USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 109
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Mr. Stephens was joined in wedlock to Miss Zella Perkins of Detroit, and they have become the parents of two children: Russell Browett, born October 19, 1909, in Detroit; and Frances Helen. Mr. Stephens is a member of the Grand River Avenue Christian church. His political support is given to the republican party and he never lightly regards the duties of citizenship but has never sought office as a reward for party fealty. He belongs to the Fellowcraft Athletic Club and the Detroit Automobile Club and also to the Ki- wanis Club, while along the line of his business activ- ity he is identified with the Michigan and National Associations of Ice Cream Manufacturers and as a representative of these bodies is continually studying everything that has to do with the development, pro- motion and protection of the trade.
GEORGE WILLIAM MUTTER, who for thirty-nine years was identified with the firm of Parke, Davis & Company in the capacity of purchasing agent and was a prominent figure in the business circles and club life of Detroit, passed away on the 22d of June, 1921. He was at that time sixty-one years of age and had spent the greater part of his life in this city. His birth occurred in Detroit, Michigan, on the 24th of Feburary, 1860, his parents being Robert and Louise (Pavey) Mutter, whose family numbered three children. The father, who successfully followed general agricultural pursuits throughout his active business career, spent his last days in honorable re- tirement in Detroit.
In the acquirement of his education George W. Mutter attended the public and high schools and when
his textbooks were put aside entered the employ of Parke, Davis & Company, at which time he was yet a mere boy, while his financial resources amounted to but five dollars. His identification with this in- stitution covered a period of thirty-nine years. Dili- gence and faithfulness won him steady promotion until at length he was made general purchasing agent of the company, which he ably represented in that capacity through a period of many years, or until ill health necessitated his retirement on the 10th of May, 1921. His long retention in this connection gave un- mistakable proof of his efficiency as well as of his loyalty to the firm, which regarded him as one of its most valued and trustworthy representatives. He was also one of the directors of the Hayes Manufac- turing Company.
On the 15th of May, 1888, Mr. Mutter wedded Miss Annie Nicholas, who passed away May 29, 1907. By that union there were two children: Mamie Louise, who is the wife of Verne M. Davis and resides at 2027 Seward avenue in Detroit; and Harry V., who is the secretary of the Pringle Furniture Company of Detroit, residing at No. 305 East Grand boulevard. On the 9th of December, 1916, Mr. Mutter was again married, this union being with Miss Mae Webber, a daughter of Philip and Christine (Krauser) Webber, who were natives of Zeitloss, Germany, but emigrated to the United States in 1859.
Mr. Mutter was a worthy exemplar of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Oriental Lodge, No. 240, F. & A. M., and was likewise a member of the Detroit Club, Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit Golf Club and the Detroit Boat Club. Having spent the greater part of his life in Detroit, he had become widely and favorably known throughout the city and his demise was therefore the occasion of deep and widespread regret. His remains were interred in the Elmwood cemetery. Mrs. Mutter, who still resides in the fam- ily home at No. 422 East Grand boulevard, Detroit, is one of the well known and highly esteemed women of the city.
EDWARD P. TELOTTE, one of the popular auto- mobile dealers of Detroit, distributor of the Buick cars, conducting his business under the name of Edward P. Telotte & Company, was born in Morgan City, Louis- iana, November 2, 1882, a son of Jules P. and Victorine (Gaudin) Telotte. The mother is a representative of one of the most prominent French families of Louis- iana. The father was born in Lorraine, France, and came to America when a lad of ten years, always re- maining a resident of Louisiana. After attaining his majority he married and for many years he engaged in the timber business on his own account, becoming one of the successful men in that line in the state. He later withdrew from activity in connection with the timber trade and is now living retired in New Orleans, where he and his wife occupy a beautiful home in one of the finest residential sections of the city. In
GEORGE W. MUTTER
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their family were twelve children, two of whom have passed away, while those living are: Mrs. Joseph McCaulley, of Rockford, Illinois; Mrs. L. T. John- stone of New Orleans, Louisiana; Mrs. Edward Pres- ton of New Orleans; Edward P., of this review; Mrs. John La Coste of New Orleans; Mrs. C. E. Ives of Gueydan, Louisiana; Mrs. Tom O'Leary of Kansas City, Missouri; Mrs. T. J. St. Claire of Gilroy, Cal- ifornia; Mrs. James Cornell of New Orleans; and Mrs. Joseph Denziger, who also lives in the Crescent city.
Edward P. Telotte attended school at Alexandria, Louisiana, in his boyhood days and afterward be- came a student in St. Francis College at New Orleans. When his textbooks were put aside he established himself in the wholesale and retail ice business in the Crescent city but after a brief period gave up that line to become a cattle and stock trader, which business he conducted in connection with a meat market at Pollock, Louisiana. The reports which reached him concerning the rapid growth and develop- ment of Detroit determined him to remove to the city, which he did in 1906 and here secured a position with the Buick Motor Company, entering the sales department. He soon demonstrated his ability and was placed in charge of the work of teaching sales- men to drive a car. In 1912 he was sent by the Bnick Company to work on territory, being thus en- gaged from 1914 until 1915, when he was placed in charge of the sale of touring cars, continuing in that position until he decided to take a trip back to the home of his parents with a view to remaining. On the second day of his visit, however, he received a telegram from the company's headquarters telling him to return immediately to Detroit on important business. Not knowing what was to be expected, he returned to Detroit and was informed that after a conference he had been selected to take charge of one of the Buick Detroit branches as a distrib- utor. Not long afterward he bought the branch and has since built up a large and growing business, being one of the most successful automobile dealers in the city. He employs eighteen people and his business has reached a point that classes him with the leading automobile dealers not only of Detroit but of the state as well.
On the 30th of June, 1905, in Detroit, Mr. Telotte was married to Miss Leaf Tressa Morrison, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Morrison of Mount Pleasant, Michigan. They have one child, Pansy, born in De- troit, July 21, 1907. Fraternally Mr. Telotte is con- nected with the Masonic order as a Knights Templar and is a Shriner. He also belongs to the Benevolent Proctective Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Woodmen of the World and the United Commercial Travelers. He is likewise a mem- ber of the Detroit Automobile Club, the Masonic Country Club, the Canopus Club and the Detroit Deal- ers Association. He has been one of the most suc- cessful of Detroit's citizens and the money which he
has made in his automobile business has been in- vested in Detroit real estate. He now owns five fine properties in good residential sections of the city and these include five double flat buildings, from which he derives a very substantial income. He is also the owner of a beautiful summer home on Wall Lake, Michigan, where during the hot summer months he spends much of his time. He finds recreation in motor- ing and he and his family are constantly on the road during the spring, summer and fall months, hardly any part of the country being unknown to them. They have traveled throughout the east, visiting all the New England states, the Berkshire hills and the Alleghany mountain district. In fact there are few sections of the country that offer attractions to the tourist to which Mr. Telotte has not driven in his car. He made one trip to New Orleans to visit his parents, covering the distance in eight days of leisurely travel, stopping along the way to hunt and fish as inclination dictated. He is now planning a trip to the national parks, which will include a visit to various Pacific coast points and will consume about six months. On this trip he will be accompanied by his family, for no pleasure is quite complete to Mr. Telotte un- less it is shared by the members of his household, and his joy in his success is that it affords him ample opportunity to promote their welfare and happiness. In commercial circles in Detroit he is regarded as a most forceful and resourceful man-one who is always alert and ever ready to meet an emergency.
FRED A. HUGHES is senior partner in the firm of Hughes & Hatcher, conducting one of the finest men's clothing establishments in Detroit. A spirit of enterprise and progress has prompted him through- out his business career and with his associate in this undertaking he has made the establishment the last word in trade circles of this character in the city where they operate. Mr. Hughes was born in Seattle, Washington, March 9, 1890, and is a son of Frederick and Mary Genevieve (Conley) Hughes, the former a native of Peterboro, Canada, and the latter of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In the family were five chil- dren: Fred A., Victor W., a broker of Detroit; George Arthur, who is engaged in the insurance business in this city; Florence, the wife of Harry Taylor of De- troit; and Katherine Helen, now the wife of Otto Kern, a prominent dry goods merchant of Detroit.
Fred A. Hughes attended the schools of Seattle, Washington, and later removed to Detroit, subsequently entering upon . a partnership relation with Leslie C. Hatcher, also a well known and popular young busi- ness man of Detroit. They organized the firm of Hughes & Hatcher and started business. They now have one of the finest and most exclusive men's clothing stores in the state and the name of Hughes & Hatcher is a household word among good dressers in Detroit.
On the 9th of September, 1913, Mr. Hughes was
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married to Miss Kathleen Hamlen, daughter of Dr. William Hamlen of this city. The two children of this marriage are: Kathleen Winifred, born in De- troit in 1914; and Frederick William, whose birth oc- curred in 1917. The parents occupy an enviable social position.
LOUIS WEISMAN, president of the Weisman & Sons Company, wholesale jewelers of Detroit, dates his residence in Michigan from 1885 and for the past decade or more has made his home in this city. He was born in Germany, October 10, 1863, and is a son of Benjamin and Elizabeth Weisman, both of whom were born and reared in the same country. They retained their residence in their native land and. the father there engaged in mercantile business.
Louis Weisman was the third in order of birth in a family of seven children. In his youth he attended the public and high schools of his home town and in 1885, when a young man of twenty-two years, sought the opportunities of the new world, for the reports which had reached him concerning America and its business conditions, seemed to him most favorable for advancement. For a year he traveled on the road and acquainted himself with the jewelry business. In 1887 he removed to Farwell, Michigan, where he established a dry goods store on his own account, and later became active in mercantile lines and in banking, devoting his attention largely to the latter under the name of the Farwell Banking Company, this being a private banking institution of which he was sole owner. Later he became interested in the Clare County Savings Bank and was regarded as one of the successful and progressive business men of Farwell until 1910, when he disposed of his bank- ing and mercantile interests there and came to De- troit. Here he bought out the wholesale jewelry business of J. A. Selling & Company, which at that time was a small, struggling concern. With the assets at hand and as the result of his judicious and care- fully planned business methods he built up a business of substantial proportions which is now carried on under the name of the Weisman & Sons Company. In fact theirs is one of the representative wholesale jewelry houses of the city, having kept pace with the steady and substantial growth of "Dynamic Detroit." They carry a complete line of jewelers' wares, con- ducting both a jobbing and wholesale business and employing fourteen people. The business was incor- porated with Mr. Weisman as the president and as- sociated with him in the undertaking. are his sons. He is also a director of the Clare Knitting Mills of Saginaw, Michigan.
In March, 1883, Mr. Weisman was married to Miss Lena Wolsey, who is of European birth, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Wolsey. They have become parents of six children: Albert, who was born in Germany in 1884 and was educated in the schools of Bay City Michigan, married Gladys Sunshine of
Knoxville, Tennessee, and now resides in Detroit; Bertha, born in Farwell, Michigan, in 1889, and there educated, is now the wife of B. F. Sunshine and lives in Detroit; Elizabeth, born in Farwell in 1891, was educated in the schools of Farwell and in the University of Michigan; Bernard, born in Farwell in 1893, attended the high school there and afterward the University of Michigan and was connected with the Quartermaster's Department during the World war, while at the present time he is engaged in business with his father; Edith, born in Farwell in 1895, attended the Central high school of Detroit; Sidney, born in Farwell in 1896, was also a student in the Central high school and, like his brothers, has become associated with his father in business.
Mr. Weisman is a follower of Masonic teachings and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scot- tish Rite in the Michigan Sovereign Consistory, while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world, for here he has found the opportunities which he sought and in their utilization has made steady pro- gress, occupying now a most creditable position among the wholesale jewelers of Detroit.
EDWARD M. HARRIGAN, president of the Har- rigan & Reid Company, heating engineers, is one of Detroit's native sons, his birth having here occurred on the 16th of March, 1877. Both of his parents, Michael and Mary Agnes (Delehanty) Harrigan, were natives of Ireland but left the Emerald isle in early life and became residents of the United States, both being reared in Detroit. The father learned the trade of a marine engineer and became very prominent in his chosen calling, being chief engineer on some of the largest of the lake carriers. He devoted many years to this pursuit and passed away in Detroit in 1916, at the age of seventy-four. His widow is still a resident of this city. Their family numbered six children, one of whom is deceased, the others being: Mrs. Mary Maloney, Edward M., Katherine, Mar- garet and William, all living in Detroit.
Edward M. Harrigan was a pupil in the public schools and afterward attended the University of Detroit, from which he was graduated when about fifteen years of age. He then became an apprentice to the trade of a heating engineer, with the firm of Webster & Meathe, who were the most prominent heating engineers of Detroit. After completing his term of indenture he continued with the firm until the death of Mr. Meathe in 1899. He then took over the interest of the deceased partner and in 1905 Mr. Reid purchased the interest of Mr. Webster, at which time the name of the business was changed to the Harrigan & Reid Company, and incorporated, under which style their interests have since been carried on, although in 1914 Mr. Reid retired from the busi- ness. Mr. Harrigan has since been the president.
EDWARD M. HARRIGAN
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The other officers are William Harrigan, vice president, and John A. Pfeiffer, secretary and treasurer. They employ from one hundred and fifty to two hundred people and have had some of the largest heating con- tracts of the city, having installed the heating plants in such buildings as the Penobscot, the Dime Bank building, the Wayne County building, the city hall of Detroit, the immense plant of Morgan & Wright, the Aquarium at Belle Isle and hundreds of others. Their patronage is now very extensive and the thoroughness and efficiency of their work and the reliability of the firm constitute the basic elements upon which their success is founded.
On the 20th of July, 1904, in New Orleans, Louis- iana, Mr. Harrigan was married to Miss Margaret M. Rourke and they have become the parents of five children: Edward R., who was born in Detroit in 1905 and is attending the University of Detroit; George R., who was born in July, 1906, and is a stu- dent in the same school; Margaret A., born in 1908 and now attending the Grosse Pointe Academy; Anna Mary, born in 1911 and also a pupil in the Grosse Pointe Academy; and Eileen E., who was born in Detroit in 1914.
The religious faith of the family is that of the Roman Catholic church and Mr. Harrigan belongs to the Knights of Columbus, which draws its member- ship only from those of Catholic faith. Mr. Harri- gan is also a member of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Vortex Club and the Detroit Board of Commerce-associations which indicate much of the nature of his interests outside of business. He has made a splendid record in industrial circles, working his way steadily upward until his position is one of leadership in his chosen field. Mr. Harrigan has re- sided on LaSalle boulevard since 1912. His home at No. 7450 was the third residence erected on that thoroughfare.
JACOB S. FARRAND, JR. Among the important mercantile interests of Detroit is the wholesale drug house of Farrand, Williams & Clark, of which Jacob S. Farrand, Jr., has been secretary since its incor- poration. He has figured in connection with the whole- sale drug business of this city since 1876 and is therefore numbered among the oldest merchants in years of continuous connection with the trade in- terests of Detroit. Actuated at all times by a pro- gressive spirit, he has constantly developed and fur- thered his interests until the house of which he is an official is one of the most important commercial concerns of the city. In Detroit Mr. Farrand has spent his entire life. He was born June 11, 1857, his parents being Jacob S. and Olive M. (Coe) Far- rand. In the public schools he began his education, passing through consecutive grades to the high school. In 1876, when a youth of nineteen years, he entered a wholesale drug house in Detroit and bent his en- ergies to familiarizing himself thoroughly with the
business. Close application and energy have ever been among his marked characteristics and have been strongly and effectively displayed in the conduct of the wholesale drug house of Farrand, Williams & Clark, which was organized in 1889 and of which he has been the secretary from its incorporation. He is also one of the directors of the First & Old National Bank.
Mr. Farrand's activities along other lines have also brought to him a wide and favorable acquaintance. He is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, keenly interested in all of its purposes and plans for the upbuilding of the city, the extension of its trade relations and the maintenance of high civic standards. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party. His religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. He enjoys golf and other outdoor diversions and is well known in the club circles of the city as a member of the Detroit, Country, Bankers, Detroit Athletic, Old, and Detroit Automobile Clubs. He counts his friends by the score and he is classed with those men whose labors have been of distinct value in promoting the material, social and moral interests of the city.
WILLIAM PIKE. A man of keen business dis- cernmeut and sound judgment, William Pike has made for himself a prominent place in industrial circles of Detroit as president of the William Pike Company, scales and trucks, one of the substantial commercial enterprises of the city. In business affairs he has made steady progress, his capable management and indefatigable industry constituting the basis upon which he has built his prosperity., He was born in Bath, England, December 12, 1863, a son of William and Elizabeth (Boullen) Pike, and has one sister, Elizabeth. He acquired his education in the public schools of Bath and subsequently was apprenticed to the hardware business. Having heard many favor- able reports regarding the excellent business oppor- tunities afforded iu the United States, he crossed the Atlantic and after landing at New York city made his way to Cleveland, Ohio, where he entered the employ of the Howe Scale Company, located on Water street. In the shops of that corporation he learned every detail connected with the mannfacture of scales and was promoted to the position of salesman, handling the city trade. He remained in Cleveland for about fifteen years and in 1910 went to St. Louis, Missouri, acting as manager of a store in that city until the fall of 1913, when he came to Detroit, becoming man- ager for the Rowley Scale & Manufacturing Company. His excellent executive ability and thorough knowledge of the business enabled him to place the affairs of that concern upon a sound financial basis and in that connection he formed many business acquaintances which have since proven of value to him in building up a similar enterprise. He remained with that firm in their Fort street offices until early in 1916 and in
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April of that year started his present business, his first store being located in the Goss building on Wood- ward avenue. In 1918 a stock company was formed with Mr. Pike and J. T. Wing as the principal owners, at which time the present style of the William Pike Company, scales and trucks, was adopted. They act as sales agents for the Howe Scale Company of Cleve- land, Ohio, their territory covering the eastern half of Michigan, and they handle trucks, caster wheels and castings, in addition to coal dealers' supplies. As president of the company Mr. Pike is bending his energies to administrative direction and executive control, carefully supervising every detail of the busi- ness, which has now reached extensive proportions, owing to his progressive and reliable methods and capable management. Patrons have ever found their merchandise to be as represented and satisfied cus- tomers have been their best advertisement.
In June, 1900, Mr. Pike was united in marriage to Miss Kathleen Maxwell, a daughter of Captain Fred Maxwell, and a member of an old and distinguished American family. The line of descent is traced back to Colonel Maxwell, who served as an aide of General Washington in the Revolutionary war, while other members of the family have won distinction in sub- sequent wars. Salmon P. Chase, secretary of the treasury under President Lincoln's administration, was a cousin of Mrs. Maxwell's father and the family has figured prominently in connection with American history. Mr. and Mrs. Pike have become the parents of two children: Elizabeth, born in 1902; and Char- lotte, whose birth occurred in 1907.
In his political views Mr. Pike is a republican, in- terested in the welfare and success of the party but without desire for the honors and emoluments of public office. He is an active and earnest member of the Board of Commerce, whose plans for the de- velopment and upbuilding of the city meet with his hearty cooperation, and fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to Paris Lodge and Webb Chapter. He is actuated in everything that he does by a spirit of progress and enterprise which prompts his continued effort until he has reached the desired goal. He has led an active and useful life, employing every opportunity to advance, and his present suc- cess is attributable entirely to his close application and laudable ambition. He has never had occasion to regret the impulse which led him to cross the ocean and seek his fortune in a strange land and his loyalty to his adopted country none can question.
LEONARD P. REAUME, one of the well known and prominent figures in Detroit real estate circles, and for more than a decade a member of the firm of Paterson Brothers & Company, of which he is vice president and general manager, has been no small fac- tor in building up one of the high class realty firms in this city.
Mr. Reaume was born in Walkerville, Ontario, July
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