USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 52
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On the 28th of June, 1916, Mr. Ludtke was united in marriage to Miss Lillian Zimmerman of this city, and they have become the parents of a daughter, Phyllis Ann, who was born August 11, 1917. Mr. Ludtke is an active and valued member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and he is also connected with the Young Men's Christian Association, the Masonic Country Club and the Detroit Yacht Club. He is likewise identified with the Delta Theta Phi and Delta Phi Delta college fraternities, the Lawyers Club and the Detroit, Mich- igan State and American Bar Associations, while his fraternal connections are with the Knights of Pythias, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the Masons, his membership in the last named organization being with Sojourners Lodge, No. 483, and Palestine Lodge, No. 357, F. & A. M. He is making continuous progress in his profession and his ability is not only attested by his fellow practitioners but by the general public as well.
HARRY ADELBERT BENJAMIN, secretary of the Sun Realty Company, was born in Orion, Michigan, on the 25th of November, 1888. His father, William A. Benjamin, was likewise born at Orion, and became a prosperous farmer in that locality. He is now living retired at that place. He married Elva Taylor, whose father was one of the first to conduct a hotel in what
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is now the center of the hotel district of Detroit. He was George Taylor and is well remembered by many of the older residents of this city. It was in Detroit that Mrs. Elva Benjamin was born, and by her marriage she became the mother of two children: George, now living at Orion; and Harry A., of this city.
Harry A. Benjamin obtained a public and high school education in his native city and also attended business college in Detroit, being graduated in 1910. He started out to earn his own living as an employe of the Puritan Brick and Tile Company and rose from a clerical position to that of secretary, in which capacity he is still connected with the business. How- ever he decided to broaden the scope of his activities and in 1918 turned his attention to the real estate business by becoming one of the organizers of the Sun Realty Company, which has since handled sub- division property on the Canadian shore, at what is known as Ojibway. Mr. Benjamin is the secretary of the new corporation and is the secretary and one of the directors of the Steel City Realty Company. He is thus doing much to meet Detroit's situation as regards expansion and development through real estate channels and the building of homes.
Mr. Benjamin is a lover of outdoor sports and belongs to the Brooklands Golf and Country Club. He is also a Mason, having membership in Palestine Lodge, F. & A. M .; Palestine Chapter, R. A. M., De- troit Commandery, No. 1, K. T., and the Moslem Shrine, and is thus active as a representative of the craft. He is now senior warden of Palestine Lodge, No. 357, and at all times is most loyal to the teachings and purposes of Masonry. His course in business has been marked by steady progress, and his enterprise and energy have brought him steadily to the front.
ELMER C. CALVERT, president of J. Calvert's Sons, one of Detroit's leading firms in the coal, coke and builders' supplies trade, was born in Champaign, Illinois, August 17, 1869, a son of John and Mary (Threadgould) Calvert. The Calvert family is one of the oldest families of the city and John Calvert was born in Detroit, July 1, 1834, at a time when the city had not yet emerged from villagehood. John Calvert was a prominent stockman for a number of years, dealing extensively in cattle throughout Illinois and Indiana.
During the boyhood days of Elmer C. Calvert the family home was established in Detroit and the father became the founder of the business now conducted under the name of J. Calvert's Sons, remaining in that connection during his active career.
Elmer C. Calvert attended the public schools of De- troit and received a thorough training in a business college course which qualified him for the active and responsible duties of commercial life. For three years he was correspondent with the firm of H. Scherer & Company, carriage manufacturers, and in
1893 entered into connection with the firm of J. Calvert's Sons. The business has assumed extensive proportions and with the development of his powers Elmer C. Calvert has more and more largely assumed control and is now chief executive, filling the office of president. He is also vice president of the Puritan Land Company and he has constantly advanced in those walks of life demanding business ability and fidelity, commanding the respect and esteem of all who know him, not only in Detroit, but throughout the state.
On the 28th of June, 1900, Mr. Calvert was married at Detroit to Miss Grace Major, a daughter of John and Susan Major. Mr. and Mrs. Calvert have a son and a daughter: Elmer Major is now a student at the University of Michigan, previously attending St. John's Military Academy, Manlius, New York; the daughter is Janet T., a student at the Liggett school.
Appreciative of the social amenities of life, Mr. Calvert is a member of the Detroit Boat Club, the Ingleside Club, the Automobile Country Club and the Fellowcraft Club. The residence of Mr. Calvert at 509 West Boston boulevard is one of the attractive homes in that section of Detroit.
HENRY LEDYARD, attorney at law of Detroit, in which city he was born August 7, 1875, is a son of Henry B. and Mary (L'Hommedieu) Ledyard. He pursued his early education in St. Paul's School at Concord, New Hampshire, and then entered Yale University, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in the class of 1897. He entered Harvard for the study of law and the LL. B. degree was conferred upon him in 1900. Returning at once to Detroit, he entered the office of Russel & Campbell and has since engaged in practice here, having been a member of the law firm of Russel, Campbell, Bulkley & Ledyard until 1911, since which time, owing to the withdrawal of the senior partner, the firm has been Campbell, Bulkley & Ledyard. Twenty years of association with the same partners indicates the most harmonious relations in the firm, while one has but to turn to the court records to learn of the eminent position which they occupy as representatives of the Detroit bar. Mr. Ledyard, moreover, is interested in various business enterprises, being a director of the Union Trust Company, of the River Rouge Improvement Company, the Public State Bank and the Russel Woods Company. He is also a trustee of Elmwood Cemetery Association and a mem- ber of the Vestry of Christ Protestant Episcopal Church.
In the year in which he entered upon active prac- tice Mr. Ledyard was married to Miss Maude Hendrie of Hamilton, Canada, and their children are: Augustus, Canfield, Henry, Mary H. and William.
Mr. Ledyard is prominent in club circles, having membership in the Detroit, Yondotega, Country, Boylston, Witenagemote and Fontinalis Clubs of De- troit, the Grosse Pointe Riding & Hunt Club, the
ELMER C. CALVERT
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Malden Marsh Shooting Club, the Windsor Club of Windsor, Canada, the Graduates Club of New Haven, Connecticut, the Michigan-Yale Alumni Association of which he is president, and the Harvard Club of Michigan. His political endorsement is given to the republican party. When America entered the great war he was appointed a member of the selective serv- ice, local board No. 8, of Detroit, and so continued until August 1, 1917. On the last day of that month he was appointed a member of district board, No. 1, for the eastern division of Michigan and continued to act in that capacity until after the close of the war.
GEORGE REGINALD BEAMER, well known as a manufacturers' agent in Detroit, was born in Princeton, Ontario, July 7, 1870, and is a representative of a well known Canadian family. His parents, Richard M. and Margaret (Sharp) Beamer, were also natives of Canada and removed thence to Oxford, Michigan, where the father engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery to the time of his death, in 1885. His wife departed this life in Detroit in 1920. Their family numbered four children: W. H., living at Grand Rapids; Mrs. Ida Purse, deceased; James R., of Detroit; and George R.
After attending the public schools of Oxford, Mich- igan, having been a young lad when his parents removed from Ontario to this state, George R. Beamer continued his studies in the Detroit Business Univer- sity, and thus qualified for the active and responsible duties of life. Later he became associated with C. H. Little, who conducted a building materials business, and for seven years occupied a elerical position that won him promotion eventually to the sales force. Still later he became a traveling salesman, selling a line of art goods, and to that business he devoted seven years. At length he severed his connection with the house which he had thus far represented and became asso- ciated with the sale of gages for the United States Gage Company of New York city. Since 1907 he has had charge of the office and sales of this company, his territory covering Michigan and Ohio, with head- quarters in Detroit. He has developed a business of very substantial proportions and his energy and enter- prise have been the salient features in the attainment of his present-day success. Each change in his busi- ness career has marked a forward step and has indi- cated the development of his powers through the exercise of effort. He is also a director of the Steel Mill Packing Company of Detroit and he belongs to the Society of Automotive Engineers.
On the 27th of November, 1901, Mr. Beamer and Miss Gertrude Rheintgen, a daughter of John Rheintgen of Bellevue, Kentucky, were married in Bellevue, Kentucky, and to them has been born a daughter: Edith Lynne, whose birth occurred Decem- ber 25, 1902, and who graduated from Ursaline College at Chatham, Ontario, February, 1921.
Politically Mr. Beamer is a supporter of the repub-
lican party. Fraternally he belongs to the Masons and is a member of the Masonic Country Club. He is likewise connected with the Wolverine Auto Club, of which he was president in 1919. His social quali- ties have won him popularity in the organizations with which he is identified and he is now widely and favorably known in his adopted city.
CHARLES B. DUCHARME, a member of the well known DuCharme family of Detroit, at present oe- cupying the important position of secretary for the Michigan Stove Company, having qualified by working in the various departments of the business, is a native of Detroit, a son of Charles A. DuCharme, presi- dent of the Michigan Stove Company.
Charles B. DuCharme was educated at a private school for boys in Detroit and later entered the Uni- versity of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the class of 1906, with the degree of A. B. He then started out on his business career, entering the employ of the Michigan Stove Company, first in the general office, where he acquired a knowledge of the routine. He later spent some time in the fac- tory, in the sales department, was in the furnace department three years, and later was appointed pur- chasing agent for the company, ultimately becoming its secretary. Mr. DuCharme is well known in con- nection with the operations of the business and his early training peculiarly fits him for his present responsible duties.
Mr. DuCharme was married in 1911 to Miss Isabel Bradbeer. They are the parents of three children: Charles A. (II); Jerome Croul; and Isabel. Mr. Du- Charme takes an active part in the affairs of club- land. He is a member of the Country Club, the University Club, the Yondotega Club, the Detroit Ath- letie Club, and the Delta Kappa Epsilon College fra- ternity. He and his wife are well and favorably known in the social and cultural affairs of the city, and are always found on the side of all movements calculated to advance the community welfare.
MAX BROOCK, who passed away on April 18, 1915, left the impress of his individuality for good in many ways upon the history of Detroit, for he was not only an active, energetic and representative business man but was also prominent in connection with many events which shaped the history of the city, especially in connection with civie interests. Mr. Broock was a native of Canada, his birth having occurred in Toronto, October 20, 1870. He was one of the three children of Julius and Marie (Schober) Broock. His father was a native of Nice, Germany, and came to America in 1849. The mother's birth occurred in Elberfeld, Germany, and she crossed the Atlantic in 1853. For a number of years the family home was maintained in Toronto and in 1871 a removal was made to Detroit.
Max Broock therefore spent practically his entire
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life in this city, being less than a year old when the family home was established on this side of the border. At the usual age he entered the public schools but was forced to lay aside his textbooks when a lad of ten years and start out in the business world, it being necessary that he provide for his own support. He utilized various means to obtain a living in early manhood but was constantly watchful of opportuni- ties for progress and advancement and step by step he worked his way upward. In 1892, when twenty- two years of age, he entered the real estate field and his operations along that line were so continuons and successful as to make him a recognized author- ity upon real estate questions in Detroit for a number of years. He specialized in handling high-class resi- dence property and he also maintained a general insurance and mortgage loan department in connection with his other business. He was a man of broad vision, alert and energetic, and with him each day marked off a full-faithed attempt to know more and to grow more. After the death of Mr. Broock the business was incorporated as the Max Broock Company.
In the year 1897, in Detroit, Mr. Broock was mar- ried to Elizabeth J. Forkel, a daughter of Julius J. Forkel, a veteran of the Civil war. The children born of this marriage are: Ferd M., whose birth occurred in Detroit in 1898; Harold, born in 1899; Eleanor, born in 1901; and Elizabeth Maxine, born in 1909. Mr. Broock maintained for his family an attractive home in Arden Park and put forth every effort in his power to promote their happiness and insure their welfare.
In his political views Mr. Broock was a stalwart re- publican and was keenly interested in many matters pertaining to public progress. In 1910 he was appointed a member of the city plan and improvement com- mission by Mayor Philip Breitmeyer and reappointed in the spring of 1914 by Mayor Oscar B. Marx for a second term of five years. Mr. Broock was a real sportsman-a fact indicated in his membership in the Michigan Association for the protection of fish and game, for the man who enjoys the sport never wants it carried to the point of destruction. He belonged to the Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Yacht Club, the Detroit Curling Club, the Harmonie Society, the Detroit Zoological Society, the Wolverine Antomobile Club and the National Geographic Society. He was also a member of the Board of Commerce and of the Detroit Real Estate Board and his support of any measure was an indication of progressive views and effective labor for steady development and improve- ment along the lines indicated. His worth as a man and citizen was widely acknowledged, causing deep regret when he was called to the Home beyond.
HORATIO N. HOVEY. The lumber interests con- stituted the first element of Michigan's very substan- tial and rapid growth and development, and during practically his entire business life Horatio N. Hovey
has been identified with the production and sale of lumber and is today the owner of valuable timber lands. Acquainted with every phase of the business, he has consistently directed his efforts along the lines of advancement and progress in connection with the lumber trade and the results have been certain and gratifying.
Mr. Hovey was born in Oxford township, Oakland county, Michigan, February 20, 1853, and was the youngest in a family of twelve children whose par- ents were Horace and Hannah (Scribner) Hovey, the former born in Albany, New York, and the latter in Maine, both coming from ancestral lines connected with American history from the colonial epoch. In young manhood Horace Hovey removed from New York to Michigan, making the trip in 1828 on the steamer William Penn, which was the fifth steamboat placed in commission on the Great Lakes. When he reached Detroit it was a little frontier town, whence he soon afterward made his way to Oakland county, where he secured a tract of heavily timbered land in Oxford township and began making preparations for the cultivation of a farm. Clearing away the timber, he soon plowed and planted his fields and for many years was a successful agriculturist of that district, where he made his home until the spring of 1867. His early political support was given to the whig party aud he afterward joined the ranks of the demo- cratie party, which called him to several offices of public honor and trust. His wife was a devoted mem- ber of the Methodist church and died in that faith in 1870. They had twelve children.
Horatio N. Hovey began his education in the public schools of his native county and afterward attended the Eastman Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York. When fourteen years of age he started out in the business world as a clerk in a grocery store at Muskegon, Michigan, and two years later was ap- pointed to a position in the post office there. In 1870 he was made deputy postmaster and continued to serve in that connection for several years. In 1875 he engaged in the retail hardware business at Muske- gon as junior partner in the firm of Merrill & Hovey, being associated in this undertaking with his father- in-law Elias W. Merrill. In 1881 he first entered into active connection with the lumber trade as a member of the firm of MeCracken, Hovey & Company, lumber manufacturers. Two years later the concern became Hovey & MeCracken, the partners continuing and developing their interests in the manufacture and sale of lumber and in the handling of timber lands. When the available supply of timber was largely exhausted in Michigan, Mr. Hovey withdrew from lumber manu- facturing in this state in 1899 but in the meantime had made extensive investments in timber properties in the south and west, where he is still operating largely. Removing from Muskegon to Detroit in 1903, he has since been a prominent figure in the business and social circles of the city and at the same time
HORATIO N. HOVEY
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retains important financial and business interests in Muskegon and in other parts of the state. He was for eighteen years the president of the Muskegon Sav- ings Bank, resigning in 1918, and for several years was the vice president of the National Lumberman's Bank of Muskegon, where for three years he occupied the position of president of the Chamber of Commerce. He is likewise a director of the Shaw-Walker Com- pany, engaged in the manufacture of office filing de- vices at Muskegon. He was one of the original syndi- cate in the very first development of what is now the Grand Rapids-Muskegon Power Company and for a number of years was a member of the company's board of directors. Since 1908 he has been one of the direc- tors of the Dime Savings Bank of Detroit.
On the 1st of June, 1874, occurred the marriage of Mr. Hovey and Miss Nellie Merrill, a native of Muske- gon, Michigan, and a daughter of Elias W. and Sarah A. (Titcomb) Merrill. Her father was a native of Maine and in 1837 came to Michigan, settling in Grand Rapids, whence he removed to Muskegon in 1844. He was one of the pioneer lumbermen of the state and was also a prominent figure in shaping the his- tory of Michigan, serving for several terms in the state legislature as representative from Muskegon county. He also occupied the position of postmaster at Muskegon for many years and he there passed away at the very venerable age of ninety, having for a considerable period survived his wife. Mr. and Mrs. Hovey became parents of four children: Annie Merrill, the wife of Rev. Charles F. Patterson of De- troit, and they have two daughters, Eleanor H. and Marjorie H .; Eleanor Merrill, the wife of Dr. John E. Gleason of Detroit, and they have one daughter, Ho- ratia H .; Sila Merrill, the wife of Dr. Herbert W. Hewitt, of Detroit, and they have three children: Ellen Merrill, Eunice A. and Herbert W., Jr .; and Wil- lard Merrill, who resides in Muskegon, Michigan, and who is associated with his father in business. He married Miss Harriet Brehler of Mt. Clemens, Michi- gan, and has one daughter, Jane. ,
The family occupies a position of social prominence and with various fraternal and social organizations Mr. Hovey is connected. In his political views he is a stanch republican and while living in Muskegon served for ten years as treasurer of the board of edu- cation. Though he has gained wealth, it has not been alone the goal for which he has been striving, for he belongs to that class of representative American citi- zens who promote the general prosperity while ad- vancing individual interests.
SEYMOUR FINNEY. While more than two dec- ades have passed since Seymour Finney was called to his final rest, there are many who remember him as a man who exerted a widely felt influence over public affairs and business activity in Detroit. His life of well directed thrift and industry brought him a substantial measure of success and throughout
the passing years he stood with those men whose influence is always cast on the side of right, progress and improvement. He was born in New Windsor, Orange county, New York, August 28, 1813. Owing to his mother's death when he was quite young he was early thrown upon his own resources. His edu- cational opportunities were accordingly limited and when fifteen years of age he entered upon an appren- ticeship to the tailoring trade at Geneva, New York.
Mr. Finney became a resident of Michigan in 1834. His father had previously settled upon a farm fifteen miles west of Detroit and thereon resided until his death, which occurred in 1873, when he was eighty- seven years of age. From the time of his arrival in Detroit in 1834 Mr. Finney worked at his trade in this city and in London, Ontario, Canada, when on account of ill health he abandoned the tailor's bench and sought other employment. He was a hotel clerk, afterward a hotel proprietor, a grocer and a laborer. In 1850 he purchased the site of what was afterward the Finney House at the corner of Woodward and Gratiot avenues and he also purchased a lot on which has since been erected the Chamber of Commerce building. It was upon that lot that he built a barn, which he conducted in connection with his hotel, then known as the Temperance Hotel. Mr. Finney not only stood as a strong opponent of the liquor traffic hut was also an avowed abolitionist and his farm was a passenger depot on the famous "underground railroad"; in fact it was the last on the line before the escaping slaves secured freedom by crossing the Canadian border. He defended many a fugitive black man and on various occasions the slaves harely escaped capture, so hot was the pursuit upon their trail. It was not an unusual thing for the slaves to be hidden in the barn loft while their pursuing masters were guests in Mr. Finney's hotel. Hundreds of negroes were thus sent on their way into Canada and to safety through his efforts.
As the years passed success attended the lahors of Mr. Finney, and having acquired a handsome compe- tence, he retired from active business in 1857, enjoying well earned rest to the time of his demise, which occurred in Detroit on the 26th of May, 1899.
Sixty years before, or in 1839, Mr. Finney was married in Detroit to Miss. Mary A. Seger of the state of New York, who passed away in 1876. They were the parents of six children: Jared W., Sarah J., Harriett E., Hiram S., James H. and Harold T.
In his political views Mr. Finney was originally a democrat but in 1852 joined the free soil branch of the party and in 1854 labored for the coalition of the whigs and free soilers, this movement being the forerunner of the republican party. In 1874 Mr. Finney was elected on the republican ticket as alderman from the old fifth ward and later was returned from the newly organized second ward, serving for fourteen years as a member of the council and acting for four terms as chairman of the com-
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mittee on claims and accounts. There was no phase of Detroit's development with which he was not thor- oughly familiar and his enterprise brought him prom- inently to the front, not only as a business man, but as a citizen whose labors were an effective force in public development and improvement.
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