USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan > Part 71
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115
EDWARD C. VAN HUSAN.
A son of the late and honored pioneer of Detroit, Caleb Van Husan, to whom a special memoir is dedicated in this volume, Edward C. Van Husan, prominently concerned in the real-estate business in Detroit, is a native of this city, where he was born on the 12th of May, 1861. As a boy and youth he was af- forded excellent educational advantages, hav- ing attended the public schools of Detroit, and Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan, and later he continued his studies in Adams Academy, at Quincy, Massachusetts, and Col- gate Academy, at Hamilton, New York. He left school in 1879 and returned to Detroit, where, at the age of eighteen years, he en- tered the employ of Standart Brothers, as a messenger. He remained with this firm, whose business was that of wholesale hardware, for a period of four years, when he became an employe of the Detroit Fire & Marine Insur-
440
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
ance Company, of which his father was presi- dent, and he continued with the same in cleri- cal and executive capacities until 1885, about one year after the death of his father. In 1886 he engaged in the real estate business, to which he has since continued to devote his attention, handling principally his own prop- erty and having built up an enterprise which is one of the most important of the sort in the city of Detroit. Here he is also interested in various industrial and financial concerns, being known as one of the substantial busi- ness men of the younger generation in his native city, and being liberal and public-spir- ited in his attitude as a citizen.
Mr. Van Husan has never manifested aught of ambition for public office, but he was ap- pointed health commissioner of Detroit, of which office he remained incumbent two years, doing most effective service. His re- ligious faith is that of the Baptist church and he is identified with various fraternal and so- cial organizations.
In 1883 Mr. Van Husan was united in mar- riage to Miss Kate Morrill, who was born in Jackson, this state, a daughter of Marshall J. Morrill, who later became a resident of De- troit, and the three children of this union are Harold M., Marshall W., and Florence.
MORRIS L. WILLIAMS.
Morris Lewis Williams, president of the First National Bank, has been identified with banking interests for more . than fifty-three years, and has been thus engaged in Detroit for forty-three years. His advancement to his present high position in the financial circles of the state has come through his own ability, energy and integrity of purpose,-qualities which ever foster popular confidence and esteem. A history of the bank of which he is now the executive head appears on other pages of this volume, and an incidental review of the Commercial National Bank, of which he was the virtual founder and which was merged with the First National in May, 1908.
Mr. Williams is a native of the island of Anglesea, Wales, where he was born on the
9th of May, 1841, being a scion of old and dis- tinguished Welsh families. He is a son of Rev. William and Emma (Prytherch) Will- iams, both of whom remained residents of their native land until their death, the father hav- ing been a distinguished clergyman of the Presbyterian church in Wales. One of his brothers, Richard, came to the United States and took up his residence in Floyd, New York, where he died at the patriarchal age of ninety- five years. He was for a long term of years postmaster of the village and was incumbent of this office at the time of his death.
The subject of this review was afforded the ยท advantages of excellent schools in the city of Birmingham, England, and his entire business career has been one of consecutive identifica- tion with the banking business, in which he is a recognized authority, having a high repu- tation as a financier. In October, 1855, when but fourteen years of age he secured employ- ment in the North and South Wales Bank of Liverpool, with which institution he remained for a decade, being advanced to the position of accountant and having made a record for faithful and efficient service. In 1865 Mr. Williams came to the United States, arriving in Detroit in August of that year. He was twenty-four years of age at the time, but his experience in the banking business well quali- fied him to meet the exigencies of life under the new conditions and surroundings. Soon after his arrival in Detroit he entered the employ of the old American National Bank, and for the long period of seventeen years he held the position of assistant cashier of this institution. He retired from this office in 1881, when he became one of the organizers of the Commer- cial National Bank, of which he was the prin- cipal promoter, and he directed the destinies of this substantial and popular monetary insti- tution in the capacity of cashier until 1902, when he was elected president: he had also been vice-president while still incumbent of the cashiership. Upon the consolidation of the First National and Commercial National Banks, in May, 1908, he was chosen president of the institution, which retains the name of First National Bank of Detroit. He is one of
Hilines
441
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
the best known bankers in the state and his name stands for great technical knowledge, correct methods and wise conservatism in the handling and management of financial affairs. He is a director in each of the following De- troit companies : The Detroit Drill Company, the Security Trust Company, the Michigan Savings Bank, and the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Company. As a business man and citizen he is liberal, progressive and public- spirited. He is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, the Bankers' Club; the Detroit Club, and the various local bodies of the Ma- sonic fraternity. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party and he and his wife hold membership in the First Congrega- tional church.
On the 7th of May, 1867, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Williams to Miss Kate C. Williams, daughter of the late William Will- iams, of Anglesea, Wales, and a sister of Will- iam C. Williams, of Detroit. Mr. and Mrs. Williams have no children.
CHARLES W. HARRAH.
Charles W. Harrah, brigadier-general com- manding the National Guard of Michigan, is one of the leading real-estate dealers and agents maintaining headquarters in the city of Detroit and is known as one of the representa- tive business men and public-spirited and pro- gressive citizens of the Michigan metropolis. His real-estate operations in the local field have been especially extended and important, and he has also had to do with the development of valuable properties in other important cities of the Union as well as lands in Cuba. His extensive enterprise is conducted under the title of the Harrah Realty Company, but he figures as the sole owner of the business, which has been built up entirely through his energy and aggressive policy.
Mr. Harrah was born in the city of Daven- port, Iowa, on the 22d of February, 1862, and is a son of William D. and Hester (Hartzell) Harrah, both natives of the state of Ohio. William D. Harrah was born at Hopedale, Jefferson county, that state, in the year, 1832,
and his death occurred in Detroit, in 1897, and four of their children are now living. William D. Harrah was long and prominently identified with the life-insurance business, in which he was acturary for several of the leading com- panies doing business in the United States. He took up his residence in Detroit in 1875 and here became special agent for the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, of Newark, New Jersey; the Travelers' Life Insurance Company, of Hartford, Connecticut; and the Imperial Life Insurance Company, of Detroit. He was one of the organizers of the company last mentioned, and he represented its interests until its plan of operation was changed, against his vigorous protest : he predicted that under the new system the company could not con- tinue in successful business, and this was proved to be the fact within a brief interval. He resigned shortly after the change of oper- ation had been instituted by the company.
The Harrah family was founded in America in the colonial epoch, and the original progenit- or in the New World was born in the north of Ireland, and made settlement in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. He had two sons, Wil- liam and Charles. The former had but one son, whose descendants of the present genera- tion live in Philadelphia and vicinity. Repre- sentatives of this branch have been prominent in connection with railroad building and the iron industry. Charles, the other son, is the direct ancestor of General Harrah, subject of this review, and from him the latter is in the fifth generation of descent. Charles Harrah was born in 1746 and was reared to maturity in Pennsylvania. He was a loyal soldier in the Continental line in the war of the Revolution, and in recognition of his services and attitude received a certificate of loyalty to the colonies and also a large grant of land in Pennsylvania. The major portion of this property is still held in the possession of his descendants and is lo- cated in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where he took up his residence in 1784. He became a successful farmer in that section of the old Keystone state, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred in 1808. He also took part in the conflicts with the
442
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
Indians in western Pennsylvania and was a man of prominence and influence in that sec- tion. His religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church, with which the greater number of his descendants are identified. James Gilchrist Harrah, son of Charles, married Mar- garet Neill, and they were numbered among the pioneers of Jefferson county, Ohio, where they took up their residence when that section was essentially a wilderness. Their homestead figures as the site of the present village of Hopedale. James G. Harrah was a man of strong individuality and was a potent factor in the development and upbuilding of Jefferson county, where he became a prosperous farmer. He was an elder in the Presbyterian church and was a man of impregnable integrity of character. He continued to reside in Jefferson county until his death, in 1871, at the patri- archal age of ninety-three years. His son, William Neill Harrah, grandfather of the sub- ject of this sketch, was born in Ohio, on the 26th of October, 1809, and was afforded the advantages of the pioneer schools of the old Buckeye state. In his youth he studied for the ministry of the Presbyterian church, of which he was a devout and lifelong member ,and he was active in religious work for many years. He also learned the tanner's trade, and he engaged in the work of the same in partner- ship with Philip Delaney. Their tannery and yards were located on land now now a part of the village of Hopedale, where also was estab- lished the first normal school in Ohio. William N. Harrah was united in marriage, November 25, 1830, to Miss Deborah Delaney, who was born October 24, 1810, and who was a daught- er of Philip Delaney, previously mentioned. Said Philip Delaney was born in the residence of General George Washington, at Mount Vernon, Virginia, in 1767, and was a son of John Delaney, who was a native of England and who became an employe of General Wash- ington, by whom his wife also was employed prior to her marriage. William N. Harrah finally removed to Iowa, becoming one of the pioneers of that state, where he engaged in farming and stock-growing and where he passed the residue of his long and useful life.
Charles W. Harrah, whose name initiates this article, secured his rudimentary education in the public schools of Davenport, Iowa, and was about thirteen years of age at the time of the family removal to Detroit. Here he con- tinued his studies in the public schools, being graduated in the old Capitol high school as a member of the class of 1880, and in the follow- ing year completing a thorough course in the Bryant & Stratton Business College in this city. He then entered the employ of J. K. Burnham & Company, wholesale dealers in dry goods, but in 1882 he secured a position in the whole- sale shoe establishment of H. P. Baldwin, 2d, & Company, where he was employed as ship- ping clerk until 1888. In the meanwhile he had made judicious investments in local real estate, and in the year last mentioned he estab- lished himself in active and independent busi- ness as a real-estate dealer and agent. His success in this important field of enterprise has been most pronounced, and he has brought to bear great energy, initiative ability and reliable methods. General Harrah has platted, improved and placed on the market twenty-six attractive subdivisions to Detroit. He first se- cured twenty acres of land on Holbrook road and Chene street, and platted this into one hundred and ninety-seven lots, under the title of Harrah's subdivision. Since that time he has brought into the market the following properties : Denton's subdivision, one hundred and seven lots, on Denton avenue, and Chene and Lumpkin streets; Crosman's subdivision, two hundred and forty lots, on Denton avenue and Chene street; Harrah's Resubdivision, three hundred and thirty lots, on Conant and Caniff streets; Hannah & Brandenburg's sub- division, on Grand boulevard, one hundred and fourteen lots; Harrah's Toledo avenue subdi- vision, four hundred and sixty-nine lots; Har- rah's Dix avenue subdivision, two hundred and four lots; Grantor's subdivision, on Toledo avenue, two hundred and seventeen lots; Har- rah & Brandenburg's St. Aubin avenue subdi- vision, ninety-one lots; and Harrah & Brand- enburg's Forest avenue subdivision, forty-one lots. He has also handled a vast amount of improved realty in Detroit and its suburbs, and
443
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
has platted subdivisions also in Toledo, Buf- falo, Toronto, Cleveland and St. Louis. In all he has sold more than ten thousand building lots. His business was conducted under the title of the Harrah Real Estate Exchange from 1888 until 1898. In 1907 the present name, the Harrah Realty Company, was adopted. In 1899 he projected the plans for the building of the Detroit, Monroe & Toledo Short Line Rail- way, and he effected the organization and fi- nancing of the company, with which he was officially identified until the completion of the line. He was in service in Cuba during the Spanish-American war and became much im- pressed with the investment attractions in that tropical isle. After the close of the war he extended his real-estate operations by enlisting the co-operation of American capital in the purchasing of Cuban lands and business prop- erties, and between the years 1900 and 1908 he has made fourteen business trips to Cuba. In 1905 he organized the Santiago de Cuba Plan- tation Company, in which he became associated with William C. Johnson, Edward J. Warren, William H. Gillespie, and John H. Tigchon, of Detroit, and in this city the home offices are established. He is secretary of the company, which is incorporated with a capital stock of eight million dollars, and which owns eleven thousand acres of land in Cuba. This property is now devoted principally to the production of citrus fruits, with orchards comprising sixty thousand trees, and later developments will be made in the cultivation of rubber, vanilla, cacao, pineapples, etc.
General Harrah has long been prominent in military and athletic affairs, in which connec- tion he is widely known. In 1886 he became a private in Company A, Fourth Regiment, Michigan National Guard, in which he was promoted corporal four months later. He rose through the various grades and was made cap- tain of his company in December, 1892. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war he was commissioned major of the Thirty-first Michigan Volunteer Infantry, which was the first regiment to go to the front from this state and which was in active service in Cien-
fuegos and central Cuba. The command was mustered out, at Savannah, Georgia, on the 17th of May, 1899,-one of the last regiments to be mustered out. Upon the reorganization of the Michigan National Guard, in 1900, Ma- jor Harrah was appointed colonel of the First Regiment of Infantry, the well known Detroit organization. On the 13th of January, 1905, Governor Warner conferred upon him the ap- pointment of brigadier-general of the National Guard of the state, and he has still retained the general command of the Michigan troops. He is known as a splendid tactician and com- manding officer, and enjoys unqualified popu- larity in the body of which he is the official head. He is also a member of the Detroit Light Guard, of which he has been a director since 1892. This organization is maintained at a high standard and has received flattering commendation from officers in the regular United States army. General Harrah is a prominent member of the Detroit Boat Club and was at one time captain of the Excelsior Boat Club. He has attained a high reputation as an oarsman, and as such has been a member of crews which have won distinctive victories in competitive regattas. His crew won the medal in the four-oared gig race of two miles held at Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 1886, and its record was at the time the highest made in this line of contest. At the meeting of the Northwestern Rowing Association, in this same city, in 1887, he was a member of the crew which made the best record in the pair- oared race; and at the regatta of the Missis- sippi Valley Rowing Association, held at Pull- man, Illinois, in 1887, he and Walter McMillan won the pair-oared race. General Harrah is also a member of the Detroit Athletic Club and is affiliated with Palestine Lodge, No. 357, Free & Accepted Masons, and the United Spanish War Veterans. His political allegi- ance is given to the Republican party.
On the 3Ist of December, 1890, was sol- emnized the marriage of General Harrah to Miss Lela Russell, daughter of Hon. Francis G. Russell, a prominent attorney and represen- tative citizen of Detroit. The two children of
444
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
this union are Helen and Hester. Mrs. Har- rah is prominent in the social life of Detroit, is the present secretary of the Twentieth Century Club and is also a member of Louisa St. Clair Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. General and Mrs. Harrah hold membership in the Central Christian church, and their attractive home, a center of gracious hospitality, is located at 59 Pingree avenue.
DAVID S. CARTER.
Manufacturer, secretary and treasurer of Larned, Carter & Company, of which he was one of the founders, and a director in the Citizens' Savings Bank, David S. Carter is a native of the city of Detroit, in which he was born on the 14th day of February, 1870, a son of David and Frances J. (Leonard) Carter. In this compilation is entered a me- moir to the late David Carter to which the reader is referred for supplemental informa- tion regarding the history of the family.
David S. Carter received his education in the public schools of Detroit and graduated from the high school as a member of the class of 1888. Shortly afterward he entered the employ of the Leonard & Carter Furniture Company, of which his father was president. He was made secretary. of the company in 1889 and filled this position with credit. In 1896 he resigned from the executive force of the company to establish his present business. In 1897, with Abner E. Larned, he organized the corporation of Larned, Carter & Company, for the purpose of engaging in the manufac- ture of clothing for working men. The busi- ness of the concern was established in a mod- est way, in quarters at the corner of Twenty- fourth and Dalzelle streets, the original work- ing force numbering but eight persons. The standard of quality of their output soon gained for them a secure prestige, and a successful de- mand for their products quickly followed. In- sufficient space for the growing demands of their trade soon made removal to larger quar- ters necessary and a location at Michigan ave- nue and Park Place was secured. In 1903 the
success of the business had been such as to warrant the construction of a plant of their own, resulting in the purchase of the property at the corner of Eighth and Abbott streets, fronting seventy-five feet on the latter street and extending south on the former to the alley, a distance of one hundred and thirty feet. This site was improved with a modern brick factory building, three stories in height, and equipment of the most improved pattern was installed. The growth of the business in the next four years was such that even this building became too small, and an additional purchase of ground was necessary. The com- pany acquired the lot adjoining their premises, running from the alley south on Eighth street to Howard, and with a frontage on the latter street of fifty feet, thus giving the firm a frontage of the entire block from Abbott street to Howard street. A four-story and base- ment building, so constructed as to afford the most sanitary conditions possible to the em- ployes, was erected and provided with the most modern appliances for the safety and convenience of the working force. One of the features operated in connection with busi- ness deserves mention. The company have provided a commodious room for refectory purposes. Here they provide and serve with- out profit to themselves meals for their opera- tives, prepared by competent cooks and from the best materials to be had. This enables the employe to enjoy at a cost easily within his or her means a substantial meal, which, in the essentials of preparation and materials used, is greatly superior to that of most res- taurants, and a large number of the operatives avail themselves of this service for all their meals. The company employ, under normal conditions, about six hundred and fifty per- sons and of this force five hundred and fifty operate a like number of machines. The av- erage output per day has reached the satisfac- tory aggregate of three hundred dozen pairs of overalls. The progressive ideas and ag- gressive advertising policy of Larned, Carter & Company have done much to familiarize the
445
DETROIT AND WAYNE COUNTY
country at large with the value of Detroit- made goods, and the reliability of the com- pany's products is convincingly attested by their constantly expanding trade.
In the commercial, social and religious life of the city Mr. Carter has been for a num- ber of years actively and somewhat prom- inently identified. Aside from his interests in the company previously mentioned, he has other interests of value. He is a director in the Citizens' Savings Bank and is treasurer of the Victor Manufacturing Company. He is also a trustee of Harper Hospital, a mem- ber of the Detroit Board of Commerce, the Detroit Boat Club, the Country Club, and Michigan Chapter, Sons of the American Rev- olution. In the work of the First Presbyterian church he has taken an active and useful part. He has been a member of this congregation for twenty-eight years and holds the office of elder.
On the 12th of September, 1899, Mr. Carter married Miss Grace M. Gillis, daughter of the late Ransom Gillis, a memoir of whom ap- pears on other pages of this volume. To them was born one son-David Grace Carter. Mrs. Carter was a woman of rare beauty of mind and person, of broad education and accom- plishments. Her death, on the IIth of June, 1902, at the age of twenty-six, terminated a career which promised a life of great worth and usefulness.
HUGH WALLACE.
The conditions under which industrial and commercial enterprises of magnitude are pros- ecuted in this new century of electrical ad- vancement in all lines of human activity, de- mand men who are forceful, and of strong po- tentiality, courage and judgment. Numbered among such representatives in the personnel of the successful business men prominently identi- fied with the industrial and civic progress of the "Greater Detroit" Mr. Wallace has gained a secure place. He is president of the Hugh Wallace Company, and Detroit Concrete Stone Company, and vice-president of the Citizens'
Savings Bank of Detroit, two of which insti- tutions are specifically mentioned on other pages of this volume.
Hugh Wallace was born in the city of Galt, province of Ontario, Canada, on the 8th of October, 1863, and is a son of James and Elizabeth (Wells) Wallace, both of whom were likewise born in the province of On- tario. The founder of the Wallace family in America was Hugh Wallace, who was a native of Kilmarnock, Scotland, and who took up his residence at Galt, Canada, in 1835. He purchased a large tract of land and became a large landed proprietor in that section of the province. The old homestead is now owned by his son William, and the place is known as "Old Ellerslie." Of his eight sons, all are living except James, father of the sub- ject of this review, and the other seven sons are prominent and influential citizens of Wa- terloo county, Ontario. James Wallace, who was a successful business man and a prom- inent member of the Liberal party, died in 1905. He is survived by his widow and two children-one son and one daughter.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.