The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV, Part 43

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 43

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His political support has always been given to the republican party and as such he has been called to various city offices, serving as assistant city attorney of Detroit from 1893 until 1896, as alderman from 1902 until 1904 inclusive and as mayor of Detroit through the succeeding two years, and his name will pass into the annals of the city as that of one of its excellent and popular chief executives. He was also regent of the University of Michigan in 1909 and 1910. The nature of the offices that he has filled indicates his character, his ability and his fidelity.

On October 24, 1894, Judge Codd was married to Miss Kathleen Warner, a daughter of Carlos E. Warner of Detroit, and their three children are: John W., George C. and Kathleen. Judge Codd turns to outdoor sports for rest and recreation. He is well

known in fraternal cireles as a Mason, having at- tained the Knight Templar degree in Detroit Com- mandery, No. 1, and he has crossed the sands of the desert with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine of Moslem Temple. He is also connected with the Knights of Pythias and with the Delta Kappa Epsilon, a college fraternity, of which he became a member while an undergraduate in the University of Michigan. The religious faith of Judge Codd and his family is that of the Presbyterian church and he is a valued rep- resentative of the University, Detroit Automobile, Bloomfield Hills Country, and Detroit Athletic Clubs. Along strictly professional lines he has connection with the Detroit and Michigan State Bar Associations and enjoys in substantial measure the respect and confidence of his contemporaries and colleagues in the profession.

CHARLES JAMES ANDREWS, numbered with the well known representatives of the wholesale coal trade in Detroit and classed with the leading busi- ness men of the city, to the commercial and industrial growth of which he has made substantial contribution, was born in Washington, D. C., December 20, 1868, his parents being John R. and Elizabeth (Milliken) Andrews. The father was a successful railroad con- tractor for a number of years and engaged in railroad building in various sections of the country.

Charles J. Andrews was still quite young when his parents removed from the national capital to New England, establishing their home in Saco, Maine. There he acquired his education, first attending the public schools, while later he became a student in Thornton Academy of Saco. He started out in the business world on putting aside his textbooks and confined his labors largely to New England until about 1888, when he removed to Zanesville, Ohio, where he was associated with his father in railroad construction, having received a contract for the extension of the line from Zanesville to the Ohio river. Mr. Andrews has been connected with the coal trade for more than two decades and this followed a previous connection with the Columbus, Sandusky & Hocking Railroad as superintendent of car service. As a dealer in coal he has had wide experience in connection with the different branches of the business, including produc- tion, sales and distribution. From 1902 until 1909 he was sales manager in the Detroit district for the Sun- day Creek Coal Company and later was advanced to an official position, becoming vice president and gen- eral sales manager with that corporation. Since 1914 he has been a representative of the wholesale coal trade in Detroit, where the volume and character of his business places him among the representative men in his line. He maintains offices in the Majestic build- ing and his patronage is now one of extensive propor- tions. In addition to his other interests he is the president of the Adams X-Ray Company of Detroit, a pioneer concern in its line in the city.

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Mr. Andrews was united in marriage in 1891 to Miss Laura Tibbetts, of Saco, Maine, and they have one son, Lawrence C., who is connected with the Cadillac Motor Company of Detroit. Politically Mr. Andrews is a republican where national issues and questions are involved, while at local elections he easts an independent ballot. He has membership with the Congregational church and his aid and support can always be counted upon to further those interests which feature for the betterment of the community and the development of its standards. He is an en- thusiastic motorist, driving his own ear, and is fond of various phases of outdoor life; nor is his publie spirit lacking, and in all those qualities which make for high standards in citizenship he is royally endowed.

GEORGE ALFRED EASON, a prominent pioneer citizen of Detroit, who spent forty-five years of his life in this city, was long and successfully identified with the real estate business here. His demise oc- curred on the 20th of April, 1920, when he had reached the age of eighty years. He was born in Milton, England, August 5, 1840, and was the eldest of the seven children whose parents were George and Jane (Barton) Eason. The father, who was also a native of England, emigated to the United States in 1850, settling first in Albany, New York, and later in Kingston, Ontario, where he spent his remaining days. He was successfully engaged in the brewing business throughout his active eareer.

George A. Eason, who was ten years of age when brought to the new world, obtained a public and high school education and after putting aside his textbooks learned the brewing business, thus following in the footsteps of his father. It was in 1875 that he came to Detroit and here became identified with brewing interests as an employe of the firm of Williams Brothers. On severing his connection with that con- cern he embarked in the real estate business, in which he continued throughout the remainder of his life, amassing a fortune through his keen discernment and eapable management. His extensive interests were most carefully and wisely directed and he long en- joyed an enviable reputation as one of the leading realtors and substantial business men of the city.

On the 3d of August, 1880, Mr. Eason was united in marriage to Miss Esther A. Medbury, a daughter of Samuel P. and Lucetta R. Medbury, the former of Rhode Island. The family came to Detroit in 1867 and Mr. Medbury was connected with the banking business until his death in 1874, being at one time cashier of the Peninsular Bank. Medbury avenue was named for the family and the late Mrs. Medbury donated the land at the corner of Woodward and Medbury for the construction of St. Joseph's church. To Mr. and Mrs. Eason was born a daughter, Florence Louise Medbury Eason, who occupies the old homestead at No. 2638 Woodward avenue, which was formerly No. 444 Woodward avenue.

In politics Mr. Eason maintained an independent course, supporting men and measures rather than party. He was a worthy exemplar of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the Adrian Lodge, F. &. A. M., at Adrian, Michigan, Damascus Commandery and the Mystic Shrine at Detroit, while his religious faith was indi- cated by his membership in the Episcopal church, to which his wife and daughter also belonged and in the work of which he took an active and helpful interest. He was formerly affiliated with the old Grace church, in which he served as a vestryman for seventeen years. His gifts to his church were fre- quent and generous, for he was a most liberal and kind-hearted man, who never hesitated to assist a fellow traveler on life's journey or refused to lend his aid to any plan or project instituted to promote the general welfare. His death occurred April 20, 1920, and his remains were laid to rest in the Woodmere cemetery. His passing brought a sense of deep be- reavement to many, for he had endeared himself to a large circle of friends throughout Detroit, where he long occupied a foremost position in business and social circles.

HENRY RUSSEL. An outstanding figure on the stage of events which have made the history of De- troit was Henry Russel, who as an eminent corpora- tion lawyer, a railroad official, a real estate developer and all-round business man, left the impress of his individuality and ability upon the development and progress of the city and state for many years. His life was at all times a forceful element in Detroit's advancement and his name should be placed high on the roll of those men whom the city delights to honor because of the prominent part which they have taken in the city's growth.

Mr. Russel was born in Detroit, May 16, 1852, his parents being Dr. George B. and Anna E. Russel, the father a well known and enterprising citizen of De- troit and one of the most distinguished physicians of his day. Henry Russel, after pursuing a public school education, continued his studies in the Philo M. Pat- terson Classical and Mathematical Academy and next became a student in the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated in 1873 with the Bachelor of Arts degree, after which he took up the study of law. In 1875 the State University conferred upon him the LL. B. degree and in 1876 the honorary degree of Master of Arts. It has been said that "his college career, foreshadowing his later success in life, was brilliant and won honorable recognition from the fac- ulty and his fellow students." He continued his law studies with Alfred Russell, then a prominent repre- sentative of the Detroit bar, and was admitted to practice in 1875. Throughout the greater part of his professional career he devoted his attention to cor- poration law and particularly to railroad law, for in 1877 he was appointed assistant attorney of the Mich-

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igan Central Railroad Company, under George V. N. Lothrop, who was then general counsel, and James F. Joy, who at that time was president of the company. In 1912 he withdrew from his partnership relation as a member of the firm of Russel, Campbell, Bulkley & Ledyard, for in that year he was chosen vice president of the Michigan Central Railroad Company and deter- mined to give more time to the railroad interests and less time to the practice of the firm. He was ever recognized as one of the most prominent corporation lawyers of the city, having comprehensive knowledge of the principles of jurisprudence, with marked ability accurately to apply these principles to the points in litigation, while his professional counsel was of the most valuable character. His business interests, too, covered a very extensive field. He was president of the Olds Motor Company and thus active in control of one of the most extensive corporations of the city. He was likewise president of the Cass Farm Company, was a member of the executive committee of the Union Trust Company, a director of the Michigan State Tele- phone Company, also of the River Rouge Improvement Company and many other enterprises. His real estate holdings were very large and his keen sagacity was manifest in his early investments in property here. Long before others were engaged in the development of the territory adjacent to Rouge river, he and his associates were active in the establishment of tracks into its marshes and the cutting of channels for the movement of bulky freight by water. They foresaw the opportunity for the industrial development in that section of the city, and among the foremost of those to whom that great territory in the neighborhood of Detroit now occupied by chemical factories and shipyards shall give honor for its development, will be Mr. Russel. At the time of his death the Michigan Manufacturer and Financial Record said of him: "Apart from the mere dispensing of legal counsel Mr. Russel had much to do with the making of the railroad map of Michigan, particularly in the neigh- borhood of Detroit. He was among the earliest to appreciate the terminal necessities of Detroit, to feel that if his native city and the field of his professional efforts were to become a center of industry, trackage must be provided on which to conduct its transporta- tion operations. His personal interest in the con- struction of the Detroit Railroad belt line, then far out, now the 'inner belt' of the city, led to its com- pletion. The result of its construction was to open up great new areas for the organization and conduct of manufacturing business. Perhaps as much as anyone else he had to do with the development of the great southwesterly manufacturing district which is one of Detroit's choicest industrial possessions."

Mr. Russel was the prime mover in the establishment of many business enterprises which have had direct bearing upon the history and development of the city. His name was associated with its banking and manu- facturing interests as well as with its railroad devel-

opment, its real estate activity and with the practice of law

On the 3d of June, 1880, Mr. Russel was united in marriage to Miss Helen H. Muir of Detroit, who passed away on the 23d of November, 1908. They were the parents of five children, three daughters, who are living, and two sons, deceased. These were: John Farrand, who died several years ago; and Wil- liam, who was killed in aerial service in the World war in August, 1918. The daughters are Mrs. Allen F. Edwards, Mrs. James Thayer McMillan and Mrs. Harold F. Wardwell, all of Detroit. On the 15th of February, 1912, Mr. Russel married the second time, Mrs. Eleanor (Towle) Whittaker, a daughter of How- ard Towle, becoming his wife.

The death of Mr. Russel occurred in the Ritz-Carl- ton hotel in New York city on the 25th of February, 1920, the day he was to sail to France to visit the grave of his son, William, who had made the supreme sacrifice in the World war. Mr. Russel was a mem- ber of the Presbyterian church, to which his family still belong and of which he was a most generous supporter. His political allegiance was given to the democratic party and he was well known in club cir- cles, belonging to the Detroit, Country, Detroit Golf, University and Fontinalis Clubs. He also had mem- bership with the Detroit, Michigan State and Ameri- can Bar Associations and enjoyed the highest respect and goodwill of his contemporaries in the practice of law. He was a lover and patron of art and literature, a man of wide culture and fine literary taste, the innate refinement of his nature causing him to avoid anything gross or common. He was a man thoroughly devoted to his home and family and was particularly proud of his soldier son, and though he bore with for- titude his loss occasioned by the untimely death of the son, the sacrifice was to him a sacred memory. While in the service and in France, William Russel had written long and interesting letters to his father, which the latter compiled in book form and had pub- lished. One who knew Mr. Russel intimately for many years said of him: "He was ever kindly, broad- gauged and charitable. He was a man of many friends and few enemies. He was always at the front in movements for civic betterment, and gave liberally of his time and money for the development of public institutions." His life was of value to the city along so many lines that it is almost impossible to determine which was the paramount feature of use- fulness in his career. He brought about the city's development and growth in no uncertain measure, at the same time was a factor in its civic improvement and in its advancement along moral and art lines. In fact all those forces which make for higher ideals of life received his endorsement, and his cooperation was a resultant factor in placing Detroit in the proud position which it occupies not only as a great com- mercial and industrial center but also in art and lit- erature. While destiny oft seems to frustrate one's

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plans, in the instance of Mr. Russel's death one cannot but feel that while his purpose of visiting the grave of his son was not accomplished, he entered into that closer communion of spirit which is the universal hope of those who have been close students of the great laws and principles which are manifest throughout the processes of the world.

WILLIAM J. MEISENHEIMER, for many years intimately connected with the business life of De- troit, was born in Ludington, Michigan, December 2, 1865. He was educated in the public and high schools, and taught school during the winter for a period of fifteen years, and during many of the sum- mers of that period he acted as a lumber inspector, making a record of inspecting and grading an average of eighty-three thousand feet every day for one summer.

Mr. Meisenheimer then became associated with the express business, remaining as agent in that line for eight years. He served as justice of the peace in Mason county and Ludington, for four years. For some time he had been making a study of accounting and entered upon that work actively in 1908. Besides conducting a leading office in general accounting and cost accounting, he is very intimately identified with the commercial activities of Detroit. He is president of the Meisenheimer-Burke Corporation; vice presi- dent and a director of the Wayne County Bond & Mortgage Company, and a director and treasurer of the North American Mortgage Corporation; secretary of the Commercial Syndicate of Detroit and presi- dent of the Rubbo-Lastic Roofing Company, in the affairs of all of which he takes an active interest.

In 1886 Mr. Meisenheimer was married to Miss Matie Stellow, and they became the parents of two children: Isabelle, who became Mrs. Willard H. Holt; and Floyd B. Meisenheimer. Mr. Meisenheimer is a member and secretary of Acacia Lodge, No. 477, F. & A. M., and also is a member of the Michigan Sov- ereign Consistory, and Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine.

Floyd B. Meisenheimer was born December 2, 1893. He was educated at Albion bigh school, Eastern high school, Detroit, and at Detroit College of Law, from which be was graduated with the class of 1917, and was admitted to the bar in the same year. He dis- tinguished himself in oratory all through his college days, and at Michigan Agricultural College, in com- pany with sixteen hundred other students, he was one of the four who made up the debating team. At Detroit College of Law, with thirty-two in the trials, he, a freshman, tied for first place with a senior, and the next year he was given first place by an unanimous vote of the judges. He was valedictorian of his class at the Detroit College of Law, and altogether be was a brilliant and distinguished young man during his college years.

When the United States entered the World war

Floyd B. Meiseuheimer enlisted and was immediately commissioned first lieutenant on his record at the' Michigan Agricultural College. He entered the First Officers Training Camp at Fort Sheridan, where he remained for some time. Desiring to enter the Avia- tion Corps, Lieutenant Meisenheimer took a second lieutenancy in that branch and went to Austin, Texas, for ground work, going thence to San Antonio and Ellington.

In July, 1919, Lieutenant Meisenheimer was trans- ferred to Scott Field, Belleville, Illinois. He gave flying exhibitions in different places, displaying much skill and daring. He was widely popular with the pub- lic and was often called to speak at public gatherings in company with public and professional men. He met his death as a result of an accident, falling with his plane, August 26, 1919. When not more than two hundred feet from the ground, something went wrong with the mechanism of the plane, and the student he was instructing who was operating the plane, was unable to control it in time to avert a fatal accident. Lieutenant Meisenheimer was a member of Acacia Lodge, F. & A. M. and attained the thirty-second degree in Masonry, being a member of the Michigan Sovereign War Consistory class of 1917. He was also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, being a member of Arabia Temple, at Houston, Texas.

C. E. PARRISH, a prominent and progressive citi- zen of Detroit, where he has been living since he was quite young, has for some years engaged in the general insurance business under the name of Parrish & Savage Agency, with offices in the Vinton building. He is a native of Michigan, born in Nashville, Sep- tember 5, 1883.

Mr. Parrish is a son of Elliot and Tryphena (Staley) Parrish, who had been living in Michigan for several years, their home being in Nashville, and who moved to Detroit some few years after the birth of their son, C. E., who consequently regards himself as a regular Detroiter. He was educated at the De- troit Central high school, and at the age of twenty he branched out for himself, taking a position as sales- man for the Wolverine Manufacturing Company, whom he represented on the road for seven years. From the very beginning Mr. Parrish met with more than aver- age success and thus laid the foundations of his future prosperity.

On elosing his connection with the Wolverine Com- pany Mr. Parrish took up insurance and has been in that business ever since, meeting as the years go by, an ever-increasing measure of success. He went to the front rapidly and ultimately became manager in 1914 of the American Auto Insurance Company, and later engaged in the insurance business on his own account, his headquarters being located in a large suite of offices in the Vinton building, Detroit. He is recognized in the insurance world as being one of the

WILLIAM J. MEISENHEIMER

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most energetic and successful men handling auto in- surance in this part of Michigan.

Mr. Parrish was married to Frances Balle and they have two daughters: Margaret Staley Parrish and Elizabeth Moran Parrish. Mr. and Mrs. Parrish take a prominent part in the social life of Detroit, where they are well known. Mr. Parrish is a thirty-second degree Mason. He also holds membership in the Detroit Golf Club, the Detroit Athletic Club and the Old Club and is always available to assist in projects calculated to advance the commercial prestige of De- troit.

REV. ANTHONY PETER TERNES, pastor of St. Elizabeth's Roman Catholic church at Detroit, was born at Springwells, Michigan, on the 1st of March, 1863, almost within the shadow of his present home, for his birthplace was but a short distance from the corporation limits of Detroit, and in 1869 the family home was established in St. Boniface parish in this city. There Father Ternes pursued his early education in the parish school and after receiving his first com- munion he began the study of the classics in the Jesuit College. A year later, or in September, 1878, he entered St. Francis' Seminary, near Milwaukee, and devoted five years to the mastery of a preparatory course there. In 1883 he entered Assumption College at Sandwich, Ontario, and studied philosophy under Father O'Connor, afterward archbishop of Toronto. The following year he was sent by the bishop, to- gether with twenty-two others, to St. Mary's Seminary at Baltimore, where he completed his study of theology, and on the 24th of July, 1887, was ordained to the priesthood in St. Boniface church by Bishop Borgess. Through his first assignment Father Ternes became pastor of St. Michael's church at Port Austin and its three missions. Two and a half years were devoted to earnest labor there, during which time he was in- strumental in the building of new churches at Bad Axe and Ubley. In March, 1890. he was assigned to the pastorate at Gagetown, but continued there for only six months. It was at that time that the Fran- ciscans left the Detroit diocese, where they had worked for a long time in St. Mary's and Sacred Heart parishes. At their departure Rev. B. J. Wermers was appointed to Sacred Heart parish, but existing con- ditions made his appointment most difficult. The peo- ple had become accustomed to the Franciscans and wanted none but them. The need in the parish led Father Ternes to offer himself as assistant to his old pastor, although he had previously acted as pastor himself for three years. He remained in Sacred Heart parish until January 15, 1892, when he was appointed pastor of St. Joseph's church at Adrian, there con- tinuing for four years, and in 1896 he was appointed successor to Father Svensson in St. Elizabeth's church at Detroit. Through the intervening period, covering almost a quarter of a century-twenty-four years -- Father Ternes has continued in charge and the church

has developed notably not only in numerical strength but in the acquirement of its property and in spiritual strength. The work of advancement along every line of the church activities has been carried steadily for- ward and many improvements and innovations were made. The basement of the priest's house was en- larged and a heating plant installed at a cost of fourteen hundred dollars and in 1899 three thousand dollars was secured for a new organ. In 1900 an addition was made to the Sisters' home and in 1907 the convent was removed from Canfield avenue to a newly acquired strip of land near the school and an addition was built to the school, adding eight more rooms. The school on Canfield avenue was then con- verted into a rectory. On the 21st of June, 1910, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the organization of St. Elizabeth's parish was celebrated and within that time it had become one of the largest and best par- ishes of the diocese. In 1914 a convent, the finest in the diocese for parish school teachers was erected, and within three years an addition to the school will be erected, making the total of school rooms twenty to accommodate upwards of one thousand children.

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The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV, Part 43

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