History of Detroit, a chronicle of its progress, its industries, its institutions, and the people of the fair City of the straits, / by Paul Leake ... [Vol. 3]

HISTORY OF DETROIT

965

earned by hard service-by all his friends. He was a member of the
Sons of the American Revolution and of the Country Club. He was
very liberal in his political views and always voted for the man he
deemed best fitted to fill the position for which he was nominated, regafdless of party affiliations.
Mr. Moore was a devoted husband and father, taking the greatest
interest in his home. He was a member of the First Presbyterian church
of Detroit. He was united in marriage to Airs. Miranda Heflebower,
widow of Abraham Heflebower, a soldier of the Union army, who died
from the results of hardship and exposure in the field. Mrs. Moore is
the daughter of John and Rebecca Paffinburger, who were of German
descent. Her ancestors settled in Maryland and later went to Urbana,
Ohio, where Mrs. Moore was born. Mr. and Mrs. Moore were married
May 17, 1882, at Springfield, Ohio. Three children were born to Mrs.
Moore: Rhea M., who lives at home. Dr. John W. is a graduate of the
Detroit College of Medicine and is at present surgeon of the Atlantic
Mines at Houghton, Michigan. Dr. Moore married a daughter of the
president of the mines, Miss Helen Stanton, and they have one child,
John S. Sarah H. married Dr. Allan McLean, surgeon in the United
States navy, stationed at Washington, D. C. Mr. and Mrs. McLean have
one child, William Moore McLean.
Mrs. Moore and her family are faithful members of the First Presbyterian church and at present reside in the handsome residence at 82
Putnam avenue. The old home built in 1885 was located on Garfield
avenue.
OSCAR E. JANES. The first appointment to the civil service made by
the late President McKinley during his first term was to fill the office of
United States Pension Agent at Detroit Agency, and the appointee was
Colonel Oscar E. Janes, who still holds that office and is one of the best
known men in the city and state. Immediately following the adjournment of the first cabinet meeting, March 8, 1897, President McKinley
sent his nomination to the senate, where it was at once referred to the
committee in executive session. Within five minutes and six seconds
from the time it was received a messenger was dispatched to the President to inform him that the nomination had been confirmed.
The office of United States Pension Agent at Detroit, for which Colonel Janes is so admirably qualified, is one of the most important federal
positions in Michigan, and is conducted under the rules laid down by
the civil service commission. On June 30, 1911, the books of the agency
showed an enrollment of 36,917 pensioners, and an annual disbursement
of $6,746,023.14, making a total disbursement during his incumbency of
the office to November, 1911, of $98,986,211.19, for every dollar of which
the agent is accountable, though under the civil service rules he is not allowed to name his subordinates, upon whom he must necessarily rely for
a correct handling of this vast sum of money. Since he took charge of
the office its duties have been administered with signal ability. The
quarterly payments have been made in less than one-half the time.heretofore taken. With the Bureau of Pensions he has gained a record of
conducting one of the best agencies in promptness, accuracy and neatness of reports.
The appointment made by the President as the first act of his administration was an honor fittingly bestowed upon a career that had already
been marked by long and distinguished service in the state of Michigan.
The greater part of his life Colonel Janes had spent in the city and county of Hillsdale, but he was bqrn at Johnstown, Rock county, Wisconsin,