Frederick Austin's biography, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan SUBJECT: Frederick Richard Austin (1877-1964) SUBMITTER: Theresa Truslow EMAIL: rtruslow@micron.net DATE: Mar 12, 1999 SURNAMES: Dunbar, Austin, Cook, Groesbeck, Stewart, Stanton, Gregg, Pettapiece, Beard, Atkinson, Hebb, Vanderslice, Lange Frederick Richard Austin, president of the American Legal News Corporation and a member of the Detroit Bar, was numbered among the native sons of Detroit, his birth having occurred there on January 29, 1877. His parents were John and Esther Cook Austin to whom were born six children. His siblings were John Lacey Austin, Elizabeth Esther Vanderslice, Eliza Jane Lange, William Charles Austin, all older than Fred and Joseph Henry Austin, a younger brother born in 1879. All of them were born in Michigan. Fred was named after his uncle Frederick who had served in the Civil War as a private in Company C, 124th Illinois Infantry. The uncle was wounded in the Vicksburg campaign of 1863 and was sent home on July 3 for treatment and recovery. It was the Army's practice at that time to send the soldiers home if they were too sick or severely wounded to be treated and returned to duty promptly. In Detroit he lived with his brother Edmund. Ann, his sister-in-law did what she could for him but his condition worsened and he died on September 8, 1863 after which he received an honorable discharge. During his childhood and youth, Fred lived with his family at 1012 Trumbull Avenue in Detroit. He was educated in the Detroit Public Schools and the Law Department at the University of Michigan, which he entered in 1897. Fred was probably inspired in this by his older brother John, who was a lawyer and a justice of the peace. Fred received the degree of LL.B. in 1900 whereupon he became associated in the general practice of law with Alex J. Groesbeck, who later served as Governor of Michigan from 1920 to 1922. This relationship was maintained until 1904 when Frederick went to Washington, D.C. to accept a legal position in the government service. He was connected with the Department of Commerce and Labor for six years and gained broad and valuable experience. On March1, 1905 Fred was married to Mabel Clara Dunbar. Mabel was born November 8, 1877 in Southfield Township, Oakland Co., Michigan, the daughter of Clement A. and Elisabeth Stewart Dunbar. Though her parents lived in Southfield, Mabel had gone to live with her aunt, Mary Stewart Stanton, in Bay City and had attended high school there. She was in the 10th grade when her mother died in 1895, after which she returned to Southfield to keep house for her father and brother, Everett. Fred and Mabel first met at the Woodward Avenue Congregational Church where they sang together in the choir. Following the wedding, the couple took up residence in Washington, D.C. at 118 Maryland Avenue, N.E. The first of their three children, Robert Dunbar Austin, was born October 23, 1905 in Washington, D.C. After the death of Fred's father john in Detroit in 1906, Fred's mother Esther came to live in Washington, D.C., where she remained until her death in April, 1910. Later the same year Fred accepted a job in New York City with John Robert Gregg, a prominent educational publisher. In January, 1911, Fred, Mabel, and little Robert returned to Michigan and took up residence at 119 Beresford Avenue, Highland Park. Fred had purchased The American Legal News, a monthly law publication with national circulation. Under Fred's sponsorship the publication became the recognized organ of the collection and commercial law world, numbering among its subscribers leading members of the bar throughout the United States and Canada. He conducted the publication along the most progressive and modern lines and was a trenchant and forceful writer with a thorough and comprehensive knowledge of the subjects he handled. The Austins' second and third children were born in the Beresford Avenue home, Frederick on April 9, 1913 and Elisabeth Rosemary on August 30, 1914. In 1916 the family moved to a home Fred purchased at 6472 Sterling Avenue, Detroit. Fred was a staunch Republican thoughout his life and he took an active and helful interest in civic affairs. He was a close student of the questions and issues of his day as they affected the welfare of the community, state and nation and his aid and influence were at all times on the side of advancement and improvement. He was an active and earnest member of the Detroit Board of Commerce, serving for a time on its Americanization Committee. He was also actively identified with the Commercial Law League of America, the Cortex Club of Detroit and he was a member of the University of Michigan Club and the Detroit Automobile Club. During World War I he rendered effective service to the government as a member of the Four-Minute Men of Detroit. This was a group of prominent Detroit businessmen who went into theaters, clubs and meetings to deliver four-minute speeches promoting the purchase of Liberty Bonds. He made many addresses as a worker in that organization and also served as its secretary. In 1920 and 1921 an epidemic of influenza swept the City of Detroit. Mabel contracted it and was gone within a week, dying of pneumonia at age 44 on October 21, 1921. She was buried in the Southfield Cemetery where, in previous years, Fred had purchased an eight grave lot overshadowed by a large tree. One of these graves was later engulfed by tree roots, leaving only seven that were usable. Fred was married again in Detroit on May 1, 1922 to Ella Sholdice Pettapiece, a maiden lady whom Mabel had befriended during her years in Bay City. Ella, whose parents had emigrated from Canada, was born in Bay City on October 12, 1877. She and Fred found they were not compatible but Ella agreed to wait until the two younger children, Frederick and Elisabeth, were graduated from high school before filing for divorce, which she did. She died in 1956 and is buried in an unmarked grave in the Southfield Cemetery. She had been a good mother who took an interest in the welfare of Fred's children. No children were born of that marriage. Fred practiced law in Detroit for the rest of his working days. His speciality was divorce. He also had a sideline of searching for missing heirs who might have claims on bank accounts which had been escheated to the state. The "detective work" was something he enjoyed very much; it was also quite rewarding as he collected a percentage of the recovered money. His first office was in the Dime Bank Building on Griswold Street in downtown Detroit. Later, he moved to the National Bank Building on Woodward Avenue across from the City Hall. He struggled to stay in business during the Depression years, hiring his daughter Elisabeth as his secretary. Fred's daughter, Elisabeth, persuaded him to retire in the summer of 1950 at age 73 after 50 years of law practice. He sold his Sterling Avenue house and moved to the home of his daughter and son-in-law, where he shared a room with his grandson. Unfortunately, once he was away from the routine of rising every morning and going to his office or the court, his memory began to fail. He would go for walks and forget how to get home again. In 1959 he took up residence at the Whitehall Nursing Home in Famington, Michigan. To all appearances he was happy there. Fred died on January 28, 1964, the day before his 87th birthday, and was buried in the Southfield Cemetery alongside his first wife, Mabel. He was very loving, quite a scholar, and he loved to whistle. He was an avid reader. -written by Elisabeth Austin Hebb and given to her grand-niece, Theresa Milstead Truslow ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************