USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV > Part 64
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Winnas, all residents of Detroit. The other two children have passed away.
John H. Thompson attended the public schools until graduated from the high school, after which he went on the road as a traveling salesman for the Walter Buhl Company, dealers in hats and caps, with whom he remained for two years. This was not his initial experience at earning money, however, for long prior to this he had contributed to his own support by selling newspapers and magazines, having a news stand in the old Russell hotel, which afterward be- came the Pontchartrain. He thus early gave evidence of his industry, his determination and laudable am- bition-qualities which have characterized his entire life. After his connection with the Walter Buhl Company he removed to New York city, where he engaged in the brokerage business, handling grocery accounts for a year and a half. He then became a resident of Chicago, where he opened a similar office, which he conducted from 1901 until 1904. On the expiration of that period he sold out and returned to Detroit, where he obtained a position with the Cadillac Motor Car Company and later with the Olds Com- pany, working as a mechanic in the factories for three years. He then resigned and again entered the brokerage business, handling auto parts for the fac- tories for a period of three years. In 1909 he or- ganized the Thompson Auto Company, conducting the business first on his own account, and later he se- cured the agency for the Federal trucks. In this organization with him were H. Kirk White, Jr., O. J. Mulford and E. J. Corbett, as partners. The com- bination proved a successful one and the business grew along substantial and gratifying lines. After some years Mr. Thompson purchased the interests of his partners and continued alone in business until 1912, at that time taking into the company his two brothers, Mr. Thompson becoming the president of the corporation, with Fred B. Thompson, secretary and treasurer and Ernest S. Thompson, vice president. In 1918 he also organized the Thompson Airplane Company and in 1916 he established the Detroit Athletic Club Garage, which he still owns. He has based his success upon no false theories of business. He has realized from the outset the eternal principle that industry wins and it has been by reason of his unremitting diligence and close application that he has been able to build up the splendid organization of which he is now the head, controlling a business of mammoth proportions, giving one hundred per cent value for every dollar received and appraising the goodwill of a customer far higher than the contents of his pocketbook. Mr. Thompson has from the be- ginning sold to satisfied customers, who have come back to him again and again, and as the years have passed his enterprise has kept pace with the phenom- enal development of Detroit. Unlike the great ma- jority of automobile dealers, he first gave his attention to trucks and it was not until 1918 that he hegan
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handling pleasure cars, but since that time he has placed hundreds of Maxwell and Chalmers automo- biles in Detroit and Michigan, the business having in- creased more than sixty per cent since the company became distributors for these cars. Mr. Thompson also became the pioneer in handling the Curtiss air- planes and he is himself greatly interested in aero- nautics. One of the local papers said of him: "He is known for his aggressive methods and his untiring zeal. His initiative and imagination are tremendous but he always keeps 'both feet on the ground.'" In a word he is not visionary but possesses an un- usual fund of common sense, the lack of which has constituted the rocks upon which many a business ship has sailed to disaster. Mr. Thompson is yet a young man and his future career will be well worth watching. For more than a decade he has been num- bered among the dynamic forces in the business circles of Detroit and yet he has but passed the thirty- seventh milestone on life's journey.
That John H. Thompson is a most public-spirited citizen is indicated in an act which he has recently consummated, the leasing of the Grindley field, upon which to build a big auditorium. For a long time Detroit has felt the need of a large convention hall and this need is to be met through the efforts of John H. Thompson, who has signed a fifty-year lease for the Grindley field, involving an expenditure of ten million, five hundred thousand dollars, making this the largest ground rent transaction in Detroit's his- tory. Upon this property Mr. Thompson will im- mediately begin the construction of a building to cover the entire lot, which is four hundred by seven hundred feet and will cost upwards of two million, five hundred thousand dollars. Plans have already been prepared for a two-story building which will include stores, offices, automobile salesrooms and an auditorium four hundred by four hundred feet, giving one hundred and sixty thousand square feet of floor space. The auditorium will seat approximately twenty- five thousand people, making it the largest in the United States, and the mammoth hall will be available for conventions, for automobile shows and for all other purposes necessitating a big floor space. It is expected that the building will be completed by September 1, 1920. Not only is this a business prop- osition to Mr. Thompson, but it is the expression of his civic spirit and pride in his native city. Mr. Thompson is also president of the Thompson Realty Company and director in the Detroit Motor Appliance Company, also the Household Utilities Company.
On the 24th of August, 1909, Mr. Thompson was married to Miss Katherine Elliott Sullivan, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Sullivan, the former the presi- dent of the Sullivan Packing Company. They have become the parents of three children: John Howard, Jr., born in Detroit November 23, 1912; Katherine Navare, born September 23, 1914; and Donald Walter, born June 15, 1920. Mr. Thompson is a member of the
Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Golf Club, the Bloom- field Hills Country Club, the Grosse Ile Country Club, the Lambs Club of New York city, the American Flying Club and the Detroit Board of Commerce. His religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic church and he is identified with the Knights of Columbus. He is recognized as a man of generous spirit and throughout his business career has manifested the keenest interest in the welfare of his employes. In 1919 he had a Christmas party for all of the two hundred or more representatives of the sales service, used car, clerical and airplane departments of his establishment, on which occasion he presented to each a fifteen pound turkey. Nor does his popularity extend only to his employes. He is widely known through- out the city and all who know him are glad to call John H. Thompson friend.
RUFUS WHEELWRIGHT CLARK is the president of the Eaton-Clark Company of Detroit and as such is extensively engaged in the importation and manu- facture of dye stuffs and chemicals. Since making his initial step in the business world he has been active along this line and his developing powers have brought him to a point of prominence. Mr. Clark was born in Columbus, Ohio, December 20, 1876, and is a son of the Rev. Rufus Wheelwright and Lucy G. (Dennison) Clark. The father, who was born May 29, 1844, was for many years a minister of the Protestant Episcopal church and departed this life January 9, 1909.
The establishment of the family home in Detroit during the boyhood days of Rufus W. Clark of this review enabled him to pursue his preliminary educa- tion in the public schools of the city, while later he entered the University of Michigan, completing his course as a member of the class of 1900. In the same vear he initiated his business career as an employe of the firm of Theodore H. Eaton & Son and consecutive progress through various positions brought him at length to a partnership in the business in 1906. Upon the death of Mr. Eaton in 1911 the firm incorporated as the Eaton-Clark Company and Mr. Clark was elected to the presidency, since which time he has been the directing head of what is today one of the important manufacturing and commercial interests of Detroit. They control an extensive trade as im- porters and manufacturers of dye stuffs and chemicals, their ramifying business connections now covering a wide territory.
On the 20th of April, 1908, Mr. Clark was united in marriage to Miss Bertha H. Holt of Burlington, North Carolina, and to them have been born two sons: Rufus W., Jr .; and Lawrence Holt, whose birth occurred February 12, 1916. In the social circles of the city Mr. and Mrs. Clark occupy an enviable posi- tion, enjoying the hospitality of many of Detroit's best homes. Their religious faith is that of the Epis- copal church and with some of the leading clubs of
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the city Mr. Clark is identified, having membership with the Detroit Boat, the Country and the University Clubs. He is also a member of the Detroit Chamber of Commerce and cooperates heartily with that or- ganization in its various projects for the upbuilding of the city, for the extension of its commercial con- nections and the advancement of the civic ideals of the city. He has ever recognized the duties and obli- gations as well as the privileges and opportunities of citizenship and in every relation of life he stands as a man among men, counting his warmest friends among those who have known him from his boyhood days to the present.
THOMAS P. DANAHEY is one of the well known and active business men whose constructive energies have won for the City of the Straits the name of Dynamic Detroit. In his various lines of activity he has become connected with several of the most flourishing enterprises of Detroit and his investments and interests have made him intimately associated with the business life here. Moreover, he is proud of the fact that Detroit is the city of his birth and that he has always remained here, an interested wit- ness of the growth and development of the city, ever cooperating in as far as possible in the work of ad- vancement and improvement.
Mr. Danahey was born January 15, 1881, in De- troit, and was educated in the public schools. When his textbooks were put aside he became connected with the Detroit & Cleveland Navigation Company, and there served for a period of seven years. He then joined the C. W. Kotcher Lumber Company, with which he remained for eight years. On the expiration of that time he became associated with the Stott Realty Company and has been connected with the or- ganization to the present. Since the death of Mr. Stott he has had complete charge of the affairs of the company, retaining the old offices at 409 Hodges building. During these years he has also become officially connected with several other important en- terprises, being now treasurer of the Connolly-Guin- man Land Company, treasurer of the Dearborn High- lands Land Company and vice president of the Metro- politan Realty Company. Success seems to attend him in everything that he attempts and an analyzation of his career indicates that the reason for this is most plain. He is a man of unfaltering industry and un- abating energy and possesses as well keen business insight and sound judgment.
In 1911 Mr. Danahey was united in marriage to Miss Katherine Irwin, who died leaving a son, Thomas A., born June 8, 1912, in Detroit. Later Mr. Danahey wedded Lugena Duffy of Norwich, Ontario, and they have three children: John D., born February 6, 1917, in Detroit; Elizabeth Lucile and Edward H., born August 29, 1920 in Detroit. Mr. Danahey is a Cath- olic in religious faith and has been financial secretary of the Knights of Columbus for fourteen years and
is an officer of the fourth assembly degree of this organization. He belongs to the Fellowcraft Club, the Lochmoor Golf Club, the Detroit Real Estate Board, Detroit Automobile Club and the National Association of Building Owners and Managers. He is a man of pleasing personality, energetic, enterprising and gifted with the ability to handle large and varied business affairs, as his many official positions indicate. Mr. Danahey's residence is in the Indian Village section of Detroit, where since 1918 he has resided at No. 2569 Seminole avenue.
WILLISTON A. KEEN, president and general man- ager of the Metalwood Manufacturing Company, manu- facturers of hydraulic machinery, was born in Detroit, July 28, 1869, a son of Joseph S. and Sarah W. (Dean) Keen. The father was born in England and came to Detroit from his native land in 1856. He afterward became identified with manufacturing interests and was secretary and treasurer of the Detroit Oak Belting Company, manufacturers of belting, continuing ac- tively in the business until a few years ago, when he retired but still makes his home in Detroit at the age of seventy-eight years. The parents of Mrs. Keen came from England in 1848 and located at Janes- ville, Wisconsin, their farm being now a part of the site of the city. There Mrs. Keen was born. The fol- lowing spring the family returned to England, re- maining there until 1856, when they again came to America and located at Detroit. This was but shortly previous to the terrible cholera epidemic which took most of the members of this large family, including both parents. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Keen were two children, Albert S. being still a resident of Detroit, as is Williston A., of this review.
The latter attended the public and high schools of Detroit, later locating in Chicago, where he continued for nine years, or until 1909. He then became one of the founders and organizers of the Metalwood Manufacturing Company and the business has been continuously conducted along successful lines until today the plant is one of the best equipped of the kind in Detroit and employs from seventy-five to one hun- dred people. Since 1917 Mr. Keen has been president and general manager of the business.
On the 6th of June, 1895, Mr. Keen was married to Miss Ethelyn Richardson of Cleveland, Ohio, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James M. Richardson of that city. They have become parents of three sons: Howard A. was born in Detroit in September, 1897, graduated from the Central high school with the class of 1917, and enlisted in the regular army with the Seventeenth Field Artillery, which was one of the units of the Second Division that fought so gallantly in France. He was with his regiment for two years in France, participating in all the hig actions against the enemy in which the American army was engaged. He rose from the ranks to sergeant in the headquarters com- pany and since his return has been associated with
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the Metalwood Manufacturing Company; Williston A., Jr., born in Oak Park, Illinois, in August, 1906, and James Richardson, born in Oak Park in October, 1909, are still in school.
Mr. Keen is a member of the Ingleside Club and his religious faith is manifest in his connection with the Woodward Avenue Presbyterian church.
SAMUEL STRAITH, D. D. S. Dr. Samuel Straith, a leading dentist of Detroit, specializing in extract- ing and minor oral surgery, has engaged in practice in this eity since 1903 and in the period that has since elapsed has built up a large clientele, as he has demonstrated his superior skill and ability in his chosen profession. He is a native of Canada, his birth having ocenrred at Buxton, Ontario, May 25, 1860, his parents being James and Sarah Jane (Cairns) Straith. In the public schools of Dexter and Chelsea, Michigan, he acquired his early education, subse- quently entering Alma College at Alma, Michigan, while his professional course was pursued in the dental school of Northwestern University of Chicago, Illinois. His early life to the age of twenty-three years was spent on a farm and for about ten years he followed the profession of teaching, while from 1890 until 1893 he engaged in merchandising. During 1893 he devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits and in 1894 he took up the study of dentistry, being obliged to work his way through college, and was chosen valedictorian of his elass. Following his graduation he engaged in general practice at Lakeview, Michigan, where he con- tinued for four years and then went to Bay City, there following his profession for two years. In 1903 he came to Detroit, opening an office in the Washington Arcade and subsequently removing to his present loca- tion in the David Whitney building. In 1917 he took as his associate Dr. E. H. Wieks, a well known den- tist of this city, of whom more extended mention will be found elsewhere in this work. Dr. Samuel Straith was one of the pioneers in the middle west in the use of nitrous oxide anaesthesia in connection with dental operations, which method has since been largely followed by the profession, and he was also one of the first to adopt the use of local anaesthesia in minor and accessible major operations in dentistry. He pos- sesses unusual mechanical skill and is very efficient and thorough in all of his work. That he is progressive and enterprising is manifest by the modern methods which he utilizes and his office is equipped with the most recent appliances used in dental surgery.
On the 9th of March, 1887, Dr. Straith was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Adelle Green of Stock- bridge, Michigan, and they have become the parents of three sons, one of whom died in infancy, the others being: Dr. Claire L., a prominent oral surgeon of Detroit who is mentioned elsewhere in this work; and Floyd, who prepared at Junior College of Detroit and is now a student in the dental department of the
University of Michigan as a member of the class of 1923.
In his political views Dr. Straith is a republican, interested in the welfare and success of the party, and in religious faith he is a Methodist. He has ever remained a close student of his profession and keeps abreast with the advancement which is being made along this line through his membership in the First District Dental Society, the Wayne County Medical Society, of which he is an associate member, the Miel- igan State Dental Society and the National Dental Society. He is connected with several civic organi- zations, being deeply interested in everything that re- lates to the progress and upbuilding of his city, and he also belongs to the Masonie Country Club and the Ingleside Club, while fraternally he is identified with the Masons and the Modern Woodmen of America. Progress has ever been his watchword. He has bent every effort to attain the highest possible degree of perfection in his professional work and that he has succeeded in his ambition is evident from the large clientele accorded him and the high regard entertained for him by his professional contemporaries. Dr. Straith resides at 160 Pingree avenne.
COLONEL E. G. HECKEL. The development of civie interests in Detroit has resulted in making a beautiful city, far famed for its architecture and its splendid park and boulevard system. High ideals have found expression in this work and the results achieved have been splendidly satisfactory. In this connec- tion therefore it is imperative that mention be made of Colonel E. G. Heckel, who is the efficient commis- sioner of the parks and boulevards of Detroit. Born in Menasha, Wisconsin, on the 24th of November, 1877, he is a son of Edward and Minna (Berkelmann) Heckel, both of whom were of European birth. The father came to America in 1849 and settled first in Marquette, Michigan, while subsequently he became a resident of Menasha, Wisconsin. He was a miller by trade and followed that pursuit for many years, while later he engaged in the Inmber business in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Both he and his wife have passed away. Their family numbered five chil- dren: Jennie, who is still living in Menasha, Wiscon- sin; Mrs. George Fulton, a resident of Sioux City, Iowa; Mrs. Fred C. Schad, living at Western Springs, Illinois; Mrs. R. N. Hine of Menasha, Wisconsin; and E. G., of this review.
Through attendance at the public and high schools of his native city Colonel Heckel pursued his educa- tion in Menasha until 1894, when he started ont in the business world, securing a position as bank clerk. He was thus employed for several years and subse- quently filled positions in connection with various manufacturing interests of Menasha, where he con- tinned to make his home until 1901. He then removed to Houghton, Michigan, where he was identified with a produce and grocery honse for several years. He
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also spent two and a half years as cashier of the Keweenaw Savings Bank of Mohawk, Michigan, and in 1911 came to Detroit, where he entered the real estate field. For some time he was identified with the Restrick Lumber Company as credit man and assistant treasurer, filling the dual position until June, 1916, when he went with the National Guard to the Mexican border. He was then in military service until June, 1919, and was advanced to the rank of lieutenant-colonel and afterward to colonel of his regiment. He saw sixteen months overseas service in the World war, participating in the battle of Cha- teau Thierry, where the American forces were thrown into the broken French line and turned the advance of the German troops into a retreat. He also partici- pated in the battle of Juvigny and the hard fought engagement in the Argonne Forest. Later he went with the Army of Occupation into the heart of Ger- many, where he remained from the 1st of December, 1918, until April, 1919. In September, 1918, he was advanced to the rank of colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Regiment of United States Infantry. He was in action all of the time and well has Mich- igan reason to be proud of the splendid record he made when on the Mexican border and again upon the Western front in the great World war.
Following his return home Colonel Heckel was ap- pointed commissioner of parks and boulevards in De- troit on the 1st of July, 1919, and has since served in that capacity. The same thoroughness, promptness and ready dispatch which marked the performance of his military duties has characterized his service in civic connections.
On the 16th of September, 1908, Colonel Heckel was married to Miss Winifred Nattle of Calumet, Michigan, a daughter of Michael and Eliza (Labby) Nattle. They have become parents of one child, Eliza- beth, born in Detroit, May 18, 1912.
Colonel Heckel is a Knights Templar and Scottish Rite Mason and a member of Moslem Temple of the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to the Detroit Ath- letie Club and is a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce. His connection with the last named or- ganization is an indication of his deep interest in all that pertains to the welfare, advancement and progress of his adopted city. He readily gives hearty support to all plans for the general good and is indeed a public-spirited citizen and one who is achiev- ing substantial and valuable results in the discharge of his official duties.
ABRAHAM J. BLOOMGARDEN, founder of the wholesale produce firm of A. J. Bloomgarden & Sons, was born in Detroit, August 22, 1862. His parents, Ja- cob M. and Leah (Konheim) Bloomgarden, were natives of Poland and came to America in the late '50s. The father engaged in the retail meat business until about two years prior to his death, which occurred in Detroit, November 28, 1906. The mother survived until De-
cember, 1908. They had a family of seven children: Charles, Mrs. William L. Sillman, and Mrs. Jacob Berman, all of Detroit; Mrs. Ray Oppenheim, who died at Rochester, Minnesota, July 5, 1919; Mrs. M. H. Goldman of Toledo, Ohio; Mrs. George Harris, also of Toledo; and Abraham J., of this review, who is the eldest of the family.
When Abraham J. Bloomgarden was but a child of three and a half years, his parents removed to Peoria, Illinois, and after a few months took up their home in Beardstown, that state, where the father was em- ployed by a contractor in the building of the Rock- ford & Rock Island Railroad, now a part of the Bur- lington system. In Beardstown, Illinois, Abraham J. Bloomgarden attended the public schools. Later the family moved to Detroit and when still quite young Mr. Bloomgarden began working for his father in the meat business and acquired a thorough knowledge of the trade, which he followed in connection with his father for six years, while later he spent two years in the retail fruit and vegetable business. At length he gave this up to engage in the produce com- mission business on his own account and was the first commission merchant of Detroit to handle carload lots of certain kinds of fruit and produce. He was the first commission dealer to bring a solid car of straw- berries to the Detroit market. His business is a co- partnership under the name of A. J. Bloomgarden & Sons. The company occupies a large three-story building at Nos. 2436 and 2438 Market street, also a large warehouse at No. 4, 12th street, in all em- ploying thirty-two to forty people. Mr. Bloomgarden was also one of the original stockholders of the Gratiot Central Public Market, which in late years has be- come a most popular trading point in the city. Other markets in Detroit have followed the lead taken by the Gratiot market, in which the farmer and the con- sumer are brought together without the aid of the middleman. Mr. Bloomgarden is also the vice presi- dent of the H. J. Hunt Show Case Company, an im- portant manufacturing concern, engaged in the manu- facture of commercial show-cases. Mr. Bloomgarden was one of the organizers of this company.
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