The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III, Part 80

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 80

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and selling of central business properties. He is a native of Kingsville, Ontario, Canada, but when a lad of seven years was brought by his parents to Detroit, where he has remained to the present time. His education was obtained in the public schools of this city and when a youth of fourteen he went to work in the old Eaton & Mains book store, being thus employed for two years. He then learned type- setting and became a journeyman printer on the Mich- igan Christian Advocate, with which he continued for five years, while the following three years were spent in post office service. Subsequently he was associated with Homer Warren in the conduct of a real estate business until 1918. In May of that year he enlisted for service in the World war, was made chief secretary of the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation of the Twenty-ninth Division, A. E. F., and had charge of all the work with that combat division in France. It was in July, 1919, that he returned to Detroit and embarked in the real estate business as an independent operator. On the Ist of January, 1920, however, he became a partner in the firm of Me- Kerchey & Malott, specialists in business property. They have since engaged in the leasing and selling of central business properties on an extensive scale and also conduet a most excellent insurance department, handling all kinds of insurance except life. Their offices are in the MeKerchey building.

On the 28th of June, 1904, Mr. Malott was nnited in marriage to Miss Lucile A. Harris of Detroit. He gives his political allegiance to the republican party, is a Methodist in religious faith and is also a worthy exemplar of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Pal- estine Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of which he is a past master; Palestine Chapter, R. A. M., and Detroit Commandery, No. 1, K. T. His life in its varied relations has been upright and honorable, so that he has won and retained the confidence and esteem of all with whom he has been associated. Mr. Malott resides at 1732 Glynn court.

HAMILTON CARHARTT, JR., since entering busi- ness circles in Detroit in 1904, has bent his energies to the solution of modern-day problems of cotton man- ufacturing and his ability is well manifest in the service which he renders to the Hamilton Carhartt Cotton Mills, of which he is the vice president and general manager. He was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, October 18, 1882, a son of Hamilton and Annette (Welling) Carhartt, of whom extended men- tion is made elsewhere in this work. He began his education in the public schools of Detroit, and having mastered the branches of learning therein taught, continued his studies in the Detroit University school, while later he became a student in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He was a young man of twenty-two years when he entered into active connec- tion with the cotton manufacturing business that had been established by his father in this city twenty

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years before. He has closely studied the vital elements of the business and the cotton market in general and he is now the vice president and general manager of an enterprise that ranks with the chief productive industries of the city. The splendidly equipped plant, thoroughly modern in every particular, is devoted to the manufacture of men's working clothes.

In Detroit, in January, 1909, Mr. Carhartt was married to Miss Corrine Palms and they have become parents of three sons: Hamilton, John Palms and Thomas. Mr. Carhartt is a prominent figure in the club circles of the city, belouging to the Detroit, Country, Detroit Racquet and Curling Clubs. Prac- tically his entire life has here been passed and his position has ever been one of social as well as of business prominence.

LOUIS BUHL KING. Two decades before the Lib- erty bell pealed out the news to Philadelphia and the world that the Declaration of Independence had been signed, Robert King, a native of Ireland, had crossed the Atlantic and had become a resident of Northum- berland county, Pennsylvania. He was the progenitor of the family in the new world, from which Louis Buhl King, president of L. B. King & Company, dealers in crockery and glassware at Detroit, is descended. When the colonies attempted to throw off the yoke of British oppression Robert King joined the American forces and served first with the rank of lieutenant and later as captain. He engaged in trade with the Indians and was most skillful in his negotiations with the red men, over whom he exercised considerable influence. For his services in forming treaties with various In- dian tribes he was granted a large tract of land by the government in Erie county, Pennsylvania, and eventu- ally took up his abode there, becoming one of the pio- neer settlers in that region, where he passed away, his remains being interred at Waterford, in Erie county. His son, John King, was born in Pennsylvania and wedded Charlotte Lytle.

Their children included Robert W. King, who was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in October, 1821, and after completing his education in Washington and Jefferson College entered upon his business career in Pittsburgh. He removed to the west in 1842, becoming a resident of Detroit, where in 1849 he established a china and glassware business, now conducted under the firm style of L. B. King & Company. He was a prominent merchant of the city for many years and was at all times keenly interested in public affairs tending to advance the general interests of Detroit. He was foreman of the old fifth ward volunteer engine company for a long time, was president of the Young Men's Society, was president of the Detroit board of education, president of the Detroit board of estimates and one of the original trustees of the Harper hospital, serving on that board at the time of his death. His religious faith was that cf the Congregational church. In many ways he left the impress of his individuality

and ability upon the history of Detroit in its material, intellectual, social, political and moral progress. His wife bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Buhl and was born in Butler county, Pennsylvania, but they did not become acquainted until after they had taken up their abode in Detroit, where Mrs. King arrived in 1836, having come to this city to attend school and make her home with her brother, Frederick Buhl. The death of Robert W. King occurred in December, 1897, while bis wife survived until December, 1911, passing away at the age of eighty-eight years.

Their son, Louis B. King, whose name introduces this review, was born in Detroit, December 4, 1851, and after attending the city schools became a student in the University of Michigan, in which he won the Bachelor of Science degree as a graduate of the class of 1874. His early commercial training was received in his father's store and in 1878 he was admitted to a partnership in the business, with which he has now been connected for forty-two years as one of the own- ers. In 1894 the business was incorporated under the name of L. B. King & Company, with Louis B. King as secretary, and in June, 1907, he was elected to the presidency. This house has been in existence for seventy-two years and has always been one of the leading china and glassware establishments of the city, keeping pace with Detroit's growth and development and carrying a most attractive line of goods, while throughout all the passing years the firm has main- tained the highest standards in the personnel of the house and in the treatment accorded patrons.

On the 14th of March, 1883, at Greenwich, New York, was celebrated the marriage of Louis B. King and Miss Jennie Reed Carpenter, daughter of Benoni G. Carpenter, who for thirty years was' general agent of the Home Life Insurance Company of New York. Mr. and Mrs. King have two daughters and three sons: Dorothea B .; Ralph Benjamin, who is now vice presi- dent of L. B. King & Company; Robert Kent, also connected with the company; Janet Elizabeth, now the wife of Captain H. P. Sheldon of Washington, D. C .; and Francis C., of Cashmere, Washington, where he is a fruit grower. The family has long occupied an en- viable position in the social circles of the city, the hospitality of Detroit's best homes being freely ac- corded them.

Mr. King has membership with the Sons of the American Revolution and is a Delta Kappa Epsilon of the University of Michigan. He also has member- ship in the Detroit Athletic Club. His political en- dorsement is given to the republican party and while he has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking, he has always kept well informed on the vital questions and issues of the day, so that he is able to support his position by intelligent argument. As a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce he has cooperated in many projects for the benefit and up- huilding of the city through the advancement of its trade relations, through his support of works of in-

ROBERT W. KING

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ternal improvement and in his loyal aid of all those interests which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride.

HAMILTON CARHARTT, cotton manufacturer, whose identification with the business interests of De- troit dates from 1884, is now the head of an immense business conducted under the name of the Hamilton Carhartt Cotton Mills. His operations as a cotton manufacturer extend also to various points in the south, in the extreme west and in Canada, and thus he has become one of the recognized leaders in his chosen field of labor in the new world. A native of the Empire state, he was born at Macedon Locks, West Walworth, Wayne county, New York, August 27, 1861 his parents being George Washington and Lefa Jane (Wylie) Carhartt. The ancestral line on the paternal side is traced back to Cornwall, England, where the name first appears in the Herald's office and British Museum as early as 1420, spelled variously Carhurta and Carharta. The fonder of the family in the new world was Thomas Carliart, son of Anthony Carhart of Cornwall, who arrived in New York about 1689, although other works place the date as early as 1683. Thomas Carhart came to America as private secretary to Colonel Thomas Dongan, English gover- nor of the American colonies, and remained a resident of Staten Island until 1695, after which he made his home at Woodbridge, New Jersey, until his death. Of this family Professor Henry Smith Carhart was a distinguished educator who also won fame for his important accomplishments in electrical science. Dis- coveries which he made regarding the relation between the electro-motive force and the density of the zinc sulphate solution in a Daniell cell constituted the beginning of a new standard cell for the measurement of electro-motive force, which was at once adopted by the best laboratories of the United States as the most perfect which had been devised. The father of Hamilton Carhartt was Dr. George W. Carhartt, a distinguished physician and surgeon of Jackson, Mich- igan, who at the outbreak of the Civil war was ap- pointed by Governor Austin Blair as a member of his staff.

Spending his youthful days in Jackson, Michigan, Hamilton Carhartt there attended the public schools until 1873, when he became a pupil in a preparatory school at Racine, Wisconsin. He made his initial step in business in 1882, becoming a member of the wholesale firm of Welling & Carhartt at Grand Rapids, Michigan. His identification with Detroit dates from 1884, in which year he established a wholesale fur- nishing goods business under the name of Hamilton Carhartt & Company. In 1889 the business was con- verted into a manufacturing enterprise, devoted ex- clusively to apparel for workingmen. In 1905 the business was incorporated under the style of Hamilton Carhartt, Manufacturer, Incorporated, and in 1910, upon a reincorporation, the name of the Hamilton

Carhartt Cotton Mills was adopted and through the intervening periods Mr. Carhartt has remained as president. Something of the growth and development of his business connections is indicated in the fact that he is also president of the Hamilton Carhartt Cotton Mills, Limited, of Toronto, Canada, of the Hamilton Carhartt Cotton Mills at Atlanta, Georgia, at Dallas, Texas, and Rock Hill, South Carolina. He is likewise the president of the Detroit Ophir Mining & Milling Company at State Line, Utah, of the Han- ilton Carhartt Cotton Mills at Vancouver, B. C., of the Hamilton Carhartt Cotton Mills of Liverpool, England, of the Hamilton Carhartt Plantation in South Carolina and of the Hamilton Carhartt Cotton Mills, No. 2, at Carhartt, South Carolina. Branch houses have been established also at Elberton, Georgia; Mo- bile, Alabama, and San Francisco, California. Thus the ramifying business interests of Mr. Carhartt now cover a large part of the North American continent, the products of the mills being sent into all sections of the United Staes and Canada. Initiative, powers of organization and splendid executive ability are salient characteristics in his career and have been the basic elements of his constantly developing success.

On the 21st of December, 1881, in Jackson, Michigan, Mr. Carhartt was married to Miss Annette Welling, daughter of Stephen Alling Welling, a wholesale mer- chant of that city. The three children of this mar- riage are: Hamilton, Wylie Welling and Margaret Welling, the two sons being mentioned at length on another page of this work. Mr. Carhartt maintains a winter residence at No. 927 Fifth avenue, at the corner of Seventy-fourth street, in New York city, while his summer home, "Sea View," is situated at Newport, Rhode Island, and he maintains a permanent home at Carhartt, South Carolina.

Mr. Carhartt has never ceased to feel the deepest interest in Detroit and her welfare from the time when he initiated his present manufacturing business in the city. He is a stalwart supporter of all those interests which feature as elements in the growth, progress, prosperity and improvement of the city. He long served as a member of the public lighting com- mission of Detroit and for four years was its presi- dent, and he has also been the vice president of the municipal art commission of Detroit. He is well known in its club circles as a member of the Detroit and Country Clubs and he also has membership in the Auto Club of New York city and the Travelers Club of Paris, France. That the family is one that has long been established on the soil of the new world is indicated in the fact that he has membership with the Sons of the American Revolution, while his religious faith is that of the Episcopal church. His business interests have' ever been conducted along most constructive lines and his path has never been strewn with the wreck of other men's failures. He early manifested ability to coordinate and combine seemingly diverse and unrelated interests into a

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unified and harmonious whole and his splendid powers of organization and direction have been the dominant elements in winning for him the position which he now occupies as an outstanding figure among the cotton manufacturers of the new world.

GEORGE D. MASON, the dean of Detroit archi- tects, who on the 1st of January, 1920, organized the firm of George D. Mason & Company, is a man who enjoys a national reputation in his professional field, his ability finding visible expression in some of the finest structures of the city. A native of the Empire state, Mr. Mason was born in Syracuse, New York, July 4, 1856, his parents being James H. and Zada E. (Griffin) Mason, who were also natives of Syracuse. In 1870 they removed to Detroit, where the father engaged in manufacturing for a number of years, but both he and his wife have passed away.

George D. Mason began his education in the public schools of his native city, and was a youth of fourteen when the family left Syracuse to come to Michigan, after which he resumed his studies in the public schools of Detroit, completing his course in 1873. He then took up the study of architecture under the direction of the late Henry T. Brush of Detroit, and made rapid advancement in the profession, the development of his native powers and the mastery of the scientific principles of the business finding culmination in substantial success. In 1878 he formed a partnership with Zachariah Rice under the firm name of Mason & Rice and their association as architects was main- tained for twenty years, or until 1898. Mr. Mason then practiced independently for a long period, but on the 1st of January, 1920, organized the corporation of George D. Mason & Company, architects, of which he is the president. In 1884 and in 1911 he spent sev- eral months in travel in Europe, during which time he devoted his attention largely to the study of archi- tecture in England, France, Germany, Italy and other countries. He also pursued a course in higher mathe- matics in order to further equip himself for professional duties. He is a member of the American Institute of Architects and of the Michigan chapter of that body, and for four years was president of the Michigan State Board for Registration of Architects. Some of the buildings designed by him include the Masonic Temple, built in 1893, now outgrown, and the new Temple is about to be erected; the First Pres- byterian church; Trinity Episcopal church; the Detroit Opera Ilouse; Hotel Ponchartrain; the plant of the Lincoln Motor Company, and still other structures of almost equal importance. He was also the designer and builder of the fine office building of the firm of Hiram Walker & Sons at Walkerville, Ontario, Canada.

In 1882 Mr. Mason was united in marriage to Miss Ida Whitaker, daughter of the late Captain Byron Whitaker of Detroit, and to them has been born a daughter, Lilian, who is now the wife of James D. Fulton of Chicago. Politically Mr. Mason is a demo-

crat who gives stanch support to the party but without desire for political preferment. For one year he served on the first board of building inspectors in Detroit. Fraternally he is a thirty-second degree Mason and be belongs to the Detroit Club and other social organiza- tions of the city.

STUART ADELBERT COGSDILL, a Detroit man- ufacturer who is largely specializing in the remaking of precision metal cutting tools, having his own patents covering the different methods employed, is rapidly developing an extensive business. He is one of the pioneers in this industry, there being but one other enterprise of similar character in the country. Mr. Cogsdill was born near Danbury, Iowa, on Feb- ruary 12, 1884, and was only eight years of age when brought by his parents to Detroit. Here he pursued his education in the public schools and afterward took an International Correspondence course.

In his boyhood days he spent four years in the employ of the Olds Gas Engine Company and later was for one year with the Nordyke & Marmon Com- pany in the automobile business at Indianapolis. He next spent three years with the firm of Dodge Brothers of Detroit in the die-making department and he was thus continually adding to his knowledge con- cerning the tool business. He likewise took up the work of gear cutting at the Everett Metzger plant and still later went on the road for the Lees-Bradner- Hobing Machine Company in order to learn salesman- ship and get experience in outside work. After spend- ing some time in that connecteion he became tool efficiency engineer for the Studebaker Corporation. He then conceived the idea of reworking tools and began the remanufacture of worn-out reamers and formed the Detroit Reamer Salvage Company at the corner of Grand River avenue and West Warren avenue. To the business was subsequently added that of the Grinding Process Tool Company. After a time he opened a new factory at No. 5132 Grand River avenue for the manufacture of all classes of counter- sinking tools. The enterprise has prospered and grown from the beginning and is an important adjunct to the industrial activities of Detroit.

On the 26th of November, 1913, Mr. Cogsdill was united in marriage to Miss Florence May Kramer and they have become parents of a daughter, Margaret Jeane, born in Detroit, July 20, 1920. It was in 1921 that Mr. Cogsdill erected his home on Longfellow avenue. As it is always of interest to know some- thing of any individual's forbears, it may be stated in this connection that the progenitor of the Cogsdill family came from Scotland, but for four generations the family has been represented on this side of the Atlantic. Mr. Cogsdill is a member of Union Lodge, No. 152, A. F. & A. M. He also belongs to the Auto- mobile Club, the Oakland Hills Country Club and is an interested member of the Board of Commerce and a loyal supporter of the Presbyterian church. His

GEORGE D. MASON

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life has ever been guided by high and honorable priu- ciples and the sterling worth of his character is attested by all who know him, while his genius in business is recognized by those who come into contact with him through his industrial activity.

DONALD ALLERTON JOHNSTON has since 1898 been engaged in the insurance business in Detroit. In the ranking of the state's insurance men in 1916 he stood first in personal production and since that time has maintained the same position, so that he is today one of the most successful as well as one of the best known insurance men in Michigan. He was a youth of eighteen years when he first came to Detroit, his birth having occurred in Lamberton county, Ontario, April 24, 1874, his parents being Samuel and Christiana .(Mc Donald) Johnston. A common school education was followed by his removal to Detroit in 1892 and here he engaged in various pursuits until the out- break of the Spanish-American war, at which time he joined the American forces and became a member of Company L, Thirty-second Michigan Volunteer In- fantry. After his return to civil life he turned his attention to the life insurance business by becoming cashier in the Detroit office of the Union Mutual Life Insurance Company of Portland, Maine. This position he resigned in December, 1901, and accepted that of manager of the life insurance department of Peter White & Company at Marquette, Michigan, but within a year returned to Detroit as superintendent of agents for the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Com- pany, occupying that position from the Ist of May, 1907, until the Ist of May, 1910. In the latter year he became state manager for the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company of Hartford, Connecticut, and has since greatly developed the business in Mich- igan for the corporation which he represents. Each change in his business career has marked a forward step, bringing him a broader outlook and wider op- portunities, and as the years have passed he has de- veloped his powers to a notable degree until he now stands in a position of leadership in the matter of personal production of insurance, having won this honor in 1916, and through the intervening years he has continued to hold first place. He belongs to the Detroit Life Underwriters' Association, of which he served as secretary and treasurer from 1906 until 1908. In the latter year he was elected second vice president and in 1909 became first vice president, while in 1910 he was called to the presidency of the organization, and is today one of the best known insurance men of the middle west.

At Detroit, on the 19th of March, 1902, Mr. John- ston was married to Miss Florence Julia Widman and they have a daughter, Florence Carolyne, and a son, Donald Allerton, Jr. The parents are active and con- sistent members of the Cass Avenue Methodist Epis- copal church and Mr. Johnston is serving as chair- man of the ushers, collectors and church stewards.

His political endorsement is given to the republican party. He is also a Mason, having membership in Palestine Lodge, No. 357, A. F. & A. M .; King Cyrus Chapter, No. 133, R. A. M .; Detroit Commandery, No. 1, K. T .; aud Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is a life member of the Masonie Country Club. Moreover, he was one of the organizers of the Kiwanis Club, which has become national in its scope, with a membership of over two hundred thousand in the larger cities of the United States. In January, 1915, after the assembling of members in Detroit, he was offered the first presidency. Although he refused he was elected the first active president and later was prevailed upon to accept a second and third term, in honor of his efforts toward the creation of the club and the splendid work which he did as its first chief executive. In 1917 he was a trustee of the first national convention at Cleveland. Along the line of clubs of a strictly social nature he is identified with the Bloomfield Hills Country, Detroit Athletic, Ingleside and Detroit Automobile Clubs, and the Northport Point Golf and Country Club, where Mr. Johnston has a summer home. His social nature makes him a most congenial companion and in every organ- ization and community where he is known Mr. John- ston numbers his friends by the score.

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The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III, Part 80

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