History of Michigan, / by Charles Moore. [Vol. 3]

1404

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

Masonry, including the Knight Templars degree of the York Rite, and
the Consistory in the Scottish. He is also affiliated with the Mystic
Shrine. In politics he is a Democrat.
WILLIAM C. WILLIAMS. Few Michigan business men have such a
notable record as William C. Williams of Detroit. His active career
began sixty years ago. His first associations were with the wholesale
drug house of Jacob S. Farrand. The name Farrand, Williams &
Company probably better known to the drug~ trade in Michigan and the
middle western states than any other two names. The Michigan Drug
Company is an outgrowth of enterprise started by Farrand, Williams
& Company and associates. Mr. Williams until recently was an
active official in the Michigan Drug Company, a business which he has
seen developed and in which his own judgment and ability were chief
factors in making. All Detroit and hundreds of well known business
men outside of that city now esteem William C. Williams as one of the
prominent men in the Michigan metropolis.
William C. Williams was born at Anglesey, North Wales, a son of
William and Dorothy (Lewis) Williams. In 1850 he came to the United
States with his parents, the family first settling in Waukesha, Wisconsin, where the father soon afterwards died. In 1852 the widow and her
children came to Detroit where the rest of her life was spent. The education of William C. Williams was completed in private and public
schools of Waukesha and of Detroit. At an early age, he found employment in the wholesale drug house of Jacob S. Farrand, and two
years later became manager of the establishment. His rise to business
prominence was rapid and was established on most secure foundation.
In I858 he became a member of the firm of Farrand, Sheley & Company.
Later in I86o the firm became Farrand, Williams & Company. In 1892
Mr. Farrand withdrew, and a reorganization brought about the business
title of Williams, Sheley & Brooks. Later a number of other drug
houses were consolidated, and resulted in the incorporation under the
title of the Williams-Davis-Brooks & Hinchman Company. To the general public the business is better known now under a new corporate
title of the Michigan Drug Company, comprising several of the largest
drug firms in the middle west. Mr. Williams was active president of
this corporation until I912, when failing health compelled him to retire,
though he still retains the principal holdings in the business. His son,
Maurice 0. Williams, is secretary of the company. Besides the large
house at Detroit, the company operates a wholesale drug house at Saginaw, under the name of the Saginaw Valley Drug Company.
Not only in the direct line of his business has Mr. Williams borne an
important responsibility as a Detroit citizen, but his influence and active
cooperation has been beneficial to many other interests. He was one of
the incorporators of the Detroit College of Medicine in I879, and has
been a member of its board of trustees since its organization. In 1913
he assisted in the reorganization of that institution, and still continues
a member of the board, being now the eldest in point of service on the
board of trustees. He was one of the organizers of the old Commercial
National Bank of Detroit, and a member of its board of directors until
the institution was consolidated with the First National Bank, and his
work as a director has continued to benefit the new institution.
Mr. Williams has membership in the Country Club of Grosse Pointe
Farms, the Detroit Assembly, and his church is Christ church, Episcopal.
Mr. Williams was married at Niles, Michigan, to Maria L. Murray.
Their children are: Maurice 0. Williams, who is secretary of the Michi