USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan > Part 110
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lively interest in all that tends to conserve the upbuilding of the "Greater Detroit," having maintained his home in this city since 1890.
In his political allegiance Mr. Waldo is a stalwart Republican, and he is identified with various fraternal, business and social organi- zations. While a resident of Ludington he served two terms as city treasurer, but he has never been a seeker of public office.
In the year 1876, at Ludington, was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Waldo to Miss Mary E. Roby, who was born in the state of Ohio, and they have one son and four daugh ters, namely: Ida R. (King), John R., Cathe- rine R., Mary R., and Eloise R.
NATHANIEL E. SLAYMAKER.
Mr. Slaymaker is the incumbent of impor- tant offices in connection with railroad inter- ests, being real-estate and tax agent for the Michigan Central Railroad and land commis- sioner for the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw division of the same system. He maintains his home in Detroit and is recognized as an able executive and public-spirited citizen.
Nathaniel Ellmaker Slaymaker can have reason for naught but pride and satisfaction in that he is able to refer to the old Keystone state of the Union as the place of his nativity. He was born in Paradise township, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the 21st of February, 1844, and is a son of Nathaniel E. and Mary (McIlvain) Slaymaker, both of whom were likewise natives of Lancaster county and the former of whom was of sterling German an- cestry ; the Slaymaker family was founded in Pennsylvania in the early pioneer epoch, the name being anglicized from Schleiermacher. The father of the subject of this review was a farmer by vocation and was a man of pronti- nence and influence in his community. He owned and operated a fine landed estate in his native county, where both he and his wife con- tinued to reside until their death. They were devout and zealous members of the Presby- terian church. They became the parents of
three sons and three daughters, and of these the three daughters are living and the one son to whom this article is dedicated and who is the only representative of the family in Michigan.
Nathaniel E. Slaymaker passed his boyhood days on the homestead farm and was afforded the advantages of the common schools of his native county, after which he was matriculated in Jefferson College, at Canonsburg, Pennsyl . vania. In 1866 he was graduated in Wash -- ington & Jefferson College, with the degree ot Bachelor of Arts. The institution last named was the direct successor of the Jefferson Col- lege. After leaving college Mr. Slaymaker began reading law under the preceptorship of his cousin, Nathaniel Ellmaker, of Lancaster, one of the prominent members of the bar of that section of the state, and in 1868 he was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar. In Lancas- ter he served his novitiate in the active work of his profession, having there been engaged in practice until 1873, when he took up his resi- dence in Silverton, Colorado, in which state he remained until 1889, in which year he came to Detroit and entered the service of the Michigan Central Railroad Company in a semi-profes- sional capacity. He has been real-estate and tax agent for that company since the year last mentioned and since 1899 has also been land commissioner for the Jackson, Lansing & Sagi- naw Railroad Company, whose lines are oper- ated by the Michigan Central Railroad Com- pany. In the latter office he has charge of time company's various landed holdings and other incidental business.
In politics Mr. Slaymaker gives a staunch allegiance to the Republican party, and while he has never been a seeker of public office, the importunities of his party friends and others proved sufficient to bear him into the office of mayor of Silverton, Colorado. He served one term and gave a most able and progressive administration.
In the year 1879, in Pennsylvania, Mr. Slay- maker was united in marriage to Miss Annie Russel, a daughter of Abram W. Russel, and
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the four children of this union are: Nathaniel E., Jr., Abraham R., George Duffield, and Robert Kepler.
THOMAS E. REEDER.
Having gained a position as one of the rep- resentative factors in the business life of the city of Detroit, Mr. Reeder is well entitled to consideration in this publication. He is vice- president and general manager of the Har- greaves Manufacturing Company, an adequate description of whose business is given on other pages of this work.
Mr. Reeder is a native of the city which is now his home, and the date of his birth was November 4, 1861. He is a son of Edwin and Elizabeth Reeder, both of whom were born in England. Edwin Reeder was reared and edu- cated in his native land, where he remained until 1848, when he came to America, making Detroit his destination. Here he accepted a. position with the Detroit & Lake Superior Cop- per Company, and he was identified with the smelting operations of this concern until it dis- continued business : he was one of the principal stockholders of the company and was its treas- urer for a number of years prior to its with- drawal from business. He was prominent in connection with the early industrial develop- ment of Detroit, was a man of marked business acumen and of sterling integrity of character, while he was ever honored as a loyal and worthy citizen. He and his wife were zealous and devout members of the Methodist Epis- copal church and were active in the various de- partments of its work. Mr. Reeder made judi- cious investments in local realty and through the appreciation in its value gained a comfor- table fortune. He had numerous real-estate holdings, including the well known Reeder farm, which is now within the corporate lim- its of the city. He retired from active busi- ness in 1893 and passed the residue of his life in Detroit, where his death occurred in 1901. Edwin Reeder is survived by three children, the second of whom is the subject of this sketch. Lillie B. is the wife of Frank P. X.
Oldfield, well known in the field of advertis- ing in Detroit.
Thomas E. Reeder was afforded the advan- tages of the public schools of Detroit and he fully availed himself of the opportunities thus presented, after which he completed a thorough course in the Mayhew Business College, which was then the leading institution of the sort in Detroit. Mr. Reeder's entire business career has been one of identification with the enter- prise with which he is now connected in so prominent a way and in whose upbuilding he has been a most potent force. In 1876 he en- tered the employ of the Hargreaves Manufac- turing Company, manufacturers of picture mouldings, frames, etc., and dealers in all kinds of pictures, and his first position was that of bill clerk, from which he was promoted to that of bookkeeper. In 1884 he was made office manager and he rendered most efficient service in this capacity until 1890, when he became a stockholder and director of the com- pany and assumed the general management of the business. His thorough and comprehen- sive knowledge of all details and his distinc- tive administrative power, already well proven, suggested him as the most eligible of candi- dates for the office of manager, and the wis- dom of his selection has been fully justified in the splendid results which have been gained under his direction. He is essentially a work- er and realizes that consecutive application is the sesame to the door of success, so that he is consistently to be termed a captain of indus- try, for he has exemplified the progressive methods and policies which have so signifi- cantly marked latter-day advancement in the world of business.
In 1895 Mr. Reeder effected a reorganiza- tion of the company, and at this time he in- creased his holdings by the purchase of many of the stock interests held by others. With the institution of these changes he was elect- ed vice-president and general manager of the business, of which dual office he has since con- tinued incumbent. It is primarily due to his
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efforts that the enterprise has gained prestige as one of the largest and most far-reaching of the sort in the country, and the business repre- sents one of the extensive and substantial com- mercial and industrial enterprises of the city and state. A more perfect idea of the extent of the business may be gained through a perusal of the specific article devoted to the same on other pages of this volume.
Liberal, progressive and public-spirited as a citizen, Mr. Reeder has come to the front right loyally to render co-operation and influ- ence in support of measures and enterprises tending to advance the material and civic pros- perity of his native city. He was one of the organizers and incorporators of the Detroit Board of Commerce, which vital body is do- ing a most excellent work in promoting the development of the "Greater Detroit," and the organization has no adherent who is more loyal and enthusiastic than is Mr. Reeder. He is a member of the Detroit Club, of which old and representative organization he was a di- rector from 1902 to 1905, inclusive, and he is also identified with the Detroit Boat Club and the Detroit Automobile Club. He holds mem- bership in the Picture Frame Manufacturers' Association of America and the Detroit Man- ufacturers' Association, and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with Union Lodge, No. 1, Free & Accepted Masons. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and both he and his wife are communicants of the Prot- estant Episcopal church, being members of the parish of beautiful old St. John's church.
Mr. Reeder is specially fond of sports afield and afloat and stands as a type of the loyal sportsman, by discountenancing all illegitimate or questionable methods. He owns a hunt- ing lodge at Deford, Tuscola county, and finds much pleasure each season in his hunting and fishing incursions. He has gained a high rep- utation as a breeder of the best type of Point- er dogs, and his kennels at Deford have pro- duced a number of prize-winners, including "Fightfield Joe," the winner of sixteen first
prizes in bench shows of the principal cities . of the Union. "Teddy R.," a son of the prize- winner just mentioned, also promises to equal the prestige of his sire. Mr. Reeder main- tains an average of twenty dogs in his kennels, does his own breaking for field work and is known as one of the most expert and success- ful trainers in the country. His services in this line are frequently requested by those who wish to gain the best coaching for fine dogs, -in fact he is entirely unable to respond to the many overtures thus made to him by friends who wish to avail themselves of his talent. The attractive family home of Mr. Reeder is located at 396 Jefferson avenue and the same is a recognized center of gracious hospitality.
On the 7th of January, 1885, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Reeder to Miss Elsie Libeau. Her father was an officer in the French army and her mother died at the time of Mrs. Reeder's birth. The latter was reared in the home of her maternal grand- father, Colonel Walter Wiley, who was for several years custodian of the historic Tower of London, England, and who later was in command of the British troops in. Western Ontario, Canada, during the Fenian raids. Mrs. Reeder was born in the city of London and was reared and educated in Montreal. She was afforded the best advantages and is a woman of culture and gracious personality, while her lineage on both the paternal and ma- ternal sides is of distinguished and patrician order. Mr. and Mrs. Reeder have one son, Harold W., who was born in Detroit, on the 16th of June, 1886. He was graduated in the Detroit University School as a member of the class of 1906 and was prominent in its athletic affairs while pursuing his under-graduate work, having been a member of the track and baseball teams of the institution. After leav- ing this school he continued his preparatory academic work in Groff Preparatory School, New York city, and in the autumn of 1907, he was matriculated in Yale University, where he is now a student in the scientific department.
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JAMES T. WHITEHEAD.
In the department of this publication de- voted to the representative industrial and com- mercial enterprises of Detroit and Wayne county is given a description of the White- head & Kales Iron Works, of which the sub- ject of this sketch is president and treasurer and of which he was one of the founders. He · has risen to prominence as one of the progres- sive and representative business men of his native county and is well entitled to consid- eration in this volume.
Mr. Whitehead was born in the village of Wyandotte, Wayne county, Michigan, on the 28th of September, 1864, and is a son of James and Mary (McEvoy) Whitehead, natives re- spectively of Edinborough, Scotland, and Hali- fax, Nova Scotia. His parents are now deceased, his father having devoted the major portion of his active business career to mer- chant tailoring.
James T. Whitehead gained his educational training in the public schools of Wyandotte and Detroit, and in 1879, at the age of fifteen years, he entered the employ of Rathbone, Sard & Company, of Detroit, manufacturers of stoves and ranges. He here gained valuable business experience. In 1888 Mr. Whitehead purchased from John B. Dyar the plant of the Detroit Sheet Metal & Heating Works, and here he continued individually in the busi- ness until 1893, when he sold an interest in the enterprise to Henry B. Lewis. Thereupon was formed the firm of Whitehead & Lewis, and this alliance continued until 1897, when Mr. Whitehead retired from the firm and es- tablished himself in the same line of business at 42-6 Randolph street, under the title of J. T. Whitehead & Company. In 1899 he ad- mitted to partnership William R. Kales and they continued the business under the firm name of Whitehead & Kales until 1905, when, to meet the exigencies of the constantly in- creasing demands placed upon the institution, the enterprise was incorporated under its present title of the Whitehead & Kales Iron Works. Mr. Whitehead has been president
and treasurer of the company from the start, and the success which has since continued to mark the same has been in large measure due to his wise executive policy. For further data reference may be made to the previously men- tioned resumé of the company's history. Mr. Whitehead is also a member of the directorate of the Michigan Copper & Brass Rolling Mills and is a director of the Peninsular Savings Bank of Detroit. He is president of the Reinke & Shirray Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of stamped-metal novelties, and is a citizen of progressive ideas and much pub- lic spirit.
In politics Mr. Whitehead is found arrayed as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party, and he is identified with the Detroit Board of Commerce, of whose board of directors he became a member in 1907. He holds membership in the Detroit Club, the Country Club and the Detroit Boat Club, and both he and his wife are communi- cants of St. Paul's church, Protestant Episco- pal, in which he is a member of the vestry.
In April, 1885, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Whitehead to Miss Ida Marie Frazer, daughter of Abram C. Frazer, who was for many years an influential citizen of Detroit and prominently identified with financial af- fairs in this city. Mr. and Mrs. Whitehead have four children,-James Frazer, Thomas Cram, Mary Elizabeth, and Walter Kellogg.
FRED J. SIMMONS.
Himself numbered among the oldest busi- ness men in Detroit, Mr. Simmons has here passed the major portion of his life, being a representative of one of the well known and honored pioneer families of the city and stand- ing high in the confidence and esteem of the people among whom he has so long lived and labored to goodly ends.
Mr. Simmons is a native of the old Empire state of the Union and a scion of families founded in America in the colonial days. He was born at Oriskany Falls, Oneida county,
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New York, February 10, 1846, and is a son of Alfred and Julia (Church) Simmons, both of whom were born and reared in Madison county, New York, where the respective fam- ilies were founded in the pioneer epoch. The father was born in 1818 and the mother in 1820. The former was a son of Durphy Sim- mons, who likewise was born in Madison coun- ty and who was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, having taken party in the battle of Sackett's Harbor, near the close of *the great struggle for national independence. He continued to be engaged in agricultural pur- suits in the state of New York until his death. The Simmons family is of sterling English lineage. In the maternal line the genealogy of the subject of this review is traced back to one Captain Church, of Rhode Island, who had command of a company in King Philip's Indian war.
Alfred Simmons was reared to maturity in his native county, where he learned the trade of miller and whence he eventually removed to Oneida county, locating at Oriskany Falls, where he operated a water-power grist mill for a number of years and where he also served in the office of justice of the peace. In 1854 he removed with his family to De- troit, making the trip by way of the canal and Great Lakes. Within the same year he began the manufacturing of melodions, in company with W. P. Blackman, this having been be- fore the days of the present cabinet organs, and the factory was located on the site now occupied by the American Express Company. Some years later the business of the firm of Simmons & Blackman was sold, in the mean- while the manufacture of organs having been developed, but Mr. Simmons continued in the same line of enterprise until about 1868, the firm eventually becoming Simmons & Whit- ney. The junior member was the late C. J. Whitney, who in later years became so prom- inent in connection with musical interests in Detroit and who had been engaged in ped- dling melodeons prior to his admission to part- nership with Mr. Simmons, about 1864. Six
years later a dissolution of partnership took place, when the subject of this sketch pur- chased the business. His father thereafter lived virtually retired until his death, which occurred in 1896: the devoted wife and mother passed away in the following year. Alfred Simmons was a man who in his day was prominent and influential in the business and civic life of Detroit, and his name merits a place on the roll of its honored pioneers. His political support was given to the Republican party, and both he and his wife held member- ship in St. John's Episcopal church. Of their two children the subject of this review is the younger, the other being Julia A. Hubbard, of Detroit. Alfred Simmons was one of the organizers and incorporators of the company which placed in operation the Fort street rail- way and he had other capitalistic interests of importance.
Fred J. Simmons secured his rudimentary education in the schools of his native place and was a lad of eight years at the time of the family removal to Detroit, where he contin- ued his studies in the public schools until he was eligible to matriculation in the University of Michigan, which he entered in 1863, be- ing graduated as a member of the class of 1866 and receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He made his first independent venture by en- gaging in the jewelry business, in Woodward avenue, and he finally sold this and purchased the business which had been founded by his honored father. This change was made in 1870, as already stated, and he continued the manufacturing of organs until 1873, after which he lived retired for some time. He then engaged in the produce-commission busi- ness and also became state agent for the Equi- table Life Insurance Company, of New York. In 1878 he engaged in the grain-commission business, in which he has continued during the long intervening years and in which he has built up and controls a large and prosperous trade.
Mr. Simmons has ever manifested a loyal interest in all that has concerned the welfare
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of the city which has been his home from his boyhood days, and his co-operation has been given to the promotion of various industrial, civic and public enterprises which have made for the substantial progress of the city. He was president of the Detroit Board of Trade three years and at present is administrator of the same. He was the founder of the Lake Orion resort, and was the first to erect a cot- tage there. He is commodore of the boat club. For the past thirty years Mr. Simmons has spent his winters in Florida and he is known as the "Indian river fisherman," having caught as high as nineteen hundred bass in nineteen days. Though he has never been an aspirant for public office he is aligned as an unswerv- ing supporter of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and both he and his wife are communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church, holding mem- bership in the parish of St. John's, whose beau- tiful edifice is located on Woodward avenue at the head of High street.
In 1872 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Simmons to Miss Emma Petrie, whose father served for forty-four years as an engi- neer on the Michigan Central Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. Simmons have two children : Harry B., who is engaged in the lighting supply business in Detroit, and Edith, who is the wife of Charles Wilson, of New York city.
LEWIS F. STARKEY, M. D.
This brief memoir touches upon the life his- tory of one who was a pioneer physician and surgeon of Detroit and a citizen of marked prominence and influence in the early days.
Dr. Lewis Franklin Starkey was born at New Lisbon, New York, July 28, 1801, and his death occurred at Kalamazoo, Michigan, April 19, 1848. He was a direct descendant of John Starkey, who immigrated to America from Standish, Lancastershire, England, in 1667, and settled in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1674 he removed to Malden, that colony, and in 1689 he took up his residence in Pemaquid, Massachusetts. He had learned the weaver's
trade in his native land, and to this he devoted his attention after coming to the New World, also doing business as a manufacturer of and dealer in clothing.
The subject of this memoir, who was the founder of the family in Michigan, was afford- ed the advantages of the common schools of his native place and then took up the study of medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. Pack- ard, a prominent physician of Oxford, New York. He made rapid progress in his absorp- tion and assimilation of technical knowledge and in order to qualify himself as best possi- ble for the responsible work of his chosen pro- fession, he entered Fairfield College of Medi- cine, in New York state, in which institution he was graduated in 1824, with honors, and from this college he received his well earned degree of Doctor of Medicine.
After his graduation Dr. Starkey was en- gaged in the practice of his profession for a short interval at Bainbridge, New York, whence he removed to Binghamton, that state, in 1829. There he was associated in practice with Dr. Silas West until the following year, when he returned to New Lisbon, his native village. In the ensuing year, 1831, he was ap- pointed surgeon in the United States army, but was unable to accept the office, owing to an accident in which he suffered a broken an- kle. From New Lisbon he removed to Ox- ford, New York, where he was engaged in active professional work until 1836, when he came to Michigan, which was not admitted to the Union until the following year.
Dr. Starkey came directly to Detroit and here, on the 11th of May, 1836, he was grant- ed a license to practice medicine and surgery. He established his office and home at 149 Jef- ferson avenue, and he became associated in practice with Dr. Theller, who also conducted a drug store, at 140 Jefferson avenue. In 1842 Dr. Starkey removed to Kalamazoo, which was then a small village, and there he continued in the practice of his profession during the residue of his life. He died April 19, 1848, as has already been stated. He was
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a man of fine intellectuality and exceptional professional attainments for his day, and he wielded a beneficent and distinctive influence in civic affairs in the new state of Michigan. Soon after taking up his residence in Kala- mazoo the Doctor was elected a member of the state senate for that district, and he rendered most valuable service in that body during the legislative sessions of 1843-4. In the latter part of 1844 he was appointed deputy United States marshal for the western district of Michigan, and he was called upon to serve in various offices of local trust.
In 1825, at Binghamton, New York, was solemnized the marriage of Dr. Starkey to Miss Olivia Patrick, a daughter of Robert W. Patrick, of Stillwater, that state. She preceded her husband to the life eternal, hav- ing died May 4, 1847, at Kalamazoo, about one year prior to the demise of the doctor. They became the parents of four sons and one daughter, concerning whom the following brief data are entered: Richard Peters, who learned the printer's trade, was the first city editor of the Detroit Free Press, and was a valiant member of a Michigan regiment in the civil war; Henry M. is the subject of an in- dividual sketch in this volume; Lewis Cass Starkey was a soldier in the Mexican war; Mary A. became a popular school teacher in Kalamazoo; and Eugene Franklin likewise did effective service as a soldier in a Michigan command in the war of the Rebellion. All are now deceased.
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