USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV > Part 37
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Upon his return to Detroit, Captain Bolasny re- sumed the practice of his profession at 2125 East Jefferson avenue and shortly afterward was appointed to the staff of St. Mary's hospital. The government presented him with the Distinguished Service Medal of the United States. The doctor is actively identified with the American Medical Association, the Michigan State Medical Society, the Wayne County Medical Society. and the East Side Physicians' Society. He perpetuates the more gracious associations of his war service by his affiliation with the American Legion. As a member of the Masonie fraternity he has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite and is a Shriner, his ancient-craft affilia- tion being with Union Lodge, No. 3. He is also a member of Elks Lodge, No. 34, of Detroit. Captain Bolasny is greatly interested in all kinds of outdoor sports, especially hunting and fishing. He belongs to the Detroit Yacht Club and to the Men's Temple Club. During his service in Europe he collected many interesting war relics and souvenirs. He has long been a student of ornithology and is a great lover of birds. Captain Bolasuy still permits his name to appear on the roster of eligible young bachelors in Detroit.
EDWARD JOSEPH DUBOIS. Starting out in the business world in the humble capacity of messenger with the Michigan Central Railroad, Edward Joseph DuBois, by reason of his developing powers, his laudable ambition and his spirit of undaunted en- terprise has reached a prominent place as the vice president of the American Coal & Coke Company and also the vice president of the A. C. Thorpe Coal Com- pany of Detroit. He was born in Buffalo, New York, January 27, 1885, his parents being Caesar Joseph and Helen (Smith) DuBois. The father was born in Paris, France, and in his youth came to the United States, settling first in New York city, while later he made his way to Buffalo, New York. There he married Miss Helen Smith, daughter of James Smith, a native of Scotland. He died in the year 1909, while his wife passed away in New York city on the 30th of December, 1887.
Edward Joseph DuBois pursued his education in schools of St. Thomas, Ontario, and in parochial schools
of Detroit, Michigan. He was a youth of twelve years when in 1897 he entered the employ of the Michigan Central Railroad Company as a messenger and remained with that corporation for three years. His rise was very rapid, owing to his unfaltering industry, his ready adaptability and his spirit of undaunted enterprise. Within three years he had risen to the position of assistant chief clerk in the Michigan car demurrage bureau. On resigning that position he entered the sales department of the American Coal & Coke Company of Detroit and after two years was admitted to a partnership in the business, was made vice president and placed in charge of the sales in Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Canada. He has also become the vice president of the A. C. Thorpe Coal Company of Detroit. He is regarded today as one of the most prominent representatives of the coal trade of this city, a position to which he has attained in an incredibly short space of time. Thoroughness char- acterizes everything he undertakes, resulting in the mastery of every problem presented for solution.
On the 29th of August, 1907, in Detroit, Mr. Dn- Bois was married to Miss Estelle M. Tapert, a daugh- ter of August Tapert, a native of this city. The re- ligious faith of Mr. and Mrs. DuBois is that of the Catholic church and his political allegiance is given to the republican party. During the period of the war he assisted in organizing the American Wholesale Coal Trade Association to cooperate with the govern- ment in the distibution of coal and he is still on the board of directors and a member of its executive com- mittee. From August, 1918, until January, 1919 he was special coal commissioner for the Detroit Board of Commerce, cooperating with the local fuel admin- istration. He is a most forceful and resourceful young business man, possessing marked initiative, leaving nothing undone that can legitimately promote his success, and all who know him speak of him in terms of admiration and praise for what he has accomplished. With limited educational privileges he has learned many lessons in the school of experience and has made each opportunity count for the utmost in the attainment of his present enviable position in busi- ness circles.
HARRY JEROME DARLING. Many forces enter into the making of a great city but none has more vital effect upon its improvement, development, and beauty than the profession which has to do with designing and directing the architectural adornment thereof. Acceptable standards and high ideals, held by members of the profession, can make a place so attractive as to cause many to become residents of the city. Among those whose labors have been a forceful element in this direction at Detroit is Harry Jerome Darling, a descendant of one of the oldest families of both the state and nation, who was born at Mason, Michigan, July 25, 1878, son of Frank Ira and Clara Virginia (Haight) Darling.
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Harry Jerome Darling is ninth in line of descent from George Darling of Lynn, Salem and Marblehead, Massachusetts, about 1640, and his wife Katherine, the daughter of Captain Richard and Grace Gridley of Boston, Massachusetts. The first of the family to settle in Michigan was Joseph Darling, the great- great-grandfather of H. J. Darling, who located at Jackson in May, 1832. Joseph Darling was a soldier in the Revolutionary war at the age of sixteen years, and Joseph's father, Lieutenant Benjamin Darling, was a "Minute Man" who responded to the alarm of Paul Revere, April 19, 1775. Lieutenant Benjamin Darling's mother, Rebecca (Weston) Darling, was a great-granddaughter of George Soule, the youthful Mayflower emigrant, who came to America with the family of Governor Edward Winslow.
During the early years of his life Harry Jerome Darling lived with his parents at Mason, Michigan, Cleveland, Ohio, Chicago, Illinois, Washington, D. C., Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1904 he came to Detroit and was engaged in arch- itectural work until May, 1909, at which time he opened an office in the Majestic building for the practice of his profession, which profession he has continuously followed, but with offices now located in the Empire building, at the southeast corner of Washington and Clifford streets.
Mr. Darling was married at Detroit on the 6th of October, 1906, to Miss Orra Jeanette Howe, daughter of Hon. Almeron R. Howe, deceased, of Honesdale, Pennsylvania, and his wife Orra Jeanette (Hamlin) Howe, and they have become parents of two children: Orra Jeanette; and Virginia Hamlin.
References: Chas. Moore's Hist. of Mich., Vol. III, p. 1276; Mich. State Pioneer Society Records; May- flower Descendants, Vol. I, p. 246; New England Hist. and Gynealogical Register, Vol. XLI, p. 285, Hamlin and Noble genealogies.
JAMES BURGESS BOOK, M. D. For a long period Dr. James Burgess Book was regarded as one of Michigan's most eminent medical and surgical prac- titioners and his contributions to the literature of the profession were of most valuable character. He re- sided for many years in Detroit and was not only an eminent practitioner but also a member of the faculty of the Detroit College of Medicine. Born near Toronto, Canada, on the 7th of November, 1843, he was a son of Jonathan and Hannah (Smith) Book. The Book family was of Holland descent.
Dr. Book acquired his preliminary education in the Milton county grammar school, from which he was graduated with the class of 1858. The same year he entered the literary department of the Victoria Uni- versity at Toronto and at the close of his sophomore year began a course of study in the medical college connected with the university. But before completing the course, having decided that it would be to his advantage to graduate elsewhere, he left that insti- tution and matriculated in the Jefferson Medical Col-
lege at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. There he was graduated in March, 1865, and then returned to To- ronto and completed his medical course at the univer- sity. In the fall of the same year he entered upon the private practice of medicine at Windsor, Ontario, but after a few months crossed the Detroit river to the larger city of Detroit, which offered him a broader field of labor for his professional services. For a year he continued actively and successfully in practice in Detroit, but being anxious further to increase his knowledge of medicine, he went to Europe in 1867 and pursued a full course of lectures in the noted Guy's Hospital Medical school, one of the oldest medi- cal institutions in London. For a year he was also a student in the Ecole de Medecin of Paris and sup- plemented his training there by three months' prac- tical experience in the general hospital at Vienna, Austria. In 1869 he returned to Detroit, where he resumed the private practice of his profession and as a result of his thorough preparation, coupled with sound and discriminating judgment, he was almost immediately accorded a large patronage.
Dr. Book became recognized as a prominent edu- cator, serving as professor of surgery and clinical surgery in the Michigan Medical College until that institution was consolidated with the Detroit Medical College, forming the Detroit College of Medicine. Subsequent to the consolidation he served as professor of surgery and he was also one of the largest stock- holders in the institution. From 1872 until 1876 he was surgeon of St. Luke's Hospital and was also attending surgeon at the Harper Hospital. In 1882 he was made surgeon-in-chief of the D., L. & N. Rail- road. Although his practice was general in character, it was more especially in the difficult and delicate branches of surgery that Dr. Book excelled, gaining deserved distinction in that department. A notable instance of his skill was furnished in 1882, when he successfully performed an operation before the stu- dents and faculty of the Michigan College of Medicine, requiring the removal of the Meckels ganglion. It was the only case of its kind ever treated with success in the west and but few similar cases had been reported in medical history. Dr. Book was a frequent contributor to the medical journals, writing fluently and authoritatively on a variety of medical subjects. While pursuing his studies abroad the dread cholera epidemic swept Europe, and despite the fact that all of his associates were stricken literally at his feet with the disease, he remained on duty, hardly resting a moment during the entire time of the fearful plague, yet escaping the malady, although he was continually in the midst of it.
Taking an active interest in home military organi- zations, Dr. Book was elected surgeon of the Inde- pendent Battalion of Detroit in 1881, and when that organization became a part of the state militia he was made regimental surgeon. Despite the fact that he had a sincere liking for his profession and pos-
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sessed a prestige unsurpassed in Detroit, he largely abandoned the practice of medicine and surgery in 1892 and turned his attention to real estate, in which his success equaled that which he had attained along professional lines. The Book properties in Detroit are too well known to need further comment. The Book building, a structure of elaborate detail and finish, ranking in appointments and quality of con- strnetion with the best in the world, was planned before his death and completed in 1917, by his sons, as a monument to him. It is an especially notable example of the zeal with which Dr. Book carried on his work in the real estate field. lle also had other interests, including banking.
In Detroit, in 1889, Lr. Book was married to Miss Clothilde Palms, a daughter of Francis Palms. She survives her husband and resides at the Palms apart- ments in Detroit. To Dr. and Mrs. Book were born three children, J. B .; Francis P. and Herbert V., men- tion of whom is made elsewhere in this work. The death of Dr. Book occurred in Detroit, January 30, 1916. He had been a republican in his political views and in 1881 was elected an alderman of the third ward at the first election held under the new division of city wards. He resigned that position in 1882 to become police surgeon. The breadth and nature of his interests is indicated in the fact that he was a member of the Wayne County Medical Association, the Michigan State Medical Association, the American Medical Association, the Board of Commerce, the Detroit Club, the Country Club and the Detroit Boat Club. A man of marked intellectual attainments, he possessed, moreover, a genial nature that made him appreciative of the social amenities of life, and there was no citizen of Detroit who was not glad to call Dr. Book his friend.
FORREST R. DICKINSON, son of Horace H, and Lucy S. L. (Liekinson) Dickinson, is a member of one of Detroit's old and highly respected families. A more extended mention of Horace H. Dickinson ap- pears elsewhere in this work. F. R. Dickinson was born in this city and educated at Central high school and the School of Mines, Rolla, Missouri. At the latter institution he made an exhaustive study of geology which has been of great benefit to him in his extensive dealings in building supplies. At the age of fifteen he developed a wanderlust, which he still manifests, and he erossed the continent to San Francisco, signed with the captain of a trading vessel and made the long and strenuous trip around The Horn. After completing his schooling he went to the mines in New Mexico, where he operated for two years. Also he worked for the Wells-Fargo Express Company in old Mexico for about one year. When the United States went to war with Spain, in 1898, he returned to Detroit and enlisted in the Thirty- second Michigan Light Infantry and served through- out the war. After the war he joined his father in
the hardware business and continued in that line for eight years, when he branched out into builders' sup- plies. In 1913 he organized the Buildlers and Pavers Supply Company, of which he has been president since its incorporation, although he practically fills every office in the company.
Mr. Dickinson is a member of the Masonic fratern- ity, being affiliated with Oriental Lodge, F. & A. M., and has passed for both the chapter aud the com- mandery. He is also a member of the Board of Com- merce and the Spanish War Veterans.
Forrest R. Dickinson married Florence Leidy and they have a family of five sons and three daughters, namely: Emily Dorothy, Forrest Raymond, John Courtney, Florence May, Wesson Field, Wellington Cutler, Luey Loraine, and Charles Burton.
The pioneer of the Dickinson family in Detroit was Moses Field Dickinson, son of Captain David Diekin- son, who came to Michigan in the thirties of last century. He came from Massachusetts, where the family lived for several generations.
Mr. Dickinson is a courteous, genial man of unusual business and executive ability, and the Builders and Pavers Supply Company is very prosperous under his management. His high reputation for honorable deal- ing adds greatly to the prestige and success of the company.
BYRON G. RADCLIFFE was born in the town of Batavia, New York, January 11, 1866, and was edu- cated in the public schools. He lived on the farm with his parents until he was sixteen years of age, when he started in the hardware business as a clerk in Le Roy, New York. He remained in Le Roy for seven years and then came to Detroit in 1890.
In 1888 the hardware firm of Watkins & Zens was established, and when Mr. Radcliffe came to Detroit he became an employe of that concern. However six months later he bought out the interest of Zens and the firm became Watkins & Radcliffe. In 1917 the business was incorporated with Mr. Radcliffe as president. The company is wholesale jobbers of anto supplies and hardware and tools, and is the strongest establishment in its line in Detroit. Its trade covers the entire United States.
Byron G. Radcliffe married Miss Carrie Quibell and they have two children: Lester Byron and Ethel Frances. Lester Byron Radeliffe enlisted in the truck department of the Transportation division for service in the World war and was stationed first at Ann Arbor and then at Purdue. He received his honorable dis- charge, December 20, 1918, at Purdue.
Mr. Radcliffe is of English descent, his grandfather, John Radcliffe being the pioneer of the family in America. His parents were Benjamin S. and Lucy (Gardner) Radcliffe. The Gardners also were of English ancestry but they have been in America for several generations.
Mr. Radcliffe is a Royal Arch Mason and is also
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affiliated with the Zion City Lodge, F. & A. M. Mr. Radcliffe is one of the successful business men of Detroit. He has seen the city grow from a small town, to a great metropolitan center and he has helped in that growth. In fact his career is quite typical of the city's history, for he started as an employe in the business of which he is now the head, and through his ability and energy, the growth of his establishment has kept pace with that of the city.
DANIEL FRED LE FEVRE DYER. The force of his personality, the keenness of his insight and the soundness of his judgment have brought Dan L. Dyer to a position of leadership in real estate circles of Detroit and while he has gained financial inde- pendence, he has also been a factor in promoting the growth of the city with which he has allied his interests. A native of Ohio, he was born at Wilming- ton September 23, 1890, his parents being Major General Franklin P. and Katherine (Le Fevre) Dyer, the former of whom won distinction in military affairs and was the prime mover in forming the Ohio State Militia.
In the acquirement of an education Mr. Dyer at- tended the public schools of Columbus, Ohio, and after- ward completed a course in engineering at the Ohio State University. Iu 1913, when twenty-three years of age, he came to Detroit, where he secured the position of a salesman with the well known real estate firm of Stormfeltz & Loveley. He was not long in demonstrating his adaptability for work of this char- acter and at once began to put over big deals, to specialize in leases and the handling of acreage. Mak- ing a thorough study of the business, he has acquired an intimate knowledge of the worth of all real estate in the city and is regarded as an expert valuator. On the 1st of January, 1921, he embarked in business on his own account and organized the Dan L. Dyer Company, of which he is president and manager. He displays marked enterprise in the conduct of his affairs, keen sagacity in placing investments, and his ability and prestige are such that he is regularly retained by several large Detroit corporations as adviser and manager of their properties and receives a very grat- ifying return for his expert services. He is a past master of the art of salesmanship and conducts his operations on a more extensive scale than any other realtor in the city. In 1920 he negotiated three leases which totaled eighteen and a half million dollars. He maintains a fine suite of offices in the Book build- ing and resides at No. 2663 West Grand boulevard, while he also has a beautiful summer home on Lake St. Clair.
Mr. Dyer was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth H. Quinn and two sons have been born to them: Dan, who died October 13, 1921, in San Francisco, Cali- fornia, while on a visit to his grandmother; and Fred, who was born August 5, 1914.
Mr. Dyer finds recreation in football, baseball and
fishing and is a member of the Walled Lake Hunt Club and the Felloweraft Club, while his political allegiance is given to the republican party. To the energetic nature and strong mentality of such men as Mr. Dyer are due the development and ever in- creasing prosperity of Detroit. His honor and in- tegrity have never been questioned and his many sterling qualities have gained him a high place in the respect and regard of all who have been brought into contact with him.
WILLIAM A. C. MILLER was born in Detroit, July 25, 1881, his parents being William A. C. and Annette I. (MeGowan) Miller. After attending the Detroit high school he continued his education in the Detroit University School and then entered the Uni- versity of Michigan, class of 1904. He initiated his business experience as assistant of his father, joining the W. A. C. Miller Lumber Company in 1902, and after the death of his father in 1904 he liquidated the business. In the fall of the same year he became con- nected with the Thomas Forman Company, lumber manufacturers, and through the intervening period he has remained a prominent representative of the lumber trade of the country. On the 1st of January, 1906, he was chosen secretary, treasurer and general manager of the Holden, Miller & Murray Company and so continued until July 1909. In the latter year he organized the W. A. C. Miller Company, of which he has since been the head, and this is today one of the largest concerns doing a retail lumber business in Detroit. He is likewise a director of the Miller-Judd Company and of the Thomas Forman Company.
On the 8th of January, 1908, Mr. Miller was united in marriage to Miss Ruby C. Boyer, a daughter of Joseph Boyer. They have become the parents of three sons: William A. C. (III), born in Detroit in Novem- ber, 1909; Joseph Boyer; and Colvin. Mr. Miller is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, also of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and of various clubs, belonging to the Detroit Athletic, the Detroit, University, Country, Lochmoor Country, "Players" and Detroit Automobile Clubs, while of the Detroit Athletic Club he is now one of the directors.
JAMES EVANS BREAKEY, assistant treasurer of the King Motor Company of Detroit, was born in Meaford, Ontario, Canada, May 6, 1888, a son of John A. and Letitia (Evans) Breakey. His parents came to Detroit when he was two years of age and he here pursued his education, passing through consec- utive grades to the high school. Following his grad- uation he turned his attention to the automobile busi- ness, becoming connected with the purchasing de- partment of the Oldsmobile Company. He soon went to Saskatchewan, Canada, however, and there en- gaged in the real estate business for two and a half years. On the expiration of that period he returned to Detroit and became connected with the Burroughs
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Adding Machine Company, with which he remained for two years. He was later with the Chalmers Motor Company for an equal period and then entered the employ of the Welsh-Detroit Motor Company, with which he continued for a year and a half. Later he spent three years in connection with the Cadillac Motor Company and for an equal period was with the Briscoe Manufacturing Company. In 1915 he joined the King Motor Company as first assistant purchasing agent, eventually became eashier and office manager and was then advanced to the position of assistant treasurer, in which capacity he is now serving. He was never satisfied to take things for granted but has always looked into every detail of the business himself and has thus become a thoroughly posted and all-round automobile man. He is very familiar with the trade in every particular and his broad experience, wide knowledge, indefatigable in- dustry, elose application and laudable ambition have been the vital and salient elements in bringing to him success.
In 1911 Mr. Breakey was married to Miss Blanele Margaret Valliere, a descendant of one of the oldest French families in Detroit. They have become parents of two children: Jack Valliere and Margaret Adele. Mrs. Breakey's grandfather hanled the first pipe for the Detroit water system and the family has been connected with the city through many years.
Mr. Breakey is a Mason, belonging to Aeaeia Lodge, No. 477, A. F. & A. M., and he has also attained the thirty-second degree of Seottish Rite Masonry in the Michigan Sovereign Consistory, while with the Nobles of Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine he has erossed the sands of the desert. He belongs also to the Fel- loweraft Club, to the Detroit Credit Men's Associa- tion, to the Masonie Country Club and to the Board of Commerce of Detroit. In polities he is an earnest republican and was chairman of the republican board of wards six to thirteen in Detroit. Ile is interested in all that pertains to the advancement and success of republican principles and he stands loyally for every cause or interest that promises to work for the general good.
ALEXANDER W. COPLAND. Many and varied industrial interests have won for Miehigan's metropo- lis the name of Dynamic Detroit. The city has he- come the great .center of the automobile trade of the world and Alexander W. Copland, as president and general manager of the Detroit Gear & Machine Company, is one of the leading figures in automobile eireles not only of the eity but of the country as well. His wide and comprehensive knowledge of transmissions and gears enabled him to render very valuable service to the government during the World war as chairman of the engineering committee that designed transmissions for war trueks. He cooperated with Christian Girl in getting out sample trueks and was made chairman of the automotive industry com-
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