USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV > Part 108
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In July, 1914, he organized the MacIvor & Croster Lumber Company, being its secretary, treasurer and general manager until September, 1916. In January, 1917, he started his present company, the J. A. MacIvor Lumber Company, of which he has since been the princi- pal. He handles sash, doors and lumber used for build- ing purposes, making it a point to secure the best grades on the market; and his progressive methods and straight- forward and honorable dealings have secured for him a large share of the local trade in this commodity. Since its inception the business has enjoyed a steady growth,
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and in the conduct of his interests, he now gives employ- ment to twenty persons. His plant is located at 10515 Grand River avenue. He was the pioneer of the lumber industry in this section of the city, supplying his share of the material used for building purposes in the locality.
On January 6, 1915, Mr. MacIvor was united in mar- riage to Miss Mary Sullivan, of San Diego, California, and they have become the parents of three children, Mary Elizabeth, born October 20, 1915; Janet Loring, born March 1, 1917; and Katherine Ann, born July 18, 1919.
In his political views, Mr. MacIvor is a republican; and his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Calvary Presbyterian church. He is a member of the local and National Lumber Associations, and is interested in the progress and welfare of his city, as is apparent by his membership in the Board of Commerce. He is well known in social circles of the city as a member of the Detroit Athletic Club, Lochmoor Country Club and the Detroit Automobile Club. He is a capable and successful business man, whose plans are carefully formulated and promptly executed, and his influence is one of broadening activity in the field in which he operates. He has never deviated from the course which the world regards as right in the relation between man and his fellowmen, and in all of his business career he has held closely to the rules which govern strict integrity and unabating industry.
ALFRED E. CROSBY, a native son of Detroit and one of her most progressive and enterprising citizens, is a son of Captain William J. Crosby, a widely known shipmaster, and past grand president of the International Shipmasters' Association. He has been identified with the business interests of the city since 1909 and now ranks with the foremost morticians of the state, his undertaking establishment being regarded as one of the finest in the country. His plans are carefully formulated and promptly executed and he is preeminently a business man whose record is written in terms of success. Mr. Crosby acquired his education in the public schools of Detroit and on starting out in life identified himself with the under- taking business, with which he became largely familiar through practical experience. He then completed a course in the Cincinnati College of Embalming and also took postgraduate work in the New England Institute of Embalming at Boston, Massachusetts. In 1909 he established himself in business in Highland Park and in 1918 erected his present building, for which he drew the plans and which is designed ex- pressly for this purpose, being pronounced by the Bureau of Professional Statistics the finest mortuary establishment in the state and one of six which are classed as the best in the United States. The chapel is especially beautiful, being of Gothic architecture, and in design is similar to a church, being entirely devoid of that atmosphere of coldness which permeates the ordinary chapel. It is the first of its kind in the city and the building also contains a complete morgue and operating room, with facilities for post-
mortems, while there are also two parlors for private services. The appointments are of the best and the establishment in its entirety is a decided acquisition to the city. Mr. Crosby carries a complete line of funeral equipment and furnishings of the highest grade and his business has grown to such large pro- portions that he has established a branch office at Woodward avenue and Nine-Mile Road. In dealing with the public he is prompt, efficient and tactful and his services are much in demand.
On the 15th of June, 1915, Mr. Crosby was united in marriage to Miss Evelyn N. Hevenor and they have become the parents of a daughter, Doris. Mr. Crosby is a member of the Ferndale Board of Commerce and the Detroit Board of Commerce and also of the De- troit, the Michigan, and the National Associations of Funeral Directors. He is connected with the Masonic Country Club, the Detroit Yacht Club and the High- land Park Rotary Club. Fraternally he is identified with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is also a prominent Mason, belonging to Highland Park Lodge, F. & A. M .; Highland Park Chapter, R. A. M .; Monroe Council, R. & S. M .; Highland Park Command- ery, K. T .; Michigan Sovereign Consistory, A. & A. S. R., 32°; Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine; and to the Grotto. He is also a past patron of Park Corinthian Chapter, O. E. S., and past Watch- man of Shepherds of Highland Park Shrine, White Shrine of Jerusalem. In business affairs he has made steady progress, his capable management and indefatigable industry constituting the basis upon which he has built his prosperity, while at the same time his activities have contributed to the commercial development of his city, and Detroit is proud to claim him as one of her native sons. Mr. Crosby's residence is at 143 Winona avenne, Highland Park, and his summer residence-Nytis Lodge-is on the shore of Higgins Lake in Roscommon county, Michigan.
OTTO KIRCHNER, a distinguished Detroit attorney who was an active representative of the legal fratermity here for a period of fifty-three years and who for more than a half century figured prominently in the city's industrial and political affairs, passed away at the age of seventy-four years. Though he long ranked among the foremost lawyers in the country, he was active in recent years as charimani of the board of directors of the First State Bank and as president of the Bureau of Governmental Research. For a period of four years, beginning in 1877, he served as attorney general of Michigan.
The birthplace of Otto Kirchner was Frankfort-on- the-Oder, Germany, where he first opened his eyes to the light of day on the 13th of July, 1846, his parents being Rudolph and Ottilie Kirchner. At the age of eight years, in 1854, he was taken to Canada by his parents, who after a short time crossed the border into the United States, locating first in Lansing, Michigan, and subsequently in Detroit. The father, who was a
ALFRED E. CROSBY
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man of attainments, became an officer in the Civil war and it was mainly from him that the son acquired his scholastic training. In 1894, after he had become estab- lished in the country of his adoption and in the esteem of his fellow citizens of Michigan, the honorary degree of A. M. was conferred upon Otto Kirchner by the Uni- versity of Michigan, with which institution he became identified as a teacher. After completing his preparation for a professional career he was admitted to the Michi- gan bar, also to the bars of all the federal courts, and he entered upon the practice of law in Detroit in 1867. He received the honorary degree of LL. D. from the Uni- versity of Michigan, but his admission to the bar came after he had read law in the office of Elijah Wood Med- daugh, whose daughter, Julia, he later married. For fifty-three years, or until the time of his demise, he remained an active representative of the legal fraternity in Detroit, becoming widely recognized as one of the legal lights of the city and specializing of late years in international law and damage suits. A striking indica- tion of Mr. Kirchner's high Jank as an attorney, as well as his thoroughness, was given when about 1913 he acted as chief counsel for the Calumet & Hecla Copper Company in the noted suit brought against it by the minority stockholders of the Tamarack mine. The Calumet & Hecla interests had acquired control of the majority interests in the Tamarack mine and wanted to merge it with their own properties. This the minority stockholders opposed. As counsel for the Calumet & Hecla, Mr. Kirchner spent nearly a year in study and preparation of his briefs in the case. Four months of this time he devoted to the study of mineralogy in this country and in German universities, and five more he spent writing his brief in Washington, D. C., where he had access to the Congressional Library. Mr. Kirchner won the case and received the largest fee ever paid in the history of the state. At different times he acted as counsel for the Morgan interests in this section through a period of more than thirty years and handled the Pere Marquette and Studebaker matters.
When Mr. Kirchner began law practice in Detroit in the later '60s, his partner was the Rev. Father Walter Elliott, who for more than forty years has been a mis- sionary priest of the Paulist Society. Father Elliott, born in Detroit, fought in the Civil war as captain of a Michigan regiment in Custer's Cavalry Brigade and was named in official reports for conspicuous bravery at Gettysburg. At the close of the war he studied law practiced in Detroit for a few years and then entered the priesthood.
An active republican politician and a campaigner virtually all his life, withal a man of considerable inde- pendence of thought and action, Mr. Kirchner stumped the state for Grant and Wilson in 1872 and in 1876 he became attorney general of Michigan. It was an ardu- ous and ill paid office in those days, but Mr. Kirchner in later years was heard to say that no period of his career was more prolific in valuable experience. He never lost touch with public affairs and public interests.
In 1919 he accepted appointment as president of the Bureau of Governmental Research and in this position assisted in solving the involved financial problems affect- ing the city's street railway policies and projects.
Mr. Kirchner became identified with the University of Michigan in 1885, when he was appointed Kent professor of law. The institution was then in a whirl of adminis- trative politics and he served only about a year at that time, failing of reappointment; but in 1893 he was back again as a law lecturer at Ann Arbor and this time he remained on the faculty for five years, rounding out this part of his career with a twelve-month additional service as a non-resident lecturer. In the years 1909 and 1910 he was special lecturer on legal ethics. Among his other activities he was a director of the Quincy Copper Mining Company; a member of the American Historical Associa- tion; the Michigan Political Science Association, of which he was president in 1896; president of the Detroit Church Club, which he helped to found in 1896; the Detroit Symphony Society, of which he was the first president; the American Society of International Law; the Detroit Bar Association; the Detroit Fine Arts Society; the Society of Arts and Crafts; the Harmonie Society; the Detroit Board of Commerce; and Michigan Commandery of the Loyal Legion, of which he was a first-class member by inheritance. He was at one time a vestryman of St. John's church and was also the first president of the Detroit General Hospital, now the Henry Ford Hospital. While his law practice extended from Detroit to New York and he was always busy, he felt of late years that his chief interest in public life was the research bureau. That he had keen appreciation for the social amenities of life is indicated in his club con- nections. He belonged to the Country and Detroit Clubs of this city, the Meganticoat Golf Club of Camden, Maine, the Mount Battie Club of Camden, Maine, and the Camden Yacht Club. Walking afforded him pleasur- able recreation and he had a hobby for fine china. Mr. Kirchner loved his adopted country, its traditions and institutions. At the outbreak of the great World war in 1914 he maintained a position of strict neutrality, believ- ing that neither side was entirely right and not forming decisive judgment until he got what he believed would be the crue story or evidence of each side. With the insults and affronts accorded the United States by Ger- many he assumed a position of bitter antagonism against his native land, Germany, particularly denouncing Kaiserism, and with the entrance of America into the great struggle he lent his whole cooperation to its support.
On the 17th of February, 1869, Mr. Kirchner was united in marriage to Miss Isabel Graham Beane of Detroit, who passed away November 30, 1884. On the 4th of January, 1887, Mr. Kirchner was again married, his second union being with Julia Edmunds, daughter of the Hon. Elijah Wood and Emily E. (Maynard) Med- daugh. Her father, who was a native of New York city, removed from the Empire state to Michigan, locating first in Lansing and subsequently in Detroit. He became general counsel of the United States for the Grand Trunk
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Railroad. Surviving Mr. Kirchner are Mrs. Kirchner, two daughters and a son: Richard Graham of Detroit and San Diego, California, who is a lawyer by profession; Isabel Ottilie, who is the widow of Harold Russell Grif- fith of New York city; and Dorothy, who is Mrs. John H. Earle of New York city.
It was on the 21st of July, 1920, that Detroit was called upon to mourn the passing of Otto Kirchner, banker, public official, teacher, economist and attorney, who died at his home at No. 1717 Jefferson avenue after several months' illness, and his remains were interred alongside his father in the family plot at Haverhill, New Hampshire.
SHERMAN DELIVAN CALLENDER entered upon the practice of law in Detroit in 1899, following his admission to the bar of Ohio the previous year. Through the intervening period, covering more than two decades, he has engaged in active practice and has also contributed to the business development of the city along other lines. A native of Ohio, he was born at Hartsgrove, March 18, 1869, his parents being Robert F. and Lois (Winslow) Callender. After ac- quiring a public school education in his native town he continued his studies in the New Lyme Institute at South New Lyme, Ohio, and then entered Oberlin College, from which he was graduated with the Bach- elor of Philosophy degree in 1895. He then became a law student in the Ohio State University and gained his LL. B. degree in 1898. His youthful experiences were those of the farm bred boy who divides his time between the duties of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the playground and the work of the fields. Ambitions to acquire an advanced education, he sold books in order to pay his tuition at college and he afterward engaged in teaching for three years before entering upon preparation for the bar.
Mr. Callender located for practice in Toledo, Ohio, following his graduation in 1898 and in the succeeding year came to Detroit, where he has remained. He belongs to the Detroit, Michigan State and American Bar Associations and to the Lawyers Club of Detroit. He enjoys the high regard, confidence and goodwill of his professional colleagues and contemporaries. His name figures in connection with much important liti- gation, his work in the courts ofttimes being of a notable character. He is a director and the attorney for the Detroit Improved Realty Company, the Term- inal Land Company, Vinsetta Land Company, Oakdale Land Company, Grosse Pointe Development Com- pany, Detroit Motor Bus Company, the Vinton Com- pany and several other large corporations, in which connection his influence, it will be seen, is felt in the business advancement of the city.
On the 23d of April, 1904, at Monroeville, Ohio, Mr. Callender was married to Miss Sylvia May Cornell of that city. Mrs. Callender comes from an old and prominent family in that section of Ohio and was educated at Oberlin, graduating in the class of 1897.
Mr. and Mrs. Callender have three daughters: Alice May, Lois Winslow and Sylvia Elizabeth. The family adhere to the faith of the Congregational church. Mr. Callender is a republican in his political views but has never been a politician in the sense of seeking office. He belongs to Corinthian Lodge, No. 241, F. & A. M., and is an exemplary representative of the craft. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and a member of Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of Beta Theta Pi, a college fraternity, the Ohio Society of Detroit, of which he has been president, and the Sons of the American Revolution, while in club circles his membership in- eludes the Detroit Boat, Detroit Athletic, Ingleside, Exchange and Brooklands Golf and Country Clubs. In 1918 he was a member of the charter commission of Detroit and was active in preparation of the charter which was adopted by the city and now in force. He is at all times thoroughly informed concerning questions of vital significance in municipal affairs, his aid and influence being ever on the side of progress and advancement. Mr. Callender resides at 159 Pin- gree avenne.
GEORGE W. FERRIS. That George W. Ferris made valuable contribution to Detroit's upbuilding and that the worth of his work in behalf of the city was widely recognized is indicated in the fact that one of the public highways has been called Ferris street and one of the public schools was named in his honor. There has been no man in Detroit more loyally devoted to the cause of public education, his interest being manifest in many tangible ways. In every relation of life he measured up to high standards and when the call came for him to pass on the deepest regret was felt in Highland Park, where he maintained his residence and, in Detroit, where he so long conducted his business affairs.
Mr. Ferris was a native of the Empire state, his birth having occurred in Junius, Seneca county, New York, February 15, 1846. He was one of a family of three children born to John and Harriet (Gilbert) Ferris. The father was a native of England and came to America in early life, establishing his home in the state of New York, where he became a prosperous farmer. His wife was a direct descendant in the paternal line of Judge Jeffery Gilbert, a distinguished jurist of Kent, England.
In his youthful days George W. Ferris attended the public schools of New York, completing his studies in Seneca, that state. He left New York when about twenty years of age, determined to try his fortune in the west For some time he was in the employ of the Michigan Central Railroad Company at Detroit and then continued his journey to Cripple Creek, Colorado, where he was a prospector and miner and also for several years was employed in an assay office. During this period, however, he frequently returned to Detroit to look after his property interests at Springwells and Greenfield in Wayne county. As the years passed he made extensive investments in real estate until his holdings were very
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valuable, and because of his success he was enabled to spend his later years in honorable retirement from busi- ness, his prosperity being sufficient to provide him with all of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life.
On the 22d of October, 1881, in Bay City, Michigan, was celebrated the marriage of George W. Ferris and Miss Lydia Loyde Little, who was born in Ontario, Canada, and of Scotch descent, the family name being Lytle in Scotland. Her grandfather, Peter Little, was born in the land of hills and heather and emigrating to the new world, settled in Canada. Her father, Thomas Little, was reared in Ontario and there engaged in busi- ness as a contractor and builder for many years. He wedded Eunice Walton, who was born in Ontario and was of English lineage. During the childhood of their daughter, Mrs. Ferris, they removed to New York, and subsequently became residents of Peace Dale, Rhode Island, where Mrs. Ferris was reared to womanhood, making her home much of the time with a widowed aunt. Shortly before her marriage she came to Detroit, resid- ing in Bay City and Detroit until she became the bride of George W. Ferris. The children of this marriage are: Georgia, the wife of R. J. Dotson; Vivian, the wife of Alexander E. Sorum of Portland, Oregon; and Thomas Alden, who is a prominent business man of Los Angeles, California. While retaining her home at No. 27 Ferris avenue in Detroit, Mrs. Ferris largely spends the winter months with her son in Los Angeles.
Mr. Ferris was a supporter of republican principles, but never an office seeker. Fraternally he is connected with the Masons and was a loyal follower of the teach- ings of the Presbyterian church. His life was character- ized by a most kindly spirit and generous disposition. He was particularly interested in education and was continually manifesting helpfulness toward the school children. It was habitual with him in bad winter months to hitch up his sleigh and gather up the little children, taking them to school. In his home he was a devoted husband and father, his family relation largely being an ideal one. When he passed away the public schools of the city were closed during the funeral hour as a mark of respect, while the city council passed a suitable memorial and resolutions of sympathy. He responded to the call of the silent messenger on the 16th of February, 1894, being a comparatively young man, about fifty years of age. He had long pursued the path of righteousness, so that his name is honored and his cherished memory re- mains as a blessed benediction to all. who knew him.
JAMES R. STONE, a prominent and prosperous business man of Detroit, president of the J. R. Stone Tool and Supply Company, and otherwise identified with the commercial life of the city, is a native of Michi- gan, born at Mt. Clemens, this state, a son of Richard and Anna (MacArthy) Stone, who moved to Detroit in 1885, when the subject of this sketch was about two years old.
J. R. Stone was educated in the public schools of Detroit, and later learned the trade of machinist and
also of tool and die making. He studied at Detroit University and at the Armour Institute, and took post- graduate courses at Cornell University and Boston Technical School. In 1904 he took his engineering degree from the Armour Institute. Thus equipped with all the practical and technical knowledge necessary for the conduct of a large business in the tool and supply line, Mr. Stone established his present plant in 1910, which he continued to operate successfully until 1917, and in the latter year he was joined by Mr. Marlotte, reference to whom is made on another page of this work. The J. R. Stone Tool and Supply Company has a wide and growing business standing, the products of the plant being shipped far and near, and the present prestige of the business is due to Mr. Stone's untiring energy and his all-around acquaintance with the details of the trade.
Mr. Stone has been twice married. In 1902 he was married to Burcy Kronberg, who died in February, 1918, leaving six children: Hazel, Marjorie, Violet, James R., Jr., Ruth and Robert. In July, 1919, he was married to Helen O'Neill, who was a nurse overseas with the American Army of Occupation. Mr. Stone is a member of the Board of Commerce, in the affairs of which he takes a practical interest, as he does in all matters of a civic character calculated to serve the welfare of the community where he is a living example of a real pro- gressive factor in industry.
GEORGE E. SKELTON, for many years engaged as a salesman on the road, now and for some time past occupying the position of manager of the Detroit branch of the Pennsylvania Rubber Company, is a native son of Detroit, born on August 8, 1880, a son of George and Elizabeth (Elder) Skelton, who in their day were well known citizens of Detroit.
Mr. Skelton, who was reared in northern Michigan, completed his education at high school. At the age of sixteen, when he had finished his school course, he took a position with the Fletcher Hardware Company of Detroit, and remained with them for eighteen years, during ten of which he was on the road as a salesman. The Fletcher Company went out of business in 1914, and in the following year Mr. Skelton joined the Penn- sylvania Rubber Company as special salesman out of the factory. Also, he had charge of the Minneapolis branch of the business, covering the territory of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana.
Owing to the successful manner in which Mr. Skelton handled the various branches of the Rubber Company's business with which he was connected, he was advanced to the position of manager of the Detroit branch, from which twelve salesmen go out, covering the states of Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky. Mr. Skelton has been manager since July 1, 1919, and the steady development of the company's trade for which he is responsible, is the best evidence of the wisdom of the selection made in his appointment. Mr. Skelton is regarded as an active, wide-awake business man, and as a salesman he stands in the front rank.
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