USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV > Part 7
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JAMES D. HAWKS
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the task of making eighty-six miles of dilapidated rail- road running through a barren, deserted land, a paying proposition. The successful accomplishment of this task required a big man in railroad circles and Mr. Hawks more than made good. A recent publication said in part: "Though thirty years ago, the timber re- sources of the northeast coast of the lower peninsula of Michigan were supposed to have been exhausted, this railroad has been continually carrying out of its territory a quantity of forest products which was scarcely suspected of being in existence when the pioneer lumber operators cut sticks and quit. Recog- nizing that the timber supply could not last forever, Mr. Hawks devoted his attention and energies to the agricultural possibilities of the region feeding his railroad. He had soil studies made, undertook to promote farming and stock raising, discovered the valnes of the limestone deposits of northeastern Mich- igan and built np a commerce in the territory under his control of which the state is pardonably proud. He proved the possibilities of a good railroad in the upbuilding of new territories."
By his untiring efforts and under his supervision the Lake Huron section of Michigan has been de- veloped into one of the most prosperous farming, manufacturing and resort districts of the state. The largest cement plant, paper mills, leather tanneries, the leading live stock dealers and many of the largest industries in this part of the country, including the manufacture of automobiles, steering wheels and rims, were induced through Mr. Hawks to locate at various points on the line of the railroad and today are giving employment to thousands of people residing in this territory. The largest grounds of any private hunting and fishing club in Michigan are located at Hillman, Michigan, the property of the Turtle Lake Club, -
whereby every opportunity is provided for the mem- bers of the club who are devotees of the rod and line, or who have keen delight in the hunter's joys. In fact the greatest possible variety of sports is here afforded the club, which has approximately thirty thousand acres and is situated along the line of rail- road of which Mr. Hawks had control. Mr. Hawks was always an ardent sportsman and for thirty-five years, np to the time of his death, he had yearly participated in the deer hunts which were held every November by the members of the Turtle Lake Club, and he was always among the enthusiastic fishermen who congregated at this elub during the trout fishing season in the month of May each year.
When Mr. Hawks took over the Detroit & Mackinac road it had only fifty miles of track. Today it traverses five hundred miles, with a good roadbed and equipment equal to any road in the state. It was also the only railroad in the state that was paying a dividend. During his connection with the various railway lines with which he was at different times associated, he was instrumental in advancing their standard to equal the most complete transpor-
tation systems in the country. When the Detroit & Mackinac Railroad passed into government operation during the World war, Mr. Hawks served as general manager of the road during the first year and a half under government operation and on the 1st of June, 1918, was appointed federal manager by Walker D. Hines, director general of the United States Railroad Administration. During his entire career Mr. Hawks' life was one of intense activity and he promised him- self that when he had completed fifty years of active service he would retire, so that in 1920 he gave np all personal connection with his various former activities and turned his attention to the enjoyment of rest and freedom from business cares and to the pleasures to be derived from his books and his flowers. Always a student and wide reader, he gave little or no atten- tion to modern fiction but reveled in history, science and art. He was considered an authority on railroad engineering and contributed many articles on that subject to the Engineering News and Railroad Ga- zette. He loved flowers and was extremely fond of all forms of flora and the study of them and in fact found the keenest joy in all the phases of nature. His idleness, however, was at times irksome to him and he found relief from restlessness while spending the summer at his bungalow home-Wingaersheek- located in a primitive but beautiful spot near Glouces- ter, Massachusetts, in constantly improving the several linndred acres that were included in his estate there. This place had been his summer home for thirty years and here he suddenly passed away on the 2Ist of Sep- tember, 1921.
In October, 1876, Mr. Hawks was united in marriage to Miss Caroline Amelia Cook of Buffalo, New York, a daughter of Charles Lewis Cook, who was born in Cooperstown, New York, and of Charlotte (Blachford) Cook, who was born in London, England, and was brought to Buffalo when a child of six years. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Hawks are: Alice, the widow of Harry S. Waterman, chief engineer of the Detroit & Mackinac Railroad, by whom she had two children, Daniel Allerton and James Hawks Water- man; Marion, who is the wife of Ernest Brier of Lon- don, England, foreign representative for Parke, Davis & Company of Detroit, and they have one daughter, Mary Elizabeth; Edward Allerton, who married Mar- jorie Moody and has two children, Barbara and James Dudley Hawks (IT); and James Russell, who married Marie Katherine Dench of New York city, and has one child, Marie Ann Hawks.
Mr. Hawks also had many real estate interests in Detroit and elsewhere. He organized the River Rouge Improvement Company, whose recent sales to the Dodge Brothers have attracted considerable attention to the great value of the land along the Detroit and Rouge rivers. He was a member and at one time president of the Detroit Club. He was also one of the founders of the Michigan Chapter of the May- flower Society and served as its first governor. He
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belonged to the Society of Colonial Wars, was a member of the Society of Colonial Governors and of the Society of Sons of the American Revolution. He belonged to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Civil Engineers of Great Britain and the French Society of Civil Engineers. He was a Mason, loyal to the high teachings and purposes of the craft, and he had membership in the Country Club, the Turtle Lake Club and the Delta Kappa Ep- silon fraternity of the University of Michigan. His life constituted a valuable contribution to the world's work and his was a nature that shed around him much of life's sunshine and happiness.
JOSEPH HENRY HUNTER has attained a com- manding position in the business circles of Detroit as president and general manager of the Detroit Insu- lated Wire Company, controlling one of the leading industries of its kind in the United States. He is also president of the Pittsburgh Company. He is a dynamic force in anything he undertakes, for his intense activity and contagious enthusiasm are ruled by a sound judgment and are characterized by keen sagacity that accomplishes results.
Mr. Hunter comes to Detroit from Pennsylvania, his birth having occurred in Pittsburgh, October 23, 1867, his parents being John F. and Mary (Fedder) Hunter. The elder Hunter was born in Brownsville, Pennsylvania, while the mother's birthplace was Pitts- burgh. The former removed to Pittsburgh in early life, and he enlisted for the duration of the War of the Rebellion, but was honorably discharged by reason of wounds sustained at the Battle of Fredericksburg, on December 13, 1862. He was for many years com- missioner of streets in Pittsburgh-in fact the greater part of his active career was spent in the public service. He took an interested and active part in the affairs of the veterans of the Civil war, having been commander of General Alexander Hays Post, No. 3, G. A. R., and served for many years as its quartermaster, which position he held at the time of his death in 1916. As commissioner of streets he rendered signal benefit to Pittsburgh in connection with its civic interests. He retired from active busi- ness in 1900, devoting his time and energies to other business interests. His wife died at Redlands, Cali- fornia, in 1893. Their family numbered four children, one of whom died in childhood, while those living are: Mrs. William T. Speer of Crafton, Pennsylvania; and Mrs. R. Haslett Munn, living in Pittsburgh.
The son, Joseph H. Hunter, attended the public schools of his native city and also the Polytechnic Institute of Pittsburgh, after which he entered the Western University of Pennsylvania. He later spent several years in investigation along the lines of elec- trical research, and became connected with the Alle- gheny County Light Company in Pittsburgh, where he was given charge of the electrical laboratory. There
he continued for several years, after which he became manager of the Pittsburgh Light Company and occu- pied that position for a number of years. During this time he was also engaged in research work on his own account, and as a result of his efforts he is now in possession of many patents on electrical ap- plianees which were awarded to him in recognition of his inventions. He took up the business of manufactur- ing various inventions, and became manager and part owner of the Ferrous Chemical Company of Pittsburgh, his associate being Professor Julius A. Koch. For a time he was connected with the Pittsburgh & Allegheny Telephone Company as engineer of right of way, as well as personal representative of the late George R. Webb of Baltimore, and he remained in that position two years. He then became vice president and gen- eral manager of the National Cable & Wire Company, with offices in the Westinghouse building, Pittsburgh, the plant being located at Wireton, Pennsylvania. His identification with that company covered a period of three years, at the expiration of which time he was appointed receiver for the company and operated the plant for one year, finally resulting in its sale to the Standard Underground Cable Company.
Immediately afterward Mr. Hunter removed to De- troit and organized the Detroit Insulated Wire Com- pany, which is today one of the leading manufacturers of insulated wire in the United States, employing more than three hundred and fifty persons. Mr. Hunter has been the moving spirit in the development of this industry, and to his efforts are due the steady growth of the business. He is a man of wide experience in this particular line, and there are few in the country better informed on insulation.
During the World war he made valuable contribu- tions to the country's needs by a plan he perfected. He was called to New York in conference with other prominent insulated wire manufacturers and army en- gineers to discuss means to get quick results-for there was great need of insulated wire-and also to discover a method for distinguishing different branches of the Signal Service on the French front. After many hours of fruitless discussion by the different participants, the conference was about to disband with no definite conclusion having been reached, when Mr. Hunter recalled his earliest research work along that line. He expressed himself as to what he had suc- cessfully accomplished, which, if applied would meet the present need. The plan was adopted and became effective immediately, after being outlined to the army engineers at Washington and its feasibility being rec- ognized. As a result of Mr. Hunter's processes and plans, the government was saved at least two hundred and fifty thousand dollars per month, while the amount of time saved was of even greater value. A few days later insulated wire was on its way to France from Detroit and other similar plants. Other methods would have required three months-possibly longer, to meet the contingency. He never received monetary com-
JOSEPH H. HUNTER
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pensation for his services, but willingly made this contribution to the work of winning the war.
On October 19, 1893, Mr. Hunter was married to Miss Sarah Parker Ford of Pittsburgh, a daughter of Hon. Henry P. Ford, one time mayor of Pittsburgh and numbered among its most prominent citizens. They became the parents of two children, the son, Henry Ford Hunter, having died at Chautanqna Lake, New York. The daughter, Dorothy Rebecea, is now the wife of George W. Cottrell. She was born in Pittsburgh in 1898, and was educated at the Liggett School in Detroit, and Ely Court, Greenwich, Con- neetieut, where she graduated. They reside in Pitts- burgh and have one child, Sarah Hunter Cottrell, who was born in that city.
Mr. Hunter is a member of the Detroit Club, the Detroit Country Club, the Detroit Athletic Club, the Bloomfield Hills Country Club, the Pine Lake Country Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Detroit Board of Commerce, the Michigan Manufacturers' Association, and the Duquesne Club of Pittsburgh. Fraternally he is a member of Crescent Lodge, No. 576, F. & A. M. of Pittsburgh.
For many years Mr. Hunter was well known as secretary of the Pittsburgh Amateur Photographers Society, with headquarters in the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, the Hon. George Shiras (III) being its president. Mr. Hunter was also director of the In- ternational Photographie Salons held in the Carnegie Art Galleries at Pittsburgh. His interests and his activities have ever been broad and varied, and his labors have contributed much to seientifie research and to invention. He has constantly broadened his knowledge by study and experiment, and the value of his services was fully demonstrated when he was able to meet one of the country's dire needs in the prosecution of the World war.
CHARLES A. WENDELL, treasurer of the Colonial Laundry company of Detroit, was born in Brooklyn, New York, February 3, 1864, and is a son of Rufus and Charity (Mosher) Wendell, who were natives of the Empire state. The father was a Methodist Epis- eopal minister. who for many years engaged in preach- ing the Gospel, being located at Salem, Massachusetts, and at various points in New York. He afterward joined the Second Adventist church. Both he and his wife have passed away. Their family numbered three children, one of whom has passed away, the surviving daughter being Mrs. George W. Kirehway of New York city.
The son, Charles A. Wendell, the youngest of the family, attended the schools of Albany, New York, and after leaving the high school there went to Wil- mington, Delaware, where he was employed as a bookkeeper in various establishments in that eity until 1908, when he came to Detroit. Here he entered into active connection with the Colonial Lanndry, established by the late John Henry Wendell, and later
was elected secretary, treasurer and manager. Since becoming connected with the undertaking he has de- voted much time and effort to the upbuilding of the business, which has been characterized by steady pro- gress, not only in the volume of trade, but also in the improvement of the plant, which is today one of the best of the kind in Detroit, catering to a distine- tive and diseriminating class of trade. Employment is given to one hundred and twenty-five people and the equipment is modern in every department, so that ex- cellent work is turned out.
In October, 1885, Mr. Wendell was married to Miss Olivia Bower of Wilmington, Delaware, who passed away in Detroit in 1916. The two children born of that marriage are deceased. In March, 1918, Mr. Wendell was united in marriage to Miss Laura Wen- dell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred C. Wendell of New York eity.
Mr. Wendell belongs to the Detroit Athletic Club and he gives his political allegiance to the republican party. Thoroughness and enterprise characterize all of his activities, and while he is a successful business man, he has at the same time social qualities which have gained for him a large eirele of friends during the period of his residence in Michigan.
JOE DURAND, JR., is manager of Durand Cleaners & Dyers, one of the leading enterprises of this ehar- acter in Detroit, which has built up a well-merited reputation for work that is first class in every par- tienlar and prompt and efficient service. He is a native of Michigan, his birth having occurred at Au Gres, March 1, 1888, and his parents were Joseph and Minnie May (Babcock) Durand. He attended the grammar schools and the high school at Bay City, Michigan, and subsequently devoted his attention to the study of pharmacy, becoming a registered phar- macist and continuing aetive along that line from 1905 until 1910. In the latter year he established his present business, his first location being at No. 240 Griswold street, where he remained until 1912, when the rapid growth of the business compelled him to seek larger quarters and he is now situated at No. 2900 Bellevue avenue, where he has a modern and up-to-date plant, condueting his interests under the firm style of Durand Cleaners & Dyers. He uses high test energine as a cleaning agent, owing to the fact that it possesses none of the objectionable oil contained in nearly all other eleaning fluids and he employs none but experts in this work. In the elean- ing process the greatest eare is exercised, so that the work turned out is most satisfactory, not even the most delicate fabries ever being injured in the slight- est degree. The firm deals directly with the individ- ual on a piece work basis and operates a collection and delivery service that insures prompt attention to all articles placed in its hands. In the conduet of his business Mr. Durand has ever employed the most progressive and reliable methods and the superiority
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of the work turned out by the house has recommended it to public patronage, so that the business has reached extensive proportions, being classed with the leading enterprises of the character in the city.
Mr. Durand was married on the 25th of June, 1917, to Miss Lillie Sturm of Bay City, Michigan, and they have a large circle of friends in Detroit. He is independent in his political views, casting his ballot in favor of the candidate whom he considers best qualified for office without regard to party ties. He keeps in close touch with the latest developments in the line of work in which he specializes through his membership in the Detroit, Michigan and National Associations of Dyers and Cleaners and his social nature finds expression in his membership in the Rotary Club. He is an enlisted veteran of the World war, serving from November, 1917, until March, 1919, as ordnance sergeant in the ordnance department of the army, being stationed at Mehun, France. Upon re- ceiving his discharge from the service he at once re- turned to Detroit and took up the management of his business, which he has since most capably conducted. He is an alert, energetic and progressive young busi- ness man, who attacks everything with a contagious enthusiasm and who carries through to successful com- pletion whatever he undertakes. He has already at- tained an enviable position in business circles of his city and his many friends predict for him continuous advancement in the years to come.
REX HUMPHREY. One of the most progressive of the younger business men of Detroit who is making good in the real estate circles of the city, is Rex Humphrey, who attacks everything with a contagious enthusiasm and who is now secretary and treasurer of the Leinbach-Humphrey Company, one of the fore- most real estate firms in the city.
Mr. Humphrey belongs to one of the old pioneer families of Michigan, whose identification with the states' history dates back to territorial days. It was in 1839 that his great-grandfather migrated from New York state to Michigan and settled at Walled Lake, becoming one of the real pioneers of what is now Commerce county. The father of Rex Humphrey was born at Walled Lake. George S. Humphrey married Miss Rebecca Laird, a native of Winona, Minnesota, and now resides in Flint, Michigan, where he is sec- retary and treasurer of the Leinbach, Humphrey & Hyer Real Estate Company. George S. Humphrey was for several years chief claim agent for the Grand Trunk Railway. His family consists of five children: Rex; Winifred, the wife of Dr. John W. Warren of Detroit; Grace, a student at the University of Michi- gan; Ada, attending Northwestern high school of Detroit; and Ray, also a high school student.
Rex Humphrey was born June 4, 1888. He prepared for college and entered the University of Michigan as a law student. In 1910 he became a student in
the Detroit College of Law, from which he was grad- uated in 1911, with the LL. B. degree. He was admitted to the bar but from choice entered on a business rather than a professional career and became connected with the Stormfeltz-Lovely Company in the real estate business as a salesman. He made such rapid progress that he soon became manager of their general real estate department and so continued until January, 1916, when he resigned and entered into business on his own account in partnership with Harry B. Leinbach, under the firm style of Leinbach-Hum- phrey Company. They have won substantial success as the years have passed and are now among the biggest concerns in Detroit real estate circles. The growth of their business is indicated in the fact that they have now established branches in five different cities. Mr. Humphrey is the secretary and treasurer of the firm of Leinbach-Humphrey Company and of its subsidiary companies, including the firm of Lein- bach, Humphrey & Prevatt of South Bend, Indiana; Leinbach, Humphrey & Shipman of Hamilton, Ohio; Leinbach, Humphrey & Towey of Lansing, Michigan; Leinbach, Humphrey & O'Harra of Port Huron, Mich- igan, and Leinbach, Humphrey & Kise Company of Pontiac, Michigan. All of these companies are de- voted to the development of big subdivisions in the various cities where they operate. The Detroit firm has been no small factor in the city's development and expansion. It has placed upon the market a large number of valuable properties, including the Grand River Suburban subdivision, Grand River Park, the Zoological Park subdivision, the Pioneer subdivision, the Marshall-Kohn subdivision, Hawthorn Park, Ever- green subdivision and Leinbach-Humphrey Company 's Woodward Avenue subdivision, consisting of fourteen hundred building sites. While yet a man of less than middle age Mr. Humphrey has evolved some very strong maxims and rules of conduct, a few of which follow:
"Don't waste your time with people who have less vision than you.
"Know people who will stimulate mental action.
"Shooting pool with the gang on the corner is good fun, but it doesn't pay dividends.
"When you see something you admire in a man ·remember he has no copyright on it.
"Columbus discovered America but others are gath- ering its fruits.
"When you get an idea don't wait-put it into action.
"The world is made up of thinkers and doers, each one dependent on the other for a living. The man who has both qualities invariably becomes an inde- pendent business leader.
"During the years I spent in the real estate business as a salesman I devoted three hours of my spare time daily to increasing my efficiency by contact with men who knew more than I. Now I realize that those three hours did me more good than the eight
REX HUMPHREY
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hours for which 1 was paid. Many things make up efficiency.
"Nothing is more important than one's acquaint- anceship-a man is known by his friends.
"Enthusiasm is contagious. It adds powerfully to the momentum necessary to put over any business proposition. .
"If the shoe fits-it's your own fanlt.
"You have worked for yourself longer than for anyone else.
"Are you an efficient president, general manager, secretary and treasurer of your own affairs?
"If you haven't made good in this, can you expect to manage other people's business?
"One does not appreciate money values until one can successfully hang on to some.
"Recreation hours are necessary but don't be an 'all the time' athlete.
"The difference in appearance between men is slight. A good bet is that it is the tailor.
"Are you a worker ?
"Some authorities have said, 'Overtime is worth time and one-half, holidays double time.' There is more truth than poetry in this.
"At five p. m. some might be ahead of you but you can catch them before 5 a. m.
"Clear thinking and hard, conscientious work mixed with real thrift and a dash of ambition is a com- bination hard to beat."
A big element of success in the business career of Rex Humphrey is his wisdom in investment. The large force of salesmen employed by the company is composed largely of men who give to them their spare time, Mr. Humphrey having in his own career demonstrated the possibilities thus afforded. That his rules of conduct were wisely made is indicated in the success which has attended his efforts and which places him among the leading real estate men of the city.
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