The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III, Part 15

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932, ed; Stocking, William, 1840- joint ed; Miller, Gordon K., joint ed
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Detroit-Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1022

USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 15

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REV. WILLIAM T. DORAN, an eminent represen- tative of the Catholic clergy of the middle west, is now the president of the University of Detroit and pastor of the Church of SS. Peter and Paul. Born at Omaha, Nebraska, on the 6th of February, 1870, he is a son of Patrick and Mary (Hughes) Doran, both of whom were natives of Ireland and became early settlers of Omaha. The family numbered three children, of whom the Rev. William T. Doran is the only survivor. He attended the parochial schools of his native city and afterward continued his educa- tion as a student in Creighton College at Omaha. He next entered St. Mary's College in Kansas, from which he was graduated in 1888, and later he spent a year in travel in Europe. He then attended the Novitiate outside of St. Louis for a period of four years and for three years was a student of philosophy and science in St. Louis, receiving the Master of Arts degree in 1900.

Taking up educational work Father Doran taught for two years in Marquette College, Milwaukee, Wis- consin, and also for three years in St. Mary's College in Kansas. He afterward devoted four years to the study of theology in preparation for the priesthood, and on the 29th of June, 1904, was ordained by Bishop Hennessey of Concordia, Kansas. He returned to St. Mary's as director of studies, there remaining until 1908, and for two years afterward was treasurer and minister at Florissant.

The year 1910 witnessed the arrival of Rev. Mr. Doran in Detroit, where he was first dean of the high school and college, but upon the separation of the two schools he was made dean of the college and so con- tinued until 1915, when he became president of the University of Detroit and at the same time he acts as pastor of the church of SS. Peter and Paul. He has thus won a notable place in the educational cir- cles of the church, while his labors in the pastorate, as in the schools and university, have been attended with notable success.

DR. GEORGE LEON HAYWOOD has been contin- uously and successfully engaged in the practice of dentistry in Detroit for the past twenty-three years and has long occupied an enviable position among the leading representatives of the profession in the city. His birth occurred in Brattleboro, Vermont, Novem- ber 7, 1875, his parents being Walter L. and Mary Jane (Cutler) Haywood, and he is a descendant of Roger Williams, the founder of Rhode Island. He acquired his early education in the public schools of Detroit and in the fall of 1895 entered the depart- ment of dental surgery of the Detroit College of Medicine, from which he was graduated with the de- gree of D. D. S. in June, 1898. Seven years later, or in 1905, he pursued a special course of study in the University of Michigan. Following his graduation from the Detroit College of Medicine he opened an office at No. 408 Lincoln avenue, where he was asso- ciated with Dr. G. G. Gordon, a medical practitioner, until 1899. In that year he joined Dr. W. D. Ford, a physician with offices at No. 1022 Third avenue, where he remained until 1908, when he removed to the Scherer building, and since December, 1912, he has been the associate of C. H. Oakman, D. D. S., M. D., in the David Whitney building. Dr. Haywood has won a well merited reputation as a careful, conscien- tious operator whose technique and mechanical ability in the line of his profession have gained him recog- nitiou among the most able practitioners of dentistry in Detroit. He is a member of the First District Den- tal Society and also belongs to the Michigan State Dental Society.

On the 18th of June, 1902, Dr. Haywood was united in marriage to Miss Lila Pigott, of Detroit. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party, while fraternally he is identified with the Masons and in religious faith is a Congregationalist. He is likewise

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a member of the Delta Sigma Delta, a Greek letter fraternity, the Detroit Athletic Club and the Detroit Boat Club. Motoring affords him rest and recreation, but the demands of an extensive practice are such that his leisure hours are few.

WALDO A. AVERY, I, a capitalist of Detroit who passed away on the 9th of May, 1914, and who had been identified with prominent lumber, industrial and commercial interests, had centered his interests in the city since 1887 but had been identified with Michigan from the age of four years. He was born at Bradley, Penobscot county, Maine, on the 14th of May, 1850, his parents being Sewell and Eliza H. (Eddy) Avery. In 1854 his parents came with the family to Michigan and between the ages of four and fourteen years he was a resident of Port Huron. His father was early identified with the lumber industry of this state and both he and his wife continued residents of Michigan until called to their final rest.

In the attainment of his education Waldo A. Avery attended the common schools of Port Huron and of Sag- inaw. Throughout life he remained a close and dis- criminating student in the school of affairs and expe- rience brought to him that broad knowledge for which many depend upon college training, which, however, never brings forth the practical values that are ob- tained in the school of experience. From early youth Mr. Avery was connected more or less closely with the lumber industry, working at various jobs, his in- creasing usefulness winning him advancement until he reached a place of leadership among the Inmber manu- facturers of this state. In 1865 the family removed to Saginaw and it was there that he laid the foundation for his later success. After working for others for a time he began business on his own account and the intimate knowledge that he had acquired of all of the various details and phases of the business consti- tuted the broad foundation upon which he built his subsequent success. For many years he operated most extensively, prominently and profitably in connection with the development of the lumber interests of the middle west. In 1876, when but twenty-six years of age, he became one of the owners and operators of a number of tugs and lumber vessels, which were used in connection with the handling of logs and lumber on the Saginaw river. He was identified with that branch of the business until 1883, when he expanded the scope of his operations by securing an interest in several large lake vessels, which were operated under the firm style of the Hawgood & Avery Transit Com- pany, which had its headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio. Constantly extending the scope of his activities, Mr. Avery became a member of the firm of Richardson & Avery of Duluth, Minnesota, which has dealt exten- sively in pine lands and has conducted lumber mann- facturing interests of large volume and importance. Forceful and resourceful, Mr. Avery likewise became connected with other business interests, being chosen

to the presidency of the Alabaster Company of Detroit, Chicago and Alabaster, Michigan, and when the in- terests of this company were merged into the United States Gypsum Company he continued as a stock- holder in the latter corporation, of which he was also one of the directors. The gypsum mines of the orig- inal company are located at Alabaster, Iosco county, Michigan, and this company furnished the plaster for the staff which was used in the construction of the beautiful "White City," by which name the World's Columbian Exposition of Chicago of 1893 was often called.

Mr. Avery became a resident of Detroit in 1887 and maintained his home in the city until 1902, when he established a beautiful suburban residence at Grosse Pointe Farms. However, he still retained large inter- ests in lumber in Michigan and in the west, and he was also the president of the Majestic Company, which owns and conducts the Majestic building of Detroit. He was president of the American Exchange National Bank of Detroit from 1899 until 1909 and was a direc- tor of the Second National Bank of Saginaw.

Mr. Avery was twice married, his first wife being Miss Nellie Lee of Saginaw, Michigan, who was the mother of his three children: Sewell L., who is now president of the United States Gypsum Company, with headquarters in Chicago; Arla S., who died in 1897, unmarried; and Waldo A., who is prominently iden- tified with timber and land interests on the Pacific coast and is now a resident of Detroit. Mr. Avery's second wife was in her maidenhood, Miss Christine Morrison. She is now deceased.

Mr. Avery always found his chief recreation in out- door sports and he belonged to the Detroit, Country and Old-Clubs, all of Detroit. His political allegiance was given to the republican party and he ever manifested the keenest interest in the npbuilding and in the wel- fare of Detroit. His cooperation was always counted upon in the work of general improvement and prog- ress and yet he never sought to figure prominently in any publie light outside of business. A contempo- rary writer said of him: "His success, and it has been great, is the more gratifying to contemplate by reason of the fact that it stands as the concrete re- sult of his own ability and efforts, while his course has ever been guided by those stanch principles of personal integrity and honor that ever beget objective confidence and respect." He passed away May 9, 1914. It was a time of deep gloom to all who were associated with him through the strong ties of friend- ship. They had learned to esteem him most highly by reason of his sterling worth, his high sense of per- sonal honor, his successful accomplishments in busi- ness and his progressiveness and loyalty in citizenship. All who knew him were proud to call him friend.

WALDO A. AVERY, II, is a native son of Michigan and after some years' residence on the Pacific coast, in control of extensive and important business interests

WALDO A. AVERY

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there, he returned to Detroit to assume the duties in connection with the splendid estate built up by his father, Waldo A. Avery, Sr., who is mentioned at length on another page of this work. The son was born at Saginaw, Michigan, in 1878 and in the ac- quirement of his education attended the Detroit high school and for two years attended the University of Michigan, while in 1903 he was graduated from the Michigan College of Mines. His business training was largely received under the direction of the father, who had worked his way upward from a humble posi- tion to one of commanding influence and prominence. For three generations the name of Avery has been associated with the development of the lumber inter- ests of the middle west and Waldo A. Avery, entering business circles, also became identified with the Inm- ber industry in connection with the manufacturing and sales departments. He went to the Pacific coast, where he became greatly interested in lumber and land projects, making his headquarters at Portland, Oregon, during that period. In 1914 he returned to Detroit and is now the president and manager of the Majestic Company, owners of the Majestic building, one of the finest business structures of the middle west. He is part owner of the building and he is also extensively interested in corporations of Mich- igan and the Pacific west that control large lumber interests.

In Portland, Oregon, in 1910, Mr. Avery was mar- ried to Miss Ruth Adele Baumgardner of Portland, Oregon, and their children are four in number: Eleanor Ruth, Waldo A., Jr., Robert Newell and Jane Adele. Mr. Avery's political allegiance is given to the re- publican party. In this, as in business, he has fol- lowed in the footsteps of his honored father, his ma- ture judgment seeing no cause to change the trend of his political affiliations. He is well known in the club circles of the city, having membership in the Detroit, Old, Detroit Athletic and Country Clubs.

WILLIAM G. LIEBIG. For forty years William G. Liebig was a resident of Detroit and for a long period figured prominently in the business circles of the city as president of William Liebig & Company, contractors and engineers. Michigan claimed him as a native son, his birth having occurred in Macomb county, August 26, 1866. He was one of a family of six children born to William and Rosa (Tietze) Liebig, the former a farmer by occupation. William G. Liebig largely spent his youthful days in the usual manner of the farm bred boy, acquiring his educa- tion in the parochial schools and after attaining young manhood devoting his attention to the mastery of the machinist's trade. He completed his trade in 1893 and afterward embarked in business on his own account in Detroit. He first entered into a partner- ship relation under the firm style of Hellenberg & Liebig, and this was continued until 1900, when the firm was dissolved and Mr. Liebig reorganized the

business, of which he remained the head until his death. William Liebig & Company won substantial success as contractors and engineers and manufac- turers of improved solid back brush machinery and designers and builders of special machinery. The office and plant of the company are located at No. 640 Leland street and employment is given to thirty people. Mr. Liebig remained the directing spirit of the undertaking until called to the Home beyond on September 20, 1920.

On the 21st of November, 1888, Mr. Liebig was married to Miss Bertha Ketel, daughter of John Ketel, and their family of children are as follows: Walter J; William E. J .; Edwin H .; Elsie, who is the wife of Erwin Kruse; Viola, the wife of George E. Nelson; Gertrude; and Matha.

Mr. Liebig was a member of Trinity Lutheran church, to which the members of his family still be- long. His life was well spent and the sterling integ- rity and progressiveness of his character were widely recognized by all with whom he came into contact. He found his greatest happiness in promoting the comfort and welfare of the members of his own house- hold and his record was also proof of the Emersonian philosophy that "the way to win a friend is to be one." He was highly esteemed wherever known and most of all where he was best known, indicating that his life at all times would bear the closest investiga- tion and scrutiny.

CHARLES A. PARCELLS, a prominent and well- to-do citizen of Detroit, founder of the brokerage business in that city, which trades as Charles A. Par- cells & Company, and who during the World war was vigorous and energetic in carrying out activities of benefit to the United States government no less than to the people, is a native of the state of Connecticut, born there in Litchfield county, near New Milford, February 11, 1888, a son of a farmer. He was edu- cated at Hopkins grammar school and later entered Yale University, from which he was graduated with the class of 1912, and while taking his course in that institution he specialized in history, literature and art; he also acted as assistant to the dean of the university. In February, 1919, he was offered a posi- tion on the administrative force in Yale.

On July 1, 1917, Mr. Parcells was made federal state director for Michigan of the United States Boys Work- ing Reserve, and took an intense patriotic interest in this work, part of the time being spent in Washing- ton and part in Detroit. In Michigan he developed a force of nine thousand boys, eight thousand of whom were put to work on farms, and formed part of the entire organization of two hundred and fifty thousand boys who had been enrolled in the United States, and their production was sufficient to feed the American Expeditionary Forces in France in the summer of 1918. This was a wonderful movement, and was car-

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ried on so quietly that few reailzed its extent or im- portance.

In conjunction with other citizens Mr. Parcells started a farm in connection with Cass Technical high school, Detroit, and the influence of that project will long be felt in the city. Ben Comfort was president of the association and Mr. Parcells was vice presi- dent. It was known as the Cass Technical High School Farm, and was purely a civic movement, there being no personal advantage to be gained by any of its promoters. They had one of the best herds of Holstein cattle in Michigan, and the movement proved of considerable advantage to the boys who participated in its operations.

While at Washington Mr. Parcells was representa- tive between the war and lahor departments, engaged in the stupendous task of working out a scheme of national production, and in conjunction with Mayor Meras submitted a memorandum that was approved by the general staff, for a co-ordinate program be- tween the two departments mentioned. On March 15, 1919, Mr. Parcells severed his connection with the Boys Federal Reserve, and on March 20, of the same year, he established the brokerage house of Charles A. Parcells & Company in Detroit. He is the moving spirit of this business, which since coming into existence has been steadily growing in public favor.

Mr. Parcells was married to Carolyn Lockwood Hub- bard and they are the parents of one daughter, Eliza- beth Lockwood Parcells. His wife's grandfather, Langdon Hubbard, was one of the earliest and among the most famous of the lumbermen of Michigan. Mr. Parcells is a member of the Blue lodge and council of the Free and Accepted Masons; a member of the Bond Men's Club, the University Club, the Country Club, the Elizabethan Club of New Haven, Connecti- cut, the Yale Club of New York city, and of the De- troit Board of Commerce, in the affairs of which he has ever taken an interested and prominent part, and in other directions he has given of his time and abil- ity to promote all projects calculated to serve the welfare of the community. He is a young man of more than ordinary progressive business qualities and he and his wife and his wife's family are prominent in the social life of Detroit.

WILLIAM E. METZGER, the first retail motor car dealer in the city of Detroit and now one of the most notable successes in the automobile business, has made a record of brilliant achievement in the interests of the industry and the buying public. No man in Amer- ica or in the world has done more to advance the standard of motor cars and benefit the manufacturers, salesmen and users than Mr. Metzger. He has been closely associated with the business since its natal day, so to speak, and has been a strong factor in the motive force which has brought about the wonderful developments comprised in motor car history.

Mr. Metzger was born in Peru, Illinois, September 30, 1868, his parents being Ernest F. and Maria (Bosley) Metzger, the former born at Frankfort-on- the-Main, Germany, and the latter in Ohio. Ernest F. Metzger came to America in 1859, when a lad of fourteen years. He went at once to Illinois and when the Civil war began two years later he enlisted with the Twenty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, serv- ing with that unit until the close of hostilities. In later years both he and his wife became residents of Detroit.

William E. Metzger was reared in Peru, Illinois, until 1879, after which he studied for one year in a German school at Ann Arbor, Michigan, later com- pleting his public school studies in Detroit, where he - graduated from high school in 1884. He then entered the employ of Hudson & Symington, remaining with that house until 1891, but in 1889 he became interested in the bicycle business as a member of the firm of Huber & Metzger. In 1891 he concentrated his atten- tion upon the bicycle trade and extended the scope of his business by dealing in the Remington type- writer also. In 1895 he withdrew from the partnership and carried on his work alone in bicycles and cash registers.

In the year 1895 Mr. Metzger attended the first exhibition of motor cars ever held. This was in Eng- land and the only machines shown were those of French and German manufacture. Two years later he became connected with the automobile business, when he purchased some electric cars, these being the first ever offered for sale in Detroit. In 1898 Mr. Metzger opened the first automobile retail store in the old Biddle house on Jefferson avenue, where he sold the old "steamers" and where the first curve-dash Olds- mobile was retailed. In 1901 Mr. Metzger erected a six-story business block at the corner of Jefferson avenue and Brush street, there conducting a general wholesale and retail motor car business until 1905, when he disposed of his interests to the Cadillac Motor Car Company.

In a manufacturing way Mr. Metzger took his first step in 1900, when he joined with William Barbour, Jr., and G. M. Gundeson in organizing the Northern Motor Car Company, which continued as a manufac- turing concern until it was amalgamated with the Wayne Automobile Company in 1908, forming what was known as the E. M. F. Company. In October, 1902, Mr. Metzger assisted in organizing the Cadillac Motor Car Company, of which he became sales mana- ger, a director and stockholder, thus continuing for six years. In 1908 he was associated with Walter E. Flanders and Byron F. Everitt in organizing the E. M. F. Company, which took over the Amalgamated Northern and Wayne Automobile Companies. In 1909 Messrs. Metzger and Everitt disposed of their inter- ests in the E. M. F. and organized the Metzger Motor Car Company, of which Mr. Metzger became secretary and treasurer. This company continued until 1913,

WILLIAM E. METZGER

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when it was sold to the Maxwell Motor Car Company. Mr. Metzger is now president of the Auto Parts Man- ufacturing Company, which was incorporated in 1914, and in 1916 he assisted in the organization of the Columbia Motor Company, of which he is vice presi- dent.

A conspicuous example of the interesting activities of Mr. Metzger in the motor car business is that of his connection with the Detroit Automobile Club, of which he was one of the founders. From the columns of a trade journal the following is quoted: "Detroit, the motor center of the world, unfortunately did not have such an organization (automobile club) till the fall of 1916, when Edward N. Hines, William E. Metzger and other well known citizens got together and formed the Detroit Automobile Club. This new body had hardly gotten under way when the United States entered the war. It looked at that time as if the club would have a difficult time, but its officers went to work with a will and threw the club's sup- port into war-time activities. Chief among the achievements was the success of the club's efforts to have a highway built through to Toledo, over which thousands of motor trucks for the expeditionary force in France could be driven. With the cessation of hostilities the club immediately began to broaden the scope of its work and to attract to its membership thousands of Detroit motor car owners."

Mr. Metzger is a member of the Detroit Athletic Club, of which he was elected president in January, 1921; the Detroit Golf Club, and the Detroit Yacht Club, and is a Consistory Mason and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to the Lambs and to the Engineers Clubs of New York city, and the Aero Club of America; is a director of the American Automobile Association of Washington; and director and chairman of the traffic committee and member of the insurance committee of the National Chamber of Commerce. He is now a director of the National Auto- mobile Chamber of Commerce, which succeeded the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers. He is also a director of the Detroit Motor Bus Com- pany.

Mr. Metzger was married to Miss Grace Kimball, the daughter of George Kimball, deceased, of Detroit. Mrs. Metzger passed away in the year 1907; leaving a daughter, Grace Elaine.

Not alone in the motor car industry has Mr. Metz- ger given generously of his talent and energy. Other interests have from time to time claimed his atten- tion, which has invariably meant success. Financial return has been relegated to the background by Mr. Metzger in frequent enterprises for the public good. In the automobile business a fortune has been his reward, but of these resources he has given lavishly in the effort to better economic conditions. Since the close of the World war Mr. Metzger has devoted all of his time, without remuneration, to civic, state and national work, believing that it is the duty of every

American citizen who can do so to give his every effort to the rebuilding of conditions neglected during the war. Mr. Metzger is president of the Detroit fire commission, president of the new county park board, city supervisor, chairman of the good roads com- mittee of the Board of Commerce and chairman of the transport committee of the State Highway Association.

JULES G. HOFFMAN. In the year 1885 there ar- rived in Detroit a young man of thirty years who was destined to become a prominent figure in con- nection with the coal trade of the city both as a mine operator and as a shipper. Back of his initial ex- perience in business here there were many interesting and sometimes exciting experiences, for he had been a cabin boy on the high seas, had lived in Mexico and the southwest and had been with Custer in his campaigning against the Indians. Jules G. Hoffman was born in the state of New York, January 30, 1855, his parents being Frederick and Marie (Liebel) Hoff- man, who had two children, and there were also two half sisters. The father was born in the state of New York and devoted his life to merchandising.

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The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III, Part 15

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932, ed; Stocking, William, 1840- joint ed; Miller, Gordon K., joint ed Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Detroit-Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 1022

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932, ed; Stocking, William, 1840- joint ed; Miller, Gordon K., joint ed
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Detroit-Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1022