USA > Michigan > Men of progress : embracing biographical sketches of representative Michigan men with an outline history of the state > Part 45
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
CHARLES DEWITT LAWTON.
work, for which he received the appropriation provided by the state. In 1884 Gov. Alger appointed him Commissioner of Mineral Sta- tisties, having first offered him the appoint- ment of State Geologist. He continued to hold the office until 1891, publishing each year a report covering the mines and mineral in- terests of the state. These reports are now much sought for and prized by men in all parts of the world who are interested in Michi- gan geology and Michigan mines.
Mr. Lawton has always been an active Re- publiean, though never an aspirant for political office. The office of Regent of the University can hardly be termed a political one, and for this trust he was urged by his friends before the Republican State Convention in 1897, resulting in his nomination and election.
With his activity in other industries, Mr. Lawton has surpassed the average citizen in adding to the population of the state. Mar- ried in 1860 at Seneca Falls, N. Y., to Miss Lovina L. Latham, daughter of O. S. Latham, nine children, five sons and four danghters, all living, have been the fruit of the union. The sons are all filling nseful positions in the professions, the daughters being liberally edu- cated. Mr. Lawton has been a member of the Masonic fraternity since 1860. Ile still re- sides at Lawton, noor which he has extensive farming interests.
328
MEN OF PROGRESS.
WILLIAM W. TERRIFF.
TERRIFF, WILLIAM W. W. W. Ter- riff, of Portland, Mich., was born on a farm near Guelph, Ontario, July 16, 1866. His antecedents on both sides were Scotch, his father being a native of Aberdeen, Scotland. After leaving school he worked in a dry goods store in a country town, later accepting a posi- tion as timekeeper in the shops of the Mid- land Railway, then located at Port Hope; then went to Rochester, New York, finding a position in a large department store. When living at home, he was called upon to assist in doing the family washing, from which he conceived the thought of inventing a wash- ing machine. After several experiments and disappointments, he scored a success, and after securing his patent and selling a large number of machines, he sold his Canadian right and secured a patent in the United States. In September, 1889, he came to Grand Rapids, but found washing machines more plentiful here than in Canada and they seemed almost a drug on the market. He tried to interest several manufacturers in and around Grand Rapids, but none could be induced to even make machines for him at a given price, until he met Mr. C. J. Warren, of Portland, who was at that time making furniture in a small way, and with whom he succeeded in making a contract for a given number of washers at a given price, while the inventor exploited the territory. After about six months sell-
ing machines and territory in Michigan, a stock company was organized in Portland for the manufacture of the machines, under the style of the Portland Manufacturing Co.
Mr. Terriff engaged with the company at a salary of $50 per month and 25 cents royalty on each machine, he to go on the road and appoint agents; but after ten months he returned home, only to find the stockholders discouraged and on the point of abandoning the enterprise, but Mr. Terriff made them a proposition to continue for another year and give him the entire management, without compensation other than his royalty. This they accepted, and at the end of the first vear a cash dividend of 20 per cent. was de- clared, with one-half of the company's in- debtedness paid off. At the end of the sec- ond year, he handed them a cash dividend of 50 per cent. and all indebtedness paid. The next year the stockholders received a cash dividend of 100 per cent. and the stock is now worth 500 cents on the dollar and no one willing to sell at that. The Portland Manufacturing Co. is now one of the largest and most successful washing machine fac- tories in the country.
The reasons for Mr. Terriff's success are not difficult to understand. Before he was an inventor, he was a salesman, and under- stood the tribulations of the chap who solieits orders for a washing machine. Unlike most inventors, he has remarkable ability in the management and exploitation of his device or produet, and can handle successfully a busi- ness which has strewn the country with wrecks in the shape of dismantled and abandoned manufacturing plants, and win suecess where others have achieved only failure. He is also one of the organizers of the Portland Furni- ture Co. and a stockholder in the Michigan Commode and Cabinet Co.
Mr. Terriff was one of the original organ- izers of the Wolverine Soap Co., but had no active part in its management, but when the soap business was on the point of collapse, he bought out the other stockholders and now has the management of the company, which paid a dividend of 65 per cent the first year, and there is every prospeet of the stock being even more valuable than that of the Port- land Manufacturing Co.
Mr. Terriff is comparatively a young man, and his remarkable record is due wholly to the exceptional executive ability with which he is endowed, and he is looked upon as one of the shrewdest business men in Michigan.
329
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
PARKER, G. WHITBECK. Marine City's young mayor, G. Whitbeck Parker, represents the progressive element of that city, and he has been instrumental in push- ing suggested improvements and all move- ments tending toward the advancement of that city. He is a Democrat and was elected to the office of mayor April 4, 1897, re-elected in 1898, in a city which usually gives from 100 to 250 Republican majority. Although the balance of the Republican ticket was elected at the time of Mr. Parker's election, he carried the city by a handsome plurality. Such honor is seldom accorded so young a man as Mr. Parker, and it must be credited to his popular- ity among all classes, especially the business element of Marine City, in which the young mayor is a sturdy and prominent figure. As junior member of the firm of L. B. Parker & Son, he is part owner of a line of vessels now plying the lakes, and he was given the posi- tion of manager with an interest in his father's business when only 21 years of age.
The extreme youth of the junior member of the firm of L. B. Parker & Son was at one time a great subject for jest among the ves- sel owners, who gave him the title of "the persistent kid," and he has never been ashamed of that name, for this trait in his character has given him a high standing among the larger vessel owners; and he has shown that thorough his characteristic persis- tency he has been able to make a success in his work. Even in dull times "the persistent kid" has managed to hustle up business, keep- ing his boats moving all the time, and yet finding plenty of opportunity to exercise his functions as mayor of the city in which he lives and works.
Mr. Parker was born in Marine City, June 22, 1868, and he received a portion of his education there, finishing up at that splendid Michigan institution, the Michigan Military Academy, where he received the training which has stood him in such good stead in
G. WHITBECK PARKER.
the business world. He comes from good, old American stock, as the name Parker implies. His great grandfather, Robert Parker, helped in the war of the American colonies against the mother country in 1776, and the Parkers have been identified with the history of the early days of the American republic, especi- ally down east, in that cradle of liberty, Massachusetts.
As mayor of his native city, Mr. Parker has won the respect of his townsmen by his firmness of character, his executive ability and his non-partisan methods. His efforts have always been to conduct the affairs of the city in a thoroughly business-like manner, and with these ends in view, the advancement of its interests, the enlargement of its com- mercial resources, the proper conduct of its municipal offices and the good government of its people.
Mr. Parker is a bachelor, and is not a mem- ber of any secret organization. He belongs to the Newport Club, however, the local social club of Marine City, connodore of the Lake St. Clair Ice Yacht Club, and is presi- dent of the local gun club.
330
MEN OF PROGRESS.
MARK HOPKINS.
HOPKINS, MARK. Mark Hopkins, of St. Clair, a well-known capitalist and promi- nent man of that city, is the great-grandson of Sammel Hopkins, the first pastor of the church in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and a direct descendant of Rev. Mark Hop- kins, D. D., for many years president of Williams College, who was a direct descen- dant of Sir Richard Hopkins. In England, this family has been represented in Parlia- ment for a period of four hundred years. John Hopkins, the founder of the family in this country, came to America in 1804.
Samuel Hopkins, the father of Mark Hop- kins, was born in Berkshire county, Massa- elmsetts, and came to Michigan with his father as early as 1824, settling in the city of Detroit. In the fall of that year the fam- ily moved to Palner, now St. Clair, leaving young Sammuel in Detroit, where he remained for a time before going to work with his parents in St. Clair. In 1831 he married Miss Mary A. Keeney, and out of the large family born to them, Mark and Edward Hopkins alone survive. Samuel Hopkins
moved to St. Clair after his marriage, open- ing a carpenter and joining shop, where he taught his son Mark that trade. Mark was sent to an academy in that city, taught by Rev. O. (. Thompson, where he received a substantial education.
In 1859 he went to Houghton, Michigan, where for a time he was employed as a pat- termmaker in an iron works. Before this he had become interested in a planing mill in Wisconsin, which he owned and operated for some time. He lived for a while in Chi- cago, but owing to business reverses, found himself compelled to return to St. Clair, where he engaged in manufacturing hubs and spokes. Through the death of his brother, Mark Ilopkins, of California, in 1878, Samuel Hopkins inherited a large fortune, which did not pass to his sons, except in the way of gifts, until some years later, when, by the death of himself and his wife, the estate descended to their sons. Since that time Mark Hopkins has inherited another large amount through the death of another uncle.
Mark Hopkins owns large property in- terests in St. Clair, and is interested in the Hopkins Steamboat Company. He was the original promoter and stockholder in the Diamond Crystal Salt Company, and owns the property now leased for foundry purposes to D. LaMont. Mr. Hopkins was one of the promoters of the Somerville School for Young Ladies, which was afterwards converted into the Somerville Springs Resort, managed now by Mr. Hopkins' only son, Walter J. Ilopkins.
The wealth brought to St. Clair by the Hopkins family has been of great material benefit to that city. The building of the beautiful home kept many people employed, and the paving of Front street, from Somer- ville to Oakland, as well as the water works, are among the improvements given St. Clair by Mark Hopkins.
That the people of St. Clair have at least in a measure appreciated this fact is shown by the fact that Mr. Hopkins has served one term on the school board, one term as alder- man and two terms as mayor of St. Clair.
331
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
WOODWORTH, M. D., FRED DE FOREST. Fred De Forest Woodworth, County Clerk of Ingham County, Michigan, and a resident of the county seat, Mason, is the son of George W. Woodworth, who came to Michigan from New York State in 1831 and settled near Jackson, Michigan. The family is an old one in the United States, coming from England in the latter part of the sixteenth century, and locating in New York State. and afterwards in New England, where the name is an old and respected one today.
The elder Woodworth engaged in farming near Jackson and became quite well to do. Fred De Forest Woodworth was born on the farm, December 9, 1846, and when old enongh sent to the district school until his 14th year and then to the public schools of Jackson and later to the High School of that city, from which he graduated when 17 years old. Ile expressed his desire of becoming a civil engineer and the next four years of his life were spent as a student inder Henry O. Bean.
The death of his father npset the young man's plans, and his mother persnaded him to give up his civil engineering work and take up the study of medicine as his elder brother was a successful physician enjoying a large practice at Leslie, Michigan. In compliance with his mother's wishes, Fred then turned his attention to the study of medicine, read- ing in his brother's office at Leslie, and in the fall of 1866 entering the medical depart- ment of the University of Michigan. Ile graduated from the Detroit Medical College of Michigan in 1869, and after receiving his diploma and the title of M. D., he entered into partnership with his brother at Leslie, and re- mained with him for one year. Money did not flow in fast enough to suit the young doc- tor so he began to look about for a more favor- able opening for himself, where the chance
FRED DE FOREST WOODWORTH, M. D
of making a good income was afforded him. In the spring of 1870 he went to Whitehall, Mich., and finding an office, hung ont his sign and waited for patients. The town was then a lively Imbering center, but eight other doc- tors had located there previous to Dr. Wood- worth's coming, and at the end of six months Dr. Woodworth wrote home to his brother and borrowed enough money to get out of the town. In May, 1871, he removed to Onon- daga, Michigan, and established a good prac- tice, following his profession until January 1, 1899, when he assumed the duties of county clerk of Ingham county, and removed to Mason, where he now resides.
He is a Republican, and has held the office of township clerk of schools for six years; township clerk of Onondaga Township, and supervisor, Ingham County board, one year. Tu 1898 he was nominated on the Republican ticket for county clerk.
Dr. Woodworth is a Mason, Knights Tem- plar and an Elk. He married Miss Louise C. Baldwin, daughter of Thomas K. Baldwin, at Onondaga, in 1873.
332
MEN OF PROGRESS.
HON. JUSTIN RICE WHITING.
WHITING, HON. JUSTIN RICE. Foremost among the men who have been identified with the progress of this State stands Justin Rice Whiting, the best known representative of democratic principle in Michigan, and a prominent figure in its political history.
He was born in Bath, Steuben Comty, New York, February 18, 1847, but he has lived in St. Clair since 1849. His father, Col. Henry Whiting, came from New York State to Michigan in 1844, but after a short stay returned to his native state. In 1849 C'ol. Whiting founded at St. Clair the mer- cantile business still conducted under the Whiting name.
Justin was prepared for college in the dis- trict school of St. Clair, and entered the University of Michigan at the age of seven- teen. He continued his studies until the be- ginning of his junior vear, then left school to take a place in the store, later becoming a partner with his father.
In 1879, he was elected mayor of St. Clair; for three years he was director of the Union School, and afterwards was moderator of the
Board of Trustees. In 1880 he took an active part in the establishment of the Som- merville School for Women. He affiliated with the Republican party until 1876, when he voted for Peter Cooper. Mr. Whiting also served on the Board of Aldermen in St. Clair for several terms. He was elected to the State Senate from the Seventeenth Dis- triet (St. Clair Comty) in 1882, on the "Peo- ple's Ticket."
Mr. Whiting declined a renomination for the Senate in: 1884, but 1886, when that locally celebrated "Telephone Convention" occured, he accepted a nomination for Con- gress. Mr. Whiting would have declined this nomination, and had entered the hall of the convention for that purpose, when the chair- man, Judge Walker, of Capac, declared the convention adjourned sine die. The "Old Man of the Sea" of the Republican party, John P. Sanborn, was his opponent. When the votes were counted, Sanborn was shown to be beaten, his minority being 827. Carlisle was speaker when Mr. Whiting first took his seat in Washington. Mr. Whiting represented his district in the fiftieth, fifty-first, fifty-sec- ond and fifty-third Congresses. In 1896 he was Democratic nominee for lieutenant-gov- ernor, and in 1898 he was nominated for Gov- ernor on the Democratic ticket, but was de- feated by Governor Pingree.
In 1868 Justin R. Whiting married Miss Emily F. Owen, the daughter of the sister of the late E. B. Ward, and the wedding took place at the Ward residence on Fort street west, Detroit. They have been the parents of eleven children, eight of whom are living.
Mr. Whiting is the vice-president of the Ward Lumber Company, of Chicago, Illinois, a stockholder in the Inter-Ocean Transporta- tion Company, of Milwaukee, senior member of the firm of J: R. Whiting & Company, of St. Clair, and was one of the organizers of the Diamond Crystal Salt Company, of St. Clair. He is a Mason, a Knights Templar, belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of the Maccabees, and the Indepen- dent Order of Foresters.
333
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
CUDDIHY, JOHN DONNELL. John Donnell C'uddihy is the Democratic leader of the Calmnet distriet, and a man of sterling business character, well known and liked throughout the county. He is a Michigan man, having been born in this State, and his father, ('aptain Michael Cuddihy, was one of the first settlers in the copper country, coming to Michigan from near Tipperary, Ireland, in 1854. The old gentleman was one of the first mining captains in the copper country.
John Donnell Cuddihy was born in Hough- ton, Michigan, Jannary 15, 1857, at the Isle Royal minc, where his father was employed at the time. Later the family moved to Han- cock, Michigan, where the boy attended the public school, until another move on the part of the family took him to the town of Calu- met, which at that time was only a little min- ing camp. As the town increased in size, a public school was built, and young Cuddihy was the first scholar enrolled, and one of the eight that stood for honors at the end of the first term.
He went to work when he was 15 years old at the Mineral Range telegraph office as a messenger boy, for the purpose of learning telegraphy. He was not paid for his services in delivering messages unless the message had to be carried over a mile from the office, when he received 25 cents per message, and at this ratio the largest amount he received for one month's work amounted to $2.75. In less than nine months he had mastered the dots and dashes of the Morse system, and was then assigned as an operator to Eagle River, Miehi- gan, where he received a salary of $15.00 per month and board. He remained in that posi- tion until April, 1874, and then in company with Captain Bendery went to Baraga, Miehi- gan, where the captain intended to establish a telegraph office. The arrangements in some way fell through, and young Cuddihy during the two months of waiting for the office to be- come a reality, secured work loading lumber into seows. He then learned that when the office was established he was only to receive
JOHN DONNELL CUDDIHY.
made him by Edward Ryan, he returned to his board for his services, and as an offer was ('alumet and went to work for him as clerk in a general store. Ile was promoted to head bookkeeper in 1879 and was made manager in 1887, in which position he still continues. The business is one of the most flourishing in the Upper Peninsula, and controls a large trade throughout the surrounding district.
Mr. Cuddihy has found time to devote to other enterprises, and is a director in the First National Bank of Calmmet. He is also a director in the Northern Michigan Building & Loan Association of Hancock, Michigan. Associated with his present employer, Mr. Edward Ryan, Mr. Onddihy was one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Cal- met, in 1886.
Mr. Cuddihy is a Democrat and has held a few political offices. Ile was recorder in 1882 and 1884. and from 1886 until 1892 president of Red Jacket. He was a member of the Democratic State Central Committee from 1894 until 1898. He is a Catholie, and associates with the following fraternal bodies : the B. P. O. E., A. O. U. W., A. O. Il. and Modern Woodmen of the World.
334
MEN OF PROGRESS.
WILLIAM J. DALEY.
DALEY, WILLIAM J. Born Novem. ber, 4, 1846, on a farm near Mt. Clemens, and educated in the public schools of that city, William J. Daley has taken an active part in the progress of Michigan and the his- tory of the United States.
Ilis hard work commenced very early in his career, and he has continued with the same amount of energy ever since.
When a lad, Mr. Daley drove a horse and cart in the employ of the Grand Trunk Rail- way Co., during the building of that now great system, and received for his services the sum of 48 cents per day. Later he worked in a "general store," until, in 1863, he enlisted in the United States navy to serve during the civil war. He was 17 years of age when, in the fall of 1864, he became a sailor in the navy of Unele Sam, and he served one year, leaving the service in 1865, at the close of the war. Mr. Daley was an able seaman on board the U. S. gunboat "For- rest. Rose," one of those light draught boats belonging to the "Mosquito Fleet," stationed in the Mississippi, engaged in patrol duty and
occasionally demolishing the batteries ereeted along the river by the Confederates.
After the war Mr. Daley again took up his commercial life in the store of Traver, Ste- phens & Traver, in Mt. Clemens, remaining with that firm until June, 1871, saving his earnings during that time with the intention of starting in business on his own account. At last he was able to do this, his first busi- ness venture being in the hardware business, in company with George W. Robertson, under the firm name of Robertson & Daley. This partnership, begun in June, 1871, con- tinned until 1880, when Mr. Daley sold out his interest in the hardware trade and, with Phil. Shook, started in the boat building bus- iness. The firm of Daley & Shook soon be- came well known, and was most successful. It, built many lake freighters, among them the Ida M. Torrent and Virginins, and at one time it owned five other vessels on the Great Lakes. Mr. Daley remained a member of this firm until 1889, when he sold out his interest.
In 1881 he organized the Mt. Clemens~ Bath Co., Limited, of Mt. Clemens, owning and operating the largest tub-bathing house in the world. This scheme was a success from the beginning. The capital stock of $16,000 has never been increased beyond that amount, and the company now owns an entire bloek in the very center of the city, together with its large bath house and valu- able plant. Mr. Daley has also invested in umch valnable real estate in the Bath City; he owns the Lexington Hotel, and was form- erly one of the owners of the Sherman House. His home, situated on South Gratiot avenue, is one of the prettiest in Mt. Clemens.
Mr. Daley has engaged in political life, having been elceted mayor of Mt. Clemens in 1888. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce, a director in the Ullrich Sav- ings Bank, and a member of the "Old ('rowd" and Mt. Clemens Clubs.
November 4, 1891, Mr. Daley married Miss Martha Blanche Johnson, daughter of Robert. F. Johnson, at Lexington, Kentucky.
335
HISTORICAL SKETCHES.
BENNETT, EBENEZER OMSTEAD, M. D. The story of the struggle of Eben- ezer Omstead Bennett to obtain an education and to make his way in the world should furnish excellent reading material for any young man who has become discouraged and feels like giving up the fight. Dr. Bennett was born in Maumee, Ohio, January 16, 1838. Ilis father, E. O. Bennett, who came from Connecticut, was a cabinet maker and joiner by trade.
When Dr. Bennett was still a boy the fam- ily moved to Michigan, and he was sent to the district school in Perrinville, Michigan.
Until he was twenty years of age the young man worked on a farm near Ypsilanti, and during the winter months he attended the High School in that eity. In his efforts to obtain an edneation at this period, young Bennett with four others, students like him- self, rented a small room at Ypsilanti. In this room they did their own cooking, study- ing, and, when night came, all five turned in together.
One spring young Bennett found himself short of funds and nuable to meet the ex- penses of his tuition. For a time things looked very cloudy, but Prof. Joseph Esta- brook, learning of the young student's di- emma, generously advanced the necessary amount, $4.50, out of his own purse. Shortly after this the young fellow worked in the hay fields until he earned enough money, and drove across the country to repay it.
He left school in Ypsilanti when he was 20 years of age and became a teacher in the school at New Boston, Mich. During the summer he returned home and assisted his father. In 1862 he visited an uncle in Vinton, Iowa, and while there was offered the position of principal in the school of that city. He accepted and remained there until 1863, when he returned to Wayne.
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.