USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 71
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The religious faith of the family is that of the Episcopal church. Mr. Bayne turns for recreation to gardening and outdoor sports. He belongs to Ashlar Lodge, F. & A. M., and he gives his political alle- giance to the republican party. He is keenly inter- ested in everything that tends to advance American ideals, is chairman of the committee of Troop 12 of the Boy Scouts, was a member of the Patriots of 1917, doing recruiting work, a director of District No. 19 on the questionnaire, a member of the legal ad- visory board, one of the Four-Minute men and also a member of the America First Society, and took an active part in all Loan drives. He is likewise a member of the Detroit Bar Association and the Masonic Club.
HERBERT W. NOBLE, president of the firm of H. W. Noble & Company, investment hankers of De- troit, has for nearly thirty-five years been identified with the financial interests of this city. He was one of the founders of the business more than twenty-five years ago from which has grown one of the leading investment houses in this section of the west. Her- bert W. Noble was born in Detroit, February 8, 1867, and comes from a family that settled in Michigan soon after it became a state and had been residents of New York and of New England since 1640. It was in the latter year that Thomas Noble, the pro- genitor of the family in America, emigrated from England and settled in Boston. Cyrenus Noble, the grandfather of Herbert W. Noble, was born in Weth- ersfield, Connecticut, and settled in Unadilla, New York. His wife was Hannah Weston, a daughter of Benjamin Weston of Connecticut, who was a Revolutionary soldier in a Connecticut regiment and took part in the battle of Lexington, later serving in the navy until the close of the war. Garra B. Noble, the father of Herbert W. Noble, was born in New York state and came to Michigan in 1840, taking up his residence at Dexter, Washtenaw county, where
he engaged in general merchandising and also became the first postmaster of the little pioneer village. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Eliza Crosman, was born at Scio, Washtenaw county, Michigan, where her parents settled in pioneer days. Garra B. Noble removed to Detroit in 1856 and soon afterward be- came associated with the old Ward Line, whose boats . then plied the lakes. He was subsequently for many years financial manager of K. C. Barker & Company, one of the most important firms in the middle west, and did no little to further the interests of that company. He continued to be actively identified with it until it was succeeded hy the American Eagle To- bacco Company, after which he lived practically re- tired until his death in 1897. His wife had passed away in 1892. Garra B. Noble was a prominent mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity, serving as grand master of the grand lodge of Michigan in 1865, as commander of Detroit Commandery, K. T., in 1867 and grand re- corder of the grand council of Royal and Select Mas- ters in 1868. The beautiful jeweled insignia presented to him by the Masonic bodies are valuable heirlooms in the possession of his younger son, Herbert W. The elder son is Dr. Charles C., a prominent dentist of Los Angeles, California.
Herbert W. Noble attended the public schools of Detroit until about the age of sixteen, when in 1883 he became a clerk in the offices of Conely, May- bury & Lucking. Subsequently he became bookkeeper for the firm and also had charge of the collection de- partment, proving an efficient and capable employe. In 1887 he accepted a clerical position in the Third National Bank and in 1893 was promoted to the posi- tion of paying teller. The following year he was elected assistant manager of the Detroit Clearing House under Clement M. Davidson and in 1896 he was made manager, a position that he filled for more than twenty years. In 1894, in company with William E. Reilly, Mr. Noble established the firm of Reilly & Noble to deal in investment securities. In 1896 Mr. Reilly retired from the firm and Mr. Noble assumed control of the business, adopting the present firm name of H. W. Noble & Company, and conducted it as an individual until 1903, when the title of the firm was changed to Noble, Moss & Company. In 1910 the incorporation was affected under the name of H. W. Noble & Company, with Mr. Noble as presi- dent. This company does an extensive security, bond and general investment business, representing a large and high-class clientage and enjoying a most enviable reputation for stability, integrity and high-class in- vestment securities. Mr. Noble is a member of the American Bankers Association, the Michigan Bankers Association, the Detroit Board of Commerce, the De- troit Club, the Bankers Club, Detroit Boat Club, Detroit Athletic Club, Detroit Automobile Club, and Oakland Hills Country Club. He also belongs to the Sons of the American Revolution. His political en- dorsement is given to the republican party and he and
HERBERT W. NOBLE
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his wife are communicants of St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal church.
Ou the 22d of April, 1891, Mr. Noble was married to Miss Gertrude Delbridge, daughter of James B. Delbridge, one of the pioneer lumbermen of Michigan. Two children have been born of this marriage: Sheldon R., who is associated with H. W. Noble & Company and is mentioned elsewhere in this work; and Irene, who is the wife of Arthur L. Rose of Detroit.
JAMES C. RITTER, president of the Rialto Theatre Company, is a native son of Michigan and pursued his education in the public schools of this state. Starting ont in the business world he became connected with the clothing and men's furnishing goods trade at Utica, Michigan, and continued in that field of activity for a time. Later he turned his attention to the grocery business, which he conducted on Gratiot ave- nue in Detroit for four years, thus becoming a factor in the business circles of this city. In 1912 he be- came identified with the theatrical interests of De- troit and was connected for a time with the theatre at Gratiot and Field avenues, being secretary and treasurer of the organization there in charge. In 1915 he organized the Rialto Theatre Company, of which he has been president and general manager from the beginning. This company was incorporated De- cember 21, 1916, and purchased the theatre on Field avenue, both houses being now owned and conducted by the Rialto Theatre Company. By reason of their high-class entertainment they are accorded a very liberal patronage and the enterprise is proving one of substantial success. He is president and general man- ager of the Rivola Theatre Company, incorporated April 14, 1920. The theatre has a seating capacity of one thousand and is located on Cadillac, near Forest. He is president of the Michigan Motion Picture Ex- hibitors Association with a membership of six hundred theatre owners in Michigan, its headquarters being in the Tuller hotel; and he is a member of the executive committee of Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Amer- ica, a national organization of more than twelve thousand theatre owners.
In 1900 Mr. Ritter was united in marriage to Miss Nettie Soper and they have two children: Delno Arthur and Eleanor May. Mr. Ritter is descended from one of the old Holland Dutch families of the Empire state and is a highly cultured gentleman. He belongs to Utica Lodge, No. 75, F. & A. M., also to Detroit Lodge, B. P. O. E., and to the Board of Com- merce, cooperating heartily in the plans of the last named organization for the benefit of the city, for the upbuilding and extension of its trade relations and the maintenance of high civic standards.
EDWARD IVES STIMSON is one of Detroit's old- est and best known real estate dealers, having here followed that line of business for nearly forty years, and has established a reputation for honesty and fair
dealing that has survived the recent advances of newer men into the field. He specializes in the hand- ling of factory sites and has negotiated many large realty transfers in the city. Mr. Stimson is a native of Detroit and a member of one of its honored pioneer families. He was born January 17, 1859, a son of Benjamin G. and Cordelia (Ives) Stimson, the former a native of Massachusetts and the latter of Kingston, Ontario, Canada. The father came to Detroit in 1836 and here purchased a home of five aeres on Woodward avenue from Lewis Cass. He became extensively in- terested in shipping, having operated a fleet of vessels on the Great Lakes engaged in the transportation of wheat, salt and flour, one of the ships having been the largest then plying those waters. He also became prominent in public affairs, having served as city controller at the time the present city hall was erected, and his name was a prominent and honored one in connection with the early development of Detroit. Stimson place was named for him.
His son, Edward I. Stimson, acquired his education in his native city, having attended the old Philo Pat- terson private school and subsequently entered the law department of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated in 1879, with the degree of LL.B. Thereafter he engaged in the general practice of law in Detroit, where for two years he continued to follow his profession. In 1882 he entered the real estate business, in which he has continued, and during the intervening period has built up an extensive patronage and has become thoroughly informed regard- ing the property which is on the market. He is regarded as an expert valuator and an astute far- sighted business man, whose activities have ever bal- anced with the principles of truth and honor. He specializes in the handling of business property and has negotiated the sale of many of the city's leading factory sites.
Mr. Stimson has been married twice. On the 4th of January, 1880, he wedded Miss Fannie L. Noble, who passed away November 11, 1910, leaving three children: Edward N., who was born February 28, 1883; George W., born May 8, 1887; and Frank W., whose birth occurred August 27, 1891. Mr. Stimson's second union was with Lucia Weed Smith, whom he married on the 27th of August, 1912. She died ơn May 24, 1920. She was also a member of a pioneer family of Detroit, her father, the late Bradford Smith, having been one of the most prominent of the early residents of the city. During the World war the son, George W. Stimson, was a first lieutenant in the air service, lubrication department, later having charge of motor repairs at Indianapolis, Indiana. He was also assistant to Captain May, at Washington, D. C., who developed the new liberty aero oil for the air service.
In his political views Edward I. Stimson is a repub- lican, interested in the welfare and success of the party, but never an aspirant for the honors and emolu-
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ments of public office. He is nevertheless interested in all that pertains to the welfare and progress of his city, his influence being ever on the side of ad- vancement and improvement. He is a prominent Mason, belonging to Palestine Lodge, F. & A. M .; to King Cyrus Chapter, R. A. M .; to Detroit Com- mandery, K. T .; the Old Guard; and to Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His social nature finds expres- sion in his membership in the Ingleside, Old Colony, Brookline Golf, and Detroit Athletic Clubs. His has been a life of diligence and determination and success in substantial measure has come to reward his labors. He has been an interested witness of the growth and development of Detroit, to which he has contributed substantially through his real estate operations, and he is familiar with much of the early history of the city, his reminiscences of former times being most interesting and instructive. His acquaintanceship is wide and has included the prominent men of the city for nearly fifty years. His life has been an ex- emplary one, commanding for him the goodwill and esteem of all with whom he has been associated.
JOHN ENDICOTT. There are times when one watching the marvelous development of industrial en- terprises forgets what an important part is played in the community by the successful conduct of mer- cantile interests which do so much to stabilize trade as well as greatly promoting the comfort and con- venience of the community by meeting its every need and want. Along the most progressive lines has been conducted the large wholesale and retail depart- ment store of the Newcomb-Endicott Company, of which John Endicott is the secretary and treasurer. Studying every phase of the business, keeping in touch with the markets of the world and understanding public demands, he has been instrumental in making this a most progressive establishment and one which has developed in proportion to the rapidly growing industrial interests of Detroit.
Mr. Endicott was born in Beverly, Massachusetts, July 12, 1867, and is a son of Robert Rantoul and Anna Woodbury (Sheldon) Endicott, who were natives of New England, where they spent their lives. For many years the father was a prominent merchant of Beverly and later became president of the Beverly National Bank, directing its affairs for an extended period. He there passed away September 4, 1915, at the advanced age of eighty-three years, while his wife died on the 6th of February of the same year when seventy years of age. In their family were seven children, John being the eldest, and four of the number are still living, a brother and two sisters, namely: Arthur Lovett, who resides in Brookline, Massachusetts; Agnes Woodbury and Margaret, both of Beverly.
After completing his high school education at Bev- erly, John Endicott entered the Phillips Exeter Acad- emy of Exeter, New Hampshire, from which he was
graduated with the class of 1885. He then matricu- lated in Harvard University, in which he pursued a literary course, being numbered among the alumni of the class of 1889. Turning to the west as a field of labor, he became an employe of the Union Pacific Railroad Company at Omaha, Nebraska, and at Sioux City, Iowa, being engaged in clerical work at both places through the period to 1891. He then came to Detroit and entered the dry goods house of his uncle, Charles Endicott, and C. A. Newcomb. Upon the death of his uncle the business was incorporated, be- coming the Newcomb-Endicott Company, of which Mr. Endicott was made secretary and treasurer, and this position he has filled throughout the intervening pe- riod. They now have one of the largest department stores in the country. They have recently erected an extensive addition which has greatly increased their facilities, enabling them to handle a much larger stock and take care of a constantly growing trade. In addition to his commercial interests Mr. Endicott is a director of the Merchants National Bank of Detroit.
On the 15th of August, 1893, was celebrated the marriage of John Endicott and Miss Elizabeth Watson of Detroit, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Watson. She passed away October 15, 1900, and on the 9th of August, 1902, Mr. Endicott wedded Mary Elizabeth Booth, daughter of John and Emily (Mckinley) Booth. Three children have been born of this marriage: Rob- ert Rantoul, who was born in Detroit, February 14, 1905, like his father, attended the Phillips Exeter Academy, being a member of the class of 1922; Eliza- beth Thorndyke, born July 21, 1907, is attending the high school of Birmingham, Michigan; Ruth, born November 28, 1909, is also a public school pupil there.
Mr. Endicott has always been a lover of pure blooded stock and has long maintained a fine farm at Birming- ham, Michigan, where he resides, and where he has raised Hackney horses. He continued in the business to a recent date, when the growth of the automobile indus- try caused him to turn his attention to the breeding and raising of pure bred Guernsey cattle and he today has one of the finest herds of the west upon his farm. For a number of years he was a prominent figure in connection with the development of the Michigan State Fair, where he was in charge of the horse department. Mr. Endicott is the treasurer of the Detroit Driving Club, the chairman of the Retail Clearing Association of Detroit and was a trustee and the treasurer of the Bloomfield Hills school until the outbreak of the World war, when such school was discontinued. He is a humanitarian in the deepest and best sense of the term and has ever displayed a practical phil- anthropy that has prompted him to extend a helping hand wherever aid is needed. He belongs to the Detroit Athletic Club, to the Bloomfield Hills Country Club and to the Bloomfield Open Hunt and his in- terest in Detroit's welfare, progress and advance- ment is indicated in his membership in the Board of Commerce. His public work has been of an important
JOHN ENDICOTT
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character, his private business interests have been extensive and profitable and in every relation of life he has won the high respect of all with whom he has come into contact. There is no better evidence of the character and qualities of the man than his popu- larity with the employes of the Newcomb-Endicott Company.
ROBERT H. JESSUP is a native of the Keystone state, born in Montrose, Pennsylvania, August 29, 1872, a son of Huntting C. and Nina M. (Cobb) Jessup. Huntting C. Jessup was a son of Hon. Wil- liam Jessnp, LL.D., and was for a long period a well known lawyer in Susquehanna county, Pennsylvania, his ancestors having eventually settled there after coming from England about 1640. The Cobb family settled in Tennessee and Kentucky and the maternal grandfather of Robert H. Jessup, Dr. Joshua Cobb, was a brother of Robert Cobb, grandfather of the well known writer, Irvin Cobb.
Robert H. Jessup was educated in the public and high schools of Montrose, later at the Woods Business College, Scranton, Pennsylvania. After leaving the business college, he was employed as a bookkeeper for a brief period, and for a comparatively short time later on he was employed in a store in Binghamton, New York. Mr. Jessup then returned to Montrose, where he took up life insurance and also engaged in the study of law in the office of his father and his uncle, Hon. William H. Jessup, being subsequently admitted to the bar of Susquehanna county in 1896.
In 1897 Mr. Jessup moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania, and remained there until 1911, engaged in life and general insurance business. Later he went to Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania, where he was connected with the home office of a life insurance company for a short time; from 1911 to 1913 he was in New York city, in accident, life, health, and general insurance. It was in 1913 that Mr. Jessup came to Detroit as man- ager of the accident and health department of the Detroit Insurance Agency, with which he has been identified ever since. He also writes general insur- ance in addition to his managerial duties, and has been successful in building up a profitable business and a reputation for probity. He is recognized as one of the progressive insurance men in this part of the state.
In 1898 Mr. Jessup was married to Miss Agnes Scott of Montrose, Pennsylvania.
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ERNST C. AND OTTO KERN. Adaptability, force- fulness and resourcefulness are numbered among the salient characteristics of both Erust C. and Otto Kern, who are today at the head of one of the big retail department stores of Michigan. The name of the Ernst Kern Company is known throughout this sec- tion of the country and through carefully laid plans and wise management the business has been developed until it now occupies three-fourths of the block from
State and Woodward north, and within the next five years the entire block will be covered by the build- ings of the Kern Company, which already stand as a monument to the efforts and enterprise of Ernst C. and Otto Kern, who are constantly reaching out along broadening lines of usefulness in mercantile circles. The two brothers were born in Germany, their parents being Ernst and Marie (Held) Kern, who came to the United States in early life. The mother arrived in Detroit in 1846 but afterward returned to Europe in 1870. Ernst Kern had returned to Germany in 1867 and they were married in 1872. In 1883 they came again to this country and the Ernst Kern store of Detroit was established at the corner of Randolph and Monroe streets. There the trade soon outgrew its quarters, for by fair and honest methods a liberal patronage was soon secured and the house gained a reputation for progressiveness and reliability that it has never lost in all the intervening years. Forced to seek larger quarters, a removal was made in 1897 to the corner of State and Woodward avennes, where the business has since enjoyed a steady and healthful growth. It has been found necessary by the suc- cessors of the founder to erect the modern department store building in Detroit that now features promi- nently in the commercial circles of the city. Addi- tions have been built from time to time and ground has been acquired, so that within a few more years the company will have the entire block, which will be devoted to the Kern stores. The father passed away in Detroit in 1901, but the mother is still a resident of this city.
The family numbered four children: Ernst C. was born July 7, 1875, while Otto was born October 10, 1880. They acquired their education in the schools of this city but afterward returned to Germany, where they remained for several years, their educational training being completed in that country. When they returned to America they entered the business estab- lished by their father. However, parental authority was not exercised to gain their advancement, for their promotions have been won through individual effort and ability. They worked their way steadily upward through various departments, eventually being called to official duties, and in 1901 they became the successors of their father in the business, which is now conducted under the name of the Ernst Kern Company. This is a partnership concern, carried on by the two brothers. Such has been the rapid devel- opment of the business that they today employ seven hundred people. The record of the brothers stands in verification of the fact that from humble clerkships have sprung some of the leading merchants of the country, their adaptability enabling them to master all of the intricate and involved commercial problems which have confronted them.
In 1917 Ernst C. Kern was married to Miss Florence Ryan, a native of Detroit, and they have one child, Ernestine Marie, born March 1, 1921. The parents
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are prominently known in the social circles of the city and Mr. Kern belongs to the Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Club, the Detroit Golf Club, the Bloomfield Hills Country Club and the Harmonie So- ciety.
Otto Kern was married January 5, 1913, to Kather- ine Helen Hughes, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. S. Hughes of Seattle, Washington, and they have four children: Ernst Frederick, Richard, Marie Louise and Otto Edward.
Otto Kern is a member of the Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Club, the Bloomfield Hills Country Club and the Oakland Hills Country Club. In fact the in- terests and associations of the brothers are almost one. Their example is one of value to the youth who is seeking to acquaint himself with methods that will prove effective in the attainment of honorable pros- perity. There have been no esoteric phases in their career. They have worked diligently and persistently, displaying splendid powers of organization, and as the years have passed they have accomplished important and far-reaching results, contributing in no small degree to the expansion and material growth of the city, and from which they themselves have also derived substantial benefit.
JERE CHAMBERLAIN HUTCHINS, chairman of the board of directors of the Detroit United Railway, was born in Carroll parish of Louisiana on the 13th of October, 1853, his parents being Anthony W. and Mary B. (Chamberlain) Hutchins, the former a native of Mississippi and a representative of one of the old southern families, while the latter was born in Penn- sylvania. For many years Anthony W. Hutchins prospered as a planter of Louisiana and soon after the birth of his son, Jere C., he removed to Missouri, where he was again identified with extensive agri- cultural interests to the time of his demise.
After mastering the branches of learning taught in the public schools of Lexington, Missouri, Jere C. Hutchins continued his education under a private tutor, who instructed him in the academic courses. When seventeen years of age he began the study of civil engineering under the direction of Major Morris, a leading representative of the profession, taking up the work with the contagious enthusiasm which has always marked his every endeavor. He assisted in the construction work on the Missouri division of the Gulf & Lexington Railroad and was afterward connected with the engineering work of the Kansas Pacific, the Kansas & Texas and the Texas Pacific Railroads, representing each as a construction engineer. He was twenty-three years of age when in 1876 he went to Waco, Texas, and abandoning the civil engineering profession, became a representative of the reportorial staff of the Waco Examiner, of which he was subsequently made editor. He also acted as the Texas correspondent for various New Orleans and New York papers and in his journalistic
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