USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan > Part 109
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Thomas R. Putnam, the immediate subject of this review, was afforded the advantages of the common schools of his native county, and there he was employed at farm work the major portion of the time until 1859, when he came to Detroit and engaged in the insurance busi- ness, in which connection he traveled extensive- ly. In 1861 he made permanent location in Detroit, where he became identified with the general offices of an insurance company, un- der the management of Colonel Arndt. In 1867 Mr. Putnam became clerk in the city of- fices of the city assessor, and in 1873 he en- gaged in the furniture business at 197 Wood- ward avenue, in company with Albert and John Pixley. He had charge of the books of the concern, whose business was prosecuted under the title of Pixley Brothers. In the same year he was appointed clerk in the office of the receiver of city taxes, and somewhat later he became bookkeeper in the office of the city treasurer, E. C. Hinsdale. On the Ist of January, 1875, he was appointed collector for the city water department, and he remained in tenure of this position until 1889, when he was given further recognition of his faithful and
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able service in being appointed to his present office of superintendent of meters and inspec- tion. The water meters were first installed in the city in the year mentioned. He has since continued to handle the duties of this impor- tant office with marked carefulness and dis- crimination, and his long retention of the po- sition is the best voucher of appreciation. In a fraternal way he is affiliated with the Michi- gan Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
In the year 1859 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Putnam to Miss Elizabeth Van Vliet, daughter of Alvin Van Vliet, who was a native of Pennsylvania, and who became a prominent citizen of La Colle, province of Quebec, Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Putnam have two children,-Herbert J., who is western sales manager for the Thompson Meter Company. of Brooklyn, New York, and who maintains his home in Detroit; and Howard E., who is president of the Gies Gear Company, of which specific mention is made in this publication.
WILLIAM M. PAGEL.
It can not be other than gratifying to note to how great an extent young blood has been infused into the industrial life of Detroit, and the great progress made by the city along all lines of business activity within the past decade is largely due to the fact that young men of distinctive ability and of aggressive enterprise have been enlisted in the work. The subject of the sketch at hand is distinctly worthy of classification among the representative busi- ness men of the younger generation in the Michigan metropolis, and he has been one of the two dominating factors in building up the fine business enterprise now conducted under the title of the Gordon-Pagel Bread Company, of which concern he is secretary and treasurer. An article adequately descriptive of the com- pany and its business is incorporated in another department of this publication.
Mr. Pagel finds much of satisfaction and pride in referring to Detroit as the place of his
nativity. He was born in this city, on the 3d of June, 1874, and is a son of Christian Pagel, who was born and reared in Germany, whence he immigrated to America when a young man. He located in Detroit prior to 1867, and here followed the trade of stone cutting until 1895, since which year he has lived virtually retired. His wife, whose maiden name was Maria Schroeder, is likewise a native of Germany. Both are members of the Lutheran church and in politics he is a supporter of the Republican party.
William M. Pagel was afforded the advan- tages of the unrivaled public schools of De- troit and in 1892 he was graduated in the Detroit Business University. In 1887 he had assumed the position of clerk in the retail grocery of Max Koch, on Joseph Campau ave- nue, and after his graduation from the busi- ness college he was admitted to partnership in the business, under the firm name of the Koch Grocery Company. In 1895 he retired from this firm and established himself individually in the retail grocery trade, at 222 Field ave- nue, where he built up a most successful enter- prise. He continued this business until 1900, when he disposed of the same to enter into partnership with James C. Gordon, under the firm name of Gordon & Pagel. They forth- with established a bakery at the corner of Chene and Hendricks streets, and by their careful management and progressive methods they made the venture one whose success was insistently cumulative. The final result was that it was found expedient, to meet the ever increasing demands placed upon their institu- tion, to form a stock company, and in July, 1907, the Gordon-Pagel Bread Company was organized and incorporated. Mr. Pagel be- came the secretary and treasurer upon the in- corporation of the business and he has since had the supervision of the finances and also the sales department. By reference to the ar- ticle descriptive of the concern an idea of its importance and success may be gained. The firm hold membership in the National Bakers' Association.
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In his political adherency Mr. Pagel is found arrayed as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party, and in a fraternal way he is identified with Detroit Lodge, No. 2, Free & Accepted Masons; Monroe Chapter, No. I, Royal Arch Masons; and Monroe Coun- cil, No. 1, Royal & Select Masters.
On the 6th of November, 1903, Mr. Pagel was united in marriage to Miss Ida P. Lesch- ner, of Detroit, and they have one child, Mar- guerite, who was born on the 17th of July, 1905.
HOWARD E. PUTNAM.
One of the representative young business men identified with industrial interests in De- troit is Mr. Putnam, who is president of the Gies Gear Company, of whose business a re- view is given on other pages of this work, in which also appears a brief sketch of the career of his father, Thomas R. Putnam.
Howard E. Putnam was born in Detroit, on the 3Ist of May, 1872, and here he attended the public schools until he had attained to the age of fifteen years, when he initiated his busi- ness career by securing a clerkship in the offices of the Detroit water-works department, with which his father has been identified for the past thirty-five years. At the age of nineteen years the subject of this sketch became a clerk in the office of Michigan Car Company, and later he became bookkeeper in the Vail & Crane branch of the National Biscuit Com- pany, in Detroit. For this great concern he later became a traveling salesman and finally was promoted to the responsible office of audi- tor, with general offices in Chicago. This preferment he retained until September, 1905, when he returned to Detroit, and in the early part of the following year he became one of the organizers and incorporators of the Gies Gear Company, of which he has since been president, giving to the affairs of the company the major part of his time and attention and being known as an aggressive and successful young business man and an able executive.
He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks.
CONRAD PFEIFFER.
As president and founder of the C. Pfeiffer Brewing Company, one of the successful con- cerns of the sort in the city of Detroit, Mr. Pfeiffer holds precedence as one of the able and representative business men of the Michi- gan metropolis and is a citizen who is em- phatically and insistently loyal, showing deep interest in all that tends to conserve the prog- ress of the greater and larger city, both in material and civic lines.
From the great empire of Germany America has drawn largely in the recruiting of her citi- zenship, and from this source the republic has had much to gain and nothing to lose. The German-American has figured largely in the industrial development of our nation and no element has shown greater appreciation of our national institutions nor done more to uphold and foster the same. The subject of this brief sketch is one of the honored representatives of this element in Detroit, and his able efforts, directed along normal and legitimate channels of business enterprise, have redounded to his credit and to that of the city. He was born in Calderon Kreiss, Marburg, province of Hesse- Cassel, Germany, on the 7th of March, 1854, a scion of families long established in that fa- vored section of the empire. He is a son of Conrad and Elizabeth (Schneider) Pfeiffer, both of whom passed their entire lives in the fatherland, where the father followed the voca- tion of farming. In the schools of his native province Conrad Pfeiffer secured his early edu- cational discipline, which was limited, and in 1871, when seventeen years of age, he set forth for America, having become convinced that here were afforded superior advantages for the attaining of independence and definite success through individual effort. Soon after his ar- rival he located in Detroit, where he entered upon an apprenticeship at the trades of lock- smith and machinist, in the establishment of
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John Mohn. He mastered the intricacies of these trades and, as a journeyman machinist, he was employed some time in the Riverside Iron Works. In 1881 he entered the employ of Philip Kling, the well known Detroit brewer, in whose plant he learned the brewing trade, giving careful attention to gaining a knowl- edge of all practical details as well as the sci- entific principles and processes involved. He remained with the Kling brewery for a period of three years, and then resigned his position to accept that of engineer of the Charles En- driss brewery. He retained this incumbency until 1889, when he engaged in the brewing business on his own responsibility, establishing the present plant on Beaufait avenue and later making many improvements in buildings and equipments, as shown in the article descriptive of the business, appearing on other pages of this work. The entire charge of the business, executive and practical, was vested in him until 1902, when he found it expedient to organize a stock company, which, in February of that year, was duly incorporated under the present title of the C. Pfeiffer Brewing Company. He is president of the company and has charge of the manufacturing department of the business, and the general supervision of the sales and purchasing department, while he has able coad- jutors in Messrs. Martin Breitmeyer and Henry C. Dietz, who are respectively vice- president and treasurer, and secretary of the company. He is a member of the National Brewers' Association, the Michigan State Brewers' Association, the Detroit Brewers' As- sociation, the Detroit Board of Commerce, the Harmonie Society and the Turn Verein. Mr. Pfeiffer is a stockholder in the Detroit Steel Cooperage Company, and for a number of years he served as a member of its directorate. He has valuable real-estate holdings in his home city and has various other capitalistic investments. He is in the most significant sense the architect of his own fortunes, and his rise has been along the legitimate lines of nor- mal industry, while his course has ever been guided and dominated by the strictest integrity
and honor. He has read wisely and well, studying the best literature of his native tongue as well as the English, and is a man of broad general information and strong intellectuality. He is genial and courteous and has a wide circle of friends in both business and social lines.
In national and state affairs Mr. Pfeiffer maintains a staunch allegiance to the Repub- lican party, taking a deep interest in the ques- tions and issues of the hour. In local matters he holds himself aloof from partisan lines, re- serving to himself the right to support the men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment. While he has been an active worker in behalf of his party he has never consented to permit the consideration of his name in con- nection with candidacy for public office.
In 1879 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Pfeiffer to Miss Louisa Cramer, daughter of Dr. Louis Cramer, of Detroit, who was a veterinary surgeon by profession and who served as such in the Union army during the civil war. Mr. and Mrs. Pfeiffer became the parents of three sons and two daughters. The daughters, Lillian and Louise, remain at the parental home, and the three sons, Walter, Louis, and Edgar, are deceased, none of the number having attained to years of maturity.
HENRY W. PATON.
Identified with one of the important manu- facturing industries of Detroit, Mr. Paton has gained a secure place in the business circles of the Michigan metropolis and stands representa- tive of that progressive class of citizens through whose aggressive efforts has been con- served the marked commercial advancement of the city within the past decade. He is secre- tary of the Detroit Carriage Company, manu- facturers of automobile bodies, and as a spe- cific description of the enterprise is given on other pages of this work it is not necessary to enter again into details concerning the same, as ready reference may be made to the article in question.
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Mr. Paton was born in the village of Ar- mada, Macomb county, Michigan, on the Ist of November, 1866, and is a son of Rev. John H. and Sarah (Wilson) Paton, the former of whom was born in Scotland and the latter in St. Clair county, Michigan. Rev. John H. Paton came with his parents to America in 1852, at which time he was nine years of age. The family settled in Lapeer county, where his father became a successful farmer and passed the remainder of his life, as did also his wife. There Rev. John H. Paton was reared to maturity, receiving the advantages of the common schools of the locality and period. In 1866 he married and removed to Macomb county, where he remained about eighteen months, at the expiration of which he returned to Lapeer county, where he purchased and lo- cated on a farm. He remained on the farm four years and then took up residence in Almont, that county, where he has since re- mained. After taking up his abode in Lapeer county he studied for the ministry of the Bap . tist church and was finally ordained as a clergy- man in the same. Later he became a minister of the Larger Hope Association, with which he is still identified. He has been engaged in active ministerial work for many years and has been an extensive writer and publisher of ar- ticles on evangelical subjects. He and his wife maintain their home in the village of Almont and are held in affectionate regard by all who know them. Rev. John H. Paton signalized his loyalty to his adopted country by tendering his services in defense of the Union when its integrity was thrown into jeopardy by armed rebellion. Soon after the outbreak of the civil war he enlisted as a private in the Twenty- second Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and he continued in service until the close of the war, having been promoted to the office of sergeant and having been identified with the signal- service department during the greater portion of the time.
Henry W. Paton, the immediate subject of this review, secured his preliminary educational training in the public schools of Almont, La-
peer county, after which he took a course in the Michigan State Normal School at Ypsi- lanti. From 1882 until 1890 he was engaged in the general merchandise business in Almont, and in the latter year he removed to Ypsilanti, where he remained until August, 1892, when he took up his residence in Detroit. Here he accepted the position of bookkeeper for the Rumsey Manufacturing Company, and later he assumed a similar position with the Detroit Carriage Manufacturing Company, of which he was made manager in April, 1900. Of this company the Detroit Carriage Company is the direct successor and of the latter he was vice- president from the time of its organization and incorporation, in 1903, until September I, 1907, since which time he has been its secre- tary. He has the general supervision of the financial department of the business and is known as an able and discriminating executive officer. He is independent in his political views, is affiliated with Palestine Lodge, No. 357, Free & Accepted Masons, is a member of the Fellowcraft Club, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the Congregational church.
On the 19th of July, 1893, Mr. Paton was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Hardy, daughter of Rev. Seth Hardy, of Ypsilanti, and they have four children,-Henry Donald, Muriel J., Elizabeth C., and Caroline H.
FRANK A. THOMPSON.
The promoter of one of the important in- dustrial enterprises of Detroit, the subject of this sketch merits recognition in this work. He is treasurer and general manager of the corporation of F. A. Thompson & Company, manufacturing chemists, a description of whose business appears on other pages of this work, so that a repetition of the data is not demanded in this more specifically personal review.
Mr. Thompson is a native of the village of Pittsfield, Washtenaw county, Michigan, where he was born on the 8th of April, 1863, and he is a son of John W. and Zoraida A.
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Thompson, the former of whom was born in the state of New York and the latter in Michi- gan. The father came to Michigan and set- tled in Washtenaw county in the pioneer days, and for a number of years he was engaged in the harness and saddle business in Ann Arbor, as a member of the firm of Thompson & Spoor. Later he became one of the prominent and suc- cessful farmers of the county. He was in- fluential in public affairs and was a leader in the ranks of the Republican party in his sec- tion of the state, having served as a member of the board of aldermen of the city of Ann Arbor and also having been called to other offices of local trust. He died in Ann Arbor in 1891, and his wife died at Pasadena, Cali- fornia, in 1904.
Frank A. Thompson, the immediate subject of this sketch, received his early educational discipline in the public schools of his native county, and after completing the curriculum of the same he was matriculated in the University of Michigan, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1881, with the degree of Pharmaceutical Chemist. After leaving the university he was employed in Goodyear's drug store, Ann Arbor, until January 1, 1883, when he came to Detroit and became assistant chem- ist in the great pharmaceutical laboratories of Parke, Davis & Company. He served under Dr. A. B. Lyons until the latter's resignation, on the Ist of January, 1887, and was then ap- pointed chief chemist to succeed Dr. Lyons. In this important and exacting office he con- tinued to serve until June 1, 1897, when he resigned, to engage in business on his own re- sponsibility. In June of that year he organized the firm of F. A. Thompson & Company and initiated the fine business enterprise with which he has since been identified. The concern was incorporated under the laws of the state in March, 1898, since which time he has been treasurer and general manager. The capital stock of the company is now seventy-five thou- sand dollars, and the present finely equipped plant was ereced in 1901. Mr. Thompson is a recognized authority in the domain of prac-
tical chemistry and has direct supervision of the chemical department of his concern, besides being general manager of the entire business. Many of the preparations manufactured by the firm were devised by him, as well as machinery and processes involved in the special lines of manufacture. He is well known in the circles of his profession and is recognized as one of Detroit's progressive business men and public- spirited citizens. He holds membership in the Detroit Board of Commerce, the American Pharmaceutical Association and the Michigan Retail Druggists' Association. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, is a Republican in politics and is a member of the First Presby- terian church.
In December, 1892, Mr. Thompson was united in marriage to Miss Mary Helen Camp- bell, daughter of Abner Campbell, of Hamil- ton, Ohio. They have no children.
JOHN C. WIDMAN.
One of the representative business men of the Michigan metropolis is he whose name initiates this sketch. He is president and gen- eral manager of the corporation conducting business under the title of J. C. Widman & Company, and in the manufacturing of art mirrors, dining room and hall furniture this concern is the most extensive of its kind in the country. Its business is of wide scope and the enterprise contributes materially to the indus- trial precedence of the city of Detroit.
John C. Widman was born in the city of Rochester, New York, on the 30th of Novem- ber, 1848, and his educational advantages were those afforded by the public schools. At the age of sixteen years he entered upon an ap- prenticeship at the trade of cabinet making, under the direction of his father, with whom he eventually became a partner in business. In 1867 he came to Detroit, in company with his brother, Cosmos D. Widman, and they here engaged in the manufacturing of furniture, with which line of enterprise he has since con- tinued to be identified, while he has so directed his efforts as to gain a success of unequivocal
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order and to gain recognition as one of the representative business men of Detroit. The firm of J. C. Widman & Company was organ- ized in 1899, and in 1905 the concern was in- corporated under the original title. At the time of incorporation John C. Widman was made president and general manager of the company, and of this dual office he has since remained incumbent. He is essentially pro- gressive and public-spirited, is a Republican in his political adherency, is identified with the Detroit Board of Commerce, and is affiliated with Palestine Lodge, No. 357, Free & Ac- cepted Masons, and King Cyrus Chapter, No. 133, Royal Arch Masons.
In Rochester, New York, in 1870, was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Widman to Miss Lena Kiefhaber, a native of Germany, and they have six children, namely: Frank E., C. David, Charles H., George H., Arthur W., and Flora J. The last named is now the wife of William S. Gibbs, of Detroit.
LEWIS C. WALDO.
Prominently identified with lake marine traf- fic is Mr. Waldo, who is incumbent of the office of secretary, treasurer and general man- ager of the old and well known corporation designated as the Northwestern Transporta- tion Company. Of this concern specific men- tion is made on other pages of this work, and reference may be made to the article for fur- ther particulars in regard to Mr. Waldo's identification with the same.
Lewis C. Waldo is a native of the old Em- pire state of the Union, having been born in the city of Ithaca, New York, on the 12th of August, 1854, and being a son of Albert G. and Sarah (Kennedy) Waldo, who removed from New York to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when he was about eighteen months of age. The father's vocation during the greater por- tion of his active career was that of superin- tendent for E. P. Allis & Company, and both he and his wife continued residents of Wis- consin until their death.
The subject of this review was reared to ma- turity in the metropolis of Wisconsin, where he was afforded the advantages of the public schools, including the high school. He initi- ated his business career by assuming the po- sition of bookkeeper in the establishment of T. A. Chapman & Company, then the largest dry-goods concern in the city of Milwaukee. He retained this position two years, at the ex- piration of which, in 1874, he came to Michi- gan and took up his residence in Ludington, where he was engaged as a bookkeeper, and eventually he became interested in the lumber trade in the northern part of the state, having been concerned in the operation of a number of mills. His initial connection with the lake- marine business was made in the purchase of a lumber schooner, which, on her second trip, was wrecked and lost in a storm, off the Twenty-second street pier of Chicago. In 1889 he became associated with others in the building of the steamer "George W. Roby," which was then the largest craft of the sort on the lake system, the same having been com- pleted at a cost of one hundred and twenty- five thousand dollars and having a capacity of twenty-five hundred tons' burden. This vessel was put into commission in the transportation of grain, coal and ore, and did a successful general traffic business for a period of seven years under the direction of Mr. Waldo. The boat was sold at the expiration of the period noted, and in 1896 Mr. Waldo built a steel vessel of five thousand tons' capacity, one of the largest on the lakes at the time of its launching. This boat, which bears his name, he still owns and operates. Of his connection with the Northwestern Transportation Com- pany due record is made in the article descrip- tive of that company. He is also vice-presi- dent of the company owning and operating the White Star line of passenger steamers, plying between Detroit, Port Huron and Toledo, and president of the White Star Portland Cement Company, whose extensive properties are lo- cated near Manistee, Michigan. He is a lib- eral and progressive business man and takes a
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