USA > Michigan > Kent County > Grand Rapids > Grand Rapids and Kent County, Michigan: History and Account of Their Progress from First. Vol. II > Part 53
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Martin D'Ooge Verdier .- The career of Martin D'Ooge Verdier as a business man and financier of Grand Rapids has covered only a period of fourteen years, yet in this time his activities have invaded a number of fields of commercial endeavor, and at the present time he is well known in banking circles as manager of the Michigan-Monroe office of the Grand Rapids Savings Bank. When he embarked upon his career, Mr. Verdier had the advantage of a comprehensive and practical education, to which were added native ability and industry and a determination to make a success in life. In his rise from a hum- ble position to one of importance he has gained a great fund of expe- rience which will do much to aid him in the higher positions to which he will undoubtedly attain. Mr. Verdier is a native son of Grand Rapids, his father being John A. S. Verdier, and belongs to one of the old-established and highly respected families of the Furniture City, a review of which will be found in the sketch of Leonard Verdier, on another page of this work. His early education was secured in the graded and high schools, and after leaving the latter he enrolled as a student in the University of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in which insti- tution he was graduated with the class of 1904, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. His first experience in the business world was secured while an employe of the Kent County Savings Bank, where for a short time he held a minor clerkship, and when he left that posi- tion it was to go to the Michigan lumber woods, where for one year he worked in various capacities connected with the great lumber in- dustry of this state. On his return to Grand Rapids, he was for two years engaged in the lumber business and the manufacture of furni- ture, and then turned his attention to the coal business, which held his activities for a like period. Mr. Verdier returned to banking, his first vocation, when he entered the employ of the Grand Rapids Sav- ings Bank. Here his ability was soon recognized, as was his execu- tive capacity, and his fidelity appreciated, and in March, 1915, he was made manager of the Michigan-Monroe office of this institution, a position which he has since retained. Mr. Verdier has formed a wide acquaintance in the banking circles of Grand Rapids and adjacent communities and is accounted a man of capacity and resource, well grounded in the principles of banking, and possessed of the qualities so necessary to success, conservatism and foresight, the former com- bined with a certain amount of progressiveness, and the latter gov- erned by sound and practical judgment. He has high ideals as to what constitutes the honorable banker. His political views make him a Republican, but he has had neither the time nor the inclination to seek personal preferment at the hands of his party. His only fra- ternal connection is with the local lodge of the Benevolent and Pro- tective Order of Elks, and he also belongs to several of the city's leading clubs. Mr. Verdier is a member of the First Reformed church. He was married Sept. 25, 1914, to Frances H., daughter of
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Michael Lo Schultz, of Ottawa county, Michigan, and to this union there has been born a son, Robert Martin.
Clifford H. Walker, who is treasurer and superintendent of the Powers & Walker Casket Company at Grand Rapids, has been identi- fied with this business house ever since he left school. He was born in this city April 25, 1872. His parents were Joseph H. and Loranca (Smith) Walker. His father was born in Vermont, but came to Oak- land county, Michigan, in boyhood and later cleared up and improved a farm near Berlin. Still later he came to Grand Rapids and was en- gaged as a bridge contractor in the construction of the Grand Rapids & Indiana railroad. Joseph H. Walker was a man of much business enterprise and business acumen. For a time he was superintendent of the Chubb foundry at Cimlettville and later became superintendent of the Grand Rapids Burial Case Company, of which he was a stock- holder. In 1875 Mr. Walker became interested, with William H. Powers, in a sash, door and blind factory which was conducted on the site of the present Powers & Walker Casket Company's plant, and they began the manufacture of caskets after purchasing the stock of the Grand Rapids Burial Case Company. Mr. Powers became the first president of the company, of which Mr. Walker was vice-presi- dent and superintendent of the factory. Mr. Powers died Feb. 25, 1895, and Mr. Walker succeeded him as president and continued in that official relation until his death, May 18, 1910, when Mrs. Sarah L. Powers became president. In politics Mr. Walker was a Repub- lican. He belonged to the Baptist church, and was a Knights Temp- lar Mason. His two children survive, Clifford H. and Bessie, the latter being the wife of Heber A. Knott, of Grand Rapids. Clifford H. Walker completed his course in the Central High School, Grand Rapids, in 1889, and a commercial course in the Grand Rapids Busi- ness College. In 1891 he entered the factory of the Powers & Wal- ker Casket Company to learn the business and has continued to be identified with it ever since, at present being factory superintendent and treasurer of the company. He was married Feb. 21, 1911, to Miss Hazel McMahon, daughter of William A. and Gertrude (Collver) McMahon, of this city, and they have a son, Joseph W., born Oct. 17, 1912. Mr. and Mrs. Walker are members of the Fountain Street Baptist church. He belongs to Doris Lodge No. 342, A. F. & A. M., and to Clinton Consistory, also to the Association of Commerce and the O-wash-ta-nong club.
Frank J. Walsh .- Among the members of the agricultural fra- ternity of Kent county, there are to be found a number who have been attracted to the farm after having had experience in other fields of ' endeavor. This class is well represented by Frank J. Walsh, who, while still practically a newcomer in this county, has already dis- played ability in the handling of his farming ventures that if contin- ued bids fair to make him one of the substantial men of Nelson town- ship. Mr. Walsh is one of the recruits from a large city who in re- cent years have taken up country life. He was born in Waukesha county, Wisconsin, and enjoyed the educational facilities of his na- tive place, afterward attending school at Beaver Dam, Wis., and at the University of Chicago. He then taught school in Sioux Falls, S. D., for eight years, and was afterward in business at Chicago, until 1911. Eventually he decided that opportunities for advancement
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were not presenting themselves rapidly enough, and began to cast about for some other vocation. At this timely period the opportunity presented itself for him to take up farming in Kent county, a propo- sition to which he readily assented. He has since done something more than to "make good" in his new field of work and predictions have been made that he will go far as an agriculturist. However, he still maintains his connections with commercial life by acting as a traveling salesman for McNeil & Higgins, of Chicago, and the farm management is in the hands of his son, David. Like all young men of his age, the son faces the possibility of being called to join the colors of his country and is ready to make the sacrifice when he is called for. In the meantime he is going resolutely along with his farm work, improving the fields, adding to the equipment and mak- ing the buildings more attractive and useful. He is an affable young man who makes friends readily and holds them indefinitely, and is particularly popular with the younger set in his community, being frequently called upon for participation in entertainments where "home talent" is in order. On Sept. 8, 1887, Mr. Walsh was married to Miss Gertrude Halteman, a native of McHenry county, Illinois, and daughter of Rev. David Emery Halteman, who was born at Ger- mantown, Pa., and became a minister in the Baptist church. As a boy he removed with his parents to Dayton, Ohio, and was educated in Granville College and at the Rochester (N. Y.) Theological Semi- nary. He followed the ministry in Illinois and later was located at Delevan, Wis. He and his wife are both deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Walsh are the parents of three children: David H., who has already been mentioned in this review, was born at Sioux Falls, S. D., Aug. 27, 1890, and received his education in Chicago, at Beaver Dam, Wis., and in the Missouri State University ; he married Ida Hillman. Mary Frances was born at Sioux Falls, S. D., in 1894; graduated in Denni- son University in 1917, receiving her master's degree in 1918, and she now has a government position in the base hospital at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. Herbert B. was born in Chicago, Jan. 15, 1897, and is now a member of Battery D, One Hundred and Thirty-fourth field artillery.
Hon. George Proctor Wanty, deceased, was born March 12, 1856, at Ann Arbor, Mich., son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Proctor) Wanty, who were married at Holbrach, Lincolnshire, England. They came to the United States in 1853 and first located at Brooklyn, N. Y., but later came to Detroit, Mich., and to Ann Arbor, in 1856, a short time before the birth of their son, George P. The father died in 1859, and the mother survived until Feb. 1, 1911. The son's primary and aca- demic education was secured in the public schools of Ann Arbor, and at an early age he was a bank clerk in that city. At the age of sev- enteen years he went to Bay City and remained there three years, en- gaged as manager of an industrial work. As soon as he was able to do so he entered the law department of the University of Michigan and graduated in 1878. He then came to Grand Rapids and for one year was employed as clerk in the office of Stuart & Sweet. He then formed a partnership with Col. Thaddeus Foote, for the practice of law, and this association continued for two years. He was also asso- ciated with the Hon. Fred A. Maynard for two years, as assistant prosecuting attorney, and in 1883 he formed a partnership with Niram
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A. Fletcher which continued until the death of the latter, in 1899. Mr. Wanty was president of the State Bar Association in 1894, and in 1900 he was appointed by President Mckinley to the position of United States Judge for the Western District of Michigan, and he served as such until his death. He was a Republican in his political affiliation and an Episcopalian in his religious views. On June 22, 1886, Judge Wanty married Miss Emma M. Nichols, of Kent county. At the time of her marriage Mrs. Wanty was an assistant to Dr. Wil- liam H. Byford, of Chicago, and she was also a lecturer in the Wom- en's Medical College in that city for six years. Mr. and Mrs. Wanty became the parents of two children: Helen graduated in the Grand Rapids High School and then entered Vassar College, where she graduated with the class of 1908; she married A. L. Grand, of Grand Rapids, and has three children-Elizabeth, born in 1912; Jane, 1915, and David Wanty, born in 1917. Thomas Cooley received his pre- liminary education in the Grand Rapids High School and graduated in the University of Michigan with the class of 1911. He is assistant manager of the Green Furniture Company and resides with his moth- er. He married Marguerite Prenison, of Baltimore, Md., and they . have two children-George Proctor, born in 1914, and Virginia Pren- ison, born in 1917.
Charles E. Ward .- A member of the Kent county bar for thirty- six years, during which time he has been continuously engaged in practice at Grand Rapids, Charles E. Ward has established a reputa- tion as one of the strong and versatile members of his profession. In his long and eminently successful and honorable career, he has been identified with several of the leading law firms of the city, but since 1906 has been engaged in practicing alone. Mr. Ward was born in Ada township, Kent county, Michigan, April 3, 1858, and was reared in the atmosphere of the farm. His father, William W. Ward, was born in New York, and was a lad when brought to Michigan by his parents, his education being secured in the primitive schools that fur- nished training for youths during the late '30s and early '40s. When he grew to manhood, he adopted agricultural pursuits for his life work, and through a long and successful residence in the country won the respect and confidence of his fellow-citizens for his honorable actions in every walk of life. When approaching advanced age, he retired from active pursuits and came to Grand Rapids, and here his death occurred in 1899. He was a Republican, although his only par- ticipation in political matters was as a voter. Mr. Ward married Caroline E. Tillotson, who was born in England and died at Grand Rapids, in 1892, and they became the parents of six children: James H., who is engaged in farming in Ada township and is a member of the township board of supervisors; Eugene, engaged in agricultural pursuits in Gaines township, Kent county ; Leonard A., formerly a successful attorney of Grand Rapids and now deceased; Charles E .; Lettie, who is the wife of Edwin Pettis, of Grand Rapids; and Clara B., a well-known teacher and for many years principal of the Second Avenue school. The early education of Charles E. Ward, in the pub- lic schools of his home community, was followed by his coming to Grand Rapids, in 1881, and here he studied for the law in the offices of Isaac H. Parrish and Leonard A. Ward, the latter his brother, un- til his admission to the bar, in 1882. He began practice in September
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of that year and continued alone until 1884, then forming a partner- ship with his brother, with whom he was associated until the latter's death, in September, 1892. On Jan. 1, 1893, he became associated in practice with the late Judge Alfred Wolcott, and remained with him until Jan. 1, 1900, when he again began practicing by himself. Later he was with William B. Brown, who subsequently was elevated to the bench. On Jan. 1, 1907, the firm was dissolved and Mr. Ward has continued to the present time as an independent practitioner. His offices are in the Murray building, while his practice, of a general character, is in all the courts. Mr. Ward was assistant prosecutor under Judges Wolcott and Brown. He is a member of the Grand Rapids and Michigan State Bar Associations, and his standing in the profession is high. Fraternally, he belongs to the Knights of Pythi- as, and has filled all the offices in the subordinate lodge. Mr. Ward was united in marriage Sept. 15, 1886, with Ella E., daughter of Dr. Charles L. Henderson, of Grand Rapids, and of this union there have been born three children: Louis H., who is now deceased; Leonard A., who is reading law in the offices of Judge McDonald ; and Charles E., Jr., who is a student at the Michigan Agricultural College.
Frederick Cook Warnshuis, M. D .- Since 1902 Dr. Frederick Cook Warnshuis has been engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery at Grand Rapids, and during this time has become known as a citizen occupying a conspicuous place among the public-spirited men of the city; and in medical circles as one of the most learned, skillful and authoritative men who have practiced in Kent county. In reviewing the comparatively short period which includes his career it is hard to comprehend how so much diversified labor and so weighty responsibilities could have been borne by so young a man. That this professional work should have been so thorough as to at- tract widespread attention and bring high honors from important sources makes his achievements all the more remarkable. The secret of his success is probably found in the fact that to mental endow- ments of high order, broadened by the best of training, he has added such persistence of application and well ordered method of procedure as to make the most of the time which the pressure of ordinary pro- fessional practice has spared to him. Frederick Cook Warnshuis was born at Alton, Sioux county, Iowa, June 16, 1880, a son of Rev. John W. Warnshuis, a pastor of the Dutch Reformed church, who, coming to Grand Rapids from Iowa, was pastor of the Fourth church of that denomination for four years. He died about March, 1900, while Mrs. Warnshuis passed away in 1881. Frederick C. Warnshuis received excellent educational advantages in his youth, attending first the graded and high schools of Chicago, and later Hope College, at Hol- land, Mich. For two years thereafter he worked in a bank at Cham- berlain, S. D., thus earning the means wherewith to carry him through the course of study at the Grand Rapids Medical School, in which he was graduated with his degree in June, 1902. He immediately be- gan practice at Grand Rapids, but did not give up his studies at that time, for, in 1903, he took a course in the New York Post-Graduate School, and in 1905 attended a number of clinics at Johns Hopkins University. He has continued to be a careful student, and in 1914 was honored by the degree of fellow of the American College of Phy-
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sicians. Doctor Warnshuis' practice has been large and important, demanding the closest attention and constant work, yet he has found time to discharge in an eminent manner the duties of various offices with which he has been honored in his profession. He was first elected treasurer of the Kent County Medical Society, served as sec- retary of that organization for six years, and in 1915 was elected president of that body. In 1912 he was elected secretary of the Mich- igan State Medical Society and of the Medical Journal of that body, and from the start of his career has been a member of the American Medical Association. In September, 1915, he was appointed by Gov- ernor Ferris as a member of the Michigan State Board of Medical Examiners, his term expiring in 1919, and he is likewise a member of the advisory board thereof. Dr. Warnshuis is a member of the American Railway Chief Surgeons' Association, and Jan. 15, 1916, was appointed chief surgeon of the Pere Marquette railway, and holds a like position with the Grand Rapids Gas Light Company. He is a charter member and a member of the board of directors of the Amer- ican Association of Industrial Physicians and Surgeons, and is visit- ing surgeon to the Butterworth Hospital. Doctor Warnshuis' private practice is extensive. Not only is he popular as a practitioner, but he has the respect and confidence of the faculty throughout the city, and in fact throughout the state. Although a thorough doctor, he is much more than a professional drudge. His thorough education, his wide acquaintance with literature and his social qualities have made him a general favorite, and he is well known in club circles, as a member of the Peninsular and O-wash-ta-nong clubs. He is a charter member of the Rotary club, became its first vice-president, and was then elected president of this organization, and, as an enthusiastic motor- ist is secretary of the Grand Rapids Automobile Association and of the Michigan State Automobile Association. Fraternally, the Doctor is affiliated with the Masons, Chapter, Commandery and Consistory, and is a Shriner. His political support has always been given to the Republican party. Dr. Warnshuis was married, May 27, 1906, to Miss Calla Ewing Botsford, daughter of Elton and Winnifred (Ewing) Botsford, of Grand Rapids, and they are the parents of two chil- dren: Roger Leland and Robert Frederick.
Dudley E. Waters .- Many of the biographies appearing in this publication, illustrating the growth and progress of Kent county and of Grand Rapids, are those of early settlers, of the founders of great enterprises, or of leaders in public life or in professional vocations. Such men through the circumstances of their coming, or the period of their connection with affairs, possess a certain factitious advantage quite apart from their individual and intrinsic characters. Those fol- lowing them, while they may possess equal or greater endowments, are in a measure overshadowed by the veneration in which men hold their elders, and are quite submerged in the vaster multitudes, who, in a great city, compete with one another for prominence, crowding every avenue of business and filling every opening for fame. Never- theless, the life of the city cannot be adequately portrayed without taking into account those who have taken up the work of their fa- thers and carried it on with success quite equal to and often exceed- ing theirs. Dudley E. Waters is a member of the second generation of Grand Rapids business men. He is a native of the city and a
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product of her schools, and his business training has been secured in her marts. He entered into a business already established, and in- herited a fortune already amassed. The industry and ability which he has brought to the management, under conditions of greater com- petition, and beset by more destructive influences, may not have the scenic interest of those which surrounded the founder, while they may be quite as intense and substantial in character. Dudley E. Wa- ters was born at Grand Rapids, Mich., a son of Daniel H. and Mary (Leffingwell) Waters. Since the death of the father he has acted as manager of the large estate, in behalf of his mother, two sisters and himself, under the style of D. H. Waters & Son. Daniel H. Waters was one of the original stockholders of the Grand Rapids National Bank, became one of its directors early in the history of the institu- tion, and continued as a member of the board until the time of his death, when his son was elected as his successor. Dudley E. Waters and the Waters estate are now among the largest stockholders in this big banking house, and Mr. Waters has many other interests, some of which are connected with the Peoples' Savings Bank, which he helped to organize and of which he is a director. Primarily a banker and business man, with responsibilities of a personal charac- ter that are both heavy and important, Mr. Waters has found the time and the wish to assist in progressive measures for the public good. For four years he was a member of the Grand Rapids Board of Public Works, three years of this time serving as president of that body, and during his administration of its affairs he introduced a number of innovations which practically revolutionized the methods of the board, obsolete customs which had been in vogue for many years and which had not kept abreast of the spirit of the times or of the growth of the city. One of these was the supplanting of the old method of water rate collections by a system under which quarterly payments were enforced. This alone added thousands of dollars to the city treasury and proved in the long run much more satisfactory to the taxpayers. In other directions Mr. Waters has shown his good citizenship and his desire to contribute of his abilities in build- ing up the city and its institutions. He is well known in club and fraternal life, takes a keen and active interest in politics, and is a generous contributor to educational and religious movements. Mr. Waters married Miss Florence Hills, of Rome, Ga., and they have one son, Dudley Hills.
Hon. Roy M. Watkins .- The legal profession has attracted, from time immemorial, a very large percentage of notably brilliant men to its ranks. It is, when conscientiously followed, one of the noblest of callings, affording full play to Christian sympathy and holding a mighty prerogative, that of instigating exoneration and restitution to the wrongly oppressed, or the administration of just retribution to the guilty. It does not afford room or opportunity to the weakling, but the strong it strengthens with an insight to human thought and feeling, with a more accurate realization of the opportunities, obli- gations and responsibilities that are civilization's bequest to modern manhood. Of the many members of the Michigan bar who by rea- son of their mastery of their profession were called to high places in the service of their state and country, one who is still well remem- bered is the late Hon. Erwin C. Watkins. Succeeding him in prac-
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tice and promising to perpetuate his reputation for valuable and dis- tinguished service is his son, Hon. Roy M. Watkins, of Grand Rap- ids. Roy M. Watkins was born at Rockford, Kent county, Michigan, Oct. 17, 1874, son of Hon. Erwin C. and Julia S. (Brown) Watkins. Erwin C. Watkins was born at Covington, Genesee county, New York, in the town of Middlebury, Jan. 15, 1839, and as a child, in 1844, was taken to Grattan, Mich., subsequently attending school in Grand Rapids. At that place he studied law in the office of Miller & Willson, and in the early part of 1861 was admitted to the bar. At this time the great Civil war came on to interrupt his career, but also it may have done something to bring to the forefront his inherent qualities of courage, self-reliance and resource. He enlisted as a pri- vate in Company K, First New York, or Lincoln, cavalry, and was subsequently commissioned lieutenant and later captain. In 1863 he was made adjutant-general on the staff of General Hunter, and later served in a like capacity with Gen. W. H. Seward. At the close of a brilliant military career he returned to Rockford, where he embarked in the practice of his profession and also conducted two saw-mills and one flour-mill. He was not allowed, however, to long remain out of public affairs, for in the administration of General Grant in the presidential chair he was appointed United States Indian inspector and acted in that capacity for four years, previously having served in the state legislature, and during his second term was speaker pro tem of the house. He also held various other offices, being president of the Rockford school board and a member of the village council, and he was warden at the State Reformatory at Ionia, Mich., for eight years. In politics he was a stanch and unswerving Republican and a leader in his party for many years, representing his state as dele- gate-at-large in the Republican national convention of 1880. His death occurred April 14, 1911, after a career of unusual brilliance in the law and in public life. He had two children: Ella Rose, wife of Emery T. Ferguson, of Rockford, and Roy Milton. Roy M. Wat- kins attended the public schools of Ionia and Rockford and as a youth demonstrated that he had inherited his father's predilection and abil- ity for the law. He pursued his studies in the law department of the University of Michigan, in which he was graduated with his degree in the class of 1899, and began practice with his father, with whom he continued to be associated until the elder man's death, in 1911. Since that time he has been engaged in a general practice at Grand Rapids, at the present time having offices at 813-15 Michigan Trust building. Mr. Watkins is generally acknowledged to be one of the prominent members of the Grand Rapids bar and his clientele is large and im- portant, while his record shows many legal victories in the state and federal courts. He was state examiner of inheritance taxes of the au- ditor's department at Lansing for four years; was register of the Probate Court of Kent county for four years and three months, and at this time, under appointment of President Wilson, is a member of the local draft board, Division No. 3. He is a valued member of the Grand Rapids Bar Association and the Michigan State Bar Associa- tion and his reputation in the profession is one that has been gained by a strict interpretation of the rules governing professional ethics. Fraternally, he is affiliated with the Masons, and he has reached the Consistory in that order, in addition to which he belongs to the
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