USA > Michigan > American Biographical History of Eminent and Self-made Men.: Michigan Volume > Part 13
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OSTER, JAMES A., Manufacturer of Artificial he visited other manufacturers to see if something more Limbs, Detroit, was born in the town of Stock- ' could not be gained from them. He arrived at Detroit holm, St. Lawrence County, New York, Novem-, in November, 1864, with tools, patterns, and a small ber 27, 1829. His father was born in the town | stock of material for manufacturing. With no influence of Barnard, Vermont, but emigrated to New York in the pioneer days of St. Lawrence County, purchased a small farm, and erected a saw-mill. James Foster's boyhood life had little to make it memorable. IIe attended district school; helped on the farm and about the mill; and his leisure hours were spent in construct- ing dams across creeks, building water-wheels, miniature mills, etc. Ilis father early remarked the boy's skill and ingenuity, and, unlike many fathers, encouraged them; as soon as he was old enough, giving him every opportunity to learn the trade of mill-wright. Just before James A. Foster was twenty-one years of age, his father died, leaving six younger children, who needed care and protection. The mill was old, and about worn out, and the estate in debt for nearly all it was worth. The creditors, however, extended the time of payment, and gave Mr. Foster a chance to see what he could do. The mill was rebuilt, the farm put in order, and the young man began to push business. He engaged in lumbering ; took contracts to build barns, houses,
but his skill, no friend but a stout heart, but having faith that real merit would soon make his goods known, he opened a small manufactory; and, from this begin- ning, he has come to be the leading manufacturer of the country, if not of the world. He prospered from the start. Patents were granted him for his inventions; and, in 1867, the demand for his limbs warranted the establishment of another manufactory at Cincinnati, Ohio; and, in 1869, one at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In July, 1875, one was started at Chicago, Illinois; and, in 1877, another at St. Louis, Missouri. To-day his sales exceed those of any other three manufacturers in America. In April, 1869, he exhibited specimens of his work to a Board of Medical Examiners appointed by the Surgeon-General of the United States army, at Washington, which were highly recommended by them, the highest medical authority of the United States army. Ile was authorized by the Surgeon-General to furnish limbs to disabled soldiers, and thousands of the cripped boys in blue have been benefited by his inven- and mills; and was rapidly acquiring a large and lucra- | tion. Mr. Foster stands at the head, both of manufac- tive business. But these flattering prospects he was turers and inventors of artificial limbs. That necessity compelled to relinquish. A year before his father's is the mother of invention is illustrated by his experi- death, he had become lame from a white swelling in | ence. His business affairs, and the location of his offices
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at those large centers, are now so arranged that persons | rian ;. he also attended the lectures on conveyancing, by in want of artificial arms or legs can reach the factories with very little expense, and have the limbs properly adjusted to each particular case. Soldiers are furnished, at the expense of the United States Government, with free transportation to and from any one of the factories. Mr. Foster has succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations; and the great secret of his success lies in the care which is bestowed in the manufacture of his goods. His aim is to turn out the very best; and his patients, scattered from ocean to ocean, are his warmest friends and well-wishers. At the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, there were ten exhibitors of artificial limbs from the United States, and two from abroad,- Mr. Foster receiving a medal and a diploma. He edu- cated his younger brothers and sisters, and gave them a home and a father's protection until they were able to care for themselves. He cared for and supported his widowed mother until her death, which occurred May 31, 1877. Mr. Foster married, at the place of his fam- ily residence in New York, May 4, 1871, Electa A. Marsh, of that place. He received but a limited educa- tion ; had a hard battle with misfortune; and only his stern determination and iron will could have elevated him to the position he now occupies as the leading manufacturer of artificial limbs in the world.
PRAZER, HON. ALEXANDER D., Senior Mem- ber of the Detroit Bar, has been a resident of Detroit for fifty-three years, and, consequently, is connected with the early history of Michigan Territory. He is a native of Scotland, having been born in the vicinity of Inverness, the capital of the Highlands, on the 20th of January, 1796. His father was an extensive farmer. The rudiments of his educa- tion were obtained in one of the parish schools; after which he was sent to a select school, and, finally, to the . Inverness Academy. In the spring of 1813, at his own earnest request, his father placed him in the office of a solicitor at Inverness, to study the law of Scotland. Here he continued until the close of the year 1814, when he went to Edinburg. In January, 1815, he entered, as a student, the office of a writer to the Signet; that is, an attorney practicing in the Court of Session, or Supreme Court, of Scotland. His advan- tages for study were now greatly increased; and, in order to understand the practice as well as the theory of the law, he devoted a portion of his time to attend- ance at the trial of causes before the court in the Par-
Professor Bell. Mr. Frazer continued his studies in Edinburgh for several years; and, in the meantime, having lost both parents, he determined to try his for- tune in the United States. He took passage for Savan- nah, Georgia, where he arrived, in June, 1819, after a voyage of six weeks. He then proceeded to Alabama, where he had relatives. Here he was admitted to the bar, on the 10th of November, 1819, and entered at once upon practice, meeting with much success. His constitution, however, could not endure the Southern climate; and, after a residence of nearly two years, he went North, and settled in Vincennes, Indiana. Desir- ing to attend the courts on both sides of the river Wabash, he procured admission to the bar in both States. He was admitted to practice in Illinois, by Judges Brown and Wilson, of the Supreme Court of that State, on the 24th of March, 1821. He was ad- mitted in Indiana, June 22, of the same year, and prac- ticed in Vincennes and attended the Illinois Circuit Court for nearly two years. At this time, he suffered severely from fever and ague, and, acting under medical advice, left for a more healthful climate. In June, 1823, he started from Vincennes, on horseback, for Detroit, Michigan. At that period, traveling in the country through which he had to pass was attended with great difficulty; his course lay up the Wabash. At Craw- fordsville, the settlements terminated; and the residue of the journey, from there to Fort Wayne, had to be made on the Indian trail, with not a house intervening but one, and that a trading-house. When Mr. Frazer arrived at Fort Wayne, he was equally perplexed how to get away from that point; it was the center of an Indian country, without any facilities for the traveler. Here he met a gentleman who was going to New York, and who expected to get passage on some chance schooner going down Lake Erie. As a last resort, they purchased a canoe at Fort Wayne, in which they em- barked, with all their worldly goods, on the Maumee River, and worked their way down to Maumee, where they arrived without any accident. From this place, Mr. Frazer might have had much difficulty in reaching Detroit, but for the fortunate arrival of a pleasure party from Detroit, who came in a large boat, and kindly extended an invitation for him to take passage with them on their return. This he most gladly accepted. and arrived at Detroit early in August, 1823. Mr. Frazer found the bar of Detroit to consist of many emi- nent men,-all of whom were, apparently, in full prac- tice. As he had not yet been made a citizen of the United States, some time elapsed before he could be admitted to the bar in Michigan. But this did not sub- liament House. During the same year, he attended the ject him to any great inconvenience; for, having been lectures on the scot law, delivered at the University of admitted into the courts of several States, he was allowed, in the meantime, to practice ex gratia. The Edinburgh by Professor Hume, a nephew of the histo-
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judicial system of the Territory, at this time, consisted | Standing as he did at the head of the bar of Michigan,- of a Supreme Court of three judges, which held its to use the words of a gentleman who has long been a distinguished member of the bar of Detroit,-"to the younger members of the profession, he was a bright and worthy example. His close application to business; his strict integrity to clients; his varied and profound learn- ing, untiring industry and research ; his thorough analy- sis of adjudged authorities; his clear and convincing argument, irreproachable character, and high sense of honor and professional propriety, were all worthy of imi- tation. He was one of the pioneers of Michigan, ven- erated and respected by all." annual session in the Indian Council House, at Detroit, during the month of September; and of a County Court in each of the organized counties, which held session semi-annually. The Supreme Judges then were : A. B. Woodward, James Witherell, and John Griffin. About the year 1824, emigration began to set in ; new counties were organized; business increased; and Mr. Frazer soon found himself in a large and remunerative practice. One of the most important cases in which he was ever concerned as counsel was the great railroad conspiracy case that occupied so much of the public attention twenty-five years ago, in which Mr. Frazer was retained for the prosecution. It consisted of a series of the most lawless acts committed on the property of the Michigan Central Railroad Company, especially in the ARRISON, JOHN J., for over fifty years a promi- nent citizen of Detroit, was born in the county of Cayuga, New York, August 11, 1808. His of toil, severe study, responsibility, and anxiety. This great-grandfather came from Holland about the year 1735, and settled in New Amsterdam, New York. His grandfather, Ephraim Garrison, at the breaking out of the French War, in 1760, enlisted in the English army, and was with the troops sent to take possession of Detroit after peace was declared. He took part in the battle of Bloody River, against the Indian chief Pon- tiac, in which he was wounded, and his two brothers -- Ah heus and John Garrison-were killed. At the close of the war, he returned East and settled on a farm in New Jersey. At the beginning of the Revolutionary War, he disposed of his farm, and removed to North- umberland County, Pennsylvania. He was an officer in the militia, and took part in the war under Washington. year 1829, he was married to Caroline A. May, youngest John Garrison, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in New Jersey, in 1772. After becoming of age, in the spring of 1793, he started for Cayuga County, New York, which was, at that time, on the frontier. There he settled on six hundred and forty acres of land, which he had purchased at twenty-eight cents an acre. Soon after, he opened the first store in that vicinity. In 1810 he sold his farm and store for ten thousand dollars, cash ; and, with his family, started for Huron County, Ohio, where he had previously bought four thousand acres of land. On his arrival, not being satisfied with his purchase, he sold it, and went to Sandusky. He built the first store in that place, which he stocked with goods he had brought with him. He was soon, however, driven away by the Indians, who burned his buildings. He finally settled in Fredericksburg, Ohio, where he became a merchant, banker, and mill owner, accumulating a fortune, which was swept away in the panic of 1816-17. After paying all his debts, he removed to Detroit, to begin life anew, with a large family and sixty dollars in money. In a vicinity of Leoni and Michigan Center, in Jackson County. The life of a lawyer, in full practice, is one has been fully illustrated in Mr. Frazer's case. He con- tinued the practice of his profession until early in the spring of 1856, when, as he was engaged in the argu- ment of an important cause, in the Supreme Court, he instantaneously lost the use of his right eye, by amau- rosis, the result of close application to study. Medical advice suggested the necessity of withdrawing at once from the active duties of his profession, in order to pre- serve the other eye. That he might do so more effect- ually, Mr. Frazer resolved to make the tour of Europe; and, in May, 1856, started on his journey. Since then, he has not resumed the practice of law, although he has appeared as counsel in a few important cases. In the daughter of Hon. James May, who was first Chief-Jus- tice of the Court of Common Pleas of the Territory. Mr. Frazer's family consisted of six children, all of whom died young, except one son, Alexander James Frazer, a young man of great promise, who adopted the profession of his father, and pursued it with much suc- cess. He died on the 17th of April, 1871. Mr. Frazer is, therefore, without any descendants. He has never been a politician, but has held some municipal offices in Detroit, in the line of his own profession, to which he was appointed by the Common Council. In 1832 he was City Attorney ; in 1836 and 1839, he was Recorder of the city; and, in 1855, he was appointed one of the Board of Water Commissioners. He filled this office, with entire satisfaction to the public, for fifteen years; its duties are discharged gratuitously. Mr. Frazer has been President of the Detroit bar thirty-five years. Of all the judges and lawyers whom he found on his arrival in Detroit, not one survives. Mr. Frazer died in 1877. Such is the outline of the life of one who may be fitly spoken of as the patriarch of his profession in this State. | few years, he was again prosperous, and soon took a
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prominent part in the city affairs. In 1824 he was | of Clayton, New York. In June, 1855, he came to Street Commissioner; and, in 1830, a member of the Detroit; and, the day after his arrival, rode on horse- City Council. In 1836 he returned to Ohio; and, in back to Howell, a small village in Michigan, about fifty 1848, settled in Joliet, Illinois. In 1853 he removed to miles from Detroit. From there he proceeded to Co- Cedar Falls, Iowa, and laid out a part of the town. Here he died, in 1865, at the advanced age of ninety- five years. Before his death, he traveled by railroad to his old home in Cayuga County. Ile had been an eye- witness of the building of the great cities and improve- ments in all the vast country between New York and Western Iowa. John J. Garrison received his early education in the schools of Detroit; and afterwards learned the mason's trade. He soon abandoned it, however; and, in 1829, commenced mercantile business. He confined himself almost entirely to groceries, and was the first merchant, west of New York State, to engage in an exclusively wholesale grocery business. He was very successful, and passed safely through the panics of 1837 and 1857. He retired from active busi- ness in 1864. He devoted his time almost exclusively to his business, and took but little part in politics. He was a member of the Common Council in 1837; and held one or two other offices under the city govern- ment. After his retirement from business, until his death, which occurred May 14, 1876, he spent most of his time in traveling through the United States and the West India Islands. runna and then to Lyons; the greater portion of the route was through swampy ground, and over not a few corduroy bridges. At that time, there were no railroads or turnpikes in this section of the State, and Doctor Gilbert endured many of the trials and hardships which are incident to pioneer life. He commenced the prac- tice of medicine at Lyons, and remained there until the spring of 1858, when he removed to Windsor, Ontario. In April, 1865, he came to Detroit, at which city he now resides. In 1869 Doctor Gilbert was elected to fill the chair of Materia Medica and Therapeutics in the Detroit Medical College, which position he now occupies. He is one of the attending physicians at St. Mary's Hospital, and also of the Woman's Hospital and Foundling's Home. He is a member of the Detroit Academy of Medicine, the Detroit Medical and Library Association, and the State Medical Society. In 1844 Doctor Gilbert united with the Methodist Church, and is now a mem- ber of the Central Methodist Episcopal Church, of De- troit. He is very liberal in his religious views. He has three children,-one son and two daughters. Doctor Gilbert is held in high esteem by all friends and acquain- tances. Throughout his life, he has been noted for in- tegrity of character and untiring energy in the practice of his profession. Ile is a close student, and is the pos- sessor of a large, valuable library, which contains the choicest works of a medical and miscellaneous character.
ILBERT, CALEB B., Physician and Surgeon, of Detroit, Michigan, was born the 27th day of January, 1826. near Belleville, Hastings County, Ontario, Canada. His father, John Gilbert, and his mother, Maria Yager, were the parents of ten children,- REENING, HIERMAN, Detroit, Michigan, was born in Prussia, March 28, 1830. He received his education in the common schools of that country, where every child is required to attend from the age of seven years. When fourteen years old, he began a general business in the city of Halberstadt, province of Saxony, with a view of gaining a knowledge of the business, and remained in one establishment three years. At the age of twenty-one, he came to America, arriving in New York City after a voyage of seven weeks. Mr. Greening was an utter stranger, not only to the language spoken, but to the habits and customs of the country ; being without a single friend to aid him, and with very limited means upon which to subsist while endeavoring to obtain a situation. At the time of his arrival, in 1851, the tide of emigration from every European country was at its height, and the cities of our seaboard were overwhelmed with applicants for work, representing all classes, from the farm hand to the five sons and five daughters,-eight of whom are now living. Doctor Gilbert's early life was passed mainly in hard labor on his father's farm; while his education, limited in both degree and kind, was acquired at an ordinary country school during the winter months. At the age of twenty-one, he entered a dry-goods store at Belleville, in the capacity of salesman, remaining two years, at which time he returned home. From his early youth he had an ardent love for books, and eagerly read all that he could procure. During the summer of 1849, while assisting his father in the harvest field, he deter- mined to begin the study of medicine, and made known his intention to his father, who readily acquiesced in his wishes. The same year, he entered Fally Seminary in Oswego County, New York, where he remained until March, 1852. He then attended two courses of lectures at Toronto; and, in 1854, went to New York, where he graduated at the Medical University in 1855. He mar- ried, on the 16th day of May, 1855, Caroline M. Fowler, | skilled artisan. After days of fruitless effort to ob- 9
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tain a situation, Mr. Greening determined to go West: 'quiet, unassuming manner, much judgment and shrewd- his first objective point being the city of Buffalo. While 'ness, has steadily increased from year to year, until it is continuing his search for employment, he learned a few now one of the largest retail establishments in the State. words of English, among which was the sentence, "1 In May, 1863, he was married to Augusta Plager, a niece want work;" but his request was met by questions of Mr. Peter Henkel, the well-known wholesale grocer which he could not comprehend. At last he was com- of Detroit. They have four children,-three daughters pelled to seek some place where he might receive the [ and che son. Mr. Greening resides in the suburban necessarie- of life in return for his labor, until each time "part of the city, where, in 1866, he built a large and ele- as he could become sufficiently conver-ant with the lan- 'gant residence. There, surrounded by his family, he guage to enable him to enter the business with which enjoys the comfort and luxuries earned and won by a he was familiar. Being taken by a farmer several days' life of patient toil in a business in which failure is more journey by wagon, into Canada, he spent the next few frequent than success. He has never stepped aside from months in doing farm work, which was not only very hard his chosen field of labor to mingle in political circles, for him, but unprofitable also; as, upon expressing a although adhering to the fundamental principles of the desire for a settlement with his employer, with a view of Republican party. making another attempt to find employment. he w ... very coolly informed that there was nothing due him. i Taking his departure for the West, from this place .- the whereabouts of which, owing to his imperfect knowledge of the country and language, he still remains in igno rance,-after many days of travel on foot, being relieved
REUSEL, HON. JOHN, of Springwells, Mich- igan, was born December 4, 1809, in Bliecastel, Bavana. He was taught the French and German only by an occasional ride in some passing farm-wagon. languages in the public schools of his native place, he arrived at Detroit, Michigan, in September. 1552. which, at that time, wa, under the rule of Napoleon He soon obtained employment with f. H. Armstrong, a 1 .; and, at the Treaty of Paris, in 1816, was ceded to retail dealer in hats, caps, and fer-, who gave him an interest in the business after three years' service; and.
Bavaria. Shortly after he was twenty-one, he entered the military service as forester, and served three years. in 1857, took him into the brain as fall partier. Not In INGS as de lawe were very strict and oppressive, deeming the hat and for trade of sithvient scope in a and has lite was constantly endangered in the perform- retail way, and having had from boyhood a fixed pref- lance of his laties, he resigned and emigrated to America. erence for the dry-goods business, he dissived partner. . The journey to Havre de Grace occupied twenty-four ship with Mr. Armstrong, in 1850, .a.d associated him da; -; and forty more were consumed in the passage on self with C. F. Blume, under the firm name of Greening a sailing vesel to New York. On his arrival in that & Blue. Their capital being very limited, they com- city. he worked a short time on a farm in Long Island menced in a small way; on going to New York for the for eight dollars a month; and, in 1834, engaged in purpose of obtaining the necessary credit in connection ; brick-making, at Newburg, Orange County, New York. with his newly established business, Mr. Greening found ' He spent fourteen years in different brick-yards along it very difficult to procure, on account of the many fail- the Hudson River. In 1848 he removed to Michigan ures among Western merchants, the result of the pre- and settled in Springwells, adjacent to Detroit, where ceding financial panic of 1857-58. Taking with him a he started a brick manufactory. Ilis trade steadily strong letter of recommendation from a merchant of increased, and he is now the leading brick manufacturer New York City, who had known him as the junior in the State. He has accumulated a competent fortune, partner of the firm of T. H. Armstrong & Co., he pre-, and a reputation for integrity which he values far above sented it at the office of II. B. Clafin & Co. Mr. Ban- pecuniary gain. Mr. Greusel, in early years, was a croft, the credit mau of that house, after scanning the Whig; after its formation, he joined the Republican features of the young merchant, said: "How much party, with which he has since been prominently iden- credit do you want?" He he-itated a moment in reply . tified. He was Town Clerk of Springwells two years. ing, when Mr. Bancroft abruptly said: " Your credit is In 1870, and again in 1872. he was the Representative ten thousand dollars in this house." Having commenced in the Legislature from the First District of Detroit. thus on a sound basis, Mr. Greening enjoys to-day an He was a delegate to the Republican Convention at unlimited credit with the same house. After the lap : Philadelphia in 1872, and in 1874 was elected State of one year, he dissolved partnership with Mr. Blame. Senator. Mr. Greu-el has discharged his duties in and continued the business in his own name, until July these honorable positions to the entire satisfaction of 1, 1873, when he associated himself with William A. . his constituent,; always ignoring strict party lines, and Neef. The business of which he has laid the foundation, having in view only the interest of his entire constit- and in the management of which he has displayed, in a'uency and of his adopted State.
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