Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 96

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

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In 1887 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. McMillan to Miss Caroline Lebot, who was born and reared in Detroit, being a daugh-

ter of Enos Lebot, who was born in France, being a son of Jean Lebot, who served in the French army as aide-de-camp under Napoleon and who came to America and settled in De- troit after the overthrow of the French empire. Enos Lebot was a child at the time of the family immigration to America and he is now (1908) one of the venerable and honored residents of Detroit, being eighty-three years of age. Mr. and Mrs. McMillan have three children,-Enos L., Neil, Jr., and Ursulla C.

JOHN McFARLANE.

A skilled chemist and one who has had most careful and extended training in connec- tion with pharmaceutical manufacturing, Mr. McFarlane is eminently qualified for the po- sition which he occupies,-that of superin- tendent of the laboratories and general manu- facturing department of F. A. Thompson & Company, of which concern adequate descrip- tion is given on other pages of this work.

Mr. McFarlane was born at Guelph, prov- ince of Ontario, Canada, on the 13th of De- cember, 1862, being of Scotch and English descent. He was afforded the advantages of the public schools of his native city and also those of the Guelph Collegiate Institute. In the meanwhile he had begun clerking in a local drug establishment, and after leaving school he continued to be thus engaged in Guelph until 1881, when he came to Detroit and secured a position in the pill department of the great laboratories of Parke, Davis & Company. In 1884 he was promoted to a position in the extract department, of which he was given general charge in 1898, resign- ing this office to accept that of superintendent of the recently organized firm of F. A. Thomp- son & Company, of whose well equipped labo- ratories he has since had the general super- vision, in connection with the superintendency of the entire manufacturing department. He has been a potent factor in promoting the up- growth of the business, which is now one of no inconsiderable scope and importance, as

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may be seen by reference to the article de- scriptive of the same, and he is one of the popular business men and loyal and public- spirited citizens of-Detroit. He is a stock- holder of the concern of which he is superin- tendent and has other business interests of a local order. In politics Mr. McFarlane gives his allegiance to the Republican party, and he is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity and the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks. He is a bachelor.

CHARLES W. MUNZ.

Among other sterling citizens of foreign birth who have achieved success and marked precedence in connection with the industrial activities of the city of Detroit is Mr. Munz, who is president and general manager of the Posselius Brother Furniture Manufacturing Company, of which large and prosperous con- cern specific mention is made elsewhere in this volume. He is numbered among the ener- getic, progressive and loyal business men who are extending the fame and commercial pros- perity of the Michigan metropolis, and his suc- cess is the more pleasing to contemplate from the fact that it stands as the diametrical result of his own well ordered efforts.

Charles W. Munz was born in the kingdom of Wurtemburg, Germany, on the 25th of July, 1864, and there the family had been es- tablished for many generations before his ad- vent in the world. The name has long been identified with wood-working enterprises in that section of the German empire, and its representatives have been skilled artisans as wagon-makers, furniture manufacturers, cabi- net-makers, etc. The subject of this sketch was afforded the advantages of the excellent schools of his native place, and when fourteen years of age he there entered upon an appren- ticeship to the trade of butcher. He followed this vocation in Germany until 1881, when, at the age of seventeen years, he severed the ties which bound him to home and fatherland and' set forth to seek his fortunes in America.

Soon after his arrival he came to Detroit, and near this city he was employed for two years at farm work, in the meanwhile preparing to identify himself with some wood-working in- dustry as soon as opportunity offered. He had an inherent predilection and talent for this line of work and felt confident of his ability to gain success in connection with the same. In 1883 Mr. Munz entered the employ of the Clough & Warren Organ Company, of Detroit, where he became an apprentice at the trade of cabinet-making. in which he became an expert workman. In 1887 he entered into a contract with the com- pany to do the setting up of the finished or- gans and making them ready for shipment, and he continued to be identified with this concern until 1892. In this year he perfected the in- vention of an improved form of extension table, upon which he received government pat- ents. He then promoted the organization of a company to manufacture his tables, the result being the incorporation of the Hillsdale Manu- facturing Company, of Hillsdale, Michigan, to which city he removed, to become superin- tendent of the plant. This factory was de- stroyed by fire in 1892, and Mr. Munz then returned to Detroit, where he made an arrange- ment with the Posselius brothers to manufac- ture his new patented extension tables, known as the "Victor" tables. In the connection he also contracted with the firm to complete the tables himself after the machine-room assem- bling of the same. In 1898 he became a stock- holder in the Posselius concern, of whose plant he was then made superintendent. In the fol- lowing year he purchased the interest of Charles Singelyn, president of the company, and assumed the office of president of the cor- poration. This position he has since retained, and under his discriminating direction and ad- ministrative policy the business has advanced by leaps and bounds until it has become one of the leading enterprises of the kind in the state, as may be seen by reference to the article descriptive of the same. In 1905 Mr. Munz gave further evidence of his fine inventive

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ability by perfecting and patenting a machine for the automatic reproduction of wood-grain- ing. This machine met with instant favor and is now utilized by the principal furniture man- ufactories in all sections of the Union. Mr. Munz is untiring in his devotion to business, is progressive in his ideas, a strong executive and a man of impregnable integrity of purpose, so that he has gained a secure place in the business circles of the city in which he has gained so marked success.

In politics Mr. Munz gives his allegiance to the Republican party, but in local affairs he is not dominated by partisanship but gives his support to the men and measures meeting the approval of his judgment. He is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and the Fel- lowcraft Club, and both he and his wife are communicants of St. Anne's Catholic church.

In the year 1892 was solemnized the mar- riage of Mr. Munz to Miss Anna C. Stucky, daughter of George Stucky, of Detroit, and they have two sons,-Elmer, who was born in 1894, and Harold, who was born in 1898.

ROBERT M. MORTON.

A representative business man of the younger generation in Detroit is Robert M. Morton, who is president of the Morton Baking & Manufacturing Company, elsewhere mentioned in this publication. He is the eldest of the children of Robert Morton, who was the founder of the company mentioned and who is made the subject of a specific sketch on other pages of this volume.

Robert M. Morton takes justifiable pride in the fact that he is a native son of Brooklyn, New York, where he was born on the 21st of January, 1869. He was afforded the advan- tages of the public schools of Detroit and was graduated in the old Capitol high school. In 1888 he was graduated in the Goldsmith Busi- ness College, where he completed a thorough commercial course. From the time of leaving school Mr. Morton has been closely associated with his father in business. He first became

a clerk in the retail store of the Morton Baking Company, at 75 Grand River avenue, and he continued to be thus engaged until 1890, when he became bookkeeper at the manufacturing plant of the company. He was soon after- ward promoted to the office of assistant man- ager of the business, and in 1894 he was made vice-president of the company, to the success of whose business he has contributed in large measure. In February, 1908, he became presi- dent of the company, which office he now holds. He is a progressive, reliable and ag- gressive young business man and is thoroughly loyal to the city which has been his home from boyhood. He is a Republican in his political allegiance; he and his wife hold membership in the First Congregational church; he is af- filiated with Ashlar Lodge, No. 91, Free & Accepted Masons; and is an enthusiastic mem- ber of the Detroit Golf Club. His city home is located at 174 Stanley avenue, and he has an attractive summer home at Topinabee, on Mullet lake, in Cheboygan county, Michigan.

On the 29th of July, 1890, Mr. Morton was united in marriage to Miss Matie B. Ruthruff, daughter of William Ruthruff, a representative farmer of Greenfield township, Wayne county, and they have three children, namely : Marion R., who is a member of the class of 1909 in the Central high school; Helene D., who is attending the Central high school; and Doug- las, who is a student in the Mckinley school.

PHILIP KLING.

It is a satisfaction to the publishers to be able to incorporate in this work a brief review of the career of this venerable and honored pioneer citizen, who has maintained his home in Detroit for a long period of years, who has done well his part in furthering the industrial and civic development of the city and who is now living retired, enjoying the rewards of his former years of toil and endeavor. He figures as the founder of the Philip Kling Brewing Company, of which specific mention is made in this volume.

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There is no country in Europe that has not given some of its best and strongest men to help in building up our great American re- public, and in this sense the United States may well be compared to a crucible of conti- nental dimensions. By the melting and fusing together of elements of different nationalities the American nation was formed, and it is a well recognized fact that from no source has the republic gained a more valuable element to enter into the complex social fabric than that derived from the great empire of Germany. The subject of this sketch stands as one of the sterling German-American citizens of the Michigan metropolis, where he has lived and labored to goodly ends, resolute in purpose, indomitable in energy, and impregnable in per- sonal and business integrity. Philip Kling was born at Kehl, kingdom of Baden, Ger- many, in 1818. He was afforded the advan- tages of the excellent schools of his native land, where he was reared to maturity and where in his youth he learned the cooper's trade, becoming a thoroughly skilled artisan in the same. In 1836, at the age of twenty years, like many another young man of the German fatherland, he severed the home ties and set forth to seek his fortune in America. He remained for some time in the east and found employment at his trade in various lo- calities. In 1850 he came to Michigan and became a resident of Detroit,-a city in which he was destined to attain much of success and prestige in his chosen field of endeavor. Soon after his arrival in Detroit Mr. Kling estab- lished a modest cooperage business, near the corner of Gratiot avenue and Hastings street, and through his trade he laid the foundation for his later business success. In 1856 he en- gaged in the brewing business, establishing his plant on the site of the fine brewery which now bears his name, and he individually conducted the enterprise for many years, as is noted in the article descriptive of the business, which was eventually incorporated under title of the Philip Kling Brewing Company. Practically the entire stock of the corporation is retained

by members of the Kling family. During his active business career Mr. Kling made judi- cious investments in local realty, and through the appreciation in the value of these proper- ties, many of which he personally improved, he gained large financial returns. He is still a large owner of very valuable improved real estate in Detroit. Since 1899 he has lived essentially retired from active business, and though he has reached a patriarchal age he is still mentally alert and takes a lively interest in business affairs and in the events and ques- tions of the hour.

JACOB KOLB.

A successful business man and highly hon- ored citizen of Detroit is Jacob Kolb, who has long been engaged in dealing in horses in this city and who is now president of the Kolb- Gotfredson Horse Company, a review of whose establishment and operations is given else- where in this volume.

Mr. Kolb was born in Detroit, on the 8th of February, 1859, and is a son of Jacob and Isabella (Mitchell) Kolb. His father was a native of Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany, where he was reared and educated and whence he immigrated to America in 1855. Soon after his arrival he came to Detroit, where he es- tablished his permanent home. Here he en- gaged in the buying and shipping of cattle, and his operations extended into a large por- tion of Michigan as well as into the province of Ontario, Canada. He also became a suc- cessful dealer in horses and was the founder of the business of which the subject of this sketch is now the executive head. Jacob Kolb, Sr., retired from active business in 1895 and continued to reside in Detroit until his death, which occurred in 1905. He was a man of sterling integrity of character, was aggressive and enterprising in business and was success- ful in his operations. He was loyal to the land of his adoption and fully appreciative of its institutions. His political support was given to the Democratic party. Isabella Mitchell was a native of Edinborough, Scotland, and

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her marriage to Mr. Kolb was solemnized in Detroit, where she died in 1882. Of the chil- dren of this union four are living.

Jacob Kolb, Jr., the immediate subject of this review, is indebted to the public schools of Detroit for his early educational training, and practically his entire business career has been one of close identification with the line of en- terprise in which he is now concerned. When about eighteen years of age he entered the employ of Joseph H. Bushor, horse dealer, and in 1878 he formed a partnership in the same line of business with Mr. Bushor. Thereafter Mr. Kolb was alone in business about ten years, and then was associated with George Cox for two years, at the expiration of which he as- sumed full control of the business, which, under his effective direction and supervision, has been developed into the most extensive and important of the kind in the middle west. The enterprise has wide ramifications and calls to Detroit many buyers from distant points. For further details concerning the business refer- ence may be made to the article descriptive thereof. Mr. Kolb is progressive as a citizen and as a man of business, and his success has been in harmony with the able efforts which he has put forth. In politics he gives his allegiance to the Democratic party, but he has never been active in public affairs. He is a member of Detroit Lodge, No. 34, Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, and he enjoys distinctive popularity in the city which has ever been his home.

On the IIth of January, 1881, Mr. Kolb was united in marriage to Miss Mary Lorent, daughter of Nicholas Lorent, of Detroit, and they became the parents of three children,- Jacob A., Mary Clara, and Matilda Catherine. Jacob A. Kolb, the only son, was born on the 26th of November, 1881, and his death oc- curred on the IIth of July, 1907. He was a graduate of Assumption College, at Sandwich, Ontario, and was a young man of sterling character, gaining and retaining the confidence and high regard of all with whom he came in contact. He was associated with his father

in business at the time of his death. Mary Clara, the elder of the two daughters, is now the wife of Benjamin Gotfredson, secretary and treasurer of the Kolb-Gotfredson Horse Company, and the younger daughter remains at the attractive family home, at 51 Canfield avenue, west.

WALTER N. BAKER.

On other pages of this volume, in a depart- ment devoted to representative industrial and commercial concerns of the city of Detroit and the county of Wayne, specific description is given of the Hargreaves Manufacturing Company, of which Mr. Baker is treasurer, and to said article reference should be made for further information in regard to the busi- ness associations of the subject of the brief sketch here entered.

Mr. Baker is a native of the smallest of the commonwealths of the American Union, but this fact has in no sense militated against his capacity for large affairs, and he is recog- nized as one of the progressive and represen- tative business men of the younger generation in Detroit. He was born in the city of Provi- dence, Rhode Island, on the 21st of August, 1866, and is a son of Charles and Emily C. (Yates) Baker. Both families were founded in America in the colonial epoch. When Wal- ter N. Baker was but one year old his father died and his widowed mother then came to Detroit, in 1867, joining relatives in this city, where she still maintains her home.

The subject of this review is indebted to the public schools of Detroit for his early educa- tional discipline, which was effectively supple- mented by a course in the Goldsmith Business College, of this city. In 1884, when eighteen years of age, Mr. Baker initiated his business career by securing a position in the establish- ment of Ducharme, Fletcher & Company, wholesale hardware dealers, being first em- ployed in the office of the company and later in the stock department. In 1888, when but twenty-two years of age, he engaged in busi-

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ness on his own account, by opening a retail hardware store at the corner of Fort street west and Clark avenue. This enterprise he brought to a point of most successful opera- tion and he conducted the same, under the title of the Baker Hardware Company, until April, 1896, when he sold the stock and business and purchased an interest in the Hargreaves Manu- facturing Company, with whose affairs he at once identified himself, first assuming the po- sition of bill clerk and remaining incumbent of this office until 1902. In the meanwhile he had exercised other executive functions, and in the year mentioned he was elected to his present office of treasurer, in which he has since had supervision of the finances, the cor- respondence and the purchasing department of the concern, proving a most discriminating and capable administrative officer.

Mr. Baker is aligned as a supporter of the principles and policies of the Republican party, but has never been active in the domain of practical politics. He is a member of Pales- tine Lodge, No. 357, Free & Accepted Masons; Monroe Chapter, No. I, Royal Arch Masons; Riverside Lodge, No. 303, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; and is identified with the De- troit Young Men's Christian Association, the Detroit Athletic Club, the Rushmere Club, and the Detroit Motor Boat Club. He is distinc- tively popular in business and social circles and still clings to a life of celibacy.

WILLIAM V. MOORE.

William V. Moore occupies a prominent place at the bar of his native city and is well upholding the professional and civic pres- tige of his honored father, the late William A. Moore, a memoir of whom appears in this volume, so that a review of the family history is not required at this juncture.

In the city of Detroit William V. Moore was ushered into the world on the 3d of De- cember, 1856, and here he has maintained his home thus far throughout his life. After duly availing himself of the advantages of the pub-

lic schools of Detroit he was matriculated in his father's cherished alma mater, the Univer- sity of Michigan, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1878, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In the same year he began the study of law under the able preceptorship of his father, and finally he entered the law department of the Boston University, in which he was graduated in 1880, with the degree of Bachelor of Laws. Shortly after his graduation Mr. Moore was admitted to the bar of his native state, in Detroit, where he a once entered upon the active work of his chosen profession, in which he was continuously associated in practice with his father until the death of the latter. He was thus originally with the firm of Moore & Canfield, which was succeeded by that of W. A. & W. V. Moore, which in turn gave place to that of Moore & Goff. The latter continued until 1905, when the present firm of Moore, Standart & Drake was formed.

Mr. Moore has devoted his attention prin- cipally to corporation law and is attorney for leading banks and insurance companies. He is well fortified for the work of his profession and is one of the leading corporation lawyers of Detroit, where his firm controls a large and representative business.

Mr. Moore is a stockholder and director and general counsel of the Wayne County Savings Bank and the Detroit Fire & Marine Insurance Company. He is vice-president of the Northern Engineering Works and has other important capitalistic interests, many of which were largely promoted by his father. In politics he gives his support to the Demo- cratic party, but public office has never offered sufficient allurement to cause him to become a candidate for the same. He was a member of the board of education from 1885 to 1889, and during the last two years was president of that body. He has been a member of the fire commission of the city since 1905. In 1896 he was delegate from the first district of Michigan to the national Democratic conven- tion at Chicago. He succeeded his father as a

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trustee of the Woodward Avenue Baptist church.

June 28, 1883, Mr. Moore was united in marriage to Miss Jennie C. Andrews, who was born and reared in Michigan, and they have two children,-William V. H. and Mary.

WILLIAM M. FINCK.

He whose name initiates this paragraph is numbered among the progressive and alert business men who are giving and have given so distinctive impetus to the industrial ad- vancement of the Michigan metropolis, and the success which he has achieved through his own energy and ability is best evidenced in the scope and importance of the enterprise at whose head he stands. He is president of the corporation known as W. M. Finck & Com- pany, and as adequate description of this con- cern is given in another department of this publication it is not necessary to review the same in further detail at this juncture.

Mr. Finck is a native of the old Empire state of the Union, having been born in Lyons, Wayne county, New York, on the 25th of June, 1854. Further information concerning the family history may be found on other pages of this work, in the sketch of the life of his brother, Leon C. Finck, with the Detroit es- tablishment of Parke, Davis & Company. Mr. Finck secured his early educational discipline in the school conducted by his father at Wol- cott, New York, to which place his parents removed when he was about eight years old, and later he continued his studies in the public schools of Syracuse, New York. He had in the meanwhile initiated his business career, since at the age of but twelve years he became a cash boy in the dry-goods establishment of Milton Price, of Syracuse, New York, and later he served as messenger for the Western Union Telegraph Company, in the same city. When sixteen years of age he secured the po- sition of train boy on the New York Central Railroad, making the run from Syracuse to Rochester. In 1870 Mr. Finck came to De- troit, and here he secured employment in the

same line of service, on the 'Detroit & Mil- waukee Railroad. In this connection he trav- ersed the route between Detroit and Grand Haven. In 1878 he returned to New York state and located in Penn Yan, where he as- sumed a clerkship in the clothing store of his uncle, Charles Fitzsimmons, who was also one of the pioneer manufacturers of overalls. After a brief interval Mr. Finck was given charge of the overall manufactory, and he there gained excellent training in the manu- facturing of high-grade goods in the line which . he eventually advanced to so marked prece- dence : the institution of which he is now presi- dent is one of the leading manufacturers of overalls and kindred products to be found in the entire Union. The enterprise conducted by his uncle grew rapidly and the manufac- turing quarters proved inadequate, while it was also difficult to secure the required number of employes. In view of these conditions the business was removed to Detroit in 1885, in which year Mr. Finck was admitted to part- nership with his uncle, under the firm name of Fitzsimmons & Finck. The original factory in this city was established in the building of the old Detroit Stamping Company, on Cham- plain street, and the firm was the first to insti- tute the manufacturing of high-grade overalls in Michigan. The high standard established at the time has been maintained by W. M. Finck & Company, and it is worthy of special note that at the present time Detroit leads all other cities in the United States in this line, since here are manufactured fully fifty per cent. of all high-grade overalls made in the country. In conserving this prestige, it is scarcely necessary to say, the Finck factory has been the dominating force. From the begin- ning of the operations of the firm of Fitzsim- mons & Finck sales were made almost en- tirely on approval of goods, as merchants were somewhat loath to introduce goods of so high grade and of prices advanced above those for the greatly inferior products. They had been accustomed to handling goods ranging in price from four to five dollars a dozen, and with the

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Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 96

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