USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 28
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The Sewell cushion wheel was invented by an uncle who had come from Ireland to the United States in 1907 and who died in Detroit two years later. The brothers then took up the business which has been developed into a large national concern. Their inter- ests were originally conducted in the rear of a black- smith shop, but from time to time they were obliged to seek larger quarters and have recently acquired a ten- acre tract of land and have taken over the Scripps- Booth factory which adjoins their present factory, giving them extensive floor space.
Since the organization of the firm Walter T. Sewell has been largely responsible for the wide sales and dis- tribution of the product, having had charge of that part of the business since 1912. He has established over fifty branches and distributors in various parts of the country, installing a sales force in connection with each location which practically covers every large city in the country today. It is justly said that with- out his ability in directorship the national sales of the Sewell Cushion Wheel Company could not have been effected in so short a time. His efforts in this line have placed the Sewell Cushion Wheel Company among the leading industries of the city of Detroit. The Sewell cushion wheel is the most expensive accessory for motor trucks on the market and yet today this firm cannot meet the demand for the increased volume of business.
In the manufacturing they are able to use a rubber enshion built in the wheel, an achievement which other companies have failed to accomplish. They are pro- ducing a resilient wheel which adds much to the life of the truck and eliminates the jar and vibration which have been a big detriment to motor trucks. The value of this wheel over all others is quickly rec- ognized by truck owners and the business is contin- ually extending in large volumes at the rate of one hundred per cent increase and over, each year.
W. T. Sewell and his brother, H. J. Sewell, have from the beginning been very closely associated in the conducting of the enterprise of the Sewell Cushion Wheel Company and they have been successful in pro- ducing a splendid organization for manufacturing and distributing their product. They have also been very successful in surrounding themselves with a group of the most efficient men of the highest class in business with unusual ability in their particular field. Today the Sewell Cushion Wheel Company is the largest manufacturer of cushion wheels in this country.
Walter T. Sewell was married to Miss Florence Zoph of Kankakee, Illinois, and they have two chil- dren: Florence, born in 1909; and Dorothy, born in 1911. Mr. Sewell votes with the republican party and takes a keen interest in affairs. He is a member of the Detroit Rotary Club, Detroit Athletic Club, Fellow- craft Club, and several other society and business or- ganizations.
NELS MICHELSON, now living retired in Detroit, is numbered among the highly successful business men of the state. His life illustrates the possibilities for successful achievement for the foreign-born boy who recognizes and utilizes the business opportunities of- fered in America, for Mr. Michelson is a native of Denmark. He was born November 25, 1840, and at- tended the government schools of his native land until fifteen years of age, when he was bound out to a farmer for three years, receiving five dollars as com- pensation for his lahors in the first year and ten dol- lars in the second year, with board. He continued to work as a farm hand until 1864, when he joined the Danish army in the war with Prussia, and was taken prisoner at the battle of Debbel on the 17th of March of that year. He was set to work making powder bags, but he and other prisoners took such long stitches that the powder ran out of the seams, so they were set to hanling sand for the fortifications. When the war was over and he was released, he returned home and again worked as a farm hand until 1866, when he came to the new world. Cholera broke out on shipboard and they were held in quarantine at New York for two months and two hundred of the passengers died on board. Without funds Nels Michelson made his way to the home of his brothers in Racine, Wisconsin, and after remaining there for a short time went to Manistee, Michigan, working in a lumber camp for a dollar per day. He spent two years as swamper and driver there, after which he purchased a team of horses and took a contract for hauling supplies to the lumber camp. In 1869 he joined with Rasmus Hanson, their combined capital amounting to about fifteen hundred dollars, and bought an outfit, after which they took a contract for get- ting out logs. Two years later found them without funds, owing principally to a bank failure at Manistee. Due to unfaltering courage, however, Mr. Michelson started again in the business world and after a year he began buying small tracts of pine land, the timber on which he ent and sold, increasing operations as his financial resources were augmented. After a time he formed a partnership with Rasmus Hanson and E. N. Salling of Manistee and later the firm became Salling, Hanson & Company of Grayling, Michigan, a removal being made from Manistee to Grayling in 1878. There Mr. Michelson resided until 1918 and as the years went by continued to broaden his lumber operations. In 1889 the Michelson & Hanson Lumber Company was organized, with Mr. Michelson as presi-
NELS MICHELSON
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dent, and in 1892 a large mill was erected at Lewis- ton, Michigan. In 1895 Mr Michelson purchased seven thousand acres of land in Roscommon county, near Houghton Lake, and added to this acreage until he had about fifty thousand acres in Roscommon and Missaukee counties. In 1908 he organized the N. Michelson Lumber Company and built two large mills, a sawmill and shingle mill at Michelson, Michigan, in Roscommon county, to which place the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad extended a branch line. In 1901 he assisted in organizing the Johannesburg Manufac- turing Company at Johannesburg, Michigan, in asso- ciation with his partners, R. Hanson and E. N. Salling, and others, for the purpose of manufacturing the tim- ber on twenty thousand acres of land in Otsego county, Michigan, which is one of the finest tracts of hardwood timber in the state. In 1906, with his as- sociates, Mr. Michelson assisted in organizing the Grayling Lumber Company, with large timber hold- ings and mills at Monroe, Louisiana, and they began operations the same year. In 1912 he foresaw the wonderful development which was about to change Detroit from a city of some four hundred thousand people to over a million in the course of a few years and organized the Michelson Land & Home Com- pany, which purchased over one thousand acres of land joining the city limits on Woodward avenue. This was subdivided and sold for residence and busi- ness purposes. Further mention of the Michelson Land & Home Company will be found elsewhere in this work. He is extensively interested in other large timber and real estate holdings, and thus the farm boy of fifteen, working at five dollars per year on a farm in Denmark, has become one of the chief figures in connection with the lumber interests of Michigan.
In 1870, in Racine, Wisconsin, Mr. Michelson was married to Margrethe Jenson, a daughter of Lars Jenson, and their children are: Karen B., now the widow of Major E. E. Hartwick, of whom mention will be found elsewhere in this work; Frank L .; Min- nie, deceased; Axel E., who is mentioned on another page of this work; Olaf N .; Carl H., deceased; and Frederick E., deceased. In 1918 Mr. Michelson built a beautiful brick church edifice in Grayling and do- nated it to the Methodist Episcopal church as a mem- orial to his wife, Margrethe, who passed away in 1903 and who had always been a most devoted and earnest church worker. It was in 1917 that Mr. Mich- elson built his attractive home at No. 918 Boston boulevard, West, in Detroit, and removed to this city from Grayling the following year. His political al- legiance has always been given to the republican party and he is well known in Masonic circles, having become a Consistory Mason and member of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a charter member of the Brook- lands Golf and Country Club. He is a remarkably well preserved man, both mentally and physically, and the wonderful energy and industry so characteristic of him during the years of his active business career
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seem to have suffered but slight diminution, not- withstanding he is in his eighty-first year. The story of his life is the story of an orderly progression and step by step he has advanced to the place which he occupies as a foremost lumberman of Michigan, his life story constituting an example well worthy of emulation. What he has accomplished-all having been won through earnest, persistent effort, intelli- gently directed-should serve to inspire and encourage others, and his life record also indicates that success and an honored name may be gained simultaneously.
GRIFFITH OGDEN ELLIS of Detroit, whose name is known from coast to coast to the million or more of young readers of the American Boy, has made for himself a unique place in publishing circles. He turned from the conduct of a correspondence school of law to undertake the task of giving to the publie a maga- zine that would hold the attention and interest of boys and become an influencing force in their lives. Undertaking a new venture, there were many difficul- ties to be met and overcome, but with the passing years the popularity of the magazine grew and for two decades has remained a vital force in the pub- lished literature for the young.
Mr. Ellis is a native of Urbana, Ohio. He was born November 19, 1869, his parents being Griffith and Jane Hoge (Woods) Ellis. He was a student in the Urbana University from 1888 until 1890 and then entered the Columbian University at Washington, D. C., where he remained through the succeeding scholas- tie year. He next entered the University of Michigan and won his LL. B. degree by graduation with the class of 1893. He had previously been employed in the government service at Washington in 1890-01 and in the latter year he became connected with the Sprague Publishing Company of Detroit, in which he retains an active interest, having been the president of the corporation since 1908. He is also the presi- dent of the William A. Scripps Company and is the editor of the American Boy, published by the former corporation. At the time this work was undertaken Mr. Ellis and his partner, William C. Sprague, were engaged in the publication of several law periodicals as well as in the conduct of a correspondence school of law. Establishing the American Boy, the possi- bilities of such a magazine became more apparent as they went on and in time they concentrated their energies chiefly upon this juvenile monthly. They made it their purpose to study the boy, his psychology, his interests, activities and ideals. In a recent inter- view with a local paper Mr. Ellis said: "To know what appeals to boys one must know first what they are like. Boys are essentially adventurous. They de- light in new sensations. Naturally they love stories of adventure, not only tales of travel and daring, but also stories of investigation and invention. Boys are also idealists. They are in the period of character formation. They plan dramatic situations, in which
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they shall perform spectacular exploits. They are hero worshipers. Consequently any literature which appeals to their ideals will win favor. Boys resent a patronizing attitude. They refuse to be written down to. We have discovered that the average parent does not give his child credit for the intelligence which he possesses. The author or teacher or would-be leader who gives the boys the slightest suspicion that he is deliberately simplifying his discourse is sure to lose their confidence. We have always sought the advice of our reading public. Thousands of unsolicited let- ters from boys reach my desk every year. Some of them are full of praise and we enjoy them. Some are full of criticism and we value them. Boys are direct speakers; it is impossible to misunderstand them. But they are generally honest and kindly. The criticism which they offer is never dismissed carelessly. Letter contests which we hold regularly give us amazing reve- lations of boy psychology. Recently we received six hundred letters on 'Why I Like Mark Tidd,' a serial we had run. Almost every writer admired most the boy's mauliness. 'Mark Tidd' was a funny story and the boys got the humor, but they were keen enough to vote first of all for the admirable traits of the hero. It is so in all stories. Good evidence that boys need not be written down to is the success of contributions to the American Boy made by Enos A. Mills, Achmed Abdullah, John Fleming Wilson and others whose work appears in the most prominent magazines. We have found that the best literature is not too good for boys, nor beyond their apprecia- tion. Boys will not be preached at. A story with a moral tagged to it is sure to fail of effect. We try to see that everything put into our magazine is in itself moral so that a constant reader comes to recog- nize high moral qualities when he finds them in his associates and to desire them in himself. The most popular feature of the magazine is not the fiction but the editorial page, devoted to frank, understandable talks on the vital things of life. A recent canvass showed this. Fiction comes next. After that, articles on science and adventure are favored, and stories of boys who have been successful." Thus it is that Mr. Ellis has come thoroughly to know the boy nature and meet its requirements, and today his magazine is sent into two hundred and fifty thousand homes in this land, reaching therefore more than a million readers, while on the occasion of the twentieth anni- versary of the establishment of the magazine its editor received letters from three hundred prominent Amer- icans-college professors, teachers, ministers, Y. M. C. A. men, boys' workers and others, all writing in praise of the character aud worth of the American Boy.
In Detroit, on the 21st of April, 1897, Mr. Ellis was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Winifred Scripps. His religious faith is that of the Episcopal church and the nature of the rules which govern his conduct is further shown in the fact that he is a thirty-second
degree Mason. His interests are indeed broad and varied. He belongs to the Detroit Board of Commerce, to the Fine Arts Society, to the Beta Theta Pi and to various clubs, including the Detroit, Detroit Ath- letie, Detroit Boat, Felloweraft, Old, Lochmoor Golf and Country Clubs.
ALBERT WINSLOW RYERSON, author, philoso- pher and business mau, was born at Hollis, New Hampshire, March 31, 1872, a son of John and Evelyn (Meady) Ryerson and a direct descendant of John Howland, who was one of the passengers on the May- flower. The father was born in 1846, a son of Samuel Ryerson, who was born in 1823 and whose father, Nehemiah Ryerson, was born in 1799. He in turn was a son of Luke Ryerson, Jr., born in 1739, while his father, Luke Ryerson, Sr., was born in 1704. Joris Ryerson, the next in line of descent, was born in 1666 and his father, Martin Ryerson, was born iu Amsterdam, Holland, in 1646.
Mr. Ryerson acquired his education in the schools of New Hampshire and of Boston, Massachusetts, and before he was twenty-one years of age had visited all of the principal cities of the United States and every state in the Union. He has been a great traveler all of his life, not only in this country but also in Europe, and has been a close student, a keen observer and has devoted much time to reading. His studies of late have been mostly along philosophical lines, and he has also been a very successful busi- ness man-a combination rarely met with iu the present age.
It was about 1896 that Mr. Ryerson came to De- troit, and he it was who introduced in this city the ninety-nine year lease, which he handled very suc- cessfully. Subsequently he established the Universal Book Store at No. 57 Grand River avenue and on the 15th of June, 1920, he purchased what is now known as the Ryerson block, on West Larned street, converting it from a factory into a fine modern office building. It is situated in the financial district of Detroit and was the first building west of New York city to be constructed with an iron front. It was a very showy building in those days, marking a decided advancement in architectural work in Detroit, and was one of the largest and strongest edifices in the city. It was occupied for years by the old Post- Tribune, formerly one of the leading newspapers of the city, and at a very large outlay Mr. Ryerson has restored it to its original beauty. He possesses marked executive ability, initiative and enterprise and is a man of determined purpose who carries forward to a successful termination whatever he undertakes.
On the 5th of April, 1893, Mr. Ryerson was united in marriage to Miss Vida E. F. Marsh, a daughter of Robert J. and Mary (Beneteau) Marsh, and to this union three children have been born: Martin Albert, Grace Louise and Winslow George.
ALBERT W. RYERSON
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Mr. Ryerson is a republican in his political views and an active worker in the ranks of the party, being one of the five men who in 1918 had charge of Governor Sleeper's campaign and were instrumental in securing for him the Wayne county vote. Fra- ternally he is identified with the Masons and has at- tained high standing in the order. He is a member of Detroit Lodge, No. 2, F. & A. M .; Detroit Com- mandery, No. 1, K. T .; Michigan Sovereign Consis- tory, A. & A. S. R., in which he has attained the thirty-second degree; and Moslem Temple of the Mys- tic Shrine. He is a member of the New England Historical Society of Boston and the Long Island Historical Society of Brooklyn, New York, and is also a writer of ability, being the author of the Ryerson Memorials, a work upon which he spent ten years, and also of the Blanchard Memorials. To the energetic nature and strong mentality of such men as Mr. Ryerson are due the development and ever increasing prosperity of Detroit. Well descended and well bred, his career has been one of great activity, filled with incidents and results. In every sphere of life in which he has acted he has left an indelible impress through his ability and tireless energy, which never falls short of the attainment of its purpose. Upon all vital questions he is well informed and he keeps abreast with the best thinking men of the age concerning the political, sociological and economic questions of the day. He studies broadly and thinks deeply and association with him means expansion and elevation.
FRANK H. CROUL is a commanding figure in the business development and upbuilding of Detroit, where since 1892 he has occupied the position of president and general manager of the Detroit Oak Belting Com- pany, while with other important interests he is closely associated.
Mr. Croul was born in this city July 2, 1858, a son of Jerome and Ellen (Parsons) Croul. His educational opportunities were those afforded by the common schools and no especially advantageous circumstances aided him at the outset of his career. Analysis of his efforts shows that industry, close application and en- terprise have been dominant factors in his advance- ment. Thoroughness has at all times been one of his marked characteristics and step by step he has ad- vanced to a place of executive control in connection with one of the city's important productive industries, for through twenty-eight years he has been the presi- dent and general manager of the Detroit Oak Belting Company. He is the vice president of the Michigan Wire Cloth Company and in banking circles his name is also well known, as he occupies the position of director of the Wayne County & Home Savings Bank.
In 1879 Mr. Croul was united in marriage to Miss Julia J. Toll and has a daughter, Frances A., now Mrs. John A. McPherson. His life has been passed
in Detroit, where the circle of his friends is almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintance. He has been called to the office of police commissioner of the city, serving in that capacity for the term end- ing in June, 1913, and he was fire commissioner six years. He is a member of the Detroit Board of Com- merce and during the period of the war with Germany he served on the first district draft board and was chief of the American Protective League. A man of well balanced capacities and powers, he has occupied a central place on the stage of action in Detroit al- most from the time his initial effort was made in the field of business, and his labors have found culmina- tion in the development of interests and activities of great value and worth to the city. His business affairs have ever been of a character that have contributed to publie prosperity as well as to individual success and at all times he has been the exponent and cham- pion of such interests as are a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride.
SAMUEL J. GUILLOZ, who at one time was exten- sively engaged in the contracting and furnace business in Detroit, passed away when he was in the sixty- second year of his age. He was born in Greenfield, Michigan, December 7, 1858, and was one of a family of nine children, whose parents were Frederick and Mary (Stockburger) Guilloz. The father was a native of France and came to the United States in early life, first settling in Detroit, while later he became a resident of Redford, Michigan.
Samuel J. Guilloz acquired his education in the public schools of Wayne county. The family moved to Detroit in 1872 and after a residence of a few years located at Redford, where Samuel J. Guilloz followed farming until 1885. He then returned to Detroit and for some time, figured prominently in building circles as a contractor and he also engaged extensively in the furnace business, under the name of S. J. Guilloz & Son, installing heating plants and conducting his efforts along that line with marked success through- out his remaining days. His plans were always care- fully formulated and his energy and persistent pur- pose enabled him at all times to reach his objective in a business way. He was a resident of Detroit for about forty-five years, and at all times enjoyed the confidence and goodwill of those with whom business or social relations brought him into contact.
On the 26th of May, 1881, Mr. Guilloz was married to Miss Elizabeth Mettetal, a daughter of Peter Met- tetal, also a native of France. They became the parents of five children, three of whom are living: George E. is manager of the business of S. J. Guilloz & Son; Mabelle E., who is a teacher in the Thirkell school of Detroit; and Helen M., at home. Mrs. Guil- loz is a member of the Women's Club and is inter- ested in many questions which have to do with public welfare and the improvement of conditions for the
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unfortunate. She and her family are members of the Congregational church and Mr. Guilloz at all times guided his life according to its teachings. His politieal allegiance was given to the republican party, which he continued to support until death ealled him on the 29th of November, 1920, his remains being laid to rest in the Grand Lawn cemetery at Redford. He never had occasion to regret his determination to come to Detroit, for here he found the business opportunities which he sought and in their utilization he made steady progress. He possessed many of the sterling characteristics of the French, whose splendid records not only as military heroes but as civilians during the great war awakened the admiration and honor of the entire world. The family residence, corner of Chope place and Scovel place, was erected by Mr. Guilloz in 1908.
CHARLES THEODORE SPRINGMAN, the presi- dent of the Springman Products Company, the largest concern of its kind in the Michigan metropolis, was reared and educated in Detroit and has here found ample opportunity for the achieving of substantial and worthy success in connection with business enterprise of broad scope and importance. He was born in the historie old city of Posen, Germany, on the 21st of June, 1868, and is a son of Julius L. and Amelia (Schoenbach) Springman, who immigrated to America when the subject of this review was a lad of four years. The family home was established in Detroit, where the father was for many years engaged in the work of his trade, that of tailor, and where he and his wife still maintain their home, as venerable and honored citizens. Mr. Springman was born October 7, 1835, his wife was born February 7, 1833, and they were married June 24, 1863.
The public schools of Detroit enlisted a due share of the time and attention of Charles T. Springman during the period of his boyhood and youth, and at the age of seventeen years he entered upon a practical appren- tieeship in the establishment of the Speaker Printing Company. Six months later, however, he transferred his services to the Calvert Lithographing Company, one of the old and prominent industrial and commercial concerns of Detroit, and he continued in the employ of this company sixteen years, his final assignment placing him in charge of the printing and embossing department of the large lithographing plant.
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