USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 112
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HAL HORACE SMITH, who for a quarter of a century has been a member of the Michigan bar, having been admitted to practice in 1896, has made his home in Detroit since January, 1905, and while winning success as an able lawyer in this city, he has likewise become an active factor in the promotion and development of many important business interests and corporations. He was born at Ionia, Michigan, May 1, 1873, his parents being V. H. and Rachel (Worthington) Smith. Having mastered the branches of learning taught in the public schools of his native city, he continued his studies in the University of Michigan, receiving his A. B. degree in 1895, and on the completion of his law course he was admitted to practice in the courts of this state in 1896. For ten years he followed his profession at Ionia as a partner of his father, under the firm style of V. H. & H. H. Smith, and then seeking the broader field of labor offered in Detroit, removed to this city in January, 1905. Here he became a partner in the firm of Beau- mont, Smith & Harris in 1908 and has so practiced to the present time. He is a clear thinker, a logical reasoner and seldom at fault in the application of legal principles. In financial and commercial circles, too, he has made for himself a creditable name and place, the extent and breadth of his business interests being indicated in the fact that he is now one of the directors of the Union Trust Company, of the Art Stove Company, of the Michigan Mutual Liability Company and president of the Hayes Manufacturing Company, president of the Detroit Machine Company, vice president of the Hayes-Ionia Company and vice president of the Michigan Copper & Brass Company.
On the 21st of June, 1898, at Ionia, Michigan, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Bell Yates of Schenectady, New York, and their children are: Yates G., born November 14, 1899, in Ionia, Michigan, and who is now a student at Yale in the class of 1922. He enlisted in the World war as a seaman and soon after was one of forty boys selected from various preparatory schools throughout the country for naval aviation training and was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval
Training Station and subsequently was transferred to the Yale station, where he was at the time of the signing of the armistice; and Hal H., Jr., born October 4, 1903, in Ionia, Michigan.
Mr. Smith is a stalwart champion of the republican party and fraternally has become a Knights Templar Mason. He belongs to Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, to the Detroit Boat Club, the Detroit Club, Country Club. Prismatic Club, the University Club, and the Detroit Athletic Club, all of Detroit, to the University Club of Chicago, the University Club of Washington, D. C., and the Peninsular Club of Grand Rapids. Along professional lines his connection extends to the Detroit Bar Association, the Michigan State Bar Association and the American Bar Association and to the Lawyers' Club. He is a member of the Board of Commerce of Detroit and is in hearty sympathy with its varied activities to promote the upbuilding and advance the civic standards of the city. His position of prominence as a citizen of Michigan is indicated in the fact that he was chosen as secretary and member from Michigan of the World's Fair Com- mission for the Pan-American Exposition in 1901 and for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. With the advent of America into the World war he gave generous aid to all those agencies and activities which promoted the interest of the government, annulled the effect of German propaganda and upheld the highest American ideals. He served as one of the Four-Minute 'men, was a member of the legal advisory board and the American Protective League and an active worker for the Red Cross.
KARL B. GODDARD, another member of the legal profession in Detroit, who is rapidly establishing him- self as a lawyer of more than ordinary promise, is a native of Illinois, born in that state on September 15, 1886, a son of Charles W. and Caroline (Blake) Goddard.
Mr. Goddard completed his education in the Uni- versity of Michigan, from the law department of which he was graduated with the class of 1910, and was admitted to the bar in the same year. Imme- diately thereafter Mr. Goddard began the practice of his profession in the offices of Merriam, Yerkes & Simons, and steadily advanced in mastering the in- tricacies of law until January, 1919, when he became a member of the firm, with which he is still asso- ciated. Mr. Goddard's connection with the eminent legal firm in which he is now a partner has enabled him to stand in the front rank of his profession and he is generally recognized in legal circles as a sound and skilful lawyer. He is a cousin of Prof. Edwin C. Goddard, secretary of the law department of the University of Michigan.
During the World war Mr. Goddard was associate director on the legal advisory board of the local draft board and in this capacity he rendered all necessary aid to those who had need of the services of the board.
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On September 25, 1915, Mr. Goddard was united in marriage to Miss Ethel Green, and they are the parents of one son, John Goddard. Mr. Goddard is a member of the Detroit Automobile Club, of the Michigan University Club, and the college fraternity, Phi Delta Phi, in all of which he takes a warm and practical interest. Mr. Goddard' gives a good citizen's attention to all civic matters pertaining to the welfare of the city, but he has never been an aspirant for political preferment.
JAMES D. KENNEDY. For twenty-seven years a member of the medical profession of Detroit, Dr. James D. Kennedy is now numbered among the cap- italists of the city and his attention is given to the supervision of his invested interests, which include valuable realty holdings. Dr. Kennedy was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, December 8, 1864, and is a son of James D. and Hannah (Moore) Kennedy, the former a native of Belfast, Ireland, while the latter was also born on the Emerald isle. In early life they left that country and became residents of Can- ada. For thirty years or more the father was con- nected with the revenue department of the Canadian government and passed away in Hamilton at the advanced age of eighty-six years. His wife is still a resident of Hamilton and of their family of five children four are living: James D .; Duncan, who makes his home in Detroit; Charles J., of Detroit; and Minnie, the wife of Rev. B. S. Russell, also of Hamilton.
Spending his youthful days under the parental roof, Dr. Kennedy of this review was a pupil in the public and high schools of Hamilton, Ontario, and afterward attended the high school at Fergus. He next en- tered the Western University of Canada as a student in the medical department and was graduated with the M. D. degree in 1887. Immediately afterward he crossed the border to become a resident of Detroit and entered upon a successful professional career, de- voting the succeeding twenty-seven years to the prac- tice of medicine. In 1914 he withdrew from the profession to concentrate his efforts and attention upon the real estate business in connection with his brother, Charles Kennedy. Already he has acquired considerable real estate and he and his brother own many valuable properties, including the Fisher build- ing at the corner of Michigan avenue and Griswold street. Moreover, they have platted and developed several excellent subdivisions, including the Dearborn and the Dearborn Homes divisions, comprising three hundred lots, and the Dearborn Tractor subdivision of one hundred and fifty lots. They are now prepar- ing for sale another subdivision at Dearborn which has seven hundred lots and of this the brothers are sole owners. Dr. Kennedy is also the owner of the Donaldson apartments, Putnam apartments, Le Grand apartments and several others which are excellent revenue bearing properties.
On the 21st of May, 1892, Dr. Kennedy was married to Miss Pamelia Audette of Manchester, New Hamp- shire. Dr. Kennedy is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and is keenly interested in all of the plans of that organization for the city's further upbuilding and development. Politically he maintains an independent course, nor has he ever sought distinc- tion along political lines. The secret of his success is found in his recognition and utilization of op- portunity and the reliability of his business methods. His medical practice brought him a wide acquaintance and many who were his patients in the profession have become his clients since he entered the real estate field.
FREDERICK CHARLES SHIPMAN. The inter- position of the able, progressive and reliable real estate dealer has greater influence than all other agencies in forwarding the material upbuilding and advancement of any city, and in this important field of operations is found Frederick Charles Shipman, whose activities in this line of business have covered a period of nearly thirty years, and his standing in confidence and esteem is enviable. Mr. Shipman comes of English ancestry, the family being an old one in New England, where the name has been a prominent one for many generations. Richard Shipman, father of Frederick Charles, was a pioneer in electrical circles in Detroit. During the Civil war he was a telegraph operator and after the close of hostilities was an asso- ciate of Thomas A. Edison in the offices of the Grand Trunk Railway. With William A. Jackson he organ- ized the Bell Telephone Company of this state and he also put in the first electric light plant in Detroit, taking the contract for this work from C. R. Mabley, one of Detroit's pioneer merchants. He married Otelia Verhoeff, who was of Dutch descent, her father being a fur trader. She attended St. Mary's Seminary in Detroit when it was the only school in the com- munity.
Frederick Charles Shipman was born in Delta, Ohio, August 28, 1870, and with the removal of the family from Ohio to Detroit he became a pupil in the public schools of this city. His entrance into the real estate field, in which he has achieved marked success, was in 1891, when he established the Shipman Real Estate Exchange, and through straightforward business methods and enterprise the business had steady growth from its inception. Realizing the value of a knowledge of law in his line of business, he first attended a night school and later matriculated in the Detroit College of Law, which conferred upon him the LL. B. degree at his graduation in 1904. Mr. Shipman has specialized in real estate and probate law and his activity in connection with the profession is not that of a prac- titioner but such as comes to him in the conduct of his important realty interests. He is the chairman of the Palmer Park Land Company, president of the Seminole Hills Land Company and the Michigan Bond
DR. JAMES D. KENNEDY
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& Mortgage Company, is the vice president of the Harvey Construction Company and the secretary-treas- urer of the Detroit City Base Line Land Company. That he is a very prominent figure in real estate circles is indicated in the fact that he is now the president of the Real Estate Association of the State of Mich- igan and formerly was vice president of the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges of the United States and at one time was chairman of the legisla- tive committees of the state and national associations, taking a most active part in discussing and forward- ing legislative measures bearing upon the real estate business.
On the 29th of May, 1894, Mr. Shipman was united in marriage to Miss Frances L. Ostler and they have become the parents of six children: Frances J., who is the wife of Harold George Hills of Cleveland, Ohio; Elsie Elizabeth, the wife of Willard S. Eldridge of Chicago; Frederick; Paul; Martha; and Mary.
The military record of Mr. Shipman covers service with the Michigan National Guard, in which he served as second lieutenant of the First Regiment in 1898, becoming first lieutenant in 1901 and captain in 1904. He belongs to the Detroit Board of Commerce and the Detroit Real Estate Board, also to the Mich- igan State Bar Association and through these organ- izations finds pleasant relations with his contempor- ories and colleagues in the two branches of business to which he has given his attention. He belongs to the Detroit Club and the Detroit Athletic Club and in Masonry he has attained the Royal Arch degree. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and his religious faith is indicated by his mem- bership in the Congregational church. His life is guided by high and honorable principles and at all times he measures up to advanced standards of Ameri- can manhood and citizenship.
FREDERICK HUETWELL. Among the leading business enterprises of Detroit is the Calvert Litho- graphing Company, of which Frederick Huetwell is the secretary and treasurer, which offices he has filled since 1910. He was born in New York city, August 11, 1867, a son of Frank and Elizabeth (Gratsch) Huetwell, both of whom were born abroad and when very young became residents of the United States, locating in New York city, where their marriage oc- curred, and there they passed the remainder of their lives. In that city the father engaged in the furniture business, in which he was very successful.
The eldest in a family of nine children, Frederick Huetwell attended the graded and high schools of Brooklyn, New York, and in order that he might develop his artistic talent he entered the Academy of Design in New York city, where he closely applied himself to his studies, acquiring a high degree of pro- ficiency in the art. He at once entered upon the work of his profession and coming to Detroit, he entered the employ of the Calvart Lithographing Company,
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one of the oldest productive industries of the city, as head of the artist department of the firm. He continued to act in that capacity until 1910, when he was elected to the office of secretary and treasurer of the company, in which he has since capably served. As lithographers the company has long occupied a foremost position in business circles of Detroit, the quality of its work being unsurpassed by any other enterprise of a similar character in the city, and they have ever borne an unassailable reputation for business integrity and reliability.
On the 18th of February, 1897, Mr. Hnetwell was united in marriage to Miss Mathilda C. Kalkbrenner, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Kalkbrenner, well known residents of this city. The two children of this marriage are Elizabeth, who was born in De- troit in 1904 and is now a student in the high school; and Frederick G. L., who was born in 1909 and is attending the graded schools.
In his political views Mr. Hnetwell is an independent republican, casting his ballot in favor of the candi- dates of that party at national elections, but where local issues are concerned he votes according to the dictates of his judgment without regard to party ties. He is a member of the Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit Golf Club and Harmonie Society, and fraternally he is a Mason.
HENRY JAMES FARMER is widely and favor- ably known in insurance circles of Detroit. He deals in insurance and surety bonds, in which connection he has built up a business of extensive proportions, dis- playing sound judgment, energy and enterprise in the management of his interests. He was born in Lawrence county, Ohio, May 14, 1876, and is of Scotch descent. his parents being James Henderson and Naomi M. (Williams) Farmer. Representatives of the family pat- ented the land upon which Trinity church in New York city now stands and in the early days the paternal and maternal grandparents came west over the mountains, traveling by means of wagons, and established their homes in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky.
In the public schools of the southern portion of the Buckeye state Mr. Farmer acquired his education, his boyhood being spent on his father's farm. On starting out in life independently he engaged in the insurance business at Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1904. He came to Detroit in 1908, where he entered the field of insurance as traveling representative of the Standard Accident Insurance Company. After four years of that service, he quit the road and became identified with William H. MeBryan, as a department manager in the Detroit branch of the United States Fidelity & Gnar- anty Company. He remained in this connection for nearly six years, or until February, 1919, when he opened his present office in the Penobscot building and is now handling insurance and surety bonds, in which he has been very successful, developing a good busi-
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ness. He employs the most progressive methods in the conduct of his interests and his integrity and reliability have secured for him the confidence of the public, so that he has become recognized as one of the leading insurance men in the city.
Mr. Farmer was united in marriage at Portsmouth, Ohio, to Miss Susan M. Rhodes, a daughter of Cap- tain George and Annie D. (Hicks) Rhodes, of that city. Captain Rhodes was an old time Ohio river steamboat captain and had numerous business interests in that section of Ohio. They have become the par- ents of two sons: Ray H., born June 23, 1898, at Portsmouth, Ohio who married Helen Cooper, a daugh- ter of James H. Cooper, an old resident of this city, and they now have a son, Robert J .; and Harry R., born October 5, 1901, at Portsmouth, Ohio, who is associated with his father in business.
Mr. Farmer is a member of the Ohio Society of Detroit, of which he has been secretary for the past four years. He is a Mason, belonging to Aurora Lodge, F. & A. M., of Portsmouth, Ohio; Peninsular Chapter, R. A M .; and Detroit Commandery, No 1, K. T. of Detroit. He is also connected with the Masonic Country Club, the Wayfarers Club and the Board of Commerce, and is serving as a member of the board of governors of the Wayfarers Club He is a well known member of the Woodward Avenue Presbyterian church, wherein he has held numerous offices. He is a man of high personal standing, of marked business ability and enterprise, and in all matters of citizenship his influence is on the side of advancement and improve- ment.
WESLEY J. PEOPLES, a prominent investment broker of Detroit, whose long connection with the bond and security market in this city has brought him not only a wide acquaintanceship in financial circles, but a position of high standing among in- vestors, is a native of Detroit, born June 11th, 1893, and has always made this his home. His parents were Walter and Ida (Watson) Peoples, the former of whom came to Detroit from Pennsylvania.
In the public schools of his native city Wesley J. Peoples pursued his education and after his gradua- tion from high school he entered the business world as a stock and bond salesman and for a number of years was connected with prominent brokers in De- troit. Prompted by laudable ambition, he decided upon an independent venture and in 1920 established the house of W. J. Peoples & Company, dealers in stocks, bonds and investment securities. He is a shrewd business man with a rapid grasp of details and a keen discrimination in investment. He is thoroughly familiar with every phase of the business, owing to his long connection therewith, and his in- iative spirit enables him to formulate plans which have resulted in the enlargement and substantial growth of the undertaking. The company occupies spacious offices on the first floor of the Penobscot
building, has already acquired a large and influential clientele and enjoys an unassailable reputation for commercial integrity. It has a large New York cor- respondence and the house of W. J. Peoples & Company ranks with the leading financial enterprises of its character in Detroit.
In his political views Mr. Peoples is a republican, and is interested in the welfare and success of his party, but has never been an aspirant for public office, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business interests. His public spirit is indicated in his membership in the Detroit Board of Commerce, whose projects for the extension of the trade in- terests of the city meet with his hearty cooperation. His social nature finds expression in his membership in the Detroit Athletic Club, the Oakland Hills Country Club, the Essex Country Club, and the Auto- mobile Country Club.
Mr. Peoples is of Scotch descent and manifests in his life the sterling traits of that race-persistency of purpose, thrift and unquestioned business integrity. He is preeminently a business man and his success is largely attributable to the fact that he has con- tinued in the line in which he first engaged upon enter- ing business. His standing as a business man is of the highest and in all matters of citizenship his influence is on the side of progress and improvement.
BETHUNE DUFFIELD BLAIN, an active member of the Detroit bar since 1906, was born in this city on the 26th of June, 1879, a son of Alexander Willis and Mary G. (Gray) Blain. The father was born near ยท Montreal, Canada, in 1843 but was married in De- troit.
At the usual age B. D. Blain entered the Detroit grammar schools, passing through consecutive grades to the high school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1900. He next entered the University of Michigan, in which he pursued his more specifically literary course, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1904. He remained as a law student for two years and in 1906 was graduated from the law department receiving the degree of LL. B., after which he en- tered upon active practice in Detroit, remaining alone through much of his professional career but forming a partnership relation in February, 1919, as senior member of the firm of Blain & Martz. While long recognized as an able member of the bar. his ability being attested in the many important cases in which he has been retained as counsel for the prosecution or the defense, he has also become well known in com- mercial circles of the city, having since 1909 been president of the Macomb Hardware Company, is a director of the Crescent Brass & Pin Company, treas- urer of the Highway Sign Company, and treasurer of the Pan American Coffee Company.
On the 8th of September, 1909, at San Bernardino, California, Mr. Blain was married to Miss Eunice Dunn, a daughter of William Dunn, a native of Can-
WESLEY J. PEOPLES
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ada. They have had three children: Mary, Philip Dunn and David Gray. Philip D. was born December 24, 1915, and passed away on the 2nd of January, 1918. The religious faith of Mr. Blain is that of the Univers- alist church. He is a thirty-second degree Mason, a Knights Templar and a member of the Mystic Shrine and he belongs to the Lawyers' Club, the Detroit Bar Association and to the Wilderness Club, while in tennis and yachting he finds his chief sources of liversion and recreation.
HARRY S. STARK. As president of the Barkume & Stark Coal Company, 718 Meldrum avenue, Harry S. Stark is a representative of the vigorous and pro- gressive class of business men who have given im- petus to the splendid growth of the fair metropolis of Michigan. The company of which he is president controls a substantial and prosperous business and his partner in the enterprise is Eli J. Barkume.
Harry S. Stark was born at Port Stanley, Province of Ontario, Canada, on the 8th of July, 1878, and is a son of Nicholas and Isabel Stark. He was four years of age at the time of the family removal to Detroit, where he was reared to matnrity and where his educational advantages were those of the public schools. As a youth he entered the employ of George E. Currie, who was engaged in general contracting business and with whom he continued his association for fifteen years. Mr. Stark initiated his service in the capacity of office boy, and at the time of sever- ing his alliance with Mr. Currie he held the responsible position of general superintendent of the latter's large and important contracting business. Thereafter Mr. Stark was for one year connected with the Detroit & Pittsburgh Coal Company, and since 1914 he has given his attention to the independent coal business, with which he is now identified. He has active charge of the yards and delivery service of his company, and Mr. Barkume has supervision of the office and financial department of the enterprise. The company handled more than 75,000 tons of coal in 1920, and its success is founded on fair and honorable dealings and effective service rendered. He has a wide circle of friends in Detroit and is known as a reliable and enterprising business man and as a citizen of unquali- fied loyalty and progressiveness. His political sup- port is given to the democratic party, but he has had no desire to enter the arena of so-called practical politics.
The year 1915 recorded the marriage of Mr. Stark to Miss Eloise Zintgraff, and they have two children: Harry S., Jr., born in 1916; and Neil Murray, born in 1919. The family home is maintained at 863 Glad- stone avenue.
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