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

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HISTORY OF MICHIGAN

Frederick B. Smith was born in Detroit December 13, 1863, a son
of Bradford and Lucia (Weston) Smith. His father was one of the
pioneer educational leaders in Detroit, and a sketch of his career is given
in following paragraphs. After his education in the public schools of
Detroit, finishing with the high school, Frederick B. Smith found his
first regular work in the accounting department of the Michigan Central
Railroad. Soon after reaching his majority, he spent a year with a local
furniture company, and that gave the permanent direction to his energy.
In I887, when twenty-four years of age, Mr. Smith brought about the
organization of the Wolverine Manufacturing Company. It was incorporated with a capital of ten thousand dollars, and Mr. Smith has been
its active head from the beginning. This is now the largest manufacturing concern of its kind in the United States, and its products are parlor
and library tables of fine quality, besides several lines of furniture specialties. In its special machinery and general equipment for the manufacture of this class of furniture, the factory is the largest of its kind
in the world. The tables made by the Wolverine Company are sold
in every part of the United States. A capital stock of six hundred thousand dollars is now employed in the business, there are about six hundred persons at work in the factory and offices, and some of the most
skilled workmen in this field are employed. The average annual output
is valued at a million dollars. How greatly the business has grown from
its modest inception is shown by the fact that only twelve workmen were
employed at the beginning, and the value of the first year's output was
thirty thousand dollars.
In politics Mr. Smith is a Republican, and one of Detroit's most liberal and public spirited citizens. From 1894 to I898 he was a member
of the Detroit board of estimates, and in 1903 was made chairman of the
Michigan Commission of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis.
The last president of the old Chamber of Commerce was Mr. Smith, and
when that organization and other business and civic bodies were consolidated into the present Detroit Board of Commerce he became one of the
charter members and one of the first directors of the new board. His
services while president of the old Chamber of Commerce were of great
importance to the city. It was largely due to his persistent advocacy and
determined leadership that the elimination of railway grade crossings
was brought about within the limits of Detroit. On May 2, I903, at a
conference held in the office of the Michigan Central Railroad at Detroit, the principal conferees present were Mr. Smith as president of the
Detroit Chamber of Commerce, George Hargreaves, vice-president of
the American Car and Foundry Company, Jerome and Atkinson, representing the city council, and Henry B. Ledyard, for the Michigan Central Railroad Company. It was in that conference that plans and methods were finally concluded which were gradually worked out in the improvement of grade crossings.
Mr. Smith has numerous social relationships, including membership
in the Mayflower Society and other colonial organizations; in the various Masonic orders, including Detroit Commandery No. I, Knights
Templar, the Detroit Club, the Lake St. Claire Fishing and Shooting
Club (the Old Club); and belongs to the famous Lambs Club of New
York City. His church is the Presbyterian.
On November II, I886, Mr. Smith married Miss Nanette Sackrider,
daughter of Dr. Charles L. Sackrider of Mason, Michigan. The three
children of their union are mentioned as follows: Charles S., who died
at the age of twenty-two years; Frederick B., Jr., a member of the class
of 1917 in the University of Michigan; and Robert W. of the class of
19I7 at the Central high school of Detroit.