The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III, Part 90

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 90

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Mr. Stocking, although so much in polities, has never been a candidate for publie office. Since leaving college he has not been a member of any secret or- ganization. His club affiliations have been almost all with literary and political organizations. He is now a member of the Detroit Citizen 's League and Sons of the American Revolution, was eligible to membership in the latter through four Revolutionary ancestors, and has been for several years historian of Detroit chapter. His church connections have been with the First Congregational church, Waterbury, Connecticut; Yale College church, and the First Congregational church of Detroit.

He married Elizabeth Lyman, daughter of Normand Lyman, at Hartford, Connecticut, May 19, 1869. Their children are: Elizabeth Lyman, born Angust 22, 1870; Margaret, born December 6, 1871, who married Edward Van Fleet, August 3, 1896; and Frederick Newell, born August 22, 1875, who married Clementine Cochrane.

EDWARD ALOYSIUS FLEMING, one of the younger representatives of the Detroit bar, is a native of this city, his birth having here occurred on the 15th of January, 1891, his parents being William and Mary (O'Rourke) Fleming. The father was a master horseshoer, devoting his life to the business.

The son obtained his early education in parochial schools of Detroit and afterward attended the Detroit College, where he pursued his more specifically literary course, winning the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912, while in 1914 his alma mater conferred npon him the Master of Arts degree. He also pursued his law studies in Detroit College, later known as the Univer- sity of Detroit, and won his LL. B. degree in 1915. Through the intervening period he has continued in the general practice of law and has made for him- self a substantial place and name in professional cir- eles. He belongs to the Detroit Bar Association.

On the 16th of January, 1917, Mr. Fleming was married to Miss Kathleen Bateson of Detroit, and they have become the parents of two children: a son, William Richard; and a daughter, Mary Catherine. Mr. Fleming is fond of athleties, particularly of base- ball. His religious faith is that of the Catholic church and he is identified with the Knights of Columbus.

GEORGE WILLENS, of Willens & Company, ad setters of Detroit, was born in Chicago, Illinois, August 14, 1890, his parents being Abraham and Fannie (Bobin) Willens, who were born across the water but came to America in early life, settling in Chicago, where the father became connected with manufacturing interests and where both he and his wife still reside.

George Willens was the second in order of birth in a family of eight children. In the acquirement of his education he attended the public schools of

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Chicago, passing through consecutive grades to the high school, after which he entered a business college. There he completed his course and then secured a posi- tion as bookkeeper and stenographer, being thus em- ployed until he entered his present business as an ad setter. The company sets up in type advertising for some of the largest business enterprises of Detroit. The firm was established in November, 1916, and later W. H. Powers became a partner, the firm being now Willens & Company. The business is somewhat un- usual in character and was begun in a modest way but has grown to large proportions, necessitating the employment of twenty-five people. In this undertak- ing Mr. Willens has displayed initiative and unfal- tering enterprise and his success is well merited.

On the 1st of January, 1915, Mr. Willens was mar- ried to Miss Lillian Wolf of Chicago, aud they have two children: Berniee, who was born in Chicago, De- cember 7, 1915; and Harvey, who was born in De- troit, March 23, 1920. Mr. Willens maintains an independent course in politics and fraternally he is connected with the Masonic Lodge, having taken the degrees of the Scottish Rite, and he is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Aderaft Club and to the Detroit Board of Commerce. He has worked his way upward entirely unaided and his industry and enterprise have been dominant fac- tors in winning him the prosperity which he has attained.

ALBERT I. APEL, an advertising artist of Detroit, has closely studied this rapidly developing branch of business and is now in a position of leadership in connection therewith. Born in Detroit, December 5, 1886, he is a son of Henry A. and Josephine (Clos) Apel, the former a native of Germany, while the latter was born in Detroit. Both are living and they have reared a family of ten children.

The public schools of his native city accorded Albert I. Apel his educational opportunities and when four- teen years of age he began the cultivation of a nat- ural talent for art by study in the Detroit Art Academy, where he continued as a student for ten years. Ad- vertising art became his chosen vocation and laudable ambition prompted him to reach the top in his pro- fession. Six years ago he took up regular professional work as a member of the Apel-Campbell Company, in which association he continued until January, 1920, when a change in the partnership led to the adoption of the present firm style of the Apel-Tucker Com- pany. Their offices are in the Marquette building, where they employ an average of fifteen people, doing much advertising art for Detroit, for the state and surrounding states. The class of work turned out displays the highest artistie merit and their patron- age is a most extensive one, the excellence of their work insuring them all the business they can handle.

On the 12th of August, 1916, Mr. Apel was united in marriage to Miss Helen D. Tamplin of Columbia City,

Indiana, and they have two children: Beverley and Robert. Mr. Apel is a member of the Scarab Club of Detroit, also of the Detroit Yacht Club, and he belongs as well to the Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation. His political endorsement is given to the republican party and he is interested in all of those forces, political or otherwise, which make for the up- building of the city and the commonwealth at large. He never deviates from high standards in any con- nection, business or otherwise, and in the field of art which he has chosen as a life work he has attained a most ereditable and well merited reputation.

JUDGE CLAUDIUS BUCHANAN GRANT, for twenty years a member of the supreme court of Mich- igan and chief justice of the state in 1888, 1889, and 1908, was largely retired from active connection with the legal profession for some years before his death, which occurred February 28, 1921, in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the leisure which crowned the years of earnest and successful effort was his, enabling him to spend his winters in the balmy climate of California or of Florida, while the summer seasons were passed in Detroit.

Judge Grant was a native of Maine, his birth having occurred in Lebanon, York county, October 25, 1835, his parents being Joseph and Mary (Merrill) Grant, who had three sons. The father, a farmer by oc- cupation, was also born in York county, while the mother's birth occurred in Brownfield, Maine.

After acquiring a common school education Judge Grant attended the Lebanon Academy aud won his Master of Arts degree from the University of Michi- gan in 1862. The degree of Doctor of Laws was con- ferred upon him in 1891. In the meantime he had taken up the profession of teaching and was a teacher and principal of the Ann Arbor high school from 1859 until 1862. In the latter year he joined the Union forces for service in the Civil war, becoming a member of the Twentieth Michigan Volunteers, and during the period of his identification with the army he was advanced from the rank of captain to that of colonel. In 1865 he became a law student in the University of Michigan and was admitted to practice at the bar of the state in 1866. Through the succeed- ing three years, or from 1867 until 1870, he served as recorder and postmaster at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and at the same time was engaged in the practice of law there. In 1871 he was chosen to represent his district in the house of representatives and thus aided in framing the laws of the commonwealth through the succeeding three years. He was chosen speaker of the house in 1871, reelected in 1872 and served two terms. In 1872 he was made regent of the University of Michigan and continued to act in that capacity until 1880.

Judge Grant entered upon active law practice at Houghton, Michigan, in 1873, and there remained until 1882, filling the position of prosecuting attorney

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JUDGE CLAUDIUS B. GRANT At the Age of Eighty-five Years

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of Honghton county in 1875-76. In 1882 he was elected to the circuit bench of the twenty-fifth judicial district and continued in that judicial position until 1890. In the previous year he was elected a member of the supreme court of Michigan aud sat upon the bench of the court of last resort of this state for twenty years, acting as chief justice in 1898, 1899 and again in 1908. His opinions were fine specimens of judicial thought, always clear, logical and as brief as the character of the case would permit. He was at home in all departments of the law, from the minutiæ of practice to the greater topies wherein is involved the consideration of the ethics and philosophy of jurisprudence and the higher concerns of public policy. He retired from the bench January 1, 1910, and en- gaged as general counsel for the legal firm of Warren, Cady, Ladd & Hill. To this work he gave his attention at various periods but spent the winter months in Florida or in California.

On the 13th of June, 1863, Judge Grant was married to Miss Caroline L. Felch of Ann Arbor, a daughter of Governor Alpheus Felch of Michigan. They be- came the parents of five children: Mary Florence married James Pendill of Marquette, Michigan, and died May 18, 1904. She was the mother of three sons, Claudius B .; Arthur, who died in February, 1919; and Alpheus F. Claudius B. Pendill and Alpheus F. Pendill enlisted in the navy when the United States entered the World war and served until the close; Alpheus F. Grant, died at the age of three years, on December 23, 1870; Helen T. married Edward W. Sparrow of Lansing, Michigan, and died June 16, 1899, leaving one son, Edward G., who enlisted in July, 1918, as private in Marines and saw service in France; Emma is now the wife of Rev. Clande B. Runnalls of Marion, Ohio; and Virginia C. is the wife of Chester D. Barnes, attorney at law of Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Judge Grant was a member of the Episcopal church, as is his widow, and he belonged also to the Grand Army of the Republic and to the Loyal Legion. His political support was given to the republican party. He ever stood fearlessly in support of what he believed to be right and he won a well deserved reputation in connection with the clean-up of the undesirable sport- ing element of northern Michigan. He never failed to uphold any cause or principle in which he be- lieved and while upon the bench his enforcement of the law gained him a prominent place among the eminent representatives of Michigan's judiciary.

WALTER G. HUETTER, secretary and treasurer of the Michigan Electrotype Company of Detroit, with plant and offices at No. 611 Fort street, West, was born April 15, 1891, in the city which is still his home, his parents being John and Catherine (Brink- mann) Huetter, who are also natives of this city, where they were reared, educated and married and still make their home. The father has for many

years been one of the city officials, holding various offices. In their family were eleven children, two of whom have passed away.

Walter G. Heutter, who was the seventh in order of birth in the family, acquired his early education in the public schools and afterward attended the St. Joseph's College, from which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1907. He then became book- keeper for the Michigau Electrotype Company, with which he continued until he bought out the Rand interests and later became one of the organizers of the Michigan Electrotype Company, which is the out- growth of the business that Mr. Huetter entered at the outset of his career. Since the organization of the present company he has been secretary and treas- urer and the enterprise has developed into one of the most important of this kind in the state. They now have a large and splendidly equipped plant, supplied with the latest improved machinery for doing work of this character, and they furnish employment to sixty people.

On the 27th of September, 1918, at Anniston, Ala- bama, Mr. Huetter was married to Miss Alice Phil- lips, a daughter of Mrs. Edward Phillips. They have one child, Marguerite Ellen, who was born in 1919. Mr. Huetter is a veteran of the World war. He en- listed on the 5th of September, 1917, as a member of Battery C, Three Hundred and Thirtieth Field Artillery, and attended the third officers training school, in which he was commissioned a lieutenant on the 1st of June, 1918, receiving his discharge at Camp MeClellan on the 31st of December following. Mr. Huetter belongs to the Aderaft Club, to the Ath- letic Club and to the Oakland Hills Country Club. He is also a member of the Board of Commerce and that his religious faith is that of the Catholic church is indicated in the fact that he is a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus.

THOMAS GEORGE LONG, largely devoting his at- tention to corporation law, was born in Dearborn, Michigan, January 24, 1883, and is a son of Samuel B. and Annie Eliza (Brainard) Long. The father is a farmer by occupation, having devoted his entire life to the work of tilling the soil.

At the nsnal age Thomas G. Long entered the public schools, passing through consecutive grades to the high school, and thus with a good literary training to serve as a foundation upon which to rear the super- structure of his success, he became a law student in the University of Michigan, where he completed his course in 1901, being at that time a young man of but eighteen years. He was admitted to the bar upon attaining his majority as his age precluded the pos- sibility of this before. However, he received his initial training previous to this time in the office of Walker & Spalding, with whom he remained until March, 1909. He then went to Washington, D. C., where he became connected with the general land office, there remain-

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ing for six months, aiding in clearing up the land frauds that had been perpetrated. In September, 1909, he became associated with the firm of Stevenson, Car- penter & Butzel of Detroit and in 1912 became a member of the firm of Stevenson, Carpenter, Butzel & Backus. He is now largely devoting his attention to corporation practice and displays marked ability in this connection. He has comprehensive knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence, is particularly skilled in corporation law and is recognized as a safe counselor and able advocate.

On the 13th of August, 1912, Mr. Long was mar- ried to Miss Mabel A. Somers of Dearborn, Michigan, and they now have a daughter: Elizabeth Ann. Mr. Long is a member of the Fellowcraft Club of De- troit and his interest in community affairs is shown in his connection with the Board of Commerce. He is also a member of the Lawyers Club and his further membership relations connect him with the Detroit Bar Association and the Michigan State Bar Asso- ciation.

CHRISTIAN LEIDICH, identified with maritime interests, has made his home in Detroit since 1898 and through the intervening period has been tourist and passenger agent for ocean and lake steamship lines. Born in Hessia, Germany, on the 19th of January, 1868, he is a son of Christian and Marie Elizabeth Leidich. He enjoyed liberal educational opportunities in his native country, there pursuing a college course, and after coming to the new world in early manhood he attended the Detroit College of Law, winning his LL. B. degree in 1902. It was in 1889, or when twenty-one years of age, that he crossed the Atlantic to the new world, first taking up his abode in New York city, where he engaged in preparing boys for college. He has been identified with the tourist busi- ness since 1893, first traveling as director and lecturer of De Potter parties to various countries of Europe and the Orient. He later was made manager of Dr. De Potter's tourist office in Paris and subsequently was assistant manager of the New York office.

Since 1898 Mr. Leidich has been a resident of De- troit and has acted throughout the intervening period as tourist and passenger agent for all ocean and lake lines. He is now the district passenger agent of the Northern Navigation Company and also of the Canada Steamship Lines, Ltd. He is also general agent of the Raymond-Whitcomb Tours and Cruises, the oldest American tourist firm. To Christian Leidich belongs the credit of having introduced the personally conducted lake cruises with entertainment features. Into other fields he has likewise extended his ac- tivities and is well known in real estate circles, being the owner of considerable real estate in Detroit. He is the president of the Conners Avenue Land Company and has developed C. Leidich's Orion Lakeview Park, consisting of forty acres subdivided into two hundred lots, on the Heights of Lake Orion. He is also the

president of the Michigan Cremation Association. His business interests have been carefully and wisely de- veloped, bringing to him a substantial measure of success. He has likewise engaged in the practice of law since 1902 and his various interests have estab- lished him in a foremost position in business and professional circles of his adopted city.

In Paris, France, Mr. Leidich was married on the 30th of September, 1897, to Miss Olga C. Dohmstreich of Detriot. He is a Protestant in religious belief. He belongs to the Detroit Board of Commerce and thus takes an active interest in many well devised plans and projects for the benefit of the city. He is a member of the Harmonie Club, finding his rec- reation largely in music, and is the secretary of the Chamber Music Association. Mr. Leidich is a pioneer resident of the East Grand Boulevard section, as when he built his residence at No. 150 E. Grand boulevard, but one other house (that of Mr. Stocking) was then occupying that portion between Congress, Mack and Gratiot streets.

FRANKLIN S. DEWEY. Wide experience and direct energy in the fields of educational work, mer- chandising, contract paving, telephone organization and insurance have brought Franklin S. Dewey to a position where he is now living retired in the enjoyment of a well earned rest. He still has im- portant invested interests which return to him a most gratifying annual income and, more than that, he enjoys an unassailable reputation as a business man. Born in Cambridge, Lenawee county, Michigan, on the 27th of March, 1845, he is descended from Eng- lish ancestry, his father, Francis Asbury Dewey, being a native of New Hampshire. After arriving at years of maturity he wedded Mary Ann Smith, who was born in New York, and they became the parents of nine children. The father died in 1892, having for forty years survived his wife, who passed away in 1852. Of the nine children born to them seven are living, the first death occurring in 1855 and the family circle then remaining unbroken by the hand of death until 1919. Francis A. Dewey was a farmer by occupation and in 1829 removed with his family from New England to Michigan. Three years later he purchased land in Lenawee county and con- tinued to devote his attention to the development of the soil until his life's labors were ended in death in 1892.

Franklin S. Dewey, reared on the home farm in Lenawee county, spent his youth largely in the ac- quirement of an education, his preliminary studies being pursued in one of the old-time log schoolhouses. He afterward attended Adrian College and then en- tered the University of Michigan, which conferred upon him the Bachelor of Science degree in 1869, while in 1872 he won the Master of Science degree from his alma mater. Turning his attention to the profession of teaching, he became an instructor in

CHRISTIAN LEIDICH

Vol. III-50

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the sciences and modern languages in the high school at Saginaw and was also principal of the high school there for a time. He devoted ten years to teaching and during this period also became widely known through his writings upon geological and scientific subjects, writing anonymously most of the time. In the same period he displayed that inventive genius which has characterized him throughout his life.

When ill health forced him to retire from the teaching profession he established a wholesale and re- tail mercantile house in Alpena, Michigan, where he continued in business for ten years. He then be- came a paving contractor in Alpena, carrying on busi- ness at that place, in Detroit and in Toledo for a period of seven years and conducting a lumber busi- ness in the winter months, when the paving work could not be done. He also organized several tele- phone companies for the Valley Telephone Company, establishing plants at Saginaw, Bay City and Flint, Michigan.

Mr. Dewey's connection with the insurance busi- ness dates from 1898, when he became connected with the National Casualty Company at Detroit as secre- tary. Through the intervening period to a recent date, when he retired from active business, he was a very prominent factor in establishing the policy and directing the destinies of the company. His thorough methods of systematization brought about much saving in time and labor and the business, through his efforts and that of his fellow officers, was placed upon a paying basis. Moreover, his ex- perience was given to the world in many valuable and comprehensive articles which appeared in the in- surance journals of the day. For twenty-two years he has been editor of the two papers published by the company-the Agents Record and the National Leaflet. Moreover, he established a filing system, still used by the company, which is a record or compilation of references relating to every legal decision ever handed down in this country, by any higher court, either for or against every phase of the insurance business. Writing of him, a contemporary biographer said: "A man of less talent for devising new ways would have been content to work through the years along the old lines, but Mr. Dewey has constantly strived to formulate new and better principles of operation. For the last three years Mr. Dewey has rather retired from the active demands of his position, but retains his interests in the National Company and lends his counsel to the vast work done by the or- ganization."

On the 25th of August, 1869, Mr. Dewey was mar- ried to Miss Isabella Thomas of Lenawee county, a daughter of David and Salina Thomas, the father a native of Wales, while the mother was born in England. In 1919 Mr. and Mrs. Dewey celebrated their golden wedding, having traveled life's journey happily together for a half century. Their home was blessed with the presence of three children: Alta Isa-

bella, now the wife of J. L. Hepburn of Detroit, Michigan; Franklin S., who was graduated from the Michigan College of Mines at Houghton and was a mining engineer, but died Jnue 3, 1903, at the age of twenty-five years; and Ada Winifred, the wife of H. C. Boss of Jacksonville, Florida.

Mr. Dewey has always been interested in history and has been an assiduous collector of historical manuscripts and articles. He is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, having ancestral con- nection with the struggle for independence. He has served on the board of education of Alpena for six- teen years, is a member of the Roseland Park Cem- etery Association and also of the Saturday Night Club. His religions faith is that of the Episcopal church and he has been a representative on its vestry for more than forty years, serving now as senior warden, while his son-in-law, Mr. Hepburn, is junior warden. Throughout his life his aid and influence have been on the side of progress and improvement and he has striven earnestly and effectively to reach the high standards which he has set up for himself and to bear his part in the work of promoting the material, intellectual, social and moral progress of the city in which he makes his home.

RAY B. JOHNSTON, practicing as senior member of the firm of Johnston & MeKee, is widely recog- nized as one of the able and successful representa- tives of the Detroit bar. He was born at Marshall, Michigan, September 30, 1884, a son of William and Mary A. (Bidwell) Johnston. His early education was obtained in the public schools of Detroit and in preparation for his chosen profession he entered the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, from which he was graduated on the completion of a law course in 1907, being admitted to the bar the same year. His initial experience in law practice came to him in the office of Allen P. Cox, with whom he was associated for two years, while subsequently he spent a similar period with the firm of Abbott & Abbott. He then opened an office of his own and practiced inde- pendently until January 1, 1920, when he became senior member of the newly organized firm of John- ston & McKee, which is his present connection. The firm specializes in commercial law and collections and is being accorded an extensive and gratifying clien- tage along these lines.

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The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III, Part 90

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