 1865, Captain Olin resigned
from the army and in the spring of the same year
he went to Savannah, Georgia, with the intention
of embarking in the lumber business, but being
unable to secure a favorable opening, returned to
St. Paul, and in partnership with E. H. Burrit estab-
lished a bookstore, which was continued until 1868,
when he went to Owatonna, and for four years was
employed as teller of a bank. He then came to
Detroit and began the study of medicine, and after
a full course of instruction in the Medical Depart-
ment of the University of Michigan, he graduated
in 1877. He adopted the homoeopathic school of
medicine, and immediately after graduation entered
upon the duties of his profession in Detroit, and in
a comparatively few years has gained an extensive
practice, being remarkably successful.

He is possessed of unusual power of applica-
tion, quick discernment, and is ready in analysis,
qualities that are specially helpful in medical prac-
tice. He is essentially a family physician, and
enjoys in a marked degree the confidence and
respect which should be possessed by those holding
such a relation. His success is largely due to the
devotion with which he has adhered to his work,
and to the trust his ability and conscientious fidelity,
have inspired in his patients. The tenets of his
medical principles are founded on broad, liberal, and
honest convictions, and he is far removed from the
unjustifiable prejudices which animate many of his
profession. He is a member of the College of
Physicians and Surgeons of Michigan, and of the
Homoeopathic Medical Society. His standing, and
the regard in which he is held by his professional
brethren in the State, was attested by his election
as President of the State Society in May, 1887, and
he is also a member of the military order of the
Loyal Legion.

The rapid growth of his practice, and the demand
it has made upon his time, have given him little op-
portunity for work outside of his professional duties,
but he takes a commendable interest in all projects
of a public nature. He is a Republican in politics,
and is in hearty accord with the efforts of his party.
He is of a sanguine temperament, kindly and genial
in nature, and a citizen of irreproachable character.
Among the members of the medical fraternity of
Detroit, of every school of practice, he is no less
respected for professional attainments than for his
personal worth.

He was married at St. Paul, Minnesota, on OctQ*

I094 AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

ber 30, 1865, to Georgie A. Dailey. She died at
Detroit on September 8, 1881, and on June 15, 1887,
he married Grace Eugenie Hillis, of Syracuse, New
York.

JOHN PULFORD, Colonel United States Army
and Brevet Brigadier-General, was born in New
York City, July 4, 1837, and is the seventh son of
Edward and Sarah Lloyd (Avis) Pulford ; the
former a native of Norwich and the latter of Bris-
tol, England. They emigrated to New York City in
1833, and in 1838 removed to Essex county, Ontario,
and engaged in farming.

John Pulford was educated in the public schools
and when thirteen years of age came to Detroit ;
sailed on the lakes in the summer and in the winter
read law. In 1854 he became proprietor of a hotel
and continued the business until the breaking out
of the civil war, when he and Edward T. Sherlock
organized a military company, tendered their ser-
vices to the General Government and Mr. Pulford
was appointed First Lieutenant in the Fifth Michi-
gan Volunteer Infantry. He entered upon service
June 19, 1 86 1, in the camp of instruction at Fort
Wayne, Michigan, where he remained until Sep-
tember 1 1 , and was then with his regiment ordered
to the front. During the fall and winter following
he aided in constructing Forts Richardson and Lyon,
part of the defenses of Washington south of the
Potomac. In March, 1862, he left with the Army
of the Potomac for Fortress Monroe, Virginia,
doing camp and picket duty in front of Hampton.
In April, 1862, he moved with his company and
regiment to Yorktown and assisted in the construc-
tion of earthworks, preparatory to laying siege to that
place, and while there performed important picket
duty. At Williamsburgh, Virginia, on May 5, he par-
ticipated in a charge on the enemy at the point of the
bayonet, and captured the works and a number of
prisoners. In this charge over three hundred Con-
federates were killed by the bayonet in front of his
regiment, and soon after this engagement he was pro-
moted to a Captaincy. He took part in the battle of
Fair Oaks, his company acting as skirmishers, and
losing heavily. He was also engaged in all the move-
ments of the Army of the Potomac in the seven
days' fight before Richmond, including Peach Or-
chard, Charles City, Cross Roads, and Malvern Hill.

Soon after he went into action on the morning of
July I, he was struck by a partially spent cannon-
ball which fractured his collar-bone and broke his
jaw. He was left on the battle-field for dead, cap-
tured by the enemy and taken to Richmond, where
he was kept a prisoner for eighteen days, when he
was exchanged and taken to the hospital at Balti-
more. After ten weeks spent in the hospital, he
was so far reco\^red as to be able to return to duty.

His friends had procured a detail for him on the
recruiting service, but he refused to listen to any
proposition which would take him away from his
command and active field duty. On the 13th of
December he was in the battle of Fredericksburgh,
remaining on the battle-field until the i6th.

His company and regiment suffered severely
during this engagement, and the regimental com-
mander having been killed, Captain Pulford, al-
though one of the junior captains, was soon after-
ward appointed Major, the officers of the regi-
ment having petitioned the Governor for his promo-
tion. He took part in what is known as Burn-
side's mud march, in the Battle of the Cedars, on
May 2, 1863, in which he assisted in the capture of
the Twenty-third Georgia Infantry ; and in the bril-
liant night charge when Stonewall Jackson was
killed. This was one of the shortest and most ter-
rific encounters of the war, as the charge was made
to reopen communication with the army from which
the Third Corps had been cut off late in the even-
ing. The next day he was engaged in the battle of
Chancellorsville, where Lieutenant-Colonel E. T.
Sherlock was killed, after which Major Pulford
assumed command of the regiment, although suffer-
ing severely from a wound he had received.

The officers of his regiment now petitioned the
Government to appoint him Lieutenant-Colonel of
the regiment, and he was appointed, his commis-
sion dating from May 3, 1 863, He was next engaged
with his command in several skirmishes with the
enemy on the march to Gettysburgh, and opened
the engagement at that place in front of the First
Division, Third Corps. After the regiment had
been assembled from the skirmish line, they fought
as heavy infantry in almost a hand to hand con-
flict, and Colonel Pulford was severely wounded in
the thigh and slightly in the right hand, and his
horse was killed, but the Colonel did not leave the
field nor his command. Of the fourteen officers of
his regiment present in this battle, eleven were
either killed or wounded. The brigade commander,
in his report of this engagement, says : " The un-
flinching bravery of the Fifth Michigan, which sus-
tained a loss of more than one-half of its members
without yielding a foot of ground, deserves to be
especially commended."

Colonel Pulford with his regiment, also partici-
pated in the battle of Wapping Heights, the regi-
ment acting as flankers and skirmishers during
the march from Gettysburgh to White Sulphur
Springs. On the i6th of August, 1863, he went in
command of his regiment, to New York City, as a
guard against threatened resistance to the draft,
and thence to Troy, for the same purpose, return-
ing to the Army of the Potomac, September 18,
1863. He was in command through the actions at

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AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS. 1095

Auburn Heights, Kelly's Ford, Locust Grove and
Mine Run. His regiment having re-enlisted as a
veteran organization, Colonel Pulford took it to
Detroit, where a public reception was given them.
They returned to the Army of the Potomac on the
1 9th of February, 1 864, and Colonel Pulford partici-
pated in all the actions and movements of that army,
including the battle of the Wilderness, at which time
he was severely wounded, his back being broken
and both his arms partially disabled. On June
loth, 1864, he was appointed Colonel of the Fifth
Michigan Veteran Volunteers Infantry, Colonel
Beech having been mustered out of the service on
account of having been absent from duty two years
by reason of wounds received. The Third Michi-
gan Infantry Volunteers having been consolidated
with the Fifth Michigan Infantry, Colonel Pulford
commanded the regiment in the siege of Peters-
burgh, from June 27, 1864, to April 3, 1865. Dur-
ing the greater portion of the time he was in com-
mand of Fort Davis, having as a garrison the Fifth
Michigan Infantry, the First Regiment of United
States Sharp-shooters, the One Hundred and Fifth
Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry and a battery of
artillery.

He was general ofhcer of the day for the Second
Corps at the engagement at Deep Bottom, Virginia;
was engaged at Petersburgh, July 30, command-
ing the Second Brigade, Third Division, Second
Corps ; he commanded Birney's Division of the
Tenth Corps, for a short time, at the battle of
Strawberry Plains, Virginia; the Fifth Michigan at
the Battle of Poplar Springs' Church ; the first line
of battle of the Second Brigade, Third Division,
Second Corps, at Boydton Plank Road, October
27, 1864, where he was wounded in the right knee.
At Hatcher's Run, on March 25, 1865, he com-
manded the Fifth Michigan, together with the First
Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, and at Sailors'
Creek and New Stone, Virginia, the Fifth Michigan
Infantry, and was general officer of the day for the
Third Division, Second Corps, at the surrender of
the insurgent armies at Appomattox Court House,
April 9, 1865. In June, of the same year, he was
appointed by the President, Brigadier -General of
the United States Volunteers, by brevet, to rank as
such from the 30th of March, 1865, "for gallantry
in action and efficiency in the line of duty and
commissioned to date, March 13, 1865, for good
conduct and meritorious services during the war."
After the general review of the armies of the
United States at Washington, he proceeded in
command of the Fifth Michigan and several other
Western regiments, to Louisville, Kentucky, and
commanded the First Brigade, provisional division,
Army of the Tennessee, at Jeffersonville, Indiana.
The Fifth Michigan Regiment, having been mus-

tered out of service on July 5, 1865, he brought it
to Detroit, where it was disbanded on July 17th.

Returning to private life, in October following
Colonel Pulford was admitted to the bar, but hav-
ing acquired a strong taste for military life, he
applied for a commission in the regular army, and
on February 23, 1866, was appointed Second, and
afterwards First Lieutenant, Nineteenth United
States Infantry, being assigned to the command of
Company G., third battalion of that regiment. On
the 28th of April following he was stationed at
Newport Barracks, Kentucky. He was in com-
mand of his company en route to and at Little
Rock, Arkansas, until August 3, and was soon
after assigned to the command of the post at Du-
vall's Bluff, Arkansas On the 21st of September
he was transferred to the Thirty-seventh United
States Infantry, stationed at Fort Leavenworth,
Kansas, and engaged in General Hancock's expe-
dition against hostile Indians, and commanded a
detachment of troops who were guarding the
United States mail route from Indians, between
Forts Lyon and Aubrey, Kansas. He was Acting
Quartermaster, Commissary of Subsistence and Dis-
bursing Officer from November i, 1867, until May
31, 1869. He was awaiting orders and on recon-
struction duty in Mississippi until December 13,
1869 ; on recruiting duty at Newport Barracks and
Atlanta, Georgia, and awaiting orders until Decem-
ber, 1870.

Under section 32 of the Act of Congress, ap-
proved July 28, 1866, on a record of six wounds
received in action, he was retired on the rank of
Colonel United States Army. He risked his person,
as an officer, in double as many engagements and
actually commanded a regiment in more battles
than the oldest regiment of the regular United
States army ever participated in from the time of
the original organization of the army in 1 790. He
received four out of six wounds while doing another
officer's duty in battle. In 1873 he was appointed
by Governor Bagley as Judge Advocate of Michi-
gan. He was reduced to the rank of a Lieutenant-
Colonel by the operation of the so-called " Craw-
ford Act," of March 3, 1875, and unjustly remained
for several years under the mortification of being
reduced from a rank fairly won by conspicuous gal-
lantry and a steady fidelity to duty which resulted
in a perm.anent disability of the severest and most
painful character.

His disability being fully proved by the testimony
of the late Dr. D. O. Farrand, as well by other
eminent surgeons, on a showing of the facts to
Congress, that body very justly, by a special act on
March 13, 1878, restored him to the rank of Colo-
nel United States Army retired. It is eminently
true that he possesses an army record that many a

1096 AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

West Pointer might covet. In 1856, he married
Sarah L. Lee, daughter of Peter Lee, of Detroit.
She died in 1875, leaving one son and three
daughters. In 1883 Colonel Pulford married Mrs.
Emma Cady, daughter of Alexander Cady, a mer-
chant of Rochester, New York. They have one
son, John Pulford, Jr.

WILLIAM EMORY QUINBY was born in the
town of Brewer, Maine, December 14, 1835. His
father's name was Daniel Franklin Quinby and his
mother's maiden name, Arazina Reed. They were
married in 1834 and moved to Detroit in 1850,
where he, in connection with J. K. Wellman^ estab-
lished a periodical known as Wellman's Literary
Miscellany. Mr. Quinby had charge of the editor-
ial department and secured a list of contributions
that would be notable even in this day of greatly
increased literary activity. In 1851 Mr. Quinby
became one of the owners and in 1853 sole pro-
prietor. The magazine was subsequently sold to
other parties and finally discontinued.

These facts indicate a natural beginning of the
literary tastes of William E. Quinby. Coming with
his father, he attended the literary department in
connection with Gregory's Commercial College, in
the Odd Fellows' Hall on Woodward Avenue, and
was also employed in the office of ** The Miscel-
lany." After his father sold the magazine he
entered the University at Ann Arbor and graduated
in the class of 1858. He then took up the study of
law and the following year was admitted to the bar,
and for part of two years practiced his profession.
His inclinations, however, were towards literary
work, and when in 1861 Wilbur F. Storey, then
publisher of The Free Press, tendered him a position
on the paper, he gladly accepted the offer and since
then his connection with the paper has been con-
tinuous.

In 1 86 1 Henry N. Walker became proprietor
and he made Mr. Quinby managing editor, and
in 1863 Mr. Quinby purchased a quarter interest
in the paper. In 1872 Mr Walker retired from
the active business management and Mr. Quinby
was chosen general manager. He soon purchased
another quarter of the stock of the corporation and
in January, 1875, bought a large part of the remain-
ing stock, and since that date has been the chief
owner and manager, and under his direction The
Free Press has attained a circulation and influence
enormously in advance of any previously possessed.
His plans and management have made the paper
and the city in which it is published a household
name, not only in all parts of the United States,
but in the British Isles as well, and indeed all over
the world where there are any large number of
English speaking people, and in this respect it is

without a rival in either England or America. The
success attained by Mr. Quinby indicates the posses-
sion of extraordinary executive ability, rare literary
and commercial foresight, great comprehensiveness
of detail, a fine sense of adaptation of means to an
end, and a distinct and definite grasp of all the
forces needed to insure success, and the paper of
which he is the head, with its Detroit and London
editions, has achieved a success that is without a
parallel. Only clear, practical and well devised
plans could have secured the result that has been
obtained.

Personally Mr. Quinby is as modest as he is
energetic. He seems destitute of self-assurance
but is full of nerve and confidence ; is always suave,
patient, methodical and at the helm. He is a warm
friend, an agreeable companion, a graceful writer
and reliable in judgment. He was married on
April 4, i860, to Adeline Frazer. They have six
children, namely : Theodore E., who is one of the
editorial staff of the Free Press, Henry W., Wini-
fred, Herbert, Florence and Evelyn.

JAMES E. SCRIPPS was born in London,
England, March 19, 1835, and is the son of James
Moggs and Ellen Mary (Saunders) Scripps. The
records of Trinity parish, Ely, Cambridgeshire, Eng-
land, as far back as 1609, contain the names of
members of the family, who then spelled their
name Crip and Crips, but as early as 1633 they
began to spell it as it is now written. The father
of J. E. Scripps was a bookbinder and emigrated to
America with his family in 1844, settling in Rush-
ville, Illinois, where, on November 26, 1844, he rnar-
ried, as his third wife, Julia Adeline Osborn, who
was born at Ogdensburgh, New York. He pos-
sessed great mechanical ingenuity, coupled with
rare skill, a high order of intelligence, and was of
irreproachable character ; he died at Rushville on
May 12, 1873.

James E. Scripps came to Detroit from Chicago
in 1859. In October, 1861, he, with M. Geiger and
S, M. Holmes, became proprietors of the Daily
Advertiser, and in July, 1862, Mr. Scripps was made
general manager. In February, 1865, he purchased
a large amount of additional stock, and under his
management the paper was very successful. Be-
lieving that he saw a favorable opening for a cheap
evening paper, he retired from the Advertiser, and
on August 23, 1873, issued the first number of the
Detroit Evening News. The paper was almost
immediately successful, and its circulation increased
so enormously and constantly that he soon made
an ample fortune, and his wealth is constantly
increasing.

He is inclined to liberality, and has made large
gifts to the Museum of Art, and in many ways has

AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

1097

been a helpful factor in promoting the growth of
the city. In addition to his regular literary work,
he was one of the publishers in 1873 of a very
complete State Gazetteer, and the same year issued
an outline History of Michigan in pamphlet form.
His letters from Europe, printed in the Evening
News during 1881, were republished in book form
in 1882, under the title of "Five Months Abroad."
He was married at Detroit on September 16, 1862,
to Harriet Josephine Messinger. They have had
five children, four of whom are now living. Their
names are Ellen Warren, Anna Virginia, James
Francis, and Grace Messinger Scripps.

JOHN P. SHELDON, founder of the Detroit
Gazette, the first successful newspaper published
in Detroit, was born in 1792, and came to the city
from Rochester, New York, in 18 17. Prior to his
arrival here, he had served in the militia during the
war of 181 2, and in 1814 was working as a printer
in Utica, removing from there to Rochester, and
then to Detroit.

During Mr. Sheldon's management of the Gazette,
he maintained a very independent attitude, and on
one occasion, for certain strictures upon the Supreme
Court of the Territory, he was fined, but refusing
to pay the fine he was arrested and confined in
jail. The fine was subsequently paid by his friends,
and he was released. While in jail he continued
to edit his paper, and his connection with it was
continuous until 1830, when the office of the paper
was destroyed by fire, and the publication ceased.
On June 2, 1831, within a month after it was first
issued, Mr. Sheldon became editor of the Detroit
Free Press, remaining about six months.

In 1833 he was appointed Superintendent of the
lead mines west of the Mississippi, and removed to
Willow Springs, Wisconsin. From 1835, to 1840
he served as Register of the United States Land
Office, at Mineral Point, Wisconsin, and subse-
quently for many years was a clerk in one of the
departments in Washington, resigning in 1861.

During his residence at Detroit he held various
public offices, serving as one of the Trustees of the
city, in 1823, as one of the County Commissioners
from 1822 to 1825, and as Alderman at Large in
1828. He died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs.
Thomas Drummond, of Winfield, Illinois, on January
19. 1871.

MORSE STEWART, A. M., M. D.. was born
July 5, 18 1 8, in Penn Yan, Yates County, New York.
He is the third son of George Dorrance Stewart, a
lineal descendant in the third generation of Robert
Stuart, who came from the north of Scotland tO'
Connecticut in 1725, with his wife, whose maiden
name was Elizabeth Dixon. Their first and only

surviving child was Samuel Stewart, of New Lon-
don, Connecticut, who married Elizabeth Ken-
nedy. Of this marriage there were twenty-four
children, eighteen of whom reached mature life,
and ten lived to be over seventy-three years of age.
Samuel Stewart was a man of liberal fortunes and
godly life. He v^as hospitable and brave and lived
upon his estate in the comfort and luxury of his
time, and established well his many children around
him, or on less stubborn soil. His second son,
Samuel Stewart, Jr., with the enterprise that was in
the blood, located in St. Lawrence County, New
York, near Ogdensburgh, where nine children grew
up about him. The eldest son, George Dorrance,
having the true spirit of a pioneer, pushed west-
ward into Yates County, New York, where he laid
the foundation of a great fortune, in lands and busi-
ness enterprises. He died at the age of forty-two
years, leaving four sons and three daughters, the
eldest but nine years of age.

Morse Stewart, when eleven years of age, was
sent by his mother, Mrs. Harriet Benham Stewart,
to the High School at Pittsfield, Massachusetts,
an admirable and justly celebrated academy for
boys, established by Rev. Chester Dewey, D. D.,
who had attained a wide reputation as a scientist.
At the end of three years he passed from the
hands of this gentleman into those of Professor
David Malen, whose training fitted his pupil
to enter Hamilton College at the age of sixteen.
Four years later he made choice of the medical
profession, and after some preliminary study with
Dr. Samuel Foot, of Jamestown, New York, he
attended two courses of lectures in the College of
Physicians and Surgeons, of Western New York.
His third course was taken at the Geneva Medical
College. At the close of the session of 1840-41,
he passed an examination for his degree of Doctor
of Medicine, and soon after came to Detroit and
spent some months in professional study under
Dr. Zina Pitcher, returning to the Geneva Medical
College in the autumn of the same year, and tak-
ing a further partial course.

After this thorough preparation, on November
15, 1842, he left his home for Detroit, where he
had decided to locate. Arriving here on the 19th,
he found the late Wm. N. Carpenter on the dock
waiting to w^elcome him, and the friendship which
began at the time of his first visit continued until
they were separated by Mr. Carpenter's death. At
that early day the medical profession of Detroit
was represented by a most distinguished looking
body of men, all of them in their prime. Under
these circumstances it was not easy for the young
physician with his painfully distant and cold man-
ner to gain a foothold, but being in possession of
means and indomitable perseverance, they carried

iogS Authors, editors, publishers, physicians, military officers.

him through seven years of waiting and then he
stood secure.

During those first seven years his patients were
almost exclusively the extremely poor, who often
needed pecuniary assistance as well as medical
attendance Realizing to the full these needs of
the poor, Dr Stewart in 1848 was one of the prime
movers in establishing the Young Men's Benevo-
lent Society of Detroit, and for several years it
accomplished great good among worthy emigrants
who had stranded here during their first winter in
America.

Upon his arrival in Detroit Dr. Stewart made the
acquaintance and secured the friendship of the late
Rev. George Duffield, D.D., became at once one
of his parishioners, and in 1852 married his only
daughter, Isabella Graham Duffield, who after
thirty-six years of a notably useful life, having been
instrumental in the establishment of many useful
charities, and all through her life having been full
of deeds of charity, on May 27, 1 888, was called
from earth. The year previous to his marriage Dr.
Stewart had purchased a home on the corner of
Congress and Brush Streets, and there five of his
children were born. Morse Jr., George Duffield,
Isabella Graham Bethune and Mary Bronson. A
sixth child, Robert, was born after the removal of
the family to the Stuart homestead, at No. 440
Jefferson Avenue.

On Congress Street Dr. Stewart's practice grew
to very great proportions. It is said that every
generation has its doctor, but in this case three
generations have had the care of the same physi-
cian. Dr. Stewart's cases for forty-five years show
that many a mother, daughter, and granddaughter
have known his skillful aid, and side by side with
the record of new lives runs the sadder duty of
closing forever the eyes of the aged, or speeding
some parting soul with the breath of prayer. The
minister or priest and the doctor went hand in hand
through the cholera season of 1849 ^^^ i^54» ^^d
through the various epidemics of small-pox, conta-
gious fevers, diphtheria, etc.

When Dr. Stewart came to Detroit there were no
medical societies, and no protective legislation in
Michigan for medical men, and therefore no means
of ascertaining a man's fitness for, or worthiness of,
fraternal relations. To meet this deficiency the
profession came together and organized the Syden-
ham Society. After its demise in 1848, the Wayne
County Medical Society was organized. Of this
society Dr Stewart was repeatedly president and
continuously a member until 1876, when it dis-
banded.

His political views like his religious convictions
are the result of earnest thought and thorough
principle. In his youth he saw manifested in the

church of which he was a member, the bitter and
malignant spirit of abolitionism, and so cast his
first vote and interest with the Whig party, and
when the affiliation of the Whigs with the Aboli-
tionists brought forth the Republican party, he
enrolled himself as a member of the Democratic
party, believing that it represented the only con-
servatism in the country. He was one of the
"sixty -nine" who, in 1856, publicly came out and
declared and defined their separation. During the
years from i860 to 1870, the political intolerance
of the party in power amounted almost to ostra-
cism, but in those very years Dr. Stewart found the
largest measure of success and usefulness.

In 1868 Dr. Pitcher waited upon Dr. Stewart
and tendered him in the narne of the truest men in
the medical profession, an invitation to prepare and
read an article on criminal abortion. It was a dis-
tasteful subject and involved sharp definitions of
right and wrong that were sure to prove offensive,
but his paper met with the warmest encomiums
from eminent medical men and journals, and placed
him mentally, morally, and as a scientist, in the
front rank of his brethren. His hard and increas-
ing labors, however, left him no time for the literary
work he was so well calculated by his experience
and attainments to perform. A few monographs
and addresses indicate what it might have been.

To him the advancement of scientific benevolence
has always been an object of practical interest and
desire. It was as the result of a suggestion made
by him that the Rev. Dr. Duffield turned the con-
tributions of Walter Harper from the channel of
a trades' school for boys, to that of a Protestant
hospital. Dr. Stewart also furnished the data for
the medical requirements of a well conducted hos-
pital, and they are embraced in the deed of trust.
He also aided in inducing Mrs. Nancy Martin to
bestow her gifts in the same direction.

Even when most occupied Dr. Stewart found
time from i860 to 1862 to act as a chairman of the
Board of Trustees of the First Protestant Society
(First Presbyterian Church). Assuming this duty
when the church was in an unfinished state and
the society in debt, at the end of his term of
office he tendered his resignation with the building
in perfect order and full provision made for the
debt.

In 1874 the burden of work which had been car-
ried day and night for thirty-three years, with
scarcely a week's intermission, began to tell even
upon his wiry and elastic constitution, and his
medical advisers ordered a period of positive rest
abroad. The year from the spring of 1875 to 1876
was therefore spent with his family in England
and on the Continent. During this season of rest
he studied the system and teaching of the medical

/ <y^ ^l^l-f'-^^t^^

AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS. 1099

universities of Wurtzburg and Heidelberg, and
took a prolonged course of the water and baths
of Kissengen. Wintering in Dresden, his tastes
led him to a somewhat close observation of that
admirable art gallery, which was supplemented
during his stay in Paris by an equal interest in the
gallery of the Louvre. Returning home with en-
tirely restored health, he has since been enabled to
pursue his profession with undiminished vigor.

In 1874 he was largely instrumental in perfect-
ing the organization of the Association of Charities,
and has greatly furthered public interests on many
occasions, but he has never sought personal honors,
and such as he has received were pressed upon him.
In 1 880 an epidemic of small- pox having broken out
in Detroit, Drs. Stewart, Flinterman, and Foster
were named by the Common Council as a tempor-
ary Board of Health, and asked to look after the
thorough vaccination of the city, as well as the
management of the small-pox cases.

There being at that time no hospital for infec-
tious diseases, one of tents was at once extempor-
ized, which, with the nursing and care of the Sisters
of Charity, gave very successful results. The suc-
ceeding year the Mayor named Dr. Stewart as one
of the three physicians constituting the permanent
Board of Health, Here as elsewhere he has been
faithful to his duty, and tenacious as to the rights
and responsibilities of that Board, and has spared
no pains or personal service to preserve the city
from pestilence, and to establish sanitary regula-
tions to prevent the introduction or spread of dis-
ease.

Believing in the high and dignified value of the
profession of medicine, he early determined to see
it recognized and respected in his own city as both
a science and an art, and knowing that men valued
what they paid for, he led off in 1864 by increas-
ing the standard of his own charges a hundred per
cent., which example resulted in the adoption of a
Fee Bill by the Wayne County Medical Society,
which has continued to be the standard of charges.

Dr. Stewart began life as he will close it, with a
nervous temperament, that has often made his
words sharper than the thought behind them.
Governed by a self-sacrificing singleness of pur-
pose that demanded his own work to be honest,
clear and thorough, he has been content with noth-
ing less in others, Intolerant of shams, no trim-
mer, fearless in maintaining what he believes to be
the side of justice and truth, it is scarce to be won-
dered that he has often found arrayed against him
the influence of money and place. Integrity and
truthfulness have been in all his transactions with
his fellows, a high and scrupulous sense of honor
governing every thought, as well as act. Success
with such a character is achieved in spite of preju-

dice, and the many antagonisms it is sure to en-
counter. Dr. Stewart stands secure in the esteem
of his patients and of the public as well, because
he has gone forward promptly, habitually, and con-
scientiously during all the years to his daily duty,
with an eye single towards God and towards man.

FRANCIS XAVIER SPRANGER, M. D., is
the son of Lawrence and Mary (Schuster) Spranger
and was born in the kingdom of Bavaria, Germany,
on March 13, 1840. His parents emigrated to
America when he was nine years old and soon
after he entered the Benedictine College at Carroll-
town, Pennsylvania. He then took a course in Latin
and at seventeen years of age commenced the
study of medicine under the direction of Dr. H.
Hoffman, and afterw^ard became the pupil of Dr. J.
M. Parks, of Cincinnati, Ohio. In August, 1862,
he graduated with the degree of M. D. at the
Cleveland Homoeopathic College, and immediately
established himself in Detroit, where he has since
continued the practice of his profession. He was
one of the organizers of the Detroit Homoeopathic
College, and Professor of Pathology and Physical
Diagnosis during its four terms, and President of
the college during the last term. He believes that
'' shnilia siniilzbus curanhir'' is an essential, but
not the only law of cure, and also believes that no
physician should adhere exclusively to one theory
or mode of practice, but should be cosmopolitan in
his profession, accepting all facts which experience
furnishes, regardless of the source from which they
emanate. Like other sincere physicians, he is con-
scious of the fact that his first duty is to his patient,
and that *= pathics," " isms " and " ethics " are only
of subordinate importance. Dr. Spranger has a
very large practice, to which he devotes his entire
time, and among his patrons he has a large
number of the wealthiest and most influential
citizens. His consulting practice is very large and
possibly unrivalled in the city, and many patients
come from distant places. He has always made
a special study of diseases of the heart and
lungs, and his large practice and many years
of experience have furnished him sufficient material
for the practical study of diseases to make him a
diagnostician second to no other. He is a member
of the American Institute of Homoeopathy, the
State Medical Society, and the Detroit College of
Physicians and Surgeons, and is connected with a
number of benevolent, musical and social societies.
An ardent lover of music, he introduced and made
the zither popular in Detroit, and as an amateur
performer on thai instrument has few equals.

In social life he is of an affable, genial tempera-
ment, and is sure to win the confidence, esteem and
even warm regard of those who become acquainted

I lOO AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

with his abilities and character. He dislikes all
sham and pretense, has never taken any promi-
nent part in politics or sought for public position.
In 1868 he was appointed one of the city physicians
and held the office for six months, or until the term
expired.

In 1854, in company with his parents, he visited
Nicaragua, and was present at the bombardment of
Grey town, on July 14 of that year. He was mar-
ried in 1858, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Miss
Mary Sattig. They have had seven children, four
of whom are living.

JOHN TRUMBULL, author of "McFingal,"
and the only son of a Congregational minister,
was born April 24, 1750, at Watertown, Connec-
ticut. He was an exceedingly precocious child,
and at the age of seven years was qualified to
enter Yale College, but on account of his youth
did not enter until he was thirteen years old. He
graduated, in 1767, with the degree of Bachelor of
Arts, and for the three years following served as a
tutor, turning his attention chiefly to polite litera-
ture, and the Greek and Latin classics. He and
Timothy Dwight were tutors at the same time,
became intimate associates, and were lifelong
friends.

In 1772 he published the first part of a poem
entitled " The Progress of Dullness," but having
determined to enter the legal profession, he was
admitted to the bar in 1773. He then went to
Boston and continued his legal studies under John
Adams. While in Boston he wrote an " Elegy on
the Times," in sixty-eight stanzas. It treated of the
Boston Port Bill, the Non-importation Associations,
and the strength and future glory of the country.
In 1774 he went to New Haven, where he remained
and practiced his profession until he moved to
Hartford, where he became distinguished for his
knowledge and ability as an advocate.

His " McFingal " was completed and published
at Hartford in 1782. Mr. Trumbull was soon
afterwards associated with Humphreys Barlow and
Dr. Lemuel Hopkins in the production of a work
which they styled " The Anarchiad." It contained
bold satire, and exerted considerable influence on
the popular taste.

In 1789 Mr. Trumbull was appointed State Attor-
ney for the county of Hartford, and in 1792 repre-
sented that district in the Connecticut Legislature.
His health failing, he resigned his office in 1795,
and until 1798 refused all public honors. In May,
1800, he was again elected to a seat in the State
Legislature, and in the following year appointed
a Judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut.
From that time he abandoned party politics, as
inconsistent with judicial duties. In 1808 he was

appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of Errors,
which office he held until 1819. In 1820 he revised
his works, and they were published at Hartford by
Samuel P. Goodrich.

He removed to Detroit with his wife in 1825.
They made their home with their daughter, Mrs.
William Woodbridge, wife of Governor Woodbridge.
The maiden name of Mr. Trumbull's wife was
Sarah Hubbard. She was the daughter of D. Lev-
erett Hubbard, and it is a curious and well authen-
ticated fact that she was a lineal descendant of
William the Conqueror, King of England.

Mr. Trumbull died on May 10, 1831, and his
remains are now in Elmwood Cemetery.

He is recognized as being, after Phillip Freneau,
the earliest American poet, and his "McFingal"
was the most popular of all the poems of revolu-
tionary days. It passed through thirty editions in
America, and was twice reprinted in England.
The city of Detroit was honored by his residence
here for the last six years of his life, and honors
itself by preserving his memory in the name of one
of its finest avenues.

WILLIAM A. THROOP, was born at Schoha-
rie Court House, Schoharie County, New York,
July 26, 1838. Seven years later, with his parents
he removed to Syracuse, New York, and in 1855
came to Detroit, where his parents had removed
some years previously.

Soon after his arrival in Detroit, he entered the
bookstore of John A. Kerr & Co.j and retained
this position until President Lincoln called for
75,000 volunteers, when he was the first citizen in
Detroit to respond, enlisting for three months as
Second Lieutenant of Company A, First Michigan
Volunteer Infantry, on April 16, 1861, four days
after the first gun was fired upon Fort Sumter,
and the next morning after the President's procla-
mation. His regiment arrived in Washington on
May 16, i86[, being the first troops west of the
Alleghanies to arrive at the capital. It was assigned
the honor of leading the Union forces on the soil of
Virginia, and on May 24, 1861, drove in the enemy's
picket, capturing 150 rebel cavalry and the city
of Alexandria. In the battle of Bull Run, on July
21, Lieutenant Throop and his comrades in General
Heintzelman's division, were in the hottest of the
fight.

Lieutenant Throop's period of enlistment expired
on August 7, 1 86 1, and ten days later he again en-
listed and was mustered in as Captain of Company
F, of the First Michigan Volunteer Infantry. Dur-
ing the winter of 186 1-2, this regiment was assigned
to duty at Annapolis Junction, to guard the railroad
between Washington and Baltimore. In the fol-
lowing spring his command moved to Fortress

AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS. i loi

Monroe, and joined the Army of the Potomac, and
Capt. Throop thus shared in the engagements which
followed at Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mills— -where
he was severely wounded — Peach Orchard, Savage
Station, Turkey Bend, White Oak Swamp, Malvern
Hill, and Harrison's Landing. At Gainesville, on
August 29th, 1862, Captain Throop was especially
distinguished in the heroic charges made upon the
enemy's batteries on the Warrenton and Centerville
turnpike, where eight officers and half of the regi-
ment fell. For his bravery and daring in this
engagement he was promoted on August 30, 1862,
to the rank of Major. He subsequently partici-
pated in the battle of Antietam and Shepard's Ford,
and in the fierce winter contests of the same year
at Fredericksburgh and United States Ford.

At Falmouth, Virginia, on March 18, 1863, he
was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of
the First Michigan Regiment and at the same
time his command was assigned to the first brigade,
first division, fifth Army Corps of the Potomac.
This brigade, by eleven successive days of continu-
ous field service, before and during the hard fighting
at Chancellorsville, w^on the appellation of the
" Flying Brigade." This service was followed, after
a few days' rest, by participation in the battles of
Kelley's Ford, Aldie, Ashley Gap and Gettysburgh.
In the latter battle the Colonel of the First was
wounded soon after the opening of the engagement,
and the command of the regiment was assumed by
Lieutenant-Colonel Throop. In this battle the
First Michigan did most effective service, and as a
part of the Fifth Corps, against overflowing num-
bers, stubbornly resisted the enem3^ and thus
enabled General Howard to hold Gettysburgh.
Lieutenant-Colonel Throop, though wounded in the
first day's fight, not only held his place on the
memorable July 3d, but joined in the pursuit of the
enemy on July 5 ; shared in the action at Williams-
port, July 12; recrossed in Virginia, July i8th; and
aided in driving the rebels through Manassas Gap
in an engagement at Wapping Heights, on July
2 1 St. He afterwards took part in the battles of
Beverly Ford, and a few days later, with his com-
mand, joined the Eighteenth Massachusetts, and
with a squadron of the Second Pennsylvania Cav-
alry crossed the Rappahannock, and occupied the
town of Culpepper, doing provost duty.

In February, 1864, he, with two hundred and
thirteen of the First Michigan, re-enlisted as veter-
ans, and in the following April returned to their
former camping ground at Beverly Ford, and formed
part of the Third Brigade, first division, in Grant's
great campaign of 1864. At the battle of Cold
Harbor, Lieutenant-Colonel Throop received a
third wound, and at the siege of Petersburgh, July
30, 1864, his fourth wound in action. Two days

after the latter battle he was commissioned Brevet
Colonel of United States Volunteers, for brave con-
duct and efficient service in the battles of the cam-
paign, and took command of the First Brigade, first
division, of the Fifth Corps. On November, 30,
1864, he was appointed acting inspector of the
first division of the Fifth Corps, and on January
6, 1865, was honorably discharged. He faced
bravely the dangers of more than fifty battles, and
bore the scars of four wounds. The first, received
at Gainesville, proved more serious than at first sus-
pected, and was lasting in its ill effects. Never a
day of his subsequent life was he free from pain on
account of this injury. On March 13, 1865, he was
commissioned Brevet Brigadier-General United
States Volunteers, for attention to duty and disci-
pline, and in 1 866 was tendered by the Secretary of
War an appointment as Captain of the Twenty-
eighth Infantry, regular army, but declined on ac-
count of business engagements.

After the war he returned to Detroit, and engaged
in the stationery business. On September 12, 1870,
he was appointed by Governor Baldwin, Quarter-
master-General of the State of Michigan. This
office he efficiently filled for five successive years,
and during this time devoted much time and atten-
tion to bringing into existence the State museum.
In 1873 he was appointed Receiver of Taxes of the
city of Detroit ; held the office for four years, and
then devoted himself principally to real estate busi-
ness and the collection of war claims. A few months
prior to his death he again engaged in the stationery
trade.

He was highly esteemed as a business man, was
scrupulously honest in every transaction, and pos-
sessed the warm friendship of many of Detroit's
best citizens, while his heroic services as a soldier
entitle him to grateful remembrance. He was mar-
ried July 30, 1866, to Mary J. Porter, only daughter
of the late George F. Porter. He died October 2,
1884, leaving his wife and one child, who bears his

HENRY O. WARKER, M. D., was born in
Leesville, Michigan, December 18, 1843, and is the
son of Robert E. and Elizabeth (Lee) Walker,
both of whom were natives of Yorkshire, England.
His father was born February 22, 1816, came to
America in 1837, and settled in Wayne County.
He was a farmer and brick manufacturer, and was
for many years engaged in both avocations at Lees-
ville, where he still resides. His wife was born
December 13, 18 18. She came to America with
her parents in 1833, and they were among the earli-
est settlers of Leesville, which is named in honor
of her father, Charles Lee, who died at an advanced
age in 1869. He was highly respected, a man of

1 102 AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

devout religious convictions, an influential member
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and well known
in all the community as " Father Lee."

Until his sixteenth year Henry O. Walker lived
at home assisting in the labors of the farm and in
the manufacture of brick. His rudimentary educa-
tion was received by attendance at the district
school during the winter months. In 1859, when
the Detroit High School was established, he was
one of the first students. After remaining at the
High School two years he attended Albion Col-
lege, returning home at the end of a year, and for
a year following taught a district school, after which
he returned to Albion College and pursued his
studies through the Sophomore year, and then after
spending one term at the Medical Department of
the Michigan University, he entered the office of Dr.
E. W. Jenks, and at the same time received a practi-
cal experience in surgery and medical practice at
Harper Hospital, then used by the United States
for invalid soldiers.

In January, 1866, when the hospital was opened
for ordinary patients, Dr. Walker became its first
house surgeon. After several months' service he
entered Bellevue Hospital Medical College, New
York, from which he graduated on February 28,
1867. Returning to Detroit he immediately opened
an office, and has been in continuous practice ever
since.

He was appointed Demonstrator of Anatomy in
the Detroit Medical College in 1869, and served
until 1873. From 1873 to 1879 he was Lecturer
on Genito-Urinary Diseases in the same institution,
and in 1881 was elected Secretary of the College,
member of and Secretary of the Board of Trus-
tees, and in the same year was appointed Professor
of Orthopedic ^Surgery, Genito-Urinary Diseases,
and Clinical Surgery, positions which he retained
until the amalgamation of the Detroit and Michigan
Medical College and the creation of the Detroit Col-
lege of Medicine. In the new College he was elected
a member of and Secretary of the Faculty and Board
of Trustees, and was appoint^ and still retains the
same professorship he had so ably filled in the De-
troit Medical College.

In 1873 a^d 1^74 he was City Physician. He has
also served as County Physician and member of the
city Board of Health. He was for several years a
member, and has served as Secretary and President
of the Academy of Medicine. He is a member
of the Detroit Medical and Library Association,
and was President in 1887. At the annual meeting
of the Michigan State Medical Society, in 1887,
he was elected one of its Vice-Presidents. He is
also a member of and one of the Vice-Presidents
of the American Medical Association, and at the
meeting held in 1884, at Washington, D. C, was

Secretary of the Surgical Section, and at the meeting
of the medical editors at New Orleans, in 1885,
was elected President. He is surgeon of Harper
and St. Mary's Hospitals, and of the Polish Orphan
Asylum, and consulting surgeon in the Detroit
Sanitarium. From 1872 to 1874, he was surgeon
of the Michigan Central Railroad, and for several
years has been surgeon of the Wabash Railroad.

While Dr. Walker has been engaged in a general
medical and surgical practice, it is more especially
in the line of surgery that he excels, and in many
instances of perilous delicacy, requiring the highest
order of skill, he has performed successful surgical
operations, which have attracted wide attention, and
deservedly given him a leading position in his pro-
fession. In 1 883 he established the Detroit Clinic,
a medical journal, with which the Detroit Medical
News was subsequently merged in the Medical Age.
His contributions to medical literature have been
numerous, and have mostly pertained to surgery,
especially in the line of genito-urinary subjects. In
the latter branch of medical science he has been a
most devoted student, and the results of his inves-
tigation and practical experience have greatly en-
riched the field of surgical science. The high
standing he enjoys for professional abilities has
been attained by patient, persistent endeavor, allied
to natural aptitude for his calling.

No member of his profession has pursued his
work wnth more singleness of purpose, and to the
exclusion of conflicting interests, and the position
he holds, both as a physician and citizen, has been
attained by his own exertions. Affability and con-
geniality, with trusted friends, are prominent traits,
in his character, and his frank and candid nature;
invites trust and insures warm attachment. Ini
every relation of life he has made an honorable and
manly record. He was married November 13,
1872, to Gertrude Esselstyn, of Detroit. They
have one son, Elton, born December 15, 1874.

ANTHONY WAYNE, Major-General U. S. A.,
w^as born at Waynesborough, Chester County,
Pennsylvania, January i, 1745. His grandfather,
Anthony Wayne, a native of Yorkshire, England,
commanded a squadron of dragoons under King
William, at the battle of the Boyne, and held vari-
ous civil offices. He emigrated to Pennsylvania in
1722, and his son, Isaac, was a member of the Pro-
vincial Legislature, and served as an officer in sev-
eral expeditions against the Indians. He was a
man of great industry and enterprise, and not only
carried on an extensive farm, but a tannery as well,
which was probably the largest in Pennsylvania.
Both the farm and tannery became the property of
Anthony Wayne on the death of his father, in 1774.

Anthony was educated at a school kept by his

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IIO3

uncle, and at noon, in place of the usual games, he
had the boys engaged in throwing up redoubts,
skirmishing, and other warlike practices, and was
inclined to neglect his studies. His uncle com-
plained to his father, and he reprimanded Anthony
severely, and from that time there was a marked
change for the better in his habits. From his
uncle's school he went to the Philadelphia Acad-
emy, where he remained two years, devoting most
of his time to his favorite studies of mathematics,
mechanics, optics, and astronomy.

When he was eighteen years old he returned to
Chester County and began business as a surveyor.
While thus employed, he became acquainted with
Dr. Franklin, and a strong friendship soon sprung
up between them, which continued through life.
Through the influence of Mr. Franklin he secured
an appointment as agent of a Philadelphia associ-
ation, formed to purchase and settle a tract of land
in Nova Scotia. He visited there in 1765, and
again in 1766, and superintended the affairs of the
colony until the following year, when he returned
to Pennsylvania, married a daughter of Bartholo-
mew Penrose, an eminent merchant of Philadelphia,
and established himself on a farm in his native
county. He was soon holding various county offi-
ces, and took an active part in the troubles between
Great Britain and the colonies. In 1774 he was
one of the Provincial Deputies who met in Phila-
delphia to deliberate upon the affairs of the country.
In the same year he was elected a member of the
Legislature, and in the summer of 1775 was ap-
pointed a member of the Committee of Safety, with
Dr. Franklin and others; but in September he
relinquished all civil employment, and devoted his
time to military drill and the study of tactics. He
then set about raising a regiment of volunteers, and
was elected their Colonel.

Meantime the congress, sitting at Philadelphia,
called upon each of the colonies for a certain num-
ber of regiments to reinforce the Northern army,
and Wayne's regiment was selected as one of the
four required from Pennsylvania, and he was com-
missioned by Congress on January 3, 1776. Early
in the spring he proceeded with his regiment —
already one of the best disciplined in the service — to
New: York, and soon after was ordered to join
General Sullivan in Canada.

His first engagement with the enemy was at
Three Rivers, and in that disastrous battle his
intrepidity in attack, and his skill in covering the
retreat, were equally conspicuous. On the with-
drawal of the American army from Canada, the
fortresses Ticonderoga and Mount Independence
were committed to his care, with a garrison com-
posed of his own and four other regiments. He
remained in charge of these posts until May, 1777,

and in the meantime was promoted to the rank of
Brigadier-General. He then joined General Wash-
ington in New Jersey, and assisted him in driving
the enemy from that province. At the battle of
Brandy wine, on September 11, he commanded a
division of the army, and was stationed at Chadd's
Ford to oppose the crossing of the river by Howe's
right wing. He fought until after sunset, and was
then compelled to retreat to escape being flanked
by Cornwallis. Nine days after, while seeking an
opportunity to cut off the baggage train of the
British army, he was attacked by superior numbers,
guided by American tories, and defeated near Paoli,
with some loss. The disaster was, at Wayne's
request, made the subject of a court-martial, and
he was found to have done everything that could be
expected of a brave and vigilant officer.

During the ensuing winter, when the American
army was suffering intensely at Valley Forge,
Wayne was dispatched to New Jersey, within the
British lines, for supplies, and succeeded in bring-
ing into camp several hundred head of cattle,
together with a number of horses suitable for cav-
alry service, and a large quantity of forage. His
bravery and skillful maneuvering at the battle of
Monmouth also contributed largely to the success
of the American arms. On July 10, 1779, an inter-
view took place between Washington and Wayne,
in which they discussed the project of storming
Stony Point. In the course of their conference,
Wayne expressed his willingness to undertake the
perilous enterprise, and is said to have remarked,
" General, if you will only plan it, I will storm Hell."
No record has been found of his storming the
latter place, but, on the night of July 15, 1779, he
surprised the fortification at Stony Point, and took
the entire garrison prisoners. This was the most
brilliant affair of the war, and for desperate daring
has never been excelled. It occurred at a gloomy
period in the colonial struggle, and greatly revived
the patriots of the revolution. The victory was
deemed so great that resolutions of thanks were
passed by Congress, and the Legislature of Penn-
sylvania, and Wayne was greatly applauded.

His services in the north were exceedingly valu-
able, and in January, 1780, he displayed remarkable
skill and decision in the suppression of a mutiny
which broke out at Morristown, because of the
poor food and clothing supplied to the troops. In
February of that year he was ordered to join the
Southern army, and at the battle of Green Springs,
Virginia, July 6, 1780, by a prompt attack with a
part of his brigade, he prevented a meditated
maneuver that would probably have been disastrous
to the force under Lafayette, and by this move he
aided in the subsequent capture of Cornwallis at
Yorktown. Soon after that event General Wayne

1 104 AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

received orders to prepare to join the Southern
army under command of General Greene.

He reached the camp of the army about June i ,
1782. On February 19, 1782, he crossed the Savan-
nah river, and effected a landing in Georgia, and
after routing large bodies of Indians, on their way
to re-enforce the British, he succeeded in driving
the enemy from the State. For these services the
Legislature of Georgia gave him a vote of thanks,
and granted him a large and valuable tract of land.
He continued with the army at the South until
the month of July, 1783, when he took passage for
Philadelphia, and subsequently retired to his farm
at Waynesborough, and also took measures to
improve his Georgia lands. He began the move-
ment to improve the navigation of the principal
rivers of Georgia, and proposed the connection of
the waters of the Delaware and Chesapeake Bay
by canal.

He was brevetted a Major-General by Congress,
October 10, 1783. and in 1784 and 1785 served in
the General Assembly of Pennsylvania. In 1787
he was elected a member of the convention which
adopted the Constitution of the United States. In
April, 1792, after the defeat of Generals Harmar
and St. Clair, he was appointed commander-in-
chief of the United States Army. On May 25 he
was furnished by the Secretary of War with the
instructions from the President to conduct a war
against the hostile Indians in the West, and on
August 20, 1794, he gained a brilliant victory over
the Miamis, compelling them to sue for peace. He
was shortly afterwards appointed commissioner to
treat with the Indians of the Northwest, and to
take possession of all forts held by the British in
that territory.

The ability, determination and promptitude with
which he managed affairs, impressed the hostile
tribes with a dread, which operated as a wholesome
restraint long after his death. In pursuance of his
duties. General Wa3me reached Detroit early in
August, 1796, and was presented with an address
by the citizens, who selected the name of Wayne
for the new county established during his stay in
Detroit. This was doubtless the first county in the
United States named after him, but now there are
numerous counties by this name in the Western
States. Having put things in a proper state, he left
Detroit between November 14 and 17, 1796, for
Presque Isle. On the way, on the 17th, the day
before he landed, he was seized with an attack of
the gout, and on December 15, 1796, he died. His
remains were temporarily deposited at Presque
Isle, from whence they were removed in 1809, by
his son, Isaac Wayne, to the cemetery of St. David's
Church, near his old farm in Chester County.
General Wayne was one of the most brilliant

officers of the revolution, and brave to a fault, inso-
much that he gained the sobriquet of " Mad
Anthony," yet he was really discreet and cautious,
fruitful in expedients, quick in detecting the purpose
of an enemy, instant in decision, and prompt in
execution. In person he was above what is termed
the middle stature, and was well proportioned. He
had dark hair, his forehead was high and hand-
somely formed, his eyes were of a dark hazel color,
intelligent, quick, and penetrating. His nose ap-
proached the aquiline. The remainder of his face
was well proportioned, and his whole countenance
fine and animated. His natural disposition was
exceedingly amiable. He was ardent and sincere
in his attachments, of pure morals, and his manners
were refined.

RICHARD STORRS WILLIS is a descendant
of George Willis, a Puritan of distinction, who
arrived from England as early as 1626, took the
Freeman's oath in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and
was elected as deputy to the General Court in 1638.
Richard Storrs Willis was born in Boston, Massa-
chusetts, February 10, i8i9,and is the son of Nathan-
iel and Hannah (Parker) Willis, and the youngest
brother of Nathaniel Parker Wilh's and " Fanny
Fern." He belongs to a long line of editors and
authors whose record extends back in unbroken suc-
cession for one hundred and twenty-five years and in-
cludes many of the most popular writers our Coun-
try has produced. It is a singular coincidence
that from 1776 to 1800 his grandfather, Nathaniel
Willis, edited three newspapers : The Independent
Chronicle, The Potomac Guardian and the Sciota
Gazette; from 1803 to i860 Nathaniel Willis, his
father, founded and edited three newspapers : The
Eastern Argus, The Boston Recorder (the first
religious newspaper in the world) and The Youth's
Companion (the first newspaper for youth) ; from
1830 to 1866 Nathaniel Parker Willis, his brother,
edited three papers : The New York Mirror, The
Corsair and The Home Journal ; and from 1851 to
1863 Richard Storrs Willis edited three papers:
The Musical Times, The Musical World and Once
a Month.

Richard Storrs Willis was a student at Chauncey
Hall, later was at the Boston Latin School, and
entered Yale College in 1837. In his sophomore
year he was chosen President of the Beethoven
Society, which was composed of all the musical
talent of the college, its members doing service at
the chapel choir, and furnishing the music at the
annual commencements. Mr. Willis composed
industriously for the college choir and orchestra,
and arranged and harmonized many German part-
songs, the words of which were translated for
the purpose by the poet Percival Among other

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1 105

instrumental pieces he wrote the " Glen Mary
Waltzes," which for a quarter of a century were
published by Oliver Ditson & Co. After graduat-
ing in 1 841 Mr. Willis went to Germany and de-
voted himself to the study of musical science at
Frankfort-on-the-Main. He completed an elabor-
ate course in harmony and musical form under the
direction of the venerable Schnyder von Warten-
see, and in Leipzig a course on counterpoint and
instrumentation with Hauptmann, Professor in the
conservatory, and Cantor of the " Thomas Schule."
Subsequently he had the good fortune to pass a
summer in the Taunus Mountains in company with
Mendelssohn, the poet Freiligrath, Gutzkow, the
dramatic author, and the professor-poet, Hoffman
von Fallersleben. Mendelssohn reviewed some of
the work Mr. Willis had done with Schnyder, and
revised his compositions. These manuscripts
bearing Mendelssohn's pencil marks, together with
a canon which the great composer wrote in Mr.
Willis's album at parting, form a highly valued
souvenir. While passing a v^inter in Homburg,
Mr. Willis's familiarity with German enabled him to
do some literary work for Gustav, the reigning
landgrave of Hesse- Homburg, who conferred upon
him a diploma with the honorary title of Professor.

Returning to America after six years of absence,
Mr. Willis visited Yale College and for a time
occupied himself with a class of tutors and pro-
fessors who desired to practise colloquial German.
He afterwards went to New York, where he became
connected with the press, and wrote for the Albion,
the Tribune, the Musical Times and the Catholic
World. He subsequently bought and edited the
Musical Times, which later on was consolidated with
the Musical World. After some years he started a
magazine called Once a Month. It was devoted to
the fine arts. He also wrote a w^ork entitled " Our
Church Music," which met with high commendation
from the London Athensum. He next brought out
a volume of " Church Chorals " and numerous " Stu-
dent Songs," and " Miscellaneous Lyrics." During
the war he competed for a prize offered for the best
national song, and his "Anthem of Liberty," to
which he also composed the music, was pronounced
best by the committee. Richard Grant White, in his
subsequent collection of these songs gave it enthusi-
astic praise. Mr. Willis afterwards wrote the song
"Why, Northmen, Why.?" and others of a patri-
otic type which were rehearsed in schools and sung
at public gatherings.

In 1 85 1 Mr. Willis married Miss Jessie Cairns, of
Roslyn, Long Island. Mrs. Willis died in 1858.
Her pure and lovely nature is tenderly delineated in
her husband's "Memorial." and the pages also con-
tain lines from William Cullen Bryant, "Fanny
Fern " and othereminent persons, In 1861 MnWillis

married Mrs. Alexandrine Macomb Campau, of
Detroit. During a four years' residence in Europe,
where he went for the education of his children,
while residing in Nice, he collected his national
songs and miscellaneous lyrics into a volume,
entitled " Waif of Song," which was published by
Galignani, of Paris. The first volumes of the book
were sold during the Nice carnival of 1876, for the
benefit of the poor, by Mrs. Willis, who presided
over the American Kiosque in the public square

While in Europe, Mr. Willis's three daughters
Annie, Blanche and Jessie, married three officers of
the United States flag-ship "Franklin," then lying
near Nice, under command of Admiral Worden.
Annie married Lieutenant Ward ; Blanche, Lieu-
tenant Emory (since then widely known as com-
mander of the " Bear " in the Greely relief expedi-
tion) ; and Jessie, Lieutenant Brodhead, son of the
gallant Michigan cavalry colonel in the War of the
Rebellion.

During late years Mr. Willis has resided almost
continuously in Detroit, and has devoted his time
to literary pursuits, publishing among other works
a volume of lyrics, entitled " Pen and Lute." In
1 887 he was elected one of the Commissioners of
the Public Library. He is thoroughly identified
with the city, and his recognized ability, high social
position and pure character, have made him a well-
known and esteemed citizen.

ORLANDO B. WILCOX, Brigadier-General,
and Brevet Major-General United States Army, was
born at Detroit, April 16, 1823. He graduated
from West Point in 1847, was appointed Second
Lieutenant Fourth Artillery and served in the Mexi-
can war as Lieutenant in Lloyd Tilghman's Mary-
land Volunteer Battery, and in Lovell's Fourth
Artillery Battery on expedition to Cuernaraca.
Mexico, and in 1850 w^as with the same battery
under General Sumner in his campaign against the
Arrapahoe Indians, and was then on sea-coast and
lake artillery service up to 1856.

During the Burn's Riot in Boston, in 1854, he
rendered valuable service in preserving the peace.
On January i, 1858, he resigned his commission
and commenced the practice of law at Detroit, and
continued therein until the war with the South
began. He was among the first to offer his ser-
vices to the Government, and on May r, 1861, j
was appointed Colonel of First Michigan three '
months' volunteers, and with his regiment left the
city for Washington on May 13. He participated
in the capture of Alexandria and Fairfax Court
House, and at the first battle of Bull Run, on, July
2 1 St, commanded a brigade composed of the First
and Fourth Michigan, the Eleventh New York
Fire Zouaves, and the Thirty-(Qyrt;li P^nnsylyank*

1 106 AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

In this engagement he was badly wounded, cap-
tured, and held as prisoner of war, being part of
the time in the hospital at Richmond, at Charles-
ton, S. C. Jail, Castle Pinkney, Columbia Jail,
Libby Prison and Salisbury Prison as hostage for
privateers, etc. He was released on August i8,
1862, and returned to Detroit on August 27. His
return being anticipated, arrangements were made
for giving him a public welcome, and it is safe to
say that no such hearty and general welcome was
ever before extended to any citizen of Detroit.
There was an immense procession, arches were
erected and an address of welcome delivered. In
testimony of his gallantry at Bull Run he was
appointed Brigadier-General August 20, 1862, to
rank from July 21, i86[.

After his release he served with distinction at the
battles of South Mountain and Antietam, in com-
mand of the First Division of the Ninth Corps, and
in command of the Ninth Corps at the first battle of
Fredericksburgh. He marched in command of the
Ninth Corps to Kentucky and commanded succes-
sively the Ninth Corps and the District of Central
Kentucky and the District of Indiana and Michigan
during the drafts riots and Morgan's Raids, and
the District of the Clinch, in Cumberland Mountains,
East Tennessee, holding communication open be-
tween Kentucky and East Tennessee, during the
siege of Knoxville and successfully repulsing sepa-
rate attacks at Walker's Ford and Strawberry
Plains, and remained in command of the Division
of the Ninth Corps to the end of the war He
fought in the battles of the Wilderness and at
Spottsylvania ; was in skirmishes on the Talopot-
omy, battle of Bethesda Church and participated in
attacks on and operations around Petersburgh, and
in actions on Norfolk and Weldon roads, and at
Gurley House ; was at Pegram Farm and Hatcher's
Run, and at the seige of Petersburgh, his division
was the first to break through and receive the actual
surrender of the city. He commanded the Detroit
Department of the Lakes, with headquarters at
Detroit, from December 26, 1865, to January 15,
J 866. He was brevetted Brigadier-General for " gal-
lant and meritorious service in the battle of Spott-
sylvania Court House," and Major-General "for
services in the capture of Petersburgh," and Major-
General of volunteers for his participation " in the
several actions since crossing the Rapidan." On
January 15, 1866, he was mustered out of volunteer
service and returned to Detroit. On July 28, fol-
lowing he was reappointed in the regular service as
Colonel of the Twenty-ninth Infantry, and was
afterwards transferred to the Twelfth Infantry.
From November, 1866, to March, 1869, he com-
manded the District of Lynchburgh, Va. From
April, 1869, to April, J878, except fifteen months'

recruiting service as Superintendent, he commanded
a regiment on the Pacific coast and then served
in and commanded the Department of Arizona
for four years and a half, suppressing Indian hos-
tilities of Chimehuevas, Apaches, etc., in Arizona
and Southern California, operating in New Mexico,
on Mexican frontier, Colorado and Gila Rivers, etc.,
and received therefore the thanks of the Legislature
of Arizona. From September, 1882, to October,
1 886, he was in command of his regiment and post
at Madison Barracks, New York. He was pro-
moted to be a Brigadier-General on October 13,
1886, and assigned to command of the Department
of the Missouri. On April 16, 1887, he retired
from active service and returned to Michigan, stop-
ping for a time in Ann Arbor and then going to
Washington, D. C, where he is acting as Superin-
tendent of the Army and Navy Bureau Department
of the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New
York.

In his earlier life he found time to indulge in lit-
erary pursuits and is the author of stories entitled,
"Walter March" and "Foca." He also wrote
" Instruction for Field Artillery."

He was first married in August, 1852, to Marie
Louise Farnsworth, daughter of the late Elon
Farnsworth. His children by this marriage are
Lieutenant Elon F. Wilcox, Sixth Cavalry, United
States Army; Marie Louise, wife of Lieutenant S.
C. Miller, Twelfth Infantry ; Grace North, wife of
E. T. Comegys, Assistant Surgeon United States
Army; Orlando B. W., Jr., law student at Univer-
sity of Michigan, and Charles McAllister, cadet at
Orchard Lake Military Academy. After the death
of his first wife in November, 1881, he married
Julia Elizabeth Wyeth, daughter of John McRey-
nolds, of Detroit. They have one child, Julian Wil-
cox.

HAL C. WYMAN, M. D., was born March 22,
1852, at Anderson, Indiana. His ancestors emi-
grated to New England in 1638, and his father, Dr.
Henry Wyman, was one of the early physicians of
Michigan, and gained distinction not only by his
successful practice, but more especially as a sani-
tarian. He was the chief originator of the so-called
"Swamp Land Laws" of Michigan, under which
the swamps were drained and the healthfulness of
the peninsula vastly improved, and among the early
benefactors of Michigan there was no man, per-
haps, to whom the inhabitants are more deeply
indebted.

Hal C. Wyman was educated in the public
schools and at the Michigan State Agricultural
College. He began the study of medicine with his
father, and subsequently attended the medical
department of the University of Michigan, and

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AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS. 1 107

graduated in 1 873* He then went to Europe and
studied medicine and surgery in the schools of
Edinburgh, Berlin, and Paris, and on his return
commenced practice at Blissfield, Michigan. Leav-
ing Blissfield he assisted in the organization of the
Fort Wayne Medical College, in Indiana, in which
he held the chairs of Pathology and Clinical Surgery
until 1879. He was then invited to Detroit to fill
the chair of Physiology in the Detroit Medical
College, and after a time accepted the same chair
in the Michigan College of Medicine, and dis-
charged the duties it involved until 1885, when
he resigned in the interest of a large and in-
creasing practice, which has since occupied his
entire time.

In 1886 he was appointed by the Trustees of
the Minnesota Hospital College, at Minneapolis,
Special Lecturer on Surgical Physiology, and early
in the same year Governor Luce, of Michigan,
appointed him a member of the State Board of
Charities and Corrections. The Michigan State
Board of Agriculture conferred upon him the
degree of Master of Science for researches and
investigations in animal physiology. He is full of
philanthropic zeal, and is the founder and President
of the Board of Trustees of the Detroit Emergency
and Accidental Hospital, one of the most useful
humanitarian institutions in the city. He is also
Professor of the Principles of Surgery and Oper-
ative Surgery of the Michigan College of Medicine
and Surgery, established in 1888. He is a member
of the local State and National medical societies,
and holds honorary titles from leading foreign
medical and scientific societies. In all that pertains
to medical science. Dr. Wyman is a close and
thorough student, and is a notably successful prac-
titioner. While familiar with the various branches
of medicine, his special studies have been in sur-
gery, and his writings and numerous scientific
papers have been mainly upon surgical subjects.
His practice is also largely surgical, and by his
skill and success he has attained high rank in the
profession, both at home and abroad. Profession-
ally and socially he is one of the most genial of
men, and society loses much from the unremitting
labor which his large practice imposes upon him.
He is thoroughly conscientious in his practice, care-
fully, zealously and studiously considers the welfare
of his patients, and is large-hearted in all his deal-
ings with them. He has large capacity for the
discharge of professional work, and is a ready,
fluent, and effective speaker, as well as an able,
scholarly, and vigorous writer.

He was married October 30, 1879, to Jennie L.
Barnum, of Adrian, Michigan. They have three
daughters, Gladys Prudence, Carrie Louise, and
Jennie Abigail Wyman.

CHARLES CHESTER YEMANS, M. D., was
born at Massena Springs, St. Lawrence County,
New York, May 24, 1834. His ancestors were
among the pioneers of New England. His grand-
mother Yemans was a daughter of Judge Daniel
Carpenter and sister of Governor Dillingham, of
Vermont. His father, William Yemans, was born
at Norwich, Vermont, in 18 10. He was a builder
by profession and erected rolling mills at Wyan-
dotte, Chicago, Milwaukee and in other cities. His
mother's maiden name was Nancy Lock wood. At
the time of her marriage she was teaching school
at Massena Springs.

The name Yemans is prominent among the origi-
nal settlers of Taunton, Massachusetts, and Tolland,
Connecticut, and as early as 1742, the name was
spelled interchangeably Yemans, Yeomans or You-
mans. The grandfather of C. C. Yemans moved
from Tolland, Connecticut, to Norwich, Vermont,
and from there in 1836, his son William Yemans
moved with his family to Russell, Geauga County,
Ohio, and thence in the following year to Chagrin
Falls, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, where the family re-
mained ten years. His wife died at Chagrin Falls
in 1846, and the next year the father removed to
Cleveland, Ohio, leaving C. C. Yemans at the home
of a farmer, where he was expected to work for his
board and have the privilege of a few months'
schooling during the winter. Not relishing this
arrangement, the son during 1 847 secured the posi-
tion of cabin boy on board the screw steamer Bos-
ton, Captain Munroe, plying between Buffalo and
Chicago, and continued on the lakes for seven years,
becoming acquainted, by actual experience, with all
the hardships and .privations connected with a
sailor's life.

During the winter months of this period he lived
for the most part at Chagrin Falls and attended the
public school and Ashbury Seminary. In 1854,
by means of money saved from his pay as a sailor,
he entered a private academy at Chagrin Falls,
conducted by the Rev. F. D. Taylor. From this
institution he graduated in April, 1855, sailed part
of the following season as master of a vessel and
in the autumn began teaching a winter school
in Flat Rock, Wayne County, Michigan. The fol-
lowing summer he resided at Wyandotte, super-
intending for his father the erection of the rolling
mill at that place. The succeeding winter he taught
school at Ecorse, and afterwards in Wyandotte and
Trenton, pursuing as best he could the preparatory
studies for the University. At this time valuable
assistance was rendered him by Dr. E. P. Christian,
of Wyandotte, with whom h% began the study of
Latin, and also by Dr. Nash, with whom he studied
algebra and logic. In the fall of 1859 he began a
classical course in the Ypsilanti Union Seminary,

1 1 08 AUTHORS. EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.

under the tuition of Prof. Estabrooke, remaining
two terms and then going to Dearborn, where he
taught for one year. Returning to Ypsilanti he pur-
sued his studies until the fall of 1861, and was then
prepared to enter the University, but not having
sufficient means he was compelled to abandon his
cherished plan and instead thereof he entered the
ministry the same fall as a member of Detroit Con-
ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, his first
pastoral appointment being at Southfield, Oakland
County.

In the fall of 1862, before his pastoral term had
ended, he volunteered as a private soldier, and was
soon afterward mustered into the Union service as
Second Lieutenant of Company D, Twenty-fourth
Michigan Infantry, commanded by Colonel Henry
A. Morrow. The Twenty-fourth Regiment was
brigaded with the Second, Sixth and Seventh Wis-
consin and Nineteenth Indiana, which brigade was
known as the Iron Brigade, and took part in the
battle of Fredericksburgh. In February, 1863,
Lieutenant Yemans was appointed an aide-de-camp
on the staff of General Meredith and acting assist-
ant inspector general, and as such participated in the
battles of Fitzhugh Crossing and Chancellorsville.
After the battle he was taken ill with a fever and
sent to Georgetown Hospital, and in July, 1863,
to St. Mary's Hospital, Detroit. In August follow-
ing, though far from well, he rejoined General
Meredith at Cambridge City, Indiana, and after
remaining about a month, his health continuing
feeble, by the advice and recommendation of Ex-
Surgeon-General Dr. Tripler, he resigned his staff
commission, a step he has since regretted as ill-
advised. After his resignation he resumed his
ministerial duties and was appointed pastor of the
Methodist church at Minnesota Mine, Lake Supe-
rior, and was subsequently stationed at Commerce,
Plymouth, Negaunee and Ishpeming. At the two
latter places he secured the erection of churches
that now have large and prosperous congregations.
In 1867 he served as secretary of Detroit Confer-
ence, in session at Ann Arbor, and in 1870 was
appointed associate pastor with Rev. W. X. Ninde.
D. D., at the Central Methodist Episcopal Church,
Detroit, and in this year Lawrence University, at
Appleton, Wisconsin, conferred upon him the hon-
orary degree of A. M.

Having previously studied and practiced under
preceptors during his residence in the Lake Superior
country by assisting the mining surgeons, during
his pastorate at Detroit he continued the study
of medicine in the Detroit Medical College and
graduated in 1872. • The same year he was ap-
pointed city physician, served for three months,
and was then appointed assistant surgeon under Dr.
James A. Brown to the Detroit House of Correc-

tion, serving as such until 11876. He was then
made surgeon-in-chief, a position he retained until
1880, when he resigned his commission in order to
devote his time to private practice. During his
term as assistant surgeon he rendered especially
valuable service to the institution through two
epidemics of small-pox. In 1873 he was appointed
assistant demonstrator of anatomy, and m 1875 lec-
turer on chemistry in the Detroit Medical College,
and in 1882 was appointed United States Pension
Surgeon. He was one of the organizers of the
Michigan College of Medicine and held from the
first the position of professor of diseases of the
skin, resigning May ist, 1887, for the purpose of
devoting his entire time to special practice m derma-
tology. He is a member of the Detroit Academy
of Medicine and was its Vice-President in 1876,
and in September, 1887, was elected President He
is a member of the Wayne County Medical Society,
and was its President for two successive years ;
and is also a member of the Detroit Medical and
Library Association and of the Michigan Medical
Association.

His practice has been general in its character,
but has pertained largely to the diseases of the skin,
a branch of medical practice to which he has given
attention, and in the treatment of which he has
been very successful. He has written several arti-
cles pertaining to this subject which have been
widely circulated and favorably noticed by several
medical journals.

He is a member of Fairbanks Post No. 17, G. A.
R , and of the military order of the Loyal Legion,
and President of the Twenty-fourth Michigan Vete-
ran Association. During the period of the great
Chicago and Michigan fires in 1 87 1 he had charge
of the contributions made by the Young Men's
Christian Associations of the State in aid of the
sufferers, and was very energetic and successful in
securing and distributing the needed goods and
money which relieved thousands of cases. Of late
years he has been an extensive purchaser of real
estate in the northeastern part of the city, and
numerous advantages in the way of new streets and
other improvements have been obtained as the re-
sult of his exertions and good judgment While
these improvements have contributed to his own
financial advancement, his projects have been of a
character to profit others also ; and as a business
man his counsel is often sought. In 1887 he was
the Republican candidate for Mayor of Detroit.

It is greatly to the credit of Dr. Yemans that he
has obtained his position solely by his own exer-
tions. He had neither patrimony nor influential
friends to aid him, but he has been persistently
studious and laborious, and these qualities have
perhaps served him better than would other ad-

£-^^l^<^^-<^..€:^^'^.^)

AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS. MILITARY OFFICERS. 1 109

vantages. During the years when he was slowly
building up the present large practice, he made
substantial use of his knowledge of Greek, Latin,
German, and mathematics, supporting his family in
part by giving private instructions to a number of
young men in Detroit who have great reason to
thank him for his patient care and attention. He
has rare powers of persuasion, penetration and push,
and has triumphed over obstacles that would have
conquered hundreds of weaker spirits, but aided by
a competent helpmate and with unfaltering courage,
he has gone steadily forward, and though he may
have enemies there can be no doubt of his ability
to win and retain the friendship of many persons
who are as warm and appreciative as any could
desire.

He was married at Flat Rock, Michigan, in
April, 1856, to Miss Mary Chamberlain; they have
had four children. Dr. Herbert W. Yemans, their

eldest son, was born in 1857; graduated from the
Detroit Medical College in 1878, and the same year
was appointed surgeon of the English steamship
Palestine. Resigning his position when on the
other side of the Atlantic, he entered the medical
department of Strassburg University, where he
remained a year and a half, becoming an accom-
plished German scholar. He then returned to
Detroit and for a year continued his medical studies.
In July, 1877, he was appointed surgeon m the
United States Marine Hospital Service, and was
assigned to duty at Sitka, Alaska. He has made
two voyages into the Arctic Ocean under the direc-
tion of the government, and is now located at
Galveston, Texas. A daughter, Thena, now Mrs.
Robert Henkel, resides in Detroit. A son, Charles,
was killed in 1875, ^^ ^ railroad accident. A third
son, C. C. Yemans, Jr., is in school at Saratoga
Springs, N. Y.

CHAPTER XCIIL

JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

JOHN ATKINSON was born at Warwick,
Lambton County, Canada, May 24, 1841. His
father, James Atkinson, was born in Ireland, Janu-
ary I, 1798, and was a man of liberal education and
a surveyor by profession. He married Elizabeth
Shinners in 1823. She was born in the County of
Clare, near the city of Limerick, Ireland. Her
mother, Lucy O'Brien, was a distant relative of
William Smith O'Brien, the distinguished leader in
the Irish Rebellion of 1848. In 1832 James Atkin-
son, with his family, emigrated to the New, World,
first settling at Prescott, Canada, afterwards at
Toronto, then at Warwick, and finally at Port
Huron, Michigan. During the earlier years of his
experience in the West, his profession afforded him
but limited employment, and with all the vigor
and energy of the early pioneer, he turned his atten-
tion to clearing land. During the latter years of
his life, especially while at Port Huron, w^here he
located when his son John was thirteen years old,
he devoted his time entirely to surveying. He had
eleven children, nine of whom reached maturity.
Patrick, the eldest, during the War of the Rebel-
lion, was a member of Company C, Twenty-
second Michigan Volunteer Infantry, was captured
at the battle of Chickamauga, September 20, 1863,
and died in Andersonville Prison, June 22, 1864.
O'Brien J., the eldest living son, was the first gradu-
ate of the Michigan Law School, and is practising
law at Port Huron. Thomas is a carpenter, at the
same place. William F., a lawyer at Detroit, served
in the Rebellion as Captain of Company K, Third
Michigan Volunteer Infantry. James J., also a
lawyer in Detroit, was Adjutant of the regiment in
which his brother William served.

The early education of John Atkinson was mostly
obtained at home, under the direction of his father
and mother, both of whom were liberally educated,
and had taught school in Ireland. He commenced
the study of law when he was less than sixteen, in
the office of William T. Mitchell and Harvey
McAlpine, of Port Huron. He took care of the
office and did all the copying required in an ex-

tensive business, receiving a salary running through
the years of his minority, of from $60 to $100 per
year. Through the kindness of the firm he was
allowed to be absent for two terms of six months
each, which he spent at the law school at Ann
Arbor, where he graduated m 1862. The day he
became of age he was admitted to practise in the
Supreme Court, sitting in Detroit, and immediately
began business in partnership with William T.
Mitchell, with whom he had previously studied.

He, however, had hardly entered upon the duties
of his profession before the War for the Union began
to assume the magnitude of a great conflict, and to
engage the attention of every well-wisher of his
country. On July 25, 1862, Mr. Atkinson was com-
missioned Second Lieutenant, and in the following
ten days he organized Company C, of the Twenty-
second Michigan Infantry, of which company he
was elected Captain. This company left for the
front September 4, 1862, under the command of
ex-Governor Moses Wisner. became a part of the
brigade of General Judah, and was placed on the
heights of Covington for the defense of Cincinnati,
then threatened by General Kirby Smith, of the
rebel army. At the end of a month it was sent
upon an expedition against General John Morgan,
passing through Williamstown, Cynthiana, Mount
Sterling, and Paris, reaching Lexington, Kentucky,
about the last of October. It was then assigned to
the brigade of General Green Clay Smith, and to
the division of General Q. A. Gilmour. Up to this
period several skirmishes had taken place, but no
pitched battles. While with General Gilmour, the
regiment took part in the battle of Danville, and in
the campaign which followed, including the slight
engagements at Lancaster and Crabb Orchard. In
the early part of 1863, the Twenty-second regi-
ment was sent to Nashville, and joined the Army
of the Cumberland, serving in the division of
General James E. Morgan. At the time of the
advance upon Chattanooga, Captain Atkinson was
assigned to staff duty on the staff of General R. S.
Granger, w^hich position he held at the time of the

[mo]

Z1.^D^Kaj<^ cX^X^^^va^

JUDGES AND LAWVJERS.

ill!

battle of Chickamauga and therefore did not take
part in that engagement. Immediately after this
battle he rejoined his regiment at Chattanooga, as
Captain of Company C, and was in command at
the siege of that place. The first important battle
participated in by his regiment occurred during the
efforts made to open up communication with Gen-
eral Hooker's army, approaching from Alabama.
The Twenty-second regiment had charge of the pon-
toon bridge where General Sherman and his army
crossed the Tennessee river, but was in the reserve
during the battles of Mission Ridge and Lookout
Mountain. After the latter battle it was assigned
to the reserve brigade, and attached to General
Thomas' headquarters, and with him participated
in all the fighting from Chattanooga to Atlanta.
In front of Atlanta Captain Atkinson was pro-
moted to be Major of the Twenty-second regiment,
and assigned to recruiting service in Michigan. He
came to Detroit, and late in the summer of 1 864
was placed in command of the camp at Pontiac,
with instructions to organize the Thirtieth regiment
Michigan Volunteers. During the following thirty
days he organized seven companies, four of which
were assigned to the Fourth Michigan Volunteers,
then being reorganized at Adrian, and the remain-
ing companies to the Third Michigan, being re-
organized at Grand Rapids. Major Atkinson was
made Lieutenant-Colonel of the latter regiment on
October 13, 1864, the rank to date from July 29,
1864. He accompanied the Third regiment to the
Army of the Cumberland, stationed at Nashville,
and participated in the engagements with Hood's
army, on its way to Nashville, at Decatur, Alabama.
His regiment formed a part of the force defending
Murfreesboro against General Forrest's cavalry,
during the battles of Franklin and Nashville. After
the battle, the Third regiment moved with the Army
of the Cumberland to Chattanooga, and into East
Tennessee as far as Jonesboro, and was at the lat-
ter place at the time of the surrender of General
Lee's and General Johnston's armies. From there
the Third returned to Nashville, and was immedi-
ately sent to New Orleans, to take part in the
campaign against General Kirby Smith. It remained
at New Orleans until August, 1865, when it was
sent to Indianola, Texas. From there it was ordered
to San Antonio, Texas, where it remained until
mustered out of service in the spring of 1866.
Colonel Atkinson participated in all these marches
and maneuvers, and while at Austin, Texas, served
on the staff of General Custer as Judge Advocate.
He was mustered out of the service February 24,
1866, and his military career then ended, except as
he served as Captain of the Detroit National Guards
in 1872.
Shortly before leaving the service, on February

I, 1866, while at San Antonio, Colonel Atkinson
married Lida Lyons, a native of Texas, daughter of
Dr. James H. Lyons, a surgeon in the Southern
army, and at one time Mayor of San Antonio.

He now returned to Port Huron and renewed his
law practice in partnership with John S. Crellen and
his brother, O'Brien J. Atkinson. Mr. Crellen died
soon after, and Cyrus Miles took his place as part-
ner, but the partnership was soon dissolved, and
Colonel Atkinson entered into partnership with
Anson E. Chad wick, under the firm name of Chad-
wick & Atkinson. They continued together until
1870, when Colonel Atkinson came to Detroit.
Here for one year he practiced alone, after which
he formed a partnership with General L. S. Trow-
bridge, which continued until 1873, when Colonel
Atkinson became editor and manager of the Daily
Union, a Democratic journal, of which he had
become the principal owner. He proved himself
to be a fearless and able journalist, but the venture
was not a financial success, and at the end of three
months the publication was discontinued, leaving
Colonel Atkinson deeply in debt, and although he
could have legally avoided liquidating certain obli-
gations, his sense of honor would not permit such a
course, and he eventually discharged every dollar of
the indebtedness. Returning to the practice of law
he became a partner with John G. Hawley, under
the firm name of Atkinson & Hawley. In 1875
James J. Atkinson, his brother, was admitted to the
firm, and in 1876, having been elected Prosecuting
Attorney, Mr. Hawley retired from the firm. J. 1\
Kenna was next associated with the firm as partner,
remaining until 1881, when he retired, and William
F. Atkinson was admitted, and the next year
Colonel Atkinson retired. In 1883 he formed a
partnership with Judge Isaac Marsden, who had just
resigned his position as one of the Judges of the
Supreme Court of Michigan ; this last partnership
continued until March i, 1887, when Colonel Atkin-
son retired from the firm and gave up office practice.
At present, while still active in the profession, he
confines himself entirely to the trial of important
cases. •

He takes an active interest in politics, and acted
with the Democratic party until 1881, although he
frequently protested against and sometimes actively
opposed its candidates.

He was appointed Collector of Customs at Por4:
Huron by Andrew Johnson in 1866, served until
March 4, 1867, and was rejected by the Senate
on purely political grounds. He was nomiiiated
for Attorney-General in 1870, and for State Senator
in 1872, but declined both nominations. He was,
however, left upon the ticket, and defeated with his
party. He was elected a member of the Board of
Estimates, and served one term, during which he

I I 12

JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

opposed the abolition of the Central Market and
advocated the purchase of Belle Isle.

In 1 88 1 Mr. Atkinson assisted the Republicans
in their municipal campaign, and helped to elect
William G. Thompson Mayor over William Brodie.
In 1882 he supported the Republican State and local
ticket, and in 1883 received the unanimous vote of
the delegates of Wayne County in the Republican
Convention for Justice of the Supreme Court, but
declined to be a candidate.

In 1884 he was nominated for Congress in
Wayne County on the Republican ticket, but his
opponents used the fact that he was a Roman Cath-
olic very successfully against him, and he was de-
feated by a large majority. In 1 887, Wayne County,
after a spirited contest, gave him fifty-nine out of
her sixty-nine votes in the Republican Convention
for Justice of the Supreme Court. He received
nearly three hundred votes in all, but was defeated
by Judge James V. Campbell.

In his profession Mr. Atkinson has never fol-
lowed any specialty. He has been engaged in
many important land cases, has gone through sev-
eral great will contests, and has been particularly
prominent in defending libel cases. He defended
the News in its great case with Hugh Peoples, in
which it was successful, and in its equally great
case with Dr. Maclean, in which it was beaten. He
has defended Luther Beecher in many cases brought
by ex-Mayor Wheaton, and has always succeeded
in preventing a recovery.

One of Mr. Atkinson's most important cases was
the defense of Mr. Babcock, of St. Johns, for accus-
ing a Congregational minister of not believing the
Bible to be the work of God. Under his cross-
examination, the plaintiff made such admissions
that the jury found the charge sustained. In the
practice of his profession, as in his political life,
Mr. Atkinson has provoked some strong antago-
nisms. Like most men of warm temperament, he is
sometimes unnecessarily severe, using words which
he afterwards deeply regrets. Other characteristics,
however, coupled with his really superior abilities,
make him a desirable friend, and among his associ-
ates he is deemed a most agreeable companion.

For the land of his ancestors he cherishes the
most tender feelings of sympathy, and as a member of
the American Land League has taken a warm and
active interest in the struggles made by the conserva-
tive leaders of Ireland, to mitigate, if possible, by
peaceful measures, the horrors of English misrule.
During the summer of 1 886 he made an extended
tour through Ireland, not alone for recreation, but
more especially to become, by personal investigation,
familiar with the conditions of the people. He
returned increasingly convinced of the injustice
with which Ireland has been treated by the English

Government, and can well afford to entertain an
opinion, the truth of which is conceded even by
Gladstone.

Since his residence in Detroit, Mr. Atkinson has
been a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church.
He has had ten children, seven of whom are living.

LEVI BISHOP was born at Russell, Hampton
County, Massachusetts, October 15, 1815. His
father, Levi Bishop, and his mother, Roxana
(Phelps) Bishop, were both descendants of early
puritan settlers of New England. His father was
an independent farmer and gave his son the usual
advantages afforded by the schools of that period
and locality. When hardly twenty years old the
speculative fever of 1835 drew him to the west,
and on June ist of that year he arrived in Michigan.
After prospecting here and there he located perma-
nently in Detroit in 1837, and two years later began
the study of law in the office of A. S Porter, subse-
quently studying in the office of Judge Daniel
Goodwin Within three years, in 1842, after passing
a highly creditable examination, he was admitted to
the bar. He became almost immediately prominent
in his profession ; was made a Master of Chancery
by the Governor on March 3, 1846, and appointed
to a similar office in connection with the United
States Courts on June 19,1851. He early became
zealously interested in the cause of public education
and served as a member of the Board of Education
continuously for ten years, from 1849 to 1859, and
from 1852, for a period of seven consecutive years,
was the President of the I5oard, holding the office
for nearly twice the length of time that any pre-
decessor or successor enjoyed the honor. No one
in all the years labored more effectually and intelli-
gently than he to promote the welfare of the
schools. The memory of his labors is appropriately
commemorated in the school building which bears
his name.

His time was always gratuitously given in pub-
lic affairs and he rendered services without fee or
reward that in later years have cost the city many
thousands of dollars. He was compelled under the
system then prevailing, to assume heavy responsi
bilities and disburse large amounts of money, and
every trust, either public or private, was faithfully
and honestly administered. His connection with
educational affairs was fitly closed with his election
as Regent of the State University. He held the
position from 1858 to 1864, and was influential in
various ways in promoting the welfare of the insti-
tution.

In 1855 he was president of the Young Men's
Society, then in the zenith of its usefulness and
strength. From 1876, up to the time of his death,
a period of six years, he held the position of City

evn.

:v\\

V^JYi

JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

III3

Historiographer, and did much to awaken interest
in historic research. He was chiefly instrumental
in the organization of the Wayne County Pioneers
Society in 1871, and served as its president for ten
years. He may also be properly styled the founder
of the State Pioneer Society, as his efforts, more
than those of any other person, secured its establish-
ment. He presented many valuable papers and
documents to both societies and his presence was
much sought at local gatherings of pioneer citizens.

Through his literary productions he achieved
more than local fame. His most elaborate work, an
epic poem in twenty-eight cantos, descriptive of
Indian life and character in the sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries, is entitled, " Teuschsa Grondie."
It was published in an octavo of about 600 pages and
at least three editions were issued. He also wrote
many other poems and prose articles on a variety of
historic subjects, besides translating several French
plays, and was especially well versed in French lit-
erature and conversed with ease in that language.

His abilities were recognized outside of his own
circle, and he was honored with a membership in
the Royal Historical Society of Great Britain, and
in 1876 was appointed a delegate to the Interna-
tional Congress of Americanists, at Luxembourg.
In 1 86 1 he went abroad and traveled entensively
on the continent, and his letters home, published in
the Advertiser, showed that he possessed rare
powers of observation and description.

It should not be forgotten, however, that his
connection with the law preceded and kept pace
with his special literary pursuits. As a lawyer he
evinced great natural ability. He was a diligent
student, a comprehensive thinker, always loyal to his
clients, fond of debate, and almost invincible before
a jury with language that w^as forcible and elegant.
He possessed an indomitable will, with a deter-
mined and courageous spirit, that overcame any
obstacle. He was high-spirited, ardently inter-
ested and absorbed in w^hatever he undertook, but
always genial and accommodating, and a strong and
devoted friend. Politically he was a Democrat,
and during 1863 and 1864 served as chairman of
the State €entral Committee. His religious con-
victions were strong and clear, and he was a regu-
lar attendant upon the services at St. Paul's Prot-
estant Episcopal Church.

He married Janet M. Millard, daughter of Col-
onel Ambrose Millard, of Tioga, Pennsylvania. He
died on December 23, 1881, at the residence on
Jefferson Avenue, where the family had lived for
many years.

JAMES VALENTINE CAMPBELL, for near-
ly a generation a judge of the Supreme Court of
Michigan, was born in Buffalo, New York, on Feb-

ruary 25, 1823. As his name shows, he is of
Scotch descent, and there are family traditions of
an ancestor who, under an arrangement with the
crown, brought many Scotch emigrants to this
country. These colonists settled in eastern New
York, a region in which to this day the Campbell
clan is conspicuous. The judge's father, Henry M.
Campbell, married Lois Bushnell. She was born
and brought up in Vermont and belonged to a
family whose name was familiar in New England
from the days of the Mayflower. Its most famous
representative is, perhaps, the celebrated Congrega-
tional divine, Horace Bushnell, who was a first
cousin of the judge.

Henry M. Campbell removed to western New
York before the War of 181 2. During that war the
family suffered considerable loss, and in 1826 they
moved to Detroit. Mr. Campbell had been a
county judge in New York and a like judicial posi-
tion was conferred on him in Michigan. He sent his
two sons, Henry and James V., to St. Paul's College,
at Flushing, L. I., an Episcopal institution of high
rank, and presided over by the late Dr. Muhlenberg.

James V., the younger of the two, graduated in
1 84 1, returned home and studied law with the firm
of Douglass & Walker. In 1844 he was admitted
to practice and became one of the firm. The senior
partner, Samuel T. Douglass, afterwards one of the
judges of the Supreme Court,, married Elizabeth
Campbell, the judge's sister. Henry N. Walker,
the other partner, became Attorney-General. Both
were early reporters of Michigan decisions and
there is reason to believe that much of the work on
Walker's Chancery Reports was done by the junior
member of the firm. About this time the Univer-
sity of Michigan was reorganized and Mr. Camp-
bell became the Secretary of the Board of Regents
and continued to serve for a number of years.

When the Law Department was established in
1858 he was appointed to the Marshall professor-
ship and held it for twenty-five years, and in 1 866
the first honorary degree of Doctor of Laws that
the University conferred, was bestowed upon him.
He was always efficient in all efforts for the ad-
vancement of education and letters. In 1848 he
was elected as a member of the Board of Education
of Detroit, and served also from 1854 to 1858, and
one of the schools for many years has very fitly
been designated by his name.

He was long a member and served as President
of the Young Men's Society of Detroit in 1848.
This organization, though now defunct, was a power
in its early days and established a large and valuable
library. In 1880, when the Public Library was put
under the control of a commission, Judge Camp-
bell was made president of that body and still con-
tinues to hold the position,

1 1 14

LAWYERS AND JUDGES.

In 1858 the Supreme Court of the State was first
organized as an independent body, and although
less than 35 years old, Mr. Campbell was chosen
one of the four judges, and has since been four
times re-elected and is now in his fifth term, hav-
ing served continuously for thirty years. His
opinions begin in the fifth volume of the reports and
are to be found in more than sixty of the regular
series. When Judges Christiancy, Cooley, and
Graves were his associates the court ranked among
the first of the final tribunals of the several states.
It has been considered doubtful if it was surpassed
by even the National Supreme Court. Judge
Campbell's most conspicuous characteristics, w^hile
on the bench, have been his conscientious adher-
ence to the common law, his familiarity with the
English decisions, and his jealous protection of the
rights of local self-government.

The language of his decisions, as is apt to be the
case with those who are familiar with classical and
foreign tongues, is extremely simple. He is a
ready, rapid and fluent public speaker, even when
he has had little chance for preparation. He is as
ready in literary composition, and his brethren of
the bench have often marveled at the rapidity with
which he wrote. He is frequently called upon for
addresses on public occasions, and a number of
these have been issued in pamphlet form. He has
also contributed to various periodicals.

His only extended work is a handsome octavo
entitled, "Outlines of the Political History of
Michigan." It was produced in the course of a
few months in 1875-6, and in compliance with an
official request, that he should write an account of
the State for the Centennial year. Although pre-
pared in a short time it is the most complete and
comprehensive history of Michigan ever issued and
contains much rare and valuable material not found
elsewhere. In addition to his public literary work
he has also often amused himself and entertained
his children at the Christmas season by describing
in verse, that is sometimes suggestive of Scott and
sometimes of Macauley, the dress, customs, and
traditions of the early inhabitants of Michigan.
Several of the historical poems, through his courtesy
were reproduced in the original edition of Farmer's
History of Detroit and Michigan.

Since his judicial life began he has of course held
no so-called political office, but in December, 1 886,
by appointment of Governor Alger, he represented
the State at the meeting held in Philadelphia to
arrange for celebrating the Centennial of the Na-
tional Constitution.

He has always been ready to identify himself
with, and aid every benevolent, patriotic, religious,
and literary endeavor. He has been a vestryman
of St. Paul's for many years and whenever neces-

sary for the good of the church has taken an active
and conspicuous part in its management. Indeed,
his relations to St. Paul's recall the interest that
another eminent lawyer and layman. Chief Justice
Jay, used to show in old Trinity, and like Chief
Justice Jay, his efforts and example have been in
opposition to inroads of mere ritualism. He has
been for thirty years the secretary of the Standing
Committee of the Diocese of the Protestant Episco-
pal Church in Michigan, and in this particular may
be said to have followed in the footsteps of his
father, who was one of the founders in 181 7 of St.
Paul's Church in Buffalo, and was afterwards a
member of the first standing committee of the dio-
cese of Michigan and senior warden of St. Paul's
Church of Detroit.

Both nature and education have combined to
make Judge Campbell one of the notable citizens
of Detroit. He is wonderfully gifted with the art
of pleasing and profiting those who are privileged
with his acquaintance. His manner is so agreeable,
his spirit so friendly, and his ability to instruct so
varied, that one easily respects and admires him,
and he is apparently always at leisure to do a favor or
furnish information, and those who come in contact
with him would be cold blooded indeed if they did
not learn to love him for his courtesy and kind-
ness.

He was married November 8, 1849, to Cornelia,
a daughter of Chauncey Hotchkiss, the descendant
of an old Connecticut family. She was born at
Oneida Castle, New York, August 17, 1823, and
died at Detroit, May 2, 1888 They have had
six children, five sons and a daughter who took
her mother's name. Two of the sons, Henry M.
and Charles H., are lawyers, practicing in Detroit ;
James V. is a banker, Douglas H. is a devoted
naturalist, who has made a specialty of botanical
studies which he has followed in Germany ; Edward
D. is a mining engineer and metallurgist.

DON M. DICKINSON was born at Port Onta-
rio, Oswego County, New York, January 17, 1846.
His mother was the daughter of Rev Jesseriah
Holmes, of Pomfret, Connecticut, widelyt known
and respected for his learning and piety. Asa C.
Dickinson, the father of Don M., was born in Not-
tingham, England. He emigrated to America, and
first settled in Stonington, Connecticut, but in 1848
removed to Michigan.

As a boy, Don M. Dickinson was a bright
scholar, studious, persevering and successful. After
passing through the public schools of Detroit he
studied under a private tutor, prepared for the
University at Ann Arbor, and in due time graduated
from the Law Department. As soon as he became
of age he commenced practicing in Detroit.

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JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

III5

His ready grasp of a subject, coupled with thor-
ough and intelligent research, and his fearlessness
and brilliancy of speech, and always excellent judg-
ment, rapidly secured confidence and clients. In a
very brief time after he began to practice he was
recognized as one of the foremost members of the
bar. His pleas are noticeable especially for their
clearness and force. He does not indulge in
involved sentences, and all his points are so clearly
wrought out and expressed that the natural and
logical impression conveyed is that he understands
a case in full, and this fact inspires confidence in
his plea, and has often given him the victory.

In politics he is an earnest Democrat, and was
Secretary of the State Democratic Committee dur-
ing the campaign of 1872 and 1876. His energy
and personal magnetism make him a strong force
in the political arena, and he is in every way fitted
for leadership. The only local office he has held
was that of Inspector of the House of Correction
of Detroit. In 1887 he w^as appointed by President
Cleveland Postmaster General of the United States.

He was married on June 15, 1869, to Frances L.
Piatt, daughter of Dr. Piatt, of Grand Rapids.

JULIAN G. DICKINSON, attorney and coun-
sellor at law% was born at Hamburg, New York,
November 20, 1843. His parents were William
and Lois (Sturtevant) Dickinson, and of their family,
Julian G. and Dr. J. C. Dickinson, of Detroit, are
the only survivors. In 1852 the family removed
from New York to Michigan ; residing at Jonesville
until 1857, and at Jackson until 1865.

Julian G. Dickinson received his rudimentary
education in the Union Schools of Jonesville and
Jackson. He enlisted July 10, 1862, as a volunteer
in the Fourth Michigan Cavalry, which joined the
Army of the Cumberland near Louisville, Kentucky,
in October, 1862. He served three years with that
command in the field, and participated in eighty
battles and in ten thousand miles of marching.
He was appointed Sergeant -Major, and after the
battle of Kingston, Georgia, upon recommendation
of his commanding officer for " good fighting and
attention to duty," was commissioned First Lieuten-
ant and Adjutant of the regiment. He participated
in General Wilson's campaign with the Cavalry Corps
from Chickasaw, Alabama, to Macon, Georgia, and
was commended for "bravery and efficiency." He
was present on the staff of General B. D. Pritchardat
the capture of Jefferson Davis, and arrested that
distinguished fugitive who was seeking to escape
from his camp in female attire. For this service he
was mentioned to the Secretary of War by General
Pritchard and General J. H. Wilson, was commis-
sioned Brevet Captain United States Volunteers,
and was subsequently commissioned Captain of

Cavalry by Governor Crapo. At the close of the
war on August 15, 1865, he was mustered out of
service.

In October of the same year he entered the Law
Department of the University of Michigan, and in
1866 came to Detroit, and entered the law office of
Moore & Griffin, where he remained until 1868.
He was admitted to the bar, upon examination
before the Judges of the Supreme Court of Michigan
at the October term of 1867. In 1868 he formed a
law partnership with Horace E. Burt, under the firm
name of Dickinson & Burt, and acquired a success-
ful practice. In 1 870 he became a partner with Don
M. Dickinson, the firm name being Dickinson &
Dickinson; dissolved in 1873. He was for some
years interested in the banking business of E. K.
Roberts & Co., of Detroit, having the largest interest
in that house until 1877. In 1882 he was admitted
to the bar in the Supreme Court of the United
States, and conducted the first case on an appeal to
that court from a judgment of the Supreme Court
of Michigan. Besides his practice in the courts he
is counsel for a large and important clientage.
The record of his cases in the Supreme Court is
highly creditable for the character and importance
of the cases and for the honorable and successful
manner in which they have been conducted.

A hard and close student and a careful observer,
he is not disposed to lower the standard of his pro-
fession, and his manifest aim is to do justly and to
promote the real welfare of his clients. In disposi-
tion, he is known by his friends to be warm-hearted
and appreciative.

He was married June 25, 1878, to Clara M.,
daughter of H. R. Johnson, of Detroit. They have
four children, William H., Alfred, Thornton, and
Julian. Both Mr. and Mrs. Dickinson are mem-
bers of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church.

SAMUEL T. DOUGLASS, one of the oldest
living members of the Detroit Bar, was born at
Wallingford, Rutland County, Vermont, February
28, 1 81 4, and his ancestors were among the early
settlers of New England. While he was a child his
parents removed to the village of Fredonia, Chau-
tauqua County, New York, where he received an
academic education and studied law in the office of
James Mullett, for many years a judge of the Su-
preme Court of New York. In the year 1832 Mr.
Douglass went to Saratoga and continued his law
studies under the preceptorship of the distinguished
Esek Cowen.

Five years later he removed to Detroit, where he
was admitted to the bar and soon after began to prac-
tice at Ann Arbor. In 1838 he returned to Detroit
and became a member of the firm of Bates, Walker
& Douglass, his partners being Asher B, Bates and

iii6

JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

Henry N. Walker. Mr. Bates retired about 1840
and the firm became Douglass & Walker, so con-
tinuing until 1845, when James V. Campbell, who
had been a student in the office, was admitted to
partnership, the style of the firm being Walker,
Douglass & Campbell. In 1845 Mr. Douglass be-
came State Reporter, and two volumes of reports
bear his name. In 1851 he was elected Judge of
the Circuit Court of the Third Circuit, and during his
term served not only as Circuit Judge, but as one of
the judges of the Supreme Court, which was com-
posed of the judges of the several circuit courts.
He took his seat as Judge of the Supreme Court on
January i, 1852, and served until 1857, when a
change in the political control of the State caused
his retirement, and he resumed his profession. As a
lawyer he has been almost uniformly successful,
and has been connected with many of the most
important cases in the State ; he is especially strong
in analysis and argument, and is often retained in
equity cases. He is an excellent judge of human
nature and when he gave more attention to jury
trials had great influence over a jury, due rather to
his thorough mastery of his case, and his candor,
sincerity and earnestness, than to the graces or arts
of oratory. As an adviser, he is calm, thorough
and conscientious, and when he has thoroughly
mastered a case and decides upon the course of
procedure, it is quite safe to look for favorable
results. His written opinions upon law points are
models of clearness and completeness ; he con-
structs carefully and evidently with laborious and
painstaking care.

He was one of the earliest members of the Board
of Education, serving in 1843 and 44, and also in
1858 and '59, and has always taken special interest
in the advancement of the school system. During
his last term on the School Board, the litigation
with the county was instituted which resulted in the
obtaining, by the city, of a large amount of money
which had accrued from fines and penalties, and
which had previously gone into the county treasury
and been diverted to other purposes than those
contemplated by law. The money belonged of
right to the district library funds, and the result of
the litigation, in which Mr. Douglass took an active
part, secured a large amount of money for the Pub-
lic Library of Detroit. Aside from the offices
already named, the only public positions he has
held were those of City Attorney for a few months
in 1842 and President of the Young Men's Society
in 1843.

His political allegiance has always been given to
the Democratic party, though always with frank
avowal of his dissent from what he deemed its
errors; and he can hardly be said to have been
an active politician. His duties as a judge and his

extended legal practice, prevented his entering for
any length of time, into the arena of active political
life.

He has always been a student and interested not
only in legal lore, but in the wide range of subjects
interesting to all persons of culture. His tastes
have especially led him to the study of natural
science arid this fact in part, doubtless, originated in
his early and intimate acquaintance with his relative.
Dr. Douglass Houghton, with whom he made some
exploring tours in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
when it was almost entirely unsettled. His delight
in nature and in the infinite opportunity that occa-
sional retirement affords for reflection and rest, has
been abundantly satisfied in the management of a
farm on Grosse Isle, which he has owned for over a
quarter of a century and upon which much of his
time has been spent.

Socially, he is frank, courteous and agreeable.
He is independent in thought and speech, an inter-
esting companion and a true-hearted friend ; these
qualities, with sterling integrity and mental vigor
and ability that are universally conceded, are en-
dowments that justify the esteem in which he is
held.

He was married in 1856 to Elizabeth Campbell,
sister of Judge James V. Campbell. They have
three children. Their names are Mary C, the wife
of Dr. Fred. P. Anderson, of Grosse Isle ; Benja-
min Douglass, a civil engineer now in charge of the
bridges of the Michigan Central Railroad and its
connections, and Elizabeth C, now the wife of
Louis P. Hall, of Ann Arbor.

DIVIE BETHUNE DUFFIELD was born in
Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, August
29, 1 82 1, and is the son of Rev. George Duffield,
D. D., and Isabella Graham (Bethune) Duffield. As
a child he was a remarkably apt scholar. Entering
the preparatory department of Dickinson College,
at his native place in his early youth, at the age of
twelve, he was prepared to enter the Freshman class
of the collegiate department. The rules of the
College forbade the admission of students less than
fourteen years of age, and without doubt to his
subsequent advantage he was compelled to curb
his ambition. After the removal of his parents
to Philadelphia, in 1835, he studied in that city
and entered Yale College with the class of 1840.
Unforeseen family circumstances compelled him to
leave without then completing his college course ;
but he afterwards received the degree of A. B. from
Yale. From the first, he manifested a taste for the
study of both ancient and modern languages, polite
literature and English composition in prose and
verse, the gratification of which has formed the
relaxation and unfailing pleasure of his life. His

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JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

1117

familiarity with Hebrew, Greek, and Latin has
increased with every year, and in French and Ger-
man he is proficient. In 1839 he came to Detroit,
his father, the year previous, having been settled as
pastor of the First Presbyterian Church. Soon
after his removal here he became a student in the
law office of Bates & Talbot, both of the firm being
leading members of the Detroit bar. His experi-
ence as a law student gave him renewed longings
for Yale and a profession, and in 1841 he entered
the law department of the Yale Law School, and
graduated after taking the courses of both classes,
and before he had attained his majority. The
greater portion of the same year he spent in the
Union Theological School of New York, when, his
health failing, he returned to Detroit, and in the fall
of 1843 was admitted as a member of the bar of
Detroit.

In the spring of 1844 he formed a law partner-
ship with George V. N. Lothrop, afterwards Minis-
ter of the United States to Russia. This connection
continued until 1856. After the dissolution of the
partnership, Mr. Duffield continued alone in his pro-
fession until after the w^ar, when his youngest brother,
Henry M. Duffield, became his legal partner, and
this relationship continued for ten years. The firm
for several years past has been composed of himself
and son, Bethune Duffield, under the firm name of
Duffield & Duffield.

Mr. Duffield is a habitual worker, and his career
has been constantly marked by industry, ability and
success. In 1847 he was elected City Attorney, and
for many years he w^as a Commissioner of the United
States Court, these being the only offices he has ever
held in the line of his profession. For a score of
years or more he has been the Secretary of the
Detroit bar, an office which, with his own high
standing, has long made him a leading and one of
the most widely known lawyers of the city. In
1847 he was elected a member of the Board of
Education of Detroit, and his services were almost
continuous in that body until i860, and during sev-
eral of these years he was President of the Board.
During this period he recast the w^hole course of
study in all the departments and grades, providing
for the regular progression of the pupils, and the
chief features of his plan are still in force. He was
especially active in securing the establishment of
the High School, and so thoroughly was he identi-
fied with its origin that he is frequently referred to
as the ** Father of the High School." As Presi-
dent of the Board he took a leading part in the
successful effort to compel the city to pay over to the
Library Commission the moneys received from fines
collected in the city criminal courts. The favor-
able result of this litigation made possible the
excellent public library of w^hich Detroit is justly

proud. After his temporary retirement from the
Board, in 1855, in consequence of a contemplated
trip to Europe, the Board of Education, in token
of appreciation of his services in behalf of educa-
tional interests, named the then new Union school
building on Clinton street the "Duffield Union
School."

In addition to the labors incident to a large pro-
fessional practice, he has found opportunity to lend
a helping hand in nearly all matters affecting the
moral, mental and religious interests of the com-
munity. From his early manhood he has been an
active member and is officially connected with the
First Presbyterian Church, of which his father was
so long pastor, and has ever been actively interested
in Sunday-school work, and particularly in mission
schools, of which he was one of the earliest advo-
cates.

In the various phases of temperance reform he
has been especially prominent. He was the first
President of the Red Ribbon Society, which in
1877 had 8,000 members in Detroit. He is in sym-
pathy with all efforts that restrict or regulate the
traffic, and has especially championed the so-called
Tax Law of Michigan, w^hich is believed by many
of the best and purest of citizens to be one of the
most effective of instrumentalities in the diminishing
of the traffic and curtailing its power for evil.
Believing thus, he in 1887 opposed the prohibi-
tory amendment to the Constitution of the State in
numerous public addresses, and his opposition did
much to secure the defeat of the measure. All
citizens who are acquainted with him know that he
w^as thoroughly conscientious in his views, and that
he has always been zealously foremost in advocating
and urging the adoption of all measures which
could be clearly shown would conserve the greatest
good of individuals or the State ; and it is doubtful
if any citizen on any question has acted more con-
scientiously than did Mr. Duffield in this campaign.

He rendered valuable aid at the time of the
organization of the Harper Hospital, perfected its
incorporation, and for several years was its Secre-
tary. He was also an active member of the Young
Men's Society, and its President in 1850.

In politics he w^as a Whig from the time he cast
his first vote until the organization of the Republi-
can party in 1856, when he became, and has since
remained, an active and leading member of that
party. He has persistently declined to become a
candidate for office, save the purely local ones
already mentioned, but has upon the stump and
rostrum, in every important political campaign since
he became a voter, earnestly and eloquently advo-
cated his party candidates, freely giving his time
and service to the work.

During the war he was especially active in sup-

iii8

JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

port of the Government and the cause of the
Union. As a speaker and writer, he constantly
sought to uphold the Federal cause, and did much
to encourage enlistments and inspirit both soldiers
and citizens in the great struggle for the Union and
the Constitution.

Mr. Duffield's literary accomplishments have
made him widely known. Naturally gifted with
fine literary taste and discrimination, his education
and home influences tended to its development.
While quite a youth he was a contributor to the
Knickerbocker Magazine, published by Willis Gay-
lord Clark, and has since written occasionally for
other periodicals, in prose and verse, and as early
as i860 was classed among the prominent poets of
the West. Not a few of his fugitive pieces have
been published in various Eastern publications, but
not ahvvays has he received the proper credit.
Though often solicited he has as repeatedly refused
to publish his collected poems, and those which
have seen the light have been such as he believed
timely and calculated for some distinctive end. Of
the latter class may be mentioned, his historical
poem, " The Battle of Lake Erie," delivered upon
the occasion of the laying of the corner stone of
the Perry monument at Put-in -Bay, a poem at the
opening of the Law School building in Ann Arbor,
and his " National Centennial Poem," delivered at
the celebration in Detroit, on July 4, 1876, each
of which were highly commended as having per-
manent value. In quite a different vein is his "De
Art Medendi," prepared for the fourteenth annual
commencement of the Detroit Medical College, a
poem combining wit, humor, feeling and reverence,
and described as suggesting the nonchalant after-
dinner verse of Dr. Holmes. His various poems
delivered before the bar of Detroit are of similar
character, and are pleasantly remembered by his
professional brethren. For many years he has
been privileged with the friendship of Premier
Gladstone — a distant relative of his mother — and the
acquaintance has been cemented by occasional cor-
respondence. This fact easily accounts for his
poem of "America to Gladstone," a warm tribute
from an ardent admirer.

With his professional brethren Mr. Dufifield has
always stood in the front rank, as well for legal
attainments as for industry and fidelity, and that
high professional courtesy which is characteristic of
the true legal gentleman. In his professional labor
he is prompt, clear and incisive, and a constant
worker, his literary labor being merely as a pastime.
He comes to conclusions only after mature deliber-
ation, is positive in his convictions, and bold and
independent in defending them. When he espouses
any cause it is done earnestly and without regard to
personal results, and no citizen is more implicitly

trusted or stands higher in the estimation of his
fellows than he. His private and professional life
is without blemish, and in all respects he is a true,
high-minded. Christian gentleman.

He was married m 1854 to Mary Strong Buell,
daughter of Eben N. Buell, of Rochester, New
York, and his family consists of two sons, George
Duffield, already prominent as a member of the
medical profession, and Bethune Duffield, his part-
ner and associate in business.

HENRY M. DUFFIELD was born in Detroit,
May 15, 1842. His father. Rev. George Duffield,
D. D., was born at Strasburg, Lancaster County,
Pennsylvania, July 4, 1794. He came to Detroit in
1838, and until his death, in 1868, was the honored
and influential pastor of the First Presbyterian
Church. Shortly after his arrival he was appointed
Regent of the State University, and no man did
more to shape and promote that now widely-known
institution of learning. The father of Rev. George
Duffield was at one time a prominent merchant of
Philadelphia, and for nine years Comptroller-Gen-
eral of Pennsylvania. His grandfather was the
celebrated Rev. George Duffield, who in conjunction
with Bishop White served as Chaplain of the first
Congress of the United States, and subsequently
of the Continental Army. A reward of £^0 was
offered by the British for his head. His fame as a
preacher and fearless and eloquent advocate of
liberty is well known to all students of American
history. Isabella Graham (Bethune) Duffield, the
mother of Henry M. Duffield, was born October 22,
1799, arid died in Detroit, November 3, 1871. She
was a daughter of D. Bethune, a prominent mer-
chant of New York city, and a grand-daughter of
the widely known Isabella Graham, whose memory
is fragrant in the churches of Scotland and America.
Her brother, George W. Bethune, was the dis-
tinguished orator and lecturer of New York.

Henry M. Duffield received his earlier education
in the public schools of Detroit, graduating from
the " Old Capital " school in 1858. After one year's
instruction in the Michigan University, in 1859 he
entered the junior class of Williams College, Massa-
chusetts, then under the management of Mark
Hopkins. He graduated in 1861, and enlisted as a
private in the Ninth Regiment Michigan Infantry
in August of the same year, being the first student
from Williams College to join the Union army. A
short time after enlistment he was made Adjutant
of the regiment. While acting in this capacity he,
with his regiment, in July, 1862, participated in the
bloody fight with the forces of the rebel General
N. B. Forrest, at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and
during the engagement was by the side of his brother,
General W. W. Duffield, when the latter was twice

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JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

III9

wounded, and as then supposed mortally. So severe
and close was the contest that it was impossible to
carry his brother from the field until the repulse of
the enemy. In this battle Colonel Duffield was
taken prisoner, but was exchanged in September of
the same year. After his release he was detailed as
Assistant Adjutant-General of all the United States
forces in Kentucky. He was afterwards appointed
Assistant Adjutant -General of the Twenty-third
Brigade, Army of the Cumberland. In the cam-
paign from Nashville to Chattanooga in 1863, he
was attached to the headquarters of General Geo.
H. Thomas and was present at all the important
battles of the campaign, including Stone River and
Chickamauga. At Chattanooga, on October 23,
1863, during the siege of that town by the rebel
forces under General Braxton Bragg, he was pro-
moted to Post Adjutant. As Post Adjutant of
Chattanooga he issued, by order of General John
G. Parkhurst, commander of the post, the orders for
the Chattanooga United States cemetery, giving
particular directions as to its purpose and plan of
management. The general plan was subsequently
adopted by General Thomas, and from it grew the
system of national cemeteries which are at once a
testimonial to the heroic devotion of the gallant
soldiers buried therein, and to the gratitude of their
countryman.

When Major-General George H. Thomas assumed
command of the Department of the Cumberland,
Mr. Duffield was appointed on his staff as Assistant
Provost Marshal General of the department, in
which capacity he served until the end of his term
of service. During the memorable campaign of
General Thomas from Chattanooga to Atlanta,
Colonel Duffield was detailed as Acting Provost
Marshal General vice General J. A. Parkhurst, dis-
abled, and participated in nearly all the hard fought
battles of this gallant Union commander, including
Resaca, Missionary Ridge, Peach Tree Creek, and
Jonesboro, a campaign which resulted in the final
capture of Atlanta. During the battle of Chicka-
mauga, which was one of the most severe engage-
ments in which he took part, he was wounded.
His term of service ended at Atlanta, and he was
mustered out October 14, 1864.

Returning to Detroit in November, 1864, he
began the study of law in the office of D. Bethune
Duffield, and in the following April was admitted
to practice. Soon afterwards he formed a partner-
ship with his brother, D. Bethune Duffield, which
continued until 1876, since which date Colonel
Duffield has had no associate partner. His position
as a lawyer is a desirable one, and as counsel in
many important cases he has achieved notable
triumphs, both in the highest court in the State and
in the Supreme Court of the United States. He

was attorney for the Board of Education of Detroit
from 1866 to 1 87 1, and it was at his suggestion
and under his conduct, that the Board brought suit
against the city and county to recover the fines col-
lected in the municipal courts for the benefit of the
library fund. The case was strongly defended by
William Gray, Theodore Romeyn and other emi-
nent lawyers. The Circuit Court decided against
the claims of the Board, but upon appeal to the
Supreme Court this decision was reversed, and a
judgment entered for the Board. As the fruits of
this litigation upwards of $27,000 for back fines was
collected, and the right of the Board of Education
to all future fines was fully established. This
decision had much to do in preparing the way for
the larger usefulness of the public library.

In 1 88 1 Colonel Duffield became City Counselor,
serving three years, and during this time repre-
sented the city unaided in all its litigation, both in
the Supreme Court of the State and of the United
States. During this period, among the most import-
ant cases argued and won for the city were : The
Mutual Gas Light Company vs. Detroit, in which
the opposing counsel were Edward W. Dickerson
and George Ticknor Curtiss ; the City Railway tax
cases, defended by F. A. Baker and George F.
Edmunds. Both of these cases were argued in the
United States Supreme Court, and involved large
amounts of money and important principles of law.

In his private practice Colonel Duffield has been
connected with some of the most important cases
which have arisen in the legal history of Detroit.
He assisted in the argument of the famous Reeder
farm cases, and in the Rothschild tobacco fraud
case. He succeeded in defeating the claims of the
holders of the notorious "Stroh-Hudson-Windsor
crooked paper," and as solicitor of record in the
Hunt and Oliver litigation, which was pending for
seventeen years in the Circuit and Supreme Court
of the United States, he obtained a final decision
favorable to his clients in the Supreme Court of
the United States.

Colonel Duffield possesses naturally those quali-
ties of mind indispensable to a high degree of suc-
cess in the legal profession. In temperament he is
cool and collected, and in the midst of the most
exciting and trying ordeals, readily detects the weak
and strong points of a case. To this admirable
quality he unites a retentive memory, power of close
and continued application, and convincing and per-
suasive abilities as an advocate. That he has
succeeded in gaining a foremost place among his
professional brothers in Detroit is but the natural
sequence of the best use of these powers.

He is a Republican in political faith, and for
more than twenty years has been an active and
helpful factor in the efforts of his party in this

II20

JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

State. He was nominated for Congress by the
Republican convention of this district in 1876,
against General Alpheus S. Williams, the Demo-
cratic nominee, and although defeated in the election
ran 1,300 votes ahead of his ticket. The use of his
name has also been solicited by his party as candi-
date for Circuit Judge, Justice of the Supreme
Court of the State, as well as for high political posi-
tions, but he has uniformly declined.

He has been a member of the Military Board of
Michigan since 1874, and from 1880 to 1887 w^as
President of the Board, and takes a warm interest
in the State militia. He has also been an active
trustee of the Michigan Military Academy for the
past ten years; is interested in several business
enterprises in Detroit, being a stockholder in the
Bell Telephone Company, of Massachusetts, the
American Exchange National Bank, the Detroit
Bar Library, Detroit, the Rio Grande Live Stock
Company, and the Eureka Iron Company.

He is a member of the Society of the Army of
the Cumberland, and was the orator at the annual
meeting of 1887.

He was married December 29, 1863, to Frances
Pitts. They have had seven children, Henry M.,
Jr., born August 9, 1865, at present a student in the
class of 1890 in Harvard College; Samuel Pitts,
born January 22, 1869, and Divie Bethune, born
March 3, 1870, both attending Philip's Academy,
Exeter, Massachusetts ; William Beach, born March
2, 1 87 1, died July 10, 1876; Francis, born October
23, 1873; Morse Stewart, born September 29, 1875,
and Graham, born November 21, 1881.

EDMUND HALL was born on the 28th of
May, 1 8 19, at West Cayuga, New York. His father
was of that family of Halls which traces back to
Wallingford, Connecticut, and which, in revolution-
ary times, was sufficiently divided to furnish a Signer
to the Declaration of Independence, while the Sign-
er's cousin, who was Mr. Hall's grandfather, was an
energetic adherent of the British. His mother's
ancestry ran through the Worths and Folgers to the
first white couple married on Nantucket.

With his mother, brother, and three sisters Mr-
Hall came to Michigan in 1833, their route being by
the Erie canal to Buffalo, and from there by schooner
to the mouth of the Detroit river, where they landed,
settling where Flat Rock now stands. They were
pioneers and poor, but energy and hard work made
them independent enough to face even the panic of
1837 without flinching. Some time before that
crisis, it had been the cherished hope of the mother
that her oldest boy should have a college training,
and it was in the midst of the hard times that he
acquired it. The nearest preparatory school was
at Elyria, Ohio, and there he fitted for Oberlin.

Six months' work in 1835, at eight dollars a month,
furnished the tirst instalment of funds to pay the
cost of a higher education, and his alternate labors
as a stone mason and as a country school teacher
supplied him with funds until in 1843 he was gradu-
ated with high standing.

Mr. Hall has had little to do with party politics, but
has always taken a deep interest in the great
reformatory agitation which resulted in the over-
throw of slavery. As early as 1841, and while a
student, he canvassed the State as an anti-slavery
lecturer, and again, in 1844, when studying law, he
went on the stump as a volunteer champion of
Birney, the candidate of the liberty party.

In political economy, however, he was trained as
a free trader and in consequence a Democrat. But
the great anti-slavery uprising could not for any
length of time leave an Oberlin student on any low
plane of party politics. Still, it was as a Democrat
that he was chosen to the only office he ever held,
that of School Inspector in the Board of Education
of Detroit, from 1859 to 1863.

He studied law in the office of George E. Hand,
was admitted to the bar in 1 847, and began practice
in company with Judge Hand, but subsequently
practiced for many years alone, until the increasing
demands which his varied real estate investments
and other business enterprises made upon his atten-
tion rendered professional labor impracticable.

While in the Board of Education he did the pub-
lic a very distinguished service as one of the principal
agents in the establishment of a free public library
upon the constitutional and statutory basis of the
fines collected in the Police Court. The police
judge had regularly absorbed the fines he had
imposed, so that there was a heavy deficit for which,
as matters stood, the county was accountable to
the city. The supervisors would not make good
the squandered fund unless compelled to, and pro-
ceedings were instituted in the Supreme Court to
compel them. The Board of Education was the
moving party, and their case was successfully pre-
sented in a brief drawn up by Mr. Hall. The
critical character of this proceeding, — for a lower
court had already ruled against the library, — fairly
entitles him to such credit as belongs to one of the
founders of a great public institution. He was
Secretary of the Board the same year, and the
records of that body show an elaborate plan which
he drew up for the working of the library.

It was at about this time that he began his lum-
bering operations. His principal camp is in Isabella
county, though he has large interests in pine lands
in the northern part of the State, besides a mill and
salt works at Bay City. He keeps a large farm,
well stocked with Jerseys and short horns, at Gib-
raltar, where he first landed as a boy, and there he

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JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

II2I

has a country house where he spends the most of
each summer.

He has been twice married, first in 1846, to Miss
Emeline Cochran, of Frederick, Ohio, who died in
1879, leaving a married daughter, Mrs. Henry A.
Chancy. Her only son, George Edmund Hall, died
in 1875. In 1 881 Mr. Hall married Mrs. Mary H.
Vreeland. They have had one child, whose name
is Frederick.

DE WITT C. HOLBROOK was born in Riga,

Monroe County, New York, on August 22, 181 9.
His father, Benajah Holbrook, was formerly a resi-
dent of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, and
emigrated to New York early in the century. His
son, D. C. Holbrook, received the usual education
supplied through the district school, and in August,
1832, came to Michigan, and was engaged in his
brother's store in Plymouth. In June, 1836, he
came to Detroit a total stranger in search of employ-
ment, served as clerk in a dry goods store until
July of that year, and then obtained a situation in
the Detroit postoffice, where he remained until
December, 1837. He next became a teller in the
Detroit City Bank, remaining until 1840, when he
entered the office of the late Alexander D. Eraser
as a law student. Mr. Fraser stood in the very
front rank of lawyers composing the Detroit bar,
which, in those days, was almost entirely composed
of men of finished education, nearly every one
being a graduate of an Eastern college. Mr.
Fraser was a severe legal instructor, eminent as a
chancery lawyer, and in his office and under his eye
Mr. Holbrook, by the time he finished his term of
study, had ripened into an accomplished lawyer,
and he has maintained that reputation through a
professional life of forty years or more.

Soon after his admission to the bar in 1843, he
was appointed Assistant Register of the old Court
of Chancery, which office he held until January i,
1847, when he became County Clerk. He was
nominated for the last office without his knowledge,
and was the only candidate elected on the Whig
ticket. He served in this capacity for two years,
and, under the law, was also at the same time Clerk
of the Circuit Court, and when his term ceased he
had an extensive knowledge of the practice of the
courts of chancery and of law. On January i,
1849, he entered into partnership with Alexander
Davison, and commenced the practice of law. He
subsequently engaged in practice in connection with
William A. Howard and Levi Bishop. Mr. Howard
withdrew in i860, and for some five years the busi-
ness was carried on by Holbrook & Bishop. In
1872 Mr. Holbrook was appointed City Counsellor,
which office he creditably filled for six years.

His industry, faithfulness and loyalty to his clients,

accompanied always with a fearlessness that quailed
before no opposition, and a spotless integrity, not
only endeared him to his clients but commanded,
at all times, the respect of his fellows, and the confi-
dence of the entire community.

Added to these traits of character there might
also be accredited to him those graces that are
born of a generous heart, and which adorn every
man who wears an open genial nature. No one
who knows Mr. Holbrook well would hesitate to
bear testimony to the uprightness of his character,
the industry of his daily life, his faithfulness to all
trusts and duty, and all would award him the record
of an able lawyer, upright citizen, and honorable
man.

Mr. Holbrook was married to Mary A. Berdan,
September 26, 1850. She died in 1858, leaving one
son, De Witt C. Holbrook, Jr., of Montana Terri-
tory, and three daughters, Mrs. Col. F. W. Swift,
Mrs. Frank Walker, of this city, and Mrs. White,
wife of Rev. John H. White, of Joliet, Illinois.

GEORGE H. HOPKINS, the son of Erastus
and Climene (Clark) Hopkins, was born in the
township of White Lake, Oakland County, Michigan,
November 7, 1842. His ancestors were among
the earliest settlers in Connecticut, coming from
Coventry, Warwick County, on the Sherbourne,
England. The name was originally spelled Hop-
kyns. The family, according to Burke, was of estab-
lished antiquity and eminence, enjoyed for along
series of years parliamentary rank, served a suc-
cession of monarchs, and acquired civil and mili-
tary distinction. In the sanguinary wars of York
and Lancaster, which for thirty years devastated
the fair fields of England, this family is tradition-
ally stated to have taken a prominent part, and to
have experienced the inevitable consequences — incar-
ceration, decapitation and confiscation. They were
prominent in the affairs of Coventry in the latter
part of the sixteenth century, one William Hopkins,
Jr., having been Mayor in 1564, and persecuted for
heresy in 1554. He had two brothers, Richard and
Nicholas, both Sheriffs of the same town m 1554
and 1 56 1 respectively. Richard had two sons,
Sampson, his heir, and William, proprietor of the
lordship of Shortley. Sampson was Mayor in 1 609.
He had three sons. Sir Richard, Sir William, and
Sampson, the latter being Mayor of Coventry in
1640. The eldest became eminent at the bar, at-
tained the rank of Sergeant at Law, was Steward
of Coventry, and represented that city in Parlia-
ment at the Restoration. Their estate, by inter-
marriage, passed to General Northey in 1799, and he
assumed the surname and arms of Hopkins upon
inheriting the estate of his maternal ancestor, who
was known as Northey Hopkins of Oving House.

II22

JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

The early Hopkinses of New England are of this
family.

The date of the arrival of John Hopkins, the
progenitor of the Connecticut line, is not definitely
known, but it was not far from the year 1632, About
that time the increasing numbers of the colonists
suggested the formation of new^ settlements farther
westward, and as a result Hartford colony was
established, and in the colonial records John Hop-
kins is spoken of as the original owner of the
lands then settled. The line of genealogical pro-
gression from John Hopkins to Erastus, the father
of the subject of this sketch, is as follows : John
Hopkins, who was made a freeman of Cambridge
March 4, 1635, removed to Hartford the same
year, and died in 1654, leaving a widow, Jane,
and children, Stephen, born about 1634, and
Bertha, about 1635. The widow married Nathaniel
Ward, of Hadley. Bertha, in 1652, married Samuel
Stocking, of Middletown, and subsequently James
Steele, of Hartford. Stephen married Dorcas, a
daughter of John Bronson. He died in October,
1689, leaving six children, John, Stephen, Ebenezer,
Joseph, Dorcas, wife of Jonathan Webster, and
Mar}^ who married Samuel Sedgwick. His widow
died May 13, 1697. The son John had eight chil-
dren, one of whom, Samuel, was a graduate of Yale
College in 17 18, and a minister of West Springfield.
Another son, Timothy, was the father of Samuel
Hopkins, the celebrated divine, known as the founder
of the Hopkinsian School. He was the author of
several well-known works, and a prominent charac-
ter in Mrs. Stowe's " Minister's Wooing." The
widely known Mark Hopkins, President of Wil-
liams College, was of the same family. Another
son was named Consider. He had a son, Consider,
Jr., whose son Mark was the father of Erastus Hop-
kins and grandfather of George H. Hopkins. Three
of his uncles were in the Continental army during
the Revolutionary War. One v/as captured by the
British and starved to death in the " Jersey Prison
Ship " in New York harbor, and another was killed
by Tory " Cow Boys " while at home on a furlough.

Erastus Hopkins was born in Oneida County,
New York, in 1804, and moved with his family from
Steuben County, New York, to White Lake, Michi-
gan, in 1834, going in an emigrant wagon the whole
distance. He cleared a farm in the wilderness, and
lived to see the entire neighborhood settled, remain-
ing upon the farm until his death in 1876. His
wife died in 1864. His son, George H. Hopkins,
was at home till his eighteenth year, and then be-
came a student at the Pontiac Union School for two
terms, and in the winters of 1860-61 and 1861-62
taught a district school in Oakland County. In
April, 1862, he entered the Michigan State Normal
School, but in August of the same year left that

institution to enter the Union army, enlisting in the
Seventeenth Michigan Infantry in a company largely
composed of students of the University and of the
Normal School, and remained with his regiment
until the close of the war. It was known as the
** Stonewall " regiment, and saw as severe cam-
paigning and fighting as any regiment in the Union
service. Mr. Hopkins's brother, Dan G. Hopkins,
a member of the same company, was mortally
wounded in the celebrated charge of the regiment
at South Mountain, September 14, 1862. Another
brother, William W., was a member of the Fifth
Michigan Cavalry. The Seventeenth Michigan was
in active service in Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky,
Mississippi, at the siege of Vicksburg and Knox-
ville, Tennessee, and again in Virginia during the
last year of the war.

Soon after the close of the Rebellion, Mr. Hopkins
returned to the Normal School and graduated in
the class of 1867. He afterwards entered the
Michigan University, remained one year in the
Literary Department, and graduated in the Law
Department in 187 1. In 1870 he was Assistant
United States Marshal, and took the United States
census in one representative district of Washtenaw
County, and in a portion of a district in Lapeer
County. After his admission to the bar he entered
upon the practice of his profession in Detroit, and
for eight years was assistant attorney of the Detroit
& Milwaukee Railroad Company. During Gover-
nor Bagley's term of four years he was his private
Secretary, and at Governor Croswell's request served
again in the same capacity.

At the State election of 1878 he was nominated
by the Republicans on the legislative ticket, made
an exceptionally strong run and was elected, though
the city went Democratic on the State ticket. In
the legislative session of 1879 he was Chairman of the
Committee on Military Affairs, and also served on
the Committee on Railroads. He was re-elected
to the Legislature in 1880, and served through the
session of 1881 and the special session of 1882,
and was again re-elected in 1882. In the session
of 1 88 1 he was Chairman of the Committee on
the University and a member of the Committee
on Railroads and Apportionment. On the organi-
zation of the session of 1883 he was chosen
speaker pro tempore, and as presiding officer made
a most commendable record as an able parlia-
mentarian. He was also Chairman of the Judiciary
Committee and member of the Committees on State
Library and the State Public Schools. During his
legislative career Mr. Hopkins was an active and
earnest worker, and recognized as a safe and careful
leader. His previous services in the office of the
chief executive made him familiar with the needs
and requirements of the State, and his experience

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JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

II23

in State affairs caused his counsel to be often
sought. As Chairman of the Committee on Mili-
tary Affairs he was prominently instrumental in
securing the passage of the laws by which in-
creased provisions were made for the maintenance
of the State militia under which it is now so
admirably organized. He also rendered valuable
aid in the passage of the law for the erection of a new
University library building. On all local measures
his actions were wise and liberal, and revealed a
painstaking interest and good judgment. He was
the author of the bill for the purchase of Belle
Isle, and secured its passage against the most
strenuous opposition of many of the leading citizens
of Detroit.

Although largely interested in corporations, he has
always insisted that corporations should bear their
full share of the burden of taxation, and is the
author of several laws which have put many thou-
sands of dollars annually into the treasury, and
thereby reduced the taxes to be paid by individuals.

The law providing for the jury commission of
Wayne County, which has done much to improve
the jury system for the city and county, is one among
many of the acts of a local nature which he secured
for his constituency.

Mr. Hopkins has always been a Republican, and
has for many years been an active spirit in party
management. During the political campaigns of
1882 and 1884, he was Chairman of the Wayne
County Republican Committee, and proved himself
an efficient organizer and manager. He also served,
in 1878, as Chairman of the State Central Commit-
tee, and again, in 1888, conducting the campaign
in Michigan, which closed so successfully for the
party by the election of General Benjamin Harrison
as president. He has always taken a warm interest
in military matters, and served as one of the military
staff during the administration of both Governors
Bagley and Alger. For several years prior to the
death of Governor Bagley he was intimately asso-
ciated with him in the management of various busi-
ness enterprises, and by his will was made one of his
executors and trustees. The duties connected with
this trust are so onerous that he has been obliged to
retire from the general practice of his profession, and
most of his time is now devoted to the care of the
Bagley estate. He is interested in numerous busi-
ness projects in Detroit, being director and treasurer
of the John J. Bagley & Co. Tobacco Manufactory^
and the Detroit Cyclorama Company ; director in the
Detroit Safe Company, Standard Life and Accident
Insurance Company, Michigan Wire and Iron
Works, Lime Island Manufacturers' Company, the
Woodmere Cemetery Association, and the Longyear
Iron Mining Company, and was one of the incor-
porators and a director of the American Banking

and Savings Association, and of the American
Trust Company.

In the management of the complicated business
enterprises with which he has been entrusted, Mr.
Hopkins has displayed singularly good judgment
and commendable faithfulness and integrity, and
the honorable position he holds has been justly won
by personal worth and a high degree of business
tact and ability.

WILLARD MERRICK LILLIBRIDGE was
born at Blossvale, Oneida County, New York, April
26, 1846, and is a son of Ira and Sophronia (Merrick)
Lillibridge, whose ancestors settled in Rhode Island
and Connecticut as early as the year 1700. His
great-grandfather. Rev. David Lillibridge, was a
Baptist minister at Willington, Connecticut, and
served in the French and Indian War, and his grand-
father, Clark Lillibridge, was a soldier in the War of
the Revolution. His father settled at Blossvale
about 1824, and reared a large family. Willard
M., the youngest but one, attended school at Bloss-
vale, prepared for college at Whitestown and Caze-
novia Seminaries, entered Hamilton College in
1865, and graduated in 1869. Soon after graduat-
ing he accepted the position of Superintendent of
Public Schools at Plattsburgh, New York, which
position he held for two years. In 1871 he went to
St. Louis, where he spent one year in the study of
law and then came to Detroit, completed his studies
in the office of Walker & Kent, and was admitted
to the bar in 1873. He entered at once upon the
practice of his profession, and has continued it ever
since, practicing alone until 1880, when he became
the head of the firm of Lillibridge & Latham, and
so continued until 1887, when the firm was dis-
solved, and Mr. Lillibridge has since practiced by
himself.

He has been almost uniformly successful, and
has built up a prosperous law business, having a
large clientage among the business firms and cor-
porations of the city.

He is a studious, hard-working lawyer, is well
read in all the principles of law, and familiar with
books and authorities. He has a clear and forcible
style, and a pleasing manner at the bar, and suc-
ceeds by the thoroughness of his preparation and
his devotion to the interest of his clients. He has
been engaged in many important cases, among
which may be mentioned the Southworth will case,
tried in the United States Circuit Court at Milwaukee
in 1883, and the mandamus case of Richardson
against Swift, argued in the Court of Errors and
Appeals of Delaware, in 1886.

Mr. Lillibridge is a diligent student of classical
and general literature, believes in a broad culture,
and is liberal in his opinions,

II24

JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

In political faith he is a Republican, but not a
politician. In 1874 and 1875 he served as a mem-
ber of the Board of Education of Detroit, but has
not sought nor desired office.

He is quite largely interested in real estate, is a
stockholder in several corporations, and Vice-Presi-
dent of the corporation of Samuel F. Hodges & Co.,
foundrymen and machinists.

He was married December 5, 1882, to Katharine
Hegeman, daughter of Joseph Hegeman, of New
York. They have one daughter, Aletta A. Lilli-
bridge. He and his family attend St. John's Epis-
copal Church.

GEORGE VAN NESS LOTHROP was born
in Easton, Bristol County, Massachusetts, August 8,
1 81 7. He received a classical education and gradu-
ated at Brown University, in 1838, and the same
year entered the Harvard Law School, then in
charge of Judge Story and Professor Greenleaf.
Within a year, his health becoming somewhat
impaired, he left school, came to Michigan to recu-
perate, and made his home with his brother, Edwin
H. Lothrop, of Prairie Ronde, Kalamazoo County.
He remained two or three years, occupying himself
partly in farm work. In the spring of 1843 he came
to Detroit, and resumed the study of law in the
office of Joy & Porter.

While yet a student, and before his admission to
the bar, by special permission of the Supreme Court,
on the application of James F. Joy, he appeared in
the celebrated case of the Michigan State Bank
against Hastings and others. So ably was his side
of the case presented that the Judges openly ex-
pressed their admiration of the effort, and predicted
for him a brilliant career. In the spring of 1844 he
was appointed a Master of Chancery for Wayne
County, and in company with D. Bethune Duffield
commenced to practice in Detroit, the firm continu-
ing until 1856. In April, 1848, he was appointed
Attorney-General of the State, and held the office
until January, 1851.

About this time the subject of a division of the
public school moneys between the public and Cath-
olic schools was quite actively discussed, and the
regular nominees of the Democratic party at the city
election of 1853 were generally believed to be in
favor of such division. In opposition to any such
plan, Mr. Lothrop was nominated on an independent
Democratic ticket, and elected by a large majority.

He was one of the Michigan delegation at the
Charleston National Convention in 1860, and was
active and earnest in support of the Douglas senti-
ment in that body.

From July, 1863, to May, 1872, he served as one of
the inspectors of the Detroit House of Correction.
In 1867 he was a member of the State Constitutional

Convention; in 1873 he was tendered, but declined,
an appointment as a member of the Constitutional
Commission, and from 1880 to 1886 served as one of
the Commissioners of the Public Library of Detroit.

In May, 1885, soon after President Cleveland was
elected, he nominated Mr. Lothrop as United States
Minister to Russia, and he was duly confirmed by
the Senate. His acceptance of this office, and con-
sequent temporary departure from Detroit, called
forth many expressions of regret. He was so
universally esteemed as a high-minded citizen and
friend, and his eminent legal and social qualities so
generally known and appreciated, that his absence
made a noticeable vacancy both in legal and in
social circles. Many evidences of this feeling were
manifested, and it is certain that no United States
Minister ever went abroad accompanied with warmer
or more hearty good wishes, and no one ever left
behind a greater number of appreciative citizens,
neighbors, and friends. In the fall of 1888 he re-
signed his position, and on his return to Detroit was
tendered a public reception, and warmly welcomed.

Mr. Lothrop has always been zealously interested
in whatever concerns the moral or literary welfare
of the city. In 1853 he served as President of the
Young Men's Society, and for several years served
as President of the Detroit Association of Chari-
ties.

During a quarter of a century he was attorney of
the Michigan Central Railroad Company, and at
various periods of time was counsel for the Detroit
& Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Michigan Southern,
and Detroit, Lansing & Northern Railroads.

He is a holder of considerable real estate, both in
Detroit and in the neighboring townships, and has
besides some investments in bank, railroad, and
other stocks.

His reputation as a lawyer is not confined to his
own State, but is really national. In Michigan he
has few peers. It seems almost needless to say
that such a reputation has not been gained without
reason ; indeed there are many reasons for his
standing at the bar. With a mind clear and pene-
trating, with ability to grasp great questions, and at
the same time consider the smallest details, with a
graceful and fluent vocabulary of the purest and
most classical English, and with physical vigor and
a presence and manner that would command atten-
tion in any place, he is both naturally, and by study,
fitted for the position he occupies. In addition to
all these qualities, he is so transparently sincere,
courteous, kind, and genial, that he easily wins
esteem.

In all literary matters his taste and discernment
are highly cultivated, and he aims to keep abreast
with the progress of scientific research.

He has frequently been the choice of his fellow

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JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

II25

citizens of the Democratic party for the highest politi-
cal honors, and all who know him must concede his
ability to fill any position in the gift of the people.

He was married at Detroit, on May 13, 1847, to
Almira Strong. They have four sons and two
daughters ; the sons, George Howard, Charles
Bradley, Henry B., and Cyrus E., all living in De-
troit and well known in its society. The daughters
are named Anne and Helen. The first named in
October, 1888, became the wife of Baron Barthold
Hoyningen Huene, First Lieutenant of the regiment
of Chevalier Guards of Her Majesty, the Empress
of all the Russias.

WILLIAM AUSTIN MOORE was born near

Clifton Springs, Ontario County, New York, April
17, 1823. He was the seventh son and eighth child
of William Moore and Lucy Rice. His ancestors
on his father's side were of Scotch-Irish descent.
His great-great-grandfather was one of the McDon-
ald clan which was slaughtered at the massacre of
Glencoe, in Argyllshire, Scotland, on the morning of
February 13, 1692. His great-great-grandmother,
after the murder of her husband, concealed herself
and two daughters in a malt kiln, and on the night
following the murder gave birth to a son, whom she
named John. The widow, with her children, fled
to Ireland, and settled at Londonderry, where they
remained until 17 18, when they emigrated to
America, and were among the first settlers of Lon-
donderry, New Hampshire. John subsequently
married and had a family of seven children, the
third of whom William, married Jane Holmes, on
December 13, 1763, and removed to Peterboro, New
Hampshire. He was in the War of the Revolution,
and fought at the battle of Bennington, July 19,
1777. They had twelve children. The youngest,
William Moore, was the father of the subject of this
sketch, and was born April 9, 1787, At the age of
eighteen he removed to Phelps, Ontario County,
New York, where, on November 7, 1806, he mar-
ried Lucy Rice, formerly of Conway, Massachu-
setts, and who was a niece of the eccentric Baptist
preacher, John Leland, of Cheshire, Massachusetts.
William Moore was a farmer by occupation, and
held various local offices. He was in the War of
18 1 2, and was at the burning of Buffalo and at
the sortie at Fort Erie. In the summer of 1831
he removed his family to Washtenaw County,
Michigan, and was one of the early settlers of that
section. In 1832 he was appointed justice of the
peace, which office he held until Michigan became
a State, and afterwards held it by election for
twelve years. He was a member of the convention
called for the preparation of the first constitution
of Michigan, a member of the first Senate after

Michigan became a State, and represented Wash-
tenaw County in the House in 1843.

William A„ during his boyhood, worked on his
father's farm, and his earliest educational advan^
tages consisted of a few weeks' schooling during
the winter. When he was twenty years of age, he
determined to follow the profession of law, and in
April, 1 844, he began a preparatory course of study
at Ypsilanti, where he remained two years. He
then entered the freshman class of the University of
Michigan, and graduated in 1850, a member of the
sixth class which left that institution. For a year
and a half after graduation he taught school at
Salem, Mississippi. In April, 1852, he prosecuted
the study of the law in the office of Davidson &
Holbrook, and was admitted to the bar on Jan-
uary 8, 1853. He immediately entered upon the
practice of his profession, in which he has since
been actively engaged, and by incessant, persever-
ing and painstaking labor, has built up a profitable
business. When he began his professional career,
admiralty practice formed an important feature in
the legal business of Detroit, a branch of work to
which he gave special attention and in which he be-
came proficient. For many years no important col-
lision case was tried in the State of Michigan in
which he was not retained, and he was often called
to Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago and Milwaukee in
his practice.

From deep-seated convictions Mr. Moore has
ever been a staunch supporter of the Democratic
party, but his tastes do not run in the line of public
station or political office. The only offices he has ever
held have been those pertaining to local government.
From 1859 to 1865 he was a member of the Board
of Education, and during this period he served two
and one-half years as secretary and three and one-
half years as president of the Board. He has been the
attorney of the Board of Police Commissioners since
1879. In 1 88 1 he was appointed a member of the
Board of Park Commissioners, and was re-appointed
in 1884. He was twice elected president of said
Board, but resigned before the expiration of his
second term, it was thought, because his action on
the question of the sale of beer and other intoxicat-
ing drinks on Belle Isle Park was not approved by
the City Council, which refused all appropriations
until the sale of beer should be permitted, although
his action was sustained by the best public senti-
ment of the city. He was one of the organizers of
the Wayne County Savings Bank, and of the De-
troit Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and has
been a member of the board of directors, and the
attorney of both of said corporations since their
organization. He is also one of the directors of the
American Exchange National Bank. From 1864 to

1 1 26

JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

1868 he was Chairman of the Democratic State
Central Committee, and was the Michigan member
of the Democratic National Executive Committee
from 1868 to 1876.

During the late civil war he was a warm friend
of the Union cause, and while disagreeing with
many of the measures and methods pursued by the
administration, he never wavered in his allegiance to
the government. He gave liberally to aid in secur-
ing enlistments and for the relief of the wounded, and
since the close of the war has ever been among
the foremost in every movement in recognition of
the service of the veterans, and is now a trustee of
the Soldiers' Monument Association.

Public-spirited and progressive, he readily aids
every movement designed to advance the welfare of
his fellows. He was one of the promoters of the
Art Loan Exhibition, was one of the founders and
a contributor for the erection of the Museum of Art,
and is now its treasurer.

As a lawyer he has achieved success in the trial
of cases, but is especially in demand and appre-
ciated as a counselor. He unites to a judicial and
independent character of mind, long familiarity with
the principles of law, excellent foresight, sound
judgment, and above all, unquestioned integrity —
qualities which admirably fit him to act the part of
conciliator and harmonizer of conflicting interests.
His convictions are slowly formed, but a stand
once taken is not abandoned for any mere ques-
tion of policy or expediency. All his influence
has been cast on the side of morality, good govern-
ment, obedience to law, and the elevation of his fel-
lows. No responsibility that has ever been laid upon
him has ever been neglected or betrayed. Many
persons with far less of worth have attracted a
larger share of public attention, but there are few
who have done more to conserve in various ways
the best interests of the city. Reared in the Chris-
tian faith, he has always had deep reverence for
religious principles, and since 1877 has been a mem-
ber of the Lafayette, now the Woodward Avenue,
Baptist Church. His friendships are strong and en-
during, and in both public and private life he is a
cultivated, genial Christian gentleman.

He was married December 31, 1854, to Laura J.
Van Husan, daughter of the late Caleb Van Husan.
They have one son, William V., who is now asso-
ciated with his father in the practice of his profession.

GEORGE F. PORTER, for many years one of
the leading lawyers of Detroit, was born in the
town of Broome, New Hampshire, in 1803. The
educational privileges of his youth were limited to
the district schools of his native town. At an early
age he left home to begin life's battles for himself,
and from the savings his industry acquired, he se-

cured the means for obtaining a liberal education,
studied law, was admitted to the bar and soon after,
in 1829, emigrated to the Territory of Michigan, and
settled in Detroit. Here he immediately secured a
responsible position in the counting room of Dorr
& Jones, at that time one of the leading mercantile
houses of Detroit. In this establishment he ac-
quired those accurate business habits which dis-
tinguished him through life. After spending some
years with Dorr & Jones, he was employed by the
old Bank of Michigan, and for several years was
cashier of the branch at Kalamazoo.

In 1837 he became associated with James F. Joy
in the well remembered legal firm of Joy & Porter,
which continued for nearly twenty years, and dur-
ing that period was represented in most of the
important litigations in the courts of Detroit and
Michigan. Mr. Porter's commercial accuracy, ex-
cellent business methods and high attainments as
a lawyer were of great value to the firm, and were
in a large degree the cause of its success. His
portion of the work of the firm pertained almost
solely to ofiice practice, and as a counselor and
interpreter of intricate, difficult and close questions
of law, requiring deep penetration, a wide general
knowledge and a certain judicial quality of mind, he
particularly excelled. He was an indefatigable
student, and was naturally of an analytical and
critical mind— qualities which made his opinion
much sought and esteemed. The firm of Joy &
Porter became the oldest legal partnership in De-
troit, and was not dissolved until Mr. Porter's health
began to fail and Mr. Joy became prominently con-
nected with railroad management. Mr. Porter was
one of the agents of the State in negotiating the
sale of the Michigan Central Railroad ; was promi-
nent in the reorganization of the Michigan State
Bank in 1845, ^^^d was one of the first directors of
the first free school system established in Detroit.
He was also one of the original anti-slavery men
of Michigan, having been one of the organizers and
officers of the first anti-slavery society formed in
the State. His interest in the great political ques-
tion was deep, and during the days when to be
opposed to slavery was to arouse the popular preju-
dice, he manfully and unequivocally took sides
against a state of affairs the existence of which he
believed to be a national disgrace. He did not live
to see slavery abolished, but in the beginning of
the national struggle which it aroused, and which
he foresaw meant its downfall, he gave his loyal
support to the Union cause.

He was a firm believer in Christianity, a consist-
ent supporter of every good cause, and in every
relationship of life an exemplary citizen, husband
and father. For several years before his death his
health had been gradually failing, and his death.

^///T'-'i'--

'""'^^y-l^/?:^^

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JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

1 127

which occurred on August 21, 1862, was lamented
as a public calamity. His prudence, energy, and
close attention to business, enabled him to acquire
a competency, but he left a name more precious
than his fortune, and the record of a life of punctil-
ious honesty in spirit and deed, a business and per-
sonal career without spot or shadow, and an exam-
ple worthy of imitation.

Mr. Porter was married October 26, 1828, to
Eliza Smith Gove, of Rutland, Vermont, who died
in January, 1879. The result of this marriage was
eight children, but two of whom survive, Arthur C.
Porter and Mary J. Throop, widow of the late Gen-
eral William A. Throop, of Detroit, Michigan.

CHARLES L WALKER, one of the best
known and most prominent lawyers of Detroit, was
born at Butternuts, Otsego County, New York,
April 25, 1814. He is a descendant of a sturdy
old New England family, admirably fitted for the
furnishing of such elements as are needed to
command success amid the hindrances of a new
and growing country. His grandfather, Ephraim
Walker, was born in 1735, ^^^ married Priscilla
Rawson, a lineal descendant of Edward Rawson,
who graduated from Harvard College in 1653, and
for nearly forty years was secretary of the Colony
of Massachusetts, and while holding the office took
a bold stand against the usurpation of Governor
Dudley. He built a family mansion on the corner
of Westminster and Walker streets, at Providence,
Rhode Island, and there, during the year 1765,
Stephen Walker, the father of C. L Walker, was
born. In 1790 he married Polly Campbell, who
died in 1795, leaving two children. In the follow-
ing year he married Lydta Gardner, a Quakeress
of Nantucket, who became the mother of eleven
children, of whom C. I. Walker was the ninth in
order of birth. Of this large family, the youngest
had reached the age of twenty-one before death
invaded the household. Stephen Walker was a
house builder, a man of thrift, energy and high
principle, who gave his children every advantage in
his power. A writer in the " Book of Walkers "
says : " He was a man of fair abilities, sterling
good sense, honest, temperate, and remarkably
industrious. He labored for the good of his family,
and his ambition was to train them in the path of
honor, usefulness and piety." His wife "was
strong in person and character ; a woman of inex-
haustible energy and resources, and the care of
thirteen children set lightly upon her." The family
resided at Providence until 181 2, when they re-
moved to Butternuts, where the boyhood of Charles
I. Walker was passed.

He obtained his primary education in the district
school in his native village, supplementecj by one

term at a private school at Utica, New York. At
the age of sixteen he became a teacher, and a few
months later entered a store connected with a cot-
ton mill at Cooperstown, New York, where he
remained four years. In 1834 he left this employ-
ment and made his first journey to the West, going
as far as St. Joseph, and on his way passing through
Detroit. In the spring of 1835 he returned to
Cooperstown, and on his own account engaged in
mercantile business, but sold out the following
year to remove to the West. In prospecting for a
home he visited Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and
Iowa, and finally settled at Grand Rapids, where
he became a land and investment agent and built up
a good business, but the suspension of specie pay-
ment and the period of financial depression which
ensued, compelled him to discontinue. In Decem-
ber, 1836, he was elected a member and was chosen
secretary of the Territorial Convention to consider
the question of the admission of Michigan into the
Union. He was subsequently for two years editor
and proprietor of the Grand Rapids Times, the
only paper then published in that now thriving city
In 1838 he was elected justice of the peace, and
then left journaHstic life and began the study of
law under the guidance of the late Chief Justice
Martin. In 1840 he was elected a member of
the State House of Representatives from the dis-
trict comprising Kent, Ionia, and Ottawa Counties,
and the territory to the northward not yet included
in any county organization. In the fall of the fol-
lowing year he removed to Springfield, Massachu-
setts, in order to complete his law studies. He
became a student in the law office of Henry
Morris, afterwards a judge of the Court of Common
Pleas, remained in Springfield until the spring of
1842, and then studied law under the preceptorship
of Dorr Bradley, of Brattleboro, Vermont. In the
following September he was admitted to the bar,
and at once entered into partnership with Mr.
Bradley. In 1845, Hon. Daniel Kellogg, of Rock-
ingham, Vermont, having been elected justice of
the Supreme Court, Mr. Walker obtained his prac-
tice and business, remaining in Rockingham three
years, and upon the completion of a railroad to
Bellows Falls, Vermont, he removed to that place.
By this time he had acquired a large and growing
practice, extending into the adjoining counties, but
the West attracted him, and in 1 851 he returned to
Michigan and settled in Detroit, where his brother,
E. C. Walker, had already established a successful
legal business. They entered into partnership, and
in July, 1853, Alfred Russell was admitted as a
partner, the firm name being Walkers & Russell.
Their practice was principally in collections and
commercial business, and Mr. Walker, desiring to
devote himself principally tq trial pf causes md

1128

JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

argument of law cases, withdrew from the firm in
January, 1857, since which time he has had no
partner in the practice of his profession.

Soon after his second coming to Michigan, Mr.
Walker began to direct his attention to the early-
history of his adopted State. In 1854 he was
elected president of the Young Men's Society,
which at that time wielded a strong influence.
During 1854 he delivered the opening lecture of the
society course, taking for his subject " The Early
History of Michigan," in the preparation of which
he was assisted by General Cass. In 1857 he was
prominent in the re-organization of the Historical
Society of Michigan. In July, 1858, on the one
hundred and fifty-seventh anniversary of the found-
ing of Detroit, Mr. Walker read an elaborate paper
devoted to the " Life of De La Motte Cadillac and
the First Ten Years of Detroit.'* Among his
other historical papers are ** The Early Jesuits of
Michigan," " Michigan from 1796 to 1805," and
" The Civil Administration of General Hull." In
1 87 1 he read before the Historical Society of Wis-
consin a paper on ** The Northwest Territory
During the Revolution." It excited wide attention
from the many interesting facts it contained — never
before printed ; was published in the third volume
of the Wisconsin Historical Collection, and has
since been reprinted in the collections of the Pio-
neer Society of Michigan. Mr. Walker's taste for
historical research led to the collection of a choice
library of books and manuscripts relating to the
early history of Michigan and the Northwest, w^hich
were of real service to the author of this work
in the preparation of the first edition of the His-
tory of Detroit.

Mr. Walker has taken a warm and active inter-
est in educational matters ; was elected a member
of the Board of Education in 1853, and during
much of the time since then has been officially
connected with the Board, serving as president at
two different times. His vote and influence are
ever given to the broadest and most liberal pro-
visions in all matters relating to educational affairs.

In the spring of 1859 he was appointed one of
the professors in the law department of the Michi-
gan University, a position which he ably filled for
fifteen years, and then failing health and the de-
mands of business forced him to resign. On the
death of Judge Witherell in 1867, Mr. Walker was
appointed by Governor Crapo judge of the Wayne
County Circuit Court to fill the vacancy. At the
time of his acceptance of the office a proposition
to increase the salaries of circuit judges was pend-
ing in the Constitutional Convention, but, upon its
rejection by the people. Judge Walker, after hav-
ing held the office about ten months, resigned, as
he could not afford to sacrifice a lucrative practice

for the small salary then attached to this judicial
position. Since that time he has devoted himself
very closely and laboriously to his large law prac-
tice, and though now past three score and ten, is
regularly at his desk or in court, clear and vigorous
in mind, and with bodily strength apparently equal
to many years of w^ork.

Under a joint resolution of the Legislature in
1869, he was appointed by Governor Baldwin one
of the commissioners to examine the penal, reforma-
tory arid charitable institutions in Michigan, visit
such institutions in other States, and report the
results to the Governor. The commissioners made
extensive examinations and an elaborate report,
which led to the passage of a law creating a Board
of State Charities, of which Judge Walker was ap-
pointed a member and acted as chairman many
years. He represented the Board at the National
Prison Reform Congress at Baltimore in 1872, and
at St. Louis in 1874. Into the scientific considera-
tion of the great problems of charity and correction.
Judge Walker has gone with his whole heart, and
has been justly recognized as an authority in vari-
ous branches of these important questions.

He was reared in the faith of the Quakers, and
continued to observe their forms until he left home.
He then became a member of the Presbyterian
Church. When at Grand Rapids he gave his aid
in the organization of an Episcopal Church, was one
of its officers and a regular attendant while a resi-
dent there. While in Vermont he attended the
Congregational Church, and on returning to Detroit
became a member of the First Congregational
Church. He is not strongly denominational in his
feelings, his church relationships having been deter-
mined principally by circumstances.

Politically he has ever been a Democrat. He is
a strong believer in the morality and advisability of
free trade, and an equally strong opponent of the
centralization of political power. When twenty-
one years of age, he was a member of the Anti-
Slavery Convention at Utica, New York, which was
broken up by a mob, but reassembled at Petersboro
by the invitation of Garret Smith. While an inflex-
ible anti-slavery man, he was in sympathy with the
Free Soil party in 1848, and supported Van Buren.
He was a hearty supporter of the government war
measures from 1861 to 1865, and in the war meet-
ings held in that critical time to raise funds or vol-
unteers to prosecute the war he was a frequent and
influential speaker.

Personally he has a pleasant, agreeable manner,
with inflexible integrity and strong common sense.
His life has been characterized by faithfulness in
every trust committed to him. His private life has
been without reproach, and ra public affairs he has
been unusually active, influential,and useful,

A I .Ohllkd>r~ ^

JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

I 129

He was married in 1838 to Mary Hindsdale, sis-
ter of Judge Mitchel Hindsdale, a pioneer of Kala-
mazoo County. She died in May, 1864. In May,
1865, he married Ella Fletcher, daughter of Rev.
Dr. Fletcher, of Townshend, Vermont. By his first
wife he had one son and by his second, two chil-
dren, the younger of whom, a son, is a student at
Yale College.

EDWARD CAREY WALKER, the youngest
of the thirteen children of Stephen and Lydia
Walker, was born at Butternuts, Otsego County,
New York, July 4, 1820. At an early age he be-
came an inmate of the family of his brother Fer-
dinand Walker, then living at Hamilton, Madi-
son County, New York. He prepared for college
at the academy of that place, but at the age of fif-
teen left his studies to accept a position in an engi-
neer corps engaged in building the Chenango canal
under the charge of William A. McAlpine, after-
wards so distinguished as an engineer. After two
years' service, a broken knee, the result of being
thrown from a carriage, unfitted him for further
work in his chosen profession, and in September,
1837. still suffering from his injury and obliged to
use crutches, he came to Detroit to visit his sister,
Mrs. Alexander C. McGraw. Mr. McGraw advised
him to renew his studies, and offered to send him
to college at his own expense. He accepted the
offer, attended the branch of the University then at
Detroit, conducted by Rev. Chauncey W. Fitch,
afterwards Chaplain in the United States Army,
and in 1840 entered the junior class of Yale College
and graduated with honor in 1 842.

He then returned to Detroit, taught school for a
time in the branch of the University, and then be-
gan the study of law in the office of Joy & Porter
and subsequently spent a year in study under Judge
Story at the Harvard law school, and was admitted
to the bar in 1845. He at once began the practice
of his profession in Detroit and has since continued
therein with success and honor. In 1850, at his
request, he was joined by his brother, Charles I.
Walker, under the partnership name of C. I. &
E. C. Walker. In 1853 Alfred Russell became a
member of the firm, and so continued until i860,
when he became United States District Attorney.
In the meantime, in 1857, C. I. Walker retired
from the firm, and for fifteen years following
Charles A. Kent was associated as a partner with
E. C. Walker, under the firm name of Walker &
Kent. At the present time, and for several years,
Mr. Walker's only son, Bryant, has had a partnership
interest in his father's legal practice. Walker &
Walker becoming the firm name.

Mr. Walker's practice has largely pertained to
commercial business and the management pf prop-

erty interests for eastern parties. His knowledge
and skill as a lawyer, combined with his high per-
sonal integrity, have eminently fitted him for this
branch of practice. In matters connected with
land titles, and in questions affecting the rights and
responsibilities of corporations, his counsel is much
sought and highly esteemed. Painstaking labor,
persevering and incessant effort, have been rewarded
by a large and profitable business in the line of his
profession.

He has manifested a warm interest in educa-
tional matters, and has particularly interested him-
self in the advancement of the Detroit public
schools. For many years he was a member and
Secretary of the Board of Education of Detroit,
and though during late years not officially connected
with the Board, he has been enthusiastic in support
of all measures designed to increase the efficiency of
the educational institutions of the city. He has ever
been active in benevolent and reformatory work,
freely giving his time and money to every project
he deemed to be for the public good. He is a
strong advocate of temperance, and in 1846 was
secretary of one of the first temperance societies
organized in Detroit, and through the various
phases of this reform has been a staunch sup-
porter of the principle of total abstinence. He has
served as president of various literary and religious
societies, and has long been a member and elder
of the Fort Street Presbyterian Church, and actively
interested in the management of the church.

He is a Republican in political faith, was for four
years Chairman of the Republican State Central
Committee, and has had many opportunities to
enjoy political honors, but for the most part has
declined, preferring the more congenial work of his
profession. In 1863 he was elected by the popular
vote of the State a regent of the University of Mich-
igan, and drawing by lot the short term, served two
years, and was then re-elected for eight years, and
again elected for the same period in 1873. He was
chosen to represent the city of Detroit in the Legis-
lature of 1876, his most important service during
his term being as chairman of the Judiciary Com-
mittee of the lower house.

During the War for the Union he was a persist-
ent and conscientious supporter of the federal gov-
ernment, and gave liberally of time and money to
aid the Union cause. He was one of the organizers
in 1863 and chairman of the Michigan Branch of
the United States Christian Commission, which
sent delegates to the hospitals and fields, and ex-
pended over $30,000 in ministering to the welfare
and comfort of the Union soldiers. Asa member
of the commission, Mr. Walker personally spent six
weeks in caring for the woua^ed ^ft^f the batUe
of the Wilderness.

II30

JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

During a residence of half a century in Detroit,
Mr. Walker has sought and served the public weal
in many ways, and every trust, either of a public
or private nature, committed to him, has been zeal-
ously guarded and faithfully executed. He pos-
sesses naturally a kindly, sympathetic, and genial
nature, that kindles responsive feelings in those with
whom he becomes associated. All his influence is
on the side of morality, temperance, good govern-
ment, obedience to law, and the elevation of his
fellow citizens. Other citizens have attracted a
larger share of public attention, but few persons
have exerted a more helpful or manly influence in
the community where he has so long resided, and
where he is justly respected and esteemed.

He was married in 1852 to Lucy Bryant of Buf-
falo, New York. They have had two children,
Bryant, now his father's associate in business, and
Jessie, wife of Rev. Wallace Radcliffe, D. D., of
Detroit.

WILLIAM PALMER WELLS, the son of Noah
Burrall and Phoebe Palmer (Hewitt) Wells, was born
at St. Albans, in Franklin County, Vermont, Febru-
ary 15, 1 83 1. His father, a lineal descendant of
Thomas Wells, an early Governor of Connecticut,
was born in Old Canaan, Litchfield County, Con-
necticut, in 1794, and settled in St. Albans, Ver-
mont, in 1 81 2, where he was engaged in mercan-
tile pursuits until his death in 1857. His mother
was born in Pawlet, Vermont, in 1801, and was
a descendant of the Palmer family of Stonington,
Connecticut. She died at Detroit in 1882.

William P. Wells took a preparatory college
course at the Franklin County Grammar School at
St. Albans, and then entered the University of
Vermont at Burlington, and after spending four
years, graduated with the degree of A. B. in 1851.
After graduation he commenced the study of law
at St. Albans. In 1852 he entered the law school
of Har\^ard University, and in 1854 graduated with
the degree of LL. B., receiving the highest honors
of his class for a thesis on " The Adoption of the
Principles of Equity Jurisprudence into the Adminis-
tration of the Common Law." The same year he
received the degree of M. A. from the University of
Vertpont, and in 1854 was admitted to the bar of
his native State at St. Albans. In January, 1856,
he settled in Detroit, entering the law office of
James V. Campbell. In March following he was
admitted to the bar of Michigan, and in November
of the same year became a partner of James V.
Campbell, the partnership continuing until Judge
Campbell's accession to the bench in 1858 as one
of the judges of the Supreme Court of Michigan.
From that time to the present Mr. Wells has con-
tinued the practice of law alone in Detroit, His

legal talents early won just recognition, and his
practice has extended to all the courts of the State
and. United States. He has been counsel in many
of the most important litigations of the past twenty-
five years, notably in cases involving the constitu-
tionality of the War Confiscation Acts, heard in
the Supreme Court of the United States in 1869
and 1870.

He was a member of the Legislature of Michigan
in 1865-6, as a representative from the city of De-
troit. As a member of the Committee on Elections,
he took an active part in the contested election cases,
and made a report strongly urging the Legislature
to follow the decision of the Supreme Court upon
the "Soldier Voting Law."

He was a member of the Board of Education of
Detroit in 1863-4, and chairman of the Committee
on Library. In the latter capacity he made an
elaborate report in favor of the foundation of a
library which became a basis for the plan of the
present Public Library, and at its opening in March,
1865, he made the principal address.

In 1874-5, during the leave of absence of Judge
Charles I. Walker, Kent Professor of Law in the
University of Michigan, Mr. Wells was appointed
to the vacancy. On Judge Walker's resignation m
1876, Mr. Wells was appointed to the professor-
ship, a position he held until December, 1885,
when he resigned because of the interference of its
duties with his legal practice. The subjects assigned
to this professorship, and of which Mr. Wells had
charge, were Corporations, Contracts, Commercial
Law generally, Partnership, and Agency. Upon his
resignation an address was presented him by the
students, and resolutions of commendation adopted
by the Regency.

From January i, 1887, to the close of the col-
lege year, Mr. Wells held the position of Lecturer
on Constitutional History and Constitutional Law
in the University of Michigan, temporarily dis-
charging the duties of Judge Cooley, Professor of
American History and Constitutional Law in that
institution. In June, 1887. he was again called by
the Regency to the Kent Professorship in the law
school, and he now holds that position. The sub-
ject of Constitutional Law was added to those of
which he has charge.

Outside of his professional work, Mr. Wells has
given attention to general studies within the wide
range of intellectual culture, and is often called
upon for addresses upon literary and other occa-
sions. At the commencement of the Law Depart-
ment of the University of Michigan, in 1870, he de-
livered an address on " The Public Relations of the
Legal Profession," and in 1875 one on "The Relations
of Educated Men to American Politics,' ' before the
Associate Alumni of the University of Vermont ; in

C^L-\.^t^ ^:;t^^^'i-

JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

tl^l

1876 on "The Civil Liberty of New England"
before the New England Society of Ann Arbor,
and on " The Relations of Lawyers to the Reform
of the Law," at the commencement of the Law De-
partment of the University of Michigan in 1883.
At the Legislative Reunion at Lansing in June,
1886, he delivered an address upon "The Legisla-
tive Power in a Free Commonwealth;" also memo-
rial addresses in Detroit, on Decoration Day, 1883
and 1884.

Always an earnest advocate of the free trade
policy, he is vice-president of the American Free
Trade League, and an honorary member of the
Cobden Club of England.

He was one of the earliest members of the
American Bar Association, organized in 1878, which
holds its annual session at Saratoga, N. Y., and for
several years has been a member of the General
Council ; and in ] 888 was elected chairman of the
General Council. At the meeting in 1886, he pre-
sented a paper on " The Dartmouth College Case
and Private Corporations," which has been re-
printed from the transactions of the Association,
and widely circulated, attracting much attention.

Among the members of the legal profession, Mr.
Wells stands in the front rank. As an advocate, a
lecturer, and a gentleman of broad and liberal cul-
ture, he holds a place among the best, and his legal
attainments, tested by long practice in important
cases, justified his selection as an associate with
Judges Cooley and Campbell in the law faculty of
the University.

His legal studies, however, have not fully en--
grossed his attention, and the intervals of freedom
from pressing professional duties have been devoted
to following avenues of intellectual culture opened
by a liberal education.

Naturally a clear and vigorous thinker, and pos-
sessing the valuable gift of clear and forcible ex-
pression, he needed only the opportunities he has
enjoyed to secure eminence as an orator, alike at
the bar, in the political arena, and in the halls of the
University.

For his duties in connection with the University
he possesses special fitness, and it is by that work
that he will be most widely remembered. The
professional successes of a lawyer, however useful
or beneficial, are comparatively ephemeral, but the
teacher who has been the means of giving an intel-
lectual impetus, and who has imparted the clear
light of absolute knowledge to the inquiring mind,
is sure of being held in grateful remembrance.
That Mr. Wells has been greatly successful as a
professor is conceded by all who have any knowledge
of the University, and especially by the students
who have been fortunate in having him as an
instructor. His abilities are such as to command

acquaintanceship with many persons distinguished
in professional and political life.

He has long taken an active and leading part in
party politics ; he is, however, always dignified, self-
respecting and courteous to his political opponents,
and incapable of descending to the ignoble practices
so common in the political arena.

His party affiliations have always been with the
Democratic party, and he has been prominent and
active in its councils and efforts in Michigan. Dur-
ing the War for the Union he was a strong War
Democrat and ably supported the Government in
the suppression of the Rebellion. In 1866 he was a
delegate from Michigan to the Union National Con-
vention in Philadelphia. In 1868 he was a mem-
ber of the Democratic State Central Committee,
and in 1883 and in 1888, President of the Demo-
cratic State Convention. Often urged by his
party, ecpecially since its accession to control in the
Federal Government, for high positions, he has
steadily refused to seek office. His religious affili-
ations are with the Protestant Episcopal Church,
and he is a member of St. Paul's Parish.

He was married October 14, 1857, to Mary
Campbell, youngest daughter of Henry M. Camp-
bell. They have had four children, of whom only
one, Charles William, is now living.

ALBERT HAMILTON WILKINSON was
born at Novi, Oakland County, Michigan, Novem-
ber 19, 1834. His father, James Wilkinson, was of
English descent, and was born in Henderson, Jeffer-
son County, New York, February 24, 1800. In 1825
he purchased from the Government a tract of land in
Novi, upon which, as one of the earliest pioneer
farmers, he continued to reside until his death on
February 3, 1872. The maiden name of his wife was
Elizabeth Yerkes. She died in 1863. Her ancestors
were of German descent, and came to America in
the Colonial period. James Wilkinson had six chil-
dren, five of whom reached mature age. The eld-
est was Harmon, who died at the age of nineteen.
The other children, in their order after A. H. Wil-
kinson, were James Milton, now a banker at Mar-
quette, Michigan ; Melissa, wife of Homer A. Flint,
Register of the Probate Court of Detroit ; William
Lewis, deceased, and Charles M., a lawyer, at
Minneapolis.

Albert H. Wilkinson was reared in the country,
but early in life evinced a taste and desire for a pro-
fessional career. His education began in the dis-
trict school, and was continued at the Cochrane
Academy, at Northville, Michigan, conducted by
the father of the late Lyman Cochrane, first Judge
of the Superior Court of Detroit. After leaving
Northville, Mr. Wilkinson conducted a winter school
in Milford Township, Oakland County, and subse-

1132

JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

quently entered the State Normal School at Ypsi*
lanti, being one of the earliest students of that insti-
tution at its opening in the spring of 1853. At the
end of a year and a half he left the Normal School
to accept the position of principal of the Union
Graded School at Centreville, St. Joseph County,
Michigan. Being determined to perfect himself in
his studies, he remained only five months at Centre-
ville, and then, for the purpose of studying Greek,
went to Rttfus Nutting's Academy at Lodi Plains,
Washtenaw County, From there, in 1 8 5 5 , he entered
the Michigan State University, graduating in the
classical course in 1859. He then attended the law
department of the University, remaining during the
school year, afterwards studying in the office of
Judge M. E. Crofoot, of Pontiac, and in June, i860,
was admitted to the bar.

In the fall of i860, and for a short period there-
after, he practiced in partnership with Henry M.
Look, and afterwards with Oscar F. Wisner. In
August, 1 861, he came to Detroit, and for the follow-
ing five years continued the practice of law with
W. P. Yerkes, Probate Judge. On January i, 1866,
with Hoyt Post, he established the law firm of Wil-
kinson & Post, which was continued until 1873, when
Mr. Post retired, and Mr. Wilkinson formed a part-
nership with his brother Charles M., under the firm
name of A. H. & C. M. Wilkinson. In 1877 Mr.
Post again became a partner of the firm, and from
that time until 1884, when Charles M. Wilkinson
retired, the firm was known as Wilkinson, Post &
Wilkinson. Since 1884 it has been Wilkinson &
Post. Mr. Wilkinson's practice has been general,
but of late years has pertained largely to the settle-
ment of estates.

His party affiliations have been with the Repub-
lican party. He has been a member of the School
Board from the Fifth Ward, and from 1873 to 1877
served as Judge of Probate.

He was one of the organizers of the Michigan
Mutual Life Insurance Company and of the Mich-
igan Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and has
been attorney and director of both companies. He
was also one of the organizers of the Michigan
Savings Bank, and has always been its attorney.

When quite young he became a member of the
Baptist Church, and is an earnest and influential
spirit in that organization, and for several years has
been a trustee and deacon in the First Baptist
Church. He has been active in Sunday School
work, and for many years was Superintendent of the
First Baptist School, and also of the Clinton Avenue
Mission School. He assisted in the organization
and was the first president of the Detroit Baptist
Social Union. His reputation in the community is
that of an upright, consistent Christian gentleman,
an honest, painstaking lawyer, a good neighbor and

a firm friend, and he has received and fulfilled many
important trusts faithfully and honorably.

He was married July 4, 1859, to Elvira M. Allen
a graduate of the State Normal School in 1858.

JAMES WITHERELL was born in Mansfield,
Massachusetts, June 16, 1759. His ancestors came
from England between 1620 and 1640. In June,
1775, when only sixteen years old, he voluntarily
enlisted as a private in a Massachusetts regiment,
and served at the siege of Boston and entirely
through the War of the Revolution. He was severely
wounded at the battle of White Plains, was at the
battles of Long Island, Stillwater, and Bemis
Heights, and present at the surrender of Burgoyne.
He was also with the army at Valley Forge when
it endured the severest of its sufferings, and the fol-
lowing summer fought at the battle of Monmouth.
During the latter part of his services he held a
commission of Adjutant in the Eleventh Massachu-
setts Regiment. He witnessed the execution of
Andre, at Tappan, and with other soldiers partici-
pated in the final disbanding of the Continental
Army in 1783, at Newburg.

On being mustered out of service, he found him-
self in possession of seventy dollars in Continental
scrip. With this sum he settled in Connecticut,
studied medicine, and after about five years re-
moved to Vermont and engaged in the practice of
his profession. Here he rose rapidly in the esteem
of his fellow-citizens, and was called upon to fill a
number of public offices. He served in the Legis-
lature of Vermont from 1798 to 1803, was County
Judge for the two following years, and State Coun-
cillor for the three years following 1804. In 1807
he was elected to Congress, and in 1808 had the
pleasure of voting for the Act which abolished
the slave trade. While in Congress, on April 23,
1808, he was appointed by President Jefferson one
of the Judges of the Supreme Court of the Terri-
tory of Michigan. Soon afterwards he resigned
his seat and started for the then almost unknown
region. Arriving here, he found the duties of his
office arduous and perplexing. He was not only
one of the Chief Judges, but the Governor and
Judges together constituted the Territorial Legisla-
ture, and they also acted as a land board in adjust-
ing old land claims, and in laying out anew the
City of Detroit. From the time of his arrival in
Detroit until his decease. Judge Witherell was
prominent in all public affairs. As one of the
Judges he did more than any one else to squelch the
fraudulent Detroit Bank, and he aided materially
in bringing the chaotic laws of the Territory into
somewhat of symmetry, and was the author of the
"Witherell Code."

His family, who had been residing at Fair Haven,

mMczfS

JUDGES AND LAWYERS.

1 133

Connecticut, did not come to Detroit until 18 10, and
they remained only about a year, the unsettled state
of affairs with the Indians, and their threatening
attitude, causing them to return to Vermont. The
next year after their return the War of 181 2 began,
and Judge Witherell, who, in the absence of Gov-
ernor Hull, was the only Revolutionary officer in
the Territory, was placed in command of the Terri-
torial militia. On the arrival of General Hull and
the almost immediate surrender of Detroit, Mr.
Witherell refused to surrender his corps, but al-
lowed them to disperse. He, with his son, James
C. C. Witherell, who was an ofRcer in the volunteer
service, and his son-in-law, Colonel Joseph Watson,
became prisoners, and were sent to Kingston, On-
tario, where they were released on parole. They
then went to West Poultney, Vermont, and after
being exchanged, the Judge returned to his duties,
and continued in the same office until February i,
1828, when he w^as appointed Secretary of the Ter-
ritory.

Judge Witherell was about six feet in height,
erect in form, and possessed a positive character.
His correspondence shows great facility of expres-
sion, a wide range of words, and that he was a stu-
dent of books and men is abundantly evident. It
was said of him, by one of the most eminent states-
men of the age, that " he possessed as pure a heart
and as sound an intellect as is ordinarily given to
human nature." His sterling integrity, moral worth,
and prompt attention to official duties, made him an
acceptable judge. He was a man of few words,
but of clearly defined opinions, and possessed an
almost inflexible will. These qualities of mind, guided
by his strong common sense, enabled him to exert
a leading influence in whatever position he was
placed.

In 1 81 3 he bought w^hat is known as the Wither-
ell Farm, and resided upon it until 1836. He then,
removed to a residence on the site of the present
Detroit Opera House, where he died on January 6,
1838.

The Legislature was then in session in the city,
and both it and the Supreme Court of the State
passed eulogistic resolutions, and adjourned as a
mark of respect.

Judge Witherell was married to Amy Hawkins,
on November 11, 1780. She was born in Smith-
field, Rhode Island, and w^as a descendant of Roger
Williams. Her father's name was Charles, her
mother's maiden name, Sarah Olney. They had
six children: James C. C, born July 14, 1791 ; he
entered Middlebury College in 1803, but went with
the family to Detroit, arriving in a government
sloop on June 20, 18 10; he died at Poultney on
August 26, 1 81 3, Sarah Myrawas born September
6, 1792, married Colonel Joseph Watson, and died

in Poultney, March 22, 1818. Betsey Matilda was
born in 1793, married Dr. E. Hurd, and died at
Detroit in 1852. Mary Amy was born in October,
1795, married Thomas Palmer in. 1821, and died in
Detroit, March 19, 1874. Benjamin F. H. was
born in 1797, and died June 22, 1867. James B.
was born May 12, 1799, became a midshipman in
the United States Navy, and died of yellow fever
on board the United States ship Peacock, during
a passage from Havana to Hampton Roads.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN HAWKINS WITH-
ERELL was born at Fair Haven, Vermont, August
4, 1797, and was the second son of Judge James
Witherell, one of the Judges of the Territorial Su-
preme Court of Michigan.

He was educated chiefly in the East, under the
tuition of Dr. Beaman, and in 181 7, on the permanent
removal of his father's family to Detroit, he com-
menced the study of law m the office of Governor
Woodbridge. In 18 19 he was admitted to the bar
of the Territorial Court, and entered upon the prac-
tice of his profession in Detroit On the motion of
Daniel Webster, he was subsequently admitted to
the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.

He began almost immediately to be sought for
public office, and was appointed a Justice of the
Peace in 1824, and Recorder of the city in 1828. In
1834, and during the most of the year 1835, he served
as Judge of Probate and from 1835 to 1839 was
Prosecuting Attorney for Wayne County. In 1843
he became District Judge of the Criminal Court, the
district consisting of the counties of Wayne, Wash-
tenaw, and Jackson, and held the office for four years,
and until the Court w^as abolished by the Constitu-
tion of 1850. In 1857 he was chosen Circuit Judge
of Wayne County to fill the vacancy made by the res-
ignation of Judge Douglass, and was re-elected to this
office for two successive terms, serving in all some
ten years. During his term as Circuit Judge he also,
in 1858, under the law, served as one of the Judges
of the Supreme Court, and from 1862 to 1864 was
Judge of the Recorder's Court. In addition to the
above he served as a member of the convention of
1836 at Ann Arbor, w^hich resulted in securing
the admission of M ichigan as a State ; he was
also a member of the Constitutional Convention
of 1850. He served as State Senator in 1840 and
1 841, as Regent of the University in 1848, and
as Historiographer of the city of Detroit from 1855
to 1867. He also held at various periods of time
the military offices of Judge Advocate General.
Brigadier-General, and Major-General of the militia,
and was President of the Soldiers' and Sailors'
Monument Association at the time of his death.
He w^as President of the State Historical Society
for many years, and wrote numerous articles illus-

1134 JUDGES And LAWYERS.

trative of the history of Michigan, and in his day In his prime he was over six feet in stature, genial

no one was better acquainted with the history of and kindly in his disposition, and universally es-

Detroit than himself. Many of his recollections teemed as an upright and honorable man, and had

were published in the Detroit Free Press, over the a host of warm personal friends, especially among

signature of Hamtramck, and a number of them the French residents. He was married in 1824 to

were republished by the State Historical Society of Mary A. Sprague, of Poultney, Vermont. They

Wisconsin. He was one of the corporators of the had four children, namely, Martha E., James B.,

First Protestant Church of Detroit, and one of the Harriet C. M., and Julia A. His wife died in August,

first trustees of the First Methodist Episcopal 1834, and in 1837 he married Delia A. Ingersoll.

Church, organized in 1822. He was active and They had one child, Charles I. Witherell. The wife

influential in all moral reforms, helped to organize and mother died in 1847, and in 1848 he married

the Bible Society in 1831, and was one of the earli- Cassandra S, Brady, who died in March, 1863. Mr.

est to aid in establishing the common school system Witherell died on June 26, 1867.
of the city.

CHAPTER XCIV,

MERCHANTS.

HENRY JAMES BUCKLEY was born in the
city of Baltimore, in 1822, and in 1838 came to De-
troit, and entered the employ of Gurdon Williams
& Co., produce merchants and forwarders, who
were largely interested in the Detroit and Pontiac
Railroad, then in process of construction. The
same firm were pioneers of the Lake Superior trade,
and loaded and sent the first propeller that ever
cleared for that region, and, in addition to all their
other enterprises, were the owners of the Bank of
Pontiac.

Growing out of his connection with the firm, Mr.
Buckley, in 1839, served for a time as conductor on
the railroad, and, subsequently, as teller in the Bank
of Pontiac. At this time he was only seventeen
years old, but he had given such satisfactory proof
of his integrity and business talent that he won the
unlimited confidence of his employers. The amount
of labor performed by him would seem incredible,
to those unfamiliar with his astonishing capacity
for business at that time, and which was even more
fully exemplified in his after life. He performed
almost the entire official business, both of the bank,
and the railroad, regularly going the rounds of the
stores and warehouses, to look after shipments, when
the other duties of the day had been performed.

In 1854, the firm of Gurdon Williams & Co.
withdrew from the business of produce and for-
warding, and were succeeded by a new firm, con-
sisting of G. O. Williams, H. J. Buckley and N. G.
Williams. Further changes took place in i860 and
1 864, and, after the last date, the style of the firm
became " Buckley & Co.," their operations being
carried on at the identical stand at the foot of First
Street where Mr Buckley had commenced work.
The business of the house steadily increased, and
with its growth, Mr. Buckley became by degrees
closely identified with the interests of the Upper
Peninsula, and invested a large share of his earn-
ings in developing the resources of that important
portion of the State.

His proclivities were proverbially of an adven-
turous character, and the many mining enterprises
of that region presented a fine field for their exer-

cise. He operated, however, with tact and good
judgment, seldom risking largely where the invest-
ment was not proved judicious by actual results,
and very few copper mines were ever started to the
development of which his means and influence
were not contributed. His landed property in the
mining region grew to large proportions, and his
interests there, at the time of his death, were doubt-
less more diversified than those of any other man
ever connected with the Lake Superior trade

He was always well versed in mercantile values
and shrewd in making a bargain, and, when made,
no man was ever more faithful in abiding by a con-
tract. He had a high ideal as to what constituted
mercantile integrity, and would sacrifice thousands
of dollars rather than forfeit his honor, and this not
in a vainglorious spirit, but simply as a matter of
integrity.

He belonged to the Democratic school of politics,
and although warm and enthusiastic, his preferences
and convictions were never tainted by bigotry. At
the State election, in 1870, he was a candidate for
Representative in the State Legislature, and al-
though some of his colleagues upon the ticket were
men of great personal popularity, he received more
votes than any other candidate on the ticket, and
was one of the two Democratic Representatives
chosen. In 1865 he was unanimously elected
President of the Board of Trade.

He was a genial companion, and his manner was
always deferential, which rendered him a pleasing
associate, and it is worthy of note that in social life
he never spoke sneeringly or deprecatingly of others.
If he could not speak well of the absent, he would
say nothing.

He was married on November 3, 1858, to Mary
Williams of Detroit. She is still living, and also
their four children — Mary, Henry, Cornelia Wil-
liams and James Pinkney. Henry resides in San-
tiago, California. Mr. Buckley died November 27,
1870. The Board of Trade and other bodies passed
highly commendatory resolutions, and the attend-
ance of business men at his funeral was the largest
seen up to that time in Detroit, and included over

["35l

II36

MERCHANTS.

sixty members of the Board of Trade, who marched
in procession the entire distance to the cemetery.

JAMES BURNS was born November 10, 1810.
At the age of nine years he left his home in Lewis
County, New York, started in life for himself, and
in 1826 commenced to learn the trade of a car-
penter and joiner, in Turin, New York. Subse-
quently he attended the Louisville Academy,
studying in the winter, and in the summer working
at his trade.

In 1834 he came to Detroit, where he pursued his
trade for a year. The succeeding year he traveled
on horseback over a large part of the wilds of
Michigan, and bought for himself and others large
amounts of wild land.

He afterwards became clerk in the dry goods
house of Olney Cook, and after two years' service
became a partner, under the firm name of Cook &
Burns, For seven years they transacted business
in a store on Jefferson avenue, where the Old
Masonic Hall now stands, and during that time
their establishment became one of the best known
Business houses in the city. After several years
Mr. Cook retired, and T. L. Partridge was taken
into partnership, and the firm then became James
Burns & Co., and under this name carried on a very
successful business for fully twenty years. In 1850
the business was removed to the east side of Wood-
ward avenue, just north of Jefferson avenue. In
1866 Mr. Partridge retired, and Lucien A. Smith
was admitted as partner, the firm name chang-
ing to Burns & Smith, and remaining thus until
1874, when Mr Burns retired, having been in
the dry goods business in Detroit for nearly forty
years.

In 1 86 1, when the first Board of Review for the
city was provided for by the Legislature, Mr. Burns
was nominated by Mayor C. H. Buhl as a member
of the Board, was confirmed by the Council, and
served in this position twelve years, having been
nominated and re-nominated by five successive
Mayors and appointed by five successive Councils
of different political principles from his own. He
resigned in 1873, when elected as Representative in
the State Legislature. As a member of that body
he was appointed upon the Committee of Ways
and Means, and on many of the most prominent
special committees, and strove to make himself use-
ful rather than conspicuous.

In 1873 he erected the Burns Block on Griswold
street, and in 1877, with Mr. Buhl, he erected a
block on Woodward avenue, on the site of the old
Odd Fellows' Hall.

In 1876 he was Appointed, by the Governor, a
member of the Board of Control of the State Public
School at Coldwater, arid in 1877, was elected Presi-

dent of the Board, retaining the position for several
years.

Mr. Burns was married on April 20, 1838, to
Aurilla A. Bacon. They were members of the
Central Methodist Episcopal Church of Detroit for
over forty years, longer than any other married
couple in a membership of over seven hundred.
During this time the location of the church was
changed three times, each time being moved north-
ward on Woodward avenue. Mr. Burns filled
many of the most prominent positions in the church,
and always gave largely towards its support.

As a business man, Mr. Burns's unfailing char-
acteristics were industry and integrity. As a citizen,
he took a spirited interest in everything that tended
to the prosperity of the city, doing much towards
its material improvement by the erection of fine
buildings, and contributed freely of his means to
worthy and benevolent enterprises. In all his inter-
course with others he was plain and unassuming ;
his advice and judgment on business matters was
frequently sought, and he was eminently methodical
in the management of his own affairs, and trusted
and esteemed as a man and a Christian.

He died on December 7, 1883. His daughters,
Mrs. Henry A. Newland, Mrs. Rev. J. M. Buckley,
and Mrs. A. M. Henry, all died before him. His
wife and three grandchildren are still living.

WILLIAM KIEFT COYL only son of James
Coyl, sea captain, and Lydia (Hicks) Coyl, was born
in New Haven, Connecticut, February 1 3, 1 808. The
first years of his life were spent in New York City
with relatives, descendants of the early settlers of
New Amsterdam, after one of whom he was named.
Among his earliest recollections was the crowd
which ran through the streets crying Peace ! Peace !
after the War of 1812 which left him fatherless. In
his tenth year he went to live upon a farm near New
Haven, where in spite of a toilsome life and few
opportunities for study open to a country boy at that
time, he managed to obtain a fair education.

It has been truly said that *' the man is best edu-
cated who by any means has made his powers
available," and energy, clear thinking, and prompt
decision, were qualities brought West by this young
New Englander. His first location was with Mr.
John Deusler, near Canandaigua, New York, where
he learned the trade of making grain cradles and
other farming utensils. In his twenty-second year he
came to Birmingham, Michigan, built a saw mill, and,
in connection with Mr. John Benjamin, commenced
the manufacture of agricultural implements, and
there produced the first iron plows made in this State.

While in Birmingham he married Jane Bell,
and shortly after, in 1836, moved to Detroit. His
first enterprise here was the building of the '• check-

^Ly^^€lykyijp

.A^/f;:^i^^l,

f/ixf ^::f

/^i i< ^ c< <^/ /-i^ ' /

MERCHANTS.

II37

ered store " on Woodbridge street, between Wood-
ward avenue and Griswold street, where he carried
on a grocery and hardware business, and kept the
adjoining hotel. To this house, in February, 1838,
many of the wounded in the Patriot War were
brought for surgical treatment, receiving from him,
and other well known citizens, substantial aid and
sympathy.

The records of the Pioneer Society show, that it
was mainly through his " energetic efforts in raising
money and employing teachers," that District School
No. I was opened and kept in operation. His
account book of 1838 contains an interesting state-
ment of the running expenses of this small beginning
of our present fine public schools. Other entries in
the old book show that this gratuitous work was done
at a time when he was sustaining heavy losses in
the so-called wild-cat money of the time. Later on he
moved to Woodward avenue, where he was burned
out in the memorable fire of 1842. An estimate of
this loss closing with the pathetic words, " I have
lost all that I ever made, and now begin again," re-
minds one of Emerson's definition of manly cour-
age : — " It is directness, the instant performance of
that which he ought."

In 1844 he moved to the' then farthest up-town
store, on the corner of Woodward avenue and Cam-
pus Martins, conveniently near the Pontiac and
Michigan Central depots, fronting on the Campus.
Here he shipped green and dried fruits, cheese, and
other produce of Eastern States, to dealers in the in-
terior of Michigan, and later on, was the first to under-
take the shipping of fresh meat to Boston. His busi-
ness increasing, he moved to the warehouse at the
foot of Bates street, and afterwards to the foot of
Wayne street, also occupying the north half of the
Michigan Central freight depot, on Third street,
where he stored and shelled over half a million
bushels of corn, the first important shipment of
grain ever received from the interior of Indiana.
The biography of any old merchant is also a
history of the business methods of his time, and
the books kept by Mr. Coyl show that the grain,
produce and forwarding business was then carried
on in an entirely different manner from transac-
tions ingrain at the present day. Farmers brought
their produce directly to the warehouse, where,
in one busy day, six thousand bushels of grain
were bought and paid for, the teams waiting to be
unloaded extending, in a double line, from the dock
to the Franklin House, at the corner of Bates and
Earned streets. The capacity of the largest vessels
then running to Buffalo and Oswego was about 10,000
bushels, and it took forty-eight hours to load this
amount, by means of box-shaped hand-carts. New
inventions have lightened labor and increased trade,
but a wise writer has said " the machine unmakes

the man." The qualities then brought into exer-
cise in overcoming difficulties, attending to number-
less details, and in handling many men, developed
strong characters ; men of unquestioned integrity,
who took especial pride in the fact that they "always
paid one hundred cents on the dollar."

Mr. Coyl was of a retiring disposition, and, although
an earnest whig in early life, had no desire to become
prominent in local politics or societies. The only
office he ever held was that of member of the Board
of Estimates. In 1856 he retired from active busi-
ness in the city, and became interested in Iowa lands.
In i860 he built the block corner of Woodward Ave-
nue and Campus Martins, subsequently improving
other property, and, with business caution, entering
into all plans for the welfare of the city.

When the war opened, his two sons were among
the first to respond to the call for volunteers. Wil-
liam H. Coyl, a student of scarcely twenty when
commissioned Major, left a brilliant record as Lieu-
tenant-Colonel of the 9th Iowa Infantry, and Judge
Advocate of Kentucky. He died in 1866 of disease
of the lungs, the effect of a wound received at
the battle of Pea Ridge. During the war, Mr.
Coyl spent much time in seeking out and assisting
sick and friendless soldiers, and, in later life, a
fondness for young men became characteristic. His
pleasant office made attractive with means for social
games and current literature became a resort for
young men of all professions. Such companionship,
like mercy, "is twice blessed." He found diversion
and kept pace with the times in reading and dis-
cussing with " the boys " the social, scientific, and
religious questions of the day. In him they found
a sympathetic friend, and often a wnse helper, but
he was so quiet in his benefactions that few besides
the recipients knew of them.

He died August 13, 1883. Samuel B. Coyl, and
a daughter, Jean L., are the only surviving children.

THOMAS ROBERT DUDLEY was born in
Hunton, Kent County, England, December 11, 1833,
and is the son of Robert and Elizabeth (Boughton)
Dudley. His paternal ancestors lived in Kent for
centuries, while his mother represented one of the
oldest Yorkshire families. His father, a prosperous
farmer, died in early manhood, leaving his widow
with three children, of whom Thomas was the
youngest. The family after the father's death lived
with the children's grandfather, Robert Dudley.

Thomas R. Dudley attended the village school
until he was ten years old, and then entered the
Clapton School, of London, where he remained five
years. Equipped with a fair education, he then be-
gan his business career as clerk in a provision store.
While thus engaged, a gentleman from Cincinnati,
connected with the provision trade, visited his em-

1138

MERCHANTS.

ployer, and, in his hearing, spoke so enthusiastically
of the opportunities for advancement for young men
of energy in the New World, that Mr. Dudley deter-
mined to start for America as soon as possible.

He induced his brother, George P., to agree to ac-
company him, and in 1851, drawing from the bank
the small sum of money left them by their father,
they secured passage on a packet ship plying be-
tween Liverpool and Philadelphia, and after a voyage
of forty-five days, landed at the latter city, where
Thomas soon secured employment in a banking
house. In the meantime, his brother obtained a
situation in a furniture factory, but, in 1852, came to
Detroit, and here he was shortly after joined by
Thomas, where the latter immediately began to
learn the wood carving trade, in the furniture factory
of Weber & Stevens. After serving his appren-
ticeship, he entered the sale department, and for
twenty-three years, through the several changes in
the personnel of the firm, remained with the same
house, serving in all departments of the business.

In January, 1876, he went to Philadelphia, and,
with George W. Fowle, began the manufacture of
fans, on an extensive scale. The venture was not
particularly successful, and was discontinued in
September of the same year. Mr. Dudley then re-
turned to Detroit, and opened a small wholesale and
retail furniture store, in the Strong Block, on Jef-
ferson Avenue.

With a perfect knowledge of the demands of his
trade, acquired by long experience, rapid success
followed his undertaking, and his trade increased so
rapidly, that in the following March, it became neces-
sary to secure larger quarters, and he removed to
1 29 Jefferson Avenue. At the same time George
W. Fowle became a partner, under the firm name of
Dudley & Fowle. Their business continued to
grow until it has reached really large proportions.
The warerooms consist of seventeen floors, each
80x100 feet in dimensions, and their sales amount
to nearly a quarter of a million dollars annually,
and extend over Michigan and several adjacent
States, giving employment to a large number of
men. Active and progressive, the members of this
firm have made the name of their house well-known
to the trade, and in the space of ten years, from a
small beginning, with limited capital, they have
attained a leading position in the furniture trade of
Detroit. This is due in great measure to the energy
and business sagacity of Mr. Dudley, who has been
untiring in his exertions, and his efforts have ex-
hibited good judgment.

He has invested largely in real estate, and by the
erection of many fine residences has aided in beau-
tifying the city. Socially he is a genial companion,
and personally enjoys the friendship of a wide cir-
cle of friends, while his business integrity com-

mands the respect of the commercial community.
He is a Democrat in politics, but, aside from loyally
supporting the candidates and principles of his
party, has taken no active part in politics. Although
not a member of any religious denomination, he is
an Episcopalian from early training and faith, and
renders substantial support to religious and charit-
able work. His business partner, Mr. Fowle, was
born in Geneva, New York, but for many years has
been a resident of Detroit, and in numerous ways
has aided the prosperity of the firm.

Mr. Dudley married Sarah Marie Lawhead, of
Brighton, Michigan. They have had three children.
Charles Edward, the only one living, is an assistant
in his father's business.

WILLIAM H. ELLIOTT was born near Am-
herstburg, Ontario, October 13, 1844, and was
employed on a farm and in a store until he was
fourteen years old. His education was obtained
in the schools of that locality. His parents, James
and Elizabeth (Pastorius) Elliott, removed to Kings-
ville, a small village in Essex County, where his
father engaged in mercantile business and in milling.

At the age of sixteen William H. entered a store
at Amherstburg, where he remained until 1 864, when
he came to Detroit and engaged as clerk in a small
dry goods store on Jefferson avenue. In 1866 he
became a clerk for George Peck, m one of the stores
on Woodward avenue which he himself now occu-
pies. In 1 87 1 he was admitted as a partner with
Mr. Peck, the firm being George Peck & Co. The
partnership continued until 1880, when Mr. Elliott
withdrew from the firm and established business
for himself at 139 Woodward avenue. In 1884 he
bought out a dry goods store adjoining him, known
as No. 137, in which he had been engaged as
clerk in 1866, and by this operation more than
doubled the volume of his business. He continued
to prosper, and m 1887 added the next store on the
west, and his establishment now includes the three
stores, 135, 137 and 139 Woodward avenue, and is
one of the largest retail houses in Detroit.

His success has been really remarkable, and it is
noticeable that it has been achieved in the same
locality, and literally in the same block, where his
business life has been chiefly spent. This has given
him a large acquaintance with the purchasing pub-
lic, with whom he has always been popular, and
whose confidence he early secured by honorable
dealing, and has as surely kept. He has adhered
strictly to a cash business and to the one-price rule,
and has never been sensational in his advertisements
or methods. Although diligent in business, and
successful in building up a large trade, he has not
been lacking in public spirit nor unmindful of duties
and interests in other directions. Since 1 884 he has

/^^

C^^^4^^C^

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MERCHANTS.

"39

been a director in the Dime Savings Bank ; since
1886 a director in the Imperial Life Insurance Com-
pany, also treasurer and director of the Thomson-
Houston Electric Light Company, and from its
organization a director in the Preston National
Bank. He is the President of the Michigan Club,
and one of the trustees of Harper Hospital, also a
member of the Detroit and Grosse Pointe Clubs.
Much of his leisure time is spent in looking after his
farm and improved stock in Oakland County.

He is a Republican in pohtics, and an earnest
supporter of every movement that gives promise of
good to the city or nation. As a business man, he
ranks among the ablest in the city. Coming here
without means, he has carved out his own fortune
by energy, enterprise, good management and cour-
teous demeanor towards all, and there are few if
any but rejoice in the success which has crowned
his efforts. He is esteemed as a manly man, a
trustworthy citizen, and a devoted friend. Liberal
towards all worthy charitable objects, he has shown
himself especially helpful to deserving young men,
who by good conduct have commended them-
selves to his confidence. He has been twice married,
first in 1870, to Lena Caverly, who died in March,
1 87 1 . On April 21,1 874, he was married to Fidelia,
daughter of the late Rev. Dr. William Hogarth,
formerly pastor of the Jefferson Avenue Presby-
terian Church, of which congregation both himself
and his wife are members.

JAMES LAFAYETTE EDSON was born at
Batavia, Genesee County, New York, July 31, 1834.
His father's name was Lewis M. Edson. His
mother's maiden name was Sarah A. Flint. They
had five children, three boys and two girls, James L.
being the eldest. The family were descendants of
early puritans, the mother being from Massachusetts.

The elder Mr. Edson contracted the yellow fever
while on a visit to the South, and never fully recov-
ered from its effects, and in consequence of this
fact he and his family made frequent changes of
residence while searching for a favorable climate.
They finally located at Akron, in New York, about
twenty-five miles east of Buffalo, and there, in 1859,
the father died. The two brothers of J. L. Edson,
John M and Dallas M., enlisted in the War of the
Rebellion, the former dying at Fortress Monroe, and
the latter a few days after reaching home. The
mother and one sister, Mrs. Charles M. Rich live at
Akron, New York.

The year following his father's death, James L.
Edson, who was then sixteen years old, became a
clerk in the store of Charles M. Rich, the leading
merchant in the village. He was in the employ of
Mr. Rich four years and then went to Buffalo, where
be remained about a year, While in Buffalo he

became impressed with the larger business oppor-
tunities afforded in the West, and determined to
make a venture elsewhere. With this idea he left
Buffalo, without deciding definitely as to where he
would settle; and on December 7, 1855, arrived in
Detroit, Reaching this city an entire stranger, and
with but little means, he sought employment and
secured a situation with James Stephens, in the then
widely advertised and w^ell-known ** Checkered
Store," located on the site now occupied by the
stores of J. L. Hudson. He remained in this
establishment about two years, and in 1857 secured
a place in the large wholesale dry goods house of
Orr, Town & Smith, who had succeeded Zachariah
Chandler & Co., at 23 Woodward avenue, Mr.
Chandler, who had been elected to the United
States Senate, retaming an mterest as special part-
ner. In the spring of 1866 Mr. Edson was admit-
ted as a partner in the business, the name of the
firm being changed to Allan Shelden & Co., the
partnership continumg for six years. In Febru-
ary, 1872, in connection with George F. Moore,
Ransom Gillis. Charles Buncher and Stephen Bald-
win, Mr. Edson organized the firm of Edson,
Moore & Co. They began business at Nos. 188
and 190 Jefferson avenue, on the west side of Bates
street, and in 1882 removed to the building Nos. 194
to 204 Jefferson avenue, which was erected espe-
cially for their occupancy.

In this place the success of the firm has been
quite exceptional, and no house of the kind in
Detroit does a larger business, and few dry goods
houses in the West sell as many goods yearly as
are marketed by their establishment. The extent
of the business affords ample scope for business
management of the highest order, and the success
achieved affords abundant evidence of the possession
of these qualities by the persons chiefly interested.

In social life, Mr. Edson is known as a warm
friend and generous companion. He is liberal in
his benefactions, appreciative of good endeavors,
discriminating in judgment, and is highly esteemed
as a progressive, successful and public-spirited citi-
zen. Politically he is a Republican, and has served
as President of the Michigan Club. In addition to
his regular business interests, he is a large share-
holder in the Brush Electric Light Company, and a
director in the People's Savings Bank.

He was married in August, 1857, to Julia A.
Collins. They have two living childr-en, Mary A.
and Lillian E. A third daughter, now deceased,
was the wife of E. T. Adams,

JACOB S. FARRAND was born in Mentz,
Cayuga County, New York, May 7, 181 5. His
parents came to Detroit in May, 1825, but after a
few months removed to Ann Arbor, While living

1 140

MERCHANTS.

at Ann Arbor, Mr. Farrand, then a boy of thirteen,
carried the mail on horseback between Detroit and
his home. Two years later in 1830 he came to De-
troit, where he secured employment in the drug
store of Rice & Bingham. After six years' service,
having attained his twenty-first year, he formed a
partnership with Edward Bingham and embarked
in the drug business and continued therein for five
years He was then appointed deputy collector of
the port and district of Detroit, then extending below
the city and around the shores of Lakes Huron and
Michigan and including the city of Chicago. Dur-
ing the year of 1841 he also served as military sec-
retary of the Governor. After four years' service
as deputy collector he again entered the drug
business and has since continued actively engaged
therein.

As senior member of the wholesale drug firm of
Farrand, Williams & Co. he has seen the business
grow from a few thousands yearly to an amount
exceeding $1,000,000 annually. The high standing
of the house in commercial circles has been largely
due to the untiring energy, careful management and
unsullied business probity of Mr. Farrand. His
active energies have also been directed to other busi-
ness channels where equal success has followed his
endeavors. For many years he has been treasurer
of the Detroit Gas Light Company ; a director of the
Detroit Fire and Marine Insurance Company ; at
present vice-president, and from its organization a
director of the Wayne County Savings Bank ; from
the beginning connected with the Michigan Mutual
Life Insurance Company and for many years its
president. For years he has been a director of the
First National Bank and was its president from 1 868
to 1883, holding the position at a time when able
financial management and the full confidence of the
people were especially needed. His wise counsel,
good judgment and far-seeing ability as well as
his personal worth inspire the fullest trust in all the
institutions under his control.

Jn a monograph on Banking in Michigan, pre-
pared by Theodore H. Hinchman, he pays Mr.
Farrand the following well deserved tribute , " Jacob
S. Farrand was president of the First National Bank
from the death of S. P. Brady in 1868 until the ex-
piration of its first term in 1 883. He is of medium
height, slender with strong regular features and
pleasing address. His well known reliability and
integrity commended the bank to public favor and
aided in securing to it a large business. Careful,
conscientious, faithful attention to duties, combined
with good sense, entitled him to a high position as
a bank officer. His kindly deportment and benev-
olent impulses have won many friends. He is one
of those rare good tempered persons who have no
quarrels and consequently have no enemies. At the

same time he is not over credulous or liable to
imposition."

His taste and disposition do not run toward pub-
lic station nor official life, but on several occasions
he has waived his personal preferences and accepted
public duties. From i860 to 1864 he was a mem-
ber of the Common Council. During this period he
served for one year as president of the Board and
for a short time was acting mayor. When the Met-
ropolitan Police law was enacted he was appointed
Police Commissioner for the long term and served
eight years all the time as president of the Board,
after which he was solicited to continue in office but
declined a re-appointment. For twenty years he has
been a member of and has served as president of
the Board of Water Commissioners. He has ever
evinced a warm interest in educational projects, and
as a member of the Board of Education was for sev-
eral years a helpful factor in securing liberal pro-
visions for the maintenance of public schools, and is
president of the Detroit Home and Day School.

From boyhood Mr. Farrand has been a member
of the first Presbyterian Church of Detroit, and
since 1856 an elder. His efforts in religious and
charitable work have been founded on deep and
conscientious convictions of duty. He was a mem-
ber of the committee to the General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church, which met at Dayton,
Ohio, in 1863, at New York in 1869, and at Detroit
in 1873. H'e took a prominent part in the action
which brought about the union of the new and old
schools of Presbyterians of the United States, hav-
ing been a member of the joint committee on re-
union appointed by the Assemblies in 1866 and also
of the committee of conference on the same subject
appointed by the Assemblies of 1869. He was on
the committee for the reorganization of the Board
of Home Missions and for many years was receiving
agent in Detroit for the American- Board of Commis-
sioners of Foreign Missions, In July, 1877, he was
a delegate to the Pan Presbyterian Alliance held at
Edinburgh, Scotland. In local church work in con-
nection with the Presbyterian denomination, he has
been as active as the most critical could desire, both
by gifts of money and of personal service. For
many years he has been a Sunday school teacher, in
one of the most needy fields of mission labor and in
temperance work was active at an early day, when
to be so was to be singular, and his labors in this
direction and in favor of Sunday observances are
well known matters of record. He has been from
the first actively and earnestly interested in the
furtherance of the interests of Harper Hospital,
serving as trustee and for several years as President
of this most worthy institution. He is also a trustee
of the State institution known as the Eastern Asy-
lum for the Insane ax Pontiac.

W^Q,

'>i^-

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MERCHANTS.

1141

Mr. Farrand is simple in his taste and habits,
modest and retiring in disposition, conscientious and
careful in his doings. His religious views are the
result of the clearest and most deliberate convic-
tions, but he is full of generous and charitable im-
pulses and includes in his fellowship all who believe
in and practice the Christian virtues. As a business
man he is conservative and cautious, yet when he
has once embarked in an enterprise he has the
courage to see it through to the end. He is one of
those who know how to be independent without
being obstinate. Although conservative, he is not
harnessed to dogmas or rules ; is seldom aggressive,
but is never crowded from the platform of his own
judgment. He never arouses antagonism by arro-
gant or dogmatic pursuance of a project, but a
course of action decided upon, although pursued
with persistency would be so manifestly fair as to be
accepted by all the right thinking as wise and just.
In matters of great interest, and in times of great
excitement, his equanimity is undisturbed and his
judgment unclouded. His deep interest in the
material prosperity of Detroit has been proved in
many w^ays Personally he is genial and pleasant,
enjoying the society of his friends, and living
loyally up to every duty of his public, busmess, and
private life. More could be said of him in com-
mendation ; less could not and do justice to one
who for so long a period has rendered constant,
devoted, and efficient service to many agencies that
have aided in the enlightenment and uplifting of his
fellow-citizens.

He was married August 12, 1841, to Olive M.
Coe, of Hudson, Ohio, daughter of Rev. Harvey
Coe, a pioneer of the Western Reserve, well known
to many of the older citizens of this city. Their
children are: Mary C, wife of Rev. James Lewis,
of Joliet, Illinois; W. R. Farrand, J. S. Farrand, Jr.,
and Ollie C, wife of R. P. Williams.

JOHN FARRAR, of Detroit, traced the family
ancestry to John Farrar, of Lancashire, England,
who, with his younger brother Jacob, settled at and
were among the first proprietors of Lancaster,
Massachusetts, which town was incorporated on
May 18, 1653. On the twenty-fourth of Septem-
ber, 1653, they were leaders and signers of what
was called "a covenant for the better preserving of
the purity of religion and themselves from the
infection of error, and for the exclusion of excom-
municants or otherwise profane and scandalous per-
sons, or anyone notoriously erring against the doc-
trine and discipline of the churches and the State
and the government of the commonwealth." Dur-
ing King Phillip's War, on February 10, 167$, the
town was nearly destroyed by the Indians and sev-
eral of the family were killed by them. The Far-

rars of Lancashire, England, are descended from
the Farrars or Farrers of Eawood Hall, Halifax,
Lords of the Manor Wortley, in Yorkshire, of which
family the head in 1863 was James Farrar, of Ingle-
borough County, York, Deputy Lieutenant for
West Riders and County Durham, and formerly
Member of Parliament of South Durham. From
this Yorkshire family came Robert Farrar or Far-
rers, Bishop of St. David and Canon of St. Mary's,
who was martyred in the reign of Queen Mary.
They were descended from Henry de Ferrers,
son of Walchelin de Ferriers, who was a Nor-
man Knight, and a conspicuous leader in the army
of William the Conqueror in 1066 ; his name is on
the roll of Battle Abbey and in the Doomsday
book. The Lordship of Etingdon was given him in
Normandy after the conquest. He was created
Lord of Tutbury, County of Stafford, and his son
Robert, Earl of Derby, by King William. The
family originally took its name from Ferriers, a
town in the Gastenois, France, celebrated for its
iron mines. Arms, crests and mottoes are numer-
ous in the early history of the family. The de-
scendants of John and Jacob Farrar have been in all
the wars incident to the United States ; have served
as judges and filled various professorships at Dart-
mouth, Andover and Cambridge.

John Farrar, of Lancaster, Massachusetts, died
November 3, 1669. His son John was born in
England between 1640 and 1650 and had a son
John who was born about 1670, who left a son also
named John, born about 1700. He married Anna
Chandler. In 1758 he joined the British Army
under General Braddock and is supposed to have
been killed at the taking of Quebec in 1759. His
son John, born about 1732, married Anna Whit-
ney; he was in the War of 1776. His son, Captain
Asa Farrar of Rush, now Avon, New York, form-
erly of Lancaster, Worcester County, Massachu-
setts, was born in Northfield, Massachusetts, June
16, 1760, died at Avon, January 18, 1829. He
married Dorinda Pearsons, a relative of Rev.
Abram Pearsons, first President of Yale College.
In May, 1777, at the age of seventeen, he joined the
Continental Army and was three years in Captain
Hodskin's company, under Colonel Timothy Bige-
low, and three years in Colonel Crane's regiment of
Massachusetts Artillery, and for his services re-
ceived a pension.

His son, John Farrar, of Detroit, was born June
27th, 1793, in Rutland, Massachusetts, but spent
his childhood w^ith his parents on their farm at
Rush, New York. His education, which included
private instruction in surveying and architecture,
was completed at Canandaigua. New^ York. On
July I, 1 81 2, when nineteen years old. he entered
the American Army and served in Captain James

1 142

MERCHANTS.

McNaif's company of Colonel Philetus Swift's regi-
ment of volunteers. He was stationed at Black
Rock, on the Niagara frontier, most of the time
during the summer and autumn of that year. On
the sixteenth of October, the sailors, under the com-
mand of Lieutenant Elliott, boarded and cut loose
the brig " Adams" and the schooner " Caledonia,"
then lying at anchor at Fort Erie, to send them
over Niagara Falls. The *' Adams" grounded on
Squaw Island and was burned and the " Caledonia "
landed off Long Battery. In this affair John Far-
rar took a prominent part. While serving under
General Scott he participated in and was wounded
at the battle of Lundy's Lane and at the close of
the campaign was among the troops left to guard
the Niagara frontier and remained there through
the winter of 18 13. For these services he received
a pension and a grant of land.

On June 15, 181 5, at Canandaigua, New York,
he became a member of the Masonic body. In the
two following years, business called him to Canada,
where he gained many friends through his connec-
tion with that society. He received the degree of
Master Mason on November 6, 1820, at Ontario
Lodge, No. 23. He subsequently became a mem-
ber of Zion Lodge, No. i, at Detroit; filled all the
offices and was one of the founders of Detroit
Lodge, No. 2. The petition for the charter of this
last Lodge was signed by John Farrar, Levi Cook,
John Mullett, Marshall Chapin, Jeremiah Moors,
Charles Jackson and three others. During the
anti-Masonic excitement their lodge meetings were
discontinued, but after a lull of fourteen years they
aided in re-establishing Masonry and administered
the Royal Arch degree from memory, each one
recalling a part of the ceremony. John Farrar was
High Priest of Monroe Chapter in 1825-26, a
Knight Templar and a member of Monroe Coun-
cil, R. A. S. M., and various other bodies of the
order and Senior Grand Warden of the Grand
Lodge of Michigan. At the time of his death he
was one of the oldest members in the United States,
and a year before was received with honors at the
Grand Chapter.

He arrived at Detroit, May 22, 181 7, and be-
came a useful citizen and merchant. During ter-
ritorial times he was an intimate friend of Gen-
eral Cass and was chosen by him to represent the
territory in the erection of the Court House or Capi-
tol, which duties he performed from October i, 1826,
to July I, 1827. Prior to this he had given most of
his time to building and surveying and was fre-
quently called upon to pass judgment on structures
for the city, territory or State. He was alderman
at large in 1828, '31 and '36, assessor and collector
of the Second Ward in 1843-44; was collector in
1832, '38 and '4^- He was one of the first projec-

tors of the Detroit Mechanics' Society and was
their bondsman for the construction of their first
building on Griswold Street. He was President
and Secretary of that society in 1836, and 1841 to
1853, and from 1854 to i860, and librarian for the
thirty years preceding his death. He favored edu-
cation ; w^as one of the committee who selected the
University grounds at Ann Arbor, and in 1834 was
one of the committee that established the first dis-
trict school m Detroit ; it was conducted by Charles
Wells in the old academy on Bates Street. He
was commissioned to the second lieutenancy in the
militia by acting Governor Stephen T. Mason, on
May 23, 1832, and was first lieutenant in Captain
Charles Jackson's Dragoons in the Black Hawk
War of 1832, under General John R. Williams, and
one of the escort that accompanied Colonel Edward
Brook, Major Charles W. Whipple and Major M.
Wilson, to Chicago, to assist in the protection of
that town from the Indians. The command es-
caped conflict but were voted thanks by the cor-
poration of Chicago for the prompt response to
their call for help. They remained some weeks
awaiting developments of the war, and during the
time made a reconnaissance of Napier settlement,
a point then threatened by the Indians. After the
capture of Black Haw^k they returned. For his ser-
vices in this war, Mr. Farrar received a grant of
land.

After his return he purchased a building on the
corner of Bates and Atwater Streets, the last named
street then bemg the chief business thoroughfare,
and in 1836 opened a general store with dry goods,
hardware and groceries, doing what was then con-
sidered a thriving business. At the great fire of
April 27, 1837, the store and all its contents were
burned.

Mr. Farrar was brought up a rigid Puritan but
became a more liberal thinker and in 1831, with two
others, purchased the First Presbyterian Church
and removed it to the corner of Bales Street and
Michigan Grand Avenue, with the expectation of
its being used as a Universalist Church, but the
project failed and the building was sold to and
occupied by the Trinity Catholic Church. He was
thoughtful of the needs of others, a liberal giver to
charities and a great entertainer, and many families
emigrating to Western homes found an asylum with
him. His homestead was at the corner of Bates
and Farrar Streets, which latter street perpetuates
his name.

He had a very retentive rnemory, possessed a
fund of information on matters connected with the
military and political history of the United States,
and took great delight in relating incidents con-
nected with his personal and ancestral history, to
relatives and intimate friends. He was naturally of

-^S'^''^'^'^.-,^-' C-^-' ^^i'--"^- /^^---i--

MERCHANTS.

1143

a retiring disposition and although importuned to
become a candidate for prominent positions, he
steadfastly refused, yet he filled several municipal
offices with honor and trust and with a zeal that
was eminently characteristic. He was a Whig in
politics and when that party ceased, became a
Republican.

He married his first wife, Mrs. Hannah Mack, on
March 27, 1822. She died at Avon, New York,
November 6, 1824. They had one daughter, De-
lecta Ann, w^ho married Rev. Jackson Stebbins, of
Iowa On May 29, 1825, he married Anna Mul-
lett, of Darien Centre, New York. She was born
at Halifax, Vermont, September 4, 1792, and died
at Detroit, July 18, 1872. She was a sister of the late
James Mullett of Fredonia, and Buffalo, New York,
and of John Mullett, one of the pioneers of Detroit,
from whom the Mullett farm and street take their
names. Their parents, Robert and Elizabeth Gib-
bons Mullett were from Milton Abbas, England,
and descendants of William Malet de Graville,
whose name appears on the roll of Battle Abbey.

John Farrar died at Detroit, January 14, 1874,
aged 80 years. He w^as buried in Elmwood Ceme-
tery with Masonic honors. The children of John
and Anna Farrar were Francis Mullett Farrar and
Chileon Cushman Mullett P^arrar, of Buffalo, New
York ; Huldah Mullett Farrar, wife of Jerome B.
Starring, of Detroit ; Harriet Mullett Farrar, of De-
troit, and John Perry Farrar, of Chicago, 111.

BENJAMIN F. FARRINGTON, for several
years one of the leading wholesale grocers of
Detroit, was born near Albany, New York, June
30, 1834, and was the son of Robert and Clarissa
Farrington. When he was five years old he accom-
panied his parents to St. Clair, Michigan, where,
after completing a brief course of instruction in the
public schools, he became a clerk in a dry goods
store. He remained at St. Clair until 1855, when
he secured employment as clerk in the general
merchandise store of J. L. Wood & Co., at Lexing-
ton, Michigan, and his services were so highly
appreciated that in 1862 he was offered and accepted
an interest in the business.

Three years later, as he desired to enter a wider
field, he severed his connection with the above firm,
and came to Detroit. For three years, from 1865
to 1868, he served as traveling salesman for Under-
wood, Cochrane & Co., boot and shoe dealers. In
1868, with A. D. Pierce and Hugh McMillan as
partners, under the firm name of Pierce, Farrington
& McMillan, he embarked in the dry goods business.
They occupied for a short time a store on the east
side of Woodward avenue, just below Jefferson
avenue, but subsequently removed to *]"] and 79
Jefferson avenue. Here, in 1870, their store was

destroyed by fire, after which the affairs of the firm
were amicably settled, but business was not resumed.
During the same year Mr. Farrington, with J. T.
Campbell as partner, established a coffee and spice
store on Woodward avenue, just south of the Finney
House, under the firm name of Farrington, Camp-
bell & Co. They soon removed to a store under the
Michigan Exchange, and from there, in 1878, to
Nos. 73 and 75 Jefferson avenue. In 1880 Mr.
Campbell retired, and the firm name was changed
to B. F. Farrington & Co., and in 1883 the business
was removed to the large and commodious business
stores at Nos. 54 and 56 Jefferson avenue, which had
been erected by Mr. Farrington.

He was one of the organizers of the Merchants'
and Manufacturers' Exchange, a man of great busi-
ness ability, and of indefatigable energy. In a few
years he succeeded in building up a large and
profitable business, and it is doubtful if any com-
mercial house in this section of the country made
more rapid and substantial progress in the same
period of time. The personal labor he expended in
accomplishing this was done at the expense of
health. His overtaxed physical force produced an
affection of the brain, which resulted in his sudden
death on November 2, 1886. He was an exemplary
citizen, an honorable, straightforward business
man, and of irreproachable moral character. His
disposition was kind and genial, and his sunny
temperament made him socially an agreeable com-
panion, and he possessed many warm friends.

Mr. Farrington was married September 23, 1862,
to Emma Fletcher, of Mount Clemens, Michigan,
who still survives him. Their one child, a son, died
in infancy.

DEXTER MASON FERRY was born at
Lowville, Lewis County, New York, in 1833, and is
a son of Joseph N. and Lucy (Mason) Ferry. The
name marks the family as originally French, yet its
first appearance in America was in 1678, when
Charles Ferry came from England and settled in
Springfield, Massachusetts. Dexter Mason, mater-
nal grandfather of D. M. Ferry, represented for
several terms the ultra-conservative district of Berk-
shire, in the Massachusetts Legislature, and was a
cousin of the late Governor George N. Briggs, of
that State. The paternal grandparent of D. M.
removed from Massachusetts to Lowville,New York,
where his father, Joseph N. Ferry, was born, reared
and lived until his death in 1836. Shortly after his
death the family removed to Penfield, eight miles
from Rochester, in the county of Monroe, New
York.

D. M. Ferry passed his boyhood at Penfield,
and at the age of sixteen began life on his own
account by working for a neighboring farmer at the

1 144

MERCHANTS.

moderate wages of ten dollars a month, spending
two summers in this way, attending the district
school during the winters. In 1851 he entered the
employ of Ezra M. Parsons, who resided near Roch-
ester, his object being to secure the benefits of
the more advanced schools of that city. The fol-
lowing year, through the influence of his employer,
he obtained a position in the wholesale and retail
book and stationery house of S. D. Elwood & Co.,
of Detroit, where he was first errand boy, then
salesman, and at last bookkeeper.

In 1856 he was one of the organizers and junior
partners of the firm of M. T. Gardner & Co.. seeds-
men. The partnership so formed continued until
1865, when Mr. Gardner's interest was purchased,
and Mr. Ferry became the head of the firm.
Eventually the firm of D. M. Ferry & Co. was
formed, composed of D. M. Ferry, H. K. White,
C. C. Bowen, and A. E. F. White. Mr. Ferry,
however, is the only person who has been continu-
ously connected with the business from its begin-
ning in 1856. In 1879 the organization absorbed
the Detroit Seed Company, and the business was
incorporated, retaining the name of D. M. Ferry &
Co., with a capital of $750,000. Mr. Ferry retained
the largest amount of the stock, and became the
president and manager.

To build up this, the largest and most successful
seed establishment in the world, has required im-
mense labor and skillful business methods and
mercantile generalship of the highest order. The
business was begun on a very small scale in a Monroe
Avenue store ; its entire sales for the first year were
about six thousand dollars, and its market was
confined to a very limited territory. To-day the
sales extend to almost every township in the United
States and Canada, and even reach many foreign
countries, and have amounted to over a million and
a half dollars in one year. The importations from
English, Dutch, French, German and other Euro-
pean concerns, are the largest of any house in this
line of trade in the country. The corporation sup-
plies over eighty thousand merchants with a complete
assortment of seeds for retailing, and also ships large
amounts to dealers and jobbers in bulk, the ship-
ments averaging more than three car loads of seeds
every day in the year. The concern grows enormous
quantities of seeds, but the great proportion of the
stock is raised and cared for under contract by seed
farmers in many parts of the United States and in
various sections of Canada and Europe.

On the first day of January, 1886, their four-
story brick warehouse, containing about five acres
of floor space, was destroyed by fire. The build-
ing occupied the easterly half of the large block
bounded by Brush, Croghan, Lafayette and Ran-
dolph Streets, and every building save one was

destroyed. The loss by this fire was the most
severe ever suffered in Detroit, and of this the
Ferry Company's share reached the sum of nearly
a million of dollars. The recuperation from this
stunning blow was amazing, and is to be credited
to the presence of mind and unlimited resources of
Mr. Ferry and his corps of able assistants. From
every source of supply, seeds were gathered and
hurried to Detroit. Several large buildings were
leased, and the various departments of the company
were organized, and within a few days, work was
going on with almost its normal efficiency, an
accomplishment which best illustrates the business
energy which has ever characterized Mr. Ferry's
career. Not one of their great army of customers
knew by any delay, failure or defect of quality, that
on the first day of the year the whole working ma-
chinery of the company was swept out of existence.
A new six-story warehouse, larger and more com-
plete than the old, was erected in 1 887, on the site
of the one destroyed, and is elsewhere shown.

The building up of this great industry, which is
far-reaching in its influence, and contributes not
only to the prosperity of Detroit and to an army of
employes, is doubtless a more beneficent factor in
commercial affairs throughout the country than
almost any other establishment in the West. In
its management from the beginning, Mr. Ferry has
had a decisive influence, and that its great success
is largely attributable to his persistent energy, saga-
city, integrity and rare talent for organization and
administration, is freely and readily acknowledged
by those most conversant with its beginning,
growth and development. Through this extensive
commercial establishment his name and work
have been made more widely known than those of
almost any other merchant in the United States.
His efforts have been justly rewarded in the accumu-
lation of a large fortune, nearly all of which is
invested in various financial and manufacturing
enterprises in Detroit. His most prominent real
estate investment is the magnificent five-story iron
building on Woodward Avenue, erected in 1879,
and occupied by Newcomb, Endicott & Co. He is
the largest stockholder in the National Pin Company,
established in 1875, and has been its president from
the first. He is a director and vice-president of
the First National Bank ; was one of the organizers,
and from the beginning has been a trustee of the
Wayne County Savings Bank, and of the Safe
Deposit Company. He aided in organizing the
Standard Life and Accident Insurance Company of
Detroit, of which he is president. He is also presi-
dent of the Gale Sulky Harrow Manufacturing
Company; vice-president of the Michigan Fire
and Marine Insurance Company, and director of
the Detroit Copper Rolling Mill Company, the Fort

MERCHANTS.

1 145

Wayne & Elmwood Railroad Company, and of
several other corporations.

His own taste, as well as the engrossing demands
of a great business, have prevented Mr. Ferry from
entering the field of active politics. He is a strong
and steadfast Republican, but has rarely been a
candidate for an elective office, and has held public
place only when it came without solicitation on his
part. He was made a member of the Board of
Estimates in 1^77-%, and at the end of his term
declined a renomination. In 1884 he was appointed
a member of the Board of Park Commissioners by
Mayor Stephen B. Grummond. During his term
he strongly opposed the sale of beer and other
intoxicants on Belle Isle Park, and with William A.
Moore, another member of the Board, defeated such
a prostitution of this public recreation ground, and
his course met the approval of the best public
opinion of the city. His term of office expired in
1885, and he was again nominated by Mayor Grum-
mond. His conscientious and praiseworthy action in
regard to the intrusion of beer in Belle Isle Park,
which had earned him the gratitude of the respect-
able element of the community, had, however,
excited the enmity of the small politicians who sat
in the Council, and his nomination by the Mayor was
defeated. This action was denounced, not only by
the public press regardless of party, but by a large
mass meeting held in April, 1886, which adopted a
resolution thanking Messrs. Ferry and Moore for
their stand in the interest of the public good.

With commendable public spirit he gives his
influence freely to every project, business, social or
charitable, that promises to be of public benefit, and
his private charities are large, discriminating, and
entirely lacking in ostentation. In 1868 he became
connected with the management of Harper Hospital,
and in 1888 was elected Vice-President of Grace
Hospital, and is also a trustee of Olivet College.
He has taken much interest in the art movement in
Detroit, and was one of the original contributor to
the building fund, by which has been insured to the
city a permanent museum of art.

He was reared in the Baptist faith, and when
quite young united with that church. In later
years he became connected with the Congregational
denomination, and is now a trustee of the Second
Church of Detroit. He is broad and liberal in
religious views, and strongly opposed to extreme
sectarianism.

No person in Detroit is more important as a fac-
tor in its commercial prosperity, and Mr. Ferry's
success has been so justly earned, and so well does
he use it, that none begrudge him his good fortune,
and all rejoice that Detroit possesses such a citizen.'
He is natural and unaffected in manner, and one to
whom false pride is unknown. Always affable and

pleasant, he is kind and considerate to those in his
employ, and easily wins their confidence and respect ;
is equally popular with the public at large, and
possesses a host of close friends. He is an indus-
trious student, and even while deep in the cares of
business, finds time to keep up with the current
thoughts of the day. His life, public and private,
viewed from all sides, furnishes us with one of the
best types of mercantile life to be found in any
country.

He was married October i, 1867, to Addie E.
Miller, of Unadilla. Otsego County, New York.
They have four children living, three daughters and
one son.

AARON CODDINGTON FISHER, the fourth
son in the family of twelve children of Jeremiah and
Hannah (Coddington) Fisher, was born in Somer-
set County, New Jersey, September 22, 1820. His
father was a descendant of Hendrick Fisher, of
Bound Brook, New Jersey, who was born in 1703,
the year that Hendrick Fisher, Sr., arrived at that
place.

The elder Hendrick Fisher died on October 17,
1749- From an old number of the Messenger of
Somerville, New Jersey, we gather the following
particulars concerning the son : Hendrick Fisher
was a man of earnest piety, and much respected.
He was one of the founders of Queen's, now Rut-
ger's College, and was a noted man in the province
for many years. He possessed great intelligence
and energy, and was always on the patriotic side in
every controversy, and of an irreproachable charac-
ter. He earnestly supported his pastor— the Rev.
Theodore J. Frelinghuysen— in his efforts to intro-
duce a strict evangelical life in his church, and per-
haps no person had more influence than he had in
securing the results that were reached. When the
oppressive acts of the King and Parliament aroused
the Colonies to resistance, he, in company with Jo-
seph Borden and Robert Ogden, represented the
province of New Jersey in the Congress known as
the " Stamp Act Congress." He was a delegate to
the Provincial Congress of New Jersey, which met
at Trenton in May. 1775, oi which important body
he was elected President, and in his opening ad-
dress set forth in a forcible manner the grievances
of the American Colonies. He was Chairman of
the Committee of Safety, exercising legislative au-
thority during the recess of Congress, and held other
offices of honor and trust. He was a member of
the Assembly previous to the breaking out of the
Revolution, and in the Provincial Congress at Tren-
ton, in December, 1775, moved that the delegates
to the General Congress be instructed to use their
influence in favor of a Declaration of Independence,
and when the immortal document was received, he

1 146

MERCHANTS.

was the first to read it to his neighbors and con-
stituents. When he had finished, so great was
their joy, that they mounted him on their shoulders
and paraded him through the street (there was but
one — the great Raritan Road) in triumph. The
old bell of *' Kets " Hall, which then hung in the
belfry of the Presbyterian Church, was rung, cannon
were fired, and the patriots drank toasts at the bar
in the tavern of Peter Hardending. He died on the
tenth of May, 1779, leaving two sons, Jeremiah and
Hendrick. The former was probably the great-
grandfather of A. C. Fisher. The mother of the last
named was born in New Jersey in 1792, and his par-
ents were married in 181 1.

About the year 1825 the family moved from New
Jersey to Genesee County, New York, and lived
there about twelve years. In 1837 they moved to
Monroe County, Michigan, where they remained
three years, and then moved to Mount Vernon,
Ohio, remaining there seven years, and then in 1 847
coming to Detroit. Here, in 1853, the elder Mr.
Fisher died, and on April 16, 1883, the wife and
mother also passed away.

In his youth Aaron C. Fisher attended school in
the winter, and in the summer worked on the farm.
As he grew to manhood he not only provided for
himself, but assisted his parents also. Wages at
this time were so low that, at the age of seventeen,
he worked a whole month for a barrel of flour. At
this period he was already learning the rudiments
of his subsequent occupation as a builder, and was
employed in a brickyard at sixteen dollars per
month and his board. When he had reached his
eighteenth year he began to feel anxious to settle
down in some permanent occupation and in the
Spring of 1 839, seeing no other opening, he com-
menced to learn the business of an iron molder
and served an apprenticeship at the business, fol-
lowing the same nearly seven years, but disliking
this occupation he began to look around for one
that suited him better. His elder brother being a
bricklayer and builder in Mount Vernon, Ohio,
where he was then living, he at intervals turned his
attention to the art of bricklaying and became a
thorough and practical workman.

In 1847 he came with his father's family to De-
troit, and during the first year after his arrival here
he worked about six weeks at molding in O. M.
Hydes' foundry near the old Water Works, He
then turned his attention to building, and in the
year 1848 entered into partnership with his brother
Elam, who was also an expert bricklayer, and the
firm soon became prominent builders and con-
tractors. The partnership continued under the
name of E. & A. C. Fisher for about seventeen
years, and was dissolved in 1865. During the con-
tinuance of the partnership the firm erected many

prominent structures, and scores of buildings of
their erection are still standing ; among them may
be named the building on the northwest corner of
Jefferson Avenue and Griswold Street, occupied by
A. Ives & Son, bankers, also the block opposite on
the northeast corner, erected for the late John S.
Bagg ; they also built the " Rotunda," formerly
standing on the site of the present Newberry &
McMillan Building ; also the north half of the Mer-
rill Block, formerly known as the Waterman Block,
on the corner of Woodward Avenue and Larned
Street. Later on they built the north half of the
entire block on the east side of Woodward Avenue,
between Congress and Larned Streets, also the
block on the corner of Monroe Avenue and Farmer
Street, running down to the Kirkwood House.
They also erected the residence of the late Zachariah
Chandler, the Fort Street Congregational Church,
the First Presbyterian Church, on the corner of
Farmer and State Streets, and the Fisher Block,
facing the Campus Martins.

After the dissolution of the partnership in 1865,
A. C. Fisher carried on the business on his own
account until the ^Spring of 1867, and then, with
David Baker, he embarked m the carriage hard-
ware trade, under the firm name of Fisher, Baker &
Co. The firm continued until March i, 1882, when
Mr. Fisher sold out his interest to Baker, Gray &
Co., and since that date he has given his entire
time to the care of his own large landed interests
and to the administration of the large estate left in
his care by his deceased brother Elam. Mr. Fisher
is modest, quiet, and retiring in disposition, prompt
in his business engagements, faithful in the dis-
charge of whatever trusts are confided to him, and
is in every way a worthy and estimable citizen.

He has been a member of the Methodist Episco-
pal Church since he was eighteen years old, and for
the last thirty-five years has been an official and
leading member of th§^ church in Detroit, and at
present is President of the Board of Trustees of the
Central Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a lib-
eral giver, conscientious in his duties, and a wise
counsellor. Until five years ago he voted with the
Republican party. He then united with the Pro-
hibition party, and upon this issue ran for State
Treasurer in 1886, and gives, and lives, and labors
in the hope of the final triumph of Prohibition.

He was married March 21, 1844, to Eliza L.
Willis. They have had three children, Adelaide,
Mrs. Lottie F. Smalley and Mrs. Charles B. Gray.
The last named is the only one now living.

RICHARD HENRY FYFE traces his ancestry
to Scotland. His grandfather, John Fyfe, the first
of the family who adopted the present mode of
spelling the name, was a son of John Fiffe, of the

MERCHANTS.

1 147

county of Fife, in Scotland. He emigrated to
America about a year before the commencement of
the Revolutionary War, and served in the colonial
forces while the seat of war was near Boston, Massa-
chusetts. On February i, 1786, he married Elizabeth
Strong, and shortly after moved to Otter Creek,
Salisbury, Vermont. His wife represented one of
the most distinguished of the early New England
families, and several of his descendants have been
eminent in literature and science. John Strong, the
progenitor of the American branch of this family,
came from England, settled in Massachusetts in
1730, and assisted in founding the town of Dor-
chester.

A history of the descendants, written by Benjamin
W. Dwight, forms a large volume, embracing
nearly 30,000 names. It says : " The Strong family
has been one of the largest and best of the original
families of New England. They have ever been
among the foremost in the land to found and favor
those great bulwarks of our civilization, the church
and the school. Many have been the towns, the
territories and the states into whose initial forms
and processes of establishment they have poured
the full current of their life and strength. Few
families have had more educated or professional
men among them. The list includes scholars,
physicians, lawyers, teachers, preachers, judges, sen-
ators, and military officers." John Fyfe died on
January i, 181 3, and his wife, in November, 1835.
They had seven children, four sons and three
daughters. The youngest, Claudius Lycius Fyfe,
was born January 3, 1798. On April 6, 1825, he
married at Brandon, Vermont, Abigail Gilbert,
whose parents were among the first settlers of
Genesee County, New York. His early life was
spent in agricultural pursuits, but his latter years in
the leather and tanning business. He removed
with his family to Knowlesville, New York, in 1830,
three years later he moved to Chautauqua County,
New York, and then back to Knowlesville. In 1837
he emigrated to Michigan. Soon afterwards he re-
turned to New York, but eventually settled at
Hillsdale, Michigan, where his last years were
passed. His wife died in 1848, and he in 1881.
They had six children, all girls except the youngest,
Richard Henry, who was born at Oak Orchard
Creek, Orleans County, New York, January 5, 1839.

After his parents returned to Michigan, Richard
H. Fyfe attended school at Litchfield, but at the age
of eleven, through unfortunate business specula-
tions of his father, he was obliged to begin life's
battle for himself, and became a clerk in a drug
store at Kalamazoo, and subsequently at Hillsdale.
During his period of clerkship at the above places
he spent much of his leisure time in study, and
although his business has demanded close attention,

he has always taken time for reading and study,
and is more than usually well informed in current
and general literature.

In 1857 he came to Detroit from Hillsdale and
entered the employ of T. K. Adams, boot and shoe
dealer. He remained with Mr. Adams about six
years, after which he served in a similar position
with the firm of Rucker & Morgan, who were in
the same line of trade. In 1865, with the savings
which his industry and economy had accumulated,
he purchased the business of C. C. Tyler & Co.,
who had succeeded T. K. Adams. The establish-
ment was located on the site of store No. loi
Woodward Avenue, still occupied by Mr. Fyfe.
With limited capital, he was environed by difficulties,
but through native pluck and careful business man-
agement from year to year his business steadily in-
creased, until he is at the head of his line of trade in
Detroit.

Commencing with a small retail and custom
trade, the latter branch of his business has grown
to such proportion that at the present time he
probably manufactures more of the finest grade of
custom boots and shoes than any other concern in
the United States. On the site where he began
business, a five-story building, 22x100 feet in dimen-
sions, was erected in 1875. In 1881 he bought out
the boot and shoe establishment of A. R. Morgan,
successor to Rucker & Morgan, located at 106
Woodward Avenue, and from that date until 1 885
conducted a branch establishment at that location.
At the latter date he opened a branch store at 183
and 185 Woodward Avenue, and at these two
establishments about one hundred persons are
employed. Since 1873 Mark B. Stevens has been a
partner in the business, under the firm name of
R. H. Fyfe & Co. Mr. Fyfe's success in business,
although rapid, has been healthy and natural. He
has been both progressive and practical, giving his
whole time and attention to building up, enlarging
the scope and improving the character of his work.

He was married October 27, 1868, to Abby
Lucretia Albee Rice, daughter of Abraham W.
Rice. She was born in Marlboro, Massachusetts.
A member of no religious denomination, Mr. Fyfe
is in hearty sympathy with all church work For
the last twelve years he has been a Trustee of the
Westminster Church, and has been largely instru-
mental in promoting the financial welfare of that
organization. He served for a number of years as
a Trustee of the Michigan Medical College, iii the
success of which he took great interest, and did
much towards strengthening that institution by
aiding in introducing practical business methods into
its management. He was instrumental in effecting
its consolidation with the Detroit Medical College,
which resulted in the establishment of the prosper-

1 148

MERCHANTS.

ous and successful Michigan College of Medicine,
nof which he is also a Trustee.

Politically Mr. Fyfe has generally acted with the
Republican party, but aside from representing his
party in State and other nominating conventions, he
has had little to do with party management. Socially,
he is a pleasant and affable gentleman, and a
prominent member of the Detroit, Lake St. Clair
Fishing, and the Grosse Pointe Clubs, but is best
known as a successful, self-made business man, and
one who extends willing and ready aid to all projects
that pertain to the advancement of the city.

RUFUS W. GILLETT was born at Torring-
ford, Litchfield County, Connecticut, April 22, 1825.
On the paternal side his ancestors were French
Huguenots, while his mother represented one of
the early Puritan families. John Gillett, the first of
the name in America, came from England and
settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1634, and
was the founder of a family which has given to New
England and other parts of the country a large num-
ber of enterprising business men, and a number of
prominent and influential members of the clerical
and medical profession. Mr. Gillett's grandfather,
John Gillett, was a minute man at the battle of
Bennington, and served as Lieutenant of a company
until the close of the War of the Revolution.

John Gillett, the father of Rufus W. Gillett, was
born in Torringford in 1776, and died there in
1857. He was a farmer, but engaged in numerous
other business enterprises, possessed rare good
judgment, and was a prominent factor in the poli-
tical history of his native town and county. He
was a man of sterling integrity, his judgment was
consulted in all local public affairs, and he held
the most important town offices, and for twenty
years represented the county in the State Legislature.
For many years he was the home agent for a land
company in Ohio. His wife's maiden name was
Mary Woodward. She was a daughter of Dr.
Samuel Woodward, for many years a leading phy-
sician of Torringford, whose ancestors settled in
Massachusetts in 1632. Four of his sons were
physicians, and all of them became well known in
New England as possessing a high degree of pro-
fessional ability. The family was also related to
Judge A. B. Woodward, at one time Chief Justice
of the Territory of Michigan.

The boyhood days of Rufus W. Gillett were
passed upon a farm. He was educated at the com-
mon school and public academy of his native town,
and at the age of seventeen years, became a clerk in
a country store at Litchfield, Connecticut, where he
remained two years. The next five years were
spent as a merchant and farmer in his native town,
and for the three years following he served as

agent of New York and Connecticut cutlery manu-
facturing companies. In 1856 he was appointed
Secretary and Treasurer of the Woolcotville Brass
Company, retaining the position until January,
1862, when he came to Detroit. Here he embarked
in the grain commission business, as a partner of
A. E. Bissell, under the firm name of Bissell & Gil-
lett. This partnership was continued for six years,
after which Mr. Gillett, with Theodore P. Hall as
partner, founded the well known grain commission
house of Gillett & Hall. The business interests of
this firm have grown in volume from year to year,
until at the present time the extent of their opera-
tions excel those of any firm in the same line in the
State. Besides their regular commission business,
they buy large quantities of corn and oats in
Missouri, Kansas, and other Western States, for
eastern sale and for export.

Mr. Gillett has been prominent in the manage-
ment of the affairs of the Chamber of Commerce,
and has served as President for several successive
years. He has been President of the Preston Na-
tional Bank since its organization. He is Vice-
President of the Detroit Copper and Brass Rolling
Mill Company. He is also Vice-President of the
Gale Harrow Manufacturing Company, a Director
in the Standard Insurance Company, and is con-
nected with several other business interests in
Detroit. He was one of the corporators and is
President of the Woodmere Cemetery Association.
Politically he has always been a Democrat, but
although interested in the maintenance of good
government, has preferred to discharge his political
duties as a private citizen. R epeatedly offered party
nominations in the municipal government, he has
always refused to become a candidate. He has,
however, served on the Board of Estimates, and, in
1880, was appointed one of the Board of Fire Com-
missioners, which position he still occupies.

During his quarter of a century's residence in
Detroit, he has been eminently successful in busi-
ness, and has the full confidence of the business
public. His evenness of temper and natural
affability attracts friends, making him socially popu-
lar and his company desirable. In business matters,
that person is fortunate indeed who can command
his esteem and co-operation. He comes from a
long lived ancestry, from whom he inherited a robust
constitution, and he continues so hearty and vigor-
ous that he has seemingly many years of active life
before him.

Mr. Gillett was married May 26, 1847, to Charlotte
M. Smith, a daughter of Nathaniel Smith, a mer-
chant of Torringford, who was postmaster for over
forty years. He held many other responsible posi-
tions, and was a prominent citizen of that part of
the State for many years. Mr. Gillett has had three

MERCHANTS.

I 149

children. The eldest, Mary Woodward, married
Henry K.Lathrop, Jr., of Detroit ; the second,Charles
Smith, died at Detroit, October 18, 1876, at the age of
twenty-six years. The youngest daughter, Hattie
Winchell, married William R. Ellis, of Detroit.

HENRY GLOVER was born April 30, 1812, in
De Ruyter, Madison County, New York, a State to
which Michigan is indebted for a large portion of
its staunch and sturdy citizens. His mother died
when he was but two years of age ; his father was
a mechanic in moderate circumstances but gave his
sons a good common-school education. His best
gift, however, was a robust and sound constitution,
and the invaluable principle of early self-reliance,
with habits of industry and strict integrity, which
were instilled by example, as well as by precept.

At twelve years of age, Henry Glover was
apprenticed to the tailors' trade, and by the time he
was twenty-two, by close application and economy
he had saved $700 — no small amount for a young
man to have earned and saved in those days when
wages were so light. Feeling the necessity of a
better education than he possessed, which feeling
he attributes to the early adoption of the Christian
faith, and which has permanently influenced his life,
Mr. Glover determined to add to his prospects of
usefulness and success by securing such intellectual
discipline as was within his reach. He therefore
entered the academy at Homer, New York, and spent
several years in diligent study, paying his way with
the money he had saved. After his academic course
he went to Syracuse, and engaged in the dry-goods
business, but did not meet w4th much success,
owing to his lack of capital and his limited mercan-
tile experience. Believing that he possessed the
elements of success, he determined to seek new
fields where the outlook was more encouraging, and
consequently embarked at Buffalo for the West,
on the steamer De Witt Clinton.

After a trip of three days' stormy weather, Mr.
Glover landed in Detroit, on October 15, 1836.
The town then numbered but six thousand in-
habitants. He put up at the American Hotel, kept
by Petty & Hawley, located on the present site of
the Biddle House, and at once commenced business
as a merchant tailor, determined from the start to
keep the best goods only and to do the best work.
He often saw dark days, but little by little he added
to his small savings and laid the foundation of a
comfortable fortune. He had no inclination for
political honors, the only office he ever held being
that of School Inspector. In 1843 he became a
member of the firm of Smith, Glover & Dwight,
the firm doing a large business in handling general
merchandise and lumber. After about two years
Mr. Glover withdrew from the firm and resumed

his former business. In religious belief he has ever
been a staunch Baptist, having united with that
denomination in Ithaca, New York, in 1831. He
has been steadfastly loyal to the truth as held by
that denomination, but gladly fraternizes with all
Christian believers. He possesses strong convic-
tions of truth, and conscientiously adheres to what
he believes to be right, whether popular or not.
During all the years of his residence in Detroit he
has been looked to and relied on for contributions
to denominational and other charities, both in the
city and in the State.

Having confidence in the future of the city,
he invested in real estate, and was soon able to
retire from mercantile life. He was among the
first, if not the first, to see the possibilities of Jeffer-
son Avenue as a wholesale and jobbing street, and
in 1865, when the greater portion of the avenue was
lined with mediocre stores and shanties, he bought
of Daniel Scotten a lot corner of Jefferson Avenue
and Wayne Streets, then covered with rookeries of
the worst possible character. These were cleared
away and a substantial brick block erected. It w^as
first occupied by John James & Son, hardware
dealers, who were probably the first jobbing firm in
that neighborhood, if not on the avenue. Mr.
Glover also built a four story building on the oppo-
site side of the avenue, and a large brick dwelling
on the corner of Fort and Sixth Streets, and a sub-
stantial dwelling-house on Edmund Place, where
he resides.

During the fifty-one years that he has been iden-
tified with Detroit, he has seen it grow from little
more than a village to the most beautiful metropo-
lis of its size in the country, and to-day may take a
pardonable pride in reflecting that he has been, to
some considerable extent, influential in its growth
and prosperity, and it can be conscientiously said of
him that what he has done, he has tried to do
well.

He was married, in 1839, to Miss Laura Dwight,
an estimable lady, who nobly discharged the duties
of wife and mother, and who actively engaged in
all works of charity. They began housekeeping
at the corner of Lafayette Avenue and Griswold
Street, where the McGraw building now stands,
directly in front of which was the Michigan Central
Depot. He has had seven children, two of whom
died in infancy, and two others, Frank D. and Arthur
Y. Glover, in early manhood, when full of promise for
the future. Three children are still living. Two
of them, James H. and George D. Glover, being
engaged in drug manufacture. The daughter,
Clara, is the wife of John M. Nicol, cashier of the
American Banking and Savings Association. All
of the children are residents of Detroit. He was
married the second time, in 1885, to Miss Imogene

II50

MERCHANTS.

S. Dimmock, of Maine, a cultured and Christian
woman.

JEREMIAH GODFREY, who was one of the
oldest and most respected citizens of Detroit, was
born in Thompson, Sullivan County, New York,
February 1 6, 18^14, and was the seventh son of a
family of thirteen children, all of whom lived to
mature age. His ancestors were English, and came
to America prior to the Revolution.

Mr. Godfrey came to Detroit in 1835, and en-
gaged in the painting business, forming a partner-
ship, in 1838, with John Atkinson, under the firm
name of Atkinson & Godfrey. They were located
at the corner of Earned Street and Jefferson Ave-
nue until the year 1850.

At an early day Mr. Godfrey connected himself
with the volunteer Fire Department, and performed
active service until the present system was organ-
ized. In 1843, nearly ten years before his retire-
ment from active business, he was selected as
Assessor for the Sixth Ward. In 1853, the year
after he retired from business, he served as Collec-
tor for the Fifth Ward. The satisfactory way in
which he performed the duties of these offices, his
excellent judgment in the valuation of real estate,
and his superior business ability, caused him, in
1 86 1, to be selected as one of the members of the
first Board of Review, under a new system of
assessing property. He held this position until
1863, when, on the invitation of the late Francis
Eldred, then City Assessor, he entered that office,
and remained during that gentleman's administra-
tion, a period of three years, and continued in a simi-
lar relation with Mr. A. A. Rabineau for the five years
following. Upon the resignation of Mr. Rabineau,
Mr. Godfrey was unanimously chosen by the coun-
cil to fill the unexpired term, and was afterwards
appointed by the Mayor as the head of the depart-
ment, remaining three years longer, thus making
in all some twenty years' continuous service in that
office. In the administration of public affairs Mr.
Godfrey applied the same rules of economy that he
practiced in his private business. His broad and
correct judgment, his unswerving integrity, and his
excellent business habits, rendered his services in
municipal affairs of great value, and the City of
Detroit never possessed a public servant who
labored more conscientiously than did Mr. Godfrey
for nearly a quarter of a century. He seemed to have
a genius in real estate matters, and his judgment in
that line of business was regarded as infallible.
While looking over his paper one morning in January,
185 1, he noticed that the property on the southwest
corner of Woodward and Grand River Avenues
was advertised for sale. He immediately started
out, and, within an hour, purchased the property.

and soon after began the erection of the block which
bears his name.

Mr. Godfrey was a staunch Democrat and al-
ways acted with that party, with the single excep-
tion of the campaign of i860, but held in supreme
contempt all arts of the politician which looked
toward personal advancement. He always mani-
fested a keen interest in everything that affected
the public welfare ; his purse was always open to
calls for charity, and he contributed to many public
enterprises. He was married December 29, 1836,
to Mrs. Sophronie Fletcher, of Detroit. He died
March 9, 1882. His wife, one daughter, Mrs. Jesse
H. Farwell, and one son, Marshall H. Godfrey, sur-
vive him.

BRUCE GOODFELLOW, the present head of
the widely known house of Mabley & Company, has
contributed largely, by his energy and enterprise, to
the successful progress of mercantile interests in his
adopted home. He was born October 6, 1850, in
Smith's Falls, Ontario. His paternal grandfather
(William), the pioneer of the family in America,
was born in Scotland, in 1783, came to this coun-
try in 1822, made a settlement at Smith's Falls,
Canada, and died in 1855. His son, Archibald, was
born in Hawick, Scotland, in 181 1, and lived in
Canada from 1822 to his death in 1877, and was for
many years a well known government contractor, in
charge, mainly, of canals. He was married, in 1836,
to Martha Kramer. She was a native American,
but of German ancestry. Her father, Laurence
Kramer, was born in Germany, in 1745, was an officer
in the German army, and later in the British army.
He saw General Wolfe fall at Quebec, and served
under General Burgoyne during the American
Revolution. He died in 1839. She has resided
upon the old homestead at Smith's Falls fifty- three
years.

Bruce Goodfellow, the son of Archibald, even in
his youth, had a stirring, restless, and ambitious
spirit. He chafed under the restraints of school
discipline, and at the age of fourteen left home
rather than remain under the control of the peda-
gogue who taught the Smith's Falls Grammar
School. Having somehow conceived a desire for
work connected with machinery, he induced the
proprietor of a woolen mill to give him employment,
and his experience of woolen fabrics dates from
that time. His father, however, soon appeared upon
the scene, intending to compel his return home.
Bruce begged to be allowed to stay and earn his
own living, and the mill proprietor joined in the
appeal, promising that if the boy was left with him
he would make a man of him. His father finally
consented, and Bruce entered fully upon an inde-
pendent career, and from that day depended for a

^ 'i ' J / li rr

y rrf/^ ^7

MERCHANTS.

I151

livelihood solely upon himself, and refers with par-
donable pride to the fact that, since he reached his
fourteenth year, he has not owned a dollar that he
did not earn himself. For eighteen months he
divided his time at the mill between carding and
bookkeeping, and then, tiring of the business, he
determined to seek his fortune elsewhere. His father
desired and offered to give him a classical education,
but Bruce preferred to enter active life at once, and
journeyed by canal to Kingston, where his courage
was sorely tested, for he tramped the streets of
Kingston two days vainly searching for work, and
finally, almost disheartened, he set out for Toronto
in search of what he had failed to find in Kings-
ton. This time he was successful, but the position
was neither lucrative nor pleasant, it being that
of a bundle boy in a store, at three dollars a week,
and as it cost him four dollars a week for board,
it was apparent that at that rate his fortune would
be long on the way. Faithful service, however,
soon brought increased compensation and valu-
able experience, and when his employers failed he
immediately obtained a place as salesman with a
haberdasher, and subsequently served as salesman
in the same line of business in Toronto, Coburg,
and Peterboro, and having risen to the dignity of
a salary one thousand dollars a year, he began to look
toward the States as a field big with promise of
larger reward, and decided to go to Chicago. While
on the way thither, he turned aside at Detroit, to
look up a brother then living here, and was so
pleased with the city that he decided to remain here
permanently. His brother being the only person in
Detroit known to him, the finding of employment
was a difficult as well as a discouraging task, but
he was bound to have work, and for want of some-
thing better, became a peripatetic vender on the
streets of a patent ink eraser, and was afterwards
the first salesman in Detroit of the patent folding
dinner basket, now in common use. Although
fairly successful in these ventures, the business did
not suit him, and he was glad of a chance to work as
clerk, at eight dollars a week, for George Gassman,
a Jefferson Avenue tailor, and it is an interesting
fact that, a few years later, Mr. Gassman was in his
employ.

In September, 1870, while Mr. Goodfellow was
at C. R. Mabley's store on a business errand, Mr.
Mabley noticed him and said : " Young man, w^here
are you from, and where have you worked ?" "I'm
from Canada, and have worked for Hughes & Co.,
of Toronto." " Well enough, my boy ; if you are
good enough to work for Hughes, you're good
enough to work for me." As the result of that
conversation, he entered Mr. Mabley's employ the
same month, as a clerk in the furnishing department,
and within two weeks was placed in full charge of

the department. Mr. Mabley was evidently increas-
ingly pleased with his protege^ and when he opened
the furnishing store under the Russell House, in 1875,
Mr. Goodfellow was given full charge, and was
afterwards appointed general manager of the entire
concern. In February, 1884, w^hen the firm of
Mabley «& Company was incorporated, Mr. Good-
fellow was chosen Secretary and Treasurer. On
June 30, 1885, C. R. Mabley died, and Mr. Good-
fellow succeeded him as President of the company.
The estate retained Mr. Mabley's interest in the
business until May 3, 1886, when it was purchased
by the stockholders, Mr, Goodfellow remaining at
the head of what is well known as one of the best
and most important business enterprises in Detroit
or Michigan. The trade of the house reaches into
the far and near portions of the State, and attracts
many thousands of people yearly to the metropolis.
The successful administration of its affairs requires
great judgment, energy, and business nerve, and in
these Mr. Goodfellow is not lacking. He was
nurtured and trained under watchful eyes, came
rapidly forward in the grades of promotion, and being
ever mindful to improve the opportunities of expe-
rience, was peculiarly competent to fill the place
made vacant by the death of Mr. Mabley. The con-
tinued prosperous management of the business of
Mabley & Company afford ample evidence that no
similar house is more ably or safely directed. Mr.
Goodfellow has conducted the affairs of the com-
pany so successfully that the business has steadily
increased, the sales for the year 1887 amounting to
upwards of a million and a quarter of dollars. In
1887 he was appointed one of the Commissioners
of the Detroit Fire Department, succeeding Jerome
Croul.

Mr. Goodfellow was married April 7, 1884, to
Mrs. T. W. Davey, of Windsor, Ontario. Although
his early life was a constant struggle, his ambition
and indomitable will showed him the road, and
urged him forward, and he has been remarkably
and deservedly successful. His spirit is of the sort
that would make him a leader everywhere and in
everything, and all who have business or social
intercourse with him willingly concede that he well
deserves all the good that has or may come to him.

THEODORE PARSONS HALL was born at
Rocky Hill, near Hartford, Connecticut, December
15, 1835. He is a lineal descendant of John Hall,
of Coventry, Warwickshire, England, who arrived
at Boston, Massachusetts, in 1634, joined Rev. Mr.
Davenport's New Haven Colony in 1638, and be-
came one of the founders of Wallingford, Connecti-
cut, when that town was **set off" from New
Haven in 1669. The cemeteries of Wallingford
and its adjoining town, Meridan, bear abundant

II52

MERCHANTS.

testimony to the number and worth of John Hall's
descendants in the past, and Yale College has in-
scribed among her honored graduates the names of
a score or more of them. In recent days N. K. Hall,
Postmaster -General under President Fillmore;
Admiral A. N. Foote, Professor Asaph Hall, the
astronomer, and many others of like note have
traced their descent from this early settler of Con-
necticut.

His grandson, John Hall, one of the Colonial
judges and governor's "assistant," was one of
the wealthiest and most influential of the early
Colonists. Among the children or grandchildren
of the latter, were Lyman Hall, Governor of Georgia,
and signer of the Declaration of Independence ;
Benjamin and Elihu Hall, Kings' attorneys, judges,
and prominent in the Revolution ; Colonel Street
Hall and Rev. Samuel Hall (Yale, 1716), first minister
of Cheshire, Connecticut.

Eunice Hall, sister of the preceding, was the wife
of the Colonial Governor, Jonathan Law. Rev.
Samuel Hall married Anne Law, daughter of the
Governor by his first wife, Anne Eliot (a grand-
daughter of Rev. John Eliot, the Apostle, and of
Wm. Brenton, Governor of the Colony of Rhode
Island). Brenton Hall, founder of Meriden, was a son
of Rev. Samuel Hall and father of Wm. Brenton
Hall, M. D. (Yale, 1786). The latter resided at
Middletown, Connecticut, where he is remembered
for his heroism during an outbreak of yellow fever.
He married Mehitable, daughter of Major- General
Samuel Holden Parsons, a descendant through her
mother, Mehitable Mather, of the families of Rev.
Cotton Mather and Governor Mathew Griswold, of
Connecticut. General Parsons was in command of
the Connecticut troops during the Revolutionary
War, and later was appointed by Washington first
Chief Judge of the Northwest Territory. He set-
tled at and was a founder of Marietta, Ohio*

The son of Dr. Wm. B. Hall was Samuel Holden
Parsons Hall, State Senator of New York and Judge
of the Court of Errors after 1846. He was a man
of wealth, interested in educational matters, a pro-
moter and director of the Erie Railway, and various
other lines centering at Binghamton, New York,
where he resided. His wife w^as Emeline Bulkeley,
of Cincinnati, a lineal descendant of Rev. Peter
Bulkeley, founder of Concord in 1635, and of Rev.
Charles Chauncey, President of Harvard College.

Theodore P. Hall, the subject of this sketch, was
a son of Samuel H. P. and Emeline Bulkeley Hall.
His ancestors, as may be seen from the foregoing,
were of New England Puritan stock, and practiced
the old faith with earnestness and zeal. Mr. Hall
received his preparatory education at the academies
of Binghamton and Albany, New York : entered
Yale College in 1852, graduating in 1856, in the

class with Judge H. B. Brown, Hon. Chauncey M.
Depew, General Wager Swayne, Judge Benjamin
D. Magruder, and others of note. He subsequently
spent a year in the study of law, assisted in the
management of a newspaper, acquired some bank-
ing experience in the Central Bank of Brooklyn,
New York, and later in the office of Thompson
Bros., brokers of Wall Street. In 1859, with L. E.
Clark and others, he established the State Bank of
Michigan, which was later merged into the Michi-
gan Insurance Company and First National Bank
of Detroit.

In 1863 Mr. Hall entered into active business on
the Detroit Board of Trade, and for twenty years,
since 1868, has been in partnership with Rufus W.
Gillett, under the firm name of Gillett & Hall, for
years the leading commission grain house of De-
troit. Of late he has retired from active participa-
tion in the affairs of the firm and has devoted his
time to travel, literary pursuits, and to the improve-
ment of his handsome place at Grosse Pointe.

He enjoys making researches in the fields of his-
tory, biography, and genealogy, and is a member of
several historical societies. He possesses excellent
taste, fine powers of analysis and description, with
a rare ability in the way of generalization. He
often lays his friends under obligation because of
work done in their behalf, and for their advantage,
and the public is probably unfortunate in that his
possession of abundant means precludes the pecu-
niary stimulus which might compel him to engage
in definite and continuous literary labors. He is
emphatically a lover of books, has accumulated a
choice library, and possesses a scholarship compe-
tent to appreciate a wide range of subjects and
authors. Socially he is modest, free-hearted, agree-
able, and makes w^arm friends.

He was married to Alexandrine Louise Godfroy,
of Detroit, January 11. i860. They have three
married daughters, Marie Stella, wife of Wm. Tone
St. Auburn, of California ; Josephine Emeline, wife
of Lieutenant R. J. C. Irvine, of Augusta, Georgia;
Nathalie Heloise, wife of James Lee Scott, of Balls-
ton, New York ; also three unmarried daughters,
Alexandrine Eugenie, Marie Archange Navarre,
and Madeleine Macomb. Their only son, Godfroy
Navarre, died in 1885.

The Godfroy family were among the early French
settlers of Canada, coming from near Rouen, Nor-
mandy. Several branches of the family were
ennobled by Louis XIV. for bravery in the early
Indian wars. The founder of the Detroit branch
was married at Trois Rivieres, Canada, in 1683,
and his eldest son, Jacques Godfroy, came to De
troit with the founder, Cadillac, and died here in 1730.
His son Jacques, born at Detroit, 1722, married the
daughter of a French officer stationed at F ort Pont-

yy/ ^v^.

^(^( V , O^Clyl

/ xri-i^j

Mc^/l

MERCHANTS.

II53

chartrain (Detroit). The latter's son, Colonel Ga-
briel Godfroy, also born here under French rule in
1758, was Colonel of the first regiment of Territorial
troops organized here, and was Indian agent for
forty years. His son, Pierre Godfroy, one of the first
Representatives chosen when the State was organ-
ized, was the father of Alexandrine Godfroy (Hall),
who is also lineally descended through her mother
from Robert Navarre, first French Interdant and
Notaire Royal, at this place. The name of Godfroy
is a familiar one in the Records of Detroit, and is
attached to two of the old farms now included
within the limits of the city.

GEORGE H. HAMMOND, for years one of
the most extensive dealers in dressed beef in the
world, was born at Fitchburg, Massachusetts, May
5, 1838, and his parents, John and Sarah (Huston)
Hammond, were of Puritan ancestry. His mater-
nal grandfather, a native of Maine, served eight
years as a soldier in the War of the Revolution, and
lived to be ninety-four years old. The father of
George H. Hammond was a builder, and erected
numerous houses in the vicinity of his home.

Until his tenth year, George H. Hammond at-
tended the common schools, and then, preferring
business to school life, began making leather pocket-
books for a Mr. Barrett, of Ashburnham, Massa-
chusetts, a few miles from his native place. His
employer soon gave up the business and Mr. Ham-
mond, then only ten years old, continued it for
about a year, employing twelve girls, and doing a
profitable business. Steel clasp pocket-books then
began to supersede leather goods, and he discon-
tinued the business, and for a few months was
employed in a butcher shop, and then for three
years following, worked at Fitchburg, in the mat-
tress and palm leaf hat factory of Milton Frost, at
a salary of forty dollars per year, with the privi-
lege of going to school three months in each year.
At the age of fifteen, he purchased the business of
his former employer, but at the end of six months
sold out and came to Detroit, arriving here in 1854.
For a short time after his arrival he was engaged
in his old occupation, and then for two years and a
half he worked in the mattress and furniture fac-
tory of Milton Frost. He then started a chair
factory on the corner of Farmer and State Street.
Six months later, when he was only nineteen years
old, the establishment was destroyed by fire, and
after settling with the insurance company, he found
his entire capital to consist of thirteen dollars, and a
note for fifty dollars. With this amount he at once
opened a meat store near the southwest corner of
Howard and Third Street, and the venture was an
immediate success. In i860 he erected a brick
building on the adjoining corner, to meet the de-

mand of his trade. His business rapidly increased,
and in 1865 he removed to No. 38 Michigan Grand
Avenue, where he built up a large and prosperous
establishment. In the meantime he engaged exten-
sively in beef and pork packing, forming in 1872,
a partnership with J. D. Standish and S. B. Dixon,
under the firm name of Hammond, Standish & Co.
The firm erected large packing houses on Twen-
tieth Street, and the business grew so extensive,
that for several years preceding Mr. Hammond's
death, they did the largest business of the kind in
the city. One of the latest ventures of the firm
was the establishment of one of the largest and
most complete meat stores in the city, on Cadillac
Square, opposite the Central Market.

Although substantial success followed Mr. Ham-
mond's exertions in his regular line of trade, it is
chiefly in connection with the transportation of
dressed beef that he exhibited the largest business
capacity. From the incipiency of the undertaking
until he changed the method of carrying on the
beef trade of the United States, his energy was the
chief factor in the undertaking. The problem of
how to preserve meats, fruits, and like perishable
products for any length of time in transportation,
without affecting their quality or flavor, had been
practically unsolved until 1868, when William Davis,
of Detroit, built the first successful refrigerator car,
and until 1869, tried in vain to induce capitalists to
take hold of the invention. Finally Mr. Hammond
had a car fitted up expressly for carrying dressed
beef to the eastern markets. The experimental
trip was made in May, 1869, from Detroit to Bos-
ton, and was a complete success. Mr. Hammond,
with characteristic boldness aud far-seeing business
sagacity, soon after purchased the right to the ex-
clusive use of the invention, and with Caleb Ives
formed the dressed beef transportation company
of Hammond, Ives & Co., which a few years
after was changed to the firm name of George
H. Hammond & Co. They commenced with one
car, and the second year eleven were required ; the
third they used twenty-one, the number yearly
increasing until, at the time of Mr. Hammond's
death, eight hundred cars were in constant use
in their fresh meat trade with the Atlantic coast,
and they sent three ship-loads weekly to trans-
Atlantic ports. They established slaughter houses
at Hammond, Indiana, and Omaha, Nebraska,
actually founding and building the first named city,
which now has a large population and all the usual
accompaniments of a thriving city. At this immense
establishment, fifteen hundred to two thousand
head of cattle are killed each day, the business
transacted reaching the sum of $12,000,000 to
$T 5,000,000 annually. The creation of this business
was almost entirely due to the enterprise and sagac-

II54

MERCHANTS.

ity of Mr. Hammond, and the results accomplished
have been of great benefit to the commercial world.

In many respects Mr. Hammond was a remark-
able man. He scarcely had a boyhood ; beginning
life's battles when ten years old, before he was
twenty he carried upon his shoulders responsibili-
ties that would test the powers of many mature
men. His practical business training was supple-
mented while yet in his teens, by a course of study
in Goldsmith's Commercial College, begun and com-
pleted in the evening, after the toil of the day was
finished. These studies, with his practical business
experience, gave him a knowledge of accounts that
was of immense value. He was shrewd and careful,
but clear business perception gave him courage and
boldness. At forty-eight he had not only become
one of the wealthiest men of Detroit, but one of the
best known business men in the U nited States, and
the central figure in a gigantic system of operations
of which few people in Detroit realized the extent and
which revolutionized the beef trade of the country,
and made his name well known and respected in
commercial circles in Chicago, New York, and Bos-
ton. He was a large real estate owner, investing
extensively in suburban property in and near Detroit,
and realized so fully that his success was gained
here, that he desired that the city should be advan-
taged by his success. He was Vice-President of
the Commercial National Bank, a director in the
Michigan Savings Bank and Detroit Fire & Marine
Insurance Company, and in innumerable ways was
a reliable factor in the prosperity of Detroit.

In the full tide of his success, when wealth and
honor had rewarded his efforts, and when seeming-
ly he could be so illy spared from the management
of the great interests his genius had developed, the
end came suddenly and unexpectedly. Naturally of
a strong, robust physique, the hard work and un-
remitting toil of many years appeared to fall lightly
upon him, but disease of the heart, baffling medical
skill, terminated his life on December 29, 1886.
He was confined to the house only a few days, and
although he knew the shadow of a great danger
overhung him, he faced it bravely, and as death
came he was prepared to calmly accept whatever
might befall.

His death caused deep and genuine sorrow
wherever lie was known, and the community in
which he had long lived, mourned the loss of one
whose name was the synonym of business honor,
whose private life was unexceptionable, and whose
future promised so much of good to the public.

He was not a member of any church, but made
especially liberal gifts to church enterprises, and his
contributions to charitable and benevolent objects
were many, but unostentatious. He was reserved
in manner, and gave his confidence only to a few,

whom he implicitly trusted and in whom he created
unbounded faith. His chief pleasures were found
in the domestic circle, and he was able to leave the
perplexing, annoying cares of business outside of his
home, where he was the ideal father and husband.

He was fond of travel, going twige to Europe
with part of his family, visiting also California and
the South, and frequently visited for pleasure or
business, various parts of the United States.

Dying in the prime of life, he left the impress
of his work upon the commercial history of his gen-
eration, and to his family the rich legacy of a spot-
less reputation.

He was married in 1857, to Ellen Barry. They
had eleven children, eight of whom are living.

SAMUEL HEAVENRICH was born in Frens-
dorf, Bavaria, June 15, 1889, and is the son of
Abraham and Sarah (Brull) Heavenrich, His
parents were both natives of Bavaria, his father
being born in Frensdorf, in 1799, and his mother in
Lichtenfels, in 18 10,

Mr. Heavenrich attended school in his native
town until twelve years of age, and was then sent
for two years to a school at Regensburg (Ratisbon\
Germany. In 1853 he left home, came to this
country, and took up his abode in Detroit, where he
has since remained. Upon his arrival here he
entered the store of S. Sykes & Company, wholesale
and retail clothiers, near the southeast corner of
Jefferson Avenue and Bates Street, the firm subse-
quently removing to No. 92 Woodward Avenue.
He employed his evenings to good advantage,
studying English and bookkeeping at Cochran's
Business College, and improved so rapidly that he
became of great service to his employers, and
remained with the firm for seven years, during the
last year as junior partner.

In 1862 he bought out the firm of S. Sykes & Com-
pany, and took in as a partner his brother, Simon H.,
who had been in business at Leavenworth, Kansas,
forming the firm of Heavenrich Brothers, which has
continued since that time. In 1867 they gave up
the retail trade, and devoted their entire attention
to the manufacturing and wholesale business, and
in the spring of 1871 found themselves so crowded
for room that they removed to the stores known as
134 and 136 Jefferson Avenue. Their business
continued to prosper, and on February i, 1881, they
moved into their present elegant and commodious
quarters at 138 and 140 Jefferson Avenue. The
building was erected by the late Francis Palms,
expressly for their use, and is a model of excellence,
It is six stories high, is nearly fire proof, and extends
from Jefferson Avenue through to Woodbridge
Street. Here the business of the firm has grown to
enormous proportions ; they employ about three hun*

>^f#^^,,

^/Pt.-^t.ty

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MERCHANTS.

II55

dred and fifty hands, and manufacture an immense
amount of men's, youth's, boys', and children's
clothing, most of the cutting being done by steam
cutting machines, the only ones of the kind in the
State, and well worth an inspection. They will cut
through two inches in thickness of cloth, and make
two thousand revolutions per minute. The button-
holes in all of their goods are made in the basement of
the building, on machines run by an electric motor.
Their sample room is a model of excellence, and is
second to none west of New York. It occupies
the entire second floor, and contains a sample of
every piece of goods they have in stock. By their
thrift, perseverance, and strict attention to business,
both members of the firm have acquired a com-
petency, and their business represents a capital of
about $250,000.

Mr. Samuel Heavenrich was a member of the
Detroit Light Guards for six years, but has mingled
but little in general public affairs. Inclined to be
conservative, he has uniformly declined the use of
his name for political offices, but his courtesy,
integrity, fidelity, industry, and great natural ability,
are such that any trust committed to him would be
carefully and successfully administered. He has
been President of the Phoenix Club for five years,
and is a director of the American Exchange
National Bank, President of the Marine City Stave
and Salt Company, and Vice-President of the
Dexter Consolidated Iron Mining Company, and
has held various offices in other corporations.

He has ever manifested a special interest in the
welfare of young men, and has been a benefactor
to many. Possessing a social and genial disposi-
tion, his habits have often caused him to forego his
own pleasure in order to be of service to others. By
systematic efforts of this sort he has helped to
brighten the path of many less fortunate than him-
self. His friends and acquaintances are well aware
that any service he can render, when they are sick
or in need, will be heartily and cheerfully rendered,
without considering his personal ease or comfort.
He is a highly worthy representative of the Hebrew
nationality, is a member of the Congregation Beth
El, and commands the esteem of his business asso-
ciates and of the public generally.

He was married March 21, 1866, to Sarah Troun-
stine, at Cincinnati. She is a daughter of John
and Elizabeth (Guiterman) Trounstine, of Bavaria.
They have had six children, namely, Blanche, Wal-
ter S., John A., Carrie H., Edith R., and Herbert S.,
all of whom are living at home with their parents.

EMIL SOLOMON HEINEMAN was born
December ir, 1824, at Neuhaus on the Oste, near
the port of Hamburg. His father, Solomon Joa-
chim Heineman, was born in 1780, in the Bavarimi

village of Burg Ellern, where his ancestors had
lived in peace for many years, until compelled to
seek another habitation through the religious intol-
erance which was then directed against persons of
the Protestant and Jewish faith, to the latter of
wiiich Mr. Heineman's family had always subscribed.
Seeking a home in the more northerly part of
Germany, near the seaport of Hamburg, where
cosmopolitan ideas had prevented the lodgment
of intolerance, he established himself at Neuhaus,
and by hard work and honest endeavor became
in time the foremost merchant of the place, and
amassed what was then a more than comfortable
fortune. He held for many years an honorable
civil appointment from the government He mar-
ried Sarah, the daughter of Leeser Franc and
Regina Josef, and became the father of ten children,
Emil S. being the fourth of five brothers.

It those days it w^as the custom, upon the expira-
tion of his school days, to send a boy to some
tradesman in another city, either to be taught a
handicraft or to be given a business education.
Accordingly, in 1840, when he was sixteen years
old, E. S. Heineman was sent to the city of Olden-
burg to learn the practical duties of business. The
Revolution of 1848 raised hopes in the hearts of
young men that Germany would become a united
and great nation, but the reaction in 1850 dispelled
these hopes, and Mr. Heineman determined to seek
his fortune in the New World. Obtaining a reluc-
tant consent from his father, he took passage on
the Washington, the pioneer trans-Atlantic steamer,
and after a phenomenally short trip of two weeks,
landed in New York in the spring of 1851. Going
from there to Cincinnati, after a short stay in the
latter city he came to Detroit, where he secured
employment in David Amberg's clothing store, in
the old Smart Block, on the present site of the Mer-
rill Block. His fellow clerk here was Edward Brei-
tung, afterwards a prominent resident of the North-
ern Peninsula, and its representative in Congress.

The commercial training and the instruction in
the English language which Mr. Heineman had
received at home, enabled him in 1853 to engage in
business on his own account, in the same block
where he began as a clerk. The fire which in 1854
destroyed the old Presbyterian Church, and the
block in which his business was located, necessi-
tated his removal, and for many years he occupied
one or more of the stores under the National
Hotel, now known as the Russell House. At the
outbreak of the Civil War, he became interested in
furnishing military clothing to the State, and later
to the General Government, and after this time was
engaged solely in the wholesale trade. His two
brothers-in-law, Messrs. Magnus and Martin Butzel,
were admitted to partnership in 1862, and the firm,

1 156

MERCHANTS,

since known as Heineman, Butzel & Company,
removed to the upper floors adjoining Messrs.
G. & R. McMillan's present store, remaining there
until 1 87 1, and then removing to their present loca-
tion on Jefferson Avenue. Thus for thirty-five
years Mr. Heineman has been engaged in mercantile
life in Detroit, and during this period has witnessed
almost the entire growth of the city's industries.

He has been eminently a business man, and
while not neglecting political duties, has never
accepted party nomination or appointment, but has
been a staunch Republican ever since the founding
of that party. He has been connected with many
of the representative corporations of the city, and
was among the first subscribers to the Detroit Fire
and Marine Insurance Company, and one of its
directors since its organization. In like manner he
became an original subscriber tp, and director of the
Michigan Life Insurance Company, and of the Fort
Wayne and Elmwood Street Railway Company, of
w^hich he is at present Treasurer. He is known as
a conservative in his business and investments, and
judicious in his selection of real estate. In 1885 he
erected a fine building on Cadillac Square, and has
always had faith in the growing prosperity of the
city, is known as a public-spirited citizen, and no
more worthy representative of his nationality can
be found anywhere.

Mr. Heineman, is almost as active as ever in
business, not remiss in social duties, and is a man
of quiet tastes and retiring disposition, to whom
home presents the highest ideal of happiness. Al-
most any afternoon, in summer, he may be seen
busy among the flowers in his garden, which is
one of the most attractive in the city, and its care
is one of his favorite pastimes. He is a lover of
books, and has given some attention to numis-
matics, having a very interesting and valuable col-
lection of coins.

He was married in 1861, to Fanny Butzel, of
Peekskill, New York. The year following he pur-
chased his present homestead on Woodward Ave-
nue. He has two sons and two daughters.

CHAUNCEY HURLBUT was born in Oneida
County, New York, in 1803, and came to Detroit
with Cullen Brown in 182$. He worked at his
trade of harnessmaker for a few years, and then in
company with Jerry Dean, carried on a saddlery
and harness store for three years. Mr. Hurlbut
then decided to go into the grocery business with
his brother-in-law, Alexander McArthur. The lat-
ter soon left the city, and in 1837, Mr. Hurlbut
built the store at 50 Woodw^ard Avenue, where he
engaged in the general grocery trade and continued
in business up to a short time before his death.

From the year 1839 he served almost continu-

ously in some public capacity. He was successive-
ly foreman, chief engineer, and president of the old
Fire Department. From 1839 to 1841 he was
Alderman from the Second Ward. In 1835 he was
President of the Mechanics' Society. When the
Board of Trade was organized in 1847, Mr. Hurl-
but was chosen one of the directors. He was one
of the original stockholders in the Second National
Bank, and was a director during the twenty yea's
of its existence. At the time of his death he hd6
the same position in its successor, the Detroit Na-
tional Bank. He was a Sewer Commissioner iroiv.
1857 to 1859. In 1 861 he was appointed as one
of the Water Commissioners, serving two years
and being appointed over and over again after that
time. From 1872, until his death, he continuously
held the presidency of the Board and gave almost
his entire attention to the improvement of the De-
troit Water Works system.

His public duties were all fulfilled with a sturdy
adherence to the maxim that " public office is a
public trust." In 1841 he returned to the President
of the Fire Department a warrant for one hundred
dollars, which had been sent him for services as
chief engineer, remarking that he was a believer in
Franklin's doctrine, that no man should grow rich
by emoluments of office. Mr. Hurlbut was an
ardent Republican from the organization of the
party, and a regular contributor to campaign funds.
He was not demonstrative in his politics, however,
and seldom attended caucuses or other party meet-
ings. He was noted for his remarkable memory,
and his extensive reading on historical and scientific
subjects, had made his mind a cyclopaedia of facts.

He died on September 9, 1885, and his widow
followed him a few months later. He left almost
all of his estate, nearly a quarter of a million dollars,
to the Board of Water Commissioners, to be ex-
pended in maintaining a library and improving the
grounds belonging to the commission.

JOSHUA S. INGALLS was born in the town
of Johnson, La Moille County, Vermont, February
12, 1833, and is a son of Simeon and Rhoda
(Smith) Ingalls. His ancestors came from England,
and settled at Andover, Massachusetts, in 1690.
His father was a farmer, and his son passed his
earlier years upon the farm.

The dull, prosaic life of the average New England
farmer's boy, and the limited school advantages
there obtainable, however, illy suited his active
temperament, and at the age of fourteen he left
home, determined to secure an education by his
ow^n efforts. Going to Johnson village, a few miles
from his father's residence, by working after school
hours and during vacations he obtained three years'
tuition at the Johnson Academy. Deeply regret-

CHAUNCEY HURLBUT.

MERCHANTS.

"57

ting his inability to pursue his studies further, he
then began his business career by becoming a clerk
in a general country store at Concord, Massachu-
setts, conducted by John Brown. His diligence,
close attention to duties, and natural business apti-
tude, won the confidence of his employer, and at
the end of a year he provided him with capital to
start a general store at Acton Centre, Massachu-
setts. He managed the store for a year, and then
disposed of his interest for a farm. Subsequently
he was employed as a salesman in Boston, Massa-
chusetts, and at Akron and Cleveland, Ohio. At
the latter place, after several years as clerk in a
crockery store, he became a partner in the firm of
Fogg, Ensworth & Company, crockery merchants.
The business was successfully continued for two
years, and then in i860 the firm was dissolved, and
Mr. Ingalls entered into partnership with Philip
Thurber, under the firm name of Thurber & Ingalls,
and established a crockery and glass store at Jack-
son, Michigan. At the end of a year and a half
Mr. Thurber retired, and A. A. Bliss became a
partner, under the firm name of Bliss & Ingalls.
They continued together until 1869, when the firm
dissolved.

In the meantime, as early as 1862, Mr. Ingalls
had established at Jackson the first oil agency ever
started in the State of Michigan. He continued it
with success until 1869, when he went to Cleve-
land, and in partnership with a Mr. Olliphant opened
a crockery store. This venture did not prove
advantageous, and in 1872 the firm discontinued
business, and Mr. Ingalls spent the next two years
as a traveling salesman for a Cleveland crockery
firm. In 1875 he came to Detroit, and with C. C.
Bloomfield established the oil agency of Ingalls &
Company. The business was almost immediately
successful. In 1884 the company was incorporated
as Ingalls & Company, and in 1886 was consolidated
with the Standard Oil Company, under the corporate
name of the Ingalls Oil Company, and is now the
distributing agency of the Standard Oil Company
for the State of Michigan. The development of
the business in Detroit is largely due to Mr.
Ingalls's business foresight and judgment, and
through his efforts, Detroit has become one of the
largest distributing points for kerosene oil in the
whole country.

Since 1882 Mr. Ingalls has also been largely
interested in an extensive lumber company, of which
he has been the President since its organization,
and is now sole manager and owner, and makes
large shipments of Michigan pine to the New Eng-
land and Eastern States. Mr. Ingalls's business
success is the result of persistent and hard work.
He is independent and self-reliant, and, when
determined on a line of action, pursues it with bold-

ness and vigor. Although on two occasions his
earlier business ventures turned out disastrously to
himself, he allowed no one else to be a loser, but,
when prosperity was again achieved, he paid in full
every dollar of his old indebtedness, an example of
absolute honesty worthy of universal imitation.

He has never held public office, but takes a deep
interest in political movements, and is an enthusi-
astic Republican. Honest and straightforward in
business transactions, with excellent financial abili-
ties, pleasing address and courteous manner, he is a
good type of the business men who create and sus-
tain the commerce of the city.

He was married in 1862 to Amelia H. Thurber.
of Syracuse, New York. She died in 1885, and the
following year their daughter, Florence, married
Oakes Ames, of Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. In-
galls's home being broken up, he decided to retire
from active business and make his home in New
England. Leaving Detroit in 1887, he went to
Boston, and before many months was again per-
suaded into business life, and became one of the
proprietors of the Albion, Michigan, Milling Com-
pany, and controls its large New England business.

CHARLES STORRS ISHAM was born in
Hudson, Ohio, January 16, 1835. He is a son of
Warren and Melissa (Parsons) Isham, who had
four children, namely, Warren, deceased ; Jane L.,
widow of the late David Crane, of New York ;
Maria P., who in 1847 married Wilbur F. Storey,
of the Chicago Times, and is now residing in
Europe, and Charles Storrs Isham, who was the
fourth and youngest child.

Warren Isham, the father, was a Presbyterian
minister, and a writer of considerable note. He
was born at Watertown, Jefferson County, New
York, was a graduate of Union College, and estab-
lished, at Hudson, the Ohio Observer, the first
religious newspaper in Ohio ; he published it until
1 835. He was afterwards widely known in Michigan
as the editor of the Michigan Observer, and also of
the Michigan Farmer. In these papers he displayed
marked ability. About 1853 he published a volume
of travels in Europe, Egypt, and the Holy Land,
and also a volume entitled "The Mud Cabin," an
expose of the lower stratum of English life. Both
of these works were quite popular and financially
successful. The last years of his life were spent at
Marquette, Michigan, where he published the Mar-
quette Journal, and was engaged in other literary
work. He died at that place in 1863. His wife,
Melissa Parsons Isham, was related to the Bard-
wells of England. She was born in Belchertown,
Massachusetts, in 1 800 ; was a woman of strong
character, great family pride, an earnest Christian,
and unwearied in her devotion to the welfare of her

II58

MERCHANTS.

children. She died in Detroit in 1880. Several of
the family inherited the literary taste and talent of
their father. Warren, the eldest son, attracted
much attention as a writer in connection with the
editorial staff of the Detroit Free Press and the
Chicago Times. His writings were noted for the
humor which they contained, and he especially
distinguished himself as war correspondent of the
Chicago Times during the early years of the war.
Some of his communications were disapproved by
General Grant, and he was imprisoned several
months, but released without any charges being
preferred against him, He was then re-employed
on the staff of the Times, and promoted to the
chief editorial charge under Mr. Storey. In 1863,
soon after his father's death, he went to Marquette
to see about his father's affairs, and on the return
trip, on board of the ill-fated steamer ** Sunbeam,'*
was lost on Lake Superior. As a writer, he owed
little to study or application, but with the spontan-
eity of true genius he excelled in whatever he under-
took, and his earliest efforts had all the ease and
polish of a practiced writer.

Charles Storrs Isham was brought to Detroit by
his parents when he was a small child, and before
the age of six attended the private school of Mrs.
Campbell, now Mrs. Solomon Davis. When he
was six years old, his parents removed to Jackson,
where he attended school six years, and afterwards
spent one year in the schools of Springfield, Massa-
chusetts. At the age of fourteen he was placed in a
store at Jackson, Michigan, and remained three
years. He then returned to Detroit, and from
1852 to 1854 was engaged as traveling agent for
the Free Press. The following year and a half he
spent in traveling in Louisiana and Texas, and
gained much knowledge of the condition of the
Southern States during a most interesting period.
In the fall of 1856 he entered the wholesale dry
goods house of Carter, Quinine & De Forest, in
New York City, and -was engaged as clerk, and
during the winters as traveling salesman for the
house in the West. He occupied the position
about four years, and then engaged with a merchant
to go to Galveston, Texas, with the intention of
making his home in the South ; but, just as he was
about to depart, he received a telegram from his
brother Warren, urging him to come to Detroit ;
he concluded to do so, was released from the en-
gagement, and came here. During the first three
years of his residence he was engaged in the dry
goods store of Farrell Brothers, the predecessors of
Newcomb, Endicott & Company. In 1864 he
formed a partnership with George I. Major, in the
commission and forwarding business, under the firm
name of Major & Isham. This firm has been in
business twenty-four years, and is one of the few

in the city that has remained unchanged for that
length of time.

Mr. Isham has attended strictly to his business,
and has not sought outside work or duty of any
sort. In politics he is a Democrat. As a business
man he is prudent and conservative, sound in
judgment, and of large energy and perseverance ;
his integrity is undoubted, and he is genial and
courteous towards all with whom he comes in
contact. He has traveled extensively in the United
States, and in 1884 made a trip to Europe, spending
a large part of the year at different points on the
continent.

He was married July 9, 1864, to Lucy B. Mott,
daughter of the late John T. Mott, of Detroit.
They have four children, Charles Storrs, Jr., Fred.
Stewart, Jennie M., and Warren Parsons. Charles S.,
now in the commission business in this city, spent
two years on the Chicago Times as a reporter and
foreign correspondent, and was entrusted with the
special correspondence of the paper in Mexico.
Fred. Stewart graduated from the High School at
sixteen, and at once became a reporter for the
Detroit Free Press, remaining there until 1884,
when he went to Europe. He spent one year in
Paris, a year at Munich, and two years in London,
studying art and music under the best masters.
While in London he made his first venture in book
authorship, in an ingenious novel entitled " The
Twice-Seen Face." It has passed through the
first edition and is entering upon the second.

Mr. and Mrs. Isham are both members of the
Westminster Presbyterian Church.

RICHARD MACAULEY was born in Roch-
ester, New York, November 28, 1838, and is the
son of Richard and Jane (Maguire) Macauley.
His father was one of the early millers at Genesee
Falls, an interest vv^hich had much to do with the
building up of the city of Rochester, which is
known everywhere as the Flour City.

Mr. Macauley was educated in the public schools
and at the Academy in Rochester, and was known
as a diligent student. He was offered a college
education, but preferred to enter at once into active
business life, and in 1859 became a clerk in the
large dry goods store of Hubbard & Northup, at
Rochester, where he secured an excellent business
training, and was brought into social and religious
circles w^hich largely shaped his future. While thus
engaged he became a member of the Fifty-fourth
Regiment of National Guards, which was occa-
sionally called into active service until the close of
the war. In 1864 he resigned his commission of
Captain in the regiment, and went to Cairo, Illinois,
where he engaged in the wholesale and retail book
and stationery business, his employers doing a large

^^c^^ 'J^.J^'ih^i^

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MERCHANTS.

II59

business throughout the West and South. Mr.
Macauley, however, was not able to endure the
malaria prevalent in that region, and the next year
returned to Rochester and secured employment in
the wholesale millinery house of Edward Wamsley,
as traveling salesman in the Lake States. In visiting
Detroit, he saw that this was a favorable location
for a wholesale millinery house, and in 1870, in
connection with his former employer, he established
the first exclusively wholesale millinery house in
Michigan, under the firm name of Macauley &
Wamsley. Two years later he bought out his
partner's interest, and with his brother, Alexander
Macauley, formed a new firm under the style of
Macauley Brothers. One year later his brother
retired from the firm, and the business was contin-
ued under the name of Richard Macauley for eight
years with unabated success, and he gained a high
reputation with merchants, importers and manu-
facturers at the East, and with the trade generally
throughout the West, as a successful merchant in a
line of trade in which others had frequently failed,
and which requires exceptional forethought and
judicious management. In 1880 he admitted Edwin
Jackson, of Toledo, and his brother, Alexander
Macauley, into the firm, which was changed to
Richard Macauley & Company. Since then there
has been no change, except the retirement of Mr.
Jackson in 1887, and the success of the house has
been permanent and continuous, and it has grown
to be the largest of the kind in the State. In addi-
tion to his interest in the Detroit house, Mr. Macau-
ley owns the entire interest in, and is the manager
of a similar house in Toledo, which is quite as suc-
cessful as the one in Detroit.

Mr. Macauley has given his close attention to
business interests, is both cautious and enterprising,
a good judge of mercantile values, and an excellent
financier. He has mastered the details which ensure
success, and feels a just pride in the fact that he
has always met his obligations fully and promptly.
He is highly esteemed for his social qualities and
for his integrity of character. He is a member of
the Detroit Club and also of the Michigan Club.

In political faith he is a Republican, and is public-
spirited in all matters pertaining to the prosperity
of the city. He is a director in the American Bank-
ing and Savings Association, and in the American
Trust Company, and a stockholder in the Detroit
National Bank.

He was married July 9, 1867, to Josephine A.
Foster, daughter of George D. Foster, a prominent
merchant of West Winfield, New York. Her
mother's maiden name was Emerancy B. Thurston,
a direct descendant of Edward Thurston, one of
the early colonists of Rhode Island, in 1642. They
have three children, George Thurston, Fanny Wood,

and Richard Henry. All of the family are mem-
bers of St. John's Episcopal Church.

THOMAS McGRAW, the widely known wool
merchant, was born at Castleton. on the River
Shannon, County of Limerick, Ireland, September
17, 1824. His father, Redmond McGraw, emi-
grated to America, landing at Quebec in 1825, and
subsequently purchased a tract of land in Essex
County, New York, and after clearing it and find-
ing it undesirable, he removed to a point near
Ogdensburgh, where he repeated his experience.
From this farm he removed to Canada, buying land
near St. Thomas, sixty miles from Detroit. In 1835
he sold out his interests m Canada and emigrated
to Michigan, and settled in the township of Canon,
Wayne County, where he passed the remainder of
his days. His previous changes of location were
doubtless caused by the fact that in the old country
the possession of lands was the most reliable wealth
that one could have, and as he had been the finan-
cial manager of a very large estate for many years
previous to his emigration, it was very natural that
his ambition should be in the direction of a land-
holder, and having no reliable knowledge of the soil
and climate of the different sections of America, it
was only by several trials that he at last found in
Michigan the location he desired. He was a man
of liberal education and personal culture, and a
steadfast upholder of the Protestant religion. He
was born in Ireland in 1777, and died at Canton
in 1852. His mother's family were German Luth-
erans; her maiden name was Elizabeth Faught.
She died about three years after her arrival in
America.

Thomas McGraw did not inherit his father's taste
for agriculture, and the greater portion of his time
until 1840, was spent in study at school and at
home. From some romantic source he obtained
a favorable idea of a sailor's life, and made up
his mind to go to sea. At the age of fifteen he
set out to become a sailor, and reached the city
of Rochester, New York, before he quite made
up his mind that a life spent upon the ocean would
not be desirable. In that city he engaged as clerk
with a substantial merchant at a salary of ninety-
six dollars a year. During his stay in Rochester
of a year and a half, he attended a night school,
and devoted nearly all his leisure moments to study.
In the fall of 1841 he returned to his home in
Michigan. The next year he entered into partner-
ship with his brother in clearing twenty acres of
land. In the fall of the year they sowed the land
to wheat, but the enterprise turned out disastrously,
as the severe frost of the following June destroyed
the crop, the damage being general throughout the
State.

ii6o

MERCHANTS.

In 1843, ^t the age of nineteen, Mr. McGraw
came to Detroit and took a place as clerk in the
office of the Pittsburgh Iron Company, where he
remained four years. Leaving Detroit, in 1 847, he
purchased a small stock of general merchandise,
and opened a store at Novi, Oakland County. That
county and those adjoining are noted for their pro-
ductions of fine wool, and Mr. McGraw soon drifted
into the wool trade. It was not long before this
interest became so extensive that his general mer-
cantile business was only a convenient appendage,
and he was compelled to seek a more central
location, and removed to Detroit in April, 1864.
Soon after coming here he opened a branch house
in Boston, Massachusetts. His business success
has been remarkable, and he has been the largest
buyer of wool outside of the Atlantic cities.
Although an attentive listener to the opinions of
others, he makes a thorough canvass of the infor-
mation bearing on any question or transaction he
is contemplating, and his mind once made up, he
never wavers, and, is ever on the alert until the
enterprise he has undertaken is finished. His
reputation as a wool merchant is such throughout
New England that his grades of wool are preferred
by manufacturers, as they have uniformly been
found to be of the very best quality. His system
is such that he transacts his large wool business
with ease, and in 1887 his wool purchases amounted
to about five million pounds.

He has, for years, taken a great interest in Detroit
and its institutions, and his chief investments are
in business and real estate in the city. He is the
largest stockholder in the Globe Tobacco Company,
and has for many years been its President. He was
one of the organizers, and for five years President
of the Michigan Savings Bank, and for twenty
years a stockholder, and for seven years a director,
of the American National Bank of Detroit. In 1876
he purchased the Mechanics' Block, expending
large sums for its general improvement, making it
thoroughly modern in accordance with the require-
ments of the times. He has provided in the building,
for the free use of its occupants, a fine library of
three thousand volumes, known as the McGraw
Law Library, and has arranged to lay aside a certain
sum each year for the extension and improvement
of this library, to the end that it may be one of the
leading libraries of its kind.

In politics Mr. McGraw is independent, but usu-
ally acts and votes with the Republican party. He
was for two years a member of the Board of Esti-
mates of Detroit.

During August and September, of 1886, Mr.
McGraw made a trip to Europe, visiting Germany,
Belgium, France, England, Scotland, and Ireland.

In 1848 he married Sarah I. Seldon, grand-

daughter of Rodman Hazard, a w^ell known figure
in the earlier history of Western Massachusetts, and
noted throughout New England as a pioneer
woolen manufacturer, and also a politician, having
served upwards of twenty years in the State Legis-
lature. One of his lineal descendants was in
Frankfort, Germany, during the late Civil ^^ ar, and
used his influence in the early part of the conflict
to induce German bankers to purchase American
bonds.

Mr. McGraw is most esteemed by those who
know him most intimately. He is appreciative of
whatever is truest and best in those with whom he
comes in contact, and his old time courtesy and
friendly spirit make it pleasant for those who have
social or business relations with him. He is a
member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, but
his love for Christianity is broader than his love for
any one church, and this is doubtless the truest
loyalty.

NICOL MITCHELL, for many years one of
the most extensive builders and contractors of
Detroit, was born at Kilsythe, near Sterlingshire,
Scotland, November 19, 1821. There he spent his
youth and early manhood, and served an appren-
ticeship at the carpenter's trade.

In 1 847 he emigrated with his family to America,
coming directly to Detroit. Here he secured em-
ployment as a journeyman with Hugh Moffat, and
subsequently rose to be foreman, and when Mr. Mof-
fat abandoned the work of a contractor to engage
in other pursuits, Mr. Mitchell vSucceeded to a por-
tion of his business. A few years after he formed
a partnership and engaged in building with a Mn
McDuff, under the firm name of Mitchell & McDuff.
In 1863 he became a member of the firm of Mor-
hous, Mitchell & Bryam, and for several years there-
after was more extensively engaged in building than
any other firm in Detroit. His connection with the
firm ceased in 1874, when Mayor Moffat ap-
pointed him a member of the first Board of Public
Works, a position for which his practical experience
as a mechanic rendered him eminently fitted. He
served in this capacity four years, and at the close
of his term, one of the Detroit daily papers voiced
the opinion of the community in saying : " Mr.
Mitchell, who, after four years of faithful service on
the Board of Public Works, now retires to private
life, is one of the kind of men that few cities are
lucky enough to obtain as officers. A successful
builder, of enterprise and workmanlike capacity,
he w^as selected for a position that he has filled to
the satisfaction of the whole community."

At the expiration of his term he again gave his
entire attention to building, and during the latter
years of his life most of his time was devoted to the

c.^f:^i:^.^j7^i^

MERCHANTS.

1 l6l

superintendency of the erection of buildings for
Messrs. Newberry & McMillan, and during thirty
years he personally superintended the construction
of many of the largest buildings in Detroit. The
following were erected under his supervision :
The Detroit Opera House, Fort Street Presby-
terian Church, Christ Protestant Episcopal Church,
Central Methodist Episcopal Church, St. Josephs
Catholic Church, St. Patrick's Catholic Church,
Young Men's Hall, Michigan Central Elevator No.
2, the Union Depot Elevator, the Wabash Elevator,
and numerous business blocks. His last work was
in connection with the erection of the Detroit, Grand
Haven and Milwaukee Elevator.

He was one of the organizers of the Michigan
Savings Bank, and from the first one of its direc-
tors, and from June, 1878, its vice-president

He was an enthusiastic supporter of the Repub-
lican party, but never a seeker after political honors.
In religious and charitable work he was earnest
and active. He was emphatically a God-fearing
and devoted Christian gentleman. He became con-
nected with the United Presbyterian Church at its
organization, and for over thirty-five years served as
an elder. He was a valued member of the Detroit
Commandery of Knights Templar, and of the St.
Andrew's Society. Jn the latter society he was
three times elected to the presidency. His " brither
Scotsmen " in their tribute to his memory, record
their high appreciation of his " excellent business
ability, rare mechanical skill, sterling integrity, and
unflinching devotion to duty."

For nearly a year preceding his death Mr.
Mitchell had been in ill health, but attended to his
business as usual until March 29, 1887, when he
was stricken with paralysis, and a few days later
sank into apparent unconsciousness, from which he
never rallied. He died April 10, 1887. His death
was mourned by a wide circle of friends, to whom
his many admirable traits of character had become
well known.

His long residence in Detroit and prominent
identification with important trusts faithfully dis-
charged, had made him one of the best known
and respected characters in the city. He was prac-
tical, straightforward, hard-working, and conscien-
tious, with an unsullied reputation. He loved the
vigorous pursuits of his trade, and in the man-
agement of large bodies of men was remarkably
successful. His kindness and consideration for
others w^ere his strongest characteristics. Without
early educational advantages or influential friends,
by his individual worth and energy, he won a de-
serving place among the successful business men
of Detroit. He was married to Lillie Kirkwood, at
Sterlingshire, Scotland. December 5, 1845. They
had four children. Their eldest son, William, died

in Detroit in 1881, at the age of thirty-one years.
The remaining children are Jessie Dean, wife of
W. R. Hamilton, Margaret C, and John K., a civil
engineer of Detroit.

GEORGE F. MOORE, wholesale dry goods
merchant of Detroit, was born in Berkshire County,
Massachusetts, December 10, 1832, and is one of
the twelve children of John and Clara Moore, and
of New England ancestry. His grandfather on
the paternal side came from Holland, and was
among the earliest settlers of Berkshire County,
and his descendants have left an honorable impress
upon the commercial and political life of New
England. Mr. Moore's mother was of Scotch de-
scent, but her ancestors came to America prior
to the Revolutionary War. John Moore was a
man of sturdy character, and infused into his chil-
dren those sound principles which have given them
honorable and useful positions in the world. He
dealt largely in lands, and was also engaged in the
coal and timber trade, owning large tracts of land in
Berkshire County. He possessed natural business
ability, good judgment, was animated by honest
and conscientious motives, was highly respected
and esteemed, and as a business man was quite
successful. He removed with his family to Bata-
via. New York, in 1847, and died there in
1858.

His son, George F. Moore, was educated in the
public schools of Berkshire and Batavia, and at the
age of eighteen began his commercial career as a
clerk in the dry goods house of Wells & Seymour,
of Batavia, with w^hom he remained three years.
He then went to Buffalo, New York, and for a year
was in the employ of Howard, Whitcomb & Co.
His next engagement took him to New Orleans
and Memphis, where he spent the winter of 1854.
In 1855 he returned to Buffalo, and for three years
was in the service of his former employer. His
business career in Detroit dates from 1859. In that
year he entered the dry goods store of Town &
Shelden, by whom he was employed for six years,
when he and James L. Edson, were admitted as
partners. The firm name was Allan Shelden &
Co., the late Senator Zachariah Chandler being a
special partner. In 1872 Mr. Moore and Mr.
Edson retired from the firm and established the
present wholesale dry goods house of Edson,
Moore & Co. They began business in a building
erected for them on the southwest corner of Jef-
ferson avenue and Bates Street, where they re-
mained until 1882, when the growth of their busi-
ness demanding larger quarters, the building on the
opposite side of Bates Street and on the corner of
Jefferson Avenue was erected for their use. The
growth of their business to its present comitianding

Il62

MERCHANTS.

position among the wholesale houses of the North-
west, has been rapid, at the present time their sales
exceed those of any dry goods house in the State,
and their establishment is one of the largest con-
cerns in its line west of New York City. In view
of these results, it is needless to say that Mr.
Moore has had a remarkably busy life, or that
he possesses excellent business capacity and judg-
ment. An important factor in his career has been
his practical experience since early manhood, with
the line of business in which he is engaged . Start-
ing in life without assistance, save what his own
industry and worth had justly earned, he has
gained a deserving place among the most success-
ful merchants of Detroit. The life and labor of
even the most successful business man, made up
of daily rounds of duty, would seem to furnish little
of note to the biographer, but it should be oftcner
kept in mind that the growth and good of the
nation, and of each individual citizen, is secured
through the development of commercial enterprise,
rather than by the ready eloquence of mere politi-
cal place hunters. The mercantile community
increases the consumption of raw material by open-
ing new avenues of trade and by pushing the sale of
various products, while the political representative
often hinders legitimate commerce by crude legisla-
tion and unbusiness-like schemes in the interest of
his party.

The personal supervision of extensive interests
has given Mr. Moore but limited opportunity to
engage in other pursuits, but no citizen has shown,
in more substantial ways, his deep interest in all
enterprises pertaining to the good of Detroit. Pro-
gressive and public-spirited, his aid is never refused
to any deserving projects. He possesses far-seeing
business judgment, the power to thoroughly grasp
complicated details, is careful and methodical, and
steadily and persistently foUow^s a course he has
decided upon, and is not easily turned from a pro-
ject his judgment approves. His integrity is un-
questioned, and upon his business honor there is
no stain. Personally he is reserved in manner, but
with those who possess his full confidence he is genial
and companionable. He is warmly attached to his
friends, his home and the domestic ties are especially
dear to him, and his chief enjoyment is found in
the family circle. For many years he has been a
member of the First Presbyterian Church, and is
generous in his donations to religious and charita-
ble objects.

He was married in 1855 to Adela S. Mosher.
daughter of Amasa A. and Susan Mosher. They
have had five children, Edward H. (deceased).
George F, Jr., Willis Howard, Harriet L., deceased
wife of John Arthur Heames, and Adela S., wife of
J. Ledlie Hees.

JOHN VALLEE MORAN was born in Detroit,
December 25, 1846. He is descended from French
ancestors, who were among the early immigrants
to the St. Lawrence Valley. Pierre Moran, the
founder of the family in America, was born at
Batiscan, in 165 1, and married Madeline Grimard,
in 1678. Their descendants were numerous in
Canada, and many of them noted as clergymen,
lawyers, and landed proprietors. The name was
originally spelled Morand, and it so appears in
some of the old records. One of the sons of
Pierre Moran, Jean Baptiste, w^as married at Quebec,
in 1707, to Elizabeth Dubois. Their son, Charles,
settled at Detroit in the year 1734. In 1767 he
married Marguerite Grimard Trembley, whose
family possessed the seigneurie de Trembley as
early as 1681. She died in 1771, leaving two sons,
the younger of whom, Charles, was born in 1770,
and married, in 1794, Catherine Vissier, dit Laferte,
whose only child was the late Judge Charles Moran.
The latter was born April 21, 1797, and was married
in 1822 to Julie De Quindre, by whom he had five
children, of whom only the youngest is living, Mary
Josephine, wife of Robert E. Mix, of Cleveland,
Ohio. Judge Moran married for his second wife
Justine McCormack, of New York. They had five
children— James, who died unmarried ; William B. ;
John Vallee; Catherine, wife of the late Henry D.
Barnard ; and Alfred T. Judge Moran died October
13, 1876, leaving to the above named children and
his widow one of the most valuable estates in the
city.

John Vallee Moran, the third son, received his
rudimentary education in Ste. Anne's Church School,
then taught by the Christian brothers; he after-
wards attended the old Barstow School, and the
private school of P. M. Patterson ; completed a
course in higher mathematics at the Detroit High
School, and finished his commercial education by a
course at Sprague and Farnsworth's Business Col-
lege in Detroit. While thus acquiring a theoretical
knowledge of business, he had some experience in
its practice in connection with the affairs of his
father's estate.

In 1 867 he became a clerk in the grocery house
of Moses W. Field & Company, at the foot of
Griswold Street. In 1869 he assumed the position
of assistant bookkeeper in the wholesale grocery
house of John Stephens & Company, subsequently
became shipping clerk in the wholesale grocery
house of Beatty & Fitzsimons, which place he re-
tained for two years, at the expiration of which time
he purchased the interest of the late Simon Man-
dlebaum, in that establishment, and became a
partner, the style of the firm being Beatty, Fitz-
simons & Company. The firm continued without
change until Mr. Beatty died, in August, 1885 ; the

C/ '(.(h^t!

£> o-rr-i£_

MERCHANTS.

I163

business was then reorganized, and in March, 1887,
the firm was changed to Moran, Fitzsimons &
Company, and the house is recognized as one of the
most prosperous in the city.

Mr. Moran has also been active in many other
enterprises. For many years he was a director in
the Merchants and Manufacturers' Exchange, which
his firm took a leading part in organizing, and
which has been of great benefit to the city. He
was one of the organizers of the Gale Sulky Harrow
Company, and one of its first directors. He aided
in establishing Ward's line of Detroit and Lake
Superior Transportation Steamers, and has been
a Director and Secretary of the company since
its organization. In 1887 he assisted in organiz-
ing the American Banking and Savings Associa-
tion, and the American Trust Company, the
latter being the first institution of the kind in
Michigan. He is a Director and Vice-President of
both companies. He was also one of the organizers
of the Detroit Club, and was its first Treasurer and
one of its first Board of Directors. He is an enthusi-
astic boatman, and has been prominently connected
with the Detroit Boat and Yacht Clubs, and was a
member of the Northwestern Amateur Rowing
Association as a Director, and its President in 1886.
His political affiliations are with the Democratic
party. By appointment of the Mayor, he served as
a member of the Board of Inspectors of the House
of Correction for two terms, from 1880 to 1886, and
was President of the Board in 1880, and also in
1885.

He has been from infancy a member of SS. Peter
and Paul's Church, is a member of the Parochial
School Building Association of that church, and of
the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

He is methodical and careful in all his business
transactions, uniformly courteous, and with an
attractive manner that easily wins confidence, while
his sterling worth enables him to retain as friends
those with whom he comes in contact. He is a good
organizer, easily comprehends the minute details of
what he undertakes, and is remarkably successful
in his business enterprises. His moral character is
unblemished ; he possesses a high sense of honor,
is both just and generous, and few among the
younger business men of Detroit are more deserv-
edly popular and influential.

He was married November 25, 1880, at Memphis,
Tennessee, to Emma Etheridge, only daughter of
Emerson Etheridge, of Tennessee. Their children
are : Frances Valerie, Justine Semmes, Charles
Emerson, Etheridge, John Bell Loyola, James
Granville and Marie Stephanie.

CYRENIUS ADELBERT NEWCOMB, son
of Colonel Hezekiah Newcomb, was born November

10, 1837, in Cortland, New York. His grandfather,
Hezekiah Newcomb, was a well known and influ-
ential citizen in Northwestern Massachusetts, and
represented Bernardstown and Leyden in the State
Legislature or General Court of Massachusetts, for
more than twenty years. His father. Colonel
Hezekiah Newcomb, also served the State in the
same capacity, and was a widely respected teacher,
and later on was commissioned as Colonel of one of
the regiments of the New York Militia. His mother's
maiden name was Rounds. The ancestry of the
Newcomb family is easily traced for hundreds of
years. The Harlein manuscripts m the British
Museum gives the names of the Newcombs of
Devonshire from the year 1 1 89. The early history
of the Newcombs in this country is connected with
various portions of New England and eastern
Canada. In the family connection is the name of
Abigail Mather, daughter of the noted Rev. Increase
Mather. Her mother was the daughter of the cele-
brated Rev. John Cotton. The earliest known
American member of the family, Captain Andrew
Newcomb, lived in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1663,
and probably emigrated there from Wales or Devon-
shire. The family, at an early day, were large
land owners at Martha's Vineyard and in other
parts of New England, and even in Arcadia, being
drawn there by the King's proclamation of 1761.
They occupied some of the lands from which the
French were so remorselessly driven. The old town
records of the far east disclose the fact that differ-
ent members of the family, at various periods,
held all the offices within the gift of the people.

The Newcombs were originally loyal church
members of the old Puritan stock, but in later years
some of them became prominent members of the
Methodist and Presbyterian Churches. Several
were college graduates at an early day, and the
ministerial, editorial, and educational professions,
as well as the guild of authors, are all represented
in the connection, and some of the family have
made large gifts to schools and colleges. Travelers
and scientists of note are also in the genealogical
list. During the Revolutionary War, some mem-
bers of the family served on the Union side, and
others under the British colors. Among the soldiers
of the War of 181 2, and also in the War with the
South, they are also represented.

After receiving the usual education afforded by
the schools of New England, Mr. C. A. Newcomb
began his business career in Hannibal, New York,
but when twenty years old he went to Taunton,
Massachusetts, where for some nine years he
served as clerk in the dry good stores of N. H.
Skinner & Company, and, becoming a partner,
continued two years longer. He then, in 1868,
removed to Detroit, and with Mr. Charles Endicott

1 1 64

MERCHANTS.

purchased the dry goods establishment and good
will of James W. Farrell, and under the firm name
of Newcomb, Endicott & Company, the business
remained in the Merrill Block, at the stand occupied
by their predecessors, for one year. To the surprise
of citizens generally, the following year the firm led
the march of business up Woodward Avenue, by
moving to and occupying the ground floor of the
then new Opera House Building, facing the Campus
Martins. Remaining here ten years, in 1879 they
again led the van in the march northward, and
moved to the large building erected for their occu-
pancy by D. M. Ferry, on the east side of Woodward
Avenue, just below State Street. Even here they
do not find sufficient room for their ever increasing
business. Various plans have been considered for
enlarging the capacity of their establishment, which
is already the largest of the kmd in the city. As
an indication of the extent of their business, it may
be mentioned that of kid gloves alone, although
they are not a distinct specialty, their sales have
reached as high as forty thousand dollars in a single
year.

In addition to his extensive interests in connection
with this establishment, Mr. Newcomb is a large
stockholder in, and President of, the Imperial Life
Insurance Company, the Detroit Nut Lock Com-
pany, and the Michigan Railway Supply Company.
Mr. Newcomb was one of the organizers of the
Universalist Church, and contributed largely towards
the erection of the elegant church occupied by that
society. He can be counted upon as interested in
whatever concerns the moral welfare of his fellow-
citizens, and, in a practical way, to further every
institution that promises to be an advantage to the
city.

He is pronounced in his temperance sentiments,
and in the campaign of 1887, in favor of an amend-
ment to the constitution prohibiting the manufac-
ture or sale of liquor, was an active and influential
factor. As a business man, he is modest, sensible,
and successful; and conscientiously endeavors to
fulfill the duties belonging to good citizenship.

In 1867 he married MaryE. Haskell, daughter of
William Reynolds Haskell, of Hartford, Connecticut.
Their children are named William Wilmon, Cyrenius
Adelbert, Mary Queen, and Howard Rounds. Mrs.
Newcomb died November 17, 1887.

HENRY A. NEWLAND, senior partner in the
wholesale fur house of Henry A. Newland & Com-
pany, of Detroit, is the son of Adolphus Thayer
and Lucinda (Smith) Newland, and was born at
Hammondsport, Steuben County, New York, March
i7» 1835. When quite young, his parents removed
to Palmyra, Wayne County, New York, where he
attended the High School, continuing his studies

until he began his very successful mercantile career
by becoming a clerk in the store of William H.
Cuyler, where he remained seven years.

In February, 1854, he came to Detroit, and
entered the house of F. Buhl & Company, whole-
sale hatters and furriers. Within three years he
had made himself so useful that in 1857 he was
admitted as a partner in the establishment, and
three years later the name of the firm was changed
to F. Buhl, Newland & Company. As a member
of this firm, he held a very responsible position, and
attended largely to the purchasing of the goods,
and was chief manager of the European branch of
their large operations, traveling extensively and
attending annually the large fur sales at London and
Leipzig.

In 1 880 he retired from the firm above named,
and established the house of Henry A. Newland &
Company, which at once took the leading position m
their line, and is now the largest fur house west
of New York, employing from one hundred and
twenty-five to one hundred and fifty persons. It
exports raw furs extensively, and Mr. Newland con-
tinues his annual trips to the leading fur markets of
Europe.

In 1865 Mr. Newland was appointed by Governor
Crapo a member of the State Military Board, and
aid-de-camp to the Governor, with the rank of
Colonel. He served in this capacity during Gover-
nor Crapo's first term, and as chief of his staff during
his second term,

Mr. Newland is recognized as one of the most
enterprising and successful of the business men of
Detroit. He is possessed of excellent business
judgment, gives close attention to all the depart-
ments of his establishment, and is one of the best
buyers and judges of furs in the whole country.
In addition to his regular business, Mr. Newland is
interested in the Crystal City Glass Works, of
Bowling Green, Ohio.

His abilities, and the position he has secured, have
not made him unsocial, but on the contrary he is
always affable, courteous, willing to accommodate,
and, as a natural result, makes many friends, and
is a member of the Detroit and Grosse Pointe Clubs.

He was married March 11, 1862, to Emily A.
Burns, daughter of James Burns. She died June
18, 1 87 1. Their only surviving child is Helen L.
Newland. On March 7, 1877, Mr. Newland mar-
ried Martha Alger Joy, daughter of James F. Joy.
Mr. and Mrs. Newland have one living child, Mary
Joy Newland.

THOMAS PALMER, one of the pioneer Amer-
ican merchants of Detroit, was born in Ashford.
Windham County, Connecticut, February 4, 1789,
The Palmers were among the earliest of the Puri-'

d^A^y^^^

ll^Cyc^^ ^-^^z^

MERCHANTS.

1165

tan pioneers. William Palmer, the first of the
name that arrived in this country, came in the ship
Fortune, in 1821, and settled in what is now Dux-
bury, Massachusetts. Walter Palmer followed in
1629, coming with John Endicott, who had in
charge six ships, containing upwards of four hun-
dred persons. Walter Palmer was one of the
original founders of Charlestown, Massachusetts,
but after various removals finally settled m Pawca-
tuch, now Stonington, Connecticut, where he was
appointed constable in 1658. He died there in 1661,
aged seventy-six years, leaving twelve children,
and from these children have sprung over sixty
thousand Palmers, whose records are preserved,
except in a few instances. The list of descendants
contains the names of a large number of persons
who occupy prominent places in history, among
whom are General Grant, a descendant from Walter
Palmer's eldest daughter Grace, General Joseph
Palmer, of Boston Tea Ship notoriety, who served
during the War of the Revolution, and who was an
intimate friend of John Adams. Many other notable
names are included in various branches of the family,
numbers of the name being clergymen, judges, and
civic officers.

Thomas Palmer's father married a Miss Barber,
and they had six sons and three daughters. The
grandfather, Thomas Barber, was engaged in the
Indian trade, and came to Detroit as early as
1763, bringing goods from Hartford, hauling them
from Hartford to Schenectady with oxen, freighting
them by boats up the Mohawk, and thence via
Wood Creek, Oneida Lake, and down the outlet
to Oswego, and from there by Lakes Ontario and
Erie, to Detroit. The goods were bartered with
the Indians for furs, and then in turn the furs were
transported over the same long and tedious route to
Hartford.

The story of these adventures, told to his grand-
sons, kindled in the minds of at least two of them,
a desire to seek their fortunes in the West, and in
the spring of 18 12, Thomas and Friend Palmer
brought a stock of goods from the East, and
opened a store about twenty miles below De-
troit, at Amherstburg, Ontario. On the declaration
of war, which occurred soon after, they were both
imprisoned as American citizens ; but after five
weeks' confinement, were liberated and put ashore
upon the American side, near Monguagon. They
then walked to Detroit, joined a company of volun-
teers commanded by Shubael Conant, and were
present at the surrender of Detroit to the British.
After the surrender, being permitted to return to
Maiden and secure their goods, they went to Can-
andaigua. New York, w^here they established a
store, remaining about four years.

In 1 816, Thomas Palmer returned to Detroit, and

opened a store, under the firm name of F. & T.
Palmer, Friend Palmer remaining in charge of the
store at Canandaigua. The two brothers also
established a branch store at Ashtabula, Ohio,
built flouring mills at Scio, New York, and for a
number of years did a very large and profitable busi-
ness. They became contractors for public works of
various kinds, and constructed many of the roads
leading out from Detroit. They also built and
owned a number of vessels, among which were the
"Tiger" and "Young Tiger," the former com-
manded by the well-known Captain Blake.

In 1820 Thomas Palmer built the first brick store
erected in Detroit, and in 1823 was one of the con-
tractors for the building of the Court House or
Capitol, which in recent years was occupied by the
High School. For erecting the building they re-
ceived the ten thousand acre tract and several
hundred city lots. The crisis of 1824 brought ruin
to Thomas Palmer's financial prospects, but he suc-
ceeded in paying all his debts, and was soon engaged
in new ventures. In 1828 he purchased the site of
the present city of St. Clair, erected saw-mills and
laid out a village, which was known as Palmer, and
did a large lumbering business there for many
years. From 1845 to 1847, Mr. Palmer was inter-
ested in various Lake Superior enterprises, but they
did not prove profitable. During this period he
coasted from Sault Ste. Marie to the head of Lake
Superior, and back, in a six-oared boat.

For several years following 1 849, he was engaged
in a general land and insurance business.

During his earlier life in Detroit he was promi-
nent in the discharge of the duties of a good citizen.
He served as a trustee of the city in 1819, as
an Alderman at large from 1826 to 1830, as asses-
sor in 1 83 1, and also at various times filled other
minor offices. In social life he was notably genial
and kind-hearted, and even in his business affairs
humorous and almost playful. If he had been less
easy and lenient with those who were his debtors,
it would have doubtless been to his pecuniary
advantage. He loved an active life, and enjoyed
doing business because of the active life it gave
him, rather than for the rewards that he obtained
or desired. He was one of the corporators of the
First Protestant Church of Detroit, and was always
interested in the religious and benevolent welfare
of the city. In every trial he acted the part of a
true man, and throughout life his conduct was irre-
proachable. In politics, Mr. Palmer was a Whig,
but became a Republican upon the organization of
that party, and ever took much interest in its success.

In 1 82 1 he married Mary A. Witherell, daughter
of Judge James Witherell. They had nine children,
of whom only Thomas W. Palmer, of Detroit, is
living. Of the other children, Julia E., who mar-

ii66

MERCHANTS.

ried H. W. Hubbard, and after his death became
the wife of Hugh Moffat, died on November 20,
1880. Mary W., wife of Henry M. Roby, of Mon-
roeville, Ohio, died in 1854; Sarah C, died unmar-
ried, in 1859. Thomas Palmer died on August 3,
1868, and his wife on March 20, 1874.

Mrs. Palmer was for sixty years a prominent
member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of De-
troit, and in health, active in various Christian and
benevolent enterprises.

Her memory is fitly preserved in the beautiful
edifice known as the Mary W. Palmer Memorial
Methodist Episcopal Church, erected in 1 884.

GEORGE PECK, the founder of one of the
oldest and largest dry goods establishments in the
State, is a lineal descendant of William Peck, who,
on account of religious persecutions, emigrated from
London in the year 1637, and became, in 1638,
with Governor Eaton, Thomas Buckingham, Rev.
John Davenport, and other sturdy New England
characters, one of the founders of the colony of
New Haven. Who that has the blood of the Puri-
tans is not proud of their upright and courageous
lives! The State of Michigan is especially to be
congratulated that their descendants, in such large
numbers, have here found a home.

George R. Peck was a farmer, in the town of
Lyme, Connecticut, and there, on the fifth of Novem-
ber, 1834, his son George was born. His boyhood
was spent on the farm, one of those rocky home-
steads so common in New England. He was edu-
cated in the district school and at Essex Academy.
Owing to an accident, which deprived him of the
partial use of one arm, he was obliged to seek some
light occupation, and on August 23, 1850, he entered
the dry goods store of J. B. Wells, of Utica, New
York, commencing in the lowest position. He
gained the confidence and respect of his employer,
and was rapidly advanced, and could have obtained
an interest in the business, but in the winter of
1856-7 his health failed, and he was compelled to
give up his position. He then sought to recruit his
health by traveling through the States of Illinois,
Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. Returning from
the trip and stopping at Utica, New York, he entered
into partnership with J. W. Frisbie, and on August
6, 1857, they opened a dry goods house at 167
Jefferson Avenue, Detroit. They had hardly opened
before the great financial panic of that year swept
over the country, and thousands of firms were ruined.
By the hardest of work, however, they were able to
weather the storm, and continued in business for
three years. The firm was then dissolved.

On November i, i860, Mr. Peck started in busi-
ness alone at 137 Woodward Avenue, and at first
it seemed as if fortune was certainly against him,

for the following year was probably one of the most
trying to American merchants that was ever known.
The War with the South began ; the banks every-
where failed , gold and silver disappeared, and it
is safe to say that no one then foresaw what the
end would be. Mr. Peck and his wife, however,
hazarded every dollar that they possessed, and were
able, through fortuitous circumstances, to continue
in business, and at length fortune smiled, the era
of high prices was inaugurated, and after that time
he was prospered, the only drawback being an
extensive robbery of silks which occurred on Feb-
ruary 8, 1864. In October, 1871, he moved to the
new stores, 155 and 157 Woodward Avenue, con-
tinuing in business until February, 1877, when he
retired on account of failing health.

He always conducted his business in an honora-
ble manner, and so carefully was it managed that
he has never asked one day's favor of a creditor.

Mr. Peck is President of the Michigan Savings
Bank and of the Edison Illuminating Company,
and a director in the Detroit Fire and Marine
Insurance Company, and in the Pioneer Bank of
North Branch, Michigan. He is a leading member,
and for fifteen years has been one of the Trustees,
of the First Presbyterian Church. His record is
that of a careful, successful, and reliable merchant,
willing to promote, to the extent of his ability, all
legitimate enterprises that look to the prosperity or
social advancement of the city. He is a Republi-
can in politics, but has never desired or held any
political office.

He was married October 28, 1858, to Sarah F.
Butler, daughter of Samuel F. Butler, of Grand
Rapids, Michigan. It may be mentioned, as a
singular coincidence, that she was a direct descend-
ant of Thomas Buckingham, one of the founders
of the New Haven colony who came over in the
ship Hector, with his ancestor, William Peck. Mrs.
Peck died February 14, 1872, leaving four children,
Julia E., George B., Minna F., and Barton L.

JAMES E. PITTMAN has been identified with
Detroit since 1843. His active life covers a space
of upwards of forty years, during more than half of
which he has been connected with the military his-
tory of the city and the nation. The record of his
career is the history of a busy and energetic life, and
although he has reached three score years, the
characteristics of middle life are still conspicuous,
and give promise of vigorous continuance for many
years.

Mr. Pittman was born in Tecumseh, Lenawee
County, Michigan, September 5, 1826. His ancestry
is English, and on the paternal side of Quaker stock.
His father was born in Philadelphia, in 1796, and
early in life settled in Kentucky. From thence he

^c^

Cp . /u^€<U^

"^C CcX.^

MERCHANTS.

I167

moved to New England, and later on lived success-
ively in Jefferson and Canandaigiia Counties, New
York. His ambition pointed, however, to the West,
and he soon became one of the pioneers of Michigan,
and located in Tecumseh. His restless energy was,
however, still unsatisfied, and, in 1834, he, with
his family, migrated to Texas. In the Border War he
joined the army at Austin (now Houston), remained
in the service about a year, and then, finding the
country too unsettled, he and his family returned
to Tecumseh. He died at Ontonagon in 1868. His
son, James E. Pittman, after returning to Tecumseh,
at nine years of age, attended a private school, and
subsequently entered the local branch of the Uni-
versity of Michigan. Among his fellow students
were William Gray, Witter J. Baxter, and Joseph
Estabrook.

At the age of seventeen, Mr. Pittman came to
Detroit, and entered the service of Lawson, Howard
& Company, grain and commission merchants, at
the foot of Shelby Street. When the Mexican War
begun, Mr. Pittman was a member of the Brady
Guard, afterwards succeeded by the Grayson
Guard, and now well known as the Detroit Light
Guard, and in December, 1847, he enlisted in the
First Regiment Michigan Volunteers, and was made
Adjutant of the regiment under Colonel T. B. W.
Stockton and Lieutenant-Colonel Alpheus S. Wil-
liams. The regiment marched nearly all the way to
Cincinnati ; from there went by boat to New Orleans,
and thence by sailing vessel to Vera Cruz, where they
were formed into a division under General Bank-
head, United States Army, and were sent to garrison
Cordova and Orizaba. The next summer, peace
being declared, Mr. Pittman returned to Detroit,
arriving in July, 1848. Soon after reaching home,
he was mustered out of service, and entered E. W.
Hudson's commission house on Shelby Street.
Resigning his position here in 1852, he formed a
partnership with Edmund Trowbridge and J. Huff
Jones, in the commission and forwarding business,
under the firm name of Pittman, Trowbridge &
Jones. In 1855 the partnership was dissolved, and
Mr. Pittman joined the late Dr. E. M. Clark in
establishing a commission and coal business. In
1856, as Dr. Clark contemplated a European tour,
he withdrew, and the business was conducted
by Mr. Pittman until May, 1885, when he accepted
the appointment of Superintendent of Police.
When Mr. Pittman entered the employ of E. W.
Hudson, in 1848, he was the only one dealing in
hard coal in the city, and in 1856, when he entered
the coal business on his own account, there were
but two or three other dealers in Detroit.

When President Lincoln called for State troops,
in 1 86 1, Mr. Pittman, with other leading citizens,
was summoned by Governor Blair to a confer-

ence at the Michigan Exchange. As the result of
this conference, General Alpheus S. Williams was
appointed to organize troops for the State, with
William D. Wilkins, Henry M. Whittlesey, and
James E. Pittman as staff officers. Soon after this,
Mr. Pittman was made a Paymaster of State troops,
with rank of Colonel. This appointment attached
him to the Governor's staff, and in that capacity he
went to the front and paid off the first four Michi-
gan regiments. In the fall of 1861, a School of
Instruction was established at Fort Wayne, where
the commissioned and non-commissioned officers
of the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Michigan regiments
were drilled, and Colonel Pittman was made second
in command. General Williams was soon appointed
Brigadier-General of Volunteers, and, with Wilkins
and Whittlesey, left for the front, leaving Colonel
Pittman in command. The following winter he was
appointed Inspector-General of State troops, and
went with Governor Blair to different parts of the
country. In the summer of 1862 he was detailed
to organize the Seventeenth Regiment of Michigan
Infantry, and, after having done so, turned the
command over to General Withington. At this
period, and for some time thereafter. Colonel Pitt-
man was a member of the State Military Board.
In 1865, with Governor Crapo, he went to Washing-
ton to attend the grand review of the Union troops.
The war having ended. Colonel Pittman resigned
his military appointment, and again entered earnestly
into business.

About 1868 Mr. Pittman was appointed, by Gov-
ernor Baldwin, one of the Trustees of the Michigan
Asylum for the Insane, at Kalamazoo. He has
also served as one of the Inspectors of the Detroit
House of Correction. His extended mihtary expe-
rience, and the practical knowledge gained by
twelve continuous years of service as one of the
Commissioners of Police, by appointment of various
Governors, give him especial fitness for his present
position as Superintendent of Police. His appoint-
ment dates from May i, 1885.

He is an active member of the Protestant Epis-
copal Church. He was married in Pennsylvania in
1851.

WILLIAM REID, wholesale and retail paint
and glass merchant of Detroit, was born in Mersea,
Essex County, Ontario, August 19, 1842. His
father, John Reid, was a shipbuilder by trade, and
previous to leaving for America, superintended the
building of vessels for his father, who owned a ship-
yard at Stranraer, Scotland, and afterwards on the
Clyde. His mother's maiden name was Margaret
Bennett. Both of his parents were born in Scot-
land, but emigrated to this country m 1835, settling
at first in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and about 1840

ii68

MERCHANTS.

removing to Western Canada. His father some
time later purchased a farm in Tilbury East, Kent
County, Ontario.

William Reid passed his earlier years working on
a farm and attending the public school. He came
to Detroit in 1861, attended school for a brief
period, after which he returned to Canada and
taught school until 1863. He then returned to De-
troit, took a course of practical instruction in book-
keeping and commercial business, and early in 1864
secured a clerkship in the office of a prominent law
firm of East Saginaw, remaining until the following
November, when on account of ill health he was
compelled to relinquish work and return home.
During the greater part of the following year his
health was such as to confine him to his bed, but
by October he had so improved that he accepted
the position of bookkeeper for the painting and
decorating firm of Laible, Wright & Hopkins, of
Detroit. After about a year's service, Mr. Laible
and Mr. Hopkins retired from the firm and Mr. Reid
was admitted as partner, under the firm name of
Wm. Wright & Company. Their business at this
time was carried on at 197 Jefferson Avenue, but in
1868 they removed to 108 Woodward Avenue. In
1 87 1 Mr. Wright retired and Mr. Reid and Mr. B. C.
Hills assumed control of the business under the name
of Reid & Hills. By this time their business had
so increased that they were compelled to open branch
stores at Nos. 12 and 14 Congress Street East,
which were devoted to the paint and glass portions
of their business In January. 1879, the firm was
dissolved, Mr. Reid retaining the sole control of the
business pertaining to the paint and glass trade,
and continuing the same at the Congress Street
stores. Under his energetic management the busi-
ness increased so rapidly that in 1 882, the present
wholesale stores. No, 73 and 75 Larned Street
West, were built expressly to meet the demands of
his trade, the old quarters on Congress Street
being retained as retail stores.

An important feature of the business is the plate
glass trade, and from 1867 to 1884, nearly all the
plate glass purchased by the firm was purchased of
New York importers, and for a few years preceding
1884, partly from American manufacturers, and by
them cut to such size as wanted. In 1884 Mr.
Reid made a new departure and purchased several
car loads of American and imported plates, direct
from the factories, in sheets as manufactured, thus
obtaining as good figures and standing as the New
York importers. This bold move offended some of
the manufacturers, who for years had controlled
the sales of plate glass in the West, and they deter-
mined to destroy his business, and as a means to
this end, at a meeting of the managers of the four
American plate glass factories, representing several

millions of capital, held at Chicago, it was deter-
mined to reduce the price of plate glass in Michi-
gan and adjoining territory, twenty to twenty-five
per cent., and as the margin on plate glass is only
about five per cent., they concluded he would be
forced to return to his former method of obtaining
supplies. They also insisted that the American
factory which had entered into a contract to supply
Mr. Reid with glass, should cancel the agreement.
Mr. Reid, however, did not despair. A conference
was held with the managers of the factory who had
agreed to furnish him with glass, and he convinced
them of the unfairness of reducing prices in Michi-
gan, and the injustice of the means by which it was
proposed to crush fair and honorable competition.
As the result of this conference, they withdrew
from the combination, and he was selected as
one of a syndicate to take their entire product.
Although thus successful in his plans, Mr. Reid did
not attempt to compete in the territory where the
remaining three factories for some time maintained
reduced prices to their own loss, but he extended
his sales from Buffalo to Kansas City, and from
Duluth to New Orleans, in fields where fair prices
and just competition prevailed, and the unfair at-
tempt to destroy legitimate competition, used
against Mr. Reid, resulted in making Detroit as
good a plate glass market as there is in the country,
and he now sells more glass in a single month than
he did formerly in a year.

In addition to his sales of plate glass, Mr. Reid
is a large dealer and importer of fancy window
and colored glass, keeping the largest and best
assorted stock west of New York City.

As a business man he has shown great energy
and sagacity, and has proved himself not only able
to develop, but successfully manage large enter-
prises., He is careful and methodical, but has
had the courage to undertake business ventures
that some men would not dare to attempt. Always
affable, cool and clear-headed, he naturally makes
a favorable impression upon those with whom he
comes in contact. He has devoted himself to his
business with such a singleness of purpose that it .
has made him a thorough master of every detail,
and in his line of trade his firm stands at the head
of all establishments west of New York City. He
was reared as a Presbyterian, but is now an adher-
ent of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Politically
he is a Republican, but takes little part in party
management, and has no desire for political honors.

He was married to Mary Powell, of Detroit,
November 9, 1869. They have had seven children,
five of whom are living.

WILLIAM D. ROBINSON was born in Eng-
land, March 21, 1839. His father occupied a high

^i^^^^^^2^<iC^^z^Z<L_

MERCHANTS.

1 169

position under the English Government, and con-
trolled several very extensive sugar plantations in
the West Indies. His grandfather was for many
years President of the Grand Trunk Canal Company
of England.

William D. Robinson learned the retail shoe
business in Rochester, New York, and from there
he went to Binghamton, New York, and acquired a
thorough knowledge of the wholesale and manu-
facturing business, and came to Detroit in 1862, and
for a short time represented a manufacturing house.
Upon severing his connection with this firm he
went to Boston, Massachusetts, and entered the
large manufacturing establishment of Underwood,
Cochrane & Company, taking charge of the sales
of the house in the Western States. In the spring
of 1865 he proposed to the firm to open a wholesale
house at Detroit, and the same year they established
a store at 116 Jefferson Avenue, under the firm
name of Underwood, Cochrane & Company, the
resident members of the firm being William D. and
Henry S. Robinson, who had the entire charge of
the business.

In 1867 the firm was dissolved, and the Messrs.
Robinson, with James Burtenshaw, bought out the
interests of the Boston partners, and formed a new
firm, under the style of W. D. Robinson, Burtenshaw
& Company, which continued until 1875. During
this time they built up a large jobbing and manu-
facturing trade. In 1875 the firm was dissolved,
W. D. Robinson continuing the jobbing interest,
under the style of W. D. Robinson & Company, at
1 80 and 1 8 2 Jefferson Avenue, until 1 887, and was
succeeded by the New York and New England
Shoe Manufacturers' Selling Company, located
at 47 Jefferson Avenue. Mr. Robinson's connec-
tion with the last named firm closed in 1888, and
he has since devoted his attention to real estate,
and to several corporations in which he has become
interested.

He is conservative yet bold and enterprising in
his business transactions, abreast with modern ideas
and improvements, and a close observer.

He was married December 22, 1862, to Abigail,
daughter of M. Dyer, of Rochester, New York.
They have two sons, Charles W. and Edwin S.
The former is in the real estate business. Both Mr.
and Mrs. Robinson are members of Grace Episco-
pal Church.

ALANSON SHELEY, of Detroit, was born at
Albany, New York, August 14, 1809. When nine
years old, he went to Jefferson County, New York, "
with his grandparents, who settled in the woods
and commenced clearing a farm. Here, until he
was sixteen, he assisted his grandfather in the labors

of the farm, attending, as opportunity offered, the
district school. His first important enterprise was
the taking of a raft of timber from Fisher's Landing,
on the St. Lawrence River, to Quebec, successfully
" shooting " the rapids, and disposing of the raft at
good prices. At the age of sixteen, he commenced
learning the trade of a stone-mason and builder,
and at the end of three years' apprenticeship was
employed as a foreman in the construction of the
Rideau Canal, in Canada.

In the summer of 1831 he started from Buffalo,
on the steamboat "William Penn," and came to
Detroit, then the farthest westerly point to which
steamboats carried passengers. The following year
he received an appointment from the United States
Government to superintend the erection of a stone
lighthouse at Thunder Bay. The structure then
erected is still standing, and is the only one on the
lakes, erected at that date, that is now in use.
After the completion of the lighthouse, he returned
to Detroit, and for several years followed the busi-
ness of a builder and contractor. In 1835 he
became general manager of the Black River Steam
Mill and Lumber Company, chartered by the Terri-
torial Government the previous year. He remained
with the company until the expiration of its charter
in 1855, and for the three years following carried
on the lumber business on his own account. In
1859 he entered into a partnership as one of the
firm of Jacob S. Farrand & Company, wholesale
and retail druggists. The present extensive and
well known firm of Farrand, Williams & Company,
with which Mr. Sheley is connected, represents the
maturity of the same establishment. During the
earlier growth of the business, Mr. Sheley was
especially active in its financial management, and
contributed valuable aid by his good judgment,
tireless exertions, and the influence of his widely
recognized moral worth. He is a director and
shareholder in the First National Bank, largely
interested in the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance
Company, in the Detroit Fire and Marine Insurance
Company, and in the Detroit and Cleveland Steam
Navigation Company. He is also an extensive real
estate owner in Detroit and Port Huron, and has
some valuable pine land investments

Politically, he has ever been an active factor in
his city and State. In early life he was a Whig,
but assisted in the organization, in 1854, "under
the oaks " at Jackson, of the Republican party, and
has since been one of the staunchest supporters of
the principles which it has advocated During a
most active business career, actuated by commend-
able public spirit, he has served the city and State
in several important official positions. For five
years he was a member of the Common Council of
the city, and for ten years a ni^mber of the Sewer

1 170

MERCHANTS.

Commission and Board of Review. In the latter
position, his plain honesty and knowledge of real
estate values were of decided worth to his fellow-
citizens. He represented the first district of Michi-
gan in the State Senate two terms, serving in the
sessions of 1867-68, and 1871-72, and his practical,
liberal, and broad-minded views of public questions,
and pure and disinterested motions, made him a
valuable legislator. He is one of the oldest sur-
viving members of the First Presbyterian Church
of Detroit, of which for many years he was ruling
elder, and for over forty years either assistant or
Superintendent of its Sunday-school. He has taken
an active part in building up numerous religious
institutions, and has contributed liberally to their
support.

Strong in his personal friendship, and of gener-
ous impulses, he is always ready to extend a helping
hand to a friend, or to relieve distress. In personal
appearance he is over six feet in height, and of
large proportions. He has always been a man of
great muscular strength, united to fearless physical
courage. In early manhood he was very fond of
athletic sports, particularly of wrestling. Some of
the older citizens of Detroit remember the election
skirmishes and collisions which took place at the
old City Hall, when the partisanship of the electors
was heated to a boiling point. In these contests
Mr Sheley was invariably the recognized leader of
the Whig faction. In 1837, at the first State elec-
tion, Messrs. Stillson, Mason, and McKinstry, lead-
ing Democrats, with their followers, took possession
of the polls, and would not allow the Whig voters
to deposit their ballots. Among the Whigs present
were Zachariah Chandler, Alanson Sheley, John
Owen, Jacob M. Howard, George C. Bates, and
Asher Bates. In a skirmish which ensued, Mr.
Sheley was a tower of strength, but the pressure
was such that he retreated to the National Hotel,
then located on the site of the present Russell
House. There, placing his back to the wall, he
withstood, almost alone, the combined assault of
those who sought to molest him.

His moral courage has ever been as conspicuous
as his physical bravery. A cause he considers
right, he would defend without wavering, should he
stand alone. With great force of character, indom-
itable perseverance, and rugged determination, he
has been especially active in the temperance move-
ment, through the various progressive steps of this
reform, aiding both by personal work and by the
contributions of money. No braver defender of
the cause of temperance, or more consistent advo-
cate of right principles, can be found in all the city.

Notwithstanding his advanced age, he possesses
vigorous health, and personally attends to his numer-
ous business engagements with zeal and promptness.

He lives on spacious grounds on Stimson Place,
where, surrounded by his children and their families,
he is quietly and unostentatiously spending the latter
years of a long and useful life, honored and revered.
He was married on September i, 1835, to Ann
Elizabeth Drury. They have had eight children,
three of whom are living, two daughters, Mrs. D. W.
Brooks and Mrs. L E. Clark, and a son, George A.
Sheley, who enlisted in February, 1 863, as private in
the First Michigan Light Artillery. He was pro-
moted in August, 1863, to a Second Lieutenancy.
His regiment formed a part of General Burnside's
Ninth Corps, in East Tennessee, but was after-
wards joined to the Twenty-second Corps. He was
wounded while scouting in West Virginia, in May,
1864, and discharged, on account of wounds, in
September of the same year.

OSIAS W. SHIPMAN was born at Pierstown,
Otsego County, New York, January 29, 1834, and
is the son of Horace and Abby Ann (Williams)
Shipman. Soon after his birth, his parents removed
to Norwich, Chenango County, New York, where
for five or six years his father engaged in milling
and in the manufacture of lead pipe, after which he
removed with his family to Fort Plain, New York,
and there, at the Fort Plain Seminary, O. W. Ship-
man received the principal portion of his school
education. After a residence of four years at Fort
Plain, he accompanied his parents to a large farm in
Union, Broome County, New York. They resided a
year at Union, and then his father purchased from
his brother Orlando a grist mill, plaster mill, and
farm, at Athens, Pennsylvania, and removed there,
leaving O. W. Shipman and an elder brother to
manage the farm at Union. After two years of
great success and an immense amount of hard
work, they joined their father at Athens, where the
subject of this sketch remained until his twenty-first
year. He, with another young man, then engaged in
the grocery trade at Waverly, a short distance from
his father's home, but soon bought out his partner's
share and continued the store alone', and by the
exercise of good business judgment, and untiring
exertion, he rapidly established an extensive trade,
and for several years his annual sales exceeded
$125,000 per year. During the extended strike of
the Erie Railroad employees in 1870, Mr. Ship-
man's services were secured by the company to
assist in operating their line in opposition to the
strikers. His efforts in this direction were particu-
larly valuable to the company, but he aroused the ill-
will of the former railroad employees and some of
the more lawless, in retaliation, set fire to his busi-
ness block and it was completely destroyed. He
immediately rebuilt, on a more extensive plan, one
of the largest and finest business houses in Waver-

MERCHANTS.

I 171

ly, but in 1872 sold out his business and went to
New York City, and in the interest of New York
capitalists, visited Utah to inspect a silver mine, in
which, on a favorable report being received, they
proposed to invest a large sum of money. Mr.
Shipman being convinced that the mine was com-
paratively worthless, so advised them, and saved
them from heavy losses. These same parties were
then building a railroad from Newark, Ohio, to the
Shawnee coal fields. Mr. Shipman purchased a
quarter interest in the Shawnee Coal Company, and
after the completion of the railroad, had charge of
the coal-fields and shipping department at Shaw-
nee, and during the latter years of his connection
with the business, which extended to 1880, he had
brought the mines up to the capacity of one hun-
dred car loads of coal per day.

In 1874 he established a coal agency in Detroit,
but through lack of management on the part of the
resident operator, the venture failed of success.
During the following year Mr. Shipman removed to
Detroit and personally took charge of the business
in this city. His relations to the coal company,
and the railroad facilities he enjoyed by his con-
nection with the Newark and Shawnee road, made
the development of an immense trade possible,
and to-day he is the most extensive coal dealer
in the State of Michigan, and disposes of 600,000
to 700,000 tons yearly, representing a value of over
$1,500,000. He supplies several railroads with
coal, and his trade extends through Michigan, sev-
eral Western States and to Canada. He deals in all
kinds of coal and firewood, and has recently opened
a mine of his own in Athens County, Ohio. He
is President of the Frontier Iron & Brass Company,
and connected with the Fire Proof Paint Company,
of Chicago, and is a stockholder in the Commer-
cial National and the American National Banks of
Detroit.

As a business man he is possessed of indomita-
ble purpose, is persistent in every undertaking, and
cannot be contented unless he has developed every
possibility in any enterprise he has undertaken, and
he devotes all the power and energy he possesses to
achieve his purposes. His executive and adminis-
trative abilities have been tested in many ways,
and he has been found equal to every occasion.
In the commercial community he is justly recog-
nized as an upright business man, while his private
life is above reproach. For many years he has
taken an active interest in the Masonic fraternity,
and has secured the highest degrees possible to be
obtained in the United States. He is a member of
St. John's Episcopal Church, and for three years
has been a vestryman.

He was married in June, 1856, to Emily L. Corn-
stock, of Newark Valley, New York. They have

two daughters, Mrs. F. B. Stevens and Mrs. H. S.
Lewis, of Circleville, Ohio.

AARON LANE WATKINS was born at Water-
loo, New York, December 26, 1824, and is the son of
Stephen and Jane (Clarkj Watkins, who were both
natives of Philadelphia They settled in Waterloo
at an early day, and had eleven children, three of
whom are living — Aaron L., Charles, and Julia
Chamberlain, widow of the late J. P. Butterfield,
of Goshen, Indiana.

Aaron Lane Watkins lived at Waterloo until he
was twenty-tw^o years old ; he was educated at the
public schools of that village and in the Canandai-
gua Academy, where he acquired some knowledge
of the classics and a good English education, his
tastes inclining him to mathematics and the exact
sciences. After finishing his education he taught
school for a time in his native town, and then, as
he had determined to enter the legal profession, he
studied law at Waterloo, New York, and in 1847
came to Detroit and completed his studies in the
office of Chancellor Farnsworth, and was admitted
to the bar in 1848. Soon after his being admitted
to practice, he went to Grand Rapids for the pur-
pose of engaging in law business with Lucius Pat-
terson, of that city, but being called to New York,
he spent- a year there, and on his return to Detroit
was for two years engaged in teaching in the pub-
lic schools. In 1852 he entered the insurance office
of Bachman & Fisher, as accountant and book-
keeper, remaining for some time, and then again
served as teacher, and from 1855 to 1864 was prin-
cipal of the junior department of the Barstow School,

In 1864, with Mr. C. H. Wolff, he engaged in the
manufacture and sale of trunks, under the firm name
of Watkins, Wolff «& Company, continuing until
1870, when he sold his interest and retired from the
firm. During his connection with the firm they
conducted a. large business, that was successful in
its financial results. Since his retirement from the
firm, Mr. Watkins has not been in active business,
but in 1870 became a special partner in the firm of
H. F. Swift & Brother, wholesale druggists, and has
remained with them and their successors. Swift &
Dodds, and John J. Dodds & Company, until the
present time. He has also been engaged in the
settlement of several estates.

He is possessed of excellent business qualifica-
tions and of strict integrity, is conservative in the
use of his means, but gives to charitable objects
which commend themselves to his judgment. Lead-
ing rather a quiet and retired life, he spends a share
of his time with his books, and is well-informed,
both in current and general literature. In political
faith he is a Republican, but takes no active part in
political affairs.

1 1 72

MERCHANTS.

He was married January 31, 1854. to Climena D.
Walker, daughter of Levi Walker, of Lyons, New
York. They have one child, Jennie Clark Watkins.

FREDERICK WETMORE was born in Whites-
town, Oneida County, New York, on August 7,
1 81 3. He was a son of Amos and Lucy 01m-
stead Wetmore, who were both natives of Con-
necticut. In company with the family of Judge
White, they removed to Whitestown after the War
of the Revolution. Amos Wetmore was a farmer
and mill owner, operating both a grist and saw mill.
His eldest son, Charles P. Wetmore, was the father
of Charles H. Wetmore, of Detroit, of Mrs. James
McMillan, and of the late Mrs. Cleveland Hunt.

Frederick Wetmore w^as the seventh child of a
family of six sons and three daughters. In his youth
he prepared for college, but ill health prevented
him from pursuing his studies, and at the age of
seventeen he went to Pittsburgh, and acted as clerk
for his elder brother, who was engaged in the
crockery business. In 1836 he entered into the
transportation business at Pittsburgh, on his own
account, continuing it until the fall of 1841. About
this time, in traveling to New York, he formed the
acquaintance of two English crockery manufac-
turers. They proposed to join him in business at
Detroit, and an arrangement was made by which
they shipped their goods direct to his establishment.
In 1844 he bought out the interests of his English
partners, and for ten years conducted the business
alone. His nephew, Charles H. Wetmore, then
became his partner, under the firm name of F. Wet-
more & Company.

For a period of forty-two years, Mr. Wetmore 's
name was familiar to the people of Michigan, both
in business circles and in social and moral enter-
prises. He was identified with Detroit during the
period of its growth, from a frontier town to its
present proportions as a metropolitan city — its rail-
road communications and chief commercial interests
being developed in his day. He saw the popula-
tion several times doubled, with its streets, avenues,
parks, and all public and private improvements of
the city, keeping pace with its progress in popula-
tion. It may be truly said of him : All this he saw
and part of it he was, for he was active in many
ways in promoting the welfare of the city, as well
as honorable and successful in his own private
affairs.

Aside from his mercantile pursuits, he dealt
largely in real estate, owning a farm near Detroit
and property in the city, and also in Chicago. As
a business man he was strictly honest and upright
in all his dealings, and proverbially polite and
courteous towards all with whom he came in con-
tact.

He was a Republican in politics but took no
active part in political affairs. His religious con-
nection was with the Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian
Church, of which he was an elder for many years.
Both in the church and in all his domestic and
social relations, his life was singularly pure and
exemplary, and he possessed a marked individuality
of character, which impressed itself upon all who
were brought into intimate relations with him. His
natural diffidence caused his voice to be seldom
heard in the public meetings of the church, but his
counsel and advice were always sought in matters
pertaining to its welfare.

It was an invariable rule with him to leave his
business behind when he left the store, and whether
at home or in society, he was always ready to
enjoy the domestic or social intercourse of the
hour, and his unusual memory, large fund of in-
formation and uniform courtesy, made him a
desirable companion at all social gatherings. In
his own family these traits were none the less con-
spicuous, and he was respected and loved for traits
of character that constrained admiration and regard.

Mr. Wetmore was twice married. His first
wife was Cornelia P. Willard, a niece of Judge
Piatt, formerly a resident of Detroit. They were
married at Albany, New York, in 1845 ; Mrs. Wet-
more died in 1848, leaving two sons, one of whom
died in infancy, the other, Edward W. Wetmore,
late Professor of Chemistry and Philosophy in the
Detroit High School, is now at Essex, Connecticut.
On August 15, 1850, Frederick Wetmore was mar-
ried to Anna Mary Curtenius, of Lockport, New
York, a lineal descendant of Peter T. Curtenius, of
Revolutionary fame, who led the assault on the
monument of George III. in Bowling Green, in the
city of New York. They had six children, four
of whom, Blanche, Ernest Curtenius, John 01m-
stead, and Frederick Amos, are living.

Mr. Wetmore, during early life, traveled exten-
sively in the United States, and some years ago
made an extended tour in Europe. He died March
25, 1883, in the seventieth year of his age.

GEORGE COLLIDGE WETHERBEE, of

Detroit, was born at Harvard, Worcester County,
Massachusetts, July 27, 1840, and is the son of
Zophar and Sarah (Collidge) Wetherbee. An apti-
tude for hotel business seems to be inherent in the
family. His grandfather formerly kept a hotel at
Harvard, and subsequently, for more than forty
years, his father was proprietor of the same house.
Two of the brothers of Mr. Wetherbee have gained
a wide reputation as successful managers of two of
the finest hotels in New York, Gardner Wetherbee
being proprietor of the Windsor, and Charles Weth-
erbee of the Buckingham Hotel. Another brother,

i/v7c\j> /^a-^^&t^x^

MERCHANTS.

II73

Frederick Wetherbee, is connected with a whole-
sale dry goods house in the same city. Their
parents are still living, the father at the age of
eighty-four, and the mother at the age of seventy-
nine.

The early life of George C. Wetherbee was with-
out special interest. He attended the district school,
and being of an active, restless disposition, engaged
in various employments in his native village. At
the age of eighteen he went to Boston, and entered
a provision store, w^here he remained about a year
and a half, when an injury to his knee obliged him
to stop work and return home, where he remained
until the breaking out of the War with the South.
Almost at the beginning of the strife, he enlisted as
a private in Company H, Twenty-third Massachu-
setts Volunteer Infantry, for a period of three years,
or until the close of the war. His regiment formed
a part of General Burnside's command, and was
stationed for a few months at Annapolis, Maryland,
then at Hatteras Inlet, and participated in the cap-
ture of Roanoke Island and Newburn, North
Carolina. At the latter place Mr. Wetherbee was
detailed as commissary of the company. After
about eighteen months' service, during which he
participated in all the campaigns and engage-
ments of his regiment, he was promoted to a First
Lieutenancy by Governor John J. Andrew, of Massa-
chusetts, and was shortly after assigned to duty as
acting Assistant Commissary of Subsistence, on
the staff of General Foster, and ordered to Roan-
oke Island. Here his services again commanded
approval, and on August 19, 1863, he received
a commission from President Lincoln, as Captain
and Assistant Commissary of Subsistence of United
States Volunteers. Subsequently, when General
B. F. Butler came to Fortress Monroe, and began
the formation of the Army of the James, Captain
Wetherbee was ordered to report to him, and was
there attached to the staff of General Devens. He
served with the Army of the James during the
memorable campaign which included the capture of
City Points, the especially severe fighting at Cold
Harbor, and the capture of Richmond by the com-
bined armies of the James and the Potomac. In the
advance on and capture of the latter city, Captain
Wetherbee acted as volunteer aid in General De-
vens's division, and while there, in July, 1865, he
resigned and was honorably discharged. His mili-
tary career was recognized by the award, on June
24, 1865, of the brevet rank of Major for meritorious
services.

After a visit of two months at home, in the fall
of 1865 he came to Detroit, and with the small sum
of money saved from his pay in the service, he
engaged in the produce business, but it proved a
disastrous investment and he lost nearly all his sav-

ings. He then embarked in the grocery business on
Woodward Avenue, where the Godfrey Block now
stands, with S. S. Farquhar, under the firm name
of Farquhar & Wetherbee. Continuing the busi-
ness with success for nearly two years, he then sold
out and purchased C. M. Garrison's interest in the
wooden and willow ware store of William Saxby &
Company, then located nearly opposite the Board
of Trade building, on Woodbridge Street. In 1873
he purchased Mr. Saxby 's interest in the business,
at which time the late Governor John J. Bagley
became a special partner, and the firm name of
George C. Wetherbee & Company was adopted.
In 1876 Mr. Wetherbee purchased Mr. Bagley's
interest, and continued the business alone until
1882, when it was incorporated, since which time
he has been President and general manager. Their
manufacturing plant, located on Vinewood Avenue,
is one of the largest and most complete of its kind
in the West. In 1873 Mr. Wetherbee began the
manufacture of brooms at the State Prison, at
Jackson, and this branch of his business has grown
to be the most extensive broom factory in the State,
more than 30,000 brooms being turned out every
month. In 1883 he was chiefly instrumental in the
organization of the United States Truck Company,
of which he is President. The success of this
enterprise has been great and rapid. He is also
President of the Novelty Brush Company, organized
in 1887. Over one hundred and twenty-five men
find employment in these enterprises, including six
traveling salesmen. Their wooden and wnllow ware
trade is confined principally to Michigan and por-
tions of Indiana and Ohio, while the market for
their trucks and brushes extends throughout the
United States.

He is the President and principal owner of the
Michigan Elevator and Engine Company, and is
also a director in the Manufacturers' and Mutual
Insurance Company, of Detroit, and in the Thomas
Ink and Bluing Company, of Canada, also a director
and treasurer of Detroit Vise Company. He is a
member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Post
No. 348 ; a member of the Loyal Legion, and of
the Ancient Order of United Workmen.

The success Mr. Wetherbee has achieved in a
line of manufacture requiring untiring and close
application to innumerable details, is the best evi-
dence of his excellent business capacity. He has
been the main factor in the creation and develop-
ment of several enterprises, which have not only
placed him among the successful manufacturers of
Detroit, but have materially added to the prosperity
of his adopted city.

He is a regular attendant, and for many years
has been a Trustee, of the Unitarian Church. His
untiring industry, power of close and continued

tiH

MERCHANTS.

application, broad business views, and a reputation
for unquestioned honor and honesty, have been the
secret of his success. He possesses decided con-
victions, and is not afraid to express them, but has
also a warm and social nature, and wins and retains
the regard and friendship of business associates.

He was married January 22, 1867, to Mary E.
Phelps, of Springfield, Massachusetts. They have
two children, a son and a daughter.

HENRY KIRKE WHITE, of the firm of D. M.
Ferry & Co., seedsmen, was born in Unadilla Cen-
ter, Otsego County, New York, May 26, 1839. His
ancestors were English, and settled in Connecticut
at a very early date, his parents living there until
1834, when they removed to Unadilla Center, New
York. Mr. White was next to the youngest in a
family of six sons and one daughter, and was
named after the well-known author.

At three years of age he was sent to live with an
uncle and aunt whose home had been made deso-
late by the loss of their only child. The attach-
ment became so great that he continued as a mem-
ber of their household, and attended the district
school at that place until about ten years of age. In
1 849 his uncle's family removed to North Walton,
Delaware County, New York, and he accompanied
them, and there continued his studies until his
uncle's death, in 1853. His parents then desired
him to return home, but, although only fifteen, he
decided to start out for himself, and the following
summer hired out as a farm hand at six dollars a
month and board. In the fall of that year he re-
turned to North Walton, making his home with his
aunt, attending the winter term of school, and
doing general farm work for his board. The
school was of a very high order, and his studies
embraced chemistry, algebra, Latin, and other high
branches not usually taught in a district school.
He was a close student, and midnight often found
him pouring over his studies by the light of a pine
knot or a tallow dip. The next summer found him
working upon a farm with wages increased to ten
dollars a month. The savings of the six months'
labor this season enabled him to pursue his studies
at the academy at Gilbertsville, Otsego County,
during the winter. Here he made rapid progress,
studying night and day. At the close of this term,
his funds being entirely exhausted, he again hired
out for four months in the summer, and attended
the fall term at the academy. In the winter of
1856 and '57, when but seventeen years old, he
taught school, at the same time continuing his
studies. His services, as a teacher, were sought
for the following winter, but, believing that the

western country possessed superior advantages for
young men, he started westward on October i,
1857, with twenty-five dollars in his pocket. Arriv-
ing in St. Louis, he found that he had but one
dollar, and with that he purchased a ticket to
Summerfield, Illinois. Soon after reaching this
place he secured a teachership in a neighboring
school, which place he held for a year and a half,
when, his health becoming impaired through the
miasma of that section, he decided to visit the
home of his youth.

Stopping at Detroit to visit friends, he was
offered a position with M. T. Gardner & Company,
the predecessors of the now famous seed house of
D. M. Ferry & Company. He began work for the
first named firm at twenty-five dollars a month, and
and this was the turning point in his life. Believ-
ing in the future of the seed business, he continued
in their employ, with gradually increasing compen-
sation each year, and in 1865 he was admitted as a
member of the firm. In 1879 the firm was merged
into a corporation and Mr. White was elected
treasurer, which office he has since held. The his-
tory of this house since 1859, is largely connected
with his own. He has devoted his entire time,
energy, and thought, to its honor and advancement,
contributing his full quota towards bringing it up to
its present state of prosperity.

In 1877 Mr. White made a European tour, visiting
all the principal places of interest, and in 1884 again
went abroad, accompanied by his family. In Jan-
uary, 1886, he was called home on account of the
destruction of the seed house by fire, on the first
day of that month, his family remaining until July
following. Mr. White and family spend the greater
part of the summer at the charming village of
Siasconset, Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, where
he owns fourteen cottages, thirteen of which he rents
to families by the season.

He is a director and large stockholder in the
Merchants and Manufacturers' National Bank, a
director in the Michigan Fire and Marine Insurance
Company, the Gale Sulky Harrow Works, the
Acme W^hite Lead and Color Works, the Leonard
Glass Works, and the Detroit Home and Day
School. He is also a stockholder in the Detroit Gas
Company, and Vice-President of the Eagle Iron
Works. He is a member and trustee of Westmin-
ster Presbyterian Church, and gave largely towards
its erection, and is also a methodical and liberal
giver to all worthy causes, giving systematically and
conscientiously. He was married to Christine
Amanda Fortier, in Monroe, Michigan, November
19, 1863, They have had six children, four of
whom are now living, three sons and one daughter.

-^C/^-^:-

CHAPTER XCV.

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

WILLIAM SMEAD ARMITAGE was bornin
Vernon, Oneida County, New York, June ii, 1830,
and was the son of William and Rosina Armitage.
The family were of New England ancestry, but
had been residents of Oneida County for many years.
He was educated at Vernon Academy and also at-
tended Cazenovia Seminary. In 1853 he entered
into mercantile business at Verona, and was thus
employed until 1865, serving also as Postmaster at
Verona from 1861 to 1865. In 1867 he removed
to Oneida, New York, and became a partner in the
firm of Seeley & Armitage. They soon became
the leading and most influential establishment in
Oneida, and did a very large and prosperous busi-
ness. At the end of five years Mr. Armitage
retired from the firm, and came to Detroit to act as
Secretary and Treasurer of the American Plate
Glass Company. Their works were located at
Crystal City, Missouri, and formed one of the many
mammoth corporations organized by the late Cap-
tain Eber B. Ward.

After the death of Captain Ward, Mr. Armitage
became Secretary and Treasurer of the Eureka
Iron Company, of Detroit and Wyandotte, and
acted in that important and responsible position
until 1885. In that year the corporation known as
the Galvin Brass and Iron Works was organized,
and Mr. Armitage was made its Secretary and
Treasurer, and remained in charge of its interests
until .shortly before his death.

Mr. Armitage was prominent among the business
men of Detroit, and was especially at home in
manufacturing enterprises, and well informed in all
the details pertaining to the manufacture of iron
and brass. He was a man of sterling integrity and
was the thoroughly trusted custodian of various
large and important interests, and proved faithful
to every trust. Always energetic, active, methodical
and painstaking, he was not satisfied unless he knew
that all the affairs with which he had to do were
well and properly conducted. In social life he was
modest and unassuming, with strong domestic tastes,
and a courteous and winning manner, which en-
deared him to all with whom he was associated.

["75]

He was an earnest and devout member of the
First Presbyterian Church, of Detroit, and his
decease was greatly regretted by all who had any
knowledge of his worth and many excellencies.
He died January 28, 1887. His wife and one
daughter are slill living.

ABSALOM BACKUS, Jr.. was born in Her-
kimer County, New York, September 7, 1824, and
is the son of Absalom and Mary (Hildreth) Backus.
He attended a common district school until fourteen
years of age, and a more advanced school for three
subsequent winters, in the city of Auburn, New
York. At the age of twenty-one, he engaged in
building a telegraph line from Syracuse to Niagara
Falls, uniting Canada and the United States by a
wire across the river at Queenstown, opposite
Brock's monument, and building a line eight hun-
dred miles long in Canada, reaching to Little
Mettice, on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

In 1848 he married Sarah E. Stevens, of Pratts-
burgh, Steuben County, New York, and settled in
Auburn, New York, as a contractor and builder.
In 1853 he moved to Chaumont, Jefferson County,
New York, and engaged in the grain, lumber, and
farming business. During the w^ar he rendered
substantial aid to the Union army by assisting to
raise troops, pledging to many men who enlisted to
care for their families, which pledge was faithfully
fulfilled. In 1867 he moved his family and settled in
Detroit. The same year, in association with his
brother Albert, he formed the firm known as Backus
& Brother, built a gang saw mill and large improve-
ments at Au Sable, Michigan, and established
in Detroit a lumber yard and planing mill, at the
foot of Eleventh Street, on the site of the old
Richardson match factory. In 1872 he built a
large brick planing mill at what is now the foot of
Twelfth Street, and purchased and improved a
dock at the foot of Eighteenth-and-a-Half Street,
Detroit, and also built mills at Taymouth and
Harrisville, Mich., and a hardwood mill in Indiana.
In 1875 he sold the Au Sable mill to J. E. Potts,
and the Harrisville mill to George L. Colwell. In

1 1 76

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

1877 he bought out his brother Albert's interest in
the business, and associated his two sons with him
in business at Detroit, under the name of A. Backus,
Jr. & Sons, and in 1885 a stock company was
formed. On October 24, 1882, the planing mill
was destroyed by fire, entailing a heavy loss, but it
was rebuilt and in full operation on March 4, 1883.

In rebuilding the planing mill, Mr. Backus con-
structed a furnace on a perfect combustion princi-
ple, which proved a great success, has been applied
to a large number of furnaces burning coal, and
bids fair to revolutionize steam making. He has
secured letters patent for the invention in the United
States and also in foreign countries, covering his
application of this principle of perfect combustion,
and after years of patient toil and large expendi-
tures of money, he bids fair to reap his merited
reward. The Backus Perfect Combustion Furnace
has been shown to possess great merit, and has
proved a perfect smoke consumer and a large
economizer of fuel.

Besides the interests above enumerated, Mr.
Backus is engaged in several farm improvements,
where he has shown great skill as an organizer, and
any work planned by him may probably be safely
imitated by others. Like many other self-made
men. he started in life with no capital save integrity
and industry, with a purpose to be prudent and tem-
perate ill all things, and he has the satisfaction of
knowing that his success is the result of his own
thoroughness and practical business methods. He
is known and recognized as a live man of energy,
with an irreproachable and honest purpose that
almost invariably commands success. He is par-
ticularly fortunate in having reared two sons, who
are fully competent to foster and increase the busi-
ness he has established.

CARLETON ABBEY BEARDSLEY is the
second son of Lockwood H. and Catherine (Myer)
Beardsley, and was born in Castile, New York,
October 4, 1852. His father was born in Scipio,
Cayuga County, New York, March 21, 1822, and
now lives at Springfield, Oakland County, Michi-
gan.

C. A. Beardsley lived with his parents in Livings-
ton County, New York, from 1852 to 1866, when
the family removed to Pontiac, Michigan. His
early life was spent with his parents on the farm in
Western New York, where he was given the advan-
tages of a district school, improving his opportuni-
ties with the utmost diligence. In May, 1868, he
removed with his parents to Pontiac, Michigan,
where he entered the graded school. Here he was
applying himself closely, when sudden reverses in
his father's business made it necessary for him to
aid himself. Accordingly, in the winter of 1869

and 1870, he taught a district school at Bald
Eagle Lake, Oakland County, for a term of four
months, receiving as a salary the meagre sum
of $126. The effort proved a very successful one,
and so well satisfied was the county superintendent,
that he recommended Mr. Beardsley as competent
to take charge of the schools at Central Mine, Lake
Superior, where he went and conducted a success-
ful school. Upon returning home, flattering induce-
ments were held out to him to enter mercantile life,
and in preparation therefor, on April 4, 1873, he
entered the Ohio Business University at Toledo,
and after graduating, returned to Pontiac, where he
re-entered his classes in the High School, and by
alternately studying and teaching, he was enabled
to graduate in 1875. His vacations while teaching
were spent in the law office of A. C. P^aldwin, and
in the year 1877, he was admitted to the bar, ami
the following year entered the University of Mich-
igan, graduating from the law department in J 878.

In 1880 he removed to Detroit, since which time
he has pursued the practice of law, also dealing
largely in real estate, and engaging in the manu-
facture of furniture, which, in a large degree,
absorbed his time and took him from his prac-
tice. His factory has turned out only the finest
grade of furniture, and of a design and finish unex-
celled in the United States. It has employed one
hundred and thirty skilled workmen and five travel-
ing salesmen.

He is a member of the Union Lodge of Masons,
an honorary member of the Detroit Light Infantry,
and of the Pontiac and Cass Lake Aquatic Club,
and of several other social organizations. He is a
member of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church,
and has been a liberal contributor to all worthy
objects. In business affairs he is eminently progres-
sive and enterprising, and socially agreeable and
well informed.

He was married April 2, 1879, to Sarah Hance,
of Farmington, Michigan, daughter of Mark and
Susan Hance. They have had four children, two of
whom are living.

. THOMAS BERRY, son of John and Catharina
Berry, was born at Horsham, England, February 7,
1829, and was the fifth child in a family of ten
children. His father, who had been engaged in the
tanning business, emigrated to America in 1835,
and settled in Elizabeth, New Jersey, resuming his
regular occupation. His son, Thomas Berry, was
educated in the private schools of Elizabeth, but at
an early age began to learn the business of his
father, and continued therein, going in 1852, to
Richmond, Virginia, and there and in other locali-
ties in the same State, managing branch establish-
ments owned by his father. He was thus employed

/^^yi^-i^txyj

WiUi

CrOj

C£C-7-c0^l^

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

II77

until 1856, when he came to Detroit, where his
parents had removed a short time previously.

For a year and a half following his removal to
Detroit, he was not engaged in any regular occu-
pation, but spent the time in visiting different
sections of the country. Meantime, his brother,
Joseph H., had begun the manufacture of varnish at
Springwells, and in 1858, Thomas became asso-
ciated with him, and they have since constituted
the firm of Berry Brothers. The business was
continued at Springwells a few years, and then re-
moved to the present location, on the corner of
Leib and Wight Streets. Here, from a small fac-
tory with limited resources, their business has grown
from year to year, until at the present time they are
more extensively engaged in the manufacture of
every grade of varnish than any other firm in the
world. They have eight branch houses located at
New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Roches-
ter, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Chicago, and the
value of their products amounts to about $1,000,000
annually, furnishing employment to one hundred
and fifty persons. Their goods find a market in
every State in the Union, and in all the principal
foreign countries. In this connection, it may be
mentioned as a notable fact, that Detroit has an
unusual number of men of great organizing capac-
ity and undaunted perseverance, who have materia
ally advanced the prosperity of the city by building
up large manufacturing enterprises, and probably
no city of its size has so many widely known busi-
ness establishments.

In politics Mr. Berry was originally a Whig, but
since 1856 he has been a member of the Republi-
can party. The management of extensive business
interests has, however, prevented his participating
very largely in political affairs, but a keen and
lively interest in the maintenance of good city gov-
ernment, has led him to serve in several local
offices. In \'^']6-'j, he was a member of the Board
of Estimates from his ward, and in 1880 a member-
at-large. In 1881 he was elected one of the coun-
cilmen, served three years, and was re-elected in
1884. He was also one of the Poor Commissioners
in 1880, and served as president of the board.

Besides his connection with the varnish business,
he is a stockholder in the Detroit Linseed Oil Com-
pany, a joint partner with his brother Joseph H,, in
the Combination Gas Machine Company, a director
of the Citizens' Savings Bank, and is interested in
several minor business enterprises in Detroit and
elsewhere, and serves as one of the trustees of the
Michigan College of Medicine. He is a member of
the Masonic order, belonging to Zion Lodge, Mon-
roe Chapter, and to the Detroit Commandery No. i,
of Knights Templar.
He was married in 1S60, to Janet Lowe, a

daughter of John Lowe, of Niagara, Canada. They
have had five daughters, four of whom are living.

CALVIN KNOX BRANDON was born at
New Carlisle, Ohio, September 6, 1841, and is the
son of George S. and Nancy (Craighead) Brandon,
and is of Scotch-Irish ancestry. His paternal
grandfather, Templeton Brandon, was born in
Scotland, came to America when a boy, and settled
in Adams County, Pennsylvania, where he became
a prosperous farmer. His son George S., who was
born in 1803, was engaged in milling and farming
until 1842, when he removed to Indianapolis, Indi-
ana, and became one of the earliest settlers of that
city, and was a prosperous merchant. He w^as a
man of strong character and of devout piety, and
for many years was an elder in the Presbyterian
Church of Indianapolis, presided over by Dr. Gur-
ley, afterwards the distinguished Chaplain of the
United States Senate. He died on August 22,
1847. His wife, who survived her husband only
one month, came of a family renowned in the
ecclesiastical and civil history of Scotland and
America. Her great-grandfather, John Craighead,
was the youngest son of Rev. Thomas Craighead,
a native of Scotland, where he was educated as
a physician, but soon abandoned his profession,
studied divinity, and for several years was pastor of
a Presbyterian church. In consequence of the
oppression endured by members of his church, he
emigrated to America in 171 5, and settled near
Boston, Massachusetts. In 1733 he removed to
Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and was very
active in planting and building up churches in that
region. He died while in the pulpit at Newville,
Pennsylvania, at the close of a sermon, in April,
1739. He was an eloquent preacher, with marked
ability, original in thought, and fearless in the ex-
pression of his opinions. His numerous descend-
ants dwell principally in the East and Southwest,
where many of them have occupied positions of
honor and responsibility. His son, Rev. Alexander
Craighead, was a bold and advanced champion of
American civil liberty. For several years he
preached in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but in
1749 removed to Virginia, and in 1756 to Sugar
Creek, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, where
he died in 1766. During his residence at the latter
place, he did much to inculcate sentiments of politi-
cal liberty among the people of his parish, and to
him the people of that region were indebted for the
training which placed them in the forefront of
American heroes and patriots. His church was
the oldest in the upper country, and the parent of
the seven churches that formed the convention
at Charlotte, North Carolina, which on May 20,
1775. issued the Mecklenburg Dedaratlon of ludQ-

1178

MANUP^ACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

pendence, the first decided avowal of the right of
organized hostility to English rule, and the princi-
ples then enunciated were substantially embodied
in the Declaration of Independence adopted by the
first American Congress.

After the death of his father and mother, C. K.
Brandon went to Adams County, Pennsylvania, and
passed his boyhood upon a farm, going to country
schools in the winter. At the age of fifteen he
went to Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and
for two summers continued at farm work. He
then entered Farmer's College, at Bellefonte, Centre
County, Pennsylvania, and remained one year, and
at the age of nineteen went to Macomb, McDon-
nough County, Illinois, to look after some land
belonging to his father's estate. While there.
President Lincoln's call for troops was issued, and
on April 13, 1861, he enlisted for three months, in
Company A, Sixteenth Regiment, Illinois Infantry,
but was mustered in on April 26 for three years'
service, and in May following, his regiment was
among the first troops of enlisted volunteers to
enter the State of Missouri. The Sixteenth Regi-
ment was in General Pope s command during the
summer of 1861, and in the winter of 186 1-2,
guarded the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad, and
subsequently participated in engagements at Pal-
myra, Monroe, Shelbina, Shelbyville, Liberty and
Blue Mills Landing, at the siege of New Madrid,
capture of Island No. 10, skirmishes before Corinth,
and at the battle of Farmington. At the end of his
period of service, Mr. Brandon went to Quincy,
Illinois, and secured a position as clerk in a
wholesale dry goods store, but soon after enlisted
in the Fourteenth Regiment Illinois Veterans,
and was chosen Captain of Company E. Shortly
after he was detailed as commissary of subsistence
and general ordinance officer of General Stolbrand's
brigade of the Seventeenth Army Corps, and served
in this capacity until mustered out of service in Sep-
tember, 1865.

Upon leaving the service he removed to Saline
County, Missouri, and purchased a stock farm,
which he conducted for six years, and then sold out
and came to Detroit. His first service here was in
the employ of the Detroit Car Works. In 1875 he
became purchasing agent of the Detroit Stave and
Heading Works, then owned and conducted by
Frederick Buhl. In 1877 he purchased Mr. Buhl's
interest in the business, since which time the
growth of the concern has been rapid and remuner-
ative. In 1879, R. S. Keys became a partner with
him, under the firm name of Brandon & Keys, and
in 1883 the business was incorporated as the Detroit
Stave and Heading Works. Its officers have since
been C. K. Brandon, President; J. P. McLaren,
Vice-President, ^pd R, S, Keys, Secretary and

Treasurer. The business has been a marked suc-
cess, and its growth has been largely due to Mr.
Brandon's energy and careful management. Their
plant, one of the largest in Michigan, is located on
the corner of Clark Avenue and the Michigan Cen-
tral Railroad, and covers an area of over twelve
acres ; 10,000,000 staves and over 700,000 heads are
manufactured yearly, and find a ready market all
over the United States, and in portions of Europe.
From seventy-five to one hundred men are em-
ployed.

Of late years Mr. Brandon has been largely in-
terested in real estate operations, especially in
Hamtramck and Springwells, and is the owner
of a number of houses in various parts of the city.
A few years ago he purchased fifty-eight acres of
land in Hamtramck, divided it into city lots, and it
has proved a valuable mvestment. He is President
of the Fontaine Crossing and Signal Company, of
Toledo, Ohio, and of the East Detroit and Grosse
Pointe Railroad, and is financially interested in vari-
ous other enterprises in Detroit.

He has been a Republican in political faith ever
since he has been a voter, and was elected a Repre-
sentative to the State Legislature from the Third
District, in 1884, by a majority of nearly 300. The
most important local measure which came up dur-
ing his term, was the question of the annexation of
Hamtramck, Greenfield, and Springwells to Detroit,
which he strongly favored, and was successful in
effecting. He is a member of the Grand Army of
the Republic, the Loyal Legion, and of Detroit
Masonic Commandery No. i. He is a member of
the Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church, and for
several years has been one of its trustees.

Habits of trained industry, unquestioned honor
and honesty, broadness of views, united with
enough conservativeness to prevent his taking
undue risks, and great executive ability, are the
strongest traits in his character. Personally he is
of quiet, retiring disposition; thoroughly domestic
in his tastes, fond of his home, and finds his great-
est pleasure in the family circle.

He was married October 24, 1867, to Louisa,
daughter of A. W. Russel. one of the best known
and most respected citizens of Lancaster City,
Pennsylvania. They have had seven children, five
of whom are living, three boys and two girls.

WILLIAM AUSTIN BURT was born in Wor-
cester County, Massachusetts, June 13, 1792. His
ancestors, representing both English and Scotch
races, settled in New England early in the seven-
teenth century, and he possessed the strong charac-
teristics, mental and physical, of his forefathers.
Self-denial, earnestness of purpose, ambition to
excel, loyalty to relatives, friends, and his own con-

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MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

IT79

victions, and steadfast adherence to right in all
things, were prominent traits in the character of his
ancestors and himself-.

As a boy, he possessed strong intellectual powers,
coupled with remarkable mechanical ability, and
fortunately he was able also to use either hand
with equal dexterity, nature evidently having de-
signed him for an inventor. The correctly-geared
mills, whittled out with his jack-knife, with which
he did the churning for his mother, and his
miniature saw mills, made both for entertainment
and use, were completed while pursuing his studies
in navigation, land surveying, music, and stenog-
raphy. A note book, which he kept when but
seventeen years of age, now in possession of his
grandson, Hiram A. Burt, of Detroit, shows that at
that early age he had fully conquered all the
methods of land surveying then practised ; was far
advanced in the study of navigation and astronomy ;
a fair theoretical musician, and that he had invented
for his own use, and nearly perfected, a system of
stenographic writing. It will be noted, also, that
his education had been acquired chiefly through his
own efforts, for, aside from about two months at the
public school, he received no other training in any
educational institution. He was not only studious
and thoughtful, but also patriotic, serving in the New
York miiitia for sixty days, in 1813, and again for
sixty days in the spring of 1814. He was married
on July 4, 1813, to Phoebe Cole. In 181 5 and 1816
he was Justice of the Peace, School Inspector, and
Postmaster, in Erie County, New York.

He was possessed of a courageous and adventur-
ous spirit, with an almost boundless ambition to see
and know, and in 181 7, in quest of a personal knowl-
edge of the West, before the days of the Erie Canal,
or the era of steamboats or railroads, he made the
journey from Buffalo to Cincinnati (by way of
Pittsburgh), thence to Jeffersonville, Indiana, Vin-
cennes, and St. Louis, then back to Vincennes,
and to Fort Wayne, Fort Meigs, Detroit, and by
saiHng vessel to Buffalo. Twice during the suc-
ceeding seven years he made trips to Michigan,
and finally, in 1824, settled in the township of
Washington, Macomb County, Michigan. He began
business as a land surveyor, mill builder, and farmer,
and endured the personal discomforts and hard
manual labor, and practised the self-denial that fell
to the lot of all pioneers. To these labors he added
habits of diligent study, and the varied experiments
of an eager, far-seeing mind, never contented unless
using its utmost effort towards achieving its best.
His facilities for experimental work were very lim-
ited, and consisted of a few carpenters' and black-
smiths' tools and utensils. Iron was scarce and
very dear, and brass was almost unobtainable ; there
were no foundries near at hand, and the various

metals were not offered in the many convenient
shapes now so common.

In order to fully employ his time, he built mills
here and there, wherever his services were sought,
and whenever he wanted a tool for any special
purpose, he produced it at his own forge, or bench,
and it generally proved that his tools were entirely
new additions to the tools of craftsmen. Among
these earlier tools and inventions was a compass
for striking an oval of varying diameters, a T square
of unique construction, and a "typographer," or
type-wTiting machine. The "typographer" was
conceived in 1828, patented in 1829, the patent
having the signature of President Andrew Jackson.
The typographer was further perfected in ^830, and
the records of the Patent Office show that he was
the first inventor of a mechanical type-writer. The
instrument was exceedingly simple in construction,
but for beauty and perfection, the work done by it,
as shown by letters written on it in 1830, is not
equalled by -any modern type-writer.

Before he had been three years in the Territory,
his abilities were generally recognized, and in 1826
and 1827 he was elected a member of the Terriforial
Council. In 1832 he was appointed District Sur-
veyor by Governor Porter, and about the same time
he'was appointed Postmaster at Mt. Vernon, Michi-
gan, which office he held for twenty-four years. In
1833, when he was forty-one years old, he was made
Deputy United States Surveyor for all the district
northwest of the Ohio River, and held the position
until his decease. In 1833 he was also appointed
one of the Commissioners of Internal Improvements
for Michigan, and on April 23, of the same year,
was appointed an Associate Judge of the Circuit
Court. He held this last position with much credit
for several years, and was familiarly addressed as
Judge up to the time of his death ; but it was as a
surveyor and inventor that he gained his greatest
renown. As a member of the Board of Internal
Improvements, he opposed the visionary schemes of
that day, such as the canals at Saginaw and Grand
Rapids. As a Government Surveyor, he was noted
for integrity, faithfulness, skill, and correctness.
Under date of October 8, 1834, M. T. Williams,
Surveyor-General of the Northwest Territory, wrote
to Senator Lucius Lyon, as follows : " Your friend,
Mr. Burt, proves to be an excellent surveyor ; for a
first contract, he has returned the most satisfactory
work I have yet met with."

Mr. Burt had as assistants all of his sons, namely,
John, Alvin, Austin, Wells, and William ; he also
employed other young men, sons of his neighbors,
all of whom he trained, and some of them gained
enviable reputations as land surveyors. During the
several years that he was employed by the Govern-
ment, Mr. Burt and his sons surveyed much of the

ii8o

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

States of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and
Minnesota, including the sites of the present cities
of Milwaukee, Rock Island, and Davenport. On
January 14, 1840, he was deputized to survey the
Upper Peninsula of Michigan, and to connect there-
with the geological survey then in progress under
Dr. Houghton. This work required the services of
Mr. Burt and his sons for about ten years, and it
was while doing this work that he discovered and
reported on fourteen different deposits of iron ore,
which, in his opinion, constituted about one-seventh
of the total amount.

Later developments show that his estimate was
approximately correct. In a letter to his wife,
written July 11, 1846, telling of his work in the
Upper Peninsula, he said: "We have found five
very extensive beds of iron ore, of an excellent
quality, enough, I think, if worked, to build a rail-
road around the world." Mr. Burt's associate, Dr.
Douglas Houghton, having met a sudden death,
the labor of preparing the geological report of the
survey then in progress, fell to Judge Burt. It is
published in Part 3, Executive Document No. i, of
Thirty-first Congress, first session, and bears testi-
mony to the thorough character of his knowledge
and work. In a letter, written May 17, 1835, he
says : " The aberrations of the needle are truly
perplexing. I have to correct very many of my
north and south lines, and it is most annoying,
this inability, as yet, to discover a method for
doing away with the difficulty or the cause
thereof." Under date of April 29, 1835, when
engaged on the Government surveys in and about
the city of Milwaukee, he wrote to one of his
assistants, as follows : " I arrived here to-day,
having finished the north tier of townships as far
west as the town lines are run. The aberrations of
the needle were worse in my last township than in
any other I have yet surveyed. * * * In one
instance I had to increase the variation one degree
for two miles, to keep parallel ; the next two miles
needed no increase of variation, and for two miles
more the variation decreased twenty and thirty sec-
onds. The changes are mysterious, and will prob-
ably remain so until some accidental discovery
reveals the secret." It thus appears that up to
1835 Mr. Burt experienced all the annoyances met
with by other land surveyors, in surveying trapezoidal
tracts, but, unlike them, he was not satisfied to re-
main without a remedy for the trouble, and all of
his correspondence shows that he was trying hard
to evolve a method to do away with the inaccuracies
and annoyances due to a sole reliance upon the
magnetic needle.

Aided by knowledge obtained during many
years of work throughout the Northwest Territory,
he continued to study and experiment, and at last

his researches resulted in the production of the solar
compass. In 1835, in order to test its principles,
he made a model of this instrument, and in the
latter part of the same year the first solar compass
was made under his supervision, by W. J. Young, of
Philadelphia, then the best known and most expert
mathematical instrument maker in this country.
The new instrument was submitted to a committee
of the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsyl-
vania, and after a full examination of its principles
and merits, they awarded the inventor a premium
of $20 and a Scott's Legacy Medal. Like most
new inventions, the solar compass proved to be
susceptible of improvement, and five years later
Mr. Burt submitted a new solar compass to the
same Institute, and their committee reported that
it was a decided improvement, both as to accuracy
and simplicity. Mr. Burt, however, was not per-
fectly satisfied, and in 1851 he exhibited, at the
World's Fair, in London, a solar compass still fur-
ther improved as to scope, accuracy and simplicity.
This instrument then, and since 1850, was known
as Burt's Improved Solar Compass, and in its
development and construction. Judge Burt was
greatly assisted by the suggestions and mechanical
skill of his sons, and it may be said to represent
the result of their joint labors. For this compass
a premium medal was awarded by the Committee
on Astronomical Instruments, and the inventor was
personally complimented by the Prince of Wales.
The premium medal was accompanied by the fol-
lowing certificate :

I hereby certify that Her Majesty's Commissioners, upon the
award of the jurors, have presented a prize medal to William A.
Burt, for a solar compass and surveying instrument, shown at
the exhibition. Albert,

President of the Royal Cotnntission .

Hyde Park, London, October 15, 1851.

While in London, Mr. Burt had the pleasure of
meeting and making the acquamtance of Sir David
Brewster, Hugh Miller, Sir John Herschel, and
other celebrities in the realm of science, the ac-
quaintanceship was continued, by means of corres-
pondence, for many years, and proved a source of
much pleasure.

The usual rewards of the inventor did not fall to
Judge Burt in his lifetime, nor have they since been
reaped by his heirs

It is a matter of record, that the great value of
the solar compass to the United States Government
became established at about the time when in order
to preserve an inventor's rights, and secure his
reward in the usual manner, a renewal of the patent
should have been sought. Judge Burt went to
Washington for this purpose, but, with the simplicity
characteristic of him, was easily persuaded by the
Government land officials to believe that if he

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MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

I181

would allow his invention to become public prop-
erty, the Government, as the principal beneficiary,
would, through Congress, make suitable pecuniary
recognition.

The petition then filed by Mr. Burt, the inventor,
and since his decease several times renewed by his
heirs, has been favorably reported on by every
committee of Congress to which it has been re-
ferred, and a bill has several times passed one or
the other branch of Congress making appropriation
of money in recognition and satisfaction of this
most just claim, but has failed to be given full legal
enactment.

That millions of money have been saved to the
Government in the cost of making original surveys,
through the adoption of the solar compass, is a fact
well known to all surveyors-general and deputies
engaged in this branch of the Government service.

For fifty years the United States had exclusive use
of the solar compass. It seems to have been orig-
inated for its special purpose, and, in fact, to grow
out of the necessity felt by Judge Burt, during his
experience as a deputy United States surveyor, for an
instrument that should do more accurate work than
the common surveyors' compass then in use.

That a government founded upon, and actuated
by equitable principles, should have so long neglec-
ted to do justice to him or his heirs is hardly credit-
able, but it is to be hoped that the merits of the
invention, and the advantages derived therefrom,
will soon be appropriately recognized and rewarded.

A second important invention of Mr. Burt's, the
Equatorial Sextant, was the outcome of his studious
endeavor to apply the principles of the solar
compass to navigation. On his return from Europe,
in 1 85 1, with the idea of perfecting his plans for this
instrument, Mr. Burt took passage on a sailing ves-
sel, for the purpose of making observations at sea.
The trip was eminently successful, and his studies
and experiments brought forth a perfect equatorial
sextant. He thus gave to the sailors on the track-
less sea, facilities equal to those furnished by the
solar compass to the woodsmen in the trackless
forest.

At this time he retired from active work as a sur-
veyor, and moved to Detroit, to devote himself to
giving instruction in its use. He also gave instruc-
tions to a class of lake captains in astronomy and
navigation, and in the use of his equatorial sextant,
and a number of these captains made successful
winter trips across the Atlantic with their fore and
aft lake schooners, to the great astonishment of the
" old salts."

In 1852 he was chosen a member of the Michigan
Legislature, served during the session of 1852-53,
and improved the opportunity to advance the

project of a canal about the falls of the St.
Mary's River of which he was one of the orig-
inal and most earnest advocates. He was made
chairman of the joint legislative committee on the
subject, and it was largely owing to his intelligent
and energetic efforts that the St. Mary's Falls Ship
Canal was constructed, upon what was then deemed
an extravagantly liberal scale.

On August 18, 1858, he was suddenly stricken
down with heart disease. He died possessing the
universal respect of all his fellow men, peacefully
and contentedly, attended by his wife, who had done
well her part during the forty-five years of their mar-
ried life, and he never neglected to award to her
much of the credit of his success. Mrs. Burt did
not long survive her husband ; she died, on August
23, 1864, and was laid by his side in the pleasant
little rural cemetery at Mt. Vernon, where they had
lived for so many years. A few years later their
remains were removed to Elm wood Cemetery, in
Detroit. '

Mr. Burt was not only fertile in ideas, on scien-
tific and mechanical subjects, but he also possessed
clear and decisive convictions on religious and
political subjects, and had the courage to uphold
them. Theories in any direction would not satisfy
him ; each new topic was taken up with the deter-
mination to fully comprehend its meaning and drift,
and then to enforce its truth. He was not fanati-
cal, however, and no man was more prompt to
acknowledge error of judgment, or more hearty in
expressions of satisfaction over the discovery of an
error.

In company he was modest and unassuming,
but able to hold his own with any one in a discus-
sion, and in conversation was brilliant and well
informed on a wide range of subjects. He was a
consistent and firm believer in the doctrines of the
Baptist Church, and was one of the organizers of
the Society at Mt. Vernon, Michigan.

In politics he was a Jeffersonian Democrat, but
aside from the ordinary part taken by every good
citizen, did not actively participate in political affairs.

He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, and
one of the founders, and the first Master of the
third Masonic lodge organized in Michigan.

WELLS BURT was born in the village of
Wales Center, 5rie County, New York, near the
city of Buffalo, on October 25, 1820, and was the
fourth son of Wm. A. Burt, widely known as the
inventor of the solar compass, who came with his
family to Michigan in 1825, and settled in Wash-
ington, Macomb County. The son attended the
district schools of that locality through his boyhood,
but received his best education through intercourse

n82

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

with his father, who was a man of rare intelligence
and a diligent student, 'especially in scientific direc-
tions.

As Wells Burt grew to manhood he learned the
science of surveying from his father, who was
engaged in extensive surveys of the public lands
under contracts from the government, and gained
practical knowledge by accompanying him as one
of his assistants. Later he took contracts from the
government himself for the surveying of thousands
upon thousands of acres of the public lands of
Michigan and Wisconsin. In the performance of
his duties he was painstaking and exact to an un-
common degree, and this trait of faithfulness and
conscientiousness was manifested throughout his life,
in all his business relations and his intercourse with
those about him. His work in the wilds of north-
ern Michigan in those early days, was fraught with
many hardships and dangers, often his Httle party
of surveyors being the first white men who had in-
truded upon the domain of the Indian tribes of that
region. But there was also compensation for these
trials, for through his work he became thoroughly
acquainted with the mineral resources of the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan, and was thus enabled to
make investments which laid the foundation for a
considerable fortune. He had no ambition to gain
great wealth, and not having very robust health,
preferred for many years to lead a quiet life, com-
paratively free from the anxieties and cares of more
active business life. He was, however, one of the
organizers of the Union Iron Company of Detroit,
established in 1872, and for ten years its presi-
dent. He . was also largely interested in the Lake
Superior Iron Company, of Ishpeming, and the
Peninsular Iron Company, of Detroit, and a holder
of stock in the Third National Bank and the Ameri-
can Banking and Savings Association of the same
city, besides being connected with various enter-
prises in other places.

He was married on February 19, 1 851, to Amanda
F. Beaman, of Rochester, Oakland County, their
early married life being spent in Washington, Ma-
comb County. In 1865 they removed to Ypsilanti,
that better opportunities might be afforded for
the education of their children. In t88i Mr. Burt
came to Detroit, building a beautiful home on
Woodward Avenue, where he died suddenly of
neuralgia of the heart, on November 29, 1887.

At the time of his death he was a member of the
First Baptist Church of Detroit. He rarely gave
outward expression to his deepest feelings, and his
religious life was quiet and undemonstrative, but
those who knew him had many evidences of his
kindly, loving nature, and Christian character. He
was a devoted, considerate husband and father, a
true friend, and a good citizen.

He performed many acts of benevolence, and gave
largely of his money to church and charitable objects
in Detroit and elsewhere.

He left a widow and five children, namely : W.
Clayton Burt, Mrs. Henry L. Jenness, Miss Helen
E. Burt, Mrs. Elstner Fisher, of Detroit, and Mrs. C.
Van Cleve Ganson, of Grand Rapids.

JOHN BURT was born in Wales, Erie County,
New York, April 18, 1814, his father, Wm. A. Burt,
was the inventor, and patentee of the solar compass.
The family emigrated to Michigan in 1 824, coming on
the steamer Superior from Buffalo, and landing in
Detroit on May 10, and were soon settled in a log
house in Washington township, Macomb County.
The father's business frequently called him away
from home, and, as the eldest of five sons,
the mother depended chiefiy upon John for assist-
ance, and for six years he was a very active helper
in pioneer life. At sixteen years of age, having
developed strong mechanical instincts and ability,
he was employed by his father to assist him in
building saw-mills. His first lessons in mathe-
matics, surveying, engineering, astronomy, and
navigation, were received from his father, but he
also attended the district school.

In 1835, when twenty-one years of age, he married
Julia A. Calkins, daughter of a respected and influ-
ential farmer. They settled on a farm and remained
five years. Mr. Burt was then persuaded by his
father to accompany him as assistant in the work of
conducting the linear and geological surveys in the
Upper Peninsula He was fully acquainted with
the use and operation of his father's solar compass,
and after one season's experience in the woods on
May 18, 1 841, was appointed a Deputy United
States Surveyor, and from 1840 to 1851 he was
engaged continuously on Government surveys in the
Upper Peninsula. In 1848 he subdivided the
Jackson Mine district under a government contract
and discovered a number of new iron deposits, in-
cluding the Republic and Humboldt mines. He
also located accurately several others, discovered by
Dr. Houghton in 1845.

The most remarkable instance known or recorded
of the magnetic influence possessed by bodies of
iron ore occurred while he was running the west
boundary line of T. 46 N. R. 30 W., in which the
great Republic Mine is located. This body of ore
affected the needle for a distance of 6 miles, and
nearly all bodies of iron ore in that region, whether
outcropping or not, attracted the magnet, hence the
ease with which their presence was indicated by the
solar compass, and to its use is justly awarded the
credit of the early discovery of the great mineral
wealth of Northern Michigan, Wisconsin, Minne-
sota, and other portions of the West. While Mr.

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

1 183

Burt was surveying the iron regions of the Upper
Peninsula he obtained and preserved specimens of
iron ores and kept notes of where they were
found, together with the topographical and geologi-
cal features and botanical peculiarities of their sev-
eral locations. These notes were turned over to
Messrs. Foster & Whitney, United States Geolo-
gists, and in their report of 185 1, they give him due
credit.

The valuable knowledge obtained by ten years of
work in such a region led him in 185 1 to take up
what proved to be his life work, namely ; the devel-
opment of the mineral resources of Northern Mich-
igan. He foresaw that the cheap transportation of
the ores by lake was to be the greatest factor in
their development. He knew that ore in abundance
was within comparatively easy reach ; with prophetic
ken he saw the extent of the demand which would
come, and in fact he comprehended as no one else
did, the wondrously beneficial influence the develop
ment of that country would have on the general
welfare of the country especially as to the States
west of the Alleghanies. Mr. Burt's intimate ac-
quaintance with the ore lands of the Upper Penin-
sula, naturally caused him to desire the ownership
of a portion thereof, but under the so-called Mineral
Land Act, the prices had been so increased as to pre-
clude his purchasing. He therefore applied to the
Land office at the "Soo" for an opinion from the
Attorney General of the LInited States as to the char-
acter of the iron ore lands and as to w^hether they
were rightly classed as mineral lands. He was in-
formed that iron ore lands did not come under the
head of mineral lands, and the officials at Sault Ste.
Marie were instructed to offer and sell such lands,
as agricultural lands, at $1.25 per acre. The first
lands entered under that decision were those en-
tered by Mr. Burt and the entry constitutes a part
of the 1 5,000 acres, now owned by the Lake Su-
perior Iron Company. It is conceded that the sell-
ing of the iron ore lands at the reduced rate and
the railroad and canal enterprises originated and
pushed to completion by Mr. Burt, were the three
prime factors in the present advanced civilization,
improvement, and wealth of the Upper Peninsula.
Mr. Burt greatly desired that the people of his own
State should have control of these lands, and sought
earnestly to interest Zachariah Chandler, Henry N.
Walker, Eber B. Ward, H. P. Baldwin, and other
citizens in his plans, and offered to sell them a
three-eighths interest in his purchase, including
the property of the present Lake Superior Iron
Company now worth several millions of dollars,
and a large share of the site of the present city of
Marquette for the sum of $50,000. They apparently
failed to comprehend the advantages offered and
thus lost an opportunity seldom within reach. Mr.

Burt then visited Pittsburgh, where his exhibits and
appeals were also unappreciated. The elder Mr.
Schoenberger, then the most prominent iron manu-
facturer in Pittsburgh, said to him ; " we have an
abundance of good ores in Pennsylvania and have
no need of your Michigan ores, besides we will not
see a ton of Michigan ore in Pittsburgh market in
our day." Mr. Burt replied, *' Mr. Schoenberger,
you will have it here in five years at the farthest, and
beg for it." In just four years from that time Mr.
Burt had the satisfaction of seeing 4,000 tons of
Lake Superior iron ore pass through the St. Mary's
Falls Ship Canal, some of it consigned to Pittsburgh.
In the summer of 1851 he returned to Carp River.
where the city of Marquette is located, with a force
of thirty men, built a dam across the river and
also a saw-mill, the first erected in that region,
preparatory to the erection of a forge for the manu-
facture of blooms. While at this work Mr. Burt
was casually visited by the late Heman B. Ely of
Cleveland, whom he imbued with his own sanguine
ideas of the future of the iron interests of that
country. Mr. Ely was a railroad man, and it was
proposed that they should join forces in the construc-
tion of a railroad from the lake to the mines. This
was a project Mr. Burt had long had in mind, and
the proposition being acceded to, Mr. Burt, Mr.
Ely, and his brothers, John F., Samuel P. and George
H. Ely began the railway and completed it in 1857.
Meanwhile, Mr. Burt, the late Captain E. B. Ward,
and other gentlemen, foreseeing that the railway
would be of little immediate value without a way to
get ore laden vessels through the Sault Ste. Marie
river, revived the idea of a ship canal around the
rapids in that river, and in the winter of 185 1 and
1852 visited Washington, and. with Mr. Burt's room
as headquarters, besieged Congress for a grant of
money or land to aid the State in building a canal,
and a grant of 750,000 acres of land was made by
Act of August 25, 1852, the conditions of which
were accepted by the State on February 5, 1853.
Under a contract entered into April 5, 1853, between
the State Commissioners and Messrs. Joseph Fair-
banks, J. W. Brooks, Erastus Corning, August Bel-
mont, and others, the canal was completed and
turned over to Mr. Burt, as its first Superintendent,
on May i, 1855, and on June 18, following, he had
the extreme satisfaction of passing the steamer
Illinois, Captain Jack Wilson, as the first boat
through the canal. During the remainder of the
navigation season, of about five months that year,
four thousand four hundred and seventy-four tons
of ore were passed through the canal, and in 1887
nearly two and one-half millions tons were passed
through. The history of the canal, and the stu-
pendous growth in the ore trade of the Upper
Peninsula, is w^ell known, but it is not so generally

n84

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

known that Mr. Burt was the first to recognize the
need of enlarging the canal, that he was foremost in
all movements to improve it, and that all grants and
appropriations made by the Government were chiefly
obtained through his tireless energy and masterly
exhibits and arguments. It is also true that the
then largest single lock in the world, the canal lock,
begun in 1870 and completed in 1881, was built
after a plan devised and patented by Mr. Burt.

Meantime, from the summer of 1851 to 1857,
besides pushing the canal project, Mr. Burt gave a
great deal of time and energy to the construction of
the Iron Mountain Railway, and the improvements
at Marquette. After completing his agreement
with the Ely Brothers, of Cleveland, contracts were
made with the Jackson Iron Company, and with the
Cleveland Iron Company, to carry iron over the
road for one dollar per ton the first two years, after
which fifty cents per ton was to be paid, until, by a
graduating scale, each company should ship, per
annum, more than one hundred and twenty-five
thousand tons, when the price was to be reduced to
thirty cents per ton. No charter was then obtain-
able, as the State had no railroad law, but with
these contracts, obtained chiefly by Mr. Ely, as a
basis for business, the building of the road was begun
as a private enterprise. The lumber for the docks,
offices, and other buildings of the railroad company
was sawed in Mr. Burt's Carp River mill, and sold
for ten dollars per thousand, while the lowest price
elsewhere was twenty-five dollars per thousand. In
June, 1852, Mr. Burt contracted with the railway
company to extend their road two miles farther to
the Burt, now the Lake Superior mine, and the
railroad company agreed to carry ore for him at the
figures named in the contracts with the Jackson and
Cleveland companies.

Mr. Burt was also the prime mover in the organi-
zation of several iron manufacturing companies, all
of which use Lake Superior ores. He was a director
for thirty-three years in the Lake Superior Iron
Company, now incorporated for its second term of
thirty years ; was President of the Peninsula Iron
Company, of this city, for thirty years, and also
President of the Marquette Furnace Company,
the Carp River Furnace Company, and of the Burt
Free Stone Company, of Marquette. On February
12, 1855. a general railroad law for Michigan was
approved by the Governor, and three days later a
railroad company was organized under the name of
the Iron Mountain Railroad Company, with Mr.
Burt as President. The passage of the railroad
law was opposed by all the old railway companies,
but was secured through the efforts of Mr. Burt,
his father William A. Burt, and Heman B. Ely.
During the United States Congress of 1855 and
1856, John Burt, aided by the late W. B. Ogden, of

Chicago, obtained land grants to aid in the construc-
tion of the Bay de Noquette & Marquette road, from
Little Bay de Noquette to Marquette, the Marquette,
Houghton & Ontonagon road, and the Michigan &
Wisconsin State Line road.

It will be noticed that thirty-four years ago he
had formulated a railway system for the Upper
Peninsula, his plans being fulfilled by the completion
and operation of the Duluth, South Shore & Atlan-
tic, the Milwaukee & Northern, and the Peninsula
division of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroads.
The latter road was built with the grants given
for construction of the Bay de Noquette & Mar-
quette and State Line roads. Mr. H. B. Ely died
in 1856, and Mr. Burt, on February 15, 1857, was
elected President of the Bay de Noquette & Mar-
quette Railroad, and in 1858 the road was completed
to the Lake Superior Company's mine, locally called
the Burt mine ; this railroad and the Iron Mountain
Road were then consolidated, and from that time to
the present it has been-a very successful enterprise.
Mr. Burt withdrew from the company in 1863.

In 1855 he bought the Lake Superior Journal,
then published at Sault Ste. Marie, moved it to
Marquette, and published the paper four years,
when he sold out to Warren Isham. The paper is
now known as the Marquette Mining Journal.

It was not alone as an explorer, financier, and
organizer, that Mr. Burt excelled ; he had a good
record as an inventor. He obtained his patent for
the canal lock, heretofore alluded to, on May 28,
1867. On January 19, 1869, he obtained a patent
on an improvement in the manufacture of iron, by
the use of pulverized oxide of iron in the puddling
furnace, and his process is largely used in puddling
iron throughout the country. On May 25, 1869, he
obtained a patent for the manufacture of crude
blooms, using oxide of iron by running molten pig
metal on to the oxide while in the crucible. On
September 7, 1869, he obtained a patent for the
manufacture of pig iron, and on December 28, 1869,
a patent for a finishing case for railway bars. He
also obtained a patent for purifying blast furnace gas,
which is successfully used in many furnaces. On
March 27, 1877, and on Octpber 29, 1878, he was
granted patents for a system of ventilation, which
has been introduced, in a modified form, in the
Capitol at Washington. On April 24, 1 883, he was
granted a patent on charcoal furnaces, or retorts,
for distilling wood and obtaining charcoal for fur-
nace use.

In politics he acted with the Democratic party
until the passage of the fugitive slave law, and the
birth of the Republican party, when he aided in the
organization of that party, and continued to work
with and for its prosperity as long as he lived. In
7.868 he was an elector at large for the Republi-

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

1 185

cans of Michigan, and was honored by the Electoral
College with the duty of delivering to the President of
the Senate the vote of the State for Grant and Colfax.

Physically Mr. Burt was tall and well built, with
a frank, pleasant face, and a very engaging manner.
He was a close and almost constant student, and
like his father, could not be contented with mere
theories. Although to some of his contemporaries
he seemed visionary, yet he was only enthusiastic,
and this because he saw in advance of his times. He
was extremely systematic in his business methods,
and in all of his dealings, was the soul of generosity,
and quick to recognize and make allowance for
disappointment or misfortune on the part of any
with whom he had business relations.

To his own kith and kin and to those whom he
held as his friends, he was always helpful, and with-
out thought of pay, he directed many persons to
tracts of land, the purchase of which made them
wealthy. He possessed a thoroughly religious
spirit, an even temper, and was eminently a trusty
friend and an agreeable companion. At the very
early age of sixteen he was baptized, and united
with the Baptist Church. From that time he felt
a deep interest in the cause of Christ, and con-
tributed liberally to all the churches with which he
had been connected, and other churches, in his
denomination and outside of it, received liberal
gifts from him. The First Baptist Church, in Mar-
quette, felt especially indebted to him for his
generous gifts to them, and after his death the fol-
lowing resolutions were passed by that church :

Resolved^ That we extend to the relatives of Brother John
Burt our deepest sympathy in their sad and sudden bereavement.
That we remember with gratitude his gift to us of a church edi-
fice and ground at an early day in the history of our church and
city That we remember his earnest words of encouragement
and his prayers full of faith in the final triumph of God's people
and of His cause.

That in his passing away we mourn in common with our State
and the denomination.

On Thursday, December 3, 1885, he and his wife
celebrated their golden wedding at the handsome
family residence at Detroit. The gathering brought
their friends to the number of several hundred,
from all parts of the State and letters of congratu-
lation and good wishes were received from all over
the country, and many testimonials of rare value
were presented. A few months later, on August 16,
1886, the community was made sad by the an-
nouncement of his sudden death He died as he
had lived, full of religious trust, leaving his wife and
three children, namely : Hiram A. Burt, Alvin C.
Burt, and Minnie C, wife of Robert Leete.

GEORGE S. DAVIS was born in the city of
Detroit, May 7, 1845, and is the son of Solomon
and Anne H. (Duncan) Davis. His ancestors were

among the earliest settlers of New England, and
were prominent among the active defenders of the
American colonies during the War of the Revolu-
tion, and distinguished for their piety, honesty, good
habits, and longevity.

Mr. Davis was educated in the common schools
of Detroit, entering the High School the second
term after its opening, and graduating from that
institution in the year i860. Having the choice of
a college education and a professional life, or a
commercial career, he decided, on account of the
limited means of his father, to engage in mercantile
life, and accordingly entered the wholesale drug
house of Farrand, Sheley & Company, and sys-
tematically studied the drug business, remaining
with that firm until 1867, when he purchased an
interest in the firm of Duffield, Parke & Company,
manufacturing pharmacists. In 1 871 the firm name,
after the retirement of two partners, was changed
to Parke, Davis & Company, under which title,
both as a firm and a corporation, the concern has
since been known. The enterprise suffered severely
during its earlier history, through strong competition
and want of proper capital, and though greatly
crippled by the condition of commercial affairs
incidental to the panic of 1873, it passed safely
through the crisis, steadily gaining in prestige and
strength. From the year 1877 it has been phenom-
inally successful, and now ranks as the largest
concern of its kind in the United States, if not in
the world, and has commercial relations with all
countries.

The history of the growth of this business, from
its incipiency through the various stages of its exist-
ence to its present world-wide reputation, is partly
detailed in connection with the chapter on manu-
factures, and forms one of the most interesting
portions of the manufacturing history of Detroit.
The creation of the forces and agencies which
built up this enterprise, over obstacles almost
unsurmountable, form the best index to the charac-
ter and ability of those who have been instrumental
in its development. That its success is largely due
to the individual efforts of Mr. Da-vis, will be readily
admitted by those most intimately connected with
its growth. Coming into active participation in its
management at an early period of its history, when
it was of small capacity, and unknown beyond a
small radius, he gave it a personal supervision and
care which has been persistent, well directed, and
unflagging. With unusual executive ability, great
energy, intuitive knowledge of character, and broad
and liberal business judgment, united to a certain
boldness and courage, without which great business
success is rarely attained, he has been an essential
factor in achieving the success that is now estab-
lished.

ii86

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

The business was incorporated in 1875, with Mr.
Davis as Secretary and Treasurer. He is also Presi-
dent of the Michigan Phonograph Company, Vice-
President of the Imperial Life Insurance Company,
and is interested in several other business corpora-
tions. In addition to his business as a manufacturer,
as is shown in detail elsewhere in this work, he is
one of the most extensive medical publishers in the
United States, and scores of serial issues, valuable
brochures, and books of interest to the medical and
scientific world, bear his imprint as publisher, and
owe to him the inspiration of their authorship.

He possesses large real estate interests, particu-
larly in Grosse Pointe, where he has not only estab-
lished the nucleus of a suburban village, but has
also an extensive stock and dairy farm.

He is a Republican in political faith, and earnestly
interested in the success of his party, but with the
exception of two years' service in the Board of
Education, has never held public office. He has
been publicly mentioned for various important
official positions, particularly as member of Congress,
Mayor, and Park Commissioner, but is in no sense
an office seeker. He is a director in the Grosse
Pointe Club and a member of various social clubs,
military and other organizations, and socially is
warm-hearted, affable, unassuming, and courteous,
and worthy of the esteem in which he is held. He
is an attendant of the Fort Street Presbyterian
Church, is liberal in his contributions to public
objects, and has few^ equals of his years among the
successful business men in the city or State. He is
unmarried, and lives with his father's family.

SOLOMON DAVIS, one of the oldest residents
of Detroit, was born at Rockingham, V^ermont,
March 17, 1792, and was the first son of Joshua and
Rhoda (Balcom) Davis. The first of the family, on
the paternal side, in America, came from England,
and landed in New England about the year 1670.
After the manner of many of the pioneers, he
moved from place to place, and was actively engaged
in the various wars with the Indians. Nathaniel
Davis, the grandfather of Solomon Davis, was born
in the town of Petersham, Massachusetts, Novem-
ber 13, 171 5. He married Susanna Hubbard, who
was born April 10, 1720. They settled in Barre,
Massachusetts, where most of their children were
born. They afterwards, about the year 1758,
located at the place now called Charleston, in New
Hampshire. It then contained but four log houses,
which, on their arrival, were found to have been
ravaged by the Indians, the windows and doors
were open, and the floor strewn with various relics
pertaining to household occupancy. This fact aided
in determining his decision to join the forces raised
for the war against the French and Indians He

entered the service, and was wounded in one of the
skirmishes in his right shoulder, but succeeded in
avoiding capture. At the close of the war he pur-
chased a farm at Rockingham, Windham County,
Vermont, where he cultivated the soil under great
difficulties, being continually exposed to Indian
attacks, and constantly compelled to guard against
them. He subsequently purchased a larger and
better farm on the north side of the Williams
River, near the town of Rockingham, where he
resided until his death. He was a very pious man,
puritanical in turn, and possessing the fighting
qualities so desirable among the early settlers. He
had seven children, three girls and four boys. His
wife was drowned in 1770, while trying to ford the
Williams River, at Chester, Vermont. Joshua
Davis, his fourth child, was born February 29, 1750.
Remaining at home in his earlier youth, he assisted
his father until the opening of the Revolutionary
War, and then just prior to the battle of Bunker
Hill, he joined the colonial forces, and while acting
on the staff of the commanding general was
severely wounded by a musket ball. On recover-
ing from his wound, he was assigned to a companv
of the Green Mountain boys of Vermont, and
arrived upon the field just after the battle of Ben-
nington. He subsequently served in the army
under Gates, Arnold, Washington, Lafayette, and
Greene, being actively engaged in many of the
battles of the Revolution, and was present at the
surrender of Burgoyne. At the close of the war he
purchased a farm near Newfane, Vermont, and
there at the age of forty married Mrs. Myrick nee
Rhoda Balcom. She was a descendant of an Eng-
lish family, which originally resided in a small
hamlet in England, called Balcombe, a name derived
from the Saxon, signifying a dale or hollow at the
foot of hills or highland. The Balcom family are
all long lived, and from the first settlement in
America have resided in Sudbury, Massachusetts.
John Balcom, the first of the family in America, was
born in 1657, and died in 1742.

Henry Balcom, the father of Rhoda Balcom, was
born in 1742. He was accidentally killed in 1840,
being thrown from his horse and dragged some dis-
tance with his foot in the stirrup. He married
Kesia Stowe in 1761, and had eight children and
fifty-nine grandchildren. He served in the Revo-
lutionary War in various capacities, from the day
of the battle of Bennington to the close of the war.
His father moved with his family from Sudbury,
Massachusetts, to Newfane, Vermont, very early,
if not prior to the commencement of the Revolu-
tionary War. After the Revolutionary War he
moved with his family from Newfane, Vermont, to
Oxford, Chenango County, New York, where he
remained the rest of his life. He was accidentally

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MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

I187

killed at the age of seventy-two years, by being
thrown from his horse. He had seven children
and fifty-nine grandchildren. Two of the latter,
Lyman and Ransom, were appointed to the bench,
and served as Judges of the Supreme Court of the
State of New York, in which State their numerous
descendants have principally settled.

Rhoda Balcom, wife of Joshua Davis, died in
August, 1802, and in 1804 he married Mary Blake,
of Rockingham. It is an interesting fact, as show-
ing her health and vitality, that at the age of ninety
she rode forty miles on horseback in one day. She
died July 21, 1852, at the age of ninety-two years.
Her husband, Joshua Davis, had five children, three
boys and two girls. He died at Newfane, June
24, 1838.

After obtaining as thorough an education as the
facilities of that day in Vermont afforded, Solomon
Davis engaged in farming, and continued in that
occupation until 181 3, when, taking advantage of
the restrictions placed upon commercial relations
with England by the embargo, and the existing
need of woolen goods in this country, he invested
w^hat capital he had in a woolen manufactory, at
Weathersfield, Vermont, and continued the business
until about 1826, when the resumption of commer-
cial relations with Great Britain, and competition
with English manufacturers, compelled him and
many other American woolen manufacturers, to
suspend. Mr. Davis, however, paid all his debts in
full, but had only twenty dollars left as the result
of his industry up to that date, and on June 8, 1830,
he crossed the Green Mountains on foot, obtained a
passage by canal boat to Buffalo, and then em-
barked on the steamer Superior for Detroit, arriving
here on the 24th of June following.

Shortly after his arrival in Detroit, he obtained
the position of Superintendent of the Detroit Hy-
draulic Company, organized to supply the city with
water. He superintended the laying of the iron
and wooden pipes, which, though but three inches
in diameter, were considered sufficient for the
necessities of the city at that time. During the
year he returned to Vermont, and brought back his
family. Early in 1833 he established a brass
foundry, and continued in this line of business until
1879, when he gave up active work. He reared a
large family amid comfortable and pleasant sur-
roundings, and in a long life of patient, persistent
industry, conscientious devotion to duty, and in an
honest, manly character, he gives them an inherit-
ance which is above price. At ninety-six years of
age he is hale and hearty, and possesses remark-
able vigor of mind and body.

He was married in 1825, to Anne H. Duncan
They had eight children, four girls and four boys,
five of whom, three daughters, Mrs. George F.

Turrill, Mrs. Charles Ketchum, of Detroit, and
Mrs. Charles S. Bartlett, of Chicago, and two sons,
George S. Davis, and James E. Davis, of Detroit,
are living. The mother died on May 28, 1848, and
on March 11, 1852, Mr. Davis married, as his second
wife, Mrs. Elvira A. Campbell, of Detroit. She is
still living, in the best of health and spirits, and in
full possession of her faculties, at the advanced age
of eighty-four years.

ALEXANDER DeLANO, one of the leading
manufacturers of Detroit, was born in Oneida
County, New York, April 25, 1842. His ancestors
were Huguenots and came from France to this
country early m the eighteenth century, first settling
in Massachusetts and afterwards removing to Ver-
mont. His father, Safford S. DeLano, was born in
St. Albans, \'ermont, in 1800. While a young man
he located in Massachusetts. In 1840 he moved to
Oneida County, New York, where he remained about
eight years. In 1848 he removed to Brooklyn, New
York, embarked in mercantile business, and died
four years later. His wife, Clarissa Cook DeLano,
was born in Berkshire, Massachusetts, in 1800, and
died at Detroit in 1884.

Alexander DeLano was the youngest son of eight
children, and until about fifteen years of age at-
tended school in Brooklyn, New York. In 1857 he
started West and at Mt. Clemens, Michigan,
engaged as clerk in the dry goods store of Moore
Stephens, where he remained about four years. In
July, 1 86 1, he enlisted at Fort Wayne, in the Fifth
Michigan Infantry, the regiment being assigned to
the Army of the Potomac. At the front, Mr.
DeLano was soon made Regimental ()uartermas-
ter Sergeant, but on account of deafness, contracted
in the service, he was unable to fill a higher rank
which was offered and the same reason caused him
to be honorably discharged in 1863. In the latter
part of 1863 he located in Buffalo, New York, and
engaged in the hard timber trade. In 1868 became
to Detroit and entered the employ of James McMil-
lan, in the Michigan Car Works, where he remained
ten years.

In 1878, in connection with J. S. Newberry, he
organized the Detroit Car Spring Company, of
which he was made treasurer and general manager,
and in i88f, with others, organized the Detroit
Steelworks. In 1883 these two corporations were
consolidated under the name of the Detroit Steel
and Spring Works, and Mr. DeLano was chosen
president and manager. The company employ
over three hundred men and turn out from five to
six hundred tons of manufactured steel per month.

JERLMIAH DWYER was born in Brooklyn,
New York, August 22, 1837. When he was

ii88

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

scarcely a year old, his parents removed to Detroit
and settled on a farm in the township of Springwells,
about four miles from the city, remaining there
until 1848. In that year, while his father was
driving a team of spirited young horses near the
railroad, they were frightened by a locomotive and
ran away, and Mr. Dwyer was thrown out and
killed. The family then consisted of his wife, his
son Jeremiah, and two younger children, James
Dwyer, now manager of the Peninsular Stove Com-
pany, and one sister, now Mrs. M. Nichols.

After his father's death, Jeremiah, though only
eleven years of age, tried for a year or two to aid
his mother in managing the farm, but found it
unprofitable work, and finally his mother, feeling
the necessity of giving her children better educa-
tional advantages than could be had in that vicinity,
sold their country home, and purchased a residence
in Detroit. With the other children Jeremiah now
enjoyed a few years' training in the public schools,
but as their means were limited, he found it neces-
sary to obtain employment, which he secured in
the saw and planing mill of Smith & Dwight,
where he remained about a year. At that time it
was quite difficult to get an opportunity to learn
a trade, but through the influence of friends, Mr.
Dwyer secured an opportunity to learn the trade of
moulding at the Hydraulic Iron Works, then con-
ducted by Kellog & Van Schoick, and afterwards
owned and managed by O. M. Hyde & Co., with
the late Captain R. S. Dillon as superintendent.
Mr. Dwyer had to agree that he would serve four
years as an apprentice and make good all lost time,
and did so to the satisfaction of his employers,
receiving at the expiration of his apprenticeship a
letter of recommendation w^hich he still prizes
highly.

At the conclusion of his apprenticeship he worked
as journeyman in several eastern stove foundries,
perfecting himself in his trade. He then returned
to Detroit, and on account of poor health, resulting
from too close confinement to his trade, accepted
a position on the D. & M. R. R. for about a year,
and was then offered a position as foreman in one
of our leading foundries. About the same time a
reaper works and stove foundry was started on the
corner of Mt. Elliott Avenue and Wight Street, by
Ganson & Mizner, but for some reason was not
successful, and the property coming into the hands
of T. W. Mizner, he made Mr. Dwyer a proposi-
tion to engage in the stove business, and finally
they made an arrangement under the firm name of
J. Dwyer & Co., which continued about two years.
W. H. Tefft then bought Mr. Mizner's interest, but
the firm continued under the old name for about a
year, and in 1864 M. I. Mills joined them and they
formed a stock company, under the name of the

Detroit Stove Works, with Mr. Dwyer as manager.
In 1869 he superintended the construction of the new
Detroit Stove Works in Hamtramck, and in the
winter of 1 870, through over anxiety and exposure
m moving to and starting up the new works, he
took a severe cold which settled on his lungs, and
by advice of his physician he went South. Fearing
he would not return, he sold his interest to his
brother James, but after spending some time m the
South, he returned home in the summer of 1871,
and through the persuasions of Alfred and Charles
Ducharme, decided to again engage in stove
manufacturing. Associating himself with Charles
Ducharme, and with Richard H. Long as secretary,
in the fall of 1871 they bought the Ogden & Rus-
sel property, at the foot of Adair Street, at the
outlet of the " Bloody Run," and immediately com-
menced getting materials together for a new stove
manufactory. The winter setting in early, they
w^ere unable to start their building as at first ex-
pected, and during the winter of 1871-72, the late
M. I. Mills proposed to put in his property front-
ing on Jefferson Avenue and Adair Street, at first
cost, and join them in this enterprise His offer
was accepted, and a few months later they were
joined by Geo. H. Barbour, and formed the Michi-
gan Stove Company, the officers being Charles
Ducharme, president ; M. I. Mills, vice-president ;
George H. Barbour, secretary; R. H. Long, superin-
tendent, and Jeremiah Dwyer, manager. As the
spring opened they pushed the erection of their
buildings on the cornet of Jefferson Avenue and
Adair Street, as fast as possible, and here improved
and extended their works and facilities as the times
would warrant, till to-day this establishment will
compare favorably with any works in the world in
quality and quantity of their goods. At the death
of Mr. Ducharme, Francis Palms was elected
president, and on the death of M. I. Mills, in 1882,
Mr. Dwyer was made vice-president and manager,
and after the death of Mr. Palms, in 1886, Mr.
Dwyer became president, which office he still holds.

He was among the first organizers and is still a
director of the People's Savings Bank, is vice-presi-
dent of Bucks' Stove and Range Company, of St.
Louis, Mo., and a stockholder in several other
enterprises.

In the early days of the old volunteer Fire De-
partment, he took an active part and for a number
of years was foreman of No. 7, and later was one
of the trustees of the Fire Department Society.

He holds to the Roman Catholic faith, and is a
worthy representative of that church. In politics
he is a staunch Democrat, but though often solicited
to be a candidate, has been too much engrossed in
business to take an active part in politics, enter-
tains no ambition for the distinctions of office, and

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MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

I 189

with the exception of serving one term on the
Board of Estimates, has held no public position.

He is liberal-minded in his views on religion and
politics, and generous to all charitable institutions;
is possessed of sound judgment, and has achieved
great success as a manager of men. He is patient,
untiring, industrious, modest and practical — a man
of deeds rather than w^ords. He has never over-
reached nor attempted what was beyond his
capacity to accomplish, is exceedingly cautious in
all business matters, and his work is always so
methodical that its results may be anticipated with
reasonable certainty. Possessed of a quick and
active disposition, with great force of character and
genial and happy temperament, he commands the
respect of all with whom he is associated.

He was married November 22, 1859, to Mary
Long, daughter of John Long and Elizabeth (Bais-
ley) Long. They have one daughter and seven

JACOB BEALE FOX was born in Louisville,
Kentucky, January 12, 1831. His father was of
English descent, and died while in California, where
he had gone to try and build up his failing health.
The son attended school but little after he was
eleven years of age, as he was compelled to earn
his own living.

During the War with Mexico, he enlisted as a
soldier in the First Kentucky Regiment, and upon
his return from the war, visited California with his
father, and soon afterwards started a confectionery
business in New Albany, Indiana, but thinking to
better his prospects in Kalamazoo, Michigan, he re-
moved there in 1856, and ten years later came to
Detroit, and with Jacob Bristol established a whole-
sale confectionery establishment, under the firm
name of J. B. Fox & Company.

In 1869 the firm of William Phelps & Company
became interested in the establishment, and in 1 870
it was consolidated with the firm of Pilgrim & Gray,
and the firm of Gray, Toynton & Fox established.
They soon became the largest and most successful
confectioners in Detroit, and were widely known for
the extent and quality of their productions. Mr.
Fox personally superintended the manufacturing
department, and invented quite a number of
machines for use in the manufacture of confection-
ery, among them one for stamping out lozenges.

He was a man of strict integrity, was a genial
(V)mpanion, and had the confidence of all who knew
him. His health becoming impaired, he went South,
and while visiting at his sister's, at Samuel's Station,
in Nelson County, Kentucky, he was taken violently
ill, and died there on May 16, 1881.

He was married in 1853, to Marian Epperson, a
relative of President Polk. They had three chil-

dren, two of whom died, George L. Fox, of Detroit,
being their only surviving child. On July 12, 1877,
he married Mary S. McGregor, a direct descendant
of Rob Roy, the noted Scottish chieftain. They
had two children. Mrs. Fox and one son, John
Murray Fox, are living.

GEORGE H. GALE was born in Barre, Ver-
mont, February 23, 1826. His grandfather. Brooks
Gale, was one of the first two settlers of Barre, the
other being David French ; they were both from
Massachusetts. George Gale, the father of George
H. Gale, was born in Barre, Vermont, and married
Harriet Stone. He moved to Hillsdale County,
with his family, in 1837, and in 1840, established the
first plow works in that county, at Moscow.

George H. Gale began to care for himself at the
age of ten. He had attended a common school
and made the best use of his few opportunities. In
1845 he removed to Kalamazoo, and engaged with
Allen Potter in the hardware business, remaining
there until 1849, when he went by the overland
route to California, and there engaged in mining
and other operations for four years. In 1854 he
returned to Kalamazoo, and resumed the hardware
business with Mr. Potter, continuing until 1867.
Meantime, as early as 1855, he became identified
with the manufacture of agricultural implements, in
connection with his brothers, Charles, H. J,, N. B.,
and Horatio Gale, who had works at Kalamazoo,
Jones ville, and Albion, Michigan. George H. Gale
is a stockholder in the Gale Manufacturing Com-
pany, at Albion, and in 1883 took a leading part in
the organization of the Gale Sulky Harrow Com-
pany, of Detroit, became its general manager, and
early in January, 1884, removed his residence to this
city.

The Gale Sulky Harrow is founded upon a
patent obtained by his brother, Horatio Gale, in
1880. The company own the entire right to manu-
facture, and have shops for the manufacture of
harrows in Canada. Their works, in Detroit, are
located on Milwaukee Avenue, in the most advan-
tageous position for the railroads, and they have
contributed materially to the building up of that
part of the city. They can turn out one hundred
harrows a day.

Mr. Gale, having assisted his brothers in the
development of the patent, has devoted his energies
to the organization and management of a company
that should utilize it and give its practical benefits
to the agriculturists of the country. In this he has
been very successful. He is a thorough business
man, trained in the school of experience, active,
clear-headed, and self-reliant. His opinions are
not borrowed from others, but are the result of
investigation and consideration. He is courteous

1 190

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

and obliging in his intercourse with all, an excellent
organizer of labor, and a successful financier. He
is a Republican, and formerly gave much time to
politics in the Fourth District, but since coming to
Detroit has devoted himself exclusively to business,
and to the interests of his family.

He was married November 5, 1855, to Ellen S.
Brown, of Kalamazoo, and has three daughters,
Elnora, Winifred, and Blanche.

JOHN S. GRAY was born in Edinburgh, Scot-
land, on October 5, 1841, and with his parents,
Philip C. and Amelia Gray, came to America when
he was eight years old. His father was a crockery
merchant in Edinburgh, where his ancestors had
lived for many generations. They sailed from Liv-
erpool on April 6, 1849, and soon after arriving
here, settled on a farm in Wisconsin. They soon
found that farm life did not agree with them, and
therefore sold the property, and in May, J 857, moved
to Detroit. John S. Gray, who was now sixteen
years old, attended the Capitol School, taught by
Professor Olcott, and upon the opening of the High
School, was one of the first pupils, remaining until
the fall of 1858. In the winter of that year he
engaged in teaching at Algonac, and while thus
employed, his father purchased a small toy store
on the west side of Woodward Avenue, near Earned
Street.

In the spring of 1859, he entered his father's
store, and began a business career that has been
remarkably successful. In 1861 they sold out the
stock of toys, formed a copartnership with C. Pel-
grim, under the firm name of Pelgrim, Gray &
Company, and manufactured candy in a small way
until January, 1862, when the store and stock were
destroyed by fire. They immediately reopened at
143 Jefferson Avenue, with much enlarged capacity
and increased trade Soon after this the elder Mr.
Gray retired from the business, and Messrs. Pelgrim
& Gray received into partnership Joseph Toynton,
who had previously been in the employ of William
Phelps & Company, wholesale grocers, and in 1865,
on the retirement of Mr. Pelgrim, the style of the
firm was changed to Gray & Toynton. The busi-
ness continued to increase so as to require an
enlargement of their building, which was accord-
ingly made, and in the spring of 1870, J. B. Fox
was admitted as a partner, the style of the firm
becoming Gray, Toynton & Fox. In the fall of
1870, the demands of their business compelled them
to seek larger quarters, and they purchased and
removed to the building on the southeast corner of
Woodbridge and Bates Streets, where they still
remain, three separate enlargements having been
made to accommodate their ever increasing trade.
In the spring of 1881 both Mr- Toynton and Mr.

Fox died ; the respective interests of the deceased
partners were soon after withdrawn, and the firm
was succeeded by an incorporated company, under
the same name and style. Since 1881 an adjoin-
ing store has been required to accommodate the
business, which gives employment to from one
hundred and fifty to two hundred hands, according
to the season, and is the largest establishment of
the kind in Michigan. Mr. Gray has been Presi-
dent and manager of the corporation since its
organization. As a business man, he ranks among
the first in the city, both as to efficiency and pro-
bity of character. He is careful and economical,
yet bold and enterprising, possessing a rare combi-
nation of push and conservatism that has made his
success certain and continuous. He is well read in
general literature, a close student in several lines of
thought, and withal an earnest student of the Scrip-
tures. In politics he is liberal and independent,
and in the old anti-slavery days was an Abolitionist.
He has been a member of the Christian Church
since 1857, and an active worker in missions and
Sunday-schools.

To recruit his health, he made an extended tour
through Europe and the East in 1872, visiting
Egypt, Palestine, and other parts of Asia Minor, as
well as his old home in Scotland. He derived so
much benefit that he renewed the trip, in part, in
1883, visiting Scotland, France, and Italy, and his
health was greatly improved.

Pie married Anna E. Hay ward, at Beloit, Wis-
consin, on October 31, 1864. They have three sons
and one daughter. The eldest son, Philip PI., is in
the office of the company at Detroit ; the second
son, Paul, is a student in the University of Michi-
gan ; the others are at home.

THOMAS F. GRIFFIN was born in Limerick,
Ireland, December 18, 1826. When about eleven
years old, he determined to seek his own and a
better fortune in the New World. Accordingly, in
the spring of 1838, he left Limerick for Liverpool,
and at the latter place took passage for America.
On the arrival of the vessel at Quebec, he worked
his way to Rochester, New York, and that place
came near being his permanent residence, for he
remained there thirty-five years. His first occupa-
tion in Rochester w^as at general work, in a flour
mill. He stayed at this employment about three
years, and during the winter months attended the
Rochester High School. After leaving the mill, he
worked at various occupations, and finally, in 1 843,
went as an apprentice for Messrs. Traver & Bene-
dict, proprietors of the old Rochester foundry,
agreeing to remain with them four years. This
connection proved a fortunate one. The firm was
highly reputable and well known in connection with

<>^',r>^z>X^.;

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

I 191

the building of the Rochester & Auburn Railroad.
By the time he had served his apprenticeship, he
was competent to take charge of the foundry, where
he remained for over a quarter of a century.
Meanwhile, in 1848, soon after his apprenticeship
ended, he married, and has six children, two sons
and four daughters.

Mr. Griffin, as early as 1844, within a year from
the time he entered the foundry, was engaged
in making the old-fashioned split-hub wheels,
zinced and banded with wrought bands around the
hubs. Three years later, the first solid hub and
double plate car wheels were made in Rochester, by
Mr. Washburne, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and
almost immediately Mr. Griffin's employers pro-
cured wheel patterns, core boxes, and chills, and
began the manufacture of said wheels. wSince that
date, the time and thought, the energy and experi-
ence of Mr. Griffin have been ceaselessly devoted to
the making of chilled wheels, and for many years
before leaving Rochester, he made them under con-
tract. That he has been remarkably successful in
producing superior wheels, and in immense quanti-
ties, is a fact well known to all interested in the
rolling stock of railroads. His success has not been
alone his own ; his two sons, after completing their
education, preferring the business of their father
above any other, entered it with the purpose of
fully mastering all the details. With this idea
Thomas A. entered the foundry in 1868, and P. H.
Griffin the following year. Both of them, by prac-
tical, personal work, became thoroughly familiar
with the business, and together father and sons
have pushed the business to its present large pro-
portions.

Mr. Griffin's coming to Detroit grew out of a
visit paid to the city by one of his sons. An inter-
view with Mr. James McMillan resulted in their
removal to Detroit early in January, 1873, under a
contract with the Michigan Car Company, to put
the Detroit Car Wheel Company's shops, at Grand
Trunk Junction, in working order, and manufacture
all their car wheels and castings, for a term of five
years. Mr. Griffin succeeded in having them in
full operation in April of the same year.

After the completion of the shops, he remained
with the company four years, and in September,
1877, erected a foundry of his own, in its present
location on Foundry Street, adjoining the Michigan
Central Railroad tracks. Commencing with only
thirty chills and nine men, and turning out but
eighteen wheels per day, and no other castings of any
kind, the business has steadily increased until the
works at Detroit occupy about five acres of ground,
with a foundry seven hundred feet long and sixty-
five feet wide, besides other buildings, and can turn
out all kinds of chilled wheels and castings, of both

iron and brass. Their capacity is two hundred and
fifty wheels per day, or seventy-five thousand per
year. They also turn out about seven thousand
five hundred tons of castings, and employ from two
hundred to three hundred men, and sell to the
principal railroads in the United States and Canada.

An associated corporation, known as the Griffin
Wheel and Foundry Company, of Chicago, is con-
trolled and managed by Mr. Thomas A. Griffin,
and manufactures about three hundred wheels per
day. The Ajax Forge Company, of Chicago, is
also under his management, and produces various
kinds of railroad necessities, such as frogs, crossings,
rail l)races, links, pins, etc. This company employs
about three hundred men. The extensive foundry
in Buffalo, established under the name of Thomas
F. Griffin & Sons, which is managed by Mr. P. H.
Griffin, is also a part of their system of foundries,
and has a capacity of fifty thousand wheels per
year and seven thousand five hundred tons of cast-
ings, and employs from one hundred and fifty to
two hundred men. The St. Thomas Car Wheel
Company, of Canada, of which Mr. P. H. Griffin is
also manager, is conducted by the Messrs. Griffin,
they owning two-thirds interest of the business, and
Mr. C. Sheehy, of Detroit, one-third. This estab-
lishment has a capacity for two hundred and fifty
wheels per day, and about one thousand five hun-
dred tons of castings yearly. These concerns have
an average capital of $80,000.

The Griffin Car Wheel Company, of Detroit, was
organized in October, 1877, with a capital of
$30,000, all paid in. On March 20, 1880, it was
increased to $50,000; in July, 1881, to $100,000;
and in January, 1884, to $150,000. The officers,
from 1877 to 1 88 1, were: Thomas F. Griffin,
President ; Dr. D. O. Farrand, Vice-President ;
Thomas A. Griffin, Secretary ; and P. H. Griffin,
Treasurer.

After the death of Dr. Farrand, T. A. Griffin
became Vice-President, and P. H. Griffin, Secretary
and Treasurer. In 1886, Mr. P. H. Griffin removed
to Buffalo, to take charge of the interests there and
at St. Thomas, and since then Thomas F. Griffin
has been President and Treasurer ; Thomas A.
Griffin, Vice-President: E. A. Wales, Secretary;
and Joseph P. Cullen, Superintendent. The suc-
cessful management of large business operations
has naturally increased Mr. Griffin's native self-
reliance. He has, however, been conservative in
his plans, but also quick to take advantage of favor-
able opportunities, and has been especially favored
in having in his sons the help of capable and pro-
gressive coadjutors. He is a member of the Catholic
Church, but liberal in his feelings towards those of
another faith, and socially, as well as in his family,
is a warm-hearted and appreciative companion and

Iig2

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

friend. As a business man, his record is without
reproach, and is a notable example of success
achieved by individual exertion.

GILBERT HART was born at Wallingford,
Rutland County, Vermont, August 1 1, 1828, and is
the son of Irad and Lucinda (Wright) Hart. His
American ancestors were natives of New England,
his grandfather, Amasa Hart, was born at Walling-
ford, Connecticut, and went to Vermont prior to
the Revolution.

The early life of Gilbert Hart was spent on a
farm. His father died when he was fifteen years
old, but his health had been so feeble for many
years before his death, that the care of the house-
hold devolved in part upon his sons. Gilbert Hart
remained in Vermont until the breaking out of the
War of the Rebellion, and then in November, 1861,
he enlisted for three years in the Third Company
of Vermont Sharp-shooters, of which he was elected
Captain. This company, after its muster in the
Union service, became Company H, of the Second
Regiment of United States Sharp-shooters, and
formed a part of the Army of the Potomac. Cap-
tain Hart served through the campaign of 1862,
and a portion of the winter of 1863. His health
then failed, and being physically unfit for service, he
was honorably discharged in January, 1863.

After his discharge he returned to East Dorset,
Vermont, and in 1865, came to Detroit. He pos-
sesses natural mechanical genius, and his attention
being directed to the manner of producing emery
wheels, he worked out several improved methods of
manufacture, securing various patents, including one
for a process of strengthening, which has proved
superior to all other methods in execution of work
and durability. He commenced the manufacture of
emery wheels in a limited w^ay in 1871, and the
business has steadily grown in extent until at the
present time it is the largest emery wheel manu-
factory in the United States, and the only one west
of Pennsylvania. The plant on Field Avenue, fur-
nishing employment to about fifty men, is complete
in every particular, nearly all the appliances used in
the manufacture of emery wheels and the machinery
connected with their use, being the result of Mr.
Hart's ingenuity. The productions are sold all
over the United States, wherever metal is worked.
Mr. Hart is the sole proprietor, and in the de-
velopment of this field of industry has labored
persistently and arduously, and his success is alike
creditable to his mechanical ingenuity and business
ability.

In 1884, with C. A. Strelinger, he founded the large
retail hardware store of C. A. Strelinger & Com-
pany ; he has also become financially mterested in
various business enterprises in Detroit, and in 1 888,

was elected the first president of the newly organized
Central Savings Bank. His time and energies,
however, are chiefly given to the manufacturing
interest of which he is the creator, and in which he
takes a pardonable pride.

He is a strong Republican in politics, but is not
an active participant in political affairs. He is a
member and a regular attendant at the Unitarian
Church, is an appreciative friend, has a generous
nature, is devoid of all pretense or show, naturally
retiring in disposition, thoroughly domestic in his
tastes, and possesses the fullest confidence of all
who know him.

He was married in February, 1858, to Calista
Giddings, of Cavendish, Vermont. They have but
one child, Frederick P., born in July, 1875.

SAMUEL F. HODGE was born in Cornwall,
England, March 6, 1822. His father was head
blacksmith in a notable mine, and the son naturally
gravitated into, and, in fact, grew up in the same
line of business. Educated under the eye of his
father, he was early initiated into active work, and
when but seventeen, was at the head of one of the
shops in his native place, and continued in Cornwall
until 1849, and then, being determined to better his
condition, he bid a temporary adieu to his wife and
his two children, and emigrated to America, landing
at New Orleans in the early part of the year. At
New Orleans he took passage on a steamer for the
north, and made his first stop of any moment, at
Toledo. He soon decided to leave there and came
to Detroit.

Soon after his arrival here, on November 19, 1 849,
a fire destroyed the officers' quarters at Fort Wayne,
near the city, and Mr. Hodge was engaged to
demolish the walls, in order to prepare the way for
a new structure. His work was satisfactorily per-
formed, and, his abilities becoming known, he was
engaged to make the wrought iron work used in
connection with the building of the fort, and was so
employed until 1851, and in the meantime he sent
over for his wife and children. He was next em-
ployed as foreman in the iron foundry of DeGraff &
Kendrick, located on the corner of Earned and
Fourth Streets, remaining with them until 1854,
and then engaging with their successors, the Detroit
Locomotive Works. He remained with this estab-
lishment until 1858, when he left to go into business
on his own account. The time was favorable for
such an adventure. The development of the Lake
Superior mines had begun to assume importance,
and there was an active demand for improved
methods of reducing the ore. Mr. Hodge's early
experience now served him well, and being familiar
with mining methods in Cornwall, he resolved to
devote his attention to mining machinery. Opening

^^////^ ///(^

'^2^^

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

1^93

an office, he was soon supplying various mines with
their mining equipment, and, in fact, served as
mining expert, and filled the place of a consulting
engineer for several companies.

In 1863, the business changes incident to the War
with the South led him to discontinue his business
as a contractor, and he engaged directly in manufac-
turing. With William Cowie, T. S. Christie, and
William L. Barclay, he organized the firm of
Cowie, Hodge & Company, and commenced the
manufacture of steam engines and heavy machin-
ery, at the corner of Atwater and Rivard Streets.
After two years the firm changed to Hodge &
Christie, and four years later Mr. Hodge became
sole proprietor of the establishment. His business
was continuously prosperous, and in 1876 he erected,
on Atwater Street, the very extensive and complete
establishment known as the Riverside Iron Works.
It has a plant second to that of none other in the
city, and possesses the advantage of an extensive
river frontage, and all modern appliances for the
speedy and perfect execution of work. For seven
years after the completion of this establishment he
conducted it alone, and then, desiring relief from
some of the responsibility of its management, he
secured the formation of a corporation, under the
name of Samuel F. Hodge & Company, and served
as President of the same. Meantime, from 1871
to 1879, he served as one of the Board of Water
Commissioners, and could have had other important
offices had he been willing to accept them. The
story of his life clearly indicates great force of
character, and mental endowments of a high order.
He mastered easily all details connected wn'th the
science of mechanics, thought his way clear through
the most difficult problems, and was practically, as
well as in theory, acquainted with the various
details of his business. He was quick to notice any
carelessness on the part of his workmen, and equally
ready to commend and reward those whose endeav-
ors were worthy of notice. His business success
was almost unvarying and entirely the result of his
own patient and diligent endeavors.

He was not only a worker but a student, and kept
abreast of the times in the reading pertaining to
his occupation ; he was also a lover of the old Eng-
lish classics, and his close reading gave him rare
powers of language, and in a controversy upon
mechanical subjects, with any foeman worthy of
his steel, there was no uncertainty as to the result.
He was fearless in his advocacy of what he deemed
the truth, scrupulously honest, and his business
life was without a stain. He died on April 14, 1884,
leaving a wife and five children, his son, Harry S.
Hodge, succeeding him as President of the foundry
corporation.

FREDERICK A. HUBEL was born at Noerd-
lingen, Bavaria, January i, 1846. His parents,
John and Lisette (Moetzel) Hubel, came to America
during the year 1852, and soon after their arrival
settled in St. Clair, St. Clair County, Michigan, re-
maining there until the spring of 1853, when they
moved to Missouri, near Council Bluffs, Iowa. They
remained there only about a year, returning in
1854 to St. Clair, where the elder Mr. Hubel engaged
in the grocery business. He died in 1871, leaving
a widow and five children, Frederick A., Charles.
Barbara, John, and Augusta. Frederick A. at-
tended the public school at St. Clair until 1862,
and then, at the age of sixteen, engaged as an
apprentice in a prescription drug store in Detroit,
and during the summer and fall of the following
year served as cabin assistant on a lake surveying
vessel. The following winter he attended the high
school at Ann Arbor, Michigan, preparatory to
entering the University, but his health failed and he
was obliged to give up his studies, and by the advice
of his friends, in the spring of 1864, he engaged as an
apprentice at sheet metal w^ork, remaining four and
a half years. In the fall of 1868 he again engaged
as clerk in the drug business in Detroit, and in 1871
returned to Ann Arbor University to take a special
course in chemistry. After his return to Detroit, in
July, 1873, he began, in a limited way, the manufac-
ture of perfumes and extracts.

Early in 1874 his attention was called to empty
gelatine capsules, as an article w^hich might
possibly be profitably manufactured in connection
with his other products. He immediately began
to experiment in their manufacture by hand, with
the assistance of one boy, and continued in this
way for over a year, and in 1875 invented and
completed the first machine for the manufacture
of capsules. He continued to improve his meth-
ods of manufacture, adding from time to time
new machinery for various details of the w^ork,
all of which he designed and protected by letters
patent. In 1876 he employed six persons, and in
1888 employed one hundred and fifty. In his fac-
tory, shown elsewhere in this work, he manufactures
ten sizes of capsules, and sells his entire product to
Parke, Davis & Company, who supply the trade.

Mr. Hubel is progressive but cautious in his
business methods, and remarkably successful, and
is justly entitled to credit as the originator and
patentee of valuable machinery for the rapid manu-
facture of a valuable product, by which one can
take medicines without of necessity tasting any of
their disagreeable compounds.

He was m.arried to Camilla Scholes, of Detroit,
in 1878. They have four children, Maud, Fred-
erick, Gertrude, and Camilla.

1194

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

JAMES MCGREGOR was born at Kincardine,
Scotland, May lo, 1830, and bears the same name
as his father. On the paternal side he is descended
from Highland ancestry. His father who was a
farmer, pursued the trade of millwright and joiner in
connection with his farm labors, and emigrated to
Canada in 1858, settling on a farm near Hamilton,
where he remained until his death in 1876.

The boyhood of his son, James McGregor, was
passed at Kincardine, where he obtained a
thoroughly practical education in the excellent par-
ish schools of that place. He then, under his
father's direction, commenced a regular apprentice-
ship as a millwright and joiner. After acquiring
his trade he worked at different places in Scotland
and England until 1855, and then came to America
and settled in Hamilton, Ontario, where he obtained
employment in the car department of the Great
Western Railroad, remaining four years, the last
two as foreman. He then went to Sarnia and took
charge of the car department of the Great Western
Railroad at that place, where he remained until
March, i860, when he came to Detroit and became
superintendent of the car department of the Detroit
and Milwaukee Railroad, then under the general
management of W. K. Muir, retaining this position
until March, 1879, when he was made general
superintendent of the Michigan Car Works, a post
he has since most ably filled. With long practical
experience in the line of his present work, great
natural mechanical skill, and unusual executive
force in the management of a large body of men,
he has become a valuable factor in the prosperity of
the concern with which he is connected. During
the period he has held his present position, the
capacity of the works has been many times enlarged,
at first manufacturing but three cars per day ; the
works now produce thirty-two per day. Mr. Mc-
Gregor is interested with the direct general manage-
ment of the entire working force of over two
thousand men, a work requiring a perfect knowl-
edge of every detail of the business, and the exercise
of constant thought and care, as well as the posses-
sion of rare judgment and tact. In the performance
of these complicated duties, he has been conspicu-
ously successful, and has gained an enviable repu-
tation among the car builders throughout the United
States. His time is entirely given to his work with
a singleness of purpose and aim which, in a measure,
accounts for the high degree of success he has
attained.

He is financially interested in several business
enterprises, and is the owner of a large farm near
St. Clair, on the river, in the cultivation of which
he takes great pleasure, and which forms his chief
diversion. He is thoroughly identified with Detroit,

not only by residence and prominent connection
with its greatest manufacturing interest, but in
numerous ways has shown himself a public-spirited
citizen, and an eminently worthy representative of
Scotch manliness, thrift, and persistent energy, and
has achieved a position alike honorable to his ances-
try and to himself. Socially, he is an agreeable,
affable gentleman. He is a member of the St.
Clair Fishing and Shooting Club, has been for many
years a member of the Central Presbyterian Church,
and for the last twelve years one of the trustees.

He was married in 1851 to Susan Christie, of
Scotland. They have had seven children, six of
whom are now living. His eldest son, James C.
McGregor, assists his father at the Michigan Car
Works.

JOSEPH BERTHELET MOORE was born in
Detroit, September 15, 1846, and is the son of J.
Wilkie and Margaret (Berthelet) Moore. The first
of his paternal ancestors in America, General Wil-
liam Moore, came from London, England, in 1770,
settled at Bolton, Massachusetts, and was a brave
and distinguished officer in the Revolutionary War.
He married Sarah Coolidge. Their son Aaron
married Mary Wilkie, of Schenectady, New York,
a descendant of Wilkie, the famous artist of Scot-
land. J. Wilkie Moore, son of Aaron and Mary
(Wilkie) Moore and the father of J. B. Moore, was
born at Geneva, New York, May 13, 1814. He
came to Detroit in 1833, when Michigan was a ter-
ritory, the city of Detroit then containing but 2,600
inhabitants. After serving as a clerk for several
years, he opened a general store on Jefferson Ave-
nue, and a few years later went into the real estate
business, and was quite successful. He was in
the United States Custom Service for fourteen
years, for three years secret agent of the revenue
department, and afterwards United States Consul
at Windsor. He was married in 1843, to Margaret
Berthelet, daughter of Henry Berthelet, a leading
merchant of Detroit in its earlier days, a large prop-
erty owner, and a citizen of wealth and influence.
The Berthelets, who were natives of Southern
France, were early settlers in Detroit. Mr. Moore
still resides here, but for several years has lived a
retired life.

Joseph B. Moore was educated in the public
schools, and graduated from the High School in
1862. He entered upon a mercantile career by
becoming cashier in the retail dry goods store of
E. S. Parker, known as the People's Store, after-
wards conducted by H. Greening. His next posi-
tion was as assistant bookkeeper for Allan Shelden
& Company. A desire to engage in the banking
business caused him to leave this position, and being
unable to find a favorable opening in Detroit, in 1866

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

AI95

he went to Milwaukee, and became corresponding
clerk, and soon after teller in the First National Bank
of that city. Remaining there two years, he returned
to Detroit and entered the First National Bank as
discount clerk, a position he held for ten years.
Meantime, in 1875, Messrs. Jarvis & Hooper had
established a manufactory of fertilizers at the foot of
Leib Street, and in 1878, Mr. Moore resigned his
position in the bank, and purchased Mr. Hooper's
interest in the firm. The business at the time was
conducted in a comparatively limited way. Upon
Mr. Moore's connection with it, the capacity of the
works was enlarged, additional capital invested, and
the company incorporated with a capital of $80,000.
Deming Jarvis was made president, and Mr. Moore
secretary and treasurer, l^he demand for their
productions grew rapidly, and in 1882 it was found
necessary to seek larger quarters. The capital
stock was then increased to $300,000, and eighty
acres of land on the river Rouge, in Springwells
township, were purchased, upon w4iich there was
erected an extensive plant, especially adapted for
the purpose required. The products of the works
consist of various kinds of fertilizers, with all grades
of glue and bone black, and in the manufacture of
the latter article, they produce a larger quantity than
any other factory in the world. Thirty tons, or
three car loads of animal matter are ground up
every day. These are obtained from all over the
country, but of late yeai-s the principal source of
supply has been from the prairies of Texas and
the far West. The annual value of their products
exceeds $1,000,000, and over two hundred pei'sons
are employed.

Mr. Moore was indefatigable in the building up
of this industry, and the success of the enterprise is
largely due to his energy, good judgment, and
intelligent effort. He was individually entrusted
with almost the entire management of the concern,
and the results have been eminently satisfactory.
His entire time, up to 1887, was given to the
undertaking to the exclusion of contiicting business
interests, a fact which, in a measure, explains his
success. In 1887 he became cashier of the newly
organized Peninsular Savings Bank, and under his
excellent management the bank has been remarka-
bly successful, reaching during its first year, a high
place among the best of the banking institutions
of the city.

He is a member of St. Aloysius Catholic Church,
and for many years has been President of the
Board of Trustees of Mount Elliott Cemetery.

Politically, Mr. Moore has always been an earnest
and active Republican, and has been a helpful fac-
tor in securing victories for his party in local and
State elections. As Chairman of the Detroit and
the Wayne County Republican Committees, he has

evinced excellent ability as an organizer, and is a
skillful and successful worker. He represented the
old Ninth Ward in the City Council during 1877-78,
and was appointed a member of the Poor Commis-
sion in 1880 by Mayor Thompson, and re-appointed
for another term in 1884 by Mayor Grummond,
and again re-appointed, for a third term, in 1888, by
Mayor Pridgeon. By virtue of the latter office, he
is one of the County Superintendents of the Poor
of Wayne County, to whom is entrusted the care
and management of the Poor House and Insane
Asylum at Wayne. As a public official he has been
painstaking and efficient.

Personally he is an agreeable and pleasant gen-
tleman, social and warm-hearted. He is a member
of the Detroit and Grosse Pointe Clubs, also presi-
dent of the Detroit Catholic Club, and in all that
constitutes an upright business man, a public-spirited
citizen and a progressive, useful member of the
community, is a worthy type of the younger business
element of Detroit.

He was married May 21, 1878, to Elizabeth W.
O'Hara, of Cincinnati, Ohio.

MICHAEL JOSEPH MURPHY was born at
Sarnia, Canada. February 22, 1851, and is the son
of James and Catherine Murphy Both of his
parents were natives of Ireland, and were born at
Limerick, v/here their ancestors lived for genera-
tions. His father came to America in 1832, and
became one of the earliest settlers in Lambton
County, Canada, where he remained until 1844.
when he removed to Iowa County, Wisconsin,
remaining there until 1849, when he returned to
Canada, and settled on a farm near the city of
Sarnia, where he was married and still resides.

His son, M. J. Murphy, after receiving the edu-
cational advantages of the excellent public schools
of his native place, came to Detroit in 1868, and
attended Goldsmith's Commercial College, and after
completing his course, spent nearly a year in that
institution as a teacher. He then served as book-
keeper for C. H. Dunks, manufacturer of bed
springs, and at the end of a year secured employ-
ment as bookkeeper in the Second National Bank
of Detroit, continuing in such capacity until the
latter part of 1872, when he purchased the manu-
facturing establishment of his former employer,
C, H. Dunks, then located on Griswold Street,
opposite the present Brunswick Hotel. At this
time the manufacture of bed springs, in a limited
way, constituted the sole business of the factory.
Under Mr. Murphy's energetic efforts, the business
rapidly increased in extent, and was soon removed
to 32 Woodward Avenue, where he remained two
years. The quarters formerly occupied by the
Detroit Chair Factory, on the corae.i: of Fourth and

1 196

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

Porter Streets, were then secured, and in 1878 the
manufacture of chairs was there undertaken. This
line was not only an immediate success, but gradu-
ally superseded the former product of the factory,
and for several years has constituted the sole article
of manufacture. The superior quality and finish
of his work speedily created an extensive market,
and business grew so rapidly that, although addi-
tional buildings had been repeatedly erected to
increase the capacity of his works, larger quarters
were found necessary. To meet this demand, in 1885
eight acres of land were purchased, upon which
two large four-story brick buildings were erected,
the capacity of which has since been increased by
the erection of other buildings, giving a floor capacity
of one hundred and thirty-two thousand square
feet, forming one of the best arranged and equipped
factories of its kind in the country, and giving em-
ployment to three hundred persons. The daily
product is one hundred dozen chairs, while the
value of the annual production exceeds $300,000.
These goods are sold all over the United States,
but chiefly in the States of Michigan, Indiana,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Although
known up to 1884 as the manufacturing establish-
ment of M. J. Murphy & Company, Mr. Murphy
was the sole owner and manager. At the date
named, a stock company was formed under the
same name, with a capital of $75'OoO' with Mr.
Murphy as President and Treasurer. Every year
since its establishment the concern has shown a
steady increase in the extent and quality of its
productions, with a constantly increasing market.
In a comparatively few years Mr. Murphy, virtually
single handed, has created an establishment which
is a material source of prosperity to Detroit, and it
is needless to say he has been an earnest, persever-
ing and intelligent worker.

The secret of success in most enterprises can be
traced to the individual effort of some one man,
and in no instance is this more conspicuous than in
this establishment. Its growth and development
are the best testimonials of the ability of Mr. Mur-
phy. The forces which have contributed to his
success have been concentration of energies to one
object, together with persistent and well directed
efforts, and ability to forecast business events and
to devise means to promptly meet them, coupled
with a high order of executive capacity. Few men
of his age, dependent solely upon their own exer-
tions, have reached a higher position in the manufac-
turing world. He is rather inclined to be cautious,
but adheres closely to a stand once taken, and wins
confidence by his fidelity to every obligation.

He is of generous impulses and pleasant disposi-
tion, and socially an agreeable companion. Naturally
independent in character, the usual party ties and

prejudices have little influence over his actions. In
business sagacity, integrity, and unsullied private
character, he is an excellent representative of the
younger element in the commercial activity of
Detroit.

He was married in 1877 to Eliza Gleeson, of
Sarnia, Canada. They have four sons and two
daughters.

DAVID OSGOOD PAIGE was born in Weare,
Hillsboro County, New Hampshire, September
14, 1833, and is the son of Osgood and Martha
(Blaisdell) Paige. His father was born at Weare,
February 18, 1794, and died in July, 1878. His
mother was born January 26, 179?. at Hopkinton.
New Hampshire, and died in September, 185 1.
The family trace their ancestry back to John Paige,
born in Dedham, England, in 1 586, and came to
this country with Governor Winthrop, in 1630,
settled in the town of Dedham, Massachusetts, and
from there his sons settled in Maryland, New York,
and New Hampshire. Osgood Paige, father of
D. O. Paige, inherited the original homestead, in
Weare, and was one of the largest landholders in
Hillsboro County. He was a man of ability and
influence, strong and active in his religious convic-
tions, and an earnest advocate of temperance and
other moral reforms. In 1841 the family removed
to Manchester, which at that time was in its infancy,
and promised to become one of the largest manu-
facturing cities in the country. Here, as a child,
D. O. Paige came under the influences surrounding
manufacturing enterprises, and being naturally of
an inventive and mechanical mind, early and
earnestly sought employment, during his school
vacations, in various manufacturing establishments,
where he became familiar with the processes and
the operation of machinery in the manufacture
of fabrics. At the age of sixteen he finished his
studies at the Highland Lake Institute, at Andover,
and immediately apprenticed himself to the Amos-
keag Machine Shops, where he learned the machinist
trade in its various branches.

At the age of nineteen he was tendered, and
accepted, a position as foreman and contractor in
the Essex Machine Shop, at Lawrence, Massachu-
setts, where he remained five years, constantly
building up for himself a reputation as a mechanic.
Before he left he was offered, if he would remain,
the assistant superintendency of the works, which
employed at that time -about twelve hundred men.
He declined the offer, believing that the West prom-
ised a larger and more remunerative field to a
young man who was willing to work, and early in the
spring of 1 857 went to Dayton, Ohio, and for one year
took charge of R. Dutton & Company's agricultural
implement shops. While there he invented and

1 , '

A:0:P^

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

II97

patented an improvement in wheat drills, which
afforded him a handsome revenue for several years.
The disastrous panic of 1857 so stagnated the
manufacturing business, that Mr. Paige decided to
accept a position offered him by the American
Patent Company, of Cincinnati, and was placed at
the head of the department for giving practical
tests to newly invented machinery and making
mathematical calculations for mechanics. While
in this business, he became interested in the devel-
opment and manufacture of bank locks and safes,
and obtained a position with Hall, Carroll & Com-
pany, where he remained until 1865. During the
War of the Rebellion, this firm not only manufac-
tured safes and locks, but did a large amount of
work for the Government, altering muskets into
rifles, building army w^agons, etc., the care of which
came largely upon Mr. Paige.

In July, 1865, Mr. Paige decided to come to
Detroit, and in company with John J. Bagley and
Z. R. Brockway established the manufacture of
safes, vault and jail work. They organized the
Detroit Safe Company, and immediately commenced
work, with Mr. Paige as manager. The company
organized with a capital of twenty thousand dollars,
and have steadily increased until they are now one
of the largest manufacturing establishments in the
State, and their products are known all over the
world. Mr. Paige is General Manager and Treas-
urer of the company, and to his efforts, ingenuity,
and mechanical skill are due the success they have
attained.

He has never sought or wished political honor,
is prominent socially, and in matters of business
and with his friends, is always agreeable and
pleasing. He has the power of largely impressing
others with his own ideas, is a ready talker, and
thoroughly well informed ; writes forcibly and well
on mechanical matters, has the best executive
ability, readily grasps the details that make for
success, and by his acquaintances is esteemed as
a valuable and reliable friend.

Mr. Paige and his family, consisting of his wife
and two children, Frederick O. and Glenna B.
Paige, are members of the Woodward Avenue
Baptist Church. Mr. Paige was first married Janu-
ary 31, 1 86 1, and to his present wife, January 10,
1 87 1. Her maiden name was Abbie H. Rogers.
She is the daughter of Amos and Eunice (Hatch)
Rogers; her grandfather. Major Amos Rogers,
was killed in the battle of Lake Champlain, during
the War of 181 2.

HERVEY COKE PARKE traces his more
immediate ancestry to the ancient city of Bristol,
England. Early in the last century, his great-
grandfather, Daniel Parke, left that interesting

seaport where the waters of the Severn and the
Avon mingle with the sea, and sailed for the New
World. On his arrival here, he settled on the Con-
necticut, in the parish of Middle Haddam. He had
two children, whose names w^ere John and Daniel.
It seems evident that the traditions and habits of
his native city clung to him in his new home. Com-
ing from the place that furnished the first ship
which touched the continent, and from where
Sebastian Cabot passed his early days, from a city
full of sea-going life and enterprise, he could not
but imbibe its spirit, and if not manifest in him-
self, he certainly transmitted to his son John a high
appreciation of maritime affairs. This son was
born in Middle Haddam, and was widely known as
an extensive ship-builder at that place, and also
engaged in trade with the West Indies. He married
Cleantha Smith, and in honor of his wife, one of
his brigs bore the name of Cleantha. His children
were Hervey Parke, Ezra Smith Parke, Mrs.
Cleantha Storm, and Mrs. Lucintha Curtis.

In 1 8 16, with his family, he removed from Con-
necticut to New York, and settled in the town of
Camden, Oneida County. His son, Ezra Smith
Parke, who had been educated in the local schools
and academies of Connecticut, studied medicine
with one of the older physicians of Oneida County,
and eventually completed a professional course at
Hobart, then known as Geneva College, w^here he
graduated on June 14, 18 19. The year following he
married Rhoda Sperry, whose family were formerly
residents of Connecticut, and, like the Parkes, had
found a home in New York. The Sperry family
were, and are well known in connection with the
manufacture of clocks in the State of Connecticut.
In October, 1822, Mr. Parke emigrated to Michigan,
settling at Bloomfield, in Oakland County, and here,
on December 13, 1827. Hervey Coke Parke was
born. He was named after his uncle, Captain
Hervey Parke, well known in connection with the
earlier government surveys of Michigan.

The ancestors of Mr. Parke were members either
of the English or Protestant Episcopal Church, but
as the church of his choice had no organization in
New York, in the neighborhood where his father
settled, the family became connected with the
Methodist Episcopal Church and continued this
relation after the removal to Michigan. Whether in
Connecticut. New York, or Michigan, the family
regulations, especially on Sunday, were modeled after
the style of the early Puritans, although somewhat
toned down by the spirit of generous patience and
love. Filling to full measure his duties as a physi-
cian, his father attended unceasingly and conscien-
tiously to the daily round of duties that a country
physician in a new and developing country is called
upon to perform, but with all his labors there was no

1 198

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

accumulation of wealth, and in 1856, when, through
a singular epidemic, he and his wife both passed
away, the legacy of a good name and the loving
remembrance of a kind father, was the chief inheri-
tance of his children.

Two years before his father's death, Hervey C.
Parke went to Buffalo and found employment with
a friend of the family, spending a portion of his
time in study. An exceptionally good school, with
excellent principals, at Bloomfield, and the oppor-
tunities at Buffalo, were so well improved that he
was well qualified to teach, and from this time
earned his own support. Returning to Michigan
in 1846, before his father's death, he entered Bid-
well's hardware store at Adrian, but within two
years was compelled through ill health to relinquish
his position. He now returned to Oakland County,
and soon secured a position as teacher near his
old home, and taught the winter term successfully,
leaving this service with much added self-control
and a firmer grasp on the studies he had himself
pursued. From 1848 to 1850, he was employed in
the store of W. M. McConnell, of Pontiac. His
employer w^as a careful, conscientious, and success-
ful merchant, and the practical business training
gained in his establishment was of much advantage.
In consequence of ill health, Mr. Parke gave up
this situation and sought health and employment in
Lake Superior, securing a position as financial
manager of the Cliff Mining Company. He was
for eleven years in this place, and made his home
at the mine. In this last position he gained not
only health, but, aided by careful business habits,
acquired means as well. In 1866, while still a resi-
dent of Keweenaw, he married Fannie A. Hunt,
daughter of James B. Hunt, who served two terms
in Congress, being one of three Michigan represen-
tatives from 1843-47. The year following his
marriage, Mr. Parke removed to Portage Lake and
engaged in the sale of mining hardware. He con-
tinued in this line for four years, with much success,
and then sold out in order to remove to Detroit.
Taking passage on the ill-fated Pewabic, he with
his family, were on board when she collided with
the Meteor, in Lake Huron. After the accident,
Mr. Parke and his family were transferred to the
Meteor, and thus escaped the fate that overtook the
Pewabic and his original fellow passengers.

About a year after his arrival in Detroit, he
entered into partnership with S. P. Duffield, M. D.,
under the firm name of Duffield, Parke & Company,
manufacturing chemists. The firm continued about
two years, and was succeeded in 1868 by that of
Parke, Davis & Company, composed of Hervey C.
Parke, George S. Davis, John R. Grout, and Wil-
liam H. Stevens, Mr. Parke then, as now.having a
third interest. In 1876 the firm incorporated under

their original title, and the original paid up capital of
$50,000 was increased to $500,000, all of the origi-
nal parties being stockholders, except Mr. Grout,
whose heirs sold his interest to the other partners.
In February, 1887, the capital was increased to
$600,000. Several of the principal employees, with
a justice much rarer than it should be, have from
time to time been admitted as sharers in the pros-
perity of the establishment. Mr. Parke has been
the president and acting treasurer of the corpora-
tion from its beginning. The character of their
business demands the utmost integrity in the pre-
paration of their manufactures. In many cases,
life itself depends upon the genuineness and
strength of a compounded drug, and this fact
ennobles the occupation until it almost vies with that
of the clerical profession in the opportunity it affords
for truth and honesty. They have introduced,
and sell, immense quantities of several rare and
valuable remedies that had only a local reputation
and were generally unknown until their researches
brought them into notice. In order to obtain a
knowledge of all valuable medical agents, they
have a staff of expert botanists and chemists, whose
whole time is given to travel and research the
world over, for whatever has medicinal value. It
is literally true that the products of the establish-
ment are regularly sold and used in all civilized
countries, and Detroit may boast that the buildings
in which they are prepared are, of the kind, the
largest and most commodious in the world.

Thoughtfulness, probity, geniality, and enterprise,
have all been factors in their success, and Mr.
Parke ascribes to his partner, Mr. Davis, a full share
of credit for the position the business has attained.

Aside from his business, Mr. Parke's chief em-
ployment consists in furthering the interests of the
Protestant Episcopal Church, with which he has
been connected for over a quarter of a century.
During most of this period he has l)een a member
of St. John's Church, and for more than twelve
years a vestryman. He is one of the trustees of
the Diocesan fund for the Diocese of Eastern
Michigan, a trustee of St. Luke's Hospital and
Orphans' Piome, and one of the leaders in the De-
troit City Mission of the Protestant Episcopal
Church, which aims especially to carry the gospel
to the most neglected portions of the city.

He is known as a liberal giver, not only to worthy
objects connected with his own church, but gener-
ally, and this is natural to him, for his instincts are so
broad and generous that he could not well do other-
wise than appreciate and aid in furthering any good
objects by whomsoever inaugurated or established.

His first wife died in 1868, leaving three daughters
and two sons. Five years later he married Mary
M Mead, daughter of James E. Mead, of Ahnont,

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

1 199

Michigan. They have had five children, four of
whom are living.

HAZEN S. PINGREE is a lineal descendant
of Moses Pingry, who came from England in 1640,
and settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts. For the
first one hundred and forty years, nearly all of the
American branch of the family lived in Ipswich,
Rowley, and Georgetown, Massachusetts. Toward
the close of the last century, the family had so
increased in number, that many of the name sought
and obtained new homes in other parts of the Bay
State, and in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont,
and Nova Scotia, and at the present time descend-
ants of the family are found in nearly every part of
the Union. The history of New England furnishes
abundant proof that the early male members of this
family were men of character and influence, and of
industrious and frugal habits. An extended history
of the family, by William M. Pengry, says : " No
family has made better citizens than the descend-
ants of Moses Pingry. Trained, as most of them
have been, to habits of industry, frugality, and
uprightness, descended from Puritan ancestry, and
embracing much of their strictness, they have
always been law-abiding, and ready to contribute of
their property and influence to promote the public
welfare." The family name for the first two gen-
erations was uniformly spelled Pengry ; since then
the spelling has been greatly diverse, with a strong
tendency, during latter years, to adopt the style
hereafter used in this article.

Hazen S. Pingree was born at DenmarK, Maine,
August 30, 1842, and is the fourth child of Jasper
and Adaline Pingree. His father was a farmer, and
resided at Denmark from the time of his birth in
1806 until 1 87 1, when he came to Detroit, where lie
died in 1882. Hazen S. Pingree resided with his
parents until fourteen years of age, when he w^ent
to Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and secured employ-
ment in a shoe factory. Here he learned the trade
of cutter, at which he worked until August i, 1862,
when he enlisted as a private in Company F, First
Massachusetts Regiment of heavy artillery. This
regiment was assigned to duty in the Twenty-second
Army Corps, and its first service was rendered in
defense of the Nation's capitol. During General
Pope's Virginia campaign the regiment Wcte ordered
to the front, and participated in the battle of Bull
Run, on August 30, 1862. It afterwards returned
to duty in defense of Washington, and remained
there until May 15, 1864, when the time of service
of this regiment having expired. Mr. Pingree, with
enough others re-enlisted to keep up the organiza-
tion of the regiment, which was then assigned to
the Second Brigade, Third Division, Second Corps,
of the Army of the Potomac, and took part in the

battles of Fredericksburg Road, Harris Farm, and
Spottsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor, North
Anne and South Anne. At the battle of Spottsyl-
vania Court House, his regiment opened the
engagement, and lost five hundred men, killed and
wounded. On May 25, 1864, Mr. Pingree and a
number of his comrades, while reconnoitering, were
captured by a squad of men commanded by
Colonel Mosby. As prisoners of war, they were
brought before that rebel officer, who exchanged
his entire suit of clothes with Mr. Pingree, but
afterwards gave back the coat, remarking that his
men might shoot him for a "Yank," a result he
certainly did not desire. After his capture, Mr.
Pingree was confined for nearly five months at
Andersonville, and for short periods was confined
at Gordonsville, Virginia; Salisbury, North Caro-
lina; and Millen, Georgia. At the latter place, in
November, 1864, he was exchanged, rejoined his
regiment in front of Petersburg, and soon after
took part in the expedition to Weldon Railroad, and
in the battles of Fort Fisher, Boydton Road,
Petersburg, Sailor's Creek, Farnsville, and Appo-
mattox Court House. From the battle of the
Wilderness to the fall of Richmond, his regiment
lost one thousand two hundred and eighty-three
men and thirty-eight officers. It was complimented,
in special orders by Generals Mott and Pierce, for
particular gallantry in the last grand charge on
Petersburg.^ in which it took a leading part. Mr.
Pingree's second enlistment was for three years, or
the close of the war, and when the surrender of
Lee took place, his regiment was in close proximity.
He was mustered out of service on August 16,
1865, and shortly after his discharge came to
Detroit. Here for a short time he was employed
M the boot and shoe factory of H. P. Baldwin &
Company.

Deciding to embark in business for himself, in
December, 1866, with C. H. Smith, he purchased
the small boot and shoe factory of a Mr. Mitchell,
on the corner of Croghan and Randolph Streets,
the entire capital represented by the firm of Pingree
& hmith, when established, being but $1,360. The
first year they employed but eight persons, and the
value of their production reached only $20,000.
After a few months' they removed to the Hawley
Block, on the corner of Woodbridge and Bates
Streets, where they remained two years. During
the following three years they occupied the Farns-
worth Block, on Woodbridge Street, and in 1871
they moved to the southeast corner of Woodbridge
and Griswold Streets, using at that time but one-
half of the building.

Their venture was a success from the very start,
and has shown a steady increase from year to year.
For years they have maintained their position as

I200

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

the most extensive boot and shoe manufacturers in
the West, and their factory is excelled by but one
or two in the United States. Over seven hundred
persons are employed, and their weekly pay-roll
amounts to between $5,000 and $6,000. The value
of their annual products amounts to about $ i ,000,000.
Their sales extend all over the West, but are
more especially confined to Ohio, Michigan, and
the Northwestern States. From the beginning of
this enterprise, Mr. Pingree has had general super-
vision over the complicated details of the entire
establishment. Mr. Smith retired from the firm in
1883, but the firm name, Pingree & Smith, has been
retained. Mr. Pingree's success has been the result
of hard work and good management.

In social life he is large hearted and generous, a
faithful friend, and a good citizen. He has confined
his energies almost solely to the advancement of his
business, but has ever evinced a commendable pub-
lic spirit, and a willingness to do his full share to
promote all public projects.

He was married February 28, 1872, to Frances A.
Gilbert, of Mount Clemens, Michigan. They have
three children, two daughters and a son.

DAVID M. RICHARDSON is descended from
English ancestors, who came to this country about
two hundred years ago, and settled in Woburn,
Massachusetts. His grandfather on the paternal
side was a soldier in the War of the Revolution.
His father, Jeremiah Richardson, was born in New
Hampshire, December 30, 1795. Soon after the
close of the War of 18 12, at the age of nineteen, he
settled in the town of Concord, Erie County, New
York, thirty miles south of Buffalo, then an almost
unbroken wilderness. Having but limited means,
he contracted with the old Holland Land Company
for one hundred acres of land. He made his way
to the locality and commenced the work of making
a home. Four years later he returned to Vermont,
and on November 29, 181 8, was married to Anna
Webster, and soon thereafter returned with his wife
to his wilderness home. His wife died in 1832, and
he subsequently married Jane Ann Woodward,
who died in 1868. He lived on the old home-
stead until his death in 1879. His son, D. M.
Richardson was born at Concord, January 30, 1826,
and until his twenty-first year remained at home,
and during the greater portion of the time assisted
his father in farm labors. He received a thorough
education in the public schools, and at the Spring-
villa academy, in his native town, and at the age
of twenty began to teach in the district schools
of Erie County during the winter months. His
time was thus occupied until the spring of 1847,
when he went west to view the country, and possi-
bly locate a future home, He prospected in the

States of Illinois and Wisconsin, which were at that
time but sparsely settled, and at Burlington, Iowa,
began teaching a select school. Towards the close
of the summer he was taken ill with cholera, then
prevalent in that section, and in September of that
year, while still suffering from the effects of dis-
ease, he started for Milwaukee, journeying by stage
from Burlington to Peoria, by steamer to La Salle,
by canal to Chicago, and thence by steamer to
Milwaukee. There in November, 1852, he estab-
lished a school and met with such success that at the
end of the summer term he erected a brick build-
ing, three stories high, on the corner of Mason and
Milwaukee Streets, and conducted a school therein
which was incorporated as the Milwaukee Academy.
This undertaking was successfully continued until
December, 1853, when the building was destroyed
by fire, and he suffered a loss of over $10,000.
Prior to the fire, 300 pupils were receiving instruc-
tion in the academy, and five assistant teachers
were employed. After its destruction the citizens
offered to rebuild the institution at their own ex-
pense, but Mr. Richardson, after careful considera-
tion, having determined to embark in mercantile pur-
suits, declined the offer, and with a capital of five
hundred dollars, left him after closing up the busi-
ness of the academy, went to Madison, Wiscon-
sin, where he established a wholesale and retail
grocery on King Street, and for two years did a
very profitable business.

On January i, 1856, he sold out and came to
Detroit, and with J. W. Hibbard as partner, under
the firm name of J. W. Hibbard & Company, started
the first match factory in this city, on Wood-
bridge Street, at the foot of Eleventh Street. On
January i, 1858, Mr. Hibbard retired, and M. B.
Dodge became a partner, under the firm name of
Richardson & Company. This firm continued
until May i, 1859, when Mr. Richardson assumed
entire control of the business. On Sunday night,
June 3, i860, the factory was destroyed by fire,
inflicting a heavy loss, leaving Mr. Richardson
deeply in debt, about $19,000 worse off than noth-
ing. He effected an amicable settlement with his
creditors by agreeing to pay twenty-five per cent.
of his indebtedness, but within six years he had
re-imbursed every creditor in full. After the fire,
with the assistance of his friend, N. W. Brooks, he
rebuilt on the same site, and the forepart of the
following September he again began manufacturing.
In March, 1863, he purchased the site occupied by
his present factory, on the corner of Woodbridge
and Eighth Streets, and in the fall of 1863 erected
the main brick building. During 1864, he erected
a large brick warehouse and as the growth of
the business demanded, several additional buildings
have been built, until at the present time the factory

r K^

^€i^^.

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

I20I

is one of the largest and best equipped of its kind
in the country, and gives employment to about 300
persons. Mr. Richardson was sole proprietor of the
business until April i. 1875, when a stock company,
known as the Richardson Match Company, was
formed, which continued the business until 1881.
when the concern was purchased by a syndicate
known as the Diamond Match Company, Mr. Rich-
ardson being the Detroit manager. Mr. Richard-
son was a pioneer in this industry in the West, and
perhaps did as much to make it an important
branch of manufacture as any one man in the
United States. Prior to the beginning of his estab-
lishment, matches were mostly made by hand, but
in no locality had the business become extensive.
He did much to develop the methods of making
matches by machinery, the only mode now em-
ployed, and from 1865 until 1880, his establishment
was the largest and most complete in the United
States. The extent of his business will in part be
realized by the fact that from 1865 to 1883, he
paid internal revenue taxes to the amount of over
$5,000,000.

In 1876 Mr. Richardson, with several capitalists,
organized the Union Mills Company. Their flouring
mill, erected on Woodbridge Street, was at that time
one of the largest and finest ever built in the United
States. Mr. Richardson, the largest stockholder,
personally superintended the building of the mill.
Operations were begun in 1876, but the undertaking,
for causes beyond Mr. Richardson's control, was
not successful, and as he had become almost sole
owner of the concern, assuming heavy liabilities
in doing so, at a time when every business was
greatly depressed, he w^as compelled to suspend and
make an assignment for the benefit of his creditors.
In less than two years after his failure, he made
satisfactory arrangements with every creditor, and
was enabled to continue his old business, w^hich had
temporarily passed into other hands.

During all his busy life, Mr. Richardson has been
a close student of the causes w^hich tend to foster
and protect the manufacturing interests as the great
source of national prosperity. As the result of his
studies upon social, political, and economic ques-
tions, he has prepared several pamphlets containing
valuable facts and suggestions upon these topics,
which have been widely circulated and warmly
commended.

Among the subjects which early enlisted his
attention was the system of internal taxation
adopted by the government for the purpose of rais-
ing money to carry on the Civil War. These taxes
were particularly burdensome to the manufacturing
interests. After the war closed, the manufacturers
naturally desired to be at least in part relieved from
the burdens that had been imposed upon them.

The question w^as how to relieve the productive
industry of the country without impairing the ability
of the government to meet its obligations. To the
solution of this question, Mr. Richardson gave
much time and attention, and in December, 1866,
as chairman of the committee on internal revenue
taxation, appointed by the Manufacturers' Associa-
tion of Detroit, he wrote a report on the subject,
but his advanced ideas did not meet with approval.
The following January he proceeded to Washing-
ton, and spent several weeks in examining the
methods and sources of revenue of European
countries, and the prospective necessities of taxa-
tion in our own country, and as the result of his
researches, in March, 1867, he made a report to the
Detroit Manufacturers' Association, in which he
advised that " taxation should be so levied as to
exempt all articles of prime necessity to the great-
est extent possible, and remain upon articles of
luxury, where it will be the least obnoxious to
the people." His report included a list of ten
sources from which he claimed sufficient revenue
could be levied to meet all obligations of the gov-
ernment. This report, which was published, caused
considerable discussion all over the country, and
in October, 1867, he submitted an abbreviated
report, embracing the essential conclusion of the
original report, and it was adopted by the Detroit
Manufacturers' Association, and that body issued a
call for a national convention of manufacturers to
consider the questions at issue. The convention was
held at Cleveland, on December 18 and 19, 1867, and
was attended by over six hundred leading manu-
facturers, from twenty-four States, estimated to
represent over $400,000,000 of manufacturing
capital. Mr. Richardson's report, as adopted
by the Detroit Association, was adopted by a com-
mittee of this convention, reported to, and adopted
without change by the convention, with only six
dissenting votes, and a committee was appointed to
present the report to Congress. A similar conven-
tion, of over fifteen hundred New England manu-
facturers also adopted Mr. Richardson's report
without material change, and the laws in relation to
the internal revenue, passed by the Congress of
1868, embody the essential provisions which he pro-
posed. The prosperity which followed was largely
due to the relief thereby offered the manufacturers,
and as Mr. Richardson did so much to bring about
these results, it is his due that the facts be made
known.

In December, 1869, he issued a pamphlet en-
titled, " A Plan for Returning to Specie Payment,
without Financial Revolution," in w^hich the plan
adopted by the government several years after was
outlined, but which was not entered upon until after
the panic of 1873. During recent years he has pre-

I202

manufacturp:rs and invp:ntors.

pared and extensively circulated, several pamphlets
suggesting methods for the creation of foreign
markets, for the surplus products of American indus-
try. As an important aid in this direction, he has
urged the construction, at government expense, of
the interoceanic canal, via Lake Nicaragua. He
has also advocated the adequate defense of our sea
coast and a strong navy, the encouragement of
ship-building and of ocean commerce by establish-
ing mail transportation in American ships to the
leading commercial centers, and suggests various
industrial policies which would tend to the better-
ment of the laboring and producing classes. He is
also in favor of liberal government aid to public
schools, especially for the late slave-holding States
and Territories, and of stringent legislation for the
suppression of polygamy.

In political faith Mr. Richardson is a Republican.
The first elective office held by him was that of a
member of the Board of Education of Detroit,
representing the Ninth Ward during the years
1863 and 1864. During this period the public
school system of the city was greatly improved and
the High School established in the old Capitol
building.

In 1872 Mr. Richardson was elected to the State
Senate from the Second Senatorial District, receiv-
ing a majority of 1,377 votes over his opponent.
During his term he served as chairman of the com-
mittee on the State Public School for Indigent Chil-
dren, at Coldwater, Michigan, and was especially
instrumental in securing an appropriation for the
purchase of additional land and in increasing the
amount of appropriation for the erection of a suitable
building and the equipment of the same. He also
served as chairman of the committee on the State
Capitol. As a member of the committee on the State
University, he successfully labored in securing an ap-
propriation to complete University Hall, and to pro-
vide for the erection of a new laboratory ; he also
aided in obtaining the law for a tax of one-twentieth
of one mill for the support of the University. He
was a member of the committee on railroads, and
aided in creating the law relative to the establishment
of a Railroad Commission, and the fixing by statute
the rates of fare to be charged by railroads within
the State, and of the law that lands granted to rail-
road companies should not be exempted from
taxation after the grants had been earned. He also
aided in securing the passage of laws establishing
the Board of Public Works of Detroit, creating the
Board of Estimates, permitting the city to issue
$1,000,000 in bonds to build new water works, and
establishing the Superior Court of Detroit.

Mr. Richardson is a member of the First Con-
gregational Church, w^ith which he has been con-
nected since 1856. In 1867 he assisted in organiz-

ing the Ninth Avenue Union Mission School.
During the erection of the building, completed in
1868, at a cost of $8,000, he was chairman of the
building committee, and, for the first ten years, acted
as superintendent of the Sunday-school. The
building was subsequently moved to the corner of
Trumbull Avenue and Baker Street, and formed
the nucleus of the Trumbull Avenue Congregational
Church. Both this church and also the Woodward
Avenue Congregational Church, found in him a
liberal supporter.

Mr. Richardson has been twice married. His
first wife was Ellen L. Hibbard, daughter of I. W.
Hibbard, whom he married November 23, 1854.
She died December 20, 1868. Their daughter,
Laura M., was born July 14, 1856, and died March
26, 1876. His second wife was E. Jennie Holliday,
a daughter of William Holliday, of Springfield,
Erie County, Pennsylvania. They were married
May 23, 1 87 1, and have had two children, David
M. Jr., w4io was born May 30, 1873, and died May
I, 1876, and Arthur J., born August 12, 1876.

FORDYCE HUNTINGTON ROGERS was

born in Detroit, October 12, 1840, and is the son of
George Washington and Jane Clark (Emmons^
Rogers. His father was born at Vergennes, Ver-
mont, December 14, 1799, and was a descendant
of Russell Rogers, who came from England and
settled in Vermont prior to the Revolutionary War.
He and other members of the family were ardent
patriots, and took an active part in the war. George
W. Rogers, who had been engaged in the manufac-
ture of stoves at Vergennes, came to Detroit in 1 840,
and after his arrival in Michigan established and for
several years conducted a general merchandise store
in Pontiac, where he died in i860. Mrs. George W.
Rogers was a daughter of Adonijah Emmons, and a
sister of Judge H. H. Eminons, a distinguished mem-
ber of the Detroit bar, and one of the circuit judges
of the United States courts. Mrs. Rogers died soon
after the birth of her son Fordyce H. Rogers. His
father's second wife was Harriet L. Williams, a
daughter of Oliver Williams, a trader in Detroit
and vicinity prior to the War of 181 2.

Fordyce, or as he is usually called. Ford H.
Rogers, was educated in the public schools of
Pontiac; came to Detroit in 1856 and entered the
store of T. H. & J. A. Hinchman, wholesale drug-
gists, where he remained one year. The follow-
ing year he was employed in the clothing store of
Eagle & Elliott. He then went to San Francisco,
where an elder brother had preceded him, and
was engaged in various occupations until the sum-
mer of 1859, when he secured a position with a
water company in the nnning district of the Sierra
Nevada mountains. In the fall of the same year

MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

1203

he returned to Pontiac, and until 1861 was engaged
in mercantile enterprises at Lapeer and Detroit. The
Civil War having then broken out, in June, 1861, he
was the first man to join Col. Thornton F. Broad-
head, and assisted in raising the First Michigan Cav-
alry, which was mustered into service in August
following. Mr. Rogers, who at this time was a
minor, was commissioned as Second Lieutenant,
but soon after the regiment arrived in Washington
he was appointed First Lieutenant and Battalion
Adjutant. The regiment was assigned to the Army
of Virginia, under Gen. Banks, and lay in camp at
Frederick, Maryland, a considerable portion of the
winter of 1 861 -'62, its principal service subsequently
being on the Upper Potomac, in the Shenandoah
Valley, and near the eastern slope of the Blue
Ridge. It saw very active service, especially dur-
ing the summer of 1862, when it was assigned to
Gen. Pope's division and formed a portion of Gen.
Beauford's brigade. Lieut. Rogers, who was nat-
urally of a restless and adventurous disposition,
grew impatient under the inaction of army life, and
at his own solicitation was frequently entrusted
with scouting parties, engaged in secret patrols and
special duty. His service in this line of duty proved
in many instances of great value to the Union
forces, and upon one occasion while Gen. Beau-
ford's brigade was on a cavalry raid in the vicinity
of the Rapidan River, he performed an almost
invaluable service to the Union army. While on
the march, and in close proximity to a large force
of the enemy, Lieut. Rogers, left the lines and pur-
sued two mounted rebel officers. The latter, in
their flight, led him near the headquarters of C^en.
J. E. B. Stewart, who, with his staff officers, being
warned of the supposed approach of Union forces,
beat a hasty retreat. Lieut. Rogers, who was now all
alone, pursued Gen. Stewart for some distance and
fired two shots at that rebel officer. He then en-
tered the deserted headquarters and secured a
haversack containing all the papers of instruction
from Gen. Lee to Gen. Stewart, then in command
of the cavalry advance guard of the rebel army.
These papers furnished valuable information to the
Union army and revealed plans of the rebel com-
manders, which once known were easily averted,
but otherwise would have been far-reaching in their
disastrous effects and might have led to the cap-
ture of Washington.

Lieut. Rogers participated with his regiment in
all its engagements until he was mustered out of
service at Washington, September 1 1 , 1 862. Shortly
after he was mustered out he was tendered the rank
of Major in both a Michigan and New York cavalry
regiment, but declined.

After the close of his army experience he re-
turned to California, and was variously occupied

in San Francisco until 1865, when he served as
bookkeeper in the Pacific Bank of San Francisco ;
was soon after made paying teller, and from 1867 to
1872 was cashier. He then became interested in
mining and stock brokerage, and at one time was
secretary and treasurer of thirty mining companies.
In 1879 he returned to the east and for nearly two
years was a member of the American Mining
Board of New York City. In 1880 he returned to
Detroit and purchased the Detroit White Lead
Works. The works had been established since
1865, but at the time of Mr. Rogers's purchase
through poor management was very far from being
a profitable concern. Associating Ford D. C.
Hinchman and Horace M. Dean in the enterprise,
the business was incorporated under the name of
the Detroit White Lead Works. The reputation
of the corporation was soon established on a firm
basis, and in a remarkably short time the liberal
policy and business-like methods of the managers
resulted in building up an extensive business. Year
by year additional buildings have been erected to
meet the demands of their varied line of manufac-
tures, and at the present time their plant is one of
the most complete and best arranged for the pur-
poses required, and one of the best in the country.
Mr. Rogers, as treasurer and manager of the com-
pany, has been indefatigable in his exertions, and
the business management has been entrusted almost
entirely to liim ; and to his judgment, ingenuity, and
energy, the corporation is largely indebted for the
success attained. He is possessed of great executive
force, is shrewd and careful in his business habits,
and the evidence of his work is seen in every branch
of the business, but especially is this true in the
selling department, where unlimited competition
makes success no easy problem. Fifteen salesmen
are employed, and their goods find a ready market
all over the country.

Personally Mr. Rogers is of a frank, open, gener-
ous, social disposition, has a wide circle of friends,
and is respected and esteemed not only for his busi-
ness ability, but for those qualities of mind and
heart that distinguish a good citizen and a helpful
considerate friend. He is progressive and liberal
minded and a sure supporter of every deserving
public enterprise. He is a charter member of the
Loyal Legion, member of the Grand Army of the
Republic, Lake St. Clair Fishing Club, Detroit Club,
and a thirty-second degree Mason. Growing out
of his former occupation as a bank cashier, one of
his amusements has been to collect specimens of all
the bank notes of the so-called Wild-Cat banks
of 1837, and he has succeeded in obtaining a col-
lection numbering several thousand specimens, and
by reason of the various facts they exhibit, the col-
lection is of great historic value.

1204

MANUFACTURERS ANt) INVENTORS.

Politically he has always been a Republican, and
has been an earnest worker in securing victories for
his party, but has never held an elective office. His
time has been devoted to business interests with such
singleness of purpose, that early in life he has
achieved a worthy place among the successful
manufacturers of Detroit. He was married in 1868
to Eva C. Adams, a daughter of Dr. Samuel Adams,
the pioneer drug merchant of San Francisco, and a
niece of Rev. Nehemiah Adams, D. D., for forty-four
years a pastor of the old Essex Street Church of
Boston, and an author of considerable repute.

FREDERICK STEARNS, for many years a
wholesale and retail druggist, and manufacturer of
pharmaceutical preparations in Detroit, was born
fifty-eight years ago, at Lockport. New York. He is
of Puritan blood, being a lineal descendant of Isaac
Stearns, who, with Governor Winthrop, and Sir
Richard Saltenstall, and other colonists, settled
Watertown, Massachusetts. The farm which was
occupied by this ancestor is now part of Mount
Auburn Cemetery. On the maternal side he is a
descendant of Samuel Chapin, one of the earliest
settlers of Springfield, Massachusetts. Mr. Stearns
early evinced a natural liking for the calling of a
druggist. Speaking of his youthful days, he once
said : " One of my earliest memories is looking
into the windows of Dr. Merchant's Gargling Oil
drug store, and wondering at the mystery of the
white squares of magnesia and the round balls of
cosmetic chalk."

At fifteen years of age he was apprenticed to the
drug firm of Ballard & Green, in Buffalo, New
York. For two years he was the only help the
firm had, acting as errand boy, clerk, soda water
maker, etc., and was unquestionably one of the
busiest boys of that time in Buffalo. He received no
wages the first year, and, because of the failure of
the house, the same pay the second year. At the
end of his apprenticeship, having read, smelt, and
tasted everything that came in his way, he made
up his mind that what he did not know about the
drug business could not be taught. A better situa-
tion, with another and more advanced preceptor,
soon took away this conceit. After attending a
course of lectures at the University of Buffalo,
he entered the store of A. I. Mathews, a prominent
retail druggist of Buffalo, with whom he remained
several years, during the last three as a partner.

In 1853 he married Eliza H. Kimball, of Mendon,
New York, and in the following year, on account
of a favorable impression made at a former visit,
he decided to locate in Detroit. He arrived at
Windsor, January i, 1855, on a bitter cold day, and
walked across the river on the ice. Soon after his
arrival here he was joined by his wife, with their

first child, Frederick K. Stearns, and in April fol-
lowing, with L. E. Higby, he opened a retail drug
store at 162 Jefferson Avenue, in the middle of the
block, owned by Zachariah Chandler, where the
stores of Allan Shelden & Company are now located.
In 1859 they removed to enlarged quarters in the
Merrill Block, and in 1863 to the Porter Block, on
the southwest corner of Woodward Avenue and
Earned Street, and here Mr. Stearns bought Mr.
Higby 's interest.

To be a manufacturer of such pharmaceutical
preparations, both official and non-official, as were in
use as medicine, was always Mr. Stearns's ambition,
and in 1856 he commenced as a manufacturer
in a very limited way, with one room, a cooking
stove, and one girl, as a helper. It was his custom
at that time, with a small hand bag, filled with
samples of his products, to canvass towns on
the railroads leading west from Detroit, obtain-
ing such orders as the druggists of the interior
were willing to give to a young house struggling to
establish a trade for its productions, in a market
completely filled with Eastern and foreign brands.
From this small beginning has gradually grown a
manufacturing business which now reaches large
proportions. During these early years, much of
the time w^hich otherwise would have been leisure
was given to investigation in the line of his profession,
and many papers, the result of these studies,
were published in various pharmaceutical journals
and society transactions. Introducing steam power,
and milling and extracting machinery, much of
which was of his own design, he commenced manu-
facturing on a larger scale. It was at first difficult
to introduce his products in the place of goods
already established, but these difficulties were gradu-
ally overcome. In 1 87 1, Mr. Stearns's manufacturing
establishment was twice destroyed by fire, the second
fire resulting in considerable financial loss, but the
laboratory w^as established a third time, on part of
the property owned by the Detroit Gas Light Com-
pany, on Woodbridge near Sixth Street. During all
this period he continued his business as a retail
druggist and dispensing pharmacist, retaining, by
choice, a prominent interest in his profession, and
being vitally alive to its promotion. In pharmacy,
however, as in other arts and trades, abuses are liable
to creep in ; the want of suitable legislative control,
the then lack of protection for the educated pharma-
cist from the uneducated or unqualified person, who
might choose to enter upon the business of selling
drugs, and the employing of irregular means, thus
lowering the standard and the dignity of the calling,
were all hindrances to the best development of the
art of pharmacy. The practice of quackery, the
supplying of secret or so-called patent medicines,
which forced upon the druggist the keeping of

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MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

1205

numberless worthless and high cost compositions,
of little profit to the pharmacist, were also evils
stultifying the professional attitude of the druggist,
and rendering him to a great extent, a mere trader
in quackery. In the correcting of these evils,
which have threatened to overwhelm pharmacy as a
profession and a means of livelihood, Mr. Stearns
has rendered valuable service. When he opened
his first store in Detroit, he determined not to sell
any secret quackery in the way of patent medicines,
looking for the ready support and sympathy of the
regular medical profession in so doing ; but after
one year's trial, he found the public had become so
accustomed to buying patented medicines, that it
was impossible to conduct his business without
supplying everything or any article which the pub-
lic looked to find in a drug store. He w^as, there-
fore, compelled to deal in patent medicines, but
he always sought, by every means in his power,
to lessen the evil. In 1876 it occurred to him
that one means for destroying patent medicine
quackery would be to put up ready made prescrip-
tions, suitable and useful for common ailments, in
neat and portable form, without secrecy ; to put
the receipt plainly on the label, with simple direc-
tions and explanations, and to trust to the good
sense and intelligence of the customer to take such
ready made medicines, rather than secret nostrums.
This idea, acted upon, was an immediate success in
his own retail trade, and in that of his near friends
and neighbors. This departure was then, and is still,
known as the " New Idea." The development of
this system has resulted in the establishment of an
immense trade, and to-day nearly every retail drug-
gist in good standing in the United States and
Canada, representing over sixteen thousand estab-
lishments, are customers of the Stearns's laboratory.
The one room, 12x12, of 1858, has been increased
to four acres of flooring in the works now occupied
on Twenty-first Street ; the one helper to over four
hundred helpers ; instead of the occasional traveler,
with his little grip, and that one himself, there are
now thirty-five traveling agents constantly employed;
from a retail business of $16,000 per year, the busi-
ness has grown to sometimes more than that daily :
the area visited for trade has expanded from a small
portion of Michigan to the " whole unbounded con-
tinent," and sales are also made in the Spanish
American Republics, the West Indies, and in many
English colonies, and notably in Australia. The
works on Woodbridge Street, above alluded to,
became too stinted in room, even after every avail-
able building in the vicinity was obtained, and in
1 88 1 and 1882 the new works now occupied were
erected, and are described in another portion of
this work. After forty years of an active business
life, with its usual cares, disappointments, and with

some success, Mr. Stearns, in 1887, retired from the
management of the business, leaving it in the hands
of his sons, Frederick K. and William L., and of the
younger associates, who have been with him many
years. If he is proud of one thing, it is of the
establishment on a firm basis of a legitimate and
extensive business, which is an active and practical
opponent of quackery in medicine.

He has led a remarkably busy life, and his
success has been the result of hard work, united to
clear and well poised judgment. A man of the
most positive conviction, he pursued a purpose
believed to be right, regardless of consequences,
with a force and directness liable to arouse the
antagonism of men of narrow views and prejudices.
He is among the first to depart from established
custom or practice w^hen new and better methods
of procedure are discovered, and it makes but little
difference to him whether he is followed or not.
Convinced that he is right, he has the moral cour-
age to fight alone, and this admirable quality has
been the main secret of his success. To him
nothing is more distasteful than sham and super-
ficiality. He is a man of liberal opinion, and has
taste and culture, without a trace of pedantry or
touch of imperiousness. He is a natural critic, but
his criticisms are intelligent, penetrating, and just.
He has been a public benefactor, because he has
been a creator and promoter of enterprises which
have aided in many w^ays the public good, and is
liberal minded toward every good project to advance
the best interests of Detroit.

Somewhat reserved among strangers, with trusted
friends he is a congenial companion. His business
career has been honorable, and no one holds more
securely the confidence and respect of Detroit's
commercial community.

JOSEPH TOYNTON was born July 26, 1839,
at Brothertoft, four miles west of Boston, Lincoln-
shire, England. He was the son of William and
Elizabeth (Ketton) Toynton. His father was a
well-to-do farmer, and he received a good common
school education. His mother died in 1852, and
his father in 1873.

On March 3. 1853, he left England for the
United States, and for about one year after his
arrival here he made his home near Rochester, New
York. In 1854 he came to Detroit, and entered
the employ of William Phelps, then a prominent
manufacturer of confections, where he remained
eleven years, and acquired a thorough practical
knowledge of the business. In 1865 he resigned
his position and the house of Gray, Toynton & Fox
v^as established, which at once became the leading
establishment of the kind in the West.

In i860 he married Margaret Hayes, daughter of

I206

MANUFACTURERS AxND INVENTORS.

John and Mary (McMarrah) Hayes. He died July
6, 1 88 1, after a very brief illness. Mr. Toynton
was a man of strict integrity in all the relations of
life. His genial nature made him a large circle of
friends, and his unswerving honesty made his word
as good as his bond.

He was a leading member and for many years
one of the trustees of the Central Methodist Episco-
pal Church.

He was a prominent Mason, a member of Union
Lodge of Strict Observance, and of Detroit Com-
mandery. One of his Masonic brethren, in speak-
ing of his death, has well said : "He came to this
country, and to this city, poor in purse, but rich in
the qualities which go to make up the successful
business man. the honest citizen, the faithful clerk,
the humane employer, the loving and indulgent
husband and father, and the consistent Christian.

The lesson of his life is one of fortitude, industry,
fidelity, humility, charity, kindness, and humanity in
all the relations of life. Follow him wherever you
would, in the family, the church, in his social rela-
tions, or into the counting-house, and you would
find the same elements of character dominating
his life work. Rising from poverty to a condi-
tion of comparative wealth, from the position of
servant to that of proprietorship in a large and
successful business enterprise, he never, in his treat-
ment of others, forgot the hardships of either
poverty or service,"

JOHN HILL WHITING, grandson of Dr. J. L.
Whiting, an early physician and merchant of Detroit,
and the eldest son of John Talman Whiting and
Mary S. (Hill) Whiting, was born at Sault Ste. Marie.
Michigan, October ii, 1852. His parents removed
to Detroit in 1855. Mr. Whiting received the best
education that the public schools afforded, and in
1869 became assistant salesman, at Ecorse, for the
Detroit River Lumber Company. He remained
there one year and then came to Detroit, where he
was employed for a short time by the lumber firm
of D. A. Ross & Company.

In 1870 he entered the employ of the Detroit Car
Wheel Company, for the purpose of learning the
business of moulding and casting car wheels, and
general foundry business. He, at first, acted in the
capacity of timekeeper and general assistant in the
office, devoting a portion of each day to work in
the foundry, moulding, pouring iron, and in other
mechanical labor, devoting his evenings to office
work. About three years after he entered the
employ of the company, the Moulders Union, of
which he was not a member, raised objections to
non-union men being employed, and Mr. Whiting.
not wishing to antagonize the company, stopped

work in the foundry until, through change of Super-
intendents, the influence of the union became so
weakened that he returned to the foundry without
opposition. The output of the company was at
first (juite small, but under skillful management it
became a very large and important enterprise. Mr.
Whiting kept pace with its growth, developing
talents and aptitudes unthought of at the beginning.
In one sense it may be said that the business made
him what he is, for it gave him the opportunity to
develop his peculiar genius for organizing and
directing labor. On the other hand, his skill,
ingenuity, and practical judgment, made him an
important factor in the success of the corporation.

In 1880 he was appointed Assistant Superin-
tendent, and later, in the same year, under the
trying circumstances of a strike, which took out the
Superintendent, he was selected to fill the vacancy.
His naturally retiring disposition led him to shrink
from the responsibility, and he accepted it with
many misgivings; but having accepted it he soon
proved equal to his task, and has since shown him-
self equal to all the duties which the position
imposed upon him, and has remained in charge of
the works, as Superintendent. The growth of the
business may be indicated by the fact that in 1870
the capacity of the works was about sixty-five car
wheels a day, and fifteen tons of castings ; now it
is four hundred and twenty-five car wheels a day,
and one hundred tons of castings, and the corpora-
tion employs between seven and eight hundred men.

In addition to the superintendency of this estab-
lishment, Mr. Whiting is Superintendent of the
works of the Detroit I*ipe and Foundry Company,
which produce about fifty tons of cast iron pipe
daily, and employ about one hundred and fifty
hands. He is also Vice-President of the Detroit
Foundry Equipment Company, which controls sev-
eral patents particularly adapted to the improved
manufacture and handling of car wheels. He is
the inventor of the " Improved Cupola," the
"Overhead Steam Crane,' a " Transfer Truck," a
" Device for Operating Foundries," and a "Revers-
ible Friction Gearing," patented in 1884 and 1885.
He IS a stockholder in all the companies above
mentioned, and also in the Michigan Car Company,
the Detroit Iron Furnace Company, and the Vulcan
Iron Furnace Company, located at Newberry,
Michigan.

During the seventeen years of his connection
with the Detroit Car Wheel Company, he has shown
a character for manliness, integrity, and generosity,
which has won the esteem and confidence of all his
associates. He has for years made the question of
the successful handling of labor a study, and has also
studied to devise methods and appliances to facilitate
profitable production. As his responsibilities have

^<- r \^ C t---n5

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<^.

fUwtb

CTC^XNVv^K^vl.

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MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.

1207

increased, with the enlargement of the business
intrusted to his care, he has developed a capacity
adequate to meet them, and now handles a large
force of men with as much ease as he formerly
controlled a small number. He, however, attributes
much of his success to the suggestions, appreciative
courtesy, and generosity, with which he has been
treated by the chief stockholders in the corporations
in which he is engaged, whose confidence has been
fully and cheerfully given.

Mr. Whiting is a Republican in political faith,
but has been too closely identified with business to
take any part in political affairs.

He was married February 7, 1883, to Carrie
Florence Spence, daughter of Dr. T. R. Spence,
formerly of Detroit. They have two daughters,
Florence Hill and Barbara. He and his wife are
members of the Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian
Church.

CHAPTER XCVI.

LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, VESSEL OWNERS, INSURANCE AND

RAILROAD MANAGERS, ETC.

FRANCIS ADAMS is a descendant of the
Adamses of Braintree, Massachusetts, and is the
son of Moses and Nancy (Phillips) Adams. He was
born at Ellsworth, Maine, September 13, 1831, and
at the age of eight years began to care for himself,
with such varied experiences as commonly fall to
the lot of energetic boys when thrown upon their
own resources. When he was nineteen he came to
Michigan, but returned to Maine the same year,^^
and in 1853 went to California, where he was*'
engaged in mining and other operations for nearly
four years.

In 1857 he settled in Michigan and entered into
partnership with N. W. Brooks in the lumber busi-
ness. The firm did a large and successful business,
operating mills at Detroit, Saginaw, and Jackson,
until the death of Mr. Brooks in 1872. Mr. Adams
then retired from the lumber business, and has
since been engaged in caring for his property, with
occasional ventures in lumber, real estate, and
building. He is a stockholder in the Detroit Na-
tional Bank and Wayne County Savings Bank,
and has been a director in the latter corporation
since its organization.

He has always been a Republican, and while in
California voted for John C. Fremont, there being
but thirty-seven Republican votes out of over seven
hundred in the precinct. The only public offices
he has held have been in connection with the city
government. From 1873 to 1876, and in 1879 ^^^
1880, he was a member of the Board of Estimates.
In 1868, and again in 1871 and 1872, he served as
a member of the Board of Aldermen, and has also
served as one of the Board of Park Commissioners.
His services in the Council w^re highly appreciated
for his knowledge of municipal law, and his sound,
practical judgment.

As a business man, he ranks above the average ;
possesses a good deal of natural energy, and his
self-reliance has been developed and strengthened

by the experiences through which he has passed.
He investigates for himself, is firm in his opinions,
and yet, when convinced of an error, no one yields
with readier grace. He is honorable and upright
in his dealings, and of unimpeachable integrity.

He was married in February, 1862, to Annie M.,
daughter of James Graves, of Holden, Maine, and
has three daughters, Evelyn F., Annie G., and Mary
L. His wife died April 3, 1885, and on November
17, 1887, he married Isabella Duncan, of Detroit.

JAMES A. ARMSTRONG, the eldest son of
Orrin M. and Beulah (Hine) Armstrong, was born
in Washington, Litchfield County, Connecticut, on
November 21, 1805. When a boy, he lived part
of the time with his grandfather, James Armstrong,
after whom he was named. He attended a common
school, and soon after the death of his father,
entered a store at Newburgh, on the Hudson River.
There and in that vicinity he spent his time until
1832, when he came to Detroit.

As a young man, he had a bright intellect, and
was strictly moral and industrious, and on his
arrival here, obtained a situation in the forward-
ing and commission house of Oliver Newberry,
where he remained many years, and subsequently
went into the forwarding and commission business
on his own account. He afterwards formed a part-
nership with A. H. Sibley, and later on became junior
partner in the firm of Nickles, Whitcomb & Arm-
strong. In 1846 he organized the forwarding house
of James A. Armstrong & Company, and for many
years did a large business.

From 1857 to 1862 he was the General Freight
Agent of the Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad Com-
pany, and at the close of his term of service the
officers of the company presented him with a token
of their appreciation and esteem, in the shape of a
fine gold chronometer watch, bearing an appropriate
inscription, and dated May 29, 1862. Soon after

[1208]

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LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

1209

this he closed his business in Detroit, and went to
Buffalo, where, with Henry P. Bridge, of Detroit,
he engaged in the business of forwarding and com-
mission. The relation continued until 1866, when
he returned to Detroit, as the General Agent of the
Western Insurance Company, and remained such
until the Chicago fire of October, 1 871. broke up
the company. After this, and until his death, he
held the offices of Secretary and Treasurer of the
Detroit Car Loan Company, the Detroit Car Com-
pany, and of the Marshall Car Company.

He was an active member of the Detroit Board
of Trade, and one of its original organizers.

He possessed superior business capacity, and
was scrupulously honest and exact, his accounts
showing that when he used the company's stationery
and stamped envelopes, for personal correspon-
dence, he charged them to himself at their full price,
a little account book, in his own writing, furnishing
curious evidence of his exactness in these matters.
It is the uniform testimony of those who knew him
most intimately, that as a business man, husband,
father, and citizen, his character was without re-
proach, and few men in social or business circles
have commanded more fully the esteem and confi-
dence of their contemporaries, or left behind them a
brighter example.

He was eminently a charitable man, and showed
his kindness to the poor in many practical ways, and
was always ready to serve a friend, spending much
time, for which he received no compensation, in
looking up and locating lands in Michigan for
parties desiring to purchase or settle in the State.
From about 1842, until his death, he was a member
of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and was a zealous
and consistent churchman.

He was married in the autumn of 1839, to
Augusta, daughter of Judge Solomon Sibley. She
lived only until March, 1841, and on February 10,
1847, he married Mary E. Bates, daughter of
Phineas P. Bates, of Canandaigua, New York, and
sister of George C. Bates, of Detroit. He died
March 13, 1874, leaving his widow and three chil-
dren.

STEPHEN BALDWIN was born July 31, 1834,
in Lincoln, England, and is the son of Thomas and
Hannah (Pickering) Baldwin. Thomas Baldwin,
with his family, came to New York in 1835, and
went to Chautauqua Lake, where they remained
until the summer of 1836, when they removed to
Oakland County, Michigan, where they made their
permanent home.

Stephen Baldwin lived on the farm, attending
the best schools of Pontiac until he was seventeen
years old, and then for a short time taught school
in Oakland County, and subsequently attended Cor-

son's Select School, at Birmingham. In 1861 he
entered the establishment of Messrs. Flower &
Newton, dealers in agricultural implements at Pon-
tiac, where he remained for a short time, and in the
fall of the same year engaged in the produce and
commission business in Pontiac, continuing therein
until 1864, when his love of enterprise took him to
the oil regions, and he engaged in various successful
ventures until 1866. Meantime, in 1865, he assisted
in organizing the Second National Bank of Pontiac,
in which he was a large stockholder and director,
continuing his connection therewith until 1869, when
he withdrew. During most of this time Mr. Bald-
win was also engaged in buying pine lands, in lum-
bering, and for a time, in the manufacture of cloth.
In 1870, in connection with Leander S. Butterfield,
he bought the stock and interest of the Detroit
Paper Company, and removed to Detroit, where he
has since resided. In 1872 he dissolved his con-
nection with the Paper Company, and in February
of that year he helped to organize the wholesale dry
goods house of Edson, Moore & Company, in which
he has since been a special partner. It is one of
the largest and most successful business houses in
Michigan. In 1883 he aided in organizing the
wholesale millinery house of Black, Mitchell & Com-
pany, now W. H. Mitchell & Company, in which he
was a special partner until July i, 1887. During all
the time since 1867, he has retained his lumber
business, handling large tracts of pine land, both in
Michigan and in Canada, and is at present a
member of the firm of Baldwin & Nelson, his part-
ner being Ephraim Nelson, of Cheboygan, Michigan.
Mr. Baldwin is also largely interested in the Mineral
Land Company of the Upper Peninsula.

As a business man he has few superiors. Far-
sighted, experienced, bold, active, and energetic,
his quick perception, keen intellect, and marvelous
knowledge of the detail of many branches of busi-
ness, make him a safe counselor and a successful
financier. He is able to generalize rapidly and to
reach conclusions, which, to slower minds, might
seem hasty, but his judgments are unusually sound,
and in scarcely any instance has he made a failure
in his investments. He believes in integrity and
fair dealing as the foundation of business success,
and has the reputation of having well illustrated
these principles in all his business transactions. He
is public-spirited as a citizen, liberal toward worthy
benevolent objects, and has used his means freely
in helping deserving young men to start in business.
In political faith he is a Democrat, and opposed to a
protective tariff ; has never sought or held any elec-
tive office, but since July i, 1885, has been one of
the inspectors of the Detroit House of Correction.
He was married October 28, 1868, to Gertrude,
daughter of Augustine Hovey, of Pontiac, Michigan.

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LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

EDMUND A. BRUSH, the eldest son of Elijah
Brush, was born in 1802, graduated at Hamilton
College, and upon his return home assumed active
charge of his father's estate. He was admitted to
the bar, but never practised law. Mr. Brush was
early identified with the management of Detroit's
municipal affairs. He was City Register in 1823,
Recorder in 1832 and 1833, and in 1852 was selected
by the Legislature as a member of the Board of
Water Commissioners, then created for the purpose
of enlarging the city Water Works. His services
were given to this interest for more than sixteen
years, and his counsel and efforts were of great
value. In all departments of city administration he
was actively and zealously interested, and pro-
moted many measures that tended to the public good,
and checked, in a vigorous way, much that promised
evil. He assisted in the organization of the volun-
teer fire department, of which body he was an active
member, and was a leading spirit in the promotion
of several railroad lines centering in Detroit.

His large estate, however, enlisted the most of
his attention, and made him one of the very
wealthiest landholders that Detroit possessed. In
the sale of city lots, he almost invariably made it a
condition that the improvements thereon should be
in thorough keeping with advanced and liberal
enterprise, thus aiding not only himself but the
city generally.

The habits which Mr. Brush formed as a student,
during his college days, he maintained to the end
of his life. He was devoted to literature, but also
found much enjoyment in the amenities of social
life. His friendships were strong and deep, and in
a large circle he was an honored figure. While
quite set in his ways of doing things, he was any-
thing but cold-hearted and ungenerous. He did
not parade his charities, but gave very largely and
wisely, and relieved many destitute families. He
never took advantage of his tenants, nor enforced
forfeitures against them, or deprived them of the
protection of a home when misfortune prevented
them from meeting their engagements.

He married Eliza Cass Hunt, daughter of General
John E. Hunt, and niece of General Cass. They
had five children, only one of whom is living. The
death of the others f^ll with crushing force upon
the heart of Mr. Brush, and his grief was so intense,
that it is believed his own death, was thereby has-
tened. He died suddenly, July 10, 1877, at Grosse
Pointe, leaving his wife and one son, Alfred E.
Brush. The next nearest relative is a daughter of
William G. Thompson, whose first wife was a
daughter of Mr. Brush.

WILLIAM N. CARPENTER, the eldest child
of Nathan B, and Betsey Carpenter, was born at

Cooperstown, New York, July 22, 1816. His par-
ents removed to Detroit in 1825, and his father, who
died in 1868, was at the time of his death one of
the oldest and best known citizens. He was a
prominent member of the Masonic fraternity and
of the Mechanic Society, and occupied various posi-
tions of honor and trust connected with the city
government.

William N. Carpenter was educated in the public
schools of Detroit, and at the age of thirteen be-
came a clerk in the store of Franklin Moore, with
whom he was afterwards associated as partner.
He was also employed in the store of Elliott Gray.
After acquiring a good commercial education, he
began business for himself, opening a dry good
store on the south side of Jefferson Avenue, be-
tween Bates Street and Woodward Avenue. His
business venture was soon rewarded with a sub-
stantial success, and in 1834, having accumulated a
considerable fortune, he retired from mercantile
life.

His naturally active temperament, however, de-
manded employment, and he soon found congenial
fields for his business energies in other enterprises.
With ex-Governor Bagley, he became interested in
the manufacture of tobacco, and during the earlier
history of the extensive tobacco factory of J. J.
Bagley & Company, he did much to establish the
business on a prosperous basis. He also became a
large stockholder in the Peninsular Stove Company,
was for several years vice-president, and by his
assistance in the management of its affairs, con-
tributed greatly to the success of the corporation.
For many years also he was a director of the Peo-
ple's Savings Bank. In connection with ex-Governor
Henry H. Crapo, he engaged extensively in the
lumber business, and owned large tracts of pine
land in the town of Vassar, Michigan. He was
also a stockholder and officer in the Eureka Iron
Company and held considerable real estate in De-
troit. In 1879 he erected the large store on the
southwest corner of Woodward and Jefferson Ave-
nues. In his varied business projects he evinced
excellent business judgment, and his keen business
foresight, added to strict integrity, made him a
wise counselor and one whose advice was often
sought.

He is, however, best remembered because of the
possession of the qualities which characterize a
good and useful member of society. He was a
man of large benevolence, and a judicious friend
to the really needy. He believed in organized
charities, and as a member of the executive board
of Associated Charities, was ever ready by personal
labor and pecuniary contributions, to further that
organization. His benevolence was free from osten-
tation. He had faith in the practical usefulness of

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LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

I2I1

the church, and supported it with his fortune, per-
sonal labor, and by the example of a life of singular
purity and faithful devotion to duty. Early in life
he united with St. Paul's Episcopal Church, and at
the time of his death his membership in the church
antedated that of any other person in the diocese.
In 1845 he became one of the founders of Christ
Church, and remained continuously a member of the
vestry, and for twenty-nine years served as warden.
The highest offices it was possible for the church to
confer upon a layman, were frequently bestowed
upon him. He served as trustee of the diocese,
deputy to the general convention, and member of
the standing committee of the diocese. The direc-
tion made in his will that $25,000 of his estate be
appropriated to the building of a free chapel or
church, was in accordance with a long cherished
purpose, and the carrying out of the project will
furnish a most fitting monument to his memory.

During the latter years of his life, Mr. Carpenter
devoted much time to travel, both in his own and
foreign countries. He was deeply interested in the
development of the commercial interests of the
Southern States, and was pecuniarily interested in
the reclamation of portions of the Everglades of
Florida, in furthering orange culture, and in pro-
moting the extension of railroads in that State.
The only political office he held was chat of mem-
ber of the Board of Estimates.

He was married in 1845 to Amanda Gibbs,
daughter of William Gibbs. of Skaneateles, New
York. They had five children, two of whom died
in infancy. The names of those living are : Rev.
Samuel B. Carpenter, archdeacon of the Episcopal
Church of south Florida ; Edith, wife of Rev. S. H.
Gurteen, of New York, and Clarence Carpenter,
treasurer of the Peninsular Stove Company of De-
troit.

Mr. Carpenter's death on November 10, 1885,
was the result of an accident, which shocked the
entire community. While driving, his horse be-
coming frightened, ran away, and he was thrown
from the carriage, and sustained injuries from the
effects of which he soon died. His sudden and
tragic death, while in the possession of good health
and with apparently years of usefulness before him,
caused universal sorrow among a host of friends.
Expressions of sorrow came from many portions of
the State, and warm tributes of respect wTre paid
to his memory by the various business corporations,
religious and charitable organizations with which
he was identified.

JOHN PERSON CLARK was born on the
Hudson River at a small town a few miles below
Catskill, on April 10, 1808, and was the son of John
and Sarah (Person) Clark. His parents, in 181 2,

moved to Black Rock, near Buffalo, where his
father was carrying on the grocery business, at the
time the British crossed the river and burned the
city of Buffalo.

His father, with a few neighbors, procured a
small cannon, and from a bluff back of the town,
fired on the troops as they were crossing the river.
Before the war had closed, the family moved to
Cleveland, Ohio, and the elder Mr. Clark engaged
in keeping a hotel. He was a member of the
Masonic order, and the lodge met in one of the
rooms on the second floor of the hotel, and in order
to drown the voices, so that what was said could
not be understood by the uninitiated, they rolled a
large cannon-ball over the floor during their meet-
ings.

In 1 81 8 the family moved to what is now known
as Wyandotte, and attempted farming, but after a
three years' struggle, gave it up, and bought tim-
bered land three miles back from the river, and
there three of the brothers cleared up a farm. John
P. Clark, at this time, was only thirteen years old,
but learned to build a comfortable log house, with-
out nails or boards. He worked out by the day or
month, and, at the age of sixteen, could do as
much work as a man. While yet a boy, he con-
cluded that it was not necessary to be as extremely
poor as many w^ere with whom he was acquainted,
and therefore he eagerly improved every opportunity
for employment, and when not engaged at farming,
went to Ohio, and worked upon one of the canals
at $13 per month and his board. It was then cus-
tomary to furnish whiskey to the men three or four
times a day, and Mr. Clark partook with the others.
The taste of the liquor was at first very unpleasant.
He soon found, however, it w^as becoming palatable,
and therefore decided to leave it entirely alone, and
holding to his resolution, he came back to Michi-
gan, richer in both experience and money. The
only schooling he was able to obtain was in the
winter, when he was not employed on the farm. In
1825 his father died, and left five small children.
The older sons, however, kept the farm, and ran it
for the support of the children.

The year after his father's death, Mr. Clark
bought a part interest in a fishing company, and
continued to have investments in that business until
his death. His first shipments were made to vari-
ous places in Ohio, where he had attended school.
The lack of facilities for traveling in those days,
and Mr. Clark's energy, is illustrated in the fact
that, in 1828, he started from Mount Vernon, Ohio,
and traveled through the Black Swamp to Perrys-
burg, on the Maumee River, on foot. At the latter
place he met some acquaintances that he had known
in Cleveland, and with them formed a company to
fish on the Maumee River, with a seine, w^hich he

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LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

had made the winter previous. The Maumee River
was a noted spawning ground, and there were great
numbers of fish in that locality. Upon one occa-
sion, Mr. Clark went to a small island up the river,
and in three nights speared twenty-one barrels of
fish. The following year he went into the fishing
business on his own account, hired a number of
men, and continued in the business of fishing for
twelve seasons. While he was fishing he worked
two crew^s, one at night and one during the day,
and seldom slept more than twenty minutes at a
time. On one occasion he and his men put up one
hundred barrels in a day, Mr. Clark himself doing
all the coopering. In the spring of 1832 he bought
some timber land, and supplied wood for the fish
trade along the canal, and during the year built a
a barge. The next year, with his own barge, he
busied himself with towing on the canal.

In 1836 he went on an exploring tour to Lake
Michigan, traversing the distance from Green Bay
to Milwaukee many times, and nearly always on
foot. The Indians in that region showed him
where they and their fathers before them caught
fish in the fall and winter. They usually smoked
and dried the fish which they caught, and then put
them into sacks and carried them to their wigwams.
They also sliced and dried their potatoes for winter
use. Profiting by the knowledge he had gained,
Mr. Clark, the next year, returned to Lake Michi-
gan, and engaged actively in fishing, and in the
spring of 1838 he employed fifty men, and went
into the business on quite an extensive scale. At
this time his brother George and Mr. Shadrack
Gillett were associated with him. In the same
year he purchased a vessel, and has owned one or
more ever since. From being a vessel owner he
naturally drifted into the business of repairing ves-
sels, and in 1850 he relinquished part of his fishing
business, came to Detroit, and built a dry dock,
erected a saw-mill, and built and repaired vessels.
He also raised sunken vessels. For some years past
the shipyard has been leased to other parties, and a
number of the largest vessels on the lakes have been
built in his yard. Up to the time of his death, he was
engaged to some extent in fishing, and had ponds
or pools along the river where his fish were stored*
and occupied one fishing ground that he located
fifty-six years ago. He employed between forty
and fifty men, and, in addition to his other busi-
ness, cultivated five extensive farms. Lie was one
of the oldest residents in this locality, and was in
every sense the architect of his own fortune. By
his perseverance and his constant personal super-
vision of his business, he accumulated a handsome
property. Like almost all men who achieve suc-
cess in any sphere of life, he doubtless made some
enemies, but he also made warm and strong friends.

Mr. Clark was married to Susan E. Booth, on
February 20, 1838. She was born in England, on
June I, r8i5, and died on May 18, i860. Their
children were Avis S., Alice E., Alvin S., Florence
M., Arthur J., Walter B., Norman S. On February
19, 1863, Mr. Clark married Eliza W. Whiting. She
was born in Amherst, Vermont. She died January
14, 1883. Mr. Clark died on£:eptember 3, 1888.

DARIUS COLE was born in Wales, Erie
County, New York, October 11,1818. His parents,
Benjamin and Ruth Cole, removed from Rhode
Island to Erie County just before the War of 181 2,
and settled on a new farm. They had four chil-
dren, Melissa, Phoebe, Benjamin, and Darius, who
is the youngest and the only surviving member
of the family. His father died when he was six
weeks old, and his mother, with the assistance of
hired help, cleared the farm, and supported the
family until her death, in 1824. After her death,
Darius, who was then six years old, went to live
with his grandfather on an adjoining farm, and
remained there until he was sixteen. Although
his health was quite poor, he worked and saved
a small sum of money, with which he came to De-
troit in September, 1835, and for a year he worked
on a farm in Macomb County.

In the fall of 1836 he went with his uncle. Judge
William A. Burt, on a surveying expedition west of
the Mississippi River, to what was then known as
the Black Hawk purchase, in Iowa Territory. He
was there about eighteen months, and then re-
turned to Detroit, and went with Mr. Burt to survey
the tract of country lying between Cheboygan and
Manistee, on the Straits of Mackinac. For the
six months which intervened between these expe-
ditions, he kept a grocery on the site of the old
Board of Trade Building, at the corner of Shelby
and Woodbridge Streets, which he abandoned on
account of failing health. In the fall of 1839 he
made another venture in the mercantile business at
Lexington, Michigan, and continued there with fair
success until 1850. In that year he became inter-
ested in the steamboat business, with which he has
ever since been identified. He first bought the
James Walcott (afterwards rebuilt and called the
Scott), and put her on the Saginaw River. She
was the first steamboat that plied between what
is now Bay City and Saginaw. In 1855 he
bought the steamer Columbia, started the first line
between Detroit and Saginaw, and extended it to
Cheboygan and points along the lake shore. His
enterprise had much to do in settling that part
of the country, and the early settlers of that region,
and their goods and provisions, were principally
conveyed by his line of boats. In 1852, Captain
Ward put on the Huron, the initial boat of his line,

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LAND DEALERS. LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

1213

and soon after added the Forest Queen. Deter-
mined not to be outdone, Captain Cole, in the
winter of 1856, purchased the Northerner, the finest
boat that had yet appeared on the lakes, and put
her on his line in the spring. While making her
first trip on Lake Huron, with a heavy cargo and
some two hundred persons, including passengers
and crew, on board, she was run into and sunk by
Captain Ward's steamer, the Forest Queen, the ves-
sel and cargo being a total loss, and the second
engineer drowned. The passengers and crew were
saved. The next year Captain Cole fitted up the
Columbia, which had been laid aside, and ran her
over the route until 1861, when she was replaced
by the steamer Huron, which continued to run
until the consolidation of the river and lake shore
fines. In 1874 the company was dissolved, and
since then Captain Cole has continued the Saginaw
and Alpena, or lake shore line, the boats at present
being the iron propeller Arundel and the Metropo-
fis. In 1885 the Darius Cole was built by the
Globe Iron Shipbuilding Company of Cleveland,
Ohio, for and under the supervision of Captain
Cole, being finished and fitted out by him in De-
troit, in the spring of 1886, at a cost of $130,000.
This steamer is two hundred and thirteen feet in
length over all, her hull is thirty-two feet beam,
depth of hold ten feet, and breadth of beam over
guards, sixty feet. Her hull is built of iron and
steel, having five water-tight compartments or
bulkheads, with iron decks, which renders her
perfectly safe in case of collision. Her boilers
and machinery are completely incased in iron,
making her absolutely fire-proof. She was placed
on the route between Port Huron and Detroit in
1886.

Captain Cole is one of the enterprising, self-
made, successful business men of Detroit, and has
become one of the best known men on the lakes.
He has made hosts of friends and is deservedly
popular. He is unostentatious in his manner, and
at all times courteous and agreeable. He has won
his own way from boyhood, and has earned the
right to enjoy the fruits of his success. He pos-
sesses good business talents, his integrity is unques-
tioned, and he has a warm and kindly sympathy
for those less fortunate than himself.

Originally he belonged to the Whig party, but
has been a Republican since the latter party was
organized.

He was married at Lexington, Michigan, in April,
1 84 1, to Ann Wilcox. They had four children,
none of whom are now living. His wife and two
of the children died in 1848. Benjamin, one of the
sons, lived to be nineteen years old, and died sud-
denly on board the steamboat, at Bay City, in 1861.
The daughters were Ruth, Ann, and Cordelia. In

1849 he married Hannah Lentz of Lexington. By
this marriage there is one son, Frank Cole of West
Bay City.

ALFRED A. DWIGHT is one of the prominent
men whose lives have been spent mostly in Detroit,
and whose resolute energy, persevering effort, and
Christian integrity have not only brought to them-
selves deserved success in business and honorable
reputation among their fellow-men, but have also
tended, in a high degree, to the growth and pros-
perity of the city. He was born in the township of
Thompson, Windham County, Connecticut, March
27, 181 5, and comes from early New England ances-
try, being the lineal descendant of John Dwight,
who emigrated from England in 1636, and settled
in Dedham, Massachusetts.

He is one of the three children of WiUiam and
Lucia (Dresser) Dwight. His father was a mer-
chant and a manufacturer of cotton goods during
the most of his business Hfe. The son received
his early education in the common schools of New
England, and at the age of fourteen years, became
a clerk in a large mercantile firm in Sturbridge,
Massachusetts, where he remained for the next
six years, engaged in laying those foundations
and acquiring that knowledge of business and of
the principles upon which it should be conducted,
which should fit him for future usefulness and
success in life. While thus employed, his father, in
1 83 1, migrated to Detroit, where he died shortly
after. His death made it necessary that Alfred A.,
then just on the verge of manhood, should come
here to care for the interests of his widowed mother
and the other surviving members of the family.
He therefore left his employers in Massachusetts,
and arrived in Detroit, October 30, 1833, on the
steamer Henry Clay, after a stormy passage from
Buffalo, lasting a whole week.

From that day Mr. Dwight has been a resident
of this city, but in 1837 returned to his former
residence in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, and was
there united in marriage to Frances M. Wheelock,
the daughter of his former employer.

Mr. Dwight was not to find his future work as
a business man confined to the routine of the mer-
cantile life in which he had hitherto been trained :
a larger field of action was to open before him, well
adapted to his energy of character, administrative
ability, and sterling integrity, which were to bring
the confidence of others willing to entrust him with
the care and management of their pecuniary inter-
ests.

Detroit was even at that time an old city, for it
had been setded for one hundred and thirty-two
years. It contained, however, only about three
thousand inhabitants, and was without water- works,

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LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

sidewalks, and sewers. It was almost on the west-
ern border of civilization, beyond which there was
but a very small white population, very sparsely
spread over Michigan Territory. Most of the lower
peninsula was then an unbroken forest, containing
a vast amount of the choicest timber of every
variety incident to this latitude, and constituting
the material from which a large amount of wealth
was to be reaped when the demand for timber should
be increased, its price enhanced, and the facilities
for conveying it to market largely multiplied and
extended. The era of railroads had then scarcely
dawned, and the number of steam and sail vessels
on our great lakes was quite small, because a large
demand for them as bearers of inland commerce
had not yet arisen. Within three years after Mr,
Dwight's first arrival, the population of the city and
territory had so increased that Michigan was ad-
mitted into the Union, and during the succeeding
half century she has progressed with such gigantic
strides as to become the seventh in population
among the States of the Union. During the same
period Detroit has become the metropolis of the
State, and contains now a population of not far
from two hundred thousand.

In this marvelous development Mr. Dwight has
acted an important part. He purchased, at an
early day, for himself and associates, large tracts
of pine and other timbered land in several of our
northern counties, built saw-mills, and manufac-
tured and sold quantities of lumber, from the avails
of which large profits have been honorably acquired.
In his operations during almost forty years as the
active manager of his firm, he has employed and
personally directed the labor of a large number of
men, and induced many of the most intelligent
among them, with their families, to become pioneer
settlers in the wilderness which he was engaged in
opening.

Mr. Dwight has been eminently a man of affairs,
and his efforts have brought to himself and his
associates in business a good degree of pecuniary
success; he has also aided largely in the growth
and prosperity of the northern counties of the
State, by the assistance which he has rendered
in settling and organizing townships, draining and
reclaiming low and wet lands, constructing State
drains, roads, bridges, school-houses, and churches,
and making the ** wilderness blossom as the rose."
In all this progress he has been a constant guide and
helper, and his usefulness therein is widely known
and cheerfully acknowledged. One township in
Huron bears his name, and he well merits the
honor and respect which is gratefully accorded to
him in Northern Michigan, where the most of his
life work has been done. In his home and social
life in Detroit he has ever been esteemed as a man

wise in counsel, genial and winning in manners,
sympathizing with the unfortunate, and has always
aided, according to his ability, in carrying on every
good work.

Early in life he became a member of a Christian
Church, and has been connected with the Jefferson
Avenue Presbyterian Church in Detroit since its
formation, and one of its ruling elders since the
year 1867, ever respected and loved by all connected
therewith.

Mr. Dwight has been twice married. His first
wife passed away within two years after his mar-
riage, leaving him one daughter, Frances Matilda,
now Mrs. C. A. Moross of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
In 1843 he married Laura A. Morse of Mount
Vernon, Maine, a lady of rare cultivation and refine-
ment, a true wife and mother, whose virtues are
best known to those who have had intimate ac-
quaintance with her. They have had two children,
Charlotte Eugenia, now deceased, who married
Joseph H. Berry of Detroit, and William M. Dwight.

Mr. Dwight still survives, after having more than
filled up the measure of threescore and ten years
commonly allotted to man. He is a worthy example
of the typical American man of business, and of the
courteous, Christian gentleman. Such men are the
pillars which sustain and support our national insti-
tutions.

ERALSY FERGUSON was born January 14,
1820, in Radfield, Oneida County, New York.
When he was quite young he with his parents
removed to Canada. In 1826 they went to Monroe,
Michigan, and after about a year to Detroit. Here
for several years his father kept a small hotel on
Woodward Avenue near the river, and Mr. Ferguson
well remembers the various vessels then frequent-
ing this port.

In 1829 his father removed to Oakland County,
and settled on a farm. After remaining on the
farm for two years, Mr. Ferguson returned to De-
troit, and worked on the farm of Judge James
Witherell until about the year 1838. During the
winter months of this period, he attended school at
the old Detroit Academy. LTpon leaving Mr.
Witherell's employ he received eighty acres of wild
land in St. Clair County, and in the winter of 1839
commenced clearing it up ; but, after two months
of hard labor, he abandoned the idea of becoming a
farmer, returned to Detroit, engaged in teaming,
and in the following winter made three journeys
with a team to Chicago, conveying passengers and
freight saved from a Chicago bound steamboat,
which was partly wrecked late in the season on
Lake Huron. Each of these journeys took from
nineteen to twenty-six days.

In September, 1844, Mr. Ferguson entered the

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1215

employ of the Michigan Central Railroad, serving
successively as night watchman, baggageman,
freight conductor, and passenger conductor. He
had charge of the first passenger train which ran
into Chicago over the Michigan Central Railroad.
He subsequently became depot and train master at
Detroit, resigning the latter position in January,
1875, after over thirty years' continuous connection
with the road. About three years previous to his
resignation, at the request of James F. Joy, Presi-
dent of the Michigan Central Railroad, he engaged
in the transfer, receipt, and delivery of city freight,
by means of trucks built especially for that purpose.
The business increased to such an extent that he
was compelled to retire from the employment of
the railroad company, and since that time he has
continued in this line of business, and was also for a
few years subsequent to 1877, one of the proprie-
tors of the Cass Hotel.

In his political sympathies Mr. Ferguson was at
first a Whig and is now a Republican, but has
never been an office seeker or held a political ofilce
of any kind. In 1837 he was commissioned by
Governor Mason as P^irst Lieutenant of a militia
company, and during the " Patriot War" in the
following winter and spring, his company was called
into the service of the general government, to guard
the Canadian frontier and protect the United States
arsenal at Dearborn from a possible raid of the
" Patriots."

By a wise management of his financial affairs, he
has acquired a competency, and is esteemed as an
upright and useful citizen.

He was married January 20, 1842, at Detroit to
Miss Nancy Canfield, daughter of Lemon Canfield
of Redford, Michigan. They have five children, all
living : Martha E., wife of Wailis Goodwin of
Detroit ; Julia C, wife of E. W. Cobb of Adrian,
Michigan ; Frances L., wife of Rev. Harry S. Jen-
kinson of Detroit ; Josephine E. and John G. Fer-
guson.

MOSES WHEELOCK FIELD was born at
Watertown, in the State of New York, on February
10, 1828, and is the second son of William and
Rebecca (Wheelock) Field. He was educated in
the public school and at Victory Academy, where
he graduated.

In 1844 he came to Detroit and engaged in the
large mercantile house of F. Moore & Co., in which
Francis Palms was a partner. The ill health of
Mr. Palms compelling him to withdraw from the
firm in 1852, Mr. Field was invited to become a
partner, but declining this favorable and compli-
mentary ofTer, he, in the same year, formed a part-
nership with John Stephens, under the firm name of
Stephens & Field, and they opened a wholesale

ship chandlery and grocery business in the two
stores on the northwest corner of Woodward Ave-
nue and Atwater Street, where they carried on a
prosperous and profitable business for about ten
years. After the termination of this copartnership,
Mr. Field conducted the business alone for many
years, occupying four stores, w^hich he had built for
the purpose on Woodbridge Street, adjoining the
building recently occupied by the Detroit Free
Press Company. To provide for the necessities of
his increasing business, he subsequently erected a
large warehouse, W'ith wharf and shipping accommo-
dations, at the foot of Griswold Street. At this
stand he continued business until about 1880, when
he retired from mercantile pursuits. At various
times he has been largely engaged in the purchase
and sale of real estate, and offered the city, free of
charge, the immense tract knowm as Linden Park,
the conditions being so liberal that only the most
narrow sighted policy would have neglected so
valuable an offer. He has been interested in several
manufacturing enterprises, and built and operated
the Detroit Glass Works until they were destroyed
by fire in 1872.

He has always been interested in public affairs.
In early life he w^as a Whig, but afterwards sup-
ported the Free Soil movement, and in i860 voted
for Abraham Lincoln. In the war which followed
the election of Mr. Lincoln, a draft was ordered
among the citizens of the Fourth Ward, where
Mr. Field lived, in order to fill its quota of troops
for the army. The draft took place on September
27, 1864, and forty citizens were drawn, and ordered
to report forthwith to the ofiice of the Provost
Marshal, to be uniformed and equipped for military
service. Mr. Field took the matter in hand, bought
other credits for the w^iole number, and they were
all released. The people expressed their gratitude
by proceeding to his residence, serenading him,
and presenting him a gold-headed cane. Soon
afterwards he was requested to represent the ward
in the city council, and his popularity was so great
that he was elected without opposition.

In 1872 Mr. Field was elected to Congress for
the district of Michigan. His observation and large
business experience during the panic of 1857, and
the loss of over $12,000 which he incurred at that
time by the breaking of a bank, led him to be a strong
supporter of the government's policy in issuing
legal tender treasury bills, a policy which was after-
wards adopted by Congress, and resulted in the
issue of legal tender circulating bills called green-
backs, giving the country the first sound paper money
ever enjoyed by the people. The volume of national
circulating medium, consisting of government paper
money and legal tender bills, at the close of the
war, September I, 1865, was 12,111,678,680, exclu-

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Li\ND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

sive of coin. This large volume of circulating
medium stimulated industries, commerce, and busi-
ness to such an extent that at that time laborers
were fully employed, pursuits were greatly diversi-
fied, our industries were enlarged, mechanics and
laboring men received higher wages, the products
of the farm, the mine, the factory, and of labor
commanded higher prices, the masses had larger
deposits in the saving banks, and the people enjoyed
more happiness and greater prosperity than ever
known before in the history of the country.

Realizing these important facts, and having al-
ways been a student of political economy, Mr.
Field, by earnest and active efforts, and a liberal ex-
penditure of money in publishing and circulating
pamphlets, sought to have the volume of the circu-
lating medium kept as it existed at that time ; but
the policy of the Republican party was opposed to
this, and a systematic course of contraction of the
circulating medium was adopted, and a policy was
permanently declared in the act approved March
19, 1869, entitled, " An Act to strengthen the Pub-
lic Credit," also subsequently by the passage of an
act entitled, " An Act to provide for the Resumption
of Specie Payment." In pursuance of these acts,
the Secretary of the Treasury was required to with-
draw from circulation and destroy $4,000,000 of
greenbacks per month until the entire amount out-
standing should be withdrawn. These acts, Mr.
Field thought, were calculated and intended to
make the payment of government bonds impossible,
and under their operation, Mr. Field believes, the
industries and the business of the country were pro-
portionally curtailed, contracted, and paralyzed.
Business became stagnant, hard times prevailed,
and as an outgrowth it took more property to pay
bonds and debts. The wrecks of the crisis of 1873
he regards as unmistakable proofs of the wisdom of
his teachings. He believes that in this land, gov-
erned by the votes of the people, no aristocracy
should be tolerated; that legislation should be
shaped having in view the greatest good of the
greatest number of the inhabitants, and that a finan-
cial policy should be adopted with that end in view.
In addition to the act to strengthen the public credit
above mentioned, the Republicans in Congress
passed an act entitled, " An Act to force the Re-
sumption of Specie Payments," which was opposed
by Mr. Field, but his efforts were unavailing. He
has always advocated the doctrine that, in order to
promote the welfare of the whole people, Congress
should provide a circulating medium commensurate
with the needs of business and the demands of trade,
in volume so abundant that the rates of interest
would be reduced for the use of money on mort-
gages, and for other purposes. In his speeches in
Congress he advocated with force and ability the

increase of the volume of the circulating medium.
He insisted that it should be made so abundant that
the rates of interest for its use should never rise above
the earnings of labor, and should not at any time
exceed two or three per cent, per annum. He
maintained that by issuing greenbacks to pay inter-
est-bearhig bonds, for salaries of office holders, and
in the construction of public works, until the volume
outstanding should equal the volume reached at the
close of the war, the country would be restored
to a prosperous condition, business and industry
would revive, good prices prevail, and the promoters
of progress and reform would again witness a happy,
a prosperous, and a united people. Failing to influ-
ence the Republican party to adopt what he deemed
wise and advanced measures upon the currency
question, and believing that the prosperity of the
country was being destroyed, Mr. Field decided to
call a national convention to meet at Indianapolis
on the 17th of May, 1876, of "all citizens opposed
to a forced resumption of specie payment, demand-
ing that the greenbacks should stand and remain
the currency of the land." The convention was
one of the largest, most earnest, and intelligent that
ever assembled in the United States. Peter Cooper
of New York, was nominated for President, and
Samuel F. Cary of Ohio for Vice-President, and
Mr. Field was chosen chairman of the National
Committee. The party polled upwards of 1,000,000
votes, and though not successful, the agitation and
discussion of the financial question resulted in lead-
ing Congress on the opening of the next session to
repeal the odious resumption act and remonetize
silver coin.

Mr. Field entertains aggressive views in favor of
tariff protection to American labor. Realizing the
fact that labor is wholly dependent upon a market
for its maintenance, he insists that the markets of
the country are of inestimable value to the people,
and should be reserved for the benefit and support
of American workers. He insists that public policy
and justice alike demand that should foreign pro-
ducers desire to enter our markets for the sale of
their commodities, they should be required to call
at the custom house and settle the tariff taxation
for the profitable privilege of enjoying our markets.
Thus domestic labor would be protected and secure
a preferential chance in the home markets of our
own country. Upon this subject he made an ex-
haustive speech in the House of Representatives
during the first session of the forty-second Congress,
1874. During the campaign of 1879, he delivered
one hundred and seventy-six speeches, and has
written numerous pamphlets upon financial and
other reform measures. In 1883 he was appointed
by Governor Begole as a trustee of the Eastern
Asylum for the Insane, for the term of six years.

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LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

1217

and in April, 1885, was elected one of the Regents
of the University of Michigan, for the term of eight
years.

He is painstaking in his methods, examines care-
fully into questions affecting the welfare of the
country and the prosperity of the people, possesses
strong convictions, and in the advocacy of his prin-
ciples, is aggressive and forcible. He was especially
active in organizing the Michigan State Society for
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1865, and
was its first president. To his efforts are largely
due the passage of most of the State laws of Michi-
gan relating to humane treatment of animals. He
was instrumental in securing the erection of the
first public drinking-fountains erected in Detroit
and if the thousands of dumb beasts who have
quenched their thirst at these humane institutions
could but speak, he would not lack for many words
of praise.

He is a member of the Swedenborgian church,
and is tolerant of all honest differences, believing
that a worthy thought needs no apology. He is
simple and unostentatious in his mode of living,
liberal in his dealings, kind and polite ; has given
much attention to literary pursuits, and has accu-
mulated a valuable library of nearly two thousand
volumes.

Except for the maturity of his judgment, the result
of a long and observant life, he bears few indications
of the lapse of years.

In 1886 he purchased from Alexander Mitscher-
lich, the exclusive right under patents, for the pro-
duction of cellulose from pine, spruce, and other
timber. This cellulose or fibre, for the manufac-
ture of paper, is a product far superior to linen or
other material heretofore used, and has attracted
the attention of the paper makers of the world.

He was married on February 2, 1858, to Mary
Kercheval daughter of the late Benjamin B. Kerche-
val, one of the pioneers of Michigan.

GEORGE SMITH FROST was born June 14,
1824, at Marcellus. in the State of New York. His
ancestors were among the early emigrants from
Great Britain, and several of them were engaged
in the War of the Revolution. His grandfather,
Josiah Frost, was born at Williamsburgh, Massa-
chusetts, in 1763. His father, Josiah Frost, Jr.,
was born in Williamsburgh, January 28, 1791, and
had eleven sisters and brothers. He was married
May 2c, 1 8 14, to Hannah M. (Smith) Frost, who
was one of the thirteen children of Itbamar Smith
of East Hartford, Connecticut, and was born June
17, 1794. Josiah Frost, Jr., left Massachusetts
with his father in 1803. and settled in Marcellus.
He was a farmer by occupation. The family
included seven children, five boys and two girls,

five of whom, including George S. Frost, are still
living. Josiah Frost, Jr., died in Camillus, New
York, July 31, 1828, and within seven years after
his death the family removed to Pontiac, Michigan,
where one of the children had preceded them, and
there, in May, 185 1, the mother died.

George S. Frost attended the district school
and academy of his native place, and after his ar-
rival in Pontiac, he attended, for a short time, the
branch of the University, then located at that
place. By the time he w^as fourteen years old,
however, it seemed desirable that he secure employ-
ment, and in 1838 he entered the hardware store of
Horace Thurber, at Pontiac, and a year later was
clerking for his brother, at Troy, and from there, in
1839, came to Detroit, and became a clerk in the
store of Lyon & Phelps. Several changes took
place in the firm, but Mr. Frost remained for six
years, and proved so competent a salesman that his
services were frequently sought by others. Mean-
time, as early as 1842, he became a member of the
First Presbyterian Church, and happened to occupy
a seat near the one almost invariably occupied by
General Cass, who, for some reason, seemed to feel
kindly disposed towards him, and proffered his
friendship; and when Mr. Frost, in 1845, gave up
his situation in the store of Hiram Lyon, General
Cass immediately engaged him to assist him in his
office work. The same year, in the fall, the office
of Surveyor-General, northwest of the Ohio, was
removed from Cincinnati to Detroit, Lucius Lyon,
being appointed Surveyor-General. General Cass
immediately procured Mr. Frost's appointment as
recording clerk in the office, and the next year he was
appointed assistant draughtsman, and afterwards
principal draughtsman, and just before the term of
Mr. Lyon expired, he was made chief clerk. Mean-
time, the important mineral region of the Upper
Peninsula was surveyed, and Mr. Frost, as principal
draughtsman, constructed a large proportion of the
maps of that region from the field notes of the sur-
veyors, and was sent to Washington with the maps.
Through the influence of General Cass, then serving
as Senator, he was kept in Washington during the
Presidential term of James K. Polk, and was
engaged in several of the departments of the Gen-
eral Land Office, and also acted as private secretary
to General Cass. He became, by invitation, a
member of the household of General Cass, and
continued as such until his marriage, in 1852, gave
him a home of his own. Up to the day of his
death, General Cass manifested the strongest af-
fection for Mr. Frost ; hardly a day passed without
his calling him to his side, and he was almost con-
stantly with him during his illness. The intimate
relation which Mr. Frost sustained to the General,
brought him, while at Washington, into close per-

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LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

sonal contact and acquaintance with all the leading
statesmen of that period.

Mr. Frost's familiarity with land matters, espe-
cially in Michigan, secured him the appointment, in
1852, of Land Commissioner of the Saint Mary's
Falls Ship Canal Company, and he personally super-
intended the selection of the seven hundred and
fifty thousand acres of land to which that com-
pany were entitled for building the canal, and
retained his position until the company, in 1864,
closed up its affairs by disposing of the unsold land
at auction. With the added experience gained in the
management of the hundreds of thousands of acres
of lands owned by the canal company, Mr. Frost
naturally continued in the business of buying and
selling pine lands. His business has been solely on
commission, and he has probably negotiated the
sale of more lands than any other person in Michi-
gan, many millions of acres having been transferred
through his agency. His time, however, has not
been given solely to business. In 1858 and 1859 he
served as President of the Young Men's Christian
Union ; in 1862 and 1863, as Alderman of the First
Ward ; from 1869 to 1 871, as one of the Commis-
sioners on the Plan of the City ; later, as one of
the trustees of the Detroit Medical College ; and
for a quarter of a century or mare he has served as
an elder, and during part of the time as trustee
of the First Presbyterian Church.

He possesses a warm and kindly heart, and is
eminently social in his nature. His willingness to
serve and give always keeps pace with his ability,
and if he had been less generous, it would doubt-
less have been to his advantage. In business
matters, he is cautious and methodical.

He married Ellen E. Noble, daughter of Charles
Noble, on October 12, 1852. They have four chil-
dren living, Rev. Charles Noble Frost, now at West
Bay City ; Caroline Noble Frost of Detroit ; Rev.
George Canfield Frost, at Three Rivers ; and
Conway Alonzo Frost, now in the Medical Depart-
ment of the University at Ann Arbor.

J. HUFF JONES was born in Pittsburgh, Penn-
sylvania, and is the son of Thomas J. Jones, one
of the first settlers of St. Joseph County, whose
ancestors at an early date lived in Albany, New
York. Mr. Jones accompanied his parents to
Michigan in 1831, moved to Detroit in the spring
of 1846, and lived with and assisted his uncle,
De Garmo Jones, in the management of various
business enterprises until his death in November,
1846.

Since that time he has been engaged in business
connected with the settlement of his uncle's affairs,
and has also been the legal guardian of several
other estates, involving the care and custody of

large fortunes, and in the performance of these
crusts he has shown the best of judgment and busi-
ness method, and exceptional faithfulness. He is a
member of the Detroit Felting Company, Vice-
President of the Detroit Motor Company, and one
of the trustees of Elmwood Cemetery.

In politics he was formerly a Whig, but since the
formation of the Republican party has been stead-
fast in his allegiance to that organization, though
he has never been active in party management nor
held political position.

Since i860 he has been a trustee of the Fort
Street Presbyterian Church and active in promoting
its financial interests. As a member of the Asso-
ciation of Charities and of various philanthropic
societies, he has ever been an important factor, but
always in a modest, though none the less helpful
manner. He is a bachelor, but enjoys society, has
an extended social acquaintance, and is a pleasant
and agreeable companion, genial, of refined and
courteous manner, and well and worthily repre-
sents one of the oldest and most highly esteemed
families.

EDWARD LYON, for nearly a half century
one of the best known hotel proprietors in Michi-
gan, was born in the town of Shelburne, near the
city of Burlington, Vermont, June 12, 1805, and
was the son of Timothy and Mary (Hawley) Lyon.
His parents emigrated to the town of Shelburne as
early as 1795. Edward Lyon was educated in the
district schools of his native town, and w^hen but a
youth began to gain his own livelihood. Nearly ten
years of his early manhood were spent in steam-
boating on Lake Champlain, on the steam packet
Franklin, commanded by Captain R. W. Sherman,
which plied between Whitehall, New York, and St.
Johns, Canada. By fidelity to his duties, Mr. Lyon
gained the confidence of his employers, and was
frequently put in charge of the boat during the
absence of the commander. While acting in this
capacity, he transported thousands of people from
St. Johns, who were fleeing from that place to escape
the ravages of the cholera, which broke out there on
its first appearance in America.

Moved with a desire to benefit himself, Mr. Lyon,
in 1833, abandoned navigation, and settled at Cleve-
land, Ohio, where he leased and kept the Franklin
House, at that time the best hotel in the city. In
the spring of 1836 he sold his interest in the hotel,
to Benjamin Harrington, and moved to Detroit.
He remained here, however, only a few months,
and then removed to Ionia County, where he en-
gaged in merchandizing and the purchase and
sale of real estate, with considerable success. He
founded the town of Lyons, on the present
Detroit & Milwaukee Railway, and thus left a

U,.Ai^^^^(-

LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

1^19

permanent memorial of his stay in that portion of
the State.

In 1840 he returned to Detroit, and bought the
National Hotel, then standing on the present site
of the Russell House. He conducted the hotel
successfully for six years, and then sold out, and
purchased an interest in the Michigan Exchange,
and by his admirable management of this house,
for a period of nearly forty years, became well
known throughout the country. Several additions
were made to the dimensions of the hotel during
his ownership, by which its capacity was increased
three times its original size. He not only made
the hotel popular and widely known, but so ably
did he manage it, that he amassed a considerable
fortune. In 1881 he retired from active business,
and sought the repose which many years of con-
tinuous and arduous toil had justly earned, at his
residence at Grosse Isle, where for many years he
had spent the summer months. Having made
considerable investments in Florida, he built him-
self a winter home in Crescent City, where he spent
several months of each year. He loved to recall
the fact that he was an eye-witness of the great
naval battle on Lake Champlain, during the War of
181 2, heard the report of the first gun fired upon
that occasion, and, although he was but seven years
old, many of the incidents of that memorable en-
gagement were indelibly impressed upon his mind.
He acted with the Democratic party, but held no
political position, except that of Alderman from
the Fourth Ward of Detroit, in 1853 and 1854.
For over half a century he was a member of the
Protestant Episcopal Church, in which he took great
interest. He was for many years the Senior Warden
of St. Paul's Church, and a Trustee of St. Luke's
Hospital, Church Home, and Orphanage. At the
time of his retirement from the hotel business, he
was probably the oldest hotel keeper in the State,
and without doubt the best known. He was pecu-
liarly adapted by nature for his business, possessing
urbanity of manner, energy, and the tact so essential
to the highest success. He was kind-hearted and
generous, and his donations to charitable and bene-
volent objects were freely and liberally bestowed.
His integrity and business honor were beyond ques-
tion, and he enjoyed the unlimited confidence of his
business associates. He died while at his winter
home in Florida, on February 29, 1884.

CHARLES MERRILL was born in Falmouth,
Maine, January 3, 1792, and was the seventh of the
eight children of General James Merrill, who was
one of the principal citizens of Falmouth. Mr.
Merrill spent his earlier years upon his father's
farm, and obtained a good English education by
attending the common school during the winter.

When he became of age he went to the city of
Portland, which was only six miles from his home,
and in partnership with his brother and a Mr. Scott
engaged in mercantile business, under the firm name
of S. & C. Merrill & Company. The venture
proved unsuccessful, and heavy debts were incurred.
The firm being dissolved, Mr. Charles Merrill re-
moved to Virginia, where he took a sub-contract
on a railroad leading from Petersburg, which was
then in progress of construction. In this new field
he was successful, and made money enough to
discharge the obligations he had incurred m the
business at Portland. Returning there, he took a
contract for building a military road from Lincoln
to Holton, in Maine. The building of this road,
and the acquaintance it gave him with lands and
localities, caused him to become a large investor in
lands, and from 1835 to 1840 he formed one of a
company that invested and speculated largely in
real estate in various parts of Maine. They subse-
quently pushed their enterprises to Michigan, and in
1836, he, with ex-Governor Coburn, made large
investments in this then new field. Their purchases
were located on the Black River, in St. Clair County.
When the panic of 1837 came, his Maine partners
proposed to withdraw from the joint ownership of
lands in that State, on condition that he would
assume and pay all the indebtedness upon them.
Mr. Merrill accepted and fulfilled these conditions,
and became sole owner of large tracts of land in
that State. In order to facilitate his care of these
lands, he removed in the same year from Portland
to Lincoln, and for eleven years was engaged in
lumbering. By this time the lumbering interests
of Michigan began to attract increasing attention,
and in 1848 he removed to Detroit, in order to
begin the lumbering of the lands he had entered in
1836. He also, in subsequent years, entered ex-
tensive tracts of pine lands in various parts of the
State, and very soon became, and remained, one of
the largest operators in pine lands and lumber
that the State has known. He built saw mills in
Saginaw and Muskegon, and at Falmouth, in Mis-
saukee County. In 1863 Thomas W. Palmer
became a partner with him in business. In 1858
he built the Merrill Block, on the corner of Wood-
ward and Jefferson Avenues, and at the time it was
considered the finest business building in the city.

Mr. Merrill was a man of great physical endur-
ance, of indomitable energy, and careful and
methodical in all his habits. He was an ardent
advocate of temperance, and was always ready to
give his countenance and support to temperance
movements.

In political affairs he was a Whig until the
organization of the Republican party, and there-
after acknowledged allegiance to that party.

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LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

His retiring disposition kept him from political
prominence, but he was always a zealous Republi-
can. Although very successful in business, his
success did not make him grasping or narrow-
minded. To share his ventures with others was an
early and never neglected impulse, and he frequently
furnished capital for his associates. He was helpful
and thoughtful of those who were in distress of any
kind, and persons in trouble could always success-
fully appeal to his sympathy. In his religious
feelings he was broadly generous, liberal in his
estimate of others, and expected the same treat-
ment.

He was a prominent supporter of the Unitarian
Church, being one of the founders of the Society,
contributing largely to the erection of its first
building, and was a trustee of the church from its
inception until his death.

He married Frances Pitts, daughter of Major
Thomas Pitts of Charlestown, Massachusetts, in
December, 1836. His only child, Lizzie Merrill,
became the wife of Thomas W. Palmer, and now
lives in Detroit. Mr. Merrill died December 28,
1872.

FRANKLIN MOORE, one of the earlier mer-
chants of Detroit, and up to the time of his death
one of the best known and most highly esteemed
citizens, was of New England ancestry, of the old
Puritan stock, whose patriotism in the colonial and
revolutionary times are among the household tradi-
tions of their children and grandchildren. John
Moore, a great-uncle of Franklin, was a Captain,
and commanded a company at the battle of Bunker
Hill, and other of his relatives did service in the
Continental Army.

Franklin Moore's father, Joseph Moore, was an
early resident of Manchester, New Hampshire, and
an extensive lumberman on the Merrimac River, at
the time that region largely supplied the lumber mar-
kets of New England. His son, Franklin, was born
in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 1802, was edu-
cated at the common schools, and shortly after
attaining his majority entered into mercantile busi-
ness, continuing therein until 1832. Meantime, in
1828, he was elected to the New Hampshire Legis-
lature, on the Whig ticket, and served one term, being
the youngest member but one in that body. Lie was
an earnest and active member of the Whig party,
but was among the first to join the Republican
party when it was organized. Aside, however,
from serving in the Legislature, he held no political
office.

During 1832 he came to Michigan, on a pros-
pecting tour, full of youthful enterprise, and ready,
if opportunity offered, to engage in business. After
looking around, he decided to locate in Detroit,

and, accordingly, in 1833, in company with his
brother-in-law, the late Zachariah Chandler, as a
partner, he entered into the dry goods business,
under the firm name of Moore & Chandler. Both
of the partners were destined to play a conspicuous
part, but in different directions : the one for over forty
years was a leading merchant and manufacturer ;
the other, after gaining wealth and distinction in
the same line, acquired a national reputation as a
politician and statesman. Each found his appro-
priate sphere of action, and performed its duties
with exceptional ability and credit.

In 1835 Mr. Moore engaged in the grocery busi-
ness, and carried it on alone until 1837, when his
store and stock were destroyed by fire. The same
year he started a new store, with the late Francis
Palms as his principal clerk. After a few years'
service Mr. Palms became his partner, under the
style of F. Moore & Company, the firm continuing
until 1846, and doing a large and ever-increasing
business. It was succeeded by the wholesale and
retail grocery house of Moore & Foote, George
Foote being the junior partner. In 1859, on the
admission of George F. Bagley, a brother of ex-
Governor John J. Bagley, the name of the firm was
changed to Moore, Foote & Company, and for
many years they did the largest business of any
grocery firm in the State, their sales aggregating
millions of dollars annually.

In 1863 M^- Moore formed a partnership with
his brother, Stephen Moore, the firm being F. & S.
Moore, and they built a large saw-mill at the foot
of Eighteenth Street, and turned their attention to
the manufacture and sale of lumber, purchasing
large tracts of pine land in Michigan, and operat-
ing mills at Detroit and Bay City. In 1867 Frank-
lin Moore organized another firm, of which he was
also the senior partner, under the style of Moore,
Alger & Company, ex-Governor Russell A. Alger
and Stephen Moore being the partners. In 1869
the firm of Moore & Alger was organized, consist-
ing of Franklin Moore and R. A. Alger, and Mr.
Moore continued as the senior partner in the firm
until his death, on January 17, 1877.

He was not only a large-minded and successful
business man, but active in many kinds of public
and benevolent work. He was one of the original
members of the first Board of Trade, a director in
the Michigan State Bank and in the American
National Bank. He was also a member of the
Board of Trustees of Olivet College, and took a
deep interest in that institution, and contributed
largely to its support. He helped to organize, and
was a leading member of the Fort Street Presby-
terian Church, and was a constant and liberal
contributor to its support. In his will he bequeathed
$ro,ooo to the Boards of Home and Foreign Mis-

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1221

sions of the Presbyterian Church of the United
States.

He was unswerving in his integrity, of strong
convictions, and ahvays did what he beheved to be
just and right, irrespective of popular opinion.
While positive in character, he was far from stern ;
on the contrary, he was peculiarly genial and kind in
his intercourse with others, and in his home, patient,
gentle, and indulgent. He is remembered by many
with warm feelings of respect, and even affection,
because of his many amiable traits, and of his per-
sonal worth as a man, a citizen, and a friend.

He was three times married. He left by his sec-
ond marriage a daughter, Mattie E., wife of Henry
Van Ellemeet, of St. Paul, Minnesota, and by the
third a son, Franklin A, Moore.

STEPHEN MOORE was born at Manchester,
New Hampshire, August 31, 18 12. His father,
Joseph Moore, who was of Puritan ancestry, had
the same birthplace as his son, and was born in
April, 1770. He was a farmer and lumber dealer,
a prominent and wealthy citizen, and well known
throughout his native State. At his death in 1840,
he left the largest estate that had been adminis-
tered upon in the Probate Court for the County of
Hillsboro, up to that date. The mother of Stephen
Moore, Elizabeth (Kennedy) Moore, was of Scotch-
Irish descent, and was born at Gostown, New
Hampshire, in 1774, and died at Manchester in
1816.

Stephen Moore was one of a family of eight sons
and three daughters. He served as one of the
administrators of his father's estate, and after the
estate was settled, in the spring of 1843. removed
to Michigan, locating on the St. Clair River, two
miles above the village of St. Clair. Franklin
Moore, of Moore, Foote & Company, of Detroit,
was a brother. Another brother, Reuben Moore,
the father of Charles F. and Frank Moore, now of
St. Clair, located at St. Clair in 1837, and soon after
Stephen arrived, the two brothers entered into
partnership, for the purpose of manufacturing
leather. This partnership was dissolved in 1850,
and Stephen Moore commenced the purchase of
pine lands and the manufacture of lumber, remain-
ing at St. Clair until 1863, when he came to Detroit,
and formed a partnership with his brother Franklin,
under the fiirm name of F. & S. Moore. They
built a saw-mill at the foot of Eighteenth Street,
and continued there until the death of Franklin
Moore, on January 17, 1877. Meantime, in 1867,
the brothers had also entered into partnership with
Russell A. Alger, under the firm name of Moore,
Alger & Company, the firm continuing until 1870.

In 1871 Stephen Moore formed a partnership
with Charles Tanner, his former foreman at the

Detroit mills, for the purpose of building a saw mill
at Oscoda, Michigan, on the Au Sable River, and
under the name of Moore & Tanner the business is
still continued. In 1880 the corporation of Moore,
Whipple & Company (now the Moore Lumber
Company) was formed, and Mr. Moore was made
President of the company, which position he still
retains.

Mr. Moore is a kind-hearted and generous man,
and, at the advanced age of seventy-five, is remark-
ably well preserved. He is unusually well informed
on all public questions, has clear business foresight,
and has been very successful in his extensive busi-
ness enterprises. He is the owner of two large
farms in the vicinity of Detroit, and of one near
Ypsilanti, and greatly enjoys their development.
Although advanced in years, and possessed of a
comfortable fortune, he delights in giving personal
attention to the interests of concerns with which he
is connected, and his name is a guarantee of the
stability and permanence of the interests he has so
long managed. He is a staunch Republican, but
has never been an office-seeker or an office-holder.

He was married to Elizabeth Huse, of Manchester,
New Hampshire, in January, 1836. His family
consists of his wife, two sons, Lucian S. and George
H., and a daughter, Josephine, all of whom live in
Detroit.

JOHN BURRITT MULLIKEN was born at
Campbelltown, Steuben County, New York, May
30, 1837, and is the son of Henry and Ermina
(Burritt) Mulliken. He is of Scotch ancestry, and
his paternal forefathers came to America prior to
the Revolution, settling near Worcester, Massa-
chusetts. His grandfather Campbell was a chap-
lain in the colonial forces under General Gates, at
Saratoga. His mother's ancestors settled in Con-
necticut at an early date, and their descendants are
still numerous in that State. Henry Mulliken, a
farmer by occupation, removed to Michigan with
his family in 1838, and settled at Battle Creek,
w^here he remained but a short time, and then
went to Rockford, Illinois, remaining in the latter
State most of the time until 1874, when after short
residences at Winona, Minnesota, and Escanaba,
Michigan, he settled at Lansing, Michigan, w^here
he and his wife died only a few months since at the
advanced age of seventy-nine and eighty years
respectively.

J. B. Mulliken passed his boyhood upon a farm
about thirty-five miles south of Chicago. At the
age of fifteen he left home and went to Maumee
City, Ohio, where for two years he served as a
clerk in a drug store. He then went to Urbana,
Illinois, and after a short period of clerkship in a
drug store and post-office, he entered the employ of

1222

LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

the Post-office Department as a sub-mail agent on
the Illinois Central Railroad, and after a brief service
in this capacity, he was appointed station agent of
the said company at Mattoon, Illinois, where he re-
mained two years. He then entered the local freight
office of the road at Chicago, and after a year's
clerkship entered the employ of the Galena, Chi-
cago & Union Railroad, as a clerk in the freight
office at Chicago, remaining until August, 1858,
when he was appointed agent at Rockford, Illinois,
in which capacity he remained at that point, and
at Belvidere and Sterling, in the same State, until
May, 1874. He was then made general agent and
given charge of the traffic of the Winona & St.
Peters Railroad, and a few months later was ap-
pointed superintendent of the Peninsular Division
of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, with
headquarters at Escanaba, Michigan, but within
six months came to Detroit, having received the
appointment of general superintendent of the De-
troit, Lansing & Lake Michigan Railroad. With
this last road and its successor, the Detroit, Lansing
& Northern Railroad, he has since been connected,
and for several years in the capacity of general
manager. He is also Vice-President and general
manager of the Chicago & West Michigan, and
President of the Saginaw Valley and St. Louis
Railroads, his general supervision extending over
about eight hundred miles of road, a work the suc-
cessful management of which requires a high order
of executive ability, rare judgment, constant and
unremitting labor, and a special training and infor-
mation acquired only by years of close application
and familiarity with innumerable details.

Mr. Mulliken's reputation as a railroad manager
has been earned by his faithful performance of
every trust committed to him, and he has justly won
approval and promotion. His experience and
abilities have made him an important factor in the
great transportation system of the country, a
knowledge of which has risen to the dignity of a
practical science, because of the complex financial
problems involved. His life has been given to hard
labor, and all that he has gained or become, has
been the result of his own efforts. He possesses
indomitable will and energy, with faith in his own
ability, and a persistent, persevering spirit, which
he infuses into those over whom he is placed.
He is strong and loyal in his friendships and
tenacious in his beliefs. Since his residence in De-
troit, his business connections have brought him
into intimate relationship with its leading busi-
ness men, whose confidence and esteem he has
thoroughly gained. He is a prominent member of
the Masonic fraternity and of various social organi-
zations.

He was married in 1858 to Emma A. Batcheldor.

They have had seven children, five of whom are
living, two sons and three daughters.

JOSEPH NICHOLSON, son of Thomas and
Jane (Small) Nicholson, was born near Kilkell,
Down County, Ireland, September 25, 1826, and is
of Irish parentage. He is a descendant of Donald
McNicol, who, in the reigns of Charles I. and
II., was chief of the clan in the Isle of Skye. His
son, Neil, with many members of the Nicholson
family, migrated to America at the end of the six-
teenth and beginning of the seventeenth century.
The spelling of the family name has undergone
many changes, which, with the family pedigree,
are carefully noted in " O'Hart's Irish Pedigrees."
Thomas Nicholson was a prosperous farmer in
Ireland, an officer in the Government militia, and a
man of standing and influence in his native town.
He, with his family, came to America in 1850, and
settled on a farm in Illinois, where he died in 1855.
His wife came of a family conspicuous for bravery
in the earlier patriotic wars of Ireland. Her father,
Robert Small, participated in the Irish Revolution
of 1798, and at its close was sentenced to be shot,
but was subsequently pardoned.

The birthplace of Joseph Nicholson is one of the
most picturesque localities in Ireland. His boyhood
days were passed amid rugged scenery and by a
seawashed coast, and these early surroundings
naturally inspired a love for life on the wave, and
doubtless had much to do with determining the
occupation of many of his manhood years. His
school privileges were limited, and at the age of
nineteen, reverses of fortune in his father's family
made it necessary for him to begin life's battles
for himself. The unsettled condition of affairs in
his native land offered but little inducement for
advancement, while the possibilities in the New
World, to his hopeful vision, had every attraction.
Accordingly, in 1845, he came to America, and
first landed in (2Liebec, Canada, and having gained
some knowledge of navigation at home, he natur-
ally sought and obtained employment on the lakes,
and for five years served as a sailor. He then, for
a few years, was wheelman on the steamer Detroit,
and other vessels of the Ward Line, plying between
Chicago and the then western terminus of the
Michigan Central Railroad. In 1855 he became
master of the passenger steamer Arctic, then sail-
ing on Lake Michigan, between Chicago and
northern joorts. The following year he served as
master of the steamer Planet, at that time the
largest passenger steamer on the lakes, and plying
between Cleveland and Lake Superior ports. For
the three years following 1857, he was master of a
steam propeller owned by the Ward Line, and in
1 86 1 again commanded the Planet. In 1862 he

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LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

1223

was one of the builders and became part owner of
the steam tug John Prindeville, of which he was
master until 1865, when he withdrew from lake
navigation. As a result of his long period of con-
tinuous service upon the lakes, he became one of
the best-known vessel commanders, and was
regarded as a most efficient, thorough, and trust-
worthy sailor. This reputation was gained when
to be a master of a vessel meant vastly more than
at the present day. Then the authority of the com-
mander was unquestioned ; to him was entrusted
the charge of every detail, and all responsibility was
left to his good judgment. Under the watchful care
of Captain Nicholson, no accident to life or property
ever occurred. While first mate of the steamer
E. K. Collins, in 1854, a gold watch was presented
to him by the citizens of Chicago, for his heroic
efforts in rescuing the crew of the schooner Mer-
chant, while in distress off the port of Chicago.

In 1866 the Detroit Fire and Marine Insurance
Company appointed him Marine Inspector, and he
held the position for over eleven years, to the entire
satisfaction of the company. Often called upon to
decide contested insurance cases, his decisions were
so manifestly fair that they were never questioned.

During late years, Captain Nicholson has become
best known to the citizens of Detroit and State of
Michigan as Superintendent of the Detroit House
of Correction, a position to which he was first
appointed in 1877, by Mayor Langdon, and has
since held under appointment by the Board of
Inspectors. In the management of this institution
he has gained a wide reputation as one of the ablest
prison superintendents in the country. Although
without previous experience in the line of duties
required of him, he soon mastered the requirements
of his position, and at the end of the first year's
service, the financial standing of the House of
Correction was changed from a non-supporting
institution to one affording an annual profit to the
city, a result attained without overtaxing the work-
ing capacity of the inmates or the practice of false
economy in management. During his occupancy
of the office, the changes made under his persona]
direction, in the erection of new buildings, and
in improvement of former structures, have been
numerous. He has paid particular attention to the
sanitary condition of the buildings, and the Detroit
House of Correction is often cited among prison
managers as a model of perfection in this regard.

As a disciplinarian, he has developed rare ability
and tact. Although the institution contains an
average of nearly five hundred inmates, many of
them'of the most vicious and depraved character,
there is no insubordination, and the best of disci-
pline is maintained without resort to punishments
which partake of cruelty. The employment of

the inmates, the disposal of manufactured products,
and the purchase of raw material, so as to secure
the best financial results, are duties Captain Nichol-
son has met and solved with excellent business
judgment, and it is evident that he discharges every
obligation of his public office with the same care
he would exercise in his own private business. He
has prepared and read several valuable papers
on subjects connected with prison management,
and his care and conscientiousness have resulted in
placing the Detroit House of Correction in the front
rank of reformatory institutions.

Captain Nicholson has always been a zealous and
active member of the Democratic party. From
1875 to 1878 he represented the Ninth Ward in
the School Board. In 1877 he was the Democratic
candidate for Sheriff, but was defeated by a com-
bination between the Republican and Greenback
parties. Although the office he holds is a political
one, politics have been so divorced from its man-
agement that it may be said to be non-partisan.

Captain Nicholson was married in Dublin, Ire-
land, in i860, to Henrietta Nicholson. She died
in 1865, leaving three children, of whom two are
now living. In 1868 he married Elizabeth A.
Gillman. They have had three children, none of
whom are living.

For the land of his birth Captain Nicholson
cherishes a most sincere affection, and is in hearty
sympathy with the efforts of the conservative lead-
ers of Ireland to mitigate the condition of the
people of that unhappy land. He takes great
interest in boating and yachting, and is a member
and director of the Michigan Yacht Club. He is
also a member of the Oriental Lodge of Masons, of
Peninsular Chapter, the Detroit Commandery of
Knights Templar, and of all Masonic bodies to the
thirty-third degree. He also belongs to the Grosse
Pointe Club, and is an honorary member of nearly
all the military organizations of Detroit.

Personally he is of a genial, pleasant disposition,
and is careful, considerate, and watchful in the
administration of the important trusts reposed in
his hands. While exacting in his demands upon
his subordinates, he is not overbearing or arrogant.
Long experience in the management of men, and
in later years of criminal classes, has only increased
his natural kindness of heart. His sympathies are
easily aroused, and many an unfortunate prisoner
has found in him a sincere and helpful friend. In
the institution over which he has so long presided,
the work of reformation has been a leading feature.
The best estimate of a man's powers and qualities
can be found in the work he has done, and in the
repute in which he is held by those who know him
best. Judged by these standards, Captain Nicholson
holds an honorable position, and is recognized

1224

LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

as a most estimable and worthy citizen in the
community and State, and few men are more gen-
erally known.

CHARLES NOBLE was born at Williamstow^n
July 4, 1797. He was the son of Deodatus and
Betsey (Bulkley) Noble, of Williamstown, Berkshire
County, Massachusetts, and grandson of David
Noble, who was a judge of the Court of Common
Pleas of that county, and one of the early promoters
of Williams College.

Charles Noble received his early education at
Williamstown, entered Williams College in 181 1,
and graduated in 181 5. He then studied law and
w^as admitted to practice at Pittsfield, but almost
immediately removed to the West, and in 181 8
located at Monroe, Michigan, and entered zealously
upon the practice of his profession. At various
times he held the office of postmaster, was a mem-
ber of the Legislative Council of the Territory of
Michigan, a Justice of the Peace, Register of Pro-
bate, Secretary of the Board of Commissioners
which negotiated the Indian Treaty at St. Joseph's,
Attorney-General of the United States for Michi-
gan Territory, Presiding Judge of the County Court,
and also held other minor offices. From 1851 to
1853 he was Surveyor-General of the United States
for the District, composed of Ohio, Indiana, and
Michigan, having been appointed to the office by
President Fillmore, and continuing in it during his
administration. He was a trustee of the Young
Ladies' Seminary, and also one of the School In-
spectors of Monroe. In the latter capacity he was
active in the building up of the very successful
Union School, on Washington Street. He w^asone
of the parties who purchased the old Erie & Kala-
mazoo Railroad from the State, and formed the
company known as the Michigan Southern Rail-
road, and served as its first president.

While in Monroe he attended and was a member
of the Presbyterian Church, and during many of
the latter years he spent there, was one of the
elders. Upon his removal to Detroit he was made
an elder of the First Presbyterian Church, and
held the office at the time of his death. He was
for many years President of the Monroe County
Bible Society, and after his removal to Detroit was
made President of the Wayne County Bible Society.
He removed to Detroit in 1867. and became a
member of the firm of Geo. S. Frost & Company,
dealers in pine lands. The firm was composed of
himself, his son-in-law, Geo. S. Frost, and his son,
Charles W. Noble.

Mr. Noble was married at Detroit in 1823, to
Eliza Symmes Wing, daughter of Enoch Wing, and
sister of Austin E. Wing and Warner Wing, well-
known citizens of Michigan, and of Rev, Conway P.

Wing, D. D., of Pennsylvania, a highly esteemed
minister. With the exception of Rev. Mason Noble,
D. D., of Washington, D. C, all of Mr. Noble's
brothers followed him to Michigan, David A.,
Daniel, and William Addison Noble, all finding
homes in the State. His sister was the wife of
Dr. George Landon. of Monroe, and well known
and much respected.

Mr. Noble was a man of fine personal appear-
ance, courteous manners, and a great reader. He
was the friend of all institutions of learning and of
everything that tended in his opinion to advance
civilization or religion. He made strong friend-
ships, was benevolent and generous, fond of society,
and ready to do good to all as he had opportunity.
The citizens of Monroe, where he lived so long, were
all his friends, and though, owing to advancing age,
his life in Detroit was not so much in public as it
had been in Monroe, those who came within the
circle of his acquaintance universally recognized
his worth.

Mr. Noble was a Whig up to the time of the dis-
solution of that party. After that he had generally
a preference for the Republican party, though
sometimes casting his vote with the Democracy.

He died on December 25, 1874. His wife sur-
vived him eleven years. They had seven children,
three of whom died in infancy. His daughter
Elizabeth married Rev. Hannibal L. Stanley, and
died in 1849. The children who survive Mr. Noble
are : Charles W. Noble of Detroit ; Ellen N.
P>ost, wife of George S. Frost of Detroit, and
Conway W. Noble of Cleveland, Ohio.

CHARLES WING NOBLE was born in Mon-
roe, Michigan, February 13, 1828, and is a son of
Charles and Eliza S. (Wing) Noble, His great-
grandfather, David Noble, was at the time of his
death. Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of
Berkshire County, Massachusetts. His grand-
father, Deodatus Noble, removed from Williams-
town to Monroe in 1832.

Charles Wing Noble was brought up at Monroe,
where he prepared for college, and in 1843 entered
the University of Michigan, and graduated in 1846.
After graduating he taught school for a short time,
served as clerk in the banking office of N. R. Has-
kell & Company, at Monroe, for a brief period, and
then began the study of the law in the office of
Noble & Grosvenor. In 1848 he went to Cleve-
land, and after studying law one year in the office
of Hitchcock, Wilson & Wade, he was, in 1849,
admitted to the bar, and immediately formed a law
partnership with Halbert E. Payne, subsequently a
general in the Union army, then a member of Con-
gress from Milwaukee, and now practising law at
Washington, D. C. The partnership continued

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LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

1225

about one year, when Mr. Noble became a member
of the law firm of Bishop, Backus & Noble. In
1855 Judge Bishop retired, and Judge Ranney be-
came a member of the firm, the style being Ranney,
Backus & Noble, and so continuing until 1 864, when
Judge Ranney entered upon his duties as Judge of
the Supreme Court of Ohio. The firm was then
changed to Backus & Noble, and so remained until
1865, when Mr. Noble, having engaged in certain
oil ventures in Western Pennsylvania, dissolved his
connection with Mr. Backus, and formed a part-
nership for a short time with his brother, Conway
W. Noble, now Judge of the Common Pleas at
Cleveland. In 1865, in connection with Van Syckel
& Olhen, he originated the first successful oil pipe
line in the United States, extending from Pithole
to Miller's Farm, in Pennsylvania, It is now owned
by the Standard Oil Company.

In March, 1866, he went to Savannah, Georgia,
with the design of remaining for the benefit of his
wife's health, but after a few months he returned
north, went to New York, was admitted to the bar
in that city, and practised until 1867. He then
came to Detroit and formed a partnership with
George S. Frost and Charles Noble, for the pur-
pose of buying and selling pine lands on commis-
sion.

Mr. Noble has given his close attention to the
business since it was organized, and the firm has
been quite successful. He is clear-headed, with
more than ordinary capacity, exact, and methodical,
positive in his opinions, but withal socially very
courteous and agreeable. He has traveled quite
extensively in his own country, and in 1870, with
his wife, visited the Old World. He is a member
of the First Presbyterian Church, is liberal in his
benefactions to worthy objects, and as a business
man and citizen is held in high esteem.

He has been three times married. First to Julia
F. Mygatt, daughter of George Mygatt, of Cleve-
land, by whom he had one daughter, who died at
Mrs. Willard's school, at Troy, New York, in 1867.
Her mother died at Cleveland in 1852. His second
wife was Caroline G. Van Buren, daughter of E.
Van Buren, of Penn Yan, New York, afterwards
Recorder at Chicago. She died in 1867, and in
1870 he married Frances Martine, daughter of
Stephen A. Martine, of New York. They have
three daughters, Frances, Eliza Wing, and Sarah
Agnes. One son, Stephen Martine, died in 1883.

CHARLES L. ORTMANN was born at Vienna,
Austria, September 12, 1830. His ancestors lived
in the mountain town of Friesach, in the Province
of Carinthia, and were prominent bee keepers.
His grandfather moved in the eighteenth century
to the town of Petersdorf, Austria, and in 1831 his

father was engaged in manufacturing in a small
village near the city of Vienna. His mother died
when he was seven years old. He received his
early education in the village school, and when
twelve years old was apprenticed to the mercantile
business, with an uncle living in Vienna, and from
that time earned his own living.

After the great revolution of 1848, he engaged
as a provincial traveler in the produce and wood
business, until 1856, when he married his first wife,
Marie Elizabeth Bock, whose parents died a short
time previously. In i860 he engaged with other
parties in manufacturing, but in 1862 sold out and
went back into mercantile business. The same
year he visited England, and the magnitude and
manner of business and life in England impressed
him so favorably that he concluded to emigrate.
In 1864 he again visited England, and formed the
acquaintance of a Mr. Shoemaker, of Baltimore,
Maryland, who was then on his way to Germany,
to visit his aged mother. Mr. Shoemaker urged
him to emigrate to America, and in the summer of
that year Mr. Ortmann came to Detroit, and after
an extensive trip through the Western States, and
Canadian pineries of Georgian Bay, settled at East
Saginaw, Michigan, and engaged in the logging
and lumbering business. In 1866 he became a
citizen of the United States. He joined the Ger-
mania Society, and was elected Vice-President.
He also became and still remains a member of the
Workingmen's Aid Society. In the spring of 1871
he was elected the delegate of the German Ameri-
can citizens of the Saginaw Valley to a great
convention, held at Chicago, Illinois, for the purpose
of collecting funds in aid of the widows and orphans
of the fallen heroes of the Franco-German War,
and as a result of the convention, over a million
dollars was collected and forwarded from America
for their benefit.

He helped in organizing the East Saginaw Sav-
ings Bank, of which institution Dr. Henry C. Potter
was elected President, and Mr. Ortmann Vice-
President, the latter holding the position until he
removed to Detroit. In 1872 he became a Chapter
Mason, and during the year was elected Mayor of
East Saginaw, on the Republican ticket, and the
same year the Republican State Convention chose
him as Presidential elector of the Eighth District of
Michigan, and at the National election he ran six
thousand votes ahead of his party on the State
ticket.

In 1877 he lost his eldest son, Charles, and on
account of the shattered health of his wife, he
removed to Detroit. In 1879, on account of poor
health, he retired from business, but after a year's
rest again engaged in active life.

In November, 1882, his wife died, leaving him

1226

LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

with a family of two sons and two daughters. In
the spring of 1884 he married Marie A. Sohns, of
Saginaw City, eldest daughter of Count Emick
Sohns, Wieldenfels. They have one son.

In the spring of 1887 he was elected a director
in the International Sulphite Fibre and Paper Com-
pany, of Detroit, Michigan. It has a capital of
one million dollars, and owns and controls the
exclusive right to manufacture bi-sulphite fibre
(cellulose wood fibre), under the patents of Prof.
A. Mitscherlich, of Freiburg, Germany, for the
United States and Canada. At the same time he,
with some of his friends, organized the Detroit
Sulphite Fibre Company, under the above mentioned
patents, and is president of the company, which
has erected a large establishment at Delray, on the
River Rouge, five miles south of Detroit.

Mr. Ortmann is kind-hearted, and often favors
others to his own detriment. He is an honest,
upright, and shrewd business man, and in pros-
perity or adversity, is always a pleasant and agree-
able acquaintance and friend.

SAMUEL PITTS was born April 17, 18 10, at
Fort Preble, Portland Harbor, Maine. The family
descent in America is from John Pitts, who was
born in Lyme Regis, England, in 1668, came to
Boston in 1694, and became a prominent merchant
in that city. He married Elizabeth Lindall, of Dux-
bury. James Pitts, the second son of John Pitts,
was born in Boston in 17 12, graduated at Harvard
College in 1731, and in 1732 married Elizabeth
Bowdoin, daughter of the Councilor James Bow-
doin, and was himself a member of the King's
Council from 1766 to 1775. He and his wife and
their six sons took leading parts in the Revolution.
Their house was a rendezvous for the Adamses
and other patriots. His eldest son, John, born at
Boston in 1738, was a selectman of Boston from
1773 to 1778, Representative from Boston in the
second, third, and fourth Provincial Congresses,
and Speaker of the House in 1778. Another son,
Lendall Pitts, who was born in Boston in 1747, and
died 1787, was the principal leader of the Boston
Tea Party, December 16, 1773. Samuel Pitts,
another son of James, who was born in Boston
in 1745' ai^d died 1805, was an extensive merchant
and ship-owner in the West India trade. He mar-
ried Joanna Davis in 1776, and with his father and
brother acquired fame as a patriot in the Revolu-
tion. He was an officer in the Hancock Cadets.
In 1774 he was one of the committee to carry into
execution the resolutions of the Continental Con-
gress. Thomas Pitts, son of Samuel and Joanna
(Davis) Pitts, and father of Samuel Pitts, of Detroit,
was born in Boston in 1779, and died at Cambridge
in 1836. He commenced his life as a merchant in

Augusta, Maine, but entered the army, was com-
missioned by President Jefferson as an officer in
the United States Light Artillery in 1808, and by
President Madison in 1809, serving with gallantry
during the War of 181 2. He spent the last years
of his life at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was In-
spector of the Boston Custom House. In 1810, at
the time of the birth of his son, Samuel, he was in
command at Fort Preble, Portland Harbor, Maine.
His son, Samuel Pitts, was fitted for college in
the Boys' Preparatory School at Cambridge, taught
by Martin Valentine, and graduated at Harvard
University in 1830, being a classmate and friend of
Charles Sumner, Thos. C. Amory, John B. Ken, E.
R. Potter, Franklin Sawyer, George W. Warren, and
Samuel T. Worcester. Among other college mates
was his kinsman. Robert C. Winthrop ; also George
S. Hillard, C. C. Emerson, George T. Bigelow,
James Freeman Clark, Oliver Wendell Holmes, J.
Lothrop Motley, George T. Curtis, and George E.
Ellis. Mr. Pitts studied law at Harvard and heard
lectures from the celebrated Justice Story. He
came to Detroit in 1831, entered the law office of
General Charles Earned, and upon the death of the
latter, became executor of his estate and succeeded
to his law business. He devoted himself to his pro-
fession, being at various times in partnership with
Franklin Sawyer, John G. Atterbury, and Jacob M.
Howard. Loss of health compelled him to aban-
don the legal profession, and he engaged in the
manufacture of lumber and in the purchase of pine
lands in the Saginaw Valley, erected mills at De-
troit, and later at Bay City, and in i860 connected,
with his lumber business at Bay City the manufac-
ture of salt. In these enterprises he accumulated
a large fortune. Charles D. Farlin was for a time
a partner with him in the lumber business. In
1867 he formed a partnership with his son, Thomas
Pitts, and his son-in-law, Thomas Cranage, Jr.,
which lasted until his death.

Mr. Pitts was originally a staunch Whig, but
became a Republican upon the organization of that
party, and steadfastly adhered to its principles. He
was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, a
liberal contributor to it and its various societies,
and to the poor and needy of all races and colors.
He was thoroughly educated, of fine personal ap-
pearance, with a musical voice, and always spoke
and wrote with great elegance and precision. He
conversed easily in French or German, was an ex-
cellent Latin scholar, and noted for his good stories
and apt illustrations.

He died on April 26, 1868. Among the eulogis-
tic notices that appeared after his death was one
by Rev. Dr. George Duffield, published in the
New York Independent on May 14, 1868, and one
by Judge Daniel Goodwin, published in the Detroit

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LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

1227

Free Press, which are worthy of notice. Dr. Duf-
field said : " He was an enlightened, consistent,
faithful follower of Christ, a useful, public-spirited,
and benevolent dispenser of his means for the bene-
fit of the suffering poor and the cause of evangeli-
cal piety. He loved to minister to the wants of the
needy, who came in his w^ay, but, averse to any-
thing like display or show of charity, he let not
his left hand know what his right hand did. Promi-
nent among those who bore his remains to their
last resting place were members and contempora-
ries of the bar, with which profession his tastes,
liberal culture, and social intercourse kept him
identified to the time of his death." Judge Good-
win said of him : " He possessed an intelligent
mind, and was a good scholar. He was a man of
high integrity and of exemplary character, was lib-
eral in support of objects of public utility, and kind
and generous to the poor, many of whom will, with
grateful recollections, shed tears over his memory."
Mr. Pitts w^as married June 24, 1836, at xNew
York City, to Sarah Merrill, daughter of Joshua
Merrill (a son of General James Merrill, of Port-
land) and of Elizabeth Bradford, daughter of
Peter Bradford, son of Gamaliel Bradford, of the
King's Council, whose father, Samuel Bradford,
was the son of Major Wm. Bradford, and the
grandson of Governor Wm. Bradford, of the May-
flower. The following children of Samuel and
Sarah (Merrill) Pitts are still living : Thomas Pitts,
residing in Detroit ; Julia Earned Pitts, wife of
Thomas Cranage, of Bay City; Frances Pitts, wife
of Henry M. Duffield ; Caroline Pitts, twin sister of
Frances, wife of Judge Henry B. Brown and
Isabella Duffield Pitts, wife of Daniel Goodwin, of
Chicago.

JOHN EDWIN POTTS was born in Vittoria,
Ontario, October 9, 1838, and is the son of Edwin S
and Martha (Bell) Potts. His father was born in
Vittoria, Ontario, in 181 1, and his mother in To-
ronto, Ontario, in 1807. He attended school near
Guelph, and at the age of fifteen entered the gen-
eral store of William Wilson, in his native town.
Four years later, in 1857, in company with William
Dawson, he established a general store at Port
Rowan. They managed it with good success until
1865 ; Mr. Potts then sold his interest in the store,
and moved to Simcoe, where he embarked in the
lumber trade, a business he has followed ever since.

Finding Michigan better territory to operate in, he
left Simcoe in 1876, and moved to Au Sable, in this
State, where he remained until 1881, when became
to Detroit. Being possessed of unusual push and
enterprise, his business has gradually grown until it
has become among the largest in the State. In 1884
Mr. Tisdale became a partner, and since then the

business has been conducted under the name of the
J. E. Potts Salt and Lumber Company. The largest
saw-mill in the world is owned by this company,
and is located at Au Sable, and they have also a
large mill at De Pere, in Wisconsin. In connection
with the mill at Au Sable, they have built and
own some fifty miles of railway, and they employ
about seven hundred men during the skidding sea-
son. In order to ship their lumber, they own and
operate two "barges, the Silana and the Cickands,
and they are also forced to charter other vessels
during most of the season.

Mr. Potts has been so engrossed in business that
he has had very little time for politics, and has made
but few acquaintances outside of this business, but'
those he has made are warm and appreciative.

He married Margaret Wilson on September 11,
1 86 1. She was born at Simcoe, Ontario, Novem-
ber 6, 1842, and is the daughter of William and
Maria (Loder) Wilson. Her father was born in
Magria, Ontario, in 1792, and her mother at
Ancaster, Ontario, in 1800. Mr. and Mrs. Potts
have had six children, four of whom, Charles E.,
Marian B., Florence L., and Effa L., are living and
at home.

HENRY PERRY PULLING was born at
Amsterdam, New York, on November 3, 1814.
His father, Abraham Pulling, was born in 1789;
married Deborah Betts, a daughter of Isaiah and
Hannah Betts, on February 3, 1814. He was a
physician, and settled in Amsterdam, New^ York,
about 1 81 2, where he practised his profession about
half a century, dying there in 1865, aged seventy-
six years. The maternal grandfather of Henry P.
Pulling, Isaiah Betts, was born in Connecticut in
1758, and was a Colonial Lieutenant in the War of
the Revolution. He married Hannah Fitch, a
granddaughter of Governor Fitch, of Connecticut,
and after the Revolution settled in Gal way, Sara-
toga County, New York, where he died on June
30, 1844. His wife, Hannah (Fitch) Betts, was
born on May 15, 1760, and died on September
30, 1848.

Henry P. Pulling is one of eight children, of
whom he and two sisters are the only survivors.
His sisters are Melissa, wife of James Stewart, and
Sarah Pulling, both of Amsterdam, New York.
His eldest sister, Maria, was the wife of John
Tweddle, of Albany, New York, an old and well
known citizen, who built and owmed " Tweddle
Hall." Mr. PuUing's boyhood was spent in Amster-
dam, where he attended the village schools. When
quite young he was sent to Johnstown Academy.
After spending two years there, he entered the
academy at Fairfield, New York, and finished the
prescribed course preparatory to entering Union

1228

LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

College. On returning home, however, his father
persuaded him to study medicine, and accordingly
he took a course of medical lectures at Fairfield,
then the Western Department of the New York
College of Physicians and Surgeons. After the
close of the term, he attended a course of surgical
lectures in the private school of Dr. Alden March,
at Albany, New York, and in 1837, at the spring
term of the Vermont Medical College, under Dr,
March, who had long filled the chair of Surgical
Lecturer in that institution, he received the degree
of M. D.

Immediately after graduating he set out for Chi-
cago, intending to make that his home. After
practising there nearly a year he returned East, and
on August 7, 1838, was married to Miss Joanna J.
Bridgman, only daughter of Dr. William Bridgman,
of Springfield, Massachusetts. After his marriage,
Mr. Pulling, with his wife, started for Chicago, but
on reaching his old home at Amsterdam, he found
an unusual amount of sickness prevailing, on ac-
count of the extensive working of the stone quarries
for the locks on the Erie Canal, and the overtasked
physicians urged him to stay and assist in taking
care of the patients. He concluded to do so, and
this circumstance so changed his purpose wath
reference to going West, that he soon after settled
in Albany and engaged in the drug trade, and by
strict attention to business, was on the way to
prosperity. He had, however, hardly got started in
business before the great fire of August 17, 1848,
destro3^ed his whole stock, and with it nearly a
quarter of the city. He was too energetic to be
discouraged by this event, and within a week had
bargained with George Russell, of State Street, for
his stock of drugs, leased his store, and again estab-
lished himself in trade. The next year he pur-
chased the property, and afterwards remodeled it,
until it was the most showy building on the street.
About 1856 he sold his stock to J. H. and A. Mc-
Clure, and soon after became a partner in a syndi-
cate formed to purchase a controlling interest in
the Peninsular Bank of Detroit, which at one time
was the most popular banking institution in Michi-
gan. The panic of 1857, which was so disastrous
to banks generally, severely crippled its resources.
The directors then sought to obtain increased capi-
tal from eastern stockholders ; the charter was
amended, and prospects favored their anticipations,
but the panic of 1860-61 soon came, and their
hopes were blasted. The stockholders became
discouraged and it was decided to close the bank.
The responsibility of closing its affairs devolved
upon Mr. Pulling, and all claims against it were
paid in full, and the stockholders received twenty
per cent, as a final dividend.
After closing up the business of the bank, Mr. Pull-

ing engaged in real estate business and building,
but has spent his time largely in improving and
working his large farm in Oakland County. He is
a man of versatile talents, extensive information,
and of upright and honorable character. In his
business, domestic, and social relations, he is held
in high esteem by all who know him. He is inter-
ested in the Spur Iron Mining Company, of Lake
Superior, and has been its president since the
organization in 1881.

He has three daughters, viz. : Ada M., wife of
Joseph Lathrop, M. D. of Detroit ; Emily B„ widow
of the late Thomas Spencer Lloyd, a well-known
musical composer and teacher of Albany, New
York ; and Marilla B., wife of Daniel Carmichael, a
prominent manufacturer at Amsterdam, New York.

DAVID RIPLEY SHAW was born in Lisle,
Broome County, New York, July i, 1822. He is of
New England descent, being a son of Truman
and Nancy (Fay) Shaw, of Rutland, Vermont. In
1836 his parents moved to Almont, Lapeer County,
Michigan, and about this time David made up his
mind that he would Hke to go to college, but as
his parents were unable to spare money for the
purpose, he determined to earn the money him-
self, and entered the general store of John W.
Dyar, at Almont, and subsequently taught in sev-
eral schools.

When he w^as twenty years old, there seemed a
specially favorable opening for a commercial life,
and, although prepared to enter college the follow-
ing spring, he gave up the idea, entered the general
store of his uncle, C. A. Shaw, and after four
years became a partner with him, under the firm
name of C. A. & D. R. Shaw. In January, 1857,
he sold out his interest in the store, and with
Samuel Rogers and J. N. Jenness, entered the
lumbering business, in which, owing to his ener-
getic endeavors, he met with good success, continu-
ing therein for sixteen years.

In 1874 he came to Detroit, and has since been
engaged in buying and selling lands, and in min-
ing interests.

Mr. Shaw is a member of the First Congrega-
tional Church, is retiring and conservative, has
never been an aspirant for any kind of office, but
has had various minor offices thrust upon him.
He is at present director of the First National
Bank of Pontiac, a position he has held for the
past twelve years, and is also a director in the
Muskegon National Bank.

He was married to Harriet Dewey, of Almont,
in November, 1849. They have had five children.
Their names are: Mrs. R. H. Holmes, James T.,
and Bessie H. Shaw, all of whom are living in
Detroit; another daughter, Mrs, George F. Com-

/ /

r ./

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LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

1229

stock, Jr., resides in Syracuse, New York, while a
fourth daughter, Mrs. Lester McLean, lives in
Elyria, Ohio.

ELLIOTT TRUAX SLOCUM was born at
Trenton, Wayne County, Michigan, May 15, 1839,
and is the only son of Giles B. and Sophia M. B.
(Truax) Slocum. His mother was a native of
Wayne County, and a daughter of Colonel Abraham
C.\Traux, who came to Michigan in 1800, and was
a volunteer in the United States army at the time
of Hull's surrender, and a prominent merchant of
Detroit as early as 1808. Mr. Slocum passed his
boyhood in the vicinity of Trenton, and was pre-
pared for college by Rev. Moses Hunter, at his
Episcopal school for boys, on Crosse Isle, finishing
his preparatory course in 1857. He afterwards
attended Union College, at Schenectady. New
York, and graduated Bachelor of Arts in the class
of 1862. His diploma w^as one of the last signed
by Dr. Eliphalet Nott, for so many years the widely
known President of that institution. Mr. Slocum
also took a course in the University of Michigan,
and received from that institution his second degree.
Master of Arts, in 1869.

From 1862 to 1872 he was extensively engaged
in farming and stock raising on lands along the
Detroit River, and, in connection with his father,
carried on one of the largest stock and grain
farms in Michigan. He subsequently enlarged his
business interests by the purchase of extensive
tracts of land in various parts of Michigan and
Wisconsin, which, through the development of cer-
tain railroads, have become valuable investments.
He is also interested in business enterprises at
Muskegon, Whitehall, Slocum's Grove, and other
parts of Western Michigan. He was one of the
first directors of the Chicago & Canada Southern
Railroad, one of the founders, directors, and Vice-
President of the First National Bank of Whitehall,
and at present is one of the directors of the Detroit
National Bank. He is also a Trustee of the Sara-
toga Monument Association of New York, and,
with Senator Warner Miller, George William
Curtis, S. S. Cox, and others, took an active interest
in the erection of one of the finest monuments in
America, on the field of Burgoyne's surrender, at
Schuylerville, New York, near the old homestead
of his father's family. He is one of the Com-
missioners and has been President of the Belle Isle
Park Commission, is now serving his second term,
and takes much interest in the development of this
promising pleasure-ground of Detroit. He has trav-
eled extensively in Europe, and is a member of the
Detroit and Grosse Pointe Clubs.

Politically he has been an earnest and active
Republican, and represented the Third Senatorial

District in the State Legislature for the term com-
mencing in 1869, and at that time was the youngest
member in the Senate. His course as a legislator
was marked by diligence and a conscientious dis-
charge of his duties, which earned the good opinion
of his constituents, and secured for him the warm
friendship of Senator Jacob M. Howard and the
late Governor John J. Bagley. The benefit of his
personal labors has always been freely given to
furthering the success of his party. He is a mem-
ber of the Michigan Club.

He was married July 2><^, 1872, to Charlotte
Gross, daughter of the late Ransom E. Wood,
an old resident and wealthy capitalist of Grand
Rapids. In the management of numerous business
interests left by his father, and in the creation and
development of new projects, Mr. Slocum has
displayed good judgment, and has been uniformly
successful. He is cautious and shrewd, while the
honesty and integrity of his public and private
life have made him a popular and respected citizen.

GILES BRYAN SLOCUM, one of the pioneers
of Wayne County, and for more than half a cen-
tury an honored and influential resident of Trenton,
was born at Saratoga Springs, New York, July ir,
1808. He was of a Quaker family, and descended
from Giles Slocum, a native of Somersetshire,
England, who resided in the township of Ports-
mouth, Newport County, Rhode Island, in 1638.
Jonathan Slocum, his great-grandfather, one of the
first of the family in America, was killed in the
Indian wars, on the site of the present city of
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. His son Giles, the
grandfather of Giles B. Slocum, was born in Rhode
Island, but about 1774 moved with his parents to
Wilkes-Barre. He was among the sufferers by the
Wyoming massacre, and w^as one of the sixty who
escaped. His sister Frances, then five years of
age, was carried off by the Indians, and after a
captivity of sixty years was found near Logansport,
Indiana, in 1837, by Colonel Ewing. A very inter-
esting account of this circumstance has been written
by Benson J. Lossing. Giles Slocum was a volun-
teer in Sullivan's expedition against the Indians in
the Genesee Valley. Soon after the close of the
War of the Revolution, he moved from Pennsylvania
to Saratoga Springs, settling on a farm about four
miles from the site of the present village of Sara-
toga. He purchased his farm of General Schuyler,
of Revolutionary fame, and the w^armest friendship
and esteem existed between them. His son,
Jeremiah Slocum, married EHzabeth Bryan, who
was of a Connecticut family. They were the parents
of Giles B. Slocum, and nature and ancestry com-
bined to give him a good mental and physical
equipment for the work he was destined to do.

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LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS. ETC.

His boyhood days were passed on a farm, about
two miles from the scene of Burgoyne's surrender.
He received the educational advantages which the
common schools afforded, and during his early
manhood taught school four winters in the neigh-
borhood of his home, and at Lockport, New York.
The summer of 1830 he spent in farming, in
Northern New York, on the Au Sable River. He
first came to Michigan in 1831, landed at Detroit,
and after prospecting extensively in the interior,
and through the woods above Black River, he
settled for the winter, and assisted in laying out
the town of Vistula, now Toledo, Ohio, where he
opened the first store, and engaged in getting out
timber for the first wharf at that place. On the
death of his father in 1832, he returned East, and
purchased the interest in his father's estate, owned
by the remaining heirs. He returned to Michigan
early in the winter of 1833, and spent the re-
mainder of it in the stave business at the head of
Swan Creek Bay, now Newport, Monroe County,
where he established a store and engaged in gen-
eral trade. In the spring of 1834, among many
other pioneer experiences, he paddled a canoe from
the city of Jackson down the Grand River to
Grand Rapids.

In the summer of 1834 he established the first
store and dock at Truaxton, now Trenton, and
continued in the mercantile business, with slight
intermission, for many years. In 1837 he sold the
family homestead at Saratoga, and from that date
began his career as a real estate operator in
Michigan. He was married in 1838, to Sophia
Brigham Truax, daughter of Colonel Abraham C.
Truax, founder of the village of Trenton. Among
his early land purchases was a frontage of about
three miles on the Detroit River, in the vicinity of
Trenton, and for fifteen or twenty years following
1837 he turned his attention, among other interests,
to farming and sheep raising, and during that
period was one of the largest wool growers in
Michigan. Each year he increased his landed
interests, and at the time of his death he had cleared
and brought under cultivation about two thousand
acres of land in the vicinity of Trenton. The
timber from these lands was largely consigned to
New York as staves, or used in shipbuilding at
Trenton. For several years he was also engaged
in building docks at Detroit, Windsor, Springwells,
Trenton, Sandwich, Gibraltar, and Grosse Isle. In
1859, with Charles Mears of Chicago, having pre-
viously purchased large tracts of land on White
River and White Lake, they laid out the village of
Whitehall, in Muskegon County. Through a con-
tract made July 7, 1848, with the County of Wayne,
for building two bridges over the River Rouge, he
became possessed of several large tracts of land

donated by the State to aid in building such bridges.
The lands were located in the eastern part of Mus-
kegon County, and by subsequent purchases were
increased, so that they included five thousand acres.
This property became exceedingly valuable by
the extension of railroad facilities. On it, at a
place now known as Slocum's Grove, he built mills,
where, in connection with his son, he conducted a
lumbering and farming business for many years.
In 1856 he took an active interest in the construc-
tion of the Detroit, Monroe & Toledo Railroad,
donating the right of way through his own property
and purchasing land from others for that purpose.
On the completion of the Toledo, Canada Southern
& Detroit, and Chicago & Canada Southern Rail-
roads, the junction of the two roads occurred on
Mr. Slocum's property, near Trenton.

He took a warm interest in the politics of the
country, and was a member of the first Republican
Convention, held in 1854, at Jackson, and was ever
after an influential supporter of the party, and
especially active in several memorable senatorial
contests. During the war with the South, he was
earnest and efficient in support of the Government,
and aided much in raising men and money, and
equipping soldiers for the field. For several years
preceding his death he was a Trustee of the Sara-
toga Monument Association, of which the late
ex-Governor Seymour was President.

Notwithstanding the many commercial changes
and business revulsions of his time, Mr. Slocum
always met his obHgations, and the fortune he
accumulated was the result of the numerous enter-
prises which he conducted with care and clear
business judgment. His honesty was never ques-
tioned, and he possessed the unbounded faith and
confidence of those with whom he did business.
None of the early pioneers of this section were
more widely known throughout the State, nor more
sincerely respected and esteemed. He had a kind
heart, and helped many men to obtain homes,
farms, and fortunes.

He died at Slocum's Island, January 26, 1884.
He had three children, two of whom, Elliott Truax
Slocum and Mrs. Elizabeth T. Nichols, are living.

JOHN DANA STANDISH was a lineal descend-
ant of Captain Miles Standish, the most striking
figure of that age of the Pilgrims which Rufus Choate
so fitly described in one of the most memorable of
his orations as The American Heroic Period. Of
the six children of the sturdy Puritan soldier,
Josiah, the third son, after passing the greater part
of an active and influential life in Eastern Massa-
chusetts, finally removed with his family to Preston,
Connecticut. His son Samuel and his grandson
Samuel remained in that State, but his great-

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LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

I23I

grandson, also Samuel, removed to Stockbridge,
Massachusetts. He served in the Patriot Army of
the Revolution, sharing in considerable border fight-
ing, and being once captured by the British, and
while a prisoner witnessing the murder of Jane
McCrea by the Indians. After peace was estab-
lished, he removed to Vermont, and subsequently
to North Granville, New York. There was born
his only child, the fourth Samuel, who became
a leading resident of Northern New York, hold-
ing, during his long life, many positions of local
prominence, including the office of Surrogate of
Washington County. The youngest of his children,
the seventh in direct descent from Captain Miles
Standish, was John Dana Standish. He was born
at North Granville, on October i, 181 7, inheriting
from his ancestry a vigorous constitution, physical
energy, and the sturdy attributes of the typical New
England character. He enjoyed the advantages of
wise home training, and of thorough study within
the limits of an academic course at one of the best
institutions of that day, presided over, at Granville,
by Dr. Salem Town. The current of emigration
to the West, which was so powerfully stimulated by
the completion of the Erie Canal, almost drained
Northern New York of its young men half a century
ago, and in 1837 Mr. Standish, not yet of age,
arrived at Detroit, in search of a new home and of
the opportunities offered in a growing State. Here
he fortunately made the acquaintance of S. V. R.
Trowbridge, a splendid representative of the pioneer
settlers of Michigan, and by his advice established
a select school at Birmingham, in Oakland County.
In this calling he spent three years of his early
manhood, and among his pupils were not a few
lads who have since risen to positions of influence.
This experience he often recalled with much
pleasure.

In 1 841 Mr. Standish began his business career
as a merchant at Pontiac, and at this time married
Emma L. Darrow, of Lyme, Connecticut. His
domestic life was an unusually happy one, his wife
proving indeed a "help-meet," and their four chil-
dren growing to manhood and womanhood by their
side, forming a family circle which death did not
break until, in 1884, both parents were buried after
forty-three years of wedlock.

The rewards of fifteen years of unremitting
industry, at Pontiac, Ionia, and Romeo, were
meagre, and finally, in 1856, a fire swept away all
of Mr. Standish's savings, and left him in debt.
He was, by this blow, compelled to compromise
with his creditors, but when prosperity came to
bim, every dollar of his obligations was paid in full.
After the fire he removed to Detroit, and at first
obtained employment as a clerk. An opportunity

soon offering, he entered the commission business,
and this venture proved exceedingly successful.
He then rapidly extended his operations in a variety
of directions, and with uniform good fortune. He
dealt largely in pork, provisions, and wool, be-
came interested in the manufacture of paints and
of lumber, invested liberally in pine lands and in
city real estate, and held stock in many Detroit
corporations. He laid out and founded the village of
Standish, in Arenac County, and built and operated
the first saw-mill in Otsego County. At differ-
ent times he held the management of the Detroit
office of the Tappan & McKillop commercial agency,
and acted as agent for Michigan of the Northwest-
ern Mutual Life Insurance Company. At the time
of his death he was President of the Market Bank
and a director of the Detroit Fire and Marine
Insurance Company. In 1872 he commenced
gradually to curtail his business, and during the
last few years of his life gave his attention to the
management of his property and to his public
duties.

While not an active partisan, Mr. Standish,
although originally a Democrat, was radically anti-
slavery in his opinions, and during the political
upheaA^al attending the Kansas-Nebraska struggle
became a Republican. In 1869 he received that
party's nomination for Mayor of Detroit, and,
although defeated, ran largely ahead of his ticket.
He was subsequently chosen a member of the
Board of Estimates, and in 1880 was appointed to
the responsible office of City Assessor. Three
years later he was made a member of the new
Board of Assessors, for the long term, and was the
first President of that body.

Mr. Standish was from his youth a member of
the Baptist Church, and was always one of the
active laymen of his denomination in this State.

He was a consistent member and a deacon of
the Romeo Church, and of the Lafayette (now
Woodward) Avenue Baptist Church, of Detroit. In
the last Society he w^as President of the Board of
Deacons, and he was also President of the Baptist
Social Union of Detroit. His loyalty to his church
was free from sectarianism, and he was liberal with-
out as well as within the channels of its action.

Mrs. Standish died in July, 1884, after a prolonged
illness, and four months later, apparently in the full
vigor of health, and in the midst of an active life,
Mr. Standish was seized with some obscure disease
of the heart, and expired instantly. He left four
children: Mary, wife of William C. Colburn, Eva,
wife of Charles K. Backus, James D. Standish, and
Fred. D. Standish. His death ended an industri-
ous, honorable, and prosperous life, crowned with
an enviable memory.

1^3^

Land dealers, lumber manufacturers, etc.

ISAAC NEWTON SWAIN, one of the earliest
pioneers in the western part of the lower peninsu-
la of Michigan, was born in Jefferson County,
New York, near Sackett's Harbor, November 20,
1807, and was the son of Richard Swain. He was
of English descent, and his ancestors were among
the earliest Quaker settlers in this country. They
came from Plymouth, in Devonshire, England, and
first settled in Salem; but in 1790, on account of
the persecution growing out of the Salem witch-
craft, they removed to Nantucket, Massachusetts,
where many of their descendants still reside,
Richard Swain was born in 1773. In early life he
engaged in mercantile and real estate business, and
in 1796 purchased a valuable tract of land on the
east shore of Lake Cayuga, in the town of Scipio,
Cayuga County, New York. After several years'
residence he found the title defective, and removed
to Jefferson County, New York. When twenty-
three years old he married Martha Seaman. The
founder of her family in America was Thomas
Seaman, who came from Rehoboth, England, in
1696, and settled in Massachusetts, twelve miles
east of Providence, on a tract which he named
Rehoboth. There one of his grandsons preached
until he was one hundred and four years old.
Three others also attained a great age. Mrs. Swain
was a woman of rare intelligence, a diligent student
of the Scriptures, and did much to inculcate the
sound principles which ever animated the actions of
her son. In 18 16 the family removed from Sack-
ett's Harbor, and settled in a dense wilderness on
the Holland Purchase, since known as Royalton, in
Niagara County, New York. Here, with his par-
ents, Isaac N. Swain passed through all the priva-
tions and hardships of early pioneer life in Western
New York. His early education was obtained in
the log school-house, and he was specially aided by
the encouragement and assistance of his mother.

In the fall of 1821, although only fourteen years
old, he assisted in the construction of the Erie
Canal, and continued in the work until cold weather
prevented further labors. At the age of sixteen he
received a teacher's certificate, and for the next,
four years taught during the winter months. He
devoted the proceeds obtained by teaching to de-
fraying his school expenses at the Middlebury
Academy, located about forty miles from his home,
walking to and from the academy when he could
be spared from work on the farm. In order to
obtain money for a collegiate education, he went
South, and taught school until his health failed.
Returning North, he made a tour of three months
through Michigan, and purchased eighty acres of
land near the present site of Jackson. In 1830 he
married Vallonia, daughter of William Smith, of
Royalton, and removed with his wife to Michigan.

The next year he purchased some government land
in what is now^ Spring Arbor, Jackson County. Here
he built a house and settled down. At this time
he was the only white settler within a radius of
many miles from his residence. Indians were
numerous and troublesome, and personal encoun-
ters with wild beasts, especially wolves, wT.re fre-
quent. He resided at Spring Arbor, enduring all
the hardships of frontier life, until 1834, when he
removed within four miles of the village of Con-
cord, where he continued his farming, and at the
same time did much in the way of surveying and
engineering. With the means thus acquired, he
embarked in the lumber business, and for a time
also conducted a saw-mill and engaged in mercan-
tile pursuits. After trying in vain to secure a canal
or a railroad in the vicinity of Concord, he removed
into the then dense forest in the Paw Paw valley,
and began clearing a farm near the present site of
Watervliet, Berrien County, supposing he had set-
tled on what would be the route of the proposed
Michigan Central road. In this he was disap-
pointed, but he continued to prosecute his business
enterprises with energy and success.

The years from 1855 to 1858 were spent in trav-
eling, in the hope of restoring his wife's health, but
it proved unavailing, and during the latter year she
died. At this time, by his labors in farming, sur-
veying, merchandising, and lumbering, he had not
only accumulated a large fortune, but had performed
an important part in developing the resources of the
State. After his wife's death, he purchased twelve
acres of land on the western bank of the Detroit
River, fronting on Fort Street. Here in 1862-3 he
erected a large and beautiful residence, where he
resided until his death.

He was a man of extensive reading, a great lover
of books, and possessed of rare literary attain-
ments. He collected a fine library, and found his
greatest comforts during the latter years of his life
in study and investigation, time for which, during
the earlier period of his life, was denied him. He
was simple in manner, kindly in disposition, firm
in his friendships, took great delight in social
intercourse, and was notably benevolent and char-
itable.

In early life he was a Democrat, but from 1864
voted with the Republican party. He was how-
ever, without political aspirations, and never held
a public office. During the Civil War he gave his
hearty support to a vigorous prosecution of the
Union cause. He always sympathized with the
temperance movement, and w^as an earnest advo-
cate of total abstinence from alcoholic liquors,
occasionally delivering public addresses upon the
subject. His personal appearance was such that
he would command attention anywhere. He was

^^^m:f^mwi^^^^'^^^^^'^^^^]

^Q^'^^^fc^^z::^^^^

LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

^^ZZ

over six feet in height, with large physical frame,
and an ideal specimen of the sturdy pioneer.

He married his second wife, Eleanor J. Champion,
of Ypsilanti. September i, 1859. He died at Detroit,
April 30, 1880.

ANSON WARING is of English descent and
of Quaker ancestry. His grandfather, Anson War-
ing, married Margaret Adams, of Massachusetts,
and settled in Saratoga County, New York, about
the year 1800. One of his children, Joseph Adams
Waring, married Susan Tompkins Jeffers. Their
son, Anson Waring, was born in Farmington,
Ontario County, New York, January 16,1832. In
1835 the family removed to the adjoining County of
Wayne, where, at the age of eighteen, with a good
English education, acquired at Lyons Academy,
Anson Waring commenced his business career as
a clerk in a dry goods store.

In 1856 he came to Michigan, remaining until
1863, when he went to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and
engaged in the wholesale iron and hardware trade,
continuing in that line for a number of years.
In the meantime, he assisted in organizing the
National Pin Company of Detroit, of which he
was chosen Secretary, and in 1875 came to Detroit,
to look after the interests of the company. He
was subsequently instrumental in organizing the
Imperial Life Insurance Company of Detroit, and
has been the Secretary of the company since its
organization.

He is well known as a careful, conservative, and
successful business man, and though naturally some-
what retiring in disposition, is not lacking in energy
or firmness. His personal character and worth are
indicated by the positions which he fills. He is a
member of the Church of Our Father, and one of
its Board of Trustees, and Treasurer of the Society.

He has always been a steadfast Republican, but
takes little active part in political affairs.

He was married in December, 1852, to Mary,
daughter of Tunis Woodruff, of Wayne County,
New York. They had two children, both of whom
are living. Their mother died. In 1858 Mr. Waring
married Eleanor Fuller, of Plymouth, Michigan.
She died, leaving two children, both of whom are
living. On February 9, 1887, he married Mary
Virginia Hard, of Detroit.

JARED C. WARNER, like many others of
the older and substantial citizens of Detroit, came
from New England. He was born in Chester,
Connecticut, December 9, 1 804, and was the son of
John and Mehitable (Clark) Warner. His father
w^as born August 4, 1772, and died in the autumn
of 1850. His mother was born July 14, 1777. and
died December i, 1826,

Mr. J. C. Warner lived in Chester until 1831,
when he came to Detroit, where he soon engaged
in the hotel business, and continued in it until 1856.
His first venture was in the old Eagle Hotel, on
Woodbridge Street, between Griswold and Shelby
Streets. In 1837 he began keeping the Franklin
House, at the southwest corner of Bates and Earned
Streets, and subsequently removed to the " Yankee
Boarding House," w4iich was on the southeast cor-
ner, the site of the present Franklin House. One of
the almost universal features of hotels at that time
was the bar, but in 1843 Mr. Warner resolved to
have none in his hotel, and his house became widely
known as the Franklin Cold Water House, and has
ever since been maintained as a temperance hotel.

After leaving the hotel business he engaged in
various real estate transactions, and by careful
investments secured a large fortune. He was a
Democrat in his political faith, and sincere and
earnest in adhering to his convictions. He served
as a member of the Board of Education from 1856
to 1 86 1, and as member of the Board of Review
from 1866 to 1872.

For nearly twenty years prior to his decease he
had lived rather a retired life, but he was always
affable and courteous, universally esteemed by those
who knew him, and among his intimates was des-
ignated as ** Uncle Warner." He was one of the
earliest members of the First Baptist Church of
Detroit, and a consistent and courageous advocate
of the Christian faith.

He was married October i, 1836, to Sarah
Finney, daughter of Thomas and Harriet (Beatley)
Finney. She was born in Delaware, New York,
May 15, 181 5. After enjoying fifty years of ex-
ceptionally happy married life, Mr. and Mrs.
Warner celebrated their golden wedding on October
I, 1886. He died within one year after, on July
18, 1887, leaving his wife and one daughter, Mrs.
H. H. James.

DEODATUS C.'WHITWOOD was born in
West Stockbridge, Berkshire County, Massachusetts,
July 17, 1813. The homestead stood upon the
State line, one half being in the State of New York
and the other in Massachusetts. The head of the
family voted in the State of New York, while the
children from the same home attended school in
Massachusetts. Before Mr. Whitwood became of
age he made two journeys to Western New York,
purchasing large numbers of cattle and driving
them East for sale.

He came to Michigan in 1836, and was interested
for a number of years in a line of stages running
between Chicago and Detroit, making his head-
quarters alternately at Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, and
Jackson. About 1840 he engaged in merchandizing,

1234

LAND DEALERS, LUMBER MANUFACTURERS, ETC.

at Dexter, Michigan, and was quite successful.
About 1848 he disposed of his interests in Dexter,
came to Detroit, and became at once identified
with the produce business, the sale of farming
implements, and also dealt in cattle. In 1853 he
was appointed agent for the Sault Ste. Marie Canal
Company, and held the position until i860.

In 1862 he was appointed Comptroller of the city
of Detroit, and is conceded to have been one of the
most careful, exact, and scrupulous men that ever
filled that important position. In politics Mr.
Whitwood was a staunch Democrat, and one of the
leaders of the party in Washtenaw and adjoining
counties. The old inhabitants of some localities
relate many amusing stories and anecdotes regard-
ing his stump speeches, and the way in which he
managed political campaigns.

In 1864 and 1865 he was engaged in constructing
the harbor at Frankfort, on Lake Michigan. His
connection with the Sault Ste. Marie Canal Com-
pany led him to become largely interested in pine
lands throughout the State. He also owned a large

fruit farm on the shore of Lake Michigan, together
with considerable real estate in Detroit. For
several years previous to his death he was con-
nected with the Wayne County Savings Bank, as
second Vice-President, assistant Secretary and
Treasurer.

Mr. Whitwood was a man of w^arm attachments,
but resented injury, deceit, and misrepresentation
with such outspoken scorn that he drove from his
presence any who attempted to impose upon him.
His quick perception, large and varied experience
in business, and his unimpeachable integrity,
together with an extensive acquaintance, made
his services of great value in any enterprise in
which he engaged.

In January, 1842, he married Caroline E. Farrand,
of Ann Arbor. She died in 1864, and in 1866 he
married Harriet Murdock, and wnthin a year he w^as
again bereaved. He died on October 7, 1884,
leaving four children, D. B. Whitwood, Mrs. A. B.
Case, Mrs. E. H. Flinn, and Mrs. H. W. Barnard,
all of Detroit.

INDEX OF NAMES.

Adams, Francis, 1208.
Alger, Russell A., 1051.
Armitage, William Smead, 1175.
. Armstrong, James A., 1208.
Atkinson, John, mo.
Backus, Absalom, 1175.
Bagley, John Judson, 1053.
Baldwin, Henry P., 1055.
Baldwin, Stephen, 1209.
Barker, Kirkland C, 1044.
Bates, Asher B., 1035.
Beardsley, Carleton Abbey, 11 76.
Berry, Thomas, 11 76.
Biddle, John, 1032.
Bishop, Levi, 11 12.
Book, James Burgess, 1078.
Brady, Hugh, 1078.
Brandon, Calvin Knox, 1177.
Brearley, William Henry, 1079.
Brush, Edmund A., 12 10.
Brush, Elijah. 103 1.
Buckley, Henry James, 1135.
Buhl, Christian H., 1043.
Buhl, Frederick, 1038.
Burns, James, 11 36.
Burt, John, 1182.
Burt, Wells, 1181.
Burt, William Austin, 1178.
Campbell, James Valentine, 1 1 1 3.
Carpenter, William N., 12 10.
Carstens, J. Henry, 1081.
Cass, Lewis, 1057.
Chamberlain, Marvin H., 1049.
Chandler, Zachariah, 1039.
Chapin, Marshall, 1033.
Clark, John Person, 121 1.
Cleland, Henry Alexander, 1082.
Cole, Darius, 121 2.
Cook, Levi, 1033.
Coyl, William Kieft, 1136.
Davis, George S., 1185.

Davis, Solomon, 1186.
Dawson, George, 1083.
DeLano, Alexander, 1187.
DePeyster, Arent Schuyler, 1084.
Dickinson, Don M., 11 14.
Dickinson, Julian G., 11 15.
Douglass, Samuel T., 11 15,
Dudley, Thomas Robert, 11 37.
Duffield, Divie Bethune, 11 16.
Duffield, Henry M., 11 18.
Duncan, William C, 1044.
Dwight, Alfred A., 121 3.
Dwyer, Jeremiah, 1187.
Edson, James Lafayette, 1 1 39.
Elliott, William H., 1138.
Elwood, S. Dow, 1058.
Farmer, John, 1085.
Farrand, Jacob S., 11 39.
Farrar, lohn, 1141.
Farrington, Benjamin F., 1143.
Ferguson, Eralsy, 12 14.
Ferry, Dexter Mason, 1143.
Field, Moses Wheelock, 121 5.
Fisher, Aaron Coddington, 1145
Fox, Jacob Beale, 1189.
Frost, George Smith, 12 17.
Fyfe, Richard Henry, 1 146.
Gale, George H., 11 89.
Gillett, Rufus W, 1148.
Glover, Henry, 1149.
Godfrey, Jeremiah, 1 1 50.
Goodfellow, Bruce, 1150.
Gray. John S, 11 90.
Griffin, Thomas F., 1190.
Grummond, Stephen Benedict,

1048.
Hall, Edmimd, 11 20.
Hall Theodore Parsons, 1151.
Hammond, George H., 1 153.
Harmon, John H , 1040.
Hart, Gilbert, 1192.

Hastings, Charles, 1086.
Heavenrich, Samuel, 1154.
Heineman, Emil Solomon, 1155.
Hodge, Samuel F., 1192.
Holbrook, DeWitt C, 1121.
Hopkins, George H., 1121.
Houghton, Douglass, 1036.
Howard, Charles, 1039.
Howard, Henry, 1035.
Howard, Jacob M., 1059
Hubel, Frederick A., 1193.
Hunt, Henry Jackson, 1032.
Hurlbut, ChaUncey, 11 56.
Hyde, Oliver Moulton, 1040.
Ingalls, Joshua S , 11 56.
Isham, Charles Storrs, 11 57.
Jenks, Edward W., 1087.
Jones, De Garmo, 1036.
Jones, J. Huff, 1218.
Joy, James F., 1059.
Kearsley, Jonathan, 1033.
Kiefer, Herman, 1089.
Ladue, John, 1039.
Langdon, George C, 1048.
Ledyard, Henry, 1041.
Ledyard, Henry Brockholst, 1062.
Lewis, Alexander, 1047.
Lillibridge, William Merrick, 1 123.
Lothrop, George Van Ness, 1 1 24.
Lyon, Edward, 12 18.
McGraw, Thomas, 1 1 59.
McGregor, James, 1194,
McMillan, Hugh, 1065.
McMillan, James, 1063.
Macauley, Richard, 11 58.
Mack, Andrew, 1035.
Macomb, Alexander, 1091.
Merrill, Charles, 12 19.
Mills, Merrill L, 1044.
Mitchell, Nicol, 1160.
Moffat, Hugh, 1046.

1236

INDEX OF NAMES.

Moore, Franklin, 1220.
Moore, George F., 1161.
Moore, Joseph Berthelet, 1 194.
Moore, Stephen, 1221.
Moore, William Austin, 11 25.
Moran, John Valine, 1162.
Morley, Frederick, 1092.
Mulliken, John Burritt. 1221.
Murphy, Michael Joseph, 1195.
Newberry, John Stoughton, 1066.
Newcomb, Cyrenius A.. 1163.
Newland, Henry A , 11 64.
Nicholson, Joseph, 1222.
Noble, Charles, 1224.
Noble, Charles Wing, 1224.
Olin, Rollin C, 1093.
Ortmann, Charles I., 1225
Owen. John, 1067.
Paige, David Osgood, 1196.
Palmer, Thomas, 11 64
Palmer, Thomas Witherell, 1069.
Palms, Francis, 1070.
Parke, Hervey Coke, 1197.
Patton. John 1043.
Peck, George, 1166.
Pingree, Hazen S., 1199.
Pitcher, Zina, 1036,
Pittman James E., 1166.
Pitts, Samuel, 1226.
Porter, Augustus S., 1035.

Porter. George F., 1126.
Potts, John Edwin, 1227.
Preston. David, 1068.
Pridgeon, John, 1050.
Pulford, John, 1094.
Pulling, Henry Perry, 1227
Quinby, William Emory, 1096.
Reid, William, 1167.
Richardson, David M., 1200.
Robinson William D , 1168.
Rogers, Fordyce Huntington,

1202.
Scripps, James E., 1096.
Shaw, David Ripley, 1228.
Sheldon, John P., 1097.
Sheley, Alanson, 1169.
Shipman, Osias W., 11 70
Sibley, Solomon, 1031.
Slocum, Elliott Truax. 1229.
Slocum Giles Bryan, 1229.
Smith, Martin S., 1072.
Spranger, Francis Xavier, 1099.
Stearns, Frederick, 1204.
Standish John Dana, 1231.
Stevens, William H., 1073.
Stewart, Morse, 1097.
Swain, Isaac Newton, 1232.
Thompson, William G., 1048.
Throop, William A., 11 00.
Toynton, Joseph, 1205,

Trowbridge, Charles Christopher,

1034
Trumbull, John, iioo.
Van Dyke, James A., 1037.
Walker, Charles I., 11 27.
Walker, Edward Carey, 1 1 29.
Walker, Henry O., iioi
Waring, Anson, 1133.
Warner, Jared C, 1233.
Watkins, Aaron Lane, 1171.
Wayne, Anthony, 1102.
Wells, William Palmer, 1130.
Wesson, William Brigham, 1074
Wetherbee, George Collidge,

1172.
Wetmore, Frederick, 1172.
Wheaton, William W,, 1045,
White, Plenry Kirke, 11 74
Whiting, John Hill, 1206.
Whitwood, Deodatus C, 1233.
Wilcox, Orlando B , 1 105.
Wilkinson, Albert Hamilton, 1131.
Williams, John R., 103 1.
Willis, Richard Storrs, 1104.
Witherell, Benjamin F. Hawkins,

II33-
Witherell, James, 11 32.
Woodbridge William, 1076.
Wyman, Hal C, 1106.
Yemans, Charles Chester, 1107.

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Full text of "The history of Detroit and Michigan; or, The metropolis illustrated; a full record of territorial days in Michigan, and the annals of Wayne County"

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