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 32
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ly, but in 1872 sold out his business and went to New York City, and in the interest of New York capitalists, visited Utah to inspect a silver mine, in which, on a favorable report being received, they proposed to invest a large sum of money. Mr. Shipman being convinced that the mine was com- paratively worthless, so advised them, and saved them from heavy losses. These same parties were then building a railroad from Newark, Ohio, to the Shawnee coal fields. Mr. Shipman purchased a quarter interest in the Shawnee Coal Company, and after the completion of the railroad, had charge of the coal-fields and shipping department at Shaw- nee, and during the latter years of his connection with the business, which extended to 1880, he had brought the mines up to the capacity of one hun- dred car loads of coal per day.
In 1874 he established a coal agency in Detroit, but through lack of management on the part of the resident operator, the venture failed of success. During the following year Mr. Shipman removed to Detroit and personally took charge of the business in this city. His relations to the coal company, and the railroad facilities he enjoyed by his con- nection with the Newark and Shawnee road, made the development of an immense trade possible, and to-day he is the most extensive coal dealer in the State of Michigan, and disposes of 600,000 to 700,000 tons yearly, representing a value of over $1,500,000. He supplies several railroads with coal, and his trade extends through Michigan, sev- eral Western States and to Canada. He deals in all kinds of coal and firewood, and has recently opened a mine of his own in Athens County, Ohio. He is President of the Frontier Iron & Brass Company, and connected with the Fire Proof Paint Company, of Chicago, and is a stockholder in the Commer- cial National and the American National Banks of Detroit.
As a business man he is possessed of indomita- ble purpose, is persistent in every undertaking, and cannot be contented unless he has developed every possibility in any enterprise he has undertaken, and he devotes all the power and energy he possesses to achieve his purposes. His executive and adminis- trative abilities have been tested in many ways, and he has been found equal to every occasion. In the commercial community he is justly recog- nized as an upright business man, while his private life is above reproach. For many years he has taken an active interest in the Masonic fraternity, and has secured the highest degrees possible to be obtained in the United States. He is a member of St. John's Episcopal Church, and for three years has been a vestryman.
He was married in June, 1856, to Emily L. Com- stock, of Newark Valley, New York. They have
two daughters, Mrs. F. B. Stevens and Mrs. H. S. Lewis, of Circleville, Ohio.
AARON LANE WATKINS was born at Water- loo, New York, December 26, 1824, and is the son of Stephen and Jane (Clark) Watkins, who were both natives of Philadelphia. They settled in Waterloo at an early day, and had eleven children, three of whom are living- Aaron L., Charles, and Julia Chamberlain, widow of the late J. P. Butterfield, of Goshen, Indiana.
Aaron Lane Watkins lived at Waterloo until he was twenty-two years old ; he was educated at the public schools of that village and in the Canandai- gua Academy, where he acquired some knowledge of the classics and a good English education, his tastes inclining him to mathematics and the exact sciences. After finishing his education he taught school for a time in his native town, and then, as he had determined to enter the legal profession, he studied law at Waterloo, New York, and in 1847 came to Detroit and completed his studies in the office of Chancellor Farnsworth, and was admitted to the bar in 1848. Soon after his being admitted to practice, he went to Grand Rapids for the pur- pose of engaging in law business with Lucius Pat- terson, of that city, but being called to New York, he spent a year there, and on his return to Detroit was for two years engaged in teaching in the pub- lic schools. In 1852 he entered the insurance office of Bachman & Fisher, as accountant and book- keeper, remaining for some time, and then again served as teacher, and from 1855 to 1864 was prin- cipal of the junior department of the Barstow School.
In 1864, with Mr. C. H. Wolff, he engaged in the manufacture and sale of trunks, under the firm name of Watkins, Wolff & Company, continuing until 1870, when he sold his interest and retired from the firm. During his connection with the firm they conducted a large business, that was successful in its financial results. Since his retirement from the firm, Mr. Watkins has not been in active business, but in 1870 became a special partner in the firm of H. F. Swift & Brother, wholesale druggists, and has remained with them and their successors, Swift & Dodds, and John J. Dodds & Company, until the present time. He has also been engaged in the settlement of several estates.
He is possessed of excellent business qualifica- tions and of strict integrity, is conservative in the use of his means, but gives to charitable objects which commend themselves to his judgment. Lead- ing rather a quiet and retired life, he spends a share of his time with his books, and is well-informed, both in current and general literature. In political faith he is a Republican, but takes no active part in political affairs.
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He was married January 31, 1854 to Climena D. Walker, daughter of Levi Walker, of Lyons, New York. They have one child, Jennie Clark Watkins.
FREDERICK WETMORE was born in Whites- town, Oneida County, New York, on August 7, 1813. He was a son of Amos and Lucy Olm- stead Wetmore, who were both natives of Con- necticut. In company with the family of Judge White, they removed to Whitestown after the War of the Revolution. Amos Wetmore was a farmer and mill owner, operating both a grist and saw mill. His eldest son, Charles P. Wetmore, was the father of Charles H. Wetmore, of Detroit, of Mrs. James McMillan, and of the late Mrs. Cleveland Hunt.
Frederick Wetmore was the seventh child of a family of six sons and three daughters. In his youth he prepared for college, but ill health prevented him from pursuing his studies, and at the age of seventeen he went to Pittsburgh, and acted as clerk for his elder brother, who was engaged in the crockery business. In 1836 he entered into the transportation business at Pittsburgh, on his own account, continuing it until the fall of 1841. About this time, in traveling to New York, he formed the acquaintance of two English crockery manufac- turers. They proposed to join him in business at Detroit, and an arrangement was made by which they shipped their goods direct to his establishment. In 1844 he bought out the interests of his English partners, and for ten years conducted the business alone. His nephew, Charles H. Wetmore, then became his partner, under the firm name of F. Wet- more & Company.
For a period of forty-two years, Mr. Wetmore's name was familiar to the people of Michigan, both in business circles and in social and moral enter- prises. He was identified with Detroit during the period of its growth, from a frontier town to its present proportions as a metropolitan city-its rail- road communications and chief commercial interests being developed in his day. He saw the popula- tion several times doubled, with its streets, avenues, parks, and all public and private improvements of the city, keeping pace with its progress in popula- tion. It may be truly said of him : All this he saw and part of it he was, for he was active in many ways in promoting the welfare of the city, as well as honorable and successful in his own private affairs.
Aside from his mercantile pursuits, he dealt largely in real estate, owning a farm near Detroit and property in the city, and also in Chicago. As a business man he was strictly honest and upright in all his dealings, and proverbially polite and courteous towards all with whom he came in con- tact.
He was a Republican in politics but took no active part in political affairs. His religious con- nection was with the Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church, of which he was an elder for many years. Both in the church and in all his domestic and social relations, his life was singularly pure and exemplary, and he possessed a marked individuality of character, which impressed itself upon all who were brought into intimate relations with him. His natural diffidence caused his voice to be seldom heard in the public meetings of the church, but his counsel and advice were always sought in matters pertaining to its welfare.
It was an invariable rule with him to leave his business behind when he left the store, and whether at home or in society, he was always ready to enjoy the domestic or social intercourse of the hour, and his unusual memory, large fund of in- formation and uniform courtesy, made him a desirable companion at all social gatherings. In his own family these traits were none the less con- spicuous, and he was respected and loved for traits of character that constrained admiration and regard.
Mr. Wetmore was twice married. His first wife was Cornelia P. Willard, a niece of Judge Platt, formerly a resident of Detroit. They were married at Albany, New York, in 1845 ; Mrs. Wet- more died in 1848, leaving two sons, one of whom died in infancy, the other, Edward W. Wetmore, late Professor of Chemistry and Philosophy in the Detroit High School, is now at Essex, Connecticut. On August 15, 1850, Frederick Wetmore was mar- ried to Anna Mary Curtenius, of Lockport, New York, a lineal descendant of Peter T. Curtenius, of Revolutionary fame, who led the assault on the monument of George III. in Bowling Green, in the city of New York. They had six children, four of whom, Blanche, Ernest Curtenius, John Olm- stead, and Frederick Amos, are living.
. Mr. Wetmore, during early life, traveled exten- sively in the United States, and some years ago made an extended tour in Europe. He died March 25, 1883, in the seventieth year of his age.
GEORGE COLLIDGE WETHERBEE, of Detroit, was born at Harvard, Worcester County, Massachusetts, July 27, 1840, and is the son of Zophar and Sarah (Collidge) Wetherbee. An apti- tude for hotel business seems to be inherent in the family. His grandfather formerly kept a hotel at Harvard, and subsequently, for more than forty years, his father was proprietor of the same house. Two of the brothers of Mr. Wetherbee have gained a wide reputation as successful managers of two of the finest hotels in New York, Gardner Wetherbee being proprietor of the Windsor, and Charles Weth- erbee of the Buckingham Hotel. Another brother,
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Frederick Wetherbee, is connected with a whole- sale dry goods house in the same city. Their parents are still living, the father at the age of eighty-four, and the mother at the age of seventy- nine.
The early life of George C. Wetherbee was with- out special interest. He attended the district school, and being of an active, restless disposition, engaged in various employments in his native village. At the age of eighteen he went to Boston, and entered a provision store, where he remained about a year and a half, when an injury to his knee obliged him to stop work and return home, where he remained until the breaking out of the War with the South. Almost at the beginning of the strife, he enlisted as a private in Company H, Twenty-third Massachu- setts Volunteer Infantry, for a period of three years, or until the close of the war. His regiment formed a part of General Burnside's command, and was . is one of the largest and most complete of its kind
stationed for a few months at Annapolis, Maryland, then at Hatteras Inlet, and participated in the cap- ture of Roanoke Island and Newburn, North Carolina. At the latter place Mr. Wetherbee was detailed as commissary of the company. After about eighteen months' service, during which he participated in all the campaigns and engage- ments of his regiment, he was promoted to a First Lieutenancy by Governor John J. Andrew, of Massa- chusetts, and was shortly after assigned to duty as acting Assistant Commissary of Subsistence, on the staff of General Foster, and ordered to Roan- oke Island. Here his services again commanded approval, and on August 19, 1863, he received a commission from President Lincoln, as Captain and Assistant Commissary of Subsistence of United States Volunteers. Subsequently, when General B. F. Butler came to Fortress Monroe, and began the formation of the Army of the James, Captain Wetherbee was ordered to report to him, and was there attached to the staff of General Devens. He served with the Army of the James during the memorable campaign which included the capture of City Points, the especially severe fighting at Cold Harbor, and the capture of Richmond by the com- bined armies of the James and the Potomac. In the advance on and capture of the latter city, Captain Wetherbee acted as volunteer aid in General De- vens's division, and while there, in July, 1865, he resigned and was honorably discharged. His mili- tary career was recognized by the award, on June 24, 1865, of the brevet rank of Major for meritorious services.
After a visit of two months at home, in the fall of 1865 he canie to Detroit, and with the small sum of money saved from his pay in the service, he engaged in the produce business, but it proved a disastrous investment and he lost nearly all his sav-
ings. He then embarked in the grocery business on Woodward Avenue, where the Godfrey Block now stands, with S. S. Farquhar, under the firm name of Farquhar & Wetherbee. Continuing the busi- ness with success for nearly two years, he then sold out and purchased C. M. Garrison's interest in the wooden and willow ware store of William Saxby & Company, then located nearly opposite the Board of Trade building, on Woodbridge Street. In 1873 he purchased Mr. Saxby's interest in the business, at which time the late Governor John J. Bagley became a special partner, and the firm name of George C. Wetherbee & Company was adopted. In 1876 Mr. Wetherbee purchased Mr. Bagley's interest, and continued the business alone until 1882, when it was incorporated, since which time he has been President and general manager. Their manufacturing plant, located on Vinewood Avenue, in the West. In 1873 Mr. Wetherbee began the manufacture of brooms at the State Prison, at Jackson, and this branch of his business has grown to be the most extensive broom factory in the State, more than 30,000 brooms being turned out every month. In 1883 he was chiefly instrumental in the organization of the United States Truck Company, of which he is President. The success of this enterprise has been great and rapid. He is also President of the Novelty Brush Company, organized in 1887. Over one hundred and twenty-five men find employment in these enterprises, including six traveling salesmen. Their wooden and willow ware trade is confined principally to Michigan and por- tions of Indiana and Ohio, while the market for their trucks and brushes extends throughout the United States.
He is the President and principal owner of the Michigan Elevator and Engine Company, and is also a director in the Manufacturers' and Mutual Insurance Company, of Detroit, and in the Thomas Ink and Bluing Company, of Canada, also a director and treasurer of Detroit Vise Company. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic, Post No. 348; a member of the Loyal Legion, and of the Ancient Order of United Workmen.
The success Mr. Wetherbee has achieved in a line of manufacture requiring untiring and close application to innumerable details, is the best evi- dence of his excellent business capacity. He has been the main factor in the creation and develop- ment of several enterprises, which have not only placed him among the successful manufacturers of Detroit, but have materially added to the prosperity of his adopted city.
He is a regular attendant, and for many years has been a Trustee, of the Unitarian Church. His untiring industry, power of close and continued
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application, broad business views, and a reputation for unquestioned honor and honesty, have been the secret of his success. He possesses decided con- victions, and is not afraid to express them, but has also a warm and social nature, and wins and retains the regard and friendship of business associates.
He was married January 22, 1867, to Mary E. Phelps, of Springfield, Massachusetts. They have two children, a son and a daughter.
HENRY KIRKE WHITE, of the firm of D. M. Ferry & Co., seedsmen, was born in Unadilla Cen. ter, Otsego County, New York, May 26, 1839. His ancestors were English, and settled in Connecticut at a very early date, his parents living there until 1834, when they removed to Unadilla Center, New York. Mr. White was next to the youngest in a family of six sons and one daughter, and was named after the well-known author.
At three years of age he was sent to live with an uncle and aunt whose home had been made deso- late by the loss of their only child. The attach- ment became so great that he continued as a mem- ber of their household, and attended the district school at that place until about ten years of age. In 1849 his uncle's family removed to North Walton, Delaware County, New York, and he accompanied them, and there continued his studies until his uncle's death, in 1853. His parents then desired him to return home, but, although only fifteen, he decided to start out for himself, and the following summer hired out as a farm hand at six dollars a month and board. In the fall of that year he re- turned to North Walton, making his home with his aunt, attending the winter term of school, and doing general farm work for his board. The school was of a very high order, and his studies embraced chemistry, algebra, Latin, and other high branches not usually taught in a district school. He was a close student, and midnight often found him pouring over his studies by the light of a pine knot or a tallow dip. The next summer found him working upon a farm with wages increased to ten dollars a month. The savings of the six months' labor this season enabled him to pursue his studies at the academy at Gilbertsville, Otsego County, during the winter. Here he made rapid progress, studying night and day. At the close of this term, his funds being entirely exhausted, he again hired out for four months in the summer, and attended the fall term at the academy. In the winter of 1856 and '57, when but seventeen years old, he taught school, at the same time continuing his studies. His services, as a teacher, were sought for the following winter, but, believing that the
western country possessed superior advantages for young men, he started westward on October I, 1857, with twenty-five dollars in his pocket. Arriv- ing in St. Louis, he found that he had but one dollar, and with that he purchased a ticket to Summerfield, Illinois. Soon after reaching this place he secured a teachership in a neighboring school, which place he held for a year and a half, when, his health becoming impaired through the miasma of that section, he decided to visit the home of his youth.
Stopping at Detroit to visit friends, he was offered a position with M. T. Gardner & Company, the predecessors of the now famous seed house of D. M. Ferry & Company. He began work for the first named firm at twenty-five dollars a month, and and this was the turning point in his life. Believ- ing in the future of the seed business, he continued in their employ, with gradually increasing compen- sation each year, and in 1865 he was admitted as a member of the firm. In 1879 the firm was merged into a corporation and Mr. White was elected treasurer, which office he has since held. The his- tory of this house since 1859, is largely connected with his own. He has devoted his entire time, energy, and thought, to its honor and advancement, contributing his full quota towards bringing it up to its present state of prosperity.
In 1877 Mr. White made a European tour, visiting all the principal places of interest, and in 1884 again went abroad, accompanied by his family. In Jan- uary, 1886, he was called home on account of the destruction of the seed house by fire, on the first day of that month, his family remaining until July following. Mr. White and family spend the greater part of the summer at the charming village of Siasconset, Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, where he owns fourteen cottages, thirteen of which he rents to families by the season.
He is a director and large stockholder in the Merchants and Manufacturers' National Bank, a director in the Michigan Fire and Marine Insurance Company, the Gale Sulky Harrow Works, the Acme White Lead and Color Works, the Leonard Glass Works, and the Detroit Home and Day School. He is also a stockholder in the Detroit Gas Company, and Vice-President of the Eagle Iron Works. He is a member and trustee of Westmin- ster Presbyterian Church, and gave largely towards its erection, and is also a methodical and liberal giver to all worthy causes, giving systematically and conscientiously. He was married to Christine Amanda Fortier, in Monroe, Michigan, November 19, 1863. They have had six children, four of whom are now living, three sons and one daughter.
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CHAPTER XCV.
MANUFACTURERS AND INVENTORS.
WILLIAM SMEAD ARMITAGE was born in Vernon, Oneida County, New York, June 11, 1830, and was the son of William and Rosina Armitage. The family were of New England ancestry, but had been residents of Oneida County for many years. He was educated at Vernon Academy and also at- tended Cazenovia Seminary. In 1853 he entered into mercantile business at Verona, and was thus employed until 1865, serving also as Postmaster at Verona from 1861 to 1865. In 1867 he removed to Oneida, New York, and became a partner in the firm of Seeley & Armitage. They soon became the leading and most influential establishment in Oneida, and did a very large and prosperous busi- ness. At the end of five years Mr. Armitage retired from the firm, and came to Detroit to act as Secretary and Treasurer of the American Plate Glass Company. Their works were located at Crystal City, Missouri, and formed one of the many mammoth corporations organized by the late Cap- tain Eber B. Ward.
After the death of Captain Ward, Mr. Armitage became Secretary and Treasurer of the Eureka Iron Company, of Detroit and Wyandotte, and acted in that important and responsible position until 1885. In that year the corporation known as the Galvin Brass and Iron Works was organized, and Mr. Armitage was made its Secretary and Treasurer, and remained in charge of its interests until shortly before his death.
Mr. Armitage was prominent among the business men of Detroit, and was especially at home in manufacturing enterprises, and well informed in all the details pertaining to the manufacture of iron and brass. He was a man of sterling integrity and was the thoroughly trusted custodian of various large and important interests, and proved faithful to every trust. Always energetic, active, methodical and painstaking, he was not satisfied unless he knew that all the affairs with which he had to do were well and properly conducted. In social life he was modest and unassuming, with strong domestic tastes, and a courteous and winning manner, which en- deared him to all with whom he was associated.
He was an earnest and devout member of the First Presbyterian Church, of Detroit, and his decease was greatly regretted by all who had any knowledge of his worth and many excellencies. He died January 28, 1887. His wife and one daughter are still living.
ABSALOM BACKUS, JR., was born in Her- kimer County, New York, September 7, 1824, and is the son of Absalom and Mary (Hildreth) Backus. He attended a common district school until fourteen years of age, and a more advanced school for three subsequent winters, in the city of Auburn, New York. At the age of twenty-one, he engaged in building a telegraph line from Syracuse to Niagara Falls, uniting Canada and the United States by a wire across the river at Queenstown, opposite Brock's monument, and building a line eight hun- dred miles long in Canada, reaching to Little Mettice, on the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
In 1848 he married Sarah E. Stevens, of Pratts- burgh, Steuben County, New York, and settled in Auburn, New York, as a contractor and builder. In 1853 he moved to Chaumont, Jefferson County, New York, and engaged in the grain, lumber, and farming business. During the war he rendered substantial aid to the Union army by assisting to raise troops, pledging to many men who enlisted to care for their families, which pledge was faithfully fulfilled. In 1867 he moved his family and settled in Detroit. The same year, in association with his brother Albert, he formed the firm known as Backus & Brother, built a gang saw mill and large improve- ments at Au Sable, Michigan, and established in Detroit a lumber yard and planing mill, at the foot of Eleventh Street, on the site of the old Richardson match factory. In 1872 he built a large brick planing mill at what is now the foot of Twelfth Street, and purchased and improved a dock at the foot of Eighteenth-and-a-Half Street, Detroit, and also built mills at Taymouth and Harrisville, Mich., and a hardwood mill in Indiana. In 1875 he sold the Au Sable mill to J. E. Potts, and the Harrisville mill to George L. Colwell. In
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