Fred W. Green owned the Ypsilanti Reed Furniture Company in Ionia, the world's largest reed furniture factory and one of Ionia's largest employers, invested in many business ventures in Michigan and beyond, graduated from the University of Michigan in 1898, served as a veteran of the Spanish-American War, was one of the founders of the Ionia Free Fair in 1915, once the world's largest free fair, served as mayor of Ionia from 1913 to 1916, and was the thirty-first Governor of Michigan from 1927 to 1931, championing Michigan's natural resources and state highway system.