Robert W. Hemphill

ROBERT W. HEMPHILL.

Robert W. Hemphill, cashier of the Ypsilanti Savings Bank, and a promoter of business enterprises that have contributed in a substantial measure to the growth and development of Ypsilanti, was born in Clinton, Michigan, in 1839. His father, Nathaniel Hemphill, was a native of Saratoga, New York, and died in that state. The mother came to Michigan in 1839, settling in Clinton, Lenawee county, where the birth of Robert W. Hemphill occurred. He began his education in the common schools of this city and passed through successive grades until he had attended the high school. Later he became a clerk in the postoffice, and in 1855 he became assistant postmaster, filling the office for two years, on the expiration of which period he went to Chicago, spending a year and a half there. He was with John Gilbert in the commission business and later returned to Ypsilanti.

In 1859 he became connected with the bank business as a clerk for Follett, Conklin & Company, with whom he remained until the firm was dissolved in 1860, when the firm of B. Follett & Company, bankers, was organized, Mr. Hemphill becoming a partner at that time. From this beginning has evolved the First National Bank. The firm of B. Follett & Company was succeeded by Corn well & Hemphill, which was afterward changed to Hemphill, Batchelder & Company, and so continued until 1881. The institution conducted by the above named firms was a private bank, and in 1888 the Ypsilanti Savings Bank, so organized by Mr. Hemphill, S. M. McCutcheon, of Detroit, and the late Stephen Moore, also of Detroit. They were the successors of Hemphill, Batchelder & Company, and the present officers of the bank are: Augustus Beyer, president; H. P. Glover, vice president; R. W. Hemp-

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Google hill, cashier; and P. W. Carpenter, assistant cashier. From the beginning Mr. Hemphill has occupied his present position. His long connection with banking interests has made him thoroughly informed concerning the business in principle and detail, and in the present institution he has inaugurated a safe conservative policy that has made this one of the strong financial concerns of the county.

Mr. Hemphill in other ways has been closely identified with the business progress and substantial growth of Ypsilanti, aiding in the establishment and successful control of a number of industries, including the Ypsilanti Paper Company, owning and operating an extensive paper mill, the Jackson pulp works and other enterprises. He is the president of the first named. From among the members of that company the Washtenaw Light and Power Company was organized, which furnishes electric light to both Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, and of the latter company Mr. Hemphill is also president. This company has built the power house at Geddes on the banks of the Huron, situated midway between the two cities, and the plant is splendidly equipped with the latest improved machinery known to the electrical world for the purpose of lighting and furnishing power. The company maintains offices in both Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor, and has had a prosperous existence since its organization in 1902. At one time he was also a director and vice-president of the Detroit, Ypsilanti & Ann Arbor Railroad, and was one of the prime movers in re-organizing and transferring the old dummy road to the Detroit, Ypsilanti & Ann Arbor road, saving the stockholders about one hundred thousand 'dollars.

In his political views Mr. Hemphill is a stalwart democrat, and for the past ten years has served as city treasurer and is still the incumbent in the office, a record which is an incontrovertible testimonial of his capability and his promptness and fidelity in the discharge of the duties of the office. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has held various offices of trust.

In 1863 Mr. Hemphill was married in Ypsilanti to Miss Adeline Moore, a native of this city, and a daughter of Charles and Adeline (Mc- Allister) Moore. They have two sons and a daughter, all born in Ypsilanti, namely: Robert W.; Charles M., who is cashier of the First National Bank at Shoshone, Lincoln county, Idaho, and married Miss Mary Curtis of this city; and Josephine, the wife of W. D. Crocker, of Rupert, Idaho.

Mr. Hemphill attends St. Luke's church. He is a self-made man, whose position of prominence is attributable entirely to his own efforts. He is always mentioned as one of the representative and honored residents of Ypsilanti, and is regarded as a gentleman of great force of character, of strong principles, of splendid executive ability and business discernment. He stands as a high type of our American manhood, and is associated with that enterprising class of men, whose efforts contribute to the general welfare in addition to individual success. He forms his plans after careful consideration of a business proposition and its possibilities, and is then determined in their execution; and as the years have gone by, the concentration of his efforts and energies upon the conduct of industrial and financial interests, have brought about success that is also attended with honor, because of the methods that have been employed.

As printed in Past and present of Washtenaw County, Michigan (1906). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.