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 37
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He was married in 1851 to Susan 'Christie, of Scotland. They have had seven children, six of whom are now living. His eldest son, James C. McGregor, assists his father at the Michigan Car Works.
JOSEPH BERTHELET MOORE was born in Detroit, September 15, 1846, and is the son of J. Wilkie and Margaret (Berthelet) Moore. The first of his paternal ancestors in America, General Wil- liam Moore, came from London, England, in 1770, settled at Bolton, Massachusetts, and was a brave and distinguished officer in the Revolutionary War. He married Sarah Coolidge. Their son Aaron married Mary Wilkie, of Schenectady, New York, a descendant of Wilkie, the famous artist of Scot- land. J. Wilkie Moore, son of Aaron and Mary (Wilkie) Moore and the father of J. B. Moore, was born at Geneva, New York, May 13, 1814. He came to Detroit in 1833, when Michigan was a ter- ritory, the city of Detroit then containing but 2,600 inhabitants. After serving as a clerk for several years, he opened a general store on Jefferson Ave- nue, and a few years later went into the real estate business, and was quite successful. He was in the United States Custom Service for fourteen years, for three years secret agent of the revenue department, and afterwards United States Consul at Windsor. He was married in 1843, to Margaret Berthelet, daughter of Henry Berthelet, a leading merchant of Detroit in its earlier days, a large prop- erty owner, and a citizen of wealth and influence. The Berthelets, who were natives of Southern France, were early settlers in Detroit. Mr. Moore still resides here, but for several years has lived a retired life.
Joseph B. Moore was educated in the public schools, and graduated from the High School in 1862. He entered upon a mercantile career by becoming cashier in the retail dry goods store of E. S. Parker, known as the People's Store, after- wards conducted by H. Greening. His next posi- tion was as assistant bookkeeper for Allan Shelden & Company. A desire to engage in the banking business caused him to leave this position, and being unable to find a favorable opening in Detroit, in 1866
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he went to Milwaukee, and became corresponding clerk, and soon after teller in the First National Bank of that city. Remaining there two years, he returned to Detroit and entered the First National Bank as discount clerk, a position he held for ten years. Meantime, in 1875, Messrs. Jarvis & Hooper had established a manufactory of fertilizers at the foot of Leib Street, and in 1878, Mr. Moore resigned his position in the bank, and purchased Mr. Hooper's interest in the firm. The business at the time was conducted in a comparatively limited way. Upon Mr. Moore's connection with it, the capacity of the works was enlarged, additional capital invested, and the company incorporated with a capital of $80,000. Deming Jarvis was made president, and Mr. Moore secretary and treasurer. The demand for their productions grew rapidly, and in 1882 it was found necessary to seek larger quarters. The capital stock was then increased to $300,000, and eighty acres of land on the river Rouge, in Springwells township, were purchased, upon which there was erected an extensive plant, especially adapted for the purpose required. The products of the works consist of various kinds of fertilizers, with all grades of glue and bone black, and in the manufacture of the latter article, they produce a larger quantity than any other factory in the world. Thirty tons, or three car loads of animal matter are ground up every day. These are obtained from all over the country, but of late years the principal source of supply has been from the prairies of Texas and the far West. The annual value of their products exceeds $1,000,000, and over two hundred persons are employed.
Mr. Moore was indefatigable in the building up of this industry, and the success of the enterprise is largely due to his energy, good judgment, and intelligent effort. He was individually entrusted with almost the entire management of the concern, and the results have been eminently satisfactory. His entire time, up to 1887, was given to the undertaking to the exclusion of conflicting business interests, a fact which, in a measure, explains his success. In 1887 he became cashier of the newly organized Peninsular Savings Bank, and under his excellent management the bank has been remarka- bly successful, reaching during its first year, a high place among the best of the banking institutions of the city.
He is a member of St. Aloysius Catholic Church, and for many years has been President of the Board of Trustees of Mount Elliott Cemetery.
Politically, Mr. Moore has always been an earnest and active Republican, and has been a helpful fac- tor in securing victories for his party in local and State elections. As Chairman of the Detroit and the Wayne County Republican Committees, he has
evinced excellent ability as an organizer, and is a skillful and successful worker. He represented the old Ninth Ward in the City Council during 1877-78, and was appointed a member of the Poor Commis- sion in 1880 by Mayor Thompson, and re-appointed for another term in 1884 by Mayor Grummond, and again re-appointed, for a third term, in 1888, by Mayor Pridgeon. By virtue of the latter office, he is one of the County Superintendents of the Poor of Wayne County, to whom is entrusted the care and management of the Poor House and Insane Asylum at Wayne. As a public official he has been painstaking and efficient.
Personally he is an agreeable and pleasant gen- tleman, social and warm-hearted. He is a member of the Detroit and Grosse Pointe Clubs, also presi- dent of the Detroit Catholic Club, and in all that constitutes an upright business man, a public-spirited citizen and a progressive, useful member of the community, is a worthy type of the younger business element of Detroit.
He was married May 21, 1878, to Elizabeth W. O'Hara, of Cincinnati, Ohio.
MICHAEL JOSEPH MURPHY was born at Sarnia, Canada, February 22, 1851, and is the son of James and Catherine Murphy. Both of his parents were natives of Ireland, and were born at Limerick, where their ancestors lived for genera- tions. His father came to America in 1832, and became one of the earliest settlers in Lambton County, Canada, where he remained until 1844, when he removed to Iowa County, Wisconsin, remaining there until 1849, when he returned to Canada, and settled on a farm near the city of Sarnia, where he was married and still resides.
His son, M. J. Murphy, after receiving the edu- cational advantages of the excellent public schools of his native place, came to Detroit in 1868, and attended Goldsmith's Commercial College, and after completing his course, spent nearly a year in that institution as a teacher. He then served as book- keeper for C. H. Dunks, manufacturer of bed springs, and at the end of a year secured employ- ment as bookkeeper in the Second National Bank of Detroit, continuing in such capacity until the latter part of 1872, when he purchased the manu- facturing establishment of his former employer, C. H. Dunks, then located on Griswold Street, opposite the present Brunswick Hotel. At this time the manufacture of bed springs, in a limited way, constituted the sole business of the factory. Under Mr. Murphy's energetic efforts, the business rapidly increased in extent, and was soon removed to 32 Woodward Avenue, where he remained two years. The quarters formerly occupied by the Detroit Chair Factory, on the corner of Fourth and
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Porter Streets, were then secured, and in 1878 the manufacture of chairs was there undertaken. This line was not only an immediate success, but gradu- ally superseded the former product of the factory, and for several years has constituted the sole article of manufacture. The superior quality and finish of his work speedily created an extensive market, and business grew so rapidly that, although addi- tional buildings had been repeatedly erected to increase the capacity of his works, larger quarters were found necessary. Tomeet this demand, in 1885 eight acres of land were purchased, upon which two large four-story brick buildings were erected, the capacity of which has since been increased by the erection of other buildings, giving a floor capacity of one hundred and thirty-two thousand square feet, forming one of the best arranged and equipped factories of its kind in the country, and giving em- ployment to three hundred persons. The daily product is one hundred dozen chairs, while the value of the annual production exceeds $300,000. These goods are sold all over the United States, but chiefly in the States of Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Although known up to 1884 as the manufacturing establish- ment of M. J. Murphy & Company, Mr. Murphy was the sole owner and manager. At the date named, a stock company was formed under the same name, with a capital of $75,000, with Mr. Murphy as President and Treasurer. Every year since its establishment the concern has shown a steady increase in the extent and quality of its productions, with a constantly increasing market. In a comparatively few years Mr. Murphy, virtually single handed, has created an establishment which is a material source of prosperity to Detroit, and it is needless to say he has been an earnest, persever- ing and intelligent worker.
The secret of success in most enterprises can be traced to the individual effort of some one man, and in no instance is this more conspicuous than in this establishment. Its growth and development are the best testimonials of the ability of Mr. Mur- phy. The forces which have contributed to his success have been concentration of energies to one object, together with persistent and well directed efforts, and ability to forecast business events and to devise means to promptly meet them, coupled with a high order of executive capacity. Few men of his age, dependent solely upon their own exer- tions, have reached a higher position in the manufac- turing world. He is rather inclined to be cautious, but adheres closely to a stand once taken, and wins confidence by his fidelity to every obligation.
He is of generous impulses and pleasant disposi- tion, and socially an agreeable companion. Naturally independent in character, the usual party ties and
prejudices have little influence over his actions. In business sagacity, integrity, and unsullied private character, he is an excellent representative of the younger element in the commercial activity of Detroit.
He was married in 1877 to Eliza Gleeson, of Sarnia, Canada. They have four sons and two daughters.
DAVID OSGOOD PAIGE was born in Weare, Hillsboro County, New Hampshire, September 14, 1833, and is the son of Osgood and Martha (Blaisdell) Paige. His father was born at Weare, February 18, 1794, and died in July, 1878. His mother was born January 26, 1797, at Hopkinton, New Hampshire, and died in September, 1851. The family trace their ancestry back to John Paige, born in Dedham, England, in 1586, and came to this country with Governor Winthrop, in 1630, settled in the town of Dedham, Massachusetts, and from there his sons settled in Maryland, New York, and New Hampshire. Osgood Paige, father of D. O. Paige, inherited the original homestead, in Weare, and was one of the largest landholders in Hillsboro County. He was a man of ability and influence, strong and active in his religious convic- tions, and an earnest advocate of temperance and other moral reforms. In 1841 the family removed to Manchester, which at that time was in its infancy, and promised to become one of the largest manu- facturing cities in the country. Here, as a child, D. O. Paige came under the influences surrounding manufacturing enterprises, and being naturally of an inventive and mechanical mind, early and earnestly sought employment, during his school vacations, in various manufacturing establishments, where he became familiar with the processes and the operation of machinery in the manufacture of fabrics. At the age of sixteen he finished his studies at the Highland Lake Institute, at Andover, and immediately apprenticed himself to the Amos- keag Machine Shops, where he learned the machinist trade in its various branches.
At the age of nineteen he was tendered, and accepted, a position as foreman and contractor in the Essex Machine Shop, at Lawrence, Massachu- setts, where he remained five years, constantly building up for himself a reputation as a mechanic. Before he left he was offered, if he would remain, the assistant superintendency of the works, which employed at that time about twelve hundred men. He declined the offer, believing that the West prom- ised a larger and more remunerative field to a young man who was willing to work, and early in the spring of 1857 went to Dayton, Ohio, and for one year took charge of R. Dutton & Company's agricultural implement shops. While there he invented and
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patented an improvement in wheat drills, which afforded him a handsome revenue for several years. The disastrous panic of 1857 so stagnated the manufacturing business, that Mr. Paige decided to accept a position offered him by the American Patent Company, of Cincinnati, and was placed at the head of the department for giving practical tests to newly invented machinery and making mathematical calculations for mechanics. While in this business, he became interested in the devel- opment and manufacture of bank locks and safes, and obtained a position with Hall, Carroll & Com- pany, where he remained until 1865. During the War of the Rebellion, this firm not only manufac- tured safes and locks, but did a large amount of work for the Government, altering muskets into rifles, building army wagons, etc., the care of which came largely upon Mr. Paige.
In July, 1865, Mr. Paige decided to come to Detroit, and in company with John J. Bagley and Z. R. Brockway established the manufacture of safes, vault and jail work. They organized the Detroit Safe Company, and immediately commenced work, with Mr. Paige as manager. The company organized with a capital of twenty thousand dollars, and have steadily increased until they are now one of the largest manufacturing establishments in the State, and their products are known all over the world. Mr. Paige is General Manager and Treas- urer of the company, and to his efforts, ingenuity, and mechanical skill are due the success they have attained.
He has never sought or wished political honor, is prominent socially, and in matters of business and with his friends, is always agreeable and pleasing. He has the power of largely impressing others with his own ideas, is a ready talker, and thoroughly well informed ; writes forcibly and well on mechanical matters, has the best executive ability, readily grasps the details that make for success, and by his acquaintances is esteemed as a valuable and reliable friend.
Mr. Paige and his family, consisting of his wife and two children, Frederick O. and Glenna B. Paige, are members of the Woodward Avenue Baptist Church. Mr. Paige was first married Janu- ary 31, 1861, and to his present wife, January 10, 1871. Her maiden name was Abbie H. Rogers. She is the daughter of Amos and Eunice (Hatch) Rogers ; her grandfather, Major Amos Rogers, was killed in the battle of Lake Champlain, during the War of 1812.
HERVEY COKE PARKE traces his more immediate ancestry to the ancient city of Bristol, England. Early in the last century, his great- grandfather, Daniel Parke, left that interesting
seaport where the waters of the Severn and the Avon mingle with the sea, and sailed for the New World. On his arrival here, he settled on the Con- necticut, in the parish of Middle Haddam. He had two children, whose names were John and Daniel. It seems evident that the traditions and habits of his native city clung to him in his new home. Com- ing from the place that furnished the first ship which touched the continent, and from where Sebastian Cabot passed his early days, from a city full of sea-going life and enterprise, he could not but imbibe its spirit, and if not manifest in him- self, he certainly transmitted to his son John a high appreciation of maritime affairs. This son was born in Middle Haddam, and was widely known as an extensive ship-builder at that place, and also engaged in trade with the West Indies. He married Cleantha Smith, and in honor of his wife, one of his brigs bore the name of Cleantha. His children were Hervey Parke, Ezra Smith Parke, Mrs. Cleantha Storm, and Mrs. Lucintha Curtis.
In 1816, with his family, he removed from Con- necticut to New York, and settled in the town of Camden, Oneida County. His son, Ezra Smith Parke, who had been educated in the local schools and academies of Connecticut, studied medicine with one of the older physicians of Oneida County, and eventually completed a professional course at Hobart, then known as Geneva College, where he graduated on June 14, 1819. The year following he married Rhoda Sperry, whose family were formerly residents of Connecticut, and, like the Parkes, had found a home in New York. The Sperry family were, and are well known in connection with the manufacture of clocks in the State of Connecticut. In October, 1822, Mr. Parke emigrated to Michigan, settling at Bloomfield, in Oakland County, and here, on December 13, 1827, Hervey Coke Parke was born. He was named after his uncle, Captain Hervey Parke, well known in connection with the earlier government surveys of Michigan.
The ancestors of Mr. Parke were members either of the English or Protestant Episcopal Church, but as the church of his choice had no organization in New York, in the neighborhood where his father settled, the family became connected with the Methodist Episcopal Church and continued this relation after the removal to Michigan. Whether in Connecticut, New York, or Michigan, the family regulations, especially on Sunday, were modeled after the style of the early Puritans, although somewhat toned down by the spirit of generous patience and love. Filling to full measure his duties as a physi- cian, his father attended unceasingly and conscien- tiously to the daily round of duties that a country physician in a new and developing country is called upon to perform, but with all his labors there was no
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accumulation of wealth, and in 1856, when, through a singular epidemic, he and his wife both passed away, the legacy of a good name and the loving remembrance of a kind father, was the chief inheri- tance of his children.
Two years before his father's death, Hervey C. Parke went to Buffalo and found employment with a friend of the family, spending a portion of his time in study. An exceptionally good school, with excellent principals, at Bloomfield, and the oppor- tunities at Buffalo, were so well improved that he was well qualified to teach, and from this time earned his own support. Returning to Michigan in 1846, before his father's death, he entered Bid- well's hardware store at Adrian, but within two years was compelled through ill health to relinquish his position. He now returned to Oakland County, and soon secured a position as teacher near his old home, and taught the winter term successfully, leaving this service with much added self-control and a firmer grasp on the studies he had himself pursued. From 1848 to 1850, he was employed in the store of W. M. McConnell, of Pontiac. His employer was a careful, conscientious, and success- ful merchant, and the practical business training gained in his establishment was of much advantage. In consequence of ill health, Mr. Parke gave up this situation and sought health and employment in Lake Superior, securing a position as financial manager of the Cliff Mining Company. He was for eleven years in this place, and made his home at the mine. In this last position he gained not only health, but, aided by careful business habits, acquired means as well. In 1866, while still a resi- dent of Keweenaw, he married Fannie A. Hunt, daughter of James B. Hunt, who served two terms in Congress, being one of three Michigan represen- tatives from 1843-47. The year following his marriage, Mr. Parke removed to Portage Lake and engaged in the sale of mining hardware. He con- tinued in this line for four years, with much success, and then sold out in order to remove to Detroit. Taking passage on the ill-fated Pewabic, he with his family, were on board when she collided with the Meteor, in Lake Huron. After the accident, Mr. Parke and his family were transferred to the Meteor, and thus escaped the fate that overtook the Pewabic and his original fellow passengers.
About a year after his arrival in Detroit, he entered into partnership with S. P. Duffield, M. D., under the firm name of Duffield, Parke & Company, manufacturing chemists. The firm continued about two years, and was succeeded in 1868 by that of Parke, Davis & Company, composed of Hervey C. Parke, George S. Davis, John R. Grout, and Wil- liam H. Stevens, Mr. Parke then, as now,having a third interest. In 1876 the firm incorporated under
their original title, and the original paid up capital of $50,000 was increased to $500,000, all of the origi- nal parties being stockholders, except Mr. Grout, whose heirs sold his interest to the other partners. In February, 1887, the capital was increased to $600,000. Several of the principal employees, with a justice much rarer than it should be, have from time to time been admitted as sharers in the pros- perity of the establishment. Mr. Parke has been the president and acting treasurer of the corpora- tion from its beginning. The character of their business demands the utmost integrity in the pre- paration of their manufactures. In many cases, life itself depends upon the genuineness and strength of a compounded drug, and this fact ennobles the occupation until it almost vies with that of the clerical profession in the opportunity it affords for truth and honesty. They have introduced, and sell, immense quantities of several rare and valuable remedies that had only a local reputation and were generally unknown until their researches brought them into notice. In order to obtain a knowledge of all valuable medical agents, they have a staff of expert botanists and chemists, whose whole time is given to travel and research the world over, for whatever has medicinal value. It is literally true that the products of the establish- ment are regularly sold and used in all civilized countries, and Detroit may boast that the buildings in which they are prepared are, of the kind, the largest and most commodious in the world.
Thoughtfulness, probity, geniality, and enterprise, have all been factors in their success, and Mr. Parke ascribes to his partner, Mr. Davis, a full share of credit for the position the business has attained.
Aside from his business, Mr. Parke's chief em- ployment consists in furthering the interests of the Protestant Episcopal Church, with which he has been connected for over a quarter of a century. During most of this period he has been a member of St. John's Church, and for more than twelve years a vestryman. He is one of the trustees of the Diocesan fund for the Diocese of Eastern Michigan, a trustee of St. Luke's Hospital and Orphans' Home, and one of the leaders in the De- troit City Mission of the Protestant Episcopal Church, which aims especially to carry the gospel to the most neglected portions of the city.
He is known as a liberal giver, not only to worthy objects connected with his own church, but gener- ally, and this is natural to him, for his instincts are so broad and generous that he could not well do other- wise than appreciate and aid in furthering any good objects by whomsoever inaugurated or established.
His first wife died in 1868, leaving three daughters and two sons. Five years later he married Mary M. Mead, daughter of James E. Mead, of Almont,
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Michigan. They have had five children, four of whom are living.
HAZEN S. PINGREE is a lineal descendant of Moses Pingry, who came from England in 1640, and settled in Ipswich, Massachusetts. For the first one hundred and forty years, nearly all of the American branch of the family lived in Ipswich, Rowley, and Georgetown, Massachusetts. Toward the close of the last century, the family had so increased in number, that many of the name sought and obtained new homes in other parts of the Bay State, and in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Nova Scotia, and at the present time descend- ants of the family are found in nearly every part of the Union. The history of New England furnishes abundant proof that the early male members of this family were men of character and influence, and of industrious and frugal habits. An extended history of the family, by William M. Pengry, says : "No family has made better citizens than the descend- ants of Moses Pingry. Trained, as most of them have been, to habits of industry, frugality, and uprightness, descended from Puritan ancestry, and embracing much of their strictness, they have always been law-abiding, and ready to contribute of their property and influence to promote the public welfare." The family name for the first two gen- erations was uniformly spelled Pengry; since then the spelling has been greatly diverse, with a strong tendency, during latter years, to adopt the style hereafter used in this article.
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