USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 26
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Marie, the third member of the family was born in Ontario, August 8, 1891, and is at home with her parents; John Hilton, born in Ontario, September 6, 1893, is also a veteran of the great war and was wounded in the third battle of Ypres. He is now a resident of Detroit; Frank Walter, born in Ontario, November 10, 1897, served with the American army during the war and is living in Chicago; Simcoe L., born in Ontario, August 23, 1900, was in the aviation service of the British army and is now living at home; Helen Isobel, born in Ontario, March 27, 1902, is at home. Mr. and Mrs. Hilton certainly have every reason to be proud of the splendid record made by their sons in the World war for democracy. Their residence is 471 Atkinson avenue.
Mr. Hilton is a member of City of Straits Lodge, No. 452, A. F. & A. M., of which he is a past master, and he has also taken the consistory degrees of the Scottish Rite. He belongs to the Armitage Club of St. John's Episcopal church, is a member of the Old Colony Club and of the Detroit Board of Commerce. His political leanings are with the republican party but he is a warm supporter of President Wilson and the League of Nations. He stands loyally for all those interests which he believes will further the welfare and development of the city and uphold the highest municipal standards.
De WITT C. DELAMATER. Among the real pro- moters and builders of Detroit and her present great- ness is numbered De Witt C. Delamater, who has long been an active factor in the business circles of the city and from 1904 to 1920, occupied the presidency of the Detroit Savings Bank. Through his own unaided ability he has risen to a position of affluence, his record indicating the fact that the road to oppor- tunity is open to every individual and that industry and close application figure largely in the attainment of the goal of success. Mr. Delamater was born in Buellville, New York, on the 1st of January, 1844, his parents being John and Phoebe O. (Buell) Delamater. In the acquirement of his education, he attended the public schools of Manlius, New York, and of Jack- son, Michigan, following the removal of the family to this state. In 1874 he became identified with the hardware trade by entering the employ of Rice, Pratt & Company, hardware merchants of Jackson, and he afterward went on the road as traveling salesman for the house of C. B. James & Company of Detroit, which firm was afterward succeeded by Buhl, Ducharme & Company. In 1890 Mr. Delamater be- came one of the organizers of the wholesale hardware firm of Freeman, Delamater & Company and was elected to the position of secretary and treasurer, so continuing until 1900, when he became president of the company and remained its chief executive officer through the following decade. On the 12th of May, 1910, the firm name was changed to the Delamater Hardware Company and Mr. Delamater
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was president until 1917, when the business was sold. He also extended his efforts into other commercial and industrial fields, becoming secretary of the Buhl Stamping Company, in which office he continued until 1918, when he resigned, but remains an active direc- tor of the board. In 1904 he was elected to the pres- idency of the Detroit Savings Bank and served in that capacity until January 1, 1920, when he resigned to become chairman of the board of directors of this strong financial institution, and continues to preside at the board meetings. He has made investment in farm property in Jackson county, about nine miles from the city of Jackson, where he maintains his sum- mer home.
It was in Jackson county, Michigan, in January, 1866, that Mr. Delamater was united in marriage to Miss Kate Hewitt and they became the parents of a daughter, Belle, who is now the wife of D. C. Kay and the mother of two children: Edwin Delamater and Katherine.
Mr. Delamater's farming interests constitute his chief source of recreation and he takes great delight in the development of a thoroughly modern farm along scientific lines. He is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and is keenly alive to every opportunity for the city's advancement and upbuilding. Now in his seventy-seventh year, he is tall, straight and active, a man of quiet demeanor whose force of character has had its root in the thorough mastery of every task that has come to him and the recognition of every obligation that has devolved upon him. His concentration of purpose enables him to handle a vast amount of business with ease and without any show of nervousness or irritation. With no special advantages at the outset of his career, his financial condition necessitating his seeking employment with others, he has worked his way steadily upward, over- coming every obstacle and difficulty in his path by perseverance and determination, steadily advancing until he now occupies a most enviable position among Detroit's most substantial business men.
HERBERT WATSON ALDEN, vice president of the Timken-Detroit Axle Company, is one of Detroit's representative citizens whose genuine public spirit and progressiveness, like his civic pride, have been valuable factors in many of the projects and the institutions that have had to do with the city's wonderful growth during the past decade or more.
Mr. Alden is a native of Vermont, his birth having occurred at Lyndonville, December 20, 1870. He qual- ified for life's practical and responsible duties by a thorough course in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, from which he was graduated in the class of 1893. He at once joined the American Projectile Company of Lynn, Massachusetts, and was engaged in making ordnance materials for the navy from 1893 until 1895. He then joined the Pope Manufacturing Company at Hartford, Connecticut, and was with that
concern until it was merged into the Electric Vehicle Company, acting as engineer of their plants from 1895 until 1906. In the latter year he became connected with the Timken interests as chief engineer of the Timken Roller Bearing Company at Canton, Ohio, a position which he continued to fill until he came to Detroit. In 1909 Mr. Alden aud his associates estab- lished in Detroit the Timken-Detroit Axle Company, which has developed into what is not only one of the city's greatest industrial enterprises but also the fore- most manufacturing plant of its kind in the country. The company now operates five plants in Michigan and two in Ohio. Mr. Alden was elected to the vice presidency of the company in 1915 and in that capacity he still supervises the engineering work of the corporation. He is also a director of the House Financing Corporation of Detroit, a three million dol- lar company, organized by a number of the city's financial and industrial leaders to relieve the housing situation. He is likewise a director of the Detroit Motor Bus Company and the Morris Plan Bank. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Institution of Automobile Engineers of London, Eng- land, and the Engineers Club of New York. He also belongs to the Delta Kappa Epsilon, a college fra- ternity, and he is not unmindful of the fact that recreation as well as work must constitute something of the activity of every well balanced individual. He has therefore extended his membership relations to the Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Club, the Automobile Country Club, the University Club, the Detroit Golf Club, is president of the Detroit Aviation Country Club and belongs to the Canton Club of Canton, Ohio, while his interest in the welfare and progress of the city is manifest in his connection with the Detroit Board of Commerce.
In 1893 Mr. Alden was married to Miss Madelaine Grier of Boston, Massachusetts, and they have two sons and a daughter: Horace Allen, Douglas Grier and Madelaine. The record of Mr. Alden and his family in patriotism displayed during the World war was one hundred per cent. After America's advent into the great international struggle Mr. and Mrs. Alden closed their home and they and their three children entered the service of the country. The mother and daughter went into the Barracks Welfare Service and had charge of the Signal Corps work at Jersey City, in official connection with the Y. M. C. A., being engaged in that work for a year and a half; the elder son, Horace Allen, who was born in Lynn, Massa- chusetts, February 20, 1895, enlisted in the infantry and was sent overseas. He was detailed to the Mili- tary Police branch of the army and finally was trans- ferred to a tank corps, with which he participated in the actual fighting. He is now the owner of the Auto Home Garage on Milwaukee avenue in Detroit. His wife was formerly Miss Fredrika Sim of Newark, New Jersey; the second son, Douglas Grier was born
HERBERT W. ALDEN
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August 12, 1896, in Hartford, Connecticut. He, too, enlisted in the hospital service and went to France with his unit, becoming an ambulance driver, and after a time was commissioned a first lieutenant and as- signed to the ordnance department in connection with tank work. He is now a partner in the Best Stove Company of Detroit. He married Miss Catherine Moore and they have one son, Herbert W. Alden (II), born January 27, 1920, in Detroit; like his sons, Mr. Alden also entered the service, with which he was connected for two years and during four months of that period was stationed in France. He was com- missioned a major in the ordnance department in America and given full charge of the designing of tanks for the American army. At length he was sent overseas and after spending four months there re- turned to the United States and was promoted to lieu- tenant colonel. He is still in the ordnance department as a member of the technical staff and has been awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.
THOMAS M. TEMPLETON, JR., secretary and treasurer of the John H. Busby Company, electrical contractors, who have won a position in the foremost rank of the Detroit firms engaged in that line of busi- ness, was born in Macomb county, Michigan, January 11, 1886, and is a son of Thomas M. and Jane (Temple- ton) Templeton, the former a native of Michigan, while the latter was born in Ayr, Scotland. The mother came to America in 1880 and her marriage was cele- brated in Michigan. Thomas M. Templeton, Sr., ac- quired his education in the schools of this state and afterward took up the occupation of farming, which he followed for many years, but is now living retired, he and his wife making their home in Detroit. They reared a family of two sons and a daughter: James, deceased; Thomas M., Jr .; and Elizabeth D.
Thomas M. Templeton, Jr., attended the graded schools of his native county and the high school of Mt. Clemens, Michigan, after which he came to Detroit in 1904 and entered the employ of the Michigan Steel Boat Company. He was afterward connected with the Packard Motor Car Company in the mechan- ical department. His next position was with the John D. Templeton Company, with which he remained from 1907 until 1913, working in various capacities and finally being placed in charge of the financial department. He continued to act in that capacity until he resigned to engage in the electrical contract- ing business with John H. Busby. They started their business. the John H. Busby Company, on the 1st of April, 1913, and are now doing an annual business of more than one-half million dollars. From the beginning Mr. Templeton has been the secretary and treasurer of the company, Mr. Busby, by reason of his practical experience, taking charge of the company's estimates, while Mr. Templeton manages the inside work of the firm and the financial part of the business. The extent and character of the work of this firm is
best described by a mention of some of the buildings in which it has done the electrical work. These are: the Book building, Real Estate Exchange, Stroh building, J. L. Hudson building, Peoples State Bank, Telegraph building, Wagner Bakery building, Garden Court Apartments, the Tuberculosis Hospital, Detroit Refrigerator building, the plant of the National Candy Company, the tractor plant of the General Motors Corporation at Pontiac, the state office building at Lansing, and all the electrical work for Camp Custer and the aviation field, besides many of the finest homes of Detroit and Grosse Pointe. The company employs from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty people, owns and occupies a modern office and storage building at 826 Cherry street and is ready at all times to meet the demands of the trade.
Mr. Templeton is a director of the Builders' & Traders' Exchange and is very well known in business circles. Aside from his connection with the John H. Busby Company, he is the secretary and treasurer or the Freer Sand, Gravel & Brick Company of Detroit, and secretary, treasurer and one of the directors of the firm of W. E. Waite & Company. His business affairs have been capably managed and since starting out in life on his own account he has made steady advancement. His powers have grown through the exercise of effort and he is today a forceful factor in the business life of Detroit.
On the 27th of May, 1914, Mr. Templeton was married to Miss Dorothy G. Waite of Detroit, the marriage having been celebrated in the Woodward Avenue Presbyterian church. Mrs. Templeton's parents, now deceased, were Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Earl Waite. Mr. Templeton is a Consistory Mason and also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and is a past grand master of Samaritan Lodge, No. 27. He also belongs to the Fellowcraft Athletic Club and to the Detroit Board of Commerce, and in matters of citizenship fully meets every duty and obligation just as he does in the conduct of his business affairs.
DR. FREDERICK B. BURKE, a well known rep- resentative of the medical profession of Detroit, was born in Milburn, Kentucky, November 24, 1882, a son of Thomas W. and Nellie M. (Beach) Burke, the former a native of Ireland, whence he was brought to America by his parents when but two years of age. In young manhood he took up the study of medicine and became a prominent representative of the profession, practicing for many years in Wash- ington, D. C., where he passed away in 1915. His wife was born in Kentucky and is still living, now making her home in Detroit.
Dr. Frederick B. Burke, the only son of the family, attended the grammar and high schools of Washing- ton, D. C., and afterward became a student in the medical department of the Georgetown University, from which he was graduated in 1906. He later served
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as an interne in the Washington General Hospital and in 1909 he came to Detroit, where he entered upon the practice of medicine. He confines his attention to general medical practice and has won gratifying success in the conduct of his professional interests. He belongs to the Wayne County Medieal Society, the Michigan State Medical Association and the American Medical Association and through the pro- ceedings of these bodies, as well as by private read- ing and study, keeps in touch with the latest scientific researches and discoveries that affect the laws of health and check the ravages of disease.
On the 22d of July, 1908, Dr. Burke was married to Miss Louise A. Miller of Washington, D. C., daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Miller. They have one child, Louise, who was born in Detroit in March, 1912.
Dr. Burke gives his political allegiance to the repub- lican party and his religious faith is that of the Epis- copal church. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and to the Felloweraft Athletic Club. He is likewise a mem- ber of the Detroit Board of Commerce and is iuter- ested in all that pertains to the city's welfare and upbuilding, giving his cooperation heartily to any plan for the general good.
AUGUST MARXHAUSEN. For nearly seven de- cades the name of Marxhausen has been intimately associated with the development of journalism in Michigau and the middle west. The progenitor of the family in this state was August Marxhausen, now de- ceased, who, like Schurz, Sigel and others of German blood, came to America before the Civil war, bring- ing with him the highest ideals and the most stable teachings of his native land. From humble begin- nings August Marxhausen hecame one of the stanchest and most outstanding figures of the German press in America; a man of firm convictions, of keen discern- ment and facile peu. The newspaper which he founded in the city of Detroit is now numbered among the oldest German publications in the United States and is the only German daily published in the state of Michigan.
August Marxhausen, the elder, was born April 2, 1833, in Kassel, the old capital of the principality of Hessen, Germany, and was the sou of August and Christine Marxhausen. His early education was re- ceived in the public schools, which he soon abandoned for the more thorough teacher known as practical ex- perience. In 1852, when nineteen years of age, he made the long voyage to the United States, landing at the port of New York city. With an older brother who had accompanied him he found employment on a New York paper. Having first become acquainted with newspaper work in 1845 he knew that journalism was to be his life's work and into this profession he entered with a youth's avidity and ambition.
After a year's service in New York city he was persuaded to come to Detroit, where he and his brother
were given positions on the Michigan Democrat. How- ever, the policies of this sheet were not wholly agree- able to the Marxhausen boys, consequently they sev- ered their connections with it and founded a paper of their own, known as the Michigan Journal. This was the first German daily published in Michigan and the first number was run off the press June 13, 1855. The brothers conducted this newspaper together for thir- teen years and then dissolved partnership, the Journal being sold in June, 1870, to F. Cornell and F. Pope. The Familien Blätter, a German republican weekly, was established by August Marxhausen July 1, 1866, and on September 1, 1868, the first issue of the daily sheet called The Detroit Abendpost was published, which newspaper continued under the control of Mr. Marxhausen until his death, December 27, 1910, when the editorial management passed into the hands of his son, August Marxhausen, Jr.
Throughout the many years he served as owner and editor of the Abendpost Mr. Marxhausen was known by his devotion to his duty as a public adviser. His high intelligence, his advocacy of sterling principles, whether of economic, political or social character, gave him a position of authority and respect, not only among the German population, but among all citizens of Detroit. He was a journalist of strong convictions, as mentioned before and, having once made his deci- sion, he determined to abide by it. One instance of his 'invulnerability occurred in 1872, when he joined the liberal republicans who had chosen Horace Greeley as the Presidential candidate. The citizens of Detroit had already named Mr. Marxhausen as delegate to the republican national convention at St. Louis, but, in the face of the fact that political ethics were very strong at that time and he had, in addition, been chosen delegate, he maintained his position in favor of the liberal wing, because he felt that he was right. That he was right was proven by subsequent events. Those who had been strongest in their criticism of his defection eventually were his warmest supporters, as shown when the republicans twice more selected him as their delegate to the national convention- first in 1900 and again in 1908, although he was pre- vented from attending the latter by the illness of Mrs. Marxhausen.
In civic affairs Mr. Marxhausen was always promi- nent, but never for personal gain. It is known that high salaried positions were often tendered him, which he invariably refused. His services to the city were not sold for a price. He was a member of the board of park commissioners from 1881 until 1893 and was a member of the noted "four m's," the commission which gave the beautiful Belle Isle to the city.
Among the employes of his newspaper, whether in the editorial, composing or press room, he was affec- tionately known. He endeared himself to his employes not only by a liberal scale of wages and square treat- ment, but by countless little acts of generosity.
On October 10, 1857, August Marxhausen took as his
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AUGUST MARXHAUSEN
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bride Miss Marie Ewers, who remained his devoted helpmate until her death in 1908. Two children-Mrs. Louise Burghard, widow of Julius Burghard; and August Marxhausen, Jr .- were born to this union and survive the parents.
Mr. Marxhausen was president of the Harmonie Society for many years and was a member of prac- tically every German society iu Detroit, also was a member of the Lutheran church. His death meant much to the city of Detroit; it meant the passing of a man who could be truthfully described as German- American. It has been oft quoted of him, but the words are so applicable that further use of them is made in this connection: "He has brought us the proof that a good German can also be a good Ameri- can; to August Marxhausen, Germany was the mother, America the wife."
August Marxhausen, Jr., the son of August and Marie (Ewers) Marxhausen, was born in Detroit, Feb- ruary 12, 1864. His early education was received at the Detroit Seminary and at the early age of fifteen years he began his active career with the Abendpost, a career which is now in its prime and having for its reward the position of trust and respect which was left by his honored sire. Mr. Marxhausen received a lifetime of rigorous training by his astute father and became imbued with the high principles which the older man knew to be right. He has occupied every position on the Abendpost and now is the owner and proprietor of the publication, both the daily and the weekly. Integrity of purpose, adherence to one's own convictions and fearlessness of action-these are the principles upon which Mr. Marxhausen bases his policy of editorial management.
On February 9, 1892, Mr. Marxhausen was married to Miss Laura Lorch of Detroit and to them have been born three children: Erna, Curt and Thelma.
Mr. Marxhausen is an active member of the Board of Commerce, the German-American Society, the De- troit Motor Boat Club, the Harmonie Society and the Concordia Club.
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REV. MICHAEL GEORGE ESPER, pastor of St. Boniface Catholic church of Detroit, was born at Springwells, in Wayne county, Michigan, February 19, 1865, his parents being Jacob and Catherine (Hor- ger) Esper. He began his education in parish schools, from which he was graduated when fourteen years of age. When a youth of eighteen he took up a course of study in preparation for the ministry at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and continued his studies at Baltimore, Maryland, and at Cincinnati, Ohio, his course covering altogether twelve years.
On the 1st of July, 1894, Rev. Mr. Esper was or- dained to the priesthood by the late Rt. Rev. John S. Foley and was appointed assistant at Sacred Heart church at Detroit. Later he was assigned to duty as pastor of St. Patrick's church at Croswell, Sanilac county, Michigan, and in that connection had charge
of seven missions, continuing his labors there for five years. He was then appointed to St. Joseph's church at St. Joseph, Berrien county, Michigan, where he labored for fifteen years and ou the expiration of that period was made pastor of St. Boniface church at Detroit. Through the period of his labors here he has gradually and most tactfully converted this into an English speaking parish. It had previously been known as a German parish for forty-eight years, but Father Esper, feeling that the language of the country ought to be the language of his parishioners, has done everything in his power to bring about the results now successfully accomplished. The parish today numbers over five hundred families and there are six hundred and twenty children attending the parish school. His labors have been crowned with splendid results in the upbuilding of the church and in the promotion of the work undertaken by the parish, and his activities are so wisely directed as to secure the most faithful and efficient cooperation of his people.
HON. FRANZ C. KUHN, a distinguished represen- tative of the Michigan bar, who at one time was asso- ciate justice of the supreme court of the state, now the president of the Michigan State Telephone Com- pany, ranks with the most progressive citizens of Detroit. Here he was born on the Sth of February, 1872, his parents being John and Anna C. (Ullrich) Kuhn, both of whom were natives of Germany. The mother was a representative of the Ullrich family of Mount Clemens, long closely and prominently asso- ciated with the commercial and financial development of that city. The marriage of John Kuhn and Anna C. Ullrich was celebrated in Detroit, and in 1874 they removed to Mount Clemens, where the father is still engaged in commercial pursuits.
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