USA > Michigan > American Biographical History of Eminent and Self-made Men.: Michigan Volume > Part 26
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Quimby was born in the town of Brewer, Maine, De- cember 14, 1835. When thirteen years of age, he accom- panied his parents to Detroit, Michigan, at which point his father, D. F. Quimby, established a monthly publi- cation, called the Literary Miscellany, on which his son William served as an apprentice. In 1854 he entered the Michigan University, and graduated with the class of 1858. Deciding to adopt the profession of law, he was admitted to the bar in 1859. In 1861 Wilbur F. Storey, then publisher of the Free Press, tendered him a temporary position on that paper, which he accepted ; and his connection with the establishment has remained unbroken. In 1863 Hon. Henry N. Walker, who had purchased the Free Press of Mr. Storey, made Mr. Quimby managing editor. In 1872 Mr. Walker retired from active participation in its publication, and Mr. Quimby was chosen general manager, which position he still holds. Shortly after the accession of Mr. Walker to the proprietorship, Mr. Quimby purchased a one- quarter interest in the establishment; in 1872 he became possessed of another quarter; and, in January, 1875, became, by purchase, its principal owner. During the period that the Free Press has been under his exclusive management, its influence and usefulness have rapidly increased, until it has not merely a provincial, but a national, and even a European, reputation. It circulates in every State and Territory in the United States, and in nearly all of the Canadian provinces where the En- glish language is spoken. To have achieved such marked success, necessitates rare qualities as a journalist. The Free Press of to-day is what his care, energy, and enter- prise have made it. Every department is under his general supervision; and nothing in the business, me- chanical or editorial, escapes his keen and practiced eye. Mr. Quimby's individuality permeates every fea- ture of the paper. If we were to analyze his merits as a journalist, we should say the predominant features are, directness of purpose; a careful eye for details; ready recognition of the value of news; literary tastes of a high order; almost infallible judgment in all matters on which he is called to pass; untiring industry; clear and rigid ideas of the mission of journalism as a public educator; and rare executive ability.
serve that he is a blonde of medium height; clean shaven, all but an ample mustache; with aquiline fea- tures and a slender form, whose every motion betokens a man alive with nervous energy, and one whose vocation has made severe draughts on his vital forces. That he is possessed of a sensitive and retiring temperament, you .45⑈ USSELL, FRANCIS GRANGER, Lawyer, of Detroit, was born in Green Oak Township, Liv- ingston County, Michigan, April 16, 1837. His father, William Sanderson Russell, was a native of Deer- field, Massachusetts. His mother, Jane Althen ( Knox) Granger, was born near Bennington, Vermont, and was a descendant of General Knox, of Revolutionary fame, will readily observe; but, when the first words of com- mon courtesy are spoken, you will perceive an unex- pected warmth of feeling; the shrinking reserve will vanish, and, before you are fairly aware of it, you are en rapport with a genial and scholarly gentleman, the controlling mind of a great newspaper,-William E. | and of Commodore Perry. llis parents were among the
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early pioneers of Michigan. They settled on a farm in | and ability, and was very successful for a number of Green Oak, in 1835, having traveled, with an ox-team, years. Hle cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, and has always supported the Republican party, but is con- servative in his political opinions. Ile was married, September 10, 1863, to Helen Edwards, of Springfield, Ohio. They have had four children, three sons and one daughter -Clinton, Knox, Frank, and Lela. through Canada, from Riga, Monroe County, New York. His mother, a most excellent woman, died in 1850, leaving a family of five children,-two daughters and three sons. His father died in 1870. Francis G. Rus- sell received his preliminary education in the country district school, which he attended three months of each year. At the age of seventeen, he entered the State Normal School at Ypsilanti, where he took a full course, and graduated, in March, 1858. From early boyhood, he exhibited a great fondness for books, and eagerly read all he could obtain. Going frequently to the town library with a bag, he took home all the books he could! carry, which he read thoroughly before returning. He was fond of mathematics, and the study of languages,
OBINSON, GEORGE ORVILLE, of Detroit, was born in South Reading, Windsor County, Vermont, June 14, 1832. He is the son of Lewis Robinson, an extensive map publisher and merchant, who was born at South Reading in 1793. He always and has attained a considerable degree of proficiency in ! lived in that town and did much to promote its growth both German and French. From the fall of 1858 to the | and prosperity. He also established map-publishing spring of 1861, he was Principal of the Middletown | houses at Stanstead, in Lower Canada, and at Akron,
Union School, at Lansing. He resigned to accept an | Ohio. At these points, nearly forty years ago, he pub- appointment in the Department of the Interior at Wash- lished maps of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Upper ington, which was procured through the influence of and Lower Canada, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and two Senator Bingham. He passed through Baltimore, on large maps of the United States. His father, Ebenezer his way to Washington, the day the firing on Fort Robinson, was born in Lexington, Massachusetts, in February, 1765. He heard the firing at the battle of Lexington, the beginning of the Revolution, and after- wards, though a mere boy, joined the privateer service. He was soon taken prisoner, and confined for six months in the notorious "Jersey" prison-ships. After his release, he remained in service nearly two years Sumter began. He remained at Washington most of the time as Examiner of Pension Claims, until July 1, 1864, when, on account of ill health, and the monotony of his duties, he resigned. He then removed to Detroit, and went into the pension claim business, at the same time studying law. Ile was admitted to practice after a careful examination before the Supreme Court, in the ! before peace was declared. At the close of the Revolu- fall of 1868. In 1865 he became Secretary of the Board tionary War, he settled with his brother James at South Reading, Vermont, and cleared a large farm, on which he lived, with the wife of his youth, over sixty-six years. He died in 1857, in the ninety-third year of his age, greatly respected and beloved. George O. Robin- son had the usual advantages of a public school educa- tion. Ile assisted his father in the various departments of his business, and, at the age of seventeen, commenced teaching and studying to fit himself for college. Ile taught seven successive winters in the village schools of Springfield, Cavendish, Perkinsville, and Brownsville, Vermont ; and was very enthusiastic and successful. He continued his studies at other seasons of the year, and evinced a special talent for mathematics. Having completed his preparatory course at Springfield Wes- leyan and Newbury seminaries, he entered the Univer- sity of Vermont, in 1853, from which he graduated in 1857. While prosecuting the studies of his Junior year, he taught school in Brownsville, and, in consequence of this overwork, was prostrated with a nervous bilious fever, from which he did not recover sufficiently to resume his studies for ten months, and was then left with an impaired constitution. This ill health caused of Metropolitan Police Commissioners of Detroit, and aided materially in its organization. It became a very efficient branch of the city government. He resigned the position in the spring of 1866, having given com- plete satisfaction. In 1868 he became the private sec- retary of Governor Baldwin, and so continued during the two terms of his able administration. In the spring of 1869, he commenced the practice of law in the city of Detroit, in which he has since been actively engaged, principally in office work and the settlement of estates, a specialty for which he was well qualified by his early training. He has been uniformly successful in every kind of business he has undertaken. This fact he attributes to his willingness to work. In 1861 he served as a private in a three-months' regiment at Washington. He was elected City Attorney of Detroit in the fall of 1871, and was re-elected in 1873, serving, in all, four years, efficiently and with honor. In the fall of 1877, he was elected Alderman of the Fifth Ward of Detroit, for a term of two years from January I, 1878. He was, for a long time, a member, and most of that time President, of the Detroit Literary Adelphi Society, which was composed of young men of activity | him, though reluctantly, to give up his intention of
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. making teaching a profession, and he commenced read- | the Board of Education of Detroit. Mr. Robinson, of ing law with Hon. William M. Pingrey, at Perkinsville, Vermont, which he continued till March, 1858. He then went to Wisconsin with the intention of joining a Government surveying party and following, for a time, a more active occupation. The party was withdrawn, however, and Mr. Robinson resumed the study of law, at Janesville, Wisconsin, with Messrs. Noggle, Williams, & Patterson, prominent lawyers of that city. He was admitted to the Rock County bar in September, 1858. Here, and in Edgerton, in the same county, he practiced law and surveying. He also held the office of Justice Seminary. She is the daughter of A. E. Mather, the late years, in the pressure of business, has given but little time to study, yet he writes in a vigorous and lucid style. He has traveled for diverson in the South and West, and, at such times, has written for the Detroit Tribune. His letters from Florida, in 1868, attracted much attention. He is a man of the strictest integrity, and is highly respected. He was married, September 27, 1859, at Greenwich, Connecticut, to Miss Helen Mather, whose acquaintance he formed during his col- lege life, while she was attending the Burlington Female of the Peace until 1861. In the spring of that year, he | first crockery merchant in Detroit, who died in 1872. Mr. Robinson has five children, and finds his greatest enjoyment in his pleasant home.
settled in Detroit, Michigan, and carried on the practice of his profession. In 1862 he formed a law partnership with David W. Brooks, and also made a specialty of the collection of claims upon the Government arising out of the civil war. The firm of Robinson & Brooks did a large and successful law business, and prosecuted in a -- satisfactory manner, both to claimants and the Govern- R OOT, CHARLES, Wholesale Dry-goods Mer- chant, of Detroit, was born at Augusta, Oneida . County, New York, July 16, 1833, and is de- scended from an old New England family. His grand- father, Jesse Root, was a prominent lawyer of Connec- ticut, and, at one time, Chief-Justice of that State. His education was received in the schools of his native vil- lage ; and. at the age of sixteen years, he left home for Hartford, Connecticut, and began his business training in a large whole ale commission and manufacturing having determined to engage in business on his own ment, nearly ten thousand claims of various kinds. This partnership was dissolved in 1872, after an existence of over ten years. Mr. Robinson then entered the law firm of Robinson & Flinn, which continued several years, giving special attention to the title, care and sale of pine lands and pine land estates. Mr. Robinson has a genial, affable, but retiring disposition, and generally avoids publicity. His health has been such that he has usually avoided litigation in the practice of his profes- sion; and yet, in his extended business, he has developed ; establishment. There he remained until 1860; when, unusual executive ability, and great energy and perse- verauce in advocating and pursuing what he deems to [ account, and becoming favorably impressed with the be right. His unusual energy and force of will were opportunities and advantages which Detroit afforded, as a business center, he proceeded there and started the wholesale dry-goods store of Smith, Root & Parsons. At the end of a year, Mr. Root bought the interests of the other members of the firm, and took his cousin as partner, the firm being known as C. & G. Root. Six months afterwards, upon the death of Mr. G. Root, two other partners were admitted, and the firm became Root, Johnson & Barbour, which existed for three years. Mr. Johnson then retired, and the firm of Root & Bar- bour continued for six years. In January, 1870, Mr. Root purchased the interest of his partner, and has since conducted the business alone. A thoroughly com- petent and excellent business man, he has been emi- nently successful; and, as a merchant, is known quite extensively throughout Michigan and the North-west. He is a public-spirited citizen, though reserved and unostentatious; and, having devoted himself entirely to business, has kept aloof from public office. He has been a Director of the American National Bank since its organization. In IS75 he made a tour of Europe. He was married in 1861, and his family consists of his wife and two children. displayed in the manner in which he obtained, with poor health, at his own expense, his collegiate education. He has discharged the last of his obligations for college expenses since his successful practice in Detroit. In his charitable and religious work, Mr. Robinson avoids Ostentation. He was one of the original members of the Young Men's Christian Association in Detroit, and has been an earnest worker in the promotion of its interests. lle was a delegate to the International Conventions held at Montreal in 1867, at Portland in 1869, and at Wash- ington in 1870. He was educated among Congrega- tionalists, but is now an active Methodist, and has represented his church both as a lay and electoral delegate to the Detroit Annual Conference. He was one of the founders of the Michigan Christian Advocate, a religious newspaper of large circulation, published by the Methodist Publishing Company, at Detroit. Mr. Robinson has always been a large stockholder in this company, and is its Secretary and Treasurer. He is a stanch Republican in politics, and has given his party substantial support, but has never sought political pre- ferment. For some years he was an active member of |
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OBERTSON, JOHN, of Detroit, Adjutant-Gen- | capacity throughout the civil war, and holding the office eral of the State of Michigan, was born in Portsoy, Banffshire, Scotland, January 2, 1814. On his father's side, he is descended from the Robert- son and Stuart clans; and, on his mother's, from the up to the present time. He has been identified with the militia and State troops of Michigan for about twenty-five years, and received his first commission from Governor Bingham, in November, 1855. In early family of Forbes, one of the largest in Scotland. His years, he was a Whig, having cast his first vote for mother's brother, Sir John Forbes, a prominent physi- Henry Clay, in 1844. On the formation of the Repub- lican party, he voted with it, and has continued to do so ever since. In 1842 he married Marion Adam, daughter of Robert Adam, a farmer, residing near Chatham, Ontario. Five daughters and one son have been the fruit of this union,-Cecilia, the eldest, is the wife of Commander Charles S. Colton, United States Navy; Marion, the second, is the wife of Charles A. Mack, of Detroit; Emily, the third, is married to Charles Briggs, of Providence, Rhode Island; Forbes, the son, and Kate, the youngest daughter, are attending school. With a strong constitution, Mr. Robertson has always been remarkably healthy, and is now very strong and active. cian of London, at one time physician to the Queen, was editor of the London Medical Review, and the author of several medical works of note. When quite young, Mr. Robertson was placed in school, at Cullen, a small town in Scotland, the school being one of the best in that part of the country. He began his studies with the view to preparing for a professional pursuit; but, as he exhibited a strong inclination for military life, the idea of educating him for a profession was abandoned. On leaving school, he was appointed to a clerkship in the general Post-office of Scotland, at Edin- burgh, and entered upon his duties in 1829. Disap- pointed at not getting a position in the army, and disliking the restraint and confinement of any office, he determined to emigrate to the United States, and there enter the army. Accordingly, he left the Post-office and took passage in a sailing vessel at Leith, for Mon- USSELL, ALFRED, Lawyer, of Detroit, was born in Plymouth, New Hampshire, March 18, 1830. The following is a short sketch of his ancestry: About the middle of the seventeenth century, a colony of Scotch Presbyterians settled in Ireland, and thence removed to a town in New Hampshire, which they named Londonderry, and where they introduced the manufacture of linen. Captain John Russell, of the second generation of these colonists, was killed at the siege of Fort William Henry, in 1757, by Montcalm; his son, Moor Russell, was, for many years, State Coun- selor of New Hampshire; Alfred Russell, the subject of this sketch, is his grandson, and the son of William W. Russell. The mother of Alfred Russell, whose maiden name was Susan Webster, was a native of Salisbury, New Hampshire, which was also the birthplace of the celebrated Daniel Webster, her near kinsman. The Webster family came from Ipswich, England, and set- tied in Ipswich, Massachusetts, about two hundred and fifty years ago. Mr. Russell graduated at Dartmouth College, in 1850, and spent the next two years at the law school of Harvard University. In 1852 he removed to the city of Detroit, where he has since resided, engaged in the practice of law. Passing from the school of "Webster Whigs" into the Republican party, in 1856, his services were recognized, in 1861, by President Lincoln, who appointed him United States District Attorney for the State of Michigan. After the St. Al- ban's and Lake Erie raids,-when Jacob Thompson, ex-Secretary of the Interior, was Confederate emissary in Canada, - Mr. Russell was sent, by Secretary Seward, on a special mission to Montreal and Toronto, where he treal, arriving there, after a nine weeks' voyage, without money or friends. He started on foot from Montreal, to reach the nearest recruiting station in the United States, traveling to St. John and Plattsburg, and work- ing his passage on a steamer across Lake Champlain, to Burlington, Vermont. There, on the 2nd of July, 1833, he enlisted as a private soldier in the United States army. In the spring of 1834, he was sent to the 5th Regiment United States Infantry, at Fort Howard, Green Bay, Wisconsin, commanded by General George M. Brooks, one of the heroes of the War of 1812, who distinguished himself at Lundy's Lane. Soon after joining his regiment, he was appointed a non-commis- sioned officer, and served, for the greater part of six years, as Quartermaster-sergeant and sergeant-major, thus receiving military instruction which proved of great benefit in fitting him, to some extent, for positions which he filled later in life. After his term of service expired, he was engaged in the Quartermaster and Com- missary departments at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and went with the regiment from that point to Detroit, in 1840. Soon after, he entered the employment of Brady & Trowbridge, merchants, of that city, and, a few years later, went with one of the partners to Mexico. There he engaged in mercantile business, connected with the United States army, and remained about eighteen months. Returning to Detroit, he rejoined Mr. C. A. Trowbridge; and, a few years later, became his partner in the commission business. In March, 1861, he was appointed, by Governor Blair, as Adju- tant-General of the State of Michigan, serving in that |
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spent several months in constant danger of assassination. | the cause of temperance and temperance reform in its The expulsion of the Confederate agents; the extradi- best and broadest sense, regarding it as the greatest philanthropy of the age. He has been an extensive writer and speaker on the subject, and was the organizer of the Prohibition political party, in which he was the main mover. He has served ten years as the Grand Worthy Chief Templar, or the presiding officer, of the tion of some of the raiders who had attempted the seizure of the United States war-steamer " Michigan :" and the liberation of the Confederate prisoners at John- son's Island, Lake Erie, were the fruits of the mission. He was appointed the second time to the same office, which he resigned in 1869. At the dedication of the Independent Order of Good Templars in Michigan. He new City Hall, on the Fourth of July, 1871, Mr. Russell was chosen to deliver the oration. Judicial and elective offices he has since declined, confining himself closely to the practice of his profession. He was married. in 1857, to Mrs. Ellen P. England, who was a daughter of N. Wells, of St. Alban's, Vermont. They have a large family of children. Mr. Russell stands among the fore- most practitioners of the Detroit bar, and is regarded as one of the most learned and scholarly lawyers in the State. He is also possessed of fine social qualities, which greatly endear him to a host of friends and ac- quaintances.
was elected for the eleventh term, but declined to accept the position. At two different times he has been pro- moted to the office of Right Worthy Good Templar, which is the highest position in that order. He was one of fifty delegates from this country who attended the session of the International Lodge in the city of London, England, and presided over that body. He also visited portions of the continent of Europe for the purpose of collecting information in relation to temper- ance. In theological and religious views, he is thor- oughly evangelical, yet is far removed from sectarian bigotry. Politically, his early sympathies were with the Whig party, but, upon the agitation of the slavery question, he identified himself with the abolition move- ment, casting his first Presidential vote, in 1844, for USSELL, REV. JOHN, Detroit, was born near ' James G. Birney. He then became identified with the Geneseo, Livingston County, New York, Sep- | Free-soil party, and, afterwards, with the Republican tember 20, 1822, and is the son of Jesse and organization. In 1869 he took an active part in the Catherine Russell, who are natives of New Jersey and organization of the Prohibition Reform party, of which of Puritan descent. When Mr. Russell was quite young, he removed with his parents to a farm near the falls of Niagara, where he remained until the autumn of 1838.
he has been either Chairman or Secretary of its National Committee from the first. He was on its first national ticket as candidate for the Vice-Presidency of the United His father then removed to Michigan, and located a States in 1872. In June, 1864, he commenced the pub- few miles west of Adrian, where they still continue to lication of the Peninsula Herald, which was a temper- reside,-his father having reached the age of eighty ! ance journal, at Romeo, - afterwards transferred to Detroit,-and was connected with it as editor and publisher for eight years. He also established the Romeo Observer, in 1865,-editing and publishing both journals for a time. In 1844 Mr. Russell married Miss Catherine Pulver. They had one son,-Charles P. Rus- sell,-who is widely known as a temperance speaker and writer. Mr. Russell was married again, in 1852, to Miss Mary J. Herriman. They have four sons and three daughters.
years, and his mother being seventy-six years old. Mr. Russell divided his time between farm labor, working at the cooper's trade, and attending the district school, until 1842. He early manifested a fondness for reading and the study of history,-taking especial interest in the Congressional debates, and such books of a solid char- acter as came within his reach. He also read somewhat extensively the English classics, particularly the relig- ious poems of Milton and Young. When eighteen years of age, he united with the Methodist Episcopal Church, and, having a desire to preach the Gospel, he began preparing for that work. In 1843 he entered upon the Christian ministry, becoming a member of the Detroit Conference. He has accepted charges in the cities of Ypsilanti, Port Huron, Flint, Pontiac, and Detroit. He has held the position of Presiding Elder, and has been chosen delegate to the General Conference several
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