USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III > Part 9
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
On the 30th of April, 1873, Judge Swan was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Elizabeth Clark, a daugh- ter of the Rev. William C. Clark, a minister of the Presbyterian church. They became parents of a son and a daughter: William Maynard and Mary C., the latter now the wife of Stafford C. Reynolds, of Grosse Pointe and Detroit, and they have a son, Henry Swan Reynolds, who was born January 2, 1920. The son of Judge and Mrs. Swan was born in Detroit, January 4, 1879, and was graduated from the high school of Detroit in 1896 and from the University of Michigan with the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1901. He then com- pleted a course in the Detroit College of Law, from which he was graduated in 1903, and he has since been engaged in active and successful practice, making a specialty of patent and trade-mark law. He belongs to the Detroit Bar Association and his record as a representative of the legal profession is in harmony with that of his honored father. He was married on the 28th of April, 1915, in Detroit, to Miss Edna A. Mann, a daughter of the late Ernest E. Mann, who was one of the founders of the American Radiator Company. Mr. and Mrs. William Maynard Swan are members of the First Presbyterian church and of St. Paul's (Episcopal) cathedral, respectively, and he belongs also to the Detroit Boat Club and University Club, and to the Zeta Psi fraternity of the Univer- sity of Michigan. They have a daughter, Margaret Backus, born November 3, 1919. His political alle- giance is given to the republican party. Through the period of the great World war he did service in con- nection with the American Protective League and as a member of the advisory draft board.
The death of Judge Swan occurred at his Grosse Pointe home June 12, 1916, and in his passing Michi- gan mourned the loss of one of her representative jurists. He was also known in professional circles as an able educator, having from 1893 to 1910 been a
member of the faculty of the law department of the University of Michigan, where he regularly delivered class lectures on admiralty law. In 1893 his Alma Mater conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree, while in 1902 the degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by the University of Michigan. In politics he was always an earnest republican, with firm belief in the principles of the party. He was likewise a con- sistent member of the First Presbyterian church of Detroit, served as one of its elders and took the keenest interest in all branches of church work. His life was indeed actuated by high ideals, as manifest in his professional career, in his devotion to every cause which he espoused and in his citizenship. Prac- tically his entire life was passed in Detroit and his friendships were strengthened with the passing years -a fact indicative of characteristics that stand the test of time.
JOHN WILSON STALEY. Through successive pro- motions during nearly thirty years' connection with the banking business of Detroit, John Wilson Staley has not only reached the presidency of The Peoples State Bank, the largest banking institution of the city, but has attained a position of prominence in the financial circles of the country. He was born in Danville, Pennsylvania, April 6, 1871, a son of John and Mary Lewis (Wilson) Staley. His educational opportunities were concluded by his graduation from Albion College with the degree of Bachelor of Arts as a member of the class of 1892. That year witnessed his introduction to banking circles in Detroit. In his youthful days he had determined to become active along that line, and prior to the completion of his college course he had made application for a position with the First National Bank of this city. He had never harbored a false estimate of opportunities or of conditions. At the beginning he recognized e eternal principle that industry wins. His close application, his thoroughness and unusual natural ability soon won him the attention of bank officials and promotions have steadily fol- lowed. From the position of assistant receiving teller in the First National Bank he was advanced until in June, 1908, he became assistant cashier and in June, 1912, he was elected to the vice presidency of what is now the First and Old Detroit National. He left that institution to become vice president of The Peoples State Bank and at the annual election in January, 1919, he was chosen president to succeed James T. Keena, thus becoming the chief executive head of the largest bank in Michigan, and one of the ten largest west of the Atlantic seaboard, its assets exceeding one hundred and twenty-five million dollars. The growth of the bank during the years of Mr. Staley's presidency and vice presidency has been larger than in any similar period in its history. He has the distinction of being one of the youngest bankers in the country at the head of an institution
74
CITY OF DETROIT
the size of The Peoples State Bank. His position among the banking fraternity of Detroit is indicated in the fact that for nine years he was the secretary of the Bankers' Club of this eity, during which period the organization made its most rapid growth. He has also been the secretary and the president of the Association of Reserve City Bankers. Mr. Staley has been honored by the Michigan Bankers' Associa- tion, serving that organization as first vice president in 1919, while in 1920 he became its president. He is one of the two bankers who have been elected members of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America to rep- resent finance. In October, 1920, he was appointed one of a committee of bankers, producers, importers and exporters, from all parts of the United States, who will endeavor to perfect an organization of a one hundred million dollar foreign trade financing corporation. Mr. Staley is a director of the American Foreign Banking Corporation of New York, a member of the executive committee of the American Accep- tance Council, a member of the executive Council of the American Bankers Association, and a member of the economic policy commission of the same organiza- tion. Aside from his banking activities he is chair- man of the board of trustees of the Detroit Young Women's Christian Association, a member of the board of trustees of the Grace Hospital, Detroit, a member of the board of trustees of Albion College, his Alma Mater, and has for years directed the finances of the Children's Free Hospital Association, Detroit. In addition to the interests mentioned he is secretary and a director of the Lob- dell-Emery Manufacturing Company and also of the American Wood Rim Company of Onaway, Michigan.
On the 21st of December, 1907, Mr. Staley was married to Miss Harriet Esther Bewick, of Detroit, and they have become the parents of a daughter, Elizabeth. In club circles he is well known, having membership in the University, Detroit, Bankers, Country and Bloomfield Hills Country Clubs, and also with Sigma Chi, a college fraternity. He is a director of both the Country Club and the Detroit Athletic Club, and is treasurer of the latter.
Mr. Staley has been conspicuously active in public affairs, not as an office holder, but by reason of the valuable service which he has rendered in positions requiring executive ability and dependable counsel. It was therefore to be expected, when the country needed the aid of her most capable men, that he should be chosen to manage the Liberty Loan drives in Detroit. The Michigan Investor, a banking journal, said of him in this connection: "In this position, which required ability for organization, wise counsel and intensive personal energy, he achieved a success that invited comment and admiration. In this he was inspired by an intense desire to be of service to the nation. There was no bluster about his big activities. His command of a great patriotic work was unos-
tentatious, but effective. Personally he sought ob- security and quietly he accomplished amazing results. His unassuming, modest personality, but ability to do things-to do great things at the right time- attracted and held the esteem of those with whom he was associated. This characteristic has marked his whole career-and that is one of the big reasons why he is president of the biggest bank in Michigan. Mr. Staley's outstanding characteristic is a desire to be of service to humanity, coupled with the rare quality of effacing self. It is said of him, and truth- fully, that he is as well known and esteemed as any banker in the United States, not only by bank presi- dents, but banking department heads and leaders of great financial enterprises. It is recognized that his success has been due to sheer ability and real worth, unassisted by any aggressive attitude."
JOHN TRIX, inventor and president of the Ameri- can Injector Company of Detroit, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, December 13, 1848, a son of John and Catherine (Cook) Trix, who were also natives of New Orleans. The father died of cholera in that city in 1858. John Trix, an only child, attended the public schools of his native city and in 1860 accompanied his mother to the north, the family home being estab- lished in Sandusky, Ohio, where he continued his studies. After his school days were over he engaged in the manufacture of machinery in Ohio and after- ward became connected with tobacco manufacturing in that state. In 1870 he came with his mother to Detroit and was associated with the John J. Bagley Tobacco Company, with which he was connected for sixteen years. In the meantime he devoted the hours which are usually termed leisure to work on mechan- ical devices and later brought out several patents. These led to the establishment of the American Injec- tor Company in 1880, of which he has since been the president. Throughout the intervening years to the present time he has invented and produced many other important devices which have made the name of the American Injector Company famous throughout the country. The plant has several times been en- larged to meet the growing demands of the trade and now furnishes employment to one hundred and fifty people. They manufacture United States injectors, also oil and grease cups of all kinds and many other mechanical devices. Mr. Trix is likewise the presi- dent of the Maplewood Land Company, of the Dover Court Land Company, the Baldwin Park Land Com- pany and the Blackstone Land Company, while of the Steer Engineering Company he is the vice president and of the MeCleary-Harmon Electric Company, a di- rector.
In 1884 Mr. Trix was married to Miss Harriet Phelps of Detroit, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Phelps, and they are the parents of four children: John J., born in Detroit and educated in the public schools of the city and in the Agricultural College
JOHN TRIX
77
CITY OF DETROIT
of Michigan, is now the vice president of the American Injector Company. He married Miss Grace Walker of Detroit, and they have one child, John Lincoln; Caroline is the wife of E. Ven Bryant and has one child, Erma Trix Bryant; Ralph, born in Detroit and educated in the high school of this city and in the Bliss Preparatory school, is now engaged in the real estate business in Detroit. He enlisted in the United States navy and was a first lientenant on the Battle- ship Utah, while later he was transferred to the Wash- ington and was on that vessel when President Wood- row Wilson crossed the Atlantic on his memorable trip to the Peace Conference. He married Ruby Gor- don of Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada, and they have one child, Jane Gordon; Herbert B., the youngest son of the family, was born in Detroit and after attend- ing the public school became a student in the Uni- versity of Michigan, graduating on the completion of an engineering course. He seems to have inherited much of his father's mechanical ability and ingenuity and is now associated with him in business. He, too, enlisted in the service during the World war as a rep- resentative of the infantry, was commissioned a cap- tain and won promotion to the rank of major, doing active overseas' service, being in charge of ordnance plants in France. He married Dorothy Stoneman of Detroit.
In his political views Mr. Trix is a republican. He has never aspired to publie office, feeling that his business activities make full claim upon his time, but has held the position of Detroit school inspector for one term. Fraternally he is a Mason, belonging to Zion Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; Monroe Chapter, R. A. M .; Monroe Council, R. & S. M .; Detroit Commandery, No. 1, K. T., and the Michigan Sovereign Consistory, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite. He is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs to the Detroit Athletic Club and in religious faith is a Protestant. He is also a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and of the National Manufacturers Association, of which he is a vice presi- dent, and he is keenly interested in all those activities which promote trade and business development. He has always recognized the obligations and duties as well as the privileges and opportunities of life, meet- ing the one just as fully as he has utilized the other. The plant of the American Injector Company stands as a monument to his enterprise and business ability, which has made him widely known in the realms of manufacturing.
LUTHER STEPHEN TROWBRIDGE, a Yale man and member of the Detroit bar, was born July 2, 1875, in the city where he still makes his home, his parents being Luther S. and Julia (Buel) Trowbridge, of whom extended mention is made elsewhere in this work. He pursued a public and high school education in Detroit and for his college course entered Yale uni- versity, where he won his degree of Bachelor of
Arts upon graduation with the class of 1897. This constituted a splendid foundation upon which to build the superstructure of professional learning. He en- tered the Detroit College of Law in preparation for the bar and won his LL. B. degree as a member of the class of 1900. In June of the same year he was admitted to practice in the courts of Michigan and became associated with the firm of Gray & Gray until the retirement of that firm and then became senior member of the firm of Trowbridge & Lewis. His position at the bar is attested by the large clientage which is accorded him and the importance of the legal work intrusted to his care.
On the 10th of November, 1903, Mr. Trowbridge was united in marriage to Miss Mabel W. Hartsuff of Detroit, and they have three children: Albert Hart- suff, Luther Stephen and Florence Hartsuff. The re- ligious faith of the parents is that of the Episcopal church and Mr. Trowbridge is identified with various social organizations, including the Detroit, Detroit Athletic, Country, University and Lawyers Clubs. His keen interest in the welfare of his native city is manifest in his connection with the Detroit Board of Commerce. He was one of the organizers and is vice president of the Grosse Pointe Savings Bank. Along strictly professional lines he has connection with the Detroit Bar Association. During the war period he labored in every possible way to promote the interests of the government and from the 1st of November, 1917, until January 1, 1919, was vice di- rector of the national war savings committee for Michigan.
RALPH C. MILLER, the present head of the ac- counting department of the Detroit Trust Company, of Detroit, formerly identified with banking interests, was born in the city of Lansing, Michigan, a son of Lewis M. and Mary (Clippenger) Miller, well known and well-to-do residents of that city.
Ralph C. Miller was educated in the Lansing high school, and after leaving that institution he com- menced his business career by taking up banking and was with the City National Bank of Lansing for eight years, during that period acquiring a thorough knowledge of banking in all its branches. Mr. Miller was also associated with his father, who was a lawyer, engaged in compiling and codifying the statutes of Michigan-the laws of 1897, which were the last compiled laws of the state. His father, who held a prominent place in the legal life of Lansing, was secretary of the state senate for sev- eral years. He passed away in December, 1916.
After completing the work of compiling the laws Mr. Miller took up accounting, learning it by prac- tical experience, and in 1909 he came to the Detroit Trust Company, Detroit. He commenced as a junior public accountant, but showing such marked efficiency in the execution of his duties, promotion came to him rapidly and finally he was promoted to be head of
78
CITY OF DETROIT
the accounting department of the Trust Company, bringing to bear on the duties of that position a ripe experience and sound judgment. He holds the confidence of the officers of the Trust Company and of the company's customers through his ability, thorough business methods and unswerving integrity.
In 1907 Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Amy C. Eberley, and they are the parents of one child, a daughter, Elizabeth. Mr. Miller takes a warm and practical interest in civic affairs. He is a member of the Board of Commerce, in the work of which he takes an active part. He is a member of Blue lodge, No. 66, Free and Accepted Masons, at Lansing. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have a large circle of friends in Detroit, and in the social and cultural movements of the community they are prominent factors.
COLONEL CHARLES BEECHER WARREN, Amer- ican ambassador to Japan, one of the most eminent lawyers of Michigan whose renown in his profession has long since been international, is senior member of the firm of Warren, Cady, Hill & Hamblen, and for more than a quarter of a century has been a member of the Detroit bar. He was born at Bay City, Michigan, April 10, 1870, a son of Robert L. and Caroline (Beecher) Warren, also natives of Michigan. The father was born and reared at Flint, this state, and completed his education by graduation from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He was promi- nently identified with the development of the Sag- inaw valley and had wielded wide influence in public affairs through his efforts as a journalist, giving much time and study to the question of civic and political matters. He was the founder of the Bay City Journal and also of the Saginaw Daily Enterprise, which was one of the first daily papers printed in the Saginaw valley. The recognition of his ability and public spirit on the part of his fellowmen led to his election to the state legislature in early days. For many years he was president of the board of trustees of the Michigan School for the Deaf at Flint. In 1908 he was made a delegate to the republican national convention from the second district of Michigan and he was long a prominent figure in political circles in this state. His death occurred at Ann Arbor, in 1916, where for a number of years he owned and edited daily papers of that city.
Charles B. Warren spent a portion of his boyhood in Bay City and then accompanied his parents on their removal to Albion. He pursued a preparatory course in Albion College and was prominent in college cireles, being president of the freshman class and managing editor of the college paper in his sophomore year. In 1889 he became a junior in the University of Mich- igan, from which he was graduated in 1891 with the Bachelor of Philosophy degree, having during his uni- versity course given special attention to the study of history and constitutional law. It was his class that
established the college paper, "The Inlander," of which Mr. Warren was chosen the first editor in chief. On the completion of his university course he came to Detroit and entered the law office of Don M. Dick- inson, who directed his reading until his admission to the bar in 1893. He also studied in the Detroit Law School and was graduated with the class of 1893, his LL. B. degree being at that time conferred upon him. He remained, however, in the office of Mr. Dickinson until 1897 as an assistant and was then admitted to a partnership under the firm style of Dickinson, War- ren & Warren, a relationship that was maintained until 1900, when the firm of Shaw, Warren & Cady was formed, his partners being John C. Shaw and William B. Cady. With the death of Mr. Shaw in January, 1911, the firm name of Warren, Cady & Ladd was adopted and for some time Judge Claudius B. Grant, for a number of years one of the supreme court jus- tices of Michigan, was associated with the firm as counsel. Subsequent changes in the firm led to its present name-that of Warren, Cady, Hill & Hamblen, representing one of the foremost legal firms in this section of the country. No dreary novitiate awaited Colonel Warren at the beginning of his professional career, for his talent rapidly brought him to a posi- tion of prominence in his profession. In 1896, or before he was twenty-seven years old, he was appointed associate counsel for the United States before the Joint High Commission, which adjudicated the claims of Great Britain in that historic controversy involv- ing the rights of the two nations in the Behring Sea. This great honor gave him a high standing in his own state and at once placed him in a foremost posi- tion among the younger lawyers as well as gaining for him an international reputation. In 1909 he was appointed by President Roosevelt and Elihu Root, then secretary of state, as one of the counsel for the United States in the controversy with Great Britain over the North Atlantic waters and fisheries. The case was presented to the Permanent Tribunal of Arbitration at the Hague during the summer of 1910 and Colonel Warren was one of the counsel chosen to make the oral argument for the United States. Here was probably assembled the greatest array of legal talent available in the United States and Great Britain at that time. Colonel Warren is one of only two members from Michigan of the executive committee of the American Society of International Law, his contemporary formerly sharing this honor being the late James B. Angell, president-emeritus of the Uni- versity of Michigan. He has been counsel for and an official in many of the important corporations and business interests of Detroit. He was made a member of the directorate of the Old Detroit National Bank, of the National Bank of Commerce, the Detroit Stove Works and the Paige-Detroit Motor Car Company. He is also director and general counsel for the Michigan Sugar Company and his interests and activities have thus covered a broad scope.
CHARLES B. WARREN
81
CITY OF DETROIT
When this country declared war upon the Central powers, he was at once called upon for service, and immediately responded. He was commissioned a major in the Reserve Corps in the first month of the war, April, 1917, being the first reserve officer in his Corps called from civilian life into active service; was pro- moted to the rank of lientenant colonel in February, 1918, and in July, 1918, was made a colonel in the Na- tional army. Colonel Warren served as chief of staff to Major General Crowder, who as provost marshal general was in charge of raising the National army under the Selective Service Law. He was the author of the plan which put into operation the raising of our army. General Crowder stated in the military record attached to Colonel Warren's certificate of discharge:
"He has rendered the administration of the selec- tive draft many notable services, the enumeration of which is not possible at this time. It is proper, how- ever, to note his very signal service in the preparation of the first regulations under the Selective Service Law. It was a lawyer's task to interpret, in the form of regulations, the large delegation of authority to the President by that law and he brought to the task ability of the highest order and especially a sane judgment which was of the greatest value in adopting the execution of the law to the legal sense of our people."
He was awarded by the President the Distinguished Service Medal with this citation in the Military Rec- ords:
"For exceptional, meritorions and distinguished serv- ice to the government in connection with the admin- istration of the Selective Service Law during the war. In all of his varied and important duties he displayed unselfish devotion, tireless energy and ex- traordinary executive ability." He was active in the great international charity movements antedating our entrance into the World war, and has received deco- rations from the French republic, the Kingdom of Belgium and Serbia.
On December 2, 1902, Colonel Warren was married to Miss Helen Wetmore, a daughter of the late Charles Wetmore of Detroit, and a niece of the late United States Senator James McMillan. Colonel and Mrs. Warren have become parents of four sons: Wetmore, born November 17, 1903; Charles B., Jr., born July 4, 1906; Robert, born July 17, 1907; and John Buel, horn May 4, 1914.
Colonel Warren is well known in club circles, having membership in the Detroit, Country, Yondotega, Uni- versity, Detroit Athletic, Bloomfield Hills Country, Grosse Pointe Hunt and Huron Mountain Clubs of Detroit; the Chevy Chase and Metropolitan Clubs of Washington, D. C .; and the University Club of New York. In 1916 the University of Michigan conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts and he is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa, an honorary literary fraternity. Colonel Warren, ever since becoming a voter, has been a stanch supporter of the republican Vol. III-6
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.