LOOKING AFT
Surprising people, places and events from our past.
A Man For All Seasons
GPYC’s Second Commodore, 1919 – 1925 By Larry W. Stephenson, M.D.
H
arry Jewett was born in Elmira, New York on August 14, 1870. Not long after his birth, the family moved to Chicago. He attended Notre Dame Prep School, where he excelled in athletics. As a student at University of Notre Dame he won varsity letters in every sport the university recognized at that time: football, baseball, rowing and track. Football didn’t start at Notre Dame until 1887, and in 1888 Harry made a 110-yard run to score the school’s first touchdown in its historic rivalry with the University of Michigan. In 1890, he was the world record holder in the 100-yard dash. Harry graduated in 1890 with a degree in civil engineering and worked briefly in Chicago. He was then recruited to Detroit by members of the Detroit Athletic Club, due to his skills in track and field events. He won dozens of medals for the DAC, including a national title for the 220-yard dash, in which he was the first person to break the 22-second barrier. Harry’s first job in Detroit was assistant engineer on the Michigan Central Railroad. In 1895, he cofounded Jewett, Bigelow and Brooks, wholesale dealers in coal, becoming president of the company as well as president of the J.B.B. Coal Company.
was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. Another Detroiter, Henry B. Joy, also served on the Yosemite, and soon after the war ended, brought the Packard Motor Company to Detroit. In 1909, Harry Jewett built a home at 625 Lake Shore Road in what would become the Village of Grosse Pointe Shores. He became president of Paige-Detroit Motor Car Company in 1910. The company sold 800 cars that year and 100,000 by 1925. In 1921, the company introduced a new line of “Jewett” automobiles. That car was an outstanding success, totaling nearly 10,000 sales in 1922. During this period, he served as both Vice President and President Pro-Tem of the Shores council and as Commodore of the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club from 1919 to 1925. In 1924, he also served as president of the Detroit Athletic Club. In 1927, at age 56, Harry retired from Paige-Detroit and turned his attention to the 7,000 acres of land he had purchased near Gaylord, where he built a large hunting lodge he named Grouse Haven. Harry Jewett died suddenly of a heart attack at his Shores home in 1933. Among those listed as honorary pallbearers were many top automotive executives, including Henry and Edsel Ford. Twelve years after his death, Harry’s widow gifted a portion of the Grouse Haven property to the State of Michigan, which today accounts for 4,449 acres of the Rifle River State Recreation Area.
Harry was a member of the U.S. Naval Reserve, and served on active duty aboard the cruiser USS Yosemite during the Spanish-American War in 1898-99. The Yosemite was involved in naval combat in the waters around Cuba and Puerto Rico, Commodore Jewett was truly a man for all seasons. and as a result of their success, every crew member
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