USA > Michigan > American Biographical History of Eminent and Self-made Men.: Michigan Volume > Part 9
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New York. His parents, Charles and Willmut Cox, were members of the Society of Friends, errone- : ously called Quakers. In 1536, they removed to Orleans County, Western New York, where they lived to the advanced ages of eighty-eight and eighty-two, respec- tively. They were strictly of the old school in their
ROUL, JEROME, of Detroit, Michigan, Mer- chant, Tanner, and Belt Manufacturer, was born Fat Lyons, New York, March 19, 1829. He character and habits, and were among the pioneers of received his early education in the public schools of his the antislavery party. Their influence still lives in their native place, and graduated from the high school at son's religious and political views. He worked on his ! the age of fifteen. His father died the same year. father's farm until he was nineteen years of age, mean-
Being thrown upon his own resources, he went to while receiving an academic education at Albion, New . Rochester, New York, and spent two years in learning the York. He then commenced the study of medicine. trade of a machinist. He then became clerk in the office of which he had previously determined upon, being influ- Hon. Aaron Erick-on, a large wool dealer in Rochester, enced, no doubt, by the fact that an elder brother had where he remained two years. When twenty years of already graduated from a medical course, and was prac- age, he removed to Detroit, Michigan, and, in partner- ticing in Virginia. Being, for the most part, dependent i ship with J. E. Parsons, of Rochester, under the firm upon his own exertions, he determined to teach and name of Parsons & Croul, engaged in the wool and pursue his studies at the same time. Accordingly, in sheep skin trade. At the end of five years, this partner- the spring of 1851, he went to Prince's Anne County, ship was dissolved, and Mr. Croul formed a new one Virginia, where he taught school, and studied medicine ; with his brother, William II. Croul, under the firm under the direction of his brother, Dr. Isaac Cox, then name of Croul Brothers. In addition to their wool of Pleasant Ridge, in that county. After two years | business, they engaged in tanning leather. They leased spent in this way. he returned to Albion, New York, a tannery for five years ; and then erected the large and immediately engaged in teaching, keeping up his building they now occupy, at the junction of Bloody medical studies under the direction of the old family Run with the Detroit River. In the fall of 1869, and physician, Dr. J. W. Randall. After one year, in the the following winter, they erected a four-story brick spring of 1854, he removed to Kalamazoo County, Michi- building, fifty-one by one hundred and twenty fect, on gan, where he again taught and studied; and, in 1855, the corner of Bates and Atwater streets, which they use went to Ann Arbor. There he continued study under for a leather store and belt manufactory. They have Professor Denton, and taught one year ; and, in the fall made a specialty of the manufacture of leather belting, of 1856, entered the medical department of the Univer- [ and supply hundreds of establishments in Michigan and sity. Ile was the first one to take a full course of
elsewhere. Mr. William II. Croul died February 18, analytical and applied chemistry, together with prac- 1875: and, a year after, Mr. Jerome Croul purchased his tical pharmacy, at that time optional studies, in the interest and became sole proprietor. Mr. Croul was one institution. He then chose the neighboring city of; of the original members of the Detroit Light Guard, Ypsilanti for a location, and built up an extensive and | which was organized in 1855. In 1861 the greater num-
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ber of the members enlisted for the war. Mr. Croul | and remained in that position for six years. In 1864 he took command of the company, numbering eighteen formed a partnership with Mr. Charles S. Witbeck, and they became proprietors of the Russell House, and have continued its management up to the present time. By devoting his whole time and attention to his business, he has been eminently successful as a hotel proprietor; has won an excellent reputation for his house; and has become widely known throughout the State and country at large. He was married, January 18, 1864, to a daughter of General Alpheus S. Williams, of Detroit. men, recruited it to eighty, and held the command two years. In 1862 he was appointed, by Governor Blair, a member of his military staff, and held the position during Governor Blair's, and a part of Governor Crapo's, administration. Mr. Croul was a member of the Mili- tary Contract Board from 1862 until its dissolution, when he was transferred to the State Military Board, on which he remained ten years. In the days of the vol- unteer Fire Department, he was for many years an active fireman. He was Vice-President of the old Fire Department, and for two years its President. In April, 1873, he was appointed, by Mayor Moffat, a member of the Board of Fire Commissioners of Detroit ; and, after serving four years, was re-appointed by Governor Lewis for another term, which he is now serving. He has ยท taken a deep interest in these matters, and has aided materially in bringing the department to its present degree of efficiency. Mr. Croul was one of the organ- izers of the Wayne County Savings Bank and the Safe Deposit Company, and is a Director of the former, and Vice-President of the latter. He is also a Director of the Michigan Mutual Fire Insurance Company, of the Detroit Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and of the Detroit Gas-light Company. In politics, he was a Whig, and has been an ardent Republican since the formation of that party. While he has worked earnestly 'for the interests of his party, he has never aspired to political office. Mr. Croul is an energetic, hard work- ing, cautious business man, and his success is due entirely to his own exertions. He married, in Rochester, New York, in 1856, Ellen Parsons, daughter of Hon. Ezra M. Parsons, a prominent citizen of that place. They have two sons and one daughter now living. The eldest son, Frank, graduated from the Pennsylvania Military Academy, in the summer of 1877; and subsequently became receiving teller in the Wayne County Savings Bank. The youngest son, William, is a cadet in the Michigan Military Institute, at Orchard Lake.
ROFOOT, MICHAEL E., of Pontiac and Detroit, was born in Florida, Montgomery County, New York, on the 14th of March, 1822; and is the son of Charles and Louisa Crofoot. When he was seven years of age, his father removed to Constableville, Lewis County, where he remained for some years. Mr. Crofoot's early educational advantages were confined to the public schools. His great desire was to be able to support himself by teach- ing. In 1836 he went to Rome, New York, to live in the family of B. B. Hyde, a canal collector. Here he re- mained two years, doing chores and attending the public school. He then returned home, engaged in farm work, and attended school a portion of the time, until 1838, when he began teaching to earn the means necessary to finish his education. As soon as he was able, he entered the Temple Hill Academy, at Geneseo, New York, and took a two years' course. In 1841 he undertook the study of medicine, that being the only profession open to his limited means. He continued his studies for about one year, when he engaged to teach at Gates, Monroe County, about four miles from Rochester, New York. In the spring of 1843, acting under the advice of Mr. Monroe, an officer of the school district, and a warm personal friend, Mr. Crofoot entered, as a student, the law office of General H. L. Stevens, then one of the most prominent lawyers of Rochester. He continued his law studies there for a period of three years, teach- ing school during the winter seasons; he also attended to several suits in the Justices' Courts, and some matters in the Police Courts, for which he received some small compensation. In the spring of 1845, General Stevens had business which called him to Michigan, and soon after removed his family to Pontiac, Oakland County, engaging in the practice of law. Mr. Crofoot con- tinued at Rochester in earnest pursuit of his studies. Seven years of preparation were then required to gain admission to the bar, yet four years might be allowed for the study of the classics. During the fall of 1845, he was persuaded by General Stevens to remove to Pontiac. In the winter of 1846, he was admitted to the
GUTENDEN.Y $HITTENDEN, WILLIAM J., of Detroit, was born at Adams, Jefferson County, New York, April 28, 1835. He received his education at the Jefferson County Institute, at Watertown, New York. About the year 1853, he removed to Detroit, and secured a position in the Post-office, which he held about two years, while Colonel Brodhead was Postmaster. He then returned to his home at Watertown, New York, and occupied a position as clerk in a bank for some two or three years, when he again started for the West. He arrived in Detroit in 1858; became a clerk in the bar, since which time he has continued in the regular Russell House, the leading first-class hotel in that city, practice of the law. In 1848 he was elected to the
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office of Probate Judge for Oakland County, and was, and, at an early day, settled in Pomfret, Connecticut, re-elected in 1852, serving his eight years. In 1862 he near the scene of General Putnam's wolf-den exploit. became Prosecuting Attorney ; and, in 1864, was re- elected to the same position. Mr. Crofout has been connected with most of the public enterprises in Pontiac, and has given much encouragement and attention to the public schools. He is interested in the Oakland County Agricultural Society, of which he has been an officer for some years. lle is now a member of the
Ilis father, Colonel Asa C. Dickinson, whose seventy- six years of activity have not yet blunted his extraordi- nary mind, is a native of Nottingham, England; and carly settled in Stonington, Connecticut. In 1848 Mr. Dickinson's parents removed to Michigan, where he has continued to reside. As a boy, he was an earnest student, careful and thoroughly practical. He was Board of Building Commissioners for the Eastern Asylum richly endowed with natural genius, but was, never- for the Insane, situated at Pontiac, and has been i theless, patient and laborious. He was never satisfied appointed a member of the Board of Trustees for the ; to accept a conclusion until he had mastered the rea- administration of the asylum after its completion. He isoning through which it was obtained. After passing believes in the divinity of Jesus Christ, and in the Biblical , through the public schools of Detroit, he spent one doctrines, with no sectarian connection or prejudice. He is an attendant of the Episcopal Church. Hle mar-
term under a private tutor, and then entered the Uni- versity of Michigan. Hle graduated from the law de- ried, on the 29th of October, 1849. Mis, Annie E. partment; but circumstances prevented his taking a Fitch, of Bloomfield, New York. They have three . full classical course. He was now thoroughly imbued sons and three daughters. Mr. Crofoot is distinguished with the spirit and philosophy of the law; and, as soon as a trial lawyer, and in putting in the evidence appli- as he became of age, entered upon its practice in De- cable to the issue. Although he now has an office in troit. His mind, combining, in a peculiar degree, the Detroit, he still retains his residence in Pontiac.
qualification, for a successful worker in the profound and beneficent science, -- law, - would not allow him to treat it as a mere mechanical system. Ilis early habits of patient, thorough, and intelligent research; his intense
OOTS, WALTER H., of Detroit, Sheriff of Wayne : application, and excellent judgment, rapidly secured the County, was born in England, in 1833. Ile confidence of the foremost business men in the city, came, with his parents, to this country in 1844, who intrusted to him the protection of their large and and resided in Brooklyn, New York, until he became of important commercial interests. Such has been his age. After attending school two years, he spent eight ; fidelity, and the success of his honorable management, years in a provision store; and, in 1854, settled in De- that he enjoys the esteem of every business man in troit. Hle established himself in the City Hall Market. Detroit, a, well as of the influential men of other busi- and carried on a successful business until he assumed ness centers. At the same time, he occupies a distin- the duties of Sheriff of Wayne County, on the Ist of , guished position among his professional brethren, who January, 1877. He has always been deeply interested rejoice at a success so worthily won. His generosity in political matters, and is an ardent Republican. As . leaves no room for jealousy; his fairness, no cause for the Republican nominee for Sheriff, he was elected in a ; camping : and his inbred courtesy demands kind regard. Democratic County by a small majority, receiving nearly | The primary cause of his success is his unswerving three thousand votes ahead of his ticket. Mr. Coots ; integrity. The right never appeals to him in vain for has three times become a member of the Common Coun- cil of Detroit, and has served in that capacity five year ..
a defender, and the wrong never finds in him an advo- cate. He has aided largely in molding the bankruptcy He also served a term of three years as member of the : law in Michigan, especially in the Eastern District of
Board of Sewer Commissioner, of the city of Detroit,
the State, where he is regarded as the leading prac-
and remained on duty until the Board was replaced by | titioner. In politics, he is an carnest Democrat. He the Board of Public Works. In 1854, at Syracuse, New : was Secretary of the Michigan Democratic State Cen-
York, he married Miss Fannie Weldon, of England.
tral Committee, during the Greeley campaign of 1872; and was an ardent admirer of Horace Greeley. Mr. Dickinson's energy, clear judgment, and personal mag- netism, were immediately recognized; and, in politics, as well as in law, he is eminently a worker. At the
ICKINSON, DON M., of Detroit, was born at Port Outario, Oswego County, New York, Jan- ! approach of the Presidential campaign of 1876, there uary 17, 1846. His mother was a daughter of was a universal demand, on the part of the Democrats of Michigan, that Mr. Dickinson should be Chairman of the State Central Committee, and manager of the Rev. Jesseriah Holmes, a Puritan, who was widely known and respected for his profound learning and unostentatious piety. Her ancestors came from Wales, | campaign. He accepted the position with reluctance,
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but in obedience to his view that no citizen is justified | former tutor. Mr. Dewey was City Justice of the Peace in avoiding public duty to which he is called unso- licited. The wisdom of their choice was proved by his political management. His personal sacrifices during the campaign were very great. The cause of his party in the State was almost hopeless from the beginning; but, being bold, fearless, intelligent, and inspiring, Mr. Dickinson encouraged the faint-hearted, and made an active worker of every available Democrat. He knew the strength and weakness of his party, and what to do or leave undone in every part of the State. By system- atizing and giving proper direction to the efforts of his friends, he .procured the largest Democratic gain in any State in the Union,-thus securing one of the most wonderful campaigns this country has ever known; and showing that, as a political organizer, he has no superior in the United States. Mr. Dickinson married, June 15, 1869, Miss Frances L. Platt, a lady of superior culture and great strength of character. She is a daughter of Doctor Platt, of Grand Rapids, and a granddaughter of the late Doctor Brigham, of Ann Arbor. Mr. Dick- inson is still young,-the youngest of the really influen- tial men of the West. With his cultured mind, generous heart, unsullied reputation, and masterful purpose, he is destined to stand among the guardians of the country.
in Pontiac for nearly four years. In 1867 he was elected Circuit Judge for the Sixth Judicial Circuit, to fill a vacancy occasioned by the resignation of the Hon. San- ford M. Green. In 1870 he was elected for the full term of six years; but, the salary proving inadequate, he resigned, .September, 1873, and removed to De- troit, where he entered upon the practice of his pro- fession. During his term of office, he held court in the county of Genesee, exchanging with Judge Turner, of that circuit. At the close of the term, the bar of that county, at a special meeting called for that purpose, passed a series of resolutions highly commending the ability and fairness of his judicial decisions, and courte- ous demeanor on the bench. Previous to his second election, the bar of St. Clair County, one of the counties in his circuit, resolved to support him for re-election without regard to political parties; and passed a series of resolutions expressing, in high terms, their confidence in his integrity, fitness, and capability; their great respect for his unblemished reputation, and their appre- ciation of his courteous and dignified demeanor. In 1871 he was elected compiler of the State laws, by the Legislature in joint convention assembled, and completed the same in 1872, with a complete index; aside from his duty as compiler, he added to the margin of the statutes citations of over two thousand adjudicated cases bearing upon the text. Judge Dewey has taken the Chapter degrees of the Masonic Fraternity; but motives of pub- lic policy induced him to retire from active membership when he took his place upon the bench. He has always been a stanch Republican; and is a warm supporter of the civil service and other reforms advocated in the Cincinnati platform of 1876. January 22, 1862, he married Mary G. Mollyneaux, eldest daughter of Samuel R. Mollyneaux, Esq., of Oxford, Butler County, Ohio. They have had three children.
EWEY, HON. JAMES STODDARD, of Detroit, was born in Broome County, New York, Decem- w ber 21, 1831; and is the son of Seth and Mary (Kellogg) Dewey. In 1838 the family removed to La- peer County, Michigan. Here Mr. Dewey received such elementary instructions as the common schools then afforded; and subsequently prepared for college at an academy in Almont, in the same county. His father died in 1848, leaving his family in very limited circum- stances; and Mr. Dewey was compelled to earn the money necessary to complete his education. He worked first in a saw-mill, then on a farm, and afterwards acted as clerk in a dry-goods store in Almont, and Detroit. AVIS, WILLIAM, Inventor, Detroit, Michigan, was the son of a Welsh weaver who emigrated to this country in the year 1800, and settled in Pittsburg, where he commenced the manufacture of cloth by hand looms. Here Mr. William Davis was born, in 1812. At the proper age, he served an apprenticeship in his father's factory, devoting his evenings to study. At the age of eighteen, he entered college, and gradu- ated when he was twenty-one, intending to enter the ministry. After preaching six months in Pittsburg, and teaching a country school in the Alleghany Mountains, he was forced, by continued ill health, to seek some out- door occupation. He turned his attention to market- He finally accumulated sufficient means to enter Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, and graduated from this institution in July, 1858. His uncle, Orange N. Stod- dard, with whom he lived during the four years of his college course, was Professor of Natural Science and Philosophy in the university; and Mr. Dewey assisted him in experimental chemistry and philosophy before the various university classes. In the fall of 1858, Mr. Dewey was employed as assistant principal in the high school at Pontiac, Michigan; and, at the same time, began the study of law. The following year, he entered the law office of Hon. M. E. Crofoot ; in 1860 he was admitted to the bar, and formed a partnership with his | gardening, and conducted this business successfully for
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several years. While engaged in horticulture, he re -; hardware, and the manufacture of tin and copper ware. moved to Columbus, and cultivated what is now known . After twenty years of continued mercantile success, Mr. as the Goodale Park. While there, he kept the famous Dickinson retired from active business life. The culti-
pleasure resort, Northwood, three miles from Columbus. - vation and care of his ten-acre city lot, and forty acres In 1853 Mr. Davis established himself in Detroit, Mich- of pasture and meadow land, together with the care of igan, and became interested in pisciculture; he then set ' a large amount of real estate in the city, occupies his earnestly to work to invent some means by which fish, meats, and fruits could be preserved for transportation in the warm season. His efforts were crowned with success.
;entire time and attention. From childhood he accepted the teachings of the Christian religion, except in the formal union with a church. Although a regular attend- He invented a refrigerator, and a refrigerating car, in | ant of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Detroit, the kind which the temperature is always near the freezing point. and urgent admonitions of bishop and rector had This car has been in use for a number of years past for . never touched his heart as did the few words of his transporting meats, fish, and fruits over the whole country. ; daughter Harriet; under God, these led to his conver- Mr. Davis is also the inventor of an apparatus for freez- ! sion and baptism a month before his death. One morn- ing fish, which has proved useful and profitable. In'ing, learning that his family had assembled in his room politics, he was an old-line Whig, and is now a stanch | to witness the baptism of his infant grandchild, he Republican. At the beginning of the civil war, in 1861, Ianswered with quiet simplicity, "I should like to be bap- he organized, at Detroit, the first Union League Club tized." The ordinance was administered, first to the formed in the State, and was its first pre-iding officer. aged grandfather, who was not able to raise from his . He never held any public office. In 1833 he married, in ' chair, and then the infant grandson. On the 27th of Pittsburg, Mary Ann Sumner. He died, in Detroit, in September, 1831, Mr. Dickinson married Maria Loraine 1868, aged fifty-six, leaving a widow and six children.
Wesson, only daughter of Rev. William B. Wesson, of Hardwick, Worcester County, Massachusetts, where, for several years, he was pastor of the Congregational Church. Mr. Dickinson's family comprised thirteen children, -six son- and seven daughters, - of whom four
ICKINSON, MOSES FIELD, Detroit, Michi- sons and four daughters survive him. His career has gan, was the only son of Captain David and been more strictly private than that of most men of his Mary Ann Field ( Warner) Dickinson. Their capacity and energy. He was a Democrat, but took no two daughters, -Mrs. Mary Ann F. Clark, of Hubbard -- more active part in politics than.was involved in casting ton, Massachusetts; and Mrs. Sarah W. Raymond, of West- his vote. The positions of Fire Warden, Moderator of borough, Massachusetts, - are still living. Mr. Dick- the School District, Justice of the Peace, member of the inson was born at Petersham, Massachusetts, on the Board of Education, and Commissioner on the plan of 18th of September, 1800. He attended the Amherst the city, were the ouly public offices he ever held. He Academy, where he pursued the ordinary English was one of the original owners and Directors of the branches of study, evincing a special fondness for mathe- Grand River Street Railroad. Mr. Dickinson was a matics and penmanship. Born and reared on a New dignified, courteous gentleman, reserved in his manners, England farm, his tastes were of the simplest kind ; the j and not given to self-assertion. Domestic in his tastes, time that remained after performing his daties was he did not care to mingle in general society, yet keenly devoted to study and the practice of penmanship. After enjoyed an occasional visit with old friends. The inva- leaving school, Mr. Dickinson went to Enfield, where ; riable rules of his whole life were, never to speculate, he served in the capacity of clerk for Woods & Co., [ never to indorse a note, and never to owe a dollar. merchants and manufacturers of woolen goods. Here Ilis death occurred April 7, 1877.
he remained for several months, at the end of which i time he returned home and engaged in teaching school ;' he also gave instructions in stenography, and practical ; and ornamental penmanship, as opportunity offered. In 1829 he devised and published a stenographic system. . ILLMAN, COLONEL LOUIS, of Detroit, Mich- igan, City Clerk, and Representative in the Leg- . islature, in 1877-78, was born December 25, 1830, He afterwards went to Boston, entering the dry-goods| house of James Brewer, where he remained for a short time, and then removed to Hardwick, acting as clerk for in the city of Friedrichshafen, Kingdom of Wurtemberg, S. F. & E. Cutler. In September, 1831, he came to De- Germany. In the year 1849, being then a journeyman troit, and was employed by l'hinea, Davis & Co. A few , tanner, he took an active part in the Revolution in Ger- years later, he went into business for himself, opening a many; and, in the fall of the same year, considered it store for the sale of all kinds of shelf and house-furnishing ; expedient to remove to the United States of America.
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