USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > History of Detroit and Wayne County and early Michigan: A Chronological Cyclopedia of the Past and Present, Vol. II > Part 11
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Society, president of the association that established the first Sunday school in Detroit, and one of the cor- porators of the First Protestant Society, and in later years gave several lots in order to encourage the erection of churches of various denominations. In his business career he was actively connected with the organization of the Bank of Michigan, the first successful bank in Detroit. It is a notable fact that with his own hand, as Collector of Customs, he noted the arrival at this port of the first steam- boat that ever moved through the river.
A deep grief came to him by the decease on Feb- ruary 19, 1860, of his talented wife. They were married on June 29, 1805, at Hartford ; his wife's maiden name was Juliana Trumbull ; she was a daughter of John Trumbull, the author of " McFin- gal," and other poems. She was born in Hartford, Connecticut on April 23, 1786, was highly edu- cated and inherited a large share of the genius of her father.
Mr. Woodbridge had a frail constitution and did not long survive his wife ; he died on October 20, 1861. The United States District Court, then in session, the Bar of Detroit, the Grand Jury, and other public bodies immediately adopted resolutions in testimony of the public bereavement. In one of the addresses Senator Howard gave the follow- ing personal testimony as to his worth: "He was a man of very thorough professional attainments, familiar with all the standard English writers, and with the principles of English and American law. He loved law books, and especially old ones, and delved with alacrity into the oldest reports and treaties. But it must not be inferred that he was inattentive to modern decisions, whether English or American, or to the general progress of the science of jurisprudence. He was a scholarly, able man. In the conduct of a case at the bar, though always carnest and persevering, he was uniformly cour- teous. No opponent ever had cause to reproach him with the slightest remissness in his intercourse
as counsel. His learning, his wit, and his gentlemanly manner always won for him the admiration of the bench, the bar, and the bystanders. He was not, perhaps, the most powerful advocate in analyzing testimony and exposing falsehood or improbabilities, but rather relied for success upon his points of law, which he certainly put with great force and clear- ness, and yet his efforts before a jury were so per- suasive, kind and smooth that he seldom lost a ver- dict. His taste was highly cultivated and refined, and rather easily offended by coarse expressions or unbecoming conduct."
He was always prominent at the term of the Supreme Court, and took part in most, if not all, the important cases of his time. In writing, his style was clear, perspicuous and attractive, and in all his literary productions he represented the best intelligence and most cultivated thought of his New England ancestry. His law library was very com- plete and valuable, and he prized it as the apple of his eye. He was uniformly distinguished for cour- tesy, integrity, fidelity, learning, industry, and great ability. As a lawyer, he was faithful to his clients, but always in subordination to his conviction of what was required by law and justice ; strong in his dislikes and frank in the expression of them, they were always founded in his own sincere views of what was equitable and proper. He possessed great social and conversational powers, and could sit for hours at a time and discuss a subject with the utmost vivacity. His love for his family was deep, strong, fervent, almost passionate. He was a great lover of the quiet of home and was emi- nently kind, patient, and loving in all his intercourse with his family and with his neighbors also, and was sincerely loved by all who knew him intimately.
At the time of his death he had three living chil- dren, namely : Mrs. Henry T. Backus, Dudley B. Woodbridge, and Wm. Leverett Woodbridge. A daughter, Mrs. Lucy M. Henderson, died about six months before her father.
CHAPTER XCII.
AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.
HUGH BRADY, Major-General U. S. A., was born at Standingstone, Huntingdon County, Penn- sylvania, July 29, 1768, and was the fifth son of John and Mary Brady. His father was a Cap- tain in the Twelfth Pennsylvania Regiment of the Revolutionary army. He, with two of his sons, was killed by the Indians, and his wife left a widow with two sons.
As he grew to manhood, Hugh frequently joined small parties who retaliated on the Indians for their misdeeds, and early gained an insight into their manners and habits of warfare. In 1792 he re- ceived from General Washington a commission as Ensign in General Wayne's army, was made Lieu- tenant in 1794, and took part in his celebrated western campaign of that year. In 1799 he received from President Adams an appointment as Captain, and subsequently undertook the improvement of a lot of land located on a branch of the Mahoning river, about fifty miles from Pittsburgh. He re- mained there until 1807, and, becoming convinced that his fortune could not be made at farming, he removed to Northumberland, where he remained until 1812, when he received a commission from Mr. Jefferson, and again joined the army. He was soon promoted to the command of the Twenty- second Regiment of Infantry, and received, at the battle of Lundy's Lane, a wound which disabled him for further service during the war.
In 1819 he was transferred to the Second Infan- try, then stationed at Sackett's Harbor, New York. In 1822 he was promoted to the rank of Brigadier- General for ten years' faithful service. In 1828 he was in command at Detroit, and in 1837 was placed in command of Military Department No. 7, having his head-quarters at Detroit. He continued in com- mand seven years, and during this time superin- tended the removal of several tribes to the country west of the Mississippi river, and did much to allay the troublesome border difficulties known as the "Patriot War."
At the breaking out of the Mexican war, although past the age for active field service, he took a prominent part, superintending the raising and
equipment of troops and shipping supplies to the seat of war. He was made a Major-General in 1848.
As a soldier, he was eminent for his bravery and faithfulness; and as a citizen, he was free from re- proach, and won the esteem of those with whom he was associated.
He was married in October, 1805, to Sarah Wallis. They had six children, namely : Sarah Wallis, wife of Colonel Electus Backus; Samuel Preston; Mary Laithy, wife of Colonel Electus Brady ; Elizabeth Hall; Jane, wife of Captain James L. Thompson ; Cassandra, wife of B. J. H. With- erell. He died at Detroit, April 15, 1851, his death being caused by his horses running away.
JAMES BURGESS BOOK, M. D., was born at Palermo, Halton County, Canada, November 7, 1844, and is the son of Johnson and Priscilla Book, both of German descent. His father was an exten- sive speculator in real estate and laid out several towns in Halton County.
The son received his education at the Milton County Grammar School, from which he graduated in 1858. The same year he entered the literary department of the Toronto University, and at the end of the Sophomore year began a course of, study in the Medical College connected with the Univer- sity ; but before completing the course, having decided that it would be to his advantage to gradu- ate elsewhere, he left that institution and entered the Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania. He graduated from there in March, 1865, and then returned to Toronto and completed his medical course at the University. In the fall of the same year he began the practice of his profession at Windsor, Ontario, but after a few months he crossed the river, settled in Detroit, and for a year pursued professional duties with good success. Anxious, however, to still further perfect and extend his knowledge of medical science, he went to Europe in 1867 and attended a full course of lectures at the celebrated Guy's Hospital Medical School, one of the oldest medical institutions in London or the
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W. W. Brearley
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AUTHORS, EDITORS, PUBLISHERS, PHYSICIANS, MILITARY OFFICERS.
world. His studies were further supplemented by a year's attendance at the École de Médecin of Paris, and with three months' practical experience in the General Hospital at Vienna.
In 1869 he returned to Detroit,and as a result of thorough preparation, coupled with exceptionally good professional judgment, his practice has grown to large proportions. He served as Professor of Surgery and Clinical Surgery in the Michigan Medi- cal College until that institution consolidated with the Detroit Medical College, forming the Detroit College of Medicine. After the consolidation he continued to serve as Professor of Surgery, and is one of the largest stockholders in the college. From 1872 to 1876 he was surgeon of St. Luke's Hospi- tal and is now attending surgeon of Harper Hospi- tal, and has been surgeon-in-chief of the D., L. & N. R. R. since 1882. He is a member of the Wayne County Medical Society, of the Medical and Library Association, and of the State and Ameri- can Medical Associations. He is also medical director of the Imperial Life Insurance Company of Detroit, organized in 1886.
He is a frequent contributor to the medical jour- nals,and among the more important of his contri- butions may be named, an article on "Nerve Stretching," recounting a series of experiments in this comparatively new departure in surgery. The titles of some of his other articles have been as fol- lows : "Old Dislocations, with Cases and Results," "The Influence of Syphilis and Other Diseases," "Fever Following Internal Urethrotomy," " Idio- pathic Erysipelas," "Malarial Neuralgia," and " Inhalation in Diseases of the Air Passages."
Although his practice is general in its character, it is more especially in the difficult and delicate branches of surgery that he excels. In this depart- ment he has gained deserved distinction and has an enviable reputation in his profession. A nota- ble instance of his skill was furnished in 1882, when he successfully performed an operation before the students and faculty of the Michigan College of Medicine, requiring the removal of the Meckels ganglion. It was the only case of its kind ever treated with success in the west and but few simi- lar instances are reported in surgical history. Dr. Book is a close and careful student of medical sub- jects and professionally a hard worker. A sincere liking for his profession, an extended and diversified course of instruction in this and other countries, and the experience of many years of practice, have given him a prestige equalled by few among the many notable physicians of Detroit.
Dr. Book has taken an active interest in home military organizations and was elected Surgeon of the Independent Battalion of Detroit in 1881, and since that organization became a part of the Fourth
Regiment of the State militia, he has served as Regimental Surgeon. He is a Republican in poli- tics but has never taken an active interest in politi- cal affairs. In 1881 he was elected an Alderman of the Third Ward at the first election held under the present division of the city wards. He resigned his aldermanic position in 1882 to accept the position of Police Surgeon, an office he still retains. Socially agreeable, frank and candid in his manner, he makes friends easily, and retains their esteem.
WILLIAM HENRY BREARLEY was born July 18, 1846, at Plymouth, Michigan, and is the son of Joseph and Hannah (Van Etten) Brearley, who were both natives of Lyons, New York. Their children were John Harrison who died in 1832, E. Cordelia, Kate, Sarah A., who died in 1842, a son who died in infancy in 1844, William H. and Minnie.
James Brearley, an early English ancestor, was born at York, England, in 1515. One of his de- scendants, John Brearley, the great-great-great- grandfather of Joseph Brearley, came to America with the Duke of York about 1680, and became the possessor of several thousand acres of land between the Three and Five Mile Runs on the Assanpink River, midway between Trenton and Princeton. and also of a tract of sixteen hundred acres ten miles south of Newton, New Jersey, besides a 500 acre plantation on the Delaware river, near the Washing- ton Crossing. He died near Trenton, New Jersey, in 1710. He was a slaveholder and his house is still standing five miles west of Trenton and is over two hundred years old ; a " new part " was added to it by General Joseph Brearley in 1784. The most prom- inent representative of the family was Judge David Brearley, who was born in 1745 and died in 1790. Hewas a Colonel in the Continental Army and after- ward the first Chief Justice of New Jersey. He was a grand master of the masonic bodies of that State, and one of those who, in 1787, framed and signed the Constitution of the United States.
Joseph Brearley and Hannah Van Etten were married May 12, 1830, and removed to Plymouth, Michigan, in 1837, and there, on August 8th, 1852, the mother died, leaving the care of the two younger children to the two older sisters, who continued this responsibility until 1859, when the eldest, Cordelia, married Rev. A. C. Merritt, now of South Haven, Michigan, and the next in age, Kate, now Mrs. H. A. Ford, of Detroit, went with the two younger children to the State Normal School at Ypsilanti.
The instruction of his sisters at home and about three years in the public school at Plymouth, enabled W. H. Brearley, at the age of thirteen, to enter the second class at the Normal School, he being several years younger than any other member of the class.
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On account of delicate health, the summer of 1860 was spent on a farm near Coldwater. He returned to the Normal School in the fall, but as his health again failed he resumed farm work, this time with his brother-in-law, Rev. A. C. Merritt, near Flint, Michigan. On the breaking out of the war in the spring of 1861, he attempted to enlist in the 14th and then in the 16th Michigan Infantry, but his father's permission could not be obtained, as he was but fourteen years of age. He, however, felt an increasing conviction that his duty required him to become a soldier, and walked four miles several times a week, in the evening, to Flushing, to get the Detroit daily papers, that he might obtain and devour the war news. In May, 1862, when fifteen years old, he learned through Professor Austin George of the organizing of a company among the students of the Normal School. This time permis- sion to enlist was reluctantly given by his father, and on August 15th, he was enrolled as a member of Company E, 17th Michigan Infantry, being smug- gled in through an "error " of the enlisting officer, who entered his age on the rolls as 18. The day of large bounties had not then been reached, and the company was officered by an election at a company meeting when the older and more advanced pupils were complimented with being selected as officers. On August 27 the regiment took part in the demon- stration in honor of the return, on that day, of Gen- eral O. B. Wilcox, and in the evening, after having been well drenched by a heavy fall of rain, they em- barked on the Cleveland steamer en route for Wash- ington, sleeping on the wet lower deck. Reaching Washington, the 17th Michigan began active service at once by participating in the battles of South Mountain and Antietam on September 14 and 17, 1862, and continued with the 9th Army Corps, going in January to Newport News, thence west to Ken- tucky, and then down the Mississippi to Vicksburg, back again to Kentucky and over into Tennessee, and finally back to the Army of the Potomac in the east, where Mr. Brearley participated in all the engagements of the "Grant " campaign. This service included the twenty-four battles of South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburgh, the siege of Vicksburg, Blue Springs, Lenoire Station, Camp- bell Station, siege of Knoxville, Wilderness, Ny River, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, Petersburgh, The Crater, Welden Railroad, Ream's Station, Poplar Springs Church, Pegram Farm, Boydton Road, Hatcher's Run, Fort Steadman, and the final assault on Petersburgh, be- sides many skirmishes. At the close of the war the regiment returned to Detroit, arriving June 7, 1865, and on July 10 following it was paid off and discharged.
Soon after his return Mr. Brearley entered Gold-
smith's Business College, went through the course of studies and was subsequently engaged in the office of the Detroit Locomotive Works, afterwards known as the Buhl Iron Works, where he remained nearly five years. He spent the winter of 1870 and 1871 in Kansas, and after returning to Detroit visited New York, Philadelphia, and Boston in the interest of the Detroit Tribune, Post, and Free Press, and three months later he was offered and accepted an engagement on the Tribune, by which he was to receive a stipulated salary and a percentage upon all the advertising receipts in excess of the highest average received for several years preceding. The year following the receipts of the Tribune were nearly doubled. His success and income, however, led to complications that were followed by the with- drawal of both Mr. J. E. Scripps and himself, and they united in establishing August 23, 1873, the Detroit Evening News.
Mr. Scripps edited and printed the paper and Mr. Brearley was its sole customer for advertising, paying his own canvassers, bookkeeper and collec- tor, and taking his own risk upon all accounts.
The paper was started about two weeks before the "panic" of 1873, which brought scores of business houses to bankruptcy and nearly swamped the new enterprise. The point of danger was, however, at length passed and the tide of success set in.
After being connected with the paper fourteen years, on May 1, 1887, Mr. Brearley withdrew from the News, and seven days later purchased the entire stock of the Detroit Journal, a rival evening paper, which had been established September Ist, 1883, and which under Mr. Brearley's management and an editorial force that is second to none in Detroit, has achieved a leading position.
Mr. Brearley's connection with the Detroit Mu- seum of Art is indicated elsewhere in this work. He began by interesting Thomas W. Palmer, James McMillan and others in the project, and on Decem- ber 6, 1882, at a meeting of ladies called at the resi- dence of Mrs. James F. Joy, Mr. Brearley gave an outline of his plans for an Art Loan Exhibition, to awaken an interest in art, to be followed by the raising of money and establishing a permanent Museum of Art. He personally advanced the $10,000 needed to erect the building, and the exhibi- tion was carried through successfully, and created an interest in art that was before unknown in the city. Mr. Brearley was subsequently the principal instrument in raising $100,000 for the erection and endowment of the Museum, giving about one tenth of the whole amount himself. There can be no question but that to him more than to any other person is to be attributed the successful completion of the project, and he succeeded by dint of sheer purpose and untiring determination.
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He is a member of the First Baptist Church and is active in various departments of church and Sunday school work. In 1878 while Associational Superintendent of Sunday school work, he visited the thirty-three Sunday schools of the Michigan association, and noticing the lack of convenience for holding their services, he designed and copy- righted a set of six church plans, which have been adopted by over 120 churches in all parts of the country. In 1872 he invented for the use of news- paper men a diary of peculiar construction which he calls an "office systematizer," and over fifteen hundred are in use in various newspaper offices.
In 1877 he inaugurated a series of summer excur- sions to the White Mountains and sea-shore, and during the seven years ending in 1883, he took east thirteen largely patronized excursions. He origi- nated and planned the successful national organi- zation, known as the American Newspaper Pub- lisher's Association, with head-quarters now at 104 Temple Court, New York. Its first meeting was held at Rochester on February 11, 1887, and dur- ing its first year he was one of the executive com- mittee and served as secretary. He also suggested the idea of a Press Brotherhood, prepared a ritual for the same, and an organization was effected on July 26, 1887, and at this and also at the meeting of June 30, 1888, he was elected president of the so- ciety, which is in a prosperous condition and expected to spread throughout the United States.
He is a member of the Detroit, Grosse Pointe and Rushmere Clubs, and of the Michigan Yacht Club; also of Detroit Commandery of Knights Templars, and of Detroit Post G. A. R. His busi- ness career abundantly evidences his business fore- sight and push, and his success in overcoming ob- stacles in various directions, shows that he pos- sesses high courage and an obstinacy of devotion to whatever he undertakes, that could hardly fail to win.
As is usually the case with those who possess such marked persistency of purpose, he does not count upon every person as a friend, but his record will bear examination, and he has proved a better citizen for Detroit than many who have had larger opportunities. He is genial among his friends, lib- eral in his gifts to worthy objects, and zealously* alive to all the interests recognized as contributing to the well-being of society.
He was married August 27, 1868, to Miss Lina De Land, of East Saginaw, daughter of Milton B. De Land. Their oldest son, Harry C., born Octo- ber 2, 1870, is assistant manager of the Detroit Journal. Their three other children are named Rachel, born May 30, 1873, Benjamin W., born September 1, 1881, and Margaret, born September 2, 1883.
J. HENRY CARSTENS, M. D., of Detroit, was born June 9, 1848, in the city of Kiel, in the Ger- man province of Schleswig-Holstein. His father, John Henry Carstens, a merchant tailor, was an ardent revolutionist and participated in the various revolts in the memorable years of 1848-49. He had been captured and was in prison when his son was born ; after some months he was released and began attending to his business, but fearing that he might be again imprisoned, he packed up a few goods, and with his family left in the dead of the night for America, and on his arrival settled in Detroit, where he has since remained. One of his grandfathers was an architect and builder, another a ship builder; many of his uncles, with other rela- tives, were officers in the army and navy, and nearly all of them participated in the revolution and were forced to leave Germany and come to the United States.
J. H. Carstens is the eldest of two children. His earlier education was received in the public schools of Detroit, supplemented by six years' attendance at the German-American Seminary. While receiving instruction at the latter institution, his parents lived on a farm four and a half miles from the city, which distance he was compelled to walk twice a day. He evinced even as a boy an eager desire for intellectual work, excelled as a student and took high rank in his studies, especially in those pertain- ing to natural sciences and mathematics. Before he had attained his fifteenth year, he was com- pelled to engage in business, and after some time devoted to lithography, he entered the drug store of Wm. Thum, and afterwards served in Duffield's drug store, and with B. E. Sickler. He became proficient in the various details of the business, served one year as prescription clerk in Stearns's drug store, and then began the study of medicine, his name being the first on the matriculation book of the Detroit Medical College. Even before gradu- ation he had charge of the college dispensary, and after his graduation in 1870, he was immediately put in charge of the dispensary, and a few years later held the same position in St. Mary's Hospital Infirmary. He was appointed lecturer on Minor Surgery in the Detroit Medical College in 1871, and afterwards lecturer on Diseases of the Skin, and Clinical Medicine.
He has lectured on almost every branch of medi- cal science, the most important subjects so treated being, Diseases of Women and Children, Differen- tial Diagnosis, Nervous Diseases, Physical Diagno- sis, Pathology, Chemistry, Materia Medica, and Therapeutics. His taste and practice gradually tended to the diseases of women, and after holding the professorship of Materia Medica and Therapeu- tics in the Detroit Medical College for some years,
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