USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan > Part 52
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and his wife are communicants, as were also his parents.
On the 21st of April, 1898, was solemnized the marriage of Judge Brevoort to Miss Neele E. Davis, who was born in Kentucky. They have no children.
WILLIAM J. CHITTENDEN.
The subject of this sketch has occupied a prominent place in the civic and business life of Detroit for a long period of years, and it is doubtful if the name of any other citizen, except such as have been incumbent of high political positions, is better known to the public at large than is his. He stands today as one of the pioneer hotel men of the state, having long been identified with and the head of the old Russell House, which was the leading hotel of the state as well as of Detroit for fully a half century, and he has held prestige as one of the ablest hotel men in the Union and also one of the most popular. Aside from this Mr. Chittenden, who is now living vir- tually retired, in Detroit, has ever maintained the highest civic ideals and has done much for the promotion of the best interests of the beau- tiful "City of the Straits," his allegiance to and affection for which have never wavered. A man of fine intellectual gifts, urbane and gracious personality, progressive ideas and ut- most loyalty, he has made his influence felt for good in manifold ways and to-day holds a secure place in the confidence and esteem of the people of Detroit. He continued to be identified with the management of the Russell House until the historic caravanserie was closed,-to be razed to the ground that it might give place to the magnificent modern structure, the Hotel Pontchartrain, which was opened in October, 1907, and of which his youngest son, and namesake, is manager, so that the family name bids fair to long continue connected with the supreme hotel interests of the Michigan metropolis.
William J. Chittenden has been a resident of Detroit for more than half a century and he has honored the city by his life and attitude as a citizen and business man. The name which he bears has been long and prominently identi-
fied with the annals of American history, and was early known in New England, whence the original progenitor came from England in the early colonial days, becoming one of the pioneers of Connecticut. Representatives of the family were found represented as valiant soldiers in the various colonial wars, including that of the Revolution. Mr. Chittenden him- self is a native of the old Empire state of the Union, having been born at Adams, Jefferson county, New York, on the 28th of April, 1835, and being a son of Thomas C. and Nancy (Benton) Chittenden, the former of whom was born in Connecticut and the latter likewise hav- ing been a representative of colonial stock. Thomas C. Chittenden became a lawyer of fine attainments and of marked prominence and influence, having been engaged in the practice of his profession at Watertown, New York, for many years, and having represented his dis- trict in congress from 1840 to 1845. In poli- tics he was originally and old-line Whig, but upon the organization of the Republican party he transferred his allegiance to the same, of whose principles he thereafter continued a stal- wart advocate until his death, which occurred at Watertown in 1866; his devoted wife, a woman of noble character, survived him by several years.
The subject of this review was reared to maturity in Watertown, New York, and was afforded the advantages of the best schools of the locality and period. There he gained his initial business experience as clerk in a mercantile establishment, and in 1853, when eighteen years of age, he came to Detroit, lit- tle realizing the prominent position to which he was destined to attain in connection with the city's business and social life. Soon after his arrival here he secured a clerkship in the retail dry-goods establishment of Holmes & Company, but within less than a year he found a wider field for the utilization of his talents, taking a position in the money-order depart- ment of the state postoffice, under Colonel T. Broadhead. In 1856 he returned to Water- town, New York, where he became bookkeeper and teller in the Black River Bank, but the lure of Detroit proved sufficient to call him
1
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back to this city in 1858, in which year he became bookkeeper and secretary to his brother-in-law, the late William Hale, who was proprietor of the Russell House from 1858 to 1861. Under these conditions Mr. Chit- tenden gained his initial experience in connec- tion with the line of enterprise in which he finally achieved so much of eminence and suc- cess, and it is interesting to note in the con- nection that his entire active association with the hotel business was with the house with which he originally identified himself in the capacity mentioned. After the retirement of Mr. Hale he held the same official position with the former's successor, L. T. Miner, who was proprietor of the Russell House from 1861 to 1863, inclusive. In 1864 Mr. Chittenden became associated with Charles S. Witbeck in purchasing the business of the Russell, of which they assumed control under the firm name of Witbeck & Chittenden. This alliance contin- ued until the death of Mr. Witbeck, in 1882, after which Mr. Chittenden was sole proprietor of the hotel until 1890, when Louis A. Mc- Creary was admitted to partnership, under the firm name of Chittenden & McCreary. This firm continued until 1896, when Mr. McCreary retired, and thereafter Mr. Chittenden assumed individual control of the business, of which he remained the executive head until the hotel was closed, in 1905, in which year was started the dismanteling of the building, one of the landmarks of the city, that the site might be utilized for the splendid structure which now graces it. With the closing of the house with which he had been identified for so many years and which he had maintained at the highest standard, gaining to it a reputation on a parity with that of the city itself, Mr. Chittenden virtually retired from active business, though he still gives his personal supervision to the management of his various capitalistic inter- ests and shows an unwaning interest in the welfare and progress of Detroit. His circle of acquaintances among the representative pub- lic men of the state and nation has been par- ticularly wide and Michigan has had no boni- face more popular with the general public. Genial and kindly in his intercourse with all
with whom he has been thrown in contact in his long business life of semi-public character, appreciative of all that represents the higher ideals of life, a man of broad and comprehen- sive knowledge and of suave personal dignity, Mr. Chittenden has never failed to impress his individuality and to gain and retain inviolable friendships. He is at the present time, and has been for a number of years a member of the directorate of the First National Bank of De- troit, is president of the Hargreaves Manufac- turing Company, makers of picture-frames, mouldings, etc., and president of the Michigan Wire Cloth Company, while he also has other important capitalistic investments in Detroit, including valuable realty. He is an honored member of the Detroit Club, the Fellowcraft Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Audobon Whist Club, and the Old Club, at St. Clair Flats, and in the time-honored Masonic fra- ternity he has attained the thirty-second de- gree of the Scottish Rite, taking a deep inter- est in the various Masonic bodies with which he is affiliated. In politics he has ever been aligned as a stalwart supporter of the princi- ples and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and while he has at all times shown a loyal concern in public affairs, par- ticularly those of a local order, he has never consented to accept office, except that of com- missioner of the Detroit House of Correction, of which he remained incumbent for twenty years, having originally been appointed by the late Stephen B. Grummond, who was then mayor of Detroit. He was reappointed in 1908 for a term of four years.
On the 18th of January, 1866, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Chittenden to Miss Irene Williams, daughter of the late General Alpheus S. Williams, one of the distinguished pioneer citizens of Detroit. Mrs. Chittenden died in the city of Chicago, April 7, 1907. She was taken ill on the train while on her way home from the Pacific coast, and about ten days later the end of her beautiful life came. She had been taken to the Auditorium Annex in Chicago, and with her in her last hours were the immediate members of her family with the exception of her son Frederick L.,
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who was at the time lying critically ill in De- troit and who survived her by only two weeks. It is certainly fitting that in this article be entered a memorial tribute to this most noble and gracious woman, who played so important a part and was so loved and honored in the best social life of Detroit during a long period of years. Such a tribute can not be better gained than the following, which appeared in the Detroit Free Press on the day following her demise :
Detroit had no more splendid example of womanhood than Mrs. Chittenden, and it would be no exaggeration to say that there is none whose loss will be so deeply felt. In her activities, both charitable and social, it was her province to meet with many persons, and to those she endeared herself as a noble, whole- souled woman. The eldest daughter of Gen- eral Alpheus S. Williams, Mrs. Chittenden was born in Detroit sixty-four years ago (January 3, 1843) and spent her entire life in this city. Her greatest activities were centered in St. Paul's church, Protestant Episcopal, of which she was a lifelong member and always an ac- tive worker. It was her proud distinction to have held office in every organization to which women are eligible in that church. That her social and charitable work was highly appre- ciated by the many women with whom she was associated is evidenced by the honors that have been bestowed upon her in the various organi- zations to which she belonged. Mrs. Chitten- den had just entered upon her sixth year as state regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and, had she lived, would have gone to Washington to the national gathering. Much of her social activity was centered in the patriotic societies. She was past regent of Louisa St. Clair Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, and only a few days be- fore her death she had completed her term of office as president of the Mount Vernon So- ciety. Numerous other organizations claimed a share of her attention. She was a charter member of the Dames of the Loyal Legion, a member of the Founders' and Patriots' Society, a member of the state board of the Daughters of 1812, a member of the national board of trustees of the Daughters of 1812, a mem- ber of the King's Daughters, a member of the Colonial Governors, a member of the Society of American Memorial Ancestry, and a member of the New England So-
ciety. Her charitable work took a great deal of her time, and she was an active worker in behalf of the Children's Free hospital of De- troit. She was a past president of the board of that institution. The Needlework Guild of America, an institution recognized throughout the land for its worthiness, claimed a share of Mrs. Chittenden's activities. She was a mem- ber of the board of the Detroit branch of that society.
Besides her social and charitable work Mrs. Chittenden had much time for interest in music and art. She was a member of the Tuesday Musicale Society and the Fine Arts Society. She was an active worker in the Twentieth Century Club.
Concerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Chittenden the following brief data are en- tered. Frederick L., who was born in Detroit, December 12, 1866, and who passed his entire life in this city, died at the family home, 134 Fort street west, on the 21st of April, 1907, exactly two weeks after the death of his loved mother. He had suffered an attack of pneu- monia and at the time his parents were in New Mexico. He was identified with the Russell House from his youth and was secretary of the company which controlled the hotel at the time it was closed. He was well known and highly honored in his native city, where his circle of friends was limited only by that of his acquaintances. He never married. Alpheus Williams Chittenden, the second son, is a lead- ing architect in Detroit, and William J., Jr., is manager of the magnificent new Hotel Pont- chartrain, in this city. Margaret C. is the wife of William Tefft Barbour, president of the Detroit Stove Works; and Mary C. is the wife of Henry L. Newman, Jr., of Newman, New Mexico.
THEODORE D. BUHL.
A native son of the city of Detroit who well upheld the prestige of a name honored in the history of the city and who marked by distinc- tive personal accomplishment a place of his own in connection with economic, industrial and so- cial affairs in the state's metropolis, was he to whom this brief memoir is entered. He is a son of the late Christian H. Buhl, of whom
Henry Taylor Jr. Chicago
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specific mention is made in this volume, so that a recapitulation of the family history is not demanded in the present connection. So intimately was the subject of this sketch asso- ciated with his honored father in business op- erations of wide scope and importance, that to gain a true conception of his life history the reader should refer to the review of the career of his father on other pages of this work.
Theodore D. Buhl was born in the city of Detroit, August 20, 1844, and his educational advantages in his boyhood and youth were those afforded in the schools of his home city and in an excellent academic institution in the east. He began his business career as a clerk in the employ of his father and when twenty- one years of age he was admitted to partner- ship in the wholesale hardware business which had been founded by the father. Thereafter he was closely associated with his father in his various industrial and capitalistic enter- prises, early showing a marked capacity for detail administration and for the handling of affairs of importance. He continued a member of the wholesale hardware concern of Buhl, Sons & Company until the death of his father, when the business was incorporated under the present title of Buhl Sons Company, of which he became president, continuing incumbent of this office until the time of his demise.
For more than a decade Mr. Buhl devoted his attention principally to the hardware busi- ness, but later he became interested in many manufacturing and capitalistic enterprises. He was associated with his father in the purchase and development of the Sharon rolling mills, at Sharon, Pennsylvania, and was one of the original organizers of the Detroit Copper & Brass Rolling Mills. At the time of his death he was president of the Buhl Malleable Com- pany, the Buhl Stamping Company, the Diamond Stamp Ware Company, and the Na- tional Can Company. He was also vice-presi- dent of the Old Detroit National Bank and the Detroit Trust Company, while through his connection with other and varied enter- prises of prominence he held high rank among the influential business men of his native city. At the reorganization of the great pharma-
ceutical manufacturing concern of Parke, Davis & Company, one of the largest in the world, Mr. Buhl was chosen president of the company, an incumbency which he retained until his death.
From even this cursory glance it may be seen that Mr. Buhl's connections were with some of the most splendid of Detroit's institu- tions, and it should be noted that in no case did he permit his identification with an enterprise to be one of apathetic or nominal order. He knew the inward workings of every company in which he was concerned and in his official capacity gave to each the benefit of his mature judgment and keen business acumen. His ca- pacity seemed unlimited and his counsel ever carried weight and resulted in definite good. He was essentially a business man and the cares and perplexities of large affairs were not sufficient to disturb his equipoise or deflect his judgment in the slightest degree. He knew what was needed under existing conditions and urged his claims with directness and discrim- ination, so that he was a valued factor in every corporation with which he identified himself. His circle of friends was wide and his loyalty and integrity were ever inviolable. He had friends and admirers because he deserved them through his intrinsic worth of character. He was a popular member of the Detroit Club and the Country Club, as well as other social and fraternal organizations. His political al- legiance was given to the Republican party, but he never entered the arena of practical poli- tics and never sought or accepted public office.
Mr. Buhl died in the city of New York, April 7, 1907, having had a stroke of ap- poplexy while walking on the street and suc- cumbing before he could be carried to his hotel, in the immediate vicinity. His wife and other members of the family were with him in New York at the time when the summons came, and the news of his sudden death was received with unqualified sorrow and regret in his home city, whither his remains were borne for interment.
Mr. Buhl was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth J. Walker, a daughter of the late Hiram Walker, of Walkerville, Ontario, Can-
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ada, and she survives him, as do also three of their children, Willis E., Arthur H., and Law- rence D.
BETHUNE DUFFIELD.
It has been said that the sons of great men seldom attain to distinction, implying that more or less of handicap is entailed through standing in the shadow of such greatness. This may be in many cases true; in fact, the annals of our as well as other nations, show such to be the fact, but in contradistinction are found so many instances where sons have added laurels to honored names of fathers that there can be naught but perversity of spirit and obliquity of view when it is main- tained that the above premise is invariably well taken. An instance is afforded in the career of the subject of this review, who is numbered among the representative members in Michigan of a profession which his father dignified and honored by his exalted life and services, and he has achieved precedence through his own powers and abilities, not de- pending upon hereditary prestige in winning the distinctive success which is his in his ex- acting vocation. He is a son of the late D. Bethune Duffield, who was for many years engaged in the practice of law in the state of Michigan and who was known as one of the most able members of a bar recognized then and now for its strength and brilliancy. He was one of Detroit's foremost citizens and it is fitting that a tribute to his memory be incorporated in this volume. Such a memoir is thus entered on other pages, and in this work is also a more generic epitome of the history of the Duffield family. To both of these articles the reader should refer in con- nection with the present brief sketch of the career of one of the able and popular repre- sentatives of this old and honored family of the Michigan metropolis.
Bethune Duffield was born in the city of Detroit, on the 28th of November, 1861, and is the younger of the two sons of D. Bethune Duffield and Mary Strong (Buell) Duffield. The father was a man of high intellectual
attainments and it was thus in natural course of events that the sons should be afforded the best possible scholastic advantages. The sub- ject of this sketch is indebted to the public schools of his native city for his preliminary educational training and after leaving the same he entered the Michigan Military Aca- demy, at Orchard Lake, in which he com- pleted the prescribed course and was grad- uated in 1879, as a member of the first class to thus leave that excellent institution. He was then matriculated in the literary depart- ment of the University of Michigan in which he completed the classical course, being gradu- ated as a member of the class of 1883 and receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts.
Immediately after leaving the university Mr. Duffield began reading law under the preceptorship of his father, making so rapid and substantial progress in his accumulation of definite knowledge concerning the science of jurisprudence that he gained admission to the bar of his native state in 1885. Thereafter he was associated in practice with his father, under the title of Duffield & Duffield, until the death of the latter, in March, 1891, since which time he has conducted an individual professional business. To the wise counsel of his father he attributes much of his success in the domain of legal work, and their close alliance during the period of six years was one of mutual helpfulness and satisfaction,- a period which will ever remain a source of appreciative gratification to the son who is perpetuating the professional prestige of the father whom he so loved and honored. He is known as an able and discriminating trial lawyer and conservative counsel, being a close student and giving careful thought and prepa- ration to every cause which he presents. He has been identified with much important liti- gation in the state and federal courts and his clientele is one of representative character. Like his father, Mr. Duffield has ever con- sidered his profession as worthy of his undi- vided fealty and attention, so that he has never had aught of desire for public office, though he is known as a loyal and effective exponent of the political principles and policies of which
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the Republican party stands exponent. His civic pride is of no equivocal order and his interest in all that makes for the well being of his home city is of the most insistent type.
Mr. Duffield clings to the religious faith in which he was reared and is a zealous member of the First Presbyterian church, of whose board of trustees he has been a member for many years.
On the 28th of October, 1885, was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Duffield to Miss Eliza S. Muir, daughter of William K. Muir, a representative citizen and business man of Detroit, and they have four children-Muir Buell, Mary Bethune, George, and Marcus Brownson. Mr. and Mrs. Duffield are promi- nent in the social and religious life of their home city and their home is a center of gra- cious hospitality. Mr. Duffield is identified with various social organizations of a local order and is a member of the Detroit Bar Association and the Michigan Bar Association.
J. LOGAN CHIPMAN.
Not too often and not through the agency of too many vehicles can be recorded the life history of one who lived so honorable and use- ful a life as did the late Judge J. Logan Chip- man, of Detroit,-a man, a lawyer and a jurist of signal exaltation and purity of purpose, recondite in the learning of his profession and imbued with the fullest appreciation of its dig- nity and responsibility; well disciplined in mind, eminently judicial in his natural attitude as touching men and measures; guided and guarded by the most inviolable principles of honor and integrity ; simple and unostentatious in his self-respecting and tolerant individuality, -such a man could not prove other than a dynamic power for good in whatsoever rela- tion of life he might have been placed. Judge Chipman made a most enviable record on the bench of the Detroit superior court, whose im- portant functions enlisted his guidance for a period of years and from which he retired only when called upon to represent his native state in the halls of congress, where his abilities and labors again came into play in promoting the
welfare of the people. Thus every work that has to do with Detroit and Michigan in an his- torical sense is in duty bound to take special recognition of the eminent services and the no- ble character of this distinguished son.
In reviewing the life record of any man there is propriety in giving a resumé also of his an- cestral history. Much is gained and much lost through heredity, according to the character of the bequeathment made through this source, and, as taken aside from the incidental inter- est in such genealogical data there is given at least a modicum of information from which may be predicated the influence exerted upon the personality of the subject himself. In this line Judge Chipman was significantly favored, and the name which he bore has been identi- fied with the annals of American history from the earliest colonial era, while strong men and gentle gracious women have been its bearers. The common ancestor of all those of the name in North America was one John Chipman, who was born in Barnstable, England, in 1614, and who immigrated to the American colonies in 1630, settling on a farm at Barnstable, Massa- chusetts, a place named in honor of that of his nativity. He married a daughter of John Howland, a Mayflower pilgrim, and their son Samuel married Sarah Cobb, ten children be- ing born of the latter union and one of the number being John Chipman, who was born in 1691, who was graduated in Harvard Col- lege and who became a prominent and distin- guished clergyman at Beverly, Massachusetts : he died in 1775. In 1740 Samuel Chipman re- moved, in company with his five sons, to Litch- field, Connecticut, and was chosen its first rep- resentative in the legislature, also receiving ap- pointment as judge of the county court. His son Samuel married Hannah Austin, of Suf- field, Connecticut, and of their six sons Na- thaniel was the grandfather of the subject of this memoir.
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