Railroad Men (and Women): James F. Joy

James F. Joy was a railroad magnate from Detroit. He was born in 1810 and died in 1896. Joy was a lawyer and was general counsel for the Michigan Central railroad, which took over the "Central" line from the state of Michigan in 1846. He continued in this and other rolls with the MC, including the:

• Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
• Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore railroad
• Detroit, Hillsdale & Indiana railroad
• Detroit Lansing and Lake Michigan railroad
• Detroit Union Railway depot and Staton Company
• Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific railroad.

After being ousted by Vanderbilt interests, Joy worked with Gould interests to bring the Wabash into Detroit from St. Louis.

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Official Obituary

• TO REST!
• JAMES F. JOY PASSED AWAY EARLY YESTERDAY MORNING. ALTHOUGH AILING, DEATH CAME VERY UNEXPECTEDLY.
• WITH HIM MICHIGAN LOST IT'S GRANDEST OLD MAN.
• HIS CAREER IDENTIFIED WITH THE STATE'S DEVELOPMENT. MANAGED THE PURCHASE OF THE MICHIGAN CENTRAL.
• WHEN THE STATE WAS ON THE VERGE OF BANKRUPTCY MR. JOY BROUGHT NEEDED RELIEF TO THE COMMONWEALTH.
• 4 SUBSEQUENT PROJECTS IN WHICH HE WAS INTERESTED. B. & Q. RAILROAD, FIRST SOO CANAL AND ILLINOIS CENTRAL MONUMENTS ΤΟ HIS AGGRESSIVE- NESS AND GREAT ABILITY.
• He Was a Splendid Lawyer, Wonderful Promoter and Deep Scholar.

James Frederic Joy died at his residence on West Fort street early yesterday morning. He had been ill for some time and the family were prepared for the worst, although few others knew of his critical condition. The cause of his demise was heart trouble.

Only the day before Mr. Joy appeared in good spirits, passing some time among his books. Shortly after 1 o'clock the nurse was awakened by hearing him cough. He was then partly unconscious, and soon after passed away. His son James just managed to reach his bedside before the end came. His other sons were sent for and came at once, except Richard, who was out of the city and did not hear the news until late yesterday morning.

Mr. Joy had not been in good health for some time. The warm weather was a severe trial to him, but he always refused to see a doctor when other persons would summon one. Not long ago, his son-in-law, Dr. E. W. Jenks, examined him and found that the action of his heart was not all that might be desired. He explained to Mr. Joy what ailed him and the latter said: "Pshaw! The machinery has run down, sir. It is old age."

"Not run down; a little rusty, perhaps," was the response. But Mr. Joy refused to take any medicine and would not be convinced that there was anything special the trouble with him except old age. The machinery had done its work and now it was getting past the period for adequate service. It caused him some trouble to mount the stairs and so his bed was moved down into the library among the books which were a solace and source of endless satisfaction to him while living.

As an illustration of Mr. Joy's energy shortly after he was seized with an almost fatal attack of heart failure he insisted upon dressing and beginning to work upon his affairs.

"I must have two days to live," he said. "I need that time." With that he called to his son, Richard, and began to dictate business matters. Alí day he stood on his feet, showing a remarkably comprehensive grasp of all his affairs. When night drew on he said to his son: "That's enough for today. Are you tired?" he asked.

"I never was so tired in my life," was the reply. "Well, I'm not," complacently returned the vigorous old gentleman. Fortunately he had more than the two days for this world, at this episode occurred more than a month ago.

James F. Joy was born December 20, 1810, at Durham, New Hampshire. His father was a Whig in politics, and in religion a Calvinist and Congregationalist. His occupation was that of a manufacturer of edge tools and his business was attended with a fair measure of success.

He was one of a rugged type, a thorough New Englander, and believed that a good education was indispensable for success in life. He constantly held before his children good precepts, their moral and spiritual welfare receiving his especial attention.

That integrity in business was a first consideration was one of his earliest teachings. Furthermore, they were stimulated by his kindly encouragement in their studies. The frugality of the typical New Englander of the old days was instilled in their minds as a virtue to be observed and practiced.

Nor were their religious exercises neglected. Regularity in attendance at religious services was insisted upon and it is needless to say the wish of the father was not neglected. The children were early in life taught to be mindful of the value of Christian practices.

In accordance with the same line of daily routine of the old setlers, the children were not permitted to keep to their beds long after sunrise; early rising was the regular feature, urged as an incentive to industry and a preventive to idleness and carelessness. Hard work was not overlooked in their case and it is on record that none of them was ever injured by it.

The fare was plain and substantial, the kind of diet well calculated to build up a constitution. Such were thè influences to which the boy, James, was subjected, and much of his superb health and physical vigor which gave him strength beyond his years in the latter period of his life was undoubtedly the result of this early discipline.

Those seeds sown in the boyish mind by a thoughtful father certainly came to a full fruition. Much of his subsequent vigor was undoubtedly due to the habits of his youth from the time he was old enough to toddle. To the last he was an early riser and hard worker; visitors entering his office have been surprised to see him standing before his desk, while his clerks were all sitting down, for he did much of his work while on his feet.

At a period when the majority of men would have retired from the field of business and enjoyed the remainder of their days on a large competency, acquired through years of toil, he remained in harness, refusing to dismiss the burden of care. How far, it may be asked, were the practices of youth responsible for that clearness of mind and force of all the mental faculties which were peculiarly his own when, as an old man, he insisted in keeping his hand on the throttle and guiding unerringly the destinies of large enterprises, important to himself and to the well-being and growth of the city, with whose progress and advancement he was so closely identified? Certainly, Mr. Joy himself never underestimated the value of the manner in which he spent his boyhood days.

Mr. Joy was descended from an interesting ancestry. It contained elements of Pickering blood; and that was of as good kind as there was in the whole of New England. Mr. Joy had to thank his mother for this blessing. She had descended from that family, which had been prominent in New England for almost 200 years. And less than ten years before the birth of Mr. Joy, Timothy Pickering, that sterling New England statesman, had been secretary of state under both Washington and Adams, until the famous X. Y. Z. diplomatic difficulty drove him from the office to a Pennsylvania log cabin farm during Adams' administration.

The first of the Pickerings came to America not long after the landing of the Mayflower, having made their appearance from England in 1642. This was the pedigree that his mother brought him; and that of his father was equally good, though perhaps less prom- inent in name. The first Joys came to America shortly after the Pilgrim fathers. The boy James attended the common schools of New Hampshire, and this but whetted his desire for knowledge, and he determined to educate himself by some means.

"Where there is a will there is a way," was in his mind, and to gratify himself in this purpose he began teaching school. In this way he found himself possessed of some means before long-not a considerable sum, it may be imagined-and his father, who was not in very good circumstances, added something to it.

With this amount young Joy saw a clear field before him and entered Dartmouth college. The details of his work there are not known, but it may be presumed that he did his best, worked hard and displayed some talent, since it was he who was selected to deliver the valedictory address. This was in 1835.

The trend of his inclinations was toward the law, and from the beginning his friends had faith in his future in this profession. So he turned toward Cambridge, where he entered Harvard law school. His industry was marked and his ability of no mean order. Joseph Story became interested in the determined and ambitious young man, and as early as 1840 his success was predicted by the eminent judge.

This interest was most encouraging; Judge Story frequently referred to Mr. Joy's devotion to law in words of commendation. The friendship thus earned was valuable, and probably he found incentive in the assurance that he would triumph in his chosen field. Concerning Judge Story, Mr. Joy once said: "He was what you would call a jolly good fellow. He was at the same time one of the most learned men in the world. He was also one of the best men. He was filled and overflowing with learning all the time. He was as plain and pleasant as any man in the world. I remember that he used to come into the room where the boys were and sit on the table, and swinging his legs like a boy, would talk and joke with us all the afternoon. At that time, I think, he was nearly 60 years old. "I saw him once after I left the law school.

Going back several years after my graduation, went into his room to see him. He was as jolly as ever, and about the first thing he said was: 'Joy, you must go down into the library and see the boys.' He then took me down and introduced me, saying: 'Young gentlemen, this is Mr. Joy, from Michigan. He was a student here from 1833-6, and a deuced good fellow he was.'

That was the sort of man the judge was. It would have been Mr. Joy's choice to have continued his studies at this period of his career, but that was impossible, as his purse was depleted, and he had not yet been able to realize money returns in the legal profession. There was nothing to do but to go back to teaching.

He became preceptor in the academy at Pittsfield and also instructed the classes in Latin and Greek at Dartmouth College. For a year he lived thus, hording his earnings in pursuance of a fixed idea and living on a basis of strictest economy.

By that time he had saved what he deemed sufficient and went back to Cambridge, where he completed his studies. He then looked around for a field in which to follow his profession. He was then 26, well-grounded in the law, sanguine, well-balanced, and blessed with good health.

The great northwest presented itself before him in his mental survey of the situation; it was a vast, undeveloped country, with remarkable resources and a future that no man could doubt. The opportunity. was there; the country needed men with strong arms. clear brains and vigorous physique to start the mighty wheels of progress.

It was comparatively unsettled; Michigan had her great battles to fight in finance and in legislative policy; her future was in the hands of sturdy pioneers, who uplifted her and made her the peninsula of pleasant promises she is to-day.

To the inland territory almost surrounded by the grand waters of the lakes came the young man in 1836; he settled in Michigan, or, more specifically, in Detroit. Changes have taken place that have transformed the outward aspect of the city, and these he witnessed with pride and gratification since they were along the line of progress.

In September, 1836, he entered the law office of Hon. Augustus S. Porter, one of the noblest men that ever represented Michigan in the United States senate. He had not then been admitted to the bar of Detroit but this took place the following year.

Mr. Joy became the partner of George F. Porter, who was formerly a banker. The only banking institution in the northwest was the old Bank of Michigan, and they became attorneys and counsel for the concern.

The crash of 1841-43 came; the bank could not stand it; down it went in the general panic and then Messrs. Joy and Porter, as attorneys, were very busy. It led to much lucrative business and so was built the first foundation of that large fortune which Mr. Joy left. The practice of law now became profitable, although it is noteworthy the subject of this sketch never unbent from those principles of honor which he entertained for the sake of any monetary reward.

The start having been made, the firm fairly established its reputation and had all the business it could attend to. Mr. Joy was employed in nearly all the most important cases in the state and federal courts and it was noted that in everything he undertook he brought to bear upon the details all that application and close attention of which he was capable.

He went beneath the surface of every case, and sounded it to its depths. By such methods he soon achieved an enviable reputation and his services were much in demand. In argument he always avoided a super abundance of superfluous detail, confining himself closely to the subject matter and presenting it as briefly and as concisely as was possible.

His clearness in outlining the salient features and his power in summing them up gave his fellow attorneys a high opinion of his ability.

He enjoyed a large and lucrative practice from 1836 to 1847 as leading counsel for the Messrs. Dwight, of Boston, and Arthur & Frederick Pronson, of New York. One of his most important cases has been forgotten, except by the delvers into such raatters, although the effect of it was far- reaching.

It was the warmly contested case of Mr. Bates against the Illinois Railroad Co., involving the title of Robert A. Kinzie, to eleven acres of land lying under water, in Chicago, an extremely valuable tract today lying where the Illinois Central depot stands and where the old Michigan Central depot stood. The case continued for five years and was watched with much interest. It was fought through the Circuit Court of the United States for the northern district of Illinois to the Supreme Court at Washington, both sides maintaining the contest with unabated zeal and energy.

Among the eminent lawyers who took part in the case were John A. Mills and Mat. McLean, on the part of the plaintiff. Mr. Joy alone conducted the case for the defendants and it is no small tribute to him to chronicle the fact that he came out a winner.

Single-handed he battled against the best legal talent that could be procured; he met them on every point and finally after a protracted and bitter struggle was victorious. It was a splendid achievement and added new luster to his reputation, which by this time was more than local.

The arguments in the case were extremely exhaustive; in fact, it may be said without exaggeration that they have settled the law of accretion and diminution of all living in this country. It is satisfactory to note, in testimony of the uniform fairmindedness of Mr. Joy that the plaintiff in the suit, although naturally dissatisfied and disappointed with the result, did not entertain any harsh feeling toward the opposing counsel, but bore testimony that in the entire management of the case Mr. Joy conducted himself with fairness, honesty and fidelity.

It was not long after this that the great state of Michigan found itself a bankrupt. In 1847, the "beautiful peninsula," like the other northwestern states, had no funds and was in a most embarrassed condition. It is unnecessary to enter into the history of the extensive and quite extraordinary system of internal improvements led to this result.

Such a narration, involving a history of the state finances, would in itself fill an entertaining volume. It would show how ambitious the early settlers were to develop those tremendous resources of the state, even if they did so unwisely.

The matter involves, also, the oft-told tale of the early history of the pioneer railroad when it was owned and controlled by the state and afterward passed into the hands of what are to-day termed the "railroad monopolists."

The state had the road, but it couldn't keep it. Government, or rather state, control over railroads in this instance was not successful; private ownership was inevitable.

It was James F. Joy who acted as the medium through which the big deal was made. He brought relief to the state's depleted treasury and aimed a death blow, incidentally, at the state control of railroads.

It was an important epoch in the history of Michigan and it is noteworthy that many years later in his life, when Mr. Joy was fighting for the entrance of new railroads into Detroit he found himself impeded to an extent in his desires by the very company that he, as agent, had purchased from the state.

Mr. Joy used his influence through John W. Brooks, an eminent railroad engineer, to persuade Boston capitalists to buy the Michigan Central and to complete it to Chicago.

It was a large undertaking, but how successfully it was accomplished need not be narrated. Today the Michigan Central stands an extremely valuable property. It may not be known to everyone that Mr. Joy considered his entrance upon railroad work as the great mistake of his life.

Such is the case. He threw into it all his giant mental resources, as was his custom in everything he undertook. The result was that he was soon in deeper than he knew or desired and the succeeding years only drew the coils of railroad cares more tightly about him. He was soon lost to all other law business.

"It was a great mistake for me," said Mr. Joy to a Free Press representative some time before his death. "I ought to have remained in general law practice. At the time I went into the railroad deal I had a large practice of every kind of business.

The purchase of the Michigan Central broke up my legal business here and ruined my prospects for a general practice.' Mr. Joy identified himself closely with the great commercial highway. Much of his time was devoted to its interests, as attorney, counselor and assistant of John W. Brooks, its president. The investment was an excellent one for the private parties and under good management its earnings were very large.

The affairs of the road, it is chronicled, were economically conducted and its stockholders were rewarded with unfailing annual dividends. Under the charter given it and by virtue of the privileges accorded in the contract, the railroad has prospered-so much so that in every legislature much is heard about "revoking charters," "taking away privileges" and "annulling the agreement made by another generation."

As Mr. Joy had of late years pointed out in his arguments on the union depot matter, a railroad judiciously managed does much to develop the state; progress follows in its wake. The more sound, good roads with splendid terminal facilities, the better for the town, was his claim throughout the union depot contest and he cited the fact that at this period in the history of the Michigan Central towns and village sprung into full life.

At any rate Michigan resumed her credit. Whether it was a good or a bad bargain the state now had the means to meet her indebtedness. Michigan again had a good name; she was no longer a bankrupt, ruined by disastrous policy.

Speaking of this great deal, Mr. Joy not long ago said to The Free Press representatives, "The turning point in the history of Detroit and of the state was the sale of the Michigan Central railroad to the Michigan Central Railroad Co. in 1846. People of the present day cannot realize the condition either the city or the state at that time.

A wave of wild speculation had swept over the country a few years before, which had resulted in almost universal bankruptcy. All the banks in the state had failed. The state itself was utterly bankrupt. It had issued 'state scrip to pay for work on its railroads until it had become practically worthless. It was the fiat money of that day and a good illustration of its value and the results of it.

The railroads were of strap rails laid on wooden stringers, and well nigh worn out, and its construction could not be continued, nor could the state reconstruct it with heavier rails. The state was prostrate, as its credit was concerned.

There was no railroad through Canada. There was no railroad west of Kalamazoo. To sell it and get a company with ability to reconstruct and extend it was a very difficult thing to do.

"This was, however, undertaken and accomplished. Its terminal in Detroit was then about where the city hall now stands. It was changed by the terms of its charter to its present location, on the river.

Its charter was carefully drawn to protect the proposed investment of a good many millions, and fortunately, both for the city and the state, it accomplished its purposes and objects. The road was rebuilt with heavier rails and extended to Chicago, and the result is the magnificent railroad we have at the present day between Detroit and Chicago, equal to any in the world and costing more than thirty millions of dollars.

The immediate result was the withdrawal of state scrip, measures to liquidate the state debt, the revived solvency of the state and the complete restoration of its credit.

"The next result, after the through road to Chicago was finished, was the construction of the Great Western Railroad through Canada, through the efforts and exertions of the Michigan Central Railroad Co. and its stockholders.

This was a result of the sale of the Michigan Central to a company, but it was the second most important event to Detroit and only less important than the transfer of the Michigan Central itself to the corporation, and its construction through to Chicago.

The next result was the line of beautiful cities, including Detroit, along the line of the Central railroad across the state. They are gems of beauty and sites of industry, prosperity and wealth. But of them all, Detroit has reaped the lion's share of all the qualities which distinguish the interior cities. It owes its prosperity and wealth most largely to the Michigan Central Railroad. Other railroads are important, but each in a much less degree.

"Another result of the Michigan Central sale and organization has been the Detroit, Lansing & Northern Railroad, the Detroit & Bay City road, the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw road, the Grand River Valley Rail- road and the Sault Ste. Marie ship canal, as important to the whole northwest section of the United States as the Michigan Central is to Detroit and the state.

All of which were promoted and the funds for their construction furnished by the Michigan Central itself to some extent in one or two of the cases, and by its stockholders mainly in every one of them.

By means of them we have the railroad to the Straits of Mackinac and Lansing, and close connection with most of the state.

From the date of the organization of the Michigan Central company, the progress of both the city and state has been one of onward and upward prosperity and development. Men of the present day do not realize the real influence the Michigan Central and its stockholders have had upon this great progress.

"It is fashionable now to denounce railroad corporations, and it is doubly fortunate for the city and state that the charter of the company protects it from all possible attacks by the legislature so often controlled by the feeling created by such denunciations. "Almost every railroad company in the state, except those upheld by the Michigan Central company, has become bankrupt and millions invested in them lost.

As they have become bankrupt, the legislature has increased their taxation and passed laws to reduce rates of fare by one-third, thus diminishing their capacity to earn revenues, while increasing their burdens, and roads are running at reduced rates of fare where the earnings from passengers will not, or hardly, pay the expenses of the trains.

But for the charter of the Michigan Central company, and the constitution of the United States protecting it, the result would have been the same with that company, and we should have had a road of the utmost value to the state now as in all the past, bankrupt and reduced to second-class property, and comparatively less useful and valuable both to "the city and state.

The history of legislation in the past twenty years has not been creditable either to the honor or the justice of the state. Those who have invested money on the faith of either of them have been mistaken, to their great detriment and loss.

"A state with its railroads universally bankrupt is not a very creditable spectacle, and no such spectacle could take place with fair and just legislation."

The taste for railroading developed with Mr. Joy. He had the temperament of the successful promoter-soundness of judgment, certainty concerning facts and the ability to handle and master details of large enterprises. His success in managing the big deal with the state of Michigan and the satisfaction of the private parties in their new enterprise enabled him to go further in this direction.

It was not difficult to interest men in great plans when this interest was preceded by confidence in the ability of the promoter.

Mr. Joy was concise, strong and logical in his presentation of the facts in any large undertaking. He showed plainly the difficulties to be confronted and how they could be overcome. His projects were all practical, reasonable and calculated to appeal to the judgment of the investor.

He was but 37 years of age when he manipulated the Michigan Central deal, and he held an enviable position in the world of finance for so young a business man. The Michigan Central was duly completed, and all that was expected was realized.

The necessity for the road was an actual fact, and from the beginning it enjoyed excellent patronage. What a change from the old stage coach route to Chicago!

When the Michigan Central was completed, Mr. Joy turned his attention in another direction. He organized the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Co.

It was not difficult for him to place the stock with his friends in Detroit and Boston, especially as the plan commended itself strongly to the best judgment of these friends.

This company was to build a road from Chicago to Burlington and Quincy on the Mississippi river, which would open up one of the finest tracks over the richest prairies.

Mr. Joy walked over the whole route and saw millions of bushels of corn used as fuel, because there was no way of transporting it to the market. Why should all this corn be wasted? Why should not the land be tilled? Why should there not be the tremendous harvest that was possible?

The road was constructed. It cost $60,000,000, but what its standing has been is well known. It has paid annual dividends of 10 per cent - a fact that will be much appreciated by investors in these interest-de- creasing days. Mr. Joy completed the connection of this road with the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad and had three fine iron bridges built at Burlington, Quincy and Plattsmouth, over the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. He crossed the Mississippi at Burlington, drove the work on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, over the Missouri, at Plattsmouth, and fixed its western terminus at Fort Kearney, in Nebraska.

Thus he made a continuous railway route from Detroit to the Indian Territory on the south and the 100th meridian on the west. These were projects of vital importance and their successful consummation was abundant testimony of the shrewdness of the promoter and his ready grasp upon that which promised large and immediate returns.

Mr. Joy became president of the Michigan Central Railroad in 1865, succeeding Mr. Brooks, whose health was failing. The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, the Pittsburg & Fort Wayne, and other roads led more directly from Chicago to New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore.

In order to compete successfully with these lines Mr. Joy advised and managed the construction of the Michigan Lake Shore Railroad from St. Joseph to Grand Rapids.

One of his most interesting and at the same time most dangerous railroad operations was the construction of a road from Kansas City to Indian Territory. One of the inducements to build the road was the cession of 800,000 acres of land, by treaty between the Cherokee Indians, to whom the land belonged, and the United States senate.

The road was to be built through these lands. Squatters tried to obstruct the construction, claiming the land. They insisted that Mr. Joy give them the land they occupied. He refused the unwarranted demand and violence ensued. His engineers were driven off the land, ties were burned and all his railroad timber within reach was destroyed.

"I went to Washington," said Mr. Joy, "to get a settlement of the difficulty. I appealed to the secretary of war to station two companies of cavalry on the disputed land for protection to my workmen. For two years the cavalry remained there and the work went on unmolested.

It was an exciting time, however. My men were driven off repeatedly, but after the arrival of the cavalry the squatters were frightened and there were no more fights I put my road through." In connection with this road Mr. Joy built the first bridge across the Missouri at Kansas City.

He helped and finally controlled the Jackson, Lansing & Saginaw railroad from Jackson to Saginaw and Mackinaw. The Grand Rapids branch from Jackson to the Valley City was also constructed under his supervision. Finally, he raised money for and built the Detroit & Bay City road and all were ultimately secured by the father road, the Michigan Central.

Another of his railroad triumphs was the construction of the Detroit, Lansing & Northern, after its first projectors had failed. He took up the enterprise and built the road from Detroit to Howard City.

Mr. Joy saw the necessity of getting Wabash connection with Detroit. Together with Christian H. Buhl, James McMillan, Russell A. Alger and John S. Newberry, he put in money and ultimately the road was built from Detroit to Logansport, opening up a vast amount of valuable territory and giving it direct connection with Detroit.

The same parties also built the depot in the western part of the city and the railroad that connected it with the Wabash.

Along in the seventies he made a great effort to have a bridge built between Detroit and Windsor. In this he was unsuccessful and he said that the vesselmen were too much for him. Later he thought that they were right. It would have been too great an impediment to lake commerce, which Mr. Joy has always regarded fair competition with the railroads.

He at one time undertook to build a tunnel under the river and had a big hole dug in the ground somewhere up the river. He got half way across in a small tunnel. When that far, it was seen that the cost was so great that it would be out of proportion to the benefit that would accrue to the railroads that might use it and the project was abandoned.

He was one of the originators and one of the original incorporators of the Peninsular Car Co., at one time holding a one-sixth interest. He sold out long before the consolidation of the two car companies, not being at all interested in that deal.

He aided substantially in promoting the efforts to afford terminal facilities for the railroad companies entering Detroit. He was farsighted enough to arrange these facilities so that they would be sufficient for years for any roads that might enter the city, including the Pennsylvania lines or any others from the south.

One of his Chicago projects that may be mentioned in this connection, though logically out of order, was the enterprise of building the Union stock yards in Chicago. He sold out, however, before he had an opportunity to make his fortune and he recognized that he lost a golden opportunity.

A business venture that resulted in incalculable benefit to the whole northwest as well as to Michigan was the construction of the first canal at Sault Ste. Marie. In this Mr. Joy was at the head. As in the case of the Michigan Central Railway, his extreme farsightedness showed him the opportunity that lay behind the construction of the canal.

Together with Mr. Brooks, who aided him in the Michigan Central development, he formed a company for the building of the Soo locks. A contract was made with the state to have the work done in two years and the company was to receive for the construction 750,000 acres of land, to be selected by the company. This was in 1857.

"The work was carried on under great difficulties," said Mr. Joy some time ago. "We ought not to have taken the contract to complete the work in two years. An epidemic of cholera set in and seriously impeded the work. It was difficult to get men to work, and when we got them there it was hard to keep them. We managed to retain them, however, by maintaining a guard on the lock and refusing to let any of them go. We finished the work inside the limited time.

"We picked out 500,000 acres of land in the lower peninsula. These were pine lands.

In the upper peninsula we secured 250,000 acres of what we thought rich mineral lands. Here was where I was short-sighted and lost a fortune. Instead of keeping the pine lands, they were sold for $250 to $5 per acre. A few years later they would have brought $100 an acre. I lost a fortune of $50,000,000 there.

The mineral lands panned out fairly well and we doubled our money in two years.

Of course, the building of the canal involved the whole country and was not so important merely to Detroit.

The canal went out of our hands as soon as it was completed. We built it simply for the state. For the first time it opened navigation between Lakes Superior and Huron and to the coast."

Many anecdotes illustrating Mr. Joy's characteristics are related. It is said that one time a prominent doctor found that the Michigan Central had provided poor cars for emigrants. The people were ill and the roofs of the cars leaked.

The doctor sought Mr. Joy in person. He found him in his office, standing at his work as usual. There were no chairs in the office for visitors.

"Mr. Joy," said the caller, "your company is not doing right by its passengers."

"How is that, sir?" was the stern response.

The visitor explained. Mr. Joy summoned the officials of the road. They acknowledged that the cars furnished the emigrants were not what they should have been.

"Then, sir, put on the best cars we've got," thundered the president of the road. The emigrants traveled to Chicago in a style altogether new for them.

Again, when Mr. Joy was president of the Michigan Central, it was thought advisable to have built for him a private car, in accordance with precedence. No pains or expense was spared and an elaborate and very costly car was in progress of construction when Mr. Joy heard of it.

He had one of the officials summoned to his office. "I hear, sir, that you are building a private car for my use."'

"Yes, sir."

"I don't want it. I won't use it. I don't believe in spending stockholders' money in that manner. Turn that car into a regular coach, sir."

The order was carried out and for many years this coach was in service and the passengers wondered at the richness of the interior wood work. Mr. Joy never would own a private car.

"I want to travel with the people," he once said. Often he might be seen on the train reading a Latin or Greek work, or even a French novel.

In politics Mr. Joy was an earnest Whig as long as that party lasted, but since 1855, when the Republican party was organized beneath the oaks at Jackson, he has been an unfaltering Republican.

But the attractions of office were not for him; he could not be induced to leave his private affairs and assume the burdens of the officeholder. There is but one exception to this rigidly observed line of conduct -at the be-ginning of the civil war he spent one term in the legislature.

It has been truly said of him that he had no sympathy with the chicanery of political partisans. Had he been so minded he could have achieved enviable fame and renown in politics, but he chose a life entirely different.

He was a Congregationalist-albeit very liberal, his Puritan doctrines having all been dispelled as experience broadened his range of vision and contact with man gave him a more tolerant view of the world than was his perhaps in his younger days.

His mind was ripened and his sympathies deepened by his familiarity with the classics. He spent hours of faithful study with Socrates, Sophocles, Cicero, Spencer, Tyndall, Huxley and the great French philosophers, and the time so passed liberalized and improved his mind, giving him sound views of the af- fairs of life. In his splendid library were found the best editions of Greek, Latin, French and English classics.

Of his Union depot project and the difficulty he experienced in getting terminal facilities to Detroit, it is unnecessary to speak. The public is thoroughly familiar with the details of this enterprise achieved at a period of his life when few men would have undertaken anything new and especially so extensive.

He was successful in this project as in all others and leaves the magnificent depot as one of the many monuments to his name.

Mr. Joy never indulged in intoxicating beverages, as he did not believe in the use of stimulants.

No man who ever lived in Michigan ever did more to develop this great and promising northwest.

Future generations owe to James F. Joy an endless debt of gratitude.

Mr. Joy is survived by Mrs. E. W. Jenks, James Joy, Henry B., and Richard P. Joy.

Two of his children who did not survive him were Mrs. Newland, who was killed in the Battle Creek railroad disaster in 1893, and Frederick Joy.

Mr. Joy was understood to have been one of the state's wealthy men, having left much real estate, railway, bank and other stocks of property of great value.

He was always opposed to ostentatious funerals and his own will undoubtedly be simple in the extreme, in accordance with his wishes. It will take place at the family residence on Fort street, on Saturday afternoon. On the occasion his wife's funeral, it will be remembered that Mr. Joy insisted that the services should be extremely simple.

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From the UM Bentley Historical Library, via Haithi Trust. September 25, 1896.