USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan > Part 92
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present time, as a matter of course, various other denominations claim their adherents from this sturdy stock. It may be said, after a survey of the generic family history, that a high order of intellectuality has characterized the Newcombs in the several generations in America. As has been written, "Several were college graduates at an early day, and the min- isterial, editorial and educational professions, as well as the guild of authors, are all repre- sented in the connection, and some of the fam- ily have made large gifts to schools and col- leges. Travelers and scientists of note are also in the genealogical list." Representatives of the family were found enlisted as loyal sol- diers in the Continental line during the war of the Revolution, while others remained faith- ful to the British crown and were found ar- rayed under its banner. In the war of 1812 and also that of the Rebellion the military prestige and patriotism of the Newcombs was not allowed to flag, being shown forth in val- iant military service.
Cyrenius Adelbert Newcomb, the immediate subject of this sketch, was born at Cortland, New York, on the 10th of November, 1837, being a son of Colonel Hezekiah and Nancy (Rounds) Newcomb, both of whom were born in Franklin county, Massachusetts. The former was a son of Hezekiah Newcomb, who was a prominent and influential citizen of northwestern Massachusetts, in whose general court or legislature he represented Bernards- town and Leyden for more than a score of years. Colonel Hezekiah Newcomb likewise became a valued member of the legislature of the old Bay state, and after his removal to New York he became a prominent figure in its militia, in which he was commissioned a colonel. He was a man of fine mentality and no little erudition, having been a successful and popular teacher for a number of years and having also followed the profession of civil engineering, making many important sur- veys in the state of New York. He acquired a valuable landed estate and was a man uni-
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formly esteemed and respected by his fellow men. Both he and his wife were members of the Universalist church, and his political sup- port was given to ths Whig party. He died at Cortland, New York, as did also his cherished and devoted wife.
The subject of this sketch was afforded the advantages of the common schools of his na- tive state and was later sent to Massachusetts to continue his educational discipline, in the meanwhile having had the beneficent sur- roundings of a cultured and refined home. In 1861 he was graduated in the Massachusetts state normal school at Bridgewater. He ini- tiated his business career at Hannibal, New York, and when twenty years of age he went to Taunton, Massachusetts, where he assumed a clerical position in the dry-goods establish- ment of N. H. Skinner & Company, being thus employed for a period of nine years, at the expiration of which he was admitted to partnership in the business. Two years later, however, he withdrew from the firm, having decided to try his fortunes in the west.
In 1868 Mr. Newcomb took up his residence in Detroit, with whose civic and business af- fairs he was destined to become most promi- nently identified, and shortly after his arrival he became associated with Charles Endicott in the purchase of the well established dry-goods business of James W. Farrell. At this time the title of Newcomb, Endicott & Company was adopted, and it has remained virtually un- changed to the present. With interests of mutual order and with their business affairs further cemented by the strongest and most inviolable of personal friendship, Messrs. New- comb and Endicott continued their close rela- tionship in the firm bearing their names until Mr. Endicott was called from the scene of life's endeavors, his death occurring on the 18th of January, 1896, after which his interest in the business was taken by others.
For one year after the purchase of their business the firm of Newcomb, Endicott & Company remained in the original location,
the Merrill block, on Woodward avenue, and they then removed to the then new Detroit Opera House building, facing the Campus Martius, where they occupied the ground floor. In view of conditions in Detroit to-day it seems strange to revert to the fact that at that time this location was considered much removed from the general retail center, which was more nearly at Jefferson avenue. In these quarters the firm continued business for a full decade, at the expiration of which, in 1879, they again led the van in the movement of business to the north on Woodward avenue, taking possession of the large and substantial building erected for their use by D. M. Ferry, on the east side of the avenue and just north of State street. The building has since been enlarged and remodeled to meet the ever in- creasing demands for larger accommodations.
As indicative of the increase in the busi- ness of the concern from the time of its found- ing, the following pertinent figures are offered : In 1868 the transactions of the firm repre- sented $145,000; in 1878, $457,298; in 1888, $1,189,003; in 1898, $1,229,421; and in 1906, $2,233,910. Employment is given to more than six hundred persons, and the salary roll represents the expediture of six thousand dol- lars each week. A most cordial feeling is manifest between the employers and their em- ployes, and this makes for the effective service for which the house is so well known. The firm was the first to institute the plan of closing at six o'clock in the evening, and has been the leader in other meritorious innova- tions and advances.
In February, 1903, the business was incor- porated under the laws of the state, with a capital stock of five hundred thousand dollars, and the officers of the corporation are as fol- lows : Cyrenius A. Newcomb, Sr., president; George T. Moody, first vice-president; H. Byron Scott, second vice-president; Cyrenius A. Newcomb, Jr., secretary; and John Endi- cott, treasurer. These officers, with Howard R. Newcomb, constitute the board of direc-
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tors. The subject of this sketch is likewise vice-president of the Anderson Carriage Com- pany.
In politics Mr. Newcomb is aligned with the Republican party in so far as national and state issues are involved, and in local affairs he maintains an independent attitude. He has long been an ardent advocate of the cause of temperance and has been especially active in its work, realizing the demoralizing power of the liquor traffic and being animated by true humanitarian principles. He was one of the organizers of the Universalist church in De- troit, and made liberal contributions toward the erection of its beautiful edifice. As a citizen he has ever been loyal to the best in- terests of Detroit, whose moral, civic and ma- terial welfare he has done all in his power to promote. His reputation in the business world is unassailable and to him is accorded the full- est measure of popular confidence and esteem in the city which has so long been his home and in which he has so worthily won his splendid success.
On the 12th of November, 1867, Mr. New- comb was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Haskell, a daughter of William R. Has- kell, of Hartford, Connecticut, and they be- came the parents of four children, namely : William Wilmon, who is a successful physi- cian and well known in the scientific world as an entomologist; Cyrenius Adelbert, Jr., who is secretary of the Newcomb, Endicott Com- pany, as already noted; Mary Queen, who is the wife of William E. Fuller, Jr., of Fall River, Massachusetts; and Howard Rounds, who is one of the department managers of the Newcomb, Endicott Company. Mrs. New- comb was summoned to the life eternal on the 17th of November, 1887, having filled a secure place in the social and religious life of the city. On the 20th of September, 1899, Mr. Newcomb contracted a second marriage, being united to Miss Mary Sharp, his present com- panion and one who presides with gracious dignity over their attractive home.
LOUIS W. SCHIMMEL.
A native of Detroit who has here attained to success and prominence as an enterprising and substantial business man and public-spirited citizen, is Louis W. Schimmel, secretary and general manager of the Tivoli Brewing Com- pany, a description of whose business is given within the pages of this volume. Mr. Schim- mel was born in Detroit on the 9th of March, 1860, and is a son of Louis and Catherine (Boenewitz) Schimmel, both of whom were born at Hagen, province of Westphalen, Ger- many, where they were reared and educated. They were married in Detroit. They immi- grated to America in the year 1850 and made Detroit their destination. The father was a furrier by trade and he at once secured em- ployment in the establishment of the late Fred- erick Buhl, at that time the leading fur mer- chant of Michigan. A number of years later Mr. Schimmel located at St. Peter, Minnesota, where he engaged in the general merchandise business with his brother William and where he was measurably successful in his operations. In 1869 he returned to Detroit, where he con- tinued to be identified with business affairs in the line of his trade until 1883, when he re- tired, passing the remainder of his long and useful life in this city, where he died on the 13th of December, 1890. His wife passed to the life eternal on the 24th of October, 1900, and they are survived by six children, namely : L. W. Schimmel, G. R. Schimmel, A. D. J. Schimmel, Oscar Schimmel, Mrs. A. Corbeille, and Lilly Schimmel.
Louis W. Schimmel, the immediate subject of this sketch, was afforded the advantages of the public schools of Detroit and also of the German-American Academy in this city, an ad- mirable institution in its day. To further pre- pare himself for the active duties of life he com- pleted a commercial course in the Goldsmith Business College, in which he was graduated in 1877. In the same year he became book- keeper for A. Williams & Company, dry- goods merchants, which position he held until
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1881, when he engaged in the retail crockery business under the firm name of L. W. Schim- mel & Company. He built up a prosperous business and continued in the active control of the same until 1885, when he disposed of his interests in the enterprise and returned to De- troit, where he entered the employ of Ekhardt & Becker, who here conducted a successful brewing business. He became bookkeeper for this firm and served in this capacity until 1898, when he resigned the office and became one of the three principals in the organization of the Tivoli Brewing Company, of which he has since been secretary and general manager, as is indicated in the article descriptive of the busi- ness, elsewhere in this work. He is a wide- awake progressive business man and loyal citi- zen, and has ever commanded confidence and esteem in the community which has represented his home during practically his entire life. His circle of friends in Detroit is limited only by that of his acquaintances, and all view with pleasure the success which he has achieved through his own well directed efforts.
In political allegiance Mr. Schimmel is aligned as a stalwart supporter of the cause of the Republican party, though he has never sought political preferment or prominence. In local affairs he is independent of strict partisan lines or domination. He is affiliated with Schiller Lodge, No. 263, Free & Accepted Masons, and Detroit Lodge, No. 34, Benevo- lent & Protective Order of Elks.
On the 4th of June, 1890, Mr. Schimmel was united in marriage to Miss Julia Kling, daughter of Philip Kling, who is the subject of a special memoir in this publication and who was the founder of the Philip Kling Brewing Company. Mr. and Mrs. Schimmel have one child, Clara, who is a member of the class of 1910 in the Eastern high school of Detroit.
JAMES J. SULLIVAN.
A progressive and popular representative of the industrial interests of Detroit is James J. Sullivan, founder of the Sullivan Packing
Company, of which specific mention is made on other pages of this work. He is one of the successful live-stock commission mer- chants of the Michigan metropolis and is also actively identified with the administrative af- fairs of the Sullivan Packing Company, of which he is president.
James J. Sullivan is a native of the state of Michigan. He was born at Birmingham, Wayne county, in 1858, and is a son of Jere- miah Sullivan, who remained a resident of Michigan until his death. Jeremiah Sullivan was born and reared in county Cork, Ireland, whence he immigrated to America as a young man, and he eventually became a successful farmer in the vicinity of Birmingham, Michi- gan. Both he and his wife were devout com- municants of the Catholic church and were folk of sterling worth of character.
James J. Sullivan secured his early educa- tional discipline in the district schools and was reared under the invigorating influences of the home farm. In 1875 he initiated his inde- pendent efforts as a buyer of cattle, and in this line of enterprise he has become a recognized authority, while his operations have been of large scope for many years past. He is one of the leading live-stock commission merchants of the Detroit and Buffalo stockyards, and he divides his time between these two cities. In 1895 he engaged in the packing and provision business, by founding the Sullivan Beef Com- pany, and in 1899 his second son, Frank J. was admitted to partnership. The latter is now the secretary, treasurer and general man- ager of the thriving concern. The subject of this review is a member of the Buffalo live- stock exchange, as well as that of Detroit, and he has a wide acquaintanceship among the rep- resentative stock dealers of the country. He is an enterprising business man and loyal and public-spirited citizen, taking much interest in all that concerns the welfare of his home city. His political support is given to the Democratic party, and he and his family are communicants of the Catholic church, holding membership in the parish of Sts. Peter and Paul.
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In 1878 was solemnized the marriage of James J. Sullivan to Miss Katherine Falvey, of Detroit. She is a daughter of Daniel Fal- vey, who was born in Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan have seven children, concerning whom the following brief data are give : Mary is the wife of Thomas Thompson, of the firm of W. B. Thompson & Brother, of Detroit; James is associated with his father in the com- mission business; Frank J. is secretary and treasurer of the Sullivan Packing Company ; Katherine, Lucile, Edith and Donald remain at the parental home.
EDWARD STANGE.
Among those prominently identified with business interests in the city of Detroit, is Mr. Stange, who is president of the American Brewing Company, specifically mentioned in this work, and who is known as a progressive and substantial business man and loyal citizen of the Michigan metropolis.
Mr. Stange was born in Nordhausen, king- dom of Saxony, Germany, on the 26th of Oc- tober, 1842, and is a son of Charles Frederick Stange, likewise a native of Saxony. The father was a general mason by trade and fol- lowed this vocation in his native land until 1844, when he immigrated with his family to America and took up his residence in Detroit, where he engaged in the work of his trade and where he eventually became a successful con- tractor. He was a man of sterling integrity and was one of the well known and highly honored German-American citizens of Detroit, where he maintained his home for nearly two score of years and where his death occurred in 1882. Both he and his wife, who died in 1858, were consistent members of the German Reformed church.
Edward Stange is indebted to the public schools for his early educational training and in this city practically his entire life has been passed, since he was but two years of age at the time of the family immigration to the United States. In 1856 he entered upon an apprenticeship at the trade of book-binding,
in the establishment of Richmond & Backus, and he continued to follow this trade until 1864, when he became a clerk in a retail gro- cery, in which he was employed until 1868, when he engaged in the same line of enter- prise on his own account, opening a modest store at the corner of Elizabeth and Beaubien streets. By close attention to business and by honorable methods he built up a successful en- terprise and gained a position of financial in- dependence. He continued in the grocery trade for many years, remaining in his origi- nal location until 1890, when he removed to the corner of Gratiot and Brush streets, where he gave his attention more especially to the man- ufacturing of vinegar until 1893, when he dis- posed of his business in that line. In 1890 Mr. Stange was one of the organizers of the Exposition Brewing Company, of which he was secretary and treasurer until 1892, after which he lived practically retired from active business until 1900, when he became one of the organizers and incorporators of the Amer- ican Brewing Company, of which he was made a director. Upon the reorganization of the company, in 1902, he was elected its president, and of this office he has since remained the able and popular incumbent.
In politics Mr. Stange is a staunch adher- ent of the Republican party, and while he has never sought the honors or emoluments of public office he has at all times shown a lively interest in public affairs. He is a member of the German Salesmen's Association, and is past master of Schiller Lodge, No. 263, Free & Accepted Masons, which was organized in 1883, and of which he is a charter member. He is treasurer of the lodge at the present time, is identified with Scottish Rite Masonry, and is a member of Moslem Temple of the An- cient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mys- tic Shrine. He is the owner of valuable real estate in Detroit and takes deep interest in all that tends to conserve the civic, industrial and material advancement of the city which has represented his home from his childhood days to the present time.
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On the Ioth of November, 1877, Mr. Stange was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Brumme, daughter of the late Dr. Carl Brumme, who was a representative physician and surgeon of Detroit for many years. Con- cerning the children of Mr. and Mrs. Stange the following brief data are offered: Amelia is the wife of Edward M. Thurber, claim clerk in the Detroit offices of the Michigan Central Railroad; Dorothea is the wife of Otto Auger, who is employed by the American Brewing Company ; Meta remains at the parental home; Frederick Carl is employed in the office of the American Brewing Company; and Hugo Al- fred is at home.
ALEXANDER I. McLEOD.
Few citizens of Detroit are better known or enjoy a higher measure of popularity than Alexander I. McLeod, who has here passed the major portion of his life and whose ac- tivities have touched and entered many differ- ent fields. He has been incumbent of offices of distinctive public trust, has been identified in a prominent way with newspaper work, has been concerned with lake-marine navigation, and has been especially conspicuous in yacht- ing circles. His friends are in number as his acquaintances, and their loyalty is fortified by appreciation of the canny traits which are his as a scion of staunch old Scottish highland stock. He is a representative of the historic clan McLeod, and in a collateral way of those of Stuart and Cameron.
The fact that Mr. McLeod is a native of the smallest state of the American Union has not militated against his "bigness," of intellect and soul, as all who know him can well testi- fy. He was born in the city of Providence, Rhode Island, on the 2d of August, 1852, and is a son of Alexander and Janet (Reid) McLeod. His father was born in the high- lands of Scotland, whence he came to Amer- ica when a lad of sixteen years, having worked his passage on a sailing vessel and having first settled in Nova Scotia. There he learned the trades of ship carpenter and marine drafts-
man, and to these closely allied vocations he thereafter devoted his attention throughout his entire active business career, which was diversified by employment on land and sea. He made numerous voyages and incidental thereto visited many of the principal ports of the world. Finally he took up his residence in Providence, Rhode Island, where he be- came a successful shipbuilder. In the financial depression and panic of 1857 he met with se- vere losses, which greatly impaired the com- fortable fortune which he had gained through energy and well directed efforts. Under these conditions he was moved to locate in the west, and in that year he came, with his family, to Michigan and took up his abode at Mount Clemens, Macomb county, where he engaged in shipbuilding on a modest scale. In 1859 he removed to Detroit, and here he was for many years superintendent of the shipyard of Campbell & Owen, which firm was succeeded by the Detroit Dry Dock Company, and the latter in turn by the present Detroit Shipbuild- ing Company, which is a branch of the Ameri- can Shipbuilding Company. He continued a resident of Detroit until his death, which oc- curred in 1875, and was a man of sterling in- tegrity, ever commanding the confidence and respect of all who knew him. His wife, who was a native of Paisley, Scotland, died in 1865, and of their four children three are liv- ing.
Alexander I. McLeod was afforded the ad- vantages of the excellent public schools of Detroit, where he was reared to maturity, hav- ing been seven years of age at the time of the family removal to this city. At the age of eighteen years he entered service as a sailor on the Great Lakes, having been fond of the water from his boyhood days and having never as yet abated his love for the ever varying attractions of our great inland seas. At the age of nineteen years he withdrew from his lake-marine vocation to enter upon one of radically different order,-one in which he was destined to achieve no mediocre success and prestige. He entered the employ of the
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old Detroit Advertiser and Tribune, and final- ly became a member of its reportorial force, in which connection he made so excellent a rec- ord that in 1872 he became a member of the editorial staff of the paper. This incumbency he retained until 1873 and he gained a repu- tation of being a forceful and vigorous writer, having a clear appreciation of news values and evincing distinctive and mature judgment as to matters of public and civic polity. In the year last mentioned Mr. McLeod received from Judge George S. Swift the appointment to the office of clerk of the recorder's court of Wayne county, and in this position he served until 1877, when he resigned to engage in business in an independent way. He became one of the organizers and incorporators of the Pierce Chemical Company, which engaged in the manufacturing of wood chemicals. The inventor of the processes utilized was Henry M. Pierce, who became president of the com- pany, and Mr. McLeod was superintendent. He was identified with the enterprise about one year, at the expiration of which, in 1878, he became associated with Captain Augustus C. Donnelly in the operation of a line of packet steamers on the Ohio and Tennessee rivers. These boats plied between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Florence, Alabama, and Mr. McLeod was chief clerk on the "Ariadne," of Cincinnati, in which vessel he owned a one-fourth inter- est. From this enterprise he withdrew in 1882, in which year he returned to Detroit, where he entered the employ of the Evening News Company, and from 1885 to 1889 he was city editor of this popular daily. On the Ist of January, 1889, he became private sec- retary to Mayor Hazen S. Pingree, during whose excellent administration he continued incumbent of this position, from which he re- tired in 1895. In the autumn of the preceding year he had been elected treasurer of Wayne county, and that he ably handled the fiscal affairs entrusted to his supervision is best evi- denced in the fact that he was chosen as his own successor in the election of 1896. He made many and effective improvements in the
system of handling the business of the treas- urer's office (notably by the introduction of the Cashier System, which was adopted also by the water board and the receiver of taxes), and the plans which he thus formulated have since continued to be utilized by his successors in this responsible and exacting office. He retired from office in July, 1898. In politics Mr. McLeod is a stalwart in the local camp of the Republican party, and he has done effec- tive service in its cause.
Mr. McLeod has been more or less inti- mately identified with lake-marine interests for many years, having been part owner of the composite steamer "John Owen," and of the steamer "Progress," in which latter con- nection he was vice-president of the Progress Transportation Company. In 1895 he became one of the organizers and incorporators of the Detroit Telephone Company, of which he was elected vice-president, besides being a member of its directorate. The successful work of this company is a matter of city and state history, and a review of its work and operations is not demanded in this connection, though it may be said that the subject of this sketch was a potent factor in building up the business of this important corporation. In 1897 he was concerned in the organization of the new State Telephone Company, of which he was vice-president up to the time of its con- solidation with the Bell Telephone Company. In 1905 Mr. McLeod became one of the or- ganizers and incorporators of the Maxwell- Briscoe-McLeod Company, which is engaged in the sale of automobiles and whose territory covers Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. The en- terprise has been most successful and Mr. Mc- Leod has been president and general manager of the company since 1906. He is also presi- dent of the Detroit Reduction Company, man- ufacturers of fertilizers, a director of the Chi- cago Reduction Company, of the Seaboard Portland Cement Company and of the Central Savings Bank of Detroit.
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