USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 35
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city. In January, 1870, he was largely instrumental in organizing the Peoples Savings Bank, which was capitalized for thirty thousand dollars and of which he became cashier, with Francis Palms as the first president. This was the second savings bank organ- ized in Detroit. Steadily and rapidly the business developed and in the second year the capital stock was increased to sixty thousand dollars and when in 1907 the Peoples Savings Bank was consolidated with the State Savings Bank it had a capital stock of five hundred thousand dollars and a surplus of equal amount. Mr. O'Brien had been elected to the presidency of the Peoples Savings Bank upon the death of Mr. Palms in 1886 and displayed marked executive ability and administrative skill in handling the affairs of the institution. He acquired a most comprehensive knowledge of the banking business in every detail and became an outstanding figure in the financial circles of Detroit. He was the organizer of the Detroit Clearing House Association and he became the promoter and the second president of the Mich- igan State Bankers Association. With the Hon. Judge Munro Mann of Kalamazoo, he was instrumental in framing and passing through the state legislature the present banking laws of Michigan. His activities in the field of banking, however, covered but one phase of his business career. Mr. O'Brien was made a trustee of the Palms estate, one of the largest in Michigan. He became well known in insurance circles as the president of the Michigan Fire & Marine In- surance Company and upon the organization of the Standard Life & Accident Insurance Company was chosen its first treasurer and so continued until his demise. He was largely instrumental in introducing natural gas into Detroit and became the treasurer and one of the directors of the Detroit Natural Gas Com- pany, so continuing during the period of its exist- ence. He also became the treasurer of its successor, the Detroit City Gas Company.
In 1874 Mr. O'Brien was united in marriage to Miss Martha F. Watson, a daughter of the late James F. Watson of Bay City, Michigan. To this marriage were born three sons and a daughter: William J., who was a sergeant of the Torry Rough Riders in the Spanish-American war and died of typhoid fever in the reserve camp at Jacksonville, Florida; Michael Hubert, attorney at law; Louise Frances, the widow of Lieutenant Colonel Walter Vincent Gallagher of the Ninth Infantry, U. S. A., who died in France in 1918; and Ignatius Francis. On the 20th of July, 1898, Mr. O'Brien was married to Miss Mary I. Flattery, who was born and reared in Detroit.
Mr. O'Brien was a Catholic and for many years was a communicant of SS. Peter and Paul's church. He manifested the keenest interest in the leading benevolent and humanitarian activities of the city and for many years was treasurer of the Detroit Associated Charities, contributing most generously to its support. When the Grand Army of the Republic
MICHAEL W. O'BRIEN
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held its national encampment in Detroit in 1892 he was chosen custodian of the funds raised by De- troit's citizens for the entertainment of those who were the defenders of the Union during the dark days of the Civil war. He was also treasurer and a member of the executive committee of the Catholic congress held in Baltimore in 1899 and also of the Catholic Columbian congress held in Chicago in 1893. He took an active part in establishing St. Francis' Home for Boys, was a prominent member and generous contributor to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, and he belonged as well to the Red Cross Society, to the Catholic Club of New York, the Detroit Club, the Bankers Club, the Country Club, the American Historical Association and the American Archaeological Society. He passed away January 6, 1912. His life was a beneficent force and influence in the community in which he lived. He gave freely and generously to support the needy and was equally helpful in his efforts to inspire the young business man to put forth his best talents to win success. His record remains an inspiring example to all who knew him-an ex- ample of Christian manhood, of business enterprise and integrity and of progressive and loyal citizenship.
FRANK CHRISTOPHER COOK, admitted to the bar in 1895 and since that time a representative of the legal profession in Detroit, was born in Hartford, Connectient, December 25, 1871, and is a son of Michael J. and Ellen (Ganley) Cook. He pursued a public school education in his native city and after- ward became a student in the law department of the University of Michigan, where he won the LL. B. de- gree upon the completion of his course as a member of the class of 1895. The same year he opened an office in Detroit, where he has remained.
In Bay City, Michigan, in 1902, Mr. Cook was united in marriage to Miss Frances Conway and they have become the parents of a son, John G. The religious faith of the family is that of the Roman Catholic church and Mr. Cook is identified with the Knights of Columbus. He is a member of the Lawyers Club of Detroit, also of the Detroit Board of Law, the Bar Association of Detroit, the Michigan State Bar Asso- ciation and the American Bar Association, and his colleagues and contemporaries in the profession speak of him in terms of warm regard because of his close conformity to the ethical principles and standards of legal practice.
RT. REV. MSGR. JAMES SAVAGE. For more than a half century the Rt. Rev. Msgr. James Savage has devoted his life to the priesthood and for a third of a century he has been in charge of the Most Holy Trinity parish of Detroit. He has passed the Psalm- ist's allotted span of threescore years and ten, for he has now reached his seventy-fourth milestone on life's journey. Michigan numbers him among her native
sons, his birth having ocenrred at Sylvan, Washtenaw county, January 8, 1846.
In his boyhood days he attended the country schools and afterward continued his education in the schools of Dexter, Michigan, for three years. 1n 1883 he en- tered Niagara University and the following year he became a student in the St. Francis Seminary at Mil- waukee, Wisconsin, where he was ordained to the priesthood on the 2d of July, 1869. The same month he was sent as an assistant to the Most Holy Trinity parish, to aid Father Blyenberg. In 1879 he was made pastor at Gratton, Michigan, a parish now in the Grand Rapids diocese, but then belonging to Detroit. Later he was appointed to the pastorate of Our Lady of Help in Detroit and it was in 1887 that he was called to the pastorate of Most Holy Trinity church, where he has remained until the present.
Monsignor Savage has lived to enjoy the splendid results of his devoted labors. He has thoroughly or- ganized the work of the church and its various so- cieties and he has been most zealous toward the cause of Catholic education, thereby building up a parochial school which ranks as one of the best in the diocese. On the 2d of July, 1919, most fitting and impressive ceremonies were held to celebrate the fiftieth anni- versary of his ordination. In recognition of his life's work he was formally invested with the rank of Do- mestie Prelate of the Pope's household, carrying the title of Monsignor. The ceremonies attendant to this investiture were participated in not only by the mem- bers of the parish at the present time, but by many who had been connected with the Most Holy Trinity church formerly, who came to pay their tribute of re- speet and honor to their spiritual guide and faithful friend.
GEORGE FREDERICK WEBBER. The name of George F. Webber found upon knit goods is synony- mous with reliability in the method of manufacture and in the intrinsic worth of the article, and is so recog- nized among a large number of patrons of the house of which he is the head. Mr. Webber was born in Chicago, Illinois, June 8, 1864, and is a son of Augustus and Eliza (Morphy) Webber, who were natives of England and Ireland, respectively. The mother was brought to the new world as an infant; the father crossed the Atlantic to this country when a young man and located at Toronto, Canada. There he be- came connected with the Canadian Postal Service, and was thus employed at the time of his death. They had a family of three children, of whom one is deceased, the surviving daughter being Miss L. C. Webber of St. Paul, Minnesota.
George F. Webber obtained his early education in the schools of Toronto and upon coming to Detroit entered a law office, where he continued his reading, until finally admitted to practice in 1895. However, he gave up the law for a business career and started out to acquaint himself with the knit goods business.
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In 1898 he established a knitting factory, which has since been operated most successfully. His course has been marked by careful and able management and honest methods, and as a consequence his business has grown apace with Detroit's development and is today one of the largest enterprises of similar character in the state. He manufactures knit goods, including sweaters, bathing suits and knitted specialties. In carrying on the business at 1404 Gratiot avenue he utilizes a large building with three floors and employs forty people. He also operates two mills in Pennsyl- vania, and one in New Jersey, specializing in each. One of the Pennsylvania mills employs steadily about one hundred operators. His product is most highly regarded by both the wholesale and retail trade and the steady growth of his business attests, not only high grade merchandise, but clean business methods.
On the 4th of November, 1889, Mr. Webber was mar- ried to Miss Frances Finch of Minneapolis, Minnesota, daughter of S. M. Finch, a member of the Minneapolis bar. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Webber: George A., born in Detroit in 1890, attended the University of Michigan after completing his high school course, and during the World war enlisted in the United States navy, holding the rank of ensign. He is a member of the Lochmoor Golf Club, the Detroit Boat Club, and the University Club, which indicates his prominence in social circles. He is engaged in business with his father; Helen, born in Detroit in 1892, also attended the University of Michigan, and is now the wife of C. W. Johnson of Jackson, Mich- igan, and they have one child, Frances Johnson, born at Jackson in 1917; Frank, born in Detroit in 1899, is now a student in the University of Michigan.
Mr. Webber is a member of the Detroit Athletic, the Detroit Boat, the Lochmoor Golf, and the Detroit Automobile Clubs. He also belongs to the Detroit Board of Commerce and manifests keen interest in everything that pertains to the city's welfare and up- building, supporting all those measures which are a matter of civic virtue and of civic pride. Mr. Webber resides at 324 East Kirby avenue.
HOWARD GRAVES MEREDITH, British Consul at Detroit, is a British subject, born in Ontario, Canada. His early life was devoted to railroad service until 1905, when he acquired financial interest in the New York Coal Company, becoming vice president of that corporation at Detroit, and holding this position until 1909. In the meantime he had been appointed to con- sular service, and the requirements led him to retire from business and give his attention entirely to official duties. He was made his Britannic Majesty's vice consul in 1907 and appointed full consul for Great Britain in Michigan over the King's signature, July 11, 1919.
Mr. Meredith was married in Detroit to Miss Helen Newland, a daughter of Henry A. Newland and a granddaughter of James F. Joy. Mrs. Meredith passed
away on the 23d day of October, 1917, and their only child, Newland, whose death occurred January 18, 1919, is mentioned elsewhere in this work. Mr. Mere- dith owns "Meredith Lake," a country estate, Liv- ingston county, Michigan, one of the most beautiful properties of this character in the state. The lake from which it takes its name, a wonderful body of water, about one and one-half miles in length, with an average width of approximately one-half mile, is fed by springs and entirely surrounded by the estate. The property, comprising about five hundred acres, is most admirably situated, and portions of it with their ruggedness and almost primitive character, afford a wonderful haunt for game and song birds, as well as various rare species of the finny tribe. While ex- tremely fond of hunting Mr. Meredith has never raised a gun on his estate, but instead has done a great deal towards the conservation of game birds. He is a man of dignified bearing but extremely warm-hearted, and one whose circle of friends is almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintance. He belongs to various prominent clubs, including the Detroit, Yon- dotega, Country, Detroit Racquet and Curling, Toronto Shooting Club, and Cartwright Game Preserve. He finds recreation largely in hunting and fishing.
NEWLAND MEREDITH, whose death on January 18, 1919, removed from life's activities one of De- troit's foremost young men, was a native of this city. He was born October 25, 1892, the only child of his parents, Howard Graves and Helen (Newland) Mere- dith, who are mentioned on another page of this work.
Newland Meredith was reared in Detroit and had spent almost his entire life in this city. His health during boyhood was never robust and he was educated entirely by private tutors and through travel. He made two trips around the world, first when about fourteen years old, accompanied by his tutor, and again when at the age of about eighteen he made a similar tour alone. In the choice of a career, that of business appealed to him more than that of a pro- fession. He was for a time associated with the Hill railroad lines in Portland, Oregon. In 1915 he be- came connected with the Detroit branch of the Mary- land Casualty Company. His marked ability soon won him promotion and in less than a year he was ad- mitted to partnership in the company. Subsequent advancement found him in the office of vice president, which position he was occupying at the time of his death. Mr. Meredith's success was founded to no small extent on the keen personal interest in and service to his clientele. The future held for him an assured standing among the most prominent business interests in Detroit. Mr. Meredith's outstanding char- acteristics among those who knew him best were his friendliness and loyalty to his associates. Probably no man in the city had more close friends among the prominent young business men of Detroit. He was the personification of cordiality, generosity and cheer-
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HOWARD G. MEREDITH
NEWLAND MEREDITH
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fulness. While it was his delight to do favors for others, he was deeply appreciative of the slightest favor rendered him. Whatever he did was done in an enthusiastic manner. If he played, he played hard, and when he worked it was with equal zeal and ear- nestness. His cheerful nature radiated an irrepressible type of optimism wherein the sun always shone. At the time of Mr. Meredith's death the Detroit Saturday Night said of him: "It is a common complaint that in these busy days our younger generation has lost the sense and practice of those finer courtesies belong- ing to the older generation. Our youth consider it a waste of time and 'unnecessary.' A striking ex- ample of the fact that the world is still not unappre- ciative of such courtesies and that definite material expressions are created by them is shown in the career of Newland Meredith. Not yet twenty-seven, he had gone far in social and business circles, and while his ability and sincerity were contributing factors, not the least was his scrupulous attention to the finer considerations due those with whom he came in con- tact. This is so unusual nowadays that it may well be considered by others of his age."
Immediately upon this country entering the World war, Mr. Meredith volunteered and was accepted for the first officers' training camp at Fort Sheridan, but the strenuous training rendered acute an old eye weak- ness, compelling his honorable discharge from the army before his course was completed. He was a member and a director of the Detroit Club and was the young- est man ever elected a member of that fine old organi- zation. After having held membership but a little more than eighteen months Mr. Meredith was made a director, being by ten years the youngest man ever filling that office in the Detroit Club. He was one of the most promising of the younger men of Detroit, and had he been permitted to live his natural life, there is no doubt but what he would have carved his name deep in the history of the city. The following testimonial from the directors of the Detroit Club to Mr. Meredith's father is certainly a high tribute to the memory of a young man not yet twenty-seven years of age:
"January 15, 1920.
" Sir:
"Nearly a year ago the directors of the Detroit Club instructed a committee to prepare resolutions upon the death of Mr. Newland Meredith. Several sets were made, but none seemed at all satisfactory. Through his unusual personality Mr. Meredith had not ouly won the respect and regard of his associate directors but had, in a rather unconscious way, so entwined him- self in their affections that the forms of regret seemed altogether too cold to express their true feeling. There has not been a week since his death that the directors have not felt his absence and their loss, either in some direct issue or in an indirect manner, when the wish would involuntarily arise to one's lips-'If Newland were here.' When esteem and affection were so
strong, ordinary expressions of loss become merely perfunctory. Perhaps the most illuminating proof of the regard and esteem in which Mr. Newland Mere- dith was held by his fellow directors, is the fact that after an absence of a year, their feeling of loss and also their appreciation of his very sincere and sterling qualities, is felt more sharply today than when his absence first occurred.
"In this writing the directors of the Detroit Club have merely attempted in a reserved way to give expression to their actual feeling and respect but with a sense of inadequacy they are unable to over- come. On the anniversary of his death the board begs the privilege and the honor of expressing to Mr. Howard Graves Meredith its deepest smypathy and trusts that some measure of the warmth of its feel- ings may be transmitted with these words.
"Respectfully Submitted,
"The Directors of the Detroit Club: W. A. Living- stone, Harry W. Frost, John M. Dwyer, T. J. Bosquett, Standish Backus, A. W. Russel, Frederick S. Stearns, Thaddeus Walker, F. W. Brooks,
Howard Graves Meredith, Esq.,
Detroit, Mich."
LEO MARTIN BUTZEL, of the firm of Stevenson, Carpenter, Butzel & Backus and a member of the De- troit bar since 1896, in which year he was graduated from the law department of the Michigan State Uni- versity, was born November 27, 1874, in the city which is still his home, and is a son of Martin Butzel. After attending the public schools of Detroit he entered the University of Michigan and completed a course in the literary department, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Philosophy in 1894. He remained a student at Ann Arbor, in the law department, and following the at- tainment of his LL.B. degree in 1896, he began prac- tice in his native city, with the firm of Dickinson, Thur- ber & Stevenson. In 1897 he became a member of the law firm of Stevenson & Butzel and remained in that association until 1902, when others were admitted to a partnership, forming the present legal firm, which for nineteen years has occupied a leading position before the Detroit bar. Mr. Butzel was one of the organizers of the First National Company, having served as the first president of the corporation, and now occupies a place on its executive committee and board of directors. He is a director of the Wayne County and Home Sav- ings Bank, the Security Trust Company, the Bankers Trust Company, the Detroit Sulphite Pulp & Paper Com- pany, the Detroit Steel Products Company, the United Fuel & Supply Company, the Industrial Morris Bank, and the Michigan Smelting and Refining Company.
Mr. Butzel was married in 1903 to Miss Carolyn Heavenrich and they are the parents of three children: Martin L .; Sally M .; and Ruth B. Mr. Butzel is well known in the social circles of the city, having member- ship in the Bloomfield Hills, Detroit Golf, Detroit Mo- tor Boat, Detroit Yacht and Redford Country Clubs, of which latter organization he is the president. He
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is also a member of the Lotus Club of New York. He belongs to the Detroit Bar Association, the Michigan State Bar Association and the American Bar Associa- tion.
WADE MILLIS has for thirteen years been the treasurer of the Detroit Bar Association and his con- tinued re-election to the office is an indisputable indi- cation of the high regard entertained for him by his fellow members of the legal profession in Detroit, where he has engaged in practice since 1898. Michi- gan numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred at Wheatland on the 3d of June, 1868. His parents were Walter and Jane Clark (Car- low) Millis. The former was born on a farm in Colum- bia county, New York, in 1819 and was married in Orleans county, that state, to Miss Carlow. They re- moved to Hillsdale county, Michigan, in 1852 and there spent their remaining days on a farm, the father passing away in 1912, while the mother's death oc- curred in 1916. The paternal grandfather of Wade Millis was John William Millis, who was born in the state of New York and devoted his life to agricultural pursuits but served as a soldier in the War of 1812. The paternal grandmother of Wade Millis was Chris- tina Knickerbocker Millis, wife of John William Mil- lis. Through her the official geneological records show a direct line of descent from John Von Borgham Knickerbocker, a captain in the navy of the Nether- lands over three hundred years ago.
In his youthful days Wade Millis passed through consecutive grades in the public schools until grad- uated from the high school at Addison, Michigan. He afterward pursued special work in the literary depart- ment of the University of Michigan and then entered the law department, from which he was graduated in 1898, the LL.B. degree being then conferred upon him. In the meantime he had taken up the pro- fession of teaching in the public schools of Michigan and was thus engaged from 1887 until 1896, acting as superintendent of public schools. Following the com- pletion of his law course and his admission to the bar in 1898 he located in Detroit, where for twenty- two years he has engaged in active practice, being now senior partner in the firm of Millis, Streeter, Mur- phy & Berns. In a calling where advancement depends entirely upon individual merit and ability his course has been marked by steady progress. He has always most carefully prepared his cases, his reasoning is clear and cogent and his deductions are sound and logical. The recognition of his powers on the part of his fellow citizens has led to his connection with various important business interests and he is now the president of the American Coal & Coke Company, secretary of the Doble-Detroit Steam Motors Company and also of the Lindke Shoe Company and the Boro- wood Hotel Company. He is likewise the president of the Addison State Savings Bank of Addison, Michi- gan, to which office he was chosen in January, 1914.
On the 22d of August, 1894, Mr. Millis was united in marriage at Addison, Michigan, to Miss Beulah Bowen and they became parents of two children: Dorothy and John Bowen Millis, the latter born June 12, 1913, in Detroit. Mr. and Mrs. Millis are members of the Con- gregational church and his membership relations in club circles cover the leading organizations of that character in Detroit, including the Detroit Club, the Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Golf Club and the Ingleside Club. He is also a member of the Bankers' Club of New York, the Lawyers' Club of Detroit and the University of Michigan Club. Furthermore he has membership . with the American Bar Association, of which he is vice president for Michigan, and has recently been elected a member of its general council; the Michigan State Bar Association; and the Detroit Bar Association, and of the last named he has been the treasurer for thirteen years, being thus highly honored by his colleagues and contemporaries in prac- tice in this city. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and the Odd Fellows and in Masonry has attained the Knights Templar degree of the York Rite and has become a member of the Mystic Shrine. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and his deep interest in matters of citizenship has made him a close and discriminating student of the vital political problems of the day. The governor of Michigan recently appointed Mr. Millis a member of the Board of Commissioners for the promotion of uni- formity of legislation in the United States. During the war he was a director of the legal advisory board of District No. 14 and an earnest supporter of every plan and measure for the maintenance of high Ameri- can standards and the promotion of America's welfare as one of the great nations that are seeking to pro- mote the spirit of democracy among the countries of the earth. For some years Mr. Millis was a director of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children and his interest in scientific affairs is indicated by his membership in the National Geographic Society and in the Archaeological Institute of America.
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