USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 16
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In the acquirement of his education Jules G. Hoff- man attended the public and high schools to the age of seventeen years, when, ambitious to provide for his own support, he began life as a cabin boy on the high seas. Later he went to Mexico, spending a short time in the southern republic, and then following Horace Greeley's advice, he went west, spending teu years beyond the Mississippi. For two years he was a scout under General Custer and this gave him broad experience in life on the plains and particularly in the warfare methods of the Indians. He was also at one time engaged in the cattle business in New Mexico and eventually came to Detroit, where he ar- rived in 1885. It was not long afterward that he was married and turned his attention to the coal trade here, developing a business of substantial pro- portions and winning gratifying prosperity as the years passed. He not only engaged in shipping but also in the operation of coal mines, and his business affairs were most wisely and successfully conducted.
On the 21st of August, 1885, Mr. Hoffman was married to Miss Marie E. Dubois, representative of a prominent Detroit family, and they became parents of two daughters, Mary C., who is the wife of Elwood Croul; and Adele C., and one son, Jules G., Jr. The last named was born April 21, 1895, in Detroit, and after attending the public and high schools was grad- uated from the latter as a member of the class of 1912. On the 1st of November of the same year he became identified with the First National Bank. Sub- sequently he resigned and became associated with E. E. MacCrone & Company, brokers, remaining with the firm until April 17, 1917, when he enlisted for service in the World war, continuing on active duty until April 17, 1919, when he was discharged with the rank of lieutenant. He again took up the brokerage busi-
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ness, in which he has continued and has also taken over the management of the coal business and the interests of the estate of his father.
Mr. Hoffman was prominent in Masonic circles, at- taining the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He served as master of Union Lodge and also as high priest of King Cyrus Chapter. He was likewise well known in club circles, belonging to the Detroit Ath- letic Club, the St. Clair Fishing and Shooting Club and the Audubon Club. He gave stanch support to the republican party, at all times keeping well in- formed on the questions and issues of the day and standing ready to support any project which he deemed of value to the city, the commonwealth or the coun- try. He was secretary of the police board during the years 1898 and 1899, but he never sought to figure prominently in public life, preferring to concentrate his energies and attention upon his business affairs, which were wisely and carefully directed. He re- joiced in his success by reason of what it enabled him to do for his family and he always found his greatest happiness in promoting the welfare and com- fort of his wife and children. It was on the 6th of June, 1920, that he was called to his final rest.
JULIAN B. MANSFIELD is a southerner not only by birth, but in ideals, education and ancestry. He was born August 4, 1880, in Bluffton, Georgia, and after passing through the high school he entered the Georgia School of Technology at Atlanta, taking the mechanical engineering course.
After graduating he became efficiency engineer for Graton & Knight and after a year with them was manager for the Orson Leather Company for a year, in Athens, Georgia. Leaving Athens he became chem- ist and general sales manager for The Tupelo Fer- tilizer Company at Tupelo, Mississippi, changing at the end of a year to become power and transmission engineer and city sales manager for the Fairbanks Company. He remained one year with the Fairbanks people and then took the position of chief engineer and general purchasing agent for the Textile Mills Corporation in New Orleans. Again at the end of a year he changed his position and for the next year and a half was steam power engineer and sales manager for the General Fire Extinguisher Company at New Orleans. He left that corporation to go into business for himself and became president of the Mansfield-Heitt Engineering Company of New Orleans, and was head of that corporation until he came to Detroit, in 1912, as salesman for the J. E. Bolles Iron & Wire Works. He soon became superintendent of the plant, and after a time he incorporated that com- pany and was made vice president and general mana- ger, finally becoming president and general manager.
In 1918 he organized and incorporated the Mans- field Steel Corporation, of which he is president. This plant covers a ground space of two and one-half acres, employs three hundred men, and the products
are trucks, tractors, bodies and parts. Mr. Mans- field also incorporated the Mansfield Engineering Com- pany, consulting engineers, of which he is president and sole stockholder.
Besides being the head and guiding genius of these corporations he is also interested in other enterprises, and he has achieved his success solely by his own unaided ability and industry, overcoming difficulties and troubles that would have swamped most men, by rising above them and becoming one of the mas- ters of industry in Detroit. And it is only seventeen years since he left college.
The Mansfields are an old southern family of Scotch ancestry and Mr. Mansfield is a direct descend- aut of Lord Mansfield. The first Mansfield in America was given a grant of a large tract of land in Georgia by King George III, and the family became promi- nent and influential in Georgia. But by the time that Julian B. Mansfield was a youth the estate had become involved in litigation, with the result that the lawyers got the most of it and he was thrown upon his own resources. But those resources were adequate. He educated himself and became not only an engineer of recognized ability, but a business man, a financier and an executive of high order.
On April 28, 1920, Julian B. Mansfield was united in marriage to Agnes Jamieson, widow of Dr. Robert Jamieson of Detroit. He has three daughters by a previous marriage.
He is a member of Zion Lodge, No. 4, F. & A. M., at Bluffton, Georgia; the Knights of Pythias; the Fellowcraft Club; the Engineers Club of New York; the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; and is a registered mechanical engineer in the state of Michigan. Mr. Mansfield became a charter member of the council of Boy Scouts of America, has been very active in its affairs and is scoutmaster of Troop No. 43.
Mr. Mansfield takes a keen interest in public affairs but considers men and principles more than political parties. His interest in educational affairs led him in one instance to permit his name to be placed on the prohibition ticket for member of the board of education in Detroit.
JOHN. FORTIER MOYNAHAN has for the past eight years been a prominent representative of indus- trial interests in Detroit as the president of the firm of Moynahan & Duchene, Incorporated, manufacturers of architectural and ornamental metal work. His birth occurred in Sandwich, Ontario, on the 14th of February, 1863, his parents being Dennis and Eliza (Fortier) Moynahan. He acquired his education in a country school in Canada and remained on the home farm until seventeen years of age, when he entered railroad service, with which he was connected for about four years. Subsequently he spent two years in the grocery business and on the expiration of that period became shipping clerk for the National Wire
JULIAN B. MANSFIELD
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& Iron Works of Detroit, being thus employed from 1886 until 1889. In the latter year he entered the service of the American Brass & Metal Works in the capacity of bookkeeper and in recognition of his efficiency and fidelity was promoted until he held the position of traveling salesman and designer. In 1893 he took charge of the engineering department of the J. E. Bolles Wire & Iron Works of Detroit, being thus identified until 1896, when he accepted the superin- tendency of the Toledo Wire & Iron Works. The fol- lowing year, however, he returned to Detroit and became superintendent of the William Inglis Wire & Iron Works, with which concern he was thus con- nected for a period covering more than fifteen years. In May, 1912, feeling that his capital and experience justified him in embarking in business on his own account, he organized the firm of Moynahan & Duchene for the manufacture of bronze, brass, iron and wire work and has since built up an enterprise of substan- tial and gratifying proportions. Well merited success has crowned his efforts, for he conducts his interests according to the most modern and progressive ideas and the integrity of his methods is unquestioned.
On the 23d of November, 1886, Mr. Moynahan was united in marriage to Miss Bernice F. Stoddard, of Monroe, Michigan, and they have become parents of three children: Baldwin J., Beatrice E and Roy D.
In the exercise of his right of franchise Mr. Moy- nahan usually supports the men and measures of the republican party. His religious faith is that of the Catholic church and he also belongs to the Detroit Board of Commerce and to the Wolverine Automo- bile Club. He finds recreation in golf, baseball, bowling, card playing and swimming and has due appreciation of the social amenities of life. During the period of hostilities with Germany he took a most active part in war work, doing everything in his power to uphold the interests of the government and pro- mote the welfare of the soldiers in camp and field.
RALPH BLACKBURN NEAL, secretary and treas- urer of the Monarch Coal Company, was born in Bay City, Michigan, October 27, 1885, a son of Frederick and Esther (Peck) Neal, the former a native of Lex- ington, Michigan, while the latter was born in Syra- cuse, New York, and came to this state in early life. The parents were married in Michigan, and the father provided for the support of his family by engaging in the retail fuel trade, first in Lexington and after- wards in Detroit, where he is still active in business. To him and his wife have been born five children: Norman W., of Detroit; Ralph B .; Mrs. Harvey W. Tustin, also of Detroit; Mrs. Effie Pier and Mrs. Lib- bie Hoffman, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In early boyhood Ralph B. Neal attended the pub- lic schools of Bay City, and afterwards continued his education in the Temple University of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was graduated on the com- pletion of a business course. At the age of seventeen
years he secured a clerical position in connection with the iron and steel industry and in 1909 he came to Detroit. In May of the following year he entered the employ of H. Peck & Company, coal dealers, with whom he remained until 1914, and later was with the Monarch Coal Company, handling coal and fuel in wholesale lots. Of this company he became secretary and treasurer and remains in that connection. His business methods are such as will bear the closest investigation and scrutiny. He is progressive and thoroughly reliable and has ever recognized the fact that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement. He has contributed to the substantial growth of the busi- ness and today the Monarch Coal Company is one of the foremost organizations in connection with the wholesale coal trade of the city.
On the 10th of April, 1909, Mr. Neal was married to Miss Anna E. Mccutcheon, of Philadelphia, Penn- sylvania, a daughter of Thomas MeCutcheon of that city, and they have one child, Robert B., who was born February 21, 1917, in Detroit. Mr. Neal gives his political support to the republican party. Frat- ernally he is a Mason, and is the present worshipful master of the City of Straits Lodge. He has also taken the degrees of the Chapter, Commandery, Con- sistory and the Mystic Shrine, and is a prominent and widely known representative of Masonic interests in the city. He is likewise a member of the Masonic Country Club, and he enjoys in fullest measure the high respect, confidence and goodwill of his brethren of the fraternity.
WILLIAM EDWARD THOMPSON, who was a rep- resentative member of the Detroit bar for many years, passed from the scene of earthly activities August 2, 1920. He had been a lifelong resident of Detroit, his birth having here occurred July 8, 1868, his parents being William and Ellen (Donovan) Thompson. Lib- eral educational advantages were accorded him and in 1888 he won the Bachelor of Arts degree upon grad- uation from the University of Detroit, while two years later his Alma Mater conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree. Determining upon the practice of law as a life work, he entered the University of Mich- igan and gained his LL. B. degree in 1891. The same year he was admitted to practice at the Michigan bar and afterward followed his profession in Detroit to the time of his demise. For a time he was asso- ciated with the law firm of Conely, Maybury & Luck- ing and made steady advancement in his profession, his ability receiving recognition in his appointment to the position of attorney for the Michigan State Telephone Company-the Bell system-which he thus represented for fourteen years. He was thoroughly familiar with corporation law and practice and was an acknowledged power in that field. A short time prior to his death he returned to private practice and had gained a large and important clientele.
On the 14th of December, 1908, Mr. Thompson was
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united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Duffy of Ann Arhor, Michigan. Mr. Thompson was a member of the Detroit Athletic Club and the Lawyers Club and also belonged to the Harmonie Society, to the Detroit Board of Commerce and to the Detroit, Michigan State and American Bar Association. His political endorsement was given to the democratic party, but he never sought nor desired political preferment, con- centrating his efforts and attention upon his impor- tant and growing professional interests and duties.
JOHN WILLIAM MURRAY is chairman of the board of directors of the J. W. Murray Mann- facturing Company, a productive industry of Detroit that employs an average of one thousand men. He has contributed in notable measure to the successful conduct of this business, which yet benefits by his wisdom and experience as his opinions become forceful factors in the management of the undertaking. Mr. Murray was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, April 20, 1861, and pursued a public school education while spending his youthful days in the home of his parents, Andrew and Honora (Shanahan) Murray. Early in life he turned his attention to industrial pursuits and advanced steadily step by step until he became fore- man with the firm of A. F. Bartlett & Company of Saginaw, Michigan, occupying that position from 1889 until 1893. In the latter year he became general manager for the Jenison Manufacturing Company of Jenison, Michigan, and there continued until 1895. In that year he became a resident of Chicago, Illi- nois, where he engaged in business on his own account for a decade. In 1906 he removed to Knox, Indiana, and was there president and general manager of the Knox Independent Metal Wheel Company until 1909. His succeeding position was that of factory manager and director of the Michigan Stamping Company from 1909 until 1913. In 1914 he organized and became the president of the J. W. Murray Manufacturing Com- pany of Detroit, manufacturers of sheet metal parts for motor cars, and continned as the chief executive officer of the business until July 1, 1920, when he retired from the presidency and was succeeded by his son, J. R. Murray, who is represented elsewhere in this work, while J. W. Murray became chairman of the board of directors. The Detroit plant furnishes employment to abont one thousand men and the busi- ness from the beginning has enjoyed a substantial growth. A subsidiary plant was begun in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1919 and completed in December of that year. Besides Mr. Murray and his son the officers of the Company are: George D. Shanahan, vice presi- dent, and Fred J. Krunn, secretary and treasurer.
In October, 1887, Mr. Murray was married to Miss Harriet E. Rapin of Rapinville, Michigan, and they have become parents of a son and two daughters: James R., Nell C. and Nora M. The religions faith of the family is that of the Roman Catholic church. Mr. Murray is independent in politics, a member of the
Detroit Golf Club, the Detroit Athletic Club and the Detroit Board of Commerce. He has always greatly enjoyed motoring and yachting and has turned to these activities for diversion, but business affairs have largely claimed his undivided attention and his capa- bility has been manifest in the successful direction of the large interests which he has controlled.
GENERAL LUTHER S. TROWBRIDGE. While General Luther S. Trowbridge was by training and choice a member of the Detroit bar, he was again and again called upon for active and important public service and discharged his duties in official connec- tions with the same fidelity and loyalty that he dis- played when he defended the interests of the Union on the battle fields of the south. Michigan was hon- ored in claiming him as a native son. He was born on a farm in Troy township, Oakland county, July 28, 1836, his parents being Stephen Van Rensselaer and Elizabeth (Conklin) Trowbridge. The father came to Michigan from Albany, New York, while the mother was from the village of Horseheads, Chemung county, New York. This worthy couple became the parents of seven sons and four daughters, to whom the father, a well-to-do farmer and a gentleman of some educa- tion, gave liberal school advantages such as were seldom enjoyed by the children in the pioneer fam- ilies in a new country.
At an exceptionally early age General Trowbridge began attending school and soon proved an apt scholar. At that period it was a common thing to have spell- ing matches, in which various schools of a district would contest, and in one such in Oakland county Lnther S. Trowbridge successfully "spelled down" the entire company. He early displayed a notable memory, a talent that was of great value to him throughout his life. He continued his studies in the district school until his sixteenth year and then en- tered an academy at Lodi Plains, Washtenaw county, Michigan, where he pursued his preparatory course. His more specifically literary course was obtained in Yale University but at the end of his junior year he was compelled to give up his studies on account of trouble with his eyes. Nevertheless he had advanced to such a point of educational efficiency that the uni- versity conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree.
The desire of General Trowbridge to become a member of the bar culminated in his admission as a law student in the office of Sidney D. Miller of De- troit in 1856. For two years he applied himself assiduously to the mastery of the principles of juris- prudence and in 1858 was admitted to practice in the courts of Michigan. The following year he became a partner of the Hon. Alexander W. Buel and re- mained an active member of the bar until 1862, when, feeling that his duty to his country was paramount to all else, he joined the army. When the war broke ont he was urged to take command of the Second Michigan Infantry, but he felt that his inexperience
JOHN W. MURRAY
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in military matters did not justify such a course. Soon afterward a company was formed for the study of military tactics, directed by G. W. Rosem, a West Point graduate, and composed of professional men and young business men who felt that it would soon be their duty to go to the front. In 1862 when Presi- dent Lincoln issued a call for two hundred thousand men, Luther S. Trowbridge, now well equipped by training, accepted the commission of major in the Fifth Michigan Cavalry, and with his command went to the field in December, 1862. He was first engaged in outpost duty in front of Washington, with occa- sional raids into the enemy's country, until June, 1863. A contemporary biographer, writing of his military career, said: "The regiment was in the meantime brigaded with the First, Sixth and Seventh, all Michigan regiments, which afterward gained an enviable reputation as the Michigan Brigade.
"Colonel Copeland, who organized the Sixth Mich- igan Cavalry, was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in command of the Michigan Brigade in the early part of June, when General Lee was moving his army into Pennsylvania. The Michigan Brigade was then attached to the Army of the Potomac. On the 28th of June the Fifth and Sixth Michigan Cav- alry entered Gettysburg and were able to send relia- ble information of the movements of a portion of General Lee's army to the commander of the Army of the Potomac, General Elwell's corps having passed through Gettysburg on its march to New York. Upon the return of the Fifth and Sixth Michigan Cavalry to Emmetsburg they learned of a general reorganiza- tion of cavalry troops under General Custer, then newly appointed to the command of the Michigan Brigade, which was then attached to General Kil- patrick's division.
"The brigade became engaged with Stuart's cav- alry and prevented their communication with Lee's headquarters, a fact which proved most embarrassing to General Lee. On the night of July 2d the brigade approached the battle field of Gettysburg and the vie- tory at that battle was largely due to the gallant fighting of the Michigan Cavalry. It was while lead- ing his battalion against Stuart's batteries in the face of almost certain death that Major Trowbridge had his horse shot under him close to the guns of the enemy. In speaking of this incident, General Trowbridge said: 'I only escaped capture through the coolness and conrage of my orderly, who dashed up with a second horse, which I mounted, thus ena- bling me to escape.' The brave orderly was rewarded for his action by Major Trowbridge, who secured his appointment as captain of the Tenth Michigan Cav- alry, in which post he continued until the end of the war.
"In the early morning of the day following the battle of Gettysburg the brigade went into bivouac at Two Taverns, amid the roar of the guns of the artillery of the Twelfth Corps as General Williams
was making his splendid fight to recover ground John- ston had wrested from him the night before. About eight a. m., as the brigade took its position with the division on the left flank of the Army of the Poto- mae, beyond the Round Tops, General Gregory antici- pated a severe fight on the right flank of the army and ordered General Custer to take his position on that flank, where his presence proved to be of great valne.
"In the month immediately preceding Gettysburg and in the month following, the Fifth Michigan Cav- alry was almost constantly engaged in fighting. Major Trowbridge was taken sick and came home, where he remained for six weeks. While at home he was offered the position of colonel of the Tenth Michigan Cavalry, which he accepted, and went with his regi- ment to Kentucky and Tennessee. In April, 1864, he was sent to destroy an important railway bridge over the Wantenaga river at Carter's station. The affair, though not in itself important, had a great effect on the future of the regiment, as it enabled it to drive a superior force from an entrenched position.
"When the army moved on to East Tennessee to join General Sherman in the Atlanta campaign, Colonel Trowbridge's regiment was left as the only Union cavalry regiment in Tennessee, with headquar- ters at Strawberry Plains. While stationed at this point an incident occurred which showed the versa- tility of Colonel Trowbridge. He was requested to finish fortifications to protect the railroad bridge at that place. The work was something entirely new to him and he set ont with the aid of a small book on fortifications. In looking over the work already done and studying the topography of the country, he came to the conclusion that the work was not well laid out. He reported the results of his observations to his superior officer, who said he did not think there had been any mistake, as he had laid out the work himself. Colonel Trowbridge made diagrams of the work done and sketched the topography of the conn- try, indicating where an enemy could plant his bat- teries and would be likely to use his artillery in case of attack. Thus prepared, he went to Knoxville to call on the commanding officer, General David Tilson, and he soon convinced that officer of the inadequacy of the fortifications. General Tilson agreed that the engineer to whom the work had been entrusted had made a mistake and instructed Colonel Trowbridge to finish the task according to his own plans. He did so and had the satisfaction of seeing the correctness of his ideas tested by a continuous attack of the enemy's artillery, which might have blazed away un- til doomsday without any serious damage being done.
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