McGill Libraries
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Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Alger, Russell A. (Russell Alexander), 1873-1930
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1873-1930
History
Russell Alexander Alger Jr., son of Michigan's Governor Russell Alger was born in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA, on February 23, 1873.
He got interested in the automobile industry after the Packard Motor Car Company moved to Detroit from Warren, Ohio in 1902. He became its Vice President and key investor. Near the turn of the century, he became treasurer of Alger, Smith & Co., the family lumber business. Intrigued by the possibilities of flying, he followed the Wright brothers to France to watch their exhibition and upon their return, invested money in the first commercial airplane. He also built in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, a palatial Italian Renaissance style estate, "The Moorings," which was donated in 1949 to Detroit Institute of Arts and became the Grosse Pointe War Memorial, honoring veterans of World War II.
He died in New York on January 26, 1930.