USA > Michigan > Kent County > Grand Rapids > Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan: History and Account of Their Progress from First. Vol. II > Part 17
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the first location being in a small store at No. 28 Canal street (now 204 Monroe avenue), and while the personnel of the firm has changed with the passing of the years, and the business has taken new quar- ters, owing to the necessity for greater space, the original policy of straightforward transactions has been constantly maintained, and the house is included among the establishments which illustrate in their success the true spirit of American enterprise. In 1877 the busi- ness was moved to its present location, then 30 Canal street, now 206 Monroe avenue, one door north from the old place. In 1882 Paul W. Friedrich, the senior member, retired, and two years later the second member of the original firm, Otto D. T. Friedrich, admitted another brother, Julius A. J., into partnership, the latter having held a posi- tion as clerk in his brother's store for the previous nine years. In September of the same year the unfortunate drowning of Otto D. T. Friedrich occurred in Clam Lake, near Cadillac, Mich. At that time Julius A. J. Friedrich became sole owner of the business and contin- ued under his own name (for a time as successor to Friedrich Broth- ers) until 1914, when the firm was succeeded by The Friedrich Mu- sic House, a $150,000 corporation, which continues at this writing, Julius A. J. Friedrich filling the position of president and general manager, while the other officers of the corporation are his four sons : Julius A. J., Jr., first vice-president; Otto P. T., second vice-presi- dent ; Hugo C. W., treasurer, and M. Herman, secretary. Julius A. J. Friedrich, president of The Friedrich Music House, was born Nov. 3, 1850, at Rosenfelde, Pomerania, Germany, and, prior to coming to the United States, at the age of sixteen years, taught school in his na- tive land for one year. Locating at Fairbault, Minn., and shortly thereafter enrolled as a student in Addison Seminary, at Addison, Ill., in 1875 he came to Grand Rapids, where he entered the employ of his brothers as clerk in the music establishment. His subsequent career has been already outlined. He is one of the substantial business men of the city, is one of the best-known men in the musical instrument trade in the state, and throughout a long and honorable career has maintained high standards of business ethics. He is a Republican in politics, and for ten years served as a member of the Library Com- mission. With his family, he belongs to Emanuel German Evangeli- cal Lutheran church. Mr. Friedrich married Miss Elizabeth Ziels- dorff, of New London, Wis., and they became the parents of five children-the four sons already mentioned, and a daughter, Cecelia, who died at the age of eighteen years. Julius A. J. Friedrich, Jr., was born Aug. 8, 1873, at Oshkosh, Wis., and received his education in the parochial and high schools and the Grand Rapids Business Col- lege. He entered the Friedrich Music House about 1893, mastered the details of the business, and at the time of the incorporation be- came first vice-president, which position he still retains. The firm has a large business in the handling of pianos, organs, player pianos, Victrolas and records, band and orchestra instruments, sheet music and small musical goods, and no small part of the success of the house is due to Mr. Friedrich's energetic efforts, and progressive methods. He has other business interests, being a stockholder in the American Securities Company, of which his father is president, Ben Corwin is vice-president, M. Herman Friedrich is secretary, and Hugo C. W. Friedrich is treasurer, and these officers form the board
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of directors, with Otto P. T. Friedrich, William Shinkman and B. A. Benecker. Mr. Friedrich is a Republican, and his religious con- nection is with the Lutheran church. He was married June 28, 1904, to Mathilda, daughter of William C. and Wilhelmina (Landauer) Balbach, of Grand Rapids, and they have three daughters-Selma, Irma, and Elizabeth.
M. Herman Friedrich .- The roster of successful business men of the younger generation at Grand Rapids contains, well up on the list, the name of M. Herman Friedrich, who, since his entrance into commercial affairs of the city, in 1914, has shown himself possessed in large measure of the qualities which have made the men bearing this honored name leading figures in the business world of the Fur- niture City. Also he is a representative of the progressive type of young Americanism upon which the business interests must depend for their future advancement and prosperity and which is doing its part in shaping civic affairs. Born at Grand Rapids, Dec. 25, 1882, Mr. Friedrich is a son of Julius A. J. Friedrich, Sr., a review of whose life will be found elsewhere in this volume. He was educated in the parochial schools, the Central Grammar and High schools, and at home, and began his career in the employ of the Berkey & Gay Com- pany, as a designer. After seven and one-half years with this con- cern, Mr. Friedrich entered the manufacturing field on his own ac- count, but after one and one-half years gave up this business to be- come connected with the Friedrich Music House, one of the oldest business establishments of Grand Rapids, which was founded here in 1873. He continued as clerk from June 15, 1910, until the business was incorporated, April 1, 1914, when he was elected to the position of secretary, which he still retains. His progressive spirit, ready ini- tiative and inherent ability have combined to make his work valu- able in building up the firm's business and to give him acknowledged standing in business circles. He is also secretary of the American Securities Company, holds membership in the Grand Rapids Asso- ciation of Commerce, and is an active worker in the movement known as the Greater Grand Rapids Association, while he also belongs to the Credit Men's Association and the T. P. A. His religious connec- tion is with the Emanuel Lutheran church, and his political support is given to the candidates and policies of the Republican party. Mr. Friedrich was united in marriage Sept. 8, 1909, with Caroline R., daughter of George J. and Caroline (Krebs) Frey, of Lansing, Mich., and to them there have been born two children, Margaret L. and Karl H.
Otto P. T. Friedrich, second vice-president of The Friedrich Mu- sic House and an enterprising and progressive business man of Grand Rapids, connected with a number of enterprises which are well known in commercial and financial circles of the Furniture City, has been permanently located here since 1914. Since that time he has entered earnestly into the various and varied activities of the community and has become recognized as an alert man of affairs and a supporter of progressive movements. Mr. Friedrich was born at Grand Rapids, May 1, 1876, a son of Julius A. J. Friedrich, Sr., a sketch of whose career will be found on another page of this work. His education was secured in parochial schools, the Central High School of Grand Rapids, and the Teachers' College, at Addison, Wis., where he spent
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one year, and his first business experience was secured in the Ludwig Piano factory, New York City, where he gained an intimate knowl- edge of musical instruments which has been of great value to him in his subsequent career. Returning to Grand Rapids, he entered the Friedrich Music House, as clerk, and at the time of the incorporation of this long-established business became second vice-president, to the duties of which position he has since devoted the greater part of his attention. He has other business interests and is a director of the American Securities Company. For several years he was president of the Berlin (Mich.) Fair Association. Mr. Friedrich is a Repub- lican and a member of Emanuel Lutheran church, where he belongs to the T. P. A. and L. B. M., insurance societies connected with that religious body. He is an active member of the Grand Rapids Asso- ciation of Commerce and has done some particularly effective work in the Greater Grand Rapids Association. Mr. Friedrich was mar- ried Nov. 23, 1899, to Jessie C. L., daughter of John and Anna (Pap- low) Wunch, of Ada township. Kent county, Michigan, and they had one son, Otto, born Aug. 3, 1904, who died July 28, 1914.
John K. Frost .- The history of the Frost family in Gaines town- ship dates back to an early period following the first white-face oc- cupation of this locality, for the original homestead of the Frosts was a property which was purchased from the Indians in 1849. From that time to the present the members of this family have been en- gaged principally in agriculture here and have been men of worth and substance who, while materially advancing their own fortunes, have contributed in no less a degree to the enterprises and institu- tions which have combined to form an advanced stage of civiliza- tion. One of the worthy representatives of this family now carrying on operations in Gaines township is John K. Frost, who, after a pe- riod of railroading, is now engaged in the cultivation of the soil in section 4. John K. Frost was born in Gaines township, Kent county, Michigan, Oct. 30, 1868, son of William and Josephine (Williams) Frost. His father was born in England and as a lad was brought to the United States, the first settlement of the family being in Seneca county, New York. In 1849 a number of the name pushed westward to the new country of Michigan and there the grandfather of John K. Frost completed a transaction with the original Indian owners which transferred 160 acres of their property to his ownership. This land, located in Gaines township, was covered with a heavy growth of timber, and in order to erect his first home, a rude log cabin, the grandfather was compelled to clear a space between the trees. There he remained during the rest of his life, clearing his land, cultivating the soil, making a home and securing comforts for his family, and gradually becoming one of the substantial men of the community and held in high esteem. After his death his son William took up his work where the elder man had left off and also became known as a successful farmer and representative citizen. He added to the home property and in addition found time to interest himself in the ad- vancement of his community, serving for some years as school di- rector and in other township offices, and being active in the ranks of the Democratic party. He and his wife, who was a native of Ohio, were faithful members of the Episcopal Church of England, and she still survives him, in advanced years, and resides on the old home
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place. They were the parents of five children: Fred, a resident of Gaines township; John K., Ralph, of Elkhart, Ind .; Albert, farming the Bouck farm in Gaines township, and Henry, of Gaines township, engaged in farming for his mother. John K. Frost attended the dis- trict schools of Gaines township, following which he took a course in telegraphy in Parish Business College. For two years thereafter he handled a telegraph key for the Chicago & Northwestern railroad and then entered active train service, first as a locomotive fireman, in which capacity he spent two years and eight months, and then as an engineer, driving an engine for five years and four months. In 1892 the country called him back to farming and in that year he bought forty acres of land in section 4, where he has since carried on gen- eral farming operations and has made a success of his activities. He has remodeled the house and built new barns and outbuildings and is now owner of a valuable and productive property. Mr. Frost has taken an active part in township affairs, having served efficiently as township clerk, health officer and director of the school district, and he is the incumbent of the last-named position at this time. He sup- ports the principles of the Republican party. Fraternally, Mr. Frost is affiliated with the Masons. He was married June 24, 1903, to Daisy, daughter of the late Henry and Orphelia (Williams) Walbridge, of Gaines township, and they have two children, Josephine and May, both living with their parents.
Rodolphus W. Fuller, M. D .- It frequently happens that the men in a family will show a predilection for the same business, vocation or profession, father being succeeded by son in carrying on the work. It is not always, however, that the younger man is able to duplicate the achievements of the elder, but in the case of Rodolphus W. Fuller, M. D., it would seem that the mantle of his father, Dr. William Ful- ler, had descended upon his shoulders, and that this young Grand Rapids physician were due to perpetuate the family name and repu- tation in the medical archives of the state. A native son of Grand Rapids, his entire professional career has been passed here, and few of those of the younger generation of physicians and surgeons have equalled his success. Rodolphus W. Fuller was born at Grand Rap- ids, Mich., Sept. 5, 1886, a son of Dr. William and Emeline (Wick- ham) Fuller. His great-grandfather, William Fuller, a native of England, was one of the earliest settlers of County Middlesex, Cana- da, from whence his grandparents, Rodolphus and Jemima (Morden) Fuller, removed to London, Ontario, in 1850. William Fuller, father of Dr. Rodolphus W., was born on a farm five miles north of Lon- don, County Middlesex, July 5, 1842, and was eight years of age when he accompanied his parents to that city, where he first attended the Union school and later Mr. Baylie's grammar school. He began the study of medicine when he was a lad of but fourteen years, in the office of Dr. John A. Nelles, one of the early practitioners of Lon- don, but, owing to a misfortune in the matter of finances which oc- curred in his family, was unable to complete his training at that time, bending his exertions instead toward contributing to the family in- come through the medium of teaching school. When the financial clouds had cleared, in 1862, he resumed the study of his chosen call- ing, this time under the tuition of Dr. Alexander Anderson, another of the well-known, old-time physicians of London, and after spend-
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ing a short time with him matriculated in the medical department of McGill University, at Montreal. Entering that institution in 1862, he was graduated therefrom in the Spring of 1866, at which time he received the degree of M. D. C. M., and, winning the senior prize for practical anatomy, stood in the honor class of the year. In 1867 Dr. Fuller received the appointment to fill a vacancy as demonstrator of anatomy and curator of the museum of McGill University, which post he continued to occupy for a period of seven years, or until he retired to accept the chair of anatomy in Bishop's College, Montreal, a position which he retained for three years previous to his coming to Grand Rapids. During this time, also, Dr. Fuller was one of the attending physicians to the Woman's Home of Montreal. He was a licentiate and member of the College of Physicians & Surgeons of Quebec, a member of the Canadian Medical Association from the time of its organization until his retirement, and a member of the Medical and Surgical Societies of Montreal and Grand Rapids and of the Michigan Medical Society. At Montreal, in 1868, Dr. Fuller was married to Miss Emeline Wickham, of Kingston, Ontario, and in 1878, with his wife and two children, came to this city, where he soon ac- quired a large practice and a reputation as a family and consulting physician and surgeon. After a practice which had covered more than a half a century, in July, 1916, he retired from active work, and since then has been living quietly at his comfortable home. In the profession, Dr. Fuller was honored and esteemed as a careful, skilled, conscientious practitioner and a respecter of the best ethics of the calling, and among the general public was revered and sincerely be- loved for his many generous qualities. He is the author of "Architecture of the Brain," and has brought out stereoptic views of sections of the brain, and has written many papers treating on sub- jects of interest to the profession. Rodolphus W. Fuller received his education in the public schools of Grand Rapids, and after his gradu- ation in the high school took up his medical studies at the Detroit College of Medicine, in which he was graduated with his degree of Doctor of Medicine, in 1909. At that time he began practice with his father, with whom he continued to be associated until the re- tirement of the elder man, in July, 1916, since which time he has practiced alone. In the Fall of 1917 he went to Boston and New York to take post-graduate courses in gynecology and obstetrics, remaining a year. Dr. Fuller is a valued member of the Kent County Medical Society, the Michigan State Medical Society and the Ameri- can Medical Association, and is on the staff of Blodgett Memorial Hospital. He is a York Rite Mason and Shriner, and in his political views is a Republican. Dr. Fuller was married July 3, 1913, to Miss Grace D. Godolphin, a daughter of William Godolphin, of Hunts- ville, Ontario, Canada, and they have a child, Grace Elizabeth. While still numbered among the younger physicians of Kent county, Dr. Fuller has already attained more than an ordinary amount of suc- cess and reputation, and if his past may be taken as a criterion, nu- merous accomplishments are awaiting him in the future in the way of professional achievement.
Bishop Michael J. Gallagher, who became bishop of the Diocese of Grand Rapids upon the death of Bishop Henry Joseph Richter, was appointed coadjutor in July, 1915, by Pope Benedict, with the
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provision for his succession to the bishopric when death should make it vacant. He succeeded Bishop Joseph Schrembs, who became first bishop of the new Diocese of Toledo, Bishop Gallagher's assuming of his new office coming after he had rounded out nearly twenty years of faithful work in close connection with the administration of the affairs of the diocese. From 1896 until 1911 he was chancellor of the diocese and in the latter year became vicar-general, a position he has held up to the present time. Father Gallagher was born at Auburn, a town nine miles west of Bay City, Mich., Nov. 18, 1866. Until he was twelve years old he attended the public schools, fol- lowing which he spent four years at St. James' Catholic College, Bay City. He taught during four years in a public school and then de- cided to study for the priesthood, his first year of study being in the seminary at Sandwich, near Windsor, Ont. Following this he went to Ireland and studied for four years at Mungret Seminary, Limerick, and this was followed by five years in Austria, where he attended the Royal Imperial University at Innsbruck. In this period he was ordained a priest, receiving holy orders, March 19, 1893, at Brizen. Father Gallagher, upon his ordination, returned to Michigan and en- tered upon his work as a priest of the Grand Rapids Diocese. For three months he was stationed temporarily as priest in charge of St. John's church, at Carrollton, a suburb of Saginaw. He then served for a month at Hemlock, Mich., as assistant to Rev. Robert M. Brown, now of St. James' church, Grand Rapids, and in March, 1896, was called by Bishop Richter to join the staff of priests at St. Andrew's Cathedral, at Grand Rapids, and at the same time became secretary to Bishop Richter. He served in St. Andrew's parish for fifteen years, all the time being an active helper of Bishop Richter. Bishop Gallagher, as one of the high dignitaries of the Catholic church in Michigan, wields a strong influence in the affairs of that great re- ligious body. He is a man of profound learning and scholarship and a linguist, of great piety and zeal, and of executive capacity far be- yond the ordinary. He is much beloved by the people in his diocese and has the esteem and friendship of leading men of the city, re- gardless of religious denomination or beliefs.
Captain Emil B. Gansser .- A family that has borne an honorable part in the development of Michigan for almost a half century is that of Gansser, a liberty-loving family that has not been afraid to de- clare its ideals of life and happiness and its willingness to fight to maintain them in the cause of human rights. Among them have been found soldiers, statesmen, professional men and always patriots. The present generation of the family in its attitude toward the great war tragedy now being enacted in Europe could not be more determined in its support of American ideals, and in Captain Emil Bismarck Gansser, of Grand Rapids, is found a zealous, outspoken American citizen and a courageous, willing soldier. Captain Gansser was born at Bay City, Mich., July 12, 1875. Today he is commanding Com- pany M, Thirty-second Michigan infantry, United States army. His parents were August and Johanna (Bauer) Gansser, both born near the Rhine, in the province of Wurttemberg, Germany, and were mar- ried there, in 1868. A daughter and two sons were born to them: Emma, born in Germany, wife of Rudolph G. Boehringer, of Bay City, Mich., August H., born in Germany, in 1872, and Emil B.,
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who was born in America. Students of history are now recalling the revolution in Germany of 1848, through which that country lost to America some of her most enlightened and able men. In that ill- fated revolution Grandfather Gansser was one of the leaders in the fight for democracy, and when autocracy won he was placed under bonds to keep the peace, but within the family circle the fire for more liberty continued to burn, and in 1866, when Prussia crushed Aus- tria, August Gansser, father of Captain Gansser, just then out of college, took up arms against Prussia, with the ultimate result that he was obliged to flee into Switzerland and extended his travels to Australia and the Orient. In 1868, when Prince Bismarck declared an amnesty to political sinners he returned to Germany by way of San Francisco and New York. He could not, however, reconcile himself to the autocratic conditions he found and determined to seek a home for himself and family in an alien but free country. Leaving his son Augustus with his aged parents, he brought the rest of his family to the United States and settled at Bay City, Mich. Maj. Au- gustus H. Gansser, his present title as an officer in the Thirty-third Michigan infantry and assistant mustering officer for Michigan troops, remained with his grandparents until their death, in 1881, when his mother returned to Germany, closed up the family estate, which at one time had been considerable, and they returned then to Bay City. He joined the National Guard in 1891 and looks back upon twenty-seven years of continuous service, including the battle and siege of Santiago in the Spanish-American war. He served with pub- lic approbation through two sessions in the Michigan General As- sembly and two sessions in the state senate from Bay and Midland counties. His three sons are also in the Federal service. Capt. Emil B. Gansser was fifteen years old when he journeyed with his mother to Germany, where he studied for a year in a preparatory school at Heilbronn. After returning to Bay City he attended the public schools and for some time was engaged in the jewelry business, but he was ambitious for a professional career. After a short period at Mason, Mich., he was tendered and accepted the position of librarian in the Supreme Court law library at Lansing, and here found an op- portunity to study law and was admitted to the bar in 1905, when he resigned his position as librarian and located in Grand Rapids for the practice of his profession. He met with professional success and for several years was attorney for the village of East Grand Rapids. He first entered the State National Guard in 1901 and served three years, and in March, 1907, enlisted at Grand Rapids as a private in the company he now commands. He was commissioned second lieu- tenant in October, 1908, and was promoted to captain April 10, 1911. Captain and Mrs. Gansser have one son, Robert L.
Charles William Garfield .- However prodigal in the distribution of her personal gifts, nature rarely confers upon one individual su- perior talent in more than a single field. The qualities that go to make the successful agriculturist do not always make for success in com- mercial and industrial affairs; the talents which qualify an individ- ual for high honors as a teacher of horticulture, agriculture and for- estry, the more brilliant they are, tend the more to make him a spe- cialist ; the endowment which constitutes a man a successful finan- cier seldom qualifies him for great accomplishments in public life;
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