USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan > Part 58
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Concerning Dr. Russel's early labors in his chosen field the following record has been writ- ten: "In those days the practice of local physicians was difficult and arduous. Dr. Rus- sel's medical and surgical circuit was on both sides of the Detroit river. In Canada it ex- tended from Amherstburg to Belle river, a dis- tance of thirty-three miles; on the American side it ramified from Trenton to Lake St. Clair, and inland along the four leading avenues of Detroit to Mt. Clemens, Romeo, Royal Oak, Birmingham, Pontiac, Farmington, Dearborn and Wayne. All these routes were traveled on horseback, and in the saddle-bags were carried the needed drugs, with scales and measures to perfectly fill his prescriptions, as well as sur- gical instruments. Of the six thousand in- habitants of Detroit in 1838 about four thou- sand were French speaking. The roads were very bad, and many hardships were encoun- tered. Dr. Russel was in the saddle for twenty-seven years, and then retired from gen- eral practice.
"As a physician his memory will always fill a beautiful place in the annals of Detroit. He
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was a skilful healer and a philanthropist. He there was an engagement between the insur- gave every day of his time and skill and money to poverty-stricken and suffering humanity. In his daily ministrations among the poor his beneficence was perennial, and grateful thanks from the recipients were scattered at his feet like flowers. He was an educated and scien- tific man, fully abreast with medical science, and, being a wise physician, he was a John the Baptist, who recognized that his only mission was to prepare the way for a greater than himself-Nature.
"He was very active in epidemics of small- pox and cholera, and successfully treated many cases of the former disease shortly after he ar- rived in Michigan. In October, 1837, a tribe of seven hundred Indians from the Saginaw region arrived in Detroit to receive their an- nual presents, and camped on Conner's creek, near Gratiot avenue, a few miles from De- troit. The Doctor learned that smallpox had broken out among them, and he proceeded there at once. He found that about twelve Indians, living in five tents, were infected. Aided by Richard Conner, the proprietor of the farm, and Sister Therese, of the Sisters of Sainte Claire, whose convent at that time was at the southwest corner of Larned and Ran- dolph streets, he treated the sick persons and also vaccinated, or rather inoculated, every member of the tribe. This work occupied fully twenty-four hours and was performed without rest or sleep. A daughter of Henry R. Schoolcraft, the famous Indian ethnologist and historian, was visiting friends in Detroit, and afterward related this episode to her father at Albany. Schoolcraft promptly informed the United States Indian bureau, which procured an appropriation of seven hundred dollars, which was presented to Dr. Russel in 1842. In the same year the Doctor built a smallpox hospital on the present site of the House of Correction, on Russell street. In this hos- pital he gratuitously treated about two hundred cases, principally colored people and white im- migrants. He was also active and efficient during the cholera seasons of 1849, 1852 and 1854."
In 1838, during the so-called Patriot war,
gents and the British forces and Canadian militia at Fighting Island, a few miles below Detroit on the Detroit river. On February 28, 1838, the Patriots were defeated and driven from the island, and the wounded men were brought to Detroit. Here they were attended by Dr. Russel. In cases of several of the wounded amputation was necessary. This fact was related to the British minister at Washington, and Dr. Russel was surprised one day to receive a letter of thanks and one year's pay as assistant surgeon in the British army from the British government.
As chief physician and one of the trustees of Harper Hospital for about a quarter of a century, Dr. Russel greatly advanced the in- terests of that noble Detroit institution. Nancy Martin, the old and well known market woman, loved and respected him, and through his in- fluence donated part of the land which is the site of the present hospital.
Dr. Russel was a man of broad mental ken and great capacity and versatility. In addition to the distinction he achieved as a physician he was a remarkable business man, and the pioneer of Detroit's greatest enterprises. His masterful, energetic, clear-headed methods soon brought him into the front ranks of manufac- turing industry. In 1863 he relinquished the general practice of his profession, although he continued treating his family and relatives and indigent persons to his latest day. In the early '5os he built the first car-ferry boat, the "Union Express," which plied between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, and which brought over the first locomotive in 1854-which year marked the connecting of the Great Western Railway (now the Grand Trunk with Detroit. He founded the Detroit Car Works, which was afterward merged in the Pullman Car Com- pany. He originated the projects upon which George M. Pullman, John S. Newberry and James McMillan rose to fortune.
Te Dr Russell is due the credit for having built the first iron furnace and produced the first ton of pig iron at Detroit. He built the first large steamer of more than thirty-foot beam on the Detroit river and the first steamer
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especially designed to carry iron ore upon the Great Lakes, and was the leading spirit in building up the ferry system now controlled by the Detroit, Belle Isle & Windsor Ferry Company. He also built a very large number of houses in Detroit and vicinity, and owned thousands of acres of land in the city and suburbs, most of which is now built over and worth millions of dollars .. He suffered some losses in the panic of 1857, but recouped his fortunes, and was one of the prominent con- structive men of affairs in Detroit in the late '6os. In 1880, following in his footsteps, his son George H. established the Russel Wheel & Foundry Company, which is now an extensive concern employing many hundred hands, and of which the latter and two other sons, Walter S. and John R., are now the principal owners and officers. Dr. Russel also established and equipped important ship yards, where he built the steamers "Marquette" and "B. L. Webb," and other vessels. He emulated the great ironmasters of Pennsylvania, whom he had known in his youth, and contributed largely to the development of iron industries. He was one of the earliest of the pig-iron manufac- turers of the state, and was the first of the car builders. His son John R., also following in the father's pathway, was the projector of the present important shipbuilding company, the Great Lakes Engineering Works, of which he is a large owner and secretary and treasurer. His brother, George H. Russel, is vice-presi- dent of that company.
For a number of years prior to his death Dr. Russel spent most of his time upon his farm on the banks of Lake St. Clair, in Canada, opposite Grosse Pointe. His son Walter S. had a fine summer house there, but the Doc- tor preferred to live in a cabin near by and, with a man servant to help him, lived free and independent-the truly "simple life." He cut down trees, repaired fences, working vigor- ously with his own hands, and enjoyed living close to nature.
Dr. Russel's longevity was the result of his sane mode of living. In early life he was im- pressed by a work entitled "The Art of Liv- ing," by Kitchener. Following the advice
given in that book, he was a persistent drinker of water alone, eschewing liquor and tobacco. He ate lean meat and drank plentifully of milk, was very regular in his habits and rose at six o'clock every morning. He was a large man, weighing over two hundred pounds, but was active in his movements, never lost his mental alertness, read two newspapers every day and kept in close touch with the advances made in medicine and surgery, by perusing the latest medical periodicals. He disdained formality in his speech and habits, being outspoken, hearty and genial in conversation. He was a remarkably handsome man, and, as a gentle- man of the old school, always dressed in fine broadcloth and wore a silk hat. His face was ruddy, his complexion clear, and his eye quick and penetrating. He frequently said he thought he would reach the century mark, and had he not met with an accident, he would probably have verified the prophecy. The Doc- tor met with a painful accident on August 24, 1903, at the corner of Woodward avenue and Congress street. He stepped off the curb to board a car and was struck in the back by a bicycle, which threw him to the ground. Be- fore he could regain his feet a delivery wagon ran against him and the wheels passed over his hands. He was taken to his home, at 149 McDougall avenue, and though no bones were broken and his superficial injuries were rap- idly healing, a reaction came after a few days and he passed quietly to eternal rest on August 3Ist, at one o'clock in the afternoon, in his eighty-eighth year.
As a youth Dr. Russel had the advantage of recourse to one of the finest private libraries in ciative student. For many years he held the the Union at that time-that of his uncle, John Whiteside-and he ever remained an appre- reputation of having the best knowledge of English literature of any citizen of Michigan, and he memorized large portions of the Bible, Shakespeare and other standard English and classical authors, especially the poets.
He was married in Detroit, July 7, 1845, to Miss Anna E. Davenport, daughter of Lewis Davenport, of whom a memoir appears in this work. Mrs. Russel was born in Detroit, and
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was one of the good women of the city, and life was one of large and distinct accomplish- equally well known and beloved in the com- ment, and his name is graven deeply upon the annals of the state in which he so long lived and labored. munity with her husband. She died June 8, 1888. From her death until the end came Dr. Russel lived a widower in his home on McDou- gall avenue and upon his Canadian farm, the patriarch of a large and affectionate family of children, grandchildren and numerous other relatives. Six of the children survive. The four sons are all representative business men and leaders of affairs in Detroit-George H., president of the People's State Bank; Henry, head of the law firm of Russel, Campbell, Bulkley & Ledyard and general counsel of the Michigan Central Railroad Company; Walter S., president and general manager of the Rus- sel Wheel & Foundry Company; John R., sec- retary and treasurer of the Great Lakes Engi- neering Works: of the two daughters, Sarah is the wife of Jere C. Hutchins, president of the Detroit United Railway, and Miss Anne D. Russel, the younger daughter, lives with her brother, John R. Russel.
It may be truthfully recorded of Dr. Russel that in professional, business, manufacturing and social life none have occupied a more im- portant position. His own accomplishments and the impress which he left through his family and others whom he stimulated to use- ful endeavor will remain a conspicuous part of the history of the city. He is buried in Elm- wood cemetery, which he and Henry Ledyard originally projected, and by the side of his good wife rests beneath a granite celtic cross, upon which is inscribed, "Their children rise up and call them blessed."
SAMUEL T. DOUGLASS.
Among the many noble figures that have lent dignity and honor to the bench and bar of the state of Michigan a place of special distinction must be accorded to the late Judge Samuel T. Douglass, who at the time of his death was the Nestor of the Detroit bar and who served with great ability in the early days as judge of Wayne circuit court, in which connection he was, ex officio, also a member of the Michi- gan supreme court as then constituted. His
The family of which Judge Douglass was a worthy scion was founded in New England in the early colonial era, and he was in the sev- enth generation of direct descent from the original American progenitor. He was born in Wallingford, Rutland county, Vermont, on the 28th of February, 1814. While he was a child his parents removed from the old Green Mountain state to the village of Fredonia, Chautauqua county, New York, where he was reared to manhood and received his academic education. There also he studied law under the preceptorship of Judge James Mullett, who was for many years a member of the supreme court of New York. In 1832 Mr. Douglass took up his residence in Saratoga, New York, where he continued his technical studies under the direction of Esek Cowen, one of the most distinguished members of the bar of the Empire state.
In 1837, the year which marked the admis- sion of Michigan to the federal Union, Judge Douglass took up his residence in Detroit, where he was shortly afterward admitted to the bar of the new commonwealth. It was not only his to attain to distinguished honors in his profession, but he also outlived all of his early contemporaries of the Detroit bar, of which he was the oldest member at the time of his death, which occurred in the spring of 1897. His first year of active professional work was passed in Ann Arbor, and he then returned to Detroit, where he continued in active practice until 1888, when he retired from the work of his profession. His practice was consecutive during these long intervening years, save for the comparatively brief period during which he wore the judicial ermine. Upon initiating the work of his profession in Detroit, Judge Douglass associated himself with Asher B. Bates and Henry N. Walker, under the firm name of Bates, Walker & Douglass, and after the retirement of Mr. Bates the firm was Douglass & Walker until 1845, when Judge Douglass was appointed re-
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porter of the supreme court of the state, of which office he continued incumbent until his resignation, in 1848. He published the first two volumes of the supreme court reports, covering the period from 1843 to 1847, inclu- sive. From 1848 until 1851 Judge Douglass had as his professional coadjutor the late Judge James V. Campbell, who had been a student in the office of the firm of Douglass & Walker. In 1851 the subject of this memoir was elected to the bench of the circuit court of the third judicial circuit, this having been the first non- partisan judicial election in the Wayne cir- cuit, and he was elected by a large majorty over the regular Democratic candidate, through the support of members of the Republican party, though he was himself a pronounced Democrat. The judicial office was admirably suited to his tastes and abilities and he won a high reputation on the bench, but its labors, which included service as a member of the su- preme court, which was then composed of the judges of the various judicial circuits, proved so onerous as to make serious inroads on his health, though he continued in office until 1857, when a change in the political affairs of the state led to his retirement. In this year the definite supreme court was established and he was the nominee of his party for membership in the same, but met defeat, as expected, from the fact that the Democratic party was in hope- less minority in Michigan. His successful com- petitor was his former partner, Judge Camp- bell, who then initiated his long and honorable career on the bench.
In the spring of 1857 Judge Douglass re- signed his position as circuit judge and re- sumed the active practice of his profession. He labored with all of ardor and fidelity in his chosen vocation, ever showing a deep ap- preciation of its dignity and responsibility, and for many years he was concerned in much of the important litigation in the state and fed- eral courts in Michigan. From a history of the Bench and Bar of Michigan, issued prior to the death of Judge Douglass, are taken the following pertinent statements concerning him : "The chief elements of character contributing to his success at the bar and upon the bench
are his sound common sense, his knowledge of human nature and clear intuition of the credi- bility and force of evidence, his intellectual integrity and rectitude, his force of will and steady, untiring persistence, and the conscien- tious thoroughness of his investigation. He is not in the popular sense an orator. He has neither the temperament nor the intellectual qualities essential to the great advocate; never- theless, his earnestness, candor and sincerity, his power of analysis applied to the testimony, and his careful preparation, always secured to him a good measure of success before a jury. The court, however, is his element; his state- ment of the facts is condensed and lucid; his reasoning upon the questions of law or fact is terse, logical and forcible,-expressed in language of simplicity, directness and force, and entirely free from ambiguity. He has never accustomed himself to rely upon a ready wit or fluent speech, but makes up for the want of these by a deep and thorough investiga- tion of the law touching any case and the merits of any controversy. He de- pends more upon industrious, painstaking research and methodical arrangement of his facts and testimony than upon mere learn- ing or anything akin to inspiration. Outside of his profession his reading and studies are varied and extensive, but far more in the field of science than the realm of general literature. He accepts with deep conviction the generali- zation of Darwin and other evolutionists, and their far reaching consequences, and has paid much attention to rational ethics and political economy. His religious views appear to lean toward scientific agnosticism." Another writer has spoken of the subject of this sketch in essentially the following words: "In every as- sociation Judge Douglass maintains a distinct and unmistakable independence of character. Most amiable and loyal in all relations, there is a piquant dash in his character that makes him an especially charming companion. Quite con- sistent with entire dignity of thought and speech is his ready appreciation of the humor- ous. Without any lack of symmetry, he en- tirely lacks neutrality. He is not a person of conventional views or opinions. Outspoken
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and frank to a high degree, holding his right to independence of opinion as sacred, he has no hesitation in declaring his views whenever they are demanded, and they are always so declared as not to leave the least chance for misappre- hension." Judge Douglass was essentially a strong and distinct character, and to those whose privilege it was to know him and ap- preciate his sturdy integrity, his kindliness and sympathy, his tolerance of judgment and his inflexible honesty of purpose, there could come naught but admiration and respect for the man.
In politics Judge Douglass always gave his allegiance to the Democratic party, of whose fundamental principles he was a stalwart advo- cate. He was, however, quick to manifest his disapproval of party heresies, and it was thus that he was outspoken in his protest against the free-silver policy advanced by the semi- Democratic national convention of 1896. In the election of that year, in harmony with his views, he gave his support to General John M. Palmer, the presidential candidate of the "Na- tional Democrats." Judge Douglass had much civic pride and was progressive and public- spirited in his attitude at all times. He served as a member of the Detroit board of education in 1843-4 and in 1858-9, and in later years was a member of the board of education on Grosse Ile, where he developed about two hundred and fifty acres. He purchased this property in 1860, and there the major portion of his time was passed during the long years that inter- vened before his death. The homestead is known as one of the most beautiful of the country seats on this idyllic spot in the Detroit river. Judge Douglass did much to further the success of the Detroit public library, and his interest in the same ever continued to be of the most insistent order. He served as city at- torney for a few months in 1842, and was a member of the old-time political organization, the Young Men's Club, of which he was at one time president, but he never sought public office nor was incumbent of the same save in the line of his profession, as a judge of the cir- cuit and supreme courts, and as city attorney. He was the friend and supporter of every ra-
tional scheme of improvement in the com- munity in which he so long maintained his home and in which he was honored as a man of large talent and sterling integrity of character.
In 1856 Judge Douglass was united in mar- riage to Miss Elizabeth Campbell, sister of his law partner, Judge James V. Campbell, and they became the parents of three children,- Mary C., who is the wife of Dr. Frederick P. Anderson, of Grosse Ile; Benjamin, who is a civil engineer by profession; and Elizabeth C., who is the wife of Louis P. Hall, of Ann Arbor.
EDWIN DENBY.
Hon. Edwin Denby, of Detroit, the present representative of the first district of Michigan in the United States congress, is a lawyer of high attainments, a man of progressive ideas and mature judgment, and is ably upholding the high prestige of the Wolverine common- wealth, which has sent many able and distin- guished citizens to the national legislature. He is a recognized leader in the councils of the Republican party in Michigan, and is insistent- ly loyal to the state in which he has elected to make his home and whose interests he has made his own in a significant way: this is shown by the high official preferment which has been given him through popular franchise.
Mr. Denby is a native of the state of In- diana, having been born in the city of Evans- ville, on the 18th of February, 1870, and being a son of Charles and Martha (Fitch) Denby, the former of whom was born in Botetourt county, Virginia, a scion of fine family in the Old Dominion, and the latter of whom was born in the state of Indiana. Hon. Charles Denby was reared to maturity in his native state, where he was afforded the advantages of the Virginia Military Institute, at Lexington, and later he completed a course in Georgetown University, District of Columbia. He prepared himself most admirably for the legal profes- sion, in which he attained to much of success and distinction. He took up his residence in Indiana in the year 1854, and there for some
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time was engaged in teaching in the public schools, a vocation which he had previously followed in the state of Alabama. In 1854 he was elected to the lower house of the Indiana legislature, and thereafter he studied law and was admitted to the bar of the state. It was his to render yeoman service as a valiant defender of the Union in the Civil war. He enlisted in 1861 and was made lieutenant-colonel of the Forty-second Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until 1863. In the battle of Perryville he was twice wounded and his horse was shot from under him. He was assigned to detail duty during the major portion of his prolonged term of service, which continued until the close of the war. He left his original regiment to assume the colonelcy of the Eighth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, with which command he continued until victory had crowned the Union arms. Thereafter he was engaged in the active practice of his pro- fession in Evansville, Indiana, until 1885, when he was appointed United States minister to China, where he continued incumbent of this important office for a period of thirteen years, gaining a high reputation for his diplomatic ability and able handling of the multifarious duties of the office. He died at Jamestown, New York, in 1904, while making a trip through the east, and his widow continued to reside in Evansville, Indiana, until her death, which occurred in 1906. They are survived by five sons and one daughter. Colonel Denby was a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and to its cause he gave most efficient and timely service during the long period of his identification with the or- ganization. The Denby family is of staunch English origin and was founded in America in the colonial epoch. One or more of the representatives of the family were in active service as loyal soldiers in the war of the Revolution.
Edwin Denby, the immediate subject of this review, gained his early educational discipline in the public schools of his native city, and he was fifteen years of age at the time of his father's appointment to the post of minister
to China. In this ancient oriental empire he continued his educational work, and finally he secured employment in the customs service in China under Sir Robert Hart, being thus en- gaged for a period of ten years. Upon the indomitable courage and unyielding persever- the law department of the University of Mich- igan, in which he was graduated as a mem- ber of the class of 1896, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. He 'was forthwith ad- mitted to the bar of the state, in Detroit, and in this city initiated the active practice of the profession for which he had thoroughly pre- pared himself. He was for a time associated with the law firm of Keena & Lightner, later was engaged in individual practice, and finally became a member of the firm of May, Denby & Webster. At the time of the Spanish-Amer- ican war, in 1898, Mr. Denby subordinated his private and professional interests to the call of his country for volunteers, and he served for four months as gunner's mate, third class, upon the United States steamship "Yosemite." He received an honorable discharge on August 23, 1898, and then resumed the work of his profession in Detroit. In 1903 he was elected a member of the lower house of the Michigan legislature, in which he served one term, mak- ing an admirable record and thus placing him- self in line for the higher honors which were destined to be his. In 1904 he was elected to represent the first congressional district of Michigan in congress, receiving 28,874 votes and leading his Democratic opponent by nearly nine thousand votes. His work in congress has been of most effective order and he has gained the distinct appreciation and approval of his constituency and of the people of the state in general. In May, 1908, Mr. Denby was chosen one of the two American repre- sentatives on the commission appointed to effect a settlement of questions in regard to prices and titles of lands held by private parties in the Panama isthmian canal zone, and in the discharge of the duties of this office he passed a portion of the summer of 1908 on the isth- mus. Mr. Denby is a member of the director- ate of the National Bank of Commerce, of
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