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

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

1245

about $7,ooo, and at once installed in its new building the most modern
and up-to-date machinery used in the manufacture of gasoline engines.
Messrs. Secord and Orr have both great inventive genius, and deserve
much credit for the several excellent patents they have secured on their
engines. In the fall of 1912, this firm, which had previously obtained
some very valuable patents on a gasoline engine which it had built, sold
not only their patent to a St. Louis firm at a handsome figure, but the
entire equipment of its plant, which was shipped to the Missouri city.
The firm of Secord & Orr did not then dissolve, however, but its members at once secured new and other patents on another gasoline engine,
which they believe is far superior to the one they sold, although that
was an excellent engine. The new patents secured, the firm of Secord
& Orr erected its present building, and equipped it with machinery necessary for the manufacture of the new engine, which will doubtless be one
of the very best on the market when completed.
Mr. Secord married, June 25, I902, Miss Lucia Elliott, and to them
five children have been born, namely: Eugene; Ruth; Lewis F., Jr.;
Mary; and Frances. Religiously Mr. Secord is a member of Saint Mary's
Roman Catholic Church; and socially he belongs to the Knights of
Columbus.
Mr. Orr married, July 28, I909, Miss Mary Barbour, of Bay City,
Michigan, and they are the parents of three children, namely: Willben,
Lyman, and Elizabeth.
MARK McLEAN. The Mark McLean Company, architects and general contractors, with offices at 1048 Mt. Elliott avenue, is a firm with a
practical record of accomplishment, and a hundred cases might be
readily found to illustrate the competency and reliability of the company.
Mark McLean, the senior member of the firm, has been identified with
Detroit building construction since I906, and previously for many years
was one of the prominent builders at Port Huron.
A native son of Michigan, born on a farm in Sanilac county May 4,
1851, Mark McLean is a son of James and Electa (Locke) McLean.
His father was born near Ottawa, Canada, of an old Canadian family
of Scotch descent, and the mother was likewise a native Canadian. About
1844 the McLeans moved across the boundary and settler in Sanilac
county, Michigan. James McLean had become a builder while in Canada, and after moving to Michigan was the pioneer in his line of business in Sanilac county, and for a number of years was practically the
only building contractor who was proficient and had the skill and organzation necessary for carrying out any important enterprise. Some of the
first mills in that section of the state were erected by him. When the
war came on James McLean enlisted for service in the Twenty-second
Regiment of Michigan Infantry, and after a short service died at Chattanooga, Tennessee, about I863. His widow survived many years and
passed away at Bad Axe, Michigan, in her eighty-second year.
The boyhood and early youth of Mark McLean was passed in Sanilac county, whose district schools afforded him his early education, and
as a youth he began learning the carpenter's trade at Port Huron. After some years of practical experience as a journeyman, Mr. McLean in
1892 began contracting at Port Huron, and remained an active business
man of that city until I906, when his enterprise was transferred to Detroit. His place as a general contractor has long been assured. Beside
his work for others as a contractor, Mr. McLean has done a large amount
of independent building, and has furnished money for others to build
on, and his operations are of a very extensive and important character.
The Mark McLean Company was established in I912, the members of
Aol. 111-3