The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV, Part 41

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 41

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entire country, and then as assistant general manager. He severed his relations with the Journal with a change of ownership in 1900.

Next we find him doing special advertising work on the Chicago Tribune, but with his home and family in Detroit, it was not difficult for him to seize the opportunity to purchase the Michigan Christian Herald, which he had served nearly twenty years before, be- coming its editor and manager. This continued for four years. During this period, in 1903, he organized The Franklin Press, which developed so rapidly he surrendered the editorial and business management of the newspaper and devoted his energies to the printing company, which has developed into one of the out- standing institutions of the country. He continued general manager until 1912. He remained with the company until 1916, when he decided to give all his time to real estate, although still the largest stockholder of The Franklin Press. He has since parted with his holdings.

These years with The Franklin Press saw the won- derful development of magazines and advertising. Mr. Finn, in 1906, purchased The Pilgrim magazine, of which he was editor and publisher until its sale to St. Louis parties. He was chairman of the publicity committee of the Detroit Board of Commerce, and prepared and conducted before the Adcraft Club the first constructive advertising course ever given hy an advertising club in this country. He also edited several house and trade magazines.

For many years extensively interested in real estate, in 1916 he centered his mind on real estate invest- ments. This was a wonderful development period for Detroit and Mr. Finn entered heartily into the great problems involved. The first month of his new career he sold eight hundred thousand dollars' worth of Wood- ward avenue property to one captain of industry. He has been the middleman influence that has brought about the erection of several outstanding structures. He himself, has been a large operator, heing president of the Bungalohill Land Company, secretary of the Van Alstine Land Company, secretary of the New Century Realty Company and having large holdings in Detroit, Toledo, Chicago and in the state of Mich- igan.

Mr. and Mrs. Finn have had six children, two dying in infancy, Eaton Scott, their oldest son, dying at Manistee at the age of twenty-four, where he was associated with the Buckley & Douglass Lumber Com- pany. The living are, the daughter, Miss Irene, who attended Wellesley and the University of Michigan, graduating in '11; James Crampton, University of Michigan '21; and Silas Munger, University of Mich- igan '23, who is preparing to enter foreign trade and is now in attendance at French universities. Both of the living sons were in the service in France nearly two years during the late war.

Mr and Mrs. Finn and the children are all members of the First Baptist church. He was one of the organ-

ALBERT H. FINN

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izers of the Baptist Young Peoples Union of America in 1891, and served for several years on the board of managers and the executive committee. He was the first president of the Detroit City Baptist Young Peoples Union, is now secretary of the Detroit Baptist Union; member of the general promotion board of the Northern Baptist Convention, and secretary of the finance committee of the Board. Mrs. Finn is active in Women's club work.

In politics Mr. Finn is an independent republican. He is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, De- troit Athletic Club, Adcraft Club, Ingleside Club, Detroit Real Estate Board, Chicago Real Estate Board (Associate) American Academy of Political and Social Science, Sons of American Revolution, Masonic fra- ternity, active in the Y. M. C. A. and an extensive contributor to the press.

JOSEPH FRESARD, a farm bred boy who has made for himself a creditable and enviable position in com- mercial circles as a lumber dealer of Detroit, was born in Macomb county, Michigan. His parents are Sylvester and Odelia (La Beouf) Fresard, both of whom are living. The father has devoted his life to the occupation of farming, thus providing for his family.

Joseph Fresard spent his youthful days as a pupil in the schools of Mount Clemens, Michigan, and thus qualified for life's practical and responsible duties. His home training was that of the farm and he early became familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for the crops as he aided his father in the work of the fields until he reached the age of twenty years. Thinking to find other pursuits more congenial, he left home and spent the two succeed- ing years in following the masonry and cement busi- ness, which he thoroughly learned. He afterward be- came secretary and treasurer of the Standard Lumber Company and so continued until the business was sold six years later. On the expiration of that period he joined the American Lumber & Coal Company and when it was incorporated in June, 1917, he became secretary and treasurer thereof. They have an area of two and a quarter acres of land at the corner of St. Jean and Shoemaker streets and upon this property stand fine offices and other buildings. They handle all kinds of lumber and have their own planing mill, so that they can supply interior finish and all kinds of woods for builders. Mr. Fresard has done much build- ing himself, erecting many houses in Detroit and thus aiding in meeting the great housing problem which the city has faced in the last few years through the era of its marvelous development. Moreover, the com- pany through its lumber-yards and planing mill has furnished building materials to many prominent con- tractors of the city and the business has reached most substantial proportions.

In 1916 Mr. Fresard was united in marriage to Miss Julia Couchez and they have one son, Joseph B. The

religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church and Mr. Fresard is a third degree member of the Knights of Columbus. He maintains an independ- ent course in politics and has never sought nor desired political office, preferring to concentrate his efforts and energies upon business affairs. In the field of labor which he entered many years ago his progress has been continuous and a consistent purpose has brought him steadily to the front, while his solution of business problems has at all times been accurate, at- tended with success.

SHERWOOD DICKERSON ANDRUS, vice presi- dent of the Interstate Fire Insurance Company of Detroit, is a native of Watertown, New York, born April 5, 1855, and is a representative of an old Ameri- can family established in New England prior to the Revolutionary war. Since that time the name has been synonymous with all that is strictly American in the highest and best sense of the term. The educa- tional opportunities of Sherman D. Andrus were those afforded by the public school system of the Empire state and after his textbooks were put aside he turned his attention to the insurance business in Watertown, becoming connected with the Black River Insurance Company, which in course of time was re- organized under the name of the Northern Insurance Company. In 1878 Mr. Andrus went to Chicago, where he joined the Sun Fire Insurance Company of Eng- land, and afterward he was with the Norwich Union Insurance, Company, also of England, going out on the road for both of these companies. In the year 1890 he was made examiner in the office of the Na- tional Fire Insurance Company of Hartford, Connect- icut, with headquarters in Chicago. In 1903 he en- tered into association with the Providence-Washington Insurance Company, which he represented on the road until 1906. In that year he was made assistant man- ager of the western department of the company and so remained until April, 1908, when he joined the Commonwealth Insurance Company of New York, traveling for that corporation iu the middle west for a year. He next became general agent for the western department of the Georgia Home Insurance Company of Columbus, Georgia, with headquarters in Chicago, and when the company closed its western department he joined the New Jersey Fire Insurance Company as superintendent of agencies, accepting that position in 1912. Two years later, or in 1914, he left the position to become manager and vice president of the Interstate Fire Insurance Company of Detroit and in this capacity is still serving. He is also an in- surance underwriter and is one of the well informed men of the insurance business, thoroughly familiar with all phases of insurance, both as a salesman and as an executive.

Mr. Andrus has been married twice. In 1888 he wedded Laura A. Stebbins of Chicago, who has passed

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away. In 1916 he was joined in wedlock to Mary A. Robertson of Marine City, Michigan.

Mr. Andrus is a worthy exemplar of Masonry, be- longing to Auburn Park Lodge, A. F. & A. M., and Auburn Park Chapter, R. A. M. He is likewise a mem- ber of the Fellowcraft Club and of the Canopus Club. His political endorsement is given to the republican party, of which he has long been a stalwart champion, and his religious faith is indicated in the fact that he is a communicant of the Episcopal church. He has never been active as a club man or as a political leader but has concentrated his efforts and attention upon his business affairs, holding to high standards and winning his advancement by methods that neither seek nor require disguise.

IRVINE BOWMAN UNGER. In banking circles in Detroit no man was more honored or more greatly deserved the success and prominence that came to him than Irvine Bowman Unger. He entered the bank- ing circles of this city as cashier of the Preston Na- tional Bank and for many years he filled the position of vice president of the Old Detroit National Bank, continuing to act in that capacity to the time of his demise. He was a most close and thorough student of banking in every phase and department and his opin- ions were constantly sought by fellow members of the banking fraternity, who have said of him, "he was a power in the financial world."

Mr. Unger came to this city from Canada, where his birth occurred on the 12th of July, 1862, his parents being Mr. and Mrs. John Unger, whose family numbered eight children. The father was a farmer and extensively carried on agricultural pursuits to the time of his death.

Irvine Bowman Unger pursued his education in the public schools near his father's home until he had completed the high school course, after which he became a student in a college in Canada. He carefully considered the broad fields of business with its limitless opportunities along industrial, commercial, agricultural and professional lines and at length determined upon the banking business as offering a field which he believed would prove congenial and hoped would prove profitable. Accordingly he secured a position in a Canadian bank and rose rapidly in that connection, occupying important positions in Montreal and Windsor before coming to the United States.

At length Mr. Unger decided to cross the border and try his fortune in Detroit. Coming to this city, he received appointment to the position of cashier of the Preston National Bank and was afterward made cashier of the Old Detroit National Bank. Some time later he was elected to the vice presidency of that institution and remained as its second executive of- ficer to the time of his death. He was a man of pro- nounced ability in banking circles. Men profited by his knowledge, for he had gained an intimate under- standing of banks and banking laws of both the United

States and Canada. His study was comprehensive and exact and the value of his opinions was widely recognized by all.

On the 23d of June, 1902, Mr. Unger was united in marriage to Mrs. Edith Perrin Shaw, a daughter of Samuel Perrin, representative of a prominent and well known Canadian family. Her father was a real estate man for many years, conducting an extensive busi- ness of that character, but eventually retired from active life, Mr. and Mrs. Unger occupied a very prominent social position and were consistent members of the Episcopal church, in the faith of which he passed away on the 7th of March, 1912, his remains being interred in Woodlawn cemetery. Throughout the period of his residence in Detroit Mr. Unger took a deep and helpful interest in all that pertained to the welfare and progress of the city. For several terms he served as treasurer of the Board of Commerce, in which he long held membership. He was a member of the American Bankers Association and he had a very wide and prominent acquaintance in the banking fraternity of the country. He belonged to the Rotary Club, the Detroit Club and to the Detroit Athletic Club and was a charter member of the Detroit Boat Club, with which he was identified for more than a quarter of a century. He also held membership in the Detroit Auto Club and his social qualities and sterling traits of character brought to him high regard and well deserved popularity. Mrs. Unger makes her home in Detroit and is very prominent in club circles and in connection with benevolent projects of the city. She has membership in the Twentieth Cen- tury Club and the Woman's City Club and is now vice president of the Detroit Industrial School. She is also vice president of the Animal Welfare Associa- tion of Detroit and is a trustee of the Thompson Home for Old Ladies, in which she takes most active and helpful interest. She likewise belongs to the Com- munity Garden Club and is interested in all those forces which make for the betterment of public con- ditions and which tend to uplift the individual. Her kindly spirit is constantly manifest in helpful interest toward many projects which are seeking to ameliorate the hard conditions of life for the unfortunate.

BEVERLY DRAKE HARISON, M. A., M. D., F. A. C. P. Dr. Beverly Drake Harison, an eminent rep- resentative of the medical profession of Michigan, now practicing in Detroit, and the secretary of the Michigan State Board of Registration in Medicine, was born in Canton, St. Lawrence county, New York, May 8, 1855, his parents being Minturn and Susan (Drake) Harison, the former a native of the city of New York, while the latter was born at Ithaca, New York, and was a daughter of Judge Beverly Drake, who served with distinction on the bench at Ithaca for more than four decades. In England the "Hari- sons were a family of great antiquity, originally from Cumberland, afterwards of East Court and Hurst,

IRVINE B. UNGER

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Berkshire. They became of considerable importance in the reign of Charles I, and were most loyal sup- porters of that sovereign during the Rebellion." James Harison of Cumberland, born in 1447, who married Margaret, daughter of Sir John Bourclair, was great- grandfather of Thomas Harison, born 1530, of East Conrt, Berkshire, who married Alse, daughter of Sir Richard Warde of Hurst House, Hurst, Berkshire. Cofferer (treasurer) to Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth, and who died aged ninenty-seven years, father of eight sons and nine daughters. Hurst House and Whistley Manor in Hurst were granted to the Wardes by Henry VIII, in 1539 and had formed part of the endowment granted by King Edgar to the convent at Abingdon. Thomas Harison's grandson, Sir Richard Harison, Kt. of East Court and Hurst, born 1584, B. A. St. Mary's Hall, Oxford, Member of Parliament Wootton-Bassett, Berkshire and Windsor, 1621-1640 (intimate friend of Archbishop Laud, and whose sister, Frances, married Thomas Howard, third Earl of Berkshire), married Frances, in direct descent from the Barons Darces of the North, daughter of Sir Henry Saville, Reader to Queen Elizabeth, Warden of Merton College, Oxford, Provost of Eton; his son, Sir Richard Harison, Bart. of Hurst House, Hurst, born 1611. B. A. St. Alban's College, Oxford (1629) Lincoln Inn, London (1631), Barrister, was father of Rev. William Harison, M. A. (Oxon), Rector of Cheriton, Hants, whose son, Francis Harison, B. A. (Oxon), Lincoln Inn, Barrister, settled in New York city in 1708. He figured prominently in connection with its history for many years and for over two decades was a member of the Colonial Council and Examiner in Chancery. His grandson, Richard Hari- son, born 1747, died 1829, A. B., Columbia University 1764 (John Jay only other member of graduating class of 1764), D. C. L. (Oxford), lawyer and federalist, acted with Hamilton, Jay and Livingston against Clinton and Burr; member of New York legislature, 1788-1789; member of constitutional convention, was first United States federal attorney under Washington at New York (1790), and recorder of the city of New York, 1798-1801. He served as vestryman, warden and comptroller of Trinity church, New York, from 1783 to 1827, and had sons, grandsons and great grandsons who graduated from Columbia University. He married Dr. Harison's great grandmother, Frances, daughter of George Duncan Ludlow, chief justice of New Brunswick, in direct descent from Edward I of England, 1272 (the greatest of constitutional monarchs, and who established the English parliament, and also the English courts practically as they exist today), and his wife, Margaret, daughter of Philip III of France, through their son, Thomas, Earl of Norfolk, and his daughter, Margaret Plantagenet, who married John, third Lord Segrave (Burke, Haldan's Ms.). Dr. Harison 's grandfather, Richard Nichols Harison, A. B., Columbia University, 1804, counsellor-at-law, resided in New York city and Canton, New York. The above

genealogical record is found in the History of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Sawyer), Chronicles of Finshampstead (Lyon), History of the City of New York (Lamb), History of the Parish of Trinity Church, N. Y. (Dix), History of Berkshire (Ashmole). New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, vol. XXV., 1894.

When Dr. Harison was a lad of twelve years lie accompanied his parents to Toronto, Canada, and there continued his education, becoming a student in Bish- op's College School at Lennoxville, Quebec, while later he attended Trinity College at Port Hope, Ontario, the former known as the "Rugby" and the latter as the "Eton" of Canada. His preliminary training was, therefore, thorough and comprehensive and when a youth of eighteen years he matriculated in the University of Trinity College at Toronto, where he completed his more specifically literary professional knowledge. He prepared for the practice of medicine as a student at Toronto University and won the de- gree of Bachelor of Medicine in 1882 on the comple- tion of a fours years' course, while subsequently the M. D. degree was conferred upon him. Soon after his graduation he became assistant to Dr. James Thor- burn (Edin.), one of the leading physicians and sur- geons of Toronto. In 1885 he was appointed surgeon to a large American producing corporation in Canada, and so continued until 1888. In the latter year he removed to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and en- tered upon active practice in Sault Ste. Marie, where he continued to reside until January, 1906, and then became a resident of Detroit. Throughout all the intervening years from the date of his graduation he has successfully followed the practice of medicine and surgery and his wide experience, his broad study and thorough investigation have gained him rank with the most eminent representatives of the profes- sion in the state. He has also rendered most im- portant services as secretary of the Michigan State Board of Registration in Medicine. A contemporary biographer has said of him: "A most noteworthy and commendable work and one that will ever redound to his honor is that accomplished by Dr. Harison in connection with raising the standards and methods for admission to the practice of medicine in Michigan to a standard higher than can be claimed in an official sense by any other state in the Union. His efforts have met with the hearty approval of the worthy representatives of the various schools of practice and all commend the regulations prescribed by legislative enactment. Prior to 1889 various efforts had been made at successive sessions of the legislature to procure proper legislation in regulation of medical practice in the state, but nothing definite had been accomplished. In 1889, however, the Michigan State Medical Society decided upon vigorous measures for improvement, with the result that a committee on medical legisla- tion was appointed, with Dr. Harison as chairman. He prepared the bill that was finally brought to en-

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actment, after consultation with leading representatives of the regular, the homeopathic and the eclectic schools of practice. The bill was introduced in the house by Hon. William Chandler, representative from Chip- pewa county, and thus was designated as the Chandler bill, but Dr. Harison in a personal and official capacity ably championed the measure, giving it careful at- tention at every stage, and as representative of the Michigan State Medical Society paid all incidental expenses in connection with forwarding the bill to enactment. This admirable law provides for the state board of registration in medicine, before which body every person must pass an examination before being permitted to practice in the state. The primary object of the law is to eliminate charlatans and so- called 'quacks' as well as those imperfectly educated along both professional and academic lines. As already stated, Dr. Harison has served as a member and sec- retary of this board from the time of its organization and in this office he has had much to do with defining administrative policies and making the work efficient in every particular."

"Dr. Harison still retains membership in the Upper Peninsula Medical Society, of which he was one of the organizers and of which he served as the second secretary and the third president. He is one of the influential and valued members of the Michigan State Medical Society, of which he was president in 1904-5, and he is also actively identified with the American Medical Association. While a resident of Sault Ste. Marie he served six years as a member of the board of trustees of the Upper Peninsula State Hospital at Newberry, of which board he was president. His professional and civic loyalty brought to him local pref- erment also, as he was called upon to serve as health officer of Sault Ste. Marie, coroner of Chippewa county, chief of staff of the Sault Ste. Marie General Hospital and chief surgeon to the Michigan Lake Superior Power Company, besides which he was division surgeon for several railroads and has been consulting surgeon for many of the larger charitable and benevolent in- stitutions of the state. Dr. Harison was the founder of the American Confederation of Reciprocating, Ex- amining, Licensing Medical Boards of the United States, an organization instituting Medical reciprocity in some forty states and promoting uniformity of pre- liminary and medical requirements of the several states. Of this valuable body he was the first sec- retary and still holds this office (1910)." In 1912 the union of the American and National Confederation of State Medical Boards was brought about largely through the efforts of Dr. Harison, resulting in the formation of the present Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States. This body has in its membership practically all of the state medical boards in this country and it sets the standards of literary and medical education necessary in order to obtain the right to practice medicine in the several states in membership. In this connection it creates annually

for state recognition an accredited list of secondary schools, literary colleges and institutions, as well as medical colleges and hospitals. The committee hav- ing charge of this most important feature of medical education is designated the Committee on Classifica- tion and Standardization of Medical Colleges. It is without question the most influential and effective committee having to do with medical education in the country and is distinctly national in its scope. Since its creation several years ago Dr. Harison has been its chairman and the annual reports to the fed- eration largely reflect the Michigan standards and methods of administration.

On the 9th of October, 1889, Dr. Harison was united in marriage to Miss Josephine Lister, a native of Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, and a daughter of Hon. James F. Lister, K. C., a distinguished justice of the court of appeals of the Province of Ontario and a relative of the famous English surgeon, Lord Lister. Dr. and Mrs. Harison have one daughter, Frances Lister. Both the Doctor and his wife are members of the Episcopal church. He is a member of the American Geographical Society, a fellow of the Ameri- can College of Physicians and of the American Medi- cal Association. During the World war he became a captain of the Medical Corps of the United States army. He is also connected with many social and fraternal organizations of representative character, while his political support is given to the republican party. That he is a man of broad scholarly attainments is shadowed forth between the lines of this review. The University of Michigan, in recognition of the distinguished service he has rendered to the profes- sion of medicine, conferred upon him the Master of Arts degree in June, 1910. He is a man with whom association at all times means expansion and elevation. He has ever been actuated by a spirit of helpfulness toward his fellowmen and his ideals of life are most high.

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The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV, Part 41

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