USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 19
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JOHN H. THOMAS
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Mr. Thomas has been twice married. He first wedded Miss Eva Chantler, who was a daughter of Dr. J. H. and Mrs. Chantler of Detroit, and passed away in this city in February, 1913, leaving a son, Harry C., who was born in 1891 and was educated in the public schools of Detroit, while at the present time he is engaged in the real estate business with his father. He married Miss Pearl Wheeler of Detroit, and they have a son, Robert Thomas. For his second wife John H. Thomas chose Mrs. Elizabeth Simpson Nichols, whom he wedded on the 25th of July, 1914. She is a daughter of the late Rev. Charles Simpson.
In his political views Mr. Thomas is a republican. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and the Odd Fellows and belongs also to the Real Estate Ex- change and the Board of Commerce. In his business career he has displayed a spirit of progressiveness that has prompted him to overcome every difficulty and obstacle in his path, to take advantage of every opportunity and thus step by step he has advanced until he occupies a creditable and enviable position among the leading real estate men of Detroit. At the same time he enjoys a high position among the best class of the business men of the city with which he has now been continuously identified for nearly forty years.
WARD N. CHOATE, whose public positions have all been in the nature of his professional activity and who has won for himself a creditable place as a repre- sentative of that profession to which life, liberty and property must look for protection, has been numbered among the representatives of the Detroit bar since July, 1895. Power grows through the exercise of effort and thus in the continuous practice of his pro- fession Ward N. Choate has gained strength, leading to the attainment of prominence and success as a representative of the bar. He was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, June 21, 1873, his parents being William E. and Minerva (Haynes) Choate. After completing a high school education in Jackson and in Ann Arbor he became a student in the University of Michigan, in which he pursued his more specifically literary course. He next entered the Detroit College of Law but did not graduate therefrom, having already been admitted to the bar before attending that institution. In fact he had entered upon his business career some years previous. He became a registered pharmacist in 1890, but desiring to enter the legal profession, qualified for practice and was admitted to the bar in July, 1895. He at once entered upon the active work of the profession and after practicing alone for several years became senior partner in the firm of Choate & Webster, an association that was main- tained from 1904 until 1908. In the latter year he became senior member of the firm of Choate, Webster, Robertson & Lehmann, and on the withdrawal of Mr. Webster in 1912 the firm style of Choate, Robertson & Lehmann was adopted. Later this partnership was
dissolved, since which time Mr. Choate has practiced alone. In his early professional career Mr. Choate served as assistant prosecuting attorney of Wayne county from 1901 until 1904 and he was estimator- at-large of the city of Detroit from 1906 until 1908. He belongs to the Detroit Bar Association, of which he formerly served as second vice president, and he is a member also of the Michigan State and American Bar Associations. His interest in his profession is an absorbing one. He is a close student of the prin- ciples of jurisprudence, possesses a keenly analytical mind and his cogent reasoning has been one of the salient features in his growing success.
On the 19th of February, 1908, Mr. Choate was united in marriage to Miss Harriett E. Gault of De- troit and they have one daughter, Frances H. Mr. Choate's political endorsement has always been given to the republican party. Fraternally he is a member of Zion Lodge, No. 1, F. & A. M., of which he is a past master; Detroit Commandery No. 1, Knights Tem- plar; the Grotto; and the Mystic Shrine. He is also identified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He belongs to the Detroit Athletic Club, the Lawyers Club, of which he has served on the execu- tive committee, and he is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, and vice president of the Vir- ginia Park Association. From 1901 until 1904 he was a member of the Michigan National Guard. During the World war Mr. Choate took a very active part in war activities and in 1917 when the Four-Minute speakers were organized he became chairman of the Michigan and Detroit Four-Minute men, and also be- came chairman of the speaker's bureau and member of the executive committee of the Wayne County and Detroit Liberty Loan committee, and state chairman of the speaker's bureau of the Third Liberty Loan. He was also advisory member of the Wayne County War Board and member of industrial relations com- mittee of the war board. His leisure is largely de- voted to gardening, but the practice of law is his real life work and claims the major part of his time and attention, his activities in this connection bringing him into prominence as a representative of one of the learned professions. Mr. Choate resides at 709 Vir- ginia Park.
JOHN WILLIAM BALLMANN, manager of the Detroit office of Bolger, Mosser & Willaman, bond dealers of Chicago and Detroit, was born in Cincin- nati, Ohio, September 27, 1875, his parents being Edward and Vina (Schumaker) Ballmann, both of whom were natives of Indiana. The father, removing to Cincinnati, became a merchant of that city and there passed away. The mother survives and is a resident of Los Angeles, California.
In his boyhood days John William Ballmann attended the public schools of his native city and afterwards continued his studies in the Y. M. C. A. College of Law at Cincinnati. He next turned his attention to the
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newspaper business, becoming connected with the Cin- cinnati Post, and while in that office rose to the position of financial editor on the paper. Later he became connected with the staff of the Chicago Exam- iner, doing special work. He afterwards became secretary of the Cincinnati Y. M. C. A. and on leaving Ohio was made assistant secretary of the St. Louis Y. M. C. A., in which position he continued for several years. He then resigned to engage in the investment business, which he followed in both Chi- cago and Cincinnati before coming to Detroit in January, 1916, as manager for the firm of Bolger, Mosser & Willaman, bond dealers, whose extensive business of this character he has since managed. He is very successful along this line and is thoroughly familiar with the financial market and all that has to do with the bond business in every particular.
On the 27th of October, 1897, Mr. Ballmann was married to Miss Ida Mae Palmer of Cincinnati, Ohio, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Palmer. They have two sons: John Palmer and Byron Odell. The former was born in Cincinnati June 20, 1898, and is now a junior in the University of Michigan. He joined the Students Army Training Corps in connec- tion with the Light Artillery and had just been ordered across when the armistice was signed; the younger son, born in Cincinnati July 14, 1902, is a public school pupil in Detroit.
Fraternally Mr. Ballmann is connected with the Masons and that he has attained high rank in the order is indicated in the fact that he is connected with the Mystic Shrine. He belongs also to the Detroit Board of Commerce and is interested in all that has to do with the welfare and upbuilding of the city. He has ever been actuated by a laudable ambition and has directed his efforts into channels which make for business success as well as business integrity, so that he has not only gained for himself a creditable place in financial circles but also an un- tarnished name.
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STANDISH BACKUS, president of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company, is one of Detroit's well known citizens whose activities in professional, finan- cial and industrial circles have brought him to a po- sition of prominence in the city's business life and one of leadership in the lines where he has been identified. Mr. Backus was born in Detroit, January 12, 1875, the only child of his parents, Charles Kellogg and Eva (Standish) Backus, who are mentioned at length elsewhere in this work.
Standish Backus pursued his education in the public schools of Detroit until graduated from the high school in June, 1895, after which he went to Ann Arbor and completed a literary course in the University of Michigan by graduation with the class of 1898, at which time the degree of Bachelor of Arts was con- ferred upon him. For two years he was engaged in engineering work, spending one year with the North-
ern Engineering Works of Detroit and a similar period in the service of the Canadian Bridge Company, Lim- ited, of Walkerville, Ontario. In his preparation for the bar he was for one year a student in the law de- partment of the University of Michigan and then matriculated in the Detroit College of Law, from which he was graduated with the LL.B. degree in 1901. In June of the same year Mr. Backus was admitted to the bar and entered upon the practice of law in Detroit in the office of Earl D. Babst, now president of the American Sugar Refining Company. This connection was maintained until November, 1902, when Mr. Babst removed to Chicago. Continuing his practice, Mr. Backus then became associated with Otto Kirchner and so remained until June, 1913, when he became a member of the firm of Stevenson, Car- penter, Butzel & Backus, one of the foremost law firms in the state. Mr. Backus was a member of this firm until January, 1920, when he severed his connection to accept the presidency of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company. His first connection with this com- pany was in 1912, in a legal capacity, while subse- quently he became a director and one of the vice persidents. Going back to the beginning of his pro- fessional career, it can be said that no dreary noviti- ate awaited Mr. Backus, for his ability rapidly brought him to the front. Specializing to a considerable extent in corporation law, he enjoyed a large and distinc- tively representative clientage and was entrusted with important legal assignments to which many older men aspired. In 1909 he became counsel to the General Motors Company and in January, 1911, was made its secretary, which position he held for six years, then becoming general counsel for that corporation, a con- nection he maintained until 1920. In addition to his other business connections he is a member of the board of directors of Frederick Stearns & Company and a director of the Security Trust Company. He was also a director of the Michigan Savings Bank previous to its consolidation with the Wayne County & Home Savings Bank. In 1912 he served as president of the board of estimates of Detroit, having first become a member of that body in 1909, serving continuously from that time until the form of the board was changed by law.
On January 16, 1907, Mr. Backus was married to Miss Lotta E. Boyer of Detroit, a daughter of Joseph Boyer. Mr. and Mrs. Backus have two sons and two daughters: Standish, Jr., born April 5, 1910; Barbara, born May 17, 1912; Charles Kellogg (II), born March 29, 1917; and Dorothy Evelyn, horn May 21, 1920.
Mr. Backus is well known in club circles, being president of the Detroit Club as well as a member of the Detroit Athletic, the University, the Country, the Old, the Detroit Boat, the Bankers, the Bloomfield Hills Country and the Lochmoor Clubs of Detroit, also the University Club of New York. He belongs to the Psi Upsilon, a college fraternity, is a trustee of the Ford Republic, a member of the Lawyers Club
STANDISH BACKUS
Yol. IIt-11
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of Detroit and a member of the American Bar Asso- ciation. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party and his religious faith is that of the Baptist church, he being a member of the board of trustees of the Woodward Avenue church of that denomination. While Mr. Backus turns to golf and to motoring for recreation, his favorite outdoor winter sport is ice skating, of which exhilarating exercise he remains an enthusiastic participant and to no small degree retains the skill and ability of his younger years. In his social intercourse Mr. Backus is genial, kindly and humanly sympathetic; in business he is the personification of its highest ethics and rigid integrity.
PAUL STRASBURG, proprietor of the Strasburg Dancing Academy at No. 29 Sproat street, is probably one of the best known young men in social circles in the city. The Strasburg Academy is one of the famous institutions of this character in the middle west or in fact in the country at large. Three gen- erations of the Strasburg family have been identified with this activity and the highest standards have always been maintained in its conduct as well as in methods of teaching. The well earned reputation of the grandfather and father has been maintained by the son, and the academy is strictly a school for dancing and not a dance hall.
As indicated, Paul Strasburg is a native son of Detroit. He was born November 13, 1891, his parents being Herman A. and Ida (Pinet) Strasburg, mention of whom is made elsewhere in this work. He attended Detroit University School and St. John's Military Academy, Manlius, New York. For the past thirteen years he has heen connected with the school of which he is now the head, having taken charge upon the
death of his father, who was one of the most beloved men of Detroit and who passed away January 10, 1916. It has always been the endeavor of the family to maintain dancing on the high plane such as it was regarded by the old Greeks, and in their plan of teaching they have always followed mental sug- gestion, making appeal to the intellect, as in other methods of instruction. They have a staff of from ten to one hundred teachers on the floor during the conduct of their larger classes, which number over a thousand pupils, insuring adequate instruction for all. Paul Strasburg is at present teaching the fourth generation who have received instruction at the hands of the Strasburg family. From the inception of the academy their pupils have always been drawn from the leading families of Detroit,-those who have figured- most prominently in the social circles of the city. Possessing enterprise, initiative and original- ity, Paul Strasburg has been one of the most pro- gressive instructors of dancing in the country and has instituted many novel features in connection with the academy. That his standards are of the highest is indicated in the fact that many dancing instructors come to his academy to acquaint themselves with his
methods before engaging to teach elsewhere. Mr. Strasburg gives as much of his personal attention to the various classes as possible, often thus employing the hours which should be his leisure period in order to see personally that those who come to him for instruction receive the best that can be given them.
On the 10th of June, 1916, Mr. Strasburg was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Simmonds, of Knoxville, Tennessee, and they have a son, Paul, S., born April 10, 1917, in Detroit. Mr. Strasburg is a member of the Detroit Athletic Club, Rotary Club, Detroit Golf Club, Old Club, Boat Club, Pointe aux Barques Club and the Detroit Auto Club. In politics he has usually maintained an independent attitude, voting for men and measures rather than party. He is very fond of outdoor life, finding his chief interest perhaps in boating. He keeps in touch with all the leading questions and issues of the day, and his sup- port can at all times be counted upon to further those interests which feature most largely in the progress, growth and development of the city.
CYRENIUS A. NEWCOMB, JR. The name of Newcomb is synonymous with the 1868 mercantile development of Detroit. Siuee it has stood for business enterprise in the commer- cial circles of this city. Inspired by the example of his father and actuated by
a laudable ambition, Cyrenius A. Newcomb, Jr., has measured up to the standard of service rendered by his father, Cyrenius A. Newcomb, Sr., in promoting the business development of the city. Detroit numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred January 14, 1871, his parents being Cyrenius and Mary E. (Haskell) Newcomb. In his youthful days he was a pupil in the Irving and Cass public schools and in the Detroit high school, from which he was grad- uated in June, 1889. He next entered the University of Michigan and won the Bachelor of Letters degree upon graduation with the class of June, 1893. The same year he entered actively upon his business career in the dry goods house of the Newcomb-Endicott Company, which was founded by his father in 1868, in association with Charles Endicott, a partnership that was terminated only in the death of Mr. Endicott in 1896. The business grew and developed with the growth of the city, based upon the most dependable business principles, and in 1890 was incorporated under the present firm style. Mr. Newcomb is a director and the secretary of the company and became the active head of the concern following the death of his father in 1915. His training had been most thorough and comprehensive and more and more largely he had assumed responsibilities in connection with the direction of a business that is now represented in millions.
On the 16th of December, 1896, in Detroit, Mr. Newcomb was married to Miss Brownie Jenness Kellie and their children are three in number: Cyrenius A.,
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(III); Alice Sedgwick, who is now the wife of Warren S. Booth; and John Jenness. Mr. Newcomb largely turns to sailing for recreation and he belongs to the Detroit Boat Club, of which he was president two years, also to the Country Club, the Detroit Club, the Detroit Athletic Club, the University Club of Detroit, the Bloomfield Hills Country Club, and Bloom- field Open Hunt, and to the Aldine Club of New York. He also has membership in the Psi Upsilon fraternity and is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce. In 1917 he moved with his family to Bloomfield Hills, where he spends every spare moment in the pleasures of country life. He is director and vice president of the First State Bank of Detroit, and also director of the Towson Body Company, suc- cessors to the Anderson Electric Car Company. Like his father, C. A. Newcomb, Jr., is keenly interested in matters of public moment giving loyal support to civic interests, his opinions and cooperation con- stituting a guiding spirit in various concerns which have had to do with Detroit's welfare and upbuilding.
WILLIAM S. THOMAS. In the records of real estate activity in Detroit the name of Thomas Broth- ers, in which firm William S. Thomas is a partner, figures prominently, having developed some of the finest subdivisions of the city. He was born in Corn- wall, England, March 21, 1848, and is a son of Wil- liam S. and Elizabeth (Stephens) Thomas. The family was established in America by W. S. Thomas, the father, who came to this country from Cornwall, England, 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 daughter and a son, William S. The family lived for several years in that part of Pennsylvania and in 1855 removed to the upper peninsula of Michigan. There on the shores of Lake Superior the father en- gaged in mining, in which he was more or less suc- cessful. He cast his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont in 1856. He passed away in Wayne county, while his wife died at Fenton, Michigan. They are survived by five of their seven children, as follows: William S., the subject of this review; John H., of the Thomas Brothers Real Estate Company, who is men- tioned elsewhere in this work; Mrs. Jessie A. Wight- man of Birmingham, Michigan; Mrs. Harriet Eddy of Detroit; and Elizabeth, of Birmingham, Michigan.
William S. Thomas first attended school in Pennsyl- vania and was between seven and eight years old when his parents removed to Michigan, after which he attended the common schools at the Cliff Mine. He was but thirteen years old when the illness of his father made it necessary for the son to help sup- port the family, and being the eldest boy, he thus early in life not only became self-supporting but as- sumed responsibilities far beyond his years. He was obliged to do this from his wages in the stamp mills. No labor unions then controlled hours, for he was
employed from early morning until late at night, and when sixteen years of age he became a worker in the mines, thus spending his time until he had at- tained his majority. He was ambitious, however, to qualify for other lines of activity and devoted his leisure hours to study, so that when he reached his majority he took up the profession of teaching at the Copper Falls mine on Lake Superior and was afterward a teacher at Lae La Belle. He later taught at Eagle River for five years and yet he regarded this merely as an initial step to other professional labor, for while teaching he was improving every possible opportunity to read law. For a time he was deputy county clerk and register of deeds of Keweenaw county, while in reality discharging the entire duties of the office, as the official incumbent had other business interests that received his attention. This experience fitted Mr. Thomas for the office of county clerk and recorder of deeds, to which he was subse- quently elected and proved a most efficient incumbent of the office. He continued to pursue his law reading and while serving as county clerk was admitted to the bar on the 1st of March, 1878. He then sought the broader fields of labor offered in Detroit, coming here in the spring of 1879, and from 1880 until 1883 he was in the office of Henry M. Cheever, while through the succeeding sixteen years he was associated in his law practice with John Ward. In 1899 Mr. Ward passed away and Mr. Thomas assisted in settling the estate. When that task was accomplished he became associated with his brother, John H. Thomas, in the real estate firm of Thomas Brothers, with offices in the Farwell building. The firm does an extensive business in handling subdivisions, which have included Nardin Park, the State Fair subdivision, Oakland Heights, Waverly Farm, Bungalow Grove, Gable and Piscopink, Beverly Park, Oakley Heights, Earlmont and others. The business has developed along the most substantial and gratifying lines and has long been one of profit to the partners. W. S. Thomas is filling the position of secretary of the Beverly Park Realty Company and is also the secretary and treas- urer of the First Mortgage Loan Company.
On the 18th of February, 1892, Mr. Thomas was married to Miss Stella Ashley of Detroit, a daughter of Lewis C. Ashley. Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have three sons: James William, born in Detroit, January 21, 1894, was graduated from the high school and pur- sued further study in the literary and law depart- ments of the University of Michigan, winning the A. B. and Juris Doctor degrees and becoming a mem- ber of the Delta Theta Phi during his college days. He is now employed in the office of Mr. Lucking, a prominent attorney of Detroit. During the World war he enlisted in the United States army and be- came a sergeant of his company. He belongs to Pal- estine Lodge, F. & A. M. He married Miss Marie K. Doyen of Detroit, where they reside; Edmund Ashley, the second son, born in Detroit, March 22,
WILLIAM S. THOMAS
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1895, is also a high school graduate, pursued a course in the scientific department of the University of Michigan and became a member of the Theta Xi fra- ternity. He was also a member of the Tau Beta Pi, the national honorary engineering society and also of Phi Lamda Upsilon, the national honorary chemical society. During the World war he was an instructor at Aberdeen, Maryland, holding the rank of second lieutenaut. He married Miss Ruth Walters of Hazle- ton, Pennsylvania, and now resides at Lakewood, Ohio; Frederick John, born in Detroit, June 9, 1898, fol- lowing his gradnation from the Detroit high school, spent two years in Albion College of Michigan, later became a student in the literary department of the University of Michigan, which he left to enter busi- ness, and is now connected with the firm of Thomas Brothers. He has become a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and belongs also to the Masonic fraternity, having attained the thirty-second degree and being likewise a Shriner.
In 1917 Mr. Thomas removed with his family to Plymouth, Michigan, where he has a magnificent home and spacious grounds, comprising one of the most de- sirable residence properties in that town and giving him excellent opportunity to pursue his favorite work of gardening. He raises all the vegetables used by the family and also has attractive flower gardens. He finds great joy in his gardening, which gives him needed recreation and change of occupation from his activities in the real estate field. He belongs to the Detroit Bar Association, also to the Detroit Board of Commerce and he has membership in the Masonic lodge, in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and in the Detroit Automobile Club. In his church con- nection Mr. Thomas has been for years a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and while a resident of Detroit he belonged to the Simpson Methodist Epis- copal church and served on its board of trustees. He now belongs to the Plymouth church of that denomi- nation. W. S. Thomas ocenpies an enviable position in the business circles of Detroit, being a self-made man in the fullest sense of the term. Youth was to him largely a period of earnest and unremitting toil, but he soon gained a correct knowledge of the value of time and of money and the worth of opportunity. Advancing steadily as a result of his industry and laudable ambition, he has attained a most honorable position among Detroit's highest type of business men and has dignified the profession and business where his activities have led.
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