USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan > Part 61
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"Mr. Stearns then took up conchology and devoted several years of time and considerable money to it, not as a dilettante but from a strictly scientific standpoint. Over ten thou- sand different specimens of shells, classified and arranged in systematic order, go to make up this collection in the Detroit Museum, and his book, entitled 'Marine Mollusks of Japan,' in which Professor Pilsbury, of Philadelphia, was his collaborator, is one of the standard refer- ence books of the science to-day.
"What he regarded as his crowning work, however, was his collection of musical instru- ments which he presented to the University of Michigan in 1899. This collection comprises some two thousand different kinds of instru- ments and represents the evolution of stringed, wind and percussion instruments from their most promitive forms to the complex and artis- tic productions of the present day. It is con- sidered the most complete collection of the kind in America and one of the most interesting in the world.
"It is evident from all this that Mr. Stearns found the most absorbing interest in pursuits that many men would have considered dry and unprofitable. He always disclaimed any phil- anthropic motives in the work, however, mod- estly saying that he did it because it gave him pleasure, and he gave away the results of it be- ure to others. The honors that came to him were always unsought, and it is safe to say that probably no private citizen in Detroit was held in higher esteem by men prominent in the business and social life of the city, particularly
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among the older men, who had seen his splen- did progress and known of his many contribu- tions toward both the educational and artistic welfare of Detroit and Michigan."
In recognition of his munificent gift of ori- ental curios to the Detroit Museum of Art a body of Detroit citizens presented him with a handsome bronze medal, with appropriate in- scription. In 1901 the University of Michigan conferred upon Mr. Stearns, with all of con- sistency, the honorary degree of Master of Arts, in recognition of his valued contributions to science and the fine arts.
The end of this gentle and noble life came as a shock to those who knew and appreciated the man and his accomplishment. He had intended to pass the winter in Egypt, as had been his custom for several years, and he had left De- troit for a few months of preliminary sojourn in the south. He died at his hotel in the city of Savannah, Georgia, January 13, 1907, after an illness of only a few hours. The remains were brought to Detroit and were interred in Elmwood cemetery. The high regard in which he was held in his home city was attested not only through private sources, among all classes and conditions, but also by resolutions by the board of directors of the great manufacturing house of which he was the founder, by the board of trustees of the Detroit Museum of Art and by other bodies with which he was identified. The city press spoke with words of the whole city may be said to have felt a sense deep appreciation in the editorial columns, and of personal bereavement. From the Detroit News is taken the following extract: "Fred- erick Stearns, one of the important figures in Detroit's commercial life during the past quar- ter century, has finished his career and rests from his labors. Mr. Stearns was a man of energy. He built up a great business from small beginnings and established a system that prom- ises perpetuity for the institution that is asso- ciated with his name. He was wiser than most men of his generation, because he did not per- mit himself to be completely absorbed in the building up of his fortune. He held higher aims than that of mere money-grubbing and found his chief interest in travel and study.
Few men have had so large a view of the world as Mr. Stearns. Few were as well informed as to human affairs and the various highways by which the races have come up to their present status. Mr. Stearns was a highly cultured man, a man of many charities and appreciative of his obligations to his fellows. He did much for the city in which he built up his fortunte. City and state institutions have been enriched by the spoils of his travels and his quests after the things which distinguish other races from Americans. He had ceased to be a Detroiter and had become a cosmopolite but his attach- ment for the home city was one of his marked characteristics."
What more beautiful than these, his own words, uttered in his reply to the speech made by the late General Russell A. Alger in pre- senting to him the bronze medal to which ref- erence has been made, apropos of his gift to the Detroit Art Museum, and what sentiments can better indicate the man and the ideals which he held? "For I hold that man, if im- mortal, owes it first to himself to mold his ac- tions in this world so that his experience may be richer, his knowledge fuller, his charity broader, and his reverence for God as seen in nature quickened, all of which would seemingly fit him for that final change we call death."
Owing to his many years of travel Mr. Stearns had almost ceased to be a Detroiter and had become a cosmopolite, but still holding a strong attachment for his home city. He was a member of but few clubs or societies, pre- ferring the privacy of the home life when in Detroit.
He was married at Mendon, New York, August 15, 1853, to Eliza H. Kimball, of Sar- dinia, New York. There were four children,- Frederick Kimball, Norman, Henry, and Will- iam Isaac Lincoln.
RUFUS W. GILLETT.
It was within the province of the late Rufus Woodward Gillett to have wielded a large and beneficent influence in the industrial, commer- cial and civic affairs of the city of Detroit, and he was exponent of that high type of
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manhood which ever stands indicatory of use- fulness and subjective honor. He impressed his strong individuality deeply upon the his- tory of the city and state in which he so long maintained his home, and in a publication of the functions assigned to the one at hand, it is eminently consonant that a tribute be paid to his memory as one of the representative cit- izens and business men of the Michigan metropolis.
Mr. Gillett was born at Torringford, Litch- field county, Connecticut, on the 22d of April, 1825, and his death occurred at his home in the city of Detroit, on the 3d of December, 1906. He was a son of John and Mary (Woodward) Gillett, both of whom were likewise natives of Connecticut. The lineage of the Gillett fam- ily is traced to English origin, and the maternal ancestors of the subject of this memoir were numbered among the Puritans who were among the first to establish homes in New England. Jonathan Gillett, the founder of the family in America, came from England, and settled in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in 1630, and in the various generations of his descendants have been found men prominent in business and civic life, in the learned professions and in public affairs. Representatives of the family are now found in many sections of our national domain. The grandfather of him whose name initiates this sketch likewise bore the name of John Gillett, and he was a minute man at the battle of Bennington, after which he served as lieutenant of a company in the Continental line until the close of the war of the Revolution.
John Gillett, the father of Rufus W., was born in Torringford, Connecticut, in 1776, and there he passed his entire life. He was a suc- cessful farmer, and also identified himself with various other lines of enterprise, besides being a potent factor in the political and general public affairs of his native county. He held various offices of public trust and so ordered his life as to command the unqualified con- fidence and esteem of all who knew him. He served in important town offices, and for twenty years was a representative of his county in the state legislature. For many years, also, he was home agent for a land company in Ohio.
His death occurred in 1857. Mary (Wood- ward) Gillett, mother of the subject of this review, was a daughter of Dr. Samuel Wood- ward, who was for many years a leading phy- sician of Torringford, and whose ancestors settled in Massachusetts in 1630. Four of his sons likewise became physicians of distinctive repute in New England. Of a collateral branch of the same family was Judge A. B. Wood- ward, at one time chief justice of the territory of Michigan.
The boyhood days of Rufus W. Gillett were passed upon the home farm, where he imbibed deep draughts from the gracious chalice which nature ever holds forth to those who live in close touch with "her visible forms." He was educated in the common school and public academy of his native town, and at the age of seventeen years he secured a position as clerk in a general store at Litchfield, Connecticut, where he remained engaged for two years. During the ensuing five years he was engaged in an independent mercantile business in has native town, where he was also identified with agricultural pursuits. During the next three years he did effective service as agent for New York and Connecticut manufacturers of cut- lery. In 1856 Mr. Gillett became secretary and treasurer of the Wolcottville (Connecticut) Brass Company, and he retained this dual office until January, 1862, when he came to Michigan and took up his residence in De- troit, with whose business life he was destined to be thereafter most prominently identified. Soon after his arrival he became associated with A. E. Bissell, in the grain commission business, under the firm name of Bissell & Gillett. This alliance continued for a period of six years, and Mr. Gillett then became asso- ciated with the late Theodore P. Hall in estab- lishing the firm of Gillett & Hall, which en- gaged in the same line of enterprise. The business of this firm increased in volume from year to year until its operations in the handling of grain exceeded those of any other con- cern engaged in the same line of enterprise in the state. Besides their regular commission business the firm also bought large quantities of corn and oats in Missouri, Kansas, and other
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western states, and this was sent to the eastern and export markets.
Of this firm Mr. Gillett continued to be a member until about ten years before his death, and in his entire business career no shadow ever darked his fair name as a man of impreg- nable integrity and honor. He became promi- nent in the management of the Detroit Cham- ber of Commerce, of which he served as president for several successive years, and for a number of years he was president of the old Preston National Bank, having assumed this office at the time of the organization of the institution. He was vice-president of the State Savings Bank, president of the Detroit Copper & Brass Rolling Mills, vice-president of the American Harrow Company, and was a director of the Standard Insurance Company, besides being connected with several other prominent and successful industrial enterprises in Detroit. He was a man of great capacity for affairs, and his influence was specially po- tent in furthering the success of the various undertakings to which he gave his support and co-operation. As a citizen he was essentially loyal and public spirited, and in private life he was urbane, genial and courteous, being instant in the manifestation of kindliness and winning and retaining inviolable friendships on all sides.
Mr. Gillett gave his allegiance to the Demo- cratic party and took an active interest in the promotion of its cause and in the furtherance of good government. Though frequently impor- tuned to accept nomination for municipal of- fices he invariably refused such overtures, though he gave most effective service as a member of the city board of estimates and as a member of the board of fire commissioners, to which last he was appointed in 1880. Dur- ing his entire residence in Detroit he attended the Fort Street Presbyterian Church.
On the 26th of May, 1847, Mr. Gillett was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte M. Smith, who survives him and still maintains her home . in Detroit. She is a daughter of Nathaniel Smith, who was a prominent merchant of Tor- ringford, Connecticut, where he also served as postmaster for a period of more than forty years, having been one of the well known and
influential citizens of that section of the state. Mr. and Mrs. Gillett became the parents of three children. The eldest, Mary Woodward, is the wife of Henry K. Lathrop, Jr., of De- troit; Charles Smith Gillett died in Detroit, October 18, 1876, at the age of twenty-six years ; and Harriet Winchell Gillett is the wife of William R. Ellis, of New York.
PRESTON BRADY.
The honored subject of this sketch, one of the representative business men of his native city of Detroit, is a member of a family whose name has been prominently identified with the history of this city and state from the territorial epoch in the annals of Michigan. He is a grandson of Major General Hugh Brady, of the United States Army, who was born at Standingstone, Huntingdon county, Pennsyl- vania, July 29, 1768. General Brady was the fifth son of Captain John and Mary Brady, the father having been a captain in the Twelfth Pennsylvania Regiment in the war of the Rev- olution and having, with two of his sons, been finally killed by the Indians.
As he grew to manhood General Hugh Brady frequently joined small parties who re- taliated on the Indians for their misdeeds, and he thus gained a clear insight into their man- ners and their habits of warfare. In 1792 he received from General Washington a com- mission as ensign in General Wayne's army, was made a lieutenant in 1794, and took part in the historic western campaigns of that year. In 1799 he received from President Adams an appointment as captain, and subsequently he essayed the improvement of a tract of land about fifty miles from Pittsburg, on a branch of the Mahoning river. He re- mained there until 1807, when he removed to Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, where he maintained his home until 1812, when he received a commission from President Jef- ferson and again joined the army, being soon promoted to the command of the Twenty-sec- ond Regiment of infantry, and he took part
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in the battle of Lundy's Lane, where he re- ceived a wound which disabled him for further active service in the war of 1812. He was in several other battles of this war.
In 1819, General Brady was transferred to the Second Infantry, then stationed at Sack- ett's Harbor, New York, and in 1822 he was promoted brigadier general, for ten years' faithful service. In 1828 he was in com- mand at Detroit, and in 1837 he was placed in command of Military Department No. 7, with headquarters in this city. He retained this command seven years, within which pe- riod he superintended the removal of several Indian tribes to the country west of the Mis- sissippi river and did much to allay the trouble- some border difficulties known as the "patriot war." At the breaking out of the Mexican war, though past the age for active field serv- ice, he took a prominent part in the raising and equipping of troops and shipping supplies to the seat of war. He was made a major general in 1848. Of him it has been written: "As a soldier he was eminent for his bravery and faithfulness, and as a citizen he was free from reproach and won the esteem of those with whom he was associated."
In October, 1805, General Brady married Sarah Wallis, and they became the parents of six children, of whom the second was Samuel Preston Brady, father of him whose name ini- tiates this article. General Brady died in De- troit, April 15, 1851, his death being the re- sult of an accident,-the running away of his horses. It is gratifying to here enter, in an incidental way, brief tribute to the memory of this gallant soldier and sterling pioneer of Detroit.
Preston Brady, the immediate subject of this review, was born in Detroit, November 8, 1844, and is a son of Samuel P. and Elizabeth Mary (Nixson) Brady, the former of whom was born in Indiana county, Pennsylvania, and the lat- ter in the city of New York. The Brady fam- ily is of Scotch-Irish extraction and was founded in America about 1736, the first set- tlement being made in New Jersey, whence
removal was made to Pennsylvania, where rep- resentatives of the name became prominent in colonial affairs. Two sons of Captain John Brady became famous as Indian fighters, and one of these, Captain Samuel Brady, was the one who made the daring and historic "Brady's Leap" in Ohio, after having been captured by the Indians.
Samuel Preston Brady was born in the year 1809, and was reared and educated in the east, having been a youth of about nineteen years at the time of his father's taking up his resi- dence in Detroit. He early began to accompany his father on his campaigns, and developed self-reliance, valor and military skill. In 1832 he was made post sutler at old Fort Dearborn, Chicago, but he soon returned to Detroit. In 1849 he was one of the argonauts to California, where he remained for a time. Upon his re- turn to Detroit he engaged in the general mer- chandise business, in which he continued for a number of years, after which he was in the wholesale grocery trade. He died at Cologne, Germany, in 1868, while traveling for the ben- efit of his health and his wife survived him by thirty years, her death occurring in Detroit, in 1889. They became the parents of seven sons and six daughters, of whom seven at- tained to years of maturity, and of whom only three are now living,-George A. and Pres- ton, of Detroit, and Samuel, who is now en- gaged in mining operations in the Lake Supe- rior district. Samuel P. Brady was one of Detroit's honored citizens and successful busi- ness men, and he well upheld the prestige of the family name.
Preston Brady, the immediate subject of this sketch, was reared to maturity in Detroit, of the advantages of whose public schools he duly availed himself. At the age of nineteen years he became identified with his father's business operations, and he has since continued almost without interruption a member of the business community of his native city, which has ever represented his home. At the present time he is engaged in the roofing business, being one of the leading contractors in this line in the
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city and controlling a large and important enterprise.
Mr. Brady is aligned as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Democracy, though he has never had aught of desire to enter the political arena or to present himself as a candidate for public office. He is identified with the Detroit Club and other social and fraternal organizations, and he and his wife are com- municants of the Protestant Episcopal church.
In 1868 Mr. Brady was united in marriage to Miss Emily Medberry, who was born in Michigan, and who died in 1884, leaving no children. In 1889 Mr. Brady wedded Miss Margaret Radcliff, born in the state of New York, and they have one son, George Preston Brady, who is now attending school at St. Catherine's, Ontario.
CHARLES DU CHARME.
By very name itself Detroit pays a tribute of honor to its early French settlers, and of the old-time lines there yet remain many worthy representatives, while there must ever be held as due a debt of gratitude to those who have wrought nobly in the past and have left a heritage of worthy lives and worthy deeds, their names being part and parcel of the fair "City of the Straits." Here are found at the present time, representative of the best citizen- ship and of definite power in the industrial and commercial world, those who trace their gene- alogy through long lines of French ancestry, and among these in the generation preceding was the late Charles Du Charme, who left a distinctive and permanent impress upon civic and industrial history of Detroit,-his efforts and labors have cumulative value in the city of to-day, the "Greater Detroit." He was of Canadian birth but was of the same fine French stock which has been so long and prominently identified with the annals of the Michigan me- tropolis. His career was the positive expres- sion of a strong nature, and in both its sub- jective and objective phases constitutes a heri- tage and credit to the city with whose upbuild- ing he was so closely concerned.
Few, if any, of his contemporaries in De- troit occupied a more commanding position or were more actively interested in those enter- prises which made possible the early develop- ment of the city along commercial lines, than Charles Du Charme. French-Canadian, he was born at Berthier-en-Haut, near the city of Montreal, Quebec, on the 15th of May, 1818. His father was a farmer by vocation and his ancestors for several generations had been al- lied with agricultural pursuits in that section of the Dominion of Canada, whither the origi- nal American representatives of the name im- migrated from France about 1665, and thus through heredity and personal training there was little to incite in the subject of this me- moir a predilection or taste for commercial life. He was afforded the somewhat meager advan- tages of the local schools and continued to as- sist in the work of the home farm until he had attained to the age of fifteen years, when he began the battle of life on his own responsi- bility, going to the city of Montreal, where he secured a clerkship in a hardware store. He remained thus engaged for a period of four years, during which he gained a thorough knowledge of the details of the business and gave distinctive evidence of the fact that his individuality was such as to override the in- fluences of earlier training, as he showed from the start an acute practical ability.
In 1837, the year which marked the admis- sion of Michigan to the Union, he came to this state and located at Jonesville, which was then a town of no little relative commercial impor- tance. There he secured a clerical position in a mercantile establishment, but he suffered so severely from the prevailing "fever and ague," a malady picturesquely in evidence in the lo- cality and period, that he soon decided to leave the section which had caused him so much physical agitation, and within the same year he.came to Detroit, where he passed the residue of his long and signally useful life. Here he entered the employ of A. H. Newbould, a lead- ing hardware merchant, with whom he con- tinued to be associated in a clerical capacity until 1849, when he formed a partnership al- liance with A. M. Bartholomew and engaged
Charles Ducharme une
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in the same line of enterprise, under the firm title of Du Charme & Bartholomew. This as- sociation continued until 1855, when the late Christian H. Buhl purchased the interest of Mr. Bartholomew, whereupon the name of the firm was changed to Buhl & Du Charme. The new firm also purchased the business of Mr. Newbould, and the establishment of the con- cern was located on Woodward avenue, near Atwater street, until 1872, when the business was removed to more commodious quarters, on Woodbridge street west. There the firm con- tinued in business until the death of Mr. Du Charme, January 9, 1873. He had in the meanwhile gained prestige as one of the most alert and progressive business men in Detroit and his firm controlled a large and representa- tive wholesale trade.
In the fall of 1871 Mr. Du Charme asso- ciated himself with Jeremiah Dwyer, Merrill I. Mills and Richard R. Long, and organized and incorporated The Michigan Stove Com- pany, on December 19th of that year, of which Mr. Du Charme became president, retaining this office until his death, which occurred on the 9th of January, 1873. Mr. George H. Barbour associated himself with the company June 29, 1872. Mr. Du Charme was thus one of the founders and the original executive head of a concern which has grown to be the great- est of the sort in the world, and his wise ad- ministrative policy had great influence in the formative period of this magnificent industry and in the upbuilding of the same even after he had passed from the scene of life's endeav- ors. For thirty-six years he was a potential and active factor in the commercial life of De- troit, where his interests were wide and varied, his business enterprises being among the largest and most successful in the city, and the large fortune which he amassed constituted a fitting return for his untiring energy, as well as a tribute to his business acumen and his abiding faith in his home city. Remarkable executive ability, capacity for organization, accurate in- tuitive judgment of the capacity and adapta- tion of men for places,-these were the quali- ties of his many-sided and symmetrical char- acter. He had high civic ideals and did all in
his power to enhance the material and moral welfare of his home city and to promote good government in all its branches.
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