USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 43
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In 1906 Mr. Krimmel was united in marriage to Miss Harriet Biske, and they are the parents of one child, a daughter, Marie. Mr. Krimmel gives a good citizen's attention to all matters of public concern. He was elected a member of the common council of Detroit in 1916 and served the city in that capacity for two years, bringing intelligence and sound judg- ment to bear upon his duties in that connection. He is a warm supporter of the republican party. He is a member of the Free and Accepted Masons, a mem- ber of the Elks and of the Detroit Athletic Club. Mr. Krimmel and his wife have numerous friends in De- troit, where they take a keen interest in social and cultural activities.
DR. GEORGE GAVIN HARRIS, a physician and surgeon of Detroit, in which city he was born October 15, 1870, is a son of John and Jeanette (Telfer) Harris, both of whom were natives of Scotland. They came to America in the early '60s and the father was later well known as a carpenter and contractor, conducting busi- ness along that line until the early '70s, when he went west to Leadville, Colorado, locating there dur- ing the days of early mining excitement in that sec- tion. His death occurred in 1878. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Harris, the daughters being Mrs. Arthur Marriott and Mrs. Lewis Hammond.
The only son, Dr. Harris of this review, attended the public schools of Detroit, and later entered the Michigan College of Medicine, from which he was graduated in 1906 with the M. D. degree. He then located for practice in Detroit and has since won an enviable and well merited reputation among the med- ical profession and with the public, as one of the most capable and reliable practitioners of the state. He keeps in touch with the trend of modern thought and progress concerning the best methods of medical and surgical treatment through his membership in the Wayne County Medical Society, the Michigan State
Medical Society and the American Medical Associa- tion.
On the 7th of June, 1905, Dr. Harris was married to Miss Helen E. Hanna, of Boston, Massachusetts, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hanna of Montreal, Canada. They have one child, Roger C., who was born in Detroit in 1907 and is now attending the public schools. The religious faith of the family is manifest iu their membership in the First Congregational church and Dr. Harris belongs also to the Masonie fraternity, having membership in Union Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; King Cyrus Chapter, R. A. M .; and Damascus Com- mandery, K. T. He is likewise a member of the De- troit Automobile Association. He is loyal to every organization which has his name upon its membership rolls. Fidelity to duty is one of his marked character- isties and this is nowhere more manifest than in his professional service, which is often arduous because of the constant demands made upon him by a large and growing practice.
FRED WIXSON, treasurer of the Detroit Trust Company, was born in Wayne, Steuben county, New York, February 6, 1868, a son of James and Adeline (Schuyler) Wixson, both of whom were also natives of Wayne, where they spent their lives. The father engaged in school teaching and in farming and thus provided for the support of his family, which numbered two children, but Bion Wixson passed away in 1917, leaving Fred Wixson of this review as the only sur- viving member of the family.
After attending the rural schools near his father's farm and the city schools of Wayne, New York, Fred Wixson continued his education in the high school at Elmira, New York, and subsequently entered the Elmira Business College, from which he was grad- uated on the completion of a commercial course. He then took up clerical work in that city and retained his business connections there until 1894, when he came to Detroit and for seven years thereafter was with the firm of Phelps-Brace & Company, wholesale grocers, in the capacity of bookkeeper. This position he resigned in 1901 and became bookkeeper for the Detroit Trust Company. He was advanced from one position to another until he was in charge of the publie accounting department in 1904 and on the 1st of August, 1919, he was elected treasurer. He has since occupied this position and as an official of the company has contributed in large measures to the constant growth and success of the business. In 1906 he passed an examination as a certified public ac- countant and still holds the right to be so called.
On the 10th of February, 1892, Mr. Wixson was married to Miss Harriet Bennett, a daughter of Ephram W. Bennett formerly of Savona, New York. Mr. Wixson belongs to the Detroit Athletic Club, also to the Detroit Board of Commerce, to the Mich- igan Association of Certified Public Accountants and to the American Institute of Certified Public Ac-
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countants. These membership relations indicate in large measures the nature of his interests, showing that the greater part of his time and attention have been given to business affairs, with comparatively little leisure for ontside activities. He has worked his way upward entirely through his own efforts, and is a self-made man whose record is a credit to the history of Detroit.
LIEUTENANT COLONEL J. BROOKS NICHOLS, capitalist and prominent clubman, whose most loyal friends and admirers are numbered among the men of the Three Thundred and Thirty-ninth Infantry, part of which he commanded in the field in North Russia, was born at Dunkirk, New York, July II, 1885, a son of Edward and Jessie (Brooks) Nichols, the former a native of Middlebury, Vermont, and the latter of Dun- kirk, New York. Going from New England to the Empire state, the father resided there throughout his remaining days and became a prominent manufacturer of New York, where both he and his wife passed away. Colonel Nichols, their only child, attended the Hill school at Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and subse- school, Yale University, completing a Scientific course with the degree of Ph. B. in 1908. When his univer- sity days were over he entered the oil business at Lexington, Kentucky, and operated there successfully for a year. He then came to Detroit and entered busi- ness circles of this city in connection with the United States Radiator Corporation, being an active factor in the management of the affairs of this concern for three years, when he withdrew to engage in various private enterprises of his own. He is still financially interested, however, in the United States Radiator Corporation and is one of its directors. His business interests and investments rank him among the capi- talists of Detroit and his sound business judgment is manifest in the continued development of those busi- ness activities which he controls.
quently became a student in the Sheffield Scientifie . ties. They say he possessed an uncanny faculty for
On the 3d of June, 1908, Colonel Nichols was mar- ried to Miss Rosa Sparks Dunlap, of Louisville, Ken- tueky, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph B. Dunlap of that city. They now have a family of three chil- dren: J. Brooks, Jr., who was born in New York city in 1909; Edward, born in New York city in 1911; and Norval W., born in Detroit in 1915. Colonel and Mrs. Nichols have membership in Christ Episcopal church. In politics Colonel Nichols is a republican. He is a prominent figure in the club circles of the city, holding membership in the Detroit Athletic, Detroit, Detroit Country, Grosse Pointe Riding and Hunt, Loch- moor, Old, Racquet, University and Yondotega Clubs and the Board of Commerce, and is a member of the University, Racquet & Tennis and Yale Clubs in New York city, and the New York Yacht Club; the Pen- dennis Club, Louisville, Kentucky; University Club, Chicago; and the Midwiek Country, Annandale Golf and Los Angeles Country Clubs in California. All
interests of his life, however, were made subservient to military duty when America entered the World war. He went to the Officers' Training Camp, won his com- mission and rose to the rank of major. A correspond- ent of a Detroit paper, writing from Brest on the 17th of June, 1919, said: "Easily the favorite of all the officers connected with the expedition to North Russia, with this particular battalion now awaiting transportation home, is Major J. Brooks Nichols. The donghboys of the Three Hundred and Thirty-ninth be- lieve they were largely forgotten and neglected in the terrible months spent just below the Arctic Circle, but they lay no such charge at the door of their im- mediate commander. From their arrival at Archangel in September until they came out last week, Major Nichols was never for a moment absent from his com -- mand. He was on the job literally night and day, often mushing through the snow on the march with one contingent or another, and taking part in numer- ous actions. The company officers of the Battalion unit say it was the organizing ability and cool deter- mination of Major Nichols which was responsible for bringing his force through with such limited casual-
feeling the point where the Bolsheviki were likely to make their next attack and having the men there to meet it. The command of Major Nichols was on the railroad front one hundred and fifty miles south of Archangel, which consisted of a clearing from which the wood had been cut for railroad engines, and there Major Nichols had his headquarters in an old box car from October until April, packing the walls of the ear with moss to make it comfortable. He shared in all the hardships which his men had to endure and because of his keen interest in them and his efforts to promote their welfare it is no wonder that he was the favorite of all the officers connected with the expedition to North Russia. For services in the field as commander of an allied column of two thousand men Major Nichols was awarded the French Legion of Honor and Croix de Guerre; the British Distin- guished Service Order; and the Russian Order of St. Vladimir." In March, 1920, Major Nichols was made Lieutenant Colonel of Infantry, Officers Reserve Corps, U. S. Army.
In the fall of 1920 Colonel Nichols became interested as an officer, director and large stockholder in the Franklin Baker Company and associated companies of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, manufacturers and distrib- utors of cocoanut products, and in connection there- with has taken up his residence at Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, one of the attractive suburbs of Phila- delphia.
WILLIAM R. CROUL. The mere attainment of success has never in the history of the world, save in a few rare instances, caused the name of any individ- ual to be remembered; but the methods employed in the conduct of important business affairs have led to many a man being honored years after he has
LIEUTENANT COLONEL J. BROOKS NICHOLS
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passed from the scene of earthly activities, while his example remains as an inspiration to those who have known aught of his career. Such is the record of William R. Croul, who not only figured among the prosperous residents of Detroit but as one whose pur- poses and whose principles ever commanded the high- est consideration and respect. Born in the city where he spent his life, his natal day was May 7, 1861, his parents being Jerome and Ellen (Parsons) Croul. It was vouchsafed him to travel life's journey for a com- paratively brief period, for he was yet in the prime of life when on the 5th. of October, 1909, he passed away. His education was acquired in the Galt (Ont.) Collegiate Institute and in the Michigan Military Academy at Orchard Lake. He entered upon his active career in connection with the storage and cart- age business in 1879, under the name of the River- side Cartage Company. His first equipment consisted of two horse-drawn trucks, an unlimited supply of pluck and energy and a fund of business sagacity. The building in which he conducted his cartage busi- ness was located at the river on Woodward avenue, near the site of the Detroit-Windsor ferry. Mr. Croul put forth an unlimited personal effort and his busi- ness began to show a steady growth. Later he added a storage business and the name was changed to the Riverside Storage & Cartage Company. Each year he had increased the scope of his concern, adding ware- houses and vehicles and employing more people, until now the Riverside Storage & Cartage Company does the largest business of the kind in Detroit, the com- pany possessing many warehouses and a fully motor- ized transportation system, while at all times its interests are governed along the lines of scientific business management. In addition to his connection with the business William R. Croul was the president and one of the directors of the Detroit & Cobalt Mining Company. He was also a director of the Detroit Fire & Marine Insurance Company.
On the 31st of October, 1883, in Detroit, Mr. Croul was married to Miss Eloise Hunt, a daughter of John Elliott and Virginia Jefferson (Howell) Hunt. They became the parents of four children: Elwood, presi- dent and general manager of the Riverside Storage & Cartage Company; Jerome, who has passed away; John E., of Hollywood, California; and Rowena Hunt, the wife of Don M. Dickinson, Jr., of Detroit. Mrs. Croul is associated with the Riverside Storage & Cartage Company in the capacity of vice president and is also very active in the social circles of Detroit, in the club life of the city and in welfare and char- itable work.
In politics Mr. Croul maintained an independent course, voting according to the dictates of his judg- ment. He was a member of the Episcopal church and his interest in community affairs was indicated in his hearty cooperation with the plans and purposes of the Board of Commerce. He belonged as well to the Detroit Club, of which he was a charter member,
and the Yondotega Club and was a member of the Country Club. Horses were his hobby and he was regarded as a sound critic of the good or bad points of an animal. The varied interests of his life made his a well balanced character. He recognized his duties and his obligations in every relation, while at the same time he won and maintained a place as a foremost busi- ness man. The notable and beautiful feature of his success was that he accomplished his tasks in the face of physical handicaps which would have daunted a man of lesser nature. He was content to suffer in silence, always seeking to hide his illness from his friends and at the same time giving his unfaltering attention to his life work. This Spartan spirit failed to harden his sympathies or imbue him with pessi- mism, as one might expect. On the contrary he was of exceedingly charitable and sympathetic disposi- tion, moderate in his tastes and almost childlike in his affection. He was a man of high-bred charac- teristics, a lover of the artistic and of the pleasurable things of life, and the beauty, nobility and simplicity of his nature endeared him to all.
FRANK E. WHIPPLE, attorney at law and the sec- retary and treasurer of the Morse-Beauregard Manufac- turing Company and also of the Clarendon Publishing Company, is thus well known in the professional and business circles of Detroit. He was born in Ingham county, Michigan, on the 16th of September, 1874, and is a son of Henry Polk and Juliet (Nash) Whipple, the former a native of the state of New York, while both he and his wife are descended from Revolutionary war ancestry, their respective families having been founded in America at an early period in the coloni- zation of the new world. In tracing the ancestry it is found that Frank E. Whipple is a lineal descend- ant of William of Orange and he is numbered among those who have established a claim to the property on which Trinity church of New York city stands. It is through the maternal line that Frank E. Whipple is descended from James Bogardus, who was once owner of that valuable property. The title of the family has been definitely proven but it is doubtful if they will ever receive any monetary gain from this.
When a youth of thirteen years Henry Polk Whipple started out to see something of the country. He traveled in a covered wagon from New York to California and to New Mexico and after satisfying his ambition to know something of the land in which he lived he returned to the middle west a'nd settled in Ingham county, Michigan, where he engaged in the lumber business, while later he turned his atten- tion to mercantile pursuits. During the Civil war he served as a private in the Union army. He died in Michigan in 1900, having for sixteen years survived his wife, who passed away in 1884.
Frank E. Whipple, their only child, was a pupil in the public schools of Belding, Michigan, completing a high school course there, while later he entered the
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State Normal School. Following his graduatiou he took up the profession of teaching in the district schools near Port Huron, Michigan, and later he be- came principal of the Wolverine high school, but the Spanish-American war brought a cessation to his ed- ucational work. He declined the principalship of the school and enlisted in the army as a private, serving for ten months, after which he was honorably dis- charged at the end of the war. He then returned to this country and accepted a position as teacher in the schools of Joliet, Illinois, while subsequently he was made principal of the high school at Marseilles, Illinois, there remaining for a year. He was afterward chosen principal of the high school at Ecorse, Michi- gan, where he continued for two years, and later was principal in the Fairview school and taught in a Detroit seminary for one term. He also taught in Detroit night schools two winters. In the meantime he began devoting his leisure hours to the reading of law and at length entered the Detroit College of Law, from which he was graduated in 1905 with the LL. B. degree. Since that time he has been an active and successful representative of the legal profession and is enjoying a constantly increasing law practice. Moreover, he has become an important factor in various business connections, being a director, the secretary and treasurer of the Clarendon Publishing Company and the secretary and treasurer of the Morse- Beauregard Manufacturing Company.
Mr. Whipple is a fourteenth degree Mason, belong- ing to Union Lodge, and he is also connected with the Woodmen of the World. He is now serving as notary public, his term expiring October 24, 1921, and for one term he served through appointment as special assessor of the village of Fairview. His political allegiance is given to the democratic party. He served on the advisory board of the United States government in connection with the draft at the time of the World war and he also enlisted in the infantry. He was likewise connected with the Fonr-Minute men. Along professional lines he has connection with the Lawyers Club and belongs to the Detroit and Mich- igan Bar Associations. His professional and business interests are constantly wereasing in importance and volume, showing that his labors have been well di- rected and intelligently guided.
FREDERICK C. GILBERT, president and treasurer of the Vulcan Motor Axle Corporation, has been in- timately associated since 1909 with the manufacturing life of Detroit, which has been the great stimulating factor in the marvelous growth of the city. He was born in the city of New York, and received his early education in Trinity school, New York, and at the high school at Elizabeth, New Jersey. Subsequently he took the engineering course at Armour Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois.
His whole active career has been associated with manufacturing. As a young man he entered the Pope
Manufacturing Company's plant at Hartford, Con- necticut, and was connected with the Pope interests for thirteen and one half years, serving in various capacities and ultimately filling several responsible positions: First, as manager of the Columbia Steel Company at Elyria, Ohio, then he became assistant production manager of the Hagerstown factory at Hagerstown, Maryland, then general manager of the associated Pope plants at Chicago, and finally general sales manager for the Pope Motor Car Company at Toledo, Ohio. From the Pope people he went to the Timken-Detroit Axle Company when it moved to Detroit from Canton, Ohio. He joined the Timken- Detroit corporation as assistant secretary, but later was promoted to the position of secretary, then later vice president and member of the board of directors. For eleven years he was one of the active, directing heads of that corporation, retiring at the close of the year 1919. In the spring of 1920 the Vulcan Motor Axle Company was organized and incorporated, on March 3d of that year, with Mr. Gilbert at its head as president and treasurer. His life experience in manufacturing and his long connection with the axle industry have made him one of the ablest experts on axles in the United States, and the axle is the most important unit in truck or car. In addition to his experience and knowledge he brings to the Vulcan Motor Axle Company executive and business abilities of a high order, and all the other officers of the corporation have had long experience in this line, so that each department of the business is under the con- trol of practical, experienced men. The Vulcan Motor Axle Company is a distinct and notable addition to the industries of Detroit. The concern has a new and modern plant with up-to-date equipment, and with admirable facilities for turning out axles of the highest quality.
Mr. Gilbert is a member of Union Lodge, F. & A. M .; King Cyrus Chapter; and Monroe Council. He also belongs to the Detroit Athletic Club, the Ingleside Club, the Society of Automobile Engineers and the Automobile Country Club.
Outside of his active career as a manufacturer Mr. Gilbert takes a personal interest in the progress and welfare of Detroit and for several years has been vice president of the Citizens' League. He was a member of the original recreation commission, to which he was appointed by Mayor Marx, and reap- pointed by Mayor Couzens in 1919, and served as president of the commission. He was also president of the united west side association for a number of terms.
Frederick C. Gilbert married Miss Elizabeth Wain. wright Crane, and they have a family of three sons: Warren Van Rennselaer, Frederick Wainwright and William Clinton. Warren Van Rennselaer enlisted in the Naval Reserve Corps for service in the World war, four days after the United States entered the con- fliet. He was then only eighteen years of age. He
FREDERICK C. GILBERT
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served first on the battleship Kansas, then on the converted German ship Mercury and finally on the destroyer Wadena S. P. 158, with which he re- mained until the signing of the armistice. This de- stroyer operated on the other side of the Atlantic and young Mr. Gilbert had the experience of having his ship attacked by a German submarine. After the signing of the armistice he was relieved from duty to allow him to return home and resume his college course. He is still a member of the navy, in which he holds the grade of quartermaster.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert are descendants of old American families. Mr. Gilbert's father was one of the original republicans of 1854, and served as captain in the twenty-second New York Regiment in the Civil war. Mr. Gilbert numbers among his an- cestors General Warren, Governor Clinton of New York state and Roger Conant, from whom he is the seventh in direct descent. Mrs. Gilbert is a descend- ant of the historic Van Rennselaers and Wainwrights and her ancestry in America runs back to Robert Morris.
FREDERICK PAQUETTE, president of the firm of Martin Maier & Company, the leading house in its line of business in Detroit, is essentially a self- made man and is numbered among the city's repre- sentative merchants, business men and manufactur- ers. Mr. Paquette has spent his life in Detroit, where he was born September 26, 1873, and descends from one of the city's oldest families. His father, Gervais Paquette, was born in the northern part of Canada, while his mother, Josephine L'Etourneau, came from a family that settled in Detroit over one hundred years ago. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Gervais Pa- quette were: Margaret C., Joseph A., Frank J., Louis P., Marie A., Charles A. and Frederick, all residents of Detroit with the exception of Joseph A., and Charles A. The latter is chief engineer for the Big Four Rail- road and resides at Cincinnati, Ohio. Joseph A. is also connected with the Big Four Railroad and resides at Indianapolis, Indiana.
Frederick Paquette attended St. Joachim's school and later Detroit College for a time. In 1889, when a youth of sixteen, he entered the employ of the firm of which he is now the head. Martin Maier & Com- pany is one of the oldest business firms in Detroit, as its more than fifty-five years of existence will attest. Founded in 1865 by Martin Maier, soon after his return from the Civil war, the firm's first location was at 55 Monroe avenue. In 1873 the business was moved to 102 Woodward avenue, which building has been occupied ever since as the main store and office. Mr. Maier died in 1893. The business, however, was continued by the estate and in 1905 it was incorpor- ated as the firm of Martin Maier & Company, with Frederick Paquette as president. The growth of the business has been of the most healthy character and in 1910, when further expansion became necessary,
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