USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan > Part 68
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Mr. Haigh was a man who kept in touch with the questions and issues of the day, and he took a deep interest in public affairs of a local nature, though he never sought or held political office, to which he had naught of in- clination. He became a supporter of the Re- publican party at the time of its organization and was specially vigorous in upholding the policy of maintaining a protective tariff,-pos- sibly, as has been said, due "to the fact that the repeal of the tariff of 1842 had caused the closing up of his linseed-oil factory in New
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York." During his entire mature life Mr. Haigh was a communicant and zealous mem- ber of the Protestant Episcopal church, at- tending its services with marked regularity. He was one of the organizers of Christ church, in Dearborn, and was senior warden of the same from the time of its inception, in 1866, until his death, nearly forty years later. As previously stated, this venerable and honored pioneer was summoned to the life eternal on the 5th of Dec., 1904, and his remains rest be- side those of his second wife in Northview cemetery, near the village of Dearborn, where a consistent memorial monument has been erected. Until within about a year prior to his death Mr. Haigh retained to a wonderful degree his mental and physical faculties, and he continued to supervise the various details of the management of his beautiful farm until he was more than ninety years of age. He was a man of fine integrity of character, and the popular appreciation of this fact was shown in the uniform confidence and esteem vouch- safed by all who knew him. He had sympathy for "all sorts and conditions of men," and manifested a constant spirit of helpfulness, though his naturally reserved nature ever caused him to avoid all of ostentation or pa- rade. All in all, he was a man of sterling attributes, and as such his life counted for good in all its relations.
In 1836 Mr. Haigh was united in marriage to Miss Bessie Williams, daughter of Thomas Williams, of Poughkeepsie, New York, and she died six years later. In 1844 he married Miss Lucy Billings Allyn, of Waterloo, New York, whose beautiful and gentle character fully complemented his own. Of the five chil- dren three were born of the first marriage and two of the second. Concerning them the fol- lowing brief data are given: Captain George W., who served with distinction through- out the civil war and who was captain of Company D, Twenty-fourth Michigan Volun- teer Infantry, is now a resident of Mankato, Minnesota; Dr. Thomas Haigh, who died in 1871, was a representative physician and sur- geon in the city of New York; Bessie W., wife of Professor Frank A. Gulley, died in Phoenix,
Arizona, in 1902; Richard Haigh, Jr., was formerly secretary of the Michigan State Agricultural College but is now residing on the old homestead, in Dearborn; Henry A. Haigh is successfully engaged in the practice of law in Detroit and is individually mentioned on other pages of this work.
A revelation of the true character of the subject of this memoir is to be found in the intimate estimates given by his sons in a spe- cial memorial issued by them after his death, for private circulation, and there can be no impropriety in offering in the present connec- tion brief extracts from the offering there made by his son Henry Allyn Haigh :
"My father lived in Dearborn for more than half a century. He ruled the paternal acres of the family homestead longer than any sover- eign reigned in England, save only Queen Vic- toria, whom he venerated. Though nearly ten years her senior, and she probably the oldest queen in human history, he survived her sev- eral years. He was, however, a very staunch and true American, and when the test came, he sent two sons to help defend the nation's life. * * * My father lived to a great age, nearly a century, and he lived in a way that brought him a long, comfortable twilight of healthful repose. He achieved something of the ideal which sanitarians and scientists pre- dict may become possible for all humanity under favorable conditions. Long life is what we all strive for, but it is of little value if it is dragged out in pain, poverty, dependence and distress. Such was not father's fate. His life was so well ordered that after the Scriptural allotment of time had expired, after he had striven, achieved and acquitted himself, he was left with a quarter of a century of comfortable existence,-not idle existence by any means, but rational and helpful and satisfying. A quality well worthy of emulation in this spend- thrift age was his thorough mastery and habitual practice of a practical economy which simply compelled success. There was no luck nor chance nor fortune in his life. His ac- quired competence and ability for the full dis- charge of every obligation, the care of his de-
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pendents, the education of his children and their establishment in life, and his long subse- quent period of useful life on the 'sunny side of Easy street, were simply the inevitable re- sults of his persistent course of economic prac-
tice. * : * * The modern fortuitous phase of human effort was a sealed book to him. He did know, however, that well directed and faithful labor rarely failed of reasonable re- ward, and upon that principle he worked, and he worked hard. He got what he wanted and, though he never said so, I think he felt fairly well satisfied. Surely in a life like this there is something worth thinking about. I doubt if he thought much about it himself, but if I were to sum up the substance of his methods of success, I would express it in two words,- regularity and moderation. These, with per- sistence, were the keynotes of his career."
The death of the second wife of Mr. Haigh occurred on the 24th of September, 1903, and concerning the remainder of his life we draw further from the article from which the pre- ceding extracts are made : "As long as mother lived he experienced something of the old charm of living, but when she died, though he never said it, the light of his life went out. He seemed lost, as one in a dream. He was inclined to wander aimlessly and take little note of matters near at hand. His mind drifted back to early days. He talked of his mother tenderly and reverently, of his brothers, spe- cially of his brother John and his uncle Will- iam, and of the trials and triumphs of the days of long ago. Passing events could not arouse his interest. His vision was fixed on some- thing far away. Surrounded with every care and comfort that affection and solicitude could bestow, attended by his three sons and by other relatives who watched him lovingly, the end came-peacefully and painlessly-and his frail body, that had served so well, was laid in the village cemetery on the hillside overlook- ing the scenes of his long and useful life."
EMORY W. CLARK.
When it is stated that Mr. Clark is a repre- sentative of the third generation of his family to be officially identified with the First Na-
tional Bank of Detroit, of which he is now vice-president, an idea may be gained of how prominently the family name has been identi- fied with the history of banking in this city. In 1859 his grandfather, ex-Governor Myron H. Clark of New York state, was one of those primarily instrumental in the organization of the State Bank of Michigan, which began op- erations in February of that year. Interested in this institution also from the start was Lo- renzo E. Clark, father of the subject of this sketch. It was organized under the free bank- ing law of the state, being the only one ever es- tablished under this law until after the unlim- ited-liability clause was eliminated. This bank went into voluntary liquidation in January, 1865, and its business was transferred to the First National Bank, of which Mr. Clark be- came vice-president, holding this office until the expiration of its charter, in 1882. A re- organization at once took place, under the same title, and Lorenzo E. Clark became cashier un- der the new regime, later being chosen vice- present, of which position he continued incum- bent until May, 1899, when he resigned, after long and faithful service, and made permanent retirement from business.
Emory W. Clark, the immediate subject of this review, was born in Detroit, on the 10th of July, 1868, and is a son of Lorenzo E. and Elizabeth (Sheley) Clark. He was reared to maturity in his native city, to whose schools he is indebted for his early educational disci- pline. At the age of nineteen years he assumed a clerical position in the office of the wholesale drug house of Farrand, Williams & Company, with whom he remained three years. In 1890 he organized the Clark Can Company, and be- gan the manufacturing of tin cans for the use of the packers of meats, fruits, etc. The enter- prise became one of the important manufactur- ing industries of Detroit, its output in a single year having reached the enormous aggregate of fifteen millions of cans. The company was incorporated with a capital stock of fifty thou- sand dollars, had a finely equipped plant, util- izing a substantial four-story building, and employment was given to one hundred persons. Mr. Clark was president of the company from
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the time of its organization until 1901, when the property and business were sold to the American Can Company. Thereafter Mr. Clark gave his attention to other capitalistic investments, and he organized the National Silica Company, of Monroe. Upon the death of Senator James McMillan he was elected a member of the directorate of the First National Bank, in which he had been a stockholder for a number of years prior to this time, and in 1904 he was elected 2d vice-president of the bank, of which position he has since remained incumbent, giving the major portion of his time and attention to the executive affairs of this institution, a history of which appears else- where in this compilation. Mr. Clark was one of the chief promoters and organizers of the Security Trust Company, and the major por- tion of its stock was sold through his inter- position and effective efforts. Of this corpora- tion he is vice-president, and since 1902 he has been a director also of the Home Savings Bank. He is also a member of the directorates of the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company, the Wabash Portland Cement Com- pany, and other important industrial corpora- tions of Detroit and the state. He is known as an alert, progressive business man,-one of those to whom is due the magnificent industrial development of Detroit within the last decade. He is a valued member of the Board of Com- merce and is chairman of its executive commit- tee, and is a member of the board of directors of the New York Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany. He is identified with the Detroit Club and other local organizations of a civic or so- cial order, is a staunch advocate of the princi- ples and policies of the Republican party, and is a member of the Jefferson Avenue Presby- terian church.
In 1895 Mr. Clark was united in marriage . to Miss Lucie H. Wing, who was born and reared in Kentucky.
JAMES DWYER.
Far into the perspective stretches the history of Mr. Dwyer's association with the industrial and civic life of Detroit, and he has long been
a prominent figure in the business world, hav- ing risen from the plane of small beginnings to that of commanding position as one of the cap- tains of industry in our great republic. He is now vice-president and general manager of the Peninsular Stove Company, whose upbuild- ing has been in largest measure due to him, as is shown in the special article devoted to the company on other pages of this work. Ad- equate data concerning the family history of Mr. Dwyer are offered in the sketch of the life of his elder brother, Jeremiah Dwyer, in this publication, so that a further resumè is not de- manded in the present connection. It is, how- ever, particularly suggested that in connection with the present sketch the reader make ref- erence to the two just mentioned, as thus will be gained a comprehensive view of the career of Mr. Dwyer.
Mr. Dwyer finds no little source of pride in the fact that he can claim Detroit as the place of his nativity. He was born in this city on the 6th of September, 1842, and here he was reared and educated; here has been the scene of his life's fruitful and earnest labors. His early educational advantages were those af- forded in the schools of the city, and his mem- ory recalls many pleasurable incidents clinging about the old Barstow school, which he at- tended. At the age of fourteen years he en- tered upon an apprenticeship to the machin- ist's trade, in the Hydraulic Iron Works, owned and operated by Charles Kellogg & Company. Endowed with much natural mechanical ability and thoroughly enjoying his work, he made rapid progress in his command of technical and practical knowledge and soon became a skilled artisan. In 1859 Mr. Dwyer went to the state of New York, for the purpose of amplifying his experience in connection with his chosen vocation, and he worked at his trade in various cities and towns along the Hudson river, con- tinuing a resident of the old Empire state, the former home of his parents, until 1866. At Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1862, was sol- emnized his marriage to Miss Susan Lane, who was born in Ireland, and came to the United States as a child. She was a daughter of
James Days
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William and Ellen (Davern) Lane, and her father was a railroad man by vocation.
In 1866 Mr. Dwyer returned to Detroit and joined his brother in the foundry and machine business, under the firm name of J. Dwyer & Company. They began the manufacture of stoves, and the enterprise thus founded was that from which has been built up the magni- ficent industry now represented in the opera- tions of the Peninsular Stove Company. Of his association with this great concern a due outline is given in the article pertaining to the same, and to said sketch reference should be made for data concerning his rise to his pres- ent position of prominence in the industrial world. Mr. Dwyer is also a stockholder in the Security Trust Company and the People's State Bank, being recognized as one of the substan- tial capitalists and able and public-spirited business men of his native city.
In politics Mr. Dwyer has never been an active factor, but he is ever loyal to the duties of citizenship and exercises his franchise in support of the principles and policies for which the Democrats stand sponsor.
Of the children of Mr. Dwyer the following data are given : William H., who died January 13, 1902, was treasurer of the Peninsular Stove Company at time of his death; Mary E. is the wife of Daniel F. Crowley, of Detroit; Jeremiah J., who died October II, 1901, was also associated with his father, as assistant su- perintendent of the stove works; Sarah E., now Mrs. Kinnucken, of Detroit; James M. is treasurer of the Peninsular Stove Company ; Edwin L. is purchasing agent of the same com- pany; Albert E. also is connected with this company ; and Blanche S. is at the paternal home. Mrs. Dwyer passed to the life eternal April 3, 1902.
JEROME H. BISHOP.
To the larger and surer vision there is no such thing as luck. No man achieves anything worthy until he learns the power of conviction and, appreciative thereof, bends his energies to the accomplishing of a definite purpose. Among the representative citizens and influ-
ential business men of Wayne county is Mr. Bishop, who has risen to a position of marked precedence in the commercial world by the vig- orous assertion of courage, staying power, pluck and determination. His has been the conviction born of the consciousness of strength and of integrity of purpose, and thus has his success-position been amply fortified at all times. With scarcely nominal capitalistic reinforcement, but equipped with ambition, de- termination and strong intellectual powers, he proved equal to emergencies as they arose in his path, pushing forward until he now stands at the head of the most important industrial enterprise of its kind, that controlled by the J. H. Bishop Company, of Wyandotte, manu- facturers of fur coats and robes. On other pages of this work is given a description of the company, so that a repetition of the data is not demanded in the present connection.
Mr. Bishop is a native of the old Empire state of the Union and is a scion of distin- guished and patrician stock. He was born in Jefferson county, New York, on the 3d of Sep- tember, 1846, and is a son of William and Betsey Jerome (Stearns ) Bishop, both of whom were likewise born in New York state. The original progenitor of the Bishop family in America was Richard Bishop, who was born in Ipswich, England, and who immigrated to the New World in 1628. He was a member of the colony formed at historic old Salem, Mas- sachusetts, and was a personal friend of the illustrious Governor Endicott. The mother of the subject of this review was a representative of the prominent and influential Jerome family whose name has been so conspicuously identi- fied with the annals of the state of New York. The founder of this family in America was Timothy Jerome, who was a native of the Isle of Wight, whence he came to America between 1694 and 1713, settling in Wallingford, Con- necticut. The mother of Mr. Bishop was a daughter of Zabina Stearns and Betsey (Je- rome) Stearns, the latter of whom was the only daughter of Aaron Jerome. Aaron Je- rome had four sons, Aaron, Judge Hi- ram, Isaac and Leffens. Aaron's sons,
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Leonard, Lawrence, and Addison, settled in New York city. A member of the family is Mrs. George Cornwallis West, of England, who, as Jennie Jerome, daughter of Leonard Jerome, first married Lord Randolph Churchill, after whose death she became the wife of George Cornwallis West. She is a sec- ond cousin of the subject of this review, as is also William Travers Jerome, the distinguished district attorney in New York city.
William Bishop, the father of our subject, was a man who ever commanded the confi- dence and esteem of all who knew him.
Jerome Halland Bishop duly availed him- self of the advantages of the common schools of his native county, and supplemented this discipline by a course of study in an academy at Redwood, New York. He gave much time to private study and perfected himself in the higher branches of academic learning. In 1869 he came to Michigan, where he assumed the position of superintendent of the public schools of Decatur, Van Buren county. In 1871 he came to Wyandotte, of whose schools he continued superintendent until 1875, prov- ing a most able and popular instructor and capable executive. In 1875 he resigned the superintendency and engaged in the manufac- turing of fur and skin rugs; fur coats and robes were added in 1890. He thus laid the foundation for the great enterprise now con- ducted under the title of the J. H. Bishop Company. For further details reference may be made to the article descriptive of the history of this company.
In addition to being one of the most in- fluential and successful business men of Wyan- dotte, Mr. Bishop has ever stood exponent of the highest type of loyal and public-spirited citizenship. With the multifarious and exact- ing demands of business, he has not hedged himself in therewith but has given his aid and influence in support of all measures projected for the general good of the community and has been a leader in public action along such lines. In 1885 he was elected mayor of the city of Wyandotte, giving a most able and progressive administration, the popular appreciation of
which was indicated by his being chosen as his own successor, without opposition, in the elec- tion of the succeeding year. During his regime as mayor he was also president of the board of education, to which he gave the benefit of his long experience and fine technical knowledge concerning pedagogic affairs. He was the prime factor in securing from the board of aldermen an appropriation for the establishing of a public library in Wyandotte. The finan- cial affairs of the city were such that it was unable consistently to grant sufficient funds to place the library in proper status, and to meet the exigencies of the case Mr. Bishop con- tributed personally for about eight years an amount equal to that given each year by the city for the sustaining and amplification of the library. This is but one of many instances in which his public spirit and practical philan- thropy have been manifested. He continued his donations to the library until it became pos- sible for the city to support the same without such aid from him. He has ever shown a most lively interest in educational matters in his home city and in all that has fostered the moral and civic welfare of the community. In 1905 he was again elected mayor of the city, and through successive re-elections he has since re- mained incumbent of this office. He has di- rected the municipal government according to strict business principles, is progressive in his policy but never lends encouragement to ex- travagance in any form. Within his adminis- tration as mayor he has secured many substan- tial city improvements, including the paving of Biddle avenue, the principal business street of the city, also Oak and First streets and the opening of Superior boulevard, besides the curbing and grading of all other streets. A much needed sewerage system has been com- pleted; the municipal electric-lighting plant has been rebuilt and an entirely new system in- stalled. He is now making a specially ener- getic campaign to secure the construction of a filtration plant which will insure to the city an adequate supply of pure water for domestic and other purposes. Mr. Bishop served as a mem- ber of the board of control of the state house
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of correction at Ionia during the administra- tion of the late Governor Pingree, and while he is a staunch advocate of the principles of the Republican party he has not been an as- pirant for offices of a political nature. For many years he has been a member of the board of trustees of Olivet College, at Olivet, Michi- gan. He has advanced to high degrees in the Masonic fraternity, being identified with Michigan Sovereign Consistory of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, and with Moslem Tem- ple, Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in Detroit, where he also is affiliated with Damascus Commandery, Knights Templars. He is a member of the Detroit Club, the Old Club, at St. Clair Flats, and the North Anderson Shooting Club, and is a member of the Electoral College for the second district for 1908.
Mr. Bishop is a man of strong and deep re- ligious convictions, and he exemplifies his faith in all the relations of life. For the past thirty years he has served as superintendent of the Sunday school of the First Congregational church of Wyandotte, and he has been active in all other departments of the church work. In 1903 he commissioned the firm of William Wright & Company, of Detroit, to secure the best possible plans for the old English Gothic type of church architecture, and Frederick Foote, a member of that firm, made a careful survey of such ancient church structures in England, and in harmony with his reports plans and specifications were submitted to Mr. Bishop, who then had erected from the same the beautiful edifice of the First Congrega- tional church in Wyandotte. This building, completed at a cost of thirty thousand dollars, was by him presented to the congregation and was dedicated in 1904. The edifice is pro- nounced by authoritative critics to be the best example of the old Gothic church architecture to be found in America. Though making this splendid benefaction Mr. Bishop, with char- acteristic modesty, would not permit the use of his name in connection with that of the church, but insisted that the original title should be retained. It is needless to say that
the magnificent building is a source of pride to all citizens of Wyandotte, and it will remain as a worthy and perpetual memorial to the honored citizen through whose consecrated generosity its erection was made possible. No citizen of Wyandotte has been more public- spirited than Mr. Bishop, and his entire career has been guided and governed by inflexible de- votion to principle and by a desire to aid and uplift his fellow men. He is to-day a most conspicuous figure in the business and civic life of his home city, and to him is accorded the most unequivocal confidence and regard in the community to whose wellbeing he has con- tributed in so liberal a measure. He is a man of fine intellectuality and finds much of pleas- ure and solace in reading and study of the best in classical and modern literature. His beautiful residence, the most pretentious in Wyandotte, is a veritable center of gracious hospitality.
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