The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III, Part 3

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932, ed; Stocking, William, 1840- joint ed; Miller, Gordon K., joint ed
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Detroit-Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1022

USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 3

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In the early part of 1907 Mr. Berry centralized a number of his most important holdings through the incorporation of the Lake Superior Iron & Chemical Company. The interests included in this merger and in all of which he was the president and controlling stockholder, were the Ashland Iron & Steel Company of Ashland, Wisconsin; the Manistique Iron Company and the Burrell Chemical Company of Manistique,

Michigan; the Michigan Iron Company, Ltd., and the Superior Chemical Company of Newberry, Michigan; the Northern Charcoal Iron Company of Chocolay, Michigan; the Elk Rapids Iron Company of Elk Rapids, Michigan; and the Boyne City Iron Company of Boyne City, Michigan. In addition to his other interests Mr. Berry was the president of the Dwight Lumber Company, the Detroit Heating & Lighting Company, the Antrim Chemical Company, the New York Car Wheel Company, the Welded Steel Barrel Corporation, and a director of the Commercial National Bank of Detroit, while with other leading financial institutions he was connected as a stockholder. He was one of the largest producers in the United States in the manufacture of charcoal iron and also of wood alcohol. He controlled the fly-paper trade of the country and he was an extensive manufacturer of electric welded steel barrels and lumber and was the owner of large tracts of timber land, while his landed possessions in Wayne county probably exceeded that of any other person.

In 1868 Mr. Berry was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte E. Dwight, a daughter of Alfred A. Dwight, a prominent and well known lumberman of Michigan. Mrs. Berry passed away in 1875, leaving three dangh- ters: Charlotte, the widow of Henry G. Sherrard; Alice Dwight, the widow of Dr. Edwin Lodge; and Lottie D., who was married to Hayward N. Hoyt of Grand Rapids, Michigan, on February 26, 1921.

Mr. Berry was a man of marked public spirit and his devotion to the general welfare was real and sincere, as manifest in his cooperation with all plans and projects for the general good. He was connected with many movements which have been of the greatest worth to Detroit and the last enterprise of which he was the originator and which has been of inestimable benefit to the eastern section of the city in a manufacturing way was the promotion of the outer-belt line in 1906, known as the Detroit Terminal Railway. The preliminary expenses of the enterprise, including the right of way, were all borne by Mr. Berry, but he enjoined secrecy upon those engaged in the completion of the enterprise, desiring to avoid all publicity attaching to himself. He re- deemed a large area of waste land in that region and was prominently connected with the uphuilding of Fairview, which was converted into one of the most desirable residence sections of the city and enabled many people of moderate resources to secure homes there.

It is known that he was constantly the benefactor of the needy and suffering and yet his charity was of most unostentatious character. He was keenly interested in the condtion of the men and women in his employ and sought to benefit them along many lines. In studying the welfare of his employes he came to regard the liquor traffic as the greatest menace to happiness, prosperity and the development of man- hood. He was, therefore, an active worker in the

CITY OF DETROIT

cause of prohibition. Mr. Berry was a most earnest member and generous supporter of the Presbyterian church and also gave freely to the work of other denominations. He contributed largely to the Prot- estant church at Grosse Pointe and to the work carried on through that institution. He was a lover of nature and of things beautiful. His interest per- haps centered in floriculture and his conservatories became widely known. He made a specialty of the development of orchids and foliage plants and his collection was among the largest and most varied in the country. His hours of relaxation were mostly passed among his flowers.

In manner Mr. Berry was quiet, kindly and uni- formly courteous, rather retiring in disposition and never seeking publicity. He was, nevertheless, the most approachable of men. The death of Joseph H. Berry at Detroit on May 22, 1907, removed from the citizenship of the community a man whose career and character were paramount, "whose life was an inspiration, whose memory a benediction."

JOSEPH BOYER, chairman of the board of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company, is one of De- troit's real captains of industry and a man whose activities in industrial and financial circles have been important factors in the city's wonderful growth dur- ing the past twenty years. It was mainly through Mr. Boyer's efforts that the Burroughs Adding Ma- chine Company became a Detroit industry and the history of that company's remarkable growth and development during the last quarter of a century is inseparably a conspicuous part of Mr. Boyer's history during the same period. Comprehensive mention of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company is made elsewhere in this work and to this reference should be made for information definitely supplemental to that contained in the brief review of Mr. Boyer's life, here introduced.

Joseph Boyer was born on a farm about thirty miles east of Toronto, Canada, on the 19th of December, 1848. His parents were David and Modlany (Brown) Boyer, both of whom were natives of Canada, the father a farmer by occupation. Both parents passed their lives in that country. The boyhood days of Joseph Boyer were those of a lad reared on a farm in that section of Canada before the days of labor- saving machinery and when work was plentiful. His early education was secured in the public schools of that day and locality, where his youth was spent. At the age of eighteen he began an apprenticeship to the trade of a machinist in the town of Oshawa, Ontario, at which he continued until he had learned the work. As a journeyman machinist he worked in Canada until shortly after attaining his legal majority, when he concluded to try his fortune in the States. This was in 1869. Mr. Boyer went to California, reaching there soon after the completion of the Union Pacific Rail- way, the first line built across the plains. He re-

mained in California a few months and then returned east, stopping in St. Louis, where he worked at his trade and eventually went into business for himself, becoming the owner of a small machine shop on Dick- son street in that city. It is both interesting and worthy of record that in that shop, through the kind- ness and consideration of Mr. Boyer, it was made pos- sible for William S. Burroughs, who was then a struggling inventor in practically indigent circum- stances, to proceed with the experimental work which brought out the adding machine from which the Bur- roughs of today has been developed. It is equally interesting to note that in this shop, occupying a twenty-four foot lot, two great industrial enterprises had their inception-the Burroughs Adding Machine Company and the Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company, both of which are of world-wide reputation and today represent a combined capitalization of forty million dollars. Like the experience of many of the big in dustries in their early stages of development, they passed through periods of adversity, and at one time twenty-five thousand dollars would have bought both of them. Mr. Boyer built up a successful business in St. Louis, where he organized the Boyer Machine Company, manufacturing and introducing to the trade the celebrated Boyer pneumatic hammer, of which he was the inventor. This tool at once became a standard in the industrial world and rapidly found a place in manufacturing circles all over the globe. Mr. Boyer continued to reside in St. Louis until 1900, when he came to Detroit. He had personally perfected the invention of various other superior types of pneu- matic tools and it was for the purpose of facilitating and increasing the manufacture of these devices that he decided on Detroit as a new location for his busi- ness. On December 31, 1901, the Boyer Machine Com- pany was merged into the Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company, one of the leading industries of its kind in this country. In January, 1905, Mr. Boyer became president of the Burroughs Adding Machine Company at the time of its organization, remaining its executive head until January, 1920, when he was elected chair- man of the board. While Mr. Boyer possesses marked mechanical talent and acquired no ordinary prestige as an inventor, it has been the force of his initiative and administrative as well as his great executive ability that has brought him to his position of prom- inence in the business world. His interests are varied and extensive and included in them are a number of the highly successful projects that have been de- veloped in the period of Detroit's remarkable indus- trial growth. In political matters Mr. Boyer is a republican but with no desire whatever for office, his interest in such matters being that of a business man.

In St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Boyer was married to Miss Clara A. Libby and of their eight children all are living except George W., the eldest, the others being: Frank H., a prominent business man of Los

JOSEPH BOYER

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Angeles, California; Pearl, now the wife of H. E. Candler of Detroit, who is mentioned elsewhere in this work; Myron L .; Ruby C., the wife of W. A. C. Miller of Detroit, of whom separate mention will be found elsewhere; Lotta E., who married Standish Backus of Detroit and of whom mention is made on another page; Gertrude, the wife of Harold Chase of Santa Barbara, California; and Joseph, Jr., of Detroit.

Mr. Boyer belongs to the Detroit Board of Com- merce, while his club membership includes the De- troit, Bloomfield Hills, Country, Old, Golf, Detroit Athletic, Prismatic, Turtle Lake and North Channel Fishing Clubs. His recreation is largely found in fish- ing, hunting, motoring and golf.

CHARLES FREDERICK BIELMAN, whose strong, clean life, splendid business ability and marked public spirit made him one of the most honored and loved citi- zens of Detroit, passed away April 16, 1920. He was born in Detroit April 20, 1859. In young manhood he removed to Marine City, and there made his home for several years, but early in 1882 returned to Detroit, where he continued to reside until his life's labors were ended in death.

During much of his life Mr. Bielman was connected with navigation interests and his business record was initiated by service as a clerk on the steamer Evening Star. For a few seasons he was employed by the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company on the City of Mack- inac and from that period made rapid rise in connection with water transportation. In 1889 he accepted a re- sponsible position with the Star Cole Line, a fleet of steamers, and had been with that corporation for but a brief period when his ability and powers were recognized and promotion after promotion followed. In 1893 he was one of the organizers of the Red Star Line and in 1896 aided in establishing the White Star Line, of which he became secretary and general manager in 1912. He studied every question and phase of navigation interests and it was ever his aim to give the public the best possible service in this connection. His standards were very high and his progressiveness was a marked element in his business career, while his integrity was ever unas- sailable. His navigation interests were but one phase of his business activity, however. He assisted in making Tashmoo park and Sugar Island park two of the finest summer resorts in the country and he was vice president of the Commonwealth Federal State Bank. He pro- moted the mail service by building the first mail boat that was used on the Detroit river, which he named Flor- ence C., in honor of his daughter, and later he built the mail boat now in use, called the Charles F. Bielman, Jr.

In 1890 Mr. Bielman was united in marriage to Miss Catherine Barlum, a daughter of Thomas and Bridget (McNamara) Barlum, the former a native of Ireland and a wholesale packer by occupation. To Mr. and Mrs. Bielman were born a son and a daughter, the former, Charles Frederick, Jr., born July 29, 1894, being now the general manager of the White Star Line, succeeding his

father in this position. He is the youngest manager of a line of steamers in the United States. He enlisted in the World war in December, 1917, as a member of the Marines, was among the first of the American troops in actual fighting and saw hard service. He was severely gassed in the Belloau Wood engagement and received a gunshot wound during the Champagne offensive; the daughter, Florence C., became the wife of Frank E. Maloney of Niagara Falls, New York, and passed away April 7, 1918, leaving one child, Frank Edward Maloney.

The family are adherents of the Catholic church, of which Mr. Bielman was a consistent member. He was constantly exemplifying the spirit of Christianity in his helpfulness toward and consideration of others. His political belief was that of the republican party and at one time he served as a delegate-at-large to the national convention. He was also a member of the city council and did important work in that connec- tion in support of many progressive interests in De- troit. He served as the third president of the Board of Commerce in 1906 and he was prominently known in many social organizations, belonging to the Detroit Club, Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit Transportation Club, the Detroit Whist Club, of which he was at one time president, and several fraternal organizations, in- . cluding the Knights of Columbus, the Detroit Lodge of Elks, the Detroit Lodge of Moose and the Maccabees. He was likewise connected with the Great Lakes Pas- senger Lines Association and the American Association of Passenger Agents. His high position in public re- gard was indicated in the long list of men who acted as honorary pallbearers when he passed away, a list that contained the names of many of the most eminent citizens of Detroit. The members of the city council attended the services in a body, with the mayor at their head, and flags on all public buildings were at half-mast. John C. Lodge, addressing the city council, said: "I believe this man's outstanding character- isties were friendliness and consideration and constant courtesy. We have seen him at times when possibly most of us might have allowed some of the coarser things to come to the front, but he never did, for he was a gentleman by instinct. I can say that we not only had learned to like him, but he was of such a friendly nature that we had learned to love him. We will miss him. That we will remember him and carry with us deep sympathy for his beloved wife and son, I am sure."

The resolution passed by the city council read in part: "The Master of Destiny has taken from us one who but yesterday walked in the full noontide of his honored name. About him in Michigan, when he first saw the light of day, were the lofty pines, standing firm before the tempest, but bending in every branch to the zephyr. Throughout his splendid life he re- flected this early environment. He combined strength with tenderness, dignity with courtesy. Even in con- troversy he was considerate. In thought, word and deed he went to the Great Beyond clean. He con-

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cealed his charities, but never withheld them. Ab- sorbed in carrying on to success the great business he had built from a modest beginning, and devoted to his family circle, he sought no other preferment. Yet we find his name in the directorate of business institu- tions, relating himself to each added burden as if it were his sole care. We of his official circle, now first broken by his death, realize that no eulogy is needed to certify his loss to Detroit. Appreciating the forti- tude with which he bore the loss of his beloved daugh- ter, suffered through the suspense which was his when his son was wounded while with our troops in foreign lands, and endured his own physical pain, we can now, that his soul has put out to sea, but emulate him and say, 'Thy will be done.' "'

One of the Detroit papers said editorially: "Charles F. Bielman was essentially a Detroit product. His career was largely typical of the careers of a number of men of affairs who have grown up with the com- munity and have contributed materially to its develop- ment. Mr. Bielman loved Detroit and was proud of it. Interest in the advancement of his city went hand in hand with care for the advancement of the par- ticular enterprises in which he was engaged. His connections with the water transportation business gave him a great deal of opportunity to act for the , which occurred in 1876, when he had reached an ad- public benefit and increase the prestige of the City of vanced age. the Straits, and he was quick to make use of the opportunity. Though by no means a politician in the ordinary sense of the expression, Mr. Bielman was alive to his public duty as a citizen and he believed that it demanded something more than a mere visit to the polls at stated intervals. So when the time arrived he became a candidate for membership in the seven man common council of Detroit, and his election was a direct result of the confidence the voters of the community reposed in him. With Mr. Bielman's pass- ing the city loses a valuable citizen and a conscien- tious, enlightened public official, of an all too uncom- mon type."

His life was a distinct value as an element in the city's material growth and development, in the ad- vancement of its civic standards and most of all in the adoption of those cultural forces which uplift the individual and make for higher ideals of manhood and citizenship.

PALMS FAMILY. Thomas Carlyle has said that the history of a country is best told in the lives of its people, and thus it is imperative that extended reference be made to the Palms family, now well rep- resented in the business circles of Detroit by Charles L. and Francis Palms, sons of Francis F. Palms and grandsons of Francis Palms, who was for many years the largest landowner and one of the most prominent factors in the commercial circles of Michigan. He came of ancient Belgian lineage and was born in Antwerp in 1810. His father, Ange Palms, was a commissary in the French army when Napoleon I

was at the zenith of his power and followed the fortunes of his great commander until the disastrous battle of Waterloo. He was decorated with the Legion of Honor for his successful effort to save a part of the ammunition on the Waterloo battle field. During the stormy period involving the dethronement of Charles X and the elevation to the throne of Louis Philippe, the citizen king, Ange Palms was obliged to leave Belgium. Following the close of the Napo- leonie wars, he returned to Antwerp, where he con- ducted an extensive manufacturing establishment. This was destroyed by fire in 1831. He then gathered the remnants of his fortune together and after two years spent in Mayence, Germany, he came to America, bringing with him letters of introduction from the prince of Liege to President Martin Van Buren. He was accompanied by his wife, four sons and two daugh- ters and in their travels they proceeded as far west- ward as Detroit, where they took up their abode. On the 26th of August of the same year Mrs. Palms fell a victim to the cholera scourge which was creeping over the land. Ange Palms remained for a few years in Detroit and then removed with his family to New Orleans, where he established a manufacturing busi- ness and continued to make his home until his death,

His son, Francis Palms, acquired a liberal education in the public schools of Antwerp and when a young man of twenty-three years began his business career as a clerk for a Mr. Goodwin of Detroit, but soon after began the manufacture of linseed oil at the corner of Gratiot avenue and St. Antoine street. Dis- continuing this enterprise in 1837, he entered the employ of Franklin Moore & Company, wholesale gro- cers, and remained in their service until 1842, when he became a partner in the reorganized firm of Moore, Foote & Company, continuing in that connection for four years, during which period he acted as financial manager of the house. His connection with the firm proved a profitable one and upon his retirement, with the capital he had accumulated, he began buying and selling land. Perhaps the largest of his early land transactions was the purchase of forty thousand acres of government land in Macomb and St. Clair coun- ties, a venture made when the state of Michigan was still suffering from the panic of 1836-37. In the tide of prosperity ten years later his lands were readily sold and it is said that he realized from this transaction alone between three and four hundred thousand dol- lars. The success of this venture was the stepping- stone to his great wealth. It revealed to him the vast possibilities of the pine forests which then covered three-fourths of the state. He immediately invested all of his means in pine lands, obtaining the title to immense tracts in Michigan and Wisconsin, and be- came not only the largest landowner in the northwest but possibly the largest individual landowner in the United States. At one time he owned a large tract of

FRANCIS PALMS

FRANCIS F. PALMS

CITY OF DETROIT

timber land in Wisconsin on a river which another company unlawfully assumed to control and obstruct, rendering navigation impossible. Mr. Palms ordered his foreman to obtain a sufficient force to cut away the obstructions. The foreman replied that the oppos- ing company had two hundred and fifty men, which only brought the reply: "Get one thousand men if necessary, but the river must be opened." This con- test cost Mr. Palms a quarter of a million dollars, but the river being opened, the increase in land value amounted to eight hundred thousand dollars. In many cases he sold only the timber and retained the fee interest, especially when there was any evidence of mineral deposit. His foresight in this was evinced by the subsequent discovery of many valuable mines in lands thus retained. All of his vast property was under his personal care and supervision. Aided by careful and thorough methods and a wonderful mem- ory, with little assistance he was able to grasp thor- oughly and manage every detail. After many years of this work, in the late '80s he began contracting his business and making investment in Detroit city property, constructing a large number of business blocks. He was also greatly interested in manufac- turing enterprises and touched the business life of Detroit at many points, and wherever his energies were directed they proved most helpful and result- ant. For many years he was the president and the largest stockholder in the Peoples Savings Bank and in the Michigan Stove Company, was president of the Michigan Fire & Marine Insurance Company and was also connected with the Galvin Brass & Iron Company, the Union Iron Company, the Vulcan Furnace and the Peninsular Land Company. His largest railroad invest- ment was in the Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette Road, of which he was vice president and a director. He also had other interests in the railways of the upper peninsula. In 1875 he suffered a paralytic stroke and from that time forward his physical force gradually declined. Death called him on the 4th of November, 1886. He was long one of the most prominent figures in the history of Michigan and his death called forth wide comment. The officers and stockholders of the Peoples Savings Bank, with whom he had been long and intimately associated, adopted the following tribute to his memory:

"Resolved, That we learn with deep sorrow and re- gret of the death of our late president and associate, Francis Palms. He was a man of high honor, strict integrity of character, and 'honest in all things,' dili- gent in the fulfillment of every duty and punctual in the discharge of every obligation. Characterized by gentleness and amiability of manner, and of a modest and retiring disposition, he was incapable of inflict- ing injury on any man, yet in defense of justice and fair dealing he exhibited cool and stern determination, unflinching courage and remarkable strength of char- acter. Clear-headed and prompt in arriving at con- clusions, patient, persevering and resolute in purpose,

he was a man of indomitable will, of great intellectual force, of broad and comprehensive mind, and of un- usual foresight."

Physically Francis Palms was of slight figure and rather below medium height. His face indicated a man of great character and force. He was always polite, affable and approachable, never haughty nor arrogant, and self-conceit and false pride were utterly foreign to his nature. Among his friends he dis- played marked sociability, and being a man of clas- sical education and an accomplished linguist, he was a delightful companion. In religious faith he was a Catholic, a regular attendant at the Church of SS. Peter and Paul.

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The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III, Part 3

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932, ed; Stocking, William, 1840- joint ed; Miller, Gordon K., joint ed Publication date: 1922 Publisher: Detroit-Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 1022

Author: Burton, Clarence Monroe, 1853-1932, ed; Stocking, William, 1840- joint ed; Miller, Gordon K., joint ed
Publication date: 1922
Publisher: Detroit-Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 1022