The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV, Part 96

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 96

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specialized in the literary course, he took a position with the Western Union Telegraph Company, doing elerical work. He was afterward engaged in the retail grocery business and still later with the wholesale grocery house known as the National Grocery Company. In 1916 he became one of the partners in the firm of Sullivan & Driggs, brokers, which is doing most efficient work in this field and constitutes one of the popular firms of commercial brokers in the city. They handle food products as a specialty and have built up an extensive business.

Mr. Sullivan was married to Miss Rose M. Jolivette and they have become parents of three sons: Daniel A., Jr., John J. and Robert W. The religious faith of the family is that of the Catholic church and Mr. Sullivan belongs to the Knights of Columbus. He is an unusually bright and successful young business man, alert, energetic and ready for any opportunity that is presented. His enter- prise leads him into new and untried paths, while his sound judgment precludes the possibility of serious mistakes. He is rapidly building up an extensive clientele and his brokerage business has already assumed large and gratifying proportions.

FRANK E. HOSKINS, formerly president of the Crescent Laundry Company and long one of the active business men of Detroit, was born in Toledo, Ohio, August 24, 1869, his parents being William Henry and Mary Louise (Johnson) Hoskins, the former a native of Bangor, Maine, while the latter was born in Utica, New York. In early life they removed to Ohio and the father engaged in farming near Toledo, becoming one of the successful agriculturists of that section. He is now deceased but is still survived by his widow, who makes her home in Toledo, Ohio. To them were born four sons: Charles Herbert, residing at Grosse Pointe, Michi- gan; William Henry, living at Rochester, Michigan; John Clifford, of Pontiac; and Frank E., of this review.

In early life Frank E. Hoskins attended the Erie Street . school of Toledo and subsequently pursued a business course. He afterward devoted his attention to various lines until he entered the railroad ticket brokerage busi- ness, buying and selling railroad tickets to various points. He was thus engaged for a number of years and made a success of the business. Eventually he sold out and turned his attention to the laundry business at Findlay, Ohio, where he remained for several years. He then sold his interests there and came to Detroit, where he again established a railroad ticket brokerage business on his own account at Fourth and Griswold streets, where he remained for several years. He then gave up the business to become a traveling salesman and after several years spent in that connection, at the earnest solicitation of his brother Charles, who in the meantime had established a laundry but was about to engage in other lines, Mr. Hoskins left the road and returned to Detroit, where he took over the laundry business, which he developed to very substantial proportions, conducting his interests under the name of the Crescent Laundry Company, of which he was the president. He made

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this one of the profitable concerns of the kind in the city and incorporated the business in 1915. He had one of the finest equipped plants in the city, employing from seventy to eighty people. He was also a director of the Roseland Park cemetery but has disposed of all holdings in Detroit and is now located at 815 West Sixth street in Los Angeles, California.

On the 4th of October, 1904, Mr. Hoskins was married to Miss Georgiana Wilson, of Detroit, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. S. J. Wilson. They have two children: Jessie U., who attended school in Toledo; and Robert Lee, now a high school pupil. Both were born in Detroit.

Mr. Hoskins was a member of the Fellowcraft Club and also of the Detroit Board of Commerce. He was interested in everything pertaining to the welfare and progress of the city and along the line of his chosen vocation he be- came a member of the Michigan State and National Laundrymen's Associations.

WILLIAM H. DUCHARME, treasurer of the Kelsey Wheel Company of Detroit since its organization in 1909, was born December 18, 1866, in the city which is still his home, his parents being Charles and Elsie Elizabeth (Bartholomew) Ducharme, a sketch of the father appearing elsewhere in this publication. The public schools accorded him his educational opportuni- ties and he started out in the business world on his own account as order clerk in the employ of Freeman, Delamater & Company, wholesale dealers in heavy hardware, in 1892. Capability and fidelity to the in- terests of the house brought him advancement from time to time and in 1902 he was elected to the vice presidency of this concern, with which he was con- nected for seventeen years. In 1909 he became one of the three organizers of the Kelsey Wheel Company, of which he was elected treasurer, a position he has continuously filled. This company manufactures com- plete automobile wheels and also parts for wheels. In 1916 the Kelsey Wheel Company was reorganized with a capital of ten million dollars and is today one of the leading productive industries of Detroit.

On the 23d of December, 1907, Mr. Ducharme was united in marriage to Miss Frances Kelley and they have become the parents of two children: Ruth E. and William C. Mr. Ducharme has long been con- nected with the Masonic fraternity. He belongs to Palestine Lodge, F. & A. M .; King Cyrus Chapter, No. 133, R. A. M .; and Detroit Commandery, No. 1, K. T., while with the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. He is also a mem- ber of the Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Boat Club, the Country Club, the Grosse Ile Country Club, the Lochmoor Country Club and also of the Detroit Board of Commerce. Mr. Ducharme was a member of the famous D. A. C. baseball team of the early nineties, twice winning the national amateur championship. He finds his recreation in athletics and outdoor diversions but is strictly a business man and one whose pro-

gressiveness is manifest in the constant development of the important interests under his control. His keen sagacity has enabled him readily to recognize the value of every business situation and to differentiate between the essential and nonessential in all business connections.

FRANK A. REED. There stands as a splendid mon- ument to the ability, the humanitarian spirit and the noble character of Frank A. Reed the institution which is known as the Reed School. This institution has been of the greatest assistance to children suf- fering from irregularities in speech, and back of the school have stood two strong personalities-Mr. and Mrs. Frank A. Reed, the former now having passed on, while the latter continues her work as head of the institution founded by herself and her husband.

Frank A. Reed was born in Maine, June 6, 1863. He was accorded liberal educational opportunities and his own thorough training well qualified him to take up the work to which he later devoted his life. Conceiving the plan of establishing a school, bis ideas found their culmination in the organization of the Reed School for the Correction of Stam- mering in 1900, while the scope of the school was further extended in 1901 by the addition of a de- partment for the scientific training of children of extremely nervous temperament or who are backward or slow in mental development. The spirit of the institution is shown in the words of Emerson, which appear on the pages of the attractive pamphlet which they issue: "Most welcome they who need us most, for greater need draws better deed." Mr. and Mrs. Reed were actively associated in founding and de- veloping the school, and virtually two schools are now conducted by Mrs. Reed, who is executive head of both, the two schools being indicated in the two lines mentioned above. The work thus organized and pro- moted is of such character as to win Mr. and Mrs. Reed enduring fame as benefactors of their race. Mr. Reed devoted the greater part of his life to the work and made consecutive progress as the years passed. Each forward step brought him a wider vision and broader outlook and in all that he undertook Mrs. Reed was associated with him as his active helper and coadjutor. Both made a comprehensive and pains- taking study of the theory and practice of normal and abnormal speech and their research, of a most exhaustive character, covered all leading methods, ancient and modern, that they might become fa- miliar with the best thoughts of the world's greatest scientists, philosophers, physiologists, psychologists, educators and specific exponents of natural speech pro- duction and control. Many thousands of cases of stammering and stuttering have incidentally come under their personal supervision and instruction, and in relation thereto most careful scientific observa- tions were made, a proper record being kept for later reference. Through such a method of scientific

WILLIAM H. DUCHARME

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research and practical experience the Reed plan of instruction was evolved and the work carried steadily forward under the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Reed until his untimely demise. In one of the school catalogues appeared the following: "Since the death of Mr. Reed, Mrs. Reed has continued the work and study and has further elaborated, systematized, adapted and perfected the method until it is unques- tionably the most logical, comprehensive and uniformly successful method ever devised for the correction of the distressing habit of stammering. It is complete in every detail and covers every possible phase, con- dition or peculiarity that may arise in any case, from the mildest to the most severe. The experimental stage has long since been passed, and every principle taught has been proven correct in many hundreds of cases.

"There is nothing secret about the Reed method. Its exponent does not claim to have made some mysterious discovery which gives her and her alone the power of freeing stammering tongues with little or no exertion on the part of the persons under instruction. While the Reed method dif- fers radically from every other in many important particulars, it is identical with every other legitimate method in one fundamental respect, inasmuch as it is purely educational in its character. All authorities ou the subject, throughout the civilized world, now agree that relief from stammering is to be afforded only along educational lines, the only difference of opinion being as to the details of the instruction. The only sure way of ascertaining the best possible means of educational correction is by intelligent, prac- tical trial, on pupils of all ages and temperaments, of very carefully chosen and faithfully utilized methods advocated by competent authorities, followed by a strictly impartial comparison of the results attained . by them when put to the test of actual use under ordinary, every-day conditions. Mrs. Reed has had exceptional opportunities for the making of such a trial during the past thirty years, and the result is embodied in a course of instruction for the correction of stammering which is complete in every detail."

Provisions are made in the school for the proper instruction of those afflicted with any manner of imperfect speech and the successful results achieved by the instruction here given are manifest in the hundreds of letters of heartfelt thanks of which Mr. and Mrs. Reed have been the recipients. The Reed method of curing imperfect speech has been officially adopted by the public schools of Detroit and since 1910 teachers of the public schools have taken the special teachers' course of instruction offered by Mrs. Reed in her school for stammering. It is her most laudable and commeudable ambition that the system shall be adopted for use in the public schools through- out the Union, in order that help may be thus given to thousands of little ones whose struggles in over- coming speech irregularities are most formidable with-

out more specific means of instruction than are af- forded in the regular public school currienlnm.

Concerning the department for children who are extremely nervous or who are retarded somewhat in mental development, it may be said that its func- tions are most benignant and most admirably exer- cised. The institution is another monument to the humane spirit of Mr. and Mrs. Reed, and its facilities are of the best in every detail of service and in- struction. The school issues pamphlets which give full details concerning the school, its methods and the results achieved, the institution issuing the fol- lowing statement in its literature: "The purpose of this school is to furnish a practical and scientific course of mental and physical training that will bring about the best possible development of chil- dren who need more individual attention than can pos- sibly be given them in the public schools, or in the parochial and the secular private schools. In the at- tainment of this purpose the aim of the management is to provide a home, with healthful and pleasantly stimulating surroundings and Christian influences. A special study is made of the individual deficiencies of each child, and every possible effort is made to develop those faculties the backwardness of which is preventing the child from advancing equally with other children.

"In cases where the child cannot be brought to a normal condition, attention is directed to the teach- ing of muscular control, with the thought of educating the child eventually to some form of handiwork, which will enable it to become useful and self- reliant. The Reed School is not intended for children who are hopelessly deficient-for those who can be tanght very little or nothing. It is for nervons chil- dren; for children who are backward or slow; for children who can be taught under proper conditions but yet cannot obtain even a good start unless they be given patient, skilled individual instruction.

"The principal Reed School buildings are on Hub- bard avenue, two squares from the Grand boulevard- the broad and beautiful thoroughfare for pleasure pur- poses which forms three sides of a square enclosing the city, the fourth side being the Detroit river. The facilities for heating, lighting and ventilating are of the best, the plumbing is strictly first-class in all its details and no provision that would tend to further the work has been neglected.

"The main buildings are in the midst of spacious, well arranged and well kept grounds and are but one block from lovely Clark Park, with its flower beds, lawns, tracts of virgin forest and pretty little bodies of water, the park land extending fully half a mile. We speak of these as the 'main' buildings so as to distinguish them from other spacious edifices which are used in connection with the Reed School, they being devoted to the lodging and boarding of the many pupils who come to Detroit-some of them from points thousands of miles distant-simply and wholly

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for the purpose of availing themselves of the un- equaled advantages of the Reed School. No trouble or expense is spared in the effort to assure the best possible accommodations for pupils, and to approach as closely to true home life as is possible under such conditions.

"The simple fact that the Reed School for Stam- merers has a practically perfect location in one of the most beautiful, healthful and easily accessible cities in the entire country, is an item of no small impor- tance in the sum of the special advantages for the correcting of stammering which it offers; for environ- ment has very much to do with the control of speech. It is a well known fact that even in the severest type of stammering there is comparatively little trouble amid the most favorable possible surroundings, while, on the other hand, unfavorable environment will so affeet even a mild case as to render fluent speech impossible.

"Therefore, the only logical course to pursue in the designing and arranging of a course of study and practice such as the Reed method-designed to afford a complete training in natural speech-is to provide the most favorable surroundings possible, as they will do much to inspire and justify that well founded con- fidence which is the very foundation of natural speech. When the confidence has been established, then, and not till then, will come the time when it will be not only advisable but essential to essay speech outside the school atmosphere amid less favorable surround- ings; and under the detailed and easily understood and followed instructions which are given, this is made a safe and progressive undertaking, the out- come of which is the firm and permanent establish- ment of confidence in one's ability to speak anywhere.

"Gladstone said: 'Ninety-nine men in every hun- dred never rise above mediocrity because the training of the voice is entirely neglected.' If this be true with reference to people who have no impediment in their speech, then of how much greater importance is it to the stammerer with imperfect speech."

The school is indeed a monument to the efforts of Professor Frank A. Reed and of Mrs. Reed, the lat- ter of whom is still carrying out the high ideals which actuated them at the establishment of the institution.

In his political views Mr. Reed was a republican and fraternally was connected with the Masons, while his religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church, which found him a consistent, loyal and helpful member.

As Mrs. Reed has continued the work of the school and has become an important factor in the educational development of Detroit, it is consistent that her record should here appear. She was born in Canajoharie, New York, where the factories of the famous "Beech- nut Products" are located. She bore the maiden name of Etta E. Sellick, her parents being Lorenzo D. and Emily (Dunn) Selliek. Her father was a Grand River Avenue merchant, having his place of

business on Grand River, near Wabash. The daughter Etta attended the public schools and was graduated from the Detroit high school when it was situated on State street, where the old Capitol building for- merly stood. After completing her high school course she received training for a time in a private school for speech correction. Finally she went to the Clark school in Chicago, taking voice culture. On her re- turn she attended the Noble school in Detroit. In 1891 she was married, and with Mr. Reed started the Reed School on Fourteenth avenue, near Warren, where she had as many as seventy pupils. This was a day school which was successful from the begin- ning. Outgrowing its quarters, a removal was made in 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Reed became parents of a son, Frank Sellick Reed, who was born February 19, 1893, and died Mareh 6, 1899. Mrs. Reed has become a valued member of the Twentieth Century Club and of the Wednesday History Club, two of the leading women's organizations in Detroit, and she is also a prominent figure in social circles, being a valued guest in many of those homes where true worth and intelligence are received as passports into good society.

GUY WORTHINGTON ELLIS. One of the progres- sive and energetic business men of Detroit is Guy Worthington Ellis, a man of broad experience in the field of real estate. Since January, 1921, he has been president of the Guy W. Ellis Real Estate Com. pany and in the conduct of this enterprise he dis- plays sound judgment and marked executive ability. He was born in Albany, New York, May 3, 1880, and is a son of Edwin and Mary W. (Packard) Ellis, who were also natives of that state, the former born in Owego and the latter in Batavia. In the Empire state they were reared, educated and married and the father, a man of liberal culture, successfully engaged in the book and stationery business. He passed away at Albany, New York, in 1907, but the mother survives and yet makes her home in that city. To their union were born three children: De Lancey M., who resides at Albany; Edward P., of New York city; and Guy Worthington, the subject of this review.

In the graded and high schools of his native city Mr. Ellis pursued his education, later attending Albany Academy, after which he engaged in the real estate business in Albany, there remaining until 1900, when he removed to Rochester, New York, where he entered the newspaper business as part owner of the Rochester Evening Times, serving that paper as vice president and general manager. In 1909 he sold his interest in the Times and returned to the real estate busi- ness, becoming associated with the Garfield Real Estate Company, with whom he continued for a period of five years, or until 1915. He then came to Detroit and accepted a position with the H. A. Jones Real Estate Company, becoming vice president and general manager of sales. He remained with

GUY W. ELLIS

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that firm until 1917, when he resigned to enter the service of the government as secretary of the Wayne county war board, acting in that capacity until Jan- uary, 1919, when he was honorably discharged. He then joined the Frischkorn Real Estate Company of Detroit, of which he was made general manager, in which connection he again demonstrated his ability to put over big deals, and was identified with that firm until January, 1921. Actuated by a laudable ambition he decided to embark in business on his own account and organized the Guy W. Ellis Real Estate Company, of which he was made president, with L. S. Trowbridge as vice president and F. B. Ellis as secretary and treasurer. Their offices are located in the Equity building, at No. 430 Griswold street and they have taken over the sale of several desirable subdivisions. Mr. Ellis' long connection with real estate interests has given him a thorough and comprehensive kuowledge of the business and energetie and progressive methods and administrative powers make the success of the enterprise a fore- gone conclusion.

At Rochester, New York, on the 3d of March, 1908, Mr. Ellis was united in marriage to Miss Florence Bluett Fish, whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. Walter C. Fish, are prominent residents of that city. Three children have been born to this union: Marjorie Bluett, whose birth occurred at Rochester in 1909; Virginia Worthington, born at Rochester in 1913; and Elisabeth Packard, born at Detroit in 1916. The two older children are attending the graded schools of the city.

In his political views Mr. Ellis is a republican, stanchly supporting the principles and candidates of the party, and in religious faith he is an Episcopalian. Along the line of his business he is a member of the Detroit Real Estate Board and a member of the National Association of Real Estate Boards. His interest in the welfare and advancement of his city is indicated by his membership in the Board of Com- merce, whose plans and projects for the extension of the trade relations of Detroit receive his hearty support. He is a member of the board of directors of the Detroit Players Club and is also connected with the Aderaft Club and the Grosse Pointe Country Club, and fraternally he is identified with the Masons, being an officer in his lodge. While residing in Albany, New York, he joined the state militia, becom- ing a non-commissioned officer of the New York State National Guard, with which he was connected for four years. Following his removal to Rochester he was made first lieutenant of Troop H of the New York Cavalry and later served as captain of the Machine Gun Company of the Five Hundred and Fiftieth Michigan Infantry. He is now acting as president of the Officers Association of the Five Hundred and Fiftieth Infantry of the Michigan State Troops. His life record indicates what can be ac- complished through individual effort and determined purpose, when guided by intelligent and sound judg-

ment, for he has fought life's battles unaided and come off a victor in the strife. In the management of his business affairs he has been progressive, energetic and capable and in the discharge of his duties as a citizen he has been actuated at all times by a regard for the public welfare. His life has been an exemplary one in all respects and his sterling worth is attested by all who know him.

HENRY SHEARER. As general manager of the Michigan Central Railroad Company, Henry Shearer is a notable figure in business circles of Detroit. He thoroughly understands all phases of the business iu which he is engaged, being regarded as one of the most capable railroad men in the country, and this practical knowledge, together with his sound judgment, keen insight and administrative powers, has enabled him so to manage the affairs of the corporation that gratifying results have been attained. He was born in Berrien county, Michigan, March 1, 1868, a son of Andrew and Sarah (Bressler) Shearer, the former a native of the state of New York and the latter of Pennsylvania. About 1865 they made their way to Michigan, settling in Berrien county, where the father took up agricultural pursuits, in which he was very successful, ranking with the substantial and highly respected residents of his community. In the family were five children, of whom three survive, namely: Henry, of this review; Frank, a resident of Detroit; and Edward, who makes his home in Ber- rien county.

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The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Vol. IV, Part 96

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