The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III, Part 93

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 93

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design, for the manufacture of pharmaceutical pro- ducts on a more extensive seale.

Twice his establishment was detroyed by fire and upon one of these occasions he sustained considerable loss. Undiscouraged, however, he established his lab- oratory a third time and while engaged in the man- ufacture of drugs and druggists' sundries, he also conducted his retail drug business. He was adverse to dealing 'in patent medicines, which he knew were based upon quackery, and in 1876 he evolved the idea of counteracting trade of this character by putting up ready-made preparations, or prescriptions, suitable and useful for common ailments, with the formula plainly inscribed upon the label, also simple direc- tions for its use. This departure was then known as the ""New Idea." It was immediately successful and soon he had built up a large trade in the sale of these remedies through the drug stores of the United States and Canada.

While he began with one room, twelve feet square, in the year 1856, he was constantly forced to increase his facilities until eventually his manufacturing establishment covered four acres of floor space, while his employes numbered over four hundred in addition to thirty-five traveling salesmen. In 1921 the number of employes of Frederick Stearns & Company passed the two thousand mark and the company had one hundred and fifty traveling salesmen on the road. His retail business, which had at first yielded about sixteen thousand dollars per year, constituted the nucleus of a trade which sometimes brought him more than that sum daily. His patronage also came from the West Indies, the Spanish-American republics, and Australia. In 1881 he disposed of the retail business, which at that time was the largest in Michigan, and in 1882 incorporated the manufacturing enterprise under the name of Frederick Stearns & Company, for the accomodation of which he erected a splendid plant. He continued active in the management until 1887, when he turned this duty over to his son, Frederick K., and retired to enjoy in well-earned rest the fruits of his toil, as well as to gratify a desire for study and travel. In the issue of February, 1907, a few weeks after Mr. Stearn's death, "The New Idea" referred to this and subsequent phases of his career as follows:

"As he occasionally expressed it iu later years, he began to educate himself then as he never had the time to do when he was young. With Mr. Stearns, however, travel was never undertaken merely as a recreation, but as another form of study, and few men have traveled so extensively and to such purpose as he had during the past twenty years. He visited at one time or another every part of the civilized world, and brought back with him thousands of objects of educational or artistic value. One of his earliest collections comprised about sixteen thousand Japanese and Korean curios and other objects of Oriental art,

FREDERICK KIMBALL STEARNS

FREDERICK STEARNS

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such as pottery, lacquers, swords, Japanese, Korean and Chinese costumes, enamels, bamboo work, em- broideries, etc. This collection, which could not be duplicated for less than one hundred thousand dollars, was presented by Mr. Stearns to the Detroit Museum of Art.

"Mr. Stearns then took up conchology and devoted several years of time and considerable money to it, not as a diletante, but from a strictly scientific stand- point. Over ten thousand different specimens of shells, classified and arranged in systematic order, go to make up the collection in the Detroit Museum, and his book, entitled 'Marine Mollusks of Japan,' in which Professor Pilsbury of Philadelphia, was his collabo- rator, is one of the standard reference books of the science today.

"What he regarded as his crowning work, how- ever, was his collection of musical instruments, which he presented to the University of Michigan in 1899. This collection comprises some two thousand different kinds of instruments and represents the evolution of stringed, wind and percussion instruments from their most primitive forms to the complex and artistic pro- ductions of the present day. It is considered the most complete collection of its kind in America and one of the most interesting in the world.

"It is evident from all this that Mr. Stearns found the most absorbing interest in pursuits that many men would have considered dry and unprofitable. He always disclaimed any philanthropie motives in the work, however, modestly saying that he did it because it gave him pleasure, and he gave away the results of it because it gave pleasure to others. The honors that came to him were always unsought, and it is safe to say that probably no private citizen in Detroit was held in higher esteem by men prominent in the business and social life of the city, particularly among the older men, who had seen his splendid pro- gress and known of his many contributions toward both the educational and artistic welfare of Detroit and Michigan."

Frederick Stearns' labors constituted a valuable contribution to the development of the drug trade and the establishment of the highest standards in connection therewith. There was no one man who did more to eliminate quackery in medicine and bring about the adoption of the high ethics today main- tained in the drug business. He was a man who always had the courage of his convictions and nothing could swerve him from the course which he believed to be right. The sterling worth of his character is acknowledged by all who knew him and there are many yet living in Detroit who were proud to count him a friend. It is said that Mr. Stearns was the first to introduce and use the telephone in Detroit, he having equipped a private line from his store to his factory and operated it snecessfully.

As mentioned before, Mr. Stearns was married at Mendon, New York, August 15, 1853, to Eliza H.

Kimball. To them were born four children, of whom Frederick Kimball is the eldest.

The death of Frederick Stearns occurred January 13, 1907, at Savannah, Georgia. Ile had stopped in the south for a time while en route to Egypt, where he had spent his winters for a few years. His passing was a source of profound sorrow to his friends and associates, but in the universal respect shown his memory, the inspiring words of the press aud of the organizations of which he was a member, something of the worthiness and idealism of the man was indicated. In its editorial columns, the "Detroit News" stated that "He was wiser than most men of his generation, because he did not permit himself to be completely absorbed in the building up of a fortune. He held higher aims than that of mere money-grubbing and found his chief interest in travel and study."

FREDERICK KIMBALL STEARNS, chairman of the board of directors of Frederick Stearns & Com- pany, under whose leadership this famous Detroit in- stitution has won its high place of world-wide repu- tation, was born in Buffalo, New York, December 6, 1854, a son of Frederick and Eliza H. (Kimball) Stearns.

Frederick Kimball Stearns was an infant when brought to Detroit by his parents. His early education was received in the Philo M. Patterson Classical school and in 1873 he entered the University of Michigan, but left in his junior year to become identi- fied with his father's business. He began work in the laboratory and was employed in every depart- ment there, as well as in all of the offices, and it was this experience which gave him such a mastery of the details of the different departments and snch a thorough preparation for the position he was after- wards to hold as president of the company.

Assuming the presidency in 1887, at the age of thirty-three years, he formulated plans for the con- tinued development of the already large business, which to him seemed to be really in its infancy. It has been given to him today to witness the success of these plans in the marvelous growth of the house of Frederick Stearns & Company. It is interesting to note that there are few institutions of such magnitude that have been directed from their inception to their sixty-fifth anniversary by only two presidents, and it is even more unusual that the first of these two ex- ecutives was succeeded by his son, who held that office until 1921, when he resigned to accept the newly created office of chairman of the board of directors. Although not in direct active charge of Frederick Stearns & Company, Mr. Stearns still guides its policy and retains the same interest in the business as he did in the days when he was its active head. He is president of Frederick Stearns & Company, Limited of Canada.

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Some years ago Mr. Stearns moved to California and erected a winter home at 722 Crescent drive, Beverly Hills, which has become famed for the hos- pitality dispensed within.

During his residence in Detroit, Mr. Stearns was foremost in developing publie spirit and furthering progressive movements in music and art. In fact, he has always been known as a patron of the fine arts, particularly of mnsie, of which he has a wide knowl- edge. He has traveled very extensively and to good advantage. He is fond of outdoor athletic sports and was a ball player of considerable repute during his college days, having been captain of the varsity "nine." It was on account of his intimate knowl- edge of the game that he was indneed to take the presidency of the Detroit Baseball CImb in 1885 and 1887, which under his administration corralled the "Big Four" and made Detroit famous by winning the National League championship, also the world's championship by the defeat of the St. Louis Browns, American Association champions. This feat estab- lished a new record in baseball history. Mr. Stearns' interest in amateur athletics also placed him in the presidency of the Detroit Athletic Club, for four terms, of which club he was one of the founders, and he was also the vice president of the American Amateur Athletic Union.

Mr. Stearns is widely known as a traveler, having begun in 1909 the travels which have earned for him the title of "The Tramp De Luxe." A believer in the maxim "See America First," he has traveled to every part of the United States and has made a score of trips to Europe. In fact there are few corners of the globe which he has not visited.

Mr. Stearns' art library was considered the most complete in the state, and for many years he served as a trustee of the Detroit Museum of Art. He is an accomplished musician and was the organizer and most liberal supporter of the Detroit Orchestral Asso- ciation which was formed in 1905. This organization was designated as the "backbone of the musical situation in Detroit." Mr. Stearns was president of the society until 1910 and upon his retirement a loving enp was presented to him by his friends and associates in appreciation of his services. The present Detroit Symphony Orchestra is an outgrowth of the Detroit Orchestral Association. Mr. Stearns was also presi- dent of the Detroit Musical Society. His musical library was pronounced the best in the city. Mr. Stearns did not abandon his musical interests when he moved to California, as indicated by his position on the board of directors of the Los Angeles Phil- harmonie Orchestra.

A republican in politics, Mr. Stearns takes only a good citizen's interest in supporting the best men and measures. He is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and also a member of Detroit's leading clubs, including the Detroit, University, Detroit Ath- letic, Detroit Boat, Country and Detroit Antomobile

Clubs. He is, in addition, a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and the Automobile Club of America at New York city.

Mr. Stearns' philanthropies and charities are many and have been carried out with as little publicity as possible. Many years ago his attention was attracted to a pen drawing in a Christmas number of "Life," entitled "The Empty Stocking." The artist had depicted a little girl in a desolate garret in the early dawn of Christmas morning, weeping before a ragged, empty stocking which she, in childlike faith, had linng the evening before in the hopes that Santa might remember her. The pathos of the child in the picture so impressed Mr. Stearns that he resolved to form The Empty Stocking Society, with himself as the sole member, and determined that, so long as he lived and was able, no little ones of Detroit should awaken Christmas morning to find an empty stocking. Each year he seenred names and addresses from the asso- ciated charities and poor commissioners of those fam- ilies with children which received assistance from the city, and beginning abont 1894 Mr. Stearns for many years, or until the organization of snch Christmas charitable societies as the Goodfellows' Club, dispensed a charity that was enormous and did it so quietly that not even his closest friends knew of it. For some weeks previous to Christmas a certain part of his factory organization was engaged in the purchas- ing and sorting of gifts which were to go to needy poor children, the number of whom at times reached as high as five thousand. There were caps, mittens, stockings, toys, candy and many other articles de- livered by the wagons and trucks of the company to destitute children of all nationalities and creeds. This practice is still maintained by Mr. Stearns, although in late years not so extensively, as much of this work is being done by the more recently formed organiza- tions of charitable intent. It may be remarked in pass- ing that all of Mr. Stearns' gifts were given anony- mously, or in the name of Santa Clans or St. Nicholas.

Mr. Stearns was married at Detroit on October 16, 1878, to Helen E. Sweet and four children were born to them, namely: Helen Louise, who is now the wife of Ralph Maynard Dyar of Beverly Hills, Cali- fornia; Frederick Sweet, vice president and treasurer of Frederick Stearns & Company; Marjory, the wife of Edward Waite Hubbard of New York; and Alan Oleott of Pasadena, California.

FREDERICK SWEET STEARNS, vice president and treasurer of Frederick Stearns & Company, was born in Detroit, July 12, 1881, a son of Frederick Kimball and Helen E. (Sweet) Stearns. After mas- tering the elementary branches of learning in the De- troit schools he became a student in the Montelair Military Academy at Montclair, New Jersey. He afterward attended the Lawrenceville school at Law- renceville, New Jersey, and later studied for a time in the University of Michigan. In 1901 he became associated with the firm of Frederick Stearns & Com-

Underwood & Underwood Studio, N. Y.

FREDERICK S. STEARNS

------

FREDERICK SWEET STEARNS

FREDERICK KIMBALL STEARNS FREDERICK STEARNS

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CITY OF DETROIT

pany in the manufacture of pharmaceutical goods and after a time was made manager of the New York branch of the business. In 1908 he was elected a director and assistant treasurer of the company and in January, 1913, was made vice president and treas- urer. He is also a director of the firm of Frederick Stearns & Company of Canada, Limited. He has thus come into a position of executive control in connec- tion with one of the most extensive and important manufacutring enterprises of Detroit.

On the 2Ist of April, 1909, Mr. Stearns was mar- ried to Miss Gertrude Boyer of Detroit, and to them were born two children: Gertrude Sweet and Fred- erick Stearns. On the 24th of March, 1915, Mr. Stearns was married again, his second union being with Miss Therese Meyer of New York city, and they have one son: Phillip Oleot.

Mr. Stearns is an Episcopalian in religious faith and a republican in his political belief. He belongs to the Detroit Board of Commerce and is much interested in the work of that organization for the benefit and improvement of the city. He also has membership with the Psi Upsilon, a college fraternity, and is well known in club circles, belonging to the Detroit Club, the Aero of Michigan, the Campfire of Michigan, the Country Club, the Grosse Pointe Riding & Hunt Club, the Detroit Assemblies, the Players Club, the Fine Arts Club, the University of Michigan Club, the Detroit Athletic Club, and the Bankers Club and Uptown Club, both of New York. During the World war he was in the Quartermaster Corps of the United States army and is now a member of the Reserve.

For sixty-five years the name of Stearns has oc- cupied a prominent place on the list of representa- tive business men in Detroit, and the work instituted by his grandfather and carried on by his father is being further promoted by Frederick Sweet Stearns, who, like his predecessors, is recognized as a forceful and resourceful business man. His quietude of deport- ment, his easy address, his ready adaptability all speak him a man who knows the world, who places a correct valuation upon life's opportunities and ac- tivities, and as one who is justly proud to bear the name which his father and his grandfather established as one of the most honorable in Detroit.

STEARNS. The interesting group portrait pre- sented here represents three generations of the Stearns family, father, son and grandson, being respectively Frederick Stearns, Frederick Kimball Stearns and Frederick Sweet Stearns.

From the establishment of what is now the noted house of Frederick Stearns & Company, manufacturing pharmacists, until the present time, the chief ex- ecutive has been either Frederick or Frederick Kim- ball Stearns, the terms of their service covering a period of sixty-five years. Frederick Stearns estab- lished a pharmaceutical manufacturing business in Detroit in 1856, which was the nucleus of the present

house, and he remained as the active head of it after its incorporation in 1882 under the name of Frederick Stearns & Company: he assumed the title of president at this time and so remained until his retirement in 1887. Frederick Kimball Stearns then succeeded to the presidency and retained this position for thirty- four years, or until May, 1921, when he resigned to become chairman of the board of directors, the office having been created upon this date. Frederick Sweet Stearns has been vice president and treasurer of the corporation since 1913.

BERNARD CHRISTIAN WETZEL. With the exten- sive business operations that have been carried on in Detroit within the last decade or two Bernard C. Wetzel has been closely associated, and operating as B. C. Wetzel & Company, architects, with offices in the Dime Bank building. He was born in Zilwaukee, Michigan, March 18, 1876, his parents being Ernst and Jane (Huss) Wetzel, both of whom were of European birth, the father born in 1830 and the mother in 1840. The former came to America in 1844, when a youth of fourteen years. He went to California with the gold seekers of 1849, making the long trip across the plains, and for sixteen years he was engaged in mining on the Pacific coast, after which he returned to Saginaw, Michigan, in 1866 and there turned his attention to the real estate and insurance business, in which he developed a large clientage. It was Mr. Wetzel who was instrumental in having the low lands between Bay City and Sag- inaw drained and placed upon the market, convert- ing a seemingly useless district into a valuable prop- erty. He sold considerable of his land, which is now dotted with many fine homes and farms as the result of his forethought and business enterprise. He died in 1917 and is survived by his widow, who resides in the Wetzel homestead at Zilwaukee. They were mar- ried in 1867 and celebrated their golden wedding an- niversary just prior to the death of Ernst Wetzel. Their family numbered five sons and a daughter, two of whom have passed away, while those living are: Bernard C .; Ernst, a resident of Portland, Oregon; Emil, of Detroit; and Clara, living in Zilwaukee.

In the attainment of his education Bernard Chris- tian Wetzel attended the public and high schools of Saginaw, Michigan, and afterward entered the office of an architect at Detroit. Through the following years he was associated with several of the leading architects of the city, constantly broadening his knowl- edge and promoting his efficiency in this field of labor. He then began business on his own account in 1907 and through the intervening period has designed and erected many of the leading structures of the city, a large number of the fine residences of Detroit standing as a monument to his skill and ability. His architectural creations are of most artistic character. He has the ability to combine utility, convenience and beauty and among the fine structures of Detroit for

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which he has drawn the plans are the Carnegie Li- brary building, the Ralph Phelps building, various public school buildings, the Theatre De Luxe build- ing and the Samaritan Hospital, also a high school building at Wyandotte, which will be the finest in the state and will contain fifty-two rooms. He has likewise been the architect and builder of many business blocks, halls and fine residences, and he has thorough familiarity with the scientific principles that underlie his work. He belongs to the Board of Com- merce of Detroit and to the Michigan Society of Architects and his brethren in the profession bear testimony to his highly developed skill.

GUY L. INGALLS. One of the most important offices in the city government is that of treasurer, as it entails the collecting and handling of the finances of a great corporation. Detroit, the Fourth City, will in 1921 reelect the incumbent, Guy L. Ingalls, without opposition, to a second term-a just tribute and recog- nition of his able and progressive administration. He has been connected with the city government for the past thirteen years and in 1919, when he took the office of city treasurer, he brought to it a rare fitness which has reflected itself in the capable and advanced methods which he has employed.

Mr. Ingalls is a native of Adrian, New York, born May 20, 1872, and has been a resident of Michigan from the age of two years. After a public school education at Richmond and Port Huron, Michigan, he learned the trade of printer, which he followed for ten years. He then turned his attention to reportorial work and was connected at different times with the Detroit Journal, the News, and the Free Press. His first city office, the duties of which he assumed in 1908, was that of journal clerk under the late Hon. Charles A. Nichols, then city clerk. Subsequently he became deputy city clerk under Richard Lindsay, fill- ing that office from 1913 until July 1, 1919, when he became city treasurer, having defeated the previous in- cumbent, Max C. Koch, by twelve thousand majority. Mr. Ingalls has introduced several original ideas and methods to facilitate the collection of taxes and the handling and accounting of the immense sum of money that passes through the office annually, it amounting to more than sixty million dollars last year. He is a man of uniform courtesy and makes courtesy a requi- site with the entire personnel of his office. The treas- urer is also ex-officio a member of the board of super- visors, board of education, board of estimates and sinking fund commission. On the death of Judge Wilkins, Mr. Ingalls was appointed a member of the board of city canvassers to fill the vacancy until the appointment of a recorder. He has made an excellent record in all public service.

Mr. Ingalls is married and has three children, a son and two daughters, Vance, Frances and Betty. He is a member of the Fellowcraft Club, the Y. M. C. A. and Brooklands Golf Club. His fraternal connections are

with Loyalty Lodge, No. 488, A. F. & A. M., Loyalty Chapter, R. A. M., and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks.

CHARLES H. CAMPBELL, a Detroit attorney who is now president of the Board of Commerce, was born in Detroit, June 18, 1858, and is a son of James V. and Cornelius (Hotchkiss) Campbell. The father, who was an eminent jurist of Michigan, was born at Buffalo, New York, February 25, 1823. He was of Scotch descent and could trace his ancestry back to the historic Campbell clan of Scotland. Dun- can Campbell, his great-grandfather, was an officer in a Highland regiment and was the founder of the branch of the family in America. He settled along the Hudson river, in the eastern part of New York, and there continued to reside until his death. His son, Thomas Campbell, was for many years an influential citizen of Ulster county, New York.

Henry M. Campbell, the father of Judge Campbell, was born in Ulster county, New York, September 10, 1783. In early manhood he removed to Buffalo, then but a village, and his patriotic spirit was manifest by his service to his country in the War of 1812 as captain of a company of artillery. He was married in 1812 to Miss Lois Bushnell, a member of an old New England family. Leaving his bride in Buffalo, he was absent with his command at the time that village was burned by the British in 1813. His own home was destroyed and his wife and her kinsfolk found refuge in the neighboring forests. With a record for efficiency and gallantry in the war, Captain Campbell returned to Buffalo, where he became a prominent business man. For some time he served as judge of the Erie county court, but in 1826 he left Buffalo and took up his residence in Detroit. He became a successful merchant in Michigan and later engaged in the real estate business with a sub- stantial measure of success, although he subsequently suffered severe financial reverses. His prominence in public affairs was continued in his adopted city and he was called upon to serve as associate justice of the county courts and filled the offices of county su- pervisor, city alderman, director of the poor and other positions of public trust. He was also president of one of the early banking institutions of the city. He and his wife were prominent members of the old St. Paul's parish, the first branch of the Protestant Episcopal church in Detroit. He became senior war- den of the vestry and held that place until his death in 1842, while his wife passed away in 1876.

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The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. III, Part 93

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