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 42
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CHARLES MERRILL was born in Falmouth, Maine, January 3, 1792, and was the seventh of the eight children of General James Merrill, who was one of the principal citizens of Falmouth. Mr. Merrill spent his earlier years upon his father's farm, and obtained a good English education by attending the common school during the winter.
When he became of age he went to the city of Portland, which was only six miles from his home, and in partnership with his brother and a Mr. Scott engaged in mercantile business, under the firm name of S. & C. Merrill & Company. The venture proved unsuccessful, and heavy debts were incurred. The firm being dissolved, Mr. Charles Merrill re- moved to Virginia, where he took a sub-contract on a railroad leading from Petersburg, which was then in progress of construction. In this new field he was successful, and made money enough to discharge the obligations he had incurred in the business at Portland. Returning there, he took a contract for building a military road from Lincoln to Holton, in Maine. The building of this road, and the acquaintance it gave him with lands and localities, caused him to become a large investor in lands, and from 1835 to 1840 he formed one of a company that invested and speculated largely in real estate in various parts of Maine. They subse- quently pushed their enterprises to Michigan, and in 1836, he, with ex-Governor Coburn, made large investments in this then new field. Their purchases were located on the Black River, in St. Clair County. When the panic of 1837 came, his Maine partners proposed to withdraw from the joint ownership of lands in that State, on condition that he would assume and pay all the indebtedness upon them. Mr. Merrill accepted and fulfilled these conditions, and became sole owner of large tracts of land in that State. In order to facilitate his care of these lands, he removed in the same year from Portland to Lincoln, and for eleven years was engaged in lumbering. By this time the lumbering interests of Michigan began to attract increasing attention, and in 1848 he removed to Detroit, in order to begin the lumbering of the lands he had entered in 1836. He also, in subsequent years, entered ex- tensive tracts of pine lands in various parts of the State, and very soon became, and remained, one of the largest operators in pine lands and lumber that the State has known. He built saw mills in Saginaw and Muskegon, and at Falmouth, in Mis- saukee County. In 1863 Thomas W. Palmer became a partner with him in business. In 1858 he built the Merrill Block, on the corner of Wood- ward and Jefferson Avenues, and at the time it was considered the finest business building in the city.
Mr. Merrill was a man of great physical endur- ance, of indomitable energy, and careful and methodical in all his habits. He was an ardent advocate of temperance, and was always ready to give his countenance and support to temperance movements.
In political affairs he was a Whig until the organization of the Republican party, and there- after acknowledged allegiance to that party.
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His retiring disposition kept him from political prominence, but he was always a zealous Republi- can. Although very successful in business, his success did not make him grasping or narrow- minded. To share his ventures with others was an early and never neglected impulse, and he frequently furnished capital for his associates. He was helpful and thoughtful of those who were in distress of any kind, and persons in trouble could always success- fully appeal to his sympathy. In his religious feelings he was broadly generous, liberal in his estimate of others, and expected the same treat- ment.
He was a prominent supporter of the Unitarian Church, being one of the founders of the Society, contributing largely to the erection of its first building, and was a trustee of the church from its inception until his death.
He married Frances Pitts, daughter of Major Thomas Pitts of Charlestown, Massachusetts, in December, 1836. His only child, Lizzie Merrill, became the wife of Thomas W. Palmer, and now lives in Detroit. Mr. Merrill died December 28, 1872.
FRANKLIN MOORE, one of the earlier mer- chants of Detroit, and up to the time of his death one of the best known and most highly esteemed citizens, was of New England ancestry, of the old Puritan stock, whose patriotism in the colonial and revolutionary times are among the household tradi- tions of their children and grandchildren. John Moore, a great-uncle of Franklin, was a Captain, and commanded a company at the battle of Bunker Hill, and other of his relatives did service in the Continental Army.
Franklin Moore's father, Joseph Moore, was an early resident of Manchester, New Hampshire, and an extensive lumberman on the Merrimac River, at the time that region largely supplied the lumber mar- kets of New England. His son, Franklin, was born in Manchester, New Hampshire, in 1802, was edu- cated at the common schools, and shortly after attaining his majority entered into mercantile busi- ness, continuing therein until 1832. Meantime, in 1828, he was elected to the New Hampshire Legis- lature, on the Whig ticket, and served one term, being the youngest member but one in that body. He was an earnest and active member of the Whig party, but was among the first to join the Republican party when it was organized. Aside, however, from serving in the Legislature, he held no political office.
During 1832 he came to Michigan, on a pros- pecting tour, full of youthful enterprise, and ready, if opportunity offered, to engage in business. After looking around, he decided to locate in Detroit,
and, accordingly, in 1833, in company with his brother-in-law, the late Zachariah Chandler, as a partner, he entered into the dry goods business, under the firm name of Moore & Chandler. Both of the partners were destined to play a conspicuous part, but in different directions : the one for over forty years was a leading merchant and manufacturer ; the other, after gaining wealth and distinction in the same line, acquired a national reputation as a politician and statesman. Each found his appro- priate sphere of action, and performed its duties with exceptional ability and credit.
In 1835 Mr. Moore engaged in the grocery busi- ness, and carried it on alone until 1837, when his store and stock were destroyed by fire. The same year he started a new store, with the late Francis Palms as his principal clerk. After a few years' service Mr. Palms became his partner, under the style of F. Moore & Company, the firm continuing until 1846, and doing a large and ever-increasing business. It was succeeded by the wholesale and retail grocery house of Moore & Foote, George Foote being the junior partner. In 1859, on the admission of George F. Bagley, a brother of ex- Governor John J. Bagley, the name of the firm was changed to Moore, Foote & Company, and for many years they did the largest business of any grocery firm in the State, their sales aggregating millions of dollars annually.
In 1863 Mr. Moore formed a partnership with his brother, Stephen Moore, the firm being F. & S. Moore, and they built a large saw-mill at the foot of Eighteenth Street, and turned their attention to the manufacture and sale of lumber, purchasing large tracts of pine land in Michigan, and operat- ing mills at Detroit and Bay City. In 1867 Frank- lin Moore organized another firm, of which he was also the senior partner, under the style of Moore, Alger & Company, ex-Governor Russell A. Alger and Stephen Moore being the partners. In 1869 the firm of Moore & Alger was organized, consist- ing of Franklin Moore and R. A. Alger, and Mr. Moore continued as the senior partner in the firm until his death, on January 17, 1877.
He was not only a large-minded and successful business man, but active in many kinds of public and benevolent work. He was one of the original members of the first Board of Trade, a director in the Michigan State Bank and in the American National Bank. He was also a member of the Board of Trustees of Olivet College, and took a deep interest in that institution, and contributed largely to its support. He helped to organize, and was a leading member of the Fort Street Presby- terian Church, and was a constant and liberal contributor to its support. In his will he bequeathed $10,000 to the Boards of Home and Foreign Mis-
Stephen Moore
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sions of the Presbyterian Church of the United States.
He was unswerving in his integrity, of strong convictions, and always did what he believed to be just and right, irrespective of popular opinion. While positive in character, he was far from stern; on the contrary, he was peculiarly genial and kind in his intercourse with others, and in his home, patient, gentle, and indulgent. He is remembered by many with warm feelings of respect, and even affection, because of his many amiable traits, and of his per- sonal worth as a man, a citizen, and a friend.
He was three times married. He left by his sec- ond marriage a daughter, Mattie E., wife of Henry Van Ellemeet, of St. Paul, Minnesota, and by the third a son, Franklin A. Moore.
STEPHEN MOORE was born at Manchester, New Hampshire, August 31, 1812. His father, Joseph Moore, who was of Puritan ancestry, had the same birthplace as his son, and was born in April, 1770. He was a farmer and lumber dealer, a prominent and wealthy citizen, and well known throughout his native State. At his death in 1840, he left the largest estate that had been adminis- tered upon in the Probate Court for the County of Hillsboro, up to that date. The mother of Stephen Moore, Elizabeth (Kennedy) Moore, was of Scotch- Irish descent, and was born at Gostown, New Hampshire, in 1774, and died at Manchester in 1816.
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Stephen Moore was one of a family of eight sons and three daughters. He served as one of the administrators of his father's estate, and after the estate was settled, in the spring of 1843, removed to Michigan, locating on the St. Clair River, two miles above the village of St. Clair. Franklin Moore, of Moore, Foote & Company, of Detroit, was a brother. Another brother, Reuben Moore, the father of Charles F. and Frank Moore, now of St. Clair, located at St. Clair in 1837, and soon after Stephen arrived, the two brothers entered into partnership, for the purpose of manufacturing leather. This partnership was dissolved in 1850, and Stephen Moore commenced the purchase of pine lands and the manufacture of lumber, remain- ing at St. Clair until 1863, when he came to Detroit, and formed a partnership with his brother Franklin, under the firm name of F. & S Moore. They built a saw-mill at the foot of Eighteenth Street, and continued there until the death of Franklin Moore, on January 17, 1877. . Meantime, in 1867, the brothers had also entered into partnership with Russell A. Alger, under the firm name of Moore, Alger & Company, the firm continuing until 1870.
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In 1871 Stephen Moore formed a partnership with Charles Tanner, his former foreman at the
Detroit mills, for the purpose of building a saw mill at Oscoda, Michigan, on the Au Sable River, and under the name of Moore & Tanner the business is still continued. In 1880 the corporation of Moore, Whipple & Company (now the Moore Lumber Company) was formed, and Mr. Moore was made President of the company, which position he still retains.
Mr. Moore is a kind-hearted and generous man, and, at the advanced age of seventy-five, is remark- ably well preserved. He is unusually well informed on all public questions, has clear business foresight, and has been very successful in his extensive busi- ness enterprises. He is the owner of two large farms in the vicinity of Detroit, and of one near Ypsilanti, and greatly enjoys their development. Although advanced in years, and possessed of a comfortable fortune, he delights in giving personal attention to the interests of concerns with which he is connected, and his name is a guarantee of the stability and permanence of the interests he has so long managed. He is a staunch Republican, but has never been an office-seeker or an office-holder.
He was married to Elizabeth Huse, of Manchester, New Hampshire, in January, 1836. His family consists of his wife, two sons, Lucian S. and George H., and a daughter, Josephine, all of whom live in Detroit.
JOHN BURRITT MULLIKEN was born at Campbelltown, Steuben County, New York. May 30, 1837, and is the son of Henry and Ermina (Burritt) Mulliken. He is of Scotch ancestry, and his paternal forefathers came to America prior to the Revolution, settling near Worcester, Massa- chusetts. His grandfather Campbell was a chap- lain in the colonial forces under General Gates, at Saratoga. His mother's ancestors settled in Con- necticut at an early date, and their descendants are still numerous in that State. Henry Mulliken, a farmer by occupation, removed to Michigan with his family in 1838, and settled at Battle Creek, where he remained but a short time, and then went to Rockford, Illinois, remaining in the latter State most of the time until 1874, when after short residences at Winona, Minnesota, and Escanaba, Michigan, he settled at Lansing, Michigan, where he and his wife died only a few months since at the advanced age of seventy-nine and eighty years respectively.
J. B. Mulliken passed his boyhood upon a farm about thirty-five miles south of Chicago. At the age of fifteen he left home and went to Maumee City, Ohio, where for two years he served as a clerk in a drug store. He then went to Urbana, Illinois, and after a short period of clerkship in a drug store and post-office, he entered the employ of
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the Post-office Department as a sub-mail agent on the Illinois Central Railroad, and after a brief service in this capacity, he was appointed station agent of the said company at Mattoon, Illinois, where he re- mained two years. He then entered the local freight office of the road at Chicago, and after a year's clerkship entered the employ of the Galena, Chi- cago & Union Railroad, as a clerk in the freight office at Chicago, remaining until August, 1858, when he was appointed agent at Rockford, Illinois, in which capacity he remained at that point, and at Belvidere and Sterling, in the same State, until May, 1874. He was then made general agent and given charge of the traffic of the Winona & St. Peters Railroad, and a few months later was ap- pointed superintendent of the Peninsular Division of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, with headquarters at Escanaba, Michigan, but within six months came to Detroit, having received the appointment of general superintendent of the De- troit, Lansing & Lake Michigan Railroad. With this last road and its successor, the Detroit, Lansing & Northern Railroad, he has since been connected, and for several years in the capacity of general manager. He is also Vice-President and general manager of the Chicago & West Michigan, and President of the Saginaw Valley and St. Louis Railroads, his general supervision extending over about eight hundred miles of road, a work the suc- cessful management of which requires a high order of executive ability, rare judgment, constant and unremitting labor, and a special training and infor- mation acquired only by years of close application and familiarity with innumerable details.
Mr. Mulliken's reputation as a railroad manager has been earned by his faithful performance of every trust committed to him, and he has justly won approval and promotion. His experience and abilities have made him an important factor in the great transportation system of the country, a knowledge of which has risen to the dignity of a practical science, because of the complex financial problems involved. His life has been given to hard labor, and all that he has gained or become, has been the result of his own efforts. He possesses indomitable will and energy, with faith in his own ability, and a persistent, persevering spirit, which he infuses into those over whom he is placed. He is strong and loyal in his friendships and tenacious in his beliefs. Since his residence in De- troit, his business connections have brought him into intimate relationship with its leading busi- ness men, whose confidence and esteem he has thoroughly gained. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity and of various social organi- zations.
He was married in 1858 to Emma A. Batcheldor.
They have had seven children, five of whom are living, two sons and three daughters.
JOSEPH NICHOLSON, son of Thomas and Jane (Small) Nicholson, was born near Kilkell, Down County, Ireland, September 25, 1826, and is of Irish parentage. He is a descendant of Donald McNicol, who, in the reigns of Charles I. and II., was chief of the clan in the Isle of Skye. His son, Neil, with many members of the Nicholson family, migrated to America at the end of the six- teenth and beginning of the seventeenth century. The spelling of the family name has undergone many changes, which, with the family pedigree, are carefully noted in "O'Hart's Irish Pedigrees." Thomas Nicholson was a prosperous farmer in Ireland, an officer in the Government militia, and a man of standing and influence in his native town. He, with his family, came to America in 1850, and settled on a farm in Illinois, where he died in 1855. His wife came of a family conspicuous for bravery in the earlier patriotic wars of Ireland. Her father, Robert Small, participated in the Irish Revolution of 1798, and at its close was sentenced to be shot, but was subsequently pardoned.
The birthplace of Joseph Nicholson is one of the most picturesque localities in Ireland. His boyhood days were passed amid rugged scenery and by a seawashed coast, and these early surroundings naturally inspired a love for life on the wave, and doubtless had much to do with determining the occupation of many of his manhood years. His school privileges were limited, and at the age of nineteen, reverses of fortune in his father's family made it necessary for him to begin life's battles for himself. The unsettled condition of affairs in his native land offered but little inducement for advancement, while the possibilities in the New World, to his hopeful vision, had every attraction. Accordingly, in 1845, he came to America, and first landed in Quebec, Canada, and having gained some knowledge of navigation at home, he natur- ally sought and obtained employment on the lakes, and for five years served as a sailor. He then, for a few years, was wheelman on the steamer Detroit, and other vessels of the Ward Line, plying between Chicago and the then western terminus of the Michigan Central Railroad. In 1855 he became master of the passenger steamer Arctic, then sail- ing on Lake Michigan, between Chicago and northern ports. The following year he served as master of the steamer Planet, at that time the largest passenger steamer on the lakes, and plying between Cleveland and Lake Superior ports. For the three years following 1857, he was master of a steam propeller owned by the Ward Line, and in 1861 again commanded the Planet. In 1862 he
Charles Aoble
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was one of the builders and became part owner of the steam tug John Prindeville, of which he was master until 1865, when he withdrew from lake navigation. As a result of his long period of con- tinuous service upon the lakes, he became one of the best-known vessel commanders, and was regarded as a most efficient, thorough, and trust- worthy sailor. This reputation was gained when to be a master of a vessel meant vastly more than at the present day. Then the authority of the com- mander was unquestioned; to him was entrusted the charge of every detail, and all responsibility was left to his good judgment. Under the watchful care of Captain Nicholson, no accident to life or property ever occurred. While first mate of the steamer E. K. Collins, in 1854, a gold watch was presented to him by the citizens of Chicago, for his heroic efforts in rescuing the crew of the schooner Mer- chant, while in distress off the port of Chicago.
In 1866 the Detroit Fire and Marine Insurance Company appointed him Marine Inspector, and he held the position for over eleven years, to the entire satisfaction of the company. Often called upon to decide contested insurance cases, his decisions were so manifestly fair that they were never questioned.
During late years, Captain Nicholson has become best known to the citizens of Detroit and State of Michigan as Superintendent of the Detroit House of Correction, a position to which he was first appointed in 1877, by Mayor Langdon, and has since held under appointment by the Board of Inspectors. In the management of this institution he has gained a wide reputation as one of the ablest prison superintendents in the country. Although without previous experience in the line of duties required of him, he soon mastered the requirements of his position, and at the end of the first year's service, the financial standing of the House of Correction was changed from a non-supporting institution to one affording an annual profit to the city, a result attained without overtaxing the work- ing capacity of the inmates or the practice of false economy in management. During his occupancy of the office, the changes made under his personal direction, in the erection of new buildings, and in improvement of former structures, have been numerous. He has paid particular attention to the sanitary condition of the buildings, and the Detroit House of Correction is often cited among prison managers as a model of perfection in this regard.
As a disciplinarian, he has developed rare ability and tact. Although the institution contains an average of nearly five hundred inmates, many of them of the most vicious and depraved character, there is no insubordination, and the best of disci- pline is maintained without resort to punishments which partake of cruelty. The employment of
the inmates, the disposal of manufactured products, and the purchase of raw material, so as to secure the best financial results, are duties Captain Nichol- son has met and solved with excellent business judgment, and it is evident that he discharges every obligation of his public office with the same care he would exercise in his own private business. He has prepared and read several valuable papers on subjects connected with prison management, and his care and conscientiousness have resulted in placing the Detroit House of Correction in the front rank of reformatory institutions.
Captain Nicholson has always been a zealous and active member of the Democratic party. From 1875 to 1878 he represented the Ninth Ward in the School Board. In 1877 he was the Democratic candidate for Sheriff, but was defeated by a com- bination between the Republican and Greenback parties. Although the office he holds is a political one, politics have been so divorced from its man- agement that it may be said to be non-partisan.
Captain Nicholson was married- in Dublin, Ire- land, in 1860, to Henrietta Nicholson. She died in 1865, leaving three children, of whom two are now living. In 1868 he married Elizabeth A. Gillman. They have had three children, none of whom are living.
For the land of his birth Captain Nicholson cherishes a most sincere affection, and is in hearty sympathy with the efforts of the conservative lead- ers of Ireland to mitigate the condition of the people of that unhappy land. He takes great interest in boating and yachting, and is a member and director of the Michigan Yacht Club. He is also a member of the Oriental Lodge of Masons, of Peninsular Chapter, the Detroit Commandery of Knights Templar, and of all Masonic bodies to the thirty-third degree. He also belongs to the Grosse Pointe Club, and is an honorary member of nearly all the military organizations of Detroit.
Personally he is of a genial, pleasant disposition, and is careful, considerate, and watchful in the administration of the important trusts reposed in his hands. While exacting in his demands upon his subordinates, he is not overbearing or arrogant. Long experience in the management of men, and in later years of criminal classes, has only increased his natural kindness of heart. His sympathies are easily aroused, and many an unfortunate prisoner has found in him a sincere and helpful friend. In the institution over which he has so long presided, the work of reformation has been a leading feature. The best estimate of a man's powers and qualities can be found in the work he has done, and in the repute in which he is held by those who know him best. Judged by these standards, Captain Nicholson holds an honorable position, and is recognized
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as a most estimable and worthy citizen in the community and State, and few men are more gen- erally known.
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