USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 82
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115
from 1896 until 1905; news editor from 1905 until 1906; managing editor from 1906 until 1909, and has since been editor in chief. For thirty years he has been connected with the Free Press, working his way steadily upward through each department of the paper, and he has been largely instrumental in winning for it acknowledgment as one of the foremost American journals. Its daily editorials, read by thousands throughout the state, have influenced the public mind toward clear thinking upon vital questions, and the Free Press has ever been the champion of progress, reform and improvement. He has an acute knowledge of the value of news, is fair-minded, weighing men and things judicially, and his statements are concise, forceful and to the point.
On the 4th of October, 1893, Mr. Reid was united in marriage to Miss Nellie J. Corcoran of Detroit, and they have become the parents of three children: Mrs. Helen A. Halla; Marian K .; and Madeline. In his political views Mr. Reid is a republican. He is iden- tified with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. He is a man of scholarly attainments and ranks with the foremost journalists of the country.
STUART WELLS UTLEY, vice president and gen- eral manager of the Detroit Steel Casting Company since 1911, was born in Pontiac, Michigan, June 25, 1879. He is the eldest son of the Rev. Wells H. and Emma J. (Adams) Utley, both now deceased, his father being a Congregational minister who held pastorates in Vermont, Michigan and Kansas.
Stuart Wells Utley was a small boy when his parents moved onto a large farm near Parsons, Kansas, and he received his early education in the district schools of that state, moving to Detroit upon his father's death and graduating from the Central high school there. He then entered the University of Michigan, from which he graduated with the class of 1902, receiving the degree of Bachelor of Arts. He began his business career as an employe of the Ameri- can Radiator Company, with which compauy he re- mained for three and a half years. In 1906 he secured a position as cost clerk with the Detroit Steel Casting Company, with which he has since been associated. Having in the meantime handled various lines of work, which made him familiar with and gave him a thorough understanding of the details of the business, he was elected assistant secretary in 1909 and the following year was made secretary. In 1911 he was made vice president and general manager and given active control of the executive and administrative end of the business, which position he continues to hold.
Mr. Utley is connected with various technical and social organizations. He is a member of the American Iron & Steel Institute, the great national organization of the steel industry; a vice president of the Detroit Engineering Society, as well as a member of the Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Uni- versity Club of Detroit, the Oakland Hills Country
Club and the Delta Upsilon fraternity. He has long been connected with aquatic sports, both as a sailor and an oarsman and from 1905 to 1908 was a member of the racing crews of the Detroit Boat Club. He was an officer in the Michigan Naval Reserve for many years prior to the time the United States entered the World war and on the 10th of July, 1916, after a pro- fessional examination, he was certified by the secre- tary of the navy as being qualified for sea duty on combatant ships of the navy. On June 10, 1918, he was commissioned by the navy department as a lieu- tenant in the Naval Reserve Force, (U. S. N. R. F.) but by special orders of the department was held on inactive duty because of the importance of the work being done by his company for the army and the navy. Previous to that, in 1913, he cruised to the Mediterranean Sea with a division of the Atlantic fleet as assistant navigator on the battleship Utah. His work with the training ships of the Naval Reserve has taken him through all the Great Lakes and con- necting waters to the Atlantic ocean and has given him a live interest in marine affairs.
Mr. Utley has an even balanced, judicial nature and is a man of marked enterprise and fine executive ability. Under his management the Detroit Steel Cast- ing Company has grown and prospered. During the war the plant produced large quantities of work for both the army and the navy in a highly creditable manner. Believing thoroughly in the principle that success can be attained only by hard and constant application he has progressed step by step until he has a commanding outlook over the industrial field of Detroit, being recognized as a prominent represen- tative of its manufacturing interests.
CHARLES DOUGLAS HASTINGS, president of the Hupp Motor Corporation of Detroit, has been con- nected with the automobile industry of the city for almost two decades. He was born in Hillsdale, Mich- igan, August 25, 1858, and is a son of Andrew and Mary Ann (Wier) Hastings, the former a native of the state of New York, while the latter was born in Canada. The maternal grandparents came to Michigan at an early period, and the mother of Charles D. Hast- ings was born during a visit to the Dominion. The paternal grandparents, Charles Hastings and his wife, came to Michigan in 1837. The maternal grandfather Andrew Wier, was a railroad builder and was active on the construction of the Lake Shore Railroad. Andrew Hastings became an accountant, devoting his life to that work, and both he and his wife died in Detroit. They were the parents of two children, the daughter being Mary J., a resident of Detroit.
The only son, Charles D. Hastings, attended the public schools of Hillsdale, and afterward continued his education in the Detroit Capital high school, from which he was graduated at the age of seventeen years. He began his active career as road salesman and was thus employed until 1890, after which he was a rail-
S. WELLS UTLEY
711
CITY OF DETROIT
road accountant for four years. In 1894 he entered the fields of wholesale business and was thus engaged until 1902. It was in that year that he entered the service of the Olds Motor Car Company, and continued with that pioneer business conceru for five years, or until 1907, when he became interested in the Thomas Detroit Company. In 1909 he was made a member of the firm manufacturing the Hupp Motor Cars, enter- ing into connection with this corporation as assistant general manager. He was later advanced to the posi- tion of general manager, and still later to the vice presidency, but resigned in 1914, and spent the suc- ceeding three years in recuperating his health. At the end of that period, or in 1917, he returned to the Hupp Automobile Company as vice president and general manager, continuing to fill the duties of the dual posi- tion until 1919, when he was elected to the presidency of this company, engaged in the manufacture of one of America's standard and most popular cars. They have a large modern factory at Milwaukee and Mt. Elliott avenues in Detroit, where over twenty-two hundred people are constantly employed in the building of the Hupp car. Mr. Hastings has ever been a close student of the trade and is constantly striving to improve the car along the lines of efficiency and service. That the Hupp Motor Car Corporation, during the critical World war period, should have registered its most substantial advance while giving full support to the government in its production program, is proof posi- tive of the organizing and executive ability of the man who stands as its head as president of the com- pany. He is also the president of the Detroit Auto Specialty Company, president of the American Gear & Manufacturing Company of Jackson, Michigan, and is identified with a number of minor companies.
In April, 1883, Mr. Hastings was married to Miss Mary H. Robinson of Detroit, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Robinson, and a native of this city. They have become parents of two children: Don T., born in Detroit in 1885; and Helen. The former was educated in the Detroit high school and the University of Michigan, and is now engaged in the automobile business as a member of the firm of Williams & Hast- ings. He wedded Miss Mary Reeve of Detroit and they have three children, Donna, Reeve and Nancy; the daughter Helen is the wife of J. M. Watson and has two children, Gretchen and Priscilla, who are with their parents in Detroit.
Mr. Hastings is of the Protestant faith and polit- ically his belief is that of the republican party. Fra- ternally he is a Mason, and has attained the Knights Templar degree, being a member of Detroit Command- ery, No. 1, and of the York Rite, while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. He belongs also to the Detroit Boat Club, the Grosse Ile Golf Club, the Detroit Golf Club, the Detroit Athletic Club, the Board of Commerce and the Detroit Automobile Club. He possesses a genial man- ner, unfailing courtesy, and that alertness and enter-
price which enable him to recognize and take ad- vantage of every opportunity. Progress has been his watchword, a progress that has been brought about, not by the wreck of other men's fortunes, but by constructive methods which have upbuilded his own interests and placed the corporation, of which he is now the executive head, in the rank of leading pro- ductive industries in Detroit. A laudable ambition and not a vaulting ambition has been the spur which has pricked the side of his intent, and his record is proof of the fact that power grows through the exer- cise of effort, while in the faithful performance of each day's duties one finds strength, encouragement and inspiration for the labors of the succeeding days.
JOSEPH I. COX, an expert automotive and produc- tion engineer of Detroit, has also been extensively engaged in real estate operations and is now acting as representative of manufacturers of marine and au- tomobile motors, in which connection he is developing a business of large proportions. He was born in Bowling Green, Ohio, May 17, 1879, a son of Mason I. and Emma R. (Ward) Cox. The paternal grandfather was the first white settler at Fort Hancock, Ohio, and the father followed the occupation of farming and was also a pioneeer in the work of oil production.
In the public schools Joseph I. Cox acquired his early education, after which he attended a business college, and subsequently entered the School of Mines at Golden, Colorado, taking up a mining and mechan- ical engineering course. From 1898 until 1902 he was in the employ of the government, being identified with the paymaster's division, Indian service, stationed in Nebraska, of the department of the interior. In connection with his work as an engineer he has trav- eled from the Klondike to the South American repub- lies and is well informed concerning the resources and development of various sections of the country. In 1912 he entered the real estate business in Detroit, specializing in small farms on Woodward avenue near the city and also assisting to open up many attractive subdivisions, including Avalon Park, Woodward Grove, Birwood, Kenwood Gardens, Park Land, and Oak Run, returning to his profession in 1916. He has a com- prehensive knowledge of the scientific principles which underlie his profession and is regarded as an expert automotive and production engineer. He now repre- sents manufacturers of high class marine and automo- bile motors and the various tools and machines used in connection therewith and has built up a large business along this line, owing to his straightforward and reliable dealings and his thorough understanding of the work in which he is engaged.
On the 16th of April, 1906, Mr. Cox was united in marriage to Miss Helen S. Shull of Bowling Green, Ohio, and they have become the parents of a son, Gerald Raymond, who was born July 26, 1907. Fra- ternally he is identified with the Improved Order of Red Men, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks
712
CITY OF DETROIT
and the various Masonic bodies, belonging to Loyalty Lodge, No. 488, F. & A. M., and the Blue lodge. He is also a charter member and director of the Masonie Country Club. Throughout his career he has closely applied himself to the work in hand and is actuated in everything that he does by a spirit of progress that prompts his continued effort until he has reached the desired goal. He stands high in professional and business circles of the city and his activities have ever been of a constructive nature, contributing not only to individual aggrandizement but to publie prog- ress and prosperity as well.
ELISHA HERBERT FLINN, born in Riga, Monroe county, New York, December 16, 1843, was the son of James Richardson Flinn and his wife, Mary Harmon. His great grandfather, James Flinn, left Dublin, Ire- land, and settled in Albany, New York, during the first half of the eighteenth century, marrying Jannitje Vrooman, a granddaughter of the Adam Vrooman mentioned by Parkman in his account of the Schenectady massacre. Mr. Flinn was educated in Le Roy, New York, graduating from the local high school, or academy, as it was then called. He studied law in the office of Judge Bangs, a local attorney of that place. He came to Detroit in 1865 and entered the law office of Robinson & Brooks, being admitted to the bar in 1866. In 1876 he formed a partnership with Charles C. Hickey. Mr. Hickey died two years later. Mr. Flinn continued the practice of law for some time after this, but as attorney for the Phelps, Dodge interests he had acquired a large acquaintance with lumber operators and gradually dropped the prac- tice of the law and became interested in the business of buying and selling pine timber, although he never operated as a lumberman. As the Michigan pine gave out, he, like many others, moved his activities to Wisconsin and later to Minnesota and to some ex- tent to Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. In the meantime he had formed a partnership with his for- mer employer, George O. Robinson, under the firm name of Robinson & Flinn. They, associated with Simon J. Murphy, purchased a considerable acreage of pine land in Minnesota. In 1892 iron ore was found on their properties in Minnesota and from that time till the end of his life Mr. Flinn's principal activities were connected with these properties. At the time of his death he was president of the Lake Superior Iron & Chemical Company, vice president of the Old Detroit National Bank and a director of the Wayne County Savings Bank and of the Detroit Trust Company.
In politics he was a republican, but took no active part in political matters. At the time of his death, November 24, 1911, he was president of the board of trustees of the First Presbyterian church and the board of trustees of Grace hospital.
On September 20, 1871, Mr. Flinn married Miss Samantha Whitwood, daughter of Deodatus C. Whit- wood, vice president of the Wayne County Savings
Bank, and Caroline Farrand Whitwood. Mrs. Flinn died on the 12th day of February, 1906. Their children are James Harmon and Mary Whitwood. The former married Miss Ethel Garretson of New York; the latter married William P. Stevens of Detroit.
EDWARD CORNELIUS CROWLEY. Extensive business interests claim the time and attention of Edward Cornelius Crowley, who since 1917 has been vice president and general manager of the Ohio and Michigan Coal Company. He is an alert, energetic and enterprising young business man and has already advanced to a substantial point on the highroad to success. He was born in Taylor township, Wayne county, Michigan, August 7, 1887, a son of John and Helen (Galloway) Crowley. In the public schools of his native county he acquired his education and his initial business experience was obtained as order clerk for the Ohio and Michigan Coal Company, whose serv- ice he entered on the 2d of July, 1906. He soon dem- onstrated his business ability and trustworthiness and won rapid advancement, becoming secretary of the company in 1908, while in 1917 he was made vice president and general manager, in which capacities he is now serving. He is keenly alive to the possi- bilities of every new avenue opened in the natural ramifications of trade and his initiative spirit has enabled him to formulate plans which have been important factors in the continued development and growth of the business, which now ranks with the leading enterprise of this character in the city.
On the 10th of June, 1913, Mr. Crowley was united in marriage to Miss Mabel C. Ready of Dearborn, Michigan, and they have become the parents of a son, Robert Edward, who was born December 5, 1915. Mr. Crowley is a Catholic in religious faith and he is also connected with the Knights of Columbus. He is an active member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, whose plans and projects for the development of the trade interests of the city receive his hearty coopera- tion. His name is also found on the membership rolls of the Detroit Automobile Club and he is fond of fishing, hunting and all outdoor sports, finding therein needed rest and recreation from the arduous cares of business. The record of Mr. Crowley is a most com- mendable one, indicating what can be accomplished through persistent effort and determined purpose, when guided by intelligence and sound judgment. Starting out in life empty-handed, he has steadily pro- gressed and has worthily won the proud American title of a self-made man.
HENRY CLELAND CARSON is well known in business circles of Detroit as president of the Board of Trade and head of the firm of H. C. Carson & Company, wholesale dealers in grain and beans. He is one of Detroit's native sons and has here spent his life, covering a period of forty-four years, for
ELISHA H. FLINN
715
CITY OF DETROIT
he was born August 27, 1877, his parents being Wil- liam and Hannah (Wynkoop) Carson. He acquired his educatiou in the graded schools of the city and the old Detroit high school and after laying aside his textbooks took up photography and continued to follow that business for twelve years. He then be- came identified with his father's grain interests. In 1914 he established the firm of H. C. Carson & Com- pany for the conduct of a wholesale grain and bean business and from its inception the enterprise has enjoyed a steady growth, having now reached exten- sive proportions. He is a capable business man, alert, enterprising and progressive, and success in substan- tial measure has rewarded his efforts. Mr. Carson's sister, Mrs. Hattie M. Botsford, is his business asso- ciate.
On the 19th of June, 1901, occurred the marriage of Henry C. Carson and Miss Edna Belle Hakes and they have become the parents of a daughter, Elizabeth Jane, who was born June 7, 1914. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in Trinity Episcopal church, in the work of which he takes an active part, now serving as senior warden. He is deeply inter- ested in everything that pertains to the welfare and advancement of his city and is a member of the Board of Trade, of which he has been vice president, while he is now filling the office of president, and he is also connected with the Board of Commerce. He is likewise a member of the Ingleside Club and frater- nally is identified with the Masons, belonging to Kil- winning Lodge, No. 297, F. & A. M., of which he has been Master; Detroit Commandery, Knights Templar; to the Consistory, in which he has attained the thirty- second degree; and to Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is recognized as a successful business man, a public-spirited citizen and a loyal friend and is held in high esteem by all who have come into contact with him.
EDWIN ROBERT LITTLE, a well known mechan- ical engineer of Detroit, who since 1915 has been a resident of this. city, is president of the E. R. Little Company and has gained that superior ability which comes from elose study and broad experience. He was born in Norwalk, Ohio, April 24, 1887, a son of Edwin E. and Ella (Collette) Little. After complet- ing his public school education he was for a time a student at Dennison University and subsequently en- tered the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated in 1912, with the degree of B. M. E. He spent two years with the Engineering Corps of the United States army stationed at Sault Ste. Marie, working on the locks there, and in 1914 entered the employ of the Consolidated Engineering Company of Chicago, for which he worked at Winnipeg, Canada, for six months. He then became construction engineer for the Edison-Soo Company, remaining with that firm for a year, and in 1915 came to Detroit, where he has since made his home. He organized the Little
& Shepard Company, but that firm was later dissolved and in 1919 he established the E. R. Little Company, which in the following year was incorporated with Mr. Little as the president. He has been very suc- cessful in the conduct of his interests, for he is thoroughly familiar with the scientific principles which underlie his profession, and has completed many impor- tant engineering projects, his ability being widely rec- ognized. In the execution of contracts he adheres to the spirit as well as the letter of an agreement and his business transactions have at all times been characterized by strict honesty and integrity.
On the 24th of October, 1916, Mr. Little was united in marriage to Miss Eleanor Colby of Dayton, Ohio, and they have become the parents of two children: Ellen Colby, who was born August 26, 1917; and Robert Colby, whose birth occurred on the 2d of June, 1920. Mr. Little attends the Woodward Avenue Baptist church, and that he is a loyal and public- spirited citzen is indicated by his membership in the Board of Commerce. He is a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and the Detroit Automobile, Ingleside and University of Michigan clubs, while his pro- fessional connections are with the Detroit Engineering Society, the American Society of Mechanical Engi- neers and the American Society of Heating & Ventilat- ing Engineers. Industry has been the key which has unlocked for Mr. Little the portals of success. Thor- oughness and diligence have characterized all of his work and he ranks with the leading mechanical engi- neers of Detroit.
DAVID WARDEN BURKE, president and general manager of the Auto Electric & Service Corporation, was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, June 9, 1879, a son of John and Sarah (Warden) Burke, the for- mer a native of the state of New York, while the latter was born in Pittsburgh, and since their mar- riage they have remained residents of that city. During the Civil war the father was a commissioned officer, holding the rank of lieutenant in the Seventieth New York Volunteer Infantry, being a member of the famous Friend Rifles. He was wounded in action at the battle of Gettysburg, and never entirely recov- ered from his injuries, dying from the effect of the wounds in Pittsburgh in 1896. In business circles lie was well known as a prominent representative of real estate activities. His widow survives and yet makes her home in Pittsburgh. Their family num- bered five children: Margaret, living in Pittsburgh; Dr. John Grant Burke of Pittsburgh; Mrs. A. B. Patterson, deceased, formerly of Pittsburgh; Harry, formerly city editor of the New York Evening World and now handling publicity work for financial institu- tions in New York; and David W.
The last named obtained his early education in the public schools of his native city and after completing his high school course entered the Western Univer- sity of Pennsylvania, now the University of Pitts-
716
CITY OF DETROIT
burgh; after leaving school he entered the employ of the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Com- pany, starting as an apprentice, while later he was assigned to construction work. At the outbreak of the World war he was in the service of the Westing house Company on high power transmission work in Spain, returning to this country shortly after the out- break of the war.
Mr. Burke then became superintendent of the Auto Equipment Service Department of the Westinghouse Company at Pittsburgh, where he remained until January 1, 1918, when he came to Detroit, and pur- chased the business of the Auto Electric Service Com- pany, Incorporated. By reason of his thorough knowledge, comprehensive experience and undaunted energy, he has developed the business to one of large proportions. The company is manufacturers' agents for starting, lighting and carburetor . equip- ment, etc., and the business is expanding rapidly, having already reached extensive proportions, with Mr. Burke as the president and general manager. The firm employs fifty people at the present time, and is continually securing more expert help. They occupy a new building erected expressly for the company at 91-109 Selden avenue, containing sixteen thousand square feet of floor space, and constituting one of the most modern service stations in the world. Mr. Burke is also president and general manager of the Automotive Engine Parts Company, a Michigan cor- poration, representing Continental Motors Corpora- tion, Borg & Beck Company, Spicer Manufacturing Company, Warner Gear Company, Pierce Governor Company, etc., and he is also president of the Auto- motive Electric Service Association, a national or- ganization of service companies.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.