USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 59
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"After the war ended General Williams was as- signed (September 9, 1865), to the command of the Ouachita River District, with headquarters at Camden, Arkansas; was transferred in November to the Cen- tral District, at Little Rock, and was discharged from the service January 15, 1866. Then he was appointed to examine military claims in Missouri. President Johnson appointed him minister to Salvador, and while absent he was nominated by the democrats for governor and was defeated; in 1874 and again in 1876 he represented the first Michigan distriet in congress. He died in Washington on December 28, 1878, before the expiration of his term, and was buried in Detroit."
General Williams married a widow, whose maiden name was Jane Allen, and they had two sons and three daughters, three of the children reaching ma- turity, as follows: Charles Larned, whose widow, Mrs. Jane Phillips (Hoyt) Williams, resides in Detroit with her sister, Mrs. Eugene B. Gibbs; Irene, who married William J. Chittenden; and Mary Howard, who mar- ried Colonel Francis U. Farquhar of the United States Engineer Corps. He died in Detroit.
GEORGE ANDREW LEWIS, whose life work was one of beneficence to mankind, was the founder of the Lewis School for Stammerers in Detroit. A native of Canada, his birth occurred in Ingersoll, Ontario, April 25, 1870, his parents being William and Martha (Shippey) Lewis. The father was at one time a jeweler of Ingersoll and afterward engaged in busi- ness in Petrolia, Ontario.
George A. Lewis obtained his education in the schools of his native country, but on account of the impediment in his speech he did not receive a college education. He started out in business as a jeweler in Petrolia, Ontario, and while thus engaged he took up the study of a cure for stammering. Doing away with the impediment in his own speech he felt that he desired to assist others and in 1894 founded the Lewis School for Stammerers in Petrolia. There he re- mained until 1895, when he removed the school to Detroit, Michigan, locating in small quarters at 344 Woodward avenue, while subsequently a removal was made to 41 Adelaide street, where his success was so phenomenal that he purchased the property extend- ing from No. 29 to No. 41 Adelaide. This was in 1899 and he erected thereon the large three-story building, which has since been occupied as a school, Mr. Lewis remaining in charge to the time of his death, while since May 17, 1917, it has been under new management. Mr. Lewis secured from the bishop of the Catholic diocese one hundred and fifty feet of property on Adelaide, directly opposite his school property, and rebuilt his home there, remaining the occupant thereof to the time when he was called to the Home beyond. He also erected the Amo apart- ment, located at 66 Adelaide street and now owned by Mrs. Lewis, the building containing sixty-nine
apartments. Mr. Lewis also made large investments in other real estate and his property holdings returned to him a most gratifying annual income.
It was on the 20th of August, 1895, at Hurlock, Maryland, that Mr. Lewis was united in marriage to Miss Amy Neal, a daughter of Turpin W. and Henrietta (Hackett) Neal. The ancestors of the mother participated in the Revolutionary war. To Mr. and Mrs. Lewis were born four children: Evan- geline Neal, now the wife of Lee Joslyn, Jr .; Lucile; Georga; and one son, Andrew, who died in infancy.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis attended the Woodward Avenue Baptist church. He gave his political support to the republican party, but never sought nor desired office. He was a member of Oriental Lodge, F. & A. M., and on joining the Michigan Sovereign consistory was a member of the Harry J. Winn class, of which he was secretary. He was also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He belonged to the Adcraft Club, the Exchange Club, the Felloweraft Club and the Detroit Athletic Club and he was much interested in the Young Men's Christian Association, doing a great amount of work for the organization, his labors at all times being attended with excellent results. He passed away August 17, 1915. There are hundreds who feel deep gratitude to him for the assistance which he rendered them in overcoming defective speech. His work in this regard was that of a bene- factor to mankind. He accomplished wonderful results, developing methods which produced notable cures and his school became one of the famous institutions of this character in the country. He was a man of worthy purpose and of high moral worth, respected and honored by all who knew him and Detroit lost a valued citizen when he passed to the Home beyond.
FRITZ HAILER, a self-educated and self-made man, early displayed the elemental strength of his character in his desire to obtain an education and qualify for important activities in professional circles. He now occupies an enviable position as a mem- ber of the bar and has successfully tried many impor- tant cases. Born on the other side of the Atlantic on the 3d of February, 1887, he is a son of William and Carolina (Gay) Hailer, who are natives of Baden, Germany. The father is a man of prominence in his home locality, holding the position of mayor of the town of Auerbach, and now resides with his wife at Karlsruhe, capital city of Baden. He is connected with the Fidelitas Printing House in a prominent capacity. In their family were three children, the two daughters being Caroline and Sophie.
Fritz Hailer pursued his education in the public schools of Auerbach and in high schools of Karlsruhe, Germany, and after completing his high school work took up the study of English in a normal school. He also studied shortband and in that branch excelled, winning the first prize for rapidity in the number of words per minute, being able to transcribe from his
GEORGE A. LEWIS
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stenographie notes one hundred and twenty-five words per minute, correctly spelled and punctuated. He also won a number of other competitive prizes. Following his graduation he took up the business of a book- seller and also edited the advertising part of a paper at Karlsruhe for three years. In 1906 he came to America and here entered the employ of the Willys Overland Automobile Company, with whom he re- mained until 1908, when he became an employe of the R. F. Hartenstein, insurance and real estate, whom he represented as a salesman. In the meantime he devoted his evening hours to study and attendance at night school and took private instructions evenings, and in 1910 was graduated from the night high school of Detroit. He next entered the Detroit College of Law, in which he completed his course in 1911, with an average of ninety-two and a half per cent. For a year thereafter he continued with the Hartenstein in- surance and real estate firm, then entered upon the practice of law, the worth of his professional training and his close application being manifest in the large number of cases which he has successfully tried, win- ning verdicts favorable to the interests of his clients. Fritz Hailer is representative of the Consulate of Switzerland, also representing German interests since April, 1917.
On the 16th of August, 1917, Mr. Hailer was mar- ried in Detroit to Miss Grace Laesch, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Laesch, and they have a son, Frederick Charles William, born in Detroit, July 30, 1918, and a daughter, Doris Marie Hailer, born Feb- ruary 6, 1920. In politics Mr. Hailer maintains an independent course. His religious faith is that of the Evangelical church and he is connected with various clubs and organizations, belonging to the Harmonie Club, the Carpathian Singing Society, the Turnverein, the Lawyers Club, the Detroit Bar Association and the Michigan State Bar Association. He has never regretted his determination to come to the new world, where he has found broader business opportunities and advancement more quickly secured in a land where individual effort and ability are unhampered by caste or class.
JUDGE FRED HAMPSON ALDRICH, who since 1899 has been a member of the Detroit bar and who entered upon the practice of law at Cadillac, Michigan, in 1883, was born in Wauseon, Ohio, September 11, 1861, his parents being Joseph D. and Julie E. (Car- ter) Aldrich. After attending the public schools of his native city he became a student in Adrian College at Adrian, Michigan, and determining upon the prac- tice of law as a life work, began preparation for the bar, to which he was admitted in 1883. In the mean- time he had taught school in order to meet his ex- penses while preparing for the legal profession. He opened an office in Cadillac, where he at once entered upon active practice, and there in 1887 he was elected judge of the twenty-eighth judicial circuit of Michigan
and served upon the bench for twelve years, his re- election being the public expression of approval of his judicial course. His decisions were strictly fair and impartial, without bias, and were based upon a comprehensive understanding of legal principles and precedents. With his retirement from the bench he sought the broader field of labor offered in Detroit, where he has since engaged in practice, and from the beginning he has enjoyed a large and distinctively representative clientage. He is a director and general counsel of the Northern Assurance Company of Mich- igan and also counsel for the Inter-State Fire Insur- ance Company, and a member of the faculty of the Detroit College of Law.
At Delta, Ohio, on the 21st of August, 1884, Judge Aldrich was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Corine Isbell and they have become the parents of four children: Fred H., Jr .; Frank Compton, who was married in 1914 to Helen Seavers; Julia May, and Ruby Corine, who in 1918 became the wife of George Montillon. The religious faith of the family is that of the Congregational church.
Judge Aldrich is a thirty-second degree Mason and belongs also to the Ingleside Club, while along more strictly professional lines he is connected with the American Bar Association, the International Law Association, the Detroit Bar Association and the Lawyers Club, also the legal section of the American Law Convention and the Association of Life Insur- ance Counsel. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and during the period of the war he was one of the Four-Minute men of Detroit.
CHARLES HAMMOND L'HOMMEDIEU. Admit- ted to the bar of Michigan in 1906, Charles Hammond L'Hommedieu has since devoted his attention to law practice in Detroit, where a liberal clientage is now accorded him. He is a native son of Michigan, his birth having occurred in Jackson, May 4, 1880, his parents being Richard Henry and Angelina Catherwood (Marston) L'Hommedieu. The removal of the family to Detroit in his early boyhood enabled him to pursue his early education in the public schools of this city. He afterward went east for classical instruction and was graduated from Yale University in 1903 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. His law course was pursued in the University of Michigan and he won the LL. B. degree upon graduation in 1906. The same year he was admitted to the bar and entered the employ of Russel, Campbell & Bulkley, a well known law firm of Detroit. He gained broad experience in this way and on the 1st of January, 1912, was admitted to a partnership under the firm style of Campbell, Bulkley & Ledyard. Through the intervening period he has continued an active representative of the bar and has come into prominence in this connection by reason of the ability which he has shown in the presentation of his cause before the courts. He has comprehensive knowledge of law and is seldom, if ever, at fault in
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the application of the principles of jurisprudence. He cites precedent with accuracy and it has always heen his purpose to aid the court in administering justice. Aside from his professional interests he has figured in the business circles of Detroit in several connec- tions. He became a director and was made the secre- tary of the Tessmer Machine & Tool Company, also served in a similar capacity with the Benjamin Douglas Company and the National Hide & Leather Company. He was likewise assistant secretary and treasurer of the Home Construction Company.
Mr. L'Hommedieu is a member of the Detroit Bar Association and he belongs to the Law fraternity of Phi Delta Phi, also to the University, Detroit Boat, Lawyers' and Detroit Athletic Clubs. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and his religious faith is that of the Episcopal church. He ranks high among the younger lawyers of the Detroit bar and he stands with those men whose deep interest in public welfare finds tangible expression in many ways.
JOHN HENDRIK TIGCHON is one of Detroit's best known and successful realtors. His nearly thirty years of identification with real estate interests has been not only a material contribution to the city's growth, development and improvement, but has brought him to a foremost position among Detroit's substantial business men and citizens.
Mr. Tigchon was born in Port Huron, Michigan, December 5, 1865, a son of Andrew and Alberdina (Van Oone) Tigchon, both of whom were born in Holland and came to this country in 1865. When John H. Tigchon was but a child his parents moved from Port Huron to Cleveland, Ohio, and after a short time there they returned to Michigan and located on a farm about eight miles out Woodward avenue. Here John H. Tigchon was reared to manhood and early in life secured a practical knowledge of hard work. In Detroit schools he received his early education, which was concluded with a course in the Mayhew Business College. As a youth he was industrious and energetic and was nearly always engaged in work of some kind. In taking up his business career Mr. Tigchon became a salesman in Mason's gun store. For some time following he was associated with mer- cantile lines, which included the firm of Coulson & Moorehouse and later Buhl & Sons. He remained with the latter firm for a period of six years.
In May, 1892, Mr. Tigchon started in the real estate business for himself, a line of activity to which his efforts have heen largely confined ever since. Always holding to high standards, and possessing the courage, foresight and executive ability so essential to success, his achievements represent but the just reward for their wise utilization. He has negotiated a large number of important realty transfers through a very high class clientele that he has enjoyed for years, and has himself become an extensive holder of Detroit
and suburban real estate. His holdings include both downtown business property and subdivision acreage. The Windmill Point subdivision was created and de- veloped by John H. Tigchon. This magnificent prop- erty, with its rare natural environment, exclusiveness and yet accessibility, is probably unequaled in this part of the country and represents a contribution by Mr. Tigchon to Detroit's improvement and adornment that has not been surpassed by any of his contem- poraries.
On June 26, 1889, Mr. Tigehon was married in Detroit to Miss Anna E. Bush, a daughter of Frank Bush. Mr. and Mrs. Tigehon have one daughter, Irene Norma, a Vassar graduate, and now the wife of George Lyon Hoag of Poughkeepsie, New York. Mr. and Mrs. Hoag have a son, John Tigchon Hoag, born in Poughkeepsie, November 6, 1914.
Appreciative of the social amenities of life, Mr. Tigchon is well known in club circles, belonging to the Detroit, Detroit Athletic, Detroit Golf, Lochmoor, Oakland Hills Country, Detroit Yacht and Scarab Clubs. Of the Lochmoor Club he was one of the founders and has been a member of the board of directors ever since its organization. He has been for a number of years a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and in 1918 and 1919 served as one of its directors. Among his other business interests he is a director of the Guaranty Trust Company of Detroit.
Mr. Tigchon was one of the organizers of the De- troit Real Estate Board and has always taken a prominent and active part in the work of that organ- ization. He served as its president in 1907 and has for several years been chairman of its appraisal com- mittee; in fact, he has served in some official capa- city ever since the Real Estate Board was organized.
Politically, Mr. Tigchon is a republican, but has never sought nor desired public office. In church association he is a Presbyterian and fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to Ashlar Lodge, No. 91, F. & A. M., and is also a Knight of Pythias, holding mem- bership in Damon Lodge of that order. During the World war Mr. Tigchon enlisted and served as a dollar-a-year man in the real estate department, as a real estate expert for the United States government.
Mr. Tigchou is regarded as a most excellent judge of realty values and in business matters generally his opinion carries no little significance. He has shown an unceasing interest in the welfare of the city and cooperates heartily in all organized movements for its benefit and the upholding or betterment of its civic standards. Mr. Tigehon resides in Grosse Pointe Park.
HENRY H. WRIGHT, president of the firm of Wright, Kay & Company, jewelers of Detroit, having one of the largest and most exclusive houses of this character in the city, was born in Detroit, January 27,
JOHN H. TIGCHON
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1885. His father, Henry M. Wright, was born in Hudson, Ohio, August 15, 1843, his parents being Philo and Electa E. (Coe) Wright. He was grad- uated from the Western Reserve College of Ohio with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1864 and received from his Alma Mater the Master of Arts degree in 1865. During the Civil war he served as a member of Company B, Eighty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He came to Detroit in 1865 and was connected with the United State Lake Survey from 1865 until 1872. He then became a member of the jewelry firm of Roehm & Wright in March of the latter year and on the 1st of March, 1886, the business was reorganized under the name of Wright, Kay & Company, and upon the incorporation in May, 1906, Henry M. Wright became the president. Years ago Mr. Wright was one of the small coterie of representatives of the jewelry trade from the leading establishments of the United States, who made periodical trips to Europe for the purchase of the choicest jewelry merchandise for which various European cities and countries are noted. Mr. Wright continued as president until his death, which occurred November 11, 1916. He was also interested in other business activities and his sonnd judgment and en- terprise were strong factors in the attainment of success. He was likewise active in religious work and was an elder in the First Presbyterian church from 1887 until the time of his demise, taking a prominent part in the various interests of the church for many years. His political support was given to the repub- lican party and he was a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, the Detroit Chapter of the Delta Kappa Epsilon and a member of the Lake Placid Club of New York.
On the 23d of September, 1872, in San Francisco, California, Henry M. Wright was married to Miss Flora M. Haight, who was born in California but came to Michigan early in life and is still a resident of Detroit. Mr. and Mrs. Wright became the parents of four children: Edith B., Winifred, Henry H. and Edward F., all of whom are still living in Detroit.
The third member of the family, Henry H. Wright, attended the public and high schools during his early boyhood and afterward became a student in the Taft school at Watertown, Connecticut. There he was grad- uated in 1904 and after completing his preliminary course he entered Yale University and is numbered among its alumni of 1907, having finished a course in the academic department. He then returned to his home city and immediately became connected with the jewelry house of Wright, Kay & Company. He started in to learn the business thoroughly and grad- ually worked his way upward from a minor position to that of manager in 1912, assuming larger and larger responsibilities in connection with the control and direction of the house. In 1916, upon the death of his father, he was elected to the presidency of the firm of Wright, Kay & Company, which today has one of the leading jewelry establishments of the middle
west. In fact theirs is the foremost house of this character in Detroit, carrying a very extensive stock of jewelry and precious stones and the name stands as a synonym of reliability and the highest business integrity.
On the 20th of October, 1917, Mr. Wright was married to Miss Aline Weber, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry C. Weber of Detroit. Mr. Wright gives his political endorsement to the republican party and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He belongs to the Detroit Country Club and has always adhered to the religious faith in which he was reared-that of the Presbyterian church. He is fond of outdoor sports. He has led an active, busy and useful life and as one of the young business men of the city occupies an enviable position as a progressive and representative citizen.
CHAS. A. STRELINGER was born in the city of Detroit on May 4, 1856, his father being Julien, and his mother Berta (Shultz) Strelinger. The parents came to the United States from Austria in 1848.
Mr. Strelinger was educated in the public schools of Detroit and began his active business career in the employ of Glover & Powell, hardware merchants, in 1870. Five years later the T. B. Rayl Company bought out the Glover concern, and he remained with the new concern for nearly ten years.
In 1884 he started a hardware and tool business under the style of The Chas. A. Strelinger Company, their first place of business being on the northeast corner of Larned and Woodward avenue. In 1889 the business was removed to the corner of Bates and Congress streets and conducted there for nearly twen- ty-eight years, when another move was made to the new Bagley store on Larned, between Bates and Ran- dolph streets.
In 1897 the business was incorporated under the style of The Chas. A. Strelinger Company, of which Mr. Strelinger bas since been the president. This company handles a very large line of machinery, tools and supplies, and is one of the largest and most im- portant concerns of its kind in the country.
In September, 1884, Mr. Strelinger was married to Miss Mary Penfield and they have two sons: Gilbert Penfield and Seth Williston. The elder son is now a major in the U. S. Regular army, with a record of two years of hard service in France, while the younger was in the service during the World war as a captain of infantry. Mr. Strelinger belongs to the Detroit Board of Commerce and is interested in all the efforts of that organization for the upbuilding of the city, the extension of its trade relations, and the development of civic standards.
He is a supporter of the republican party, and, while never an office-seeker-or holder-has always dis- played an appreciative understanding of the duties and obligations, as well as the privileges, of citizenship.
He has been a member of Westminster Presbyterian
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church for nearly fifty years, a director and trustee on the boards of both the Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A .; also a member of the Detroit, Boylston and Ingleside Clubs.
WALTER J. BEMB, president and founder of the Bemb-Robinson Company, distributors for Michigan of the Hudson and Essex motor cars, is one of the best known men in connection with the automobile trade in Detroit. While comparatively but a young man, he is one of the pioneers in motor car distribu- tion and has attained a remarkable success. Long ago realizing the value of straightforward business methods and satisfied patrons, he has followed a course that has done as much to dignify and elevate his business as any dealer ever connected with the trade in Detroit.
Walter J. Bemb was born May 17, 1885, and was but a boy of eight years when the family crossed the Atlantic and settled in Detroit in 1893. His parents were Jacob and Louise (Krummel) Bemb. After coming to Detroit the family established a florist and horticultural business which is now known as the Bemb Floral Company and is one of the im- portant industries of its kind in the city. Walter J. Bemb was about sixteen years old when he first became connected with the automobile business. This was in 1901, when he entered the employ of the W. E. Metzger Company, one of the first automobile companies of this city. He continued with that house for several years and was subsequently with the Ford Automobile Company as branch manager. Next he became associated with the Brady Automo- bile Company and later was made traveling repre- sentative for the Hudson Motor Company of Detroit. In that position he continued until 1912, when he decided to embark in business on his own account and established an agency for the distribution of the Hudson cars. The establishment was located at 286 East Jefferson, where a commodious and modern building was subsequently erected by the Bemb-Rob- inson Company and where is maintained one of the finest automobile display rooms in Amercia. In 1912 the Bemb-Robinson Company was incorporated, with Mr. Bemb as president and general manager, in which capacity he is still serving. His brother, Eugene Bemb, became vice president and director of service. In 1918 the Essex line was taken on, giving to the Bemb-Robinson Company two of the most popular motor cars distributed by any one dealer in Detroit. The service station of this company at 161 East Larned street is the most elaborate and most com- plete to the smallest detail of any similar institution in the city and is unsurpassed in the entire country. The progressive and up-to-date spirit displayed by Walter J. Bemb in the conduct of his business has won for him a position of prominence in trade circles not excelled by any of his contemporaries.
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