USA > Michigan > American Biographical History of Eminent and Self-made Men.: Michigan Volume > Part 30
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MITH, EUGENE, M. D., Detroit, was born in Albany, New York, June 4, 1845, and is the son at & of John S. and Elizabeth Smith. His father was a banker at Albany, and his paternal grandfather was, for sixty years, a medical practitioner in Wales, Warren County, Massachusetts. When Doctor Smith was quite young, his parents removed to Buffalo, New York, where he attended the public school, and also the Jesuit College of St. Joseph, at Black Rock. On leaving school, at the age of eighteen, he began the study of medicine, under Dr. Julius F. Miner, and continued with him for three years, attending three courses of lec- tures. He graduated at Buffalo College, in 1866, receiv- ing the degree of M: D)., and delivering the valedictory address. About this time, a physician of twenty years' experience, in Mansfield, Tioga County, Pennsylvania, requested Doctor Eastman, Professor of Anatomy at the college, to send some one to take his place, as he had retired from practice. A physician well versed in opera- tive surgery was required, and Doctor Eastman selected Doctor Smith, whom he considered best fitted to fill the position, as he had enjoyed more than usual advantages during his connection with Dr. J. F. Miner. Doctor Smith remained at Mansfield two years, acquiring a large general practice, and doing considerable eye-surgery.
TIMSON, IION. BENJAMIN GODFREY, De- troit, was born at Dedham, Massachusetts, March 19, 1816. Ile was the son of Dr. Jeremy Stimson and Hopestill Godfrey. Jeremy Stimson was a descendant of Andrew Stimes-son, who came from Wales, and settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1634. He was de- scended from the royal Stuarts and Llewellyns. Hope- still Godfrey was of Puritan descent. At the age of sixteen, Benjamin G. Stimson went to Boston, and re- mained two years in the employment of one of the lead- ing mercantile establishments there. Becoming imbued with a desire for travel and adventure, and having a decided taste for the sea, he shipped, August 14, 1834, as a sailor on the brig "Pilgrim," which was bound for California. He had, for his intimate companion and shipmate on this cruise, Richard HI. Dana, Jun., who gives, in his very interesting and well-known work, Two Years Before the Mast, an accurate and vivid de- scription of their voyage. The now beautiful and popu- lous city of San Francisco was then represented by a few log-cabins, and its magnificent harbor was an occa- sional refuge for storm-driven vessels. Gold, at that time, had not been discovered in California. The inti- macy thus formed by the two boys, Dana and Stimson, as shipmates during their cruise of two years, was one of continued interest. No phase or condition affords such ample opportunity for the thorough study of char- acter as life on shipboard. On Mr. Stimson's death, which resulted from heart disease, December 13, 1871, a very feeling autograph letter was addressed to his
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ber of the Democratic party; and was known as a War | engaged from 1809 to 1817,-except the short time Democrat during the late war. Since that time, he has above mentioned,-on Jefferson avenue, just below acted independently in politics. At the beginning of where the Michigan Exchange now stands; in a build- the civil war, in 1861, and during its entire existence, ing which he erected himself, then considered the best he gave his utmost influence to the loyal support of the in the city, and known as the Truax Building, in the National Government. When the darkest days came, sketch made in 1820 by George H. Whistler. In 1817, and the willingness of the Government to receive aid to the regret of General Cass, who had long been his from private citizens had been expressed, he and his friend, he moved to the present site of the village of wife sold property, and deposited with the United States Treasurer, in New York City, eight thousand dollars .. This sum was afterwards repaid by the United States, in
Trenton, which was originally called Truaxton, and which he surveyed and laid out about the year 1834. Mr. Truax's subsequent history is mainly local, but he currency, with interest, at four per cent. per annum. | held many positions of honor and trust in his township. When the First Presbyterian Church, of Detroit, divided Of four children, Mrs. Giles B. Slocum is the only sur- into three sections, in 1853, and sold this property, vivor,-a son, George B. Truax, a highly respected on the north-east corner of Larned street and Wood- business man and merchant of Trenton for many years, ward avenue, Mr. Taylor was one of forty-three per- died in Detroit. Mrs. Slocum retains in her possession a sons who organized the Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian number of commissions issued to her father. Among Church, and erected, in 1854 or 1855, the beautiful them is one from Governor Cass, making him Captain church edifice on Jefferson avenue. Soon after the of militia in 1818; another from the same Governor, organization of the church, he was elected one of its commissioning him Supervisor of Roads, in 1820; an elders; and was active in establishing " rotary elder- 'appointment as Postmaster at Monguagon, by Postmaster ship " in that church, before it was finally sanctioned by General John McLean in 1828; and as Justice of the the General Assembly. He has continued an elder for Peace, by Governor Cass, 1830; similar commissions by more than twenty years, and has devoted much atten- Governor Porter, 1833-34; and as Colonel of militia, tion to the interests of the office. He was a member by Governor Mason, in 1838. These documents all
of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of
bear the signatures of the persons issuing them, with
vania, in 1868; and participated in the discussions in the United States, which met at Harrisburg, Penn-yl- ; other well-known names attending them, and are interest- ing as relies of early days in Michigan. Mr. Truax met his reference to the union of the old and new school death by the explosion of the steamer "Vance," on the branches. This union was consummated the next year | Detroit River, at Windsor, in 1844. He was a man at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. Early in life, Mr. Taylor ; univer-ally loved and respected ; and left his family a formed the habit of promising no more than he could - comfortable fortune in real estate.
perform; in every position he has occupied, he has been faithful to his trusts, and has maintained untarnished a character for integrity and efficiency. His family con- sists of his wife and one surviving child, De Witt II. Taylor, a member of the Detroit bar. They occupy a beautiful house on Alfred street, and command the esteem of all who know them. They are surrounded by many comforts and luxuries, the fruits of forty years spent in faithful work in the city of Detroit.
HOMPSON, REV. OREN C., of Detroit, Mich- igan, was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, in 1806. Eight years after this, the family removed to Northern Ohio, and settled in Ravenna. In 1830 Mr. Thompson graduated at the Western Reserve College, in the first class that passed through that institution. About this time, he suffered a severe fit of sickness, from the effects of which he never fully recovered. After spending a year at Princeton Theological Seminary, his RUAX, ABRAHAM CALEB, formerly of Detroit. | health failed, and he was obliged to leave. He took Michigan, was born in Schenectady, New York. in 1778. While a mere boy, he left his uncle, with whom he resided in the East, and came into what was then a wilderness, first stopping at Delaware, Canada, and thence coming to Detroit about the year an agency for the American Tract Society in Michigan. The winter following, he returned to Ohio, married Miss Alice I. Thompson, of Hudson, and again went to Michigan, as agent of the American Sunday-school Union. In these agencies, he visited every settlement, ISoo. He was a volunteer in the United States army at' and almost every house then occupied. The condition the time of Hull's surrender, but escaped through the of these settlements will be indicated by the fact, that lines and went to Schenectady. He returned to Detroit i there was then but one house in either Battle Creek, and resumed the mercantile business, in which he was | Marshall, or Kalamazoo; and that in the last-named
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of study. He returned home, and remained there | Brigadier-General, and Major-General, for gallant and during the summer and fall. In the winter of 1856-57, meritorious conduct. At the close of the war, General Trowbridge settled at Knoxville, Tennessee, and re- mained there until the spring of 1868. Hle then returned to Detroit, where he has since continued to reside. In 1866 he received the degree of A. M., from the trustees of Yale College. In 1873 he was appointed, by Gov- ernor Bagley, Inspector-General of the Michigan State troops, which position he held for four years. In August, 1875, without any previous intimation, he was appointed to the responsible office of Collector of Internal Revenue for the First Michigan District; which position he still occupies. For twenty-four years, he has been a member of the Congregational and Presbyterian churches. In politics, he is a Republican. He married, April 8, 1862, a daughter of the late Hon. A. W. Buel, of Detroit. Mrs. Trowbridge is a lady of rare accomplishments, taking rank among the best performers on the organ and violin. he commenced the study of law in the office of Sidney D. Miller, at Detroit, and was admitted to the bar in 1858. In 1859 he formed a law partnership with the late Hon. A. W. Buel, which was continued until Sep- tember, 1862, when he entered the army, as Major of the 5th Michigan Cavalry. He served with this regi- ment, in the Army of the Potomac, until the fall of 1863. General Trowbridge took part in the battle of Gettysburg, in which, while leading a charge of his battalion, his horse was killed under him. At the close of the Gettysburg campaign, he was seized with a low fever, which continued for six weeks. During his illness, he was promoted from Major of the 5th Michigan Cav- alry, to Lieutenant-Colonel of the 10th Michigan Cav- alry, which promotion dated from August 25, 1863. Ile went, with his regiment, to Kentucky and East Ten- nessee; and, on the 25th of July, 1864, was promoted to the rank of Colonel. During the summer of 1864, he was stationed at Strawberry Plains, East Tennessee. While here, he was ordered to build a fort for the pro- tection of the large railroad bridge located at this point; ROWBRIDGE, CHARLES C., Detroit, was born in Albany, New York, December 29, 1800, and is the son of Luther Trowbridge, of Massachusetts, who served with credit as an officer in the Revolutionary War, and who subsequently settled in the State of New York. At the age of twelve years, he became a clerk with Horatio Ross, of Owego, New York, and remained there until 1819, when he removed to the Territory of Michigan, settling in the city of Detroit, with which he has ever since been intimately identified. From 1819 to 1825, he held various positions of trust under Thomas Rowland and Governor Lewis Cass. With the latter he was on the most intimate terms of friendship; and, in many negotiations with the Indians, he was invested by the work was successfully accomplished, and the fort proved to be of great value on two occasions during the fall of that year. On the 20th of January, 1865, he was appointed Provost-Marshal General of East Tennessee, to relieve General S. P. Carter. After occupying this position two months, he asked to be relieved, in order to join a cavalry expedition which was then being or- ganized by General Stoneman, for operations in Virginia and South Carolina. General Trow bridge took an active part in that expedition, and in the pursuit of Jefferson Davis. While in the enemy's country, -cut off from all supplies for a period of sixty-five days, -he marched nearly two thousand miles. It can truthfully be said that, during the entire war, no enterprise of equal im- j Governor Cass with large discretion. Having acquired portance, and which accomplished so much, attracted so little attention as the Stoneman raid of 1865. The pen of the future historian, in recording the events of the late civil war, will surely accord to that expedition the degree of eminence which it justly deserves. By this raid, one railroad was thoroughly disabled for a distance of one hundred and twenty-five miles; another broken in several places; millions of dollars worth of army sup- plies and other property captured and destroyed ; the large depot of supplies, at Salisbury, captured; one thousand and one hundred prisoners of war, and nineteen pieces of artillery taken; and many prisoners paroled who had been under the command of General Lee. Upon the return of General Trowbridge, he was assigned to the command of a brigade in the Cavalry Division of East Tennessee, which position he held until he was mustered out of service, at the expiration of his term, -- September
a knowledge of various Indian dialects, he was enabled to render considerable service to the Government. When General Cass became Secretary of War, he invited Mr. Trowbridge to take a leading position in that depart- ment; but his disinclination for office compelled him to decline the offer. In 1825 he was appointed Cashier of the Bank of Michigan, which, at that time, was the only bank north of Cincinnati and west of Rochester, New York, and held this position for ten years. In 1834 he was Mayor of Detroit, during which time the city suf- fered severely from cholera, and the duties of the office were performed with great danger and discomfort. In 1837 he was the Whig candidate for Governor of Michi- gan, but was defeated by a small majority by Stevens T. Mason, who had previously held the office of Gov- ernor of the Territory by appointment of the President. In 1839 he became President of the Bank of Michigan, 1, 1865. Previous to this, however, he was brevetted | and so continued during its existence; from 1844 to
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1854, he was President of the Michigan State Bank. In [ igan and the adjoining States. Mr. Voigt is a member 1853 he became the Secretary, Treasurer, and resident of the National Brewers' Association, and also of various local societies. He has a genial, generous, social nature which has won him many friends. He married, in 1871, Miss Bertha Dramburg, of Detroit. They have four children. Director of the Detroit and Milwaukee Railroad Com- pany; and was elected President of the company in 1863. He retained this office until 1875, when, the company having passed into the hands of a receiver, he was ap- pointed by the Wayne Circuit Court to that office, which he continues (1878) to hold. Mr. Trowbridge has been a member of the Episcopal Church from his youth; and has been a member of the standing committee of the diocese since 1833, having been elected to this position at every successive annual meeting of the diocese. He has also been chosen lay delegate to every general con- vention of the church since 1835, and is the oldest lay delegate of that body.
[OIGT, EDWARD, W., of Detroit, Michigan, was born in Dobein, Saxony, Germany, April 5, 1844. His father, C. W. Voigt, came to America in 1854, and settled in Madison, Wisconsin, where he was engaged in the manufacture of lager beer for some time, meeting with considerable success. He afterwards moved to Milwaukee and engaged in shipping on the lakes, having purchased several vessels. Edward W. Voigt, his son, received a good German education before he came to this country; but, being fond of books and quick to learn, he completed the course of study in the Madison public schools, attended the University of Wis- consin, and took a full course of instruction at a com- mercial college. He was of an adventurous disposition, and, on his father's removal to Milwaukee, went by sea to California, and spent a year on the Pacific coast, sail- ing between Vancouver's Island and Mexico. Return- ing home in 1864, he was second mate in his father's schooner. "Columbian." The following winter he studied navigation at Boston, Massachusetts, and during the next season was master of the "Columbian," which sailed between Buffalo and Chicago, being then the youngest captain on the lakes. In the meantime, his father, having found the shipping business unprofitable, sold out, and established a brewery in Detroit for the manufacture of lager beer. In 1871 Mr. Voigt, having acquired a knowledge of the details of the business during boyhood, succeeded his father, and is now the sole proprietor of the brewery. By enterprise, thorough system, and careful supervision of his extensive business, he has, in the course of a few years, become the largest and best-known brewer in the State. The first year two thousand barrels were manufactured; but the demand has steadily increased, and now he makes and sells eighteen thousand barrels of beer every year in Mich- | the field, and was appointed, by Governor Blair, as Relief
1.1 ERNOR, BENJAMIN, Insurance Agent, of De- troit, was born in Albany, New York, October 23, 1820. His father was John T. Vernor, whose ancestors came from Ireland about the year 1700, and settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His mother's father, Jeremiah Smith, was a native of Claverack, New York, and was born, January 1, 1761. Mr. Vernor's educa- tion was received at the Albany Academy. In 1839 he went to Oswego, New York, and engaged in mercantile business; and, in 1840, removed to Detroit. Remain- ing there a few months, he went to Marshall, Michigan, as manager of De Graff & Townsend's hardware store. In 1843 he went to Jackson, Michigan, to take charge of the contract for the same firm, at the State-prison, in the manufacture of stone and hollow-ware. Upon the death of Mr. Townsend, the junior partner of the firm, in 1846, he returned to Detroit as the chief clerk of Mr. H. De Graff, the surviving partner. He soon after entered into partnership with his employer and Silas N. Kendrick, in the hardware and machinery business, which was continued until it was merged into the Detroit Locomotive Works, of which Mr. Vernor was Secretary and Treasurer until 1852. In that year, he retired from this business, and, in partnership with E. A. Lansing, engaged in the insurance agency. The latter left the firm at the end of the year; and, since that time, Mr. Vernor has acted, not only as local, but as general agent of Michigan, for various insurance companies, having built up an extensive business. Mr. Vernor was connected with the volunteer fire depart- ment from the time he first came from Detroit, and, before the era of steam fire-engines, held the offices of Secretary and President of the department. In April, 1870, he became a member of the Board of Fire Commis- sioners of the city of Detroit, which appointment he still holds. He has given much of his time and labor towards making the department one of the best in the country ; and its excellence is due, in no small degree, to the zeal of the Commissioners in their work. He has been, for a number of years, a member of the Board of Directors of the Merchants' and Mechanics' Bank, of Detroit; also a Director in the Eureka Iron Company. During the civil war, he interested himself greatly in the welfare and comfort of the soldiers in
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Agent. He established a supply depot in Detroit, for | living. When eleven years of age, he went to Hamil- the reception of articles of comfort and luxury for the |ton, Madison County, New York, to live with an older soldiers, which were forwarded by Mr. Vernor to the brother, Ferdinand Walker, now of Brooklyn. Hle different Michigan regiments in the field. In his early years, Mr. Vernor affiliated with the Whig party; and, of late, has been an active Republican, though he has been in no sense a politician.
AN DYKE, PHILIP J. D., of Detroit, was born in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, on the 28th of June, 1843. He is the second son of Hon. James A. and Elizabeth (Desnoyer) Van Dyke. His father was a leading member of the Detroit bar, whose reputation extended not only through Michigan, but to the adjoining States. He died at Detroit in 1855. Mr. Van Dyke entered St. John's College, at Fordham, Westchester County, New York, in 1857, and graduated in June, 1863, receiving a gold medal, given for the best essay, the subject being Daniel O'Connell. After his graduation, he returned to Detroit, and entered, as a student, the law office of Hon. George V. N. Lothrop, where he remained three years. After an examination before a full bench of the Supreme Court, he was admitted to practice as an attorney and coun- selor at law. In 1868 he was elected Prosecuting Attor- ney for the county of Wayne, and was re-elected in 1870. He filled the position, not only with great credit to himself, but also with entire satisfaction to the people. Mr. Van Dyke has been President of the St. Anthony's Orphan Asylum, of Detroit, and of the Lafayette engaged in the practice of his profession. After a legal Societe de Bienfaisance. He is a member of the Roman Catholic Church. He was married, September 4, 1867, to Marion King, daughter of Daniel King, of Green Bay, Wisconsin. She died on the 24th of July, 1868. November 15, 1870, he married Sarah Beeson, daughter of Ilon. Jacob Beeson, of Detroit. Four sons have been born to them, three of whom are living. Mr. Van Dyke is how actively engaged in the practice of law, and is associated with Mr. H. F. Brownson. Although still young, he has attained to some eminence at the bar, and is an attorney of considerable prominence.
ALKER, HON. EDWARD CAREY, Lawyer, of Detroit, was born at Butternuts, Otsego County, New York, July 4, 1820. Ilis father was Stephen Walker, of Providence, Rhode Island; and his mother was Lydia (Gardner ) Walker, of Nan- tucket, Massachusetts. Mr. Walker is the youngest in a family of thirteen children, eight of whom are now
received fine educational advantages at Hamilton Academy, under the instruction of Prof. Zenas Morse and Nathan Bishop, the latter of whom is now a dis- tinguished citizen of New York City. Upon his fifteenth birthday, he accepted an offer from William J. McAlpine, then resident engineer on the Chenango Canal, to enter his corps as a rodman. He became greatly interested in engineering, and pursued it faith- fully for two years. As he was about to be transferred to the Black River Canal, he was thrown from a buggy, receiving injuries which prevented a return to the field. In 1837 he went to Detroit, Michigan, to visit his sister, Mrs. Alexander C. McGraw. His brother-in-law, seeing that he was unable to continue the practice of engineering, offered to educate him for a profession. Mr. Walker studied three years at Detroit, most of the time under the instruction of C. W. Fitch, D. D., Principal of the Branch University. No pains were spared in fitting him for Yale College, which he entered, as a Junior, in 1840. Hle graduated in 1842, in the class with the late Prof. James Hadley and Prof. Z. A. Porter, and at once began the study of law, which he continued for three years. During the first and third years, he studied with the distinguished firm of Joy & Porter ; he spent the second year at the Cambridge Law School, under the tutorage of Judge Story and Professor Greenleaf. Among his classmates were Anson Burlingame and Rutherford B. Hayes. In 1845 he was admitted to the bar at Detroit, and has ever since been ; practice of five years, during which time he was alone, he solicited his next older brother, Charles I. Walker,- now Judge Walker, of Detroit,-to become his partner. They carried on a successful business for several years, under the firm name of C. I. & E. C. Walker, when Alfred Russell united with the firm, which was then changed to Walkers & Russell. C. I. Walker afterwards withdrew, to become professor in the law school; and Mr. Russell retired from the firm on his election as United States District Attorney. Mr. Walker then received ('harles A. Kent as partner, and the present firm of Walker & Kent was formed in 1862. In 1863 Mr. Walker was elected a Regent of the University for a term of two years. In 1865 he was re-elected for eight years; and, in 1873, he was again elected, having been Chairman of the Executive Committee during the whole period. In 1867 he was elected a member of the Legislature, and became Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the House. Mr. Walker's parents were members of the Society of Friends, but he became a Presbyterian in early youth, and has been an elder in the Fort Street Presbyterian Church since 1854. Ile
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was formerly a Whig, and afterwards became a Repub- | ments. After visiting Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and lican. He was present at a meeting in Detroit, in 1854, of a dozen persons, who planned to organize a new party, which was soon afterwards christened "Repub- lican," at the Jackson convention. Mr. Walker married, June 16, 1852, Miss Lucy Bryant, only daughter of Deacon Abner Bryant, of Buffalo, New York. They have two children,-a son and a daughter,-the former of whom, Bryant Walker, is a graduate of the Michigan University, in the class of 1876.
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