Lanterna Rally

Author: Charles Moore

Publisher:

Published: 2016-06-21

Total Pages: 730

ISBN-13: 9781332538157

Excerpt from History of Michigan, Vol. 2 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. James Frederick Joy was born at Durham, New Hampshire, December 2, 1810, a son of James and Sarah (Pickering) Joy. His father was a blacksmith by trade, and at Durham manufactured scythes and also engaged in ship building. The first ancestor of the name was Thomas Joy, who left England about 1632, locating at Boston. The town records show him to have been a landholder at Boston in 1636. James Joy, the father, was a man of strong character, of much enterprise and originality, was a Federalist in politics, a Calvinist in religion, and a leader in both religious and civil life in his community. His character and example were influential in the lives of his children, and from him the great railroad builder and lawyer inherited some of his best native traits. The common schools of New England introduced James Frederick Joy to a knowledge of life, and he completed his education in an academy, a short distance from his home. He then took up teaching and with some assistance from his father finally entered upon a collegiate course, graduating at the head of his class at Dartmouth College, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. From Dartmouth he went to Harvard College, and took up the study of law. His finances did not allow him to continue until graduation, and he supplemented his income by teaching in the academy at Pittfield, Massachusetts, and for a year as a tutor in Dartmouth College. Resuming his studies at Harvard, he completed the course within a year and was admitted to the bar at Boston. In September, 1836, Mr. Joy arrived at Detroit, and entered the law office of Hon. Augustus S. Porter, later United States senator from Michigan. In 1837 he opened a law office of his own, and became associated in practice with George F. Porter, who had a large acquaintance with prominent moneyed interests in this state and elsewhere. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.