J. Henri d'Agneau

Page 481 - J. Henri d’Agneau. Perhaps no family on the North American continent today can trace its family history as far back in the New World as can the d’Agneau family. Less than sixty years after the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus, the first representative of the family came to the new country, braving the dangerous sea journey in the tiny wooden sailing vessels of those days to come to Canada, where he settled in 1545. The country at that time was an unbroken wilderness. A shipbuilder by trade, this first d’Agneau turned to his vocation in the western continent and thus became the first to build a wooden ship in the country along the banks of the St. Lawrence river. A descendant of this hardy pioneer in the shipbuilding trade built the last wooden ship to be launched from this same country bordering the St. Lawrence river. J. Henri d’Agneau is the Grand Rapids representative of that family. He was born in Paris in 1889, the son of Joseph and Delima (LaMontague) d’Agneau, whose home was in Quebec City, Canada, and his birth occurred while his parents were in Paris on a business trip. He attended the public and high schools of the city of Quebec and then entered McGill university of Montreal, Canada, studying there and in other Canadian colleges, receiving a thorough mental training that guaranteed his future success. Upon the completion of his education he spent several years in travel in Europe and South America. After many years in Detroit, Indianapolis and Chicago, during which he gained practical experience in the business which was to follow later, he came to Grand Rapids in 1920 and opened an office as public accountant and consulting industrial engineer. From its inception his business was a success, and he was soon forced to seek larger quarters because of his rapidly growing business. He then located in his present offices in the Federal Square building. He employs a large staff of expert accountants and engineers, and though the principal part of his business is in the state of Michigan, work from all sections of the country is placed in his hands. Mr. d’Agneau is recognized among his business associates as a man of great power of mind and for his business ability, and the company which he has built up in five years ranks him as one of the prominent executives of the city.