USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 87
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FRED L. VANDEVEER, one of the most capable and one of the most popular attorneys of Detroit, was born in Taylorville, Illinois, January 26, 1879, and is a son of George A. and Clara B. (Edgecomb) Van- deveer. The ancestral line shows that he comes of Holland Dutch lineage and that the family was founded in New Amsterdam, now New York, at an early period in the colonization of the new world. George A. Vandeveer was for years the general coun-
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sel for the National Surety Company of New York. Harry D. Vandeveer, a brother of Fred L. of this review, is a Yale man of the class of 1902 and acts as western representative of the Fidelty & Deposit Company of Baltimore, Maryland, making his home in Los Angeles, California.
In the acquirement of his education Fred L. Van- deveer attended Upson University at New Preston, Connecticut, from which he was graduated with the class of 1897. This constituted the preparatory course which served as the foundation for his professional knowledge. He then entered the Yale Law School and gained his LL. B. degree in 1900. In the same year he opened a law office in St. Louis, where he remained until 1903 and then came to Detroit. Here he has continued in practice and has become widely known in professional connections. For a long period he has been attorney for the Travelers Insurance Company for the state of Michigan. He is now spe- cializing in insurance law and among the companies with which he is connected in a legal capacity are the Ocean Accident & Guaranty Corporation of Lon- don; the American Indemnity Company of Galveston, Texas; the Great Eastern Company of New York; the Iowa Casualty Company of Des Moines; the American Fidelity Company of Montpelier, Vermont, and still others. Four years ago, or in 1916, he became the professional associate of Orville H. Foster, Jr., under the firm style of Vandeveer & Foster. Mr. Vandeveer is a lawyer of great popularity by reason of his ability and personal charm.
On the 30th of June, 1900, in New Haven, Con- necticut, was celebrated the marriage of Fred L. Van- deveer and Miss Vesta Hardy of that city, and they have become the parents of four children: Leroy G., who was born August 3, 1902, and is a student in the University of Michigan; Rudolph E., whose birth oc- curred June 25, 1907, and who attends the Staunton Military Academy of Staunton, Virginia; Ethelwyn; and Rosalind. Mr. Vandeveer maintains a country home near Ann Arbor and is there rearing his family. He belongs to the Lawyers Club, to the Detroit Bar Association and to the Michigan State Bar Associa- tion and his political endorsement is given to the republican party.
JOHN R. KEMPF, president of the Detroit-Star Grinding Wheel Company, was born in Chelsea, Mich- igan, June 23, 1868, a son of Reuben and Susanna (Dancer) Kempf, the former a native of Trumbauers- ville, Pennsylvania, and the latter of Lima township, Washtenaw county, Michigan. Reuben Kempf came to Michigan with his parents in early life, and was reared, educated and married in this state. He afterward engaged in the banking business in Chelsea, and later organized and became president of the Farmers & Mechanics Bank at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and at- tained a very prominent position in banking circles as the years passed. He was also prominent in the
public affairs of Ann Arbor and at the time of his death in 1912, at the age of seventy-seven years, he was honored and respected by all who knew him. His wife survived him until 1919. They were the parents of three children: Nell, who is now Mrs. Elmer H. Close, living in Toledo, Ohio; John R .; and Mrs. Minuie K. Hosack of Chicago.
John R. Kempf, following his high school days, became a student in the Michigan Military Academy at Orchard Lake, and later entered the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Science degree in 1890, having completed a full course in mechanical engineering. He then started out into the business world as an employee at the Detroit Electrical Works, and subsequently was with the Carnegie Steel Company. He next went to the National Cash Register Company in Dayton, Ohio, and remained for six years in the mechanical depart- ment. He then resigned in 1900 and returned to De- troit, where he organized the Star Corundum Wheel Company, manufacturing Corundum grinding wheels. Through the intervening period of twenty years, the business grew to large proportions, the product being sold all over the civilized world. From the beginning Mr. Kempf was president of this company and the directing head of the business. In 1920 this corpora- tion was merged with the Detroit Grinding Wheel Company, forming the Detroit-Star Grinding Wheel Company, of which Mr. Kempf is president.
On the 25th of April, 1894, in Madison, Indiana, Mr. Kempf was married to Jean H. Kirk, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Kirk, of that place. They have become the parents of one child, Mildred K., who was born in Detroit and educated in the Liggett school. She is now the wife of Henry G. Cupper of Montreal, Canada, who is connected with the Austin Motor Car Company of Birmingham, England. Dur- ing the World war Mr. Cupper enlisted with the British forces early in the conflict and was com- missioned with the rank of major. Mr. and Mrs. Cupper have one daughter, Barbara Kirk, born in September, 1920.
In his political views, Mr. Kempf is a republican. He belongs to the Detroit Club, to the Detroit Athletic Club, the Aviation Country Club, the Old Colony Club, the University of Michigan Union, and the Detroit Auto Club, and he is also connected with the Detroit Board of Commerce. Mr. Kempf resides at 8120 Jef- ferson avenue, East.
L. KIRKE DOUGLASS, whose efforts as president of the American Brass & Iron Company of Detroit have helped make the hum of industry swell into a great chorus of industrial activity in Michigan's metropolis, was born April 15, 1878, and reared in Detroit, pursuing his early education in the public schools while spending his youthful days under the parental roof. He is a son of James G. and Ada S. (Young) Douglass. His father's people were Ameri-
JOHN R. KEMPF
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cans for generations, while his mother was of Scotch descent.
After mastering the branches of learning taught in the public schools of his native city, L. Kirke Doug- lass continued his education in the University of Michigan, where he won the Bachelor of Arts degree as a member of the class of 1901. After leaving college he was connected with the Acme White Lead & Color Company for a brief period and later became a representative of the Cadillac Motor Car Company, with which he was connected for a few months. Sub- sequently he was employed in the rolling mills and throughout his active career has been identfied with mechanical pursuits. In 1905 he joined the American Brass & Iron Company, which was organized in that year, becoming its secretary and treasurer and filled those positions until January, 1920, when he was made president of the corporation. He is now the chief executive officer and directing head of this enterprise.
Mr. Douglass is a member of the Detroit Athletic Club, also of the University Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Automobile Country Club, the Detroit Auto Club, Old Colony Club, and the Board of Commerce. His religious faith is that of the First Presbyterian church, in which he is serving as a trustee. His political belief is that of the republican party and he is a member of the election board in his district. All of those interests which are a matter of public concern elicit his attention and his support is given wherever he believes that the welfare and progress of city, commonwealth and country can be conserved and promoted.
FRED H. BERGER, one of the best known mechan- ical and automotive engineers and designers in De- troit, and classed with the representative young busi- ness men of the city, was born in Germany, June 17, 1879, a son of Ernest S. and Emelie (Von Fischbach) Berger, who spent their lives in Europe. The father was a prominent architect of central Europe and a botanist of reputation. In his architectural work he was in the employ of the German government and was in charge of the organization of the mail service and designed the government buildings in varions see- tions of the country, where new structures were re- quired. He died in Germany in 1913. The mother is a resident of her native land.
Fred H. Berger was the second in order of birth in a family of three children. He attended the ele- mentary schools and the gymnasium and afterwards the technical schools of Germany, pursuing a course in mechanical engineering, and upon receiving his final papers qualifying him to engage in practice, he immediately entered the employ of the Daimler (Mer- cedes) Motoren Company of Stuttgart. This was in 1902. From that time he continued active in auto- motive engineering and marine engineering, which he followed near Berlin, designing automobile engines for the Mercedes Company. He was also with the Simon
Schuckert Electric Company a part of the time until 1907, and during that period he brought out one of the first three wheeled front drive cars in the world. He took out patents in his own name on this type of car, which were later assigned to a company and are being extensively used in connection with various lines of cars.
The year 1907 witnessed the arrival of Mr. Berger in America. He was connected with the patent office of Briesen & Knaut on Wall street in New York city, for a short time and then went to Rochester, where he became chief engineer for the Cunningham Com- pany and designed its first car, also the first left-hand drive, center control car for Mr. Cunningham. After a year and a half he entered the employ of the Buick Motor Company of Flint, Michigan, remaining as motor engineer for six months. On the expiration of that period he came to Detroit for A. W. Russell and designed for him an automobile axle, which became through assignment of patents the Russell property. Nine rights were received through the patent office on this design. During the year and a half, which he spent with Mr. Russell, Mr. Berger designed a number of axles and improvements and then became chief engineer for the Oakland Company and made all the designs for cars and engines for that corporation, through the years 1912, 1913 and 1914. He was also during this period with the Northway Motors Company on its technical board as technical adviser for the General Motors Company and later went to Europe to the various automobile shows on the continent and in London. On his return he opened offices in the Dime Bank building as a representative of the Muir Carburetor but after the inauguration of the war he was obliged to give up this business. He then went to Poughkeepsie as consulting engineer for the Fiat Company, an Italian organization, but when Italy en- tered the war he gave up this position. He next de- signed the Murray Eight for W. Murray of Pitts- burgh, Pennsylvania. Mr. Berger continued in that connection for a year, when he returned to Detroit to engage in consulting engineering work for the Abbott Automobile Company and salvaged all the material for this company. He managed the plant and built fifteen hundred cars. Later the plant was re- moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and a new factory was built in 1916. Mr. Berger continued with the Abbott Company until April, 1918. He designed a four wheel tractor with James Howe, after which he was offered a position with the Gray Motor Company of Detroit, with which he remained until July 1919. Since then he has designed and built sample cars and motors for the Stanwood and Curtis, Pilot and other companies, and is now continuing his consulting engineering practice in Detroit. He is well known as a consulting and designing engineer, practicing his profession in- dependently, and his opinions are largely sought on matters of mechanical and automotive engineering and designing.
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Mr. Berger belongs to the Detroit Athletic Club, to the Detroit Board of Commerce and to the Society of Automotive Engineers.
CARL MUNSON GREEN is president of The Green, Fulton, Cunningham Company, conducting an advertis- ing agency business in Detroit and Chicago. He was born in Charlotte, Michigan, June 20, 1877, and is the son of S. T. and Jane (Munson) Green. He attended the University of Michigan, being a member of the class of 1899. The following year he entered the newspaper and advertising business in Chicago. He was in this business and allied lines in Chicago, Boston and New York until 1911, when he removed to Detroit and organized The Carl M. Green Company, of which he became president. He thus established his adver- tising business in this city and founded the firm which was the predecessor of the present firm of The Green, Fulton, Cunningham Company. This company has from the date of its origin been classed as one of the leading advertising agencies of the country. He is president of this company, with J. D. Fulton as vice president, H. H. Smith as second vice president, H. J. Cunningham as treasurer and A. W. Thompson as secretary. The company conduets a general adver- tising business of all kinds in newspapers, magazines, etc., on an extensive scale, maintaining an office in Chicago as well as in Detroit and having as its clients some of the largest corporations in this part of the country. The company's business has reached large proportions, making it one of the biggest enterprises of this character in the middle west.
On the 25th of August, 1908, Mr. Green was united in marriage to Dexter Broad Noe of Chicago. They are members of the Congregational church and Mr. Green has membership relations with the Masons, also with the Theta Delta Chi college fraternity. He is a member of the Detroit Club, Detroit Athletic Club, the University Club of Detroit, Detroit Boat Club, Bloomfield Hills Club, Lochmoor Club and Oak- land Hills Club, all of Detroit. He likewise belongs to the University Club of Chicago and the Lambs Club of New York.
Mr. Green is a member of the United States Board of Commerce and the Detroit Board of Commerce. He is also a charter member of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, a member of the Outdoor Ad- vertising Bureau and national chairman of the Ameri- ean Association of Advertising Agencies. He is con- stantly studying every phase of the business with which he is connected and there is no one more familiar with advertising interests in the middle west. Mr. Green is a director of the Federal Bond & Mortgage Company and the Detroit Chair Company
JOHN F. BROWN. The rapid and continued growth of Detroit has offered a splendid field for the real estate dealer and builders of homes, and it is to this field of business activity that John F. Brown has turned
his attention, and therein has so directed his labors that he has gained a prominent position and a most ereditable name. He comes from the city of Kilmar- nock, in Ayrshire, Scotland, his birth having there occurred March 29, 1888, his parents being James and Mary (Jamieson) Brown, both of whom were natives of Scotland, where they still occupy the old home- stead in which the birth of John F. Brown and their other children occurred. One died in infancy, while those living besides John F. Brown are: James J., who resides in Detroit; and Jane A., who is living with her parents in her native village. The father is a tradesman of Kilmarnock.
Iu early life John F. Brown attended the public schools of his native country, afterward learned a trade, and later pursued a course in a business col- lege, where he received a mechanical and technical education, devoting his time to drawing, drafting and science. He was graduated at the age of eighteen years, and during the period in which he was pursuing his studies he also served an apprenticeship along mechanical lines, learning the pattern-maker's trade. After the completion of a six-year's term of indenture he came to America in 1910 and worked at his trade in the various factories and shops of Detroit until 1913. In the latter year he established business on his own account as a builder of homes and dealer in real estate. Through his agency many important realty transfers have been negotiated and promoted and he has also transformed unsightly vacancies into attractive residential districts through the erection of many pleasing homes. Extending his efforts along other lines he has become secretary and treasurer, as well as one of the directors of the Motor City Build- ing Company, is secretary and treasurer of the Wood- ward Building & Construction Company, and president of the Wolverine Investment Company, the latter a land contract company.
On the 2Ist of September, 1914, Mr. Brown was married to Miss Maude L. Kalmbach of Chelsea, Mich- igan, who passed away January 19, 1916. She was a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Adam Kalmbach, well known residents of Wayne county. They were farming people but are now residing in Detroit at the home of their son-in-law, John F. Brown. Mrs. Brown died at the birth of their only child, Donald J., who was born January 13, 1916, in Detroit.
Mr. Brown is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and is interested in all of the plans and purposes of that organization for the city's benefit and upbuilding along business lines, and its improve- ment and development along civic lines. He has never regretted his determination to come to the new world, for he has found the business opportunities which have led to his present-day success. In 1919 he re- turned from an extensive trip to his native land and the home of his parents, greatly enjoying his visit with his aged father and mother and his many friends of his boyhood days. In April, 1921, he returned from
CARL M. GREEN
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another trip to Scotland. While there he was married at Loanfoot Farm, Darvel, Aryshire, Scotland, to Miss Jessie Hendry Steel, the wedding being solemn- ized on March 4, 1921. Detroit holds his interest as a business man and as a citizen, for here he has so directed his efforts as to win for himself a most eredi- table place in real estate and building circles.
CHARLES R. DENNEN. One of the enterprising and progressive merchants of Detroit is Charles R. Dennen, proprietor of Dennen's Book Shop. He has been identified with the book business for over thirty years and has acquired an expert knowledge of the line in which he specializes, his being one of the leading establishments of this character in the city. He was born at Auburn, New York, January 31, 1874, a son of Charles Oscar and Josephine Dennen, who became the parents of two children, Charles R. Dennen's brother, the Rev. Ernest J. Dennen, being the arch- deacon and a resident of the city of Boston, Massa- chusetts, where he is well known in ecclesiastical circles. The family is an old and honored one of New England, the ancestry in this country being traced back for a period of nearly three hundred years.
At an early age Charles R. Dennen left home and on starting out in life for himself first became an em- ploye of Andrews & Company, prominent booksellers of Ann Arbor. Later he was identified with other merchants engaged in this line of activity and sub- sequently entered the service of the John V. Sheehan Company of Detroit, as a member of the firm, con- ducting one of the leading book stores of the city. For twenty-three years he was connected with this firm, whom he first served in the capacity of clerk. His faithfulness and efficiency soon won recognition on the part of his employers and he was advanced to the position of buyer, while subsequently he was made manager of the company, proving fully equal to his responsible duties in this connection. He was thus active until 1914, when he established his present busi- ness, which he has since successfully conducted, draw- ing his patrons from the representative people of the city. He carries a complete stock of books, which includes the best in modern and classical literature and in fact everything needed to supply a good library. He is a connoisseur in his line and in his establish- ment the booklover is always sure to find many rare old editions for Mr. Dennen is thoroughly appreciative of all that is best in literature. He has ever endeav- ored to meet the needs of his patrons and one is always certain to find the desired book in his estab- lishment. He has always been a deep student and has become well informed on a variety of subjects, so that he is well able to advise his patrons in making selections and has done valuable work in educating the public taste for the highest type of literary pro- ductions.
On the 20th of October, 1904, Mr. Dennen was united in marriage to Miss Margery Bodin Howard
of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and they have become the parents of a daughter, Elizabeth Jane, who was born in 1911. Mr. Dennen is a republican in his political views, interested in the welfare and success of the party, and the nature of his recreation is indicated by his membership in the Detroit Golf Club, the Plumb Hollow Golf Club and the Detroit Athletic Club. He is one of the most progressive and enterprising mer- chants of Detroit and his present gratifying measure of success is largely attributable to the fact that he has continued in the line of business which he first entered as a young man, thus developing expert ability. He is a gentleman of refined tastes, interested in all those things which are of cultural value and which tend to uplift the individual, thus bringing a higher moral plane to the community. He has a wide acquaintance in this city and his sterling traits of character have won for him the respect, esteem and goodwill of all with whom he has come into contact.
IGNATIUS J. SALLIOTTE, attorney at law of Detroit, was born at Ecorse, Michigan, on the 14th of September, 1877, his parents being Joseph and Mary (Moran) Salliotte. Through several generations the family has resided in this section of the state and yet occupies the land acquired by them at the be- ginning of the nineteenth century. The father, Joseph Salliotte, makes his home in Ecorse, living with his daughter, Mrs. Alfred C. Bouchard.
The public schools of his native city afforded Ig- natius J. Salliotte his early educational opportunities and he afterward became a student in the University of Detroit, from which he was graduated in 1896 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. This served as an excellent foundation upon which to rear the super- structure of professional knowledge and he became a student in the Detroit College of Law, from which he was graduated in 1899, with the LL. B. degree.
Immediately afterward Mr. Salliotte took up the active practice of law alone and has never entered into partnership relations, so that his success can be at- tributable only to his inherent ability and acquired talent. He became connected with a profession where advancement is proverbially slow and where progress depends almost entirely upon individual effort. Steadily, however, he has advanced and his expand- ing powers have brought him to a creditable place at the Detroit bar. He specializes in municipal law and has comprehensive knowledge concerning this branch of the profession.
Mr. Salliotte is recognized as a stalwart leader of the republican party in Michigan and for the past sixteen years has served as a member of the Wayne county republican committee. He was also a member of the constitutional convention of 1907-8 and gave most thoughtful and earnest consideration to the vital questions which came up for settlement in that body. He is a member of the Detroit Bar Association and also of the Lawyers Club and he enjoys in full meas-
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ure the warm regard and goodwill of contemporaries and colleagues in the profession.
On the 27th of June, 1905, Mr. Salliotte was mar- ried to Miss Grace Stinson of Jackson, Michigan. He is a member of the St. Francis Xavier parish at Ecorse, having been reared in the Catholic faith. His ac- tivities have been of a character that have brought him prominently before the public and in various ways he has aided in shaping general thought and opinion, while as a member of the constitutional con- vention he has left his impress upon the history of the state.
EDWIN S. GEORGE, favorably known in Detroit and elsewhere as one who has maintained an intimate and prominent participation in financial and commer- cial matters pertaining to the city, as well as one who gave unstintedly of his services during the World war, was born September 23, 1873, at Slatington, Pennsylvania, and was the son of Manno D. and Abi- gail Amanda (Hamm) George. His parents were of Welsh-English and Dutch stock, respectively, and both of his great-grandfathers settled in eastern Pennsyl- vania during the early years of the republic.
During his years of youth Mr. George received his education in the public schools of Morenci, Michigan, and in the Fayette Normal School of Fayette, Ohio. In 1890, at the age of seventeen, he came to Detroit to begin his career of business success. His first em- ployment was with the firm of Annis & Miller, fur- riers. This firm being dissolved, Mr. George continued with the junior partner, William H. Miller, until March, 1897, when he withdrew for the purpose of entering the business on his own account. Some time later he purchased the business of the Walter Buhl Company and consolidated it with his own, engaging in both wholesale and retail trade, also importing, exporting and manufacturing. The fur business under his direction met with deserved success, but in the meantime Mr. George had acquired other interests, such as large real estate holdings and an automo- bile sales company, which eventually caused him to dispose of his fur business. This relinquishment oc- curred in 1909 and was followed in 1914 by the dis- posal of his automobile holdings in order that his entire time might be given to real estate and other investments. Mr. George is a large owner of Wood- ward avenue frontage; in fact his holdings on that street have been for a number of years more extensive than that of any other individual. Years ago and long before the wonderful development of Detroit had materially lessened the risk of real estate speculation, Mr. George began acquiring choice parcels on Wood- ward avenue, at prices which in those days seemed exorbitant if not ruinous. Whether it was foresight, courage or superior judgment, his implicit confidence in Detroit's future was never lacking and the wisdom of his course has been shown in every subsequent lease or sale he has made of Woodward avenue prop-
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