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 31
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92
George R. Peck was a farmer, in the town of Lyme, Connecticut, and there, on the fifth of Novem- ber, 1834, his son George was born. His boyhood was spent on the farm, one of those rocky home- steads so common in New England. He was edu- cated in the district school and at Essex Academy. Owing to an accident, which deprived him of the partial use of one arm, he was obliged to seek some light occupation, and on August 23, 1850, he entered the dry goods store of J. B. Wells, of Utica, New York, commencing in the lowest position. He gained the confidence and respect of his employer, and was rapidly advanced, and could have obtained an interest in the business, but in the winter of 1856-7 his health failed, and he was compelled to give up his position. He then sought to recruit his health by traveling through the States of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. Returning from the trip and stopping at Utica, New York, he entered into partnership with J. W. Frisbie, and on August 6, 1857, they opened a dry goods house at 167 Jefferson Avenue, Detroit. They had hardly opened before the great financial panic of that year swept over the country, and thousands of firms were ruined. By the hardest of work, however, they were able to weather the storm, and continued in business for three years. The firm was then dissolved.
On November 1, 1860, Mr. Peck started in busi- ness alone at 137 Woodward Avenue, and at first it seemed as if fortune was certainly against him,
for the following year was probably one of the most trying to American merchants that was ever known. The War with the South began ; the banks every- where failed ; gold and silver disappeared, and it is safe to say that no one then foresaw what the end would be. Mr. Peck and his wife, however, hazarded every dollar that they possessed, and were able, through fortuitous circumstances, to continue in business, and at length fortune smiled, the era of high prices was inaugurated, and after that time he was prospered, the only drawback being an extensive robbery of silks which occurred on Feb- ruary 8, 1864. In October, 1871, he moved to the new stores, 155 and 157 Woodward Avenue, con- tinuing in business until February, 1877, when he retired on account of failing health.
He always conducted his business in an honora- ble manner, and so carefully was it managed that he has never asked one day's favor of a creditor.
Mr. Peck is President of the Michigan Savings Bank and of the Edison Illuminating Company, and a director in the Detroit Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and in the Pioneer Bank of North Branch, Michigan. He is a leading member, and for fifteen years has been one of the Trustees, of the First Presbyterian Church. His record is that of a careful, successful, and reliable merchant, willing to promote, to the extent of his ability, all legitimate enterprises that look to the prosperity or social advancement of the city. He is a Republi- can in politics, but has never desired or held any political office.
He was married October 28, 1858, to Sarah F. Butler, daughter of Samuel F. Butler, of Grand Rapids, Michigan. It may be mentioned, as a singular coincidence, that she was a direct descend- ant of Thomas Buckingham, one of the founders of the New Haven colony who came over in the ship Hector, with his ancestor, William Peck. Mrs. Peck died February 14, 1872, leaving four children, Julia E., George B., Minna F., and Barton L.
JAMES E. PITTMAN has been identified with Detroit since 1843. His active life covers a space of upwards of forty years, during more than half of which he has been connected with the military his- tory of the city and the nation. The record of his career is the history of a busy and energetic life, and although he has reached three score years, the characteristics of middle life are still conspicuous, and give promise of vigorous continuance for many years.
Mr. Pittman was born in Tecumseh, Lenawee County, Michigan, September 5, 1826. His ancestry is English, and on the paternal side of Quaker stock. His father was born in Philadelphia, in 1796, and early in life settled in Kentucky. From thence he
1167
MERCHANTS.
moved to New England, and later on lived success- ively in Jefferson and Canandaigua Counties, New York. His ambition pointed, however, to the West, and he soon became one of the pioneers of Michigan, and located in Tecumseh. His restless energy was, however, still unsatisfied, and, in 1834, he, with his family, migrated to Texas. In the Border War he joined the army at Austin (now Houston), remained in the service about a year, and then, finding the country too unsettled, he and his family returned to Tecumseh. He died at Ontonagon in 1868. His son, James E. Pittman, after returning to Tecumseh, at nine years of age, attended a private school, and subsequently entered the local branch of the Uni- versity of Michigan. Among his fellow students were William Gray, Witter J. Baxter, and Joseph Estabrook.
At the age of seventeen, Mr. Pittman came to Detroit, and entered the service of Lawson, Howard & Company, grain and commission merchants, at the foot of Shelby Street. When the Mexican War begun, Mr. Pittman was a member of the Brady Guard, afterwards succeeded by the Grayson Guard, and now well known as the Detroit Light Guard, and in December, 1847, he enlisted in the First Regiment Michigan Volunteers, and was made Adjutant of the regiment under Colonel T. B. W. Stockton and Lieutenant-Colonel Alpheus S. Wil- liams. The regiment marched nearly all the way to Cincinnati; from there went by boat to New Orleans, and thence by sailing vessel to Vera Cruz, where they were formed into a division under General Bank- head, United States Army, and were sent to garrison Cordova and Orizaba. The next summer, peace being declared, Mr. Pittman returned to Detroit, arriving in July, 1848. Soon after reaching home, he was mustered out of service, and entered E. W. Hudson's commission house on Shelby Street. Resigning his position here in 1852, he formed a partnership with Edmund Trowbridge and J. Huff Jones, in the commission and forwarding business, under the firm name of Pittman, Trowbridge & Jones. In 1855 the partnership was dissolved, and Mr. Pittman joined the late Dr. E. M. Clark in establishing a commission and coal business. In 1856, as Dr. Clark contemplated a European tour, he withdrew, and the business was conducted by Mr. Pittman until May, 1885, when he accepted the appointment of Superintendent of Police. When Mr. Pittman entered the employ of E. W. Hudson, in 1848, he was the only one dealing in hard coal in the city, and in 1856, when he entered the coal business on his own account, there were but two or three other dealers in Detroit.
When President Lincoln called for State troops, in 1861, Mr. Pittman, with other leading citizens, was summoned by Governor Blair to a confer-
ence at the Michigan Exchange. As the result of this conference, General Alpheus S. Williams was appointed to organize troops for the State, with William D. Wilkins, Henry M. Whittlesey, and James E. Pittman as staff officers. Soon after this, Mr. Pittman was made a Paymaster of State troops, with rank of Colonel. This appointment attached him to the Governor's staff, and in that capacity he went to the front and paid off the first four Michi- gan regiments. In the fall of 1861, a School of Instruction was established at Fort Wayne, where the commissioned and non-commissioned officers of the Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Michigan regiments were drilled, and Colonel Pittman was made second in command. General Williams was soon appointed Brigadier-General of Volunteers, and, with Wilkins and Whittlesey, left for the front, leaving Colonel Pittman in command. The following winter he was appointed Inspector-General of State troops, and went with Governor Blair to different parts of the country. In the summer of 1862 he was detailed to organize the Seventeenth Regiment of Michigan Infantry, and, after having done so, turned the command over to General Withington. At this period, and for some time thereafter, Colonel Pitt- man was a member of the State Military Board. In 1865, with Governor Crapo, he went to Washing- ton to attend the grand review of the Union troops. The war having ended, Colonel Pittman resigned his military appointment, and again entered earnestly into business.
About 1868 Mr. Pittman was appointed, by Gov- ernor Baldwin, one of the Trustees of the Michigan Asylum for the Insane, at Kalamazoo. He has also served as one of the Inspectors of the Detroit House of Correction. His extended military expe- rience, and the practical knowledge gained by twelve continuous years of service as one of the Commissioners of Police, by appointment of various Governors, give him especial fitness for his present position as Superintendent of Police. His appoint- ment dates from May 1, 1885.
He is an active member of the Protestant Epis- copal Church. He was married in Pennsylvania in 1851.
WILLIAM REID, wholesale and retail paint and glass merchant of Detroit, was born in Mersea, Essex County, Ontario, August 19, 1842. His father, John Reid, was a shipbuilder by trade, and previous to leaving for America, superintended the building of vessels for his father, who owned a ship- yard at Stranraer, Scotland, and afterwards on the Clyde. His mother's maiden name was Margaret Bennett. Both of his parents were born in Scot- land, but emigrated to this country in 1835, settling at first in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and about 1840
1168
MERCHANTS.
removing to Western Canada. His father some time later purchased a farm in Tilbury East, Kent County, Ontario.
William Reid passed his earlier years working on a farm and attending the public school. He came to Detroit in 1861, attended school for a brief period, after which he returned to Canada and taught school until 1863. He then returned to De- troit, took a course of practical instruction in book- keeping and commercial business, and early in 1864 secured a clerkship in the office of a prominent law firm of East Saginaw, remaining until the following November, when on account of ill health he was compelled to relinquish work and return home. During the greater part of the following year his health was such as to confine him to his bed, but by October he had so improved that he accepted the position of bookkeeper for the painting and decorating firm of Laible, Wright & Hopkins, of Detroit. After about a year's service, Mr. Laible and Mr. Hopkins retired from the firm and Mr. Reid was admitted as partner, under the firm name of Wm. Wright & Company. Their business at this time was carried on at 197 Jefferson Avenue, but in 1868 they removed to 108 Woodward Avenue. In 1871 Mr. Wright retired and Mr. Reid and Mr. B. C. Hills assumed control of the business under the name of Reid & Hills. By this time their business had so increased that they were compelled to open branch stores at Nos. 12 and 14 Congress Street East, which were devoted to the paint and glass portions of their business In January. 1879, the firm was dissolved, Mr. Reid retaining the sole control of the business pertaining to the paint and glass trade, and continuing the same at the Congress Street stores. Under his energetic management the busi- ness increased so rapidly that in 1882, the present wholesale stores, No. 73 and 75 Larned Street West, were built expressly to meet the demands of his trade, the old quarters on Congress Street being retained as retail stores.
An important feature of the business is the plate glass trade, and from 1867 to 1884, nearly all the plate glass purchased by the firm was purchased of New York importers, and for a few years preceding 1884, partly from American manufacturers, and by them cut to such size as wanted. In 1834 Mr. Reid made a new departure and purchased several car loads of American and imported plates, direct from the factories, in sheets as manufactured, thus obtaining as good figures and standing as the New York importers. This bold move offended some of the manufacturers, who for years had controlled the sales of plate glass in the West, and they deter- mined to destroy his business, and as a means to this end, at a meeting of the managers of the four American plate glass factories, representing several
millions of capital, held at Chicago, it was deter- mined to reduce the price of plate glass in Michi- gan and adjoining territory, twenty to twenty-five per cent., and as the margin on plate glass is only about five per cent., they concluded he would be forced to return to his former method of obtaining supplies. They also insisted that the American factory which had entered into a contract to supply Mr. Reid with glass, should cancel the agreement. Mr. Reid, however, did not despair. A conference was held with the managers of the factory who had agreed to furnish him with glass, and he convinced them of the unfairness of reducing prices in Michi- gan, and the injustice of the means by which it was proposed to crush fair and honorable competition. As the result of this conference, they withdrew from the combination, and he was selected as one of a syndicate to take their entire product. Although thus successful in his plans, Mr. Reid did not attempt to compete in the territory where the remaining three factories for some time maintained reduced prices to their own loss, but he extended his sales from Buffalo to Kansas City, and from Duluth to New Orleans, in fields where fair prices and just competition prevailed, and the unfair at- tempt to destroy legitimate competition, used against Mr. Reid, resulted in making Detroit as good a plate glass market as there is in the country, and he now sells more glass in a single month than he did formerly in a year.
In addition to his sales of plate glass, Mr. Reid is a large dealer and importer of fancy window and colored glass, keeping the largest and best assorted stock west of New York City.
As a business man he has shown great energy and sagacity, and has proved himself not only able to develop, but successfully manage large enter- prises. He is careful and methodical. but has had the courage to undertake business ventures that some men would not dare to attempt. Always affable, cool and clear-headed, he naturally makes a favorable impression upon those with whom he comes in contact. He has devoted himself to his business with such a singleness of purpose that it has made him a thorough master of every detail, and in his line of trade his firm stands at the head of all establishments west of New York City. He was reared as a Presbyterian, but is now an adher- ent of the Protestant Episcopal Church. Politically he is a Republican, but takes little part in party management, and has no desire for political honors.
He was married to Mary Powell, of Detroit, November 9, 1869. They have had seven children, five of whom are living.
WILLIAM D. ROBINSON was born in Eng- land, March 21, 1839. His father occupied a high
M
1169
MERCHANTS.
position under the English Government, and con- trolled several very extensive sugar plantations in the West Indies. His grandfather was for many years President of the Grand Trunk Canal Company of England.
William D. Robinson. learned the retail shoe business in Rochester, New York, and from there he went to Binghamton, New York, and acquired a thorough knowledge of the wholesale and manu- facturing business, and came to Detroit in 1862, and for a short time represented a manufacturing house. Upon severing his connection with this firm he went to Boston, Massachusetts, and entered the large manufacturing establishment of Underwood, Cochrane & Company, taking charge of the sales of the house in the Western States. In the spring of 1865 he proposed to the firm to open a wholesale house at Detroit, and the same year they established a store at 116 Jefferson Avenue, under the firm name of Underwood, Cochrane & Company, the resident members of the firm being William D. and Henry S. Robinson, who had the entire charge of the business.
In 1867 the firm was dissolved, and the Messrs. Robinson, with James Burtenshaw, bought out the interests of the Boston partners, and formed a new firm, under the style of W. D. Robinson, Burtenshaw & Company, which continued until 1875. During this time they built up a large jobbing and manu- facturing trade. In 1875 the firm was dissolved, W. D. Robinson continuing the jobbing interest, under the style of W. D. Robinson & Company, at 180 and 182 Jefferson Avenue, until 1887, and was succeeded by the New York and New England Shoe Manufacturers' Selling Company, located at 47 Jefferson Avenue. Mr. Robinson's connec- tion with the last named firm closed in 1888, and he has since devoted his attention to real estate, and to several corporations in which he has become interested.
He is conservative yet bold and enterprising in his business transactions, abreast with modern ideas and improvements, and a close observer.
He was married December 22, 1862, to Abigail, daughter of M. Dyer, of Rochester, New York. They have two sons, Charles W. and Edwin S. The former is in the real estate business. Both Mr. and Mrs. Robinson are members of Grace Episco- pal Church.
ALANSON SHELEY, of Detroit, was born at Albany, New York, August 14, 1809. When nine years old, he went to Jefferson County, New York, with his grandparents, who settled in the woods and commenced clearing a farm. Here, until he was sixteen, he assisted his grandfather in the labors
of the farm, attending, as opportunity offered, the district school. His first important enterprise was the taking of a raft of timber from Fisher's Landing, on the St. Lawrence River, to Quebec, successfully "shooting " the rapids, and disposing of the raft at good prices. At the age of sixteen, he commenced learning the trade of a stone-mason and builder, and at the end of three years' apprenticeship was employed as a foreman in the construction of the Rideau Canal, in Canada.
In the summer of 1831 he started from Buffalo, on the steamboat "William Penn," and came to Detroit, then the farthest westerly point to which steamboats carried passengers. The following year he received an appointment from the United States Government to superintend the erection of a stone lighthouse at Thunder Bay. The structure then erected is still standing, and is the only one on the lakes, erected at that date, that is now in use. After the completion of the lighthouse, he returned to Detroit, and for several years followed the busi- ness of a builder and contractor. In 1835 he became general manager of the Black River Steam Mill and Lumber Company, chartered by the Terri- torial Government the previous year. He remained with the company until the expiration of its charter in 1855, and for the three years following carried on the lumber business on his own account. In 1859 he entered into a partnership as one of the firm of Jacob S. Farrand & Company, wholesale and retail druggists. The present extensive and well known firm of Farrand, Williams & Company, with which Mr. Sheley is connected, represents the maturity of the same establishment. During the earlier growth of the business, Mr. Sheley was especially active in its financial management, and contributed valuable aid by his good judgment, tireless exertions, and the influence of his widely recognized moral worth. He is a director and shareholder in the First National Bank, largely interested in the Michigan Mutual Life Insurance Company, in the Detroit Fire and Marine Insurance Company, and in the Detroit and Cleveland Steam Navigation Company. He is also an extensive real estate owner in Detroit and Port Huron, and has some valuable pine land investments.
Politically, he has ever been an active factor in his city and State. In early life he was a Whig, but assisted in the organization, in 1854, "under the oaks" at Jackson, of the Republican party, and has since been one of the staunchest supporters of the principles which it has advocated. During a most active business career, actuated by commend- able public spirit, he has served the city and State in several important official positions. For five years he was a member of the Common Council of the city, and for ten years a member of the Sewer
II 70
MERCHANTS.
Commission and Board of Review. In the latter position, his plain honesty and knowledge of real estate values were of decided worth to his fellow- citizens. He represented the first district of Michi- gan in the State Senate two terms, serving in the sessions of 1867-68, and 1871-72, and his practical, liberal, and broad-minded views of public questions, and pure and disinterested motions, made him a valuable legislator. He is one of the oldest sur- viving members of the First Presbyterian Church of Detroit, of which for many years he was ruling elder, and for over forty years either assistant or Superintendent of its Sunday-school. He has taken an active part in building up numerous religious institutions, and has contributed liberally to their support.
Strong in his personal friendship, and of gener- ous impulses, he is always ready to extend a helping hand to a friend, or to relieve distress. In personal appearance he is over six feet in height, and of large proportions. He has always been a man of great muscular strength, united to fearless physical courage. In early manhood he was very fond of athletic sports, particularly of wrestling. Some of the older citizens of Detroit remember the election skirmishes and collisions which took place at the old City Hall, when the partisanship of the electors was heated to a boiling point. In these contests Mr. Sheley was invariably the recognized leader of the Whig faction. In 1837, at the first State elec- tion, Messrs. Stillson, Mason, and Mckinstry, lead- ing Democrats, with their followers, took possession of the polls, and would not allow the Whig voters to deposit their ballots. Among the Whigs present were Zachariah Chandler, Alanson Sheley, John Owen, Jacob M. Howard, George C. Bates, and Asher Bates. In a skirmish which ensued, Mr. Sheley was a tower of strength, but the pressure was such that he retreated to the National Hotel, then located on the site of the present Russell House. There, placing his back to the wall, he withstood, almost alone, the combined assault of those who sought to molest him.
His moral courage has ever been as conspicuous as his physical bravery. A cause he considers right, he would defend without wavering, should he stand alone. With great force of character, indom- itable perseverance, and rugged determination, he has been especially active in the temperance move- ment, through the various progressive steps of this reform, aiding both by personal work and by the contributions of money. No braver defender of the cause of temperance, or more consistent advo- cate of right principles, can be found in all the city.
Notwithstanding his advanced age, he possesses vigorous health, and personally attends to his numer- ous business engagements with zeal and promptness.
He lives on spacious grounds on Stimson Place, where, surrounded by his children and their families, he is quietly and unostentatiously spending the latter years of a long and useful life, honored and revered.
He was married on September 1, 1835, to Ann Elizabeth Drury. They have had eight children, three of whom are living, two daughters, Mrs. D. W. Brooks and Mrs. L E. Clark, and a son, George A. Sheley, who enlisted in February, 1863, as private in the First Michigan Light Artillery. He was pro- moted in August, 1863, to a Second Lieutenancy. His regiment formed a part of General Burnside's Ninth Corps, in East Tennessee, but was after- wards joined to the Twenty-second Corps. He was wounded while scouting in West Virginia, in May, 1864, and discharged, on account of wounds, in September of the same year.
OSIAS W. SHIPMAN was born at Pierstown, Otsego County, New York, January 29, 1834, and is the son of Horace and Abby Ann (Williams) Shipman. Soon after his birth, his parents removed to Norwich, Chenango County, New York, where for five or six years his father engaged in milling and in the manufacture of lead pipe, after which he removed with his family to Fort Plain, New York, and there, at the Fort Plain Seminary, O. W. Ship- man received the principal portion of his school education. After a residence of four years at Fort Plain, he accompanied his parents to a large farm in Union, Broome County, New York. They resided a year at Union, and then his father purchased from his brother Orlando a grist mill, plaster mill, and farm, at Athens, Pennsylvania, and removed there, leaving O. W. Shipman and an elder brother to manage the farm at Union. After two years of great success and an immense amount of hard work, they joined their father at Athens, where the subject of this sketch remained until his twenty-first year. He, with another young man, then engaged in the grocery trade at Waverly, a short distance from his father's home, but soon bought out his partner's share and continued the store alone, and by the exercise of good business judgment, and untiring exertion, he rapidly established an extensive trade, and for several years his annual sales exceeded $125,000 per year. During the extended strike of the Erie Railroad employees in 1870, Mr. Ship- man's services were secured by the company to assist in operating their line in opposition to the strikers. His efforts in this direction were particu- larly valuable to the company, but he aroused the ill- will of the former railroad employees and some of the more lawless, in retaliation, set fire to his busi- ness block and it was completely destroyed. He immediately rebuilt, on a more extensive plan, one of the largest and finest business houses in Waver-
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.