USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 18
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movement in Detroit and has continued to labor in its behalf. She was chairman of the League of Equal Suffrage Societies, a merger of the various suffrage bodies in Detroit, and is a member of the National Advisory Council of the National Woman's Party and a member of the permanent headquarters committee of the same organization. Miss Dyar has a literary gift and has written on art subjects, painting, seulp- ture and arts and crafts. She has been a regular con- tributor on these subjects to the "Saturday Night" and her articles have also appeared in "All The Arts" and "The International Studio." She is also a musician of ability. Miss Dyar is an ardent advo- cate of prohibition, belonging to the Anti-Saloon League and is a supporter of the new movement known as the "No-Tobacco Army."
CAPTAIN JOSEPH STRONG STRINGHAM is worthy of a prominent place in the history of Detroit for several reasons: He has achieved an honorable record both as an engineer and as a patriotic Ameri- can; his father and grandfather before him were suc- cessful men and highly respected citizens of Detroit; and his ancestry runs back through some of the oldest American families to John Alden and his wife, Priscilla Mullens, whose names both history and the poet Longfellow have placed upon the scroll of the Im- mortals.
Joseph Strong Stringham was born at Saginaw, Michigan, October 31, 1870, the son of Joseph and Pauline Janette (Bachus) Stringham. His early edu- cation was obtained in the public schools, Dufferin College, London, Ontario, and De Vaux College at Suspension Bridge, New York. Subsequently he took the engineering course in the College of Mines at Houghton, Michigan, and was graduated in the class of 1895. He began his business career as a grocery clerk, then took a elerkship with the old Flint & Pere Marquette Railway. He worked for a time in the offices of an umbrella factory in New York city but soon turned his attention to engineering, in which he has done much notable work. His engineering work has taken him into many different parts of the coun- try, including Colorado, California and British Colum- bia, and has been of a varied character, nearly always involving important responsibilities. During 1897 he was with the United States Engineering Corps as en- gineer in charge of the rivers and harbors of Michigan,' chiefly along the shores of Lake Michigan. During the Spanish-American war he served as a seaman with the United States Navy on board the Yosemite, which carried the Naval Reserve, the record of which is a matter of pride to Michigan people. In 1899 Mr. Stringham made a survey of the Isthmus of Darien for the United States government, that being then one of the routes under contemplation for the site of what is now the Panama Canal. From 1900 to 1911 he was construction engineer for the Solvay Process Com- pany of Detroit and afterward he was manager of the
CAPTAIN JOSEPH S. STRINGHAM
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Monarch Steel Castings Company and vice president of the Detroit Seamless Tube Company. He is vice presi- dent of the Esco Manufacturing Company.
When the United States entered the World war Mr. Stringham promptly offered his services to the gov- ernment to be employed wherever he could render the most effective service. The age limit kept him out of active service in the field, but he was commissioned captain of ordnance, United States army, July 17, 1917, and assigned to the ordnance department. He installed the government inspectors' offices at the American Car & Foundry Company's plant iu Detroit, and also later the inspector's office at the Ford Motor Company's plant, but his chief work was at the Rock Island Arsenal where he was inspector of ordnance and assistant to the colonel. He received his discharge November 21, 1918, after sixteen months of most ef- ficient and enthusiastic service.
A man of education and culture, he takes an intense interest in civie and social affairs and with his strong personality and wide mental vision is eminently adapted to such service. In 1917 he was elected a member of the Detroit Board of Education and be- came president of the board for 1920-21. For some years he has been a trustee and vice president of Harper Hospital and is a trustee of the Masonic Tem- ple Association and past president of that body. He also is a member of the new Masonic Temple building committee. He has attained high honors in Masonry, having received the thirty-third degree in the Scot- tish Rite. Also he is one of the board of library commissioners. His religions affiliation is with St. John's Episcopal church, of which he is a member.
On June 2, 1910, Mr. Stringham was married at Port Huron, Michigan, to Georgiana MacDonald, daughter of Hilary and Hannah (Pontine) MacDonald. Mrs. Stringham received her literary education in the high school and then took a course in the Farrand Training school of Harper Hospital and was regularly graduated therefrom. Mr. and Mrs. Stringham have two children, namely: Helen Strong, born in Detroit, May 3, 1912; and Joseph MacDonald, born in De- troit, July 15, 1914.
Mr. Stringham's father, Joseph Stringham, was born in Detroit, August 8, 1841, and after his school days took up the insurance business in Detroit, Saginaw and throughout Michigan. He spent most of his life in that line of business and was one of the best known insurance men of his day in the state. He was an ardent lover of art and music and not only en- conraged but gave liberally to musical enterprises. He was a musician himself, a fine violinist and a con- noisseur of violins, and he acquired a valuable collec- tion of instruments of rare quality. Also he was an enthusiastic yachtsman and possessed so much skill in handling his craft that he was popularly known as "captain" in boating eireles. He married Pauline Janette Bachus of Troy, New York. Joseph Strong Stringham is their only son. The father was a man of
sterling character, with a rich vein of human sympathy that manifested itself in quiet charities. His bene- factions are said to have been extensive but were conferred without ostentation. He was a member of St. John's Episcopal church and when his wife died in 1891 he made a handsome gift to that church in her memory. He died January 19, 1910. His parents were Henry Ten Broeck and Sarah Jane (Strong) Stringham.
Henry Ten Broeck Stringham was born on the island of St. Croix, West Indies, August 28, 1815. His father was a member of a New York firm that carried on trade with the West Indies aud to advance the inter- ests of his firm he had settled in St. Croix and there married Ann Stridiron, daughter of a wealthy planter of the island. Henry T. Stringham was sent to the United States in 1827 by his mother, his father hav- ing died while the boy was still quite young. He received an academical education in the schools of Bennington, Vermont, and Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and in 1832 became a clerk in the old bank of Rome, New York. There he remained for two years and in 1834 came to Detroit and took a position as clerk in the old Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank. From that time on he called Michigan his permanent home, al- though his business caused him to reside temporarily at Buffalo, New York, and Oshkosh, Wisconsin. In 1839 he married Sarah J. Strong, daughter of John W. Strong of Detroit, and in 1840 he joined John Chester in the forwarding and commission business in Detroit. His brother, Joseph Stringham, had become a banker of large wealth and much influence in Buf- falo, New York, and this brother persuaded Henry T. Stringham to go to Buffalo in 1845, and he remained there five years. In 1850 he returned to Detroit, but about the year 1861 he went to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, to look after large interests which his brother had acquired in that place. After a comparatively short period he returned to Detroit, where for seven or eight years he was engaged in banking and as agent for the Home Insurance Company of New York. Then he went once more to Oshkosh and there, in 1887, he was prostrated by a stroke of paralysis. When he had sufficiently recovered he returned to Detroit and re- sided in that city the remainder of his life. He never recovered enough vigor and health to engage again in business but did regain sufficient strength to enjoy the visits of his friends and the congenial life of his family. He died May 4, 1895, in his eightieth year, and the newspapers of the city when recording the event of his death were profuse in their encomiums on his life and character. He was very much of a home man and his home life was ideal. It is recorded of him that his personality was so winning that he charmed all with whom he came into contact. He was a man of unusual intelligence, a great reader, gifted with a remarkable memory and a most entertaining talker. His commentators, one and all, make mention of his gentleness which as Thackeray said, is, after all,
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the foundation of the gentleman. He was an active worker in St. Paul's Episcopal church and his busi- ness character was the standard of integrity. His wife, Sarah Jane Stringham, died February 18, 1901.
From the foregoing it is seen that the Stringham family in Detroit dates from 1834. The following cer- tified genealogy of Joseph Strong Stringham shows the American ancestry back to John Alden, beginning with his grandmother, Sarah J. Strong. She was the daughter of John Wareham Strong and his wife, Mary Banks Root, and was born in Rochester, New York, September 5, 1821. Mary Banks (Root) Strong was born September 16, 1791, and was the daughter of Hon. Jesse Root of Hartford, Connecticut, and his wife, Rebecca Fish. Rebecca Fish was born in August, 1770, and was the daughter of Dr. Eliakim Fish of Hartford, Connecticut, and his wife Sarah Stillman of Wethersfield, Connecticut. Dr. Eliakim Fish was born February 2, 1740, at Stonington, Connecticut, and was the son of Nathaniel Fish and his wife, Mary Pabodie, of Little Compton, Rhode Island. Mary Pabodie was born April 4, 1712, at Little Compton, the daughter of William Pabodie and Judith, his wife. William Pa- bodie was born November 4, 1664, at Duxbury, Massa- chusetts, and was the son of William Pabodie and Elizabeth Alden, his wife, of Duxbury, Massachusettts. Elizabeth Alden was born in 1622 or 1623 at Plymouth, Massachusetts, a daughter of John Alden and Pris- cilla Mullens, both of Plymouth, Massachusetts. John Alden was born in 1599 and died September 12, 1687, at Duxbury, Massachusetts.
This clear record has been compiled from Stiles Ancient Windsor, Stiles Wethersfield and the New England Historical General Register and establishes the Stringham family's right to membership in the Mayflower Society.
ANTHONY GROSFIELD. The real estate and in- surance business in Detroit probably does not include a better known or a more honorable and upright rep- resentative than Anthony Grosfield, whose connection with these interests goes back more than one-third of a century. Mr. Grosfield was born in Westphalia, Ger- many, July 4, 1843, a son of Theodore and Franziska (Grobbel) Grosfield, Educated in the schools and col- lege of his native city, Anthony Grosfield began his business career as a clerk in a general store. He was a capable and energetic young man but not favorably inclined toward the compulsory military training which continued residence in Germany would compel him to undergo. Being of military age, it would have been impossible to secure a passport, but having made up his mind to go to America, he was going to get away the best way he could. He left Hamburg on a cattle boat bound for Hull, England, whence he went by rail to Liverpool. From the latter city he took passage for New York on the "Great Eastern," the monarch of the seas in those days. After a voyage of thirteen days he reached New York on
July 13, 1863. His coming to America was not a pleasure trip, and it was necessary for him to seek employment. Seeing an advertisement in a New York paper for workmen at Cold Springs, New York, he went to the latter place and entered the armament department of the United States government, where were being manufactured cannons, shells and arms for the Civil war then raging. His wages were a dollar and a quarter per day and for about a year young Grosfield was thus employed. In 1864 he left there and went to Collinsville, Connecticut, and took up the trade of grinding and polishing edged tools. He remained in Collinsville until 1866, when he took a trip south to Richmond, Virginia, to look over some of the battle fields in that section. Going then to Baltimore in search of work, he was unable to find employment and went on west to Pittsburgh, finally coming to Detroit. This was in the month of July, 1866. His first job in Detroit was that of a grocery clerk for Patrick McMahon, whose store was on the southeast corner of Michigan avenue and Twenty-third street, the site on which Mr. Grosfield's business block stands today. After a few months Mr. Grosfield's parents and their family came to Detroit from Ger- many, and in partnership with his father, Mr. Gros- field purchased the grocery business from Patrick McMahon and for several years conducted it under the name of Grosfield & Company. In 1871 Anthony Grosfield purchased the property and from that time until 1882 was in the grocery business as an individual. In the latter year he disposed of the grocery stock, retaining the hardware stock that had been carried in connection. To this hardware stock he made extensive additions and until 1887 conducted a hardware busi- ness exclusively. In the latter year Mr. Grosfield sold out his hardware business to engage in the real estate and insurance business. He had become interested in real estate and the possibilities of that business seemed more attractive than the mercantile business. In 1889, in company with Peter Schulte, he began buying, platting and selling real estate on a large scale and also embarked in building operations. One of the en- terprises of the two men was the platting of the Retreat tract in the west end, from which they donated to the city the right of way for West Grand boulevard from Michigan avenue south to the Michi- gan Central railroad tracks, the property represent- ing a value of not less than eighty thousand dollars. From 1892 to 1910 Mr. Grosfield was senior member of the firm of Grosfield & Scanlon, his partner, Matthew Scanlon, being well known in real estate circles. Since 1910 Mr. Grosfield has been in business as an individual. However, since 1917 his three sons, Charles P., Fred A. and Arthur A., have been closely associated with their father in looking after the large amount of business coming from the various operations.
On the 14th of November, 1871, in Detroit, Mr. Grosfield was married to Miss Elizabeth Vogt. To them have been born six sons, comprising a family
ANTHONY GROSFIELD
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that would be a credit to any parentage. Five of the sons are living: John A., Frank A., Charles P., Fred- erick A. and Arthur A.
Mr. Grosfield built in 1893 and owns the valuable business block in which his offices are located, at the southeast.corner of Michigan avenue and Twenty-third street, and this building stands on the spot where he first began business fifty-six years ago. On the com- pletion of his fiftieth year in this stand he was the recipient of an avalanche of congratulations from his friends all over the city of Detroit, and the warmth and number of these felicitations were a splendid tribute to the worth and character of the man upon whom they were poured. About 1905 Mr. Grosfield built his excellent home at 819 West Grand boulevard, where the family residence has since been maintained. He takes a keen interest in the public welfare. He is a constructionist in a benign and beneficent way. The schools, the city government, the progress of the state at large have always had his thoughtful con- sideration. In political circles he has always been regarded as a stanch democrat and a worker for party success. He represented the old ninth ward, now the twelfth, in the common council in 1874, in the days when it was considered an honor to be elected alder- man and when the office carried no salary. In 1886 he served as a member of the board of estimates. He was a member of the board of education for four years. In 1889 he was elected to the state senate from the third senatorial district and served in that body until 1900. He is an active member of the Real Estate Board and the Detroit Board of Commerce. One of the oldest active real estate operators in De- troit, his entire career has been of a character to dignify the business. Clean and straightforward, hon- orable and scrupulous, Mr. Grosfield represents the highest type of citizenship. He is seventy-eight years old but is a hale and hearty man, still gives his per- sonal attention to his large business interests and retains the vigorous mentality and genial heart that have made him a successful and honored man.
ADAM JULIUS STROHM, librarian of the Detroit Public Library, was born in Vänersborg, Sweden, Feb- ruary 16, 1870, his parents being John and Ida (Wet- tervik) Strohm. Liberal educational opportunities were accorded him in his native land, where he com- pleted a course in the University of Uppsala in 1888, winning the degree of Bachelor of Arts. The year 1892 witnessed his arrival in America, and utilizing his opportunities for further educational advancement he was graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana, with the degree of B. L. S., in the class of 1900. He began his active professional career as library assistant at the University of Illinois in 1899 and so continued for a year. He was librarian at the Armour Institute of Chicago in 1900 and 1901 and in the latter year was appointed to the position of librarian at the public library at Trenton, New
Jersey. In 1912 he was called to Detroit as acting librarian, so serving until July, 1913, since which time he has been librarian of the Detroit Public Library. His broad university training specially qual- ified him for this work and experience has given him a most intimate knowledge of the demands of the publie in connection with library management. Fully meeting every requirement his systematization and labors have made the Detroit Library one of which the city has every reason to be proud. He is a mem- ber of the American Library Association and also of the Michigan Library Association and in the meet- ings of those organizations keeps in touch with the most advanced thought bearing upon his chosen pro- fession.
Mr. Strohm married Cecilia B. MeConnel, of Win- netka, Illinois, and they have two children: Harriet and John Gillette. Mr. Strohm has membership in the Michigan Authors Society and in the Alpha Tau Omega, a college fraternity. He belongs to the Uni- versity Club, the Detroit Boat Club and the Meadow- brook Country Club and finds his chief recreation in boating and swimming and in the enjoyment of vari- ous outdoor sports.
GEORGE N. BAKER is the president of the George N. Baker Company, manufacturers of wood and metal machinery at Detroit. He was born in Syracuse, New York, September 14, 1876, and is a son of Robert and Emma (Smith) Baker, both of whom were natives of the Empire state, where they spent their lives. The father engaged in business as a successful carriage manufacturer of Syracuse, continuing in the business to the time of his death. His life record spanned the intervening years between 1849-the date of his birth -and 1902, the year in which he passed away. His widow is living and still makes her home in Syracuse. In their family were five children, three of whom sur- vive, the daughters being: Pearl of Syracuse, and Mrs. Mabel Virgil of Kenosha, Wisconsin.
George N. Baker attended the public and high schools of Syracuse and also the Syracuse Technical Institute. His natural trend was toward mechanics and after completing his education he entered the mechanical field by becoming foreman of the Syracuse Plow Company. When ballooning became popular he entered into that sport and helped perfect one of the first dirigible gas bags in the world, becoming his own pilot. He gave exhibitions and raced in his machine at various air meets in the country, and when the aeroplanes were beginning to supplant the dirigible, he operated one of the first flying machines of this type. His daring and skill in his flights were the wonder and amazement of thou- sands upon thousands of people. At length, however, he gave up this hazardous pursuit to engage in the machinery business, settling first in St. Louis, Mis- souri, where he remained for a few years, and then went to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he conducted a
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successful machinery business until he came to Detroit in 1915. Here he organized the George N. Baker Company for the agency of wood working and metal machinery, and from the beginning the enterprise has enjoyed a healthy and continuous growth under his able management. The business was incorporated in 1920, with Mr. Baker as the president, and today he is at the head of a large and profitable productive industry. He is a forceful and representative busi- ness man, possessed of determination that enables him to carry forward to successful completion what- ever he undertakes.
On the 18th of June, 1901, Mr. Baker was married to Miss Carrie Patterson of Syracuse, New York, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lorin L. Patterson, the former a prominent grain dealer and miller of Syracuse.
Mr. Baker maintains an independent course in pol- ities. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons as a member of Syracuse Lodge, F. & A. M., and he is also a Knights Templar and a member of Central City Commandery, No. 25, of Syracuse. He belongs to the Detroit Golf Club and is well known in the trade circles of the city, being a member of the Board of Commerce, the Manufacturers Association and also of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. He belongs to the North Woodward Metho- dist Episcopal church and his life is guided by high and honorable principles that make him one of the esteemed and valued citizens of Detroit. In his business he has so directed his affairs that success is attending his efforts in large measure. During the war period he was connected with the production service of the government and rendered active and valuable aid in this connection.
JOHN HENRY THOMAS of the Thomas Brothers Real Estate & Insurance Agency, is one of the best known men in his line of business in Detroit and has gained prominence in this connection, particu- larly in handling important subdivisions of the city. His efforts have constituted a potent force in trans- forming unsightly vacancies into attractive residential districts and in negotiating property sales he has always kept in mind his opportunity to aid in the development of Detroit along substantial and attrac- tive lines.
Mr. Thomas is a native of Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred in Danville, January 8, 1851, his parents being William S. and Elizabeth (Stephens) Thomas. The family was established in America by W. S. Thomas, the father, who came to the United States from Cornwall, England, of which country he was a native, in the early part of May, 1848, and located in eastern Pennsylvania, where in July, 1849, he was joined by his wife and family, then consisting of a son and a daughter. The family lived in that state for several years, or until 1855, when they re- moved to the upper peninsula of Michigan. There
on the shores of Lake Superior the father engaged in mining with more or less success and was there residing when he cast his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont in 1856. W. S. Thomas passed away in Wayne county, Michigan, while his wife died at Fenton, Michigan. Of their family of seven children five are living: William S., who is mentioned else- where in this work; John H., of this review; Mrs. Jessie A. Wightman of Birmingham, Michigan; Mrs. Harriet Eddy of Detroit; and Elizabeth of Birming- ham, Michigan.
John H. Thomas was but little more than four years old when his parents removed to Michigan, where in his youthful days he was a pupil in the public schools of the upper peninsula, pursuing his studies to this twelfth year, when he started out, together with his brother, to aid in the support of the family. Between the ages of twelve and twenty years he worked on the surface and also in the copper mines at a salary which varied from three to ten dollars per week. Much of this sum was given to aid the family, but by practicing the strictest economy he managed to save enough to enable him to become a pupil in the State Normal school, from which he was graduated when in his twenty-third year. He then took up the profession of teaching in the upper peninsula, secur- ing a school at Ripley, and for ten years thereafter he devoted his energies to educational work in that section of the state, during which period he also taught school at L'Anse. In 1882 he came to De- troit and established a real estate and insurance busi- ness, beginning in a modest way. By 1900 the busi- ness had developed to considerable proportions and he was joined by his brother, W. S. Thomas, who became his partner under the firm style of Thomas Brothers. They have since conducted a general real estate and insurance business and have developed their interests to extensive proportions. They have largely special- ized in handling subdivisions and have developed some of the most important of the city, including Nardin Park, the State Fair subdivision, Oakland Heights, Waverly Farm, Bungalow Grove, Gable and Piscopink, Beverly Park, Oakley Heights, Earlmont and others. Of those mentioned, Beverly Park alone contained almost one hundred acres. Mr. Thomas is the president and one of the directors of the Beverly Park Realty Company and he is the president of the First Mortgage Real Estate & Loan Company, a partner in the J. H. Thomas Insurance Company, president of the Cottage Homes Corporation, also treas- urer of the Hensley Trolley and Manufacturing Com- pany of Detroit, of which he was one of the organizers. He has closely studied everything relative to real estate conditions in Detroit and the surrounding country, knows the property that is for sale and is thoroughly acquainted with the real estate market in every particular, while as a valuator of property he is considered an authority. His efforts have indeed been a potent force in the upbuilding of the city.
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