Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 65

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 65

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William Post Holliday was born in Spring- field, Erie county, Pennsylvania, on the 9th of January, 1852, and is the son of William and Fannie Eunice (Post) Holliday. His an- cestors, both on the paternal and maternal side, settled in America during the early colonial period, and numbered among them were men who achieved distinction in the French and Indian wars, the war of Independence and in the commercial, civil and social life which fol- lowed. James Holliday, the first of the family to reach the New World, was a native of An- nandale, in the valley of the Annan river, Scot- land, who removed to northern Ireland, and from there emigrated, in 1730, to America, where he became one of the first white men to settle in what is now Franklin county, Penn- sylvania, where he experienced the vicissitudes

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and endured the labors incident to the time. He took part in the warfare which was con- stantly being waged with the Indians, was com- missioned a lieutenant in March, 1756, and in the fall of the same year, while on an expe- dition against the savages, met his death at their hands. He married Elizabeth McDowell, a native of Ireland. John Holliday, a son of James and Elizabeth (McDowell) Holliday, was commissioned lieutenant June 25, 1775, and on the commencement of the war of In- dependence joined the Continental army, in which he was commissioned captain, Septem- ber 25, 1776. He later became a member of a volunteer corps, and while in service on Long Island was made prisoner. Adam and William Holliday, brothers of James Holliday, were the founders of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. Adam was one of the most active patriots of his section, while William was a soldier in the Continental line in the war of Independence and was commissioned lieutenant. Samuel Holliday, grandfather of our immediate sub- ject and son of Captain John Holliday, was born in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on the 26th of November, 1755. On the 23d of March, 1797, he married Jeannette Campbell. Taking his bride, he began his honeymoon in making the extremely hard and trying jour- ney through the almost impassable forests to Lake Erie. He arrived in what is now Erie county, Pennsylvania, on the 21st of April, and purchased a tract of land seven hundred acres in extent, located in what is now the township of Springfield. He was the fifth white man to settle in this county and was known as the most capable Indian fighter of his time and section, his trusty McCreary rifle being his constant companion. He died on the Ioth of November, 1841, an honored and in- fluential citizen of his county.

William Holliday, the father of our subject, was born in Springfield, Erie county, Pennsyl- vania, on the 7th of November, 1808. His entire life was spent in the management of farming and timber lands. He was a man of lofty integrity, strong intellectual powers and

was an influential and highly respected citizen. His death occurred on the 25th of April, 1877, at the age of sixty-nine. On the 17th of De- cember, 1840, he married Fannie Eunice Post, daughter of Joseph Post, Jr., of Granby, Con- necticut. Mrs. Holliday was a lineal de- scendant of Stephen Post, a native of England, who emigrated to America in 1634, settling in Massachusetts colony, and afterward remov- ing to Connecticut, of which colony he was one of the original patentees, and his name appears in the charter granted by Charles II. A por- tion of the city of Hartford occupies the land originally granted to him. He became one of the important personages in the colony, was appointed to confer with Uncas, chief sachem of the Mohegan tribe of Indians, regarding boundry disputes, and was made a beneficiary in the will of the noted chieftain to the extent of a considerable tract of land. His son, Thomas, married Rebecca Bruen, daughter of the Hon. Obadiah Bruen, one of the founders of Plymouth colony, appointed commissioner in 1642, and a man of great influence in the colony. Joseph, the son of Thomas and Re- becca (Bruen) Post, was a soldier in the Conti- nental line in the war of Independence, enlist- ing at Waterbury, Connecticut, July 7, 1778. He married his first cousin, Mary Post, the daughter of Lieutenant Abraham Post. Joseph Post, son of Joseph and Mary Post, was also a soldier in the war of Independence, serving throughout the struggle. He married, on the 2Ist of March, 1765, Mary Denison, of Con- necticut. Their son, Joseph, Jr., was born May 7, 1772. He married Clarissa F. Wilcox, of Granby, Connecticut. They were the par- ents of four children, of whom Fannie Eunice (Mrs. William Holliday) was the youngest.

Four children were born of the union of William Holliday and Fannie Eunice Post. Their names in order of birth, with brief inci- dental record, are as follows: Samuel V., who served with distinction in the civil war, en- tered the Union army and was made paymaster with the rank of major; he was afterward pro- moted brevet lieutenant-colonel, and served

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until 1865, when he received his honorable dis- charge. He was appointed Commissioner of Customs of the United States by President Harrison in 1889. Eliza Jane is the widow of the Hon. David M. Richardson, who was a prominent manufacturer of Detroit. James Campbell Holliday is a resident of Springfield, Pennsylvania, and William Post Holliday is the subject of this review.

William Post Holliday received his early education in the public schools of his native place and later continued his studies in the Springfield Academy. His collegiate prepara- tory course was taken in Ann Arbor, Michi- gan, and in 1868 he entered Cornell University, at Ithaca, New York, which institution was opened that year, so that his is the distinction of having been a member of the first class to be matriculated in the university. He entered the literary department, in which he completed an elective course in 1871. In October, 1872, Mr. Holliday took up his residence in Detroit, where he entered the employ of the late David M. Richardson, one of the leading manufac- turers of matches in the Union. He was em- ployed in the various departments of the fac- tory, gaining intimate knowledge of all details and process of manufacture and in 1875 was made superintendent of the plant, a position which he creditably filled until 1878. In the year last mentioned he instituted his first in- dependent business venture, by engaging in the manufacture of paper boxes, and from the modest enterprise thus established has been de- veloped the extensive and important business of the Holliday Box Company, of which he is president and in which he has been the con- trolling force since its start. Of his efforts in this connection more detailed information is given in an article descriptive of the company, and to the same the reader may consistently refer for supplemental information. In 1904 Mr. Holliday was elected president of the Cen- tral Savings Bank, and this chief executive of- fice he has since retained, being known as a discriminating financier and having assisted in bringing the administrative policy of his bank

up to the point of highest efficiency. He is also a member of the directorate of the Amer- ican Exchange National Bank and of which institution he has been for many years an in- fluential stockholder. He is also an interested principal in a number of other enterprises which have been of value in the commercial advancement of the city.

Aggressive and broad-minded, Mr. Holliday has wielded a specially potent influence in in- dustrial and financial affairs during the past fifteen years, and the city has few who are more appreciative of its attractions and ad- vantages and whose faith in its future develop- ment is of more insistent and loyal type. In the organization of the Detroit Board of Com- merce he was one of the most active promoters. He was elected its first treasurer, and since completing his term of office has continued an ardent and tireless worker in the organization. He is a member of the National Association and the Western Association of Paper Box Manufacturers and has served as president of each of these organizations. His political af- filiations are given to the Republican party. Political office has never appealed to him, though he never neglects in the least his civic duties and obligations and has taken an influ- ential part in the councils of his party. He is an enthusiastic lover of aquatic sports and the waters of the river and lakes afford him his chief means of recreation. He is a member of the Detroit Motor Boat Club and his motor boat, the "Nagana," is one of the best exam- ples of this class of marine architecture belong- ing to the large fleet of this popular organiza- tion. He is also a member of the Lake St. Clair Fishing & Shooting Club, the Detroit Athletic Club, the Bankers' Club of Detroit, the Detroit Club, Sons of the American Revo- lution and Society of Colonial Wars.

On the 10th of June, 1880, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Holliday to Miss Marion Barker Ramsey, daughter of the late John Ramsey, who was a resident of Elizabeth, New Jersey and who was engaged in the wholesale dry-goods business in New York city for many

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years. Mr. and Mrs. Holliday have one daugh- ter, Mabel, who was graduated from the De- troit Home & Day School in 1902, finishing at Mrs. Hazen's school, at Pelham Manor, New York, in the class of 1903. Mrs. Holliday is a woman of broad education and refinement. The family have long been prominent in the best social life of the city and the attractive home, on Davenport street, is known for its gracious hospitality.

HOMER WARREN.

Realty is the basis of all security, and the basis of security in real-estate transactions is found in the probity, knowledge and liberality of those by whom they are conducted. Hold- ing, by reason of prudence, integrity and sig- nal ability, as well as through the wide scope and importance of operations, a position of much prominence among the real-estate deal- ers of Detroit, Mr. Warren, as senior member of the firm of Homer Warren & Company, has been enabled to exert an emphatic and note- worthy influence in connection with the up- building of the greater Detroit, where his firm's operations have been widely diversified and wholly beneficent in the promotion of the ma- terial and civic advancement of the Michigan metropolis. He came to Detroit as a young man and has here achieved marked success and prestige, not only as a progressive busi- ness man but in connection with public serv- ice, since he is the present incumbent of the office of postmaster of the city. It may con- sistently be said that he has won success be- cause he deserved it. At all times he has or- dered his course along the lines of strictest, integrity and honor, and to this fact is due the inviolable confidence and esteem in which he is held by Detroit's representative capitalists and business men as well as by the general public. Incidentally it should also be stated that he has played an important part in the social and musical affairs of Detroit for many years past.

Mr. Warren was born at Shelby, Oceana county, Michigan, on the Ist of December,

1855, and is a son of Rev. Square E. and Ellen (Davis) Warren, both of whom were born in Macomb county, Michigan. Rev. Square E. Warren was one of the prominent and honored members of the clergy of the Methodist church in Michigan, where he labored long and zeal- ously in his noble vocation and where he held various pastorates. He passed the closing years of his life in Armada, this state, where he died in 1900, at the age of seventy-five years. He was a son of Rev. Abel Warren, who likewise was a clergyman of the Methodist church and who was a native of Vermont, the family having been early founded in the old Green Mountain state, where he was reared and educated and whence he came as the original representative of the family in Michigan. He was one of the pioneers of Macomb county, this state, where he secured a tract of wild land and instituted the development of a farm, also devoting much time to the work of the ministry, in which he labored faithfully and zealously among the pioneer settlers. The ma- ternal grandfather of the present postmaster of Detroit likewise was among the ster- ling pioneers of Michigan, having been an early settler and influential citizen in his com- munity. Mrs. Ellen (Davis) Warren was a resident of Macomb county at the time of her death. From these brief data it will be seen that Homer Warren was signally favored both in the sterling qualities represented in his genealogical line and also in the grateful en- vironments of a home of culture and refinement during the formative period of his character.

Homer Warren was afforded the advantages of the public schools in the various places in which his father held pastorates and he early manifested that self-reliance and definite in- tegrity of purpose which have so significantly dominated his life in all its relations. In 1873, at the age of eighteen years, he left the parental home, which was then established at South Lyon, this state, and came to Detroit, where he became a clerk for the firm of J. M. Arnold. & Company, leading dealers in books, station- ery, etc. He remained with this concern until 1878, when he resigned his position to accept

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that of deputy collector of customs for the port of Detroit, under Digby V. Bell, who served long and efficiently as collector. Upon the change in the national administration in 1885 Mr. Warren tendered his resignation to Mr. D. J. Campau, who refused to accept it, and he continued to fill the position of cashier until 1886, when ill health compelled him to re- sign. Soon afterward he initiated his associa- tion with that line of enterprise in which he has attained to so distinctive success. He es- tablished himself in the real-estate business, beginning operations on a modest scale and having desk room in the office of J. W. Beau- mont, one of the prominent younger members of the Detroit bar at that time. It may be said incidentally that he paid seven and one-half dollars a month for the office privileges thus secured. His first transaction was the sale of the property at the southwest corner of Wood- ward avenue and Sproat street,-with a front- age of fifty-two feet on the avenue and one hundred and sixty-seven feet on Sproat street, and the buyer of the property was Richard H. Fyfe, who then, as now, was one of the rep- resentative merchants of the city. His clean and correct business methods gained to Mr. Warren from the start the support and forti- fying commendation of a number of the most influential citizens, and his business enterprise rapidly expanded in scope. Among his early clients were Levi L. Barbour, the late Joseph H. Berry, Theodore H. Eaton, Hugo Scherer, Colonel Frank J. Hecker, James F. Joy, David Whitney, Jr., and many others whose names are equally well known in the city and state.

In 1892, so wide had become the ramifica- tions of his real-estate business, that Mr. War- ren found it expedient to augment his facilities by organizing the firm of Homer Warren & Company, in which he secured as associates and effective coadjutors Cullen Brown and Frank C. Andrews. This firm soon gained unquestioned priority as an important factor in the local real-estate field, and this prestige has shown a cumulative tendency during the inter- vening years. Their business has been ex- tended into all parts of the state and they have

at times handled large estates outside the lim- its of this commonwealth. An insurance de- partment was added to the enterprise, and this also has been built up to large proportions in the business handled, as representative of such important companies as the Providence-Wash- ington Insurance Company, of Providence, Rhode Island; the German Alliance, of New York city; the Springfield Insurance Company, of Springfield, Massachusetts; the Phoenix Fire Insurance Company, of Hartford, Con- necticut; and the Aachen and Munich, of Aix la Chapelle, France.

In Detroit realty the operations of this firm have been very large and important, their sales of Woodward avenue property alone having represented transactions aggregating fully two millions of dollars. Among the transfers made may be noted that of the site of the Whitney building, Woodward avenue and Grand Circus park, to David Whitney; that of the Wash- ington Arcade, to Colonel F. J. Hecker; the Bresler block, to E. L. Ford and B. F. Berry ; the Bagley homestead, to the Fowler estate, besides many other of equal relative impor- tance. Numbered among the best clients of the firm have been Albert Stephens, Henry Stephens, the late E. M. Fowler, William Liv- ingstone and F. E. Driggs.

In 1894 the insurance department of the business was taken into the control of the newly organized firm of Warren, Burch & Company, though the business has been con- secutive in its history, with which the subject of this sketch has been identified from the start. Charles E. Burch, who became a mem- ber of the new firm at its organization, died in 1896, and his interest was purchased by Cullen Brown. The title of the firm was then changed to its present designation, Warrer., Brown & Company. In April, 1907, Charles L. Walker was admitted to membership in the original real-estate firm of Homer Warren & Company. In connection with their general operations in the handling of both improved and unimproved realty this firm also give special attention to rentals and rent-collections. They have under their supervision in this line the following

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named buildings in Detroit: Chamber of Susie M. Leach, daughter of the late Colonel Commerce, Fine Arts, Gladwin, Cleland, In- Daniel E. Leach, a distinguished officer in the United States Army. Mrs. Warren died No- vember 16, 1907, leaving no children. glis, Bresler, Young Men's Christian Associ- ation( old building), Detroit City Gas Com- pany's buildings, the Cynthia, Kimball and Crook buildings, and the People's Loan Asso- GEORGE HENDRIE. ciation's apartment building.

In January, 1907, this firm negotiated the sale of property at the corner of Woodward avenue and High streets-one hundred and sixty-five feet on Woodward avenue and three hundred on High-for site for Hippodrome to be built by Cleveland capital-one of the largest transactions of the year.

Mr. Warren has ever been unwavering in his allegiance to the Republican party and he has rendered effective service in the promotion of its cause, being prominent and influential in its local councils and having been more or less actively identified with campaign work. On the 15th of January, 1906, Mr. Warren re- ceived, through President Roosevelt, commis- sion as postmaster of Detroit, assuming the duties of the office on the Ist of the following March. He has handled the multifarious de- tails of the service with marked discrimination and his administration is proving altogether satisfactory.

Mr. Warren is an appreciative member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has ad- vanced in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, besides being identified with the adjunct body, the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He holds membership in the Detroit Club, the Detroit Golf Club, the Detroit Automobile Club, and the Young Men's Christian Association, besides being an active and valued member of the Detroit Board of Commerce. Mr. Warren has long been rec- ognized as one of the most talented baritones of Detroit and has been specially prominent in musical circles in the state. His services as a vocalist are called into requisition most fre- quently and in divers public and social connections.

On the 9th of December, 1878, was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Warren to Miss

Coincident with the growth of Detroit in population and commercial importance has been the development of its street-railway sys- tem, and in connection with such development no man has been more prominent than George Hendrie, who is frequently referred to as the "Father of Detroit Street Railways." The city owes to his enterprise and progressive ideas much of her advancement to her present proud position as a great industrial center and as one of the most attractive places of residence to be found in the United States. His initiative power has also led him into other fields of enterprise where the public welfare is involved, and he has at all times stood as a high type of loyal and useful citizenship, meriting to the full the confidence and good will of the com- munity.

George Hendrie is a native of the fine old city of Glasgow, Scotland, where he was born on the 9th of February, 1835, being a son of John and Elizabeth (Strathearn) Hendrie. He was afforded the advantages of the schools of his native city, having continued his studies in the Glasgow high school until he had at- tained to the age of fifteen years, when, in 1849, he became an employe of the Glasgow & Southwestern Railway. Thus it will be seen that his earliest business experience was in con- nection with transportation, in which line of enterprise he was destined to attain so much prominence in a land far from that of his birth. In 1850 he was in the service of the Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway and later he held a position with George and James Burns, owners of the Glasgow and Liverpool Steam- ship Line at that time, as well as the Glasgow & Belfast. In 1858, moved by the ambitious spirit which has ever characterized him, Mr. Hendrie came to America, and took up his residence in Hamilton, Canada, where he be- came an employe of the cartage firm of Hen-

ENG. BY HENRY TAYLOR JR.

CHICAGO

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drie & Shedden, of which his brother William was senior member. It is interesting to note that Mr. Hendrie still retains an interest in the cartage business in Canada, as well as in the Royal mail service.

On the Ist of April, 1859, Mr. Hendrie lo- cated in Detroit, with whose business and civic affairs he has since continued to be identified. Soon after his arrival he established a cartage business in connection with his brother Will- iam, under the name of Hendrie & Company, and this was the first enterprise of the kind in the United States. In this connection he secured contracts with the Great Western Railway and the Detroit & Milwaukee Rail- road, both of which are now part of the Grand Trunk system. In 1866, more than forty years ago and when street-railway service in Detroit was of a primitive sort, he was instrumental in securing a seven years' lease of the lines and equipment of the Detroit City Railway, whose operations at that time were within the con- fines here noted : Jefferson avenue, from Third street to Elmwood avenue; Gratiot avenue, from Woodward avenue to Duquindre street railroad crossing; Michigan avenue, from Woodward avenue to Woodbridge Grove, now Trumbull avenue; and Woodward avenue, from Jefferson avenue to Brady street. The total mileage of operated lines was about six and one-half miles and the small "bob-tailed" cars were propelled by horses. Mr. Hendrie and his associates at once began improvements. In 1876 they purchased the franchise and sys- tem, whose operation they long continued, con- stantly improving the service, which was ac- knowledged to be probably the best in this country at that time. In 1890 they purchased the property of the Grand River Street Rail- way Company, but prior to this, great exten- sions had been made in the service,-all under the direction of Mr. Hendrie, whose actuating motive was to keep in advance of the growth of the city. In 1888 he became chief organizer and principal owner of the Hamtramck & Grosse Pointe Railway Company, which was incorporated May 28th of that year. The original company conducted operations under

title of Hamtramck Street Railway Company, and Mr. Hendrie served as its president. In 1892 he promoted in a similar way the Wyan- dotte & Detroit River Railway, and in 1895, the Detroit & Pontiac Railway. Thus he was the one who initiated the development of inter- urban electric transportation as touching De- troit and Michigan.

In 1891 the original systems and extensions were sold to the Detroit Citizens' Street Rail- way Company, as Mr. Hendrie's interests were always with horse transportation, and he felt that new methods demanded new men.

In 1878, in company with the late Senator James McMillan, Hon. John S. Newberry, Francis Palms, William B. Moran, William Hendrie and others, he effected the organiza- tion and incorporation of the Detroit, Macki- nac & Marquette Railway Company, and they forthwith began the construction of a line be- tween St. Ignace and Marquette, upon the up- per peninsular of Michigan, and in this work the Hendries were the contractors. Incidentally Mr. Hendrie became largely interested in other enterprises growing out of the construction of this important railway line, and assisted ma- terially in the development of the magnificent natural resources of the upper peninsula.

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Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 65

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