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

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

1261

wounded in the Narragansett fight during King Philip's War in I675.
The Walkers were all of English stock, and the only ancestor of Mr.
Walker of any other nationality was Pierre Chamois, a French-Huguenot
who as Peter Shumway came to Oxford, Massachusetts, in about I65o.
The parents of Hiram Walker were Willis and Ruth (Buffum) Walker,
natives of Massachusetts. Hiram was born in the town of Douglas, that
state, July 4, I816, and there attended the public schools. Upon the completion of his education he was employed for a time in a dry goods store
in Boston, but in I838 decided to cast his fortunes with the growing
West and accordingly came to Detroit. Here he soon established himself in the grocery business, and this was later followed by a tannery and
leather business, but the plant of the latter was destroyed by fire just
when its success seemed assured. Mr. Walker then returned to the
grocery business, but the money panic of 1857 spelled disaster for him
and he decided to cross the line and engage in business in Canada. Accordingly, in 1857, he purchased a tract of land forming the present site
of the flourishing city of Walkerville, and there built a steam flouring
mill and distillery, and from 1858, when the plant went into operation
Mr. Walker's great success began, to be continued the balance of his life.
The flour mill branch of the business was continued for about twenty
years, when the increasing demands for the product of the distillery
caused Mr. Walker to close out the flour mill and devote his energies to
the distilling of what is now a world-wide-known product, and which
business, largely expanded, is still in operation under the corporate name
of Hiram Walker & Sons Limited.
In I859 Mr. Walker removed his family to Walkerville, but returned
to Detroit in I864, where he resided during the balance of his life. He
was always the leading man of Walkerville, even though a resident of
Detroit, and was the guiding spirit in the making of that little city a
model one in improvements and an industrial center of great importance.
St. Mary's Church, built in Walkerville in I9o4 to the memory of his
wife and himself by their sons is regarded as one of Canada's finest
church edifices. Mr. Walker was one of the trustees of the original
school board. He invested largely in farm lands and was also closely
connected with numerous Canadian enterprises, whose success was largely
the result of his efforts and wise guidance. Mr. Walker's Detroit interests were also numerous and of great importance. As an evidence of
the class of corporations with which Mr. Walker was connected, the following partial list is given: Detroit Car Works, Detroit Transit Railway,
Detroit and Bay City Railway, Detroit National Bank, Hamtramck Iron
Works, Detroit College of Medicine, Detroit Chamber of Commerce
and Wayne County Agricultural and Industrial Society. He was also a
shareholder and member of the Detroit Club, the Grosse Point Club, the
North Channel Club and the Detroit Driving Club.
Mr. Walker's charities were large and varied and he ever was a
generous contributor to any worthy enterprise. In I896 he built the
Detroit Children's Free Hospital, in memory of his daughter, Jennie
Melissa, who died in I870. He not only gave the land and building for
this notable institution, but liberally endowed it. Thus was evidenced
his love for and sympathy with children, a prominent characteristic of
his nature. He also endowed a room and bed in Harper Hospital, and
gave generously to that institution, giving likewise his support to the
training school for nurses connected therewith. He gave liberally to the
old St. Paul's Episcopal church, where for many years he served as a
vestryman.
Mr. Walker decided to retire from active business life in I895 and
turn his business interests into the hands of his three surviving sons.
Vol. 111-4