Will. M. Kay

Will. M. Kay, secretary of the firm of Samuel F. Hodge & Co., of Detroit, was born at Galt, Ontario, July 1, 1869, and was educated at the Galt Collegiate Institute, where he laid a solid foundation for the business training he has since enjoyed. One of the prime necessities of a large manufacturing concern is a well-organized office force with a competent man at the head, and in this respect Samuel F. Hodge & Co. is especially fortunate, its office work being under the direct supervision of Mr. Kay, whose whole life has been devoted to just this particular work. He came to Detroit in 1885 and soon secured a place in the office of the Fulton Iron & Engine Works, where he applied himself to the task of learning the intricacies of bookkeeping for a manufacturing concern. He remained with this firm three years, and in the autumn of 1888 entered the employ of Samuel F. Hodge & Co. as bookkeeper, continuing in this position until June 1, 1896, when he was elected secretary of the corporation, he being at this time one of its stockholders. It would be difficult to find a man more thoroughly posted in the duties of his position than Mr. Kay. In this case there seems to have been a determination to learn one thing well, and he has been eminently successful in his efforts.

At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war Mr. Kay enlisted in the 31st Michigan Infantry, and with that regiment, holding rank as corporal, is at present (1899) seeing service in Santa Clara Province, Cuba.

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Volume I

This version of Volume II is based, with permission, on the work of the great volunteers at the Marine Captains Biographies site. To them goes the credit for reorganizing the content into some coherent order. The biographies in the original volume are in essentially random order.

Some of the transcription work was also done by Brendon Baillod, who maintains an excellent guide to Great Lakes Shipwreck Research.