USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115
Gc 977.402 D48bu v.3 11802 94
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 00828 4496
1
The City of Detroit Michigan 1701-1922
PONTIAC.
VOLUME III
DETROIT-CHICAGO THE S. J. CLARKE PUBLISHING COMPANY 1922
1180294
det - BX. Co_15.00 (1)
JAMES F. JOY
BIOGRAPHICAL
JAMES F. JOY. That "mau lives not to himself alone" is an assurance which is amply verified in all the affairs of life, but its pertinence is most patent in those instances where persons have so employed their inherent talents, so improved their opportunities and so marshaled their forces as to gain prestige which transcends mere local limitations and finds its angle of influence ever broadening in beneficence and human helpfulness. There are thousands of men of fine character and ability ever looming up among us, and in even a cursory review of the lives of such lies much of incentive and inspiration. Apropos of these state- ments there is peculiar consistency in according in this volume an epitome of the career of Detroit's distinguished citizen, the late James F. Joy, whose productive activities were gigantic and whose life was one of impregnable integrity and honor. He was a man of the nation but was essentially a citizen of Detroit, whose people may ever take pride in his character and his accomplishment.
James Frederick Joy was born in Durham, New Hampshire, on the 2d of December, 1810, and was a son of James and Sarah (Pickering) Joy. His father was a blacksmith by trade and in later life was a manufacturer of scythes and a shipbuilder at Dur- ham. The original American ancestor in the agnatic line was Thomas Joy, who immigrated from England about the year 1632, locating in Boston, where he be- came a land holder in 1636, as shown by the town records. From that city his descendants removed to various localities in New England. The father of the subject of this memoir was a man of much en- terprise and of strong intellectuality; he was a Fed- eralist in politics and a Calvinist in religion. His influence was potent in fixing correct principles in the minds of his children and all of them honored him in their after lives.
The early education of James F. Joy was secured in the common schools and in a neighboring academy, in which he took a two years' course. He then en- gaged in teaching and through the compensation thus received, supplemented by such financial assistance as his father was able to accord, he realized his ambi- tion and entered upon a collegiate course. In 1833 he was graduated at the head of his class, in Dart- mouth College, which conferred upon him the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He soon afterward entered Har- vard Law School, at Cambridge, where he made rapid
advancement in the accumulation and assimilation of technical knowledge, but his pecuniary status was such that he was compelled to withdraw at the end of the first year. He thereafter was for several months pre- ceptor in the academy at Pittsfield, New Hampshire, and for a year was a tutor in Dartmouth College. He resigned the latter position to resume his law studies at Cambridge, where, within a year, he completed the prescribed course and was duly admitted to the bar, in Boston. He had decided to locate in the west, and in September, 1836, he arrived in Detroit, where he entered the law office of Hon. Augustus S. Porter, "one of the noblest men that ever represented Mich- igan in the United States senate."
Mr. Joy arrived in Detroit at a period when Mich- igan was in a transition state. Although the act of admission had passed congress, June 15, 1836, con- ditions were attached, requiring the assent of the people through a representative convention, in respect to the boundaries defined in the act. This convention assenting, December, 1836, the formal act of admission was passed by congress, January 26, 1837. Mr. Joy thus became a contemporary with Michigan, as a state. He came here without capital, without powerful con- nections and without established precuniary credit. He had, however, the powers and qualities formed by habit and education, which made him independent of either capital, connections or pecuniary credit-a clear head, a sound judgment, quick perceptions, and a mind the most comprehensive and masterly in grasping legal and business propositions. To these high intellectual powers were joined a great moral force of character, a resolute will, self-reliant and firm, combined with strict integrity, inspiring confidence, and patient per- severance, insuring success. The practice of economy, self-denial and industry, a proper pride in his pro- fessional business obligations, and punctuality in all engagements, which laid the foundation and guaran- teed that prosperity and usefulness which his sub- sequent life has developed. To these properties must we look for the elements which conceived and suc- cessfully consummated those great enterprises which have secured for Michigan and the states west of it, that material prosperity which they today enjoy. Not to any accident of birth or fortune, or any external circumstances or condition, can we trace the extraor- dinary results achieved through his influence. In ad- dition to the qualities named, the only advantages of
5
6
CITY OF DETROIT
that kind which he inherited, aud which he retained to the last, were his fine personal appearance and commanding and impressive address.
In May of the year 1837 Mr. Joy opened an office of his own, and in the ensuing autumn he formed a professional partnership with George F. Porter, who had an extended acquaintanceship with prominent cap- italists and financiera, so that the firm at once secured a clientage of representative order, and became known as one of the leading legal firms in the western coun- try. Soon after the firm of Joy & Porter was formed it became the attorneys for the old Bank of Michigan, this at the time being the only bank in the northwest of recognized credit with eastern banks and capitalists, hence its relation to it gave the firm an extended and lucrative practice. Mr. Joy, as the legal head of the firm, was the leading and confidential counsel of Messrs. Dwight, who were the principal owners of this bank, and of others in New York, Boston, Cleveland, and Springfield, Massachusetts. From 1837 to 1847, and when, owing to a combination of circumstances, the old Bank of Michigan became insolvent, Mr. Joy, in the complications incident, had occasion to meet in the courts and elsewhere the most gifted and dis- tinguished minda in the nation. During the height of the speculative craze in the late '30s and early '40g Michigan had established what was known as the internal-improvement system, under whose operations the state had purchased the Detroit & St. Joseph Rail- road. In 1846, through the workings of this system, the state became bankrupt, and as a means toward solvency proposed to sell this railroad, whose name had been changed to the Michigan Central. In the interest of a corporation formed to buy the property Mr. Joy largely framed its charter, completed the organization of the corporation and induced capital to embark in the enterprise. The sale restored the state to solvency and general business resumed normal rami- fications. The new company undertook to extend the road to Chicago, and in the important litigation inci- dent thereto Mr. Joy was engaged to such an extent in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois that he was gradually drawn away from his practice in Detroit. He grad- ually made railway law a specialty and for a long period he was one of the foremost figures in railway litigation in the United States, his practice being ex- tensive and profitable. From being the legal advisor of railway companies he was gradually drawn into the field of management, becoming prominent in extending railway connections and in the construction and ex- ecutive control of new lines. The case of George C. Bates in ejectment against the Illinois Central and Michigan Central Railroad Companies, in the United States court, was the last very important cause in which he appeared as the leading counsel and advocate. The case involved the title to the Chicago station grounds of the two companies-property at that time valued at two million dollars-and in this celebrated case Mr. Joy's remarkable powers were so exemplified as to
gain him unprecedented prestige. The necessarily pre- scribed limitations of this publication of course prevent a detailed review of this cause célèbre, but the same is a matter of historical record.
Mr. Joy became extensively identified with the railway interests of the country and was largely en- gaged in the extending of lines. He organized the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, whose line cost sixty millions of dollars, and before con- struction was instituted he made a trip on foot over the proposed route. For many years he was the exec- utive head of the corporation, and under his direction the lines were extended to Quincy and Omaha. The line from Kansas City to the Indian Territory was another enterprise promoted by him. Incidentally he aslo built the first bridge across the Missouri river at Kansas City, thus giving great impetus to the de- velopment of that city. About 1857 Mr. Joy became associated with J. W. Brooks and entered into a con- tract, through a company organized for the purpose, to undertake and complete the Sault Ste. Marie canal. The work was pushed forward with utmost vigor and was completed within two years, to the great benefit of navigation and commerce.
About the year 1867 Mr. Joy became president of the Michigan Central Railroad Company, of which he had been general counsel for many years. Under his direction, as chief executive, the road was largely rebuilt and every department was made adequate to meet the demands placed upon it. These improvements were made at great expense, double track being laid on a large portion of the line and the steel rails used having cost, in gold, one hundred and thirty dollars per ton, in England. Mr. Joy also promoted the building and finally acquired control of the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw Railroad, from Jackson to Saginaw and Mackinaw City, and also of the road from Jack- son to Grand Rapids-both now parts of the Michigan Central system. He also built the Detroit and Bay City and the Detroit, Lansing & Northern Rail- roads, and the Michigan Central's air line from Jackson to Niles, the Kalamazoo & South Haven, and the Chicago & West Michigan Railroads, were alike the results of his activity and progressiveness. He was the prime factor in the building of more than sixteen hundred miles of railroad in Michigan alone, and the beneficent influence of this work may well be understood. In the early '70s Mr. Joy became in- terested in a proposed railroad to run along the west- ern bank of the Mississippi river from Dubuque, Iowa, to a point opposite La Crosse, Wisconsin, and through his efforts the line was completed, being now a part of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul system. Mr. Joy was also largely instrumental in securing to De- troit its connection with the Wabash Railroad and in providing adequate station grounds for its business. He and other Detroit citizens furnished most of the money by which the connecting line was built from Detroit to Logansport, Indiana, and with four others
7
CITY OF DETROIT
he built the large and elaborate Union depot in Detroit, together with the railroad, through the western part of the city, connecting with the Wabash. Mr. Joy was also one of the organizers of and attorney for the Sault Sainte Marie Ship Canal Company (in 1852-3-4), which built the first "Soo" canal and locks, thus making possible the navigation of Lake Superior by vessels from the lower lakes. It was ever the prac- tice of Mr. Joy carefully to consider and digest, pro and con, all plans conceived by him, and hence when his decisions were reached, he was firm in seeing them executed.
For several years prior to his death Mr. Joy lived essentially retired from active business, though still financially interested in a number of the corporations mentioned. Of him it has been said: "His life was of great benefit to his city and state, as well as to Chicago and the western country. Few men have guided and invested for so many years such vast sums of money as did he." In 1845 he was one of those who purchased the stock of the Michigan State Bank, which thereafter paid ten per cent dividends regularly until the expiration of its charter, in 1855, at which time its stockholders received one hundred and thirteen per cent for their shares. He was a director of the Second National Bank of Detroit, and when its charter expired, in 1883, it was succeeded by the Detroit National Bank, of whose directorate he continued to be a member until his death.
Though never active in the domain of "practical politics," and never a seeker of public office, Mr. Joy was intrinsically loyal to all the duties of citizenship and exerted his influence in the promotion of good gov- ernment, being an uncompromising advocate of the principles and policies of the republican party. In 1838 he was chosen to the office of school inspector in Detroit, and in 1848 was elected city recorder. In 1861 he was induced to accept the nomination as rep- resentative of the Detroit district in the state legis- lature, to which he was elected and in which he held a place of much prominence and influence in the cli- macteric period marking the opening of the Civil war. He served a short time as regent of the University of Michigan, but resigned on account of the exactions of his business interests. In 1880 he was a delegate to the republican national convention, in Chicago, and there made the address nominating the Hon. James G. Blaine for the presidency.
From a sketch of the career of Mr. Joy prepared several years ago by the writer of the present article, the following pertinent extracts are made: "Although always an active man, Mr. Joy never neglected mental recreation and improvement, but at all times kept up his early acquaintance with the classics and with all that is best in literature. When business hours were over, business cares were laid aside and never car- ried home. As is inevitable in the life of such a man as Mr. Joy, he encountered many and large financial losses, but no matter what their magnitude, it is be-
lieved that there never was an evening when he would not lose all thought of them in reading the pages of some favorite author. His love of books was a taste that he had cultivated from early youth. His library, including many costly volumes, was the result of the steady accumulation of years and contained the best editions of the best authors. Not only were all the great lights of English literature represented but also the works of the best foreign authors in the original text, and the latter he read with the same facility as did he those in his native tongue. Well thumbed editions of the ancient classics and the works of the ablest French authors found prominent places in his collection and gave ample evidence of having been read and reread many times."
Mr. Joy was twice married. He first wedded Mar- tha Alger Reed, daughter of Hon. John Reed of Yar- mouth, Massachusetts, member of congress for several years and also lieutenant governor of his state. Upon her death Mrs. Joy left the following children: Sarah Reed, who married Dr. Edward W. Jenks, both of whom have passed from life; Martha Alger, who mar- ried Henry A. Newland, both of whom were killed in a railroad accident; and James Joy.
Mr. Joy's second wife was Miss Mary Bourne of Hartford, Connecticut, and the children of this union were: Frederic, who died in 1893; Henry Bourne, who is mentioned on another page of this work; and Rich- ard Pickering Joy, who is president of the National Bank of Commerce of Detroit, and is mentioned else- where in this work.
James F. Joy was summoned to the life eternal on the 24th of September, 1896, and his life on earth stands as a perpetual voucher for nobility of char- acter and of definite usefulness in the complex scheme of human activity and accomplishment.
ANTHONY S. KUDRON, engaged in private banking and classed with the highly respected residents of Detroit, was born here December 8, 1886, a son of Bartholomew and Anastasia (Niewodowska) Kudron, who were natives of Poland, and came to America in the later '70s, set- tling in Detroit. In his native country the father devoted a portion of his time to the profession of teaching. How- ever, his principal work was in a clerical position in con- nection with local courts. He was widely known here as a man of superior qualifications and was regarded as a leader among the people of Polish birth. He passed away in Detroit, October 27, 1904, respected and es- teemed by all who knew him, so that his death was the occasion of deep and widespread regret. His wife de- parted this life in Detroit, February 19, 1910. In their family were seven children, two of whom have passed away, while those living are: Joseph; John; Mrs. Agnes Kulik; Frank; and Anthony S., all of Detroit.
In early life Anthony S. Kudron attended the St. Francis parochial school and afterward became a pupil in the Detroit high school. He next entered the Detroit College and afterwards pursued a business course in the
8
CITY OF DETROIT
Detroit Business University. Starting out in life on his own account he secured a position as cost clerk with the Great Lakes Engineering Works. In 1904 he entered the employ of the Bell Telephone Company in a clerical ca- pacity and after a brief period secured a position as teller with the Peninsular State Bank of Detroit, acting in that responsible position for seven years. On the ex- piration of the period he decided to engage in business on his own account and became general agent for the Columbia National Fire Insurance Company. He held that position until 1919, and on the 1st of April, 1920, he established the Kudron Exchange Bank. In connec- tion with general banking he also conducts a steamship ticket agency, and foreign exchange, as well as a gen- eral insurance business. His neighbors and those of Polish birth and extraction have the utmost confidence in him and in various ways he has promoted their interests. He was the secretary of the Pulaski Build- ing & Loan Association, which was incorporated with a capital of one hundred thousand dollars but which has now passed out of existence, after having paid a hundred and sixteen per cent to investors.
On the 11th of June, 1912, Mr. Kudron was married in Detroit to Miss Lottie T. Cetnar, a daughter of Adam and Katherine Cetnar. They have become parents of two children: Anastasia, born April 27, 1913; and Bernice, born October 26, 1915. Mr. Kudron and his family are members of the Roman Catholic church, and he is secre- tary of St. Vincent De Paul Society, a Catholic charita- ble organization which has done much work among the poor and the sick of the city. He also belongs to the Polish National Alliance and is a third degree member of the Knights of Columbus. Ha manifests interest in Detroit's welfare and cooperates in many plans and measures which have to do with the progress and devel- opment of the city and especially with the advancement of the interests and welfare of the people of Polish birth and lineage.
DEXTER M. FERRY. Success in any field of oc- cupation, in any avenue of business, is not a matter of spontaneity but is the legitimate offspring of sub- jective effort, the improvement of opportunity, and the exercise of the highest functions made possible by specific ability. To trace this history of a success- ful and worthy life must ever prove profitable and satisfying indulgence and the record cannot fail of objective and incentive. The honored citizen to whom this memoir is dedicated attained to a high degree of success in material affairs, in which he became a dominating figure in connection with affairs of the broadest scope and importance, and, over and above all, his intrinsic character was singularly stanch and noble and his example altogether worthy of emulation. He eminently deserves classification among those men who have distinguished themselves for their ability to master the opposing forces in life and to wrest from fate a large measure of success and high honors. Both as a citizen and as a business man the late
Dexter M. Ferry wrote his name large upon the annals of his time. Not in an ephemeral way is his name associated with the word progress, with moving for- ward in industrial enterprise, in furthering the highest civic ideals and practicalities, and in constructive and initiative enterprise, and not the least of his splendid achievements was that represented in the magnificent industrial and commercial enterprise-the great seed house of D. M. Ferry & Company of Detroit. This is the largest concern of the kind in the world and is one which bears to every town, hamlet and town- ship in the United States, and to a less degree in the Canadian provinces, the reputation of Detroit as a distributing and commercial center, the while foreign lands have had reason to know and appreciate the facilities and prestige of the great industry which has done so much to distinguish the Michigan metropolis. The influence of so great an industry upon the com- mercial status of the city in which are maintained its headquarters cannot be overestimated, and in noting the loyal and appreciative efforts of those who have done much to conserve the development and upbuild- ing of the greater Detroit there is imperative nec- essity for giving most generous recognition to Dexter M. Ferry. The splendid concern of which he was so many years the head is saturated with his individual- ity, his energy, his aggressiveness and his sterling integrity of purpose, and he was a man to whom Detroit will ever owe much.
Dexter Mason Ferry was born at Lowville, Lewis county, New York, on the 8th of August, 1833, and was a son of Joseph N. and Lucy (Mason) Ferry. The genealogy of the family is traced to remote French extraction, of Huguenot order, but from Eng- land came the first representative of the name in America. In 1678 there arrived in the colony of Massachusetts one Charles Ferry, who settled at Springfield, and who figures as the founder of the American line. With the history of the old Bay state the name was prominently identified in the various succeeding generations, and the sturdy char- acteristics of the progenitor have been significantly perpetuated, as shown in useful and honorable citizen- ship, loyalty and patriotism. Dexter Mason, maternal grandfather of Dexter M. Ferry, was a man of in- fluence in the Berkshire district of Massachusetts and represented his county in the legislature for several terms. The paternal grandfather of Mr. Ferry re- moved from Massachusetts to the state of New York and established his home at Lowville, Lewis county, where he passed the remainder of his life and where he was identified with agricultural pursuits and other lines of enterprise. There was born his son, Joseph N., who was reared to manhood in Lewis county and who there received such advantages as were afforded in the common schools of the period. He followed the trade of wagon-maker for many years and was one of the highly honored citizens of Lowville at the time of his death, his wife having survived him
DEXTER M. FERRY
11
CITY OF DETROIT
by many years and having passed the closing years of her life in the village of Penfield, Monroe county, New York, to which place she removed shortly after the death of her husband.
Dexter M. Ferry was about three years of age at the time of his father's demise and he passed his boyhood days in the village of Penfield, where he duly availed himself of the advantages of the com- mon schools and laid the foundation for the broad and liberal education which he was destined to ac- quire through self-discipline and through long and prominent association with men and affairs. At the age of sixteen years he initiated his independent career by securing employment on a neighboring farm, and in compensation for his services he received the princely stipend of ten dollars a month. He devoted two summers to this line of work and in the winter terms attended the district schools. He was ambitious to secure more advanced educational training, and with this end in view he entered, in 1851, the employ of Ezra M. Parsons, who resided in the immediate vicinity of Rochester, so that the young man was enabled to attend the schools of that city when his services were not demanded on the farm. A few months later Mr. Parsons secured for his young em- ploye a position in the wholesale and retail book and stationery house of S. D. Elwood & Company, of Detroit, and in this city Mr. Ferry took up his resi- dence in 1852. He was at first errand boy in the establishment noted, was later promoted to the position of salesman, and finally became bookkeeper.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.