USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Chronography of notable events in the history of the Northwest territory and Wayne County > Part 31
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JOHN S. NEWBERRY.
" The care of National commerce, the fostering of those enterprises which tend to develop natural resources and the encouragement of home manufacturing industries, redound more to the riches and prosperity of the public than any other act of our gov- ernment."
Such was the sentiment expressed and practically demonstrated by the subject of this sketch in his public and private life.
In respect to his public life, it was exceedingly unfortunate for the First Congressional District, that he withheld his consent to serve a second term in Congress, as his last effort in that body furnished the evidence as to his profound knowledge of the kind of legislation needed to command the respect of other nations for our commercial rights. The principles enunciated and the logical manner of their pre- sentation gained for him the commendation and recognition of not only
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the statesmen of his own, but also that of other nations, and furnished the basis of adjustment for questions which had long vexed the wisdom of legislators at home and abroad.
But while his desire to have these principles embodied in a funda- mental law to govern the action of our government was strong, yet there were so many distasteful details connected with the life of a congressman, which, together with his extensive business enterprises requiring his attention, induced him to withdraw from public life and devote his time to the development of industries, which, perhaps, have contributed as much in promoting the interests of the general public of his own State as he could have done had he continued in Congress.
Some one has said, "A writer of lives may descend with pro- priety to minute circumstances and familiar incidents." The object of the Wayne County Pioneer and Historical Society in publishing these sketches is to preserve the record of those men who in their life's acts and deeds have done so much for the State in securing its present prosperous condition, and hence, employing the license given us, we proceed to detail the various events and transactions connecting the subject of this sketch with the moral, educational and material growth of our city and State.
Hon. John Stoughton Newberry was a descendant of Thomas Newberry, who removed from England and settled in the Province of Massachusetts, near what is now Dorchester. On the maternal side his ancestors were of the Phelps family, from whom sprang the Hon. Edward J. Phelps, of Vermont, ex-Minister to England. His father, Elihu Newberry, and his mother, Rhoda Phelps, were born and mar- ried at Windsor, Connecticut, from whence they removed to Water- ville, Oneida county, New York, where the subject of this sketch, John Stoughton Newberry, was born November 18th, 1826. He removed with his parents to Detroit in 1835. They subsequently removed to Romeo, Michigan, where he attended a branch of the Michigan Uni- versity and prepared for college under the tutorship of the late Charles W. Palmer, of Pontiac.
Mr. Newberry entered the sophomore class of the University at Ann Arbor, and graduated as valedictorian at the age of eighteen, and at once engaged in the practical work of surveying and engineering with the late Colonel J. M. Berrien, then chief civil engineer of the Michigan Central railroad. He continued two years in this work, and after a year spent in travel, entered the law office of VanDyke & Emmons, commenced the study of law, was admitted to the bar in 1853 and at once entered active practice, making admiralty a specialty. Perhaps there were few attorneys who were as well prepared for the practice of this branch of law as Mr. Newberry. He was not only familiar with the laws applying, but also with the science of managing
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and sailing a vessel, and the laws of navigation. His practice extended and he soon had cases in every United States Court in the northwest. His work on admiralty cases arising on the northern and northwestern lakes and rivers is extensively quoted and used as reference.
In 1862 was the period when his sagacity led him to demonstrate that the prosperity of a nation and its road to substantial wealth lay in the encouragement and establishment of manufacturing industries. The manufacturing of railroad cars was established on Third street, but from some cause was in a languishing condition. Mr. Newberry was impressed with the belief that the business should be made a success, and associating with him the Hon. James McMillan, the Michigan Car Company was organized, which from an enterprise employing fifty men, now averages fifteen hundred. This led to the organization of the following: The Detroit Car Wheel Company, the Fulton Iron and En- gine Works, the Baugh Steam Forge Works, the Detroit Railroad Ele- vator, The Iron Star Company, The Vulcan Iron Company, and the organization of a company for the construction of the Detroit & Mar- quette railroad; besides, he was one of the principal stockholders in several other manufacturing enterprises. His interests in these necessi- tated his withdrawal from the practice of his profession. While these enterprises added to his personal wealth, thousands have participated in the results of the energy and foresight which initiated their inaugur- ation and successful management. The great benefit to the State in the rapid development of its resources, through the agencies thus established, can hardly be estimated, and we leave it for the imagi- nation of the reader to determine what the condition of Michigan and the city of Detroit would have been had they not existed.
The only public position held by Mr. Newberry, aside from that of member of Congress, was that of provost marshal for Michigan, to which he was appointed by President Lincoln in 1862, and which, at the end of two years, he resigned. We have already alluded to the service rendered by him while a member of Congress. Foreign, as well as the public journals of our own country, have paid more than ordinary deference to the views, policy and measures advanced and advocated by him.
Mr. Newberry, in his religious convictions, was a Presbyterian, and while doing much for that denomination, we venture the assertion that there is not a church or an educational or benevolent institution in the city of his adoption but has been the beneficiary of his gener- osity. To specify, or attempt to individualize the many ways and numerous objects for which Mr. Newberry has disbursed his accumula- tions, would partake of fulsomeness. No better index to the personal · character of Mr. Newberry can be written than the following. The occasion was the almost entire destruction, by fire, of the organ, and
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much of the inside work of the Memorial church. While discussing the disaster, this note was placed in the hands of the Rev. D. M. Cooper: "Mindful of the damage to your beautiful chapel this morning, and remembering the boyhood and college days you and I spent together, and that this Memorial church on its dedication day shall be free from any debt, will you allow me to pay for the repairs that may be necessary. Yours, as ever, in love and fellowship,
[Signed]
JOHN S. NEWBERRY."
In 1855 Mr. Newberry married Harriet Newell Robinson, of Buffalo. She died in 1856, leaving one son. He married again, in 1859, Miss Helen Handy, of Cleveland. Two sons and one daughter are the fruits of this latter union.
Mr. Newberry departed this life at Detroit, January 2, 1887.
IRA MAYHEW.
Ira Mayhew, LL. D., was born in Ellisburg, Jefferson county, N. Y., in the year 1814. He is a lineal descendant of Thomas Mayhew, Governor and patentee of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and Elizabeth Isles, who commenced a settlement at Edgertown, Martha's Vineyard, in 1642, and was a clergyman of note, as were many of his descendants, the sacerdotal order, in fact, continuing unbroken in this family upwards of one hundred and sixty years. Ira's parents, Wadsworth Mayhew and Anna Cooper Mayhew, both of Cambridge, Washington county, N. Y., were married in 1805, and removed a few years after to Jeffer- son county, in the same State. The subject of this sketch was the fourth of a family of seven children, of whom himself and his youngest sister are the only survivors. He attended the common schools of the country, and pursued a course of study at Union Academy, Belleville, in his native town. In 1832, at the age of eighteen, he was employed to teach school in the district where he was born. Teachers, like poets, are born, not made, and he thus early showed his aptitude for this line of work. Being interested himself, he secured the interest and conse- quent advancement of his pupils. So successful was he that, contrary to the usual custom, he was retained for the summer school also.
At the conclusion of this engagement, he went west, spending a year in Detroit, Michigan, and Perrysburg, Ohio, teaching and survey- ing. Returning, he resumed the work of teaching in his native county. In the summer of 1836, his health having become impaired, he took an ocean voyage to the banks of Newfoundland, but engaged again in teaching on his return.
In 1839, he received the appointment of Common School Visitor for
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his native county. His effective work here, in connection with his suc- cess as a teacher, was such that when, in 1841, as the result of the labors and reports of these visitors, the first provision in this country was made for county superintendents of schools, he received the appointment to this position in Jefferson county, where he rendered signal service to the cause of education.
In November, 1843, Professor Mayhew removed with his family to Monroe, Michigan, where he soon engaged in teaching, the Board of Regents of the University constituting his school a branch of the Uni- versity.
Hardly a year elapsed before he was nominated by Governor John S. Barry for State Superintendent of Public Instruction. This nomina- tion was confirmed by a concurrent vote of the Senate and House of Representatives in joint convention, and in March, 1845, Mr. Mayhew entered upon the duties of the office. Two years later, nominated by Governor Alpheus Felch, he was re-elected for a second term.
In this broader field of work than he had before occupied, he showed himself equal to the occasion, working not merely, or even chiefly, with schools and teachers, but undertaking with abundant suc- cess, to influence public opinion, and interest the people of the State in the improvement of the schools of the State. At this time the State University had not graduated a class, its work having been of necessity, chiefly academic. No normal school had been provided, nor had teachers' institutes been organized in the State.
After a survey of the situation, and upon careful investigation and consideration, he arranged for a series of public meetings to be held at various points through the State. As the M. C. R. R. at that time extended only from Detroit to Marshall, the M. S. R. R. from Monroe to Hillsdale, and the D. & M. R. R. from Detroit to Pontiac, (and there were no other railroads in the State), he was compelled to make many of his tours on horseback. He travelled thus for over five hun- dred miles, with almost daily appointments for a period of six weeks or more. This laborious undertaking was productive ¡of great good, awakening a general and lively interest in the cause of education throughout the State. Later, he arranged and conducted a series of teachers' institutes entirely without State aid. In numerous instances, persons walked five or six miles to attend his lectures, and teachers came from fifteen to twenty miles to attend the institutes, where the only modes of travel were on foot and by carts or wagons drawn by oxen. These institutes had an aggregate attendance of several hun- dred young men and women, teachers, or persons preparing to teach. Superintendent Mayhew himself lectured and taught in all of them, and was ably assisted by Professor A. S. Welch, since Principal of the State Normal School (not then established), and later President of the Iowa
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Agricultural College, and U. S. Senator from Florida, to fill vacancy, and by others. Among the teachers in attendance who have since become prominent in the educational work of Michigan and the country, are Professor J. M. B. Sill, formerly City Superintendent of Schools in Detroit, and now Principal of the State Normal School; Professor Joseph Estabrook, since prominent as a teacher and educator, and now our able Superintendent of Public Instruction; and Hon. Edwin Willets, who has recently been both Principal of the Normal School and President of the Agricultural College, and now of the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.
Mr. Mayhew, in his reports, recommended the establishment of a Normal School, and the extending of State aid to Teachers' Institutes. He also thus early called the attention of the Legislature and of the Board of Regents to the fact that the terms upon which the grant of lands by Congress for the establishment of the University was made, and their acceptance by the State, required that that institution be opened to women as well as to men, the grant being for no one sex, but for the benefit of the people of the State generally. During these two terms of office, Superintendent Mayhew dedicated, at Jonesville, the first Union school house built in the State, and aided in the organiz- ation of the first public school organized on the Upper Peninsula.
In January, 1849, Superintendent Mayhew, by invitation of the Legislature, delivered several lectures on Education, and the Michigan School System, in the Representatives' Hall, which the House and Senate by resolution invited him to prepare for publication in book form, embodying with them such other matter as in his judgment would tend to the improvement of our system of public instruction. The following year he therefore devoted to the preparation of this work, which, under the title, " Means and Ends of Universal Educa- tion," has for many years been a volume of the Teachers' Library, pub- lished by A. S. Barnes & Company, of New York.
Being convinced that our common schools should prepare boys and girls for the common avocations in which the majority of them would inevitably engage, Professor Mayhew now prepared an elemen- tary Book-keeping, which he believed would give additional interest even to the study of the three "R's," besides better fitting the rising generation for their future duties in life. The favor with which this little book was received showed the wisdom of his conclusions. Up to this time book-keeping had not been an authorized school study, even in the city of New York, our commercial emporium; but this work was largely instrumental in introducing this subject both there and else- where, until at the present day it is almost universally taught.
In the fall of 1853, Mr. Mayhew was elected Principal of the Albion Seminary (now Albion College). This is the first and only
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instance of the election of a layman to this position. He was connected with this institution only about fifteen months, for on the organization of the Republican party in 1854, he was again nominated for Superin- tendent of Public Instruction, which position he again held for two terms. In his last election he received the largest majority on the State ticket.
In 1859, at the close of his term of office, Mr. Mayhew engaged for a time in a private banking business. In 1860 he also organized and took charge of the Albion Commercial College. In March, 1863, he received from President Abraham Lincoln the appointment of Col- lector of Internal Revenue for the Third District of Michigan, and later was also made Receiver of Commutation Moneys. He, however, con- tinued the care of his College, and after closing his labors for the Government, engaged in the preparation of a large work on book- keeping and business, especially adapted to the needs of Business Colleges. This was published in 1867, and the following year he removed his College to Detroit, continuing in charge of it until 1883, thus devoting twenty-five years to business college work after retiring from his official connection with the public schools.
In 1878, the leading business college men of the country formed an association for the improvement of these valuable institutions, of which the Hon. Ira Mayhew was chosen first president, and in which he con- tinues to take an active interest.
In 1884, after retiring from the care of a college, he prepared and published another volume on book-keeping, presenting a short, strong course for graded and high schools. In 1888, his most comprehensive work on this subject, for colleges and the counting-room, was pub- lished, which is received with unprecedented favor.
Although Professor Mayhew engaged at an early day in teaching, with only an academic education, his earnest and successful work as a teacher and school officer brought him, in 1848, the degree of A. M. from a New England university. Continuous and fruitful labors in these lines, and his valuable educational publications, in 1876, brought him the degree of LL. D.
Dr. Mayhew was married in 1838 to Adeline Sterling, daughter of Joseph and Emilia Sterling, of Adams, N. Y. Mrs. Mayhew died in the autumn of 1887, in the fiftieth year of their married life, as they were anticipating celebrating their golden wedding. The Doctor, although now well advanced in years, retains his interest in both the public schools and business colleges, to which he has devoted his life, and can usually be found in their annual meetings, considering with unabated enthusiasm all plans for educational improvement. Since early life he has been an active and consistent member of the M. E. Church, and an earnest worker in the cause of temperance.
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MARTIN GEIGER.
Martin Geiger was born in Angelica, N. Y., May 2, 1815, and has been a resident of Detroit since 1833. Was married to Ann Elizabeth Christian, May 3rd, 1838. Was for many years engaged in the print- ing business, latterly in the wholesale selling of stoneware, glassware and crockery. He had an extensive trade in the United States and Canada, and was recognized as an enterprising, honest, straightforward man, by all who knew him, and was much esteemed by his fellow citizens of Detroit. He lived to see the rapid and substantial growth of Detroit, from a village of 6,000 to a city of 250,000 in population.
He died January 29th, 1884, leaving his wife, Ann Elizabeth, and one daughter to survive him. (After the above was,written, the com- piler was informed of the death of Mrs. Geiger, which occurred May 24, 1889.)
AUGUSTUS D. BORDENO.
The subject of this memoir belonged to one of the old French families of Wayne county, his ancestors emigrating directly from France at an early period. He was the very soul of honor, of great energy and earnestness in action, and a man whose word could not be questioned.
Mr. Bordeno was born in Detroit, January 3d, 1811, and from youth to manhood was subjected to the privations and hardships inci- dent to frontier life, and therefore his education was limited, so far as a knowledge of books was concerned.
He served during the Mexican War as orderly sergeant in Com- pany "D," Fifteenth Regiment Michigan Infantry, and at its close was discharged with high commendations for his courage and honest pat- riotism as a brave soldier.
When the call for troops was made in 1861, he was one of the first to tender his services in support of the government, and enlisted in the First Michigan Cavalry under Colonel Thornton F. Brodhead. His son, John A. Bordeno, who was born in Delray, October 11th, 1842, was also a member of this regiment. Both served until disabled, when they were honorably discharged.
Sergeant A. D. Bordeno married Miss Victoria LeFaux, by whom he had twelve children, of whom John A. was one. The latter married Miss Rosa Dupre Wells, June 13th, 1868, and still lives at Delray. He also is a stirring, energetic man of high sense of honor and strict integrity.
Sergeant A. D. Bordeno died January 3d, 1884.
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WILLIAM A. BUTLER.
The following is an extract from the Detroit Tribune:
" William A. Butler, the well-known Detroit banker and financier, was born at Deposit, N. Y., some seventy-six years ago, worked three years in a wholesale dry goods establishment in New York city and in a retail store at Northampton, Mass., for two years, and came, a single man, to Detroit in 1836. He engaged in the dry goods business on Jefferson avenue, being associated at first with Darius Lamson, now long deceased, under the firm name of Lamson & Butler. Of a lively disposition, Mr. Butler was a good-looking young man, as he is now a good-looking and well-preserved old gentleman, with white hair and mustache, and was a favorite among the younger members of that early Detroit society, masculine as well as feminine.
" Among his feminine acquaintances was an estimable young lady of Ypsilanti who, many years ago, went over to join the silent majority, and often on a Saturday night, and at other convenient times, the rising young business man boarded one of the great stage coaches, which at that period, before the railroad era, formed the only means of com- munication between the metropolis and the thinly-settled interior of the Territory and State, and went down to call on her.
"It was on the occasion of one of these visits to Ypsilanti that Mr. Butler formed the acquaintance of another young lady, nineteen years old and pretty, from the town of Adams, Jefferson county, New York, who was visiting in the family of Dr. Millington at the Normal school. Her name was Miss Mary A. Harter, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Harter, of Adams, and the acquaintance thus formed was continued by correspondence after the young lady returned to her New York home. The result was that after a years' courtship, Mr. Butler made preparations for one of the three events which are accounted the most notable in human life, and left Detroit one day, being united in marriage with Miss Harper at Adams, September 12th, 1839.
"The young married couple took up their residence, on reaching Detroit, on Congress street, between First and Cass streets, next to where Frederick Buhl resided. Mr. Butler's partner in the dry goods venture retired and he conducted the business alone for some time. He was, however, a believer in the fatalistic doctrine as applied to the occupation which men shall follow during life, and had become con- vinced that nature had equipped him for financiering, instead of for the dry goods trade. He was for two years silent partner with the late A. H. Dey in a private bank, and in 1849 he started in the banking busi- ness for himself, the firm name being Bailey & Butler at first and after- ward William A. Butler.
"In 1870 he organized the Mechanics' National Bank in this city, of
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which, with headquarters in the Butler Block, which he built at 82 and 84 Woodward avenue, he has been president ever since. For twenty years he has been a stockholder in the Detroit Fire and Marine Insur- ance Company, and for the past five years has been president of the corporation. His first home on West Congress street was occupied but about a year, and he has since built three residences at different times and in different portions of the city. His present elegant and commodious home on the corner of Lafayette avenue and Third street was begun in 1873 and has been occupied by him since 1875. Mr. and Mrs. Butler's children are three in number, Edward H., William A., Jr., and Frederick E. Butler, all of whom have attained recognition as men of ability in Detroit banking circles.
JOHN C. HOLMES.
John C. Holmes the eighth president of the State Historical and Pioneer Society, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, Sept. 29th, 1809. He obtained his education at the public and grammar schools of his native town. At the age of 26 he decided to find a home in the west, and after a tedious journey by stage, he arrived in Detroit on the 5th day of March, 1835. He immediately entered the employment of John and Mason Palmer, with whom he remained until 1840, when, John and Mason Palmer having dissolved, Mr. Holmes entered into partner- ship with John, which firm continued until 1853. While Mr. Holmes was still in the dry goods business, having a taste for horticulture, he had planted a nursery near the city limits, and on retiring from mer- chandising he gave his whole attention for a number of years to horti- cultural pursuits. In 1847 he was elected president of the Detroit Hor- ticultural Society, and became the editor of the horticultural department of the Michigan Farmer. In 1849 he suggested the organization of the Michigan State Agricultural Society, and became its secretary, serving it in that capacity until 1857. While secretary of the State Society, he conceived the idea of establishing a State Agricultural College, indepen- dent of all other institutions of learning. The idea was put in form by petitioning the Legislature, which resulted in the passage of an act for establishing, and making an appropriation, for the purchase of a farm and the construction of buildings. The college was dedicated and opened for students May 15th, 1857. Mr. Holmes was appointed treasurer and professor of horticulture. He was president of the State Horticultural Society from 1854 to 1857. In 1873 he became a mem- ber of the Wayne County Historical Society, and was its president from 1882 until his death, which occurred suddenly December 16th, 1887. Professor Holmes was a man of kind and equitable temperament, unos-
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