USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 39
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Matthew H. Tinkham was a pupil in the public schools of Detroit and in the high school of Ann Arbor, Michigan, for a period of four years. He next entered the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated in 1912 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. He then matriculated in the law department and won his LL. B. degree on the 25th of June, 1914. On the 23d of June of the same year he was admitted to practice and came to Detroit July 1st, where he entered upon his professional career, continuing alone in a successful practice until August 1, 1918, when he entered into a partnership with John L. Crandell under the firm style of Crandell & Tinkham. In August, 1920, John A. Baxter became a member of the firm, which is now Crandell, Tinkham & Baxter. This association has since been maintained and they have been accorded a large percentage of the legal business in this city, having tried and won many important cases. They continue in the general prac- tice of law and have displayed marked efficiency in solving intricate and involved legal problems. Mr. Tinkham is also serving as attorney for the village of Wayne, in which he resides.
On the 18th of September, 1918, Mr. Tinkham was
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united in marriage to Miss Dora C. Foss of Detroit, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Augustus Foss, who were pioneer people of Wayne county. Mr. Tinkham is a Mason, belonging to the blue lodge and to King Cyrus Chapter, R. A. M. He is also a member of the Fellowcraft Athletic Club, of the National Geo- graphic Society of Washington, D. C., and of the Detroit and American Bar Associations. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, but while he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day he has never sought nor desired political office, preferring to concentrate his efforts and ener- gies upon his professional duties; and in a calling where advancement depends entirely upon individual merit he has worked his way steadily upward and has gained recognition as one of the able representa- tives of the Detroit bar.
CHILDE HAROLD WILLS, one of the outstanding figures and creative forces in the mechanical refine- ment and development of the motor car, was born at Fort Wayne, Indiana, June 1, 1878. His grandfather, John C. Wills, born in Forfar, Forfarshire, Scotland, settled in Canada in 1832. His son, John Carnegie Wills, father of the subject of this biography, was born July 4, 1835, and at an early age manifested the mechanical inventiveness which was to reach its full fruition in the genius of his son, Childe Harold Wills. Wills, the senior, figured prominently in the development of the locomotive. He married Mary Engelina Swindell. They became the parents of three children, two of whom, Mary E., and John C. Wills, died in the year 1875.
Childe Harold Wills, the youngest child, was, it seems, destined to live and bring amazing luster to the family name. He is a typical product of the in- dustrial progress and supremacy of the United States. In training, instinct, intellect and achievement, no man could be more essentially American. It is seldom that youth has the vision resolutely and thoroughly to prepare itself for the opportunities which usually require maturity and experience so to visualize and grasp. That, no doubt, is the keystone of the tre- mendous success of C. Harold Wills. He began that preparation early, with an extraordinary vision of the opportunities to come, specifically in the transporta- tion field. He served apprenticeships in machine shops in the daylight working hours. He read technical works and worked over his draughting board at night.
His persistent application brought Mr. Wills recog- nition at a remarkably early age. His first large re- sponsibility was his appointment as chief engineer of the Boyer Machine Company, the largest manufac- turers of adding machines in the world.
Then dawned the era of the motor car. The first gleams of that dazzling industrial day found C. Harold Wills awake and preparing. He was among the very first to grasp the huge possibilities of the motor car and he concentrated upon the new requirements and
problems of what he foresaw was to constitute, not only a new industry, but an economic utility. As usual, he was prepared when he was made chief engi- neer and manufacturing manager of the Ford Motor Company. Now began the career for which he had so painstakingly and brilliantly prepared himself.
Mr. Wills designed every car that the Ford Motor Company manufactured from its organization, June 16, 1903, until his resignation, March 15, 1919. That is a stupendous achievement in itself but Mr. Wills did more. It was he who designed, developed and or- ganized the enormous manufacturing equipment which made it possible for the Ford Motor Company to pro- duce nearly a million automobiles a year. It was he who designed the special machinery, original meth- ods and processes of manufacture to accomplish the vast quantity production of which industry had not dreamed. It was he who developed the use of vana- dium steel for commercial purposes and invented and perfected molybdenum steel in motor car construction. He is today recognized as one of the foremost com- mercial metallurgists and mechanical chemists of the country.
When the automotive engineers of this country were put to the supreme test and, in order to win the war, an enormous daily production of Liberty motors became imperative, C. Harold Wills was again called upon to solve the problem, hitherto unsolvable. He it was who found the materials, the design, the manu- facturing methods and the organization to accomplish a daily production of Liberty motors, unequaled in any other American plant. He also served as confiden- tial counsel to the war department and had a number of war inventions well beyond the experimental stage when the armistice was signed.
Since his resignation from the Ford Motor Company, March 15, 1919, Mr. Wills has organized, not only his own company for the manufacture of his own motor car, but also a huge new industrial center and virtually a model manufacturing city, Marysville, which he and his associates are building at this writing on the St. Clair river, Michigan, a few miles from Port Huron.
In summary, C. Harold Wills is considered a dynamic force in constructive American manufacture, in the upbuilding of that material prosperity upon which the supremacy of the nation is builded, a creative intellect that for a decade has guided and will continue to guide American industry to the achievement of new marvels and the pursuit of still loftier ideals. He is today an industrial engineer and progressive manu- facturer preeminent.
On January 3, 1914, C. Harold Wills was married to Mary Coyne of New York city. They have two sons: John Harold Wills, and Childe Harold Wills, Jr. They reside at 1760 Jefferson avenue, East, Detroit. Mr. Wills is an outdoor man. Beside the sumptuous yacht -Marold-he owns several speed launches. He plays tennis and devotes much time to hunting and fishing.
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C. HAROLD WILLS
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Mr. Wills' clubs are the Detroit Racquet Club, An- chor Club, Bloomfield Hills Country Club, Detroit Boat Club, Detroit Polo Club, Detroit Club, Detroit Country Club, Old Club, Oakland Hills Country Club, Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit Golf Club and Detroit Yacht Club. He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Addresses other than his resi- deuce, are 1020 Book building, Detroit, and Marys- ville, named in honor of Mrs. Wills, St. Clair county, Michigan.
FRANK LAWHEAD, member of the Detroit bar, was born at Auburn, Indiana, May 25, 1884, a son of James G. and Eliza (Walter) Lawhead and a grand- son of Benjamin Lawhead, who was a native of Penn- sylvania and became a resident of Indiana prior to the birth of his son, James G., who was also a native of Auburn, as is the mother of Frank Lawhead. The father died in 1912 and the mother still makes her home in her native city.
It was there that Frank Lawhead pursued his early education, attending the Auburn high school, while later he became a student in the Indiana University, from which he was graduated on the completion of a law course, winning the LL. B. degree in 1910. He next went to Sheridan, Wyoming, where he practiced law for three years, and in 1914 he removed to Detroit, where he has since been connected with the bar. In the intervening period of six years he has built up a practice of large and gratifying proportions and his devotion to his clients' interests is proverbial, yet he never forgets that he owes a still higher allegiance to the majesty of the law. He has likewise become a factor in the business interests of the city as the secretary of the Peninsular Stamping Company of Detroit.
In June, 1915, in Chicago, Mr. Lawhead was united in marriage to Miss Fay C. Evans, a daughter of the late David Evans, a native of Wyoming. Mr. and Mrs. Lawhead have a daughter, Gwendolen. They attend the Presbyterian church and he also has membership with the Elks, the Masons, the Michigan Sovereign Consistory, the Moslem Shrine, the Odd Fellows and two college fraternities, the Sigma Alpha Epsilon and the Phi Delta Phi. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, but the honors and emolu- ments of office have no attraction for him, although he is deeply interested in the vital governmental prob- lems and political issues of the hour, and he is usually found in those gatherings where intelligent men are met for the discussion of the important questions concerning the country's welfare.
HARMON J. HUNT. Various enterprises, both business and social, have profited by the cooperation and efforts of Harmon J. Hunt, well known show-case manufacturer and a leading representative of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks in Detroit. His life has been one of intense and well directed activity
and his labors have been resultant factors for progress and for improvement along many lines. He was born in Cass City, Michigan, May 19, 1877. The paternal ancestry can be traced back to the great-great-grand- father of Harmon J. Hunt, who came from the south of Ireland, while on the maternal side his grandfather came from Lorraine. His father, George Byron Hunt, was born in western New York, while the mother, who bore the maiden name of Harriett Amelia Belmar, is also a native of New York state, born near Tona- wanda. Both became residents of Michigan in early life. The father was a mechanic and blacksmith by trade and followed that business at Caro, Mich- igan, during the greater part of his life, there passing away in 1894. The mother survives and now makes her home in Detroit. Their family numbered three children: William E. of Detroit; Aylmer L., who is deceased; and Harmon J.
The last named, the youngest of the family, spent his boyhood days as a pupil in the schools of Caro and of Lapeer, Michigan, after which he initiated his business career by accepting a position in the office of a firm of Detroit architects. Following this ex- perience he successfully practiced on his own account for seven years. At length he gave up the practice of architecture to engage in the manufacture of com- mercial show cases. He became associated with a large glass house and subsequently organized a show-case manufacturing company and from 1899 until 1904 served in the capacity of secretary and manager of that company. Mr. Hunt then embarked in business for himself under the name of the H. J. Hunt Show Case Company, of which he became the president and manager. The concern is putting out a large line for jobbers and the wholesale trade, the business being of such extent that employment is now furnished to from forty to fifty people.
This, however, is but one phase of Mr. Hunt's ac- tivities. He is a most prominent representative of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, holding hon- orary life membership in Detroit Lodge, No. 34, of which he is a past exalted ruler, having been the chief executive officer in 1915 and 1916. He is one of the three members of Detroit Lodge who are re- sponsible for the fine Elks' home on Lafayette boule- vard, one of the most splendidly equipped lodge build- ings in the country, he being original chairman of the building committee. In the undertaking he had the loyal support of Daniel Lyons and A. J. Bloomgarden, members of the board of trustees. The total cost of the property was seven hundred and forty-four thousand dollars. This building largely stands as a monument to the fraternal spirit and untiring efforts of Mr. Hunt, who is one of the leading Elks of Mich- igan and is now past district deputy grand exalted ruler of the state, having served as such for two terms.
On the 26th of February, 1911, Mr. Hunt was mar- ried to Miss Marie F. Flanigan and they have a
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daughter, Virginia Marie, born in Detroit, February 17th, 1918. By a former marriage Mr. Hunt has a son, Gordon J., born February 6, 1902.
Mr. Hunt has manifested active and helpful inter- est in many matters of public concern. He was for several years the secretary of the Grosse Ile board of education, belongs to the Detroit Board of Commerce and is a member of the Detroit Automobile Club, the Detroit Yacht Club and the Old Colony Club. He likewise belongs to the Michigan Manufacturers Asso- ciation and is a past president of the National Com- mercial Fixtures Manufacturers Association. Thus through organized efforts he has been studying trade conditions and all that effects progress along the line of his chosen business. At the same time he is never neglectful of his duties and obligations in other con- nections and has done much for public progress in many fields. His political support is given to the republican party. He resides at No. 4041 Carter avenue.
JOHN STRONG HAGGERTY, one of the leading fig- ures in financial and manufacturing circles of Detroit and widely known in connection with brick manufac- turing, is a representative of a pioneer family of Mich- igan that has had a foremost place in the brick in- dustry for forty years. John S. Haggerty was born in Springwells township, Wayne county, August 22, 1866, a son of Lorenzo D. Haggerty and a grandson of Hugh Henry Haggerty, a worthy Michigan pioneer, who was born in Belfast, Ireland, and came to Amer- ica in 1796, landing at New York. He was married in New England to Fannie Otis, a descendant of one of the early families of that section of the country. In 1828 they came to Detroit, establishing their home in Springwells, which was then a part of Greenfield township. There Hugh H. Haggerty secured a tract of government land comprising three hundred and sixty acres, which he converted into a productive farm. On this old homestead he and his wife passed their remaining days, his death occurring in 1854. They became the parents of a family of nine children, three sons and six daughters, of whom Lorenzo D. Hag- gerty, the father of John S., was the youngest, his birth having occurred in 1838. He was reared to farm work and successfully followed agricultural pursuits until 1881, when he engaged in the brick manufac- turing business as a member of the firm of Haggerty & Proctor, so continuing until 1893, during which time a large and prosperous enterprise was developed. Mr. Haggerty then retired from the firm, but in 1896 again entered the brick manufacturing business as a partner of John S. Haggerty under the name of L. D. Haggerty & Son, so continuing until his death. His character and services gave him a place of influence in the community and he commanded unqualified con- fidence and esteem in the county which was so long his home and in which he was so widely known. He was married in 1860 to Elizabeth, daughter of John
Strong of Greenfield, who came from England in 1826 and was an early settler of Greenfield township. One of his sons, Hon. John Strong of Rockwood, was lieu- tenant governor of Michigan in 1891-92. Mrs. Hag- gerty was born in Greenfield township. She passed away August 22, 1896, while Mr. Haggerty survived until July 25, 1903. They were zealous supporters of the Protestant faith and Mr. Haggerty was a stanch republican in his political activities. Two sons, Clif- ton Floyd and John Strong, were born to them, of whom the first named is a resident of Springwells township, where he has large realty holdings.
John S. Haggerty, the younger son, attended Spring- wells district school, No. 5, and afterward continued his education in Goldsmith's Business College. His beginning in the brick manufacturing business was in the spring of 1887, when he became associated with his brother, Clifton F., engaging in business on their own account under the name of Haggerty Brothers. This relation continued for eight years, or until 1896, when Clifton F. Haggerty withdrew and was suc- ceeded by his father under the style of L. D. Hag- gerty & Son. After the death of the father in 1903 John S. Haggerty became sole proprietor. From an annual output of twenty million bricks at that time, the business has been more than tripled. The Hag- gertys have ever been progressive, and as fast as new ideas and improvements have been developed they have been among the first to adopt and utilize them. The present plants at Springwells, which are located on the old Haggerty homestead, are well equipped with the latest machinery for brick manufacture and every facility has been secured that will promote the business. The capacity of the plant is sixty million bricks annually and employment is furnished to one hundred and fifty people. Even with this tremendous output Mr. Haggerty must import material from other sources to satisfy the demand. Detroit's marvelous growth and development within the last few years has led to a remarkable extension in the business-in fact Mr. Haggerty is unable to supply all of the de- mands. Aside from his brick manufacturing interests, he is now a director of the Commonwealth Savings Bank of Detroit, the United States Mortgage Com- pany, the Metropolitan Investment Company, the River Rouge State Bank, the Ecorse State Bank and the Halfway State Bank.
Mr. Haggerty has served as county road commis- sioner of Wayne county and is a member of the ad- visory board of the state good roads committee. He is keenly interested in everything having to do with the improvement of the public highways and his work in this connection has been far-reaching and resultant. In 1910 he was appointed by Governor Warner a member of the Jackson prison board to fill the unex- pired term of the late Tom Navin. Mr. Haggerty is president of the Michigan State Fair Association and was one of the incorporators of the Strathmore State Bank, incorporated in January, 1921. In politics Mr.
JOHN S. HAGGERTY
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Haggerty is a republican but has never been an office seeker. He belongs to the Detroit Builders & Traders Exchange, while along more social lines he has connection with the Detroit Club, the Detroit Ath- letie Club, the Detroit Yacht Club, the Rushmere Club and is a member as well of the Detroit Board of Com- merce. He likewise belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite; and to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. His life has been passed in his native community, where the sterling traits of his character as well as his business ability and enterprise are widely recognized.
JOHN VALLEE MORAN, a man of distinguished bearing who was a striking figure among the citizens of Detroit, belonging to one of the city's best families and ever enjoying an irreproachable reputation throughout all of his business activities, was born December 25, 1846, in the city which was his home to the time of his death, which occurred November 13, 1920. He was descended from French ancestors who were among the early immigrants to the St. Lawrence valley. The founder of the family in America was Jacques Morand, who was born at Batisean in 1651 and who in 1678 wedded Madeline Grimard. Their descendants became numerous in Canada, many win- ning distinction as representatives of the clergy, as lawyers and as landed proprietors. The name was originally spelled Morand and so appears in some of the old records. Jean Baptiste Moran, a son of the progenitor of the American branch of the family, was married at Quebec, Canada, in 1707 to Elizabeth Dubois and it was their son, Charles Moran, who in the year 1734 settled in Detroit. In 1767 he wedded Marguerite Grimard Trembley (whose father possessed the seigneurie de Trembley as early as 1681.) He died in 1771, leaving two sons, the younger of whom, Charles Moran, was born in 1770 and was married in 1794 to Catherine Vissier, dit Laferté, whose only child was the late Judge Charles Moran. The latter was born April 21, 1797, and was married in 1822 to Julie de Quindre, by whom he had five children. Judge Moran married for his second wife Justine McCormack of New York, and they have five children: James and William B., both deceased; John Vallée; Catherine, the wife of Henry D. Barnard; and Alfred T. Judge Moran died October 13, 1876.
John Vallée Moran, the third son, received his primary education in the schools conducted in con- nection with St. Anne's church, then taught by the Christian Brothers. He afterward attended the old Barstow school and the private school of P. M. Pat- terson. He completed a course in higher mathematics at the Detroit high school and finished his commerical education with a course in Sprague & Farnsworth's Business College at Detroit. While thus pursuing his studies he also obtained practical business experience in connection with the affairs of his father's estate.
In 1867 he became a clerk in the wholesale grocery firm of Moses W. Field & Company at the foot of Griswold street, and in 1869 he assumed the position of bookkeeper in the wholesale grocery firm of John Stephens & Company, subsequently becoming ship- ping clerk in the wholesale grocery firm of Beatty & Fitzsimons, which place he retained for two years. On the expiration of that period he purchased the interest of the late Simon Mandelbaum in that estab- lishment and became a partner under the style of Beatty, Fitzsimons & Company. This firm continued without change until the death of Mr. Beatty in August, 1885. The business was then reorganized and in March, 1887, the firm style was changed to Moran, Fitzsimons & Company. Mr. Moran retained his interest in the business until 1896. The firm then passed into the hands of a syndicate under a different name. Some of the old officers continue to control its affairs. In many other enterprises Mr. Moran had also been active. For a long period he was a director in the Merchants and Manufacturers Exchange, which later developed into the present Detroit Board of Commerce. He was one of the organizers of the Gale Sulky Harrow Company and one of its first directors. This company has passed out of existence. He assisted in establishing Ward's Line of Detroit and Lake Superior Transportation Steamers and was early a director and the secretary of the company. The busi- ness and steamers of this company were sold to the Mutual Transportation Company of Buffalo, New York, many of whose steamers were sold to the United States government for service during the World war. In 1887 he assisted in organizing the American Bank- ing and Savings Association and the American Trust Company, the latter being the first institution of the kind in Michigan. Mr. Moran was likewise a director and the vice president of both companies and was also the president of the Peninsular Lead and Color Works, Ltd., for seven years, or until by sale it became the Acme White Lead Works. In 1912 he retired from his many active business pursuits, and although indulging to some extent in business affairs connected with his property holdings, he enjoyed to the time of his death many well earned pleasures and largely a complete rest from business activities.
On the 25th of November, 1880, Mr. Moran was married at Memphis, Tennessee, to Miss Emma Etheridge, a daughter of Emerson Etheridge of Ten- nessee. She passed away in 1917. She had ever displayed most helpful cooperation in her husband's affairs and was a devoted wife and mother, rearing a large family of children, as follows: Frances Val- erie, the deceased wife of Emory L. Ford; Justine Semmes, the deceased wife of Lieutenant Colonel Charles W. MeClure, U. S. A .; Charles Emerson Etheridge; John Bell; Marie Stephanie, the wife of William Van Moore; James Granville, deceased; Margaret Elise; Francis Lyster, deceased; and Cyril Godfroy.
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Not only did Mr. Moran make for himself a very prominent position in the business and financial circles of the city but was also one of the organizers of the Detroit Club, was its first treasurer and a member of its first board of directors. He was always an enthusiastic boatman and had been prominently con- nected with the Detroit Boat and Yacht Club and was a member of the Northwestern Amateur Rowing Asso- ciation, serving as a director and also as its president in 1886. Politically he was a republican and by mayor- alty appointment he served as a member of the board of inspectors of the House of Correction for two terms, from 1880 until 1886, and was president of the board in 1880 and again in 1885. He was a lifelong member of SS. Peter and Paul's Roman Catholic church and a member of St. Vincent de Paul Society. The inter- ests of his life were varied, important and helpful, contributing to the city's development, to the uplift of the individual and to the advancement of the com- munity at large. He won an enviable place in the business and social life of the city through his various activities and Detroit classed him with her most hon- ored native sons, whose passing was deeply mourned throughout the community.
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