The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III, Part 50

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

USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 50

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EUGENE HENRY WELKER, a wide-awake young business man of Detroit, is at the head of the E. H. Welker Company, manufacturers of tools, supplies and stampings. Born in Rochester, New York, March 26, 1885, he is a son of Edward and Katherine Welker, who were natives of Germany, but came to America in early childhood. The father took up the tinsmith 's trade and afterward conducted a successful business along that line in Rochester, remaining active to the time of his death. His wife also passed away in that city. Their family numbered three children: Eugene H .; Mrs. John Parkhurst, living in Rome, New York; and Henry, deceased.

Eugene H. Welker was a pupil in the public schools of his native city and during vacation periods, after he had attained a sufficient age, he worked on a farm. In fact, he began that work when a lad of seven years and was employed through the summer months until he reached the age of fourteen, when he left school and entered upon an apprenticeship to the toolmaker's trade. He also attended night school after he began his apprenticeship and learned mechanical drawing. He thoroughly acquainted himself with tool- making in the employ of Taylor Brothers, thermometer makers, and at the age of twenty years he removed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and entered the employ of the Westinghouse Electric Company, occupying a

position in the mechanical department for eight years. He afterward became an employe of the Vanadium Alloy & Steel Company, acting as Milwaukee repre- sentative of the corporation until 1910, when he came to Detroit as representative of the company and here continued until February, 1919. However, in the meantime he had organized the Michigan Metal Supply Company, founding the business in July, 1916. He conducted the new undertaking in that connection until July, 1920, when the firm name was changed to the E. H. Welker Company, with Mr. Welker in control. The business is that of the manufacture of tools, supplies and stampings and high-grade steel for the automobile trade. Employment is now furnished to from fifteen to twenty-five people. This company also handles the products of a number of the leading manufactories in the country, among them being the Rickert-Shofer Company of Erie, Pennsylvania; the Steel Furniture Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan; the American Hammered Piston Ring Company of Baltimore; Sheffield Machine and Tool Company of Dayton, Ohio; the Monarch Engineering Company of the same city; the Eagle Bolt and Forging Company of Cleveland, and Le Moyne Steel Company of Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania.

On the 3d of March, 1908, Mr. Welker was married in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Miss Anna Heiser, daughter of Mrs. Katherine Heiser of that city. Two children have been born of this marriage: Eugene John, born in Pittsburgh, April 18, 1909; and Cath- erine May, born in Detroit May 2, 1914. Mr. Welker has recently built a beautiful home on Longfellow boulevard. He and his family are members of the Roman Catholic church and he has membership with the Knights of Columbus. He is also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and he is a well known club man of Detroit, belonging to the Exchange Club, the Oakland Hills Country Club, the Detroit Auto Club, the Old Colony Club and the Fel- loweraft Athletic Club. He is eagerly welcomed to the gatherings of these organizations because of his social, genial nature, which makes for popularity wherever he is known.

FRED POSTAL. For twenty-three years Fred Pos- tal was prominently known in connection with the hotel business in Detroit as proprietor of Hotel Gris- wold and was also identified with other important business enterprises of this city and different towns in the state. Michigan numbered him among her native sons, his birth having occurred on a farm near Utica, on the 2d of August, 1859. He was one of a family of seven children born to William and Eliza (Gray) Postal, the former a farmer and later a merchant of Evart, Michigan, where he continued in business to the time of his retirement.

Fred Postal was reared on his father's farm and completed his education in the high school at Utica. He began his business career at the age of nineteen

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at Evart, Michigan, when he joined his brother Frank in conducting the Evart House, and there received his first experience in the hotel business. Later he pur- chased his brother's interest in the hostelry and con- ducted it alone for a number of years. It was in 1895 that Mr. Postal came to Detroit, where he took charge of the Hotel Griswold, and some time after- wards Austin A. Morey was admitted as a partner under the firm name of Postal & Morey. Subsequently the business was incorporated as the Postal Hotel Company, Mr. Postal becoming president, in which capacity he served until his death, which occurred on the 12th of September, 1918. For some years the cor- poration also operated the Oriental Hotel. Mr. Postal was a popular hotel man, genial and courteous, and possessed the business ability and enterprise so essen- tial to success in this line of activity, nor did he confine his attention only to this field of labor, for he became one of the directors of the Lion Fence Com- pany at Adrian, Michigan; was also a director of the Evart Bank at Evart, Michigan; and one of the directors of the Detroit Creamery Company. His sound judgment and business enterprise were regarded as a valuable asset to any commercial, industrial or finan- · cial undertaking. In 1902 Mr. Postal secured the franchise in the American Baseball League for the city of Washington and he was the chief owner of the baseball club put into the field by the national capital for three years, at the end of which time he disposed of it.

On the 17th of June, 1885, in Evart, Mr. Postal was united in marriage to Miss Minnie Southworth, a daughter of Dr. Lorenzo Thomas Southworth, who was a native of the state of New York and a graduate of the medical department of the University of Michigan. For many years he practiced at Ludington, where the family was prominently and widely known. To Mr. and Mrs. Postal were born five children: Harry F .; Charles L .; Gladys, who died young; Marjorie, who passed away at the age of nine years; and Mary Doro- thea. The elder son, now engaged in the automobile business in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, saw service in the World war as a lieutenant, and after being sta- tioned for a time at Fort Sheridan went overseas, where he was wounded in action. He married Alberta Hayes, daughter of Clarence M. Hayes, and they have two children, Frederick and Harry F., Jr. The other son, Charles L., enlisted in the navy during the World war and was overseas in France as chief storekeeper. He married Alice Peyton of Kentucky.

That Mr. Postal always retained his interest in the occupation with which he became familiar in early boyhood-that of farming-is indicated in the fact that he was elected to the presidency of the State Agricultural Society in 1904. He also served at one time as poor commissioner in Detroit for a period of six years and he supported many progressive public measures for the benefit of the city as a member of the Board of Commerce. He likewise once filled the

office of county commissioner and was always deeply and helpfully interested in any project or plan for the general good. Fraternally he was a thirty-second degree Mason, a member of Detroit Commandery, K. T., and a Noble of Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He was also connected with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and was widely known and popular in club circles, belonging to the Detroit Ath- letic Club, the Old Club, the Bloomfield Hills Country Club, the Red Run Golf Club, the Harmonie Club, the Detroit Yacht Club and the Automobile Club.

TRAUGOTT SCHMIDT, than whom there was no better known business man in Detroit and very few in the country in his line of business during the period of his active career, was called to his final rest on the 17th of May, 1897. He was born in 1830, in the prov- ince of Reuss, Germany, a son of Carl C. and Susanna (Plarre) Schmidt. His ancestors had been engaged in the tanning business for more than twelve genera- tions in the province of Reuss, where the family was founded in the fourteenth century. It was but natu- ral for Traugott Schmidt to take up the trade of a tanner when as a boy he began to prepare himself for life's duties. This trade he learned in his father's establishment and remained there until he was nine- teen years of age. In 1849 he concluded to try his fortunes in America. He came to Michigan and took up his residence in Flint, where he started a small tannery. After about six months he accepted a posi- tion with Gottlieb Beck in Detroit, then one of the city's most influential German citizens.

It was in 1853 that Mr. Schmidt established him- self in business in Detroit in a modest way. The con- cern was located on Monroe avenue, between Beaubien and Antoine streets, and from this small beginning he built up one of the most extensive business enter- prises of its kind in the middle west. In the early days his operations were largely confined to dealing in deer skins and raw furs and in time he secured agents throughout the northwest and bought upon an extensive scale, developing a large export trade. For many years he was also a heavy buyer and shipper of wool as well as holding distinctive prestige as a fur merchant. With the growth of his business, he displayed good judgment and acumen by establishing a branch house in Gera, Germany. It was his custom for years to annually visit the old country and thus he maintained a personal supervision of his European business.

Mr. Schmidt's early experiences as a buyer of hides and furs were of a character that gave him a full appreciation of the life of the pioneer. During his earlier business career in Detroit he traveled along the entire lake shore from this city to Saginaw bay and even made his way across Lake Michigan into Wis- consin. In 1889 Mr. Schmidt incorporated the busi- ness and remained its president until his death. Sub- sequently the firm name became Traugott Schmidt

TRAUGOTT SCHMIDT

Vol. III-28

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Sons, of which Edward J. Schmidt is president and Albert H. Schmidt is secretary and treasurer.

Traugott Schmidt was years ago impressed with the certainty of Detroit's future greatness and backed his judgment with investments in real estate. He built a number of business buildings and numerous residence properties which from the subsequent ap- preciation of values brought large financial returns. He was one of the organizers and incorporators of the Wayne County Savings Bank and for a number of years a member of its board of trustees. In his political connections he was a stanch republican and during the Civil war was a most zealous supporter of the Union. He was a member of a number of societies and organizations and had a wide acquain- tance among the city's leading business men and citizens. He wielded a helpful influence in both civic and commercial life and attained a success that made him one of Detroit's substantial residents. His loy- alty and public spirit were always manifest, and his value as a citizen rendered his death a distinct loss to the city. He died on the steamer Trave, while en route home from Europe.

ROBERT KERR, production manager of the Kerr Machinery Corporation, received thorough business training under the direction of his father and thus qualified to assume the responsibilities which devolved upon him in connection with the management of the business following his father's death. Thorough- going, energetic and persistent in purpose, he now occupies a most creditable position in the manufac- turing circles of the city. He was born in Montreal, Canada, March 9, 1876, a son of Alexander Mills and Euphemia (Mills) Kerr. The father's birth occurred in Glasgow, Scotland, while the mother was born in St. Marys, Canada. The father pursued his education in Glasgow and came to America in 1873, making his way to Canada. For a short time he was employed by the Grand Trunk Railway Company and then entered the employ of John McDougall, an engine builder of Montreal, with whom he remained for six years. He afterward lived at London, Ontario, for two years and in 1881 came to Detroit to superintend the erec- tion of the melting department of the Detroit Steel & Spring Works. He afterward spent two years with the Detroit Dry Dock Engine Works and was con- nected with the Fulton Iron & Engine Works for twenty-three years. At length he determined to en- gage in business on his own account and began the manufacture of electric driven centrifugal pumps in 1907 and became one of the organizers of the Kerr Machinery & Supply Company, of which he remained the president until his death. As the head of this and subsidiary companies he succeeded in building up a business second to none in the state, achieving splen- did results through honesty, square dealing and by reason of the value and worth of his products. He passed away September 13, 1918, at the age of sixty-

seven years, and is survived by his widow, Mrs. Euphemia Kerr, who still lives in Detroit. In their family were three children, the eldest being David M. Kerr, who is now president of the Kerr Machinery Corporation, while the daughter is Mrs. James A. Sherratt of Detroit.

The other son, Robert Kerr of this review, attended the public and high schools of Detroit and afterward the University of Toronto at Toronto, Canada, from which he was graduated in 1896, on the completion of a course in mechanical engineering. Prior to this time he had had some business experience with his father, and after leaving the university he held sev- eral executive positions. For a time he was master mechanic with the American Radiator Company at Detroit and afterwards was with the Floor Valve Manufacturing Company and other concerns of similar nature. In 1915 he again entered the business estab- lished by his father and since the latter's death has acted as production manager. He is also one of the directors of the company, which is ranked with the foremost corporations of this character in the city.

On the 14th of June, 1898, Mr. Kerr was married to Miss Edith L. Patterson of Detroit, daughter of James L. Patterson of the Michigan Car Company. They have become parents of three children: The eldest, Robert A., born in Detroit in 1899 and gradu- ated from the high school, was in the general ordnance division during the World war, entering as a private and leaving the army as sergeant of ordnance. He received honorable mention for service in France and Germany and is now general production manager with the Kerr Detroit Letter Company; Edith Marion, born in Detroit in 1906, is a high school pupil, and Jessie Margaret, born in 1913, is attending school. Mr. Kerr is a member of Ionic Lodge, F. & A. M., and Ionic chapter, R. A. M., and also belongs to the Fellowcraft Athletic Club, to the Detroit Curling Club, of which he has been president, and to the Calvary Presbyterian church, in which associations are found the nature of his interests and the rules which govern his conduct. He is a man worthy of high respect and enjoys the good will and confidence of his fellowmen to an un- usual degree. He has always made wise use of his time, talents and opportunities and in a business way has steadily worked upward, but has never allowed the accumulation of wealth to render negligible the performance of his duties in other connections.

HARLEY W. McGEE, sales agent in the steel in- dustry and well known in social and commercial life in Detroit, is a native of the state of Ohio, born near Toledo, September 21, 1891, a son of William and Rebecca Jane (Tyler) McGee.

Harley W. McGee was educated in the district and high schools of his native place. Some years later he became salesman for the Toledo Screen Company, remaining with that company for one year, during this period laying the foundations for a larger busi-

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ness career. He next entered the employ of the Dean Higgins Company, with which firm he has been for ten years, rising to the position of district sales agent, in which capacity he enjoys the confidence alike of the company and its customers. The Dean Higgins Company does an extensive business in the selling of steel, representing several of the large steel mills, and as sales agent Mr. McGee handles a large volume of business annually.

In 1914 Mr. McGee was united in marriage to Miss Myrtle M. Brown of Toledo, Ohio, and they are the parents of one child, a son, William Dean McGee. Mr. McGee is a member of Acacia Lodge, No. 477, A. F. & A. M. He also holds membership in the Fellow- ship Club, the Automobile Club and the Detroit Ath- letic Club. He is an ardent devotee of outdoor sports, hunting and fishing being his chief recreations. He and his wife are prominent factors in the social life of Detroit, giving their time and attention to all move- ments designed to benefit the welfare of the com- munity.

REV. THEODORE C. LINDEMANN, M. A., P. R., who is one of the five irremovable rectors in the Catholic diocese of Detroit and one of the two in the city of Detroit, has since the 5th of February, 1917, had charge of St. Joseph's church in Detroit. He was born February 14, 1875, in the city which is still his home, his parents being Charles and Susan (Beissel) Lindemann, the former a native of Gunte- rode, Kreis Heiligenstadt, in the province of Saxony, Prussia, Germany, while the latter was born in Clausen, Luxemburg. They had a family of three children, whom they reared in Detroit.

The Rev. Theodore C. Lindemann was a pupil in the St. Boniface parochial school and afterward entered the Detroit College, now the University of Detroit, in which he won his Bachelor of Arts degree in June, 1896, while the Master of Arts degree was conferred upon him by his Alma Mater in June, 1902. In Sep- tember, 1896, he entered St. Mary's Seminary of Baltimore, Maryland, in charge of the Sulpician Fath- ers, and completed his theological course of studies in Assumption College at Sandwich, Ontario. He was ordained to the priesthood on the Ist of July, 1900, in the cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul, Detroit, by Bishop John S. Foley of the Detroit diocese and was assigned to duty as assistant.pastor to the Rt. Rev. Msgr. F. A. O'Brien at Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he re- mained until August 25, 1904. He then came to De- troit as assistant to Rev. Bernard J. Wermers at St. Joseph's church, and on the 1st of September, 1906, was made pastor of Holy Trinity church at Fowler, Michigan, where he labored for eleven years. On the 5th of February, 1917, he became irremovable pastor of St. Joseph's church of Detroit and also con- tinued as administrator of the Fowler parish until November 5, 1917. During his pastorate at Fowler he began the erection of a new church costing fifty

thousand dollars, which was under course of construc- tion at the time of his appointment to St. Joseph 's parish. To complete the work Father Lindemann was made administrator of the Fowler parish until the church was finished in November, 1917. At the time of completion by him the church was free from debt.

St. Joseph's church was originally located on land on the south side of Gratiot avenue, between Riopelle and Orleans streets. It was a wooden building forty- four by one hundred feet, erected at a cost of five thousand dollars and seating five hundred people. The cornerstone of the new church edifice, a stone struc- ture, was laid by Bishop Borgess on the 23d of Octo- ber, 1870, and the building dedicated by him on the 16th of November, 1873.

The parish was founded in 1856, being set off from the original German parish of the city, historic St. Mary's, dating back to 1841. The founder of St. Joseph's was the Rev. Edward Francis Van Campen- hont, known as "Father Francis." He was succeeded by Rev. I. A. Koenig, who labored during 1859; by Rev. Charles Chambille, whose ministry covered 1860 and part of 1861; by Rev. A. Durst in 1861, 1862 and 1863; by Rev. J. F. Friedland, whose lahors continued over a period of thirty-two years until 1896; and by Rev. Bernard J. Wermers, who continued as pastor from 1896 until 1912, when Rev. Henry J. Kaufmann became pastor, serving until 1917, when Rev. Theodore C. Lindemann, the present pastor, was appointed. The parish has a membership of four thousand and there are one thousand pupils in attendance at the parochial school and Girls High School Academy. Connected with the parish is also The St. Joseph's Commercial College, the only one of its kind in the Detroit diocese. It is in charge of the Christian Brothers and has an enrollment of over two hundred and seventy-five scholars. It imparts a thorough business course, com- bined with a high school course for boys.

CONSTANTINE HANNA, vice president of the James E. Hanna & Brothers Company, conducting one of the leading art stores of Detroit, has resided in this city since 1867, or for a period of fifty-four years, and has therefore grown up with the city, witnessing its remarkable development, to which he has contrib- uted substantially through his business activities. He was born in Grey county, Canada, near the town of Artimasha, October 10, 1856. His father there en- gaged in farming, raising principally grain, and the family continued to reside in that locality until 1867, when they crossed the border into the United States, taking up their residence in Detroit, where they made their home in the old Perkins hotel, at that time one of the city's landmarks.

Mr. Hanna acquired the greater part of his educa- tion under the instruction of his father, who had formerly engaged in teaching school, and on starting ont in the business world he entered the employ of the Hargreave Manufacturing Company, manufactur-

REV. THEODORE C. LINDEMANN, P. R.

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ers of baby carriages, hand sleds, picture frames, etc., their establishment being located at the corner of Howard and Seventeenth streets. He started as a machine hand, engaging in the making of picture frames, and in this work he developed expert ability. For six years he continued with that firm and then accepted a position with George F. Stratton, a fore- man under whom he had formerly worked, and was placed in charge of the making of picture frames, the business being conducted at No. 28 Atwater street. Mr. Hanna was thus active for five years, at the end of which time he became identified with the newly formed firm of Dillaway & Hanna, of which his brother was a member, their place of business being in the Randall building, at the corner of Madison and With- erell streets. Some years later Mr. Hanna formed a partnership with a Mr. Ives for the conduct of an art store, operating under the firm style of Hanna & Ives. The James E. Hanna & Brothers Company was organized in 1912, at which time Constantine Hanna became vice president, being placed in charge of the picture-framing end of the business, which he is most successfully conducting, for he is thoroughly familiar with the work, owing to his long connection there- with. The business is under the personal supervision of James E. and Constantine Hanna, who are proving most capable, farsighted and enterprising in the con- duct of their interests. They are recognized as con- noisseurs in art circles of the city and patrons who visit their establishment are assured of finding none but the highest class of art works. They rank with the leading art dealers of the city and have built up a large trade, drawing their patronage from the best homes of the city.

On the 10th of May, 1877, Mr. Hanna was united in marriage to Miss Anna Shnell, a resident of De- troit, whose father was at that time acting as foreman for the Michigan Central Railroad Company. The living children of this union are: Grace E., wife of Adolph Cottrell; Ella Louise, who married Charles Yeiger; Margaret, now Mrs. James H. Nye; Louis, a successful business man of this city; and Warren Edward, who is in the employ of the Detroit Gas Com- pany. Five children of the family died in early youth.

In his political views Mr. Hanna is an independent democrat, casting his ballot in favor of the candidates of that party at national elections, but in local affairs has voted for the man whom he considers best quali- fied for office, without regard to his political affiliations. In Masonry he is identified with Ashlar Lodge, F. & A. M., and the Grotto and he also belongs to the National Union and the Eastern Star. He is fond of outdoor life, finding recreation in hunting and fish- ing, and his particular hobby is baseball, the national game of America. His record is an illustration of the power of industry and perseverance in the attainment of success. He has always taken a deep interest in the welfare and progress of his city and is a man of

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The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III, Part 50

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

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