ALBERT T. KNOWLSON President and founder of the A. T. Knowlson Company, wholesale electric supplies, is one of Detroits substantial business men and citizens. A native of Millbrook, Ontario, Canada, he was born June 13, 1851, a son of Matthew and Isabella (Thexton) Knowlson, both of whom were natives of England and in early life became residents of Canada. The father was engaged in general merchandising at Millbrook, and both he and his wife are deceased. Their family numbered six children, three of whom have passed away, the two surviving sisters of Albert T. Knowlson being: Mrs. Charlotte Montgomery, the widow of Daniel Montgomery and a resident of Toronto, Canada; and Mrs. Mary Halstead, tho widow of Uev. William Halstead, her home being in Santa Ana, California. Albert T. Knowlson received his early education in the public schools, after which he attended the Irwin private school at Millbrook, Ontario, and later the Military Academy ut Toronto, Canada. When a young man he left Canada and went into the oil fields of Pennsylvania. At Titusville, that state, then the foremost oil center in the country, he was employed in connection with various branches of the oil business, later becoming an oil broker in the Titusville Oil Exchange. In 1382 he located at Warren, Pennsylvania, where he continued in the oil brokerage business, remaining there until he located in Chicago. After a short time spent in that city he returned to Warren, Pennsylvania, where he resided until 1885. In the latter year ho removed to Washington, Pennsylvania, in the early days of that oil field. Hero he opened on oil brokerage business as the firm of Knowlson, O'Donncll & Vandergrift. With the development of the northwestern Ohio oil field Mr. Knowlsoa located at Find lay, Ohio, and in various sections of that field was connected with oil production. It 1H90 he came to Detroit to introduce what was then the new method of incandescent gas lighting and became the exclusive distributor for the now famous Welsbach light in the city of Detroit. Notwithstanding the superior character of this light over the old time gas jet, its successful introduction to the public was not without great effort and involved original methods of selling devised by Mr. Knowlson and made the territory under his direction one of the productive fields then supplied by the Welsbach Company in the country. Eight years later he became exclusive distrihutor of the entire Welsbach line of products for the state of Michigan and a portion of Indiana. In 1903 Mr. Knowlson entered the jobbing business, handling gas and electric supplies, generally the gas consuming devices were eliminated, so that a few years later the business became what it is at this time — wholesale electrical supplies. In February, 1900, it was incorporated as the A. T. Knowlson Company and Mr. Knowlson has been its presiddent ever since. The growth of this house has been of the most substantial character and employment is now furnished to more than fifty people. On the 14th of August, 1895, Mr. Knowlsoa was married to Miss Rose Elms of Findlay, Ohio, a daughter of Charles and Katherine (Ransbotham) Elms. Mr. and Mrs. Knowlson have a son and a daughter, Elms Thexton and Lois Virginia, both of whom were born in Detroit. The son, born June 10, 1896, attended the Detroit University school, the Lawrenceville Prepetary school at Lawrenceville, New Jersey, graduating with the class of 1915, entered Princeton University and as a member of the class of 1919 left the unversity in his junior year to enter the United States navy, serving as coxswain until shortly after the close of the war, when he was released and returned to Detroit, where he is now associated with the A. T Knowlson Company. Lois Virginia attended the Liggett school of this city for several years and for two years was a student at the Baldwin school of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, returning to Detroit to graduate from the Liggett school with her class in 1919. Mr. Knowlson's military experience covers service with the Pennsylvania National Guard from 1876 to 1880. In his fraternal relations he is a Knights Templar Mason, while in club circles be belongs to the Detroit Club, is a life member of the Detroit Boat Club, a member of the Detroit Athletic Club, the Detroit Country Club, the Players Club, the Caldion Mountain Trout Club and an associate member of the Travel Club of America, He is also a member of the Church Club of the Diocese of Michigan. For more than ten years Mr. Knowlson has been gradually relieving himself of business cares and responsibuilities and aside from his real estate operations his interests are lurgely managed by others. He is a holder of considerable downtown real estate and years ago showed his confidence in the city's growth by investments in both leasehold and fee that have proven highly profitable. Fond of travel, he has visited the principal cities and points of interest in North America, while in January, 1914, with his wife nnd family, he started on a half circuit of the globe, visiting many of the out of way places of Egypt, the Holy Land, southern Europe, India and Ceylon. Two years later, in company with Mrs. Knowlson, the other side of the globe was visited, including Hawaii, Japan, the Philippine Islands, southern and northern China, Manchuria and Korea. His favorite recreation may be said to be trout fishing, at which ho has tried his skill in the streams of the Big Horn mountains, those of the Cauadinn country north of Lake Superior and other noted haunts of this wonderful game fish. Mr. Knowlsons business career in Detroit has been highly successful and his position as one of the city's valuable citizens and a full fledged "Detroiter" has been won by bis never failing loyalty to those projects or movements that have been of benefit to Detroit. The city of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922, Volume 3 edited by Clarence Monroe Burton, William Stocking, Gordon K. Miller