USA > Michigan > Wayne County > Detroit > The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV > Part 70
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who possesses executive ability of a high order and has made a noteworthy record for his ageney, which in 1920 sold twenty-two and a half million dollars worth of insurance, his personal contribution to this amount being one and a half million dollars. He has estah- lished a national- reputation as a salesman, having thoroughly mastered this difficult art. He does a great deal of work as a sales consultant and also has a national reputation as a leeturer on salesmanship. He never solicits this work, but there is a large demand for his services and he addresses two or three audi- ences a week, being a fluent and impressive speaker. He taught the salesmanship elass in the Detroit Young Men's Christian Association for seven years and is now director of the salesmanship courses in that insti- tution. He served as a speaker throughout the various Liberty Bond campaigns during the World war and was also a Four-Minute man. His work of a similar character, whether for eivie, philanthropie or patriotie purposes, has been frequent and valuable. He is a member of the permanent organization of the Com- munity Union and is a director of the Fresh Air and Sunshine Burean, as well as of the Ford Republie Home for Boys. In 1917 he was one of the organizers of the E. C. Little Taxation Bureau, 2302 Dime Bank building, and has been secretary of that organization since its inception. This enterprise, a pioneer in its line in Detroit, has had a remarkable growth.
Mr. Riee-Wray has been twice married. His first wife, Miss Mabel L. Simon, was the mother of a daughter and a son: Edris R., who was graduated from the Northern high school as a member of the class of 1921, is now a student at The Castle, Miss Mason's school at Tarrytown-on-Hudson, completing preparation for Vassar; R. Colston, who was born in Newark, New Jersey, October 17, 1906, is a member of the class of 1923 at the Northern high school and contemplates completing preparation for Yale at the Phillips Exeter Academy. The present Mrs. Riee- Wray, previous to her marriage in July, 1920, was Miss Edith Linwood Warner of Detroit.
Mr. Riee-Wray is a popular member of the Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Detroit Riding & Hunt Club, the Detroit Tennis Club, the Kiwanis Club and the Detroit Automobile Club, through which he obtains needed recreation from business eares, and he is also fond of boxing and swimming. Other organizations in which he holds membership are the Detroit Life Underwriters Asso- eiation, the Detroit Real Estate Board, the Detroit Board of Commerce and the Detroit Young Men's Christian Association. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, belonging to Palestine Lodge, A. F. & A. M .; King Cyrus Chapter, R. A. M .; Detroit Commandery, No. I, K. T .; and Moslem Temple of the Mystie Shrine. The qualities of business leadership are in a substantial degree the possession of Mr. Riee- Wray. The force of his personality, the keenness of his insight and the soundness of his judgment have
THERON C. RICE-WRAY
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brought him to a prominent position in business circles of Detroit and he is preeminently a man whose record is written in terms of success.
CHARLES E. WALKER, vice president and man- ager of the Detroit Safe Company, has been numbered among the business men of this city since 1916 and throughout the entire period has been active in the line in which he is still engaged. He was born in Camden, New York, June 6, 1866, and is a son of Charles and Elizabeth (Stroup) Walker, both of whom were natives of Steuben county, New York, and re- mained residents of the Empire state throughout their lives. The father there engaged in farming. Both he and his wife are deceased.
Charles E. Walker was one of two children but is the only surviving member of the family. In early boyhood he attended the public schools of his native city and afterward became a student in the Cazenovia Seminary. For two years after completing his edu- cation he engaged in farming, assisting his father in the further development and improvement of the old home place. He then went to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he secured a position with the Diebold Safe & Lock Company, working under George C. Garrow, who was at the head of the St. Paul branch of the business. Mr. Walker was sent on the road as a traveling salesman for this company and continuously occupied that position from 1896 uutil 1914, some- times covering as high as fifty thousand miles during a year. He secured a large amount of business for the company and added to his laurels as a safe and lock man. Eventually, however, he was compelled to give up the road on account of ill health and was then placed in charge of the St. Louis branch of the busi- ness, with which he was connected until February, 1916. He then came to Detroit and purchased an in- terest in the Detroit Safe Company at this place, becoming vice president and manager, and was active in the successful conduct of the business until May 24, 1919, when it was sold to the Diebold Safe & Lock Company and Mr. Walker has remained in charge as general manager for that company for Detroit and southern Michigan. He is also one of the directors and the vice president of the business, which is here conducted under the name of the Detroit Safe Com- pany. The firm handles the complete line of Diebold safes and locks.
Mr. Walker is a consistent follower of the teach- ings of Masonry, being a member of Philanthropic Lodge, No. 164, of Camden, New York, and Darius Chapter, No. 144, of the same place. He has taken the degrees of the York Rite, becoming a Knights Templar, and a member of Auvern Commandery, Fargo, North Dakota. He also belongs to Elzagal Temple of the Mystic Shrine, Fargo, North Dakota, and to the Elks lodge at Billings, Montana, and he is a member of the Fellowcraft Athletic Club of Detroit and the Detroit Automobile Club. He stands very high in
publie regard, occupying an enviable position in busi- ness circles, and that he deserves much credit is due to the fact that he has worked his way upward entirely on his own account, his ability, energy and ambition constituting the salient and forceful elements of his progress and success. Mr. Walker is the oldest branch manager and the oldest salesman, having been longer in the Diebold Safe & Lock Company's employ than any other man on the selling force. Outdoor recrea- tion appeals to him when pressure of business permits , and he has no little enthusiasm for motoring.
VENE G. PERRY, who since 1916 has been secre- tary of the Detroit Candy Company, one of the suc- cessful business enterprises of the city, is numbered among the younger business men of Detroit and has already gained a gratifying measure of success for one of his years, while his sound judgment and execu- tive ability have been important factors in promoting the growth of the corporation with which he is iden- tified. He is a native of Michigan, his birth having occurred in Oakland county in 1890, and his parents were William and Fannie (Sutton) Perry, who reared a family of five children, namely: Eddie J., Howard, Mabel, Della and Vene G.
The last named attended the public and high schools at Orion, Michigan, and after laying aside his text- books entered the business world as a clerk in the Orion State Bank, with which he was connected for two years. He then came to Detroit and entered the employ of the Detroit Candy Company, his close appli- cation and ready adaptability winning him promo- tions from one position to another of greater impor- tance and responsibility until he was made secretary in 1916, in which capacity he is now serving. The company manufactures bulk, pail and penny lines of candy and theirs is the largest enterprise of the kind in the state. In Detroit they cater exclusively to job- bers of candy but sell to the retail trade throughont the state, being represented on the road by experienced salesmen, and they employ twenty-five people in the manufacture and distribution of their product, which is unsurpassed for wholesomeness and purity, being made under the most sanitary conditions, so that theirs has become one of the most popular brands of confectionery on the market. The concern was in- corporated in 1895 with a capital stock of fifty thou- sand dollars and it is now capitalized at one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The business methods of the house have ever been characterized by enterprise, integrity and reliability and its trade has reached extensive proportions. Mr. Perry is devoting every energy to the legitimate expansion of the business and his close application, progressive methods and initia- tive spirit have proven potent factors in its con- tinued success.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Perry is a Mason, belonging to City of the Straits Lodge, F. & A. M., Michigan Sovereign Consistory and to Moslem Temple
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of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of the Fellowcraft Club and the Detroit Athletic Club. That he is a loyal and public-spirited citizen is indicated by his membership in the Detroit Board of Commerce, whose projects for the development and upbuilding of the city he heartily indorses. He has the energy and faith in the future characteristic of a young man and much of that mature judgment which is ordinarily associated with a man many years his senior. The success which he has already attained is indicative of what he may be expected to accomplish in the future, and personally he has many warm friends.
WILLIAM ALEXANDER HACKETT, M. D. With the advantages of thorough study in the leading med- ical centers of America and of Europe, Dr. William A. Hackett is now specializing in surgery, and has reached a point of success that places him among the eminent representatives of this field of practice in the City of the Straits. Dr. Hackett was born in Huron county, Ontario, Canada, February 11, 1868, his parents being James and Esther (Reid) Hackett, who were pioneers of Huron county, Ontario, where they located in 1840. The father was a farmer by occupation, and passed away in Canada in 1916 at the age of seventy-seven years. The mother still resides upon the old homestead with one of her sons. Her family numbered six children, five sons and a daughter: David, whose death occurred in August, 1921, in Huron county, Ontario; Joseph M., a druggist of Detroit; James, also a resident of Canada; Walter L., a phy- sician and surgeon of Detroit; Mrs. Mary Lane of Canada; and William A., of this review.
The last named attended the public schools of Belfast, Canada, and afterward entered the high school of Goderich, where he likewise attended the Goderich Collegiate Institute, from which, in due course of time, he was graduated. He was also a pupil in the Toronto Normal school at Toronto, Canada, and then took up educational work in the schools of Huron county, where he taught for three years. He regarded this merely as an initial step to other professional labor, however, for it was his desire to become a member of the medical profession, and with that end in view he matriculated in Toronto University, from which he was graduated in 1894, with the M. B. degree. He then came to Detroit, where he opened an office, and through the intervening years has climbed to the highest pinnacle of professional prom- inence in the field of surgery. He has specialized in surgical work for several years. He pursued post- graduate studies in London, Switzerland and Berlin, specializing in major surgery, and he was also a postgraduate in the Chicago Polyclinic in 1904. He is now serving on the staff of the leading hospitals of Detroit and was the founder of the Samaritan hos- pital, one of the leading institutions of this character in the city. He is a fellow of the College of Surgeons, which is an honorary position, and he belongs to the
Wayne county, the Michigan State and the American Medical Associations. He is constantly promoting his knowledge by study, research and investigation, and his opinions always carry weight with his pro- fessional brethren. Aside from his professional activi- ties he is a member of the Board of the Artesian Water Company of Detroit.
In May, 1897, Dr. Hackett was married to Miss Amelia Cronin of this city, who passed away in 1903, and her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Richard B. Cronin, are also deceased. By this marriage there were two children: J. Frank Hackett, who was born in 1899 in Detroit, and was a member of the naval reserve during the war, while at the present time he is attending the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, as a medical student; and Basil, who was born in 1900, and is also a student in the State University. On the 4th of June, 1912, Dr. Hackett was married to Miss Clara Farber, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Farber, prominent in Minden City, Michigan. They have be- come parents of a son, Edward Hackett, who was born in March, 1913, in Detroit, and is now a pupil in the public schools.
Dr. Hackett is a member of the Masonic fraternity, of which he has taken the degrees of the Consistory and Shrine. He has been a member of Detroit Wheel- men for a number of years and also belongs to the Detroit Automobile Club. He has membership in the Central Methodist Episcopal church, and his po- litical endorsement is given to the republican party. His interests are those of a progressive and patriotic American citizen, his activities are those of a capable and distinguished surgeon, and his position is one of both social and professional prominence. He resides at No. 750 Glynn court.
WILLIAM F. BLAKE, head of the firm of P. Blake's Son, undertakers, is thus active in control of one of the oldest establishments of this character in Detroit. Mr. Blake is a native son of Detroit, his birth having here occurred February 28, 1862, on the Michigan avenue side of the present site of the City Hall. His parents were Patrick and Eliza (O'Rafferty) Blake, who in early life came to this city from Ireland. In 1865 the father opened an undertaking establishment and during his active life carried on business of that kind, having an extensive patronage among the best people of the city, until he, too, succumbed to the grim reaper. His wife has also passed away. In their family were nine children, three daughters and six sons, and of this family seven are living: Henry, James B., William F., Mrs. Charles C. Schumm, Frank J., Lucy, and Mrs. Thomas McVey. All are residents of Detroit with the exception of the last named, who makes her home in New York city.
William F Blake attended the Capital school and the Wilkins school at Detroit, and after his text- books were put aside he entered the undertaking estab- lishment of his father and there learned the business
DR. WILLIAM A. HACKETT
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in principle and detail. Later he was admitted to a partnership and after his father's death he became sole proprietor. He continues to draw his patronage from among the best families of Detroit and his business is one of extensive proportions. He has been employed as undertaker in connection with the last sad rites over many of Detroit's most prominent and influential citizens.
In 1898 Mr. Blake was married to Miss Alice M. Charlesworth, a daughter of George and Annie Charles- worth, who came to this state from southern Illinois. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Blake: Harold F., born in Detroit, in 1900, and now a student in Detroit College, class of '22; Alice Elizabeth, who was born in 1903, attended the Sacred Heart Academy at Eden Hall, Pennsylvania, and took a postgraduate course at Georgetown Visitation Convent; and William F., Jr., who was born in 1909, and is a student in Nazareth College, at Nazareth, Michigan.
Mr. Blake belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, and is a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus. He is connected with the Detroit Board of Commerce and is interested in all measures looking to the benefit and upbuilding of the city, but his time and attention are mostly con- centrated upon his business affairs. He is today at the head of one of the oldest undertaking establish- ments of the city and has ever maintained the high standards of service instituted by his father, and at all times has been quick to adopt the improved scien- tific methods practiced by those of the profession. Mr. Blake resides at No. 430 Chandler avenue.
HENRY C. WIEDEMAN, president of the Ameri- can Commercial Car Company, having its manufactur- ing plant as well as its sales office in Detroit, was born at Fair Haven, St. Clair county, Michigan, Au- gust 26, 1873, his parents being Henry C. and Carrie Wiedeman, the latter a native of this state, while the father was born in Germany and came to America in early life. They were married in Michigan and for many years the father engaged in farming. Both he and his wife are deceased.
Henry C. Wiedeman pursued his education in the public schools of Fair Haven to the age of thirteen years and afterward attended the Detroit Business University, from which he was graduated in 1890. Subsequently he entered a machine shop and became an apprentice to the machinist's trade, thoroughly learning the business and thus qualifying for life's practical and responsible duties. He became book- keeper for the Huettman & Kramer Company of De- troit in 1890 and was elected vice president of the company in 1894, while two years later he was chosen secretary and treasurer and in 1899 became general manager. It was on the 1st of August, 1902, that he severed his connection with that corporation and or- ganized the Detroit Steel Cooperage Company, which proved to be a highly successful enterprise, and he
continued as head of the business for a decade. He then sold his interest in the business and organized the American Commercial Car Company, builders of the Wolverine trucks. This was incorporated in 1917 and something of the volume of its business is indicated in the fact that it employs one hundred and twenty- five people. Mr. Wiedeman is the president and one of the directors of the company, manufacturing a full line of Wolverine trueks, ranging from one to four tons capacity, all heavy duty type. The company manufactures motor trucks for every kind of business and has a manufacturing plant which includes five acres of ground at Gratiot avenue and the Detroit Terminal Railroad. The business is capitalized for one million dollars and the company is planning large expansion in the near future.
Mr. Wiedeman has also figured in financial circles, for he became one of the founders of the Federal State Bank and is now a director of the Common- wealth Federal Savings Bank. He was active in the management of the Federal State Bank until it was merged with the Commonwealth Federal Savings Bank and acted as its first president. Various other busi- ness enterprises have benefited by his cooperation and sound judgment and his attitude is always that of a progressive business man who is constantly looking for wider opportunities, which he fully utilizes.
On the 8th of September, 1895, Mr. Wiedeman was married to Miss Ida A. Pauli of Detroit, daughter of Charles Pauli. They have one daughter, Mabel Lillian, who was born in 1897 and is a graduate of the East Detroit high school. She is now Mrs. B. J. Becker of Detroit, and has one son, Bernard J., Jr., born in Detroit in 1920. Mr. Wiedeman has figured quite prominently in public affairs in Detroit. He has served as a member of the board of education for four years and has done active work in behalf of public progress and improvement as a member of the Detroit Board of Commerce. He belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and to social organizations which number him among their popular and highly esteemed members. His life has been passed in Mich- igan and his worth as a man and as a citizen has been demonstrated in many ways. He has a wide acquaint- ance and many friends and the sterling worth of his character is recognized by all who know him.
LEO BREISACHER, M. D., an eminent medical practitioner, educator and author, ranking with the leading physicians of Detroit, his native city, has spent his life here, save for the period in which he was pursuing his studies in American and Euro- pean universities. While spending his youthful days in the home of his parents, Leo and Sophie (Benoit) Breisacher, he attended the public and preparatory schools and afterward became a student in the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania. He then went abroad and hecame a student in the medical and philosophical department of the University of Berlin and completed
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his studies in Germany by graduation from that insti- tution as a member of the class of 1892. In the same year he returned to the United States and received a full professorship at the University of Pennsylvania. Two years later he returned to Detroit, where he has remained. His developing powers have brought him into prominence not only as a practitioner but also as an educator and author, for his contributions to the literature of the profession have been numerous and valuable. He is now professor of nutrition and me- tabolism in the Detroit College of Medicine, is con- sulting physician at Harper Hospital and is a member of the staff of the Farrard and St. Mary's Training schools. Dr. Breisacher enjoys a well merited repu- tation as an able educator, imparting clearly and readily to others the knowledge he has acquired. He has done much original scientific research work and the results thereof have been given to the profession in some valuable treatises, including "Physiology of the Thyroid Gland," "Physiology of Sleep," "Phys- iology of the Superior Laryngeal Nerve," "The Thy- roid Gland," "Metabolism," "Artificially Prepared Foods," "Gall Stones" and "Diet in Health and Dis- ease. ''
Dr. Breisacher is well known in club circles, hold- ing membership in the Detroit Club, the Detroit Ath- letie Club and the University Club, while the nature of his interests is further indicated by his connection with the American Society of Naturalists, the Ameri- can Men of Science and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Along strictly profes- sional lines he is connected with the Wayne County Medical Society, the Michigan State Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the American So- ciety of Physiologists and in 1920 he was elected F. A. C. P. He manifests a public-spirited interest in the general welfare of Detroit, belonging to the De- troit Board of Commerce, his devotion to the city being of a tangible character, and at the same time he ever regards his professional activity as his first interest and in his practice holds to the highest ethical standards, at no time neglecting any opportunity which will broaden his knowledge and promote his efficiency. Dr. Breisacher's city residence is at 1073 Seminole avenue, while his country home, Oakwold, in the Bloomfield Hills, comprises an estate of eighty-three acres, devoted to the breeding of thoroughbred horses, cattle and sheep.
JOHN H. HOLMES. Where the Holmes block now stands in the heart of the downtown district was once the residence and garden of John and Betsy (Westaway) Holmes and it was here that their son, John H. Holmes, was born on the 14th of December, 1849. Seventy-two years have since been added to the cycle of the centuries and throughout the entire period John H. Holmes has remained a resident of Detroit, witnessing its marvelous development from a little city with seemingly no special advantages
into the fourth city of the Union and well termed, by reason of its rapid development and its mammoth business interests, Dynamic Detroit. It was in this same neighborhood that John H. Holmes played as a boy, enjoying the sports in which most lads of the period participated and being also the proud possessor of a rifle, which he bought with money earned and saved. With this weapon he often went hunting only a few blocks from his home and it was not difficult in those days to return with a well filled bag of game, including rabbits, quail and snipe. The passing years brought different interests and duties and ul- timately he became the owner of the property that his parents had formerly possessed. Noting the change in the neighborhood from a residential district into one of business blocks, he converted his property into one that would return a very substantial income, erecting thereon a splendid block of apartments and store buildings, among the first structures of the kind to be erected in this locality. Mr. Holmes has since managed the property himself and has made his place one of the valuable corners of the city.
In both the paternal and maternal lines John H. Holmes comes of English ancestry. His father was born in Yorkshire, England, in 1804, and his mother's birth occurred in Cornwall, in 1808. In early life they came to America, settling in Detroit in the '30s, and they were married at Sandwich, Ontario, on the 5th of November, 1836. They purchased the property, sixty by one hundred feet, from the father of Sena- tor Palmer-a tract that was later situated on Broad- way but was at that time at the very outskirts of the city. Mr. Holmes erected a residence thereon and continued to engage in the carpenter's trade to the time of his death, which occurred January 1, 1854, in Detroit, when he was in the fiftieth year of his age. His wife long survived him, departing this life in Detroit, June 24, 1880, when seventy-two years of age. Their family numbered three children, one of whom died in infancy, while Sarah E. married Evan B. Phillips and passed away in Detroit, January 2, 1921.
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