Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 46

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago H. Taylor & Co.
Number of Pages: 858

USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan > Part 46

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The subject of this review was a lineal descendant of Isaac du Trieux, or Truy, son of the original Philippe du Trieux, and said Isaac was the founder of the branch of the family which was established in or about Schenectady, New York, in the seventeenth century. He was one of the first settlers in that locality, where he and his family were residing at the time of the burning of the town and the massacreing of its inhabitants by the French and Indians in 1690. He it was who escaped and bore the news of the tragic event to Fort Orange, on the site of the present city of Albany.

Abraham Caleb Truax was of the sixth generation in line of direct descent from Philippe du Trieux, and the specific record of the genealogy is summarized as follows: Son of Caleb and Fytje (Sophia) van Patten; of Isaac Abramse and Engel Beck; of Abrahamse and Christina de la Grange; of Isaac and

Mr. Truax is supposed to have arrived in Detroit in the opening year of the nineteenth century, nearly forty years before the admis- sion of Michigan to the Union. He made the trip overland, by the way of Canada, and after locating in Detroit he followed various lines of business enterprise possible in the pioneer community, accumulating some means and in- vesting the same largely in local realty. Con- cerning the career of this sterling and sturdy pioneer we can not do better at this point than to quote from an article prepared by his grandson, Elliott T. Slocum, who is one of the representative citizens of Detroit and who is the subject of a specific sketch in this volume:

"In 1812, when war was declared against Great Britain, being imbued with that spirit of patriotism which throbs the breast of every true, loyal Huguenot, he shouldered the old flintlock musket in defense of his native coun- try. He was with General Hull at the time of the surrender, and later, for meritorious conduct, he was commissioned captain, by General Cass, and in 1838 was commissioned colonel by Governor Stevens T. Mason. After peace had been declared he resumed his former vocation, with which the ravages of war had made havoc. On May 30, 1809, he purchased of Elijah Brush, for three hundred dollars, a strip of ground on Jefferson avenue, between Wayne and Shelby streets, where stood the

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new part of the Michigan Exchange and the store next to it on the west. About 1813 he erected on said ground a building which for those days was one of the best in Detroit, and which for many years was known as the Truax building. On May 11, 1815, he sold the same to James May, for two thousand nine hundred dollars.

"In 1817 he had established himself - against the opposition of many friends-upon a plat south of Detroit, and on the Detroit river, and this, after being surveyed into streets and village lots, offered superior inducements to buyers and builders alike. Thus, from a former chaotic wild, arose the flourishing and beauti- ful village of Truaxton, now Trenton, Wayne county, Michigan. He was the first white settler to erect a house in that locality and was known as a successful Indian trader.

"Later in life he occupied many prominent federal and municipal offices. He was a pro- gressive business man, richly endowed with that sterling quality of integrity which com- manded respect and love from all who knew him.

"The chaotic wilds, prior to the advent of Truax,

Are changed since his hand leveled th' wood- lands.

With axe and with adze he formed th' timbers To build the first house as a home for th' white man.

Th' loom took th' place of the bow and th' arrows;

Th' woodlands were cleared of th' red-painted savage,

And th' howl of th' wolf in th' forest is ended.

"The old Truax homestead, familiarly designated in its palmy days as the 'Tavern' or the 'Half-Way House'-between Detroit and Monroe,-was the best known old way- side inn in that section of the country. It was erected amid Indian wigwams early in the nineteenth century, by Abraham C. Truax, and stands today as

"An altar mark to a patriot's mind,

Whose sword, axe, adze and wedge combined, Hewed, cut and raised, with a master pride, This old-time homestead, and thus provided For generations four."

On the 24th of February, 1817, Colonel Truax married Lucy Melinda Brigham, of Hanover, New Hampshire. She died October 8, 1838. They had four children, only two of whom reached adult age. A son, George B. Truax, died in Detroit in 1869, after a suc- cessful business life; and a daughter, Sophia Maria Brigham Truax, who was born June 14, 1818, at Truaxton (Trenton), Wayne county, Michigan, was married May 16, 1838, to Giles Bryan Slocum. She is still living, nearly ninety years of age, and spends her summers at the old homestead on Slocum's Island, and her winters in Detroit. She is a stately, gracious figure whose mind forms an indissoluble link between the pioneer epoch and the present day, with its opulent prosperity, and reverent affection is bestowed upon her by all who know her. In this connection ref- erence should be made also to the sketch of the life of her honored husband, whose death occurred in 1884. Said sketch appears on other pages of this work.

Colonel Truax met his death by the explo- sion of the steamer "Vance," on the Detroit river, in 1844. His remains lie in Woodmere cemetery.

THOMAS W. PALMER.

Graven deeply and with marked distinction on the history of the state of Michigan are the name and works of Thomas W. Palmer, of Detroit, and now, venerable in years, he stands as an honored member of a striking group of men whose influence in the social and economic life of the nation has been of most beneficent order.

Thomas Witherell Palmer is a native of the city of Detroit, where he was born on the 25th of January, 1830, which date bears sig- nificant evidence of the fact that he is a scion of one of the pioneer families of the city and state. He is now the only survivor of the nine children of Thomas and Mary Amy (Witherell) Palmer. His father was born in Ashford, Windham county, Connecticut, on the 4th of February, 1789, and at the age of nineteen years, in company with his brother, who was two years his senior, he initiated his

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independent career, as an itinerant merchant, -a vocation common to New England at that time.

In the year 1808 the two brothers, with a span of horses and a small stock of merchan- dise, left New England and made their way to western Canada, and later they made a per- manent location at Malden, Canada, where they met with success and where they were residing at the time of the outbreak of the war of 1812. When the news of the initiation of the conflict became known in the village every American there, some fifteen in all, including the Palmer brothers, was arrested and im- prisoned. Some took the oath of allegiance to Great Britain and were then released, but the Palmers and five others refused to take this action, in consequence of which they were re- tained in duress for five weeks or more, after which they were taken over the St. Lawrence river to Monguagon, whence they proceeded on foot to Detroit, which became a strategic point in the war, as history well records. After Hull's surrender of Detroit the Palmer brothers returned to Malden, on parole, and were there permitted to exchange their stock of merchandise for furs. They then returned to Connecticut, and a few months later they located at Canandaigua, New York, where they conducted a prosperous business until the close of the war, in 1814, at which time they had on hand a large stock of goods that had depreciated in value. Thomas Palmer pro- ceeded to Canada with this stock, of which he disposed to advantage, after which he made his way to Detroit, where he made his advent June 16, 1815. Here he forthwith engaged in business, in which he continued in partnership with his brother, under the original title of F. & T. Palmer. Prosperity followed this venture until 1824, when the financial crisis forced their liquidation, though in time they paid one hundred cents on every dollar of in- debtedness.

In the year 1828 Thomas Palmer acquired a large tract of pine land in St. Clair county, where he built a saw mill and opened a store, both of which he conducted for several years. In 1845 he acquired mining interests in the Lake Superior region, but as his operations in

this line were not profitable he returned to Detroit, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred on the 3d of August, I868.

In 1821 was solemnized the marriage of Thomas Palmer to Miss Mary Amy Witherell, daughter of Judge James Witherell, a native of Mansfield, Massachusetts, who had removed to Fairhaven, Vermont, in which state he had served as circuit judge and member of the legislature and from which he had been sent as a representative in congress. He enlisted in the Continental army when but sixteen years of age and served during the entire period of the war of the Revolution. In 1808 he took up his abode in Detroit, having been appointed a judge of the territorial supreme court by President Jefferson. Judge Witherell died in January, 1838.

Thomas W. Palmer, the immediate subject of this review, passed the first twelve years of his life in Detroit, where he received his rudi- mentary education, and he was then sent to the village of Palmer (now the city of St. Clair), named in honor of his father, where he entered the school conducted by Rev. O. C. Thompson. Upon leaving this preparatory institution he was matriculated in the Univer- sity of Michigan, where he continued his studies for one year, at the expiration of which he was compelled to withdraw, on account of failing eyesight, and he passed a portion of the succeeding year on Lake Superior, where he was concerned with his father's mining in- terests. In the meanwhile he partially re- gained the strength of his eyes, and he again entered the university, but the application to his books brought about a revival of the same trouble, and he was compelled to relinquish permanently his ambition to complete the uni- versity course.

In the autumn of 1848, in company with five others, Senator Palmer-for thus he is familiarly and best known-made the voyage to Spain, thereafter making a two months' trip on foot through that historic land and visiting many places of interest. He then embarked for South America, where he passed three months, after which he returned home. In 1850 he went to Wisconsin, where for a

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year he was employed as agent for a lake transportation company. In 1851 he engaged in business at Appleton, that state, but met financial disaster through the destruction of his establishment by fire.

In 1853 Mr. Palmer returned to Detroit, where he engaged in the real-estate business, in which he continued two years. In 1855 he turned his attention to lumbering and pine lands, and soon formed a partnership asso- ciation with Charles Merrill, an extensive operator in this field of enterprise. For years the firm of C. Merrill was composed of Messrs. Merrill, Palmer and J. A. Whittier, with headquarters at East Sagiaw, and when Mr. Merrill died, in 1872, the same firm name was retained, his interest being retained by his only daughter, the wife of the subject of this sketch. During the long intervening years Senator Palmer has continued to be largely interested in the lumbering industry, through which he has amassed a fortune, and his other capitalistic investments are of wide scope and importance. His is one of the larg- est estates of Michigan and he has ever ad- ministered its affairs with distinctive ability.

Senator Palmer has been aligned as a staunch supporter of the principles of the Re- publican party from the time of its formation to the present, and he has been marked for leadership in its ranks. He was never a can- didate for office until 1873, when he was chosen a member at large of the first board of estimates of the city of Detroit. In 1878 he declined the nomination for congress, but at the earnest solicitation of his friends he accepted the nomination for state senator, and was elected. While a member of the senate he introduced and pushed to its passage the bill creating the state industrial school for girls, at Adrian, and was largely instrumental in securing the passage of a bill providing for a boulevard system in Detroit. While a mem- ber of the senate he served as chairman of the Republican legislative caucus that nominated Zachariah Chandler for the national senate.

In 1883 Senator Palmer was elected to the United States senate, to succeed Thomas W. Ferry. He earnestly championed the cause of the homesteaders of the northern peninsula of

Michigan in their fight against the various land and mining companies that assailed their rights, and in the senate he also delivered the first set speech ever there given in favor of woman suffrage. He introduced and spoke in favor of the bill to restrict immigration, and in connection therewith prepared complete sta- tistics of immigration for reference,-the first complete record of the sort ever compiled.

While in the senate he was largely instru- mental in securing the passage of the bill that gave the department of agriculture a repre- sentation in the president's cabinet. Had he so desired he could have been re-elected to the senate, but he had decided to retire from active politics and was not a candidate before the legislature. In March, 1889, Senator Palmer was tendered the post of minister to the court of Spain. This position he accepted, and with his wife embarked for Madrid. This diplo- matic position he occupied with the highest honor, both to himself and his country.

The office of envoy and minister he held but thirteen months. He tendered his resignation in May, 1890, and returned home. In June of that year President Harrison appointed him one of the commissioners at large of the World's Columbian Exposition, and upon the meeting of that body, June 27th, he was unani- mously elected its president,-an office for which his executive ability and his varied ex- periences as an organizer most eminently fitted him. He labored earnestly and zealously for the success of the exposition, and to his sound judgment and accurate, discriminating mind a large portion of its success may be ascribed. As a public speaker Senator Palmer enjoys a high reputation.

Senator Palmer was the first to suggest the erection of a soldier's monument in Detroit, and was the first secretary of the organization that secured the erection of the fine memorial on the Campus Martius. He was one of the pro- jectors, founders and the first president of the Detroit Museum of Art, to which he has con- tributed sixteen thousand dollars. He reveres the memory of his mother, and as a tribute to her he contributed in large measure, in 1888, to the erection of the Mary W. Palmer Me-

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morial church, Methodist Episcopal, in De- in the Michigan metropolis and elsewhere in troit.

A sketch of Senator Palmer's life would be incomplete without more than a cursory ref- erence to his "Log Cabin," which has a na- tional reputation. The environs of Detroit, beautiful as they are, can show few, if any, scenes more beautiful than the site of the "Log Cabin," seven miles north of the city. The cabin itself is built after the style of the old colonial log houses, but the superior workman- ship of its construction and the elaborate finish of its interior made its total cost exceed ten thousand dollars. To Mr. Palmer the value of the various articles of domestic utility which he has stored here can not be estimated in money. Adjoining the log cabin is a dense forest, which remains untrammeled by the march of civilization that years ago reached it and passed on. In the cultivation and care of this property, comprising more than six hun- dred acres, Mr. Palmer has found a great in- terest and satisfaction. He finally sold a portion of this tract to a syndicate, and then, with characteristic munificence, made a free gift of the remainder, worth probably a quarter of a million dollars, to Detroit for park pur- poses. This greatly appreciated beauty spot is known as Palmer Park.

On the 16th of October, 1855, was solemn- ized the marriage of Mr. Paumer to Miss Elizabeth P. Merrill, daughter of his partner, Charles Merrill. They have no children of their own, but while in Spain they adopted a little Spanish boy, who has since remained in their home.

HUGH McMILLAN.

No name is more familiar in connection with the civic and industrial history of Detroit than that of McMillan, and the name has farther stood for the highest type of citizenship. One of the prominent and influential representa- tives of the McMillan family in Detroit was the late Hugh McMillan, younger brother of the late United States Senator James McMil- lan, and he won marked distinction in the es- tablishing and upbuilding of a number of the most solid and extensive business enterprises

the state, being a man of broad capacity, strong initiative and marked administrative power. In his death, which occurred on the Ioth of February, 1907, Detroit and Mich- igan suffered the loss of one of their most useful business men and most honored citizens.

Mr. McMillan was born in the city of Ham- ilton, province of Ontario, Canada, on the 28th of September, 1845, being a son of William and Grace McMillan, both of whom were born and reared in Scotland, the former having been a native of the city of Glasgow, where for several years he was engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was a man of exceptionally strong and symmetrical character and one whose entire course in life was dominated and directed by the highest principles of integrity and honor. In 1836 he immigrated to Amer- ica and took up his residence in Hamilton, Ontario, where he continued to make his home until his death, which occurred in 1874, his wife surviving him by several years. His business connections were wide and varied and his identification with many important enter- prises caused his name to become well known throughout Ontario. He was prominently concerned in the organization of the Great Western Railroad Company, of which he con- tinued to be an officer until his death.

The fifth son in a family of six sons and one daughter, Hugh McMillan, subject of this memoir, was reared to maturity in his native place, where he was afforded the advantages of the public schools and also Phillips Academy, a well ordered institution of higher training, in the city of Hamilton. He was graduated in this academy, and though he was a close and appreciative student he early formulated plans for his future career, determining to devote his life to business affairs, for he had the pre- science to realize that herein lay his greatest potential. At the age of fourteen years he secured a clerical position in the employ of the Great Western Railway, and after two years' experience as bookkeeper in the office of this company he was induced to come to Detroit, in 1861. Here he became a clerk in the office of the general superintendent of the Detroit & Milwaukee Railroad. At the expi-

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ration of three years he withdrew from the time the initiative operations were instituted. railway service and assumed a position as salesman in the hardware establishment of Ducharme & Prentice. With this firm he re- mained until 1872, when he became secretary of the Michigan Car Company, which was rapidly becoming an important industrial cor- poration and in which his brother, the late Senator James McMillan, was largely inter- ested. With the upbuilding of this industry he had much to do, as his executive ability and progressive ideas came into play in a most effective manner, while he was indefatigable in his efforts to promote the advancement of the company's interests. Several years after identifying himself with this company he was made vice-president of the same, as well as general manager. He was also largely inter- ested in the closely allied industries conducted under the titles of Detroit Car Wheel Com- pany and the Baugh Steam Forge Company, which were organized about the same time. Of the first mentioned he was vice-president and general manager, and of the latter was vice-president and treasurer. These three con- cerns figured most potently and conspicuously in connection with the industrial advancement of the city of Detroit.

The scope of Mr. McMillan's productive en- terprise widened beyond the labors he per- formed in connection with the corporations just mentioned. He was one of the promoters of the Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette Rail- road Company, of which he was the original secretary and treasurer, as well as a member of its directorate. Within two years the com- pany completed the construction of a line one hundred and fifty miles in length and extend- ing through a section of the upper peninsula opulent in natural resources but previously lit- tle more than a wilderness. In the develop- ment of this now beautiful region, now marked by great industrial activity and by flourishing cities and towns, the line of rail- road thus constructed was the most potent factor, and its projectors showed great fore- sight and wisdom in carrying through the en- terprise, though there was much popular skepticism in regard to the matter at the

The line was completed in 1879 and Mr. McMillan continued his active official connec- tion with the original company until 1886, when a syndicate of eastern and western capi- talists organized the Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic Railway Company, with a capital of ten millions of dollars, for the purpose of pur- chasing the road and constructing about two hundred additional miles of trackage, to con- nect it with the western terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad, at Duluth, and with the eastern railways at Sault Sainte Marie. As the financial agent of this syndicate Mr. McMillan, in October, 1886, completed the negotiations for the purchase from the bond- holders the property of the Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette Railway, for a consideration in excess of three million dollars. In view of results it is unnecessary in this connection to enter into details as to the great benefit that has inured to the upper peninsula and the state at large through the operations of this company, whose lines now form a valuable connecting link between the eastern and west- ern seaboards.

Mr. McMillan was also one of the organ- izers of the Michigan Telephone Company and his confidence and energetic efforts were brought into effective play in bringing the en- terprise to successful culmination. The com- pany at one time controlled the entire telephone business of the state and he was its secretary and treasurer for several years. Mr. McMil- lan was also one of the founders of the Com- mercial National Bank of Detroit, mentioned elsewhere in this volume, and was its president for twenty years, from the time of its incep- tion. For some time he was also a director and large stockholder in the State Savings Bank, and was a director of the Union Trust Company. Of other important corporations with which he was prominently identified men- tion may consistently be made, though various changes occurred in the control and title of cer- tain of them both before and after his death. He was president of the Detroit Dry Dock Company, vice-president and treasurer of the Detroit Iron Furnace Company and the New-

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berry Furnace Company, vice-president and general manager of the Detroit Pipe & Foun- dry Company, vice-president of the Fulton Iron & Engine Works and the Detroit Iron Mining Company, president of the Red Star Line of steamers, and president of the Ham- tramck Transportation Company. At the time of his demise he was a stockholder in the De- troit Railroad Elevator Company, the Detroit & Cleveland Steam Navigation Company, of both of which he was treasurer at the time of his death, and of the Duluth & Atlantic Trans- portation Company, the American Steamship Company, and the National Steamship Com- pany, of which latter he was president and treasurer. There were no mirages in the ken of Mr. McMillan as a business man, and his judgment was almost ultimate in its wisdom, while his capacity for affairs of the greatest scope and importance seemed almost phenom- enal. He was not a man of limited horizon, however, and had deep and grateful apprecia- tion of the elements which make for the higher ideals in the scheme of human existence. He was broad in his information touching histori- cal and literary subjects, finding much of solace in his fine library, and he enjoyed to the full the company of his friends, to whom his loyalty was inviolable.

In politics, though never an aspirant for official position, he was a staunch advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and his religious faith was indicated by his member- ship in the Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian church, in which he was an officer for many years. He was a popular and valued member of the Detroit Club, of which he served three terms as president, and he had the distinction of being one of the few Michigan men to have attained to the thirty-third and supreme degree in Scottish Rite Masonry.

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Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 46

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932 Publication date: 1909 Publisher: Chicago H. Taylor & Co. Number of Pages: 858

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago H. Taylor & Co.
Number of Pages: 858