DETROIT / A living lexicon / ¼
Famous Detroiters
People who were born here, moved here or built their careers in Detroit: musicians, carmakers, athletes, writers, inventors, civil-rights leaders and a few notorious names. With their dates, their Detroit story and the places where they lived, worked and played, closed ones included.
- 1,940 famous people
- 366 Detroit places
- 21 fields
Hungarian ties 22 Detroiters with Hungarian ties →
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Sports · 1871–1935Frank Navinpresident and owner of the Detroit TigersInsurance bookkeeper who became the Tigers' president for 27 years, signed Ty Cobb and built Navin Field at Michigan and Trumbull.
Law · 1858–1933Horace Rackhamlawyer, original Ford Motor Company shareholder, philanthropistDetroit lawyer who drew up Ford Motor Company's incorporation papers, bought 50 shares against his banker's advice, and gave his fortune to the zoo, a golf course and education.
Politics · 1882–1952Richard Readingcity clerk, mayor of DetroitLongtime Detroit city clerk and former semi-pro wrestler who was mayor in 1938–1940 and was later imprisoned for taking bribes to protect the numbers rackets.
Politics · 1860–1941William Barlum Thompsonmeat merchant, city treasurer, mayor of Detroit, developerDetroit-born meat merchant and longtime city treasurer who was twice mayor (1907–1908 and 1911–1912) and later co-developed the Barlum Tower on Cadillac Square.
Politics · 1842–1904William G. Thompsonlawyer, Union officer, mayor of Detroit, baseball club founderCivil War veteran and lawyer who was mayor of Detroit from 1880 to 1883 and founded the Detroit Wolverines, the city's first major-league baseball team, in 1881.
Business & brands · 1819–1875Kirkland C. Barkertobacco manufacturer, mayor of DetroitFounder of Detroit's KC Barker & Company (American Eagle Tobacco), mayor in 1864–1865, sportsman and friend of George Armstrong Custer.
Politics · 1810–1873Asher B. Bateslawyer, mayor of Detroit, Hawaiian royal officialDetroit lawyer who finished Augustus Porter's mayoral term in 1839 and later became a privy councillor and legal adviser to King Kamehameha III of Hawaii.
Politics · 1894–1967Charles Diggs Sr.funeral director, state senatorMississippi-born Detroit funeral-home owner and Garveyite who became the first African American Democrat in the Michigan Senate (1937–1944) and wrote the state's civil rights law.
Business & brands · 1866–1970Anna Thompson Dodgephilanthropist, heiress of Dodge BrothersScottish-born widow of Horace Dodge, one of the richest women in the world, who backed the DSO and paid for the Dodge fountain in Hart Plaza.
Politics · 1820–1877William C. Duncanbrewer, mayor of Detroit, state senatorGreat Lakes steamer steward turned Detroit brewer who was the first president of the city council and mayor during the Civil War years of 1862–1863.
Visual art · 1896–1976Eleanor Clay Fordphilanthropist, art patron, Ford Motor Company shareholderDetroit-born niece of J. L. Hudson and wife of Edsel Ford, a major DIA patron who willed the family's Grosse Pointe estate to the public.
Business & brands · 1804–1883Charles Howardshipping merchant, banker, mayor of DetroitFormer schooner captain and Great Lakes shipping agent who built railroad lines, ran two banks and was elected Detroit's mayor for 1849.
Politics · 1801–1878Henry Howardmerchant, lumberman, mayor of Detroit, state treasurerLumber and dry-goods partner who was Detroit's mayor in 1837, the year of statehood, and the first treasurer of the State of Michigan.
Business & brands · 1846–1912J. L. Hudsonmerchant, founder of the J. L. Hudson department storeEnglish-born merchant who founded Hudson's, Detroit's legendary Woodward Avenue department store, and bankrolled the Hudson Motor Car Company.
Music · 1894–1979Karl KruegerconductorKansas-born conductor who revived the Detroit Symphony during the Second World War and led it from 1943 to 1949, when his departure caused it to disband again.
Business & brands · 1874–1952John H. Kunskymovie theater magnate, broadcasterDetroit-born son of Czech immigrants who built the city's first great chain of movie palaces, from nickelodeons to the Michigan and the Fisher, then co-founded WXYZ.
Politics · 1804–1854John Ladueleather manufacturer, mayor of DetroitLeather merchant who, as mayor in 1850, defused a crisis over a jailed fugitive slave by raising money to buy the man's freedom.
Business & brands · 1822–1908Alexander Lewisgrain merchant, mayor of DetroitWindsor-born grain and flour merchant who ran one of Detroit's largest businesses, served as police commissioner and was Democratic mayor in 1876–1877.
Notorious figures · 1897–1969Angelo Meliconsigliere and leader of the Detroit PartnershipSicilian-born baker and restaurateur who became a leader of Detroit's warring Mafia factions and the Detroit Partnership's first and longest-serving consigliere.
Politics · 1810–1884Hugh Moffatcarpenter-builder, lumberman, mayor of DetroitScottish-born carpenter who built Detroit's Mariners' Church, grew rich in lumber and, as 'Honest Hugh Moffat,' served as Republican mayor from 1872 to 1875.
Business & brands · 1852–1929John Pridgeon Jr.shipping executive, mayor of DetroitDetroit-born son of a shipping captain who ran the family's vessels and the Detroit & Windsor Ferry and served as Democratic mayor in 1888–1889.
Law · 1842–1908D. Augustus Strakerlawyer, jurist, civil rights advocateBarbados-born lawyer who became the first Black attorney to argue before the Michigan Supreme Court and won a landmark 1890 case against restaurant segregation.
Visual art · 1867–1961Mary Chase Perry Strattonceramic artist, founder of Pewabic PotteryCeramic artist who co-founded Pewabic Pottery in 1903, whose iridescent tiles decorate the Guardian Building, the DIA and churches across Detroit.
Politics · 1800–1883Charles C. Trowbridgeexplorer, ethnographer, banker, mayor of DetroitExplorer and early ethnographer of Michigan's Native peoples who became a leading Detroit banker, briefly served as mayor in 1834 and built what is likely the city's oldest surviving house.
Business & brands · 1833–1891William W. Wheatonwholesale grocer, mayor of DetroitConnecticut-born wholesale grocer who was elected Detroit's mayor twice, serving 1868–1871, and later sat in the Michigan House.
Auto industry · 1878–1940C. Harold Willsengineer and metallurgist, chief contributor to the Model T, founder of Wills Sainte ClaireDetroit-raised toolmaker who was Henry Ford's first key engineer, shaped the Model T and its vanadium steel, and later built the Wills Sainte Claire car.
Business & brands · 1810–1894Christian H. Buhlindustrialist, banker, mayor of DetroitHatter and fur trader who became one of Detroit's leading industrialists and bankers and served as mayor at the outbreak of the Civil War (1860–1861).
Business & brands · 1806–1890Frederick Buhlfurrier, businessman, mayor of DetroitHatter-turned-fur-trader who with his brother Christian built one of Detroit's great fortunes and served as mayor in 1848.
Business & brands · 1855–1937Hamilton Carharttclothing manufacturer, founder of CarharttFounder of the workwear brand Carhartt, started in Detroit in 1889 to make tough overalls for railroad workers.
Business & brands · 1842–1923Marvin H. Chamberlainliquor and tobacco merchant, inventor, mayor of DetroitMichigan-born schoolteacher turned liquor and tobacco merchant, council president and Democratic mayor (1886–1887), who later ran Detroit's garbage-reduction plant.
Politics · 1813–1855James A. Van Dykelawyer, fire chief, mayor of DetroitEloquent Whig lawyer and fire-department president who was Detroit's 21st mayor (1847) and later the Michigan Central Railroad's attorney.
Business & brands · 1834–1894Stephen Benedict Grummondshipowner, marine industrialist, mayor of DetroitSt. Clair River sailor who built a Great Lakes shipping empire from Detroit, including the largest tug and wrecking business on the lakes, and was mayor in 1884–1885.
Religion · 1877–1927Lajos KovácsCatholic priest, editorHungarian Catholic priest who led Delray's Holy Cross Hungarian parish in the 1920s and drove the building of its landmark neo-Gothic church, dedicated in 1925.
Civil rights & activism · 1817–1890William Lambertabolitionist, Underground Railroad leaderFree-born tailor and abolitionist who for half a century helped lead Detroit's Underground Railroad and its Black community.
Business & brands · 1833–1909George C. Langdonbrewer, maltster, mayor of DetroitBookkeeper turned brewer and maltster who was Detroit's 38th mayor (1878–1879) and later, after losing his fortune, worked as a clerk at City Hall.The lexicon keeps growing. Every entry lists its sources at the bottom. Dates were checked against Wikidata and Wikipedia. The texts are our own. Famous people's places among the sights ↗