USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan > Part 40
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115
255
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
von Ketteler, of Berlin, Germany, at that time the German minister to Mexico, and afterwards minister to China, where he was murdered in the Boxer uprising, in Pekin, in 1900; Henry is a lawyer of Detroit; Augustus Canfield, the second son, was killed in action in the Philip- pines, as first lieutenant of the Sixth United States Infantry, on the 6th of December, 1899; and Hugh is a recent graduate of Yale University.
GEORGE PECK.
More than half a century ago George Peck established himself in the dry-goods business in Detroit, and for many years he was num- bered among the leading merchants of the city, even as he remains to-day one of its representative citizens and honored pioneers. His capitalistic interests are wide and varied and as a man he is broad-minded, liberal and public-spirited. Self aggrandizement has not hedged him in and his name is known in the wide realm of practical philanthropy and ju- dicious charity. His influence has definitely permeated the civic and business life of the fair "City of the Straits," and it is in justice due that recognition be accorded him in a pub- lication of the province assigned to the one at hand.
The name borne by the subject of this sketch has been indissolubly linked with the annals of American history from the early colonial epoch to the present, and the family was founded in New England, where was cradled so much of the history of our great republic. The original American progenitor was Will- iam Peck, who had been a resident of London, England, and whose religious views had gained to him enmity and persecution, so that he sought the boon of liberty by immigrating to America, where he made his advent in the year 1638. In the following year he became one of the founders of the colony of New Haven, Connecticut, being associated with Governor Eaton, Thomas Buckingham, Rev. John Dav- enport, and other sterling characters in estab- lishing the new colony, in which he became a prominent and influential citizen. From this worthy ancestor George Peck is a direct descen- dant in the eighth generation.
George Peck was born on the paternal farm- stead in the town of Lyne, New London county, Connecticut, on the 5th of November, 1834, and is a son of George R. and Eliza- beth (Lee) Peck, both of whom were likewise natives of the state of Connecticut, where they passed their entire lives. The father was a farmer by vocation and grappled vigorously with the rocky and rebellious soil so typical of the farms of that section of New England. He provided well for his family, but was not able to accumulate more than a nominal competency. The subject of this review was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm, to whose work he early began to contribute his quota, and his rudimentary education was secured in the dis- trict school, after which he continued his studies in Essex Academy, at Essex, Connecti- cut. Through an accident he partially lost the use of his left arm and was thus compelled to seek other employment than that in connec- tion with farming. On the 23d of August, 1850, when but fifteen years of age, he secured a position in the dry-goods store of John B. Wells, of Utica, New York, beginning at the foot of the ladder and gradually winning pro- motion, through fidelity and careful attention to business. He was finally offered an inter- est in the business but in the winter of 1856-7 his health became so impaired as to necessitate the resignation of his position. This contin- gency led to his coming to the west, and he passed some time in traveling in Illinois, Wis- consin, Minnesota and Iowa, for the purpose of recruiting his physical energies. He re- turned to Utica, New York, and there entered into a partnership with James W. Frisbie, with whom he was associated in the opening of a retail dry-goods store at 167 Jefferson avenue, Detroit. The firm successfully weath- ered the great financial storm which swept the country in that year, leaving a trail of busi- ness disaster, and Messrs. Peck and Frisbie continued to be associated in the enterprise noted for a period of three years, at the expira- tion of which the partnership was dissolved.
Mr. Peck forthwith established himself in- dividually in the same line of business, open- ing, on the Ist of November, 1860, a well equipped dry-goods store at 137 Woodward
256
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
avenue. He thus initiated operations at a cli- macteric period in the history of the nation, as the war of the Rebellion was soon precipitated on a divided country, causing great financial unrest and irregularities. With courage and conservatism Mr. Peck carefully continued his business, and after the era of high prices in- cidental to the war, was ushered in, his suc- cess became assured, and he became one of the most substantial merchants of the city, build- ing up a large and prosperous business, in which he continued until February, 1887, when he retired, on account of failing health. In October, 1871, he removed to large and attrac- tive new quarters at 155-7 Woodward avenue, and there his establishment gained great pop- ularity and favor as one of the leading dry- goods houses of the state. Its patronage was of distinctively representative character and its reputation was ever of the highest.
Having acquired a competency through his well directed efforts, Mr. Peck made judicious investment of his capital after his retirement from the dry-goods trade, and for many years he has been a prominent and influential figure in the banking business of the Michigon Met- ropolis. He has been president of the Mich- igan Savings Bank since 1880, and his execu- tive policy has made this one of the strong financial institutions of the state. He is presi- dent of the Edison Illuminating Company, and is a member of the directorate of the Detroit Fire & Marine Insurance Company and also that of the Detroit Trust Company, and the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Company.
In politics Mr. Peck has always given a stalwart allegiance to the Republican party, and while he has shown a deep interest in public affairs, especially of a local order, he has never had aught of inclination for official preferment and has never permitted his name to be used in connection with candidacy for public office, or any other office. He is numbered among the prominent members of the First Presbyterian church, and he was one of its trustees for twenty-one years. In the field of philanthropy and practical charity Mr. Peck has exerted a most beneficent influence, and one of his dom- inating interests is in connection with the maintenance of the Protestant Orphans' Home,
one of Detroit's most noble eleemosynary in- stitutions. He is financial agent of the same and in addition to making most liberal contribu- tions in its support he is active in the adminis- tration of its affairs and keeps in close touch with its little wards, to whom he accords a deep affection, which is fully reciprocated.
On the 28th of October, 1858, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Peck to Miss Sarah F. Butler, daughter of Samuel F. Butler, who was for many years one of the representative citizens of Grand Rapids, Michigan, of which city he was an honored pioneer. Mrs. Peck was summoned to the life eternal on the 14th of February, 1872, and is survived by three children,-Julia E., Minnie F., and Barton L.
In studying a clean-cut, sane, distinct char- acter like that of Mr. Peck interpretation fol- lows fact in a straight line of derivation. There is small use for indirection or puzzling. His character was moulded through struggle and is the positive expression of a strong nature. He has made his life count for good in all its rela- tions and his name merits an enduring place on the roster of the honored pioneers of Detroit and the state of Michigan, both of which he has dignified by his life and services.
JOHN J. BAGLEY.
Graven deeply and with marked distinction on the history of the state of Michigan are the name and works of John J. Bagley, of Detroit. He stood as an honored member of a striking group of men whose influence in the social and economic life of the nation was of most beneficent order. It is easy to attribute the elements of greatness to any man who has been in the least conspicuous in public affairs, but in the perspective of years each present- ment assumes its true value and an unequivocal verdict may be rendered. The fair fame of Governor Bagley rest on the firm basis of work accomplished and honors worthily won, and in studying his clear-cut, sane, distinct char- acter, interpretation follows fact in a straight line of derivation. His character was the posi- tive expression of a strong and loyal nature, and the laurels of high personal accomplish-
1
Quo I Bagley
257
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
ment were his, as well as the honors of a been identified in Lockport. The family were worthy ancestry.
John Judson Bagley was born at Medina, Orleans county, New York, on the 24th of July, 1832, a son of John and Mary M. (Smith) Bagley, the former a native of Dur- ham, Greene county, New York, and the latter of Connecticut. His grandfather, who like- wise bore the name of John, was born in Can- dia, New Hampshire, a scion of the Bagley family who came from England to America early in the seventeenth century. The maiden name of the paternal grandmother of the sub- ject of this memoir was Olive Judson, and she was a daughter of Captain Timothy Judson, a patriot soldier in the war of the Revolution and a descendant of William Judson, who im- migrated from Yorkshire, England, in 1634, and lived at Concord, Massachusetts, for a few years; thence he removed to Stratford, Con- necticut, becoming one of the first settlers of that town. Soon after the close of the Revolu- tion Captain John Bagley, in company with his young wife, removed to Durham, New York, where he purchased land on the eastern slope of the Catskills. From that locality his son John, father of John J., removed to Me- dina, New York, and finally he located in Lockport, where he gained recognition as one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the central part of the old Empire state. His home was one of refinement and his devoted wife, who was a woman of more than average attainments, reared her children with great dis- crimination and care. The Bagleys were al- ways active communicants of the Protestant Episcopal church, and it was the wish of his mother than John J. should enter the ministry. The Governor later in life became a Unitarian, and was a member of that church when he died. Business reverses, resulting from no fault of his own, wrecked the fortunes of the father, and he decided to move westward, where he hoped measurably to retrieve his losses. When the future governor of Michi- gan was but six years of age the family came to this state, and after a few months they set- tled at Constantine, where the father continued in the tanning business, with which he had
now in moderate circumstances and thus the subject of this sketch early began to assist in the support of himself and the other members of the family circle. His first employment was in a country store in St. Joseph county, and thereafter he lived for a time in the home of Dr. J. B. Barnes, of Owosso, where he was enabled to attend school. His parents also re- moved to Owosso a short time afterward. When fourteen years of age John J. Bagley left the store in which he had been employed in Owosso and came to Detroit, in search of a business engagement. He secured a situation with Isaac S. Miller, a tobacconist, with whom he remained until he was twenty-one years of age, when he was enabled to engage in busi- ness for himself, by starting a manufactory of tobacco on Woodward avenue, below Jefferson avenue. This venture proved eminently suc- cessful, and the growth of the enterprise was most rapid, necessitating the securing of more ample quarters from time to time. In 1867 it controlled a vast volume of trade and Mr. Bagley was still the dominating force in its management and control.
Prior to the civil war Mr. Bagley had fore- seen the coming inflation of prices and he made the heaviest possible investments in tobacco, so that when the prices finally advanced by leaps and bounds, he realized large profits on his wise investments. With the accumulation of wealth he did not, however, rest satisfied with the single, though extensive industry in which he was concerned. His enterprising nature urged him into scores of ventures, all of which, with a few minor exceptions, proved profitable. He was one of the original stock- holders and president of the Detroit Safe Com- pany, a stockholder in the Detroit Novelty Works, an incorporator of the Wayne County Savings Bank, a stockholder in the Wetherbee Wooden Ware Company, a partner in the Per- kins tobacco factory, in Boston, and interested in various other industrial concerns. He was vice-president of the American National Bank of Detroit, and was for some time president of the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany.
1
258
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
By very nature Mr. Bagley was destined to become a leader in public thought and action. His father was a Democrat, but his own inde- pendence of thought prevented him from gaining his opinions by inheritance. He was a Whig from the beginning and identified him- self with the Republican party at the time of its organization. Shortly after he engaged in independent business in Detroit he was elected a member of the board of education. After the completion of his term he was chosen a mem- ber of the city council, and here also he became a distinct power for good. His pronounced executive ability at once gave him a mastery of public work and party machinery, and long before he was called to a state office he was a recognized leader in the councils of his party in the state. During his membership in the city council he came to a realization of the ne- cessity for a radical reform in the police sys- tem of Detroit, and he lost no time in securing co-operation and in drafting a plan for the organization of the present metropolitan police system of Detroit. With the draft of the law he proceeded to Lansing, and he worked earn- estly and zealously until it was passed by the legislature. He was made one of the first board of police commissioners and as such did the greater part of the work in organizing the department and perfecting its plant of opera- tion and work. Mr. Bagley remained on the police board until 1872, when he received the Republican nomination for governor of Michi- gan, to which office he was elected by the sig- nificant and overwhelming majority of fifty- seven thousand votes,-a distinct testimonial to his personal popularity and the confidence reposed in him. In 1874 he was re-elected, by a much decreased majority,-a result of ordinary political exigencies, as that year stood for Democratic victories throughout the entire country.
As governor Mr. Bagley brought to bear the same intelligent force that had made his business ventures successful, and his adminis- tration was remarkable for its active interest in the state institutions. He personally investi- gated every asylum, college and other state in- stitution and brought about many beneficent
changes in management. No governor of Michigan ever surpassed him in the improving of the penal and charitable institutions of the state. He had long been a student of prison methods, knew their defects and was able to suggest many needed reforms. He devoted much time to juvenile offenders and depend- ent children, and he was instrumental in es- tablishing local agencies to look after children charged with crime; thereby much wrong and suffering were prevented. He gave much time and attention to perfecting and expanding the work of the school for dependent children, which had been founded by his predecessor, and at the Centennial Exposition, in 1876, few educational exhibits excited so much attention as the exploitation of this great charity, given by his procurement at the exposition. Within his administration measures were taken to en- large the state provision for the insane. The reform school for boys was changed from a close prison to a refuge and thereby became a far more effective factor for reform and en- couragement of youthful malefactors. In the various changes which Governor Bagley in- stituted in the treatment of unfortunates of all orders, the most prominent feature was the broad and constant sympathy which he mani- fested. His heart was tender and he was ever moved deeply by all forms of suffering. Con- cerning him the following pertinent statements have been given: "His habit of keeping in mind the moral and social bearings of all his public conduct was his most prominent char- acteristic. Few men with his ardent tempera- ment and ready sympathies could have been safely trusted with the control of school and prison management and social reform. But while he was an undoubted enthusiast, his care- ful business habits and experience saved him from rash action, and he never lost his head. His state papers were models of excellence and in clear, concise and forcible diction gave his views on the issues and affairs of the day. His speeches, and they were many, were always felicitous and delivered in a manner that ap- pealed to the intelligence of his auditors. His administration was in all respects creditable, and particularly so for the care given to the
259
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
charitable and other public institutions. He reverence to the great, noble heart which had took a lively interest in the educational ad- been stilled in death.
vancement of the state and obtained liberal appropriations for the university and other general establishments. Outside of his official acts relative to the university, he personally donated to it many rare and costly books, and also had made and gave in facsimile a complete set of all the coins and medals ever minted by the United States government. He was care- ful and exact in the duties of chairman of the state boards, and his knowledge of business economics suggested various improvements whereby money was saved without parsimony. It was he who suggested the idea of the cen- tennial tree-planting, since followed in so many other states, and his suggestions in this con- nection rang with true patriotism and appre- ciation."
Governor Bagley left the public service with the respect of all classes of citizens and a well earned reputation : his administration ranks with the best. He was the choice of the people for the United States senate, on the death of Senator Zachariah Chandler, but the governor of the state at that time failed to respond to the popular call, and in the regular election which followed, Mr. Bagley was defeated for the senate by perfidy among the ring politi- cians of the state which he had honored and dignified by his generous and able services as governor. It can not be doubted that this lack of loyalty on the part of those whom he had considered his friends, had a decided influence in hastening the death of Governor Bagley, in the following winter. He visited California in the hope of restoring his health, but in spite of the best medical skill obtainable and the ten- der ministrations of a loving and devoted wife, he passed away, in San Francisco, on the 27th of July, 1881, mourned by all who knew him, honored by all who admire justice and integ- rity, and secure in a fame that is a part of the history of our nation. In Detroit the people felt a sense of deep personal bereavement, and this was shown most significantly when here occurred the funeral of the honored dead on the 7th of August. Rich and poor, high and low, civilian and soldier,-all assembled to do
In 1889 there was erected on the Campus Martius, in Detroit, a bronze bust of Governor Bagley, and on the granite pedestal of the same appears the following inscription: "From the people, in grateful remembrance of John J. Bagley." On the Campus Martius is also erected a beautiful memorial fountain, given to the city by the members of the Bagley family.
Governor Bagley married Miss Frances E. Newbury, daughter of Rev. Samuel and Mary Ann (Sergeant) Newbury, of Dubuque, Iowa. The influence of this gracious and cultured woman in the career of Mr. Bagley was one of the most grateful and hallowed order, and the home life was ideal in its every characteristic.
Governor Bagley was a liberal contributor to the benevolent institutions of the state, not only in gifts of money but also of time and counsel when they were more important than money. He aided in many ways the cause of religion, in which connection his generosity knew no creed. His benevolence was a con- stant and unwearied desire to contribute to the happiness of all who came within the sphere of his influence. He had a high sense of his stewardship and of the responsibilities which wealth imposes, but the great, tender heart of the man is the basis of the love and veneration in which his memory is held in the state and . city to whose civic and industrial progress he contributed so generously.
WILLIAM C. Mc MILLAN.
The man himself and the prestige that was his as a representative of one of the best known and most distinguished families of the state of Michigan and more specifically of the city of Detroit, render it a scientific historical necessity that in this work be incorporated at least a brief review of the life of this eldest of the sons of the late Senator James McMillan, to whom personal tribute is paid on other pages of this work.
It may be said with manifest consistency that the father of William C. McMillan was a great man, and the annals of our essentially
1
260
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
democratic nation have shown that not always has it been a privilege for a son to stand in the shadow of such greatness. With the sub- ject of this sketch, however, there was no such handicap: he had the intrinsic strength and ability to emerge from the shadow, even had there been one, and through his own worthy achievements he added to the honors of the honored name which he bore. William C. McMillan was born in Detroit, March 1, 1861, and in his home city, his death occurred on Thursday evening, February 21, 1907, after a patient, brave struggle, typical of the man. In 1879 Mr. McMillan was graduated in the Detroit high school, and he then studied under the direction of a private tutor for one year, at the expiration of which he was matriculated in Yale University, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1884, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. Immediately after leaving college he returned to Detroit and en- tered the employ of the Michigan Car Com- pany, of which his father was one of the prin- cipal stockholders and which represented at the time the largest manufacturing industry in the state. He showed such marked executive abil- ity that in three year he was incumbent of the position of general manager, and in 1888, when he was only twenty-seven years of age, he was offered the position of general mana- ger of a car company in St. Louis, at a salary of ten thousand dollars a year. He had no desire to remove from his native city, however, and thus declined the offer. Mr. McMillan continued as manager of the Michigan Car Company until its consolidation with the Pen- insular Car Company, in 1892, and he con- tinued as a member of the directorate of the combined corporation until it was absorbed by the American Car & Foundry Company. In the meanwhile he had been tendered the posi- tion of president of the American Exchange National Bank and a directorship in the Wash- ington Trust Company, both of which he re- fused, on account of the demands of other business interests. In 1898 Mr. McMillan and his father purchased the controlling interest in the Michigan Malleable Iron Company, of which he became the president. Under his con- trol this concern quadrupled its capacity and
output. Later Mr. McMillan organized and secured a controlling interest in the Seamless Steel Tube Company. For many years he was treasurer and a director of the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company, of which he was president at the time of his death, as was he also of the Detroit & Buffalo Steam- boat Company. He took great pride in the fleets of these two lines, which greatly ad- vanced under his executive management. He brought about the effective organization and rehabilitation of the telephone system con- trolled by the Michigan Telephone Company, which had passed into the hands of a receiver and which he successfully reorganized as the Michigan State Telephone Company. His cap- italistic interests were numerous and varied aside from those already noted, and each con- cern received the benefit of his masterful ad- ministrative ability and clear business pre- science, matured in the school of practical experience in affairs and enterprises of mag- nificent scope and importance,-enterprises, through which the family fortune was greatly enhanced.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.