Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 98

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

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he has had charge of the practical details of manufacturing, and his wide experience and splendid technical knowledge of mechanics have been effective agencies in conserving the upbuilding of a flourishing and substantial en- terprise, as the article descriptive of the com- pany clearly indicates. Mr. Caswell has in- vented many valuable mechanical devices and special machinery used in the manufacture of screws, and the plant of the Peninsular Milled Screw Company has in service many such ma- chines and accessories perfected by him. He also devised and constructed much of the ma- chinery used in the Detroit plant of the Ameri- can Radiator Company, which likewise is made the subject of special mention in this volume. He has gained no little prestige as an inventor and mechanician and is well known in local manufacturing circles.

In politics Mr. Caswell is found aligned as a supporter of the principles and policies for which the Republican party stands sponsor, and in a fraternal way he is affiliated with Zion Lodge, No. I, Free & Accepted Masons.

In 1884 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Caswell to Miss Amelia S. Saenger, who was born and reared in Detroit, being a daughter of Ernest S. Saenger, who is a native of Ger- many and who has been for many years a resi- dent of Detroit, where he is still living and where he followed the vocation of bookbinder for fifty years. Mr. and Mrs. Caswell have no children.

JERE C. HUTCHINS.

In the matter of public utilities Detroit can justly claim to possess essentially metropolitan facilities, and of these those afforded by the Detroit United Railway easily take precedence of all others. The fine modern system is one that will compare more than favorably with those of other cities throughout the Union, and the full appreciation of the efficiency of the service can be understood only by those who have been able to make comparison between the same and those employed in other cities of the same class and of even far greater population.

16. Nutehuis

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In the present connection it is not demanded that detailed mention be made of this system, including the best of modern provisions, both urban and interurban, for on other pages of this volume is given a review of the history of the controlling company and its operations. At the head of this great corporation stands one whose administrative and directing pow- ers have proven equal to every emergency and contingency, and his generalship has done much to further the growth and material pros- perity of Detroit and to offer to its citizens the present admirable facilities for transpor- tation within and without the gates of the fair "City of the Straits." The executive head of the Detroit United Railway Company is Jere C. Hutchins, and it is but consonant that in this publication be entered a brief review of his career.

Mr. Hutchins was born in Carroll parish, Louisiana, on the 13th of October, 1853, and is a son of Anthony W. and Mary B. (Cham- berlin) Hutchins, the former of whom was born in Mississippi, of stanch old Southern stock, and the latter of whom was a native of the state of Pennsylvania. The father was a successful planter in Louisiana for many years, and there he continued to reside until about 1853, when he removed with his family to Lexington, Missouri, where he continued in the same line of enterprise.

Jere C. Hutchins was afforded the advan- tages of the public schools of Lexington, Mis- souri, and thereafter he continued his higher academic studies under the direction of a pri- vate tutor. At the age of seventeen years he began the study of civil engineering, under the direction of Major Morris, one of the leading civil engineers of Missouri, and he bent his energies to gaining a thorough knowledge of the technical and practical details of this pro- fession in which he was destined to gain a high reputation. He assisted in the construc- tion work on the Missouri division of the Gulf & Lexington Railroad and was later connected with engineering work on the Kansas Pacific, the Kansas & Texas, and the Texas Pacific

Railroads, for each of which he served as con- struction engineer.

In 1876 Mr. Hutchins removed from Mis- souri to Waco, Texas, and there he made a diametrical change in his vocation, by becom- ing a member of the reportorial staff of the Waco Examiner, of which he later became editor. He also acted as political correspondent in Texas for New York and New Orleans pa- pers, and he proved distinctively versatile and successful in the field of practical journalism. In 1881 Mr. Hutchins again identified himself with the work of his profession, and for the ensuing thirteen years he continued to be en- gaged in railroad engineering work. He was connected in turn with the New Orleans & Pacific, the Missouri, Kansas & Texas, the Louisville, New Orleans & Texas, and the Il- linois Central Railroads.

In 1894, at the expiration of the period noted above, Mr. Hutchins came to Detroit, where he became vice-president of the Citi- zens' Street Railway Company, in which he had become a large stockholder. He also be- came president of the Detroit, Fort Wayne & Belle Isle Railway Company, and vice-presi- dent of the Detroit Electric Railway Company. These three companies represented at the time the principal street-railway interests of De- troit. In his executive capacities Mr. Hutch- ins did much to inaugurate improvements in facilities and service, and his policy has ever been of the most progressive order, yet tinc- tured with due conservatism. Upon the con- solidation of the various street-railway inter- ests of the city, coincident with the organiza- tion of the Detroit United Railway company, in 1901, Mr. Hutchins was elected vice-presi- dent of the company, and in January, 1902, he was chosen president, an office which he has since continued to fill and one in which he has accomplished a great work in extending and perfecting the complex system controlled by the company and duly noted in the article specifically descriptive of the same. He has been animated by distinctive public spirit and has done all in his power to conserve the in-

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terests of the stockholders of the company, while advocating liberality in all extension and equipment work. The citizens of Detroit and other points touched by the system have a full appreciation of the facilities afforded, and ad- verse criticism can come only from those moved by political motives or lack of knowl- edge.

Mr. Hutchins has never had aught of am- bition for public office of any order. He is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and is in full sympathy with its high civic ideals. He is identified with leading clubs of Detroit, is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Masonic fraternity, in which latter he has completed the circle of the Scottish Rite. He is a member of Detroit Commandery, No. 1, Knights Templar, in Detroit.

In April, 1881, Mr. Hutchins was united in marriage to Miss Anna M. Brooks, of Waco, Texas, and she was summoned to the life eter- nal in July, 1900. In June, 1903, Mr. Hutch- ins wedded Miss Sarah H. Russel, daughter of the late Dr. George B. Russel, of Detroit, to whom a memorial tribute is dedicated in this publication.

DANIEL T. McNIEL.

As president of the Detroit Steel Pulley Company, of which adequate description is given in the industrial and commercial depart- ment of this publication, Mr. McNiel is num- bered among the representative business men who are pushing forward the wheels of prog- ress in the Michigan metropolis and bringing to the city ever increasing prestige as a metro- politan distributing center.

Mr. McNiel is a native of the state of In- diana, having been born in the city of Logans- port, Cass county, on the 7th of December, 1847, and being a son of Daniel and Penina (Stumbaugh) McNiel. Daniel McNiel was born in the state of Virginia, whence he re- moved to Indiana and became one of the pio- neers of Cass county, where he took up his

residence about the year 1825 and where he died in 1848, when the subject of this sketch was less than a year of age. The father re- claimed a farm from the virgin forest and was one of the prominent and influential citizens of the pioneer community.

Daniel T. McNiel gained his early education in the public schools of Logansport and Ko- komo, Indiana, in the high school of which latter city he completed a thorough course. From 1866 until 1871 he was a successful and popular teacher in the district schools of his native state, and he then secured employment in the Logansport office of the freight depart- ment of the Indianapolis, Peru & Chicago Railroad, now a part of the Lake Erie & Western system. Later he was employed in the general freight office of the same road, in Indianapolis, where he remained until 1875, when he became associated with Nathaniel Bell and leased the gas plant in the city of Kokomo. He had charge of the plant and business until 1885, when he engaged in the hardware business in the same city. In 1887 he became one of the stockholders in the Reeves Pulley Company, of Columbus, Indiana, of which he was a traveling representative for seventeen years. In 1897 he was elected vice- president of the company, of which office he has since remained incumbent. The trade of this representative concern extends throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico, and also into all of the leading countries of Europe. In 1904 Mr. McNiel came to Detroit, where he effected the organization of the Detroit Steel Pulley Company, of which he has been president from the time of its incorporation. Of his connection with this company, the largest of the sort in the world, due informa- tion is given in the aforementioned article de- scriptive of the same. For many years he represented the Reeves Pulley Company in the Manufacturers' National Association.

In politics Mr. McNiel gives his allegiance to the Republican party, as do also his sons, and both he and his wife hold membership in the First Presbyterian church.

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In October, 1879, Mr. McNiel was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Pickett, whose father, Nathan Pickett, now eighty-nine years of age (1908), has for many years been presi- dent of the Howard National Bank, of Ko- komo, Indiana. From 1895 until 1904 Mr. and Mrs. McNiel resided in the city of Ann Arbor, where their sons were attending the University of Michigan. They have two sons, -Paul C. and Walter C.

PAUL C. McNIEL was born in Kokomo, In- diana, on the 8th of March, 1883, and after completing the curriculum of the public schools, including a course in the Ann Arbor high school, he entered the literary department of the University of Michigan, where he remained a student during the years 1902-3. He then assisted his father in the organizing and in- corporating of the Detroit Steel Pulley Com- pany, of which he has been secretary and · treasurer from its inception. He has proven himself a discriminating and progressive young business man, and enjoys marked popularity in the social circles of his home city. He is identified with the Detroit Golf Club and is a member of the First Presbyterian church.

WALTER C. McNIEL was born at Kokomo, Indiana, on the 30th of July, 1881, and is like- wise a stockholder in the Detroit Steel Pulley Company. After leaving the public schools he continued his academic studies in the Univer- sity of Michigan, and in 1905 he was grad- uated in the law department of this great in- stitution, from which he received his degree of Bachelor of Laws. He is now following the work of his profession in Detroit, where he is connected with the law office of the well known firm of Kenna, Lightner & Oxtoby.

JAMES L. LEE.

It is one of the principal functions of this publication to give recognition to those com- mercial and industrial enterprises which stand as indices of the pre-eminence of Detroit as a manufacturing and distributing center and also to make brief record concerning the lives

and labors of those citizens who have contrib- uted to or are assisting in the upbuilding of the "Greater Detroit." Based upon such premises, there is eminent propriety in ac- cording consideration to the progressive busi- ness man and loyal citizen whose name heads this article and who is vice-president of W. M. Finck & Company, manufacturers of over- alls, working jackets, suits, etc. A descrip- tion of the company and its business appears in this volume and further review is redundant.

Mr. Lee was born in the village of Brigh- ton, Livingston county, Michigan, on the 25th of July, 1859, and is a son of James B. and Samantha (Chadwick) Lee, both of whom were born and reared in Penn Yan, New York, in which state the Lee family was founded in the early pioneer epoch. Thomas Lee, great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born at Fishkill, New York, No- vember 15, 1739, and died January 22, 1814. He rendered gallant service in behalf of the cause of independence, having risen to the rank of colonel in the Revolutionary war, in which he served with marked distinction. His son James, grandfather of him whose name initiates this article, was born in 1780 and died in 1868, at Penn Yan, New York. James B. Lee came to Michigan in the early '50s and became one of the prominent and influen- tial citizens of Brighton, where he was en- gaged in the general merchandise business for many years. He and his wife are now living in Detroit.

The subject of this sketch was given the ad- vantages of the public schools of his native town, and there initiated his business career as clerk in his father's store. In 1876, at the age of seventeen years, he came to Detroit, where he entered the employ of James Nall & Com- pany, dealers in carpets, remaining with this concern about one year and then taking a po- sition in the stock room of the wholesale dry- goods house of Charles Rott & Company. He was soon promoted to the sales department, in which he made so excellent a record that in 1878 he was given a position represent-

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ing the house as a traveling salesman. In this capacity he still farther proved his value, as he in 1880-81 surpassed all other salesmen of the house in the volume of business secured. He was the first representative of his concern to introduce its goods in Ohio territory, where he met with distinctive success, his efforts in this connection constituting practically the wedge which opened Ohio trade to the various whole- sale dry-goods houses of Detroit. In 1884 Mr. Lee was promoted to the responsible position of general house salesman, and soon afterward he also became one of the buyers for his house. In 1888 he was admitted to partnership in the business, and shortly afterward Charles Rott, the head of the concern, died, whereupon the firm of Strong, Lee & Company was organized, as successors of the old firm. With Mr. Lee was associated in this new organization Will- iam H. Strong, and they continued operations under the title noted until 1893, when the stock and business were sold to the firm of Burnham, Stoepel & Company.

As will be noted by reference to the article descriptive of the business of W. M. Finck & Company, Mr. Lee has been identified with the concern, in the capacity of vice-president, from the time of its incorporation, and his thor- ough business experience, his energy and his progressive ideas have been potent factors in the upbuilding of the fine business controlled by the concern.

Mr. Lee is a staunch Republican in his po- litical proclivities, but has never sought the honors of emoluments of public office. He is an active and valued member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, is identified with the De- troit Club, the Detroit Boat Club and the Country Club, and is affiliated with Oriental Lodge, No. 240, Free & Accepted Masons. He and his wife hold membership in Westminster Presbyterian church.

On the 25th of November, 1879, was solem- nized the marriage of Mr. Lee to Miss Mary F. Lawson, daughter of Benjamin J. H. Law- son, M. D., a prominent physician and sur-

geon of Brighton, Michigan, and they have three children,-Edna M., Fannie L., and Howard B.

CHRISTIAN LEIDICH.

Of the various steamship agencies in De- troit the most important and far-reaching is that conducted by Mr. Leidich, who has gained distinctive prestige in his chosen line of effort and who controls a large and representative business; his offices are located at 174 Gris- wold street. He makes bookings for all the principal ocean steamship lines, as well as those of the Great Lakes, and his knowledge of the business is fortified by extensive personal travel and long and intimate experience. He is an official ticket agent for the Detroit & Cleveland Steam Navigation Company and the Detroit & Buffalo Steamboat Company; his connection with ocean lines is such that he is able to offer his patrons the most approved service and in- formation, providing passports and selling travelers' checks and drafts, payable every- where, while he also has the best of provisions in the issuing of accident insurance policies. He is Michigan representative of the famous De- Potter tours in the Old World, of which he was formerly tourist director. He is authorized agent for the following named ocean lines : Hamburg-American, North German Lloyd, French (Transatlantique), White Star, Amer- ican, Atlantic Transport, Red Star, Dominion, Leyland Cunard, Allan, Canadian Pacific Rail- way steamship lines, Anchor, Italian Royal Mail, La Veloce, Italian Lloyd, Fabre, Scandi- navian-American, Austro-American, and oth- ers. Mr. Leidich is Michigan passenger and ticket agent for the Ward Line, to Cuba, Nas- sau and Mexico; is a ticket agent for the two lake lines previously mentioned, and also for the White Star, Anchor, Northern Navigation, Northern Steamship, and Star Cole lines, of the Great Lakes system. He represents all pas- senger lines to the West Indies, South Amer- ica, Egypt, Africa, Mediterranean and the Pa- cific ocean; and in addition to the DePot- ter tours he also represents the Clark, the Ray-

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mond & Whitcomb, and the Collver tours and the Hapag cruises. All information offered by Mr. Leidich is reliable, because it is based on many years' experience in foreign travel. He is a member of the law firm of Leidich & Kos- cinski, which makes a specialty of attending to. all legal matters relevant to the probate of es- tates, collections, settlement of estates in for- eign countries, military matters, etc.

Christian Leidich was born in Giessen, Hes- sen, Germany, on the 19th of January, 1868, and is a son of Christian and Elizabeth (Lei- dich) Leidich. Though his parents bore the same name before marriage they were of differ- ent family lines. The father, who was a mer- chant tailor, died when the subject of this re- view was but five years of age, and the mother is still living in Germany. Mr. Leidich re- ceived his educational discipline in the excellent schools of his native land, and was graduated in Giessen Friedberg College as a member of the class of 1888. In the following year he came to America, for the purpose of visiting relatives in New York city. He was so favor- ably impressed with America and its institu- tions that he decided to remain in this country, and he became secretary and professor of the German language in the Gastineau School of Languages, in New York city; this institution is a well known and ably conducted collegiate preparatory school for boys. Mr. Leidich was connected with the institution from 1889 to 1893, in which latter year he became director and manager of the DePotter tours, to which reference has already been made. He estab- lished an office in the city of Paris, and as tour- ist director delivered lectures on point of his- toric, scenic and artistic interest. In 1899 he returned to America and took up his residence in Detroit, the former home of his wife, and here, at the urgent importunity of the leading New York steamship offices, he opened his present agency, which he has developed along normal lines until it takes precedence of all others in the state. In 1902 Mr. Leidich com- pleted a course in the Detroit College of Law, from which he received the degree of Bachelor

of Laws, and he was forthwith admitted to the bar of the state. In the law department of his business he is associated with Leopold A. Kos- cinski, under the firm name of Leidich & Kos- cinski. He is a member of the Wayne County Bar Association, is non-partisan in his polit- ical views, is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, and holds membership in the De- troit Transportation Club, the Fellowcraft Club, the Harmonie Society and other social organizations of representative order. He is a cultured musician and an able linguist, speak- ing several languages. While a resident of New York city he was conductor of several German singing societies of prominence, and he still maintains a deep and appreciative inter- est in musical affairs. On the 30th of Septem- ber, 1897, Mr. Leidich was united in marriage to Miss Olga C. Dohmstreich, daughter of the late Louis F. Dohmstreich, of Detroit, where he died in 1887.

ALBERT B. LYONS, M. D.

Among the distinguished representatives of the medical profession in Detroit Dr. Lyons is numbered, and he is well known in professional and scientific circles in the Union. He is at the present time incumbent of the position of supervising chemist and secretary of the exten- sive pharmaceutical manufacturing house of Nelson, Baker & Company, of Detroit.

Dr. Lyons is a native of the Hawaiian Islands, where he was born on the Ist of April, 1841, a son of Lorenzo and Lucia (Smith) Lyons, both of whom were natives of the state of Massachusetts and both of whom were early missionaries in the Hawaiian Islands. Lor- enzo Lyons was a valued member of the Amer- ican Board of Foreign Missions and was as- signed to service on the islands mentioned, in 1830. He there continued his labors for many years and there his death occurred in 1886, his wife also having died there. Their mar- riage was solemnized on the islands, whither Mrs. Lyons had gone as a missionary, hav- ing previously been a missionary among the Indians in New York state.

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In the schools of his native place Dr. Lyons secured his early educational discipline, and he prosecuted his studies for some time in Oahua College, in Honolulu. Upon leaving that in- stitution he was matriculated in Williams Col- lege, Massachusetts, where he was graduated in 1865, with the degree of bachelor of arts. In 1868 he was graduated in the medical de- partment of the University of Michigan, from which he received his degree of Doctor of Medicine. The doctor has attained to distinc- tion in the more purely scientific phases of his profession and has long maintained a high rep- utation as a chemist. For a period of twelve years he was professor of chemistry in the De- troit Medical College. In 1881 he became con- sulting chemist for the extensive pharmaceuti- cal concern of Parke, Davis & Company, of De- troit, retaining this incumbency until 1887. For two years he was editor of the Pharmaceutical Era.

In 1888 Dr. Lyons was appointed govern- ment chemist for the Hawaiian islands, serv- ing in this capacity until 1895, and also being professor of chemistry in Oahua College, where he also taught physics. While in Hawaii he made a special study of volcanic soils, making valuable contributions to the American Jour- nal of Science and also important contribu- tions to the geological history of the islands. For two weeks in 1895 the doctor was a mem- ber of the citizens' guard of Honolulu. In 1897 he returned to the United States and took up his residence in Detroit, where he has since had charge of the chemical department of the laboratories of Nelson, Baker & Company.

In 1900 Dr. Lyons was chosen one of the committee of twenty-five for the decennial re- vision of the United States Pharmacopoeia, the work being completed in 1906. He was also an assistant editor of the nineteenth edition of the United States Dispensatory. In 1887 the doctor published a manual of pharmaceutical assaying, and this he issued in revised edition twelve years later, the same being entitled "Practical Assaying of Drugs and Galenical Preparations." He has also contributed scien-

tific articles of much value to various medical and pharmaceutical journals. He has also compiled a very complete history of the Lyons families of America. The doctor is a member of the American Medical Association, the American Pharmaceutical Association, the American Chemical Society and various other professional and scientific organizations. He is a member of the First Congregational church of Detroit, and is a deacon in the same, as was he formerly of the church of this denomination in Honolulu. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party.

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Compendium of history and biography of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan, Part 98

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