USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 106
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In his youthful days James E. Wilson attended the schools of Brantford, Ontario, and afterward began learning the shoe business at Brantford, thus receiv- ing his initial training in commercial pursuits. He came to Detroit in 1888 and continued in the shoe trade in various capacities and with several different
JAMES E. WILSON
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firms. He was with the Fyfe Shoe Company of De- troit for seven years and worked his way upward to the position of superintendent, serving in that ca- pacity at the time he resigned in 1904 in order to organize the Wilson Shoe Company. In this connection he handles the famous Walk-Over shoes in Detroit. When he organized the business he occupied but one floor of a store building and today he has four store buildings, all on Woodward avenue, utilizing five floors for one of these establishments. In a word, he has developed one of the largest retail shoe concerns of Detroit, carrying on a tremendous business which furnishes employment to seventy-six sales people. At the beginning Mr. Wilson was made general manager and a few years later he was made president of the enterprise and his success has had its root in his thorough understanding of the trade, his unfaltering attention to the business, his earnest desire to please his customers and his strictly reliable and progressive methods.
On the 24th of Angust, 1894, Mr. Wilson was married to Miss Lorissa M. Hare of Detroit, Michigan, daugh- ter of Adelbert Hare. Mr. Wilson is well known on the golf links, belonging to the Red Run Golf Club. He is also a Knights Templar Mason, belonging to Detroit Commandery, No. 1, faithfully following the teachings and purposes of the craft and is a mem- ber of Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to the Detroit Athletic Club and Detroit Board of Commerce and his position in commercial circles is indicated by the fact that in 1919 he was honored with the presidency of the Retail Merchants Bureau of Detroit. He has been a close student of conditions affecting trade welfare in this city and his initiative has been manifest in splendid practical ideas which he has put forth, not only for the de- velopment of his own business but for the promotion of commerical activity along many lines.
JOSEPH BERNARD SCHLOTMAN has since Feb- ruary, 1917, given his entire attention to war work and to public activities growing out of war conditions. His patriotism stands as one of his most marked char- acteristics and he has labored as well for the pro- motion of many civic enterprises. He is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, born March 19, 1882, his father being Frank J. Schlotman, who was also a native of Cin- cinnati and was a son of Frank J. and Katherine (Bonner) Schlotman. The mother of Joseph B. Schlot- man bore the maiden name of Mary Quinn and was a daughter of John and Mary Quinn.
In the acquirement of his education Joseph B. Schlotman attended the public and high schools of Cincinnati and for a number of years he figured prom- inently in the business circles of Detroit, being from 1905 until 1909 secretary of the Ray Chemical Com- pany of this city and through the succeeding year treasurer and general manager of the same company. In 1911 he retired from active business on account
of ill health, merely giving his attention to the supervision of his invested interests.
On the 30th of April, 1914, in Detroit, Mr. Schlot- man was united in marriage to Miss Stella Dunbar Ford, a daughter of Emory Low and Ella (Neat) Ford, residents of Detroit. Her grandfather, Captain John B. Ford, was the founder of the plate glass industry in the United States and organizer and the first president of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Com- pany. He was likewise the organizer of the Michigan Alkali Company and of the J. B. Ford Company of Detroit. To Mr. and Mrs. Schlotman have been born two daughters: Josephine Ford and Patricia Ford.
Mr. Schlotman is a member of the Country Club, the Bloomfield Hills Country Club, the Detroit Golf Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Club, the Grosse Pointe Riding and Hunt Club and the Erie Shooting and Fishing Club. He is an expert golf player and is rated as one of the most proficient of the amateur golfers of the country. In the summer of 1920 he was the winner of the district tournament in Detroit, during the course of which he defeated many of the best exponents of the game in the city.
Even before America entered into the World war Mr. Schlotman had taken up active work in connection with the government and his time was given to war activities .from February, 1917. He was made chair- man of the executive committee of the Detroit Chapter of the American Red Cross, was vice president of the Detroit Patriotic Fund and a member of the Wayne County War Board. Mr. Schlotman has been identified with the Detroit Community Fund ever since its in- ception and served two years as vice president and chairman of the executive committee.
He is one of the best known of Detroit's wealthy citizens, occupying a position of very high social standing, and is a patron of outdoor sports and of civic enterprises, while his helpfulness toward and his generous contribution to all kinds of patriotic work have stamped him as a man of superlative char- acter and ideals. His business interests are largely those of the careful investor and he is still a director of the First & Old Detroit National Bank and of the Central Savings Bank. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Grosse Pointe Presbyterian church, of which he is a trustee.
STANLEY G. STEVENS, of the W. S. Rathbone Land Company, Ltd., of Detroit, and a resident of Ann Arbor, was born in Chicago, Illinois, November 4, 1875, his parents being Enoch B. and Elizabeth (Larminie) Stevens. After pursuing a public school education and a course in a collegiate institute of North Carolina, he started out in the business world as a representative of the United States weather bu- reau at Wilmington, North Carolina, and remained in that connection for two years. In 1896 he arrived
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in Detroit and became associated in business with W. S. Rathbone, with whom he entered into partner- ship in 1903, in which year the W. S. Rathbone Land Company, Ltd., was organized, with William S. Rath- bone of New York city as the president and Mr. Stevens as the secretary and business manager. This company conducts a general land business and also handles plate glass and fire insurance. Mr. Stevens likewise is manager of the Home Construction Com- pany and manager of the Country Estate Company, which makes a specialty of handling country homes. He has thoroughly acquainted himself with real estate conditions and the real estate market and has oper- ated largely in the field of insurance, his business interests becoming extensive and of an important character. He is a director of the Northern Assur- ance Company of Detroit.
In Detroit, in 1901, Mr. Stevens was united in marriage to Miss Florence O. Jackson and their chil- dren are S. Larminie, Roger L. and Harlow D. For four years the family residence has been maintained at Ann Arbor. Mr. Stevents is identified with the Unitarian church and his political endorsement is given to the republican party. He is identified with the Detroit Board of Commerce, also with the Detroit Boat Club, the Detroit Tennis Club, the Barton Hills Country Club of Ann Arbor and the Old Colony Club, Ann Arbor Board of Commerce and University of Michigan Union. His business and social activities have made him widely known at various points in the state and through the handling of realty he has con- tributed in large measure to the development and upbuilding of Detroit, where his labors have been so directed as to win substantial prosperity.
HERMAN W. SCHMEMAN, whose business rating places him as one of the most successful insurance men of Detroit, started out to earn his living as a newsboy when a lad of but five years, following the death of his father. He has justly won the proud American title of a self-made man, nor have his efforts been confined merely to an attempt to win prosperity. On the other hand he has constantly recognized the duties and the obligations of the more prosperous toward the unfortunate and especially has he been the friend and benefactor of the poor kid- dies. Music, too, has had large place in his life and for many years he has been at the head of a musical organization, now known as Schmeman's Mil- itary Band. There is much of interest and much that is stimulating in his life record and should serve as a source of inspiration and encouragement to others. Born in Detroit on the 24th of February, 1878, his parents were Herman W. and Marie (Runde) Schmeman, both of whom have passed away. Their family numbered four children. The son, Herman, was but five years of age when in 1883 his father's death occurred. Whenever possible he attended the public schools, but the necessity of providing for
his own support and contributing to that of the family made it impossible for him to continue his studies with the regularity that most boys may enjoy. One of the local papers, writing of his career, said: "Herman, in shattered trousers and homemade shirt, took his place among the business men of America. He became a newsboy. And in becoming a newsboy and getting himself known by his industry and determination he stumbled upon an opportunity which made his career. He had been a charter member of the News- boys' Association, organized in the '80s, and when Caton's Business College told the board of directors of that organization to pick one of the association's members for a three months' scholarship, free of charge, Herman got the appointment. It was like a chance from a dream world, for his youthful ambi- tions were centered on bookkeeping. So he mustered all the energy he had and when the three months were up he had hoarded enough pennies to pay for another three months and complete the course. Seek- ing a job, he found he was too young to be employed as a bookkeeper. Consequently he worked at various tasks, being most of the time an elevator operator, until he was seventeen years old. Then he became a bookkeeper in an insurance agency and worked at it ten years, worked at it long, worked at it Sundays, holidays and even on Christmas, whenever there was work to do. 'It was my creed,' he says, 'never to allow the conditions of my employment to interfere with my application to work. I meant to build my character on the principle of giving all there was in me to any job I undertook, regardless of compensa- tion.' Thus when it came about at the end of his ten years as bookkeeper and he went into business for himself he found his old employers among his best friends."
The qualities that characterized his boyhood have been the dominant forces in his progress in manhood. During the last decade and a half which he has de- voted to the fire insurance business he has developed one of the largest agencies in Detroit and is now known as supervising agent of the National Liberty Insurance Company of America. He has also operated to a considerable extent in real estate, his investments having brought to him hundreds of thousands of dol- lars. Questioned one time as to his advancement Mr. Schmeman said: "My success is due to my early training as a newsboy and to the opportunity to go to a business college presented to me by the News- boys' Association, coupled with the fact that I have always worked hard and given strict attention to business. There is more opportunity right now in Detroit for any poor boy with the right stuff in him than at any time in history. If you want anything, go after it hard; don't wait for it to come to you. Have individuality and show initiative and never forget to put confidence in yourself. And, above all, be square. It sounds like old doctrine, but it is the cornerstone on which every success in the world
HERMAN W. SCHMEMAN
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CITY OF DETROIT
has been built and on which all the successes of the future will continue to be built."
On the 23d of January, 1901, Mr. Schmeman was married to Miss Elvine Robitoy of Detroit, and to them have been born five children: Herman W., Jr., now eighteeen years of age; Edward J., a youth of seventeen; George J., who is fifteen years of age; Philip N., aged thirteen; and Elvine, a little maiden of six summers. The family home is on Pallister avenue.
Fraternally Mr. Schmeman is connected with Pal- estine Lodge, F. & A. M .; King Cyrus Chapter, R. A. M .; Detroit Commandery, No. 1, K. T .; and with the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Masonic Country Club, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and the Detroit Automobile Club. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. His Chris- tianity has ever been of a most practical character, consisting of aid and encouragement to those who need assistance and the stimulation of interest in all those things which have intellectual and cultural value and moral worth in the world. From early boyhood he has been a lover of music and thirty years ago, when the original newsboys' band of Detroit was formed, he became a charter member. In 1898 the band was taken into the Detroit Light Guard and subsequently became the regimental band of the First Infantry, M. N. G. During the first four years as regimental band he was principal musician, being cor- netist, and since that time he has been bandmaster. With the reorganization in 1906 it became known as Schmeman's Military Band and during more than a decade has been the official municipal band of Detroit and recognized as one of the leading organizations of its kind in the country. Each year during the sum- mer season it gives thirteen concerts a week in the various city parts and it is a matter of interest that the organization is composed largely of former news- boys. The Free Press of December 16, 1920, says of it: "It has been of tremendous service to the city, giving its time voluntarily to many worthy causes. " Moreover, the band members do everything in their power to interest the people of Detroit in buy- ing newspapers from former newsboys every De- cember to aid in making Christmas a happy holiday for poor families, and this is another line of interest and activity in the life of Mr. Schmeman. He became general chairman of the Detroit Christmas Bureau, which was established as a "good fellow" movement. He enlisted the cooperation of the city newspapers two years ago in establishing a fair way of aiding the poor at Christmas time. Hitherto there had been considerable imposition practiced upon those who wished to aid, and many needy families were missed, while others, perhaps not so destitute, were overloaded with gifts of food from many sources. The Bureau established a central distribution point and the new organization took over several other insti- tutions. The systematizing of the work led to the
care of seventy-five hundred children on Christmas of 1919. Mr. Schmeman is now the treasurer of the De- troit Christmas Fund, which amounted to twenty thou- sand dollars in 1919. Band music in the streets in zero weather for the benefit of the fund, given free by the musicians, is a feature of this work. To him the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes, written concern- ing a certain college classmate whose benevolences were many, may well apply:
"You see that boy laughing, you think he's all fun; But the angels laugh, too, at the good he has done. The children laugh loud as they troop to his call,
But the poor man that knows him laughs londest of all."
WILLIAM H. BEAMER, formerly well known in hotel circles and now connected with various business enterprises in Detroit, was born July 4, 1861, in the city which is still his home. He is a son of Daniel W. and Jennie (Downs) Beamer, both of whom were of Canadian birth but came to Detroit in carly life. Later the father was active along commercial lines, conducting a grocery business at the northwest corner of Randolph and what was at that time East Fort street, now in the heart of the down-town district. Both he and his wife passed away in Detroit.
William H. Beamer attended the public schools in Detroit and after his textbooks were put aside he went to Colorado, where he engaged in prospecting and mining through the Rockies. After roughing it for five years he returned to his native city and opened a grocery store and meat market at No. 149 Grand River avenne. There he successfully conducted busi- ness for two years, at the end of which time he sold his store and in 1885 opened the Library Park Hotel on Library avenue, just across the street from the Detroit Public Library. This he owned and con- ducted until 1919. In the meantime he had enlarged and modernized the hotel at different periods until it became one of Detroit's best known and most popular hostelries.
Mr. Beamer has always taken a keen and helpful interest in the betterment of his native city and has filled several important offices of public trust. From 1894 until 1902 he was a member of the city council, being elected for four successive terms from the first ward, and during that period he acted as president of the council in 1900. He is interested in a number of successful business enterprises, being president of the Canadian Gas Company, a director of the American Loan & Trust Company, also vice president of the Silver Springs Water Company, and thus in various ways he is contributing to the business activity of the city.
On the 16th of August, 1880, Mr. Beamer was mar- ried to Miss Florence G. Turner of Detroit, a daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Porter Turner, the former a well known leather merchant of this city. They have become parents of three children, the eldest being Myrtle, now Mrs. J. F. Bowman, who was born and
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educated in Detroit and now resides in Lima, Ohio. She has one child, William Beamer Bowman, born in 1914; the second daughter, Grace Beamer, was also born and educated in Detroit; the son, William L. Beamer, was born in this city June 22, 1897, attended the public schools and the Detroit University, from which he was graduated in 1914. and after leaving school entered the employ of the Chevrolet Motor Company. After a short time he and his father took an extended trip to all parts of the United States, Panama and the West Indies. Following his return he established the Silver Springs Water Company for the purpose of supplying pure spring water for drink- ing purposes to hotels, apartments, offices and homes throughout the city. This business has grown to large proportions and is today one of the important com- mercial concerns of Detroit. During the war William L. Beamer joined the First Officers' Training Camp at Fort Sheridan and later was transferred to the University of Illinois to receive training on the flying field for the aviation department of the army. He was afterward at Chanute Field, Rantoul, Illinois, until the close of the war. He is a member of various lead- ing clubs of the city, including the Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Oakland Hills Coun- try Club, the Bloomfield Hills Country Club, the Detroit Golf Club and the Automobile Country Club, and is a member of the Lambda Sigma, a Greek letter fraternity and the Detroit Board of Commerce.
EDWARD SCHEIDERER, secretary and treasurer of the Kirby-Sorge-Felske Company, real estate deal- ers of Detroit, was born in Marysville, Ohio, April 6, 1887, and in the acquirement of his education attended the public schools of his native town, and afterward the Woodville Normal school, in which he was a student for five years, being graduated with the class of 1904. He then took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for two and a half years in Ohio and in Detroit, and afterward became associated with an accounting firm. Each change in his business life has marked a forward step and his progress has been continuous. He did much municipal accounting in connection with Howard Beck, and his labors resulted in unearthing two deficiencies in treasuries which were later made up by the incumbent in the office. He went to Washington, D. C., with Howard Beck as special accountant and worked on President Taft's Economy and Efficiency Commission. Their work helped to lay the foundation of a budget system and although the work was suspended with the change of administration, its value has been recognized and appreciated and the same line of work has been again taken up. They found different bureaus overlapping in their work, involving extra expense, and made recommendations that have since been acted upon. Mr. Scheiderer's work was mainly confined to the departments of state and Indian affairs. In 1913 he came to Detroit, and joined the Kirby-Sorge-Felske
Company, real estate dealers, of which he is now the secretary and treasurer. This company has made steady progress in its business and its clientage is extensive.
On November 18, 1914, Mr. Scheiderer was married to Miss Elsie Ebert of Manistee, Michigan, who passed away March 27, 1920, leaving one son, Edward, Jr., born June 25, 1917. Mr. Scheiderer is very active as a member of the First English Lutheran church, is serving as superintendent of the Sunday school, is a member of the vestry and secretary of the Brother- hood. In a word he does everything in his power to promote the work of the church and extend its in- fluence. He also takes great interest in the city and in public affairs in general, and his influence is always on the side of progress, reform and improvement.
JAMES JESSE FERRIS, practicing at the Detroit bar as a member of the firm of Clark, Emmons, Bryant, Klein & Brown, was born in Lakefield township, Sag- inaw county, Michigan, October 31, 1887, and is a son of Jesse H. and Violet (Galloway) Ferris. His father is a hotel proprietor and was formerly iden- fied with farming interests.
James J. Ferris began his education in the country schools while spending his youthful days under the parental roof and afterward continued his education in the public schools of Bridgeport, Michigan, where he was graduated in 1904. He later attended the East Side high school at Saginaw, Michigan, and was grad- uated therefrom with the class of 1908. He prepared for his professional career as a law student in the University of Michigan and is numbered among its alumni of 1912. He has since engaged in general prac- tice and has made steady and consistent advancement in his chosen profession. In January, 1917, he became a member of the firm of Clark, Emmons, Bryant, Klein & Brown and has since been thus associated. The firm is a prominent one at the bar of Detroit and its practice is extensive and of a most important char- acter. Mr. Ferris belongs to the Detroit Bar Associa- tion, the Michigan Bar Association, and also to the Lawyers Club.
Ou the 31st of May, 1914, Mr. Ferris was married to Miss Anna MacKay of New York city, and they have one child: Helen MacKay. Mr. Ferris is a mem- ber of Sojourners Lodge, F. & A. M., of which he is senior deacon; Sojourners Chapter, R. A. M .; Damascus Commandery, Knights Templar; Michigan Sovereign Consistory, and Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. In 1917-18 he was commander of Greater Detroit Tent, No. 33, of the Knights of the Maccabees. He likewise has membership in the Phi Sigma Kappa and was president of the Detroit chapter of that fra- ternity in 1920-21. No good work done in the name of charity or religion seeks his aid in vain. He is a member of the Woodward Avenue Baptist church and served as assistant superintendent of the Sunday school 1919-1920, and in 1921 was elected clerk of the church.
EDWARD SCHEIDERER
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He was a member of the council and chairman of the finance committee of the Michigan Child Welfare League, with which he was associated from its incor- poration in 1912 until it was consolidated in 1917, with the Van Lenven Browne School, forming what is now the Michigan Hospital School, of which he has been a member of the board of directors since its organization, and member of its executive committee, having supervision of its finances. His entire career has been characterized by lofty patriotism and during the period of the World war he became one of the Four-Minute men. He was also an associate director of the legal advisory board during the World war and he is a member of the American Protective League. His loyalty to his country has always been a dominating element in his life and he stands equally firm in support of those interests and activities which are a matter of eivie virtne and of civic pride.
FREDERICK T. DUCHARME, treasurer of the Ire- land & Matthews Manufacturing Company and one of Detroit's progressive business men, was born in this city on October 21, 1864, a son of Charles and Elsie Elizabeth (Bartholmew) Ducharme, a sketch of the father appearing elsewhere in this publication. The educational advantages of Frederick T. Ducharme were those offered by the public schools of Detroit and the University of Michigan, and npon starting out in the business world he became connected with interests and activities which have led him through the steps of an orderly progression to the important position which he now ocenpies as treasurer of the Ireland & Matthews Manufacturing Company. He was called to this position in 1889 and for a period of thirty-two years has so continued. He is a director of the De- troit Savings Bank, and for six years has been the president of the National Can Company. He is also director of the Digestive Ferments Company, and his business affairs are of an important and extensive character, gaining him a position of prominence in the business circles of the city.
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