USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan > Part 108
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also all repairs are made. This is recognized as the model machine shop in the city of De- troit. Of the various other mechanical de- partments under the supervision of Mr. Wilkie it may be well to offer a brief review. In the printing department are employed one hun- dred persons, and the presses in use comprise five Mehle cylinders, one Optimus and one Cottrell cylinder, and fifteen jobbers. Here are printed three medical journals, all the labels used by the company, price lists, stationery and all the advertising matter. This department uses thirty tons of paper monthly. Every known language is employed in the prepara- tion of the advertising matter, which goes to all sections of the world. In the box factory employment is given to one hundred and twenty-five operatives, and this is the second largest box manufactory in Detroit. All boxes and special packages used by the company are here manufactured and are of the highest grade. In the glass works are manufactured all the small glass appliances utilized in the laboratories, as well as special containers and anti-toxin tubes. The machinery of the great power plant is operated by individual motors whenever practicable, and one hundred motors are thus utilized. The entire plant is operated by electricity, and the total power generated is equal to that of two thousand horses. The plant has a separate pumping station and the most effective apparatus and facilities for fight- ing fire. Mr. Wilkie is in full control of all these departments, with the title of mechanical superintendent. It is needless to say that manifold and great responsibilities rest upon him, but he has proven equal to every emer- gency and is one of the most valued of the many executives of the great concern with which he is thus identified. His invention of the capsule machinery places him in the front rank of mechanical experts and inventors. He was one of the organizers of the Massnick Manufacturing Company, of Detroit, and was treasurer of the same in 1904-5.
In politics Mr. Wilkie gives his allegiance to the Republican party, and he and his wife
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are members of the New Jerusalem church (Swedenborgian). Mr. Wilkie has attained to the thirty-second degree in Scottish Rite Masonry, being identified with the Scottish Rite bodies in Detroit, and also with the ad- junct organization, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
In 1876 Mr. Wilkie was united in marriage to Miss Adah Zillah Warren, daughter of John L. Warren, one of the pioneer manufac- turers of capsules in America, and they have five children,-Warren, who is individually mentioned on other pages of this work; Edith Louise; Hazel Belle; John Chester, who is a member of the class of 1908 in the engineer- ing department of the University of Michigan; and Adah Mary.
RONALD SCOTT KELLIE.
As a representative member of the bar of Michigan, a recognized authority on chancery and admiralty law, and as a citizen of the city of Detroit who for some thirty years has been actively identified with its growth and devel- opment, Mr. Kellie merits distinctive recog- nition in this publication. He is especially for- tified in his wide and comprehensive knowl- edge of the science of jurisprudence and he has attained a noteworthy reputation in profes- sional circles.
Ronald Scott Kellie was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on the Ist day of January, 1843, and is a son of the late Rev. John and Isabella (Scott) Kellie. His parental ancestors were Scotch Highlanders inhabiting the island of Isla, among whom were the Erskines, McKin- leys, McDougals, McFarlanes and Blairs. John Kellie, great-grandfather of our subject, was gardener to the Lord of the Isles and called "Ian Mor," meaning "Big John." His wife was born in Kintyre, Argylshire. Gaelic was their native and only tongue. They later became residents of Gourock on the Firth of Clyde. Three sons came to them :- Dugald, Collin and Ronald. Ronald was graduated from the medical department of the University
of Glasgow and attained prominence in his profession and in the sciences. He was one of the pioneers in electrical experimentation and succeeded as early as 1824 in lighting his work room by electric current. He married Christina Brown of Stratchlachlan, Loch, Fyne Side, near Inverary, her tongue being also Gaelic. They had two children, Lachlan and John. John Kellie studied law and was admitted to practice in Glasgow. He was closely identified with the Chartist movement in Great Britain, which had for its object the enforcement of political reforms in the British government that have since been granted as a result of this movement. Although a young man at this time he was in the fore front of the struggle and strenuously preached the motto displayed upon the banner of the Chart- ists,-"peacefully if we can, forcibly if we must." After the treason of Peter Bussey, one of the committee of three for the United Kingdom, who disclosed their plans to the government and through whose treachery the rising in Wales was prematurely begun, and many lives were sacrificed; and after the sen- tence of John Frost, Zephiniah Williams and William Jones, the leaders of the movement in Wales, was cummuted to simple banish- ment, he left Scotland and came to the United States and settled in Sanilac county, Michi- gan, where he resumed the practice of his profession. He was one of the most active factors in the organization of that county and was appointed one of a committee to make re- search and extract such matter as was perti- nent from the records of St. Clair county from which it was formed. After several years of legal practice he studied for the ministry and was ordained in the Methodist Episcopal church, and in this profession he performed work of great and lasting value. He was for several years stationed in the city of St. Clair and during his pastorate there he was instru- mental in the building of the present church edifice. He also labored in Bay City and Marysville. He was acknowledged as the most gifted extemporaneous speaker of his confer-
Ronald Scott Kellie
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ence and this gift, as well as his early legal training, made him a powerful factor in debate. Possibly his most notable effort in the cause of his church was the six-day debate at Memphis, Michigan, in 1865. The Adventist sect had obtained a strong foothold in that town and the Christian Sabbath had ceased to be ob- served to a large extent. He was ordered by the Detroit conference to Memphis in the in- terests of his church. At his suggestion a committee of three was appointed to pass judg- ment upon a debate of the question at issue, viz., the proper day to be observed as the Sab- bath. The committee consisted of two mem- bers of the Adventist faith and one other, recognized as one of the most representative citizens of the town. The question was de- bated for six days, Mr. Kellie representing the Christian Sabbath, and the unanimous verdict of the committee was in his favor, and the Christian Sabbath was observed from that time on. In 1894 Mr. Kellie retired from the' active duties of the ministry and became a resi- dent of Detroit, where he passed the remain- der of his life. Some time after locating in Detroit, he was called up to fill a vacancy in the Grosse Pointe church, whose members comprised all denominations. After consid- erable urging he was persuaded to remain as its regular pastor and continued to fill its pul- pit for ten years. During his pastorate he succeeded in securing the funds needed to build the present edifice of the congregation and in this labor was strongly supported by the late Joseph H. Berry, who became a warm per- sonal friend. His last years were spent at his home on Fourteenth avenue, Detroit, enjoying the reflections of a life spent for the benefit of his fellow men. Mr. Kellie died on the 8th day of July, 1902. He is survived by his widow and his two sons, Ronald and John
Dr. John Kellie, brother of the subject of this sketch, was graduated from the literary department of the University of Michigan in the class of 1881 and from the medical depart- ment in 1884. Subsequently he engaged in the practice of his profession in San Fran-
cisco, California, and from 1887 to 1902 was in charge of Riverside Sanitarium there. In 1902 he removed to Fishkill-on-the-Hudson, where he assumed charge of the Whitwell Sanitarium. In 1904 he located in Detroit and engaged in general practice.
The maternal ancestors of Ronald Scott Kellie were natives of the Lowlands of Scot- land, and among whom were the Rintouls, Turnbulls, and Scotts, names together with those of his paternal ancestors, that have fig- ured prominently for centuries in Scotland's history. Robert Scott, his grandfather, lived upon his estate in Falkirk and was known as the laird. His daughter, Isabella, was edu- cated by private tutors in her father's home, as was the custom of the time. She married John Kellie and removed with him to Glas- gow. She bore him two sons, Ronald Scott and John, as previously stated.
Ronald Scott Kellie received his early edu- cation in the public schools of Glasgow and in the summer season lived with his highland relatives in Gourock, Rothsay (on the Isle of Bute), and in Dunoon. In 1856 he came to Michigan, where his father had preceded him. At the age of sixteen he began teaching school, and he followed that occupation in several towns on the shore of Lake Huron. Desiring to further equip himself for this profession he entered the Michigan State Normal College, at Ypsilanti, and was graduated therefrom in 1863. The following two years were spent in this vocation, when ill health compelled him to abandon the work. In the summer of 1865 he was appointed manager and attorney for the Charter Oak Life Insurance Company, of Hartford, Connecticut, for the state of Michi- gan. He was also engaged by the committee of Detroit citizens, which included Hon. Thomas W. Palmer, T. W. Tillman and John Owen, and which had been appointed for the purpose of securing funds for the erection of a suitable monument to the soldiers and sailors of Michigan, to aid them in securing funds for that purpose, in furtherance of which ob- ject he delivered patriotic addresses through-
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out lower Michigan, co-operating with the the parents of one daughter, Brownie, the wife late General Byron M. Cutcheon and the Rev. of Cyrenius A. Newcomb, Jr., personal men- tion of whom is printed elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Taylor. The result was the erection of the Soldiers' Monument on the Campus, Mar- tius, Detroit. In 1873 he entered the law de- partment of the University of Michigan and JOHN OWEN, JR. was graduated therefrom, with the degree of Bearing the full patronymic of his honored father, one of the distinguished pioneers and influential citizens of Detroit and one to whom a special memoir is dedicated in this volume, the subject of this sketch has the management of the large family estate and is one of the popular citizens and business men of his na- tive city. Due record concerning the family history is given in the sketch of the life of his father, so that a repetition of the data is not demanded in the present connection. LL. B., in the class of 1876. Shortly after- ward he was admitted to the bar and located for practice in Detroit. In his law practice Mr. Kellie has gained much prestige and suc- cess, having a representative clientage and ap- pearing in connection with important litiga- tions in both the state and federal courts. He is recognized as an authority on chancery and admiralty law, branches in which he has specialized to a great extent.
Mr. Kellie is a man of strong character and powerful individuality, an orator of no mean power and in argument logical and convincing. He is a man of broad culture and is admirably fortified in knowledge of the questions and issues of the hour. He has ever been a loyal and progressive citizen of his adopted country and a firm believer in the future advancement of Detroit, as in the past he has been an active worker in her development. He has been a lifelong Republican, active in the work of his party and of influence in its councils. Office has never appealed to him, and though often solicited to accept nomination he has refused. He is a member of the American, Michigan State and Detroit Bar Associations and the Detroit St. Andrew's Society. In 1906 Mr. Kellie made an extended trip to the British Isles, visiting the spots familiar to his youth, and while there enjoyed the hospitality of Andrew Carnegie as his invited guest at Skibo Castle.
Mr. Kellie married, on the 26th of Decem- ber, 1866, Miss Lucy A. Jenness, daughter of the late Hon. John S. Jenness, of Detroit. Mr. Jenness was for many years the most prominent merchant in Almont, Michigan, and served as a member of both branches of the state legislature. Mr. and Mrs. Kellie are
A son of John and Jane (Cook) Owen, the subject of this review was born in Detroit, on the 18th of August, 1861. His educational training was secured in the public schools of Detroit and under the direction of private tu- tors. In 1879, at the age of eighteen years, he became a clerical employe in the office of the Detroit Dry Dock Company, of which his father was president, and he continued to be identified with the affairs of this corporation in an executive capacity until 1883, after which he passed eighteen months in European travel. Upon his return to Detroit he became private secretary to his father, of whose ex- tensive real-estate interests he became man- ager, thus continuing until the death of his father, on March 20, 1892, when he became manager of the entire estate, having familiar- ized himself with all details regarding the same during his years of active association as private secretary. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Cook Farm Company and has various and important capitalistic interests of a personal order.
In politics Mr. Owen is aligned as a sup- porter of the cause of the Republican party, and he is a member of the Detroit Club, the Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Boat Club and the Detroit Raquet and Country Clubs,- all representative social organizations of his
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native city. He has been prominent in athletic circles for a number of years and at one time held the world's championship as an amateur sprinter for a distance of one hundred yards.
On the 4th of June, 1891, Mr. Owen was united in marriage to Miss Blanche Fletcher, daughter of Charles T. Fletcher, head of the Fletcher Hardware Company, of Detroit, and they have two children,-Helen and John, Jr.
HOMER S. JOHNSON.
Among the sterling and aggressive young business men typically representative of that progressive spirit which is making for the de- velopment of the larger and greater Detroit, the name of the subject of this sketch shines above the industrial horizon in no uncertain way. He is vice-president, secretary and gen- eral manager of the Penberthy Injector Com- pany, of which important manufacturing concern due record is made on other pages of this work, and he is a son of the company's president, S. Olin Johnson, who likewise is the subject of a specific sketch in this volume, so that a further review of the industry and the genealogy are not demanded in the present connection.
Homer S. Johnson was born in the city of Brooklyn, New York, on the 21st of June, 1880, and he was thus about four years of age when, in 1884, his parents took up their resi- dence in Detroit. In the public schools of this city he secured his preliminary educational dis- cipline, after which he continued his studies in the Detroit School for Boys. In 1898 he was matriculated in the academic department of Columbia University, New York city, in which institution he remained a student until 1900, when he withdrew from the same to enter upon his career in connection with practical business affairs. He entered the employ of the Pen- berthy Injector Company, and his experience in connection therewith covers every depart- ment, from the moulding floor to the office and sales departments and executive direction. In 1902, having shown himself amply qualified for the responsibility involved, he was placed
in charge of the branch establishment of the company in Windsor, Ontario, and he did a splendid work in building up the Canadian business of the concern. In 1905 he was elect- ed vice-president and secretary of the Detroit company, and a year later he was made gen- eral manager of the business, being undoubt- edly one of the youngest, if not the youngest, man in Detroit to assume the supervision of so extensive and important an industry. His course since assuming these offices has amply justified the wisdom of the preferment accord- ed, and he has shown his mettle as a thorough, discriminating and broad-gauged young busi- ness man. He is intuitively practical and con- servative in his executive and administrative capacity, and his progressive attitude places him among the foremost of the younger gen- eration of business men in the Michigan me- tropolis. He is democratic and cordial in his makeup, ready to take all men at their true value, and he has a wide circle of loyal friends in the city which has been his home from his childhood days to the present.
In politics Mr. Johnson is aligned as a sup- porter of the cause of the Republican party, and he is a member of the Detroit Club, De- troit Boat Club, Detroit Golf Club, Old Club, at St. Clair Flats, and the Detroit Athletic and Detroit Cricket Clubs. In the annual tourna- ments of the last mentioned he has been an ac- tive participant for several years past, and he has otherwise been a factor in athletic affairs in a direct way. While in Columbia Univer- sity he was a member of its track team which won the relay races in 1898-9, and during his freshman year he was president of his class. He is a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fra- ternity.
FREDERICK G. SKINNER.
Among those who are rendering a due quota of aid in the laudable work of building up the greater and larger industrial Detroit Mr. Skin- ner occupies a place of no secondary promi- nence, since he is identified in a capitalistic and executive way with a number of important manufacturing enterprises and is recognized
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as an alert, progressive and public-spirited citi- zen.
Mr. Skinner is a native of the beautiful lit- tle city of Hamilton, province of Ontario, Can- ada, where he was born on the 2d of Septem- ber, 1861. He is a son of Dr. Ormond Skin- ner, who was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, and who was graduated in the medical department of McGill University, in the city of Toronto, Canada. He became one of the leading physicians and surgeons of the city of Hamilton, where he continued in the practice of his profession until his death, which occurred in 1875. His wife, whose maiden name was Margaret Riddle, was born at Mon- treal and still survives him. Their five chil- dren are all living.
The subject of this sketch was afforded the advantages of the public schools of his native city and in 1875 he was graduated in the Waterdown Collegiate Institute, at Water- down, Ontario. His business career was in- itiated by his taking a clerical position in the offices of Charles Cameron & Company, whole- sale hardware and dealers in brass goods, in Hamilton, and through effective and faithful service he passed through various grades of promotion, and finally, in 1880, became a trav- eling representative of the concern. This po- sition he retained until 1883, when he resigned the same and came to Detroit, where, through the late lamented Governor Hazen S. Pingree, he was given a position as traveling salesman for the wholesale shoe house of Pingree & Smith. He made an excellent record with this well known Detroit concern, with which he remained until 1887, when he accepted a simi- lar position with D. Armstrong & Company, manufacturers of shoes, in Rochester, New York. For this house he covered territory in the west and he continued in its employ until 1892, when he took up his permanent resi- dence in Detroit. In that year he purchased an interest in the business of the McRae & Roberts Company, manufacturers of steam, water and gas goods and appliances of brass. He assumed charge of the sales for the eastern
territory and did much to forward the growth of the enterprise. The Sterling & Skinner Manufacturing Company is the result of this work, and he is now secretary and treasurer of the company, of which specific mention is made on other pages of this work. It was largely through his advice and efforts that this com- pany was organized and incorporated, in 1902, and under the new regime its functions have been amplified and its business greatly expand- ed. He is also vice-president of the Detroit Motor Castings Company, president of the Manufacturers' Power Building Company, and vice-president of the corporation of Cowles & Danziger, manufacturers of steel barrels. Each of these Detroit institutions is individual- ly mentioned in this publication. He is also a stockholder in the Buick Motor Company.
In connection with national and state affairs, where definite issues are involved, Mr. Skinner is arrayed as a staunch supporter of the prin- ciples and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, but in local politics he maintains an independent attitude. He and his wife are communicants of St. Paul's church, Protestant Episcopal, and he is a mem- ber of the Detroit Board of Commerce, the Detroit Club, the Detroit Golf Club, and the Masonic fraternity, including Moslem Temple of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine.
Mr. Skinner is married to Miss Jennie Nel- son, daughter of Robert Nelson, who was for many years engaged in the jewelry business in St. Thomas, Ontario.
WARREN WILKIE.
As assistant superintendent of the capsule department in the great laboratories of Parke, Davis & Company, of whose history a review is given in this publication, Mr. Wilkie is one of the many enterprising and capable young business men whose services are enlisted in connection with this celebrated Detroit insti- tution. He was born in Detroit, on the 9th of February, 1879, and is a son of James
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Wilkie, who is mechanical superintendent of the plant of Parke, Davis & Company and who is the subject of an individual sketch on other pages of this volume.
Warren Wilkie was afforded the advantages of the public schools of his native city, and was graduated in the central high school as a member of the class of 1896. Shortly after- ward he entered the employ of the T. B. Rayl Company, retail hardware dealers of Detroit, with whom he remained until 1898, when he secured a position in the formula department of the establishment of Parke, Davis & Com- pany. In 1900 he was sent to the same de- partment of the New York branch of the in- stitution, and there he remained until 1903, when he was called back to Detroit and given his present position of superintendent of the capsule department. His efficient efforts have not lacked appreciation, as the above state-, ments clearly indicate, and he is practically as- sured of still further advancement. He is iden- tified with various social and fraternal organi- zations in his home city.
THOMAS R. PUTNAM.
One of the able and popular officials of the city of Detroit is Thomas R. Putnam, who is superintendent of meters and inspection for the water-works department and who is recog- nized as a faithful and discriminating execu- tive.
Mr. Putnam was born in Dorchester, Mid- dlesex county, Ontario, Canada, on the 9th of February, 1841, and is a son of Joshua Put- nam, who was a native of Charlestown, New Hampshire, as was also his father, Seth Put- nam. The latter was a leal and loyal soldier in the Continental line during the war of the Revolution, and was a third cousin of the re- nowned General Israel Putnam, who achieved so much of distinction in the great struggle for independence. Joshua Putnam first came to Detroit in 1820, and here he remained for a brief time with his brother William, who was killed in Windsor, Ontario, in 1837, while
serving as a soldier in the Patriot war. He met his death when an attempt was made by Detroit men to capture the village across the river from the Michigan metropolis, which was then but a small town. Joshua Putnam later settled in Middlesex county, Ontario, at a place now called Nilestown, where the pioneers were largely immigrants from the states of Vermont and Massachusetts. In the early '30s Joshua Putnam established a stage line between Sandwich and Hamilton, Ontario, and this line at that time afforded the principal means of transporting freight and passengers between these two points and to intermediate villages. He eventually disposed of this busi- ness and the closing years of his life were passed at Nilestown, where he was a citizen of prominence and influence. There also occurred the death of his wife, whose maiden name was Mary Barrows, and of their children four are now living.
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