USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 79
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THOMAS FRANKLIN FERGUSON, president and general manager of the firm of E. B. Gallagher & Company, wholesale dealers in bakers' and confec- tioners' supplies, has been identified with this busi- ness since coming to Detroit in 1909. He was at that time about thirty years of age, his birth having occurred in Springfield, Missouri, July 20, 1879, his parents being John R. and Virginia (Smith) Ferguson. He pursued his education in the public schools of his native city and started out in the business world in connection with banking in Springfield, where he figured in financial circles for seven years. He then turned his attention to the cigar trade, in which he continued for two years, and in 1909 he removed to Detroit. Here throughout the intervening period he has been identified with the firm of E. B. Galla- gher & Company. He was the secretary and treasurer for seven years and in 1916 was elected president and general manager and as such is now active in the control of an extensive business in wholesale bakers' and confectioners' supplies. He thoroughly under- stands the trade in every particular and has ever recognized the fact that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement. He has therefore put forth effective effort in upbuilding the trade and his enterprise and determination have enabled him to accomplish sub- stantial results, for in his vocabulary there is no such word as fail aud obstacles in his path have seemed but to serve as au impetus for renewed effort on his part.
On the 8th of December, 1900, Mr. Ferguson was married to Miss Hilma Stonebreaker of Springfield,
and they have two children: Gertrude Marie and William Francis. The parents are members of the Christian church aud Mr. Ferguson is a republican in his political belief. He belongs to the Transporta- tion Club and is much interested in the national game of baseball. He also belongs to the Detroit Yacht Club and through these various connections maintains an even balance in the activities of life. His position in business circles, too, is indicated by the fact that he has served as a member of the executive commit- tee of the wholesalers bureau of the Board of Com- merce and is a member of the executive committee of the National Bakers' Supply House.
LYLE D. TABOR, one of the younger represent- atives of the Detroit bar who is already fast forging to the front, was born at Duplain, Clinton county, Michigan, January 31, 1890, his parents being George A. and Bernice M. (Darling) Tabor, who were like- wise natives of Clinton county, where they resided until 1896 and then removed to Pickford, Chippewa county, Michigan, where the father had a government contract to carry the rural mail. There he and his wife still reside. They have reared a family of five children: Lyle D., Aura, Ireue, Elsie and Miriam, the four youngest being residents of Pickford.
In early life Lyle D. Tabor attended the public schools of Pickford until he had completed the eighth grade work. When thirteen years of age he entered the Sault Ste. Marie high school, from which he was graduated at the age of fifteen. He then entered the government service in connection with the en- gineering department, being thus employed for two years. He afterward resigned to enter the Detroit College of Law, for it was his desire to become a member of the bar. He was graduated from that institution with the LL. B. degree in 1913, after which he joined the law firm of Payne, Tabor & Gornetzky with offices in the Ford building in Detroit. Thus he received his initial experience in law practice and in the fall of 1914 he became a member of the firm of Payne & Tabor, an association that was successfully continued until 1916, when Mr. Tabor withdrew and has since practiced independently. He has made rapid progress as a representative of the bar and he belongs to the Detroit Bar Association and to the Lawyers Club.
In June, 1918, Mr. Tabor enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve and was sent to the Great Lakes training station near Chicago. After the armistice was signed he was discharged and returned to Detroit to resume the practice of law.
On the 27th of June, 1916, Mr. Tabor was married to Miss Maragret A. Loobey, daughter of John Loobey of Toronto, where he still makes his home. The mother, however, has passed away. Mr. Tabor has membership in the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Palestine Lodge, Palestine Chapter and Detroit Com- mandery, also Moslem Temple of the Mystie Shrine.
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He is likewise a member of the Fellowcraft Athletic Club and of the American Legion, becoming the first department adjutant of the Legion in Michigan. In politics he is a republican.
ALBERT F. PUDRITH, president of the Albert F. Pudrith Company, was born in the city of New York, February 12, 1868, but has lived in Detroit practically all his life, his parents having moved to this city when he was quite young. He received his early education in the schools of Detroit, but his ad- vantages in this regard were greatly restricted because circumstances forced him out of school and compelled him to take up the labors of life at the early age of ten years. From his tenth to his fifteenth year he worked along with men from seven in the morning until ten and eleven o'clock at night. During those five years he was employed by Leonard Laurence in the manufacture of picture moldings. During the following six years he worked at the sheet metal and roofing trades and learned them thoroughly.
In 1889, at the age of twenty-one, he started in business for himself and laid the foundation of the enterprise which is today the A. F. Pudrith Company, manufacturers and dealers in sheet metal work, and doing a general roofing business at 301 to 311 East Fort street. This company was incorporated in 1911 with Mr. Pudrith as president and majority stock- holder. It is practically a close corporation, and all of its prestige, patronage and capital are the fruits of Mr. Pudrith's labors and business ability. In the autumn of 1919, he doubled the capacity of his plant, which fact, of itself, is a good indication of the prosperity of the business and the able management of its president.
Mr. Pudrith takes a warm interest in civic affairs and is a member of nearly all of the important clubs in the city, among them the Ingleside Club, the Detroit Athletic Club, the American Protective League, which distinguished itself during the World war for patriotic zeal; the Detroit Curling Club and the Detroit Board of Commerce. He has been a director of the Builders & Traders Exchange, and was president for a year of the ex-Directors' Club. He is also a thirty-second degree Mason and is affiliated with City of the Straits Lodge, F. & A. M., the Michigan Sovereign Consistory and Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine.
In 1893 Mr. Pudrith married Louise Reichrath, and they have two children living, both daughters, namely Adele and Dorothy. They had one son, Chester A. Pudrith, born in 1894, who became a young man of much promise. He graduated from Central high school, Detroit, and Dartmouth college, class of 1916. He won the Hon. John Barrett medal at Dartmouth for all-around achievement, was president of his class each year at college, and was very prominent in ath- letics. He enlisted in the Aviation Corps of the American army in May, 1917, almost immediately after the United States entered the World war, entered the
training camp at Fort Sheridan, was commissioned first lieutenant, and was sent to England on his way to the front. In England he met with an accident, in the line of his duty, from the effects of which he died in Lincoln, England, April 30, 1918.
Albert F. Pudrith is a courteous and genial gentle- man, broad-minded in his views of men and things, and is recognized as one of the able and upright busi- ness men whose united energy and ability have made Detroit the dynamic city of America.
EDWARD FROHLICH, who is at the head of the Frohlich Glass Company of Detroit, manufacturers and jobbers of paints and glass, is a native of Mount Carroll, Illinois, and a son of Simon and Hannah (Steinfeld) Frohlich. Spending his youthful days under the parental roof, he there entered the public schools at the usual age and mastered the branches of learning which constituted the curriculum of the public school system of his native city. He also attended high school in Detroit and then entered the University of Michigan. He has been a resident of Detroit since 1882 and has made for himself a credit- able name and place in business circles. For a number of years he was connected with the Detroit City Glass Works and in 1892 was instrumental in establishing the Frohlich Glass Company, manufacturers and job- bers of paints and glass. A substantial business has been developed in this connection. With every phase of the trade Mr. Frohlich is closely associated. He has introduced many modern methods in glass manu- facture and in presenting his product to the trade and the thorough reliability and enterprise of the house are attested in the liberal patronage now ac- corded them.
Mr. Frohlich is married and for thirty-eight years he has been a resident of Detroit. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, also to the Benevolent Pro- tective Order of Elks and is likewise a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce. These interests, however, are made secondary to his business affairs, to which he has given close attention as the years have passed. He has established and developed a splendid manufacturing plant, equipped with the latest improved machinery and turning out a product which finds favor with the public and therefore enjoys a ready sale. They sell to the jobbing trade and have many patrons in various parts of the country, so that the business has become one of the successful productive industries of Detroit.
JOHNSTONE DAVID RICHARDSON. Some men are born with a genius for leadership and to this class belongs Johnstone David Richardson, whose strong powers of organization, executive ability and enterprising spirit have found expression in the de- velopment of one of the most important commercial undertakings in the city of Detroit. He has made a life study of the business in which he is engaged
ALBERT F. PUDRITH
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and as head of the J. D. Richardson Company, cus- toms brokers and foreign freight forwarders, he is controlling the largest enterprise of the kind in the state. He was born in Detroit July 14, 1883, and has here spent his life. His parents were Neville and Carrie (Wilcox) Richardson and in the public schools of the city he acquired his education. His initial business experience was obtained as cash boy in the employ of the firm of Mabley & Goodfellow, with whom he remained for three years. He then secured a sit- uation with W. H. Allison, a well known customs broker of Detroit, for whom he worked for nine years, devoting every energy to learning the business in principle and detail. Feeling that his knowledge was sufficient to warrant an independent venture he was for one year in the business as J. D. Richardson, then he organized the firm of Harrison Brothers & Rich- ardson, which combined the business of Welton & Harrison, customs brokers, established in 1883 and that of Mr. Richardson, and at the end of three years purchased a controlling interest in the business, incorporating his interests. In 1912 the firm name was changed to its present style of the J. D. Rich- ardson Company, of which he is the directing head. Through close application and unerring judgment he has built up a splendid organization, having the best clientele in Detroit, and he has also established agencies in all of the principal cities of the world, thus being able to ship goods from all parts of the globe to any point in the United States, although he con- fines his operations to Detroit and Michigan. He gives special attention to imports, being careful to have all goods fully covered and protected with marine insurance. When the invoices for the goods reach Detroit they are classified in accordance with the prevailing tariff act, their foreign values are com- puted and arrangements are made for the examination of cases and packages by goverment appraisers, great care being taken to insure the prompt and safe delivery of the goods to the consignees. The company also employs experts in customs laws whose legal knowledge enables them to handle cases before the board of United States appraisers and settle disputes between the government appraisers and the importers as to the classification and value of merchandise. To guide and control so extensive and important an enterprise requires a man of keen intellect and marked ability and these qualities are possessed by Mr. Richardson, who finds genuine pleasure in solving intricate and involved business problems.
Mr. Richardson was married August 18, 1910, to Miss Amanda A. Spindler of Detroit and two children have been born to them: Donna Grace, born Jan- uary 6, 1912; and Junior Dwight, born November 2, 1914. Both were born in Detroit.
He is a member of the Episcopal church and is prominent in club and fraternal circles of the city, belonging to Detroit Lodge, No. 34, of the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and for eight years prior
to 1921 was a member of its finance committee, serv- ing during that period as its chairman. He is a Mason of high standing, having membership with City of the Straits Lodge, No. 452, F. & A. M., and in 1918 was chairman of its entertainment committee. He is likewise connected with King Cyrus Chapter, No. 133, R. A. M .; Damascus Commandery, No. 42, K. T., serving as chairman of its entertainment com- mittee in 1920; Michigan Sovereign Consistory; and Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine, being now a member of its entertainment committee. He is a member of the Exporters & Importers Club of De- troit, of which he is serving as a director, 1920-1923, and is also connected with the Detroit Automobile Club, the Oakland Hills Golf & Country Club, the Brooklands Golf & Country Club, Port Huron Golf & Country Club, the Old Colony Club and the Exchange Club, of which he served as a director in 1919. He is a valued member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and has taken an active part in its affairs, acting as chairman of its tariff committee in 1917, while in 1919, 1920 and 1921 he was a member of its foreign trade committee. To the energetic nature and strong mentality of such men as Mr. Richardson are due the splendid development and ever increasing pros- perity of the city. He is a self-made man, deserving all the praise which the term implies, for from an early age he has worked his way upward, placing his dependence upon the substantial qualities of industry, perseverance and integrity. Detroit may well feel proud to claim him as one of her native sons, for his record is a credit and honor to the city.
WILLIAM WOODWARD ADMIRE, manager at De- troit for the Federal Life Insurance Company of Chi- cago, is a native of the neighboring state of Indiana, his birth having occurred in the town of Elizabeth, July 24, 1861. His youthful days were passed in the home of his parents, James Beasley and Rachael (Veatch) Admire, and while under the parental roof he acquired a good common school education. He then took up the study of law, which he followed in the Kent Law School of Chicago, winning the LL. B. degree in 1894. He had further training for import- ant business activity in the Sheldon School of Scien- tific Salesmanship in Chicago in 1910. Long prior to this time, however, he had been an active factor in business life, for at an early age he served as a journeyman printer, stenographer and newspaper cor- respondent in Kansas, covering the period from 1885 until 1892. The year 1891 was also given to magazine writing and to the compilation of Admire's Handbook of Kansas. From 1899 until 1903 he was agency director of the Illinois Life Insurance Company of Chicago and in the latter year became superintendent of the agency department of the American Assurance Company of Philadelphia. He acted in that capacity for seven years and in 1910 became eastern Michigan manager of the State Life Insurance Company of
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Indianapolis at Detroit. He continued to fill that position until 1916 and is now manager of the Federal Life Insurance Company of Chicago. His steady progress and the development of his powers have made him a forceful factor in insurance circles, his agency being the center of large business of this character.
On the 23d of December, 1883, Mr. Admire was married to Miss Emma Smith of Boonville, Indiana, and they have one daughter, Pearle, the wife of C. W. Dileher of Buffalo, New York. Mr. Admire be- longs to the Masouic fraternity, having taken the degrees of both the York and Scottish Rites and of the Mystic Shrine. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and he is unswerving in his loyalty thereto, his study of conditions and political ยท problems bringing him greater assurance of the value of the republican platform as a basis of good gov- ernment.
WILLIAM MAURICE MERTZ, for more than twenty years an active representative of the Michigan bar, practicing in Detroit, was born at Burnettsville, Indiana, January 15, 1871, his parents being Daniel A. and Sarah (Sieber) Mertz. At the usual age he entered the public schools of his native city and after- ward had the benefit of instruction in Mount Morris (Il).) College, from which he was graduated with the class of 1890. Taking up the profession of teaching, he was for two years thus identified with a country school of Indiana but regarded this merely as an initial step to other professional labor and entered the University of Michigan in preparation for a pro- fessional career. He won the Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1896 and then entered upon the study of law, gaining the LL. B. degree as one of the alumni of the Detroit College of Law in 1899. His early ex- periences had been those of the farm bred boy, but laudable ambition prompted him to turn his attention in other directions and following his graduation he became instructor in English and history in the Cen- tral high school of Detroit, occupying that position for three years, during which time he devoted his evenings to law study. He also attended the summer session of the law department of the University of Michigan and since his graduation has continuously practiced in Detroit, opening an office here in Octo- ber, 1899. For a part of this time he has been an instructor in oratory in the Detroit College of Law. He is himself a most able speaker and is a clear and consistent reasoner, strong in argument and in debate.
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On the 21st of April, 1906, in St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Mertz was married to Miss Lois Atwood Ferguson, a daughter of the late William Herman and Georgiana D. (Anderson) Ferguson. They have two children: Virginia Ferguson and William Maurice, Jr., the lat- ter born December 25, 1908. Mr. Mertz is a member of the Brethren church. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and during the war
period he aided in promoting the second, third, fourth and fifth Liberty Loan drives and was also a member of the patriotic fund committee. He is well known and popular in the Detroit Athletic Club and the Lochmoor Club and belongs also to the Detroit Law- yers' Club and to the Detroit Bar Association. He is likewise connected with the Young Men's Christian Association and for recreation he turns to farming and outdoor diversions. He certainly deserves much credit for what he has accomplished. He is not only a self-made but also a self-educated man, for he owes his college courses to his own exertions. Prompted by a laudable ambition to make the most of his time, his talents and his opportunities, he has steadily pro- gressed and his course is one well worthy of emulation.
WYLIE WELLING CARHARTT has displayed in the course of an active business carcer those qualities which have made the name of Carhartt widely known throughout the country in connection with cotton manufacturing. Michigan numbers him among her native sons. He was born at Grand Rapids, January 22, 1885, his parents being Hamilton and Annette (Welling) Carhartt, mentioned at length on another page of this work. Brought to Detroit in his infancy, he here pursued his education until he had completed a course in the Detroit University school. He then entered Yale and won his Bachelor of Arts degree within the classic walls of that old institution in 1908. Since the beginning of his active career he has been associated with the Hamilton Carhartt Cotton Mills, manufacturers of overalls. It is true that he entered upon a business already established, but the thorough- ness with which he has mastered every phase of the enterprise has been a contributing factor to the con- tinued growth and development of the undertaking. He is now the vice president of the Hamilton Carhartt Cotton Mills of Detroit and also the president of the Hamilton Carhartt Cotton Mills of Toronto, Canada.
On the 7th of September, 1907, Mr. Carhartt was married to Miss Isabel Patterson, of New York, and they are the parents of two sons: Wylie Welling, Jr .; and James Neale. The religious faith of the family is that of the Episcopal church and in political belief Mr. Carhartt is a republican. He is identified with the Detroit Board of Commerce and is a stanch sup- porter of its well defined plans and projects for the development and upbuilding of the city. He belongs to the Zeta Psi, a college fraternity, and is a well known member of the Country, University, Detroit and Lochmoor Clubs.
WILLIAM N. McLENNAN, president and treasurer of the City Lumber Company of Detroit, was born in Port Rowan, Ontario, April 29, 1865, his parents being John and Marian A. (Hornby) McLennan. His educa- tional opportunities were those afforded by the public schools of Bay City, Michigan, for during his early life his parents came to this state, taking up their
WILLIAM M. MERTZ
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abode in Bay City in 1868. When his school days were over he became associated with his father in the lumber business and that association was main- tained from 1887 until 1897. On the expiration of the decade William N. McLennan established a lumber business on his own account in Bay City and in 1905 he identified his interests with the lumber trade of Detroit by becoming secretary, treasurer and manager of the City Lumber Company. In May, 1906, he re- moved to this city and has since concentrated his efforts and attention upon the further development of the business. In 1919 he was elected president of the company and continues to fill the position of treasurer. In 1914 he also became the secretary of the National Paint and Roofing Company. His asso- ciate officers in the City Lumber Company are his brother, J. M. McLennan, who is the vice president, and T. E. Stinson, who is the secretary.
In early manhood William N. McLennan was for eleven years a member of the Michigan National Guard, serving as first lieutenant of Company C, Third Regiment, and also as quartermaster of the regiment. He has always been keenly interested in the welfare and progress of community, commonwealth and coun- try, and to the end of assisting Detroit in her progress, the extension of her business relations and the main- tenance of high civic standards, he has become a mem- ber of the Detroit Board of Commerce.
At Tonawanda, New York, in 1894, Mr. McLennan was united in marriage to Miss Helen A. Ayrault, and they have become parents of three children: William N., Miles A., attending a technical college at Pasadena, California; and Mary T. The son, William N. MeLennan, Jr., died November 23, 1918, at Cleveland, Ohio, at the age of twenty years, while in the naval service of the United States. The parents are members of the Woodward Avenne Presbyterian church, consistently following its teachings and doing all in their power to promote the work of the church and extend its influence. Politically Mr. McLennan is a republican and fraternally is a thirty-second degree Mason, being a member of Jappa Lodge, F. & A. M., Bay City Chapter R. A. M., Bay City Council, R. & S. M., and the Conisitory at Bay City, Michigan, Detroit Commandery No. I, Knights Tem- plar, and Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is likewise well known in club circles as a member of the Fellowcraft Athletic, Ingleside, Masonic Coun- try and Detroit Automobile Clubs, while in trade organizations he has a wide acquaintance, belonging to the State Lumbermen's Association, the National Lumbermen's Association and the Employers' Asso- ciation.
ANDREW LORNE MALOTT, a representative and successful business man of wide experience, is actively identified with real estate and insurance interests as a member of the firm of McKerchey & Malott of De- troit, which is extensively engaged in the leasing
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