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

1274

HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

On December 26, i886, he married Miss Flora L. Palmer, of St.
John's, Michigan. Their four children are Irene, Robert, Ruth and
Lawrence. The family worship in the First Congregational church of
which Mr. Isbell is a trustee.
FREDERICK HOLFORD HOLT. As president and treasurer of the William
Bros. Company of Detroit, Mr. Holt is at the head of the largest pure-food
manufacturing concern in Michigan, and is also district manager at Detroit
for the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company, and has official connections with
other business corporations. Now a leader in local business affairs, Mr.
Holt began his career at Detroit more than thirty years ago as a messenger
boy for a local bank.
Frederick Holford Holt was born in the city of Manchester, England,
January I8, 1867, a son of James Robert and Mary (Holford) Holt. His
father died in England in I878, and the mother is now living in that country in venerable years. Frederick H. Holt attended the Manchester grammar school and one year at Victoria University at Manchester, then known
as Owen's College, and a local college of the Oxford group of colleges.
In 1884, at the age of seventeen, he came alone to the United States, and
after reaching Detroit found work as a messenger boy with the Michigan
Savings Bank. His continued service of sixteen years with that institution brought him from time to time better pay and greater responsibilities,
and it was with a thorough experience in the banking and general business
field that he finally resigned his post as assistant cashier in I901 to become
treasurer and manager for the F. A. Goodrich Company. At the same time
the Jones & Laughlin Steel Company of Pittsburgh appointed him their
local representative at Detroit, and he looked after the business not only
of that concern but of several other independent steel interests. In I9II
the F. A. Goodrich Company and several other concerns represented by
Mr. Holt, were absorbed by the Jones & Laughlin Company, who at once
made Mr. Holt district manager at Detroit. In the meantime his business
relations have extended to various other fields. He is president and treasurer of the Williams Bros. Company, already mentioned; is one of the
large stockholders and secretary of the C. M. Hayes Company, dealers in
photographic supplies at Detroit, and is director for C. W. Warren & Company, one of the large retail jewelry houses of that city. His successful
progress in business Mr. Holt credits, with a modesty characteristic of the
man, to the many friends he made during his banking career. Without
friends, in the opinion of Mr. Holt, a really important and successful
career is impossible, and it was to the large and influential connections he
made in Detroit banking circles that brought him his position as district
manager for the Jones & Laughlin Company. A successful business man,
Mr. Holt also has identified himself with civic and welfare work. Most of
this has been accomplished through his membership with the Detroit Board
of Commerce, of which he is a charter member, has served as director
and vice-president, and as chairman of nearly every important committee
of the organization. Practically every movement, whether initiated under
the auspices of this board or from some other source, in behalf of general
welfare work in Detroit, has enlisted the sympathy and support of Mr.
Holt. He is now serving as chairman of the playground committee of the
Board of Commerce, a committee which is instrumental in planning for
and providing for the maintenance of playgrounds in different parts of
the city. Mr. Holt is a director in the Detroit Club; has been president of
both the Detroit Golf Club and the Michigan State Golf League, being an
enthusiastic follower of that sport; is a director in the newly organized