USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 44
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the upper floors of the adjoining building were taken over, practically doubling the manufacturing facilities. Seeking to enlarge its retail facilities, an additional store was opened in May, 1915, at 269 Woodward avenue in the David Whitney building. Martin Maier & Company is among the largest distributors of lug- gage and leather goods' in the middle west and the product of its factory finds its way to all quarters of the globe. For over twenty years the firm's spe- cialty has been sample and special order work to the large consumer and among its customers are numbered some of the very largest concerns in the world. The high commercial integrity enjoyed by Martin Maier & Company is the result of an unbroken policy of fair treatment to patrons and the incessant practice of handling only dependable merchandise. With more than thirty years' identification with this business, twenty-two of which have been in an executive ca- pacity and more than fifteen as the chief executive head, the career of Mr. Paquette since a boy of six- teen is so closely interwoven with the growth and development of Martin Maier & Company that the history of the business is but the history of the individual during that period. Mr. Paquette's early connection was with the sales end of the enterprise but subsequent advancement brought him into con- tact with every phase of it, acquiring a familiarity that has been no small factor in the success of his executive control.
On the 19th of April, 1913, Mr. Paquette was mar- ried to Miss Marie Lutz of Pittsburgh, and they reside at Marine City, Michigan, where Mr. Paquette has real estate holdings. He also has property inter- ests elsewhere. He has always been very fond of out- door life, particularly hunting and fishing, to which he turns for recreation and diversion. He is a member of the Board of Commerce and is keenly interested in all those projects which have to do with the city's upbuilding and development and the advancement of its moral standards. He is a member of the Fellow- craft Club, the Detroit Yacht Club, of which he has been Vice-Commodore and for several years a director, the St. Clair Country Club and the Golf Club. His religious faith is that of the Catholic church and he is a member of the Knights of Columbus. He has always maintained an independent course politically, voting according to the dictates of his judgment with- out regard to party ties. His career has been charac- terized by no spectacular phases. His course has been marked by steady devotion to duty and the im- provement of opportunity, and step by step he has advanced along the line of orderly progression until he has reached a most creditable place in the com- mercial circles of the city.
PETER J. MONAGHAN, since 1902 a member of the Detroit bar, actively engaged in practice throughout the intervening period and also identified with im- portant business interests, was born January 7, 1881,
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in Detroit, his parents being Peter J. and Hannalı (Kiley) Monaghan. He is a graduate of the Detroit College, which conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree in 1903. His preparation for this pro- fession was made in the Detroit College of Law, which conferred upon him the LL. B. degree in 1902. The same year he was admitted to the bar and entered upon active practice, in which he has since been engaged. No dreary novitiate awaited him. He made steady advancement in a profession where progress depends entirely upon individual effort, merit and ability. In 1906 he became associated with his cousin, the late George F. Monaghan, the firm being Mon- aghan & Monaghan, which firm subsequently became Monaghan, Monaghan, O'Brien & Crowley, and since the death of the senior partner, George F. Monaghan, in 1920, the firm now is Monaghan, Crowley, Reilley & Kellogg and is today one of the foremost at the Detroit bar. Mr. Monaghan has also become well known in business eireles as the secretary of the Taxieab Service Company, as the secretary of the Yellow Taxieab Company, as secretary of the Daigle Iron Works of Detroit and secretary of the Mich- igan Gray Iron Castings Company, being thus identi- fied with a number of the important business interests of the city.
On the 23d of June, 1907, at Detroit, Mr. Monaghan was married to Miss Alma J. Nocker and their children are: Peter J., Jr .; Joseph N .; and Philip Monaghan. The religious faith of Mr. Monaghan is that of the Catholic church and he has membership with the Knights of Columbus. He finds recreation in golf and fishing and in his pleasurable associations in the Rain- how Club, the Detroit Golf Club and the Detroit Ath- letic Club. Along strictly professional lines he also has membership with the Detroit Bar Association and with the Michigan State Bar Association. During the war period he served on the local board as agent of the provost marshal and stanehly supported all those in- terests and activities which sustained the interests of the government in connection with the allied armies in Europe.
WILLIAM H. LALLEY, president and general man- ager of the Lalley Light Corporation and also presi- dent of the Lalley Realty Company of Detroit, is a native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, born July 22, 1883. He was educated in the Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology, completing a course in mechanical engineering with the class of 1905. Following his graduation he entered upon practical work in engi- neering in the employ of the city of Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania, and from that point has made steady advancement in his business career. He became assist- ant sales manager for the Koppel Steel Car Company of Pittsburgh and was afterward general sales manager for the Scottdale Foundry & Machine Company of Scottdale, Pennsylvania. His next position was that of foreign manager for the Kilbourne & Jacobs Manu-
facturing Company of Columbus, Ohio, whom he thus represented for two years, on the expiration of which period he became foreign manager of the Studebaker Corporation of Detroit, continuing with them for six years, and during two years of this time he was gen- eral manager of their Canadian factory.
It was in 1917 that he organized the Lalley Light Corporation, of which he is the president and general manager. The business was incorporated the same year and its rapid and marvelous development is indicated in the fact that they now employ an average of four hundred men in the building and installation of eleetrie light and power plants for private homes, being today the second largest company in this line of manufacture in the United States. James Russell Lowell has said: "An institution is but the length- ened shadow of a man, " and the business of the Lalley Light Corporation is therefore but the expression of the enterprise, progressive spirit and well formulated plans of the founder and general manager. Mr. Lal- ley is a director of the Dime Savings Bank.
Mr. Lalley enlisted for service in the United States navy during the World war, was placed in charge of the building of lighter-than-air eraft, with head- quarters in Washington, D. C., and held the commis- sion of senior lieutenant in the navy. He is still a member of the Naval Reserve. He is a member of Detroit Board of Commerce and his appreciation of the social amenities of life is indicated in his con- nection with the Detroit Club, Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Racquet Club, the Essex Country Club, . the Detroit Boat Club, University Club and Players Club. He is also a member of the Sigma Chi, a col- lege fraternity, and of the Calumet Club and the India House, both of New York city. He is likewise a member of the Circumnavigation Club, the members of which are restricted to men who have cireled the globe. It was in the interests of the Studebaker Corporation that Mr. Lalley traveled around the world. He is a splendid type of American manhood and chiv- alry, a thorough American gentleman with a highly trained mind, capable of handling large business in- terests, being one hundred per cent efficient in every way.
S. HOMER FERGUSON, an able representative of the bar of Detroit, where he has now practiced for eight years, has since 1918 been in partnership with his brother, Frank B. Ferguson, under the firm style of Ferguson & Ferguson. He was born in Harrison City, Pennsylvania, on the 25th of February, 1888, a son of Samuel and Margaret (Bush) Ferguson, the former a civil engineer. The parents still make their home in Harrison City.
S. Homer Ferguson began his education at the place of his nativity, subsequently pursued a high school course at Irwin, Pennsylvania, and for a time was a student in the University of Pittsburgh. Coming to Michigan, he entered the State University at Ann
WILLIAM H. LALLEY
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Arbor to prepare for the practice of law and received the degree of LL. B. from that institution in 1913. In June of that year he was admitted to the Michigan bar and at once took up the work of his profession, practicing independently until 1918, when he was joined by his brother, Frank B. Ferguson, who had just completed a course in law. They have won and maintained an enviable reputation as capable, pro- gressive and successful young lawyers aud are asso- ciated with Vincent M. Brennan, member of congress from Michigan.
In 1913, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Mr. Ferguson was united in marriage to Miss S. Myrtle Jones and they have become parents of a daughter: Amy Mar- garete. Mr. Ferguson belongs to the Detroit Athletic Club and the Red Rnn Golf Club and is a Chapter and Consistory Mason, exemplifying in his life the benefi- cent spirit of the craft. He is also a member of the Detroit Bar Association and the Lawyers Club of Detroit.
CHARLES R. TALBOT, occupying a prominent and. honored position in financial circles of Detroit as vice president of the National Bank of Commerce, is also identified with various other important business and corporate interests, many of which have profited greatly by the stimulus of his energy and cooperation. Mr. Talbot stands as an example of the opportunity offered for progress in Michigan. He is a native of Adrian, this state, born November 21, 1878, his parents being Henry C. and Jennie E. (Redmond) Talbot, the latter also a native of Adrian. The father was born in Ohio, and in young manhood removed to Michigan, where he was married and then entered mercantile pursuits in which he continued in Carlton and Detroit throughout his active business life. He passed away in November, 1920. His wife passed away in Detroit in 1909. Their family numbered three sons, of whom Fred H. is vice president of the Commonwealth Federal Savings Bank of Detroit; and Cash W. is president of the Talbot Lumber & Coal Company.
Charles Redmond Talbot is the eldest of the family and in early life was a pupil in the public schools of Carlton, Michigan, while later he continued his education in the Detroit high school, which he at- tended for three years. His original position in the business world was that of bank messenger with the Detroit National Bank, and he was connected with the institution for twelve years, rising through the various departments and positions from that of mes- senger to teller. He later entered the organization of the National Bank of Commerce and became the as- sistant cashier in 1907. Still later he was made as- sistant to the president and in 1915 was elected to the vice presidency, which position he has since filled. The officers of the bank are: Richard P. Joy, presi- dent; William P. Hamilton, Henry H. Sanger and Charles R. Talbot, vice presidents; and Samuel R.
Kingston, cashier; while upon the board of directors are some of the most prominent business men of the city. Mr. Talbot has not confined his attention to the interests of the National Bank of Commerce, for he is also the president and one of the directors of the Motors Metals Company of Detroit, a director of the Talbot Lumber & Coal Company, a director of the Trenton State Bank, a director of the Plymouth United Savings Bank, a director of the First Mortgage Bond Company of Detroit, and financially interested in many other business enterprises and industries of the state. Much of his attention, however, is given to the development of the National Bank of Commerce, which has shown remarkable growth in the years of its ex- istence. Today the bank is capitalized for one million dollars, has surplus and undivided profits of more than one million, three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, and deposits amounting to thirty-one million dollars.
On the 11th of September, 1905, Mr. Talbot was married to Miss Eleanor Smith, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George H. Smith of Detroit. The two chil- dren of this marriage are: Dorothy, who was born in Farmington, Michigan; and Eleanor, also a native of Farmington. Both are attending school. Mr. Talbot has a fine residence in Farmington, where the family enjoys all the comforts of life, owing to his notable success in business, and where the hospitality of the home is greatly enjoyed by many friends. The re- ligious faith of the family is that of the Methodist Episcopal church, and that Mr. Talbot enjoys social life is indicated in his connection with the Detroit, Detroit Athletic, Oakland Hills Country, Automobile Country and Meadow Country Clubs. His political endorsement is given to the republican party, and matters of progressive citizenship at all times receive his endorsement and support.
CHARLES PARKER COLLINS. Through the course of an active business career Charles Parker Collins figured prominently in connection with the manufacturing and banking circles of Detroit and was honored and respected by all, not alone by reason of the success he achieved but also owing to the straight- forward business policy which he ever followed. De- troit has reason to be proud to number him among her native sons. He was born on Christmas Day of 1848, his parents being Thomas and Mary (Hosie) Collins. The father was a contractor in brick and stone work, who was born in England and crossed the Atlantic to the United States in 1843 on a sailing vessel, which was three months in completing the passage to the new world. He came immediately to Detroit, accompanied by his wife, who was of Scotch- Irish ancestry.
Reared under the parental roof, Charles Parker Col- lins started out in the business world as a farm hand and afterwards was a sailor on the Great Lakes through two seasons. He then entered the employ of Hoffner & Mayes, manufacturers of sails and rig-
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ging, with whom he continued for five years, on the expiration of which period he became a partner in the firm of Hoffner & Collins, cigar manufacturers. The business developed steadily and in time, through a change in the personnel of the house, became the property of C. P. Collins & Company. Theirs was one of the leading establishments in the tobacco trade of Detroit and Mr. Collins was active in the man- agement and control of the business until 1909, when he retired from that field. In the meantime he had entered banking circles and was elected to the vice presidency of the Central Savings Bank. He also became a director of the A. E. Stewart Transporta- tion Company and thus his business interests con- stituted an important clement in the commercial and financial development of Detroit. Associated with others, Mr. Collins purchased the controlling stock in the Central Savings Bank about twenty years ago and was continuonsly its vice president. On October I, 1919, the Central Savings Bank was merged with the First & Old Detroit National Bank, and Mr. Col- lins served as vice president until January 1, 1920, since when he had been a director. He was also a large stockholder in the First & Old Detroit National Bank.
On the 12th of December, 1878, Mr. Collins was mar- ried to Miss Ida L. Cotton, who was born near Spring- field, Massachusetts. They became the parents of a son and a daughter: Charles Percy and Irene. Charles Perey, an expert accountant and valuator, was form- erly connected with the Union Trust Company, and is now living at Port Lambton, Ontario. He is mar- ried and has four children, namely: Natalie, Mary Louise, Charles Percy, born March 26, 1912, in Detroit, and Margaret Jackson; Irene is the wife of Fred- erick E. Koenig, proprietor of a foundry at Milwaukee, and has three children, Elizabeth, Virginia and Fred E., Jr. The religious faith of Mr. Collins was that of the Presbyterian church, of which his wife is also a member. In polities Mr. Collins had always been a stalwart republican and a recognized leader in the local ranks of the party. In 1886 he was secretary of the republican connty central committee of Wayne county and in 1888 he was elected to the office of connty auditor, serving for two years. In 1893 pop- ular suffrage called him to the office of sheriff of Wayne county, in which position he continued until 1896. He was also one of the presidential electors for MeKinley and Roosevelt and he remained an active factor in political circles until 1898, since which time his interest had been merely that of a citizen who recognized his duties and his obligations in matters of public concern at all times. In Masonry Mr. Col- lins was a Knights Templar, a member of the consis- tory and a Mystic Shriner. He was also connected with the Knights of Pythias, the Odd Fellows, the Royal Arcanum and the Elks and was a well known figure in club circles of Detroit, belonging to the De- troit Yachting and Fishing Club and the Citizens
Yacht Club. The family and friends suffered a great loss when Mr. Collins passed away on May 15, 1921, and the community mourned the departure of a highly esteemed and respected citizen.
CONRAD PFEIFFER, who passed away on the 24th of May, 1911, was during the long period of his residence in Detroit closely associated with many interests and activities which have left their impress upon the development and the improvement of the city. He was a man of high ideals and of most kindly and generous spirit and thus it was that his activities were often a force in the uplift of his fellowmen and the betterment of the community. Mr. Pfeiffer was born in Caldern, Hessen, Germany, March 7, 1854, and he acquired only a limited education, for his people were in very modest financial circumstances. From early youth he displayed a laudable ambition and unfaltering energy and it was this that led him to try his fortune in the new world, believing that America offered greater opportunities. He was seven- teen years of age when he crossed the Atlantic and he earned his first money in the new world as a farm hand, carefully saving his wages until he felt that he could take np the locksmith's trade. This he mastered with characteristic thoroughness and devel- oped a high degree of efficiency along mechanical lines. Step by step he won promotion until he was made foreman in the Riverside Iron Works. In 1881 he became an employe in the brewery of Philip Kling and afterward secured the position of foreman in the brewery of Charles Endriss. He afterward estab- lished business on his own account along the same line and in 1902 incorporated his interests as a stock company, of which he became president, with his nephew, Martin Breitmeyer, as vice president and treasurer and Henry C. Dietz as secretary. The plant was enlarged from time to time as the business grew until it became one of the foremost concerns of the kind in Detroit.
Mr. Pfeiffer was united in marriage to Miss Louisa Cramer, a daughter of Dr. Louis Cramer of Detroit, and they became the parents of five children: Lillian, passed away August 16, 1921; Florence is at bome with her mother; and three sons, Edgar, Walter and Louis, died before reaching adult age.
Mr. Pfeiffer possessed a studious disposition and was especially interested along scientific lines. His wide reading made him an authority on geology, bacteri- ology and biology and he possessed one of the finest libraries of the city. He was a patron of the German drama and one of his last acts was to provide for a penniless German actor. While he was of a most generous spirit, his benevolence was also entirely un- ostentatious in its character. He was greatly inter- ested in those things which are of cultural value in life and made generous contribution to the Detroit Orchestral Association and to the German singing societies and also to the Detroit Museum of Art. He
CONRAD PFEIFFER
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was particularly interested in the Harris school, from which one of his daughters was graduated. He served as president of the Turner society and he contributed freely to a wide range of public movements and more than once brought noted lecturers to Detroit, person- ally assuring their fees. In 1905 he became a member of the city plan and improvement commission, but he never sought to figure prominently in any public con- nection. He usually supported the republican party but was independent inasmuch as he cast his ballot according to the dictates of his judgment. The re- publicans frequently urged him to become the mayor- alty nominee, but this he steadily declined, as he preferred the quiet and retirement of home life. A contemporary writer has said of him: "The dom- inant trait of his personality was the conscientious independence which refuses to be moved to any course of action or to accept any opinion from any other motive than because it appealed to his own best judgment. His was no stubborn, conceited independ- ence, but that which belongs to the soul fearless and sure of itself and which willingly accords to others the liberty he claims for himself. An incident typical of his character occurred while he was in Italy several years ago. His letters of introduction from prom- inent churchmen in America secured him the privilege of entrance to the Vatican library. This is an extraordinary concession, seldom accorded to any but Roman Catholic scholars. He became acquainted with Cardinal Merry del Val and the papal secretary was deeply interested in what he regarded as a unique type of the self-made American. They conversed in German and at length Mr. Pfeiffer was invited to an audience with Pope Leo. He found himself in an uncomfortable position but frankly explained that it would not be consistent with his free-thinking principles to perform the customary obeisances in the presence of the pope." Mr. Pfeiffer was always loyal to his honest convictions and nothing could swerve him from a course which he believed to be right. In the last few years of his life he suffered from an incurable malady, but he bore his sufferings with cheerful spirit, gaining joy and happiness from his favorite authors and the companionship of his friends and the members of his own household. His life his- tory indicates what can be accomplished in America by the young man of ambition and energy-accom- plished not only in the way of attaining wealth but in gaining all that comes in the way of culture from the study of books, of music and of art.
FRANK B. FERGUSON has since 1918 been engaged in the practice of law with his brother, S. Homer Ferguson, as junior member of the firm of Ferguson & Ferguson, which has already gained high standing at the Detroit bar. His birth occurred in Harrison City, Pennsylvania, on the 24th of October, 1893, his parents being Samuel and Margaret (Bush) Fergu-
son, who still make their home at Harrison City. The father is a civil engineer by profession.
In the acquirement of his education Frank B. Ferguson attended the schools of his native town and the high school at Irwin, Pennsylvania. He then devoted three years to teaching in Pennsylvania but abandoned that work in order to take up the study of law, matriculating in the University of Pittsburgh at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from which institution he was graduated with the degree of LL. B. in 1917. In that year he came to Detroit, where his brother, S. Homer Ferguson, had already established himself in practice, and was admitted to the Michigan bar. Returning to Pennsylvania, he was admitted to the bar of that state in 1918 but did not begin practice there, having decided to make Detroit the scene of his professional labors. Here he entered into part- nership with his brother and the two young men have since practiced together under the firm name of Fer- guson & Ferguson, building up a clientage of extensive and gratifying proportions that has come in recog- nition of their ability.
On the 10th of January, 1914, Mr. Ferguson uas united in marriage to Miss Florence Silvis of Har- rison City, Pennsylvania, and they now have two sons: Frank Bamford, Jr., born January 17, 1919; and Don- ald Bruce, whose birth occurred January 6, 1921. Mr. Ferguson is a member of the Lawyers Club, the Detroit Bar Association and the Detroit Board of Commerce and is highly esteemed in both professional and social circles of his adopted city.
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