From an early age, James Couzens (1872-1936) demonstrated determination and incisiveness. The former enabled him to set a course of action, and the latter to carry it out. These qualities drove the naturalized U.S. citizen to achieve successes in business, industry, and politics. He was an executive of the Ford Motor Company, mayor of the city of Detroit, and U.S. senator from Michigan.

According to folk legend, a child born with a caul (fetal membrane) covering the head will have good fortune in life. The legend proved true for James Joseph Couzens, Jr. Born in Chatham, Ontario, on August 26, 1872, his mother, Eunice Clift Couzens, an English immigrant, kept the caul in a silk sack, giving it to Couzens' wife when he married. His father, James Joseph Couzens, also an English immigrant, was a grocer's clerk before becoming a laborer and salesman for a soap factory.

The...