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

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1 HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

maintains her home, secure in the affectionate regard of all who know
her. Joseph De Boer was for more than half a century in the employ
of the Nelson Matter Furniture Company, one of the extensive industrial
concerns of Grand Rapids, and as an industrious, unassuming citizen
of sterling character he ever commanded the unqualified confidence and
respect of the community that long represented his home and in which
his death occurred in the year I912. He was a most zealous and devout
member of the Second Reformed church of Grand Rapids, as is also his
widow, and without any desire for official preferment or other political
activity he was enrolled as a staunch supporter of the cause of the Republican party. His name merits enduring place on the roster of the
honored pioneers of Grand Rapids and of the state of Michigan. Of his
eleven children William, of this review, was the fourth in order of birth
and of the number only one is deceased.
The public schools of Grand Rapids afforded the means by which
William De Boer acquired his early education, and his initial venture in
connection with practical affairs was made in the capacity of clerk in a
local mercantile establishment. He was thus engaged three years, and
he then served a thorough apprenticeship to the trade of machinist, in
which he became a skilled artisan and to which he continued to devote
his attention for twenty years, his position having been that of foreman
for several years before he resigned to take general charge of the Michigan Free Employment Bureau in Grand Rapids. This position he retained
until I9II, when he established his present independent employment bureau or agency, which has been most successful in its operations and
through the medium of which employment has been procured for many
men and women throughout all parts of Michigan, and his business has
extended also into Illinois, Ohio, Indiana and Wisconsin. The rapid and
substantial expansion of the enterprise thus founded by Mr. De Boer
placed such demands upon his time and attention that in I9I3 he found
it expedient to admit Theo. Vander Veen to partnership in the business, this alliance having proved most effective and the business having
shown a material increase each year from the time of its establishment.
On May i8, I914, Mr. De Boer became associated with one of the oldest
real estate firms of the city, Kinsey & Buys, and placed his youngest son,
Marston, in the employment office.
Political activities on the part of Mr. De Boer have been confined
largely to municipal affairs, and for the -past eight years he has been a
representative of the Fourth ward on the city board of aldermen. He
and his wife are zealous members of the Second Reformed church of
Grand Rapids, and he is affiliated with lodge, chapter and council of York
Rite Masonry, as well as with the Modern Woodmen of America.
In I894 Mr. De Boer wedded Miss Eva Van Dam, daughter of Gerard
Van Dam, who was long engaged in the retail grocery business in Grand
Rapids. Mr. and Mrs. De Boer have four children, Joseph, Gerald,
Marston and Bertha.
SIDNEY B. CLARK. The oldest drug store in Flint is that now conducted by Sidney B. Clark, at No. 408 South Saginaw street, which has
been its stand since I849. In public usefulness the druggist is associated
hand in hand with the physician and this mutual dependence is universally acknowledged as a condition of public safety. Healing remedies are
older than physicians, and at times the discovery of a new drug has
wrought wonderful changes and has been even a factor in advancing
civilization. Out of the hands of the ignorant and unintelligent the lawful administration of drugs has long since been taken, and the term
druggist or pharmacist now means one who has passed a thorough and