Posted on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 11:10 am:

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GOOGLE IS SO AWSOME!

Posted on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 9:12 pm:

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PETER HARBINE ZACHARIAS. After many years devoted to the coal trade in Detroit Peter H. Zacharias retired from business and his remaining days were spent in the enjoyment of well earned rest. Death called him, however, November 4, 1919, at his home, 170 Virginia Park, when he was in his seventy-second year. He was a native son of Michigan, his birth having occurred at Erie, Monroe county, on the 6th of May, 1847, his parents being Mr. and Mrs. Peter A. Zacharias, who had seven sons, three of whom were soldiers of the Civil war. Two daughters of this family are still living: Mrs. W. P. Corbett and Mrs. Lucy A. Mason, both residents of Detroit.

The youthful days of Peter Harbine Zacharias were spent under the parental roof in Monroe county and there he pursued a public school education, passing through consecutive grades to the high school. In 1877 he went to California, where he remained for several years and then returned to the middle west, locating in Toledo, Ohio, there conducting a wholesale and retail coal business. While thus engaged he became interested in coal mines in southern Ohio and his business brought him frequently to Detroit, so that he came to recognize the better field of operations afforded in this city. This determined him to return to Michigan and he established his residence in Detroit, where he resided until called to his final rest. In the early period of his connection with the city he purchased many unimproved lots and afterward sold the property at the corner of Twentieth and Michigan avenues to the Michigan Central Railroad and the railroad company disposed of it to the firm of Parker & Webb. He was for twenty years identified with the coal trade in Detroit, developing the business to extensive proportions, having the largest coal yards in the city equipped with modern appliances. He was at the time also maintaining a downtown office in the McGraw building. In all business affairs he was thoroughly reliable and progressive and his carefully managed affairs brought to him a gratifying measure of prosperity.

In Toledo, Ohio, on the 26th of June, 1872, Mr. Zacharias was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth E. Tillott, a daughter of William H. Tillott, a native of England, in which country the birth of Mrs. Zacharias also occurred. To this marriage were born two sons: Allen H., whose birth occurred February 12, 1875, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and who is now one of the prominent business men of Lima, Ohio, being assistant to the president of the Garford Motor Truck Company. He wedded Gertrude Wiley, a daughter of Jefferson Wiley, in June, 1898; Frederick T., the younger, was born December 4, 1878, in California, and died September 4, 1896.

Mr. Zacharias was of the Presbyterian faith and at one time served as a trustee of the Trumbull Avenue Presbyterian church, while later he became a member of the Woodward Avenue church, his association therewith continuing to the time of his demise. He did everything in his power to promote the growth of the church and extend its influence and his life was ever governed by its high principles. In politics he was a republican, but never an aspirant for office. He was well known in Masonic circles as a member of Kilwinning Lodge, F. & A. M.; King Cyrus Chapter, E. A. M.; Detroit Commandery, No. 1, K. T.; and the Mystic Shrine. He was also active in organizing the Detroit Coal Exchange and served as president of that body for many years. His carefully directed business affairs enabled him to leave his family in comfortable financial circumstances and Mrs. Zacharias is now the owner of a number of fine residential properties in Detroit, from which she derives a gratifying annual income, enabling her to enjoy all of the comforts of life and many of its luxuries. She, too, is highly esteemed in Detroit, where her circle of friends is an extensive one.