History of MichiganThe story of Michigan from the earliest times to the present day is told in these pages. There are gaps in the narration. Also some portions receive too extended consideration in proportion to the space bestowed on other topics of equal or perhaps greater importance. Again the authority for many statements is either inadequately stated or is omitted altogether. Every canon dear to the heart of the historical scholar of today has been either broken or ignored. In short, there is no fault herein that the author does not recognize and acknowledge.
And yet this history of Michigan represents many months, and sometimes many years, of research on special subjects — joyous months or years. One such experience involved a morning spent with the kindly Francis Parkman; weeks of reading his precious manuscripts in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Harvard Library; four years of searching in the Library of Congress for a clew to the personality of Henry Gladwin; correspondence with no fewer than four branches of the Gladwin family in England; a rich reward in portraits and manuscripts, and a sheaf of friendships becoming more precious with the years. It is not without deep sympathy that the record is here made of that gentle Oxford scholar, an architect of rare attainments, who so worthily bore the Gladwin name and courage into the great conflict now being waged for human liberty, and who in October, 1914, made the great sacrifice before Calais.
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Read the Book - Free Download the Book ( 41.5 MB PDF ) - Free James Frederick Joy. The distinction of having been the prime factor in the building of more than sixteen hundred miles of railroad in Michigan alone is of itself sufficient to make the name of James F. Joy one of the most significant in the history of this state. From 1836 until his death in 1896, Mr. Joy was a resident of the city of Detroit. Beginning his career there as a struggling young attorney, he rose to be one of the foremost business men of the United States, a recognized authority on finance, and one of the ablest railroad managers of the middle west. His achievements both in his profession and in practical affairs is remarkable. With his great executive ability he combined attributes of character which marked him as one of the most distinguished of Michigan's citizens. It has been said of him that he was too honest to be politic, too conscientious to be sycophantic and that his practice of all times telling the truth often made enemies of small-minded men, but brought him the friendship, never violated, of the greatest individuals of his time. |