Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 84

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932
Publication date: 1909
Publisher: Chicago H. Taylor & Co.
Number of Pages: 858

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conducted in this city at that time by S. L. Campbell and Dr. C. F. Soldan; this school was conducted in a building located on the site of the persent city hall. In 1858 Judge Swan matriculated in the University of Michigan, where he continued his studies for three years, and became a member of the Delta Psi fra- ternity. In 1861 he left the university and went to California, where he was associated with an uncle in steamboating operations on the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers for a period of about five years. In the meanwhile he there prosecuted the study of law, under effective preceptorship, and in 1867 he was admitted to the bar of California. In the latter part of that year Judge Swan returned to De- troit, where he entered the law offices of the well known firm of D. B. & H. M. Duffield, and in October, 1867, he was admitted to the bar of the supreme court of his native state.

On the 15th of April, 1870, Judge Swan was appointed assistant United States district attorney, in which office he served seven years. At the expiration of this interval, in 1877, he formed a professional alliance with the late A. B. Maynard, and the firm of Maynard & Swan soon controlled a large and important business, especially in admiralty practice: This asso- ciation continued until January, 1891, on the 13th of which month Judge Swan was ap- pointed judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, assuming the duties of the office January 26th. He has made a most admirable record on the bench, as had he also in the practice of his profession, in which he was identified with much important litigation. Since 1893 he has been a member of the faculty of the law de- partment of the University of Michigan, where he delivers regular class lectures on admiralty law, and in 1902 the university conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Laws,-a most fitting recognition of his ability as a legist and jurist. In politics the Judge is known as a stalwart advocate of the principles and policies of the Republican party, He is a valued mem- ber of the First Presbyterian church of Detroit,

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in which he is an elder, taking a deep interest in all departments of church work.

On the 30th of April, 1873, was solemnized the marriage of Judge Swan to Miss Jennie E. Clark, daughter of Rev. William C. Clark, a clergyman of the Presbyterian church, who came from the state of Ohio. Judge and Mrs. Swan have two children-William M., who is engaged in the practice of law in Detroit, and Mary C.

FREDERICK B. SMITH.

' An able exponent of the progressive spirit and strong initiative power that have caused Detroit to forge so rapidly forward as an in- dustrial and commercial center, is Frederick B. Smith, who is a native son of the Michigan metropolis and who has here attained to a position of prominence and influence as a busi- ness man and as a loyal and public-spirited citizen. He is president and general manager of the Wolverine Manufacturing Company and also has other interests of important order.

In both the agnatic and maternal lines Mr. Smith is a scion of staunch old colonial stock, and he has reason to revert with pride and sat- isfaction to his genealogy. The record be- tokens strong and noble manhood in those who represented the respective lines in the forma- tive period of our national history, and mem- bers of both families were found arrayed as pa- triot soldiers in the Continental line during the war of the Revolution, while in the earlier colo- nial wars the families were likewise represented. From New England have gone forth to divers sections of the Union many men and women who have well upheld the honors of the names which they bore and who have left progeny equally loyal and useful in connection with the duties and productive activities of life. Thus Mr. Smith can look back with satisfaction upon the record of worthy lives and worthy deeds in his ancestral line, and he is deeply appreciative of the record of achievement.

Frederick B. Smith was born in Detroit, on the 13th of December, 1863, and is a son of

Bradford and Lucia (Weston) Smith, both of whom are now deceased. His father was for many years a representative citizen and busi- ness man of Detroit, where he continued to reside until his death and where his name is held in lasting honor. A sketch of the life of Bradford Smith is given on other pages of this volume and offers a brief tribute to one whose life counted for good in all its relations. The subject of this sketch is indebted to the public schools of Detroit for his early educa- tional discipline, which included a course in the high school, and he gave inception to his active career in connection with the practical affairs of life by securing a clerkship in the accounting department of the Michigan Cen- tral Railroad. In this connection he continued to be employed until he had attained to his legal majority. He thereafter passed one year in the employ of a local furniture company, and in 1887, when but twenty-four years of age, he effected the organization of the Wol- verine Manufacturing Company, which was incorporated with a capital of ten thousand dollars. The enterprise at the start was one of modest order, and employment was given to a force of only twelve men. Aggressive policies, careful management and clear and positive executive control caused the business to expand rapidly and in a normal and legiti- mate way. Its history has been one of con- tinuous success, and the splendid industry now holds precedence as the most extensive of its kind in the United States, while its factory is the largest of the specific type in the entire world. The establishment is given over spe- cially to the manufacturing of parlor and li- brary tables of high grade, and other special- ties in the furniture line are also turned out. The trade of the concern extends into the most diverse sections of the Union and its reputa- tion is in every respect unassailable. The mod- ern and finely equipped plant of the company is located at the corner of Twelfth street and Stanley avenue and in juxtaposition to the tracks of the Grand Trunk Railway, so that its shipping facilities are of the best. Employ-

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ment is now given to an average force of six hundred persons, the majority of whom are skilled artisans, and the operations are based on a capital stock of six hundred thousand dollars. The value of the output for the first year was thirty thousand dollars, and the aver- age annual output is now fully one million dollars in value,-a splendid record for an in- terval of twenty years. The officers of the company are as here noted: Frederick B. Smith, president and general manager; Joseph W. Smith, vice-president and sales manager; and William P. Harris, secretary and treasurer.

In politics Mr. Smith accords allegiance to the Republican party, in whose cause he has in many ways rendered effective service, taking a lively interest in public affairs of a local order and being essentially progressive and appreciative as a citizen. He served from 1894 to 1898 as a member of the city board of esti- mates, and in 1903 he was chairman of the Michigan commission of the Louisiana Pur- chase Exposition, at St. Louis. He is a val- ued and appreciative member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and has been an enthu- siastic worker in this representative organiza- tion of Detroit business men. He was presi- dent of the Chamber of Commerce at the time of its consolidation with the Board of Com- merce, and was a member also of the reorgani- zation committee, besides becoming a charter member of the present Board of Commerce, on whose first board of directors he was a repre- sentative. During his regime as president of the old Chamber of Commerce he was the prime factor in connection with the movement to effect the separation of grade crossings of railroads and streets within the city limits. Apropos of his efforts in this connection a con- ference was held at the office of the Michigan Central Railroad on May 2, 1903, at which were present Mr. Smith, as president and rep- resentative of the Detroit Chamber of Com- merce; George Hargreaves, vice-president of the American Car & Foundry Company; Messrs. Jerome and Atkinson, representing the

committee on grade separations of the common council; and Henry B. Ledyard, for the Michi- gan Central. A proposition was submitted by Messrs. Atkinson and Jerome in regard to the separation of grades between Milwaukee Junction and West Detroit, and a schedule of grades for various streets and avenues was submitted. It was also agreed by the com- mon council committee on grade separations that the elevation of tracks of the railroads at these designated crossings should carry with it the construction of a highway bridge over the tracks of the interested companies on the line of Junction avenue: the division of the cost of the same to be placed on the same basis as that which obtains with the separation of grades, viz., the city to pay for the damages to abutting property owners and to furnish the right of way for such overhead bridge, and the railroad companies to construct the same; the city to maintain thereafter the planking or roadway. The memoranda thus presented at this conference bore the signatures of Fred- erick B. Smith, George Hargreaves, Edwin Jerome, Edmund Atkinson and H. B. Led- yard. Mr. Smith has much civic loyalty and takes an abiding interest in all that tends to conserve the advancement and prosperity of his native city. Mr. Smith holds membership in the Mayflower Society and other colonial organizations, is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, including Detroit Commandery, No. I, Knights Templars, and the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, and he holds membership in the De- troit Club, the Country Club, the Old Club (Lake St. Clair Fishing & Shooting Club), and the famous Lambs' Club of New York city. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church.

On the IIth of November, 1886, was sol- emnized the marriage of Mr. Smith to Miss Nanette Sackrider, a daughter of Dr. Charles L. Sackrider, of Mason, Michigan, and they

- have three sons, namely: Charles S., Fred- erick B., Jr., and Robert W.

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MICHAEL J. MURPHY.

At no period in its history has Detroit made so rapid and substantial advancement in a pure- ly industrial and material way as in the last two decades, and among those who have largely aided in conserving and augmenting the commercial prestige of the city stands the subject of this sketch, who is president of the Murphy Chair Company, one of the extensive and substantial manufacturing concerns of the state, and who is also president of the Secu- rity Trust Company, of Detroit, of which he was one of the founders. He is distinctively one of the substantial capitalists and represen- tative business men of the Michigan metro- polis, and is progressive and public-spirited in his attitude at all times.

Mr. Murphy was born at Sarnia, province of Ontario, Canada, on the 22d of February, 1851, and comes of staunch old Irish lineage. He is a son of James and Catherine (Casey) Murphy, both of whom were born in county Limerick, Ireland. At an early age James Murphy immigrated to America. He located in Canada, where he remained for varying in- tervals for several years, passing the remain- der of the time in the United States, where he became a naturalized citizen and exercised his elective franchise in support of General Jack- son when that great patriot became a candi- date for the presidency of the nation. He was engaged in farming until 1844, when he re- moved to Iowa county, Wisconsin, where he continued to reside until 1849, when he re- turned to Canada, locating near the village of Sarnia, where he continued in agricultural pursuits and where he passed the residue of his life,-a man of alert mentality and inviol- able integrity. He died in 1900, at a venerable age, and his cherished and devoted wife did not long survive him, her death occurring in 1903. Both were devout communicants of the Catholic church, in whose faith they were reared. They are survived by two sons and three daughters, the latter of whom remain residents of Canada. The second son, James F., is now a resident of Detroit.

Michael J. Murphy, the immediate subject of this review, was reared in Sarnia, where he had the advantages of the public schools, in- cluding the high school, and in 1868 he be- came a student in the Goldsmith Business College, in Detroit, where he completed a thorough course and was graduated in the same year. For one year thereafter he was a teacher in this institution. Somewhat later he secured employment as a bookkeeper in the establishment of C. H. Dunks, manufacturer of bed springs, in Detroit, and later he as- sumed a similar position in the office of the Second National Bank, of Detroit, where he was employed for one year.

In 1872 Mr. Murphy purchased the busi- ness of his former employer, Mr. Dunks, whose factory was at this time located on Griswold street. Mr. Murphy infused new life into the enterprise, which was stilll rep- resented in the manufacturing of bed springs, and increasing business finally necessitated the securing of larger quarters. The first re- moval was to 32 Woodward avenue, where the business was continued until 1878, when Mr. Murphy leased the property of the De- troit Chair Company, which was founded by J. M. Wright, of Otsego, New York. The quarters thus secured by Mr. Murphy were located at the corner of Fourth and Porter streets, where he added the manufacture of chairs to his business. Thus was formed the nucleus of the splendid enterprise of which he is now the head. The manufacturing of chairs was finally made the exclusive business of the corncern, and in 1885 the continued ex- pansion of the business made a third removal necessary. In making this change of location Mr. Murphy and his coadjutors purchased fourteen acres of land near Russell street, this being the site of the present finely equipped and extensive plant, which has a floor space of ten acres. The buildings are substantial brick structures and are four stories in height. Here - employment is now given to a corps of work- men averaging in number from seven hundred to nine hundred, mostly skilled labor, and

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the output of the factory is an average of three thousand chairs a day. The products include almost every variety and grade of chairs.

In 1884 the business was incorporated un- der the title of M. J. Murphy & Company, with a capital stock of seventy-five thousand dollars, and Mr. Murphy became the first president and treasurer of the new corpora- tion, whose upbuilding was due almost en- tirely to his well directed efforts. In 1899 the business was incorporated again, under the name of the Murphy Chair Company, which still obtains. The company is capitalized for five hundred thousand dollars and Mr. Mur- phy remains its president, giving the major portion of his time and attention to its affairs. The company has a large surplus fund, and the plant is one of the three largest in the United States, while its products are sold in the most diverse sections of the Union.

As has already been noted, Mr. Murphy is president of the Security Trust Company, one of the large and substantial financial con- cerns of the city, and he is a member of the directorate of both the First National Bank and the People's State Bank. He was a char- ter member of the Detroit Board of Com- merce and had the distinction of being its first president, in 1904, having also been chairman of the board of organization of this body, which has done much to promote the welfare and advancement of Detroit. He is a Repub- lican in his political proclivities, is a communi- cant of the Catholic church, and is identified with the Detroit Club and the Country Club.

In 1877 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Murphy to Miss Eliza Gleeson, who was born in London, Ontario, Canada, a daughter of Timothy Gleeson, who was a resident of Sarnia, Ontario, at the time of his daughter's marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Murphy have four sons and three daughters.

ELIHU M. PECK.

The late Captain Elihu Monroe Peck was long and prominently identified with naviga-

tion and transportation interests on the Great Lakes, and his prominent connection with marine affairs in Detroit, not less than his high standing as a citizen and business man, well entitles him to a place of honor in this publica- tion. For many years prior to his death he was president of the Northwestern Transpor- tation Company, of this city, a description of which will be found in this work.

Captain Peck was born at Butternuts, Oneida county, New York, on the 8th of Sep- tember, 1822, and in the old Empire state he was reared and educated. There also he early became concerned with lake marine interests, initiating his connection with the same by learning the trade of ship carpenter, to which he devoted his attention, more or less directly, for a long term of years, having become a specially skillful artisan in the line. He finally removed from his native state to Cleveland, Ohio, where he became prominent and success- ful as a designer and builder of lake vessels. He designed and constructed more than one hundred sailing and steam vessels which are still in commission on the Great Lakes, and few men were better known in marine circles.

In 1870 Captain Peck became interested in the Northwestern Transportation Company, of Detroit, and of his connection with the same, of which he was president at the time of his death, adequate data is given in the sketch pertaining to the company and further infor- mation also may be found in the review of the career of Lewis C. Waldo, the present secre- tary, treasurer and general manager of the company. Captain Peck was the first to operate boats in the towing of ore vessels from Lake Superior ports, initiating operations in this line as early as 1870. He made for him- self a large place in the province of lake navi- gation, attained to distinctive success in his various enterprises, and was a man who ever commanded unequivocal confidence and esteem. He became a resident of Detroit in 1880, and this city thereafter continued to be his home until his death, which occurred on the 8th of May, 1896. His remains were taken to his old

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home in Cleveland, Ohio, and were interred in beautiful Lakeview cemetery.

Captain Peck was not only a man of affairs -a power in his chosen field of endeavor- but he was also a loyal and public-spirited citizen and broad-gauged business man. He made his life count for good in its various relations and no shadow rests on any portion of his record as a man or citizen. In politics he was a supporter of the cause of the Repub- lican party, and he was identified with various civic and fraternal organizations.

In 1845 was solemnized the marriage of Captain Peck to Miss Susan E. Rogers, of Bedford, Ohio, who survived him by four years. Of their two children, Egbert M. died at the age of eighteen years, and Hattie at the age of four years.

FREDERICK C. STOEPEL.

Numbered among the veritable captains of industry in the city of Detroit, where he has varied and important capitalistic interests, is Mr. Stoepel, who is president of the leading wholesale dry-goods house of Burnham, Stoe- pel & Company and who has risen to dis- tinctive prominence and influence in the city which has represented his home from his boy- hood days.

Mr. Stoepel was born in Heldrungen, Sax- ony, Germany, on the 3d of June, 1846, and is a son of William and Katherine (Koehler) Stoepel, who came to America in 1851, first settling in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, whence they removed to Detroit in the following year. The father was a cabinetmaker by trade and he followed the same as a vocation for a num- ber of years after locating in Detroit, which city continued to be his home until his death, in 1894: his wife passed to the life eternal in 1898, both having been numbered among the honored pioneer citizens of Detroit at the time of their death. They became the parents of three sons and one daughter, all of whom are living.

Frederick C. Stoepel was about six years of age at the time of the family removal to

Detroit, to whose public schools he is indebted for his early educational discipline, which, though limited, proved adequate basis upon which to build up the fine superstructure of culture and intellectuality which now indicate the man, denoting how well he has profited from the lessons gained under the direction of the wisest of all head-masters, Experience. At the early age of thirteen years Mr. Stoepel secured employment as parcel boy in the em- ploy of Campbell, Linn & Company, then one of the leading dry-goods houses in the city. He remained with this firm for eleven years, within which period he manifested his ambi- tion and self-reliance in no uncertain way, the while making himself familiar with all pos- sible details of the business. From 1872 to 1875 he was an employe of the wholesale dry-goods house of Allan Shelden & Com- pany, and in the latter year, in company with James K. Burnham and Albert H. Munger, he organized the firm of J. K. Burnham & Company, wholesale dealers in dry goods.

Twelve years later the interested principals in this concern purchased the stock and busi- ness of the wholesale dry-goods house of Tootle, Hanna & Company, of Kansas City, Missouri, in which city the firm of Burnham, Hanna, Munger & Company was then found- ed, Mr. Stoepel being a general partner in this new concern and thus continuing to the pres- ent time. In the same year the title of the Detroit firm was changed to Burnham, Stoe- pel & Company. At this time Joseph J. Crowley and James Wilson were admitted to partnership.

In 1902 Mr. Crowley retired from the firm, and on the Ist of January of that year the business was incorporated, by the forming of a stock company whose operations were based on a capital stock of one million dollars, with official corps as follows: Frederick C. Stoe- pel, president and treasurer; James Wilson, vice-president ; and George A. Corwin, secre- tary. In addition to these officials the other members of the directorate of the company are: William B. Campbell and Albert H.

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Munger. The business of the concern for the first year amounted to two hundred and fifty- six thousand dollars, and the magnificent growth of the enterprise may be measurably appreciated when it is stated that the annual business of the lineal successor, Burnham, Stoepel & Company, in 1906, aggregated four and one-half million dollars. The trade of the company extends throughout Michigan and into Indiana and northern Ohio, and the house is represented by an average corps of about fifty traveling salesmen. Mr. Stoepel is a di- rector of the Old Detroit National Bank, was the founder of the National Cutlery Company, and has other extensive and important capital- istic interests. He is a member of the Wayne county jury commission and is known and honored as one of Detroit's representative citi- zens and business men.

In his political allegiance Mr. Stoepel is ar- rayed as a staunch supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party, and both he and his wife are zealous members of the First Conregational church, of whose board of trustees he has been a member for twenty years, while for three years he served as pres- ident of the board. He holds membership in the Detroit Club and the Detroit Country Club, besides being identified with other social and fraternal organizations.

On the 13th of July, 1881, Mr. Stoepel was united in marriage to Miss Anna R. Sutton, a daughter of Nehemiah M. Sutton, of Te- cumseh, Michigan, and they have two sons- Frederick S. and Ralph N.

BYRON WHITAKER.

The honored subject of this memoir was long and prominently identified with marine interests in Detroit and was a citizen and bus- iness man of prominence, commanding the confidence and esteem of those with whom he was brought in contact in the various relations of life. He came to Detroit at a sufficiently early date to entitle him to enrollment as one of the city's pioneers.

Mr. Whitaker was born on a farm at Ham- burg, near the city of Buffalo, New York, on the 10th of February, 1831, and died at his home in Detroit on the 12th of May, 1907. He was a son of Alanson and Betsey Whit- aker and was a child at the time of his father's death. His mother subsequently became the wife of Usual Sheppard and she continued to reside in the state of New York until her death. Byron Whitaker was reared to the sturdy discipline of the farm and received such educational advantages as were offered in the · common schools of the locality and period. He remained in the old Empire state until 1848, when, at the age of eighteen years, he came to Detroit, which was then but a small city, though one of no inconsiderable commercial importance in a relative way. Soon after his" arrival he became a member of the firm of Whitaker & Robb, dealers in ice, and his part- ner died soon afterward, at the time of the cholera scourge, to which he fell a victim. Mr. Whitaker continued in the ice business for some time and from the initiation of his inde- pendent career showed himself in all things straightforward, honorable and reliable. From 1855 to 1858 he was engaged in operating a tug on the Detroit river, and from this begin- ning he developed his ultimately extended in- terests in connection with the lake-marine transportation business. He also became asso- ciated with T. J. Hulbert in the ice and boat business, under the title of Hulbert & Whit- aker, and this firm continued operations until after the close of the civil war. Mr. Whitaker then purchased the brig "Concord" and the schooners "Courtland" and "Live Yankee," which he placed in commission in connection with the freighting business on the lake sys- tem, eventually becoming the owner of a fleet of twelve vessels, both steam and sailing, and building up a remunerative business. Several years prior to his death he sold his various business interests to his son Charles, who had long been associated with him, retaining only the vessel which bore his name, and of which mention will be made in this article. He was

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Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 84

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