The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III, Part 68

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 68

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Mr. Hamlin has been married twice. On the 1st

of January, 1890, at Piqua, Ohio, he wedded Miss Julia Harlow, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Harlow. She passed away in Detroit in 1911, leaving a daughter, Helen Harlow, who was born in Winston- Salem, North Carolina, and is a graduate of the Liggett school of Detroit. In August, 1916, Mr. Ham- lin was again married, his second union being with Miss Josephine Nelson Williams.

In his political views he has always been a repub- liean, giving stanch support to the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He be- longs to the North Woodward Congregational church of Detroit, is a member and the vice president of the New England Society and is local president of the Volunteers of America. He was an early member of the old Detroit Chamber of Commerce and now be- longs to the Board of Commerce. He is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America. He also has membership in the Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Automobile Club and the Grosse Ile Golf and Country Club. Fra- ternally he is identified with the Masons and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in the Detroit Consistory and is a member of Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to the Na- tional League of Masonic Clubs. He has always been keenly interested in affairs that are based upon a broad humanitarianism and for the past twenty years he has been a director of the Detroit Newsboys Asso- ciation, in which connection he is constantly extend- ing a helping hand and doing much to assist those who need protection and guidance and from whose ranks many a capable, resourceful and successful man has been developed. It is characteristic of him that in his benevolent and charitable work he displays the same determination that has accomplished results in business and he never has allowed the latter so to monopolize his time and attention that he has had no opportunity to aid his fellowmen. He has made a success of life and enjoys life, not living merely to accumulate worldly goods.

CHARLES MENGEL VOELKER, a native son of Detroit, whose ability as a commercial artist is widely recognized, is president of the Advertisers Bureau, one of the leading firms of commercial artists in the city. They are doing excellent work in this line and their services are in constant demand by the representative business houses of the city, while they have also done much work outside of Detroit, gaining nation-wide prominence in their art.

Mr. Voelker was born June 28, 1887, a son of Ernest J. and Johanna (Mengel) Voelker, and in the public schools of his native city he acquired his education, after which he entered the Detroit Fine Arts Academy, studying under the tutelage of the late Julius Mel- chers, one of America's most famous artists and in- structors. Mr. Voelker began his active business career in 1902, becoming identified with the Electro-

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Gravure Engraving Company, and he was subsequently connected with various concerns until 1907, when he entered upon an independent venture, ' opening an office in the Lightner building, where he continued until February 1, 1919, when he moved to the Ford building. Here he is conducting his interests under the title of the Advertisers Bureau, his business asso- ciates being J. C. Faust and H. F. Scharfenberg. They are high class commercial artists and thoir excellent work in this connection has secured for them a large clientele, their services being much sought after by the large mercantile firms of the city, while they have also been accorded an extensive patronage in other parts of the country, having designed many famous advertisements. Thorough technical training, natural ability and broad experience have made Mr. Voelker an adept at his art and he ranks with the leading commercial artists of the country. In the conduct of his interests he is alert, progressive and enterprising and success in substantial measure has rewarded his efforts.

In 1915 Mr. Voelker was united in marriage to Miss Della Pierson of Detroit, and their many attractive social qualities have gained for them a host of friends in the city. In his political views Mr. Voelker is a republican and that he is a public-spirited and loyal citizen is indicated in his membership in the Detroit Board of Commerce, whose plans and projects for the development of the city receive his hearty co-opera- tion. He is a popular member of the El Dorado, Scarab, Detroit Yacht and Detroit Athletic Clubs and he is also identified with the Adcraft Club. During the progress of the World war he served as a member of the navy for nearly a year and was also a member of the war advertising board. Industry has been the key which has unlocked for Mr. Voelker the portals of success and his well developed powers have brought him the pre-eminence that follows superior ability and concentrated effort. Although but thirty-four years of age he has already gained an enviable position in business circles of the city, and judging by his past accomplishments, his future will be well worth the watching. His life in every relation has measured up to the most advanced standards and he stands as a high type of American manhood and citizenship.

HON. JOHN BLAISDELL CORLISS, senior member of the law firm of Corliss, Leete & Moody and former representative of his district in congress, was born in Richford, Vermont, June 7, 1851, a son of Hezekiah and Lydia (Rounds) Corliss. He began his education in the public schools of his native state and in 1871 was graduated from the Vermont Methodist Uni- versity, thus completing his more specifically literary course. He afterward entered the Columbian Law College, now Washington University, Washington, D. C., where he won his LL. B. degree upon graduation with the class of 1875. New England enterprise and sagacity prompted him to seek a home in the west

and since the 23d of September, 1875, he has been identified with the Detroit bar. His ability has 'de- termined his position, which is that of one of the foremost lawyers of the state, who for many years has enjoyed an enviable reputation as counselor and advocate. In 1882 he was called to the position of city attorney and thus served until 1886 and through- out the intervening period he has concentrated his efforts and attention upon an extensive practice of a most important character. He is also the president of the Michigan Lubricator Company and of the Shipman Koal Company of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Corliss has been married twice. On the 5th of December, 1877, at Barnard, Vermont, he wedded Miss Elizabeth N. Danforth, who died in 1886. They became the parents of two sons and two daughters: John B., Jr .; Elizabeth D., now the wife of Earl Holley; Margaryt M., the wife of George M. Holley; and Cullen Danforth. The last named graduated from the Detroit University school and then entered the University of Michigan, from the law department of which institution he was graduated with the class of 1910. He was widely known as an athlete and as captain of the football team at the university. He chose a business rather than a professional career and entered the employ of the Michigan Lubricator Company at Detroit in a subordinate capacity and worked his way up to the position of vice president and general manager. His untimely death occurred on March 25, 1920, when he was in his thirty-fourth year. He married Meta L. Henderson of Aiken, South Carolina, in January, 1919. In November, 1917, John B. Corliss was married to Dorothy Montgomery.

Mr. Corliss is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and has taken an active and helpful interest in all the plans and projects of that organization for the upbuilding and development of the city. His political allegiance has ever been given to the repub- lican party and he represented the first district of Michigan in congress from 1895 to 1903. He belongs to the Detroit, Detroit Golf, Detroit Boat and Bloom- field Hills Country Clubs, associations that indicate much of the nature of his interests and recreation. Along the line of his profession he is connected with the American, the Michigan State and the Detroit Bar Associations. In 1920 he was chosen a member of the executive committee of the American Bar Association. Perhaps his chief activity outside of professional circles has been in connection with Ma- sonry. He was made a Mason in Union Lodge of Detroit in 1880 and during the ensuing five years became a Chapter and Commandery Mason and at- tained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. From 1887 to 1892 he was commander-in-chief of the Michigan Sovereign Consistory and he was one of the promoters of the consolidation of the Masonic order in the Valley of Detroit, resulting in the estab- lishment of the Masonic Temple Association and the building of the Masonic Temple on Lafayette avenue,

JION. JOHN B. CORLISS

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having exclusive charge of the legislative and legal work. This association owns property to the value of more than a million dollars, title being held by the corporation created for the purpose and controlled by the board of trustees elected by the respective Masonie bodies. In 1890 the honorary thirty-third degree was conferred upon Mr. Corliss. For many years he served on the board of trustees of the Temple Association and he has been president of the Old Guard of Detroit Commandery. He was the prime organizer and first president of the Pioneer Associa- tion of Michigan Sovereign Consistory and he was also the organizer and first president of the Past Potentates, Moslem Temple. Moslem Temple, the so- cial branch of high degrees of Masonry, was made an active organization during his services in 1887 and 1888, when he was its first active potentate. In 1920 Mr. Corliss issued an authoritative history of the De- troit lodge of the Scottish Rite, relating in detail the early struggles of the lodge before it became firmly established in Detroit.

ALEXANDER H. SIBLEY. Not because of his con- nection with one of the oldest and most prominent families of Michigan, but by reason of his own in- herent force of character and ability as displayed in his business interests, is Alexander H. Sibley classed with the representative residents of Detroit. His birth occurred in New York city on the 4th of October, 1871. He is a son of Alexander H. and Marie L. (Miller) Sibley and a grandson of Solomon Sibley, one of those men whose prescience and discrimination rec- ognized the possibilities and opportunities of the great undeveloped west and became active in planting the seeds of civilization in regions hitherto unknown to the white man. The name of Solomon Sibley is in- separably interwoven with the history of Detroit and of Michigan. He was born in Sutton, Worcester county, Massachusetts, October 7, 1769, and came of a family whose ancestral line is traced directly back to the year 1066 in England. The first of the name in the new world was John Sibley, who left his native England in 1629 and crossed the Atlantic in one of the ships of Governor Winthrop's fleet. Among his de- seendants was one who served with the rank of colonel in the Revolutionary war, while various others of the name espoused the cause of independence, not less than ten serving in the Battle of Concord. Patriotism and loyalty have ever been among the distinguishing characteristics of this family, as shown by valiant support of the country in all of the wars in which the nation has engaged.

Solomon Sibley, educated at Brown University of Rhode Island, from which he was graduated with honors, pursued the study of law in Boston and in 1795 removed to Marietta, Ohio, thus becoming iden- tified with frontier development. He later removed to Cincinnati, where he engaged in law practice for a time, and in 1796, soon after the English had formally

retired from control of Detroit, he came to this city, then a straggling frontier village, and here, soon afterward he established his permanent home, becom- ing a resident of what was then a part of the North- west Territory, later of the Territory of Indiana, eventually of the Territory of Michigan and at length a sovereign state. In January, 1799, he was elected from Wayne county to the general assembly of the Northwest Territory and as a member thereof was instrumental in securing the incorporation of Detroit as a town in 1802. He was a member of the first ter- ritorial legislature of the Northwest Territory and at that time Wayne county embraced what is today the entire state of Michigan. This legislature held its sessions in Cincinnati and in the records of the Ohio Historical Society Judge Sibley is mentioned as . "among the most talented men of the house, possessed of a sound mind, improved by liberal education, a sta- bility of character which commanded general respect, and a prudence of conduct which secured to him the confidence of his fellow members." In 1802 the elec- tors of the new town of Detroit voted him the freedom of the corporation in recognition of his eminent serv- ices in behalf of the people of the territory. At the second municipal election in Detroit, Judge Sibley became chairman of the board of trustees of the city, and under the first city charter-that of 1806-he was made mayor through appointment of Governor Hull. He served as auditor of the territory from 1814 until 1817, was United States district attorney from 1815 to 1823, delegate from Michigan Territory to the United States congress from 1821 to 1823, and in the latter year became one of the judges of the supreme court of the territory, so serving until the admission of the state into the Union in 1837. Of him it has been said: "He won, as he well deserved, the affec- tion, respect and entire confidence of his contempo- raries and associates. In the uniform, quiet and un- ostentatious devotion of his time and talents to the interests of his country Judge Sibley continued to receive the most marked evidence of universal respect and confidence until he was finally compelled by physi- cal infirmity to retire from public life." When he passed away in Detroit, April 4, 1846, at the age of seventy-six years and six months, the bar of Detroit prepared a memorial bearing testimony to his high character, his exalted ability in the profession and the nobility and worth of his long and well spent life. One paragraph of this memorial reads: "Resolved, That we entertain the highest respect and veneration for the character of the deceased, a character so justly acquired and sustained through a long and well spent life; in all his public and private relations exhibiting a man amiable, pure and kind in the one, and faithful, upright and honorable in the other; true to all the various trusts confided in him; sound and able as a lawyer; impartial, honest and discriminating as a judge."

In October, 1802, Judge Sibley was married at Ma-

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rietta, Ohio, to Miss Sarah Whipple Sproat, who passed away January 22, 1851, at the age of sixty- nine years, in the faith of the Protestant Episcopal church, of which she had long been a devoted member. There were eight children born of their marriage, this number including Alexander Hamilton Sibley, who was born and reared in Detroit and who was one of the first to begin the practical development of copper and iron mines in the Lake Superior region. He also went to California following the discovery of gold, spending the years 1849 and 1850 in the mines of that state. Through personal ability and inher- itance he became the possessor of a large estate and ranked with the representative residents of Detroit. He figured prominently in its industrial circles and also in connection with its civic interests. While he continued to make his home in Detroit throughout his- life, he was temporarily in New York when death called him on the 10th of July, 1877, and he is still survived by his wife, who bore the maiden name of Marie L. Miller and who is living in Detroit.

Alexander H. Sibley pursued his education under private instruction from 1881 until 1884 and prepared for college in his native city under the direction of Thomas H. Pitkin. He next entered Trinity College at Hartford, Connecticut, where he won the Bachelor of Arts degree by graduation with the class of 1892, while in 1897 his Alma Mater conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree. He studied in Europe during the years 1893-94 and with his return to his native land entered the Harvard Law School, completing his course in 1897, at which time the LL. B. degree was conferred upon him. The same year he was ad- mitted to practice and became associated with the law firm of Russell & Campbell, thus continuing until September 30, 1901. He afterward practiced alone until 1908, when he turned his attention to the gen- eral insurance business, organizing the firm of Bur- tenshaw & Sibley. That connection was maintained until November, 1916, when he withdrew from the partnership and established the Alexander H. Sibley Company for the conduct of a general insurance busi- ness, with offices in the Penobscot building. He is now at the head of one of the important agencies of this character in Detroit and is a recognized leader in insurance circles in the city.

FREDERIC BECKWITH STEVENS, who through- out his business career has displayed marked initiative and enterprise, has become one of the foremost manu- facturers of Michigan who in the development of "his extensive business has been one of the builders of Detroit's industrial greatness. Nor have his ef- forts been confined alone to manufacturing interests, for at the same time he has been a potent factor in the promotion of civic welfare and in the support of all those well devised plans and activities which have contributed to the welfare and progress of the state.

Mr. Stevens was born in Canton, Hartford county,

Connecticut, September 24, 1855, his parents being Samuel Frederic and Mary Anne (Beckwith) Stevens, both of whom were representatives of early New Eng- land families prominently connected with the history of that section of the country during the period of early colonial progress. The progenitors of the Ste- vens family in the new world came from Scotland and there is a family tradition to the effect that the genealogy is to be traced to English origin. In this connection it is maintained that the name was orig- inally spelled Stephens but that connection of the family with various insurrections in England led to their banishment to Scotland and a consequent change in the orthography of the name. Another tradition has it that the family is of Spanish lineage and that the name was originally Estevan. Be this as it may, the Stevens family has been represented on American soil from an early period in the development of the new world and has always stood for progress and im- provement in connection with those interests which have upbuilt the commonwealth. The Beckwith family is of English descent and has also been prominent in connection with the history of Connecticut. Lady Beckwith of England wedded a husband who assumed the family name at the time of marriage and they became the founders of the family in the new world.

For many generations the ancestors of Frederic Beekwith Stevens have been represented in Connecti- cut. His grandfather, Henry Stevens, was a native of New Haven, where also occurred the birth of his father, Samuel Frederic Stevens, on the 22d of Feb- ruary, 1829. The latter there spent the period of his minority, acquired his education in the schools of his native state and for many years devoted his attention to the business of dealing in Connecticut leaf tobacco. In 1879 he removed to Michigan, following the arrival of his son Frederic in Detroit. For several years he engaged in the manufacture of cigars in this city and remained one of the most highly esteemed resi- dents of Detroit to the time of his death in 1902. His wife was born at Newington, Hartford county, Con- necticut, in 1833, and her father, Lot Beckwith, was also a native of that state. Mrs. Stevens passed away four years prior to the death of her husband, being called to her final rest on the 27th of December, 1898.

Frederic B. Stevens is indebted to the public schools of Connecticut for his early educational opportunities. He was a high school pupil at Collinsville, Connecticut, and then entered Williston Seminary at East Hampton, Massachusetts, where he was graduated with the class of 1873. He initiated his business career as entry clerk in a wholesale carpet establishment in Hartford, Connecticut, but the opportunities of the growing middle west attracted him and since 1876 he has been identified with Detroit. Here he was first employed in the foundry department of the Detroit Stove Works and later was called to an office position, which he continued to fill for a number of years. Desirous of engaging in business on his own account, however, in

FREDERIC B. STEVENS

Vol. III-38

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1882 he established a foundry and supply business on Congress street, West, almost opposite his present fine block of buildings. His patronage steadily grew as the result of his enterprise, his thorough under- standing of the trade and his reliable business methods. The increased volume of his patronage created the necessity of securing enlarged quarters and a removal was made to the corner of Atwater and Griswold streets, while in 1902 he erected a fine brick block at the corner of West Congress and Third streets and is today at the head of the most extensive business of the kind between New York and Chicago. His plant is devoted largely to the manufacture of foundry facings, foundry supplies, buffing compositions and platers' supplies. His plans of business are peculiarly his own and have been worked out most successfully in the conduct of his trade, displaying keen insight and sagacity in relation to the line in which he is engaged. The continuous growth of his business and the extension of his constantly ramifying trade rela- tions have made him one of the foremost manufactur- ers of Detroit and have contributed in large measure to the reputation which Detroit has won as a great industrial center of the United States. In addition to his privately conducted manufacturing interests Mr. Stevens is a member of the board of directors of the First and Old Detroit National Bank of Detroit.

In 1880 Mr. Stevens was united in marriage to Miss Anne E. Shipman, daughter of Ozias W. Shipman, who was for a long period an honored and influential resident of Detroit, where he and his wife continued to make their home until called to their final rest. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens have a daughter, Winnifred M., who is now the wife of Lewis H. Kirby of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and who by her marriage has become the mother of four children: Frederic Stevens, Anne Louise, Lewis William and William John. Mr. and Mrs. Stevens have long occupied a most prominent social position in Detroit and he has been identified with many of the leading interests of the city, con- tributing to its development, growth and progress along many lines. He belongs to the Detroit Board of Commerce, is a member of the Detroit Club and is one of the most widely known representatives of Masonry in Michigan, the active thirty-third degree having been conferred upon him. He is grand master general of ceremonies of the Supreme Council Thirty- third Degree and the third incumbent of that office since 1867. He is the accredited representative in the United States of the Supreme Council Thirty- third Degree of Belgium, and honorary member of Acacia Fraternity of the University of Michigan. He has been an active worker in both the York and Scottish Rites and was commander-in-chief of the Michigan Sovereign Consistory, also past sovereign prince of Carson Council of the Princes of Jerusalem and past president of the board of trustees of the Michigan Sovereign Consistory. He likewise served on the executive board which took over and refitted

the fine Alma Sanitarium at Alma, Michigan, which was presented by its owner, A. W. Wright, to the Masons of the state with the understanding that it should be converted into a state Masonic Home. Po- litically Mr. Stevens has always been a democrat, but the honors and emoluments of office have never had attraction for him. While he has done important public service, it has been through a private agency and with a singlesness of purpose looking to the public good rather than to emoluments or personal aggran- dizement. The story of his life is one which con- tains much of inspirational value, showing what can be accomplished through individual effort and the recognition and utilization of opportunity. Removing to the central west with the feeling that his chances for advancement were greater than in the older and more staid east, he has here upbuilded a fortune upon the firm foundation of enterprise, initiative and re- liability and now occupies a commanding position among the manufacturers of Detroit.

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The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III, Part 68

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