The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV, Part 29

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: 1024

USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV > Part 29

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of active participation in water sports, although he still manifests a keen interest in what others are doing in that connection.

On the 20th of July, 1887, Mr. Dexter was married at Boston, to Miss Emma Seroggs, who has shared with him the success and the happiness attending three decades of married life. Mr. and Mrs. Dexter are members of the Episcopal church and his political allegiance has ever been given to the republican party. He is a member of the Michigan Society of Mayflower Descendants, of which he was governor 1914-1915, of the Detroit Board of Commerce, of the Detroit Flour Men's Association, of which he was formerly president, of the National Hay Association, of which he was president in 1903-4, of the Detroit Boat Club and of the Masonic fraternity. In these connections are indicated the extreme breadth of his interests. His character has been aptly summed up by an European business man who spent a few days in his company and who wrote concerning Mr. Dex- ter: "He combines the solidity of the business man, the sportsmanship of a commodore, the humanity of a sane benefactor of our young boys, and the courtesy of an European."

FRANK DAVIS ANDRUS, rated with the eminent members of the Detroit bar, where he has practiced continuously since 1880, was born in Washington, Michigan, August 21, 1850, his parents being Loren and Lucina (Davis) Andrus, who were farmers of Macomb county, Michigan. This Andrus family has been connected with the history of Michigan for more than one hundred years. Elon Andrus, paternal grandfather of Frank D., located in what is now Washington township, Macomb county, Michigan, in 1820. He came from Wyoming county, New York, and in 1821 his family joined him, coming across the lake from Buffalo, in the "Walk-In-The-Water," the first steam boat on the great lakes. Loren Andrus, father of Frank D. Andrus, was then a child of five years, from which age he was reared in Michigan and here married Lucina Davis, who also belonged to a pioneer family of Macomb county, Michigan. Frank Davis Andrus attended common schools and to finish his prep- aration for college became a pupil in the old Capital high school in Detroit completing the course by grad- uation in 1868. His more specifically literary course was pursued in the University of Michigan and he won the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1872, while the Master of Arts degree was conferred upon him in 1875. After finishing his literary course at the Uni- versity of Michigan he taught Latin, Greek and English grammar in Patterson's Classical and Mathe- matieal School for Boys in Detroit. This was a noted school in those days, and Mr. Andrus taught there from the fall of 1872 to the fall of 1876. He also pursued his law studies in the State University and gained the B. L. degree in 1879. The following year Mr. Andrus opened an office in Detroit and in 1882

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joined John B. Corliss in a partnership under the firm style of Corliss & Andrus. In 1886 a third part- ner joined them, leading to the adoption of the firm name of Corliss, Andrus & Leete, which became Cor- liss, Andrus, Leete & Joslyn in 1901. Mr. Andrus withdrew from the firm in 1905 and has since prac- ticed alone, but while he continues in the general practice of law he has largely confined his attention to probate law and has reached a position of dis- tinetion in this field. He is now general counsel for the Commercial Finance Corporation of Detroit and the Consumers Ice & Creamery Company. His rating has long been that of one of the leading lawyers of the city. He is a man of great energy, quick in action, decisive in his methods and accomplishes much more than the ordinary man. He belongs to the De- troit Bar Association and to the Michigan Bar Asso- ciation and enjoys the highest measure of respect among his colleagues and contemporaries because of his close conformity to the highest professional ethics and standards.

At Saginaw, Michigan, on the 23d of November, 1880, Mr. Andrus was married to Miss Julia J. Good- son and they have one daughter, Helen G., now the wife of Francis E. Merrell, of Las Cruces, New Mex- ico. Mr. and Mrs. Merrell have two daughters and a son: Marjorie, Elizabeth and Allen W.

Mr. Andrns is a stalwart republican in his political views and for twenty-three years was a member of the board of estimates of Detroit. He is a member of the Board of Commerce and his cooperation has constituted an important factor in many projects for Detroit's upbuilding and improvement. His re- ligious faith is that of the Episcopal church and he is a worthy exemplar of the Masonic fraternity, having attained the Knights Templar and Consistory degrees, while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. He also belongs to the Delta Kappa Epsilon and to the Old Club and on the pages of Detroit's history through the past three decades his name is written large, not only by reason of his personal achievements but by his interest in all that makes for the social, cultural and moral welfare of the community.

JOHN BOYDELL. One of Detroit's most active and progressive business men passed away when death called John Boydell on the 17th of October, 1907. He was then in the sixty-fifth year of his age, his birth having occurred in Liverpool, England, December 11, 1842. He was a representative of one of the old and prominent families of the world's metropolis, his ancestry being traced back in direct line to John Boydell, who was lord mayor of London in 1752 and who not only figured prominently as an official but made an even more valuable contribution to the world's work through his invention of steel engrav- ing. He left a series of some five hundred engravings illustrating the immortal plays of Shakespeare and

copies of these same engravings, through inheritance, are now in possession of J. Frank Boydell, son of John Boydell of this review. The latter was a son of Edward Leopold and Mary (Williams) Boydell, who in the year 1850 crossed the Atlantic to the new world with their family, establishing their home in ·Canada.

John Boydell, at the time the family came to America, was a lad of but eight years and pursued his education in public schools, completing a high school course. In young manhood he started out in the business world, first devoting his attention to book- keeping and clerical work. His initial step toward the business which later claimed so many years of his life was made when he became bookkeeper for the James H. Worcester Paint Company of Detroit. This was afterward converted into the Detroit White Lead Works in 1865 and Mr. Boydell gained an intimate and accurate knowledge of the business. After a brief period, however, he determined to sever his connection with the Detroit White Lead Works and engage in business on his own account. Accordingly he purchased a stock of painter's supplies and opened a modest paint house. A little later he was joined by his brother William and, venturing into the man- ufacturing field in 1877, they thus founded the busi- ness ultimately conducted under the name of Boydell Brothers' White Lead & Color Company. Their busi- ness steadily grew and developed, forcing them to secure larger quarters, and they erected a three-story building at Nos. 39 to 43 Fort street, East. Later their plant was enlarged from time to time to meet the growing demands of the trade and became one of the foremost enterprises of the kind in the country. A published account of the business and of the two brothers contains the following: "In personal char- acteristics they were not alike, but one was a good foil for the other, and, combined, they made a potential working team. John was probably the better self- controlled-more dignified, more forceful, an excellent financier, and the dominant factor in their dual lives. He had hosts of friends, although he did not yield his friendship easily; but when once given it stood like a rock-stood the test of time. William was a better 'mixer,' generous almost to a fault, and with a personal magnetism that drew men to him. There was no blindness of pride or impatience of ambition in his make-up. He was a loveable man and men loved him. John's initial work was with the Wor- cester Paint Company, which in 1865 became the Detroit White Lead Works, when he withdrew and started in business for himself: William became asso- ciated later. And they prospered! The fine block of six and eight-story buildings, which today covers the area of almost an entire square of downtown prop- erty, illustrates their growth-and the business is still growing. Both John and William had ideas about success-sane ideas, ideas that commanded results- and results came quickly. They were not merely

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splendid dreamers, but they were also splendid work- ers, and it is work which counts every time. The management was vested in Jolin. He was not a voluble man, and his reticence was sometimes mis- taken for exclusiveness, but that was a great mis- take. When he was the least talkative he was the most thoughtful, and his thoughts bore fruit, luscious and ripe. He knew when silence was golden, but, nevertheless, he had the gift of effective speech and could, when he deemed it essential, forcibly impress his views upon others. He knew the value of con- centration-understood that rays are powerless when scattered, but burn in a point.

"As their interests were mainly centered in paints, both John and William naturally thought paint, talked paint and dreamed of paint; but they could also talk, think and dream of other things, as they were cultured, well read and thoroughly en rapport with the social amenities of life. They were both idealists in one sense, believing in those ideals that give zest and charm to realism; but first of all they were practical men, and had no use for the visionary who seeks a pathway among the stars as a short cut to mundane good. In their business they believed in a community of interests-a trinity of manufacturer, dealer and painter. They had no sympathy with the policy which excluded the latter, or with the evolution which more largely admitted the distant distributor or large jobber within the paint cirele, as they considered that the dealer was a sufficient medium and that it was unreasonable that the painter or the consumer should pay the jobber's profit. John and William Boydell were constantly in touch with the dealer, and that there was a mutual goodwill and esteem is evidenced by the books of the firm, which in hundreds of ac- counts show a continuous and uninterrupted record of over a quarter of a century, and this, it must be re- membered, in the face of ever increasing competition. Both the late John and William Boydell were plain men, plain, every day American citizens, and were profoundly conscious of their privileges as sueh; but they were also proud that in the past their name had been linked to the mother country with credit and honor, that their ancestors were men of national repute, whose lives had been useful and whose work survives."

Following the death of John Boydell, in October, 1907, the business was reorganized under the same name and J. Frank Boydell, the only son of John Boydell, became president of the company.

John Boydell was united in marriage to Miss Cassie J. Witherspoon, a daughter of John H. Witherspoon, a native of Scotland, who afterward became a resi- dent of Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Boydell had two chil- dren: J. Frank, now the capable successor of his father in business. He married Florence Dixon and they have two sons, John F. and Clarence W .; and Bessie N., who is the wife of John G. Wood, secretary and treasurer of Boydell Brothers White Lead &

Color Company, and they have two sons, John B. and Hugh G.

Mr. Boydell was reared in the Episcopal faith and during his early life attended the old Mariners church, while his family are now members of the First Presby- terian church. Fraternally he was a Mason, belonging to Detroit Lodge, No. 2, F. & A. M .; Monroe Chapter, R. A. M .; Detroit Commandery, No. 1, K. T .; Michigan Sovereign Consistory, A. A. S. R., and Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. His high standing in Masonic circles is indicated in the fact that the Consistory class of 1908 was called the John Boydell class in his honor, and when he passed to the home beyond his funeral services were conducted under the auspices of Detroit Commandery, while his body lay in state at the Masonic Temple on the 19th of October, 1907. His life had been one of great activity and usefulness and his enterprise and laudable ambition had carried him from humble surroundings into the field of large service in connection with the business world. He had many traits admirable and worthy of all praise and one of the most pronounced of these was his capacity for friendship. Nothing was foreign to him that concerned his fellowmen and his aid and influence were always on the side of progress and improvement.

ROBERT MICHAEL DALTON, for twenty-one years a member of the Detroit bar, was born on a farm in Wayne county, Michigan, in 1867, a son of Lawrence and Hanorah (Hogan) Dalton, the latter a native of the state of New York, while the former was born in Wayne county, Michigan, in 1829. Their marriage was celebrated in this county, where they resided for many years. The father held various local offices in his native county and in 1871 was elected to represent his district in the Michigan State legislature, in which he served for two terms. Death ended his labors in 1900 and his wife passed away in 1910.

Rolært Michael Dalton, after pursuing his education in the county schools of Wayne county, spent six years in the University of Detroit and in 1899 was grad- uated from the Detroit College of Law with the LL. B. degree. His literary and legal training well qualified him for the onerous duties of the profession. Before the completion of his legal course he had taught in the country schools of Wayne county for six years and in April, 1899, he was admitted to the bar and opened an office in Detroit. Advancement in the practice of law is proverbially slow, but gradually he was accorded a elientage that reached profitable pro- portions and as the years have passed he has been connected with many important cases tried in the circuit courts for the different counties and in the supreme court of the state of Michigan.

On the 28th of September, 1907, in Detroit, Mr. Dalton was married to Miss Helen M. Siebert, a daughter of August Siebert, and they now have one son: Robert M., Jr., born July 21, 1908. The relig-

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ious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church and Mr. Dalton is a member of the Knights of Colum- bus. llis interest in Detroit's welfare and progress is indicated in his membership in the Board of Com- merce. Politically he is a democrat and during the war period he served on the legal advisory board.

JOHN GARDINER CROSS, a Harvard man engaged in law practice in Detroit since 1916, was born at Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island, December 15, 1882, a son of James F. and Sallie G. (Tucker) Cross. The father is retired. The son was educated in public schools and in the Rhode Island State College, after which he entered the Dennison (Ohio) University and there completed his more specifically literary course, being graduated in 1905 with the Bachelor of Arts degree. He next entered Harvard Law School as a law student and completed his course there in 1908.

Mr. Cross dates his identification with Detroit from 1916, in which year he opened an office and has since engaged in general practice. His ability is bringing him rapidly to the front. He prepares his cases with precision and care, is very thorough in collecting evidence, is logical and clear in his reasoning and analytical in his deductions. Mr. Cross is a member of the Detroit Bar Association and also of the Lawyers Club of Detroit. He is likewise identified with various club and social organizations. He belongs to the Sigma Chi, to the Board of Commerce, to the Harvard Club and to the Densonian Club and his strongly marked characteristics make for personal popularity wherever he is known.

COLONEL FRED GLOVER, who since his release from the army following the termination of the World war, has been a representative of business activities in Detroit, was elected to the position of vice presi- dent and general manager of the Timken-Detroit Axle Company in January, 1920, and remains in that con- nection. Colonel Glover was born in Delaware, Ohio, March 18, 1879, and completed his education at the University of Minnesota as an alumnus of the class of 1901. His father, Samuel Glover, had removed to Minnesota when the son was a young lad and he was there reared on the large farm which his father owned and operated. He assisted in the further development and improvement of that property until 1909, when he took up his abode in Minneapolis and assisted in organizing the Gas Traction Company, which built the first four-cylinder farm tractor in America. He was made the vice president and general manager of the new company and so continued until 1912, when the business was sold to the Emerson-Brant- ingham Company of Rockford, Illinois, where Colonel Glover remained until 1917, acting as vice president of the latter company during that period.

Desirous of aiding his country in the prosecution of the war, Mr. Glover enlisted in 1917 in the United States army and was appointed to the position of

majer in the ordnance department. In May of 1918 he was advanced to the rank of colonel and was made chief of the Motor Transport Service aud later chief of the Motors and Vehicles Division in the purchase, storage and traffic department. After the signing of the armistice he was made assistant director of sales in the war department and so remained until he received his honorable discharge in July, 1919. Throughout the entire period of his connection with the army his headquarters were in Washington, D. C.

On receiving his release from military service Col- onel Glover came to Detroit as assistant general man- ager of the Timken-Detroit Axle Company, and in January, 1920, became vice president and general man- ager of that corporation.

In 1902 Colonel Glover was married to Miss Eva Haldeman and they have two children, Frederick and John. Colonel Glover is a member of the Interlaken Country Club, the University Club of Minneapolis, the Elks of Rockford, Illinois, the Rockford Country Club, the Grosse Ile Country Club of Detroit, the Chi Psi fraternity, and also the Detroit Board of Com- merce. He maintains his home on Grosse Ile.

MANLY DANIEL DAVIS. While an active member of the bar, Manly Daniel Davis is also prominently connected with various business interests of a divers- ified nature and his cooperation is a valuable con- tributing factor to their development and success. Michigan numbers him among her native sons. While his business interests center in Detroit, he makes his home in Oakland county. He was born at Pontiac, Michigan, March 29, 1879, his parents being Daniel L. and Isabel (Wilson) Davis. The father served as county clerk of Oakland county, Michigan, for two terms. He located there in pioneer times and through the interevening period has contributed in substantial measure to the growth and progress of the district. He is engaged in the real estate business at Pontiac and is known as one of the prominent democrats of his locality.

At the usual age Manly D. Davis became a pupil in the public schools of Pontiac, passing through consecutive grades to the high school, and eventually he entered the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated with the LL. B. degree in 1901. The same year he became identified with timber and mining interests in the state of Durango, Mexico, where he continued until 1906. He then returned to Detroit and organized the Evergreen Cemetery Association, of which he is the secretary. He is like- wise the vice president and attorney for the Interna- tional Timber Company of Durango, Mexico, and is the vice president of the Huahuapan Mining Company of the same place. He also owns a stock farm at Bloomfield Hills and thus his interests and activities are broad and varied. He is now the secretary of the International Live Stock & Timber Company of De- troit, is the secretary and treasurer of the Davis In-

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vestment Company of Detroit, secretary of the Ever- green Cemetery Association of Wayne county, a trustee for Sherwood Forest, adjoining Palmer Woods, at the seven-mile round, and in these various connections is directing his interests to successful completion. The business interests of Mr. Davis which have been a valuable aud important factor in Detroit's growth and development include his promotion of a number of high class subdivisions and building projects, among them being Palmer Park Gardens on the seven- mile round, comprising one-fourth acre tracts selling for three thousand dollars each, and all sold; Garden Homes subdivision, where he built about fifty houses, all finding ready sale; Vinyard subdivision in the Grosse Pointe distriet; Harroun Farms project at Wayne, Michigan, comprising two-acre plots; Kensing- ton Gardens, seventeen miles ont Grand River avenue, made up of one to three aere tracts; Oak Knob Estates at Bloomfield Hills, consisting of the finest suburban acreage and one of the most attractive residence localities ever offered in the Detroit real estate market, where tracts of from three to eight acres are rapidly being bought at from six to fifteen thousand dollars each.

On the 20th of February, 1907, in Detroit, Mr. Davis was married to Miss Ella Poppleton, a daughter of Edgar C. Poppleton, and they now have two chil- dren: Mary Isabel and Sally. The parents attend the Presbyterian church and Mr. Davis is connected with many social and fraternal organizations. In

Masonry he has attained the Knights Templar degree in the York Rite and is a member of Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is also connected with the Elks, the Delta Chi, the Detroit Athletic Club, the Bloomfield Hills Country Club and the Detroit Automobile Country Club, of which he is the presi- dent. His political endorsement is given to the dem- oeratie party aud throughout the period when the United States was actively at war with Germany he took a most helpful part in promoting the interests of the country in every way. He served on the Young Men's Christian Association and all Liberty Loan drives and was a member of the Patriotie Fund Committee of Oakland county, where he and his family make their home. He belongs to the Detroit Board of Commerce and along strictly professional lines is connected with the Detroit Bar Association and the Michigan State Bar Association.

GEORGE HENRY SHERMAN, M. D. Dr. George Henry Sherman is the founder and owner of the Sher- man Laboratory of Detroit, and his establishment is today the only one in the United States engaged in the exclusive manufacture of bacterial vaccines. The scientific work carried on is a most valuable contribu- tion to the medical profession. He was born at Na- poleon, Ohio, on the 23d of May, 1858, and is a sơn of Andrew and Eva (Walter) Sherman. He supple- mented his public school training by study in the

University of Valparaiso, Indiana, and then entered upon preparation for the practice of medicine as a student at Northwestern University of Chicago, com- płeting his course in its medical department with the class of 1883, the school being then known as the Chicago Medical College. He has ever remained a thorough student of the profession, constantly broad- ening his knowledge by research, reading and inves- tigation, and in 1892 he pursued a postgraduate course in the Chicago Polyclinic. In 1883 he opened an office at Napoleon, Ohio, where he remained until 1884 and then sought the broader field offered in Detroit. For twenty-nine years he remained in the general practice of medicine and surgery in this city but since 1913 has concentrated his efforts and attention upon the manu- facture of bacterial vaccines and has a splendidly equipped laboratory for this particular line of work. In fact his establishment is the only one of the kind in the United States and the value of his service in this connection is attested throughout the country. Dr. Sherman began the manufacture of vaccines in 1907 and established his first laboratory at No. 419 St. Aubin avenue. In 1914 he constructed his present building, which is three stories in height and is ex- clusively devoted to the manufacturing of bacterial vaccines, meeting a demand which is rapidly becoming world-wide, for this product. Dr. Sherman was the pioneer in the development of vaccine therapy in this country, and since his first interest in the work he has been the leader in promoting the use and making vaccines available to practitioners, elucidating meth- ods and theoretic conceptions in the use of vaccines by physicians. He is directly responsible for the suc- cessful use of vaccines in the late influenza epidemics and he has specialized in the treatment of colds, pneu- monia, tuberculosis and kindred diseases. Further to promote and popularize the work of vaccine therapy Dr. Sherman has published monthly since March, 1912, The Bacterial Therapist, which is distributed broadcast without subscription fees. In 1916 Dr. Sherman pub- lished a very comprehensive volume of five hundred pages entitled Vaccine Therapy in General Practice, third edition, which is designed as a textbook for the practicing physician. The theory of Dr. Sherman's work is introduced in his volume by a small paragraph, which we quote in order to give an indication of the scope of the subject: "That many diseases are com- municable, and that in certain diseases one attack renders the individual subsequently immune, has been known since the dawn of medicine; but it was left to our generation, through the development of the science of bacteriology, to ascertain the causes of transmitted disease and the nature of the immunizing mechanism. Bacteriology has demonstrated that a surprisingly large proportion of our diseases are caused by the ever- present germs and that health is maintained only by the workings of the defense organs against the at- tacks of pathogenic bacteria. The basic principle of vaccine therapy is this production of immunity, and its

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The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV, Part 29

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: 1024

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: 1024