USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV > Part 101
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On the 24th of November, 1899, Mr. Keenan was married to Miss Amelis T. Ruhl, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John F. Ruhl of Detroit, and they have become parents of two children: James, who was born in Detroit in 1901 and is now attending the Germantown University; and Homer, who was born in 1904, and is also a student in that school. The religious faith of the family is that of the Roman Catholic church, and Mr. Keenan is connected with the Knights of Columbus. His entire life has been passed in this city, where he has a wide acquaintance, and the sterling qualities that he has displayed in sup- port of all that makes for higher ideals in citizenship and for the support of all that makes for progress in business, have won him a place among the representa- tive residents of the City of the Straits.
DR. MOSES BENMOSCHE, concentrating his prac- tice upon surgery, in which he excels, having developed expert skill in that difficult branch of the medical science, was born in London, England, December 5, 1882, a son of the Rev. Herman and Jane (Hyman) Benmosche. The father was born in Cairo, Egypt, and the mother in London, England, and they came to America in 1894. The father has devoted his life to the church and to music, being recognized as a prominent musical composer and an authority upon ecclesiastical music. Making his home in Boston, he is one of the best known representatives of the art of music in that city.
Dr. Benmosche is the eldest of a family of six chil- dren and in the public schools of Norfolk, Virginia, he pursued his early education, while later he at- tended St. Mary's Male Academy of that state. He was graduated with the class of 1898 and, having de- termined to make the practice of medicine his life work, he then matriculated in the Medical College of Virginia, in which he completed his course in 1904, winning his professional degree at that time. Soon afterward he was made professor of microscopy in the University of Virginia and occupied that chair for two years. Later he returned to London, England, where he won his English degree in 1910, after which he again came to the new world and settled in Nashua,
New Hampshire, where he entered upon the practice of medicine. In 1914 he removed to Detroit and has since won a notable name and place for himself as a surgeon of exceptional ability and as an authority upon major operations. He took a post-graduate course under Dr. Joseph Bloodgood of Baltimore in 1905 and also under Dr. Charles E. Symons in the same year. He is now a member of the staff of the Deaconess Hospital and in addition has an extensive private practice. He is serving as surgeon for the Detroit Twist Drill Company and he has performed some of the notable operations in Detroit, having thorough understanding of anatomy and the compo- nent parts of the human body, the onslaughts made upon it by disease and the defects inherited from ancestry. His study has been broad and his scientific research and investigation have brought him promi- nently to the front as one of the skilled surgeons of the city. He has membership in the Medical Society of Virginia, the Medical Society of New Hampshire, the Michigan State Medical Association and the Amer- ican Medical Association.
On the 16th of November, 1907, Dr. Benmosche was married to Miss Simma Guttwoch, of London, Eng- land, a daughter of Charles Guttwoch. They have two children: Elkanah, born in London, England, in 1908; and Jack, born in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1912.
Dr. Benmosche is a Royal Arch Mason, but his activities have been largely confined to his profession and his close application, thoroughness and progressive- ness have gained him well merited distinction in the field of surgery.
BERNARD T. HABERKORN, president of the J. H. A. Haberkorn Company, building contractors of Detroit, is a representative of one of the old families of the city, his birth having here occurred October 31, 1882. His parents were John H. A. and Dorothea Haberkorn. The father was also born in Detroit, while the mother's birth occurred in Europe, but she was brought to America by her parents when two years of age. John H. A. Haberkorn became a contractor and builder and organized the present company for the operation of a planing mill and the conduct of a building contracting business. He became one of the most successful men in his line in the city and con- tinued active in connection with building operations to the time of his death, which occurred in 1911, when he had reached the age of fifty-eight years. His widow survives and yet resides in Detroit. They were the parents of six children, of whom three are still living. Their sons and daughters in order of birth were: For- rest W., who is also connected with the J. H. A. Haber- korn Company of Detroit; Gladys, who is the wife of George T. King of Detroit; Lawrence W. and Roy, both of whom have passed away; one who died in in- fancy; and Bernard T., of this review.
The last named attended the public schools of his
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native city, passing through conseentive grades until he became a student in the Detroit Central high school. He later attended the Detroit Business University and thus further qualified for life's practical and re- sponsible duties. After his textbooks were put aside he became associated with his father in business in 1898. He made it his purpose thoroughly to acquaint himself with every phase of the business and by rea- son of developing capability, and not by reason of parental influence, he won advancement from time to time. Upon his father's death, therefore, he was well qualified to assume charge of the business, which has become one of the most extensive and important of this character in the city. The company has done some of the really big things in the building line in Detroit, such as the construction of a considerable part of the plant of the Ford Motor Company, also the building of the Ford Hospital at Detroit, the Cousins building at Montcalm and Woodward avenues, the Telegraph building at Shelby and Congress streets, the Buhl warehouse and many other large and impor- tant buildings of this eity and elsewhere. About sixty people are employed by the company, of which Mr. Haberkorn remains the president and manager.
On the 20th of October, 1909, Mr. Haberkorn was married to Miss Amanda M. Taepke of Detroit, a daughter of Gustave H. Taepke, a representative of one of the well known families of the city, long connected with the florist business. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Haberkorn: Dorothy, who was born December 20, 1910, now attending school; Ber- nard T., born October 31, 1916; and Norma M., born November 9, 1918. They also lost one child in infancy.
Mr. Haberkorn is a member of the Masonic fra- ternity and has taken the degrees of the Knights Templar commandery. He likewise belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and he is a mem- ber of the Masonic Country Club, the Detroit Board of Commerce, the Detroit Association and the Em- ployers Association. His political belief is that of the republican party and his religious faith is that of the Lutheran church, his membership being in the First Evangelical Lutheran church. His entire life has been passed in Detroit and he has made for himself a most creditable position in its industrial circles, fully snstaining the reputation that has ever been borne by the Haberkorn family as factors in the upbuilding and welfare of Detroit.
WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE, president and one of the founders of the Dime Savings Bank and a director of that institution since its organization in 1884, is the dean of Detroit bankers. Though he has passed the seventy- eighth milestone on life's journey, he is well preserved, both physically and mentally, and aside from business is particularly active in civic affairs, readily recognizing and utilizing every opportunity to promote the city's progress. His labors for many years have aided largely in advancing public welfare.
Mr. Livingstone is a native of Dundas, Ontario. He was born January 21, 1844, of the marriage of William and Helen (Stevenson) Livingstone, natives respectively of Lanarkshire and Renfrewshire, Scotland. He acquired an academical education and later learned the trade of a machinist. When he made his initial step into the busi- ness world in 1864, he became connected with the ship- ping interests on the Great Lakes, in which activity he increased his interests from year to year, becoming president and general manager of the Michigan Naviga- tion Company and the Percheron Steam Navigation Company. He has been a leading spirit in the building up of the Lake Carriers Association, which has been the means of cooperative effort for the improvement and the success of lake transportation and a leading factor in promoting the expansion of the business. His connection with the Lake Carriers Association covers more than fifty-six years and not only has he been president of the association for the past eighteen years, but also for two terms prior to this period he was the chief executive officer. He has done much to further and develop ship- ping interests and constantly studies improvement along this line. For a number of years Mr. Livingstone advo- cated the construction of an independent waterway for down-bound vessels in the lower Detroit river and spent much time interesting the government engineers in the work and prevailing upon congress to supply the neces- sary funds for the development of the channel. In 1906 congress made an appropriation for surveys and in 1907 appropriated funds for the work and authorized it to be known as the "Livingstone Channel" in recognition of the many services rendered by Mr. Livingstone. Work was begun in the spring of 1908 and completed in the fall of 1912. The channel was opened to commerce October 19, 1912, with imposing ceremonies. This channel ranks with the important engineering feats of the age.
All of this is but one phase of Mr. Livingstone's mani- fold activities. For more than a third of a century he has been a well known figure in banking circles of Detroit, having been elected to the presidency of the Dime Sav- ings Bank in 1900. Throughout the intervening period he has contributed in marked measure to the upbuilding of the institution and to the maintenance of its unswerv- ing stability. He is likewise a director of the Security Trust Company and for several years was president and general manager of the Detroit Journal Company.
In June, 1866, Mr. Livingstone was married at Detroit to Miss Susan Downie, and their family numbers four sons and four daughters: William Allan is president and general manager of the Detroit Publishing Company; Margaret is the wife of J. C. Scott, representative of the American Car & Foundry Company at Pittsburgh, and is the mother of two children, William Livingstone and Susan Helen; Helen Edith and Susan Alice are the next of the family; Robert Bruce, connected with the Detroit Publishing Company, married Grace H. Jacobs of Detroit and is the father of a daughter, Mary Hubbard; Florence Mildred married John Ripley Odell and has four children, John Ripley, Jr., Florence Livingstone, Susan Delite and
WILLIAM LIVINGSTONE
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Helen Lucenia; Seabourn Rome, former junior lieutenant in the United States navy during the World war and now connected with the firm of Watling, Lerchen & Company, married Marion Scherer; and T. W. Palmer is vice president and cashier of the Dime Savings Bank. The last named, following a course in the officers' train- ing camp at Fort Sheridan, Illinois, enrolled as a second lieutenant in the Sixteenth Regiment of Engineers, which regiment was recruited in and around Detroit for service in the World war by Colonel Harry Burgess and Major John H. Poole. After assisting in training the regiment in camp at the state fair grounds, Mr. Living- stone accompanied it to France, subsequently being pro- moted to the rank of captain. He was there detached for a time and served as assistant to the chief engineer for the Fifth Army Corps. Later he rejoined his regiment and returned with it after it was mustered out of service following the armistice. Soon after resuming his duties with the Dime Savings Bank, T. W. Palmer Livingstone was made an assistant cashier, from which position he was advanced to cashier in December, 1919, and in January, 1921, he was elected vice president and cashier.
The religious faith of the Livingstone family is that of the Presbyterian church and Mr. Livingtone is a member of St. Andrew's Society, of which he has served as presi- dent. He is a prominent figure in Masonic circles, has been eminent commander of Detroit Commandery No. 1, K. T., and upon him has been conferred the honorary thirty-third degree. A well known club man, he has membership in the Detroit, Detroit Athletic, the Old, Fellowcraft (of which he has been president), Country, Detroit Bankers, Detroit Golf, and Detroit Automobile Clubs, also the Press Club of New York, the Union Club of Cleveland, the Auto Club of Pine Lake. He has been president of the Detroit Bankers Association. Mr. Livingstone was honored with the presidency of the Michigan Bankers Association and his high standing in national finance is indicated by the fact that he was called to the presidency of the American Bankers Asso- ciation for the terms of 1911 and 1912, and in 1910 he was chairman of the executive committee. He is now chairman of the Detroit Clearing House Association.
Mr. Livingstone's political allegiance has always been given to the republican party and in 1875 he became a member of the Michigan legislature, at which election he was the only republican elected in Wayne county. He was a delegate to the national convention of 1896 and acted as chairman of the Michigan delegation. He has also been a member of the state central committee and for several years was chairman of its executive committee. He has done everything within his power to advance the success of the party and insure the adoption of its principles. He is the author of "The History of the Republican Party," in two volumes, published in 1900. He served as collector of the port at Detroit, having been appointed by President Chester A. Arthur.
With many lines of Detroit's development, its municipal progress and the maintenance of its civic standards Mr. Livingstone has been closely associated. He was called to the presidency of the Detroit Park and Boulevard
Commission and labored earnestly to promote the city's development along those lines. He is also a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce and was at one time president of the Detroit Board of Trade. Any well devised plan or project for the upbuilding of the city is sure to receive his hearty endorsement and support.
Earnestly patriotic throughout the recent war period, Mr. Livingstone rendered valuable service in furthering the bond sales and promoting many other war activities. He served as the general chairman of the Liberty Loan committee for Detroit and Wayne county throughout the five campaigns.
Mr. Livingstone possesses oratorial ability and always commands the attention of his hearers, being a fluent speaker and one whose utterances are always logical, clear and convincing. He has a wide acquaintanceship among Detroit's financial and business men covering many years. He enjoys the confidence of the public and those who differ from him in matters of judgment nevertheless entertain the greatest feeling of respect for his sincerity and honesty of purpose. In manner he is extremely democratic and at all times approachable. Honored and respected by all, no man occupies a more enviable position in financial and business circles in Detroit than William Livingstone, not alone by reason of the success which he has achieved but also owing to the honorable, straightforward business principles which he has ever followed and the progressive spirit which he has manifested in the utilization of opportunities.
NORMAN BEASLEY. In the business world Norman Beasley is known as the secretary and treasurer of the Miller & Beasley Advertising Company, but there is another side to his nature that has found expression in literature and he is well known as the author of many interesting and fascinating stories that have appeared in leading magazines and papers of the day. Mr. Beasley is a native son of Michigan, his birth having occurred at Grosse Ile, April 6, 1887, his parents being Joseph and Letitia (Monahan) Beasley, both of whom were of Canadian birth but came to Michigan in 1886. The father engaged in farming for a number of years but is now living retired in Detroit, enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former labor. His wife also survives. Their family numbered two sons, the elder being P. R. Beasley of Detroit.
Norman Beasley attended the schools of Picton, On- tario, until his fourteenth year and then became a student in the high school of Lansing, Michigan. Subsequently he came to Detroit and entered the Detroit College of Law, in which he pursued a two years' course. Upon its com- pletion he became a reporter for the Detroit Journal and followed reportorial work as baseball editor for the Journal from 1911 until 1919. During this period his articles on baseball were eagerly read, not only by the Detroit enthusiasts but by fans all over the country, and many of his articles were copied by other papers through- out the United States and Canada. Early in his journal- istic career he realized that there was not much future for him in that connection-that he was putting forth efforts
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to which the natural result was inadequate. Accordingly in 1919 he resigned, much to the regret of the balance of the staff of the paper, and organized the Miller & Beasley Advertising Company, of which he has since been the secretary and treasurer. He is the moving spirit in this business and as the result of his intelligently directed effort an extensive clientage has been secured.
Mr Beasley has one child, Norman Baird, born in Detroit in 1911 and now attending school. Mr. Beasley is a member of the Detroit Athletic Club and of the Presbyterian church. The nature of his interests and activities is further indicated in the fact that his name is well known to the readers of various popular magazines and papers and he is the author of many interesting stories which appear in Colliers, the American, the Popular Magazine and various other current publications. One of the most widely read of his stories was entitled "Andrew Green," a story that awakened great interest throughout the country.
WILLIAM LOUIS JANUARY, lawyer and lawmaker, whose high professional standing is indicated by his con- nection with the leading lawyers' organizations of America, and of European countries as well, and whose efforts have constituted a notable factor in the legal develop- ments of the state of Michigan, was born near Xenia, Greene county, Ohio, July 9, 1853, a son of George Wad- man and Mary Sandifore (Garnett) January. Mr. January comes from a distinguished and interesting ancestry; the family itself is of French origin and the name was originally Janvier but was changed to the Anglicized form in 1720 by the Virginia and Kentucky branches, the New England and New Orleans branches retaining to this day the French pronunciation.
The paternal line of William L. January is traced with some detail back to Pierre Janvier, his great-great-great- great-great-grandfather, a Frenchman who lived from about 1620 until 1662. Pierre Janvier belonged to the French nobility, was probably the Viscount de Bois- Herpin, was possessed of great wealth, a life member of the National Assembly, and married a Scotch countess, becoming the father of three sons. Early in life a Catholic, he afterward embraced the Huguenot faith and at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes suffered with the other Protestants, also lost his estates and political position. This terminated this particular branch of the Janviers as large landowners, a branch which could be traced back to Eon Janvier, the founder of the family in France, who was a Crusader to the Holy Land in 1249 A. D. under Louis IX.
Thomas Janvier, the eldest son of Pierre, fled to England shortly after his father's death, probably about 1683. Thence, in the ship "Dlaire" he sailed for the new world, landing at Philadelphia, June 23, 1686, where he re- mained for some time, later settling at New Castle. Thomas was a large landowner, having brought much wealth with him from the old country, and he engaged extensively in merchandising, milling and shipping. He married Sarah Jourdain, known as Sarah Crosse (originally
Croyai), Crosse being her stepfather's name. Thomas Janvier died in Delaware in 1725, having been the father of eight children, the second of whom was also named Thomas, who was the great-great-great-grandfather of William L. January.
Thomas Janvier was born during the latter part of the seventeenth century, probably at New Castle, and died at Philadelphia between 1760 and 1776. He married Mary Crosse in 1720, was a provincial armorer according to colonial records, and was, like his father, survived by eight children, one of whom was Peter January, the next in the paternal line.
Peter January, the name now having been changed, was born shortly after 1720 and died about 1810 near Lexington, Kentucky. When a young man he returned to France, making a futile effort to recover the family estates, lost during the persecution of the Protestants. Before and after this journey he visited Ireland and there, or in Scotland, married Deborah McMahon. Returning to America with his family, he settled in Phil- adelphia as a manufacturing jeweler. His wife, Deborah, died about 1760, leaving eight children, and upon April 2, 1761, Peter January was married in western Pennsylvania to Mary Walton, by whom he had twins. Peter January was a soldier in the Colonial army during the Revolution and in 1780, with his wife and children, moved into Kentucky.
James Martin January, the son of Peter, was born in 1756 in Pennsylvania and died August 21, 1824, near Jamestown, Ohio, and was buried at the "log meeting house" on "Anderson's Fork" of "Casson's Creek," called "Grog Run," near Paintersville, Greene county, Ohio. In the spring of 1780 James Martin January, with his three brothers, Andrew, Ephraim and Samuel, also his father and stepmother, together with forty other families, moved to Kentucky, floating down the Ohio river on flatboats. On Monday, August 19, 1782, he took part in the ill-advised battle of Blue Licks-the last battle of note of the Revolution-in which the Ken- tuckians were overwhelmingly defeated by the Indians. He barely escaped with his life. At the beginning of the battle he had tied his horse to what he supposed to be the decayed limb of a tree and when retreat was sounded he could neither untie the horse nor break the limb, and only escaped by jumping upon a horse behind Captain Pattersan, thus crossing the Licking river. James Martin January married Susan Huston in Fayette county, Kentucky, in 1784 and they became the parents of thir- teen children. Susan Huston January died in May, 1856, at the home of her daughter in Cincinnati, at the age of one hundred and four years. For a time after his marriage James M. January lived in Kentucky, then moved to Adams county, Ohio, near West Union, which was a new country in which the forests had to be cleared. He built a double log house and operated a tannery and distillery and also kept what was known in those days as a tavern. Later he moved to a place near Jamestown and purchased what was then considered an improved farm, though the district was in the wilds as compared to later developments made by the settlers.
WILLIAM L. JANUARY
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Robert January, eldest son of James Martin and Susan (Huston) January, was born December 12, 1786, in Lexington, Kentucky, and died December 12, 1842, on his farm south of Jamestown, Greene county, Ohio. When young, Robert moved with his parents across the Ohio river into Adams county, Ohio, and later to the farm near Jamestown, where he lived many years, assist- ing in the upbuilding and improvement of the com- munity. He was a lifelong Mason, a soldier in the War of 1812, and upon September 9, 1809, was married to Mary Wadman, an English girl, at West Union, Ohio. Mary Wadman January was born August 15, 1791, at West Oakes, Somersetshire, England, and died Septem- ber 5, 1865, at Jamestown, Ohio. She was a woman of refinement and culture and deeply religious in character. She came to this country in 1805 with her parents, in the sailing vessel "Woodlip Sills," commanded by Cap- tain Haynes, encountered terrible storms during the voy- age, but at last came to anchor at Norfolk, Virginia, on the first day of May, when, as she said, "the peach trees were in full bloom." Thence she and her parents made their way to Kentucky and from the latter state to West Union, Adams county, Ohio. Ten children were born to Robert and Mary (Wadman) January, the eld- est of whom was George Wadman, father of William L. January.
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