USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 74
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DUDLEY WETMORE SMITH, president of the Rayl Hardware Company of Detroit and also one of the officials of the Hoskins Manufacturing Company, makers of electric furnaces, was born in Delaware, Ohio, December 10, 1849. Throughout his life he has been identified with the hardware trade and his developing powers have brought him to a position of prominence in this connection. His parents, George Baldwin and Juliette Tryphena (Wetmore) Smith, anxious that he should have the advantages of thorough educational training, sent him to the public schools of Marion, Ohio, and afterward to Kenyon College at Gambier, Ohio. He was a young man of twenty years when he started out in the business world in the employ of the Donnelly, Rayl Company at Wooster, Ohio, in 1869. He was after- ward associated with the hardware firm of E. Rutan & Company' at Greenville, Michigan, and then again became connected with his former employer, Mr. Rayl, with whom he bought out the hardware establishment of Arthur Glover in Detroit in 1875. The business was subsequently organized as the T. B. Rayl Com- pany, of which Mr. Smith became the secretary and treasurer, thus serving until 1909, and today he is the president of the Rayl Hardware Company, which for almost a half century has conducted one of the most important and extensive enterprises of this char- acter in Detroit.
On the 13th of February, 1878, Mr. Smith was married to Miss Susan E. Beard, and they became the parents of a daughter, Elizabeth. The wife and mother passed away February 14, 1919. Mr. Smith
is a golf enthusiast and is a member of the Detroit Golf Club. He also belongs to the Detroit Athletic, Detroit Boat and Detroit Clubs. He is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, of the Ohio Society, of the Sons of the American Revolution and of the Society of Colonial Wars. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and he has never been neglectful of the duties of citizenship. His religious faith is that of the Protestant Episcopal church and he is now senior warden and treasurer of St. John's church of Detroit. For forty-five years he has been a resident of the city which is still his home and with the interests of which he has been closely identified, contributing in large measure to the material, intellectual, social and moral progress of the community.
GEORGE EDWARD LEONARD, who since 1911 has been identified with insurance interests and is now occupying the position of auditor with the Ameri- can Life Insurance Company formerly the Northern Assurance Company of Michigan, with offices in De- troit, was born in Argentine, this state, on the 28th of May, 1878, and is a son of Edward F. and Maggie (Berry) Leonard. The removal of his parents to Lin- den, Michigan, during his boyhood days enabled him to continue his education in the schools of that city until graduated from the high school with the class of June, 1899. Further educational opportunities were accorded him and he became a law student in the University of Michigan, where he won his LL. B. degree in 1902. The same year he located for prac- tice in Detroit, where he followed his profession until 1911, in which year he entered insurance circles by accepting the position of auditor with the Amer- ican Life Insurance Company then the Northern Assurance Company of Michigan, in which capa- city he continues, and his capability, fidelity and efficiency are manifest in his connection of more than a decade with the corporation.
On the 27th of November, 1907, Mr. Leonard was united in marriage to Miss Mabel Traphagen of Fenton, and they have become the parents of a son, George Edward, Jr., born December 20, 1908, in De- troit. The religious faith of the parents is that of the Methodist church and Mr. Leonard is also an exemplary representative of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the Knights Templar degree. He is also a member of the Detroit Automobile Club and the Detroit Life Underwriters Association. Dur- ing its existence he gave his political support to the progressive party and then returned to the ranks of the republican party, but the honors and emoluments of office have never had attraction for him as he has always preferred to concentrate his efforts and at- tention upon his business interests.
JOSEPH T. SCHIAPPACASSE, member of the De- troit bar, was born in this city April 21, 1880, and
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is a son of Louis and Rosa (Gardella) Schiappacasse. The father was born in the province of Genoa, Italy, June 26, 1845, and became one of the pioneer Italian residents of Detroit. He was married at Neirone, Italy, in September, 1869, to Rosa Gardella and they became parents of nine children: Anthony, John, Julia, the wife of Anthony Caramella; Joseph T., Ida, the wife of Michael Basso; Mary, the wife of Harry Aldrighetti; Frederick, Louis and Jennie. It was in the year 1870 that Louis Schiappacasse came to the United States and took up his abode in Detroit, where he conducted a retail business until 1888. He then became a wholesale fruit dealer under the style of L. Schiappacasse & Company, developing his busi- ness to extensive proportions. He is the president of the United Fruit Auction Company and a member of the Detroit Produce Exchange. He has made steady progress in his business career through the fifty years of his residence in the new world, eagerly embracing and wisely utilizing the opportunities before him.
In the acquirement of his education Joseph T. Schiappacasse attended St. Peter's and St. Paul's parochial schools of Detroit and was a student in a Jesuit College from 1892 until 1896 and afterward attended St. Mary's College (Jesuit) at St. Mary's, Kansas, where in June, 1899, he won the degree of Master of Arts. His law course was pursued in the University of Michigan, in which he completed his studies in 1902, the LL. B. degree being at that time conferred upon him. In the same year he entered the law office of Bowen, Douglas, Whiting & Murfin of Detroit, and in September, 1904, he opened an office in the Buhl block to engage in the practice of law independently. He has since followed his profession with marked success and now has a large clientele. He belongs to the Detroit, Michigan State and Ameri- can Bar Associations and also to the Lawyers' Club of Detroit and his capability, increasing through his broad study and practice, has gained for him a prom- inent position in his chosen profession.
On the 3Ist of January, 1911, Mr. Schiappacasse was married to Miss Louise Henley of Amherstburg, On- tario. He belongs to the Catholic church and to the Knights of Columbus and he has membership in several of the leading clubs of the city, including the Detroit Golf Club, the Essex County Club of Canada, Plum Hollow Golf Club and Detroit Tennis Club, and he is a director of the Recreation Company and of the Detroit Golf Club.
WALTER SEYMOUR GURD, the president of the Walter S. Gurd Company, accountants and auditors of Detroit, was born in Bristol, England, November 26, 1871, a son of Robert and Jane (Maurice) Gurd, being descended from the Gurds of Dorsetshire and the Sey- mours of Devonshire. In the pursuit of his education he made rapid progress and passed the examination in the College of Preceptors at Bristol when only twelve and a half years of age. He had previously attended
All Saints College at Clifton, England, and before leaving his native land he became a public accountant of that country.
It was in November, 1903, when about thirty-two years of age, that Walter S. Gurd came to the new world, establishing his home in Detroit, where he has since engaged in business as an auditor and account- ant, ultimately organizing the Walter S. Gurd Com- pany, of which he is the president.
On the 10th of June, 1906, Mr. Gurd was married to Miss Edith Elmira Granger of Berlin township, St. Clair county, Michigan. For recreation he has turned to soccer football and cricket and has also found pleasure and relaxation in his association with various fraternal societies and clubs. He is a past grand president of the St. George Society of Michigan, belongs to the Old Colony Club, the Fellowcraft Ath- letic Club, to the Board of Commerce, and is a fellow of the Corporation of Accountants of Great Britain, having been admitted to fellowship November 9, 1910. He passed the degree examination in 1903. His religious faith is that of the Episcopal church, and his political allegiance has always been given to the re- publican party. His keen interest in the success of the allied and American forces during the great World war was manifest in active and patriotic support of many measures which were of great value in connec- t'on with the war. He was the president of the De- troit auxiliary Canadian patriotic fund, was the secretary of the British Recruiting Committee of De- troit and the secretary of the Allies Relief Committee of Detroit. His interest in the welfare and progress of his adopted city has been manifest in many ways, particularly in his cooperation with the Detroit Board of Commerce. He is past grand president of the Mich- igan Society of St. George and a member of the Ad- v'sory council of the British and Canadian Patriotic Somi-tv. He is also trustee for the British-American War Veterans Association.
LINEAS IRVIN HALSEY is the secretary of the National Loan & Investment Company of Detroit, in which connection he has been active in the develop- ment and growth of a business that has not only been a source of individual prosperity but also an element of vast worth to many of Detroit's citizens. Pos- sessing excellent powers of organization, combined with initiative and enterprise, Mr. Halsey has con- tributed largely to the growth of the business con- trolled by his company. He was born at Warren, Macomb county, Michigan, July 17, 1861, and is a son of Silas E. and Martha A. (Benson) Halsey, natives of New York and Vermont, respectively. In early life they came to Michigan with their parents, the father being a son of Elisha W. and Magdalena Halsey, who were also natives of the Empire state, while the maternal grandparents, Orin A. and Maria Benson, were born in Vermont. They, too, took up their abode in Detroit at an early period in the de-
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velopment of this city. Silas E. Halsey was reared to manhood in Michigan and entered mercantile lines but with the outbreak of the Civil war he responded to the country's call for troops, enlisting as a member of Company A, Twenty-second Infantry, with which he served during the greater part of the war, and for fifteen months he was incarcerated in Libby and other southern prisons, meeting with all of the hardships and experiences of southern prison life during that period. When the war was over he again became con- nected with mercantile pursuits and was thus engaged in business to the time of his death, which ocenrred in Owosso, Michigan, in 1908. The mother still sur- vives, as do four children born of this marriage, namely: Lineas Irvin; Mrs. R. S. Knight of Bay City, Michigan; Mrs. Z. H. Ross of Battle Creek; and Mrs. F. J. Beardsley of Lansing.
In his boyhood Lineas Irvin Halsey attended the schools of Utica, Michigan, becoming a high school pupil there, after which he began work in his father's store, being thus employed until his twenty-second year. He then established business on his own account at Utica, Michigan, where he successfully conducted his interests for several years. He then sold out and opened a store in Tawas City, Michigan, where he continued for a number of years and then disposed of his mercantile interests at that place to accept a position with the state government, being in the office of the secretary of state, in charge of the building and loan department. He served in that position until 1910, when he resigned and became connected with the National Loan & Investment Com- pany of Detroit as its secretary. He has since acted in that capacity with credit and the company is now operating under the Michigan building and loan laws. His former experience in the office of the sec- retary of state well qualified him for the work which he took up in this connection and his efforts have constituted a potent force in the growth of the com- pany. In addition to his operations as secretary of the National Loan & Investment Company, Mr. Halsey is a director of the Peninsular Fruit Company, with holdings in upper Michigan.
On the 18th of July, 1884, Mr. Halsey was married to Miss Ida R. Ladd of Lansing, Michigan, who passed away in Lansing in April, 1917. She was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. George R. Ladd of Utica. There were two children of that marriage: Winford L., born in Utica, Michigan, in 1887, attended the public schools of that city and the Lansing high school and is now an employe at the Olds Motor works in Lansing. He married Miss Ethel Henderson of Owosso and they have one child, Marguerite; George E., born in Lansing in 1909, is an invalid. On July 2, 1918, Mr. Halsey was married to Mrs. Dollie Whitmore Church.
Fraternally Mr. Halsey is connected with the Ma- sons and has taken the chapter degrees. He belongs to the Detroit Board of Commerce and is interested
in all those forces which make for progress and im- provement in the city and for the upholding of its civic standards. His friends, and they are many, bear testimony to his worth as a business man and as a citizen.
EDWARD JOSEPH CORBETT is one of the promi- nent wholesale coal dealers of Detroit and is equally well known as a representative of large mining in- terests. Keen discernment in business affairs, well defined plans and persistency of purpose have been vital forces in the attainment of the position of lead- ership which he now occupies in connection with the coal trade of the state, while his constantly expand- ing powers have enabled him to find ready solution for intricate business problems.
Edward J. Corbett was born at Groveport, Franklin county, Ohio, March 23, 1865, his parents being Michael and Honora (McGrath) Corbett, both of whom were natives of County Limerick, Ireland. The father came with his young wife to America in 1851, the year of their marriage, and in 1853 purchased a farm near Groveport, Ohio, whereon he made his home for a time, but afterward removed to the village, where he and his wife continued to reside until 1901, in which year Michael Corbett passed away. In that locality he had very successfully followed agricultural pursuits and for many years had been engaged in public contract work. He had become one of the largest taxpayers of the village of Groveport and in the later years of his life he lived retired from active business, enjoying the fruits of his former toil. Franklin county numbered him among her promi- nent and influential citizens and at all times he commanded the unqualified respect of all who knew him. He was practically the founder of the Catholic church in Groveport, of which both he and his wife were devout communicants and liberal supporters. He was also an earnest advocate of the democratic party and matters of public concern were always of vital interest to him.
Edward J. Corbett pursued his education in the schools of Groveport, Ohio, until graduated from the high school with the class of 1882. He afterward attended the Columbus Business College and com- pleted his course there by graduation in 1884. In the following year, when a young man of twenty, he became secretary to the general superintendent of the Columbus & Cincinnati Midland Railroad, occu- pying that position for three years, when he resigned to become secretary to the northwestern manager of the Columbus & Hocking Coal & Iron Company at Ashland, Wisconsin, where he resided for a year. The office of the manager was then transferred to Chicago and there Mr. Corbett discharged the duties of secre- tary for two years, on the expiration of which period he resigned his position to engage in the coal trade on his own account, becoming one of the organizers of the firm of H. D. Turney & Company. A year
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later, or in 1891, he organized the firm of Arthur Connor & Company as a branch of H. D. Turney & Company and as a member of the new concern opened offices in the Hodges building in Detroit. In 1894 he retired from that connection to engage independently in the wholesale coal business and has since conducted his interests under his own name. His offices since 1907 have been at 1014 to 1017 Majestic building. His home is at 37 Pallister avenue. He is today one of the leading wholesale dealers in coal in Detroit and since 1894 he has purchased interests in several coal mining companies, largely handling their products in connection with the wholesale trade. Something of the range and importance of his activities is indi- cated in the fact that he is president of the Royal Coal Mining Company of Brilliant, Ohio, president of the Security Mortgage Corporation, Detroit; also di- rector and vice president of the Red Run Land Com- pany, and the Grosse Pointe Development Company, and director of the Detroit Athletic Club Garage, the Federal Casualty Company, the First Timber Holding Company, the Peninsular Fruit Company and the Little Wonder Stove Company.
In politics Mr. Corbett is a republican where na- tional issues are involved but at local elections casts an independent ballot. He is a valued and active member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, has served as a member of its board of directors and its trans- portation committee and manifests keen interest at all times in the plans and purposes of that organization to advance the commercial and civic interests of Detroit. He belongs to the Detroit Club, Detroit Athletic Club, the Country Club, Detroit Automobile club and the Detroit Yacht Club, and the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club. He is also a member of the Knights of Columbus and he and his family are com- municants of the Catholic church, having their mem- bership in the cathedral parish of SS. Peter and Paul.
Mr. Corbett was married on the 25th of July, 1907, to Miss Anna Dyer, a native of Palms, Sanilae county, Michigan, and a daughter of John and Mary (Mahon) Dyer. Mr. and Mra. Corbett have two children: Ed- ward Joseph, Jr., born May 12, 1908; and Katherine Anna, born December 12, 1910.
JOHN M. DONALDSON, senior partner in the firm of Donaldson & Meier, long occupying a prominent position among the eminent architects of Detroit and the state, had the advantage of extensive foreign atudy at the outset of his career and since that time has made steady progress until he now occupies a notably enviable position among the architects of the middle west.
A native of Scotland, John M. Donaldson was born in the old historie town of Sterling, January 17, 1854, his parents being John W. and Isabella (McNaughton) Donaldson, who, crossing the Atlantic in 1856, took up their abode in Detroit in the same year but sub- sequently removed to St. Clair, Michigan. John M. Donaldson was but two years of age when the family
home was established in Detroit, so that he pursued his early education in the public schools of the city. He early manifested marked talent in drawing and soon evinced a decided taste for architecture, in fact from his boyhood days it has been of the keenest interest to him and he decided to cultivate this innate trait as a step to a successful career. He was yet in his teens when he entered the office of J. V. Smith, one of the early architects of Detroit, and after spending some time in that office he went abroad, studying art and architecture in the Polytechnic and Art Academy at Munich, Germany, and in Atelier André of the École des Beaux Arts of Paris. His training was most thorough and comprehensive and gave him a splendid foundation upon which to build success in later life. With his return to the United States in 1877 he took charge of the office of George Metzger of Buffalo, New York, there remaining for a year. He then again took up his abode in Detroit, where he became associated with Henry T. Brush, their connection being maintained until the death of Mr. Brush in 1879. In the following year Mr. Don- aldson entered into a partnership relation under the style of Donaldson & Meier and has remained the senior partner in this firm, which from the beginning has enjoyed a notable clientage and a well earned reputation as one of the foremost firms in this line of work in the state. In 1915 his son, Alexander G. Donaldson, was admitted to a partnership, having graduated in architecture from Cornell University, with the class of 1907. Many of Detroit's finest structures stand as monuments to the professional ability of John M. Donaldson, who drew the plans and superintended the construction of the Union Trust building, the Penobscot building, the Peoples Bank building, the Wayne County & Home Bank building, the Washington Arcade building, the Ste. Claire Ho- tel and many buildings outside of Detroit, including the Alumni Memorial Hall of the University of Mich- igan.
On the 30th of November, 1882, Mr. Donaldson was married to Mrs. C. (Grosvenor) Brush and they have three sons: Fred F., Alexander G. and Bruce M. Mr. Donaldson is a member of the Detroit Boat Club, the Detroit Club, the Detroit Board of Com- merce, the Detroit Museum of Art, the American Civic Association, the National Institute of Arts and Letters, the Architectural League of America and the Ameri- can Institute of Architects, of which he has served as a director. He has been the president of the De- troit Museum of Art and also of the Detroit City Plan and Improvement Commission. He is a member of the National Council of Fine Arts and the National Sculpture Society of New York and through these connections has constantly broadened his knowledge concerning art and its beauties. The profession which he chose as a life work has been numbered among the seven fine arts of the world and by reason of his study at home and abroad he has learned to embody
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the highest artistic principles iu all of his work and through his activities has contributed much to the beauty of Detroit.
E. FOSTER MORETON. The name of Moreton has long been a prominent one in commercial circles of Detroit and E. Foster Moreton of this review, who represents the third generation of the family in this city, is now ably conducting the cartage business established by his father in 1871. While it is true that he came to a business already established, he has demonstrated in its control that he has the same executive power and keen discrimination between the essential and non-essential which characterized his father.
Mr. Moreton was born at No. 47 Baker street, in Detroit, January 26, 1876, and is a representative of one of the oldest pioneer families in the state. His parents were Edward H. and Agnes (Johnson) More- ton, the former also a native of this city, his birth having occurred on the spot here he subsequently started his business and where the offices of his son are now located. He was of Irish descent and a son of James Moreton, who became purser on the steamer Morning Star, owned by the Detroit & Cleveland Navi- gation Company. This vessel was subsequently wrecked on Lake Erie, at which time James Moreton lost his life, and during the entire business career of the company this was the only one of its steamers which it ever lost. Edward Johnson, the maternal grandfather of the subject of this review, was of English descent and became one of the early pioneers of Detroit, conducting the Miners' Home at the foot of Woodward avenue and subsequently operating a brewery at the corner of Sixth street and Michigan avenue.
In the public schools of his native city E. Foster Moreton acquired his education and on putting aside his textbooks he joined his father in the cartage busi- ness which the latter had established. On the death of Edward H. Moreton his son purchased the interests of the other heirs and has since been sole owner of the business, which is located at No. 811 Howard street, at the old George H. Hammond homestead, the buildings being one hundred and fifty by one hundred and fifty feet in dimensions. The business is an extensive one and ranks with the leading enterprises of the kind in the city. Mr. Moreton is displaying strong business ability in the management of the in- terests built up by his father's constructive genius and his work sustains the enterprising spirit that has long been synonymous with the name in Detroit. He gives careful oversight to every phase of the business and his initiative spirit has enabled him to formulate plans which have resulted in its substantial growth and development. Mr. Moreton has been president of the Detroit Transportation Association since its or- ganization in 1919.
Mr. Moreton was united in marriage to Miss Helen
E. Jones of Detroit, and they have become the parents of three daughters: Florence Agnes, Helen Virginia and Grace Elizabeth. The first named is the wife of Frank F. Holznagle, and they have two children, Frank F., Jr., and Jean Elizabeth. In his political views Mr. Moreton is a republican and his religious faith is indicated by his membership in St. Peter's Episcopal church, of which his father served as war- den in association with Hon. William C. Maybnry. He is a prominent Mason, holding membership in Pal- estine Lodge, F. & A. M .; in Michigan Sovereign Con- sistory, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree, and in Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is a member of the Exchange Club. In the con- duet of his business affairs he displays sound judg- ment, energy and enterprise, while as a citizen he is loyal and public-spirited and he is worthily sustaining the traditions of an honored family name.
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