The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV, Part 49

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 49

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In 1912 Mr. Matzinger was united in marriage to Miss Edith Merrill, and they have become the parents of one son, Charles Merrill Matzinger. Mr. Matzinger is an active member of the Board of Commerce, in the affairs of which he takes a warm interest and he is also a member of the Detroit Athletic Club. He was captain of a team on the first three Liberty Loan sales and took an active and successful part in that patriotic work.

Mr. Matzinger gives a good citizen's attention to civic affairs but has never been an aspirant for polit- ical honors. He and his wife are prominent in social and cultural movements in Detroit, where they have a large number of friends, by whom they are held in the highest esteem.

JAMES INGLIS is numbered among those men whose wisely directed activities have made Detroit one of the great industrial centers of the country. He is prominently known as a manufacturer, being presi- dent of the American Blower Company and identified with various other corporate interests which have featured in the upbuilding of Detroit and the extension of its trade relations into every section of the world. Mr. Inglis, moreover, is a representative of one of the oldest and most prominent Detroit families and was born in this city August 15, 1864, his parents being Dr. Richard and Agnes (Lambie) Inglis, both now deceased.

At the usual age he became a public school pupil and mastered the work of the various grades until he entered the high school. When his education was completed he became identified with manufacturing interests in Detroit in 1887. Since that time his course has been marked by a steady progress that is the result of the development of his powers and the utilization of his opportunities. He has thoroughly mastered everything that he has undertaken and from the faithful performance of each day's duties has

found inspiration and energy for the labors of the ensuing day. He has come to be recognized as a most able executive and a business man of the keen- est sagacity. He is president of the American Blower Company, manufacturers of heating, ventilating, dry- ing and mechanical draft apparatus, and of the Can- adian Sirocco Company of Windsor, Ontario. He is also chairman of the board of directors of the Detroit Insulated Wire Company, is vice president of the Underfeed Stoker Company of America and a director of the National Bank of Commerce of Detroit.

On the 20th of October, 1903, Mr. Inglis was married to Miss Elizabeth Hughes of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and they have become the parents of two children: Eliza- beth, who was born in 1906; and James H., born in 1910. Mr. Inglis and his family are connected with the Presbyterian church and in politics he is a re- publican. He belongs to the Board of Commerce of Detroit, of which he served as president in 1906. He is identified with many of the leading clubs and social organizations of his native city, including the Detroit Club, Detroit Athletic Club, Country Club and the Detroit Boat Club, and is also a member of the Barton Hills Country Club of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the Metropolitan Club of Washington, D. C. During the period of the World war he served on the War Industries Board. Throughout the period of hos- tilities with Germany he was stationed at the national capital where he rendered most important service in connection with the organization of the industrial forces of the country as a factor in the prosecution of the war. Although Mr. Inglis' business interests are in Detroit, his residence since 1920 has beeu at Ann Arbor, Michigan.

HON. GEORGE MELVIN CONDON, serving for the second term as a member of the state senate of Michigan and since June, 1902, actively engaged in the practice of law in Detroit, was born at Fort Cov- ington, Franklin county, New York, December 27, 1859. He was the eldest in a family of seven children whose parents were John and Marguerite (Kavanaugh) Condon, his ancestors having long been residents of America. His youthful days were spent on the home farm. The summer months were devoted to the work of the fields and he attended the district schools in the winter seasons, also becoming a pupil in the Fort Covington high school and academy from which in due course of time he was graduated. At the age of eighteen he took up the profession of teaching, which he followed for about five years and then turned his attention to merchandising in association with Hon. T. A. Sears of Bombay, New York, with whom he conducted a dry goods establishment for two years. He then entered the clothing business of L. G. Whit- ney, at Atlanta, Georgia, and subsequently was book- keeper for Moran, Fitzsimons & Company at Detroit, Michigan. He also acted as confidential secretary for the Standard Oil Company for fifteen years at De-

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troit and at South Bend, Indiana. He prepared for the bar as a student in the Detroit College of Law from 1899 until 1902 and in the latter year won his LL. B. degree. Since the month of June of that year he has engaged in active practice and in 1910 be- came senior partner of the law firm of Condon, Nellis & Condon. He has built his professional success upon broad business experience, upon thorough understand- ing of the law and ability to apply accurately its principles. He manifests marked devotion to the in- terests of his clients and has gained notable success in practice, yet he is not learned in the law alone. He has been a close and discriminating student of many of the vital questions that are before the coun- try today, including the more important political, sociological and economic problems.

Mr. Condon is especially interested in the welfare of youth and was the organizer of the famous Condon Literary Club, Incorporated, in which over four hun- dred boys and young men have received and are re- ceiving training as debaters and public speakers. From the inception he has been one of the directors of this organization. For eight years he served as a member of the school board of Detroit from the four- teenth ward, and the George M. Condon intermediate school at West boulevard and Buchanan street was named in his honor. He resigned his position on the school board in order to go to the senate, to which he was elected in 1917. He has since been reelected, so that he is now serving for the second term, and is chairman of the judiciary committee and a member of other important committees of the upper house of the Michigan general assembly. He was a candidate for congress in the 13th Michigan district in 1920.

At Fort Covington, New York, Mr. Condon was married on the 3d of September, 1884, to Miss Nellie L. W. Mears and they have one son, Dallas Mears, who has become the associate of his father in law practice. Mrs. Condon died November 18, 1919, at Detroit. The religious faith of the family is that of the Presbyterian church and Mr. Condon is an exemplary member of the Masonic fraternity. He belongs to the Lawyers' Club and to the Detroit Bar Association. His high stand- ards of citizenship have ever been manifest in a patriotic devotion to those interests which produce tangible results in Americanization and his labors have indeed been far-reaching and beneficial.

FREDERIC A. TILTON is a resident partner of Haskins & Sells, well known certified public account- ants of New York, and many of the leading business concerns of the city bear testimony to his ability, re- garding his opinions as an authority on matters of busi- ness accountancy. He is descended from one of the old New England families, his grandfather, David Tilton, serving in the War of 1812 and coming from New Hampshire, where his forbears had lived for many years, to the Western Reserve. He afterward went to Canada and for a time was stationed at Fort Hamilton,

Ontario. Alfred Tilton, the father of Frederic A. Til- ton, was born in Canada and came to the United States in 1840, at which time he took up his abode in Cleveland, Ohio. He wedded Mary Ann Rieley and to them were born the following named: Frederic A., of this review; Lulie P., who is living in Detroit; Mrs. Fred A. Dibble of West Nyack, New York; and George A., a resident of Miami, Florida.

Frederic A. Tilton was born in Cleveland, Ohio, July 10, 1876, and pursued his education in the Walton grammar school and in the West high school of his native city. He also attended the Western Reserve University for three years, leaving that institution in 1899. He took his first step in the business world as an employe of the Produce Exchange Bank, situated in the market district of Cleveland, occupying a cleri- cal position with that institution for a year. He was afterward a member of the city park survey force of Cleveland and later he served in a clerical capacity with the Buckeye Fish Company on old Lime street in Cleveland, continuing with that house for three years. In 1902 he occupied a position in the office of Vincent & Korner, one of the old-time book firms of the city, and in 1903 he went to New York to become assistant auditor of the Erie Railroad.

In 1905 Mr. Tilton returned to Cleveland, where be entered the offices of the Audit Company, then located in the Chamber of Commerce building on the public square. He gained his first experience in pub- lic accountancy while thus connected. The year 1909 witnessed bis arrival in Detroit, at which time he entered the public accountancy department of the Security Trust Company, with which be continued until May 1, 1915, when the firm of Hollis, Tilton & Porte was organized, succeeding to the business of R. J. Hollis & Company, chartered accountants. The firm employed a staff of thirty people in connection with the conduct of its business and gave to all con- tracts its personal supervision. On August 1, 1921, the professional accounting practices of Hollis, Tilton & Porte were consolidated with Haskins & Sells of New York, and Mr. Tilton, like the other members of the firm, continues as a resident partner of Haskins & Sells, with offices in the First National Bank building. Mr. Tilton passed the certified public accountants' examination in 1910 and he is now a member of the American Institute of Accountants and at present a member of the council of that body, also of the Mich- igan Association of Certified Public Accountants, and he has filled all of the offices in the last named organization. He has for six years served as chairman of the State Board of Accountancy under appointment by Governors Ferris and Sleeper.

Mr. Tilton has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Josephine G. Brady, whom he wedded in 1902. They had one daughter, Constance Elizabeth, who was born August 25, 1912. The wife and mother passed away in 1917 and on the 26th of November, 1919, Mr. Tilton was married to Miss Rena W. Wright of Detroit, and resides at No. 905 Longfellow avenue.

FREDERIC A. TILTON

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Mr. Tilton is independent in his political views. He belongs to the Red Run Golf Club and the Wedgewood Hunting Club, also to the Board of Commerce. He is a Mason and belongs to Corinthian Lodge, No. 24; Michigan Sovereign Consistory, Detroit Commandery, No. 1, K. T., and to Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He is one of the advisory board of the Young Men's Christian Association, in its school of account- ancy, operated in conjunction with the Detroit Tech- nical Institute. His interests are broad and varied and his aid and support can always be counted upon to further projects and movements for the public benefit or the uplift of the individual. His worth along pro- fessional lines is widely acknowledged, while the ex- tensive circle of his friends is indicative of the high regard in which he is held in social connections.

TIMOTHY HURLEY. The history of Detroit pre- sents no record which indicates more clearly the force of character, the value of industry and the effective- ness of enterprise and sound judgment in business affairs than does that of Timothy Hurley, who, start- ing out in the world empty-handed, died the possessor of a handsome fortune acquired through his own efforts and by methods that needed no disguise. He passed away September 18, 1918, his birth hav- ing occurred in County Cork, Ireland, about 1839. He was one of the family of three children born to Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Hurley and was left mother- less when a lad of six years. The father, who was born in Ireland and was a drover, came to the United States in 1846 with his three young sons, crossing the Atlantic in a sailing vessel that was six weeks in reaching American port. They settled near Guelph, Ontario, and there the father engaged in business as a drover. Later he removed to Detroit, where he be- came a railroad builder and also an extensive owner of property, making his home in this city to the time of his death.

Timothy Hurley was educated in the public schools of Detroit and when quite young started out in busi- ness for himself. The story of his endeavor and his rise in the business world has been most interestingly told by John Fitzgibbon in one of the Detroit papers as follows: "His first job was helper to a cook on a vessel sailing the lakes. From the cook's galley he went on deck to be a sailor, and for ten years or such a matter he was before the mast. In the mean- while he located in Detroit, where he first worked as a longshoreman, then as boss of a longshoremen's gang. Next he started trucking with a two-wheel truck that he drove himself. From trucking he branched into the fuel business; after that into the vessel transportation business with a distinct connec- tion between all three lines. This is how one line led him into another. Fifty years ago, and even later, most of the fuel burned in Detroit was wood. Anthracite was the only coal known here, and that was used in heating stoves only. Gas was used only

for illuminating purposes. All cooking was with wood brought to Detroit, chiefly on barges. In the fall there would be piles of cordwood in the alleys back of dwellings throughout the city. Men made a busi- ness of going through the alleys with small power saws to cut the winter's wood into stove lengths at so much a cord. Mr. Hurley hanled a good deal of wood with his first truck, and more as he was able to buy more trucks, from the docks and the woodyards to the alleys Taking the business view that he might as well have profits at two ends instead of one he went into the wood business. To get his wood to the city he first chartered barges, then had barges of his own, using his trucks to haul his own wood. In 1870 he opened yards, added coal to his fuel stocks and formed a partnership with his younger brother, John, under the firm name of J. & T. Hurley. Twenty-six years ago John Hurley was aboard one of the firm's tugs of a dark, stormy night on the Detroit river. The steamer City of Mackinaw ran down the tug and sunk it, and John Hurley was drowned. But the firm name remained unchanged. It is today the only coal firm in the city doing business under the same name as forty-eight years ago.

"The firm branched out into coaling docks for coal- ing vessels and into a general trucking business. A coaling dock was secured in Windsor for Canadian vessels. All coal was for some years after the firm was formed brought to Detroit on sailing vessels. The Hurleys decided to save transportation profits by bringing their own coal, so they acquired a fleet of six sailing vessels and several tugs. Not only was all coal brought to Detroit on vessels, but Detroit was a very important port from which grain was shipped east by water. They would bring coal here on their own vessels, then charter their vessels to return to Buffalo with grain. In time sailing vessels gave way to steam vessels and coal shipments to Detroit were turned from water routes to railroads. Mr. Hurley then sold his sailing vessels and tugs. From selling more wood than coal from his yards and docks came the time when all the fuel used was coal and gas. He had, while in the business, seen the fuel of De- troit wholly changed. Too, he saw the lake transpor- tation business, while engaged in it, change largely from sail to nearly all steam.

"Though he sold his sailing vessels and tugs he continued to own a few wooden freighters. One, the Majestic, recalls how, about fifteen years ago, he did a thing that few vessel owners have the courage to do. The season for navigation was closed and the Majestic was at Buffalo. The intention was to lay her up there. A coal strike was on and a shortage of anthracite was threatened at Detroit. Mr. Hurley figured that there would be a fine profit if the Majes- tie brought a cargo back to Detroit. But there were obstacles. The American underwriters refused to re- new the one hundred thousand dollar insurance for the trip, or to insure a cargo of coal. Then, too, all

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aid to navigation had been removed. Despite these conditions, he had her loaded with anthracite coal that the English Lloyds insured for thirty thousand dollars. Mr. Hurley got her master, Captain Murray McIntosh, on the long distance telephone and asked him if he was willing to try to bring her to Detroit. Though there was ice in the rivers and lake, he said he was. 'Go to it,' says Mr. Hurley. The Majestic reached Detroit without mishap, though forty-eight hours making the trip."

In the foregoing are indicated the qualities which characterized Mr. Hurley. Thoroughly industrious and energetie, he possessed also that sound judgment which enabled him to recognize and utilize opportunities and as the years passed by he reached a very grati- fying position among the prosperous men of the city. From time to time he made investments in property until his realty holdings were extensive and the growth of Detroit led to their constant increase in value.

It was in Detroit that Mr. Hurley married Miss Anna O'Halloran, a daughter of Patrick O'Halloran of Ballyhigue, Ireland. They became the parents of nine children, five of whom are living. John T. is president and treasurer of J. & T. Hurley, Inc .; Daniel M. is secretary of J. & T. Hurley, Inc .; Francis D. is vice president and secretary of the Hurley Land Com- pany; Katherine P,; and Ignatius B. The daughter is the wife of John P. Scallen, member of the De- troit bar. The son, Ignatius B., is a recent graduate of the law department of the University of Detroit and a member of the Michigan bar.

The death of Mr. Hurley occurred on the 18th of September, 1918, his remains having been laid to rest in Mt. Elliott cemetery. He was long a devout member of the Catholic church, of which his family are also communicants. He likewise belonged to the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Catholic Mutual Benefit Association and was a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus. He was ever a stanch democrat in politics and gave unfaltering support to the party and its principles. In the later years of his life he lived retired and before failing health overtook him he traveled extensively in Europe and in the United States, from Alaska to Panama. He never sought to figure prominently in any public con- nection, but greatly enjoyed association with the old timers of lake marine experience and recalling inci- dents of those early days. He was always a lover of horses and it was some time before he could be reconciled to supplanting his horses with a motor car. One of the pronounced traits of his character was manifest in his kindly and helpful relation to his employes. He was ever willing to assist any man who was struggling against odds to make his own way in the world and for this reason he would always give a job to a negro, feeling that the latter had come into the world handicapped in the advantages that lay before him. Among those who acted as

pallbearers at his funeral was Peter Sefner, who had been in Mr. Hurley's employ since 1876, and the other pallbearers were those who had been in his service from eighteen to thirty years. Throughout his life Mr. Hurley was willing to extend a helping hand where aid was needed and his services were ever of benefit along many lines of public progress and im- provement.

GEORGE FULWELL, widely known in hotel circles in the middle west, having heen connected with a number of the leading hostelries of this section of the country, is now the proprietor of the Hotel Nor- mandie of Detroit and the Colonial hotel in Cleve- land, Ohio. Of English birth, he was born on the 12th of May, 1861, his parents being George and Sarah (Fox) Fulwell. While spending his youthful days under the parental roof he pursued his educa- tion in the public schools of England until 1879, when at the age of eighteen years he crossed the Atlantic to America. His hotel experience began as an employe in the Rossin House of Toronto, Canada, in that year. In 1880 he became connected with the Weddell House of Cleveland and from 1881 until 1882 was at the Southern hotel in St. Louis. The succeeding three years were passed at the Gault House in Louisville, Kentucky, and from 1885 until 1888 he was with the Peabody hotel at Memphis, Tennessee. Returning northward to Indianapolis, he was associated with the Bates House of that city from 1888 until 1890, when he returned to Louisville and became manager of the Hotel Rassinier, occupying that position for two years. He was then again con- nected with the Bates House of Indianapolis, this time for a period of eight years, and in 1900 he became proprietor of the Denison hotel of that city. He has been identified with the hotel interests of Detroit since 1905, in which year he purchased Hotel Normandie, of which he has since been the proprietor. From the beginning he has made this a popular and well patronized hostelry and in December, 1918, he extended his business connections by becoming pro- prietor of the Colonial hotel of Cleveland. He is also the vice president of the Detroit Weatherproof Body Company at Pontiac, Michigan, and is thus associated with the manufacturing interests of the state. Mr. Fulwell has made a very close and discriminating study of the hotel business, keeping in touch with the most advanced and progressive methods and constantly seeking out new plans and ideas that will further the comfort of his guests and lead to the substantial growth of his business. He is a member of the Detroit Hotel Association, the Michigan Hotel Men's Associa- tion, the Cleveland Hotel Men's Association, the Ohio Hotel Men's Association, the New York State Hotel Men's Association, the National Hotelkeepers' Pro- tective Association, the International Stewards' Association and the Hotel Men's Mutual Benefit Asso- ciation. He also belongs to the Universal Cookery &

GEORGE W. FULWELL

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Food Association of London, England. He likewise belongs to the American Hotel Association and to the Greeters of America, No. 29, at Detroit.

On the 11th of June, 1883, in St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Fulwell was married to Miss Matilda M. Jones and they have two daughters: Lento R. and Mrs. R. C. Pinkerton, the latter being the mother of one son, George Fnlwell Pinkerton, born December 13, 1916, in Detroit.

The interests and activities of Mr. Fulwell aside from business have been of a broad, varied and largely helpful character. He belongs to the National Geo- graphie Society, is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, the Detroit Convention and Tourists Bureau, the Chamber of Commerce of both Indianap- olis and of Cleveland and along more strictly social lines is connected with the Detroit Automobile Club, the Grosse Ile Country Club, the Cleveland Athletic Club and the Cleveland Automobile Club. He is prominent in Masonry, having membership in Pales- tine Lodge, No. 357, A. F. & A. M .; Palestine Chapter, No. 159, R. A. M .; Detroit Commandery, No. 1, K. T .; Detroit Carson Lodge of Perfection, A. A. S. R .; Carson Council, Princes of Jerusalem, A. A. S. R .; Mount Olive Chapter of Rose Croix, Michigan Sov- ereign Consistory, thirty-second degree; and Moslem Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. His religious faith is indi- cated in his membership in St. Paul's church and he is also a member of the Detroit Church Club. His political endorsement is given to the republican party, but he never seeks nor desires office. That he is not remiss in the duties of citizenship, however, is indi- cated by his active cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and with other organized movements for the benefit and upbuilding of the city and state.

JOHN J. GORMAN, president of the John J. Gor- man Company engaged in the men's furnishings busi- ness in Detroit is a native son of this city, his birth having here occurred August 24, 1893, his parents being John J. and Margaret (Doherty) Gorman. While spending his youthful days under the parental roof he pursued a public school education, which was con- cluded by his course in the Central high school. He next entered the University of Detroit, where he pur- sued his more specifically literary work for a period of three years. In 1910, at the age of seventeen, he joined his father in the men's furnishing goods busi- ness and became thoroughly acquainted with the trade under his father's direction. The latter's health, however, was failing and Mr. Gorman of this review practically had charge of the business from that time. In 1910 the John J. Gorman Company was incorpo- rated with John J. Gorman, Sr., as its president and M. A. Gorman as secretary and treasurer. It was upon the death of the father in 1912 that his son and namesake succeeded to the presidency and is now directing the affairs of the company. This is the oldest house in its line now doing business in Detroit and

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The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV, Part 49

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