USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan > Part 111
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ALBERT U. WIDMAN.
On other pages of this work appears a brief review of the history of the well known cor- poration of C. D. Widman & Company, of which the subject of this sketch is secretary and general manager, and in the same article is given a resumé of the career of his honored father, Cosmos D. Widman, the founder of the business. By reason of this fact it is not necessary to repeat the data in the present sketch, as ready reference may be made to the same in the article mentioned.
Albert U. Widman is recognized as one of the alert and progressive young business men of Detroit and he is essentially and deeply loyal to his native city, in whose still greater industrial and civic advancement he is a firm believer. He was born in Detroit, on the 22d of September, 1872, and after completing the curriculum of the public schools he was for four years a student in Kenyon Military Acad- emy, at Gambier, Ohio. After leaving school he entered the employ of the firm of C. D. Widman & Company, of which his father was the head, and he started at the foot, working his way upward and gaining a thorough knowl- edge of all departments of the business. In 1894 he became one of the corps of traveling salesmen for the firm, and in this capacity he continued to be engaged until 1899, doing a most successful work in his assigned territory. In the year last mentioned he became superin- tendent of the factory, and since 1900 he has been secretary of the company and had the general supervision of the manufacturing and purchasing departments. He is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and is a char- ter member of the Milwaukee Avenue Manu- facturers' Association, of which he was vice- president in 1907. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has completed the circle of the York Rite bodies, being iden- tified with Detroit Commandery, No. I, Knights Templars, and also being a member of the Moslem Temple, Ancient Arabic Or- der of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He holds membership in the Detroit Fishing & Hunting Association and the Detroit Athletic Club, and is active in the affairs of both of these popular organizations. His political pro- clivities are indicated by the staunch allegiance which he accords to the Republican party, and both he and his wife are communicants of St. Andrew's church, Protestant Episcopal.
In November, 1901, Mr. Widman was unit- ed in marriage to Miss Ida M. Yerge, of De- troit, and they have two daughters,-Evelyn Gertrude and Marguerite Elizabeth.
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ROBERT MORTON.
Continued success is the ultimate criterion of merit and reliability in the industrial and commercial world, and judged from this stand- ard the enterprise of which the subject of this review is the head is justly to be designated as one of the most important specific industries in the city of Detroit. He was the founder of the Morton Baking & Manufacturing Com- pany, whose operations are of great magni- tude, and is known as one of the loyal and public-spirited citizens and progressive busi- ness men of the Michigan metropolis. A brief review of the history of the Morton Baking & Manufacturing Company is incorporated on other pages of this volume, and a repetition of the data is not demanded in the present con- nection. He retired from the presidency of the company in 1908, being succeeded by his son, Robert M.
Mr. Morton was born at Dunoon, Argyle- shire, Scotland, on the 17th of September, 1844, and is a son of James and Jean (Mc- Dougall) Morton, both representatives of old and sterling Scottish lineage. The father and grandfather were bakers by trade and voca- tion, and the former continued to be identified with this line of industry in his native land until 1856, when he immigrated with his fam- ily to America, where he eventually estab- lished a bakery in Brooklyn, New York. There he continued in active and successful business for many years,-in fact, up to the time of his death, in 1903, at the venerable age of eighty-two years. He was a man of impreg- nable integrity and distinctive business acu- men, and possessed to the full the admirable traits which distinguish the sturdy race of which he was a worthy scion. His wife died in 1901, and of their children seven are now living. The parents were both consistent mem- bers of the Presbyterian church, and the father was a Republican in his political proclivities.
Robert Morton secured his rudimentary ed- ucation in his native town and was about twelve years of age at the time of the family removal from Scotland to America. He there-
after continued his studies till sixteen in the public schools of the city of Brooklyn, where he was reared to maturity and where he learned the baker's trade under the able direction of his honored father. In 1877 Mr. Morton took up his residence in Windsor, province of Ontario, Canada, where he established him- self in business. He became the owner of a well equipped bakery and by his enterprise and conscientious business methods he built up 3 prosperous trade. In 1883 he removed to De- troit, and established himself in the same line of enterprise. The success of the business has been of the most unequivocal order, as is evi- dent when it is stated that the Morton Bak- ing & Manufacturing Company now repre- sents the leading industry of its kind in the city. For further particulars in regard to the same reference should be made to the article descrip- tive of the company.
In politics Mr. Morton is aligned as a loyal supporter of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor; he and his family hold membership in the Trumbull Avenue Presbyterian church, and he is affiliated with the following named Masonic bodies : Ashlar Lodge, No. 91, Free & Ac- cepted Masons; Peninsular Chapter, No. 16, Royal Arch Masons; Damascus Commandery, No. 42, Knights Templar; Michigan Sover- eign Consistory of the Ancient Accepted Scot- tish Rite; and Moslem Temple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. Morton is an active and appreciative mem- ber of the Detroit Board of Commerce, and is identified with the Detroit Yacht Club, the Detroit Motor Boat Club, and Rushmere Club, at St. Clair Flats. He is an enthusiast in aquatic sports and is a prominent figure in local yachting circles. He is the owner of a fine fifty-foot sailing yacht, the "La Reine," in which, in 1906, he made a trip to Florida, making the voyage by way of the Great Lakes, the Erie canal and down the Atlantic coast.
On the 22d of October, 1867, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Morton to Miss Marion Riddell, of Brooklyn, New York, and
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concerning their children the following brief data are given: Robert M., of whom individ- ual mention is made on other pages of this work, is president of the Morton Baking & Manufacturing Company; William A. is man- ager of one of the celebrated Childs restau- rants in New York city; Marion M. is the wife of William Robertson, of Port Huron, Michigan; Evelyn H. is the wife of Jesse Morris, who is employed in the retail clothing establishment of F. G. Clayton & Company, of Detroit; and Helen A. is the wife of Albert C. Couch, the well known Detroit restaurateur.
ORRIN WARDELL.
As the founder and head of the firm of O. Wardell & Sons, of which specific mention is made in this publication, Orrin Wardell has for more than thirty-five years been promi- nently identified with real-estate operations in Detroit, and his dealings have been of large scope and importance, while he has at all times so directed his course as to retain the unequivo- cal confidence and esteem of all with whom he has been associated in business transac- tions. The high reputation which this hon- ored pioneer thus holds has been the potent influence in gaining and retaining to his firm its distinctive precedence and prestige.
Mr. Wardell was born at Rainham, prov- ince of Ontario, Canada, on the Ist of April, 1836, and is a son of Solomon and Mary War- dell, who continued to reside in the province mentioned until they were summoned from the scene of life's endeavors, the father having been a farmer by vocation. The original progenitor of the Wardell family in America was Timothy Wardell, who immigrated from Wales to this country prior to 1760. He even- tually became the owner of large tracts of land in Vermont, with the annals of which com- monwealth the name was conspicuously iden- tified for several generations and from which state members of the family went forth to es- tablish the Canadian branch.
The subject of this review received his early educational training in the common schools of
the section in which he was born and when but fourteen years of age he was apprenticed to the harnessmaker's trade, in Gowanda, Cat- taraugus county, New York, where he re- mained for five years. In 1855 he returned to Canada and established himself in business as a harnessmaker, at Wellington Square, On- tario. In 1858 Mr. Wardell came to Detroit and here he engaged in the retail dry-goods business, on Gratiot avenue, whence he later removed to a place on Jefferson avenue, near Randolph street. He here continued in busi- ness until 1861, when he sold out and removed to the city of Toronto, Canada, where he was engaged in the same line of business until 1864, when he came again to Detroit. Here he formed a partnership with Thomas Walsh, un- der the firm name of Wardell & Walsh, and they engaged in the general commission busi- ness, having their headquarters on what is now Cadillac Square. With this enterprise Mr. Wardell continued to be actively identified un- til 1870, when ill health compelled him to re- tire for a period of recuperation, and he sold his interest in the business to his partner. For the ensuing three years he was not in active business, but at the expiration of that period, in 1873, he established himself in the real- estate business, in which he has since contin- ued with ever increasing success, and he thus became the founder of the enterprise now con- ducted under the firm name of O. Wardell & Sons. As real-estate auctioneers this firm now takes precedence of all others in the state, and the magnitude of its business indicates the re- liability and high standing of the concern. Mr. Wardell was one of the first to lend co-opera- tion in the development and upbuilding of the northwestern section of the city, having erect- ed for his own use the third residence to be built on Lincoln avenue, and since that time he has purchased a considerable amount of im- proved property in that section. He owns at the present time three of the four corner lots at Lincoln avenue and Brainard street, and his faith in the security of real-estate invest- ment in Detroit is best demonstrated in the
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fact that practically his entire capitalistic in- vestments are in realty. He was the promoter of the attractive resort known as Mount View Park, comprising fifty acres on a fine lake in Oakland county, and the same has been developed in a most effective way. About twenty representative citizens of Detroit now have summer cottages in this park.
In politics Mr. Wardell gives his support to the Republican party, and he and his wife are zealous members of the Trumbull Avenue Presbyterian church. He was one of the most active and potent factors in connection with the erection of the fine church edifice, and he has been president of the board of trustees of the church from the time of its formal organ- ization, in 1888.
Mr. Wardell is a great lover of horses, and he still finds the driving horse his chief medium of recreation. He is one of the last of the "Old Guard" who made Lafayette avenue, and later Cass avenue, a center of observation when good sleighing prevailed. He is the owner of several valuable roadsters, has personally bred several speedy animals of this type, and since the completion of Grand boulevard he has been one of its most frequent and apprecia- tive devotees. While a resident of Toronto, from 1861 to 1864, he was the owner of the Davie race course near that city. Several im- portant trotting and pacing events were decid- ed on this track, and the purses were the larg- est ever offered in the dominion of Canada up to that time. The site of the old race course is now solidly built up with attractive resi- dences. Though he has attained to the age of three score years and ten Mr. Wardell is es- sentially alert, active and enthusiastic, show- ing in both physical and mental powers that he retains the spirit of perennial youth. He is a man of the most gracious personality, urbane and courteous, and stands as a true type of the gentleman of the old school.
In the year 1856 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Wardell to Miss Mary Pennock, daughter of Richard Pennock, who was in early days a well known cattle dealer at Ham-
ilton, Ontario. Mr. and Mrs. Wardell have five children : Charles R. and Fred, the jun- ior members of the firm of O. Wardell & Sons, are individually mentioned on other pages of this work; Edgar O. is engaged in the ad- vertising business in Detroit; Jennie is the wife of Albert V. Phister, Jr., of this city; and Ida is the wife of Rev. George Evans, a clergyman of the Methodist church, and they reside at Sturgeon Falls, Ontario, at the time of this writing, in 1908.
THORNTON A. TAYLOR.
The business career of Mr. Taylor has been one of consecutive progress, and this advance- ment has been made through the application of his own energies and powers, not being the result of fortuitous advantages. He was one of the organizers of the Peninsular Milled Screw Company, and has been secretary and treasurer of this admirable and successful De- troit manufacturing concern since 1904. He is recognized as an alert and enterprising busi- ness man, a capable executive officer and a loyal and public-spirited citizen.
Mr. Taylor was born at Sophiasburg, Prince Edward county, province of Ontario, Canada, on the 5th of July, 1867, and is a son of Albro and Lucy Olive (Cole) Taylor, both likewise natives of the province of Ontario. The father was born May 3, 1833, and his death occurred in February, 1905. He was for a number of years a contractor and builder, being success- ful in this line of enterprise, and later he gave his attention principally to agricultural pur- suits. His widow still maintains her home in Prince Edward county. Daniel Taylor, grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was like- wise a native of Prince Edward county, where he was born March 18, 1800, and where he passed his entire life, having been a farmer by vocation. He died in the year 1884. He was a son of Nathaniel Taylor, who was born in the state of New York, where his father, a na- tive of England, located in the early colonial days. Nathaniel Taylor was loyal to the Brit-
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ish crown at the time when the war of the He and his wife are members of the Metho- Revolution was initiated, and his attitude in this regard led to his final removal to the Do- minion of Canada. He received from King George III patents to six hundred acres of land in Prince Edward county, Ontario.
Thornton A. Taylor, to whom this brief sketch is dedicated, duly availed himself of the advantages of the public schools of his na- tive place and later continued his studies in the Ontario Business College, at Belleville, where he completed a thorough course and thus fur- ther prepared himself for the active duties and responsibilities of life. In 1885-6 Mr. Taylor had charge of his father's farm, and in the following year he had the supervision of the plant and business of a cheese factory in his native county. In 1889 he took up his residence in Detroit. In June of that year he assumed the position of assistant bookkeep- er in the office of the Detroit Screw Works, and about two months later he became shipping clerk for the concern. In January, 1890, he was promoted to the position of entry and bill- ing clerk, and in 1895 he became chief clerk and purchasing agent for the company, retain- ing this dual office until 1893, when he became a general traveling representative of the com- pany. In 1901 he became identified with the Standard Screw Company in a similar capac- ity, and in the following year he resigned and became one of the organizers of the Peninsular Milled Screw Company, of whose business he became manager. In 1904 he was elected sec- retary and treasurer of the company, of which he is one of the principal stockholders, and he has since served most efficiently in these of- fices. His keen discrimination, excellent busi- ness training and marked administrative abil- ity have proven potent factors in connection with the upbuilding of the successful industry with which he is thus identified. He is a mem- ber of the Detroit Employers' Association and the Detroit Credit Men's Association.
In politics Mr. Taylor is aligned as a loyal supporter of the cause of the Republican party, but he has never been active in political affairs.
dist Episcopal church, and he is affiliated with Zion Lodge, No. I, Free & Accepted Masons ; Monroe Chapter, No. 1, Royal Arch Masons; Damascus Commandery, No. 42, Knights Templars; and Moslem Temple, Ancient Arab- ic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He has also been prominent in the Knights of Pythias, being identified with Myrtle Lodge, No. 4, in which he served several terms as pre- siding officer.
On the 24th of June, 1896, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Taylor to Miss Lavilla Wildman, who was born and reared in Prince Edward county, Ontario, and who is a daugh- ter of James Wildman, a prominent contractor and builder of that section. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have one child, Thornton Arthur, Jr., who was born on the 4th of June, 1898.
H. KIRKE WHITE, JR.
In the enlisting of the efforts and energies of young men of distinctive resourcefulness and ability has Detroit made so great advance- ment along industrial and commercial lines within the past decade, and a typical represent- ative of this class is the subject of this sketch, who is president and general manager of the Kemiweld Can Company, a description of which is given in this work and the business of which has developed into an industry of very important order, both in the character of output and the extent of operations. By re- ferring to the article descriptive of the com- pany more adequate idea may be gained of Mr. White's identification with the same and the changes and advancement that have been conserved under his able executive control.
Henry Kirke White, Jr., is a native of the city of Detroit, where he was born on the 17th of October, 1867, and he is a son of Henry Kirke White and Christine A. (Fortier) White, the former of whom was born at Una- dilla Center, Otsego county, New York, on the 26th of May, 1839, and the latter of whom was born in Monroe, Michigan, a representa-
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tive of one of the old and distinguished French families of this state. The parents of H. Kirke White, Sr., were of English lineage and the White family was founded in Connecticut in the colonial era of our national history. The father of the subject of this sketch came to De- troit in the late '50s and he has been treas- urer and vice-president of the great seed house of D. M. Ferry & Company since 1879, hav- ing been identified with the concern from the time when it was a small institution and hav- ing contributed his quota to the upbuilding of an enterprise which is now the largest of the sort in the world. He has other large capi- talistic interests in Detroit and is one of the city's representative business men and most honored citizens. Of his children three sons and one daughter are living.
H. Kirke White, Jr., secured his preliminary educational discipline in the public schools of Detroit, where he also pursued his studies for some time in St. Paul's school, a private insti- tution. From 1884 until 1886 he was abroad, attending school in the city of Paris and also in Vevey, Switzerland, in both of which places he gave particular attention to the study of the French language, with which he is quite as familiar as with the English. In 1887 he was a student in Dummer Academy, at South Byfield, Massachusetts, and in the following year he was matriculated in Williams College, at Williamstown, Massachusetts, in which in- stitution he was graduated as a member of the class of 1892, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
In July, 1892, one month after his gradua- tion, Mr. White took up his residence in the city of Albion, Michigan, where he entered the employ of the Gale Manufacturing Company, makers of agricultural implements; his father was at the time one of the leading stockholders of this company. Mr. White learned the busi- ness in all its details and in 1895 was elected secretary of the company, retaining this office until 1902, when he returned to Detroit, his native city, and here effected the organization of the Gem Fibre Package Company, of which
he became president and general manager. The company was incorporated with a capital stock of only ten thousand dollars, but this, un- der the present title of the Kemiweld Can Com- pany, has been increased to the notable aggre- gate of three hundred thousand dollars, and the enterprise has been developed into one of great magnitude and importance, in the man- ufacturing of chemically treated and cemented fibre cans, boxes and other containers. Since 1904 the title of the corporation has been the Kemiweld Can Company, but Mr. White has been president and general manager from the start and has admirably directed the business policy and general affairs of the company.
Mr. White is a Republican in his political proclivities but has never had any desire to en- ter the somewhat questionable arena of "prac- tical politics." He and his wife hold mem- bership in the Christian Science church and he is identified with various and representative fraternal and social organizations. He has completed the circle of York Rite Masonry and is also affiliated with the more purely so- cial adjunct of this time-honored fraternity, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He holds membership in the Detroit Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the De- troit Golf and Automobile Clubs, the Univer- sity Club and the Chi Psi college fraternity. He is an appreciative and valued member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and takes an ac- tive interest in its progressive work.
On the 7th of June, 1901, Mr. White was united in marriage to Miss Florence Hoag, daughter of Frank J. Hoag, a retired capitalist and representative citizen of Toledo, Ohio, and they have three children,-Helen, Josephine, and Katherine. Mr. and Mrs. White are prominent and popular in connection with the best social activities of Detroit, where their cir- cle of acquaintances is exceptionally wide.
CHARLES R. WARDELL.
In the enlisting of the energies of men of ability and sterling integrity every community must owe its advancement, and among the
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agencies brought into requisition as promoters of substantial progress in civic and material af- fairs none can hold a more important place than that involved in the handling of real estate. He whose name initiates this paragraph has attained to marked priority in local real-estate circles and has the distinction of being one of the three members of the firm of O. Wardell & Sons, one of the pioneer real-estate concerns of Detroit and one whose business is of wide and important character. Mention of the firm is made with somewhat specific details on other pages of this work, and within these pages may also be found a review of the career of Orrin Wardell, the founder and present head of the firm and the father of the subject of the sketch at hand.
Charles R. Wardell is a native of the city of Hamilton, province of Ontario, Canada, where he was born on the 7th of March, 1858. In the public schools of his native city he re- ceived his rudimentary education, which was continued in the schools of Detroit, at the time of the family removal to which latter city, in 1864, he was six years of age, being here reared to manhood, and having here gained his initial business experience in a general mer- chandise store. He eventually engaged in the same line of enterprise on his own account, and continued in the same until 1882, when he disposed of his mercantile interests and became associated with his father in the real-estate business, under the firm name of O. Wardell & Son. The business had been founded by his father in 1873 and is now one of the pioneer enterprises of the sort in the city, having been conducted under the title of O. Wardell & Sons since the admission of the younger son, Fred, to the firm, in 1888. Charles R. War- dell gives practically his entire time and atten- tion to the business of his firm and is recog- nized as one of the leaders in local real-estate circles and as a citizen of distinctive public spirit and of progressive ideas. He has shown great discrimination and prescience in the placing of realty on the market, has consum- mated some very important transactions in this
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