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A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
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THE FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY
IN THE EARLY DAYS OF
MINNEAPOLIS
AUGSBURG COLLEGE AND SEMINARY
LIBRARY . MINNEAPOLIS 4, MINN.
A HALF CENTURY
OF MINNEAPOLIS
Edited by
HORACE B. HUDSON
With Numerous Views
and ...
Show more
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
•\Y
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THE FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY
IN THE EARLY DAYS OF
MINNEAPOLIS
AUGSBURG COLLEGE AND SEMINARY
LIBRARY . MINNEAPOLIS 4, MINN.
A HALF CENTURY
OF MINNEAPOLIS
Edited by
HORACE B. HUDSON
With Numerous Views
and Portraits
.'M'
-
•
MINNEAPOLIS
THE HUDSON PUBLISHING COMPANY
1908
\ . .,
*
1
* .„ • ". ,
Copyright 1908
by Horace B. Hudson
Gjmijpanj?
r
^ ,
11*f
MS"
PREFACE
"
I
N THE rise of Minneapolis is found one of the most remarkable instances of city
building in this country. In less than the ordinary span of life Minneapolis has
advanced from an obscure position as a frontier village to a conspicuous place
among American cities—a city of about three hundred thousand people, with well
established social and commercial institutions and worthily noted for its progressive atti
tude in many lines of human endeavor. To tell the story of Minneapolis in concise
form, making its salient features available for ready reference, has been the purpose in
the preparation of this book.
The general plan of the book has been that of grouping events of common interest
rather than the chronological listing of happenings without regard to their relations and
significance. With this design in mind the first seven chapters and the last are devoted
to sketching several not definitely limited periods in the city's history, while Chapters
VIII to XXVIII, inclusive, take up separate phases of the life and activities of the city,
each account being in a measure complete in itself. In this method of treating the
history of Minneapolis, much in the way of anecdote and reminiscence of the pioneers
—which would find a place in a more extended work—has been, of necessity, omitted.
Many side lights, however, are thrown upon the story of the city in the biographical
sketches of men who have had a part in its building. These brief sketches will give an
insight into the character of the people of Minneapolis which, possibly, could be ob
tained in no other way, and will give to outsiders an explanation of many things which
may seem to them incredible.
Among the sources of information regarding the early history of Minneapolis, Col.
John H. Stevens' "Personal Recollections of Minnesota and its People" has been
found valuable as have the collections and other records and files of the Minnesota
Historical Society's library which have been most courteously placed at the disposal of
the writer by Mr. Warren Upham, secretary of the society, who has also contributed
the chapter on "Early Explorers."
Many suggestions and much information have
been received from pioneers and the older people of the community and especially from
Mr. George A. Brackett who has preserved many valuable records. Acknowledge
ment is here made for all these evidences of kindly interest. It is impracticable to
publish a work of this character on other than a subscription plan and the writer appreci
ates the cordial cooperation of the men of Minneapolis which has made the publication
possible.
H. B. H.
Minneapolis, October, 1908,
'f.
CONTENTS
' I.
II.
' III.
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
THE FOUNDATIONS OF MINNEAPOLIS
THE EARLY EXPLORERS
14
FROM SAVAGERY TO CIVILIZATION
19
THE PERIOD OF EARLY SETTLEMENT
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD
COURTS AND LAWYERS
DENTISTRY
XX.
4 XXI.
.
.
.
.
38
.
90
113
ART, ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING
XIV.
XIX.
.
69
MEDICINE
- XVIII.
.
CHURCHES AND PHILANTHROPIES
XIII.
XVII.
.
59
MUSIC AND THEATERS
' XVI.
.
AN ERA OF BROADER DEVELOPMENT
X.
XV.
25
50
EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS
XTI.
.
THE FIRST COMMERCIAL ADVANCE
IX.
XI.
9
.
.
.
...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
124
.
.
.
.
134
.
.
.
.
181
213
NEWSPAPERS, PUBLISHING AND PRINTING
THE GROWTH OF BANKING
.
.
.
.
.
217
.
236
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
259
THE LUMBER INDUSTRY
296
FLOUR MILLING
327
GRAIN TRADE AND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
353
VARIED PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRIES
385
T XXII.
WHOLESALE TRADE
.
* XXIII.
RETAIL BUSINESS
< XXIV.
TRANSPORTATION
»• XXV.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
.
...
.
426
448
.
.
.
.
462
.
.
478
* XXVI.
PUBLIC UTILITIES
518
» XXVII.
SUNDRY ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVITIES
527
XXVIII.
HOMES AND SUBURBS OF MINNEAPOLIS
* XXIX.
THE CITY'S RECENT PROGRESSINDEX
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. . . . . . . . 544
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
551
363
*
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
NOTE—This list includes only views and maps. Portraits are indexed alphabetically in general index.
Page
Page
The Falls of St. Anthony in the Eirly Days
of Minneapolis
.
.
.
.
Frontispiece
The Falls of St. Anthony in a Natural State 10
The Falls of St. Anthony at the Present
Time
11
Map Showing the Travels of Groseilliers
and Radisson
.
15
Hennepin and Accault at the Falls of St.
Anthony
.
16
Carver's Sketch of the Falls of St. Anthony 20
An Early Idea of Northwestern Geography
(Map)
21
Old Fort Snelling
23
The Treaty of Traverse Des Sioux
.
.
24
The First Map of Minneapolis
.
.
.
25
The Government Mills of 1820-3 . . .
28
Colonel Stevens' House . . . . .
32
Bridge Square, Minneapolis., in 1851
.
.
35
St. Anthony in 1851
37
The First Suspension Bridge
;
39
The Business Center in 1857 . . . .
41
Falls of St. Anthony in 1859 . . . .
42
West Side Mills in 1859
44
The Second Suspension Bridge . . .
53
Minneapolis About 1868 . .
.
.
.
54
The Minneapolis Milling District About
1868
55
The Stone Arch Bridge . . . . .
61
First Baptist Church and Public Library .
62
The Campus of the University of Minnesota
About 1890
63
The West Hotel
64
Loring Park—The First Large Central Park 66
The Metropolitan Life Building . . .
67
Two Churches of 1860 . :
....
70
Old Gethsemane Church
. ....
71
First Baptist Church of 1868
.
.
.
.
'72
The Church of the Redeemer
.
.
.
.
75
Westminster Presbyterian Church
.
.
76
Young Men's Christian Association Building
.
77
Young Women's Christian Association Building
.
. ,
.
.
.
. .
.
.
77
Pillsbury House
.
77
The Old Washington School . . . .
91
Typical Minneapolis School Building of
Today
.
.
92
The First University Building . . .
93
The "Old Main" at the University
.
.
93
Entrance to University of Minnesota Campus 96
Library Building at the University
.
.
97
General View of the University Farm Buildings
97
Folwell Hall, University of Minnesota
.
98
Pence Opera House
. .
.
.
.
.
114
The Academy of Music
.
.
.
.
.
115
The Grand Opera House
.
.
.
,
.
116
The Handicraft Guild Building .
.
.
125
Fireplace in the Handicraft Guild .
.
.
125
In Mr. T. B. Walker's Art Gallery
.
.
127
Court House and City Hall
.
.
.
.
136
Law Building, University of Minnesota
.
139
Minnesota College Hospital
.
.
.
.
182
Millard Hall
.
.
. .
. .
. .
• 183
St. Barnabas Hospital .<
184
The Minneapolis City Hospital
.
. .185
The Tribune Building
218
The Journal Building
.
.
.
.
.
.
220
The Northwestern Miller Building
.
.
222
R. J. Mendenhall's Bank
.
. ....
, .
238
Old First National Bank
.
.
.X .
.
238
Old Security Bank .
. .
.
.
... .
239
First Building of the Northwestern National
Bank
.
.
.
239
The Northwestern National Bank Building 241
The First National Bank Building
.
.
243
First Real Estate Office in Minneapolis
.
261
Home Office of the Northwestern National
Life Insurance Company . . . . 265
Saw Mills of Early Days . . . . . 297
The Old West Side Mills . . . . . 297
The East Side Mills as They Appeared About
1880
.
.
299
The Lumber Exchange
.
.
.
.
.
300
A Modern Minneapolis Saw Mill .
. .
301
The Old East Side Flour Mills
.
.
,
328
The First Washburn Mill
. .
.
.
.
329
After the Great Explosion of 1878 .
.
.
330
General View of the Flour Milling District of
Today
.
.
334
First Chamber of Commerce Building^ .
354
Present Chamber of Commerce Building . . 356
Modern Type of Steel Tank Elevator
.
359
Type of Brick Elevator . . . . . 360
Modern Tile Tank Elevator . . . . 361
Early Manufacturing Establishments .
.
386
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Patre
General View of the Minneapolis Threshing
Machine Company's Plant
.
.
.
View of the Minneapolis Steel and Machinery
Company's Works
The Kilgore-Peteler Company's Manufacturing Plant
Modern Type of Wholesale Building in Minneapolis .
A Model Farm Implements Warehouse
.
A Modern Minneapolis Jobbing Building .
The Largest Jobbing Building West of Chicago
One of the New Wholesale Warehouse
Types
Retail District on Washington Avenue in
1869
George W. Hale & Co.'s Store, About 1880
The Old Market House
.
.
.
.
.
Upper Nicollet Avenue in the Retail District
The First Department Store in Minneapolis
Dog Train—One of the Earliest Means of
Transportation
Red River Carts
Steamer "Minneapolis" at the Minneapolis
Landing
The "William Crooks"—First Locomotive
388
390
391
428
429
431
432
433
449
450
450
451
452
463
464
465
Page
On the Minnetonka Electric Line .
.
.
Express Boat on Minnetonka .
.
.
.
Train on the Old Motor Line . . . .
Minneapolis General Electric Company Building
The Minneapolis Exposition Building
.
At One of the "King" Fairs . . . .
Opening of the First Minneapolis Exposition
View at Minnesota State Fair . . . .
The Masonic Temple
Entrance to Lakewood Cemetery .
.
.
An Old Time Minneapolis Home .
.
.
View in Late Autumn on Park Avenue
.
A Modern Minneapolis Residence .
.
.
A Residence Street—Groveland Terrace
.
A Type of Recent Residence Architecture .
Lake Minnetonka
The Shore at Ferndale, Lake Minnetonka .
One of Minnetonka's Charming Residences
Minikahda Club House—Lake Calhoun
.
The Old Round Tower at Fort Snelling—
1861-1908
. . . . . . . .
Minnesota Soldiers' Home
.
. . .
The Security Bank Building . . . .
The Minneapolis Auditorium .
. .
.
The Lower Dam and Rapid Transit Com-
Running into Minneapolis . . . .
The Villard Paiade of 1883 . . . .
467
468
pany's Power House
.
.
Plymouth Congregational Church
ChiCa ?a°tioIf l w a " k e e
469
St. Mark's Episcopal Church
&
St'
F a t ''
PaSSenger
.
.
P r °P° s «>
The Old City Hall
Volunteer Firemen of
481
483
Campus
'
'
P>»sbury Library Building . . . . .
486
488
490
519
519
519
The Minneapolis Gateway—Old City Hall in
Foreground .
.
The Armory
Proposed Plan for the Development of Minneapolis' Civic Center .
. ...
The Catholic Pro-Cathedral . . . .
....
Minnehaha Falls
.
.
..
The Mississippi River Gorge . .
The Minneapolis Postoffice Building
The First Horse Car
Type of First Electric Car . .
Standard Electric Car, 1908 . .
..
..
.
.
..
..
521
528
528
529
531
532
533
544
545
546
546
547
547
548
548
549
549
550
552
553
.
5S4
. • 555
Steel Arch"Bridge Over the Mississippi' River 479
1870
Pla"s
.
.
519
520
520
556
Enlarged University
557
558
558
559
560
/
A Half Century of Minneapolis
CHAPTER I
THE FOUNDATIONS OF MINNEAPOLIS
M
INNEAPOLIS WAS
literally, AS well
as figuratively, founded upon a rock.
A vast ledge of limestone resting
on a stratum of sandstone and extending
under the bed of the Mississippi river was
the geological cause of the Falls of St. An
thony ; and the falls with their potentialities
of water power and resultant industries led
to the settlement and development of Min
neapolis. While, thus, the rocks which
dammed the Father of Waters became the
figurative basis of the city they also fur
nished the actual physical foundation, for
many of the structures about the falls rest
directly upon this same limestone ledge;
and rock, quarried from its numerous outcroppings, has entered into the substructure
of practically every business and residence
building in the city.
Although the practical part which the
ledge of Trenton limestone played in the
determination of the site of Minneapolis
and its earlier development, has been to
some extent lost sight of, the figure of
speech suggested has become more and
more appropriate as the solid foundations
of the city's many sided life have become
more and more apparent. And these foun
dations rest not alone on the great water
power. The strategical location of Minne
apolis as a commercial city was admirable.
The site at the Falls of St. Anthony was
peculiarly adapted to the building up of a
receiving and distributing market—the mak
ing of Minneapolis what it has since become
—"the market city of the Northwest."
When the city was founded the possibili
ties of the northwest were quite unappreci
ated but it was obvious to the clear visioned
men of the time that some day the prairies
would be peopled and that a market for
their agricultural products and for the sup
ply of their needs for manufactured articles,
must arise. None of these pioneers foresaw
the nearness of the dimly understood com
mercial situation or the wonderful modifica
tions in its development which would be
wrought by the progress of invention and
the change in social conditions. But they
saw the fundamental advantages of the site
and builded fearlessly and with faith in the
outcome.
THE LUMBER INDUSTRY.
Next to the water power, one of the
primary elements in the city's earlier suc
cess was its proximity to the pine forests
of Northern Minnesota. Half a century ago
the finest body of white pine on the con
tinent was growing along the Mississippi
river and its tributaries above Minneapolis,
ready to be cut into logs and floated along
the greatest natural logging stream in the
country to the cheap power at the Falls of
St. Anthony. The conditions were ripe for
the production of lumber at a low cost—
while at the west and southwest lay the
treeless prairies, already being invaded by
the settler, and ofifering a market for all
that the Minneapolis saw mills could pro
duce. Here then was a great industry al
most ready made which furnished profitable
employment while more permanent lines of
commercial endeavor were being developed.
HEAD OF NAVIGATION.
It has been an axiom in commercial ge
ography that the head of navigation on a
river of considerable proportions is the
natural site of a large city. Minneapolis
occupied this position on the greatest of
10
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
THE FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY IN A NATURAL STATE.
Reproduced from the original water color made by Capt. S. Eastman probably about 1841, and now In the
possession of the Minneapolis Public Library. It is the oldest sketch made
by an artist and is regarded as reasonably accurate.
American rivers. It is true that for some
time navigation to the very doors of the
city was uncertain, that for many years it
has been interrupted altogether, and that
the development of railroads has apparently
reduced the proportional importance of riv
er transportation; but the principle has re
mained undisturbed and the sentimental ef
fect (by no means to be disregarded) has
been operative in all these years, and now
in 1908 a new realization of the importance
of water transportation and the near com
pletion of river improvements suggests that
this factor in the favorable location of the
city will once more be extremely active in
its development.
western end of Lake Superior, Minneapolis
has enjoyed the advantages of cheap trans
portation to the Atlantic seaboard, to an
equal extent with other cities situated on
the lakes. That is, goods can be laid down
in Minneapolis at practically the same cost
as in Chicago, Milwaukee and other points
some hundreds of miles further from the
consuming districts than this city. In the
same way flour and other agricultural prod
ucts may be sent to the eastern and foreign
markets under relatively advantageous
conditions. This fact has been of immense
significance and practical result in the com
mercial strategy of the northwest.
WATER TRANSPORTATION.
Many other interesting and important
conditions have entered into the solid foun
dation building of the city. For instance,
the immediate physical conformation of the
surface about the Falls of St. Anthony was
decidedly well adapted to city building. A
shallow basin surrounded by low hills gave
But while water transportation by river
has been to some extent a dormant influ
ence, water transportation through the sys
tem of the Great Lakes has been a most
potent factor in Minneapolis commercial
growth. Located within 150 miles of the
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS-
T H E FOUNDATIONS O F MINNEAPOLIS
v';
" A
•'
;
>
•
V
i'
Vs.'
4:<
11
"1
THE FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY AT THE PRESENT TIME.
This picturc gives but a partial view of the development of the water power and the mills and industries
centered about the falls. It is also impossible in a view of the falls to give any
adequate suggestion of
the presence of a city of
300,000 inhabitants.
ample room for wide streets, commercial
and manufacturing sites and charming resi
dence districts beyond. The surface was
sufficiently rolling to provide natural drain
age btit not so rough as to make improve
ments expensive. A subsoil of sand and
gravel was an element making both for
health and convenience in all matters of
city improvements both public and private.
Broad valleys and easy gradients invited the
entry of railroads. All the materials were
at hand for the building of mills and homes,
warehouses and railroads. An agreeable
climate and a most productive soil invited
settlement of both city and country.
AGRICULTURAL CONDITIONS.
Of the characteristics of the agricultural
conditions in the northwest a word must be
said in passing. It is now a well established
principle that any vegetable growth reaches
its highest development at or near the most
northerly limit at which it may be produced
at all. This was not understood when Min
neapolis was founded. It was, on the con
trary, generally believed that the agricul
tural possibilities of the northwest were
very limited both as to variety and quality.
The half century has disproved this theory,
and in this refutation has been one of the
most potent factors in Minneapolis growth.
The instance of wheat alone is sufficient as
an illustration. The first wheat for Minne
apolis mills was brought from the south.
Wheat growing in the northwest progressed
slowly. Southern winter wheat was not
adapted to northern conditions; the hard
spring wheat produced here was regarded
as inferior for flour making purposes. In
this matter there has been a complete revo
lution of belief. Hard northwestern spring
wheat is now well understood to contain
the most valuable food elements and with
improved methods of grinding makes the
best flour in the world. Other grains have
passed through somewhat similar transi-
12
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
tions in esteem; and in the matter of
grasses and forage crops it has been dem
onstrated that those grown in the north
have greater nutritive value than those
produced further south and that animals
fed on these products make better progress
in Minnesota than when eating the same
varieties of feed raised in more southerly
regions. And so from a region popularly
supposed half a century ago to be a halffrozen and nearly uninhabitable section of
the country there now issue forth each year
food supplies for many millions of people
—products which to a large extent find
their primary market at Minneapolis.
AN OPPORTUNE HISTORICAL MOMENT.
Still another stone in the foundation of
Minneapolis may be said to be that of op
portuneness. In no other half century of
history could such a city as Minneapolis
have been built. The city is the product
of the age of the greatest inventions known
to the world. At the time when the first
rude buildings were being erected about the
Falls of St. Anthony, the railroad—perhaps
the greatest force in modern civilization—
was in a state of crudity. The telegraph
was but a dream while the telephone, elec
tric light and all the other modern electrical
inventions were unthought of. Even the
application of steam power was in its in
fancy. The wonderful inventions of ma
chinery—from the sewing machine through
all the list of domestic and factory appli
ances and out again on to the farms to the
modern harvester and thresher—all these
were yet to be contributed to the comfort
and progress of the race. Practically all of
the inventions of machinery, implements
and processes which now are so much a
part of every day life as to be accepted as
necessities without a moment's considera
tion, had not then been conceived of even
in the brains of the brightest men. Since
1850 these things which we regard as com
mon necessities have been poured out to
the world in a never ceasing stream and
Minneapolis was founded just in time to
receive the forward impulse which the in
ventive half of the nineteenth century was
to bring to the world. And the young city
was in a position to receive the full benefit
of the movement. Its settlers were the
most enterprising members of the com
munities which they had left. The new
town had 110 traditions to set aside, no
customs of long standing to overthrow.
Things which were new and good were ac
cepted immediately. The spirit of the peo
ple was that of adaptability; it was their
habit to instantly avail themselves of any
thing which might be a stepping stone in
progress and there was almost no element
among the pioneers which represented the
prejudice and unwillingness to change al
ways found in older and more conservative
communities. So as the city grew it was
found in the front in the adaptation of the
inventions of the time and frequently—as in
the improvements in flour milling processes
—itself led the world in splendid inventive
achievement.
It is possible that Minneapolis, if it had
been founded twenty-five years earlier,
would have lost the full effect of the wave
of progress which so dominated its actual
settlement and earlier decades of history.
Other towns along the Mississippi river,
established some time before Mineapolis, seemed to miss the spirit of the day
and for many years lagged behind the pro
cession of progress. For some reason they
had become "set in their ways" and were
unable to adapt themselves to new ideas.
If therefore Minneapolis came into being at
a particularly auspicious moment in the
country's history, the city may have to
thank a procrastinating government for de
laying its birth. As will be told in a later
chapter, the actual settlement of the site of
Minneapolis was much delayed by the fail
ure of the government to push treaties with
the Indians and to open for settlement an
unnecessarily large military reservation.
CHARACTER OF THE PIONEERS.
It has been claimed by some of the older
residents of Minnesota that the state bene
fited greatly through the fact that its early
settlement took place coincidently with the
period of the gold excitement in California.
It was argued that the wilder and less sta
ble elements of western emigration at that
THE FOUNDATIONS OF MINNEAPOLIS
time naturally gravitated to the coast while
Minnesota attracted the more hardheaded
and far-seeing - . Further they argued, that
the lawless element went where the loose
government of the mining camps offered
opportunities for license while Minnesota
attracted the law-abiding. There is un
doubtedly much to uphold this theory. At
all events the early history of Minnesota
and especially of Minneapolis is peculiarly
free from accounts of law breaking and
crime. For some years after Minneapolis
was founded there was no prison of any
kind in the village and the erection of a
"lock-up" was regarded as almost an un
necessary expenditure of public funds. The
13
city was indeed fortunate in being settled
by men of high character who gave a tone
to the life of the settlement which was in
valuable as time went on in attracting the
right kind of people and became another
solid stone in its foundation.
These, briefly, are a few of the elements
of strength which entered into the founda
tion of Minneapolis. There have been
many other influences on the development
of the city's life and physical growth but
in those which have been mentioned are
found the most conspicuous reasons for the
wonderful progress from wilderness to
metropolis in less than the span of a human
life.
CHAPTER II
THE EARLY EXPLORERS
By Warren Upham, Secretary of the Minnesota
Historical Society
B
EFORE the first white men came to
make their homes within the area of
Minneapolis, it had an interesting
history during nearly two hundred years of
the early explorations and fur trade.
How long this region had been previously
occupied by the aboriginal • Indian tribes,
living by their hunting and fishing, their
rude agriculture, and the native products of
berries and wild rice, cannot be exactly as
certained; but they had been here many
centuries, apparently ever since the final
melting of the continental ice-sheet, at the
end of the Glacial period. Fragments of
artificially chipped quartz, and occasional
finished quartz implements, have been found
by Prof. N. H. Winchell, Miss Frances E.
Babbitt, Hon T. V. Brower, ana other col
lectors, in the Late Glacial sand and gravel
of the Mississippi valley plain at Little
Falls, about a hundred miles north of Min
neapolis, which are regarded as proof that
men, probably ancestors of the Indians of
today, were living there while the ice-sheet
was melting away from the upper Mississ
ippi basin and northern Minnesota. From
the rate of recession of the Falls of St. An
thony and the length of the Mississippi
river gorge between the mouth of the Min
nesota river and the present position of
these falls, Professor Winchell thirty years
ago computed that about 7,000 or 8,000
years have been required for the erosion of
this gorge, eight miles long, which time,
thus approximately determined, measures
also the Postglacial period here, since the
border of the ice-sheet was melted back past
the site of this city. So long, therefore, the
red men have probably lived here. Their
only historic memorials, however, are the
thousands of earth mounds, mostly used for
burial, which are found near lakes and
rivers through all this region, excepting
north of the Great Lakes. The oldest of
these mounds may have been made not long
after the Ice age; but others were made
doubtless during all the long time until the
white men came, for Catlin noted that a
burial mound was built near the Red Pipe
stone Quarry in southwestern Minnesota
about two years before his visit there in
1836.'
The first white man who came to the
mouth of Lake Superior and advanced be
yond Lake Michigan into central Wiscon
sin, was Jean Nicolet, in the autumn and
winter of 1634-35, coming by the canoe
route from the French settlements on the
River St. Lawrence.
FIRST WHITE MEN IN MINNESOTA.
Only twenty years later Groseilliers and
Radisson, coming also by canoes from Que
bec and Montreal, appear to have been the
first explorers to cross the area of Wis
consin and reach that of Minnesota. The
narratives of their far western expeditions,
written by Radisson, who called them "voy
ages," came into the possession of the Bod
leian Library, at Oxford University, but
remained practically unknown to historians
during more than two hundred years, until
in 1885 they were published by the Prince
Society of Boston. By that publication
these two French fur traders were made
known to the world as the first Europeans
to reach the upper Mississippi river and to
traverse parts of this state, probably cross
ing the area of this city.
In their first western expedition, leaving
the lower St. Lawrence in August, 1654,
Groseilliers and Radisson spent the next
THE EARLY EXPLORERS
iifel.
ROUTES OF GHOSIUUERS AND RADISSOU, 1655-S6MD J6S9
MAP
SHOWING
i
15
1
held 011 Prairie Island. With difficulty'
Groseilliers and Radisson persuaded tjiem
to undertake a large expedition to Montreal
and Quebec, braving the expected attacks
of the Iroquois. They left Prairie Island
late in June, or about the first of July, and
reached Lower Canada late in August,
bringing furs of great value.
THE
TRAVELS OF
RADISSON.
so.
GROSEILLIERS
AND
From the Minnesota Historical Society Collections.
winter among the Indian tribes in the region
of Mackinac and Green Bay. The narra
tion relates, if I understand it rightly, that
in the early spring of 1655, accompanied by
about a hundred and fifty Indians, they
traveled with snowshoes across southern
Wisconsin to the Mississippi river near the
site of Prairie du Chien, spent three weeks
in building boats, and ascended the Missis
sippi river to Prairie Island, between Red
Wing and Hastings, arriving there about
the first of May. Groseilliers stayed on the
island through the summer and autumn,
superintending the Indians in raising and
storing corn; but Radisson went with a
hunting party of the Indians, journeying
southward to the Illinois river, and spent
four months in going "from river to river."
About the middle of June in 1656, a coun
cil of more than eight hundred Indians was
Three years afterward, in August, 1659,
Groseilliers and Radisson, with a company
of Ojibways and other Indians, started on
their second western expedition, in which
they probably passed by the future sit^s of
Minneapolis and St. Paul. They spent
twenty-two days in canoe travel, by the Ot
tawa and Mattawa rivers and Lake Nipissing, to Georgian bay; stopped a few days
for rest at the Sault Ste. Marie; and coasted
along the south shore of Lake Superior to
Chequamegon bay, arriving there probably
near the end of September. Thence th^y
marched four days southward through the
woods to a lake about eight leagues in cir
cuit, probably Lac Court Oreille, in north
ern Wisconsin, where a council of the Hurons, Menominees, and other Indians, was
held, with bestowal of gifts. After the first
snowfall, late in October or nearly in No
vember, the Indians separated to provide
food by hunting.
.;
Early in January, 1660, the Hurons, and
Groseilliers and Radisson, came together at
an appointed rendezvous, a small lake, prob
ably Knife Lake or some other in its vicini
ty, in Kanabec county, Minnesota. A ter
rible famine ensued, caused by deep snow
fall and consequent difficulty of hunting and
killing game.
After the famine, twenty-four Sioux came
to bring presents for Groseilliers and Radis
son, and eight days were occupied with
feasting. The Hurons, and delegations
from eighteen tribes or bands of the Sioux,
then met at a prairie or clearing chosen near
the former rendezvous, apparently in the
neighborhood of Knife Lake. Ceremonial
feasting, athletic trials of strength and skill,
singing, dancing, and bestowal of gifts, oc
cupied the next three weeks; and a large
party of Crees, being specially invited,
joined in the later part of this great celebra-
16
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
tion of alliance with the French. This took
place in the second half of March and be
ginning of April.
ON THE SITE OF MINNEAPOLIS.
During April and May, Groseilliers and
Radisson visited the Prairie Sioux, probably
on the Minnesota river, traveling thither
probably afoot by way of the Rum river,
twenty-six days in coming down from Lake
Superior. They brought, as in 1656, a very
valuable freight of furs. The governor of
Canada, Argenson, reprimanded them for
going 011 this expedition without his au
thority, and imposed very heavy fines, so
that Groseilliers went to France to plead
for redress, but in vain.
The later history of these adventurous
HENNEPIN AND ACCAULT AT THE FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY.
COPYRIGHT 1906 BY UOUGLAS VOLK
From the painting by Douglas Voik in the Minnesota State Capitol. (By permission.)
and down the Mississippi, but passing south
to the Minnesota, by way of the series of
lakes in the west part of Minneapolis, and
returning, with a company of Ojibway trad
ers in canoes, by the Minnesota, Mississippi,
and St. Croix rivers. They reached Chequamegon bay in the later part of May.
Soon after the first of June, they crossed
the west end of Lake Superior, apparently
about twenty or twenty-five miles east of
Duluth, visiting the Crees near the site of
Two Harbors.
With a great escort, three hundred or
more of the Indians in sixty canoes, Groseil
liers and Radisson arrived at Montreal on
the 19th of August, 1660, having spent
brothers-in-law includes their renunciation
of allegiance to France, the transfer of their
service to English merchants, and leader
ship in the grand enterprise of opening and
establishing the Hudson Bay Company's
fur trade.
In the summer of 1673, eighteen years
after Groseilliers' corn-raising on Prairie
Island, the devoted missionary, Marquette,
and his companion, Joliet, who was in com
mand of the party, with five other French-'
men, in birch bark canoes, voyaged down
the Wisconsin river to its mouth, and
thence down the Mississippi to the vicinity
of the mouth of the Arkansas river. During
more than two centuries they were regarded
THE EARLY EXPLORERS
17
as the first, excepting De Soto, to explore
the Mississippi. They returned along the
placid Illinois river, and across the short
portage to Lake Michigan near the site of
Chicago; and Marquette wrote in the high
est praise of the beauty of that region.
About a week later, Hennepin was over
taken, before reaching the Wisconsin river,
by some of the Isanti warriors, who them
selves went forward to the mouth of the
Wisconsin in hope to meet the French and
seize their goods, but found no one there.
HENNEPIN'S TRAVELS.
DU LUTTI WITH HENNEPIN AT THE FALLS.
The two most noteworthy explorers con
nected with the history of Minneapolis were
Hennepin and Nicolet, separated from each
other by a hundred and fifty-six years.
La Salle, who in 1682 voyaged from the
Illinois river down the Mississippi to its
mouth, had two years earlier sent a party
of three Frenchmen to explore the upper
course of this river. The party consisted of
Accault, the leader; Auguelle, who was a
native of Picardy; and Louis Hennepin, a
Franciscan missionary, who became the his
torian of the expedition. Starting from La
Salle's Fort Crfvecoeur the 28th day of Feb
ruary, 1680, and taking in their canoe about
a thousand pounds of goods for presents
among the tribes that they would meet, they
paddled down the Illinois river to its mouth
and thence up the Mississippi.
When Hennepin and his companions had
spent nearly a month in the upward journey,
they were met by a war party of Dakota or
Sioux Indians in thirty-three canoes, who
made the Frenchmen captives, and, turning
back, brought them up the river to the
vicinity of the present city of St. Paul.
There leaving the river, they went by land
northward to the villages of this Isanti tribe
in the region of Mille Lacs, where they ar
rived early in May and were kept in cap
tivity until the beginning of July.
Afterward they hunted buffalo and start
ed again up the Mississippi, when, late in
July, they met Du Luth and several French
soldiers, who had come from Lake Superior
by the canoe route of the Brule and St.
Croix rivers. They all then came back to
the Isanti villages at Mille Lacs, where Du
Luth the previous year had met these sav
ages in council and endeavored to inform
them of the benefits they must receive in
trading with the French. Du Luth sharply
reprimanded the savages for their captivity
of Hennepin and his companions, and in
the autumn, on the pretense of bringing
goods to establish' a trading post, Du Luth,
Hennepin, and other Frenchmen, were al
lowed to depart, voyaging from Mille Lacs
down the Rum river' (called the St. Francis
by Hennepin) t and the Mississippi to the
Wisconsin river, and thence up that stream
and over portages to Green bay. - For this
journey, which passed St. Anthony Falls
and the site of Minneapolis, the chief of the
Isanti tribe traced the route on a paper and
marked its portages, this being probably the
earliest mapping of any part of Minnesota.
THE FALLS NAMED.
Permission was then given to Hennepin
and the Pickard to return in a canoe down
the Mississippi to the mouth of the Wiscon
sin river, where they hoped to find a rein
forcement of Frenchmen, with ammunition
and other goods, which La Salle had prom
ised to send. Meanwhile Accault was left
in captivity. On this return voyage, Hen
nepin and his comrade, Auguelle, passed the
Falls of St. Anthony, to which Hennepin
gave this name in honor of his patron saint.
LATER EXPLORERS.
At some time about five to ten years after
these journeys of Hennepin and Du Luth
past this city area, Le Sueur, and probably
Charleville with him, made a canoe trip far
up the Mississippi river, apparently to
Sandy Lake. They learned from the In
dians at the limit of their journey that the
sources of this great river were still far dis
tant, consisting of many small streams and
lakes.
Later the Mississippi here was a frequent
route of fur traders, and explorers came oc
casionally to or past the Falls of St. An
thony. Prof. N. PI. Winchell, the state ge
ologist, in his report on this county, dis
cusses in much detail the testimony of these
18
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
explorers concerning the recession of the
falls, citing, after Hennepin, the description
given by Carver in November, 1766, Pike,
coming to the upper Mississippi and return
ing in 1805 and 1806, Long in 1817, School
craft in 1820, Keating and Beltrami in 1823,
Boutwell and Schoolcraft again in 1832,
Featherstonhaugh in 1835, a n d Nicolet in
T 836-
NICOLET'S GREAT WORK.
Last and greatest of these, in his service
of geographic exploration, was Nicolet,
who is forever to be held in remembrance
and association with Hennepin, in the
names of the two finest business avenues of
JEAN N. NICOLET.
Reproduced from a photograph of an ivory painting
presented to the Minnesota Historical Society by
. Maj. Taliaferro in 1867.
(1836)
this city. His final map of the region that
now comprises Minnesota and the eastern
parts of North and South Dakota, pub
lished in 1843, shortly after his death, is a
marvel of accuracy, although prepared at
that early time when the area of our state
had no village, excepting Grand Portage,
the settlement of the fur trading companies
on the north shore of Lake Superior, and
excepting also the village of the Ojibways
at the narrows of Red Lake and a few
groups of Dakota tepees on the Minnesota
and Mississippi rivers.
Joseph Nicolas Nicolet was born July 24,
1786, at Cluses, in Savoy; completed his
studies in Paris, where, in 1817, he became
an officer of the astronomical observatory;
in 1819 he became a citizen of France, and
in 1825, or earlier, received the Cross of
the Legion of Honor. He was financially
ruined by results of the Revolution of 1830,
and came to the United States in 1832, to
travel in unsettled parts of the South and
West. Here his talent for geographic work
was soon recognized and brought to the
knowledge of the United States War De
partment and Bureau of Topographical En
gineers. Under their aid and direction, he
made extensive exploring trips in the North
west, including a canoe journey from Fort
Snelling up the Mississippi, and by portages
beyond Leech Lake, to Itasca Lake, thence
returning down the whole course of the
Mississippi to the fort, in 1836, and a trip
up the Minnesota river and past Lake
Shetek to the Red Pipestone Ouarry in 1838.
He died in Washington, D. C., September
11, 1843.
In the United States government reports
and maps of his work, his name appears
varyingly as I. N. or J. N. Nicolet; and it
is given as Jean N. by Gen. Sibley, Dr.
Neill, Prof. N. H. Winchell, and other
writers of Minnesota history. Researches
by Horace V. Winchell, however, in 1893
(published in the American Geologist for
February, 1894) show that his name was
Joseph Nicolas, as before noted.
On July 26th to the 29th, 1836, Nicolet
and his exploring party and Ojibway es
cort were in camp at the Falls of St. An
thony, which he also doubtless examined at
many later times during his visits at Fort
Snelling. In March, 1839, he made exact
surveys of the falls and their vicinity, be
lieving that the rate of recession of the falls
would become a question of much interest.
As was noted at the beginning of this chap
ter, it is indeed found so by geologists, who
therefrom, and from the similar recession
of Niagara Falls, have computed approxi
mately the duration of the present geologic
period, since the end of the Ice age.
CHAPTER!III
FROM SAVAGERY TO CIVILIZATION
D
URING the two centuries from the
discovery of the Falls of St. An
thony to the organization of the
state of Minnesota, the lands adjacent to
the falls passed through many claims of
ownership and governmental jurisdiction.
Not counting the original Indian occupants,
the ground on which Minneapolis stands
has belonged to four great nations and has
been a part of nine state or territorial divi
sions. France originally claimed the entire
Mississippi valley and supported its claim
by exploration and partial settlement. The
overwhelming preponderance of French
names (or corruptions of French names) in
the earlier nomenclature of the region tes
tifies to the diligence of the French explor
ers. The defeat of France in Canada and
the British occupation in 1760 brought the
country east of the Mississippi river under
English control and that west of the river
was ceded by France to Spain in 1763.
With the success of the United States in
the Revolution, the British territory became
the property of the new nation while twenty
years later the Louisiana Purchase brought
the western banks of the Mississippi under
; the same government. As Minneapolis lies
|upon both sides of the river it occupies
[ ground that has been the property at differ
ent times of Spain, France, Great Britian
and the United States.
At the close of the Revolution the eastern
bank of the Mississippi in the northwest
was claimed by Virginia but the land was
soon relinquished to the United States and
shortly afterwards the Northwest Territory
was formed from the United States posses
sions west of the Alleghanies and north
of the Ohio river. Subsequent divisions
brought the eastern bank of the Mississippi
river at St. Anthony Falls under the juris
diction of Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and
Wisconsin territories. In a similar process
of political division the west bank of the
Falls followed the territorial fortunes of
Louisiana, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin
and Iowa. Had ever a city better claims
for cosmopolitan origin?
THE DAYS OF THE TRADERS.
Through all this period, however, the
changes had more geographical than gov
ernmental significance. There was, in fact,
no one to govern except the Indians who
remained in undisturbed possession of their
lands until the beginning of the last cen
tury. Practically no attempts at the exer-s
cise of governmental authority were made
until the creation of the territory of Minne-|
sota in 1849.
the earlier days govern-!
ment, so far as the aboriginal inhabitants
were concerned, was represented by the fur
JONATHAN CARVER.
From an old portrait,
20
CAKVEli S SKETCH OF THE FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY.
Reproduced from the original plate in Carver's Travels published in Dublin in 1779.
engraving of the falls.
traders and the principal interest of the
white men wais in the quantity of furs which
might be brought out of the region at the
least expenditure of property and human
life—the latter frequently the least in con
sideration. In the absence of civil authori
ty the fur companies and their representa
tives exercised a sort of pseudo-governmental control which was, on the whole, prob
ably much better than nothing at all. The
power obtained by the fur traders, however,
was the cause of much difficulty later, the
rival claims of British and American com
panies being for a time a matter of as much
moment, proportionally, as questions of fish
eries and sealing rights in later days.
CARVER'S TRAVELS.
It was the hope of securing valuable trade
which led to the first English explorations
of this region. Soon after the French ces
sion Jonathan Carver of Massachusetts
traveled through the upper Mississippi val
ley and in 1766 visited the Falls of St. An
thony. His sketch of the falls was the first
made and the first to be engraved; facts
This
is the
earliest
which give it interest notwithstanding its
crudity and manifest inaccuracy. In 1783
the famed Northwest Compam* was or
ganized and for many years was in almost
absolute possession of the trade of the
region west of Lake Michigan, though con
stantly contesting its ground at the north
with the British traders, who, taking advan
tage of the uncertainty as to the boundaries
and the remoteness of authority, continu
ally invaded American territory.
In these days of accurate geographical
knowledge it is quite difficult to realize the
crudity of northwestern chorography in the
early days of the republic. At the close of
the Revolution there were very indefinite
ideas as to the boundaries of the regions
which the United States had acquired and
as late as 1795, as will be seen by the accom
panying map published in Philadelphia, the
conception of the arrangement of the phys
ical features of the northwest was extreme
ly vague.
Although the Great Lakes had been fre
quented by the French for more than a cen
tury, the English and the American Colo-
FROM SAVAGERY TO CIVILIZATION
nials had profited little in geographical
knowledge by the explorations. The distorted outlines of the lakes in this map sug;"est not only an absence of any recent ex-
21
a more westerly source. The coal mine
shown near the mouth of the St. Peters (or
Minnesota) was probably inserted in the
map on the authority of some trader or voy-
c
Be i
s»A»TKwt» *•»' VJ. f
3 " C- X t c
\u
OUPoae^oj
jmseon~2i-
^V7W.7£imiT0RY
L,*.. W.
tkeXjuck.
Tkil-ul*
AN EARLY IDEA OF
NORTHWESTERN GEOGRAPHY.
Prom Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of America, by permission of the publishers, Houghton Mifflin & Co.,
originally published in Scott's Gazetteer, 1795.
plorations or surveys but also failure to
make use of the data which must have been
in the hands of the Frenchmen. As to
the vicinity of Minneapolis it will be no
ticed that the falls are indicated at the
junction of two streams—one the "Lake
river," flowing from Red Lake, while the
Mississippi proper is shown to come from
ageur who wished to embellish his story
of adventure with a color of practical dis
covery of mineral wealth.
MILITARY OCCUPATION.
.
Interest in the Upper Mississippi became
pronounced immediately upon the comple
tion of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and
22
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
in 1805 Capt. Zebulon M. Pike of the United
States army headed the first American mili
tary expedition which reached the Falls of
St. Anthony. Pike negotiated a treaty with
the Sioux by which the United States ac
quired a military reservation between the
Mississippi and Minnesota rivers including
the sites of Fort Snelling and Minneapolis.
The exact extent of the reservation seems
to have been quite indefinite and the boun
daries were never accurately defined until
after the Indian lands east of the Mississ
ippi had been ceded in 1837. This led to
misunderstandings and contentions and was
the cause of much bitter feeling in later
years. Had the government followed up
Pike's treaty with exact surveys much
trouble would have been avoided. The
finally established line of the reservation,
as far as it affected Minneapolis, was that
of the western boundary which crossed from
the Minnesota to the Mississippi river west
of Lakes Harriet, Calhoun and Lake of the
Isles arid reached the river at a point near
Bassett's creek. This brought within the
reservation- all of what is now the central
business and' v residenee section of the city.
Pike also visited many of the poaching fur
ZEBULON MONTGOMERY PIKE.
From Winsor's Narrative and Critical History of America by
permission of the publishers, Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
• MRS. CHARLOTTE O. VAN CLEVE.
Identffied with Minneapolis from 1819 when she was brought to
Fort Snelling, an infant, by her parents Lieut, and
Mrs. Nathan Clark.
traders and expelled them or secured prom
ises of allegiance. Difficulties among the
traders continued, however, for many years.
Not long after Pike's expedition the sec
ond war with Great Britain broke out and
the attention of government and the military
department was diverted from the north
west and it was not until 1817 that an offi
cial representative of the United States
visited the Falls. In this year Major
Stephen H. Long of the Engineer Corps
ascended the river and on his return gave a
very complete description of the locality
about the Falls of St. Anthony and of the
Falls themselves, Avhjch he referred to as
"a majestic cataract."
In 1819 the government determined to es
tablish a military post on the reservation
secured by Capt. Pike and during the sum
mer of that year an expedition arrived at
the mouth of the Minnesota river.' Next
year Fort Snelling was commenced. This
was an event of much moment to the future
FROM SAVAGERY TO CIVILIZATION
Minneapolis. Fort Snelling was within
eight miles of St. Anthony Falls and no one
who reached the post on military or civic
errand failed to visit the falls. In this way
the fame of the locality and its possibilities
as the site of a future city became widely
known; while on the other hand, the pres
ence of a garrison insured a certain degree
of safety to intending settlers.
Occupation by the white men was de
ferred, however, on account of the con
tinued possession of the lands by the In-
23
being a part of the Fort Snelling military
reservation. It thus came about that Min
neapolis, though standing on the most ad
vantageous site for a city in the whole re
gion, was retarded in development until
practically the whole state of Minnesota
had been opened to the immigrant.
WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.
Just what might have been the result
of different action on the part of the gov
ernment it is now impossible to determine
OLD FORT SNELLING.
From a Daguerreotype made in early days and believed to be the earliest photographic view in existence.
dians. It was not until 1837 that Gov.
Dodge's treaty opened the way for settle
ment east of the Mississippi; while the
country west of the river was not secured
until 1851 when the famous treaties of Tra
verse Des Sioux and Mendota obtained for
the settler all of what is now southern and
central Minnesota.
The way for the settlement of a great
state had now been opened by successive
treaties but the site of the larger part of
Minneapolis—on the western bank of the
Mississippi—still remained unavailable, it
but it is obvious that a change in the
chronological order of the land openings
would have made a vast difference in later
urban development in this locality. The es
tablishment of the Fort Snelling military
reservation at an early date prevented set
tlement on the west bank of the Mississippi
at the Falls of St. Anthony and Indian
rights delayed settlement on the east bank
until 1837 and on the west bank outside the
military reservation until 1851. This order
of events led to the settlement of St. Paul,
on the east side of the river, in 1838, where-
24
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
THE TREATY OF TRAVERSE DES SIOUX.
Reproduced from the painting by Frank B. Mayer (owned by the Minnesota Historical Society) from his original
,
sketches made during the councils and treaty in 3851.
as the logical location for the new town was
at Mendota on the west bank where Gen.
H. H. Sibley had built his trading house
some years earlier. But Mendota was shut
off by lack of a treaty until 1851 by which
time St. Paul had made such progress that
competition was out of the question. But,
had the upper part of the military reserva
tion been opened for settlement in 1821
when Fort Snelling was founded neither
Mendota nor St. Paul would have been
thought of. Settlement would have been
made naturally between the Fort and the
Falls and by the time the Indian treaties
were made in 1837 and 1851 the site of the
only city in the vicinity would have been
irrevocably determined. Had the reserva
tion been opened as thus suggested the early
Minneapolis would have stretched along the
west river bank from Minnehaha to the
Falls of St. Anthony with scant occupation
of the "east side." And if a settlement had
been made later at the site of St. Paul it
would, in all probability, never have at
tained much importance. There would have
been a great administrative and commercial
economy through the concentration of in
terests in one city rather than a dissipation
of energy and expenditure between two
places but opinions will probably differ as
to the desirability of such concentration as
opposed to the advantages of competition
and rivalry.
CHAPTER IV
THE PERIOD OF EARLY SETTLEMENT
T
HE exact date of a city's birth is not
always easily determined. There is
often a choice between the date of
the erection of the first temporary dwelling
or camp and the first permanent settlement.
And these dates are frequently confused by
changes and extensions of boundaries which
in later days bring within the city limits
places or buildings not originally considered.
Minneapolis enjoys a full measure of uncer
tainty surrounding its birthday.
• It has been customary to fix the date of
the beginning of this city at the time of the
erection of Col. John H. Stevens' dwelling
in 1849; but the old government mill of 1820
was undoubtedly the first structure built
by white men within the present limits of
Minneapolis. This mill was built by the
soldiers stationed at Fort Snelling to supply
lumber for the post and was in no sense a
settlement. It stood upon a government
military reservation, and no one had the
right to settle in the vicinity. A dwelling
was erected, however, in connection with
the mill for the use of the soldiers detailed
to the care of the place and here a soldier
lived with his wife during some of the early
years. Near the mill was the. farm where
grain was raised and cattle pastured for the
use of the post.
with the most complete consecration to
their difficult work. Obtaining the permis
sion of the commandant at Fort Snelling
they built their log house on the high bluff
overlooking Lake Calhoun from the east
on a spot afterwards occupied for years by
a summer hotel, and now the site of a
beautiful home. The eligibility of the site
in the eyes of the Ponds was in the fact
that it adjoined an Indian village which
occupied the ground lying between Lakes
Calhoun and Harriet. At about the time
of its erection one of the brothers drew a
rough chart of the region about the falls
and fort which is probably the earliest map
THE PONDS AT LAKE CALHOUN.
The second building to be erected on
ground now within the limits of Minneapolis
was the rude log hut of the Pond brothers
at Lake Calhoun. Samuel W. Pond and
I Gideon H. Pond arrived at Fort Snelling in
[ the spring of 1834 with the purpose of
engaging in missionary work among the
Indians. They were young men, reared
in a Connecticut home and with no experi
ence in the hardships of frontier life, but
rm<zSe
*
THE FIRST MAP OP MINNEAPOLIS.
Sketch of the vicinity of the Falls of St. Anthony and Fort
Snelling, drawn by Rev. S. W. Pond in 1834. Reproduced by
permission from "Two Volunteer Missionaries Among
the Dakotas," by S. W. Pond, Jr.
26
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
on November 22, 1838. With the removal
of the Indians from the reservation in 1840
the mission buildings became useless and
they were torn down and the lumber used
in the construction of new buildings on
the Minnesota river.
EARLY SQUATTER CLAIMS.
As yet no permanent settlement had been
made. The land upon the west bank of the
Mississippi still remained a part of the Fort
Snelling military reservation and until 1837
that on the east side was unceded by the
Indians. In 1836 Major Plympton, an of
ficer stationed at Fort Snelling, made a
claim on the east side of the falls and put
up a log cabin, but as the lands were not
open for settlement the claim had no value.
A similar claim was made in the following
year by Sergeant Carpenter. But during
1837 the Dodge treaty was made, by which
the Chippewa lands between the Mississippi
and St. Croix rivers were ceded, and squat
ter claims at once gave promise of being
effective. The news of the treaty did not
REV. S. W. POND.
of the district now comprised in Minne
apolis. About five years later the cabin at
Calhoun was pulled down to furnish log:;
for an Indian defense against expected
enemies. In 1908 a tablet commemorating
the Ponds and their work was erected in
the vicinity of the original site of the cabin.
STEVENS AT LAKE HARRIET.
In 1835, one year-after the Ponds' arrival,
the Rev. J. D. Stevens came to Minnesota
as a missionary to the Indians and selected
a location on the northwestern shore of
Lake Harriet where two buildings were
erected. These structures—a mission house
and a school—stood but a short distance
from the site of the present amusement
pavilion. The school was the first building
in Minnesota erected for educational pur
poses. At the old mission house occurred
the first wedding within the present limits
of Minneapolis—that of the Rev. S. W.
Pond to Miss Cordelia Eggleston, a sisterin-law of the Rev. Mr. Stevens. This was
REV. GIDEON H. POND.
THE PERIOD OF EARLY SETTLEMENT
reach Fort Snelling until June 18, 1838;
and then occurred the first "land rush" in
Minnesota. The contestants were few but
the outcome was momentous for Minne
apolis. Franklin Steele, then sutler at Fort
Snelling, outstripped his competitors and
making a night march to the falls had a rude
cabin erected and a claim staked out when
the other would-be town site promoters
arrived on the ground.
FRANKLIN STEELE'S INFLUENCE.
It was extremely fortunate for the coming
city that this particular claim fell into the
hands of such a man as Mr. Steele. Of
much more than ordinary ability, of good
family, and with social and business con
nections among the prominent people of
his native state of Pennsylvania, Mr. Steele
came west, at the suggestion of President
Jackson, with the purpose of building up
his fortunes in what he believed to be a
part of the country offering great oppor
tunities. His appointment as sutler came
from President Van Buren. In those days
this position was regarded as one offering
excellent opportunities for young men in
the new country where army posts were
established; and a sutler, if a man of merit,
was .on a social equality with the officers
with whom he was associated. Mr. Steele,
in accepting the position, had a definite
purpose. And this he accomplished through
the claim at the Falls of St. Anthony and
his subsequent remarkable business achieve
ments in the development of the water
power and manufactures, and in commercial
enterprises and real estate investment. Col.
John H. Stevens says of him: "At the
commencement of my acquaintance with
Mr. Steele (1849) he w a s the foremost busi
ness man in this part of the northwest.
His numerous enterprises were distributed
from the head of Lake Superior to the Iowa
line and from the Mississippi to the Mis
souri. Gentlemanly and generous, every
member of the community was his friend."
It was a man of this type who had much
to do with the destinies of Minneapolis.
For the next decade Mr. Steele could
make little progress with his claim at the
Falls; for the government, although owning
27
the land, delayed in opening it for legal
entry. Through this period Mr. Steele's
title was only that of a squatter, maintained
by actual occupation and defense against
claim jumpers. For years he hired a sub
stitute to "hold down" his claim and in
several instances the owner was obliged to
buy off trespassers who had slipped in and
taken possession during the absence of the
rightful occupant. But Mr. Steele was the
kind of man to maintain his position. The
year 1847 found him still in possession, and
at last he paid the government fees and
obtained undisputed title.
PIERRE BOTTINEAU.
Meanwhile there had been many other
claims made and lost in the vicinity. Car
penter's claim of 1837 seems to have been
recognized by later comers for he sold it
in 1838 and it passed through various hands
until it was purchased by Pierre Bottineau
in 1846. This claim lay immediately north
of Mr. Steele's, but like all the early claims,
was quite indefinite as to boundaries. Bot
tineau, though living in Minneapolis but a
comparatively short time, was one of the
most interesting characters connected with
the early history of the city, and was very
widely known throughout the northwest.
Born in 1817 at a trading post on the Da
kota prairies of a French father and Indian
mother, he grew up a hunter and plains
man by inheritance and training. At a very
early age he became a guide and until the
railroads penetrated the northwest con
ducted many of the prominent parties of
explorers and prospectors. After his mar
riage in 1836 he spent more time in the
settlements for a while and in 1845 came
to the Falls, living in the village until 1854
when he moved to a farm in Hennepin
county. A man of sterling character, ener
getic, and of rare ability as a plainsman,
he made and held many friends, and during
the early days was one of the prominent
men of the community. In fact, when the
east bank of the Mississippi was finally
opened for legal entry of land, he, with Mr.
Steele, held the entire river frontage in the
vicinity of the Falls. Claims had also been
made by Joseph Rondo, Petit John, and
28
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
:•• j
'
jtaLz*
m
'
~ ';3S*
THE GOVERNMENT MILLS OF 1820-3.
Reproduced from the painting by James Fairman in the Minnesota Historical Society Galleries.
others and there 'was more or less trading
in the uncertain titles of these squatters,
but the transfers were questionable as to
legality, the considerations small, and the
effects upon the development of the future
village inconsequential. The Petit John
claim covered the present site of the Uni
versity of Minnesota. At one time it was
owned by Bottineau but later came into the
hands of Calvin A. Tuttle, one of the early
pioneers. Immediately below this was a
claim made by Pascal and Sauverre St.
Martin, two brothers of Canadian French
birth. Their land included a part of the
present University campus and extended
down the river rather indefinitely. This
land afterwards became the property of Wil
liam A. Cheever and Judge B. B. Meeker.
PIONEERS OF '47 AND '48.
Previous to 1847 all the claims about the
Falls of St. Anthony were occupied only
by half-breeds or Canadian French. Even
Franklin Steele continued to live at Fort
Snelling and employed the woodsmen or
voyageurs to hold his claim. Several au
thorities credit Charles Wilson with being
the first American settler, but Wilson seems
to have made his home at Fort Snelling.
He was employed as a teamster by Franklin
Steele and does not appear to have made
any claim of land. In June of 1847 William
A. Cheever arrived from Boston and pur
chased the claim already mentioned. He
was soon followed by others—Calvin A.
Tuttle, Sumner W. Farnham, Caleb D.
Dorr, Luther Patch and his son Edward,
John Rollins, Charles W. Stimpson, Daniel
Stanchfield, John McDonald, Samuel Ferrald, Robert W. Cummings, J. M. Marshall,
Wm. R. Marshall (who afterwards became
governor) and R. P. Russell. The last men
tioned had been a trader at Fort Snelling
for several years, and he became the first
merchant of Minneapolis through the open
ing of a small stock of goods at the Falls
in 1848. This store was in one of the rooms
of the house occupied by Luther Patch and
his family, and Mr. Russell shortly after
wards married Miss Marian Patch, their
wedding being the first to be celebrated on
the east side of the river.
MANUFACTURING BEGINS.
As soon as he secured title to his lands
Mr. Steele set about improving the water
•
.
-.;r
30
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
power. He sent to Maine for Ard. God
frey to build a dam and sawmill, but with
characteristic energy, commenced opera
tions before the millwright's arrival. The
lower end of Nicollet Island was denuded
of a grove of elms and maples, and timber
was hewed out by hand to construct the
dam and mill frame. Other timber was
brought down the river in the spring, and
early in the year 1848 the first merchant
sawmill at the Falls of St. Anthony was put
in operation. This was the signal for a
rapid growth of the village. The settlers
of the previous year had been obliged to
build log houses or haul their lumber over
land from the St. Croix river. The govern
ment sawmill on the west side had supplied
a little lumber, but its capacity was very
limited. During this year of 1848 such men
as Bradley B. Meeker, Anson Northrup,
John W. North, S. W. Farnham, Washing
ton Getchell and Dr. John H. Murphy, all
later prominent in the young city, arrived
at the Falls. Surveys were commenced and
PIERRE BOTTINEAU.
plans for a city discussed among the prom
inent settlers. Investigations of the pine
lands north and northwest were made; the
agricultural possibilities of the country were
looked into and the probabilities of the
opening of the region west of the Missis
sippi river sifted.
Upon such opening
depended the future of the village at the
Falls. The lands upon the east side of the
river were not regarded as of as much agri
cultural value as those on the west; and
on the east there were already the settle
ments at St. Paul and Stillwater—rival mar
kets for the coming settlers. It was to the
west that a tributary farming country must
be developed.
COL. STEVENS ARRIVES.
The earlier settlers cast longing eyes at
the immediate bank of the Mississippi on
the west—still a prohibited country, it will
be remembered, on account of the arbitrary
maintenance of the military reservation by
the government. This west shore was the j.
most natural site for the city. Beyond it
lay the beautiful country, stretching away
towards the west—the now famous "park
region" of Minnesota—fertile, well watered
and offering subsistence for hundreds of
thousands. The first successful attempt to
obtain a foothold on the west side was made
by the Hon. Robert Smith of Alton, 111.,
who through political influence obtained
permission to occupy the old government
mill and the house connected with it. Mr.
Smith secured possession in May, 1849, but
never lived on the property in person. Some
time later he sent a representative who acted
as miller; and by further exercise of influ
ence he was enabled after a few years to
secure a claim of land. In the meantime
there had arrived at the Falls of St. Anthony
a young man of twenty-nine, coming of
sturdy New England ancestry, trained in
the school of self-reliance in the new West,
and seasoned in the Mexican war—a born
pioneer and promoter. This was John H.
Stevens, known to the older people of Min
neapolis as "Colonel Stevens." He was of
the type of men who spend their lives in
the promotion of the interests of the many—
the builders who build for the love of build-
THE PERIOD OF EARLY SETTLEMENT
ing, not for the hope of gain. Like many
others since, Col. Stevens came to the north
west in search of health. It was his pur
pose to take up land and become a farmer.
He reached St. Paul on April 24th, 1849,
and came to the Falls of St. Anthony three
days later, on his way up the Mississippi
river to select lands. His party proceeded
some distance up the river, but finding no
lands to their liking returned to St. Paul,
and some of the members went back to their
eastern homes. But Col. Stevens remained
and entered the employment of Franklin
Steele in his business establishment at Fort
Snelling. Within a month a plan for mak
ing a claim on the west side at the Falls
was arranged, and during that summer the
consent of the Secretary of War was ob
tained and Col. Stevens formally occupied
the land lying immediately north of the
Smith claim on the west shore. During
the succeeding fall he commenced the erec
tion of his house and completed and occu
pied it on August 6th, 1850.
THE STEVENS HOUSE.
This first permanent dwelling in Minne
apolis proper was a story-and-a-half frame
structure with a wing of one story—a sim
ple and unpretentious farm house, built as
a home for a young married couple, and
without a thought of the varied purposes
for which it would be used, or that it would
be preserved in a public park in after years,
as a relic of the early days of a great city.
When it was built its owner had no title to
the land on which it stood. He simply had
permission from the Secretary of War to
occupy the land on condition that he main
tained a free ferry across the Mississippi
river for government troops and supplies.
There was, of course, the understanding
that if the lands west of the river were ever
thrown open for settlement, Col. Stevens'
claim would be recognized; but for six
years he had not a line of writing supporting
any claim of ownership.
But Franklin Steele, Col. Stevens and
other leading men in the settlement were in
touch with influential men at Washington,
and it soon became evident that it would
be the policy of congress to reduce the
size of the military reservation; while a
31
treaty with the Indians for the cession of
their whole country west of the Mississippi
river in Minnesota was almost certain of
immediate consummation.
Pressure was
brought to bear from every direction to
accomplish these two measures. And, while
these negotiations were going on Col. Stev
ens set about furnishing an object lesson
which should help the cause by enlisting
the assistance and approval of every visitor.
I11 the summer of 1850 he "grubbed" and
broke up about forty acres of land on the
west river bank immediately above his
house, and the next summer raised crops
of wheat, oats and corn which would have
done credit, he said, to central Illinois.
Every one visiting the falls crossed to the
west side to secure the view and was con
fronted, immediately upon mounting the
river bank, by fields of waving grain. These
fields, Col. Stevens claimed, settled the
destination of many an immigrant. They
demonstrated the possibilities of western
Minnesota and removed all doubts as to the
fertility and productiveness of the region.
Col. Stevens' farm was the first on the west
bank of the Mississippi north of the Iowa
line. He introduced the first herd of cows
west of the Falls, excepting those held for
the use of the troops. During the following
year William W. Wales demonstrated in
his own garden that all kinds of vegetables
could be successfully raised in this climate.
These things seem trivial at this day, but
in the early fifties—when the northwest was
still regarded as almost uninhabitable—they
were of the utmost importance. It was nec
essary to demonstrate by actual production
that the crops of the middle states could be
grown in Minnesota; otherwise the pros
pective settler could not be convinced.
PIONEER LIFE AT THE FALLS.
Col. Stevens and Miss Frances H. Miller I
were married at Rockford, Illinois, on May/
10, 1850, and as-soon as their house was!
completed, moved to the west side of the
Falls, where they lived at first entirely with
out neighbors, except those across the swiftrunning river. It is difficult to imagine the
conditions under which this young married
couple went to housekeeping on the site of
Minneapolis less than sixty years ago. Their
32
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
house stood on the river bank on the site
of the Union passenger station, and q'uite
near the water. It was on a shelf or ter
race about twenty feet above the water,
but considerably below the general level of
the ground farther back from the river, so
that when approaching the house from the
COLONEL STEVENS' HOUSE.
Erected in 1S49-50; the first
on the west side of the river.
(From a drawing by A. Pournier in Stevens' Personal
Recollections.)
west only its roof and upper portions were
visible. And this was the only dwelling
inhabited by white people between the Falls
of St. Anthony and the Rocky Mountains.
Of Indians there was no lack. The illus
tration, showing a group of Indian tepees,
with Col. Stevens' house in the background,
was reproduced from what was undoubtedly
the earliest photograph taken on the site of
Minneapolis and shows, much more graph
ically than words can describe, the abso
lutely primitive conditions under which the
first family west of the Falls lived. The
Indians' camp was about on the spot now
known as Bridge Square—the common foot
of Nicollet and Hennepin avenues. From
this point westward extended the almost
unbroken wilderness. In his "Recollec
tions" Col. Stevens says of the Indians:
The different tribes of Indians were never so
numerous in the neighborhood as in 1850. A
constant stream of Winnebagoes were coming
and going. The different bands of Sioux re
mained in camp several months on the high-lands
just above the falls. They did not interfere with
my stock, but made sad havoc with my garden.
As a general rule the Indians respected the pri
vate property of the whites residing outside of
their own lands, but would occasionally confiscate
the property of the missionaries.
There can be
no question but that the cussedness of these sav
ages was frequently annoying to the missionaries.
Of a particular visitation from the red
men, Col. Stevens writes:
The two lake bands of Indians, so called be
cause they formerly lived on the shores of lakes
Calhoun and Harriet, but then residing at Oak
Grove (now Bloomington), encamped on the
high land above the Falls for several weeks in
July and August. They had considerable money
left that they had received at the Traverse des
Sioux treaty held a few weeks previous. They
had brought their own canoes down the Min
nesota river, and then up the Mississippi to the
foot of the rapids, at which point they constantly
crossed the river to the St. Anthony side for the
purpose of trading.
The Indians during their
encampment were constantly on the alert, fearing
an attack from the Chippewas, but they were so
fond of trading, and the money they had left
burned in their pockets to such an extent, that
they were willing to risk their scalps at that
time for the pleasure they experienced in ex
changing their money for goods. They had
previously given me the name of Mi-ni-sni—cold
water—and were always friendly, supplying my
family, at the proper season of the year, with
game in abundance, but expecting, and always
receiving pay therefor. To the credit of the
traders in St. Anthony, there was never a drop
of strong drink sold to the Indians, and as a
consequence there was never any of them in
toxicated.
Col. Stevens' recollections of the early
months at the first home in Minneapolis
are of special interest; the following are
extracts:
The only way we could reach the house from
St. Anthony was by taking a small boat, with two
sets of oars, above Nicollet Island. The volume
of water was so great, and the current so strong,
we were fortunate if the landing was made any
considerable distance above the rapids. Captain
John Tapper, with his sinewy arms, required a
strong assistant, with a capacious pan for bailing
purposes, to make a sure crossing above the
cataract.
Pioneer housekeeping was not new to
me, for I had long kept bachelor's hall in the
lead-mines, but it was a novelty to my wife, who
had been accustomed to the refining influences
and conveniences of a well regulated New York
household. Sometimes for weeks we would not
see a white person: our only visitors were In
dians.—•—Mosquitoes surrounded the house in such
swarm's that smoke would not banish them.
We
usually received our letters and papers once a
week.
Fortunately I had a pretty good library,
and Mrs. Stevens had a piano and other musical
': /.v.V; * -•,:: i--:
34
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
instruments, which had a tendency to banish
from the little house most of the lonesomeness
naturally incident to pioneer life so far from
neighbors.
OTHER EARLY SETTLERS.
Next in order after Col. Stevens' claim
came that of Charles Moseau, who obtained
permission from the military authorities in
the winter of 1849, and took up his resi
dence on the southeast shore of Lake Cal
houn. Soon afterwards, the Rev. E. G. Gear,
chaplain at Fort Snelling, made a claim on
the east shore of Lake Calhoun. John P.
Miller, in August, 1851, secured the second
claim near the falls—160 acres immediately
adjoining Col. Stevens' location. On this
claim he built a good house and farm build- 1
ings, although he had no title other than a
permit from the war department. Dr. Hezekiah Fletcher, John Jackins, Isaac Brown,
Warren Bristol, Allen Harmon, and Dr. A.
E. Ames made claims during 1851, and were
soon followed by Edward Murphy, Anson
Northrup, Charles Hoag, Martin Layman,
John G. Lennon, Benj. B. Parker, Sweet
W. Case, Edgar Folsom, Hiram Van Nest,
Robert Blaisdell and others, all of whom
secured permits from the military authori
ties. Prominent claim holders just outside
the military reservation were Joel B. Bassett, Emanuel Case, Charles W. Christmas,
Waterman Stinson, William Byrnes, Ste
phen and Rufus Pratt, all of whom took up
land in what is now North Minneapolis.
During 1851, 1852 and 1853, many claims
were occupied, although still without title
or immediate prospect of title. It was even
necessary to guess at boundaries (in the
absence of all surveys by government) but
Mr. Christmas, who was a surveyor, ran
lines as he believed the government sur
veyors would make them. These informal
boundaries proved to be substantially cor
rect when the final surveys were made in
1854.
During three or four , years, the utmost
confusion prevailed. Besides those who
obtained permits from the army officials
were other settlers who had no shadow of
authority, and the claim shanties of these
"squatters" were frequently destroyed by
the officers and their builders ejected from
the reservation. The administration of this
authority was radical and was claimed to
be tyrannical and charges of bribery were
frequently made. Although there was prob
ably much less corruption of officials than
was charged, it seems indubitable that the
•
-h; •
GOVERNOR WILLIAM R. MARSHALL.
administration of the army officers was far
from just, and that influences of some sort
or other were active in securing opportuni
ties for favored settlers. So unsettled was
the situation that the claimholders finally
organized an association with Dr. A. E.
Ames, as president and Charles Hoag as
secretary, and an executive committee com
posed of the leading men of the settlement.
Weekly meetings were held in Col. Stevens'
house. The association was frankly com
mitted to frontier justice; there was no
law, and it w r as proposed to assert the
rights of bona fide settlers and claimants on
the basis of justice and equity as voted by
the majority. So thorough was the organi
zation, and so completely was it respected,
35
THE PERIOD OF EARLY SETTLEMENT
Ei
THE SWEET COLLECTION
BRIDGE SQUARE, MINNEAPOLIS, IN 1851.
Colonel Stevens' house is in the background, partly concealed by the bluff. The Indian tepees stood about where
Bridge Square is now located.
that only one instance of severe measures
is recorded. One claim jumper received a
well-merited flogging, and promptly disap
peared from the region. However, there
were a number of cases of disputed claims
which were settled by compromise before
possession could be secured.
At the close of the year 1852 there were
only a dozen houses on the land included
in the original town site on the west side
and there was as yet no appearance of a vil
lage. The buildings were all farm houses
or claim shanties and of necessity were
located on the land claimed by the inhab
itants; and were thus scattered over a wide
area. This state of affairs continued for a
while longer, for Congress passed a law
reducing the Snelling reservation but made
no provision for a survey and entry of the
land. And it was not until the spring of
1855 that the claimants were enabled to pay
their land fees and secure the long expected
titles to their property.
PROGRESS OF ST. ANTHONY.
Meanwhile the village on the east bank of
the Mississippi river was growing rapidly
although it was conceded even then that
the west bank must be the location of the
greater part of the future city. As has been
noted, the opening of the saw mill in 1848
started a miniature boom in building. Dur
ing that year the population reached about
three hundred. Wm, R. Marshall, whose
arrival has been referred to, surveyed the
town site, a post-office was established, the
first school was opened (in a log cabin) and
religious services were "commenced by the
Rev. E. D. Neill, a Presbyterian clergyman
who had located in St. Paul. Mr. Neill exer-
36
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
cised a most salutary influence upon the
young settlement. He was a man of educa
tion and refinement and at the same time
quite able to turn his hand or mind to any
of the needs of the frontier community—
teaching school, lecturing, taking part in
politics and serving the community in any
capacity where his abilities were needed.
Col. Stevens records the following arrivals
at St. Anthony in 1849:
John W. North, Dr. John H. Murphy, Reuben
Bean, Judge Bradley B. Meeker, Dr. Ira Kingsley, Elijah Moulton, Charles Kingsley, James
McMullen, Joseph M. Marshall, John Jackins, Wil
liam P. Day, Silas and Isaac Lane, Francis Huot,
L. Bostwick, Owen McCarty, Moses W. Getchell,
Isaac Gilpatrick, J. G. Spe-nce, Lewis Stone, Rufus
Farnham, senior, Rufus Farnham, junior, Albert
Dorr, William Worthington, Elmer Tyler, L. N.
Parker, William Richardson, Eli F. Lewis,
Charles A. Brown, A. J. Foster, Charles T.
Stearns, Stephen Pratt, William W. Getchell,
Isaac Ives Lewis, J. Q. A. Nickerson, Ira Bur
roughs, Samuel Fernald, William HB. Welch, F.
X. Creapeau, N. Beauteau, John Bean, and Amos
Bean.
Gradually the young community took on
the appearance of an eastern village. From
log cabins the style changed to the white
painted cottages of New England, where
most of the settlers began life. One by one
stores and shops were opened until the ordi
nary needs of the villagers were supplied
by local business enterprise. In 1851 the
first newspaper made its appearance—the
St. Anthony Express, published by Elmer
Tyler and edited by Isaac Atwater, a young
lawyer who had reached Minneapolis in the
previous year and who was destined to be
come a justice of the supreme court, and a
prominent citizen of Minneapolis for nearly
sixty years. Churches of several denomi
nations were organized previous to 1853.
The state university, provided for by the
first territorial legislature, was organized—
on paper—and a board of regents was
appointed.
The arrivals in 1851 included A. H. Young,
afterwards for many years a judge of the
district court, George A. Camp, prominent
in the lumber business, John T. Blaisdell,
Hiram Van Nest, William W. Wales, who
had a large part in the affairs of the young
city and lived to see it become a metropolis,
Joel B. Bassett, a pioneer lumberman and
long a well known citizen, Leonard Day and
his sons, identified with lumbering for two
generations, Dr. A. E. Ames, Emanuel Case,
Sweet W. Case, Samuel Thatcher, Win. G.
Moffett, David A. Secombe and many others.
To enumerate all the arrivals is beyond the
scope of this work.
LAYING O'UT MINNEAPOLIS.
Many of the settlers recorded as coming
to St. Anthony only made it a stopping
place until they could secure a foothold on
the west side of the river. Col. Stevens was
the first, and most of these mentioned in the
preceding paragraph moved to the west side
as soon as they could make claims. Some
spent part of their time in St. Anthony and
part on their potential farms. There was no
opportunity for business on the west side
while trade was brisk on the east shore.
The situation made Col. Steven's uneasy and
he was constantly importuned for permis
sion to build upon his farm. At last in the
spring of 1854 he employed Chas. W. Christ
mas to survey a town site of over 100 acres.
This survey covered the larger part of the
present business center of Minneapolis of
today and determined the general direction
of the streets and their width. Col. Stevens
had been familiar with New Orleans and
patterned the new Minneapolis after the
English portion of that city as it was in the
early days.
NAMING THE CITY.
Immediately after the survey Col. Stevens
began his liberal policy of giving away lots
to people who would build and within a few
months there was a village of parts centered
about the present Bridge Square—then
known as Bridge Street. The transfers of
real estate were verbal. Col. Stevens had
no title and could give none. Afterwards,
when his preemption was completed he gave
deeds to each lot owner. But though the
people of the young city had no right to the
ground on which they were building they
had by this time secured a name. From the
first there had been much discussion of this
interesting matter. For a time All Saints
seemed to be in favor, while Col. Stevens
at first preferred Hennepin. Winona was
THE PERIOD OF EARLY SETTLEMENT
considered as were Lowell, Albion, Adasville and other more or less suitable titles.
When the Fort Snelling reservation was
reduced in 1852 Hennepin County was or
ganized with a county seat on the west side
of the falls—but there was no name for the
county seat. The county commissioners
selected the name Albion and it was so re
corded but there was a great protest from
the people and a few weeks later Charles
37
providing for the incorporation of the town
of Minneapolis and it was more than two
years afterwards, on July 20, 1858, that a
town government was organized under the
name.
It thus remains a matter of individual
choice or opinion whether Minneapolis had
its birth with the erection of the old mill of
1820, the cabin of the Pond's in 1834, the
Stevens house of 1849, the choice of a name
by the inhabitants in 1852, the act providing
. ....
ST. ANTHONY IN 1851.
Hoag invented and proposed the name
"Minnehapolis"—a combination of Greek
and Sioux. This name met with instant
favor and—with the letter "h" eliminated—
was formally adopted by the citizens of the
village at a meeting held in Col. Stevens'
house in December, 1852. But though thus
adopted the name was not sanctioned by
government until some time later. It was
in 1856 that the legislature passed an act
for incorporation in 1856 or the actual or
ganization of government in 1858. But it
is certain that the spirit of Minneapolis, as
it has been known in later years, began to
be manifest about the middle of the decade
of 1850-60 when the settlers obtained actual
title to their lands and when improvements
of a permanent character began to be made.
Then did the town first assert itself and give
definite promise of its great future.
CHAPTER V .
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD
W
ITHIN the decade of 1855-65 the
villages at the Falls of St. An
thony received into their popula
tion many of the men who were a few years
later to make the name of Minneapolis fam
ous through their commercial achievements.
The foundations of many of the older banks
and business houses were laid; definite plans
for future commercial enterprises and trans
portation routes were made. Of course,
plans were crude and incomplete; but, on
the whole, the men of this period had a very
fair conception of the main lines along which
Minneapolis was to develop in later years.
It was during this decade that John S. Pillsbury came to Minneapolis and started a
business which lives until the present time;
that William D. Washburn commenced the
improvement of the water power on a scale
and with a comprehension which laid the
foundations for a great milling industry;
that that enthusiastic pioneer, Colonel Stev
ens, gave away lots now worth millions, for
the good of the town; that such men as H.
T. Welles; C. H. Pettit, R. J. Mendenhall,
Anthony Kelly, Eugene M. Wilson, George
A. Brackett, Daniel R. Barber, Richard and
S. H. Chute, John B. Gilfillan, S. C. Gale,
C. B. Heffelfinger, T. A. Harrison, Hugh G.
Harrison, E. S. Jones, William S. King,
William Lochren, Charles M. Loring, Dorilus Morrison, W. W. McNair, J. K. and
H. G. Sidle, R. J. Baldwin, E. B. Ames,
Paris Gibson, L. M. Stewart, William P.
Ankeny, Asa B. Barton, D. M. Clough, W.
H. Lauderdale, James W. Lawrence, F. R.
E. Cornell, Col. Cyrus Aldrich, Woodbury
Fiske, Cyrus Beede, George E. Huey, Dr.
P. L. Hatch, S. C. Robinson, O. C. Merriman, J. E. Bell, the Rev. D. B. Knickerbacker, C. E. Vanderburgh, Thomas Hale
Williams, J. C. Reno, S. P. Snyder, W. W.
Eastman, Fred L. Smith, the Rev. J. F.
Chaffee and others later to become promi
nent in the affairs of the city, cast in their
lots with the frontier village and gave their
best efforts to building up the place. Those
were days when public spirit was rife; when
everybody in Minneapolis worked for Min
neapolis.
It is said of this time that "the families
who came here, from 1854 to i860', and laid
the foundations of the Minneapolis to be,
were in character and culture the choicest
product of the east. No new settlement
ever showed a larger proportion of college
men and cultivated women. Indeed, it may
be doubted whether the official and intellec
tual status of Minneapolis has ever since
averaged as high as during those six earliest
years."
BRIDGING THE MISSISSIPPI.
One of the first ways in which the spirit of
Minneapolis was manifested was in the con
struction of a bridge across the Mississippi
river. The Father of Waters had not, up
to this time, been bridged at any point from
its source to its mouth. Franklin Steele,
Col. Stevens, Judge Atwater and others
formed a company for the construction of a
suspension bridge and in good time the
bridge was completed and opened—January
23, 1855—when the event was celebrated
with a parade and banquet at the new St.
Charles hotel. This was not only the first
bridge to span the Mississippi but one of the
first long suspension bridges to be con
structed in the country.
AS THE CITY APPEARED IN '56.
A recent historical sketch by the Rev.
Charles L. Morgan has this picture of the
village of Minneapolis in 1856:
Paying our toll to the genial Capt. Tapper, we
crossed the then brand-new suspension bridge,
T H E FORMATIVE PERIOD
and passing at its western end the home of Col.
Stevens, the very first house built in the village,
we climbed what was then a veritable hill past
a few one-story buildings into the space long
known as Bridge Square.
Bridge Square was then a rolling prairie, ex
tending between what were later Nicollet and
Hennepin Avenues, and dotted with oak trees.
At Second Street there was a depression which,
39
4.
Brothers, but the whole tract from the bridge to
Third St. in the center of which the Nicollet
House now stands was then an unbroken pasture
where a herd of cows and one or two savage
bulls held undisturbed possession.
The village at this time had three centers, so
to speak, which were each struggling for su
premacy; the earliest was in "lower town" where
was the Land Office and Post Office, the second
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THE FIRST SUSPENSION BRIDGE.
Prom a Daguerreotype made soon after the erection of the bridge.
usually filled with water, served in spring for
the navigation of rafts and in winter for a skat
ing pond. Thence there was a gentle up grade to
Third St., where began a heavy growth of woods
extending over the ridge whose meandering
wagon track became later known as Fourth St.
Upon Bridge Square there was already one twostory brick building with "Law Office" conspic
uous on its upper story and an irregular row of
one and two-story stores extending part way be
tween First and Second Streets,—or what be
came Second street in later years,—for at this
time no street was more than a wagon track or
path and all the names were long since changed.
At a point between Second and Third streets on
the south side stood the livery stable of the Goff
in the vicinity of Washington St. and Second
Ave. South; and the third and more rapidly
growing 011 account of the bridge, in Bridge
Square.
Just behind the cellar on Fourth St. where
my father's house was soon to rise, we found
the. still smoking embers of an Indian camp of
the night before.
FOUNDATIONS OF SCHOOL SYSTEM.
The public school system of Minneapolis
had its real beginning at a meeting held on
November 28, 1855, when John H. Stevens,
F. R. E. Cornell and J. N. Barber were
elected school trustees and the legislature
40
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
was petitioned for power to leavy a tax to
raise funds for the erection of a building.
This led to the purchase of the site now
partly occupied by the court house and city
hall and the erection of the first "union
school" which was succeeded, after a fire in
1864, by the Washington School, remem
bered by many men and women of Minne
apolis as the building in which they received
their first schooling. At about the same
time the promotion of the state university
was taken up in earnest and plans were
made for the erection of permanent build
ings. On May 16, 1859, the first meeting
for the formation of a library association
was held. From this grew the Minneapolis
Athenaeum and the present public library.
Coincident with these efforts for educational
advancement there was a vigorous growth
of the religious life of the community. Many
churches were organized and church build
ings were erected with much zeal and
boundless liberality. Newspapers were es
tablished but as yet the older papers at St.
Paul, having the advantage of location at
the political center of the state and in an
older community, overshadowed the jour
nals published at the Falls of St. Anthony.
COMMERCIAL ACTIVITY.
Immediately upon the perfection of the
title to the town site Minneapolis experi
enced its first real estate "boom" accom
panied by a period of business activity
which almost swept the promoters of the
village off their feet. Immigration into
Minnesota was just beginning to assume
great proportions; the lands ceded by the
Sioux in 1851 were now open to settlement
and the people would occupy them, for the
belief that Minnesota was a frozen and
uninhabitable region was passing away. It
was evident to the new comers that Minne
apolis was to be a commercial center for the
new country and they made haste to invest in
building lots. The first real estate office was
opened by Snyder & McFarlane in a small
frame building on Bridge Square near the
end of the suspension bridge. C. H. Pettit
established a bank and land agency; R. J.
Mendenhall entered the banking business as
did Rufus J. Baldwin, the Sidles and others
of lesser prominence. Mercantile establish
ments multiplied by scores and speedily
found themselves doing a large business.
On the east side the Winslow House was
erected in 1857 and the Nicollet House was
opened in 1858—these hostelries giving the
Falls adequate facilities for the entertain
ment of visitors. Building contractors were
overburdened with work and the capacity
of the saw mills was taxed to supply the
lumber demanded for improvements; but,
though the actual growth of the village was
very rapid, the larger part of the business
was still the sale of lands and lots and the
supply of necessities to settlers passing
through to the farm lands beyond.
DEVELOPMENT OF WATER POWER.
Quite the most important work for Min
neapolis at this period was the practical
development of the water power afforded
by the Falls of St. Anthony. This potential'
resource qf the young city had lain prac
tically dormant since the first efforts of
Franklin Steele. There had been, it is true,
an increase in the lumber sawing capacity
and a beginning in flour milling in connec
tion with the east side water power; but
nothing had been done commensurate with
the possibilities of the volume of water or
the prospects afforded by the opening of the
richest farming land in the country directly
tributary to the new town. The develop
ment of the lumbering and flour milling in
dustries will be told more in detail in the
chapters devoted to those subjects but it is
proper to emphasize at- this point the im
portance to Minneapolis of the work done
during the later fifties. William D. Wash
burn came to Minneapolis in 1856 and in
1857 w a s appointed secretary and agent of
the Minneapolis Mill Company, a reorgan
ization of an earlier company formed by
Robert Smith who acquired the water power
rights on the west side about the time Col.
Stevens secured his claim. Gen. Washburn
was a young man who had come out to
Minneapolis from Maine to practice law.
Finding better opportunities for his exec
utive talents in the constructive work of the
Mill Company he threw himself into the
labor of building a dam and canal and,
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD.
41
FROM THE SWEET COLLECTION
THE BUSINESS CENTER IN 1857.
View looking north from about Second avenue south and Fourth street.
amid the most discouraging circumstances,
pushed the enterprise to completion. His
policy of offering liberal terms to persons
who would construct flour and lumber mills
tended to centralize the industry on the
west side of the river and,gave the young
city of Minneapolis a decided advantage
over its neighbor, while the future of manu
facturing as a whole at the Falls of St.
Anthony was made more secure and its
development hastened. This work for the
city was done so long ago that few remain
who were witnesses of it and few of the
present generation are aware of the fact
that Gen. Washburn, still an active citizen
of Minneapolis, was the foremost factor in
the beginnings of the milling industry at
the Falls. It was the first of a series of
great constructive enterprises which Gen.
Washburn has undertaken which have been
in the aggregate of incalculable benefit to
Minneapolis.
THE PANIC OF 1857-8.
The work of constructing the dam and
canal had not been more than well com
menced before the financial panic of 1857
began to make itself felt in Minneapolis.
This not only made this particular enter
prise much more difficult but brought to all
the business activities of the young city
their first great discouragement. In com
mon with the rest of the state, and, indeed,
with many parts of the country, Minneapolis
had overdone the work of promotion. The
rush of population to the northwest and the
rapid increase in values had turned people's
heads. There was speculation of the wildest
kind, and projects most chimerical were
backed by the popular voice. It wanted
only the general panic to cause the bursting
of the bubble. Minneapolis suffered with
the rest, although, perhaps, not as badly
hurt as some other communities. For a
time the situation seemed almost hopeless.
Banks and business houses failed in num
bers, many people were utterly ruined, and
hundreds left the city to try their fortunes
elsewhere. However, not all the banks or
business men were bankrupt; some weath
ered the storm in good order and with the
improvement of conditions a year or so
later, were able to do much for the develop
ment of the community. There was a vast
recuperative power in the town and in the
northwest in those days, as now. No dis
aster could be long continued in a district
so naturally rich and so earnest in its work
for development. All through the civil war,
which followed hard upon the panic times,
Minneapolis continued to grow, slowly, to
be sure, but steadily, and while sending
hundreds to the front, she contributed gen
erously of men and means for the suppres-
42
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
sion of the Indian outbreak of 1862, which
at first threatened to wipe out the entire
white population. For a time the uprising
injured Minneapolis, in common with the
whole northwest, through the check to im
migration which was the natural conse
quence ; but this effect was to some extent
counteracted by the concentration of gen
eral attention upon the war which was then
absorbing the whole energies of the nation.
And after the Indians had been put down
and punished and the history of the affair
could be viewed from a better perspective,
it became evident that the causes of the
rising were unusual and not likely to occur
again; while the Sioux had been so thor
oughly subdued and scattered that any fur
ther Indian trouble from any cause what
ever, was well nigh impossible within the
limits of Minnesota.
THE CITY'S WAR RECORD.
Out of an average population of about
7,000 during the war years Minneapolis and
St. Anthony sent to the Federal army about
1,400 volunteers. This is about the ordinary
ratio of adult males in any community and
the figures appear extravagant unless it is
remembered that the population of Minne
apolis in the early days contained an un
usual proportion of young men. It is true,
however, that in the young cities the prog
ress of commercial affairs was noticably re
tarded through the absence of so many of
the workers. Immediately upon the pres
ident's first call for troops public meetings
were held and, for the First Regiment of
Minnesota Volunteers, Co. D, Capt. Henry
R. Putnam, was raised in Minneapolis
and Co. E, Capt. George N. Morgan, in
St. Anthony. The story of the service of
the famous "First Minnesota," culminat
ing in its magnificent charge at Gettysburg,
—when at the cost of two hundred and fif
teen out of two hundred and sixty-two men
who started in the charge, the devoted band
probably saved the battle for the Union—
has been often told. Capt. Morgan became
a brigadier general and Capt. Putnam en
tered the regular infantry. Other well
known names are those of Major Henry D.
O'Brien, Capt. James Bryant and Lieut. Wil
liam Lochren. No companies for the second
FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY IN 1859.
View from about the center of the present flour milling district. The partially ruined building at the right is the
old government flour mill. The Winslow House may be seen in the distance across the river.
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD.
regiment were raised here but its colonel,
Horatio P. Van Cleve, afterwards a major
general, became a citizen of Minneapolis
when the regiment was formed and lived
here during the remainder of his life. Capt.
W. W. Woodbury of this regiment was a
Minneapolis pioneer and many young men
enlisted from here. In the Third Regiment
were numerous volunteers from Minneap
olis, including Dr. Levi Butler, the regi
mental surgeon, and Hans Mattson who
subsequently became its colonel. Minneap
olis also sent many volunteers to the Fourth
and Fifth regiments though raising no com
panies complete. For the Sixth Capt. O. C.
Merriman's Co. B and Capt. Joseph C. Whit
ney's Co. D were both raised here as were
Capt. George A. Camp's Co. A and Capt
Richard Strout's Co. B of the Ninth. The
city also contributed many other volunteers
to the Seventh, Eighth, Tenth and Eleventh
Infantry. Maj. George A. Camp was in the
Eighth, Capt. Francis Peteler raised Co. S
Second U. S. Sharpshooters. Another com
pany was raised by Capt. Wm. F. Russell,
and Capt. Eugene M. Wilson raised Co. A
of the First Regiment of Mounted Rangers
and Capt. George C. Whitcomb, Co. B of
Hatch's Independent Battalion of cavalry.
Maj. Christopher B. Heffelfinger of the First
Regiment of Heavy Artillery had been a
private in the First Infantry, rising by pro
motion to a captaincy before his v transfer
to the artillery. But to mention all the men
of Minneapolis who served bravely in the
war is manifestly impossible in a work of
this scope. Many of the volunteers enlisted
about the time of the Sioux outbreak of 1862
and saw their first service in the Indian
campaign and so did not reach the South
until nearly the end of the war. Upon the
close of the war the veterans were welcomed
warmly 011 their return to Minneapolis, the
women of the city (who had been notably
active in sending comforts to the soldiers at
the front) taking a prominent part in the
festivities incident to their return. In the
autumn of 1865 General Grant visited the
city and was given such a reception as might
have been expected from a place which had
contributed so generously to the rank and
file of his'armies.
43
IMPORTANT LEGISLATION.
• At about this time some very important
national and state legislation served to'
counteract the effects of the Indian troubles
as well as to exercise other very pronounced
influences on the future of Minneapolis. Up
to the war period the hindrances to the
rapid development of Minneapolis were the
lack of a sustaining agricultural population
and the impossibility, under existing condi
tions, of establishing such a producing com
munity in the region tributary to the city.
One difficulty was the presence of the In
dians who, while not regarded by the older
Minnesotans as constituting an actual men
ace to settlers, were still present in large
numbers and were viewed with more or less
suspicion by easterners who had not grown
familiar with the savages by actual contact.
The events following the massacre removed
the Indians from the consideration. At the
same time the new homestead law passed
by congress in 1862 began to have effect.
With the prospect of free government lands
in view settlers were willing to brave In
dian dangers both imaginary and real.
Next to the absence of producing popu
lation as a hindrance to development was
lack of transportation facilities. Railroads
had been planned in the later fifties but the
panic had wrecked the companies leaving
trails of unfinished grades and scandal in
all directions. But with the promise of bet
ter times railroad promotion was revived,
and, fostered by wiser laws, gave hope, even
during the height of the war, of an adequate
transportation system within a few years.
Besides roads fostered by state legislation
there was 110W hope of a transcontinental
line through the congressional charter of
the Northern Pacific railway.
At the same session of congress at which
the homestead law was passed the grant of
lands was made to the states for assistance
in the establishment of agricultural colleges.
This grant came to Minnesota at a time of
almost utter hopelessness as to the future
of the state university. •- Encumbered with
debt and with the public finances in a crit
ical condition there seemed no chance to
save the institution. At this juncture John
S. Pillsbury of Minneapolis was called to
44
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
what proved to be his life work—aside from
his business and political services. Ap
pointed a regent in 1863 he set to work
almost single handed to save the university
property and to make available the federal
grant—an achievement which is recounted
more at length in the sketch of his life which
of the war. In spite of all backsets the two
towns at the falls had grown steadily and
in 1865 had a combined population of about
8,000—an advance of 2,000 since i860. The
"Town of Minneapolis" (including the en
tire township) had 4,607 people and the
"City of St. Anthony" 3,499. The west side
WEST SIDE MILLS IN 1859.
From an old lithograph pronounced by pioneers to be accurate in location of buildings. The small building at the
top of the bank near the center of the picture is the office of W. D. Washburn, then
agent and manager for the Minneapolis Mill Company.
appears elsewhere. In this undertaking
Gov. Pillsbury was completely successful.
It is telling but a small part of the story to
say that he saved the university to Minne
sota and Minneapolis, saved the United
States grant which led to the building up
in connection with the University of the fore
most school of agriculture in the country—
accomplishments which have had a profound
effect directly and indirectly upon the his
tory of Minneapolis. The state legislation
in collection with this work was largely
formulated by Gov. Pillsbury.
MINNEAPOLIS I N 1865.
Minneapolis, therefore, had every reason
to be hopeful of the future in the last year
of the river was already leading the east.
In its physical aspects the dual village had
changed little for several years. The center
of business on the west side was still at
Bridge Square and 011 the east shore Main
street was the chief thoroughfare. There
was little business west of Washington
avenue. Most of the buildings were still
of frame and presented the heterogenous
appearance of the average small town where
hasty construction without much regard to
architectural appearance is the order of the
day. The most important building in the
town was the Central Block, just completed,
and occupied by A. T. Hale & Co., clothiers,
Laraway & Mills, grocers, and Wakefield &
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD
Plant, dry goods. At the corner of Nicollet
and Washington avenues was the new Har
rison "block" while the older half of the
Nicollet house was the chief building in
view looking westward. A dwelling house
occupied the site of Temple Court and the
principal residence sections were on north
Washington avenue and on the streets
and avenues southwest to Ninth or Tenth
streets. At the milling district there was a
small group of saw mills on either side of
the river and several small flour mills. The
Falls of St. Anthony still poured in un
broken flow over the original ledge of rocks,
scarcely changed in appearance since their
discovery, except for the constant recession
which a little later caused great anxiety and
led to the entire reconstruction of the river
bed. In September the Minnesota Central
Railroad was completed to Minneapolis and
gave the city its first rail connection with
the territory south. In the first two months
of operation this road carried from Minne
apolis 2,625,000 feet of lumber and 10,950
barrels of flour.
HORACE GREELEY'S OPINIONS IN '65.
At the Minnesota State Fair of 1865, held
in Minneapolis, the principal address was
by Horace Greeley, then at the height of his
fame as editor of the New York Tribune and
known the country over as a patron of agri
culture. Writing to the Tribune shortly
after his visit to Minneapolis, Mr. Greeley
spoke enthusiastically of the prospects of
the place. The following are extracts from
this letter:
St. Paul has some 13,000 inhabitants, while
this place, including St. Anthony Falls, across
the river, has some 8,000; and there seems to be
quite a jealous rivalry between them, which is
absurd.
The growth of railroads will soon ren
der the difference unimportant save to the landspeculators of one or the other locality, and Min
neapolis has advantage enough in her enormous
yet most facile water .power, which may be made
to give employment to a population of 100,000
souls. It has no superior but Niagara, and sur
passes that inasmuch as the pineries above and
the wheat lands all around are calculated to sup
ply it with profitable employment. And these
are but the rude beginnings. Already, beside a
paper-mill and other such, a woolen factory is in
full operation.
Another such is nearly ready, and
there is room and profitable business for a dozen
more; and for cotton factories also. Nowhere on
45
earth are the beneficent influences of our Pro
tective Tariff destined to be more signally, more
promptly realized than throughout the Great
West. And this city, as one consequence, ought
to quadruple its population within the next ten
years.
This prediction was substantially fulfilled;
for in 1875 ^e city had reached about 32,000
population, or four times that of the year
of Mr. Greeley's visit.
From the close of the Civil War to the
present time the history of Minneapolis di
vides itself quite naturally into three per
iods ; the first was of about fifteen years
during which the great industries of the city
made their initial forward strides; which
saw the construction of the framework of
the transportation system of the northwest;
which included the consolidation of Minne
apolis with St. Anthony; and which brought
the city through its second time of stress
and discouragement ready for the most re
markable chapter in its story. The second
period extended from about 1880 to 1894 or
'95 and was that in which the city made its
most rapid growth both in population, busi
ness and civic development. The first half
of this period was almost meteoric in its
brilliancy; the last half showed another ces
sation of progress culminating in the busi
ness depression of 1893 when Minneapolis,
in common with the entire country, paid
for mistakes made. Again there was a rest
time and then opened the last period ex
tending from the revival after 1894 to the
present and including the most solid growth
in every line of commercial, social and
municipal activity. The division points be
tween these periods were, of course, not
clearly defined, the transition ordinarily
covering several years.
WASHBURN, William D., is a native of
Maine but came to Minneapolis in 1857 and has
thus been identified with the city for fifty years.
During that time he has unquestionably exercised
a wider influence upon the affairs of the city than
any other man, has taken a most active part in
the commercial, social and political life of the
place, and has, in fact, been a powerful factor
in the wonderful progress and development of
the city of his choice* At the same time he has
been conspicuous in state and national affairs,
and has been peculiarly fortunate in supplement
ing services of particular value to the nation, by
giving to the northwest some of its most im-
46
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
portant public works. Gen. Washburn is descended from one of the oldest families in America—that of John Washburn who was secretary
of the Plymouth colony in England ai.d who,
sailing to the new world, afterwards married
Patience, the daughter of Francis Cook, one of
the Mayflower company. From these Puritan
ancestors, Israel Washburn, born in 1784, was
directly descended. His father served in the war
of the Revolution, as did the father of his wife,
Martha Benjamin, whom he married in 1812.
They made their home on a farm in Livermore,
Maine, and it was there that their sons were
born and reared—a group of men who constituted, perhaps, the most distinguished family contemporaneously in public life in the United States.
Of the eleven children there were seven sons all
of whom have achieved prominence in public life.
Israel Washburn, Jr., was elected to congress in
1850 when William, who was born in 1831, was
but nineteen years of age. The young men had
already become prominent in Maine state politics and Israel after serving five terms in congress
was elected war governor of his native state in
i860. Elihu B. Washburn served as congressman from Illinois from 1853 to 1869 when he was
appointed secretary of state by President Grant. :
During the Franco-Prussian war he was minister
plenipotentiary to France. Cadwallader C. Washburn was in congress both before and after the .
war, was a general in the union army and in 1871was elected governor of Wisconsin. Charles A.
Washburn was minister to Paraguay; Samuel
B. Washburn was a distinguished officer in the
navy.
The boyhood of Gen... Washburn was passed
upon the farm home and at the schools of the
vicinity—the ordinary experiences of the farmer's boy of the period. He fitted for college at
Farmington Academy and in 1850 entered Bowdoin College, the alma mater of many distinguished Americans. He completed the four years
course and graduated with the bachelor's degree
and at once commenced th«e study of law. During this period he spent part of his time at Washington performing the duties of a clerk in the
house of representatives, where he obtained his ;
first acquaintance with the affairs of congress and with the public men of the time. Two of Mr.
Washburn's brothers had already made their
homes in the west and upon completing his law
studies he determined to follow their example.
It was not difficult to decide upon a location.
Livermore had already sent men to the Falls of
St. Anthony and his brothers Elihu and Cadwallader had acquired interests there and in Minnesota. He himself had great confidence in the
future of the west and especially of Minnesota
of which he had heard much. Upon his arrival
in Minneapolis, on May 1, 1857, he opened an
office for the practice of law but very shortly
afterwards accepted the position of secretary and
agent of the Minneapolis Mill Company—the
corporation controling the west side power at
the Falls of St. Anthony—and for some years
devoted himself to the management of the business. His selection for this post was peculiarly
fortunate. To the young man it gave immediate
employment at a time when law business was
scarce and unremunerative; and it brought him
into close relations'with the leading men of the
town and state and familiarized him with the
possibilities of manufacturing at the Falls which
became largely the basis of his future business
success. To the young Minneapolis it gave the
benefit, in the direction most needed, of the
exercise of a remarkable executive ability. For
the coming city needed most of all the development of the water power—then one of the largest
powers known to exist. To this work Mr. Washburn applied himself with the utmost energy and
despite many discouragements, including the financial depression of that year, he completed the
west side dam before the close of 1858. Pursuing
a policy of liberality towards manufacturing enterprises the young manager succeeded within a
few years in building up the heart of the flour
and lumber manufacturing district around this
west side power dam. This was the nucleus of
the greatest group of flour mills in the world—
the corner stone of Minneapolis' future prosperity. Few of the people of Minneapolis of the
present generation are aware of the debt the city
owes to General Washburn for this, his first
work in the city. President Lincoln appointed
Mr. Washburn Surveyor General of Public lands
in 1861 and it was while holding this office that
the title "General" became so associated with his
name that it has continued through all the various offices which he has held; and he is better
known today as "General Washburn" than as
"Senator Washburn." During his incumbency of
the office Gen. Washburn became familiar with
the wonderful timber resources of the state and
after retiring from the position formed the firm
of W. D. Washburn & Co., built a saw mill at
the Falls and later one at Anoka, and until 1889
carried on a very extensive lumber business. In
1873 he entered flour milling and speedily became
an important factor in the production of that
Minneapolis staple. His interests in flour manufacturing were through the original firm of W.
D. Washburn & Co. and Washburn, Crosby &
Co. Subsequently in 1884, the firm of W. D.
Washburn & Co. was merged in the Washburn
Mill Company and in 1889 the flour milling division of this business was consolidated with the
Pillsbury interests in the Pillsbury-Washburn
Flour Mills Company, forming the largest flour
milling corporation in the world. At this time
there were large accessions of English capital but
Mr. Washburn retained, as he still does, a large
interest and has been continuously one of the
board of American directors of the properties,
The Minneapolis Mill Company and the St. Anthony Falls Water Power Co. were also con-
&J.
43
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
solidated with the new corporation which after
wards completed the work of harnessing the
power of St. Anthony Falls by the construction
of a new dam and power a short distance below
the main falls.
But while Gen. Washburn has been a leader
in the development of the water power and the
two greatest manufacturing industries of the city,
this has been but a small part of the activities of
his life. With a genius for production he still
had time and thought for the whole range of dis
tribution, transportation, finance and the broad
questions of political economy and statesmanship.
During most of his life in Minneapolis he has
had considerable interests in the financial insti
tutions of the city, the wholesale business and in
real estate. But as a railroad builder he is best
known to the general public—aside, of course,
from his political life. His first important rail
road project was the outgrowth of the conviction,
developed during the early seventies, that a rail
road controlled by Minneapolis interests and
leading into the southern part of the state and to
northern Iowa, was essential to the control of
trade. The Minneapolis & St. Louis railroad was
the outcome of this situation. Gen. Washburn
was the president of the company for some years
and its promoter and executive during the build
ing period. His next project was even greater—
to build a Minneapolis railroad to a connection
with tidewater ports, but entirely independent of
the Minneapolis-Chicago lines, and the roads east
of Chicago dominated by Chicago interests. Gen.
Washburn retired from the presidency of the
Minneapolis & St. Louis and, early in the eighties,
commenced to agitate the greater project. The
project was accepted with favor, for the city
had felt very seriously the detrimental influences
of the Chicago domination of freight rates; but
at first the plan seemed impracticable. The idea
was to build to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and
there connect with the Canadian Pacific railway,
but this involved construction of 500 miles of
railroad through the unbroken forests of northern
Wisconsin and upper Michigan—through, a terri
tory which would supply practically no local
business. It appeared that for years it would be
necessary to depend for revenues almost wholly
on the Minneapolis flour trade. But in this as in
his other business projects, Gen. Washburn's con
ceptions of the situation proved sound, and with
indomitable energy he organized, financied and
built the railroad—now the well-known "Soo
Line." The line had hardly been opened to the
Soo before a western line was planned and pro
moted. This traversed Minnesota and North Da
kota to a junction with the Canadian Pacific in
the northwest and gave to Minneapolis another
route to the Pacific. The development of this
system was one of the most important commer
cial events in the life of Minneapolis. Mr. Wash
burn was president of the Soo Line during its
five years of construction and until his election
to the United States Senate.
Notwithstanding the enormous demands of
these great enterprises upon his time, strength
and energy, Gen. Washburn almost from his first
arrival in the state gave much time to the service
of the public. In 1858 he was chosen a member
of the first state legislature. I11 1866 he was
elected to the Minneapolis school board and as
sisted in the early development of the school sys
tem which has become the pride of the city.
Again in 1871 he was in the legislature and the
year 1873 found him, at the urgent request of his
friends, a candidate for the republican nomination
for governor of Minnesota. After the close of
the decisive vote in the convention it was claimed
by his friends that two ballots had not been
counted and these would have given him the
nomination; but Mr. Washburn refused to con-,
test the result. Six years of service in congress
commenced in 1878 and only concluded when the
Soo railway project claimed his entire attention.
But on the completion of the road in 1888 he
withdrew from the presidency and became a can
didate for the United States senate and served for
the following six years. In 1895 he was a candi
date for re-election upon the assurances of those
who afterwards opposed him, that there would
be no opposition to his candidacy. This unex
pected opposition took a form which it was im
possible to oppose successfully with honor and
Senator Washburn frankly admitted his defeat
and great disappointment. As in all similar cases,
however he quietly accepted the situation; he is
not the type of man to pose as a disgruntled
politician.
To his work in congress Gen. Washburn
brought a, thorough knowledge of his district,
his state and the entire northwest. And not
only a political knowledge, but a wide conception
of its commercial needs, its undeveloped re
sources and its possibilities. He had been promi
nent in the rise of the two great manufacturing
industries of the state and was familiar with all
their details and their requirements in the way of
supply of raw materials, transportation and ac
cess to markets. He was master of the agricul
tural conditions of the northwest. He had many
ideas for the advantage of Minnesota which he
set to work to develop as soon as he entered
congress. Only a few of his undertakings can be
mentioned. One of the most interesting was
that of impounding the flood waters of the Mis
sissippi river in reservoirs at the headwaters, to
be gradually released during low water periods,
thus maintaining an equal flow of water the year
round. So certain was Gen. Washburn of the
success of the plan and of its ultimate accom
plishment that he had already, ten years before,
personally entered the forty acres of land at
Pokegama which he considered the key to the
reservoir system.
His personal endeavors in
congress secured the first appropriations for this
THE FORMATIVE PERIOD
great river improvement which has been of incal
culable benefit to navigation on the Upper Missis
sippi and has facilitated the transportation of
logs from the pine forests to the mills and inci
dentally maintained an equal flow of water for
the use of power. He also started the legislation
which has improved the lower reaches of the
upper Mississippi and with the completion of
locks and dams now building, will open river
navigation from Minneapolis to the Gulf. Of
even more importance to Minneapolis and the
northwest, perhaps, was his work in securing the
first appropriation for the improvement of Hay
Lake channel in the Sault Ste. Marie river—-the
beginnings of the famous "twenty-foot" channel
project which has revolutionized the carrying
trade of the great lakes and wonderfully cheap
ened the cost of handling freight to and from the
northwest.
Such great undertakings did not, however,
engross his attention in congress to the ex
clusion of national questions. Gen. Washburn
took a very prominent part in the general affairs
of the country and though never an orator or
even a frequent speaker, was one of the clear-cut
debaters of congress whose speeches were always
regarded with attention and whose arguments
had much weight. His habit of independent
thought and action occasionally brought him into
opposition to his party but events have usually
demonstrated that it was the man and not the
party which was in the right. For instance, in
the consideration of the famous Lodge bill, gen
erally known as the "force bill," Senator Wash
burn stood alone on the republican side as an
opponent of the measure, as wrong in principle
and not calculated to accomplish the expected re
sults. Although freely criticised at the time,
Gen. Washburn's position is now that of the ma
jority of clear thinkers in the country. He was
in another case impelled to conflict with many
party leaders when he championed the "anti-op
tion" bill. For this measure Senator Washburn
made a speech which received world-wide atten
tion and it was this speech and his remarkable
fight for the law that carried it through the sen
ate. But perhaps the greatest speech of his life
was that on reciprocity delivered in the senate
in 1894 which stands, so fully did it cover the
whole ground, as the best authority extant on the
subject.
49
Since leaving the senate in 1895, Gen. Wash
burn, although frequently mentioned in connec
tion with the highest political honors, has not
sought office. In 1900 he was the choice of his
state delegation for vice-president. But he has
steadfastly devoted himself to his business inter
ests and has with characteristic energy built an
other railroad and exploited a tract of 115,000
acres of agricultural and coal bearing lands in
North Dakota.
Gen. Washburn has travelled extensively dur
ing his life and, with his long sojourns at Wash
ington, has been absent from Minneapolis for
long periods. But this has not prevented him
and his family from filling a large place in the
social life of the city. Within two years after
settling in Minneapolis he returned to Maine and
on April 19, 1859, was married to Miss Lizzie
Muzzy, daughter of the Hon. Franklin Muzzy of
Bangor. They have had six children, four sons
and two daughters. Gen. Washburn's beautiful
home, "Fair Oaks," has been for many years a
center of social life and the place of entertain
ment of many a distinguished guest. One of
the founders of the Church of the Redeemer—
one of the leading Universalist churches of the
country—Gen. Washburn has always been one of
its most prominent members and supporters. As
president of the board of trustees of the Wash
burn Memorial Orphan Asylum (founded by his
brother, C. C. Washburn) Gen. Washburn has
been prominent in the philanthropic and charit
able work of the city, by 110 means confining
himself to the duties and responsibilities of the
institution named. When municipal undertakings
were proposed he has always been ready to take a
hand, as in the Minneapolis-exposition project,
to which he was a large subscriber, and of which
he was for several years president, and in the
public library building movement, when he was
one of a small group to contribute $5,000 each to
the fund. The municipal campaign of 1906 found
him as alert and active as ever, presiding at a
great mass meeting on the eve of election and
speaking repeatedly during the evening for good
government and advanced municipal standards.
Although past the age when many men lay down
the cares of business life he still attends to his
affairs with regularity and bears himself with the
air of a man much his junior.
CHAPTER VI.
THE FIRST COMMERCIAL ADVANCE
A
S WAS shown in the preceding chap "B" mill then the largest west of Buffaloter, Minneapolis, after a period of considered at first an extravagant undertak
• depression and quiet, was ready, at ing, but soon superceded by much larger
the close of the Civil war, to take advantage mills. Gov. W T ashburn was a man of clear
to the utmost of the season of general pros ideas and during his continuance in Min
per.'iy which followed the cessation of hos neapolis milling set the pace for a group of
tilities. It was stated that the special needs great millers. And they came to promin
of Minneapolis were a tributary farming ence rapidly—Crocker, Barber, Dunwoody,
population and transportation to and from Crosby, the Pillsburys, the Christians, and
the east and into the outlying agricultural other men whose names went 'round the
regions. Both these needs were supplied world on Minneapolis flour barrels. The
in large measure within five years succeed story of milling is told in another chapter;
ing the war. The disbanding of the armies only its influence upon the development of
threw a great number of unemployed men Minneapolis can be mentioned here. And
into every community and while many were what this influence was and what it ac
immediately absorbed in the varied indus complished in the decade after the war,
tries which they had laid down in '6i, many the: present generation of Minneapolitans
turned to farming, charmed by the pros can scarcely realize. Previous to this time
pects of free government land. Possibly the future of the northwest had been some
many soldiers after four years of life in the what in doubt. Men who knew it well had
open shrunk from the confinement of office, unbounded confidence in its resources and
store or shop. At all events there was a future development but it remained to be
tremendous immigration into Minnesota— proved to the world that what had been
estimated at about 180,000 in the five years very generally regarded as almost a part
ending in 1870—and the waiting prairie of the frigid zone could produce crops of
farms were peopled and the golden wheat, • v r alue year in and year out; and that it could
for which the water power at the Falls of produce them in sufficient variety to make
St. Anthony had been looking, poured into it prosperous. It also remained to be dem
onstrated that the spring wheat of the north
the city.
west could compete with the other wheats
THE RISE OF FLOUR MILLING.
At the close of the last war year there of the world as a food; and, further, that
were eight small mills at the Falls of St. it could be ground into flour and transported
Anthony and they produced in 1866 172,000 to distant markets in competition with
barrels of flour. In the following year thir other flour, at a living profit. At the open
teen mills ground 220,000 barrels. At this ing of the period the almost unknown spring
point in the history of milling a new influ wheat flour was looked upon with distrust
ence entered. For ten years Gov. C. C. in many markets of this country, and was
Washburn of Wisconsin had owned an in quite unknown abroad.
To the clear minded men of the time
terest in the water power and he now saw
that the time was ripe to enter manufactur wheat seemed the hope of the northwest.
ing. His first venture was the Washburn They knew that good spring wheat could
THE FIRST COMMERCIAL ADVANCE
be grown here; but even the most advanced
of them could not believe that corn, other
coarse grains, fruits and stock raising would
ever be generally a part of the farm program
of the northwest. On wheat, therefore,
they must depend; and they set about prov
ing to the world that northwestern wheat
and flour were unequalled.
MILLING REVOLUTIONIZED.
To a group of Minneapolis millers be
longs much of the credit for the foundation
laying of the seventies which established
most solidly the great dual industry of the
northwest and of Minneapolis—-wheat rais
ing and flour milling. These men set about
improving in every way possible the pro
cesses of flour grinding. In 1870 every mill
in Minneapolis was equipped with old-fash
ioned mill stones and primitive purifying
processes. Five years later the roller mill
had come in; the middlings purifier had been
adopted, and other valuable improvements
and inventions brought into use. At the
same time the self-binding harvester had
cheapened the cost of production on the
farm, and the extension of railroads and the
opening of lake commerce had lowered the
cost of marketing. The Minneapolis mill
ers had revolutionized their business—and
incidentally the milling business of the
country; and this during a period of "hard
times." And in 1878 they went abroad and
found a foreign market for the first time in
the history of the Minneapolis flour indus
try. By that time they had proven con
clusively that Minneapolis spring wheat
flour was the equal if not the best of any
in the world.
Much stress is laid upon this development
of the flour industry because it became then,
and has ever since remained, the center of
the industrial life of the city and the north
west. Time is reducing its relative im ( portance; diversification of production in
city and on farm is bound to still further
lessen its position of leadership. But it will
remain true that it was the. development of
this dual industry in the seventies which
made Minneapolis. Had it fallen behind
and failed to make its point in the world,
the northwest and with it the city, would
have been much slower in its progress.
51
RAILROAD BUILDING.
Coincident with the development of the
flour milling business and in fact a necessary
part of that growth, was the building of the
early railroads of Minnesota. The Minne
sota Central, opened to Faribault in 1865,
was extended to Austin in 1867 and con
nected with the "Milwaukee" for Chicago.
The St. Paul & Pacific (now the Great
Northern) built w r est, reaching the Red
River valley in 1870 and about the same
time the Lake Superior & Mississippi
reached Duluth and gave the needed lake
connection. Other lines reached out down
the Minnesota valley and into southern Min
nesota and in 1872 the short line to Chicago,
via La Crosse, was completed. Seven years
saw the essential eastern connections made
and feeder lines for the city built into the
principal farming communities then exist
ing 1 .
OTHER COMMERCIAL PROGRESS.
Although the development of its trans
portation facilities and the means of absorb
ing the agricultural product of the outlying
country was the first and most important
work for Minneapolis, the town was by no
means idle in other directions. The lum
bering industry made enormous progress in
this period, the output reaching 118,000,000
feet in 1870 and 195,000,000 feet in 1880.
Other manufactures were not neglected
and the wholesaling of merchandise first
became a recognized factor in the com
mercial life of the city. Retailing was still
on a country town basis; the city had no
great retail marts until after 1880. In bank
ing the city made progress commensurate
with its other development and most of
the prominent financial institutions of today
were founded, or took form, in this period
of the city's history.
CIVIC AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS.
In matters pertaining to civic, social and
religious affairs this part of the city's story
is not as interesting as is its commercial
progress. In fact commercialism seems to
have dominated during this period more
than at any other time in the city's history.
The beginning of the period found Minne
apolis lapsed from a town government to a
simple township organization—quite suf-
52
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
ficient, perhaps, during the war time quiet, period there was good cause for lack of
but inadequate to the needs of the city of enterprise.
a few years later. This was speedily
OBSTACLES AND DISCOURAGEMENTS.
realized and Minneapolis was incorporated
For the period was one of curiously
as a city in 1867. St. Anthony, which had
been under a city government for a decade, blended progress and detention for Minne
still maintained something of a position of apolis. In 1869 came the threatened destruc
rivalry although the two places were prac tion of the water power through the under
tically one, except in name, and it was evi mining of the limestone ledge forming the
dent to all impartial observers that they Falls. Prompt action saved the situation,
must of necessity unite within a short time. but the millers did not feel perfectly secure
This necessity was reluctantly conceded in of the permanence of the power until the
1872 and the united city started on new completion of the government retaining
municipal life under a new charter granted work in 1878. The decade of the seventies
by the legislature. In 1874 the old city hall opened with much promise, but the panic
at the junction of Nicollet and Hennepin of 1873 seriously crippled many north
avenues and Second street was built. Pub western enterprises. Railroad building—the
lic improvements and municipal depart hope of the city and of the state—was set
ments remained in a very crude condition back, and most of the railroad corporations
for some time although earnestly promoted were forced into reorganization or down
by a few zealous and public spirited men. right bankruptcy. Business of all kinds
The first waterworks consisted of a small was affected. The tide of immigration was
pump and wooden mains. A good fire in part held back. And, as if financial dif
department was organized but remained ficulties were not enough, the years 1875
until 1879 a volunteer organization. The to 1878 brought to the northwest the sooriginal suspension bridge—the main traffic called "grasshopper plague," which for a
connection between the two sides of the time threatened to paralyze the agricultural
river was replaced in 1875. Parks had been interests of three states. In 1875 this pest
proposed from time to time but the most of locusts had reached such proportions as
promising plans had been voted down by to destroy the entire crops in some parts
a majority which seemed to be fearful of of the northwest; and no one knew where
public expenditure. For some time after it would stop. Five years of total or partial
the consolidation of the two cities the school destruction of crops reduced whole coun
systems remained separate with consequent ties to. penury and led many farmers to
lack of uniformity and co-operation. The abandon their lands; while immigration,
university was making slow progress, fos under such conditions, of course, almost
tered as best might be by Gov. Pillsbury
mpletely stopped.
and President Folwell, whose interest was
Just at the close of this plague, early in
constant, but for many years receiving 1878, a great disaster assailed the foodsmall support from the country districts of producing industry at the other end. This
the state. In religious matters the people was the flour mill explosion in Minneapolis,
at this time showed no lack of devotion but, attended with great loss of life and the
as in public affairs, there was not the prog destruction of millions in property. The
ress in organization and building which the five years had indeed been bad ones for the
rapid growth of the city would naturally great wheat and flour industry of the north
seem to have warranted. It should be west; and Minneapolis felt the effects in
remembered too that with the increase of Vf'ull pleasure.
population the older churches found them j ^ B u t , i f t h e b l o w h a d b e e n a s e v e r e o n e ,
selves charged with the duty of sustaining recovery from its effects was remarkably
many missions, which, at first great bur rapid. The leveled mill walls rose again,
dens, later became large self-supporting higher and stronger than before and the
churches. And in the later years of the opportunity was embraced to equip the
r
T H E FIRST COMMERCIAL ADVANCE
53
SWEET COLLECTIOH
THE SECOND SUSPENSION BRIDGE.
Erected in 1875 to replace the bridge of 1855.
It was torn down in 1889 when the present steel arch bridge was built.
mills with even later and better machinery
than that destroyed. The rebound from
all other causes of depression was equally
rapid; by the end of the decade of 1870-80
Minneapolis was physically and financially
recuperated and alive with the spirit which
1 was to manifest itself so wonderfully dur\ing the coming years.
PILLSBURY, John Sargent, for more than
two score of years one of the leading and most
valued of the citizens of Minneapolis, was born
at Sutton, Merrimac county, N. H., on July 29,
1828, and died at Minneapolis, October 18, 1901.
He was descended from Wm. Pillsbury who came
from England in 1640 and settled at Newburyport, Mass., where he received a grant of land.
One of Wm. Pillsbury's descendants went to
Sutton in 1790 and established the New Hamp
shire branch of the family. Mr. Pillsbury's father
was John Pillsbury, a manufacturer, and long
prominent in state and local affairs. His mother
was Susan Wadleigh Pillsbury, who, like her
husband, traced her ancestry back to early Puri
tan stock. The son of these parents had so spe
cial advantages. He grew up amid the ordinary
conditions of a New England town in the early
part of the last century. His education was lim
ited to the village school which was not of the
best. While still a boy he commenced to learn
the printers trade but preferred merchandising
and left the case to become a clerk in the general
store of his older brother, George A. Pillsbury,
who afterwards became prominent in Minneap
olis. A somewhat .varied experience in mercan
tile life brought the young man at the age of
twenty-five to a belief that he was not only fitted
for a mercantile career but that he would find
better opportunities in the west. Accordingly in
1853 he traveled for some months and deter
mined, after a visit to St. Anthony, to make the
place his home. He engaged in the hardware
business and was from the first successful. He
was just becoming well established, however,
when he experienced a catastrophe which would
have broken most men. Scarcely two years after
commencing business at St. Anthony, and in the
midst of the financial panic of 1857, he lost about
thirty-eight thousand dollars by fire. This not
only wiped out all his accumulations, but left him
under a heavy indebtedness. In the critical finan
cial condition of the country, it would have
seemed impossible to avoid hopeless bankruptcy;
but Mr. Pillsbury had already so well established
his credit that he was enabled to secure an ex
tension from his creditors and at once resumed
business. For five years Mr. Pillsbury had not
p
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56
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
a single new suit of clothes—but in five years
every debt was paid. Business success was cer
tain to such a man. Building on this foundation
he developed a commercial structure which had
a prominent part in the industrial activities of
the city and state for four decades. His retail
hardware business was merged into a wholesale
business which still exists as the largest in the
northwest;., he became one of the first millers
and later a member of the greatest flour manufac
turing concern in the world; he dealt extensively
in pine lands and was one of the largest manu
facturers of lumber; he had a part in many of
Jjjie-financial institutions established in Minneap
olis during- his- active business life. But success
ful as was Gov. Pillsbury's business career it is
overshadowed, in an estimate of his life, by the
other great work which he took up even before
he had established himself on a firm commercial
footing. Possibly on account of his own lack of
early educational privileges, Mr. Pillsbury
watched with keen interest the affairs of the
University of Minnesota—an institution which
was not more than a name at the time of his ar
rival in the territory. Endowed by a congres
sional land grant, the university existed on paper
until 1856, when a building was commenced. Illadvised plans, followed by the financial crash of
1857, so involved the institution that the early
sixties found it apparently hopelessly in debt,
with an unfinished building and no prospect of
ever establishing a faculty or offering education
to the* youth of Minnesota. It seemed that the
building and campus would be lost on a mortgage
of nearly $100,000 and that the land grant would
be diverted from its purpose.
In 1863 Mr. Pillsbury was appointed a regent,
of the university and shortly afterwards became
state senator, and through his exertions a new
law was passed placing the affairs of the institu
tion in. the hands of three regents, with full
powers to adjust its obligations on such terms
as they might deem best, and as if they were
their own. Such unlimited authority has seldom
been, given a public board. But the situation was
critical, and called for unusual measures. Every
one predicted failure. But with iron will and a
persistency which knew no defeat, Mr. Pillsbury
entered on a campaign of adjustment of the
claims. He sold lands, and with the cash com
promised claims at such figures as might be ar
ranged. The difficulties of such a task at such
a time cannot be realized in these days. The
lands offered were inaccessible; the creditors
were widely scattered, and of many minds as to
the value of their securities. The vexations and
disappointments were almost unnumbered. Mr.
Pillsbury rode thousands of miles through a new
country, hunting up lands or showing them to
creditors or buyers. He traveled to the East; he
wrote letters innumerable. He brought into play
all the resources of a skillful man of business.
Notwithstanding the difficulties of the under
taking, in four years he was able to report that
the debt of the university had been cleared away,
leaving intact thirty-two thousand acres out of
the grant of forty-six thousand, and with the
campus and building free of incumbrance. Gov.
Pillsbury afterward made great successes in busi
ness, and proved himself a clever and adept finan
cier; but, considering the circumstances, nothing
which he did in later years equaled this financier
ing of the affairs of the bankrupt University of
Minnesota. And it is no discredit to his asso
ciates to attribute the success to him; it was well
known at the time that his energy, his enthusi
asm, his business sagacity, were the moving
forces of the work.
Following his achievement in relieving the uni
versity of its financial burden, the institution was
reorganized, a faculty was engaged, and the real
work commenced. Governor Pillsbury remained
a regent, and watched over every step of its
progress during the remainder of his life. With
out a liberal education himself, he had a very
keen appreciation of the needs of an institution
of higher learning. And here it should be said
that, through reading and association, Governor
Pillsbury finally became a man of education and
high cultivation. Largely through his sagacity,
the university has been fortunate in its presidents
and faculty. Early in its career, the question of
co-education came up. Mr. Pillsbury threw his
influence to the side of equal educational advan
tages to young men and young women. From
the beginning, Governor Pillsbury was the finan
cial guide of the institution. In the legislature
he was able to accomplish much in influencing
appropriations, and he was also the means of con
solidating the land grant made directly to the
university and that for the aid of agricultural
education and experiment work.
Meanwhile,
there was often a scarcity of dollars for current
expenses and other needs. But by this time Mr.
Pillsbury was becoming a man of means; and
these means were often at the disposal of the
institution. When the experimental farm was
needed in connection with the university and
funds were lacking Mr. Pillsbury advanced the
$8,500 needed. The land was afterwards sold for
$150,000 and the proceeds used in buying the
present university farm. In 1889 Gov. Pillsbury
quietly handed the regents $150,000 to build a
much needed science hall—perhaps the largest
gift ever made to a state institution of learning.
However, munificent as was the gift of Pills
bury Hall, it sank into insignificance beside the
gift of his own time and strength, which Gov.
Pillsbury spent so freely during the thirty-eight
years of his service as regent. A very conserva
tive estimate made by his friends, is that he de
voted one-fourth of his time to the affairs of the
institution. This would mean ten years of actual
time taken from business and other pursuits. His
life long services to the University were recog-
,' . . .
.
58
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
nized in 1900 through the erection on the campus
of a statue of life size.
In his earlier career, Mr. Pillsbury, in addi
tion to his work for the university, was in al
most constant political service. Within a year
after reaching St. Anthony, he began a six years'
term in the city council. From local service he
went to the state senate, in which body he sat
almost continuously for thirteen years. So con
spicuous were his services and his fitness for re
sponsibility that in 1875 he was nominated and
elected governor, without any of the usual accom
paniments of candidacy and canvass. This was
the beginning of six years in the gubernatorial
chair, for he was accorded three terms and might
have had a fourth had he not positively refused to
serve again. It has never fallen to the lot of a
governor of Minnesota to be obliged to consider
and handle so many diverse questions as arose
during the incumbency of Governor Pillsbury.
When he assumed office the so-called "grasshop
per plague" was becoming a serious matter. It
was characteristic of Governor Pillsbury that he
went personally to the scene, investigated the ex
tent of the calamity and the condition of the suf
fering people and from his own means furnished
relief in many cases. Returning to the state capi
tal, he had facts of his own, which he laid before
the legislature with such force as to secure prac
tical legislation looking to the aid of the people
and the destruction of the pests.
During his term as governor, Mr. Pillsbury
recommended and secured the passage of some of
the best laws on the statutes of Minnesota.
Among these were acts providing for a public ex
aminer, a state high school board, and for estab
lishing biennial sessions of the legislature. He
had an unusual number of appointments to make
•—in the supreme and district courts, and to other
important offices; he was obliged to face the
destruction of the state capitol by fire, as well as
a similar loss of the principal insane hospital of
the state; he was called upon to organize relief
for the town of New Ulm, which was destroyed
by a tornado near the close of his term.
But the great work of his official life was his
labor of removing from the name of Minnesota
the stain of repudiation. Ill-advised legislation
in the late fifties had led to the issue of over two
million dollars' worth of bonds for the encour
agement of railroad-building in the state. The
panic of 1857 prevented the completion of the
railroads contemplated, and, exasperated by the
situation, the people of the state voted to refuse
payment of the obligations. For twenty years the
reproach of repudiation had rested upon the state.
In his first message, Governor Pillsbury urged
the payment of these bonds; and though met with
indifference and violent opposition from political
leaders, he continued to demand that the honor
of the state be preserved. After overcoming the
most tremendous obstacles in legislation and
legal entanglement, Governor Pillsbury had the
satisfaction, just before his term ended, of seeing
the bonds matter adjusted and the word "repudia
tion" removed from association with the state
which he had served so long. The extent of Gov
ernor Pillsbury's charity and benefactions will
never be known. I11 the greater portion of cases,
the fact of assistance rendered was known only
to the giver and the recipient. To only a few,
even, is it "known that a large number of young
men have been helped through the University of
Minnesota by the financial assistance of Gover
nor Pillsbury. Among his conspicuous gifts in
Minneapolis were an endowment of $100,000 for
the Home for Aged Women and Children, and
the erection, at a cost of $25,000, of a home for
.young women working for small salaries, which
was named for his wife, the Mahala Fisk Pills*
toi^iIo_me.
At the time of his death he had well
under way a plan for a beautiful library building
to cost $75,000, which was to be a gift to the city
of Minneapolis, and especially intended for the
use of the people of the "East Side." This build
ing was completed and turned over to the city by
Governor Pillsbury's heirs, and is known as
' "Pillsbury Library."
Governor Pillsbury was married on November
3, 1856, to Miss Mahala Fisk, daughter of Captain
John Fisk who came from England in 1837 and
settled at Windon, Mass. Their children were
four: Addie who became the wife of Charles M.
Webster, and Susan M. who was the wife of
Fred B. Snyder, Sarah Belle, the wife of Edward
C. Gale, and Alfred Fisk Pillsbury. Both Mrs.
Webster and Mrs. Snyder died some years ago.
Alfred F. Pillsbury has succeeded to many of the
business interests and responsibilities of his
father, is president of the Minneapolis Union Elell
vator Company, of the St. Anthony Falls Water
Power Company and is a director in the Pillsjmry-Washburn Flour Mills Company.
CHAPTER VII.
AN ERA OF BROADER DEVELOPMENT
F
OUNDATION laying for the time
of Minneapolis' most rapid develop
ment had been going on for years
previous to 1880. Even disasters had been
disguised blessings, for with recovery from
each had come the feeling of security based
on better methods and confidence that noth
ing which might happen could permanently
injure the progress of the city. And amid ail
the discouragements of the middle seventies
there had been continual growth in popu
lation—a growth which was followed in the
last two years of the decade by a rush of
people which brought the total number of
inhabitants up to 46,887 in 1880. This was
a gain of 28,808 during the decade or more
than 150 per cent, advance. In the same
period the state had gained 341,000 people
and settlers were following the railroads
beyond the borders of Minnesota out over
the Dakota plains and opening farms which
should also pour their products into the
Minneapolis market.
Railroad construc
tion had taken a new life with the late
years of the seventies. Villard succeeded
Cooke as the moving spirit of the Northern
Pacific, and Hill secured control of the St.
Paul & Pacific, converting it into the St.
Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba railroad.
From bankrupt and lethargic properties,
these roads became at once virile elements
in the development of the northwest. The
forward movement in city and country was
simultaneous and irresistible.
COMMERCIAL RECOGNITION.
The intimate connection between the
country and that city which absorbs its
products and exchanges them for the neces
sities not raised at home, brings again to
the front, as most significant and important
in the new period of Minneapolis history,
the events in the flour and grain business.
It has been told that with the adoption of
improvements in milling machinery, and
the reconstruction of the flour mills after
the explosion of 1878, the capacity of the
Minneapolis mills was greatly increased
while the product was demonstrated to be
unequalled in quality.
Still much re
mained to be proved to the world. It was
one thing to make the best flour and quite
another to be certain that people, habitu
ated to the use of another product, would
adopt the new foodstuff. It also became
evident that Minneapolis, to retain its
place as the market for the products of
the northwest, must be something besides
a milling center. In other words, Minne
apolis must be known throughout the
world as a grain market as well as a flourmaking city, and it must be known that
both the unground wheat, and its finished
product were the best that could be pro
duced.
One of the most important events look
ing towards the realization of these things
was the organization of the Minneapolis
Chamber of Commerce; a step which also
had a forceful influence on the commercial
development of the city in general as well
as upon the establishment of Minneapolis
as one of the great markets of the world.
Previous to 1881 there had been no recog
nized grain market in the city. The flour
mills used much wheat and absorbed prac
tically all the receipts. Through their Mil
lers' Association they controlled prices and
handling facilities. This was an excellent
thing for the city at the beginning, but, as
the northwest developed, and it became
evident that there was to be a grain pro
duction in excess of the capacity of the
mills, the necessity of a public market at
Minneapolis was recognized. The effects
60
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
of the organization of the Chamber of Com
merce were to put the grain business on a
basis similar to that of other cities; to
establish grades, to create a shipping busi
ness, to secure, as time went on, state grad
ing and weighing and inspection; to de
velop terminal facilities; to bring, through
country elevator lines, a large part of the
northwestern farming district into close
relations with the Minneapolis market;
and, eventually, to make Minneapolis the
greatest wheat market of the world. With
in a few years Minneapolis received world
wide recognition as a leading wheat market
and flour-making point, and was thus ad
vertised more effectively than could have
been accomplished by any other means.
RAILROAD SYSTEM COMPLETED.
The reorganization of the Northern Pa
cific and the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Mani
toba railroads, referred to at the beginning
of this chapter, was followed by their rapid
extension to the' termini suggested by their
names—the first to the Pacific at Puget
Sound and the second to the Canadian bor
der where connection was made for Winni
peg. On the completion of the Northern
Pacific in 1883 a jubilee was held in Min
neapolis which had special significance.
It was no mere ebullition of unintelligent
enthusiasm.
For the . Northern Pacific
meant much more to (the city than the
simple completion of a long line of rail
road. With one exception, no railroad has
been built in the northwest which had the
strategic importance of the Northern Pa
cific. It meant to Minneapolis the opening
of the rich mountain states and of the
Puget sound country to commercial rela
tions, and, beyond that, gave a vision of
the oriental traffic which later developed.
It made possible the enormous extension
of the grazing interests of North Dakota
and Montana, which must find an outlet,
as must the other industries of the far
northwest, through the Minneapolis gate
way. Other roads followed rapidly, and
the "Manitoba" (later to be known as the
Great Northern) commeflced a system of
branches which brought the entire north
western part of Minnesota, and the whole
of North Dakota into intimate touch with
Minneapolis.
At this time there was also a great de
velopment of the terminals at Minneapolis.
The Union passenger station was built,
and the stone arch bridge to furnish access
to it. The "short lines" to St. Paul were
opened and freight handling facilities were
much increased in the city terminal yards.
BUILDING THE SOO LINE.
Even before the Northern Pacific was
completed another equally important step
was taken in the railway development of
the northwest. This was the planning of
the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & At
lantic Railroad—now known as the Soo
line. The organizing company was com
posed of Minneapolis men, with General
William D. Washburn, the promoter of
the project, at the head. The significance
of the undertaking was that it was a Min
neapolis road, built to relieve Minneapolis
from the influences of other cities upon
eastern connections, and to establish an
independent all-rail route to the Atlantic
seaboard. Incidentally, a new "lake and
rail" route was opened and a vast new
country in northern Wisconsin and Michi
gan was brought into direct connection
with Minneapolis. This project grew on
the promoters' hands, and within a few
years after the Soo was opened, in 1887, a
western line was built to connect with the
Canadian Pacific and open a competitive
route to the Pacific northwest.
The construction of the Soo line was a
very good example of the "Minneapolis
idea," as it came to be known in the eight
ies. The Minneapolis idea was briefly "all
together for the city's good." At that time
any project which was regarded as of ad
vantage to Minneapolis was taken up with
the utmost enthusiasm. Minneapolis men
worked together in every emergency and
to gain any purpose which seemed to be
of public value. Their purses were always
open for the city's welfare.
THE EXPOSITION.
One of the most remarkable instances of
the working of the Minneapolis idea was
the founding of the exposition. In 1885
AN ERA OF BROADER DEVELOPMENT
many of the large cities of the country
were conducting annual expositions. It was
believed that such an institution would be
of great benefit in advertising Minneapolis
and drawing visitors who would thus come
into closer relations with the city. On Oc
tober i i , 1885, a public meeting was held,
at which $100,000 was subscribed towards
the project. Incorporation followed imme
diately, and the public was asked to sub
scribe to the capital stock of $300,000.
61
period there was no federal building in the
city, although the need was great, and the
subject was being agitated. With the
characteristic delay incident to government
projects, it was 1882 before the site was
purchased, and 1889 before the present
building was occupied. Before the federal
building was completed, the old courthouse
—a patchwork of additions—had become
quite inadequate, and in 1887 legislative
authority was secured for the erection of
THE STONE ARC H HHJDOE.
The principal railroad entrance to the Union Passenger station.
Every dollar needed was secured in Minne
apolis. By the following August, a build
ing costing $325,000 was completed, and in
September an exposition was held, which
was attended by 338,000 people. To ac
complish this undertaking, obstacles of all
kinds were overcome by sheer force of will
and energy. Eor a number of years annual
expositions were held with success; they
served their purpose for the period.
GREAT-PUBLIC UNDERTAKINGS.
The building of the exposition was but
one of a great number of public enterprises
to which a large part of the energy of the
people of the city was devoted during the
decade of 1880-90. At the opening of the
a joint courthouse and city hall. Com
menced in 1889, this building has been only
recently completed, although occupied in
part for years. Its cost is over $3,000,000.
Other buildings of a public or semi-public
character received cordial support. The
Public Library building, Masonic Temple,
Young Men's Christian Association build
ing and numerous homes and asylums are
examples of this spirit of providing the
necessary institutions of a great city with
suitable accommodations.
MUNICIPAL IMPROVEMENTS.
During this period, general municipal
improvements were for the first time un
dertaken in a broad way. Until the be-
»
62
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
ginning of this period there was not a mile
of any kind of pavement on the streets of
the city, while most of the sidewalks, even
in the business center, were of wood. After
the original dirt streets came the era of
wooden blocks. From early in the eighties
until after the business depression of 1893
not much else was laid down in Minne
apolis, except a considerable amount of
granite in the lower part of the city arouml
the wholesale houses and railroad depots.
Cedar blocks, laid on pine boards which
rested on sand, went down by the mile. It
was cheap, quick and perhaps the best that
could be done under the circumstances. A
good sewer system; a complete water
works system (except a purification plant) ;
a modern fire department—these were
brought into existence within a few years.
T H E PARK SYSTEM.
Another and most creditable evidence of
the progressive spirit of the period was
the formation of a board of park commis
sioners and the acquisition of the larger
part of the area of the park system as it is
today. For this Minneapolis has to thank
two elements—the refined, intelligent taste
which conceived the park plan, and the en
thusiastic public spirit which eagerly seized
upon the idea and helped it along because
it was a good thing for the city. The board
of park commissioners was established by
law in 1883, and at once began to secure
valuable property which it was desirable fo
preserve for the public use. The earliest
work included the acquisition and improve
ment of the shores of the lakes in the south
western part of the city, and of a connect
ing drive to Minnehaha Falls.- Extensions
of this work have brought into the system
the banks of the Mississippi river for some
miles below the Falls of St. Anthony, and
many small tracts of land in various parts
of the city. The park system has been one
of the strongest influences in building up
municipal pride, and is generally regarded
as one of the best public investments Mir
neapolis has made.
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH AND PUBLIC LIBRARY.
Two buildings marking the progress of the city in the eighties.
AN ERA OF BROADER DEVELOPMENT
EDUCATIONAL MATTERS.
It was characteristic of a population
largely of New England origin that the
first forward movement of this period was
in connection with the public schools
After the consolidation of Minneapolis and
St. Anthony in 1872, the two divisions d
the city retained their separate school 01
ganizations for six years—this also prob
ably the outgrowth of the New England
idea of local control of the schools. But
a continuation of this plan was, of course
63
main building and a small agricultural
building, no structural equipment had been
added to the institution. In 1880, Presi
dent Folwell recommended a plan of ap
propriations, but nothing was done until
1883 when the University farm was pur
chased. This was followed in 1886 by the
Mechanics Arts building, and in 1889 by
the Law building, and by Gov. Pillsbury's
great gift of Pillsbury Hall. In 1884, Presi
dent Cyrus Northrop was called to the
presidency and commenced an administra-
THE CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA ABOUT 1890.
Pillsbury Hall is the prominent building at the left.
not feasible in a large city, and in 1878
legislation was sought consolidating the
schools under a general school board. From
this time forward the progress of the school
system was rapid. To 110 branch of the
city's affairs has the public given such close
attention or such willing expenditure, and
there has been a particular pride in main
taining the schools—buildings, equipment
and teaching force at a high standard.
Shortly after the reorganization of the
school system the development of the uni
versity was taken up in earnest. Although
a state institution, the university had been
largely fostered by Minneapolis people.
But since the completion of the original
tion of unequalled success. What the uni
versity has meant to Minneapolis as a con
stant influence for culture and the higher
things of life is well understood by those
who have watched its growth and the city's
development.
One phase of this influence was the or
ganization in 1883 of the Minneapolis Soci
ety of Fine Arts, headed by Dr. Folwell of
the University. Annual art exhibitions
and the maintenance of an art school have
been the contributions of this organization
to the higher development of the city. Dur
ing the decade of the eighties, architecture
first began to be seriously considered in its
effects upon the life and affairs of the city.
«
64
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Public buildings began to take on some
architectural beauty and dwellings showed
the evidence of a cultivated taste. Minne
apolis was finding time to turn from the
struggle for existence and the accumulation
of wealth to the consideration of the refine
ments of life.
The art society found its home in the
Public Library building—another great
achievement of this aggressive period. A
library was needed, and it was decided to
connection that the period of the middle
and later eighties was perhaps the most
prolific in church building that the city has
seen. With few exceptions the larger and
older churches of the leading denomina
tions occupied new structures at some time
in this period. During this time the mem
bership of Minneapolis churches was in
creased enormously through the coming of
thousands of communicants from other
cities.
Religious and charitable work
THE WE§T HOTEL.
Erected in 1883-4.
have the best possible. To supplement a
public issue of bonds, $50,000 was sub
scribed by citizens and a building costing
$270,000 was completed in 1889. An older
private library, the Athenaeum, was made
the basis for a general public library, and
the institution was organized under the
direction of Herbert Putnam, now librarian
of congress. It has been characterized as
one of the best of the libraries of its class
in the United States.
made great progress. The Young Men's
Christian Association, originally organized
in 1866, made rapid growth and before the
close of the period was housed in its hand
some building at Tenth street and Mary
Place. St. Barnabas, the Northwestern,
St. Mary's and other hospitals were built
at this time. The Associated Charities was
organized and the first steps towards sys
tematizing and making more effective the
city's benevolences were taken.
CHURCHES AND PHILANTHROPIES.
MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS.
The history of the churches is found in
another place; it is sufficient to say in this
The city entered the eighties working
under the old charter of 1872, granted
;;-V" U. .Vv;.
66
LORING PARK—THE FIRST LARGE CENTRAL PARK.
It was acquired and Improved immediately after the organization of the Minneapolis park board in 1883-4.
when the two towns were consolidated.
Already this document was loaded with
amendments and was found to be com
pletely outgrown. A new charter was
granted in 1881—a .consolidation of various
amendments and special acts with the old
charter—but so changed as to be prac
tically a new organic act. But in a short
time it was also amended almost beyond
recognition and proved to be quite inade
quate to the needs of a large city.
The demands upon municipal officers in
those days of abnormal growth were heavy
and it is a matter of wonder that there was
no serious municipal scandal during the en
tire period. This was the more strange in
that the rapid influx of population brought
to the polls at each succeeding election a
sufficient number of voters quite unac
quainted with the municipal affairs of the
city, to hold the balance of power. It is
not surprising, therefore, that the adminis
tration of affairs swung from one party to
another and from "wide open" to "law en
forcement" with startling frequency, and
no apparent cause. The city council, con
fronted by problems of finance and con
struction seldom equaled under such circumstances, as a general thing performed
its duties with business sagacity. Many
men of fine business ability were members
of "the body. Others of lesser talents or
perverted talents, are better forgotten. Es
pecially towards the end of the period un
der consideration, when the city was be
coming large and its business attractive to
the predatory, were men of uncertain tra
ditions beginning to find their way into the
council. The appointive and elective of
fices included some of the best who have
served the city.
A CITY I N VILLAGE GARB.
If any criticism can be passed upon the
attitude of the people of the city in munici
pal matters during this time, it may be
said to be due to their failure, still, to re
gard their city as more than a village. And
if this was true of the administration of
public affairs it was equally true of the
physical aspects of Minneapolis at that
time—a fact frequently remarked by visi
tors. "Minneapolis is a beautiful place, but
looks like an overgrown village," was a not
infrequent comment. This criticism was
not ill-founded. Since Col. Stevens first
laid out the original town site, no one, apparently, had taken pains to consider the
AN ERA OF BROADER DEVELOPMENT
question of guiding the further physical de
velopment of the city. Additions were laid
out and joined to the city much as it hap
pened, and generally, it would appear, with
particular regard to the promoters' ideas,
and with no consideration of the public in
terest or the future of the city. This was,
perhaps, inevitable at a time when every
one was struggling for foothold and each
man was busy with his private affairs, or
with promoting the general success of the
city. It was a struggle to "get there"—to
use the phraseology of the time—the meth
od was not of so much consequence.
But the acceptance of addi
tions arranged so as to produce
irregularity and confusion of
streets, was not as serious as
the absence of plan for the ar
rangement of public grounds
and buildings.
Minneapolis
missed its first great opportun
ity in 1865 when it voted down
the acquisition of Nicollet Is
land for a park at a nominal
cost. Other good park propo
sitions were defeated later, but
the second great opportunity
lost was in the eighties, when
a large number of public build
ings being under consideration,
the city failed to group them
around a common civic center,
or, at the very least, to provide
some suitable setting for each.
And if this inattention to the
;
aspect of things prevailed in
public matters it could not be
expected to be absent in private
undertakings where m o n e y
considerations usually predom
inated.
Business buildings
were put up without any re
gard to the fitness of things
and dwellings were apparently
dropped into building lots
much as it happened. It was
also the custom, as the busi
ness structures encroached on
the residence portions, to move
One of
the disturbed dwelling house
to more distant parts of the
67
city. In the eighties the streets were not
infrequently obstructed with these travel
ing homes—many of them in a condition
which would warrant instant demolition.
But since it was a problem to house the
people who wanted to live in Minneapolis,
can the Minneapolitans be blamed for sav
ing everything that offered a roof for the
protection of more "population?"
The
gibes of visitors were met cheerfully and
Minneapolis w£nt on her way content for
the time to be called an "overgrown village."
I
1:1 n i u
THE METROPOLITAN LIFE BUILDING.
the first of the large ofllce buildings which were built
during the middle eighties.
Known until re
cently as the Guaranty Building.
68
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
. At the beginning of this era in the his
tory of Minneapolis the city knew nothing
of the many public, services which now are
regarded as absolute necessities. There
were, it is true, a few miles of narrow guage
street railway, on which one-horse "bob
tail" cars were operated. The first great
development was the construction of many
miles of additional lines to meet the needs
of the rapidly growing city, but about 1890
the entire system was replaced by a modern
electric system. In the same way the sys
tem of gas supply grew from a small plantin 1880 to a very large system before the
close of the period.
CHANGES IN BUSINESS METHODS.
The modern electrical inventions and
public utilities came just in time to meet
and assist certain tendencies which had not
developed at the beginning of the period in
question. The office building came in—
made possible by the telephone, the mod
ern elevator, and the system of rapid tran
sit to suburban manufacturing plants. And
thus the city in a few years found its busi
ness methods revolutionized. The lumber
and flour industries were centralized in the
great office buildings, as were, to a large
extent, the other manufacturing lines of the
city, while the actual manufacturing plants
were gradually being pushed out towards
the suburbs, forced by the requirements of
more room, better light, trackage facilities
and lower valued real estate. Business was
finding itself. Banks and financial institu
tions began to draw together into a com
mon center; wholesale trade, instead of
being scattered along the retail streets,
took definite quarters, while the retail dis
tricts became more accurately defined and
decidedly more exclusive. After 1885 the
great retail stores of the present day began
to come to the front—the department store
idea had reached Minneapolis.
This period was notable for great cele
brations, festivals and conventions. The
celebration of the completion of the North
ern Pacific railroad in 1883 has already been
mentioned. In 1884 the national encamp
ment of the G. A. R. was held in Minne
apolis—the first great gathering of the kind
in the city. In connection with the exposi
tion there were carnival events, and in 1891
the bountiful crops and general prosperity
of the northwest was celebrated with a
Harvest Festival, unique in its extent, com
pleteness and appropriate features. A mon
ster parade depicted the industries and re
sources of the city in a way which attracted
wide attention. The auditorium afforded
by the exposition building made possible
some great conventions, notable among
them being the national Christian Endeav
or convention of 1891 and the republican
national convention of 1892. In these af
fairs Minneapolis won a reputation for hos
pitality which has made the place a favorite
convention city ever since.
PHENOMENAL POPULATION GAINS.
In the decade ending with 1890 Minne
apolis advanced from a population of 46,887 to 164,738. This was a gain of 117,851
or 251 per cent., something quite unpar
alleled in the history of municipal growth
up to that time. The average gain of about
12,000 people a year would not have been
excessive for a city starting with a large
population; but it must be remembered
that Minneapolis commenced the decade
with only 47,000. As the heavier growth,
proportionally, was in the first part of the
decade, it is probable that Minneapolis ac
tually gained 25 to 30 per cent, in popula
tion in some of those earlier years.
Before considering the last period in the
history of Minneapolis—the period opening
with the recovery, from the general depres
sion of 1893—some special phases of Min
neapolis life and activities will be taken up
under appropriate headings.
CHAPTER VIII.
CHURCHES AND PHILANTHROPIES
T
HE first religious organization in this
vicinity was a Sunday school estab
lished in 1823 at Fort Snelling. The
first religious work undertaken within the
present limits of Minneapolis was that of
S. W. and Gideon H. Pond who settled upon
the shores of Lake Calhoun in 1834 and com
menced work among the Indians. A year
later the Rev. J. D. Stevens came to Lake
Harriet where the first building ever used
for religious services within the present city
limits was erected. The work at Lake Har
riet was distinctly missionary and never
advanced to any form of organization.
It was connected, however, with the pres
ent church history of Minneapolis in an in
teresting way. A Presbyterian church was
organized at Fort Snelling in 1835 a i l d a s
Mr. Stevens acted as its pastor, its services
were frequently held at Lake Harriet. In
1840 the Rev. S. W. Pond became pastor
and in 1849 it was reorganized and took
the name of Oak Grove Presbyterian church
with the Rev. Gideon H. Pond as pastor.
In this period the church has been described
as "migratory" and for thirty years "had
no permanent place of worship." In 1862
the name was again changed to the "First
Presbyterian Church of Minnesota at Min
nehaha." In the meantime Mr. Pond began
to hold services at Colonel Stevens' house
at the Falls and in 1853 the First Presby
terian church of Minneapolis grew out of
this work. It did not flourish in the early
days and in 1865 was reorganized, consoli
dated with what was left of the Minnehaha
church, and has since been an active organ
ization. Through the absorption of the older
society it can claim to be the oldest church
in the state and city.
MEN OF THE PIONEER PERIOD.
The Ponds did much for the early re
ligious life of the community. They were
on the ground more than a decade before
St. Anthony was settled and they welcomed
the newcomers and assisted in religious
work. Equally useful were the pastors al
ready settled in St. Paul. In 1849 the Rev.
E. D. Neill of St. Paul, who has been de
scribed as- "a Presbyterian with Episcopal
tendencies," came every fortnight to St.
Anthony and held services which devel
oped into the organization of Andrew Pres
byterian Church. The Rev. Matthew Sorin
organized the first Methodist class in 1849
and soon afterwards the First Methodist
church was formed with the Rev. Enos
Stevens as missionary in charge. Congre
gationalism found a beginning with the
work of the Rev. Charles Secombe who
commenced home missionary effort in 1850.
The First Congregational church was or
ganized in 1851 with twelve members. The
Rev. E. G. Gear, chaplain at Fort Snelling,
held Episcopal services at the Falls as early
at 1849 but the first regular services looking
to the founding of a church were held by
the Rev. Timothy Wilcoxson who came as
a missionary in 1850. The first parish was
organized in 1852—the beginning of Holy
Trinity Episcopal church. The Rev. J. S.
Chamberlain assumed charge of the parish
and local missionary work in 1852 and in
1856 organized Ascension parish on the
west side of the river; and on August 5th
the corner stone of a church was laid by
Dr. Gear at the corner of Fifth street and
Seventh avenue south. At this moment
there was on the way to Minneapolis a
young deacon who had just graduated and
was sent west to assist Mr. Chamberlain
in missionary work. This was David Buel
Knickerbacker—a man destined to take a
most prominent and useful place in the re
ligious life of Minneapolis and the north
west. Upon his arrival he was given entire
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
as missionaries on salaries which would not
now be regarded as compensation for day
labor.
ORIGIN OF THE LARGER CHURCHES.
TWO CIIURCIIES OF 1830.
Old Westminster and Plymouth churches as they were first
erected 011 Fourth street. View taken
l'rom Hennepin Av.
charge of Ascension parish and in a few
weeks the name was changed to Gethsemane. For many years it was the center of
Episcopalianism in Minneapolis and most
of the other churches of the denomination
grew out of mission work undertaken by
Bishop Knickerbacker. Catholic activities
began with the work of Father Ravoux in
1849 when a building was commenced in
northeast Minneapolis on the land now oc
cupied by the Church of St. Anthony of
Padua. The Baptist denomination began
organized church life in 1850 when the First
Baptist church of St. Anthony was formed.
It is now Olivet Baptist church. The Rev.
W. C. Brown was the first pastor. In 1851
the Rev. C. G. Ames organized the First
Free Baptist church on the east side. It
later moved across the river and is still an
active organization. The Rev. J. C. Whit
ney became pastor of the lyrst Presbyterian
church of Minneapolis in 1853. These men
of the pioneer days were a devoted, self-sac
rificing band. Many of them were sent out
Few of the churches first founded have
become the larger churches of the present
time. For the most part the great churches
of the several denominations grew out of
later beginnings. For instance Westmin
ster Presbyterian church was not organ
ized until 1857 and its first church building
was not erected until i860. This building
stood on Fourth street between Nicollet and
Hennepin where the Hotel Vendome now
stands. Plymouth Congregational church,
organized only a few months before West
minster, built at the corner of Fourth street
and Nicollet avenue. A11 illustration shows
the old Plymouth and Westminster build
ings as they appeared when Fourth street
was in the residence part of the city. In
1857 St. Marks mission chapel was estab
lished in North Minneapolis but was re
moved in 1861 to the corner of Fourth street
and Hennepin avenue where the first serv
ice of St. Marks Episcopal parish was held
upon its formation in 1868. The First Bap
tist church was organized in 1853 but had
no house of worship until 1858, when it
built at Third street and Nicollet avenue
what was at that time the largest church in
the town. Ten years later this church
erected a new building at the corner of
Fifth and Hennepin where the Lumber Ex
change now stands. The Church of the
Redeemer (Universalist) grew out of an
organization effected, at a meeting held
in 1859 when W. D. Washburn, still a
prominent member, presided. The Rev. Dr.
James H. Tuttle became its pastor in 1866,
remaining for many years.
Augustana
Swedish Lutheran church was organized in
1866 and Trinity Norwegian and Danish
in 1867. The Church of the Immaculate
Conception was the first Catholic church
built on the west side of the river. The
present structure, erected in 1872, succeed
ed a small frame building put up three years
before. For twenty years Father James
McGolrick was pastor of this church, mak
ing it a power in the denomination and
7A
CHURCHES AND PHILANTHROPIES
RT. REV. DAVII) IJ. KNICKERBACKER.
Bishop
Kniekerbacker was the first
rector of Gethsemane
Episcopal clim-ch and prominent in the early
church history of Minneapolis.
himself taking an active part in the affairs
of the city. In 1889 he was appointed
Bishop of Duluth. The Christian church,
or Church of the Disciples, had 110 organiza
tion in the city until 1877 when the Port
land Avenue Church of
Christ was formed. It has
become one of the leading
churches of the denomi
nation in the West.
71
ling organizations to positions of promi
nence and erected permanent and frequently
very costly structures. Plain old-fashioned
church buildings, very simply furnished,
gave place to handsome modern buildings,
luxurious in every appointment. It is told
of the bishop then in charge that he hesi
tated to dedicate the old Centenary Method
ist church upon its completion in 1866, be
cause of what he regarded as its extrava
gance in fittings and furnishings. To those
who can remember what seems, at this day,
the extreme simplicity of the old church the
evolution in ideas as to church building: is
manifest.
Somewhat anticipating the general move
ment Plymouth Congregational church and
the Church of the Redeemer occupied new
buildings in the middle seventies—the for
mer building the familiar landmark at
Eighth and Nicollet (only removed in 1907)
and the latter erecting the first of its build
ings at Eighth street and Second avenue
south. Westminster Presbyterian church
built at Seventh and Nicollet in 1882; Gethsemane Episcopal church built at Ninth
street and Fourth avenue south in 1883; the
Central Baptist built in 1883; Immanuel
Baptist in 1884; the Swedish Mission Tab
ernacle in 1885; the first Baptist and First
Unitarian in 1887 ; the First Congregational
and Holy Rosary Catholic in 1888; the First
Presbyterian, Park Avenue Congregational,
Oliver Presbyterian and the Church of
KELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES OF
THE EIGHTIES.
After the foundation
laying of the early days
there was a period of
moderate growth a n d
progress, followed, during
the later seventies and
the decade 1880-90, by a
time of most r a p i d
growth in all denomina
tions.
In this period
churches grew from strug-
.
tmt
OLD GETHSEMANE CHURCH.
Fifth street and Seventh avenue south.
72
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
the Redeemer (rebuilding) in 1889; An
drew Presbyterian, Wesley Methodist, and
St. Stephens Catholic in 1891 ; the Portland
Avenue Church of Christ in 1893. These
are some of the prominent church buildings
of the period. They are mentioned in a
group to show the rapid growth of the time,
when every denomination in Minneapolis
was making great strides in membership,
wealth and aggressive church and mission
work.
An important phase of the development
of church matters at this time was the estab
lishment of many churches of the Scandi
navian denominations. Previous to 1880,
the Scandinavian population, though rap
idly increasing in numbers, had made no
very marked impression on the church life
of the city.
It is quite impossible to mention all the
names associated with Minneapolis pulpits
at this period. At its opening Bishop
Knickerbacker was finishing his long rec
torship at Gethsemane Episcopal church.
In 1883 he was elected bishop of Indiana.
Bishop McGolrick was still pastor of the
Church of the Immaculate Conception. The
Rev. Dr. Robert F. Sample completed an
eighteen years' pastorate at Westminster
Presbyterian church in 1886; the Rev. Dr.
Charles F. Thwing, now president of West-
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OP 1868.
This building stood at Fifth and Ilennepin on the site of the
Lumber Exchange.
REV. ROIIHRT I". SAMPLE, D. I).
ern Reserve University, Cleveland, received
652 members into Plymouth Congregational
church in a four years' pastorate ending in
1890; the Rev. Dr. Wayland Hoyt began
his notable pastorate of the First Baptist
church; Bishop Cyrus D. Foss was resident
bishop of the Methodist church until 1888;
the Rev. Dr. J. F. Chaffee, who had first been
stationed in St. Anthony in 1857, became
pastor of the new Hennepin avenue M. E.
Church in 1879 a n d three years later was
made presiding elder; the Rev. Dr. David J.
Burrell occupied Westminster Presbyterian
pulpit for four years; in 1888 Rev. Dr. C. J.
Petri began a long pastorate at Augustana
Swedish Lutheran church; the Rev. Edwin
Sydney Williams completed in 1883 an eight
years' pastorate at the Park Avenue Congre
gational Church (then the "Second") and
for some years thereafter devoted himself to
city mission work with great success; the
Rev. Dr. T. B. Wells for a decade was the
notable rector of St. Mark's Episcopal
church; the Rev. Father Tissot in 1888
ended a long service at St. Anthony of
CHURCHES AND PHILANTHROPIES
73
Padua; the Rev. Lars J. Jerdee has filled
the pulpit of the Immanuel Norwegian
Lutheran church ever since 1889; the Rev.
G. H. Trabert began in 1883 a pastorate at
the St. Johns English Lutheran church
which has continued to the present; the
Rev. E. A. Skogsbergh was pastor of the
Swedish Mission Tabernacle and is still at
the head of this great church; the Rev. Dr.
-Tuttle was still in the pulpit of the Church
of the Redeemer—and so this list might be
prolonged to great length. It was a time of
brilliant service and masterly labors and
accomplishments.
The city grew so rapidly at this period
of its history that the responsibilities of the
church people were felt very heavily. The
obligation to furnish religious teaching and
church services to the newcomers caused an
activity in establishing Sunday schools,
missions and chapels never equalled before
or since. Each denomination had its church
extension organization. The spirit of the
REV.
REV. JAMES F. CIIAFFEE, D. D.
EDWIN SIDNEY WILLIAMS.
times entered into this work; the word
"hustle," so well understood on the streets
of Minneapolis in the eighties, became a
part of the churchman's terminology. Some
one has said that the phrase "Churches
built while you wait" would also have been
appropriate at that time. One instance is
vouched for. The committee of one denom
ination, deciding at a certain meeting that
a church was needed in a particular locality,
within fifteen days had a lot purchased, a
church building erected, a congregation in
stalled therein and a minister in charge.
The growing importance of the city as a
religious center naturally led to its selec
tion as the meeting place of many im
portant conventions and gatherings. J In
the middle eighties the general assembly of
the Presbyterian Church met here; in 1892
the National Council of the Congregational
churches; in 1895 the general Convention of
the Episcopal Church. The Christian En-
74
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
REV.. JAMES II. .TUTTLE, D. D.
deavor convention of 1891 was one of the
largest religious gatherings of the time.
The more prominent denominations have
from time to time entertained their great
national associations of a missionary char
acter. These meetings have brought to the
city the leaders in the religious life of the
country.
THE CHURCHES OF TODAY.
After the financial troubles of '93 the
churches of Minneapolis were for a time
obliged to retrench as severely as the busi
ness houses. Some temporarily lost mem
bership and building projects were largely
held in abeyance. These conditions rapidly
passed away and during the decade past the
religious affairs of the city have been in a
most prosperous condition. The building
activity of the eighties has been duplicated
with a more pronounced tendency to per
manence and advanced ideas in church
architecture.
Westminster Presbyterian
church lost its beautiful building at Seventh
and Nicollet by fire and in 1898 occupied its
present structure at Twelfth and Nicollet—
one of the largest and finest churches in the
West. Plymouth Congregational church and
St. Marks Episcopal church sold their down
town property to build most beautiful spec
imens of church architecture further out.
The Second Church of Christ, Scientist,
erected a handsome church at Second av
enue south and Eleventh street—the largest
of a group of churches testifying to the
rapid growth and importance of this de
nomination in the past decade. In 1908 the
corner stone of a Pro-Cathedral was laid by
the Catholics of the city. This will succeed
the present Church of the Immaculate Con
ception. It will be a magnificent structure
of solid granite. The main nave will exceed
in size those of the cathedrals of Europe,
except that of St. Peter's at Rome which is
exactly the same width, and there will be
seats for 2,500 people. The people of Fowl
er Methodist church completed their hand
some building in 1907 and many lesser
structures all over the city have testified
in late years to the devotion, prosperity and
enterprise of the church people of Minne
apolis. There are now about two hundred
church buildings, including missions and
chapels, in the city and the membership
approximates 75,000.
With the rounding of the half century of
Minneapolis the early churches have begun
to celebrate their golden anniversaries.
These occasions have been of great inter
est. Notable among them have been the
celebrations of
Gethsemane
Episcopal
church in 1906 and Plymouth Congrega
tional and Westminster Presbyterian in
1907.
ALLIED ORGANIZATIONS.
The building of churches, the maintenance
of services and the internal life of the
churches generally, has been but a part of
the activities of the church people of the
city. Outside of regular church organiza
tion every class of religious, charitable and
philanthropic organization which would
tend to give practical force to the principles
of Christianity, has been heartily supported.
The Young Men's Christian Association
of the city of Minneapolis was organized in
1866. For many years it occupied rented
CHURCHES AND PHILANTHROPIES
75
and is the second largest Y. W. C. A.
in the United States. It owns at 87 South
Seventh street a building and lot valued at
over $125,000, equipped with all that is nec
essary for the maintenance of a lunch room,
reading room, gymnasium, rest rooms, class
rooms and a hall for entertainments and lec
tures. A branch lunch room is maintained
in the wholesale district and at the two
places about 750 young women lunch daily.
Almost as many are enrolled in the edu
cational and Bible classes. With the Wom
an's Christian Association the Y. W. C. A.
sustains a Travelers Aid work and a Tran
sient Home for Girls and Women is main
tained—the two forming one of the most
practical philanthropic undertakings- in the
city. The general secretary is Miss M. Belle
Jeffery.
The Woman's Christian Association was
founded in 1866 as the Ladies' Aid Society
and took its present name in 1868. For
forty years it has been an active charitable
and philanthropic force, doing a wide range
of work, including personal visitation and
relief of the poor, and the maintenance of
the Woman's Boarding Home at 52 South
Tenth street and the Pillsbury Home at 819
Second avenue south. The association also
manages the Jones-Harrison Home for the
care of aged women and aged ministers and
their wives and joins with the Y. W. C. A.
in the Travelers Aid work. The president is
Mrs. E. M. La Penotiere.
3,400
A J*Av
A
THE CHURCH OP THE REDEEMER.
quarters which gave place about 1892 to the
handsome building at Tenth street and
Mary place, now free of debt and valued at
$175,000. The building is fully equipped for
the religious, social, educational and phys
ical culture work of the organization. Its
night school is attended by from 700 to 800
young men and boys. Its officers in 1908
are, president, J. S. P'orteous; vice presi
dents, E. W. Decker and E. L. Carpenter;
recording secretary, G. A. Gruman; treasur
er, T. M. Martin, and general secretary, S.
Wirt Wiley.
Not less interesting and successful is the
Young Women's Christian Association,
founded in 1891 and growing more and
more rapidly until it has a membership of
HOMES AND ASYLUMS.
The Washburn Memorial Orphan Asylum
was founded in 1886 under a bequest of
$375>°°° from the late Governor C. C. Wash
burn of Wisconsin as a memorial to his
mother. Gen. W. D. Washburn of Minne
apolis, brother to Governor Washburn, who
has always been at the head of the board of
trustees, gave twenty-five acres of land at
Nicollet avenue and Forty-ninth street on
which was erected a building costing $75,000, the remainder of the bequest constitut
ing a permanent endowment. C. E. Faulk
ner is superintendent.
The Catholic Orphan Asylum at Chicago
avenue and Forty-sixth street was erected
some twenty years ago to care for the or-
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
76
phans of the denomination. It is an effi
cient institution and well supported.
The Home for Children and Aged Wom
en was founded in 1881, and installed in
its present building in 1886. It has been
the special care of some of the benevolent
ladies of the city and has received generous
financial support as well as personal service.
Bethany Home, the Home for the Aged, and
as a memorial to their parents, Mr. and Mrs.
Charles A. Pillsbury, and is admirably
equipped for social settlement work. Henry
F. Burt is head resident. Unity House, 1616
North Washington avenue, developed from
work undertaken by members of the Church
of the Redeemer, but is now a co-operative
settlement devoting itself largely to reach
ing the children with helpful agencies. Miss
!
WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Chas. S. Sedgwick, Architect.
the Sheltering Arms are all well established
and effective.
The Minnesota Soldiers
Home, while not maintained by the people
of the city, is one of the institutions in
which much interest is felt. Its grounds
are upon the Mississippi river bluffs adjoin
ing Minnehaha park—one of the most beau
tiful spots in Minnesota.
Settlement work has been undertaken in
the city at three centers. Pillsbury House,
320 Sixteenth avenue south, grew out of the
work of Bethel mission, established by
Plymouth Congregational church in the
early eighties. The beautiful building was
the gift of Charles S. and John S. Pillsbury
Caroline M. Crosby is head resident. In
the autumn of 1908 Wells Memorial House
at 116 North Eleventh street was opened
under the auspices of St. Marks Episcopal
church.
The Associated Charities of Minneapolis
was organized in 1884, largely through the
instrumentality of George A. Brackett, who
remained its president for many years. The
plan of work is similar to that of such asso
ciations everywhere—the principles of en
couragement to thrift and self support and
intelligent co-operation among the charit
able being prominent. Frank L. McVey is
president and Eugene T. Lies secretary.
CHURCHES AND PHILANTHROPIES
77
sion work is beyond individual treatment.
The first large work was that undertaken
by the City Mission of 1883 on South Wash
ington avenue, of which the Rev. Edwin S.
Williams, was superintendent. In 1895 the
Union City Mission was organized as an
undenominational institution. In 1902 it
occupied its present quarters in the St.
James Hotel building at Washington and
Second avenues south, where are maintained
a hotel, lodging house, mission hall, employ
ment bureau, baths and laundry. T. E.
Hughes has been for years the president
and C. M. Stocking, superintendent.
YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION BUILDING.
Clias. S. Sedgwick, Architect.
The Board of Charities and Corrections
of the City of Minneapolis is composed of
five commissioners, of whom the mayor is
one and is charged with the care of the
poor department, the workhouse and the
city hospital. Richard Tattersfield is sec
retary of the board. .
In a city so well organized for charitable
and philanthropic work it is of course, quite
impossible to mention every organization,
In fact each church has its society; each
lodge its committee. In the same way misYOUNG WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION BUILDING.
Win. Channing Whitney, Architect
Many^ of the hospitals of the city are of
a charitable character, but as their wojrk is
largely professional they are mentioned in
the chapter on the Medical Profession.
PILLSBURY HOUSE.
Bertrand & Chamberlin, Architects.
BUSHNELL, Rev. John Edward, pastor of
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Minneapolis,
and a leading- exponent of Presbyterianism in Min
nesota, was born in Old Saybrook, Connecticut,
October 21, 1858, son of John F. Bushnell of that
place. He attended the village schools and pre
pared for college at the Morgan School of Clin
ton, Connecticut, and graduated at Yale College
in 1880. After taking his theological course at
Yale Theological Seminary, he took a post grad-
78
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
nell was married to Florence A. Ellsworth, of
Brooklyn, New York, and to them have been
born three sons,—Ellsworth, John Horace and
Paul Palmer.
CLEARY, Rev. James M., for many years in
charge of St. Charles Catholic Church, Minneap
olis, was born in Boston, September 8, 1849, the
son of Thomas and Julia Cleary. He came to
the Northwest with his parents while a child and
was educated in the public schools of Walworth
county, Wisconsin, St. Francis Seminary and Col
lege, Milwaukee, and at St. Lawrence College,
Calvary, Wisconsin. He entered the priesthood
July 8, 1872. He has been widely known as a
public lecturer and has taken a prominent part in
temperance work, being for many years president
of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of Amer
ica and vice-president of the Anti-Saloon League
of America. He has been the president of the
Minneapolis Home Protection League, and is a
member of the Catholic Knights of Wisconsin,
Catholic Order of Foresters, and the Knights of
Columbus. While in Minneapolis he has taken a
prominent part in the discussion of all civic
questions and is always to be found on the side
of temperance, saloon restriction and all prac
tical good government movements. He is a
member of the Commercial and Six O'Clock
Clubs.
REV. JOHN E. BUSHNELL, D. D.
uate course in critical studies. He received his
first call to a pastorate from the Congregational
church of Fairfield, Connecticut, where he re
mained four years, going in 1888 to the Presby
terian Church at Rye, New York, of which he was
pastor for six years. This was followed by a
pastorate of six years at the Phillips Presbyterian
Church, of New York City, when he was called to
the Westminster Church, of Minneapolis, the
largest and most important church of that de
nomination in the city. Under Dr. Bushnell,
Westminster is organized for effective work and
its influence is both dynamic and pervasive. It
is a church which does things and the great
structure which the congregation erected in place
of the one destroyed by fire about ten years ago,
is strongly suggestive of enduring strength and
achievement. During Dr. Bushnell's pastorate
the church has greatly increased in membership
and holds a position as one of the leading or
ganizations of the denomination in the country.
Dr. Bushnell received the degree of "D. D." from
New York University in 1898. He is a member
of various collegiate and clerical societies and
literary organizations. In June, 1887, Dr. Bush
FAULKNER, Charles Edward, superinten
dent of the Washburn Memorial Orphan Asylum
at Minneapolis, is descended from a long line of
ancestors among whom were men prominent in
the colonial period. Patrick Falconer of Edin
burgh who came to America late in the seven
teenth century was born in 1859 and the records
show that he was married October 2, 1689, at
New Haven to Hannah, daughter of Deputy
Governor William Jones of New Haven and
granddaughter of Governor Theophilus Eaton of
New Haven Colony. Patrick Falconer was a
citizen of Newark, New Jersey, member of First
Presbyterian Church of Newark, New Jersey, and
the records of his will showed that when he died,
in 1692, he left extensive properties in New York
and New Jersey. In course of time the orthog
raphy of the family name was changed. Ed
ward Faulkner, father of Charles E., was a mer
chant at Earlville, Madison county, New York,
at the time of his son's birth, July 12, 1844. His
wife was Abigail Doolittle Beach. She was de
scended from John Beach who lived in New
Haven, Connecticut, as early as 1643, and who
signed the Wallingford Covenant and received
allotment of land under this document. Mr.
Faulkner's grandfather was the Rev. Lyman
Beach who served in the war of 1812. During
his early boyhood the family moved to Mansfield,
Pennsylvania, where Charles attended school at
Mansfield Classical Seminary until the breaking
out of the Civil war, when he at once enlisted
under the first call of President Lincoln in April,
CHURCHES AND PHILANTHROPIES
1861. While serving on the Peninsula he was
taken prisoner, June 30, 1862, and confined in
Pemberton Warehouse and on Belle Island. Af
ter the expiration of his enlistment two years
later, he served in the commissary department
until the close of the war. On June 27, 1867, he
was appointed a registration officer under the
reconstruction acts and served in Virginia during
the most interesting portion of the reconstruction
period. Mr. Faulkner next went to Kansas, es
tablishing himself at Saliny in April, 1869. He
at once entered actively into public affairs,
served as deputy county treasurer three years
and as county treasurer four years, was a mem
ber of the legislature for two terms, and from
1876 to 1887 was a member of the board of trus
tees of the Kansas Senate Charitable Institutions.
His interest in charitable and philanthropic in
stitutional work brought him the appointment in
1887 of superintendent of the Soldier's Orphan
Home at Atchison. After filling this post for
ten years he was called to the superintendency
of the Washburn Home which he has managed
with ability for the past decade. He was pres
ident of the National Conference of Charities
and Corrections at Topeka in 1900 and in 1902
president at the Minnesota State Conference of
Charities and Corrections at Rochester. Mr.
Faulkner 011 September 6, 1871, married Clemen
tina A. Coryell, daughter of Rev. Vincent M.
Coryell, at Waverly, New York. Like her hus
band, Mrs. Faulkner is descended from a long
line of forebears. Her grandfather, Emanuel
Coryell, served in the Revolution and her great
grandfather of the same name was the owner
of Coryell's ferry across the Delaware under a
patent from George II. Mr. and Mrs. Faulkner
have two sons, Dr. Coryell Faulkner and Charles
E. Faulkner, both living in Minneapolis. Mr.
Faulkner is a republican in political affiliation.
HALLOCK, Leavitt H., the pastor of Ply
mouth Congregational church, Minneapolis, from
1898 to 1907, was descended from the best early
New England ancestry on both sides, and was
born at Plainfield, Massachusetts, August 15, 1842.
He was the youngest son of Elizabeth Porter Snell
Hallock, lineal descendent of John Alden and
cousin to William Cullen Bryant. His earliest
paternal ancestor in America was Peter Hallock
who landed at Hallock's Neck, Long Island, in
1640, the source of all the Hallocks in this coun
try.
Dr. Hallock's grandfather was Moses Hal
lock, for forty-five years the pastor of the only
church in Plainfield, Massachusetts, where he edu
cated more than three hundred students for col
lege, many of whom became noted men in the
land, fifty of them ministers of the gospel and
seven foreign missionaries.
Dr. Hallock's father, Leavitt Hallock, served
his town and state in several capacities of public
trust, with honor and fidelity, and Dr. Hallock
79
has justified his honorable ancestry by his own
record.
Graduated from Williston Seminary, and from
Amherst college in 1863, at the age of twenty-one,
he took his theological course at East Windsor
Hill and at Hartford, closing his fourth year in
1867. From his graduation until 1892 he held
successive pastorates in Connecticut and in
Maine, preaching for sixteen years in the. former
state and ten years as pastor of Williston Church,
Portland, Maine, and in Waterville. Thence he
was called to the First Church of Tacoma, Wash
ington, which he served for more than three
years, and then became preacher and instructor
at Mills College, California, until called to Ply
mouth church, Minneapolis.
Politically, Dr. Hallock belongs to the con
servative branch of the republican party. He
has always been active in moral reform and to
his efficient work for tcmperance western Con
necticut was greatly indebted during his ten
years successful pastorate -in West Winsted.
Dr. Hallock has been honored by the degree
of "Doctor of Divinity," conferred by* Whitman
College, Washington, in 1893: .election as cor
porate member of the American Board of Com
missioners for Foreign Missions in the same
year, which position he still holds: membership
in both international councils of the Congrega-
CHARLES E. FAULKNER.
80
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
•*
• iii 3I S" 5 '
- ''«rv
•>, • ,< •
LEAVITT H. HALl.OCK
tional body, held respectively in London, Eng
land, in 1891, and in Boston, in 1899.
Dr. Hallock was married in June, 1867, to
Martha B. Butler, of Brooklyn, New York, who
died in October, 1873, and was the mother of his
two children, Harry Butler Hallock, a business
man of Cincinnati, and Lillian Huntington, wife of
Geo. R. Campbell, M. D., of Augusta, Maine.
On the 3d of October, 1888, Dr. Hallock mar
ried Miss Ellen M. Webster, of Portland, Maine,
who was associated with, him in the work of
Plymouth church.
JERDEE, Rev. Lars J., pastor of Immanuel
Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church, Min
neapolis, was born in Lekanger, Norway, on
January 2, 1859. His father, who was a farmer,
migrated to America in 1861 and the family
lived in Dane county, Wisconsin, for some years,
Lars attending the public schools and a Norweg
ian church school in the vicinity. When seven-
Decorah, Iowa, and graduated in 1882 with the
degree of B. A. He had determined to become a
teen years of age he entered Luther College at
clergyman and entering Luther Seminary at Madi
son, Wisconsin, to pursue his theological studies,
completed the course and graduated in 1885. In
the same year he was ordained and entered upon
his ministerial work in Polk county, Minnesota,
where he organized ten Lutheran congregations
and did mission work in general. Mr. Jerdee
remained in Polk county until 1889 when he was
called to Immanuel Norwegian Lutheran Church
in Minneapolis, where he has remained as pastor
ever since, taking a leading part in the affairs
of his denomination of the Northwest. Since
1891 he has been one of the directors for home
missions and for about the same length of time
has been one of the board of visitors for Luther
Seminary. From 1890 to 1898 he was treasurer
of the Minnesota district of the Norwegian
Evangelical Church of America. He has been
president since 1896 of the board of Enclist mis
sions. Mr. Jerdee was a member of the com
mittee editing a new explanation of Luther's
catechism, published in 1904, and for the trans
lation of Luther's catechism into English, pub
lished in 1906. During his pastorate in Minne
apolis he has also had charge of Santiago and
South Santiago in Sherburne county, Gethsemane
Church, Minneapolis, Brooklyn Church in Hen
nepin county, and Bergen Church in McLeod
county and was prime mover in organizing St.
Johannes Evangelical Church in Minneapolis.
He belongs to the Synod of the Norwegian Evan
gelical Lutheran Church of America. Mr. Jerdee
was married in 1886 to Miss Turine Husevold of
Cyrus, Minnesota. They have had five children
—three sons, Joseph C., now studying at Luther
College, at Decorah, Iowa, and Theodor Ruben,
who died, and a third son also named Theodor
Ruben, a student at Minnesota College; and two
daughters, Thina and Laila Tonette, the first of
whom died while a child.
KNICKERBACKER, David Buel, was one of
the pioneers of religious work in Minneapolis
and the Northwest and one of the most con
spicuously useful and successful clergymen which
the Episcopal church sent into the Northwest in
the early days. Bishop Knickerbacker was born at
Schaghticoke, New York, February 24, 1833. His
father, Herman Knickerbacker, inherited a large
fortune from his father Johannes Knickerbacker,
and for his lavish hospitality was called the "Prince
of Schaghticoke." He was a lawyer of ability,
occupied a seat on the bench of the county and
represented his district in congress. The son
was given a liberal education and graduated from
Trinity College, Hartford, in 1853. He then took
a theological course and graduated from the
General Theological Seminary in 1856. The
young deacon was at once appointed by the
Board of Missions in New York as a missionary
assistant in Minnesota and with his young bride
CHURCHES AND PHILANTHROPIES
he arrived in Minneapolis in July of the same
year. He was placed in charge of the Ascension
parish—a name shortly afterwards changed to
Gethsemane, under which the strong church of
that name developed. The future bishop's salary
was at first $500. The church had but five com
municants at the beginning; it had no church
building—although the original structure at Fifth
street and Seventh avenue south was completed
during the year. Bishop Knickerbacker's work
was for a time of missionary character, serv
ing a number of points in association with Rev.
Mr. Chamberlain. By the following spring, how
ever, his work in Gethsemane had so strength
ened as to require his constant services, his out
side missionary work, for which he afterwards
became so famous, becoming from that time in
cidental to his work in Gethsemane. By this
time the communicants had increased from five
to fifty-three in one year. On July 12th, 1857,
Bishop Kemper made a visitation of the parish,
and Mr. Knickerbacker was ordained to the
priesthood. Under Mr. Knickerbacker's rector
ship Gethsemane church grew very rapidly. At
the end of five years the number of communi
cants had increased to 102 and the church was
in a very flourishing condition. In i860 Rev.
Mr. Knickerbacker commenced his outside mis
sionary work, holding services more or less reg
ularly at Crystal Lake, Anoka, Hassan, Water-
REV. LARS J. JERDEE.
81
ville, Mahnomin, Monticello, Clear Water, Big
Lake, Rockford, Eden Prairie, Fort Snelling and
Bloomington. In 1863 he says, "There is no
limit to church extension in this vicinity save
the ability and strength of one clergyman to do
the work." In 1869 he organized the "Brother
hood of Gethsemane" to assist him in this field
of church work. Harvest Home Festivals were
inaugurated and a Free Church Reading Room
opened and maintained on Washington avenue,
corner of Nicollet, afterward removed to Geth
semane Parish House. In 1870 Rev. Mr. Knick
erbacker, having accepted his election as Dean
of "Seabury Divinity School," resigned his rec
torship but, on the urgent protests of the vestry
and congregation to himself and the Bishop,
was induced to remain. After the chaplain at
Fort Snelling left in 1866, Mr. Knickerbacker
and his helpers maintained services at the Fort
and occasional services at the Indian village of
Mendota. This was continued for more than
ten years. On the first Sunday of the month
a goodly number of Sioux Indians from Men
dota generally appeared at Gethsemane and re
ceived the Holy Communion. After service they
received a feast of baker's bread furnished by the
rector. This custom continued all through the
remaining rectorship of Mr. Knickerbacker and
for many years after. In 1873 Mr. Knickerbacker
received the degree of D. D. and four years later
was elected missionary bishop of Arizona and
New Mexico. He did not sever his connection
with Gethsemane church, however, until 1883
when he was elected Bishop of Indiana. He had
then served as rector of Gethsemane for twentyseven years and had seen the church grow from
five to 274 communicants and with 1,000 souls
in the parish. Meanwhile numerous missions
established through his efforts had developed into
independent churches. In the same year the
corner stone of the new Gethsemane church
building at Fourth avenue south and Ninth street
was laid. Bishop Knickerbacker was consecrated
Bishop of Indiana on October 4, 1883, and died
December 31, 1894, at Indianapolis. His life and
work in Minneapolis endeared him to a very
large number of people, as his influence and
service extended much beyond the boundaries of
his own parish and of denominational lines. He
was a man of great personal magnetism, warm
sympathies and broad views and was loved by
people of all classes.
JOYCE, Isaac Wilson, (Bishop Isaac Wilson
Joyce, D. D. LL. D., one of the Bishops of the
Methodist Episcopal Church) was one of -the
most conspicuous figures of the denomination to
which he belonged. He was born October 11,
1836, in Colerain township, Hamilton county,
Ohio; the son of James W. and Mary Ann Joyce,
and the grandson of William and Hannah Joyce,
of Dublin, Ireland. To this inheritance of Irish
blood was doubtless due something of his unusual
charm in public address, and his genial spirit
82
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
which made him everywhere a favorite. As a
into many sections of the country never before
youth many obstacles were in the way of his invisited by a bishop. His administration in China
tellectual training; his poverty, the opposition of
resulted in a spiritual quickening unsurpassed
his family, the ridicule of his associates; but he
anywhere in the world in modern times. The
loved books, he was an enthusiastic student and
church in that far away quarter of the globe has
persistently availed himself of every opportunity
felt the impress of this visit to the present day,
to secure coveted knowledge. He taught school
and it is the judgment of many on the field that
to pay his way at Hartsville, Indiana, the dethe gigantic strides made in China in recent years,
nominational school of the United Brethren
are largely due to his administration and influChurch. He alternately taught school and went
ence. Returning he visited Malaysia, making a
to college for several years; finally winning his
zigzag journey across India, meeting the Central
A. M. degree at Asbury (now De Pauw) UniConference at Lucknow, preaching everywhere
versity. Later Dickinson College gave him his
a stop was made. In 1903-4 he was in charge of
Doctorate - while the University of the Pacific
the missions in South America, giving them
honored itself and him by the LL. D. He was
unusually painstaking attention and administralicensed to preach by the United Brethren
tion.
Church, but in 1857 united with the Methodist
During his residence in Minneapolis his broad
Episcopal Church, and in 1859 was admitted into
catholicity was peculiarly manifest. He devoted
the Northwest Indiana Conference. As a very
himself without reserve to the interests of his
young preacher he became pastor of some of the
own denomination, yet, at the same time exhibitleading churches in this conference, and during
ed a spirit of deep sympathy with all forms of
the ten years following promotions and honors
Christian work. He was particularly solicitous
came rapidly. At thirty-three he was presiding
for the weaker churches, and it is a matter of
Elder of the East Lafayette district, then pastor
official record that he visited and ministered unto
of Trinity Church, La Fayette. His health besomething like one hundred of the smaller comcame somewhat impaired, and he was prevailed
munities throughout the northwest where no
upon to fill the pulpit of Bethany Independent
Bishop before him had penetrated. In these genChurch, Baltimore, for one year. In that cliuinely missionary visits, he frequently paid his
mate he rapidly regained his health, but, though
own expenses, and never received compensation
that church earnestly solicited him to become its
for services rendered. On Sunday morning, July
settled pastor, he returned to Indiana, and in 1877
2nd, 1905, while preaching at Red Rock Camp
was appointed to old Robert's Chapel, GreenMeeting, he suffered a partial paralytic stroke,
castle. Here he was enabled to erect a commodiHe evidently felt a premonition of the approachous church which today is a monument to his
ing end for he abruptly changed the thread of
untiring zeal and energy. In 1880, at the close of
his discourse, as he grasped a piller for support,
his term in Greencastle, he was elected to Genhe said, "I have preached this gospel around the
eral Conference, meeting in Cincinnati, out of
world and it has always met the needs of men."
which grew his transfer to the Cincinnati ConThe Bishop was married in 1861 to Caroline
ference, and his first appointment to St. Paul's
Walker Bosserman of La Porte, Indiana, who
church in that city. After serving this important
died in 1907. Their only son, Colonel Frank M.
church for a full term, he was sent to Trinity
Joyce, is a resident of Minneapolis.
Church, which he also served for a full term, and
,
was then reappointed to St. Paul's. In 1886 he
. MERRILL, Rev. George Robert, was born
was the official representative to the General ~ and educated in the East, though a great part of
Conference of the Methodist Church of Canada,
his work has been in the West. The family from
held in Toronto. In 1888 he was elected to the
which Mr. Merrill is descended has been estabEpiscopacy by one of the largest votes, up to
lished in America from the time of its early
that time, ever given to an incumbent of that . colonization,—his ancestors emigrating to this
office. For two quadrenniums, from 1888 to 1896,
country with the Puritans and settling at Newhis Episcopal residence was Chattanooga, Tennesbury, Massachusetts. His parents were Robert
see, where he greatly impressed the church by his
Merrill, a ship joiner and builder and Ann (Babpower as a preacher and his skill as a leader.
son) Merrill, who lived at the time of their son's
During this time he was Chancellor of Grant
birth at Newburyport, Massachusetts. The son
University for five years, and for four years
was born on December 26, 1845. He was brought
president of the Epworth League, and also held
up at Newburyport and there began his educathe conferences in Europe and Mexico. The
tion, attending the public schools and graduating
General Conference of 1896 transferred him to
in 1861 from Brown high school. In April, 1862,
Minneapolis, which was his Episcopal home until
he entered Amherst College, and owing to his
• the time of his death. The first two years of
careful elementary work was able to join the class
this time he was under appointment to visit and
which had entered the College in the fall presupervise the churches in the Orient. He visited
ceding his matriculation. In addition to his coland carefully examined the work of the denomlege work Mr. Merrill taught school at East
inat'on in Japan, Korea and China, penetrating
Corinth, Maine, at Beemerville, New Jersey and
4
ftAC.
84
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
liEV. UEOltftE U. MERRILL, D. D.
in the high school at Amherst. He graduated
in 1865 with the degree of B. A. The additional
honorary degree of M. A. ad eundem was later
awarded him by Amherst. Following his gradua
tion in 1865 he was offered a position as in
structor in the Academy at Blue Hill, Maine, and
taught in that school for two semesters. He
then began his theological studies, entering Ban
gor Seminary at Bangor, Maine. The course in
that college was supplemented by further study
along theological lines at the Seminary at
Rochester, New York, and under President E.
G. Robinson, D. D. During the time devoted to
acquiring his education, Mr. Merrill filled, in the
interval of his study, various positions with busi
ness houses, as a grocer's clerk, a supply-teacher
in the grade school at Newburyport and an as
sistant mail carrier. For some time he was lo
cated at Fortress Monroe and Hampton, Vir
ginia, where he carried on the work of the
American Missionary Association among the
Freedmen after the close of the Civil War. He
completed his theological studies and was ordained
at Henrietta, New York, for the Congregational
ministry on January 2, 1867, after short pastorates
in New York, Michigan and Maine, he received a
call from the First Congregational Church of
Painesville, Ohio, where he remained for eight
years. In 1886 he resigned and moved to Min
neapolis to become the pastor of the First Con
gregational Church, of which he continued in
charge for more than twelve years, resigning in
1898 to accept a call from the Levitt Street
Church of Chicago. Since 1900 he has been the
Superintendent of Home Missions, for the Con
gregational Denomination of this city and has
devoted his whole time and energy to the ad
vancement of this work. In addition to his work
as a clergyman Mr. Merrill has always been in
terested in educational work, and has served as
a trustee of various schools and colleges at dif
ferent times, among them Hallowell Classical
School in Maine; Lake Erie College, Ohio; Chi
cago Theological Seminary and Carleton College
at Northfield; and in 1893 received from Ripon
College, Wisconsin, the degree of D. D. His
work has also included his connection for several
years with the International Sunday School ex
ecutive committee as a member and the secre
tary. In political faith Mr. Merrill is a republi
can. He was married on May 1, 1867, to Eunice
Thurston Plumer of Newburyport, Massachu
setts, after whose death he was again married on
June 19, 1885, to Miss Mary Morse House of
Paynesville, Ohio. By his first wife he had three
children: John Ernest Merrill, president of the
Central Turkey College at Aintab, Turkey, Asia;
George Plumer Merrill, pastor of Prospect Street
Church in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and Mary
Merrill, now the wife of Dr. W. L. Burnap of
Pelican Rapids, Minnesota. From his later mar
riage there are four children, Eunice House Mer
rill, now the wife of Rev. Harold B. Hunting of
Rochester, Wisconsin, Robert Charles, Laura
Alice and Marjorie Annie Merrill.
MORRILL, Rev. Gulian Lansing, pastor of the
People's Church of Minneapolis, was born on
December 1, 1857, at Newark, New Jersey, the
son of Rev. D. T. Morrill and Alida L. Morrill.
The father was a Baptist clergyman for fortyfour years, a native of Vermont and a cousin of
Senator Lot Morrill; the mother was of the Lan
sing family, of Holland Dutch descent. A clergy
man's family is very likely to be brought up in
many towns but it happened that a considerable
part of Mr. Morrill's youth was spent in St.
Louis, where he studied in the public schools and
graduated from the high school, and where he
first developed the marked talent for music,
which, but for parental training and his own later
inclination, would have made of him a profes
sional musician rather than a minister. While
still almost a boy he studied the organ with the
best masters available, receiving the highest com
mendation from Prof. E. M. Bowman. In later
years he has by no means abandoned the organ
and has many times combined the offices of
preacher and organist. He has played on some
of the most noted organs in this country and
during his wanderings abroad has been privileged
to perform upon famous instruments in old Eu
ropean cities. Mr. Morrill began his study of
theology at Shurtleff College and afterwards
graduated from the Baptist Theological Seminary
CHURCHES AND PHILANTHROPIES
83
at Chicago. He took post-graduate work in He
brew and philosophy under Dr. Wm. R. Harper
and Dr. G. W. Northrup. Coming to Minneap
olis he became pastor of the Calvary Baptist
Church and remained during ten years, during
which time the new church edifice was erected.
Later he was pastor of the Chicago Avenue Bap
tist Church for three years. He has filled pastorates
at Anamosa, Iowa, Denver, and Owensboro, Ken
tucky. During his early pastorate in Minneapolis.
Mr. Morrill took a practical interest in the affairs
of the city and particularly in the amelioration of
the condition of the masses—the unchurched and
unchurchable. He had an active part in the work
which ended in the removal of the Washington
avenue dives and made possible the establishment
of the Union City mission. He has always stood
for temperance reform and the restriction of the
liquor traffic. In 1903 Mr. Morrill established
the People's church as "a place for all creeds,
classes and conditions of non-church-going peo
ple." Services have been held in the Masonic
Temple, Unique theater and Auditorium and the
pastor has brought to his aid the orchestra, organ,
soloist and chorus as well as art in the form of
lantern pictures illustrating the subjects of his
discourses. His methods have been original,
unique and sometimes sensational, (not what
would be required in the ordinary church work)
but they have been concededly effective in his
REV. CARL J. PETRI, D. D.
field. Mr. Morrill has made his work a clearing
house for the churches of the city, sending those
persons wishing permanent membership to one
or another of the denominational churches. In
J 881, on December 14, Mr. Morrill was married
to Miss Ada B. Wilkinson at Chicago. They have
two sons, David W. Morrill and Lowell Lansing
Morrill. It has been Mr. Morrill's constant habit
to write and speak outside his clerical labors.
He has lectured extensively on many subjects and
has written several books on subjects growing
directly out of his experiences in pastoral work,
in music and in travel abroad. An extensive tour
in Africa, Palestine, Asia and Europe a few years
ago provided material for "Tracks of a Tender
foot," a humorous and graphic account of per
sonal experiences and observations.
:
REV. GULIAN L. MORRILL.
PETRI, Carl Johan, one of the most distin
guished clergymen of the Lutheran Church in
this country, was born at Rockford, Illinois, June
16, 1856. His father was a tailor of that town
and the son received his early education at the
Rockford public schools, later attending the Augustana College at Paxton, Illinois, with the
class of 1877. In the latter year he graduated
with the degree of A. B., being a member of the
first class sent out from that institution, and in
1884 received the degree of A. M. from the same
college. During his college work he made es-
§6
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
pecial study of the modern and classical lan
guages and history, devoting particular attention
to classical English and at the completion of his
course was particularly proficient in these branch
es. One year after leaving Augustana he moved
to Minneapolis. At that time it was his inten
tion to continue his English studies for the pur
pose of becoming, at the request of the board of
directors, an instructor in that subject at Augus
tana College. He entered the University of Min
nesota and for a year put his energies to the
study of English and Anglo-Saxon; following
which he returned to the East, locating at Phila
delphia, from which place he had received a call
to take charge of a Swedish Lutheran congrega
tion. This position he held for several years.
In the University of Pennsylvania he again re
sumed his studies in English and history shortly
after his location in Philadelphia, at the same
time attending Dr. Krauth's lectures on philoso
phy. He was ordained to the Swedish Lutheran
ministry in 1880 1 . He returned to the West four
years later and became one of the faculty of Gustavus Adolphus College, at St. Peter, Minnesota,
as an instructor of history. In 1888 Dr. Petri
was called to Minneapolis to assume the re
sponsibilities of the largest congregation of his
denomination in the city—the Augustana Swedish
Lutheran Church. This was the beginning of a
long and successful pastorate. During his resi
dence in Minneapolis, Dr. Petri has been active
in educational and public work as well as in
his religious connections. He has served as a
member of the board of directors of Gustavus
Adolphus College and was a member of the first
board of directors of the Minnesota College,
Minneapolis, and still serves on that body, being
the vice president. For a number of years he
has been the vice president of the Minnesota
Conference of the Swedish Augustana Synod
and is now secretary of the Board of Missions
of the Conference. In 1881 he was one of the
founders of the "Augustana Observer," a Luth
eran religious p>per—the first of its kind to be
published in the English language by the Swedes
in this country. At a later period he was also
associated with the editorial department of an
English Sunday school paper issued under the
direction of the church and is now a member
of the Board of Publication of the Synod at
Rock Island. He was the originator and a prin
cipal promoter of the celebration in 1888, at Min
neapolis, of the two hundred and fiftieth anni
versary of the landing of the Swedes in America
during the seventeenth century. Likewise he
was active in arranging the celebration, in 1893,
of the three hundredth anniversary of the Upsala
Decree, being also the first scholar to translate
this decree into the English language. In the
same year he was a member of the advisory
council of the religious congress at the World's
.Fair. He is a member of the Institute of Civics;
and was one of the most influential organizers
of the Swedish hospital in 1898 and the first pres
ident of the board and of the hospital associa
tion. Dr. Petri was married in 1880 to Miss
Christine Anderson, of Rattvik, Delarne, Sweden,
the ceremony being performed in the historical
Old Swedes' Church, or Gloria Dei Church, in
Philadelphia. They have six children. The The
ological Seminary of Rock Island, Illinois, con
ferred upon him, in 1899, the degree of D. D.
Dr. Petri has always been conspicuous in the
counsels of his church. He is fluent and con
vincing in debate and courteous and engaging
in manner and his influence is commanding;
and he is frequently called uipon to lecture
throughout the Northwest in connection with
various lecture courses.
POPE, Rev. Edward Ritchie, was born in New
Bedford, Massachusetts, June 25, 1855. Here his
parents, W. G. E. and Anna F. Pope, were born
and here his ancestors lived from the earliest
settlement of the place. His paternal ancestor
in this country came to Plymouth in 163O', and
on his mother's side the first ancestor in this
country was John Coggeshall, the first governor
of Rhode Island. His great grandfather was a
Major in the Revolutionary War and his grand
father an officer in the war of 1812. Mr. Pope's
early life was spent in New Bedford, where he
was prepared for college in the Friend's Acad
emy; in 1872 he entered Harvard College but left
in the middle of his junior year, going to San
Francisco, where he studied law and was ad
mitted to practice. In 1882 he entered the Bap
tist Theological Seminary at Morgan Park, Illi
nois, (now connected with the Chicago Univer
sity) and graduated in 1885. From there he went
to Carbondale, Illinois, and in 1887 came to Roch
ester, Minnesota, serving the Baptist Church as
its pastor for rftore than six years. In January,
1894, he came to Minneapolis, having been elected
superintendent of Baptist State Missions under
the appointment of the Minnesota Baptist State
Convention and the American Baptist Home
Mission Society and this position he has filled
ever since. In' December, 1885, Mr. Pope was
married to Ella Krysher of Carbondale, Illinois.
Five daughters have been born to them, four
of whom are living.
PURVES, Rev. Stuart Ballantyne, the rector
of Holy Trinity Church of this city since 1894,
is of English parentage and birth, though he
received his theological education for the most
part in this country and has, since his ordination,
been engaged in clerical work in Minnesota. His
father was Richard Purves, a civil and mining
engineer, who practiced his profession with good
success in England, and who at the time of his
son's birth was located at Maryport. Stuart
Ballantyne Purves was born at Maryport on
July 3, 1862. The early part of his life was de
voted to his education in England, and he ob
tained his preparatory and classical training un-
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
S7
is associated with several of the fraternal orders,
being a Blue Lodge Mason, a Royal Arch Mason,
a Knight Templar and a member of the Mystic
Shrine. In 1893 Mr. Purves was married to Miss
Mary Wilson, daughter of the Rev. E. Stuart
Wilson, D. D. They have three living children—
Stuart St. Claire, Marjorie Elizabeth and Audrey
Katherine Ballantyne—one, Dorothy Marion,
having died in infancy.
. RI5V. STUAKT B. PUItVES.
der the instruction of private tutors and a taste
for study was developed which afterwards re
sulted in his preparation for the ministry. He
came to the United States and became a resident
of the state which has for nearly twenty years
been the field of his endeavor. Mr. Purves con
tinued his education here and following his in
tention to take up the work of a clergyman, he
entered the Seabury Divinity School at Faribault,
which had been founded by the pioneer Episcopal
missionary and bishop, the Rt. Rev. Henry B.
Whipple. Mr. Purves completed his theological
studies at Seabury and graduated in 1889 with the
degree of B. D. During the same year he was
ordained to the ministry by Bishop Gilbert of
Minnesota and immediately began his clerical
services as the missionary at Redwood Falls,
Minnesota. He continued the work there for
some time, and then received a call to the St.
Peter's Church of St. Paul, and was the rector
of that parish until 1894. At that time he was
called to the rectorship of the Holy Trinity
Episcopal Church of Minneapolis and has since
been its pastor. During the years of his service
in the Twin Cities Mr. Purves has been not only
successful in the work of his own parishes but
has been the head of several movements of in
terest to the clergy and public to which he has
lent an energy and enthusiasm which show him
to possess the necessary qualities to fill the re
quirements of the position he holds. Mr. Purves
ROBERTS, Rev. Stanley Burroughs, for a
quarter of a century a Presbyterian minister of
New York and Minnesota, is descended from old
New England families. Both his paternal and
maternal grandparents came from the New Eng
land states and settled in western New York
among the earliest pioneers of that region and
there were born the parents of Stanley Burroughs.
These were William M. Roberts and Betsey B.
Roberts. His father was a farmer at Phelps, On
tario county, New York, and Stanley B. was born
on the farm on August 12, 1855. He grew up
at the place of his birth and began his education
in the neighboring district school and then en
tered the Phelps Union & Classical School there
completing his preparatory training. It was his
intention to study for the ministry and he began
his college work at Center College, now Central
University, at Danville, Kentucky. He took up
theological studies and after completing the work
at the Danville institution, where he received the
degree of Bachelor of Arts, he entered upon an
other course of study at the Presbyterian Theo
logical Seminary at Auburn, New York. He
graduated from that school in 1882. Shortly fol
lowing his graduation he was ordained to the
gospel ministry in the Presbyterian Church by
the Presbytery of Utica, New York, and since
that time has been engaged in fulfilling the duties
of a constant and pleasant service in his profes
sional life. Before his graduation from the Au
burn Seminary he received an appointment as
pastor of a parish at Vernon Center, New York,
and remained there after his ordination until 1887.
In the latter year he resigned and accepted a
call to Dundee, New York. For four years he
carried on the work at Dundee and then moved
his home and church associations to Utica, New
York, and there held a pastorate from 1891 until
1899. After having preached for eighteen years
in New York he received a call from Minneap
olis to fill the position of pastor of the Bethlehem
Presbyterian Church of this city, which was ac
cepted and Minneapolis has since been his home
and the scene of his religious endeavors. In 1904
he received the honorary degree of Doctor of
Divinity at McAllister College. Mr. Roberts has
been continuously connected with the Bethlehem
Church and has not only built up a strong and
influential parish but has taken great interest and
done much active work in the general church
work of the city. Since beginning his profession
al life Mr. Roberts has been constantly in charge
of some parish and aside from his vacations has
88
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
occupied his pulpit, with but one exception, every
Sabbath for more than twenty-five years. He is
also a promoter and supporter of all movements
for improvement and progress; has often spoken
from the lecture platform in the cause of good
citizenship and temperance; and is active in the
Department of Missions in the Northwestern
Bible and Training School. Mr. Roberts was
married on December 27, 1882, to Miss Mary
Louise Hall of Waterville, New York. Four
sons and one daughter have been born, Stanley
Hall, Gladys Isabel, Harold Percy, Edward Carleton and Theodore McQueen.
SATTERLEE, Rev. William W., one of the
most prominent clergymen in the Methodist Epis
copal Church of Minneapolis, was born at La
Porte, Indiana, on April 11, 1837, and died on
May 27, 1893, at Athens, Tennessee. His father
was Ossian Satterlee and his mother Susan Curtis
Satterlee. The family is descended from the
Satterlees of Suffolk, England, and direct descent
is traced from Rev. William Satterlee of St. Ides,
Devonshire, England. The Satterlees who came
to America were among the settlers of the dis
trict of Wyoming, New York, historically famous
in Revolutionary tim<;s. Mr. Satterlee's ances
tors were participant;! in the Revolutionary and
Indian wars. Although born in Indiana, Mr. Sat
terlee's boyhood was largely spent in Wisconsin
where lie attended the pioneer country schools
and, as was customary, devoted most of his time
to farm work. While still a very young man he
was converted at meetings of the Wesleyan
Methodists and acted as an exhorter among the
churches of that denomination. He had, how
ever, determined to study medicine and the ear
lier part of his life was spent in practice which
was later combined with work as a preacher. He
moved to Minnesota and practiced medicine and
occupied frontier pulpits for three or four years
while living in Le Sueur county and at the end of
this period in 1867 joined the Methodist Episco
pal conference and became regular pastor of a
church in Waseca. He served this church for
two years, one in St. Cloud and the First Metho
dist Church at St. Anthony for two years each,
and at various times supplied, as pastor, the
churches at Delano, Sauk Rapids, Anoka, Rich
field and Seventh Street, Minneapolis. In 1873
Mr. Satterlee became deeply interested in the
temperance movement and from that time until
his death devoted much of his time to temper
ance work. He was secretary of the state prohi
bition organization for years and was an active
leader in the party, standing at various times
as party candidate for mayor of Minneapolis, for
congress and for governor. In 1886 he was elect
ed to the chair of Political Economy and Scien
tific Temperance in the Grant University in
Athens, Tennessee, a position which he occupied
during the remainder of his life. In his earlier
life Mr. Satterlee was an ardent abolitionist and
member of the Whig party and later a republican.
An injury to his left arm prevented military serv
ice during the war although he twice offered his
services. Later he was drafted but in all three
instances was rejected. He was married on De
cember 25, 1856, at Woodstock, Wisconsin, to
Miss Sarah Stout, who survives him. Their living
children are, a daughter, Mrs. L. H. Everts, and
three sons, M. P., W. E. and F. E. Satterlee, all
living in Minneapolis. Two other children, Mrs.
James Pye and Harry R. Satterlee, died some
years ago.
SHUTTER, Rev. Marion D., D. D., the pas
tor of the Church of the Redeemer, was born at
New Philadelphia, Ohio. His father, the- Rev.
Peter K. Shutter, a minister of the Baptist church,
has held various charges in Ohio and Michigan.
His pastorates were always successful, for he
was a man of great natural ability and a very ef
fective speaker. His father was of English ex
traction, while his mother was of French descent,
a combination well adapted to produce a success
ful orator. His wife, Dr. Shutter's mother, was
of early Dutch descent. Her name was Alethia
M. Haag. Her father was a fine scholar and had
charge of his grandson's early education. He was
twelve years of age before he was allowed to go
rl
•A
.4
A
.4
:%
REV. WILLIAM W. SATTERLEE.
CHURCHES AND PHILANTHROPIES
to the public schools. In the meantime he had
learned, in the village printing office, to set type,
and with this craft he had in a practical way a
knowledge of spelling, punctuation, grammar and
the use of capital letters. When sixteen years of
age he entered the preparatory department of
the Denison University at Granville, Ohio, and
attended the institution until the close of the
sophomore year. As he was thrown largely 011
his own resources he was frequently obliged to
teach school to earn money to go on with his
studies. Mr. Shutter's junior and senior years of
4he college course were taken at the University
of Wooster, Ohio, where he graduated in 1876.
Without funds to go further, the young divine
began to preach at a cross-roads in Western
Reserve, Ohio, at the rate of $200 a year. Soon
he added another preaching station, twelve miles
distant, and each Sunday used to drive twentyfour miles, preach three times, attend a Sunday
School, teach a class and eat his lunch as he
drove across the country. Although it was hard
work he enjoyed it. At the end of two years he
left two flourishing churches, each supplied with
a pastor, and went to Oberlin to take his theo
logical course. He remained there nearly two
years and then completed his studies at the
Baptist Seminary at Morgan Park, Chicago. On
the day of his graduation in 1881 he was called
to supply the Olivet Baptist church of Minne
apolis which led to a successful five years' pas
torate during which the church erected and
paid for the finest church building on the east
side of the river up to that time. In the mean
time Dr. Shutter's theological views had been
changing. The church was in a flourishing con
dition and practically out of debt. But he felt
that he could no longer occupy a Baptist
pulpit. He notified his church of the fact, and
withdrew from the church and the denomination,
having nothing in view as to his future course.
Immediately after the publication of his letter of
resignation, the young pastor received a kind note
from Dr. James H. Tuttle, pastor of the Church
of the Redeemer, whom he knew only by reputa
tion, inviting him to call and confer. Dr. Shutter
did so and set forth fully and frankly the con
clusions at which he had arrived. Dr. Tuttle ex
pressed a belief that Mr. Shutter could work with
the Universalists, and asked him to preach in the
pulpit of the Church of the Redeemer. Hs spoke
several times, with the result that he became Dr.
Tuttle's assistant with the understanding that
either party might, at the end of six months, with
draw from the arrangement. The six months
have now lengthened to a score of years. For
five years Dr. Shutter was Dr. Tuttle's assistant.
On the completion of the old pastor's twenty-fifth
year of service, in 1891, he was made pastor
emeritus for life and Dr. Shutter was made pas
tor, a position which he still holds with great
acceptance to the people and with distinguished
89
REV. MARION D. SHUTTER, D. D.
success, not only as a pastor, but as a publicspirited citizen who is in the forefront of every
movement promising the betterment of the peo
ple individually, or as a body politic. The Min
neapolis Kindergarten Association was organ
ized in his study. Dr. Shutter drafted its con
stitution. In 1897 he founded the Unity House
Social Settlement and is at present chairman
of the board managing the work.
He was
one of a committee with Dr. C. M. Jordan
and ex-Mayor Gray to establish public play
grounds in the city. He is a director of the
Board of Associated Charities. He believes that
it is better to be with the constructive forces in
a city than to indulge in denunciation of evil from
the pulpit. In addition to his large and increasing
church work, he is the author of six books which
sell well and steadily. Their titles are: "Wit
and Humor of the Bible," "Justice and Mercy,"
"A Child of Nature," "Applied Evolution," "How
the Preachers Pray," and a "Life of Dr. Tuttle,"
his predecessor. His work on "Applied Evolu
tion" attempts to interpret modern thought in
terms of religion, and has won the praises of
such scientific authorities as John Fiske and
David Starr Jordan.
CHAPTER IX.
EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS
A
S WAS mentioned in the chapter on
Early Settlement, the first school
• of any kind in the territory now oc
cupied by Minneapolis was'the Sioux Indian
school established on the shores of Lake
'Harriet in 1836. Soon after the settlement
of St. Anthony Miss Electa Backus taught a
private school in a frame shanty on Second
street, and about 1850 the first public school
of the village was built near by and was
taught for a time by a Mr. Lee. In 1851 the
preparatory school of the University of
Minnesota was erected and was opened in
November by the Rev. E. W. Merrill. A
school census taken soon afterwards showed
that the village even then had one hundred
and eighty-five children of school .age.
On the west side the first public scbool
was opened on December 3, 1852, in a small
house erected by Anson Northrup near the
corner of Third avenue south and Second
street. The teacher was Miss Mary E. Mil
ler and about twenty pupils attended during
the winter. This *w'as a district school.
The first district had been organized to in
clude the whole of Hennepin county on No
vember 29. Edw. Murphy, Dr. A. E. Ames
and Col. Stevens were the first school trus
tees. The summer term of 1853 was taught
by Miss Mary A. Scofield.
by the courthouse and city hall) and here
was erected a school house which was said
to be "the best building of the kind north of
St. Louis." After some delays this school,
the original Union school, was opened in the
spring of 1858 with a full corps of instruc
tors of whom George B. Stone was superin
tendent and principal, and the following
were teachers: Miss S. S. Garfield, Mrs.
Julia A. Titus, Miss H. E. Harris and Miss
Adeline Jefferson. At this time there were
three hundred and twenty pupils. Prof.
Stone was regarded as an excellent teacher
and is given credit for establishing the early
school system on a high plane. In 1864 the
old Union School building was burned and
was replaced by the Washington School
which occupied the same site until torn
down to make way for the courthouse in
1889. The other buildings were added dur
ing the 6o's and early 70's, the average for
some time being about two buildings per
year. In 1871 the system made a decided
gain when O. V. Tousley was secured as
superintendent. He served for fifteen years
and did much to establish the school system
on a sound basis. Until 1878 the schools of
St. Anthony and Minneapolis remained en
tirely distinct as separate systems.
FOUNDATIONS OF A SYSTEM.
In 1878, six years after the consolidation
of the two cities, it was decided that the
welfare of the schools demanded a single
Central organization and by legislative act
the Board of Education of the City of Min
neapolis was created and given the entire
control of all the public schools of both
places. This was the true beginning of the
public school system of today for it made
possible the development of a modern sys
tem which had been impossible while the
The real foundation of the public school
system of the city was laid in a town meet
ing held on November 28, 1855, at which
nearly every resident of the village was
present, and when it was determined to
organize a properly graded school and erect
a school building. After securing legisla
tive authority a site was secured on Third
avenue south between Fourth and Fifth
streets (one-half of the block now occupied
THE MODERN SCHOOL SYSTEM.
EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS
THE OLD WASHINGTON SCHOOL.
This building was erected in 1865 on Third avenue south <
where the court house and city hall now stands.
91
educational matters and have long enjoyed
a reputation for a high standard of school
work. The buildings of 1878 have nearly
all disappeared and most of the sixty-five
structures of to-day represent advanced
ideas in school construction. During this
time the problems of finance and superin
tendence have been very difficult, and the
city has been fortunate in being served on
the board of education by some of the
strongest business and professional men
resident here. With the rapid increase in
population it has, at times, seemed almost
impossible to provide sufficient school
rooms, for while the people have warmly
supported the school system, the impossi
bility of raising enough money by taxation
and bond issue to keep pace with the build
ing necessities has been manifest. During
the thirty years the schools have had but
three superintendents. Prof. Tousley re
signed in 1886 and was succeeded by Prof.
John E. Bradley, who served until 1892,
when he resigned to accept a college presi
dency. He was succeeded by Prof. C. M.
Jordan, who had been for a number of years
principal .of the Adams school. Dr. Jordan
has been repeatedly re-elected to this post,
which has added responsibilities and re
quires greater skill and ability from year to
year.
The city now has five high schools. The
oldest is the Central, erected in the early
8o's, of which John N. Greer is principal.
The other high schools are the South,
North, East and West, of which J. O. Jorgens, Waldo W. Hobbs, Wm. F. Web
ster, and A. N. Ozias are respectively the
principals.
two comparatively small districts remained
independent. The first board of education
under the new law was composed of Dorilus
Morrison, Winthrop Young, S. C. Gale,
George Huhn, Sven'Oftedal, Chas. Simpson
and A. C. Austin. Mr. Morrison was elected
president and Sven Oftedal, secretary. Prof.
Tousley continued as superintendent, and
was largely responsible for the reorganiza
tion of the system. The buildings in ex
istence at that time were the Washing
ton, Jackson, Lincoln, Jefferson, Madison,
Franklin, Adams, Sumner, Humboldt, Win
THE UNIVERSITY.
throp, Everett and Marcy. There was no
Before Minnesota had been organized as
high school building. The total enrollment
of pupils was 5,215 of which one hundred a territory the people had determined that
and ninety were in the high school division. one of the institutions of the coming state
There were ninety-eight teachers.
should be a university. It was even settled
From this has developed in thirty years the that Minneapolis (or St. Anthony) should
present Minneapolis school system with an be the home of the future school. This un
equipment of sixty-five buildings, a teaching derstanding was ratified in 1851 by the first
force of over one thousand, a total enroll territorial legislature which passed a bill
ment of about forty-five thousand pupils drawn by John W. North of St. Anthony,
with four thousand of these in the high creating the university, locating it at St.
schools. In these three decades the schools Anthony and naming Isaac Atwater, J. W.
have kept abreast of modern progress in Furber, Wm. R. Marshall, B. B. Meeker,
92
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
A
4-
:
, t ,*
I:--' S
I r<Jk. S
TYPICAL MINNEAPOLIS SCHOOL BUILDING OF TODAY.
Douglas school, corner of West Franklin and South Dupont avenues.
Socrates Nelson, Henry M. Rice, Alexander
Ramsey, Henry H. Sibley, C. K. Smith,
Franklin Steele, N. C. D. Taylor and Abram
Van Vorhees as the first board of regents.
The board organized by the choice of Mr.
Steele as president, Mr. North, treasurer
and Mr. Atwater, secretary. The board was
without funds but the act provided for the
creation of a permanent fund from the pro
ceeds of an expected land grant from con
gress. The grant proved to be only about
46,000 acres and there was little prospect
of immediate realization of cash from the
lands. In this emergency the people of St.
Anthony set about building the university
themselves. Franklin Steele gave a site and
$2,500 was subscribed with which a twostory frame building was erected in which
a school was opened on December 1, 1851.
This school was designated as a "prepara
tory school" for the university, the people
being confident, evidently, that by the time
any students were "prepared" the higher
institution would be ready to give them
instruction. The Rev. E. W. Merrill was
in charge of this school. After three years
it was discontinued and a similar experi
ment in 1858 proved equally unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, in 1854, the older portion of the
present campus was secured and in 1856
the first building was commenced, the re
gents discounting a future bright with ex
pectations of income with which to pay for
the structure. But the panic of '57 found
the building in course of erection, and
though it was finally finished, it stood for
eight years encumbered with debt while the
regents strove to solve the problem of sav
ing the institution for the state.
Gov. John S. Pillsbury's work for the Uni
versity began at this time. Called to the
regency in 1863 he proposed a special board
of regents clothed with extraordinary pow
ers to sell lands and liquidate indebtedness.
With John Nicols and O. C. Merriman, Gov.
Pillsbury was intrusted with this work.
EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS
THE FIRST UNIVERSITY BUILDING.
Tliis shows the original section of the "Old Main" building as
it was about 1869.
For four years Gov. Pillsbury strove against
countless discouragements. It is no dis
credit to the other members of the board to
say that he was the life of the body and
that his counsel, persistence, sagacity and
constant courage brought through what
would in other hands have proved a hope
less undertaking. In 1867 he reported the
university out of debt. Creditors had been
induced to accept lands, or cash as might
be, claims had been compromised in various
ways, patriotism had been appealed to, in
fact every resource of an unusually re
sourceful man had been used to bring about
settlements.
The university was at once reorganized
and consolidated with the new agricultural
college started under the Morrill grant, and
plans for beginning college work were
formulated. In 1867 the long vacant build
ing was repaired and furnished and a pre
paratory school was opened with W. W.
Washburn as principal. Prof. Washburn
opposed co-education but he was overruled
by the regents and the question has never
been raised again. In 1869 the regents felt
that they were ready for further organi
zation and Col. William W. Folwell was
called to the presidency. The college opened
that year with thirteen freshmen students,
two of whom completed the four years
course and made the first graduating class
in 1873.
93
The administration of President Folwell
continued fifteen years and constituted the
first natural period of the history of the
university as a working institution. The
university was most fortunate in securing
the services of such a man as Dr. Folwell
for the time of organization. Born on a
New York farm, a graduate of Hobart Col
lege, class of '57; his education supplement
ed by study and travel abroad and profes
sorships at Hobart and Kenyon; with four
years' service in the war, during which he
rose to the highest official grade in the en
gineer corps—with all these broadening in
fluences, he came to Minneapolis at the age
of thirty-six, young enough to be full of
energy and initiative, not old enough to
have lost any youthful enthusiasms and
sympathies. To him the university is in
debted for its organization. In 1869 the
American university as it is today was un
known. Dr. Folwell looked into the future
and determined to make the Minnesota in
stitution a university in fact. He also
planned to make the university a part of a
complete system of public instruction; how
well this idea has been carried out is now
a matter of general information.
It is impossible within the limits of this
sketch to trace in detail the work of the
THE "OLD MAIN" AT THE UNIVERSITY.
This view shows the newer part of the original building erected
in 1875. It was subsequently partly destroyed by fire
and later views do not show the cupola.
94
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
first fifteen years. Much was experimental;
in the nature of things there was difference
of opinion and more or less faculty dissen
sion. During most of President Folwell's
incumbency, the preparatory department
was the larger part of the institution; but at
its close this department was giving way
to the state system of high schools (carry
ing out Dr. Folwell's idea of a homogeneous
and interdependent state school system)
and the policy which opened the way for a
broad university development had obtained
general acceptance. In all Dr. Folwell's ad
ministration the university was housed,
practically, in one building. The front sec
tion of the "Old Main" building, as it was
known for years-, was built in 1875 an d soon
afterwards an agricultural building was put
up. President Folwell urged the adoption
of a liberal policy of building and extension
and in 1880 formulated a plan for new
buildings, based on an appropriation of
$30,000 a year for ten years. Although de
ferred on account of other demands upon
the state treasury, the plan was finally car
ried out substantially as recommended. In
1883 Dr. Folwell determined to satisfy his
individual taste for student and teaching
work, rather than executive details, and re
signed, immediately accepting the chair of
political science, which he filled until 1906,
when he resigned to devote himself to lit
erary work.
With 1.884 opened the administration of
President Cyrus Northrop which has con
tinued until the present time. Again the
regents had been most fortunate in the
choice of an executive. Dr. Northrop was
a Yale graduate of '57, and of the law de
partment in '59, and had been admitted to
the bar in i860. After brief experiences in
politics and journalism (editing the New
Haven Palladium in 1863) he accepted a
chair at Yale and was professor of English
Literature in 1884 when he was called to
Minnesota. A man of the highest ideals—•
educational, civic and religious—a speaker
of exceptional eloquence and ability, pos
sessed of a rare sense of humor, and a mas
ter of diplomacy in his relations with men,
he seemed to have most of the qualifica
tions for the difficult post. When he ac
cepted the work and straightway gave evi
dence of unusual executive ability the re
gents were more than satisfied with their
choice.
President Northrop found the university
with one building and three hundred and
ten students, about half of them doing pre
paratory work, only three departments, and
16 professors. Income was still small but
the appropriations called for in 1880 began
to come in. The organization of depart
ments and the erection of buildings was
the large work in hand.
Only the outlines of the colleges and de
partments can be traced here. In 1870 the
college of engineering, metallurgy and
mechanic arts was created and at first in
cluded the agricultural college. The latter
was separated in 1874 but remained a very
unimportant part of the university, even
after the purchase of the university farm in
1881, until 1888 when the school of agricul
ture was added to the department. Since
that time the success of the department has
been wonderful and the school and college
have become models in the field of agricul
tural education. A group of buildings valued
at about $700,000 has been developed and
the capacity of the equipment is constantly
taxed. Dean W. M. Liggett was at the head
of this department from 1896 to 1907, at the
same time being director of the experiment
station—a work entrusted to the university
by the state. After the agricultural college
was set off the college of engineering and
mechanics arts developed very slowly un
til it secured its first building in 1886. The
school of mining was subsequently added,
but afterwards made a separate department.
The ore testing works were built in 1895
and the school of mines building in 1903.
These departments had developed direct
ly out of the original organization. The
new departments came in as follows: Medi
cine in 1884, growing out of the Minnesota
Hospital College established in 1881 as a
private school; Law in 1888, organized by
Dean W. S. Pattee, who has continued for
a score of years its head; Pharmacy in 1892;
Dentistry in 1893; Chemistry in 1904. The
professional schools are described more at
length in the chapters on the several sub-
•
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: •
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';::i- 'v/-
96
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
jects of Courts and Lawyers, Medicine and
Dentistry.
At first
building appropriations were
grudgingly made by the state legislature;
in fact so scarce was money in the univer
sity treasury that Governor Pillsbury from
his own resources erected Pillsbury hall in
1889. The Law building was added in the
same year, the Chemical Laboratory in 1891,
the Main Medical building in 1893, the Li-
ment as regent for life. For nearly forty
years he gave time and thought, counsel
and action, probably fully one-third of his
time being devoted to the institution he
loved so well. He was honored just pre
vious to his death by the erection by the
alumni of a bronze statue upon the campus.
From the thirteen students of 1869 the
university has grown to an enrollment of
above four thousand; from a single building
-.ten#
.?> •
ENTRANCE TO UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CAMPUS.
This gateway was erected as a memorial to Gov. John S. Pillsbury by his heirs.
brary in 1895, the Armory in 1896, the
Physics building in 1901, the Mining build
ing in 1903; and Folwell Hall in 1907.
Many other lesser buildings have been
erected. Of the gifts, next to Pillsbury Hall,
Alice Shevlin Hall (the women's building),
presented by Thomas H. Shevlin, is the
most conspicuous.
But the best gift ever received by the uni
versity was the free life-long service of
Gov. John S. Pillsbury. After his first great
work for the institution in the sixties, Gov.
Pillsbury continued until his death in 1901
a regent, much of the time president and in
1895 honored by the legislature by appoint-
and campus of uncertain value, the property
has increased to about $3,000,000 value and
the permanent invested fund amounts to
$1,400,000. The library contains 85,000 vol
umes ; the buildings are equipped with mod
ern apparatus. The standards of scholar
ship have advanced until the institution
ranks with the leading universities of the
country. On the other hand, the university
has become the head of the educational sys
tem of the state, the courses in grammar
and high schools being arranged so that
a student may pass from one to the other
and into and through the university with
out break or special preparation outside the
EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS
97
The present board of re
gents is composed of: Cy
rus Northrop, LL. D., exofficio; Hon. John Lind,
Minneapolis,
president;
Hon. John A. Johnson,
St. Peter; Hon. John W.
Olsen, Albert Lea; Hon.
Chas. A. Smith; Hon.
Thos. Wilson; Hon. B. F.
Nelson,
Minneapolis.
Hon. A. E. Rice, Will„: mar; Hon. Pierce Butler,
St. Paul; Hon. Henry B.
Hovland, Duluth; Hon.
S. M. Owen, Minneap
olis; Hon. W. J. Mayo.
LIBRARY BUILDING AT TIIE UNIVERSITY.
Rochester; C. D. Decker,
regular courses. In recent years the atti
Austin, secretary of the board.
tude of the state has been much broader
The executive officers of the university
and with a general understanding of the ad are: Cyrus Northrop, LL. D., president;
vantages of the university it has received Ernest B. Pierce, B. A., registrar; Jas. T.
a most liberal support.
Gerould, B. A., librarian; John F. Downey,
Realizing the almost unlimited possibili M. A., C. E., dean of the College of Science,
ties of growth before the university, the Literature, and the Arts; Frederick S.
regents, in 1907, determined to secure more Jones, M. A., dean of the College of Engin
land for the campus before the cost became eering and Mechanic Arts; Eugene W. Ran
prohibitive. A legislative appropriation was dall, dean and director of the Department of
obtained and some ten blocks of land were Agriculture; Wm. S. P'attee, LL. D., dean
purchased. Following this acquisition a of the College of Law; Frank F. Wesbrook,
competition was held which produced many
M. A., M. D., C. M., dean of the College of
excellent plans for the future development Medicine and Surgery; Eugene L. Mann,
of the enlarged campus. While no immedi B. A., M. D., dean of the College of Homeo
ate work is to be done all future improve pathic Medicine and Surgery; Alfred Owre,
ments will be made in harmony with some D. M. D., M. D., dean of the College of Den
plan for the general treatment of the whole tistry; Frederick J. Wulling, Phm. D., LL.
great campus tract.
M., dean of the College of Pharmacy; Wm.
v
GENERAL VIEW OF THE UNIVERSITY FARM BUILDINGS.
The work of the department of agriculture of the university as well as that of the experiment station is
carried on at this farm about two miles from the university campus.
98
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
R. Appleby, M. A., dean of the School of
Mines; Geo. B. Frankforter, Ph. D., dean
of the School of Chemistry; Geo. F. James,
Ph. D., dean of the School of Education;
Henry T. Eddy, C. E., Ph. D., LL. D., dean
of the Graduate School; Ada L. Comstock,
M. A., dean of Women.
PRIVATE SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES.
During the fifties a number of private
schools were opened, including St. Mary's
School for Young Ladies, under the care
of the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain, and
an academy conducted by Prof. D. S. B.
grown up, fostered and assisted by
the church people of this city.
Many of the prominent citizens of the
decades following the war were interested
in the founding and maintaining of Bennet
Seminary, at which many of the young ladies
of that period received their education.
Such men as Dorilus Morrison, C. E. Van
derburgh, Chas. A. Bovey, W. D. Wash
burn, C. H. Pettit, and W. H. Dunwoody
were identified with its work as trustees.
Another school which made a successful
record from 1879 to 1890 was Judson Female
Seminary, founded by Miss Abby A. Jud
FOLWELL HALL, UNIVERSITY OP MINNESOTA.
From the architect's sketch. The last building added to the group on the campus, named in honor of Dr.
W. W. Folwell, the first president and long a professor.
Johnson. About the same time Miss Lucy
D. Holman conducted a private school
and only a little later Prof. F. H. Folsom
maintained a select school in St. Anthony.
Most of these earlier schools had no per
manence, but they served to show the
willingness of the community to encour
age the best things in education. It was
not long before this tendency manifested
itself in certain denominational undertak
ings which have developed into institutions
for higher education either in the city or
vicinity. In this way Carleton College, at
Northfield, Hamline University and Macalester College, midway between Minneapo
lis and St. Paul, Augsburg Seminary, and
other denominational institutions have
son. E. D. Holmes became principal of the
Minneapolis Academy in 1884 and devel
oped it into a preparatory school which has
been maintained to the present time. After
the discontinuance of the older schools for
girls and young ladies which have been
mentioned, Stanley Hall, an English and
classical school, was opened in 1890 by Ol
ive Adele Evers and Elizabeth Wallace.
After a time Miss Wallace withdrew and
the school has since, been conducted by
Miss Evers. Graham Hall, a school for
girls, was established about ten years ago
and is now conducted by the Misses Bartlett and Ruble.
The city has been especially fortunate in
the character of its professional schools and
EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS
these are mentioned in the appropriate chap
ters. Among the denominational schools,
those of the Catholic church have taken a
prominent place. In addition to the ordin
ary parish schools conducted in connection
with the several churches a high school for
boys is maintained and excellent girls'
schools are well sustained.
AUGSBURG SEMINARY was organized at
Marshall, Wisconsin, but was moved to Minne
apolis in 1872. It was originally a theological
school only, but after coming to Minneapolis its
scope was broadened to include preparatory,
collegiate and theological departments. Very
soon after its removal to Minneapolis Sven Oftedal became a member of the faculty and was
made president of the board of trustees. The
success of the institution has been due largely
to his energetic efforts and intelligent leadership.
It has developed from a weak and struggling
school to one of strength and great influence
in the denomination and among the educational
institutions of the northwest. The late professor
George Sverdrup was president for many years
and was considered one of the best school men
among the Scandinavians in the United States.
The Seminary is located at Seventh street and
Twenty-first avenue south where it owns a block
of ground and where it has several buildings in
cluding a modern structure completed in 1902 at
the cost of $45,000.00. There are at present
about 175 student enrolled. The faculty is com
posed of the following members in order of their
appointment, S. Oftedal, Prof. Emeritus, J. H.
Blegen, W. M. Pettersen, J. L. Nydahl, H. A.
Urseth, H. N. Hendrickson, A. Helland, S. O.
Severson, George Sverdrup, Jr., and Wm. Mills.
ST. MARGARET'S ACADEMY.
Almost thirty years ago the Sisters of St.
Joseph, a Catholic order of women, founded in
Minneapolis the Holy Angels' Academy, a young
ladies' boarding and day school. ' It is situated at
Seventh avenue north and Fourth street, where
it has a fine tract of ground and two large build
ings, one of which is occupied by the recitation,
class and study rooms, the other, the convent
proper, being the home of the Sisters and the
dormitories of the boarding scholars. The work
and plans of the school advanced so rapidly that
they outgrew the capacity of these quarters and
in 1907 the academy under the name of St. Mar
garet's, and as a day school only, occupied build
ings more fitted to the growing needs of the
school, on North Thirteenth street between
Hawthorn and Linden avenues. The property
which has been acquired by the order, consists of
three buildings in which are maintained a high
school department, a music department, and a
commercial and grades department. The pur
pose of the academy is the higher education and
training of girls and their preparation for college
'99
work; and the curriculum includes every branch
of study necessary to the complete accomplish
ment of these ends. Each department is super
vised by efficient and experienced instructors and
covers most thoroughly the work which comes
within its provinces. The music department in
cludes both vocal and instrumental instruction
and the methods of study pursued in the famous
conservatories both of this country and Europe
are used in the daily work. The scope of the
are used in the daily work. The scope of the pupil
in the art department is almost unlimited, as the
course includes studies in water color, oil, crayon
and china decoration, carried on under the direc
tion of instructors whose talent and knowledge
assure the pupil the most careful training. In
the academic course of study are taken up all
the subjects usually handled by the intermediate
or preparatory school and the preparation for
college work is complete. The graduate of St.
Margaret's is not required to take the customary
examinations to obtain admission to the colleges
of the country but is admitted on the record of
her studies in the academy. Not only is this
done by the exclusive girls' colleges of both east
and west but by a number of the co-educational
institutions, including the University of Minne
sota. The endeavors of the school have been
most successful since it establishment and it has
drawn its pupils not only from the two cities but
the entire Northwest and for many years has
justly been regarded as one of the important
sources of education and culture of this locality,
many of the best families being desirous of plac
ing their daughters within its influences. The
Sisters, by their earnest efforts, have done much
to give the academy the standing it now holds
among the best schools of its class.
BENSON, Arthur Fleming, was born near
London, Canada, February 2, 1871. His parents,
William and Maria Benson, came of a family that
settled early in the province of Ontario. Mr.
Benson's father is a Methodist minister. The
early years of Mr. Benson's life were spent in
Canada and in the Canadian -public schools he
received his elementary education. When he
was. twelve years old the family moved to Michi
gan. After completing a grammar and high
school course Mr. Benson entered the Michigan
state normal college, from which he graduated
in 1896 as president of the largest class which the
college had ever sent out. In addition to holding
the chief executive office of his class, Mr. Benson
was during the four years of his college life a
most active member of the several literary soci
eties of the college. In this school, Mr. Benson
received his training for the various positions as
instructor which he has successively filled, and
was especially fortunate in being, for a time, a
pupil of Dr. Putnam, one of Michigan's most
noted educators. After completing his normal
studies, Mr. Benson entered upon the duties of
principal in the schools at Pontiac, Michigan, and
100
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
later acted in like capacity at Owosso and Grand
Rapids in the same state. In 1903 he came to
Minneapolis to accept the principalship of the
Seward school, one of the largest in the city, and
holds that position at the present time. During
the summer months, however, Mr. Benson re
turns to Michigan to instruct in the summer in
stitutes of that state. Mr. Benson has always
been prominently identified with measures of pro
fessional advancement in the towns where he has
resided. In connection with the Seward school
he has organized the "Young Citizens' League"
—a club of pupils for instruction in civic govern
ment and improvement. Mr. Benson is a mem
ber of the Minneapolis Teachers' Club, the
Schoolmasters' Club and the Minneapolis Prin
cipals' Club, and holds in each organization the
chairmanship of a prominent and active commit
tee. He also holds membership in the Hennepin
County Juvenile Protection League. Mr. Ben
son belongs to the Fowler Methodist Church, of
which he is an officer and the superintendent of
the Sunday School.
BOSS, Andrew, was born June 3, 1867, in
Gilford township, Wabasha county, Minnesota,
son of Andrew and Janet Boss, who came from
Scotland. He was brought up on his father's
farm, attending the common schools and doing
farm work until he was twenty-two. He then
entered the Agricultural high school of the
University of Minnesota, from which he gradu
ated and in which he was a teacher for twelve
years. He has been for several years active in
the' management of the university farm and in
experimental work. Mr. Boss is professor of
Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, in the Uni
versity of Minnesota and is well known as an
earnest promoter of liberal education in the sci
ence and practice of modern agriculture and in
the organization of farmers' clubs and institutes.
He is a member of the State Agricultural Soci
ety; of the State Horticultural Society; Farmers
Club; Secretary of the Live Stock Breeders' As
sociation and member of the American Breeders'
Association. 'Mr. Boss is a Congregationalist in
his church affiliations. He was married in 1891 to
Evalena La Mont, of Wabasha county,- Minnesota,
They have five
children—Hazel V., Elna V.,
Mabel E., Kenneth A., and Wallace L. M.
EDDY, Henry Turner, dean of the graduate
school, University of Minnesota, was born at
Stoughton, Massachusetts, June 9, 1844, the son
of Rev. Henry and Sarah Hayward (Torrey)
Eddy. He graduated from Yale University with
the degree of A. B. in 1867 and from Sheffield
Scientific School with the degree of Ph. B. in
1868 and later received the degrees of A. M.,
Yale, 1870; C. E., 1870; Ph. D,, 1872, Cornell;
LL. D., Center College, 1892. Professor Eddy
studied at Berlin in 1879 and at Paris in 1880.
His educational work has extended over forty
years. After graduating from Yale he was in
structor in field
work at Sheffield Scientific
School, 1867-68; was instructor in Latin and
mathematics at the University of Tennessee,
1868-69; was assistant professor in mathematics
and civil engineering at Cornell University, 186973; was adjunct professor of mathematics at
Princeton, 1873-74; was professor of mathemat
ics, astronomy and civil enginering at the
University of Cincinnati, 1874-90; was dean of
the academic faculty, 1874-77 and 1884-89; and
was acting president and president elect of the
same university in 1890; and was president of
Rose Polytechnic Institute, Terre Haute, Indi
ana, 1891-94. In 1894 Dr. Eddy came to Min
nesota as professor of engineering and mechan
ics at the university and was made head profes
sor of mathematics and mechanics in the college
of engineering, 1907. Since 1905 he has been
dean of the graduate school. Dr. Eddy is a
member of many learned societies, including the
American Philosophical Society, American Asso
ciation for the Advancement of Science (vice
president of mathematics and physics, 1884),
American Mathematical Society, American Phys
ical Society, Society for Promotion of Engineer
ing Education (president, 1896), Phi Beta Kappa
and Sigma Xi college fraternities. He is the
author of Analytical Geometry; Researches in
Graphical Statics; Thermodynamics; Maximum
Stresses and Concentrated Loads, and many
other scientific and technical papers in the trans
actions of the various enginering societies.
Professor Eddy was married at New Haven,
Connecticut, on January 4, 1870, to Miss Sebella
E. Taylor. They have five children.
GEROULD, James Thayer, librarian of the
University of Minnesota, was born on October
3, 1872, at Gofifstown, New Hampshire. He is
the son of Samuel L. Gerould, D. D., who had
a pastorate in Gofifstown, and of Laura E.
(Thayer) Gerould. The family is of Huguenot
origin, the first ancestors of James Thayer in
this country having left France to come to
America in 1685. Mr. Gerould received his train
ing for college at Cushing Academy at Ashburnbam, Massachusetts. He attended Dartmouth
College, taking the classical course and graduat
ing in 1895 with the degree of A. B.; and followed
this with a year's post-graduate study in the
same institution. He then went to New York
city, to take charge of the Library of the Gen
eral Theological Seminary. This position he re
tained but a year, however, resigning in 1897
when a position as assistant in the library of
Columbia University was tendered to him. This
he accepted, taking charge of one department.
He remained at- Columbia for three years as the
head of this department and then in 1900 was
appointed chief librarian of the University of
Missouri, at Columbia, Missouri, a position
which he filled
for six years.
He came
to Minneapolis in 1906 to become the li
brarian of the University of Minnesota. Mr.
102
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Gerould is a member of the American LibraryAssociation; the American Historical Associa
tion. the Bibliographical Society of America.
Among the local organizations with which he is
associated are the Bryn Mawr Golf Club and the
Six O'Clock Club; On September 18, 1900, he
was married to Miss Mary Aims Chamberlain,
daughter of Roswell H. Chamberlain of Chester,
New York.
GREEN, Samuel B., since 1888 the professor
of horticulture and forestry at the University of
Minnesota, is a native of Massachusetts, having
been born at Chelsea in that state. On the ma
ternal side of the family he is of Dutch descent,
his mother's ancestors coming from Holland to
settle in this country, and his father's lineage
was traceable through a long line of English
forebears. He is the son of Thomas Green and
Anna E. Green; his father for fifty years was a
merchant in Boston. Samuel B. spent his boy
hood in Chelsea and acquired a good elementary
training in the local schools, and having finished
his preparatory courses determined to continue
his education in the Massachusetts Agricultural
College. With the class of 1879 he entered that
institution, and there received his first training
in the lines of horticulture and forestry in con
nection with which he has since become so wellknown. Completing his studies he graduated
JOHN N. GREER.
from his college in 1879 and was awarded a de
gree of B. S. He worked nine years in horti
cultural lines before coming to Minnesota, in 1888,
where he was appointed professor of Horticulture
and soon afterwards professor of Horticulture and
Forestry in the University of Minnesota. Since
that time he has carried on the work of his de
partment with characteristic energy and ability
and beyond his duties as instructor has found
time for much general work in connection with
the forestry movements and progress of the
country, being as well, a frequent contributor to
the journalistic field. Among his more important
commissions was an appointment to take the sole
charge and management iof the department de
voted to the horticultural and forestry exhibit of
all the state experiment stations and agricultural
colleges of the country at the Louisiana Purchase
Exposition at St. Louis in 1904. At that time
the specimens and exhibits under Professor
Green's care attracted much notice and were
awarded one grand prize and in addition a gold
medal. Professor Green has been for many years
one of the most active supporters of the Min
nesota State Horticultural Society. In 1890 he
was the secretary of that organization and in
1907 was elected the president. He has been also
the chief executive officer of the St. Anthony
Park North Improvement League for many
years and is the vice-president of the Citizens'
League of St. Paul, an organization which has
accomplished much in that city for municipal bet
terment and advancement. Professor Green has
written extensively on forestry and kindred top
ics; Amateur Fruit Growing, Vegetable Grow
ing, Forestry in Minnesota, Principles of Ameri
can Forestry, Farm Windbreaks and Shelter
Belts, Outlines of Greenhouse Laboratory Work
and the various bulletins of the Minnesota Ex
periment Station being among the best known
of the books and sketches of which he is author.
Professor Green is a member of the Congrega
tional Church of St. Anthony Park. In 1887 he
was married to Miss Alice C. Hazelton of Wellesly, Massachusetts, and they have one adopted
child.
GREER, John N., son of Nathan and Rebecca
Logan McGrew Greer, was born on his father's
farm in Scott county, Iowa, April 17, 1859. At
the age of twelve years, by the death of his
father, he was obliged to take charge of the farm
—a responsibility which he met with eminent
success, continuing his studies in preparation for
the higher education which was the object of his
ambition in the period of his district school ex
perience. Later, he attended the public schools
of Davenport, Iowa, and graduated at the high
school, valedictorian of his class, after which he
taught school in Scott county until 1879, when
he entered Iowa College. He received, when he
graduated in 1882, the degrees of A. B. and B. S.
for extraordinarily good work in his classic and
scientific course during the three years he was
EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS
at the college. In 1885 he received from the col
lege the degree of M. A., and when he entered
the law office of Cook & Dodge in Davenport,
he had made a record of devotion to study and
kindly good fellowship and manly recognition
of the value of athletics as an offset to close ap
plication to study, which students can profitably
follow elsewhere. After studying law with Cook
& Dodge for a year, preparing himself for the
practice of law, he took a position with a tele
phone company at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and a
year later he began the work to which he seems
to have been instinctively called, that of an in
structor and director of students. After serving
as principal of a public school in Davenport, Pro
fessor Greer was called to the North Side High
School of Minneapolis as principal in 1888, and,
in 1892, he accepted the corresponding position
in the Central High School of Minneapolis, suc
ceeding Prof. Crombie, a notably fine educator,
and soon getting in real sympathy with teachers
and students and showing his natural adaptation
to discharge the difficult obligations of the im
portant position. If the legal profession lost a
brilliant advocate when Prof. Greer entered the
ranks of educators of youth, the educational in
terests of the public have certainly been well and
wholesomely served by such a man as he. Prof.
Greer was married in 1884 to Sarah Elizabeth
Russell, daughter of Hon. Edward Russell, of
Davenport, Iowa. They have three children—
Edward Russell, Margaret R., and Abby E.
GULLETTE, Albert Martin, principal of the
Prescott school, Minneapolis, is a native of In
diana, but he is of French Huguenot ancestry.
The family originally came to this country from
Germany, where they had fled from persecution
in France. They settled first in the Shenandoah
Valley and later in the southeastern part of In
diana. Albert's father was a Methodist minister
—John Columbia Gullette; his mother a de
scendant of a prominent English family. The
first ten years of his life were spent in his native
town of Brownston, Indiana (where he was born
on June 2, 1873) amid such surrounding as Ed
ward Eggleston has described in his writings,
and he was of the stock and training which have
produced a "Hoosier Schoolmaster." His edu
cation, however, was obtained in Minnesota. He
attended the high schools at Moorhead and
Crookston, the Moorhead state normal school,
Hamline University, the Northwestern Universi
ty, and graduated at the University of Minnesota.
Since 1889, when he first came to Minneapolis, he
has been more or less identified with the life of
the city. His educational training brought him
into contact with specialists in the science of edu
cation, and gave him perhaps a broader view and
a better grasp of its problems than could have
been secured in any other way. In the course of
his school and college work he acquired business
experience as for much of the time he made his
103
ALBERT GULLETTE.
own way, earning his living "arid paying his own
college expenses. During this period he was for
a time a member of the teachers' agency firm of
E. O. Fisk & Co. Since graduation he has fol
lowed his profession and for the past two years
has been principal of the Prescott school. Mr.
Gullette is married and has two children. His
wife was Miss Kate E. McKnight Of St. Paul.
Though not in any sense a politician, Mr. Gul
lette has taken a good citizen's interest in poli
tics and has served for two years as, a council
man in the village of Robbinsdale as well as tak
ing part in party caucuses and conventions. He
was the first president of the Robbinsdale. Com
mercial Club and a member of the North Side
Commercial Club of Minneapolis. He belongs
to the Masonic order.
" '
HALL, Christopher. Webber, son' of Lewis
and Louisa Wilder Hall, was born February 28,
1845* 3t Wardsboro, Windham county, Vermont.
Like a good many other American boys, who are
born on farms with limited- family resources to
full back upon, and who have ambitions reaching
beyond the farm's, horizon, young Hall absorbed
all that the district school of his neighborhood
could bestow upon him and continuing to reach
further in the region of knowledge in the neigh
boring academies at Townsend and Chester, he
succeeded in matriculating at Middlebury College,
104
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
eiiuisToniKK w. HALL.
Hall meantime served as Assistant Geologist on
the Geological Survey of Minnesota, and as
Assistant United States Geologist since 1884. He
served for thirteen years as the valuable secretary
of the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences,
and more recently for several years as its presi
dent.
For many years he has edited the
Academy's Bulletins, and in every way has large
ly had direction of its work.
Professor Hall has written much on scientific
and educational subjects, more than 100 articles
standing over his name in the scientific literature
of the country. He has especially distinguished
himself in his revelations of the geological fea
tures of the state. His latest work in this direc
tion has been exerted in the preparation of an
extended work in a series of volumes on the
geography and geology of Minnesota, the first
volume of which, The Geography of Minnesota,
has already appeared and received a most flatter
ing reception. He has also for several years been
engaged on the U. S. Geological Survey in the
preparation of reports on the underground water
resources of the state, one of which is now in
press. He married again in 1883. His wife, who
was Mrs. Sophia Haight, daughter of Eli Seely, of
Oshkosh, Wisconsin, died in 1891, leaving an infant
daughter. The professor is a member of the lead
ing scientific societies of this country. He is an
independent republican, and has never sought nor
held political office. He is a member of the Con
gregational church.
Vermont, where lie graduated in 1871. His sci
entific tendencies had developed so conspicuously
that he won the botanical prize and two Waldo
scholarships, and was assigned the scientific ora
tion at the commencement and was honored by
election to membership in the Phi Beta Kappa
Society. After graduation, Mr. Hall was called to
the principalship of the Glenn's Falls (New York)
Academy and, after a year there, he went West
and became principal of the Mankato, Minnesota,
high school and, in 1873-75, filled the responsible
position of superintendent of the Owatonna
city schools. In 1875 his ardent interest in scien
tific studies led him to devote himself more en
tirely to them and he went to Leipsic, Germany,
with his bride, who was Miss Ellen Dunnell,
daughter of Hon. Mark H. Dunnell of Owatonna.
His wife died in a few months, but Mr. Hall
continued his studies until the close of 1877, when
he returned to the United States. His first work
after returning was the delivery of a course of
lectures on zoology at Middlebury College. Re
ceiving an invitation to become a member of the
faculty of the University of Minnesota, he ac
cepted it and, in the spring of 1878, he took the
chair of geology, mineralogy and biology. Reor
ganization of the departments on account of the
great development of the work, promoted him to
the Deanship of the College of Engineering,
Metallurgy and the Mechanic Arts in 1892. Dean
JONES, Frederick Scheetz, dean of the col
lege of engineering of the University of Minne
sota, was born at Palmyra, Missouri, April 7,
1862. His parents were Dr. George C. Jones
(who served as a surgeon in the Union army)
and Caroline Ash Scheetz. The family is of
French descent, Prof. Jones' great grandfather
coming to America with Lafayette, as his staff
surgeon. Prof. Jones early boyhood was spent
in Chicago and Missouri but he prepared for col
lege at Shattuck School, Faribault, Minn., and
graduated from that institution as valedictorian
of his class. At Yale he took the classical course
graduating A. B. in 1884 with honors. From
Yale he came directly to the University of Min
nesota with President Northrop and has been in
the University ever since, except when abroad.
He held the chair of Physics for twenty years.
During this long service he has had leave of
absence which has given him opportunity for
study at the University of Berlin and for courses
in electrical engineering at the Royal Polytechnic,
Berlin and the Swiss Polytechnic, Zurich. In
1890 he received his A. M. degree at Yale. His
work at the University of Minnesota has been
marked with unusual success. As a teacher he
has been exceptionally efficient and as an organ
izer and executive he has displayed much ability.
The new physical laboratory was built under his
direction and he was instrumental in securing the
EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS
gift of Northrop Field to the University. He is
very fond of sports and has been active for
years in the management of student athletics.
Dean Jones is a member of the American Physi
cal Society, the Society for the Promotion of
Engineering Education, a fellow of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science and
a member of many scientific and literary socie
ties. In 1906 he was elected president of the
University of South Dakota but did not accept
the position. In 1908 he was elected dean of
Yale University and will go to that institution
in 1909. Professor Jones is a member of the
Episcopal Church. He was married in 1890 to
Mary Weston Gill of Kirkwood, Missouri. They
have two children—George Gill Jones and Ellen
Bodley Jones.
JORDAN, Charles Morison, superintendent of
the public schools of Minneapolis, was born at
Bangor, Maine, November 12, 1851. His father,
Nelson Jordan, was a teacher in Western Maine
for several years and afterward was a merchant
at Bangor and was engaged later in farming,
lumbering and manufacturing in that state until
1874. He then went to Massachusetts and came
in 1877 to Minnesota where he operated a large
farm in the southern part of the state and spent
his last days in Minneapolis, where he died in
1895. The family forebears in America came
from England in 1639 settling on Richmond's Is
land, Maine. On the maternal side the ancestors
were Scottish, the American descent being from
Wiliam Morison who came from Scotland in 1740,
settling in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Dr. Jor
dan's mother was a sister of Dorilus and H. G. O.
Morison, early settlers in Minneapolis. Dr. Jor
dan received his early educational training in the
public schools of Maine and prepared for college
at Westbrook Seminary later entering Tufts Col
lege from which he graduated in 1877, valedic
torian of his class. Upon graduation he secured
the principalship of the Bangor high school at
a competitive examination, and two years latei
he was made superintendent of the lower grade
schools of Bangor. In 1883 he resigned his posi
tions at Bangor and accepted the principalship
of the Winthrop school of Minneapolis. The
same year he started the East high school, con
ducting it in the Winthrop school building. In
1884, having been transferred to the Adams
school, he initiated the work of the South high
school, conducting it in the Adams building.
Dr. Jordan's working capacity was further tested
by the devolution upon him of the supervision
of the evening schools of the city. In 1892 he was
elected to the responsible office of superintendent
of the public schools of Minneapolis for three
years and to this position he has since been five
times reelected for the triennial period. In 1892 Dr.
Jordan received from Tufts College the Ph. D.
degree. He is a member of the Zeta Psi college
fraternity and has received the honor of mem
105
bership in the Phi Beta Kappa. He has been
president of the National Council of Education
and president of the National Association of
Superintendents; is a member of the Sons of the
Revolution and is a Mason of the Thirty-second
Degree. He has also been president of the Citi
zens Staff of John A. Rawlins Post, G. A. R.
Dr. Jordan was married on May 7, 1895, to Miss
Maud Grimshaw, daughter of Robert E. Grimshaw, of Minneapolis. To them two children
have been born; Helen Dorcas (February 9, 1896)
and Mildred Salome (August 17, 1899).
LIGGETT, William M., prominently identi
fied with the educational affairs of the state, was
born in Union county, Ohio, in 1846. He at
tended the common schools but at the age of
seventeen enlisted in the 96th Ohio Volunteers
and served during the remainder of the war.. Re
turning to Ohio he became connected with the
Bank of Mairysville and was twice elected county
treasurer of Union county. He took an active
part in the National Guard service and was
colonel of the 14th Ohio National Guard and in
command of the battalion that cleared the streets
of Cincinnati during the great riot of 1884, when
he was severely wounded. In the same year he
came to Minnesota and in the past twenty-five
years has given most of his time to the service
of the state, including eighteen years as regent of
the state university, twenty years a director of
WILLIAM M. LIGGETT.
106
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
the state agricultural society, two terms as chair
man of the state railroad commission and eleven
years as dean of the state agricultural school and
director of the experiment station. During Dean
Liggett's incumbency the agricultural department
of the university developed into the foremost
work of its kind in this country. Col. Liggett
was married on July 3, 1876, to Miss Mathilda
R. Brown. They have four children.
NACHTRIEB, Henry Francis, son of Chris
tian and Friedericka Diether Nachtrieb, was born
near Galion, Ohio, May 11, 1857. His parents
came from Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1848, sev
eral of Christian's brothers having preceded him.
One of the brothers fought in the war for the
Union and gave his life for his adopted country.
Christian engaged in the tanner's business a few
years and entered the ministry of the Methodist
Episcopal Church after surviving shipwreck on
Lake Erie, and, after some years of successful
work, he engaged in the flour milling business
in Galion, Ohio, relinquishing it, after some years
of success, on account of a disastrous explosion,
and returned to the ministry. Coming to Min
nesota in 1878 he became a member of the Min
nesota Conference and now lives in Minneap
olis in honorable retirement. Prof. Nachtrieb's
mother was the daughter of an honored citizen
of Heilbron am Neckar, near Heidelberg, Ger
many, and has, during her long life as a min
ister's wife, shown the most admirable qualities
which have made her to be loved and honored
wherever she has lived. Prof. Nachtrieb's boy
hood was spent in Galion and other places in
Ohio and in Allegheny City and Pittsburgh. He
was trained in a private German elementary
school and in the public schools, conscientious
in his school work, while passionately fond of
nature and all outdoor enjoyments and showed
himself manly and courageous, withal not being
free from an element of prankishness, as a little
offset to his severe Teutonic training. He re
ceived the higher education at German Wallace
College and Baldwin University and took his
degree of B. S. at the University of Minnesota,
class of 1882; became assistant in the Biological
Laboratory of John Hopkins University in 188384 and Fellow in 1884-85, when he was called to
the University of Minnesota as instructor under
Professor C. W. Hall. In 1886 he was made
professor of Animal Biology, a new department,
subsequently having charge of the zoological
work of the Geological and Natural History Sur
vey of Minnesota, and was appointed curator
of the zoological museum. Since his connection
with the university, Prof. Nachtrieb has been
a strong factor in the promotion of the organ
ization and work of the institution. He was
prime mover and organizer of the General Alum
ni Association of the university, and advisor on
the organization of various Scientific institu
tions and societies and is a member of the
American Society of Naturalists; of the Central
Branch of the American Society of Zoologists;
of the American Breeders' Association; Ameri
can Association of Anatomists; American As
sociations of Museums; the Washington Academy
of Sciences; fellow of the American Association
for the Advancement of Science, and a member
of the IJsi Upsilon fraternity and the honor
societies of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi.
Prof. Nachtrieb is president of the General
Alumni Association of the state university and
a member of the St. Anthony Commercial Club.
He is a member of the Hennepin Avenue Metho
dist Episcopal Church. He was married June 21,
1887, to Anna Eisele, of Buffalo, New York. To
them three children have been born, of whom
one survives, a daughter, Margaret.
OFTEDAL, Sven, president of the board of
trustees and professor of theology of the Augs
burg Seminary in Minneapolis, is a native of Nor
way, born at Stavanger, on March 22, 1844. He
studied at the best schools of the country and re
ceived the most complete education which his
broad-minded Christian parents could procure for
him. He attended the College at Stavanger,
where he received his academic training, and
after this preparatory course entered the Univer
sity of Norway at Christiania in 1862. He re
mained in that institution a year, taking up philo
sophical studies, and passing, at the completion
of his course, what is known as the "examen
philosophicum." For several years he made a
special study of languages, ancient and modern,
both at home and abroad, but suddenly changed
his plans and began the study of theology. In
1871 he took and passed his theological examina
tions. Professor Oftedal was not in sympathy
with the organization and practice of the estab
lished church of Norway, so did not care to take
a place among its clergy, but when a call came
to occupy a newly created chair of theology in
the Augsburg Seminary he realized that it offered
a splendid field for his endeavors and accepted
the position.
Augsburg Seminary had been
founded in! 1869 at Marshall, Wisconsin, for the
training of ministers for free Lutheran churches,
and had moved in 1872 to Minneapolis. Professor
Oftedal came to this city in 1873, and now for
thirty-one years has held the position of theologi
cal professor at that institution. He was elected
president of the board of trustees soon after his
connection with the school began and has been the
most active and sincere supporter and promoter
of the seminary at all times, , and by his earnest
work and straightforward character. has gained
the esteem of his faculty, students and friends.
For ten years he was a member of the school
board of Minneapolis, being for four years its
president and on account of his active work in
establishing high schools throughout the city, has
been called "the father" of the present high
school system of Minneapolis. He was also for
ten years a member of the library board, during
that time being chairman of the library commit-
EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS
107
tee, and the hardest worker for the organization
and establishment of the system of branch
libraries.
OZIAS, Albert Newton, principal of the West
high school, was born in Preble county, Ohio,
July 2, 1849, the son of George and Elizabeth
Ozias. His ancestors came from Alsace Loraine
before the revolution and took part in that
struggle on the side of the colonists. Mr. Ozias'
father was a farmer and his boyhood was spent
on the farm with the usual schooling during
the winter months. He prepared for the work
of a teacher at the National Normal School at
Lebanon, Ohio. Some years later he attended
the state university of Ohio and received a Bach
elor's degree in 1889 and a Master's degree two
years later. Mr. Ozias began teaching at the
age of twenty-three when he was appointed prin
cipal of the West Des Moines high school.
After six years of . service there he resigned to
accept the department of science in the Central
high school of Columbus, Ohio, following the
distinguished teacher of science, Dr. T. C. Mendenhall. He remained in this position for six
teen years. He then resigned and in 1897 ac
cepted the principalship of the Racine high
school and three years later was appointed to
the South high school of Minneapolis. Mr.
Ozias remained at the head of the South High
for nine years and his successful work in that
DAVID
II.
PAINTEIt.
school was recognized in May, 1908, by his ap
pointment to the new West high school, des
tined to be one of the largest schools of the
city. Mr. Ozias is a member of the Commercial
Club and of the Fraternal Mystic Circle in which
order he has held for twenty years the office of
supreme trustee. He is a member of Hennepin
Avenue M. E. Church. In 1877 Mr. Ozias was
married to Marie Louise McKenzie and they
have three daughters—Helen, Alice and Mildred.
ALBERT NEWTON OZIAS
PAINTER, David H., principal of the Adams
school, is a native of Ohio. He is of ScotchIrish descent, although the family has lived in
America for many years and the preceding gen
erations came from Virginia. His father is a
prominent and successful farmer. He was a
teacher in his early life and has always been
active in promoting the educational interests of
his community. During the Civil War he served
in the 135th Ohio infantry. Mrs. Painter was a
teacher, also, in her early life and it is worthy
of remark that of a family of six boys and four
girls all were teachers except one daughter. The
subject of this sketch was born on a farm near
Newark, Ohio, November 11, i860. He attended
country school, village high school, and com
pleted his schooling at the Normal University,
Ada, Ohio. He taught country schools, and was
for six years principal of the village high school
at Martinsburg, Ohio. In 1895 he came to Min-
108
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
W1LIIELM M. I'KTTERSEN.
neapolis, having been appointed principal of
Adams school, which position he still holds. Mr.
Painter's sphere of activity has not been limited
to public school work. In addition to his spe
cial work as principal he has had a prominent
part in organizing and supervising the city vaca
tion school for a term of years; and is active in
several organizations which have for their object
the civic betterment of the community.
Mr.
Painter was married in the early nineties to Miss
Carrie J. Young of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, now de
ceased. Two children were born to them, Carl
W. and M. Louise, the latter deceased. He was
again married in June, 1907, to Mrs. Vida Shore
Smith of Minneapolis. In political faith he is a
republican.
The family attends the Baptist
church.
PETTERSEN, Wilhelm Mauritz, since 1886
a professor at Augsburg Seminary, Minneapolis,
was born at Mandal, Norway, on December 16.
i860, the son of Thorn Pettersen and Athalia
Pettersen. After graduation from the high
school the son spent some time at sea, receiv
ing a mate's navigation certificate at the age of
eighteen. He early developed a fondness for
books, nature and out door pursuits and while
a very young man traveled extensively, visiting
nearly all the European countries, Africa, South
America and Mexico before coming to the
United States in 1882. Mr. Pettersen came to
Minneapolis in the fall of 1882 and entered Augs
burg Seminary, from which he graduated in 1884,
supplementing this course with one year of the
ology and one year at the University of Minne
sota where he studied philology and international
law. In 1886 he became a member of the faculty
at Augsburg and has been successively professbr
of languages, mathematics, history and Nor
wegian literature. In connection with his col
lege work he has found pleasure in extensive
reading, study and writing. A special aptitude
for learning foreign languages was recognized
in his early youth and this has developed into
a talent for the study of languages and Profes
sor Pettersen is versed in the Germanic and
Romance languages, and has written much in. eluding a volume of poems and a poetic drama
in Norwegian and from time to time a fugitive
verse in English. He is recognized as one of the
foremost Norwegian poets in the United States.
He is now especially interested in historical
studies. Professor Pettersen was affiliated with
the democratic party from 1886 to 1908, but
recently frankly stated that his views on the
larger political questions had so changed that he
would hereafter be a member of the republican
party. His attitude toward public affairs is that
of a citizen rather than a party man and in 1905
he was induced to become alderman from the
eleventh ward, Minneapolis, on the platform of
good municipal government, and has given the
city intelligent and devoted service. Professor
Pettersen is a member of the Norwegian Luth
eran Free Church and has been its vice president
for two years although not an ordained minister.
He was one of the founders and for several
years president of the Scandinavian Young Men's
Christian Association in South Minneapolis and
is a strong advocate of temperance. He is a
member of the Odin Club and other local organ
izations. Professor Pettersen was married in
1885 to Gunda Marie Nygaard and they have had
six children. Mrs. Pettersen died in 1908.
RANDALL, Eugene Wilson, dean of the agri
cultural department of the University of Minne
sota, was born at Winona, Minnesota, January 1,
1859, the son of Albert B. and Maria (Jayne)
Randall. He graduated from the Winona State
Normal School in 1879 and in the following year
became principal of the Morris (Minnesota) high
school, which he organized under the then new
state high school law. After two years he re
signed to become publisher and editor of the
Morris Tribune and in 1888 disposed of his paper
and devoted himself to agricultural and mercan
tile interests at .Morris, also serving as post
master from 1891 to 1895. In the latter year he
was appointed secretary of the Minnesota State
Agricultural Society and served for twelve years,
during which the Minnesota State Fair grew from
an insignificant position to be the first in the
country. In 1904 Mr. Randall was appointed re-
EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS
gent of the University of Minnesota and served
on the board until 1907 when he was appointed
dean of the agricultural department. He has
throughout his life been deeply interested in
agriculture and in the development of agricul
tural education and has brought to his present
work a large acquaintance with practical agricul
ture as well as an unusual executive ability. Mr.
Randall is a member of the Minneapolis Com
mercial Club, of the Six O'Clock Club, of the
Masonic fraternity, of the A. O. U. W. and other
orders. On March 16, 1882, he was married to
Eudora A. Stone at Morris. They have three
sons and one daughter. The family attend the
Methodist church. Mr. Randall is a republican
in political faith.
REYNOLDS, Myron Herbert, a leading
American veterinarian, was born November 5,
1865, at Wheaton, Illinois, son of Gardner W.
Reynolds, a well-known nurseryman and botanist
originally from New York state, and Mary Budd,
of the same state. M. H. Reynolds received his
early education in Iowa, whither his parents had
removed, and entered the Iowa State Agricultural
College at Ames. He graduated when under
twenty years and took the B. S. A. degree, sup
plementing it by the veterinary course, graduat
ing D. V. M. He then took a medical course at
the Iowa College of Physicians and Surgeons,
EUGENE W. RANDALL.
109
graduating M. D., and concluded his studies with
a course of Pharmacy, receiving the degree of
Ph. G. On the recommendation of the Dean of
the Veterinary Department of the Iowa State
College, Dr. Reynolds was offered the lecture
ship of the Minnesota State Farmers' Institute,
which position he filled until 1893, when he was
elected to the chair of Veterinary Science in the
University of Minnesota, and was given charge of
the Veterinary Division of the State Agricultural
Experiment Station at St. Anthony Park. He
was appointed a member of the State Board of
Health in 1897, and was the first veterinary sur
geon appointed on that board. He was made
chairman of a committee on infectious diseases
of animals, and, shortly, was made Director of
the Veterinary Department of the State Board
of Health, the veterinary sanitary work of which
soon became a standard. He took an active part
in the creation of the present State Live Stock
Sanitary Board in 1903 and has since retained an
active relation with this board, which is now
recognized as one of the two best supported and
efficient state live stock sanitary organizations
in America. In 1900 Dr. Reynolds was elected
to the Deanship of the Division of Veterinary
Science of the Iowa State College, but declined
the honor. Dr. Reynolds has written many im
portant station bulletins and has made important
contributions to veterinary literature, as "Hypo
dermic Cathartics," "State Control of Hog Chol
era," "State Control of Glanders," "Hog Cholera
and Swine Plague," "Azoturia," "Bovine Tuber
culosis," "Haemorrhagic Septicaemia." His text
book, "Veterinary Studies," has been adopted by
many state agricultural colleges. He edited for
many years the annual reports of the American
Veterinarian Association. He is a member of
The American Veterinary Medical Association,
The American Medical Association, The Ameri
can Public Health Association, The Minnesota
State Veterinary Association, The Minnesota
State Medical Association, The Ramsey County
Medical Association, and other scientific bodies.
Dr. Reynolds is a member of the republican par
ty; a member of the Congregational church; and
a Mason, including the Shriner's degree. He has
been twice married; in 1893 to Miss Eva M.
Kuhn of Iowa, who died within a few months.
In 1897 he was married to Miss May I. Shaw,
daughter of Professor Thomas Shaw of the Uni
versity of Minnesota. To them have been born
four children.
'
SNYDER, Harry, professor in the University
of Minnesota, was born in Cherry Valley, New
York, on January 26, 1867, the son of David W.
Snyder and Mary Ann (Harter) Snyder. His
father was a man of unusual mechanical skill and
natural ability and, though a farmer much of his
life, was in later years a railroad superintendent
and constructor of bridges and woodwork. On
both sides of the family the ancestors were Eng
lish and early Dutch settlers of the Mohawk
110
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Valley and participants in French and Indian
war, the war of the Revolution and the war of
1812. Professor Snyder received his education
at the country schools, the graded school at Her
kimer, the Clinton Liberal Institution at Fort
Plain and at Cornell University which he entered
in 1885. At Cornell he took the scientific course
paying particular attention to chemistry and at
the end of his sophomore year was made assist
ant to Dr. Caldwell, the head of the chemistry
department, a position which had always been
held by a graduate student. During the next two
years Professor Snyder became thoroughly fa
miliar with laboratory methods, particularly
along the line of agricultural chemistry which
was a subject not then generally taught in Ameri
can colleges. When he was graduated in 1889
he received honors for chemistry and his gradua
tion thesis received honorable mention. He was
at once appointed instructor at Cornell and in
1890 assistant chemist at the Cornell University
Experiment Station. His work brought him into
prominence and during the next year he was
called to the position of chemist of the Minne
sota Experiment Station and in 1892 was also
appointed professor of agricultural chemistry in
the University of Minnesota. Professor Snyder's
work at the Minnesota Station during the past
sixteen years has been notable. He has issued
numerous bulletins of a very practical character
dealing with soils, farm and dairy products and
human foods. His work in soil analysis has been
carried farther than in many other experiment
stations. He has been a frequent contributor
to technical journals and agricultural papers.
He has published three text books which have
passed through several editions—Soils and Ferti
lizers, The Chemistry of Plant and Animal Life,
and Dairy Chemistry—all issued by the press of
the MacMillan Co. Some of Professor Snyder's
works have been translated into other languages.
He has been president of the Association of Of
ficial .Agricultural Chemists and other scientific
organizations. He has carried on extensive nu
trition investigations with wheat and flour in
co-operation with the United States Department
of Agriculture. Professor Snyder was married
in 1890 to Miss Adelaide Churchill Craig, daugh
ter of Rev. Dr. Austin Craig, formerly president
of Antioch College, Ohio. Professor Snyder is a
member of the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, I. O.
O. F., R. A., member of the American Chemical
Society, Society for the Promotion of Agricul
ture, Fellow of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, and Sigma Xi.
WASHBURN, Frederick Leonard, was born
at Brookline, Massachusetts, April 12, i860,
son of
Nehemiah and Martha Parmelee
Washburn.
His father was a native of
Livermore, Maine, and a business man. Mr.
Washburn's early life was spent in Brookline and he prepared for college at the
Roxbury Latin School, from which he en
tered Harvard University, graduating B. A.,
in 1882, receiving the M. A. degree in 1895 (Thay
er Scholarship). He devoted his attention at
Harvard to the important studies, biology and
entomology, and further pursued his studies at
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, as a gradu
ate student. In 1887-88 he was appointed in
structor in Zoology at the University of Michi
gan; was Entomologist at the Oregon Experi
ment Station 1889-95, and was Professor of Bi
ology in the University of Oregon 1895-1902. He
was appointed State Biologist of Oregon in 1899.
In 1885 and 1886, under the direction of the State
Geological and Natural History Survey, he made
a collection, with data, of Minnesota birds. The
results of this work appear in the Report of Dr.
Hatch, published in 1882. In 1902, he was ap
pointed Professor of Entomology in the Uni
versity of Minnesota; Entomologist of the Min
nesota Experiment Station and State Entomolo
gist of Minnesota. Mr. Washburn is a member
of the American Society of Naturalists, Fellow
of the American Association for the Advance
ment of Science, and other scientific bodies. He
was married on December 27, 1887, to Frances L.
Wilcox of Minneapolis, and two daughters, Mar
tha and Alice, have been born to them.
WEBSTER, William Franklin, son of William
Wallace and Malvina Woodworth Webster, was
born May 23, 1862, at Clearwater, Minnesota. His
father was a merchant of that town, and the
boy attended the village schools until the age of
fourteen, when he became a cle;rk in the store.
In 1880-81 he attended the Minneapolis Academy;
and the next year he entered the University of
Minnesota, from which he was graduated in
1886, with membership in Phi Beta Kappa. After
graduating, Mr. Webster taught school at Buffalo,
Minnesota, for a year, in 1887-8 he taught in the
Minneapolis night schools, at the same time at
tending the Minneapolis Medical College. He
was superintendent of public schools for two
years at Rushford, Minnesota, and in 1890-93 held
a similar position at Moorhead, Minnesota. In
1893 he became principal of the East high school
of Minneapolis where he still remains. He is
the author of several works on the English lan
guage and allied topics. Mr. Webster is a mem
ber of the Congregational church. On August
7, 1890, he was married to Mary Alden Powell.
They have three children, Ruth, Juliet and
Marian.
WESBROOK, Frank Fairchild, pathologist
and bacteriologist; born in Brandt county, On
tario, July 12, 1868. Oldest son of H. S. Wesbrook, formerly mayor of Winnipeg, and Helen
Marr (Fairchild) Wesbrook, both of United Em
pire loyalist lineage. Educated public schools of
London, Ontario and Winnipeg, Manitoba; de
gree B. A., medallist University of Manitoba,
1887,, M. A., M. D., C. M. 1900; studied at Mc-
EDUCATIONAL AFFAIRS
Gill University, 1889; interne, Winnipeg General
Hospital, 1890, and railway surgeon, C. P. Ry,
Banff, Alberta; worked in pathology and bacteri
ology King's College, London; Rotunda Hospital,
Dublin, 1891, and University of Cambridge, Eng
land, 1892 to 1895, where he held the appointment
of John Lucas Walker, student in Pathology;
worked in Hygienisches and Pathologisches In
stitutes University of Marburg, Germany, 1894;
held the chair of Pathology, University of Mani
toba, 1892-1894, returning from Europe to give
short courses; worked in Pathological Labora
tory, St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London, Eng
land, 1895. October, 1895, called to University of
Minnesota as Professor of Bacteriology; 1896,
was made Professor of Pathology and Bac
teriology, University of Minnesota, which posi
tion he still holds and was appointed Dean of
the College of Medicine and Surgery of the Uni
versity in 1906. He was appointed a member of
the Minnesota State Board of Health in 1896,
and served until 1900, and has beeh direc
tor of the Laboratories of that Board since
1896.
He is also a member of the ad
visory board of the Hygienic Laboratory of
the U. S. Public Health and Marine Hospital
Service; an honorary member of the Massachu
setts Association of Boards of Health and be
longs to the following associations and societies:
Association of American Physicians; Association
of American Pathologists and Bacteriologists;
London Pathological Society; Pathological So
ciety of Great Britain and Ireland; American
Medical Association; Society of
American
Bacteriologists; American Public Health Associa
WILLIAMS, Henry Lane, son of Job and
Kate Stone Williams, was born at Hartford, Con
necticut, July 26, 1869. His father is principal
of the School for the Deaf at Hartford. His
direct ancestors came to New England from Eng
land and one of them, Richard Williams, founded
the town of Taunton in Massachusetts in 1642.
The descendants of this branch took part in the
Colonial wars and in the War of the Revolution
and in the War of 1812. Henry L. is the first
member of the direct descendants to locate per
manently out of New England. He attended the
Hartford grade schools and prepared for college
in the Hartford high school where he received
the prize for his graduating oration on the theme
"The Prospects of China." He was fond of all
outdoor exercise and was instinctively athletic in
his tendencies and had a passion for canoeing,
a favorite trip with his sailing canoe being down
the Connecticut River to Long Island Sound and
along the Sound from New Haven to Watch Hill.
He graduated from Yale in 1891. During his
career at the university, while distinguishing him
self as an all-around athlete and a record-breaker
in various specialties, he maintained an excellent
rank in scholarship and at graduation received a
place on the appointment list. He was one of
111
HENRY L. WILLIAMS, M. D.
the editors of the Yale Daily News during his
last two years. He taught school after leaving
college for a year at the Siglars Preparatory
School at Newburgh on the Hudson and, while
there athletically diverted himself by coaching the
first West Point football team that' beat An
napolis. Later, when studying medicine at the
University of Pennsylvania, he had charge of
the athletic sports at the William Penn Charter
School, the largest private day school in Phila
delphia. In 1893 he wrote a book jointly with
the Medical School he was a member of the
A. A. Stagg, now of Chicago, entitled "Treatise
on the American Game of Football." While in
Alpha Mu Pi Omega medical fraternity and of
the D. Hays Agnew Surgical Society, and, on
graduation, received the prize for dissection. He
entered the Howard Hospital of Philadelphia in
1895 and served as resident physician there for
one year. The next year he began the practice of
medicine in Philadelphia and for the next four
years was quiz master in the Medical Institute
at the University of Pennsylvania on physical
diagnosis and pathology, and on gynaecology and
obstetrics. He was also an instructor in gynae
cology at the University and a member of the
staff of the Philadelphia Maternity Hospital,
pathologist to the Howard Hospital and patholo
gist to the Gynaecological Department of the
Philadelphia Polycliriical Hospital.
Since Dr.
112
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Williams came to Minneapolis, in 1900, he has
been Director of Athletics at the state university
holding one of the foremost positions as coach in
Western football; and is an instructor in the
Medical School, and actively engaged in the prac
tice of medicine. Dr. Williams was appointed in
1907 to a position on the staff of the City Hos
pital, taking charge of the gynaecological depart
ment. He is now clinical instructor in gynae
cology at the University medical school. He has,
since he graduated in medicine, made four trips
to Europe for post graduate study and investi
gation, spending considerable time at Berlin and
Vienna in the specialties of gynaecology and sur
gery. He is a member of the Pennsylvania So
ciety of the Order of the Founders and Patriots
of America. He is a member of the Commercial
Club, of the St. Anthony Commercial Club, of
the Roosevelt Club, of the Hennepin County
Medical Society and of the American Medical As
sociation. Dr. Williams is a republican in poli
tics. He was married on November 24, 1897, to
Miss Nina Meadows Boyd, of Maryland, and they
have one son, Henry L. Williams, Jr., born Au
gust 31, 1898.
WULLING, Frederick John, dean of the Col
lege of Pharmacy of the University of Minnesota,
was born on December 24, 1866, at Brooklyn,
New York. In 1870 his father's family moved per
manently to their summer home at Carlstadt,
New Jersey, a suburb of New York City. Here'
Frederick graduated from grammar and high'
school and business college. In 1884 Frederick
took a position with college privileges with Dr.
C. W. Braeutigam, of Brooklyn, devoting part of
his time to work in Columbia University and to
technical translations from French, German,
Spanish and Italian Journals. He duly passed the
senior examinations in pharmacy and allied
branches before the boards of New York and
Brooklyn, and of New Jersey, before he gradu
ated from New York College of Pharmacy in
1887 at the head of his class, taking the gold
medal and a hundred dollars in gold. During
these years he also attended lectures at the Col
lege of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia.
In 1886 he was appointed lecture assistant to
Professor Bedford, the foremost pharmacist of
the profession, a year later to an instructorship,
and in 1890 he was made assistant professor ol
pharmacy in the New York College of Pharmacy.
In 1887 he made a European tour, visiting the
principal universities of the continent and taking
up post-graduate work in Munich, Berlin, Goettingen and Paris and after his return, in the
Hoagland Laboratory of Bacteriology. In 1889
he made another trip to Europe, taking advanced
work in chemistry at Munich. In 1891 he was
called to the chair of Inorganic Pharmaco-Diagnosis at the Brooklyn College of Pharmacy,
which he held until he was called to the Uni
versity of Minnesota in 1892, to organize a de
partment of pharmacy. Professor Wulling was
made the dean of the pharmacy faculty and an
executive officer of the university and has given
his whole time to the work. In 1894 he made a
tour of Scotland, England, France and Belgium,
coming in touch with the prominent scientists
and educators of those countries. Between 1893
and 1898 he continued his studies at the state uni
versity and received the degrees Ph. D., LL. B.
and LL. M. In addition he has taken during his
extensive college work the degrees of Ph. G.,
Ph. C., and F. S. Sc., and has done considerable
original research work. Dr. Wulling is a fre
quent contributor to scientific journals and has
published several larger works—in 1891, the Evo
lution of Botany; in 1892, Medical and Pharma
ceutical Chemistry; Chemistry of the Carbon
Compounds, published in Merck's Report from
1899-1900; a Course in Law for Pharmacists; and
upwards of four hundred papers and essays on
kindred subjects. He is a member of numerous
professional societies; president of the North
western Branch of the American Pharmaceutical
Association; chairman of the Scientific Section,
Minnesota State Pharmaceutical Association; ex
ecutive officer of the American Conference of
Pharmaceutical Faculties, and numerous other
organizations. Dr. Wulling was married on Sep
tember 15, 1897, to Miss Lucile Truth Gissel of
Brooklyn, New York.
CHAPTER X.
MUSIC
A
DECIDED musical taste devel
oped itself in the villages at the Falls
- of St. Anthony within a few years
of their settlement. As early as 1852 there
were three singing schools in St. Anthony
and in 1853 the first singing school in Hen
nepin county was organized at Minneapolis
under the direction of B. E. Messer and was
supported by a public subscription headed
by Colonel Stevens. It is not to be sup
posed that the work of this pioneer singing
society was of an advanced class but the
movement showed the desire for music and
a willingness to support musical endeavors
As the years passed many cultivated people
from eastern cities were added to the popu
lation at the Falls and music became a
prominent part of the social and religious
life of the young settlement. There was
always a glee club, singing school, or choral
society in which the young people gathered
and music was made an effective part of the
church services. One of the oldest and best
remembered groups was the old Plymouth
church choir which was composed of Sam
uel C. Gale, Harlow A. Gale, Mr. and Mrs.
Charles M. Cushman and Joseph H. Clark,
and which not only made the musical part
of the church service notable, but took the
lead in the concerts and musical occasions
in the young city. The gentlemen of the
choir formed a male quartet which was in
vited to many political meetings and was
particularly prominent in the life of the
state during war times.
E. M. Bowman, later to become a mu
sician of national reputation, lived in Min
neapolis for a few years as boy and young
man and an old handbill announces a grand
concert, given as a "complimentary benefit"
to E. M. Bowman in 1866. On this occa
sion Mr. Bowman was "assisted by the Min
THEATERS
neapolis Cornet Band and Orchestra and
the following ladies and gentlemen: Mrs.
Whitney, Mrs. Cushman, Dr. J. A. Bowman,
Mr. Cushman, Mr. R. P. Olmstead, Mr. S.
V. Morris, Miss Barton, Miss Varney, Mr.
Barton, Mr. J. H. Clark, Mr. H. A. Gale,
Mr. A. M. Benham, the whole under the
direction of A. M. Benham."
For a long period few musical organiza
tions were established which proved to have
any permanence. An exception was the
Harmonia Society formed by the Germans
of the city in the early seventies and still an
active choral society. Peter Rauen was a
prominent president in the early years and
Ludwig Harmsen, Richard Stempf and
other well known musicians were among the
leaders. One of the most important of the
societies of the many which have passed
out of existence was the Minneapolis Choral
Society which was organized in 1876 and
for five or six years did very creditable work.
It drew into its membership many of the
singers of the Harmonia society. George
R. Lyman was president and Mr. Harmsen
the first director and such well known
musical people as Henry Chase, Charles B.
and George B. Eustis, A. A. Guiwits, Henry
Elliott, George Harrison, Joseph H. Clark,
Dr. Bowman, Col. Charles W. Johnson,
Mrs. F. A. Chamberlain, Gen. C. McC.
Reeve and others were prominent in its
ranks. This society was the first to give in
Minneapolis such music as the Seasons, the
Creation and works of a similar character
in a thoroughly artistic manner. Its mem
bership ranged from fifty to one hundred.
The Choral Society and other organizations
kept the taste for chorus music alive and
occasionally, something in the way of a
musical festival was attempted, with aug
mented chorus and orchestra and soloists
114
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
of reputation as special attractions. A not
able occasion of this kind was that of 1884
when, upon the completion of the first drill
hall and auditorium at the university, Chris
tine Nilsson was the star at a festival which
was very creditable to the city. During the
eighties David Blakely promoted various
musical undertakings; Danz' Orchestra was
organized by Frank Danz, Jr., and for years
gave weekly concerts at the old Harmonia
Hall, and the original Apollo Club was
formed. In this decade many of the prom
inent musicians of the city came here—
Willard Patten, H. S. Woodruff, Herman
Zoch, Heinrich Hoevel, Gustavus Johnson,
the Lachmunds, Fraulein Schoen-Rene,
Clarance A. Marshall and others.
With the early nineties more permanent
organization and better results crowned the
labors of the musical people. The Minne
apolis Philharmonic Club was organized out
of the remnants of older singing societies
and began its development into the present
excellent choral club—pronounced by the
best authorities to be the equal of any in
America. Emil Oberhoffer became its con
ductor in 1901 and has brought the organ
ization to a high degree of perfection.
Through the coming of Mr. Oberhoffer Min
neapolis also obtained an orchestra of the
highest merit. The Minneapolis Symphony
Orchestra was organized in 1903 and under
Mr. Oberhoffer's leadership has obtained
first rank not only in this country but among
the orchestras of the world. Both these or-
PENCE OPERA HOUSE.
First Minneapolis theater; erected In 1867.
ganizations are supported by hearty public
commendation and liberal subscription.
The Apollo Club, organized in the eighties
and reorganized in 1895, is a male chorus,
under the leadership of H. S. Woodruff and
takes a prominent place in the musical life
of the city. The Ladies' Thursday Musicale, another organization of the nineties,
has done as much as any to promote music
al culture. A recent organization, the Uni
versity Musical Federation, seeks to pro
mote the cause of music in the state
university, with the purpose of secur
ing the establishment of a musical de
partment; for, notwithstanding the rapid
growth of musical interest in the last two
decades there has not been as much atten
tion to musical education in the public in
stitutions as would be desirable. The sub
ject has been almost ignored in the univer
sity and although music has been taught for
years in the public schools it has not been
given the recognition which the importance
of the subject demands.
PUBLIC SCHOOL MUSIC.
One of the earliest teachers of music in
the schools was Charles Marsh, a prominent
musician of the city during the seventies.
He was organist at the Church of the Re
deemer and pianist for a time for the Min
neapolis Choral Society. After Mr. Marsh
came D. and J. W. Shryock of a family
which contributed much to the musical life
of the city. Next came O. E. McFadon who
was supervisor of music for thirteen years,
assisted for a part of the time by Stiles
Raymond. Mr. McFadon brought a prac
tical knowledge of school conditions to the
work, and did much towards putting the
music in the schools on a par with other
subjects. During his regime the pupils of
the schools were heard in many public con
certs. In 1898 Mr. McFadon retired to
enter another profession and was succeeded
by Miss Helen M. Trask, who now holds
the position. Miss Trask prepared for this
special line of work by years of music study
in the east and took a special preparatory
course at Lexington Institute under Henry
Holt and Alfred Hallam. She came to the
work here at a time when public school
MUSIC AND THEATERS
music was just beginning to be taught
along more pedagogical lines than the ab
stract and technical methods of the past per
mitted; and she was not slow to adapt the
more advanced methods to Minneapolis
schools. Consequently greater interest has
been aroused among the children, and an
improved standard of teaching gained
among the teaching corps.
Another impulse toward improvement
has come through the establishment of a
training class for prospective supervisors or
special teachers of music, which has been
conducted each summer at the university
by Miss Trask. This course was organized
three years ago and is already one of the
most potent agencies at work in the state
for the uplifting of the standards of music
teaching. During the past nine or ten years
the school children have taken part in many
public entertainments, but in none with
greater success than in the final concert at
the time of the opening of the Auditorium,
when a thousand children from all parts of
the city and from all grades above the third
took part under the leadership of Miss
Trask.
PRIVATE MUSIC SCHOOLS.
The Northwestern Conservatory of Music
was organized in 1885 and in 1891 it was
purchased by Clarence A. Marshall who
was its director until 1906 when he disposed
of his interests and the school under the
same name became the musical department
of Stanley Hall though maintaining a separ
ate organization. The Minneapolis School
of Music, Oratory and Dramatic Art was
established in 1898 by Gustavus Johnson
who conducted it until 1907 when it passed
into other management. In 1908 Mr. John
son established the Johnson School of
Music, Oratory and Dramatic Art. These
institutions have given Minneapolis addi
tional reputation as the musical center of
the Northwest. The number of musical
students in the city is now very large.
THEATERS AND MUSIC HALLS.
In the days when the singing school was
the highest musical development of the city
and the only theatrical companies visiting
115
WrM
• '"in*
I
THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC.
Second theater in Minneapolis. It stood at Washington and
Hennepin.
Minneapolis were such as might be expect
ed to penetrate into a wilderness three hun
dred miles beyond the railroad, Woodman's
Hall, at the corner of Second avenue south
and Washington avenue, was the only
place of public amusement. After a time
the first of the halls styled Harmonia Hall,
was constructed at Second avenue north
and Second street, and this in turn was
followed by another Harmonia Hall at
Washington and Nicollet. When, in 1867,
the Pence Opera House was erected at the
corner of Hennepin avenue and Second
street, Minneapolis felt that she was reach
ing metropolitan conditions.
The Academy of Music, built in 1871 at
the corner of Washington and Hennepin
where Temple Court now stands, was the
principal theater and concert hall until 1883
when it was remodelled into an office build
ing. Its passing, was on the occasion of the
opening of the Grand Opera House, built
as a part of the Syndicate Block, on the
Sixth street front and opened on April 2,
1883. This was a handsome theater and for
years presented attractions which many
Minneapolis people recall with great pleas
ure. Two theaters were built in 1887—the
Lyceum, opened in September with a not-
116
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
upon the immense stage. The auditorium
is of strictly fire-proof construction through
out. It is equipped with a four-manual pipe
organ, the fourth in size in the country.
Since its completion this building has been
used for the concerts of the Philharmonic
club, the Minneapolis Symphony orchestra,
the Apollo club, for grand opera and many
theatrical and musical engagements of all
kinds. The auditorium serves to emphasize
the high estimation in which things musical
are held by the people of Minneapolis.
THE GRAND OPERA HOUSE.
able engagement of Booth and Barrett, and
the Bijou Opera House, opened on October
31, as a popular priced theater. It was
built by Lambert Hays of Minneapolis and
has always been under the management of
Theodore Hays. The Metropolitan Opera
House was opened in 1894 as the Peoples
Theater. For a year it was a stock com
pany house, and then became the Metro
politan Opera House, succeeding to the
theatrical fortunes of the Grand, which went
out of business and was soon dismantled.
Vaudeville had never been tried in Minne
apolis as a regular seasons attraction until
the building of the Orpheum theater in 1904.
BERGQUIST, John Victor, (J. Victor Bergquist) musician, was born at St. Peter, Minnesota,
May 18, 1877. His father, C. F. Bergquist, came
from Sweden, in the early seventies, and built up
by his industry, a good business in hardware and
lumber. As a boy,' his son, Victor, after some
years in the Minneapolis public schools, started
out on a business life in the employ, first, of the
Glass Block, and later, of the Minneapolis Gas
Co. His bent toward music was so marked, how
ever, that he soon found the way to gratify it by
a course in the musical department at Gustavus
Adolphus College of St. Peter, Minn. From this
he graduated with honors at the age of eighteen,
having won the gold medal in an organ contest at
THE AUDITORIUM.
Until 1905 Minneapolis had no place suit
able for concerts where a large audience
was to be expected. This want was sup
plied by the erection of the Minneapolis
Auditorium by the Northwestern National
Life Insurance Company of Minneapolis,
after plans by Bertrand & Chamberlin, and
at a cost (including the site and the adjoin
ing office building) of about $400,000. It is
a beautiful building with a frontage of no
feet and a depth of 220 feet, a seating capac
ity of 2,500 with room for a chorus of 400
J. VICTOR BERGQUIST.
MUSIC AND THEATERS
117
the college. Four years of study with the lead
ing teachers of music in Minneapolis were fol
lowed by about three years of foreign study at
Berlin and Paris in the studios of such instruc
tors as Grunicke, Scharwenka, Berger and Guilrnant. It was during this European stay, while
witnessing the Passion Play, that Mr. Bergquist
was first inspired by the idea of his oratorio "Gol
gotha." He was not able to find time to develop
this until the fall of 1904 when he began the vocal
score. The work went on at intervals during the
next twelve months and was not completed until
November of 1905, nor presented until April 6,
1906. During this year and a half of more or
less absorption in his project, Mr. Bergquist was
acting as organist of Augustana Lutheran Church,
principal of the piano department of Gustavus
Adolphus College of St. Peter, director of the
male chorus of the United Church seminary, and
organist to the Apollo Club besides maintaining
his position as director of the Cecilian Studios.
A great worker and full of musicianly enthusiasm,
Mr. Bergquist has written several other composi
tions for organ, piano and voice, but "Golgotha"
is his last and most important work; and one
which has excited much local interest as a work
of power and promise. Mr. Bergquist belongs to
the Odin Club. He was married to Emilia Elvira
Johnson, June 7, 1905.
IIEINKICII IIOEVEL.
S. CLAY GILBERT.
HOEVEL, Heinrich, Jr., musician, is of Ger
man parentage and nationality, born near Bonn,
on the Rhine, June 22, 1864. His father, Hein
rich Hoevel, indulged the evident talent of his
son for music, and gave him the opportunity of
cultivating it by instruction in the best studios
of his native place. Bonn, as the birthplace of
Beethoven, is full of musical traditions, and com
petent teachers abound. When Heinrich, Jr., was
seven years old, he received his first violin as a
Christmas present, and taught himself to play
upon it familiar airs, but it was not until he was
sixteen that his father began to consider his son's
musical abilities anything but an accomplishment
or needing more skillful training. Finding that
the bent for the musician's life was a permanent
tendency, he then sent his son to Cologne Con
servatory. The first professional engagement of
the musician after graduation was as first violin
in the Alhambra orchestra in London in the fall
of 1883. The Alhambra (now a music hall) was
then opened for English opera and the first opera
played was Geo. Frederic Clay's "The Golden
Ring." During the same period he also played
as first violin at the Crystal Palace under the
leadership of Manns. The necessity of military
service called him back to Germany after a year
in England. He served out his army term and
then spent several years on the Continent as a
member of various orchestras and as conductor
118
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
of musical organizations. In the former work,
he played under such orchestral leaders as Anton
Seidl and Ferdinand von Hiller—the latter a man
who had the reputation of being the best edu
cated musician of his time. Mr. Hoevel came to
Minneapolis in 1889, and made his first public
appearance at Dyer's Music Hall, January 6, 1890,
with the Lachmund String Quartette of which he
was solo violinist. Mr. Hoevel has been a favor
ite with both his audiences and his associates in
musical work, and has had eighteen successful
years in Minneapolis. He has been identified
with chamber music to a great extent and par
ticularly with string quartette work.
HUNT, Hamlin Harry, the son of T. J. Hunt
of Ellington, Minnesota, was born in that town
on June 5, 1866. He is descended from old New
England families that originally had their homes
in Vermont. He spent his early life in Dodge
Center, Minnesota, and there received his school
education. He then entered Carletpn College,
Northfield, Minnesota, and began a literary and
musical education.
He graduated from the
School of Music at Carleton in the year 1884,
and immediately entered upon his musical career.
He went to Winona and for three years taught
music, at the same time holding the position of
organist at the First Congregational Church. He
then went to Berlin for two seasons, where he
further pursued his musical studies. Upon re
turning to this country he located in Quincy,
Illinois, and for six years was organist of the
Congregational church and director of the Quin
cy Conservatory of Music. He again went to
Berlin for a year and afterwards studied the
organ under Guilmant in Paris. He finally com
pleted his studies and returned to this country,
coming to Minneapolis in September, 1898, where
he became the organist at St. Mark's Episcopal
Church and later at the Plymouth Congregational
Church, where he has now been for- eight years.
Each year Mr. Hunt has made a practice of giv
ing a series of free organ recitals and as director
has produced in the church services many choral
works of fine character that have contributed
much to the cause of good music and have won
for him the appreciation of the music lovers of
the city. He was also selected to give three or
gan recitals at the Pan American Exposition in
Buffalo and two on the large organ at the St.
Louis Exposition. He was appointed in 1906
organist of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra.
Mr. Hunt believes in the teachings of the Con
gregational church. He was married on April
16, 1895, to Miss Laurina J. White in Quincy,
Illinois. They have no children.
JOHNSON, Gustavus, was born in Hull, Eng
land, on November 2, 1856. He is the son of
Peter Johanson, a native of Sweden, and Henri
etta Hole, daughter of Admiral Hole, who first
distinguished himself in the English navy as alieutenant under Lord Nelson. Admiral Hole
came of an old English family and entered the
navy about 1795, served through several notable
battles among which was the battle of Trafalgar,
was promoted to the rank of admiral, and at the
time of his death in 1870 was the oldest officer
in the navy. When Mr. Johnson was three years
old his family moved to Stockholm, Sweden, and
there he spent his early life, began his education
and graduated from the Stockholm high school.
His musical talent marked out a career for him
and he studied the piano and theory of music
under the leading masters of the art. He entered
the Schartau business college of Stockholm and
graduated in 1874. A year later he emigrated to
America and after staying for a short time in the
East, came to Minneapolis, where with the excep
tion of three years spent in Wisconisn he has
since lived. He began his musical work as an
instructor and concert pianist, and for a quarter
of a century has been known as one of the fore
most musicians of the Northwest, and has been
the instructor of a number of pianists who rank
high in their art. In 1898 he established the
Johnson School of Music, Oratory and Dramatic
Art, which became the largest institution of its
kind in the city, with an average enrollment of
nearly five hundred pupils. Mr. Johnson is also
well known as a composer, mostly of piano selec
tions but he has also written much for other in
struments as well as for the voice. His greatest
works are a trio for the piano, violin and cello
and a concerto for the piano and orchestra. Mr.
Johnson is a member of the Minnesota State
Music Teachers' Association and in 1906 was
president of that organization. He was married
in 1882 to Miss Caroline Frances Winslow, a di
rect descendant of Governor Edward Winslow
who played so important a part in Colonial
events. They have one child, a daughter, Laura
Louise, born in 1890.
MARSHALL, Clarance Alden, for many years
director of the Northwestern Conservatory of
Music in this city and one of the well known
musicians of the Northwest, was born on May
15, 1859, at Marlboro, Massachusetts. He is the
son of Alden B. Marshall, a contractor and
builder, who served during the Civil War and
later located at Newton, Massachusetts, where
h^ was well known, and highly respected by his
fellow townsmen. Clarissa Hemenway, mother
^f Clarance A., was the daughter of a prominent
family of Framingham, Massachusets, and was,
as well as Mr. Marshall, Sr., of old Colonial par
entage, the ancestors of both families having
settled in New England with the Puritans. Clar
ance Alden passed the early years of his life in
Marlboro, but when he was nine years of age
the family moved to Newton, Massachusetts,
where a splendid school system offered excellent
chances for an education. Mr. Marshall there
attended the public schools, and graduated from
the high school in 1877, and the following year
119
MUSIC AND THEATERS
entered Harvard College as a special student of
music and art. After a six years course there
during which he was under the instruction of
John Knowles Paine and others, he continued
his studies in Boston under famous instrumental
and vocal artists, and finally became associate
conductor with Carl Zerrahn, of the Handel and
Haydn Oratorio Society. For some time he was
engaged in Watertown, Roxbury, Boston, Dor
chester, Bangor, Waterville, Augusta and other
New England towns, as choir director and or
ganist and the director of choral societies. In
1887, he came west to Saginaw, Michigan, to take
charge of a choir and three choral organizations,
but the climate affected his health, so the fol
lowing winter was spent in Nashville, Tennessee,
where he was choir leader and vocal instructor
in a large young ladies' seminary. He was the
organizer and promoter of the most successful
musical festival ever held in Nashville, in the
year 1889. In the fall of that year he took charge
of the chorus and orchestra of the Mozart Society
of Richmond, Virginia, and during the two years
he remained there, was prominent and active in
the musical progress of the city, arranging semi
monthly concerts and managing two large and
successful musical festivals. In 1891 he came
to this city and purchased the Northwestern Con
servatory of Music and assumed its direction.
For fifteen years he successfully managed the
school, the annual attendance having increased
from one hundred and thirty in 189-1, to more
than five hundred pupils. In the summer of 1906
he disposed of his interests in the conservatory.
While in Minneapolis he has also held positions
as organist and choir master of Westminister
Presbyterian, Gethsemane Episcopal and the
First Congregational churches, and in other ways
has been active and influential in the promotion
of music in the Northwest. Mr. Marshall be
came a member of the Immanuel Baptist Church
of Newton, Massachusetts, when a boy, and still
retains the membership. He was married in 1891
to Miss Marion Howard of Waterville, Maine,
and they have one daughter.
OBERHOFFER, Emil Johann, a leading mu
sician of the northwest, was born near Munich,
Bavaria, in 1867. His father was a successful or
ganist, composer and conductor in the Bavarian
provinces. H'is mother also came of a musical
family and a brother as well as two sisters were
musicians. Emil very early showed musical tal
ent and when a child of ten years could play the
organ and violin with wonderful ability and taste.
He had at this time, beside the strict surveillance
of his father, the most helpful instruction of
Cyril Kistler, since renowned as the composer of
a number of operas. During a six years' course
at a literary college following, Mr. Oberhoffer
continued his musical studies under the best pri
vate teachers obtainable, in pianoforte, organ,
violin, voice, and in an excellent school and
IiMIL OHEKIIOKFEK.
church orchestra not only became acquainted
with all orchestral instruments, but had ample
opportunity to try out his talent as conductor,
which was thus early recognized. About this
time he also took a thorough course of theoret
ical studies under the Rheinberger regime. Spe
cializing as a pianist he later spent some time in
Paris with the famous technique expert Isadore
Phillip. After the completion of his studies he
came to New York but remained there only a
short time, leaving the musical directorship of
a prominent college to establish himself in the
west. He first came to St. Paul where he soon
attained a prominent position as a teacher, lectur
er, concert giver and conductor. In 1897 he
spent seven months in Europe in study and ob
servation and in the fall of the same year was
called to the position of conductor of the Apollo
Club of Minneapolis. At the same time the
Schubert Choral Association and Schubert or
chestra were formed in St. Paul under his direc
tion. In 1901 Mr. Oberhoffer became conductor
of the Minneapolis Philharmonic Club which
soon attained a leading position among the choral
societies of the country. The necessities of the
development of musical life and culture in the
city soon brought about the suggestion from
Mr. Oberhoffer that an orchestra be formed
and with the assistance and support of the lead
ing men of Minneapolis the Minneapolis Sym-
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
120
II
FLORENCE
E.
PARKS.
phony Orchestra was established in 1903 and has
since been the most prominent musical organiza
tion in the northwest. The phenomenal suc
cess of the club and orchestra under Mr. Oberhoffer's direction has led to the engagement of
his services for a term of years and the practical
perpetuation of the musical progress which has
already made Minneapolis the center of musical
education in the Northwest and given her a
reputation for musical culture quite unprecedent
ed in the east. Besides his activities as conduc
tor, Mr. Oberhoffer. finds time for a group of
advanced pupils in pianoforte-playing; he has
been organist and director of the music at the
Church of the Redeemer for the past few years
and holds the chair of music at the state uni
versity.
PARKS, Florence Estelle, born in Ohio,
Trumbull county, is a descendant of a long line
of musical ancestors, particularly on the side of
her father, Henry Clay Peck, who came of old
colonial stock, his mother's father having been
Abram Crawley, a major in the Revolutionary
war and one of those who engaged in the "Boston
Tea Party." The mother of Mrs. Parks was El
len E. (Sanford) Peck, a descendant of Nathaniel
Greene and who enjoyed the distinction of having
been one of the early teachers of President McKinley. Mrs. Parks gave evidence at an early
age of marked musical talent, being capable of
singing at sight difficult compositions at the age
of four—the system then in use being numerals
written upon the staff instead of notes. System
atic instruction for her musical education began
when she was six years old, her studies embrac
ing piano, theory of music, harmony, counter
point composition for both organ and voice. Mrs.
Parks received voice training from the best in
structors in Chicago and New York and various
cities of Europe, and has enjoyed wide experi
ence in oratorio, concert and church singing.
For the past fifteen years Mrs. Parks has been
a resident of Minneapolis and actively engaged in
the musical life of the city. During these years
Mrs. Parks has devoted her time and study prin
cipally to the "art of teaching." Her wide ex
perience as a student and singer has given her
a knowledge and comprehension of the many
various methods which, blended with her indi
vidual ability, renders her most efficient as a
vocal instructor. For the past twelve years Mrs.
Parks has had full direction of the music in St.
Charles Church. For several years she was in
charge of the vocal department of Stanley Hall
and at different times was instructor in Macalester College and the Johnson School of Music.
Mrs. Parks has been an active member of the
Thursday Musical since its beginning, and at dif
ferent times has been a member of the executive
board and program committee. She is now di
rector of the Students Quartettes and Choral
Club and her work with them is most successful.
PATTEN, Willard, was born at Milford,
Maine, on May 26, 1853. His father, Daniel Hall
Patten, a building contractor, was of Irish des
cent, who had been before taking up his con
tracting work, an unprofessional musician, choir
master, violinist and vocalist of considerable tal
ent, and from whom Mr. Patten inherited his ar
tistic instincts. His mother was Elizabeth Jones,
born in Canada but of Welsh descent. Mr. Pat
ten resided in Bangor, Me., during his early life,
and because of a weakness of the lungs when
about sixteen years old he took up calisthenics
and voice culture. He left high school before
completing his course to take private lessons in
English literature and music. His musical work
included notation, theory, thoroughbass and
musical analysis and later he studied ensemble
training and the art of conducting, the latter
under Carl Zerrahn of the Handel and Haydn So
ciety of Boston. He then began his musical ca
reer, teaching, conducting musical conventions,
and composing, producing his first operetta in
1881. Through Dr. Eben Tourgee, the director
of the New England Conservatory, he was offered
a position in that institution, but declined, and
came west in 1883, establishing himself in Minne
apolis as a solo singer and teacher of voice cul
ture. In 1889 he produced the opera, La Fianza,
with pronounced success; and afterwards several
MUSIC AND THEATERS
short pieces. He continued his studies and in
1896, after spending more than a year in the se
lection and arrangement of the text, composition,
and score, he completed his oratorio, Isaiah, and
on January 27, 1897, it was given its initial per
formance at the Metropolitan theater, before an
audience that included all the musicians and
music lovers of the two cities and the northwest.
This achieved remarkable success and established
Mr. Patten's reputation as a musician. The fol
lowing year he was appointed conductor of the
re-organized Philharmonic Club, a position he
held for three years, resigning to devote his at
tention to further composition. He has since
completed two large choral works based upon
historical data, the first entitled "Star of Empire"
and the second "Foot-Stones of a Nation." He
is at present bringing to completion a cantata in
modern form on the subject of the Resurrection.
Mr. Patten is actively interested in musical edu
cational movements and has recently been in
strumental in establishing twelve singing schools,
each under the care of a competent musician, and
his connection with the general advancement of
music quite as much as his personal successes
show the influence his work has had upon the
musical progress of the northwest. Many of his
compositions, among them his oratorio Isaiah,
have obtained wide popularity for their true
merit and become better known each year, but
Mr. Patten is too serious in his art to seek com
W1LLARD PATTEN.
121
mon-place applause, seeking rather to earn the
commendation of his peers, in which he has fully
accomplished his aims. Mr. Patten was married
in 1875 to Miss Alesta Virginia Hebberd, in Ban
gor, Maine. They have had one daughter, Ruth
Elizabeth, who died in 1901.
WILLIAMS, James Austin, one of the prom
inent concert tenors and voice instructors of
Minneapolis, is a native of England and is by
birth the descendant of an old established Welsh
family, which is traced back among the inhabi
tants of Wales for more than four centuries.
From these ancestors was^ descended Enoch
Williams who located at Mitcheldean, Gloucester
shire, England, and there established a stone
business, which developed into a flourishing and
extensive enterprise. He was married to Augusta
Parry, and his son, J. Austin, was born at
Mitcheldean, England, on April 19, 1876. Six
years later the family left England to come to
America and located at Stonewall, Manitoba, Can
ada. There J. Austin, received his education, at
tending the public schools and after completing
his academic studies began the study of music
and the training of his voice. For a time Pro
fessor Dore of London, England, was located at
Winnipeg, Canada, and Mr. Williams continued
his vocal studies under his instruction, and for a
time his vocal training was directed by Professor
Chambers, also of London. In 1905 he was a
pupil of Professor M. B. de Bor of New York, and
at intervals during the last eight years has studied
with a number of the foremost teachers and
musicians in the Twin Cities. At the present
time, in addition to his teaching and concert
work, Mr. Williams is receiving further train
ing under the supervision of Dr. Rhys-Herbert,
the well known composer of this city and now
the organist at the Hennepin Avenue Methodist
Church. Since moving to Minneapolis a few
years ago Mr. Williams has taken an active part
in the musical affairs of the city and is now
identified with several of the more important
musical organizations. For one year he was
the director of the choir of Fowler Methodist
Church and at the present time holds the same
position with the De la Salle choir. For three
years he has had the direction of the Boys'
Glee Club of the Central High School and under
his charge that organization has achieved a cred
itable local reoutation. He was a member of
the Apollo Club for several years and now is a
member and one of the board of directors of the
Philharmonic Club. Mr. Williams has been ex
tensively connected with vocal church music and
has done tenor solo and choir work in ten of
the larger churches of the citv and is now in
his fourth year as tenor of the choir at the
Church of the Redeemer. In addition to this
work he is active in concert and recital work and
takes a general interest in the promotion and
support of measures that tend to the musical
development of Minneapolis.
122
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
cessfully in the great European musical centers,
Fraulein Schoen-Rene came to this country and
has for some years made her home with her
sister, Marie Schoen, in Minneapolis. For some
time she was instructor in the University of Min
nesota and was the founder and musical director
of the University Choral Union, which has done
splendid work. Fraulein Anna Eugenie SchoenRene has taken a prominent part in the promo
tion of musical culture in Minneapolis. She is
a member of the Union des Arts et des Sciences,
of Paris, France, and a member of the "Deutsche
Buchnen genossenschaft," of Berlin. Fraulein
Schoen-Rene has been earnestly besought by
many of her friends to return to the operatic
stage, as her health has been greatly improved
in Minnesota.
ANNA E. SCHOEN-RENE.
SCHOEN-RENE, Anna Eugenie, is a native
of Prussian Poland. Her father was at one time
secretary of agriculture and forestry of the im
perial province of Alsace-Lorraine, Germany,
and an officer of the. Guards. At his death the
Emperor William, who was his close friend,
promised to care for his eight children and
through his kindness Fraulein Schoen-Rene was
enabled to prepare for the profession of a singer
in grand opera, which was her absorbing ambi
tion. She graduated from the Royal Academy of
Music in Berlin, receiving half the prize offered
by the Mendelssohn family to the most promising
student and devoted it to the completion of her
musical education in Italy. She studied with
Francesco Lamperti, Sen. of Milan in voice cul
ture, and with Madame Viardot and Maestro
Garcia in Paris, making her debut in Berlin under
the auspices of Princess Friedrich Carl, of Prus
sia. She was engaged to sing at the Royal Opera
House of Saxe-Altenburg through the Duke of
that Duchy, and soon became a musical favorite,
meeting many famous musicians and composers,
as Brahms, Rubenstein and Liszt. With marked
ability she played the leading roles in "Don
Juan," "Daughter of the Regiment," "Carmen,"
"Faust," and other operas. After singing suc
WOODRUFF, Henry Seymour, the son of
Henry and Lucy A. (Rollo) Woodruff, was born
at Cortland, Cortland county, New York. His
father was, though a merchant, a man of musical
taste and on his mother's side he was connected
with a family of musicians. His mother was,
during her early life, an instructor on the piano
and her grandfather was a musical conductor.
Mr. Woodruff began his education at the State
Normal School at Cortland and studied music in
Syracuse. When he was fifteen years of age he
served as organist in the First Baptist Church of
Cortland and later went to Cincinnati to study
for six years under Henry G. Andres, Herman
Auer, Bush Foley and Louis Ehrgott. For the
most of this time he was organist of St. Paul's
M. E. Church of Cincinnati. During this period
he was also active in organ recital work. In
1886 he came to Minneapolis to fill a six weeks
engagement as solo organist at the first Exposi
tion and was so impressed by the opportunities
of the city that he decided to locate here. Short
ly after the close of the Exposition Mr. Wood
ruff received an appointment as organist of the
First Baptist Church, then just completed, and
served in that capacity for six years, during four
of which he also acted as choir master. About
this time he opened a studio and gave instruc
tion in piano, pipe organ, and voice culture.
Upon the founding of the Apollo Club in 1887
he was appointed director for their first two sea
sons and for three years held a like position with
the Philharmonic Club. Again in 1902 he be
came musical conductor of the Apollo Club and
has held the position since that time. Mr. Wood
ruff has given many organ recitals and done much
concert work in Minneapolis, St. Paul and other
cities of the northwest. In 1893 he served as
organist at the Church of the Redeemer, but
afterwards returned to the First Baptist Church.
In 1897 he studied in Paris with Delle Sedie, the
celebrated voice teacher and upon his return ac
cepted the position of organist and choir master
-MUSIC AND THEATERS
of the Westminster Presbyterian Church, with
which he is still connected. Mr. Woodruff was
married in 1899 to Miss Corice Colburn, one of
the younger artists of this city.
ZOCH, Herman, son of Carl Frederick, and
Augusta Kunau Zoch, was born in Theerkeute,
Prussia. He is descended from a landed family,
his paternal grandfather, a distinguished officer
in the war of 1813, having held an estate in
Silesia. Carl Frederick Zoch was the director of
the estates of the Polish Count Dzieduszicki, and
on one of these estates in the province of Posen
his son Herman was born. He began his edu
cation with a private tutor, later studying in the
state gymnasium at Halle, Saxony, and then
graduating from the Thomas gymnasium at
Leipsic. His musical career which his native
ability gave promise of being so brilliant com
menced in the Royal Conservatory of Music at
Leipsic, where he studied the piano under Carl
Reinecke, Jadassohn and Coccius, the first two
being his instructors in counterpoint and compo
sition. He finished a six-year course in three
years receiving at his graduation the first prize
in piano playing. He studied for several months
in Paris, and then for two years was in Munich
where he associated with the leading musicians
of the day and performed for Joseph Rheinberger
that famous composer's piano concerto, op. 94,
which he later introduced at concerts in Berlin
and Leipsic. He toured through the principal
cities of Germany, Leipsic, Berlin, Munich, Vi
enna, Gotha and others, and gave a series of piano
recitals that added much to his rapidly increasing
reputation as an artist and pianist. He left Ger
many in 1883 to come to America and a year later
located in Minneapolis where he has been en
gaged as a teacher of piano and in concert and
recital work. Since 1889 he has made three con
cert tours and has given piano recitals in Bos
ton, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Syracuse, St. Louis,
Indianapolis, Louisville, Cincinnati, and played at
the Music Teachers' National Convention at
Cleveland in 1892. During the time he has re
sided in Minneapolis he has given some four
score recitals, not including recitals in St. Paul,
Duluth and those of his eastern trips; among
which have been three Beethoven evenings, com
123
prised of the last five sonatas of that master, Bee
thoven's Emperor-Concerto in E Flat with Or
chestra twice, four Brahms evenings, one Schu
bert evening, and in the fall of 1906 he gave in
one evening the forty-eight "Songs without
Words" by Mendelssohn. Mr. Zoch has won an
enviable reputation as an instructor of the piano
and is recognized as a performer of great merit.
His programs, on which appear such names as
Beethoven, Schuman, Chopin, Brahms, Liszt,
Rheinberger,
Rubinstein,
Handel,
Henselt,
Joseffy, Jensen, Raff, Tausig, Scarlatti, Heller,
Wagner, Reinecke and others, reveal his wonder
ful repertoire, and give some insight into the con
tinuous labor at his art that has given Mr. Zoch
a place in the front rank of present day musicians.
HERMANN ZOCH.
CHAPTER X I .
ART, ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING
A
S in most western cities—or new cities
in any land—Minneapolis gave tardy
^-recognition to things artistic. Utility
was the first consideration in the young
city and during all her earlier years the
strife for gain shut out thought of the
beautiful. However the city was often visited by artists attracted by the picturesque
location and surroundings. As early as 1848
Henry Lewis, an artist of some reputation in
those days, visited St. Anthony and made
sketches of the falls, and afterwards executed a number of paintings, some of which are
still in existence in Minneapolis. Another
early visitor was Frank B. Mayer, who was
present at the Indian treaty of Traverse des
Sioux in 1851, and afterwards made a painting which hangs 111 the Minnesota State
Historical Society's gallery. Capt. Seth
Eastman, whose water color sketch is undoubtedly the earliest painting of the Falls
in existence, was commandant at the Fort
in 1841 and was employed by the government in the fifties to make sketches illustrating Indian life and customs.
In the nature of things it was many years
before it was possible for an artist to establish himself permanently in the city, and it
was not until 1883"when the-Minneapolis
Society of Fine Arts was organized, that art
began to have a definitely appointed place
in the city's life. The formation of the
society was largely due to the efforts of
Dr. W. W. Folwell, then president of the
university, who with twenty-four others,
were the charter members.
For several
years the society only held annual exhibitions but in 1886 the School of Fine Arts
was opened under the direction of Douglas
Volk who brought to the undertaking
at Minneapolis a high order of ability, and
whose early work gave abundant promise
of his later distinction as an artist. For
several years the school occupied temporary
quarters. Upon the completion of the publie library in 1889 the school occupied rooms
in the building and has since remained
there, gradually increasing its student body
and occupying more space from year to
year. Mr. Volk was succeeded in 1893 by
Robert Koehler who has since remained in
charge of the school with continued success,
This school maintains classes in antique art,
still life, portrait painting, water colors, and
departments for decorative design, handicrafts and architecture. There are now
about two hundred students. Annual exhibitions have been maintained and for
some years exhibitions of art photography
have been held occasionally.
In 1895 the Chalk and Chisel club was
formed. The name was afterwards changed
to the Arts and Crafts Society and the organization has the honor of being the oldest
of the arts and crafts societies of the country. Its purpose includes the development
of all the lines of art work and bi-annual
exhibitions are held. Among its active
members is Miss Mary .Moulton Cheney,
who is president in 1908.
The great interest in the revival of art
in handicraft made possible the institution of the Handicraft Guild which has
developed rapidly and in four years occupied a building erected especially for its
use. It has taken a most efficient part- in
the development of artistic taste in the city,
Besides maintaining and conducting a
school of design in which there is instruction in pottery making, metal work, leather
work, book-binding, wood work, wood carving, wood block printing, water color and
other arts, the guild maintains permanent
exhibition and sales rooms. In the building
ART, ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING
is a beautiful assembly hall and the Guild
is to a large extent the center of aesthetic
activity in Minneapolis. Its organization
and rapid progress is largely due to the
work of Misses M. Emma Roberts and Flor
ence Wales, president and secretary, res
pectively. Miss Roberts had been for some
years supervisor of drawing in the public
schools of the city and is responsible for
the excellent progress which has been made
in the schools notwithstanding many ob
stacles. Miss Wales had been a teacher of
art in the Central high school and is an ac
complished artist in water color.
Another artistic influence is that of the
Craftshouse where the art work of Mr. John
S. Bradstreet finds expression. Mr. Bradstreet has long been identified with the art
life of the city and gives special attention
to interior decoration and furnishing. The
Craftshouse, like the building of the Handi
craft Guild, is architecturally beautiful and
unique.
When the public library building was
planned the study of art was given broad
consideration, and in addition to arranging
for the housing of the School of Fine Arts
an art gallery was provided for and an art
book room established. The art gallery has
grown from small beginnings to be a col
lection of much merit and is enriched by
loans of excellent pictures owned by private
collectors. In the building there is also an
admirable collection of plaster casts of
statuary. Mr. T. B. Walker has built up
the largest private art collection in the city.
It is in a spacious gallery connected with
his residence at Eighth street and Henne-
125
mi
FIREPLACE IN THE HANDICRAFT GUILD.
pin avenue, where it is open to the public
during the daylight hours throughout the
year. Mr. Walker has taken great interest
in all art development in the city and is
one of the most prominent private collectors
in the West.
Public and official recognition of art has
been slow and first found expression in the
formation of the board of park commission
ers; although it is not to be supposed that
all who assisted in the promotion of the
park system understood that they were cul
tivating the artistic development of the city.
The Art Commission of the city created in
1901, was a tardy recognition of the need
of selection and discrimination in the pos
sible purchase or acceptance of works of
art. This commission is composed of E. C.
Chatfield, president, and Robert Koehler,
Wm. Channing Whitney, Edward C. Gale
and John S. Bradstreet—all men who have
been prominent in the art development of
the city.
ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING.
THE HANDICRAFT GUILD BUILDING.
The distinct advances made in the last
twenty years in matters architectural is one
of the most gratifying phases of Minne
apolis development. The numerous exam
ples of refined taste in residence, commer
cial and public buildings, reflect the influ
ence of a group of intelligent and progres
sive architects.
With the increase of
wealth and the advance of culture there is
a growing tendency to give the architect
free rein in planning both business and
residence structures. It has come to be un
derstood that architectural beauty may
126
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
have a commercial value and that a building of the most beautiful bridges in the West*
which conforms to the canons of good taste The steel arch bridge uniting the east and
need not necessarily be more expensive than west divisions of the city at the foot of
one which offends. Some very admirable the main thoroughfares is a well designed
examples of good business buildings have •and substantial structure; while the Lake
been erected in Minneapolis in the past street bridge over the Mississippi river is
half-dozen years. No attempt to illustrate noted for its graceful lines.
this development will be made in this chap
Education in the engineering profession
ter; but some of the notable buildings of has made decided progress while in
the city will be found pictured throughout architecture little has been done. An at
the pages of other chapters, in appropriate tempt was made to establish a course in
connection. Minneapolis architects have architecture at the university but it did
taken a large part in the aesthetic develop not meet with success. On the other hand
ment of the city, working prominently in the College of Engineering is one of the
the art society, for the guild work and on most important in the institution. Its
the park commission. Landscape architec courses cover civil and mechanical engineer
ture has been given much attention in more ing and all their subdivisions of municipal
recent years; many of the best modern res and sanitary engineering, structural en
idences of the city are particularly effective gineering, electrical engineering, railway
through their admirable settings. At pres and highway engineering, etc. The Min
ent the only architectural organization of neapolis Engineers Club is an active or
the city is the Minneapolis Architectural ganization with rooms at 17 South Sixth
Club, formed in 1907 by the younger men street.
of the profession. It has rooms at 116
BERTRAND, George Emile, of the firm of
South Fourth street. A. R. Van Dyck is
Bertrand & Chamberlin, architects, was born in
president and there are some forty mem Superior, Wisconsin, on June 22, 1859, the son
bers.
of A. G. and Marie (Landry) Bertrand. He-re
The engineering profession is of course ceived a public school.education and studied the
closely affiliated with the architectural profession of architecture in Boston and Min
neapolis, spending several years in offices of
group, especially in the specialties of struc leading architects. He has been engaged in the
tural steel and concrete work which are now practice of his profession since 1881 and estab
taking a very prominent place in building. lished himself permanently in Minneapolis in
It happens that Minneapolis is the home of 1886, and in 1896, with Arthur B. Chamberlin.
very extensive structural contracting firms formed the present firm. Mr. Bertrand is a
director in the State Institution for Savings. In
which require engineering ability of a high political affiliations he is a republican and he is
order. As one of the great water power a member of the Masonic Order and of the Com
cities of the world Minneapolis has em mercial and Six O'Clock Clubs. He is also a
ployed the best hydraulic engineering talent member of the Minnesota Chapter American In
of Architects. Some years ago he served
and resident representatives of this divis stitute
as a member of the Minnesota Light Infantry,
ion of the profession are consulted from the first company of militia organized in the
every part of the continent. In municipal state. Mr. Bertrand was married in September,
construction, bridge building and the like, 1888, to Miss Lillian Stoddard, a native of In
the best abilities in this department of diana. They have two daughters, Claire and
Marie.
engineering are called into service. In the
BOEHME, Christopher Adam, was born in
work of the engineer the practical is apt
to take precedence over the aesthetic, so Minneapolis, on January 16, 1865. His parents
were Gottfried J. and Eva Boehme, his father
that it is worth recording that some of the being a general contractor and hardware mer
prominent engineering work in Minneapolis chant. Mr. Boehme was educated in Minneap
does not lack in beauty. The stone arch olis, attending the public schools, the high
bridge which affords rail entrance to the schools and the University of Minnesota. After
graduation he entered the office of W. B. Dunnell,
union passenger station is not only a re a well-known architect of the city where he re
markable engineering achievement but one mained for fourteen years and rising to a position
ART, ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING
127
IN MR. T. B. WALKER'S ART GALLERY.
of responsibility as Mr. Bunnell's assistant. In
1896 he opened an office of his own, beginning
a practice which has grown steadily. Five years
ago he formed a partnership with Mr. Victor
Cordelia under the name of Boehme & Cordelia,
and this association has proven very successful.
The firm has planned some of the best of recent
structures in the Northwest. Mr. Boehme is a
member of several organizations—the North Side
Commercial Club, the Knights of Pythias Lodge,
of the Royal Arcanum and the St. Anthony Turn
Verein society. On May 21, 1891, he married
Miss Martha Oeschger of La Crosse, Wisconsin,
and they have three children, two daughters and
a son.
BRADSTREET, John Scott, comes of the very
best New England—or for that matter, Old Eng
land—stock, his father's name, Bradford Bradstreet, proclaiming his descent from two men
whose names are among those most honored in
Colonial history—William Bradford the Pilgrim
father who came to America in 1613 and was the
first governor of Plymouth Colony; and Hum
phrey Bradstreet, who came from Ipswich, Eng
land, in 1634, a n d was representative in 1635. John
S. Bradstreet, whose mother, the wife of Bradford
Bradstreet, had been Miss Susana Pickard-Scott,
was born at Rowley, Old Ipswich, Massachusetts,
in 1845, and graduated from the Putnam Academy
at Newburyport. The first years of Mr. Bradstreet's business life were spent with the Gorman
Manufacturing Company, in whose offices, at
Providence, he held a responsible position, until
early in the seventies, he decided to come West,
and selected Minneapolis as his place of residence
Here he has lived for thirty years, and in the
course of that time has exercised a most beneficial
influence on the artistic life, not only of the city,
but of the Northwest. On first coming to Min
nesota, he was associated in business with Edward
C. Clark, but he soon embarked for himself, and
continued alone until he formed a partnership
with Edmund J. Phelps, under the name of Phelps
& Bradstreet. On the dissolution of the partner
ship, the Thurbers of the Gorham Manufacturing
Company, became interested with him, and the
new firm was known as Bradstreet, Thurber &
Co. For the last six years F. H. Waterman has
been associated with him in the extensive and
very successful organization whose headquarters
are in the beautiful Craftshouse, a building, which,
128
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
republican in political belief and is a member of
the Minneapolis Commercial and the St. Anthony
Commercial Clubs; is a member of the Masonic
Order, Khurum Lodge, Scottish Rite Masons
and Zuhrah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. On
January 18, 1885, was married to Miss Georgia
Wood. They have four children.
JOHN S. BRADSTHEET.
both in its exterior and interior is entirely unique,
resembling in its character and the influence
which it exerts on the public, an Art Institute,
rather than a place of business. Mr. Bradstreet
has traveled widely, having made many visits to
Japan, collecting and studying Japanese art, as
well as having been around the world, and being
familiar with most of the European countries. He
is a member, in addition to most of the local
clubs, of the Asiatic Society of London and the
National Arts Club of New York, and has given
valuable services to the public as member of the
Minneapolis Park Board, having had the honor or
naming the latest acquisition to the park system,
"The Parade," and is also member and vice presi
dent of the Municipal Art Commission.
CHAMBERLIN, Arthur Bishop, of the firm
of Bertrand & Chamberlin, architects, was born
at Solon, Ohio, in 1865, the son of Anson B. and
Martha M. Chamberlin. When he was two years
old the family moved to Milwaukee where the
father entered the employ of the Chicago, Mil
waukee & St. Paul Railway. Mr. Chamberlin's
early boyhood was spent at Milwaukee and he
has lived in Minneapolis since 1882, completing
his education here and at an early age entering
an architect's office. He has followed the profes
sion for twenty-three years, joining Mr. Bertrand
in the present firm in 1898. Mr. Chamberlin is a
COLBURN, Serenus Milo, of the architec
tural firm of Kees & Colburn, was born at
Ansonia, Connecticut, October 12, 1871, the son
of Richard R. and Letitia (Terry) Colburn. He
received a public school education and when
fifteen years of age came west and obtained
employment at Minneapolis as draughtsman in
the office of James C. Plant. He remained
with Mr. Plant for five
years and after
wards filled
the position of head draftsman
in several architectural offices. In 1898 he be
came associated with Frederick Kees in the
present firm, an association which has been very
successful. Among the buildings which they
have designed are: Donaldson Building, Minne
apolis Chamber of Commerce; Northwestern Na
tional Bank; Powers Building; Donaldson's
Glass Block; Deere & Webber Building, and
buildings of the Advance Thresher Company;
J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company; Great
Northern Implement Company; Emerson &
Newton; Bement, Darling & Company, and
many large residences. Mr. Colburn is a mem
ber of the American Institute of Architects and
of the Commercial and Automobile Clubs. He
was married in Minnesota in 1899 to Miss Har
riet E. Whitcomb.
CORDELLA, Victor, of the architectural firm
of Boehme & Cordelia, is a native of Austrian
Poland but for many years has now studied and
practiced his profession in Minneapolis. He was
born on January 1, 1872, at Krakow, in Austrian
Poland, the son of Marian and Florence Cordelia.
His father was a sculptor who was desirous that
his son should have a good academic and pro
fessional education. The boy was sent to the
graded schools of Austria, obtained his prepara
tory education in the high schools and then en
tered the Royal Art Academy at Krakow where
he studied for some time. Later he was a stu
dent of technology under Professor Michael
Kowalczuk at Lemberg. Coming to the United
States and locating in St. Paul he began his
architectural training in the office of Cass Gilbert.
Since that time, about eighteen years ago, he
has been engaged in building an office practice.
Following his connection with Mr. Gilbert he
was associated with several architects of this
city—W. H. Dennis, W. B. Dunnell, and Charles
R. Aldrich. Five years ago he joined C. A.
Boehme in the present firm of Boehme & Cor
delia, which handles an extensive line of work in
the local field.
Mr. Cordelia was married to
Miss Ruth Maser of Canton, Ohio, on Septem
ber 15, 1902.
ART, ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING
FANNING, John Thomas, civil engineer, is
the son of John Howard and Elizabeth (Pridde)
Fanning. His family on both sides is of old
New England stock, as he is a descendant of
Edmund Gilbert Fanning, the first of the name
in America, who came from Ireland in 1652 and
settled near New London, Connecticut; and of
Lieutenant Thomas Tracy who settled in Con
necticut in 1636. Capt. John Fanning, the sixth
in line from Edmund and the grandfather of
John Thomas, was a veteran of the Revolution
ary war. Mr. Fanning was born at Norwich,
Connecticut, on December 31, 1837. He com
menced his education in the public and normal
schools of Norwich and later studied architec
ture and engineering. At the outbreak of the
Civil war in 1861 he enlisted in the Third regi
ment Connecticut Volunteer Infantry and served
the full term of the regiment. After the close
of the war he was commissioned a lieutenantcolonel in the Connecticut National Guard, for
merly having held a lieutenancy. He opened
an office in Norwich, and from that time till
he came to Minneapolis was engaged in the
planning of public and private buildings, mills,
bridges and water supply systems throughout
JOHN T. FANNING.
129
the New England States. In 1872 he moved his
office to Manchester, New Hampshire, to super
vise the installation of the public water supply.
He also designed several of the principal build
ings of that city and while he resided there was
a member of the board of education and chair
man of the high school committee. He was
employed to report on an additional water sup
ply for New York, Brooklyn and other cities
of the Hudson valley, and in numerous instances
has been retained as an expert witness in water
and drainage cases. About 1885 he received a
commission to report on improvements in the
system of the St. Anthony Falls Water Power
Company and one year later moved his office to
Minneapolis. From this point he has supervised
many large engineering operations in the west.
He was appointed engineer and agent of the St.
Anthony Falls Water Power Company in 1886;
and later was the engineer of the Great Falls,
Montana, and Helena, Montana, water powers
on the Missouri river, and of the Spokane water
power on the Spokane river. Col. Fanning also
devised a plan for draining 3,000 square miles of
the famous Red River Valley wheat land and at
different times has been consulting engineer of
the Great Northern, the St. Paul, Minneapolis
and Manitoba, and Minneapolis Union Rail
ways. He has been a patentee of several in
ventions connected with his profession—a slow
burning building construction, a steam-pumping
engine, steam boilers, water valves, and turbine
wheels. In 1873 he invented and constructed the
first wood-stave pipes such as are now extensive
ly used in public water supply and sewerage
works. Mr. Fanning's energies have not, how
ever, been directed entirely to the practical side
of his work. He has been an occasional lecturer
at the University of Minnesota and before tech
nical societies; and has written numerous papers
on technical subjects. He is the author of "A
Treatise on Hydraulic and Water Supply En
gineering," which reached the sixteenth edition
in 1906. He is a member of a number of the
professional organizations of the country; an
ex-director of the American Society of Civil
Engineers; an ex-president of the American Wa
ter Works Association; a Fellow of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science;
honorary member of the New England Water
Works Association; and a member of the En
gineers Club of this city, the Franklin Institute
and several other scientific societies. Politically
he is a republican. On June 14, 1865, he was
married at Norwich, Connecticut, to Miss Maria
Louise Bensley and they have a son and two
daughters, Rennie Bensley, Jennie Louise, wife
of Thomas A. Jamison, and Clara Elizabeth,
and was for many years a well known business
GILMAN, James B., chief engineer of the
Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company, is the
son of one of Minnesota's pioneer settlers, and
was born and educated in this state. His father,
130
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
James B. Gilman, was a native of New York,
man in his section of the state. He resided, prior
to his removal to Minnesota, at Danville and was
engaged in the foundry business. In the year
1848 he disposed of his interests in New York
and moved to Minnesota, locating in Dakota
county, remaining in the state until the out break
of the Civil war, when he enlisted with the
famous First Minnesota, and served with that
regiment for three years. Following his muster
ing out of service, Mr. Gilman, Sr., returned to
Dakota county and was living there at the time
of his son's birth on January 28, 1872. The
mother of Mr. Gilman, Jr., was Laura C. (Foster)
Gilman, who was born in Massachusetts and had
moved to Minnesota with her family in the early
pioneer days. Mr. Gilman spent the early years
of his life at the place of his birth and received
his elementary education in the schools of Dakctfa county. In 1880 he came to Minneapolis
and entered the public schools, after which he
attended the University of Minnesota, taking up
the engineering course. He completed his studies
in 1894 and graduated with the class of that year,
taking a civil engineering degree. In addition to
ranking high in his technical studies, Mr. Gilman
was especially well prepared along practical lines
to begin work in the engineering field, by ex
perience with surveying parties with which he
had worked for parts of two years before his
;.v>v
JAMES B. OILMAN.
graduation on the survey of the Minneapolis, St.
Paul & Sault Ste. Marie railroad. The Soo was
at that time doing construction work on the right
of way between this city and Portal, North Da
kota, and Mr. Gilman obtained not only valuable
practice in engineering, but also had an oppor
tunity to acquaint himself with the greatest grain
producing region in the country. Shortly after
his graduation in 1894, Mr. Gilman accepted a
position as engineer with the Gillette-Herzog
Manufacturing Company, which was afterwards
merged in the American Bridge Company, one
of the largest manufacturers of steel construc
tion work in the world. Mr. Gilman was ad
vanced to the office of engineer of the Minneap
olis plant and cqntinued in that position until
February, 1907.
He then resigned to accept
the post he now occupies as chief engineer of the
Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company, one of
the largest business enterprises of the Northwest
and one of the most extensive structural steel and
machinery plants in the country. Mr. Gilman's f
work covers a large field, as the firm does in all
sections of the country, a general construction
business which gives him unlimited scope for the
application of his technical knowledge and prac
tical experience of the engineering science. He
is a member of the Minneapolis Engineers Club,
of which he is past president, also a member of
the St. Anthony Commercial Club. Mr. Gilman,
although well known among his business and
social associates, has never been active in po
litical affairs, as an office holder. As a private
citizen, however, he is a republican and supports
the principles of that party. On June 14, 1899,
Mr. Gilman was married to Miss Alice A. Hayward and they have one daughter—Dorothy Gil
man.
GILES, Robert Tait, a foremost artist in the
designing of stained and leaded glass, is a nat
ive of England, born at Gateshead on Tyne, May
1, 1872. His father, Peter Giles, was, at the time
of his son's birth, a building contractor of Gates
head. Robert Tait passed his early life in that
town and when still a boy began his artistic
education. He attended the art school located in
his home town, the Gateshead School of Art,
and graduated from that institution, later taking
a course in the Rutherford School of Art at
Newcastle on Tyne, where he completed his
studies when about fourteen years of age. A
natural talent for the work developed rapidly
under capable instruction, and at the finish of
his work in both schools was awarded certificates
of excellence, and won a scholarship at the South
Kensington School of Art, in London. After
leaving school he was for two years engaged in
architectural drawing, and then turned his atten
tion to stained and leaded glass. He served an
apprenticeship for seven years in the various de
partments of that handicraft; designing, drafting
and painting—during this time being under the
direction of W. H. Drummond, T. R. Spence and
M. H. Marsh, the latter being a member of the
ART, ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING
131
stained and leaded glass in that organization.
He is in addition a member of the Empire Club
of St. Paul, and the Church Club of Minnesota.
Mr. Giles was married on February 2, 1903, to
Miss Belle Wheeler and they have two children,
Isabel Wheeler and Robert Eldon. Mrs. Giles
is, as well as her husband, a local artist of con
siderable importance. The family attends Gethsemane Church.
ROBERT T. GILES.
Royal Academy. Having mastered this art, Mr.
Giles left England to come to the United States,
and located at Chicago, remaining there for
about four years. During that period he was
associated with the principal firms of Chicago
as artist, but nine years ago he resigned the
position he was holding at the time and came
to> Minneapolis. In 1903 he established the firm
of R. T. Giles & Company, and conducted a
stained and leaded glass business in all its
branches. Mr. Giles was the proprietor of the
concern and under his direction the company
was a success, both from a material standpoint
and in building up a reputation for the excellence
of its work. In fact the business reached such
proportions and so many large commissions were
received that larger facilities were needed and
on October 15, 1907, Mr. Giles consolidated with
the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company of Min
neapolis, and became director of the art depart
ment of the company. Mr. Giles during the
time of his residence here has been interested
in a number of the movements connected with the
advancement of the arts and handicrafts, and is
a member of the Minneapolis Society of Fine
Arts, holding also the position of instructor of
HEWITT, Edwin Hawley, architect, prac
ticing in Minneapolis, was born at Red Wing
Minnesota, on March 26, 1874. He is the son of
Charles N. and Helen R. Hewitt. His father, Dr.
Hewitt, is a distinguished surgeon, a native of
Vermont, a graduate of Hobart College and Al
bany Medical school and a veteran of the Army
of the Potomac with which he served during the
war as surgeon in chief of a division. His son
Edwin spent his boyhood at Red Wing, attended
Hobart College for one year and then returned
to Minnesota and completed his college course
at the University of Minnesota. While at the
University he attended the Minneapolis School of
Fine Arts at night and during vacations worked
in the office of Cass Gilbert, architect, then of
St. Paul. After graduating from the University
of Minnesota he devoted a year to post graduate
work in the Institute of Technology and then en
tered the office of Shepley, Rutan & Collidge,
architects, of Boston. After three and a half
years with this firm, Mr. Hewitt married and
went at once to Paris where he took the com
petitive examinations for entrance into Ecole des
Beau Arts. His standing in this examination
placed him at the head .of the list of foreign ap
plicants admitted and within one place of heading
the entire list of foreign and French. After four
years of work at Paris with side trips for study tc
England, Spain, Switzerland and Italy, he gradu
ated and returned to America in the fall of 1904.
After a few months he opened an office in the
Lumber Exchange in Minneapolis but finding the
quarters inadequate after two months of practice,
moved to larger rooms at 14-15 North Fourth
street. Here he remained for eighteen months and
then decided to build an office for his own perma
nent use and erected the attractive and artistic of
fice building which he now occupies at 716 Fourth
avenue south. Mr. Hewitt is a director of the
Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts, a member of
the governing board of the State Art Society, a
member of the Beaux Arts Society of New York,
and belongs to the Minneapolis Club and the
Minikahda Club of this city.
HUNT, William S., who has been a practic
ing architect of the city since 1888, was born in
Wisconsin, at the town of Delavan, on May 1,
1861, the son of Dr. Henderson Hunt and Sarah
Ann (Barlow) Hunt. The members of his fam
ily on his mother's side were prominent in their
professions and held various important public
offices. Stevan A. Barlow was for two terms
132
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
the attorney general of the state of Wisconsin.
John W. Barlow was an officer of the regular
army and held the rank of brigadier-general.
Dr. Hunt was a practicing physician at Delavan, and his son remained in that town during
the early part of his life and began his education
in the local schools. When he was sixteen years
of age the family moved to Beloit and he then
entered Beloit College, taking the scientific
course. He graduated with the class of 1880.
It was his intention to follow the profession of
architecture and went to Chicago and pursued
his architectural studies for three years. • To
complete his training he then entered the office
of one of the prominent architects of Chicago
and filled the duties of office student. He came
to Minneapolis and resumed his studies there
until 1888. In that year he began an independ
ent practice which he has continued with suc
cess. He has planned and designed a number of
large buildings in the city. In politics he is a
republican. He is a member of the Odd Fel
lows. Mr. Hunt was married in 1885 to Miss
Caroline Park Graves, who died on October 8,
1902. On May 29, 1906, he was again married
to Miss Barbara C. Maurer. They have no
children.
Mr. Hunt attends the Episcopal
church of which he has always been a member.
JONES', Harry Wild, was born June 9, 1859,
in Michigan, son of Howard M. Jones, a Baptist
clergyman. He is a grandson of Dr. S. F. Smith,
author of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," the na
tional hymn, and great-grandson of Dr. Hezekiah Smith, a chaplain in the army of the Revolu
tion. Mr. Jones received his educational training
at Providence Rhode Island, in the University
grammar school, and took his A. B. degree at
Brown University in 1882. From the university
he went to Boston, where he continued his prepa
ration for the profession of architecture. Mr.
Jones from Boston came to Minneapolis and con
tinued his work with Plant & Whitney. He has,
since he began business on his own account, de
signed many structures for business and residence
purposes, presenting the necessary features of
utility and solidity, together with a high order
of architectural beauty, such as the Cream of
Wheat building, the warehouses of Butler Broth
ers, and of Wyman, Partridge & Co., and the
residences of F. W. Clifford, and George H. Dag
gett and James Quirk. Mr. Jones was professor
of architecture in the state university in 19001902, and he was for twelve years a member of
the park board. He is a member of the Com
mercial Club, the Six O'Clock Club, and the Minnetonka Yacht Club. He was president of the
Technology Club of Minnesota in 1904 and presi
dent of the Minnesota Chapter of the American
Institute of Architects in 1898-99. Mr. Jones is
a member of the Calvary Baptist Church. He
was married in 1883 to Miss Bertha J. Tucker,
of Boston, and three children have been born
to them—H. Malcom; Mary W.; Arthur Leo.
KEES, Frederick, of the firm of Kees &
Colburn, architects, was born at Baltimore, Mary
land, on April 9, 1852, the son of Frederick and
Eva (Schmidt) Kees. He attended the public
schools of Baltimore, and at an early age entered
the office of E. G. Lind, a Baltimore architect,
as draftsman, where he continued, with the ex
ception of a brief period in Chicago, until 1878.
He then came to Minneapolis, and after a short
experience in the office of L. S. Buffington, com
menced business for himself, first as Kees &
Fiske and later as a member of the firm of Long
& Kees, and since 1901 of the firm of. Kees &
Colburn, and during this long professional service
has been identified with many of the most prom
inent structures in the city, including the Syndi
cate Block, First Baptist Church, Court House
and City Hall, Public Library, Minneapolis
Chamber of Commerce, Northwestern National
Bank, Powers Block, Donaldson's Glass Block,
and buildings for Deere & Webber, Advance
Thresher Company, J. I. Case Thresher Com
pany and others. Mr. Kees was a member of
Company A, First Regiment, Minnesota National
Guard, for five years. He is a Mason, thirtysecond degree, Knight Templar, Shriner, and a.
member of the B. P. O. E. In politics he is inde
pendent. He was married in Minneapolis in 1881
to Miss Florence Smith.
FREDERICK KEES.
ART, ARCHITECTURE AND ENGINEERING
NUTTER, Frank H., was born April 20, 1853,
at Dover, New Hampshire, son of Abner J. and
Hannah (Roberts) Nutter. The father was a
school teacher for over fifty years, one of those
New England educators who builded character
out of the plastic material which came within
their professional reach. Frank H. spent his early
life in Boston and vicinity attending the public
schools and the Eliot high school which was
founded in 1692 by John Eliot, the Apostle to the
Indians, "for the free education of any white or
Indian boy." Mr. Nutter studied civil and land
scape engineering in Boston for several years
under eminent specialists like Joseph H. Curtis
and F. L. Lee and, after engaging in business on
his own account for a couple of years, removed to
Minneapolis in 1878, and from 1880 to 1890 in
company with Mr. Frank Plummer carried on
business under the firm name of Nutter & Plum
mer. Since the dissolution of this partnership,
Mr. Nutter has engaged in the landscape engi
neering work alone. Upon the organization of the
Minneapolis Board of Park Commissioners in
1883 Mr. Nutter was appointed Park Engineer, a
position which he held until 1906, when he resigned
to devote his attention to his private business,
and his son F. H. Nutter, Jr., was appointed to
fill the vacancy. Mr. Nutter's activities extend
over a wide field.
He has- designed private
grounds in New York, Virginia and Cali
fornia, in Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota and in
Manitoba, and other states and also makes a spe
cialty of parks and cemeteries. Mr. Nutter is a
republican in politics and is a member of the
Minneapolis Society of Civil Engineers, of the
State Horticultural Society, of the Minneapolis
Commercial Club and of the American Civic Asso
ciation. He is a member of the Congregational
church. He was married in April, 1881, to Carrie
F. Alden. To them have been born three chil
dren. Frank H. (the present Park Engineer),
Willard A., assistant of his father in professional
work, and Hannah A.
SEDGWICK, Charles S., was born in Cas
tile, New York, May 9, 1856, the son of Samuel
Sedgwick, afterwards superintendent of public
schools at Oberlin, Ohio. Samuel Sedgwick was
one. of a prominent family of Stockbridge, Mas
sachusetts, and during his boyhood was, with his
brothers, intimately associated with Cyrus, David,
Dudley and Henry Field, afterwards distin
guished members of the Field family, whose home
adjoined that of the Sedgwicks. Charles Sedg
wick was one of three brothers. He received a
common and high school education in Oberlin
and Poughkeepsie, New York, and soon after
the family removed to Binghamton, New York,
he entering the employment of Isaac G. Perry,
a well-known New York architect, in 1872, and
remaining with Mr. Perry twelve years, rising
during that time from apprentice boy to foreman,
133
draughtsman and assistant, having in charge the
construction of many large and important build
ings in New York state and Pennsylvania. In
1884 Mr. Sedgwick severed his connection with
Mr. Perry and came to Minneapolis, opening an
architectural office in the Hurlburt building on
Nicollet avenue, and later in the Collom build
ing on Fourth street, and in 1903 moving into the
Lumber . Exchange, where he still remains.
During his twenty-four years' practice in this
city he has planned many public and business
buildings and many churches and residences,
prominent among which are the Young Men's
Christian Association Building, State University
Library Building, Dayton Building, Boutell Build
ing, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Andrew
Presbyterian Church, Park Avenue Congrega
tional Church, etc. He has also planned many fine
buildings and churches in other cities. One of
the largest is the Second Congregational Church
of Waterbury, Connecticut. In addition to his
regular business, Mr. Sedgwick is publishing a
book of house designs, which is advertised in
leading magazines and is sold in all parts of the
country, being the medium through which the
planning of houses and buildings is secured for
different localities. Mr. Sedgwick is publishing
a descriptive page, with illustration of house and
plan, monthly in the Home Magazine of In
dianapolis, and Northwestern Agriculturist of
Minneapolis, and a weekly contribution to the
"Actualides" of Lima, Peru, South America. He
is also publishing house plans weekly through an
Eastern syndicate in many of the leading Sunday
newspapers, covering over twenty-two states and
Canada. Mr. Sedgwick has not specialized on any
particular branch, but has extended experience
along all lines of architectural work.
WHITNEY, William Charming, was born at
Harvard, Massachusetts, April 11, 1851, son of
Benjamin F. Whitney. After the usual rudi
mentary educational training, he entered the
Lawrence Academy at Groton, Massachusetts,
and passed to the higher education in the
Massachusetts State College and graduated
with the class of 1872. He then devoted
his attention to the study of architecture, for
which he had an instinctive love and taste, and
in Boston's art schools and architects' offices and
in independent study, he developed the taste and
original qualities of perception of architectural
proprieties which have characterized his work in
Minneapolis. Mr. Whitney is a republican in
politics and is a Fellow of the American Insti
tute of Architects, a director of the Minneapolis
Society of Fine Arts, a member of the Art Com
mission of Minneapolis, and a member of the
Minneapolis Club. Mr. Whitney was married on
October 6, 1881, to Alma C. Walker, of Watertown, Massachusetts, and to them have been born
two daughters.
CHAPTER XII.
COURTS AND LAWYERS
I
N THE earliest days of its history,
Minneapolis seems to have done quite
well without courts or lawyers.
It
appears to have been an unusually peaceful
community for a frontier village, as there
are no records of serious crime committed
in the early pioneer days and there was an
entire absence of spirit of litigation among
the inhabitants. It is a matter of history
that the first term of court convened within
the present limits of the city found abso
lutely no cases to be tried.
Previous to the organization of Minne
sota Territory in 1849, there were no courts
available had there been litigants without
number. The east side of the Mississippi
river had passed successively through the
jurisdiction of the French and English and
of the territories of Indiana, Illinois, Michi
gan and Wisconsin. Under the latter gov
ernment two terms of court had been held
at Stillwater, but the potential Minneapolis
had not participated.
On the western bank of the Mississippi
there was judicial authority as early as 1835
or 1836, when Henry H. Sibley received
from the governor of Iowa a commission as
justice of the peace with jurisdiction ex
tending from below Prairie du Chien to the
British possessions on the north. Gen.
Sibley's power was almost unlimited and
his acts were never called in question by
higher authorities, but, being a man of high
character, there is no thought that he ever
misused his power, although the exigencies
of frontier conditions seemed to make it
necessary that the representative of the law
should not always confine himself to exact
limits of authority. Among certain of the
settlers it was firmly believed that Justice
Sibley had the power of life and death,
which was perhaps just as well.
Minnesota became a territory of the
United States on March 3, 1849. The or
ganic act provided that the judicial power
of the territory should be vested in a
supreme . court, district courts, probate
courts and justices of the peace. The first
of these tribunals was constituted in the ap
pointment by President Taylor of Aaron
Goodrich of Tennessee as chief justice and
David Cooper of Pennsylvania and B. B.
Meeker of Kentucky as associate justices.
Governor Ramsey issued a proclamation
dividing the territory into three judicial dis
tricts; the first , lying between the Missis
sippi and St. Croix rivers, the second be
tween the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers,
and the third composed of the remainder
of the territory, or that part south of the
Minnesota river. Judge Goodrich was as
signed to the first district, Judge Meeker to
the second, and Judge Cooper to the third.
Under these appointments and assign
ments the first term of court in the terri
tory of Minnesota was held at Stillwater on
the second Monday of August, 1849. At
this time the first grand jury of Minnesota
was impaneled, and ten indictments were
found. But when the second district court
was convened in the following week in the
old government mill at the Falls of St. An
thony, it was discovered that absolutely no
cases were to be tried, while the first grand
jury in this district could find no work to
do. Franklin Steele, the St. Anthony pio
neer, was foreman of this first grand jury.
PIONEER LAWYERS.
The absence of legal business did not,
however, deter lawyers from coming to Min
neapolis. The first lawyer to establish him
self was Ellis G. Whitall, who opened an
office on the east side in 1849; the second
was John W. North who came early in 1850.
COURTS AND LAWYERS
135
advancement in the pioneer days it may be
cited that Judge Welch was chosen justice
of the peace and while in that office was ap
pointed to the supreme bench of the state.
During the early fifties such well-known
names as William Lochren, J. B. Gilfillan,
F. R. E. Cornell, C. E. Vanderburgh, E. S.
Jones, W. D. Washburn, R. J. Baldwin, W.
W. McNair, L. M. Stewart and Eugene M.
Wilson were added to the roll of the local
bar. From this time on the rapid growth
of the city and the numerous accessions to
the bar make enumeration in detail impos
sible.
In does not appear that after the first
unproductive session of court in 1849, an Y
judge attempted another for several years,
but in the meantime the people of St. An
thony established, under the territorial law,
a justice's court, electing to the office Lardner Bostwick, who had arrived at the Falls
in 1850. Judge Bostwick had no legal edu
cation, but he was of unquestioned honesty
and practical common sense and had the
confidence and love of his constituents. He
meted out justice after his own fashion for
JUDGE ISAAC ATWATER.
many years, being re-elected from time to
Mr. North was a forceful man who took a time. Many cases of considerable import
very prominent part in the early history of ance, and which were not properly in the
the young city. The third attorney to jurisdiction of a justice's court, were
come here was the late Judge Isaac At- brought before Judge Bostwick and tried
water. He arrived in October, 1850, and and decided with no question from any
with Mr. North formed the first law part one. Judge Bostwick's court was held for
nership. Judge Atwater was even then a many years in a small frame building at
versatile and progressive man. He had a the corner of Main street and Second ave
hand in the foundation laying of the city nue northeast. In 1856 Judge Bostwick
and never lost interest in matters pertaining was admitted to the bar and in after life he
to the public welfare. Before he had been served the city and county in various public
in the state a year he was appointed upon capacities.
the board of regents of the University of
In 1853 the territorial legislature passed
Minnesota, and in 1857 was elected associ an act directing that two terms of court be
ate justice of the supreme court. Mean held each year in Hennepin county. The
while he had edited newspapers, invested first term held pursuant to this law con
in real estate and taken an active part in vened on April 4, 1853. There was, of
local and territorial politics. Later he course, no court house, and the commission
served in the city council and on the board ers secured the use of a parlor and two
of education.
bed rooms in the house of Anson Northrup,
Soon after Judge Atwater came D. A. on First street, near Fourth avenue south.
Secombe, who was a leading member of the At this term the lawyers present were Isaac
bar until his death in 1892. In 1852 Wil Atwater, D. A. Secombe, E. L. Hall, James
liam H. Welch arrived in St. Anthony. As H. Fridley and George W. Prescott. The
an instance of the opportunities for rapid county attorney was Warren Bristol. The
136
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
COURT HOUSE AND CITY IIALL.
clerk of the court was Sweet W. Case, and
the foreman of the grand jury impaneled
was Dr. A. E. Ames. The subsequent terms
of the district court, until the erection of
the courthouse at Eighth avenue south
and Fourth street, were held in a frame
building on Bridge Square.
THE FIRST COURTHOUSE.
The building, of the first
courthouse
caused great commotion in the village,
owing to the rival claims of the upper and
lower town. The latter won and the court
house was built at Eighth avenue south.
The first term of the district court held in
the new courthouse of 1857 w a s presided
over by the late Judge Flandrau. Upon the
organization of the state, next year, James
Hall of Little Falls became the first judge
of this, the fourth judicial district, which
then included thirteen counties besides Hen
nepin.
With the admission of Minnesota to
statehood, in 1858, came many changes in
the courts. The judicial office was made
elective and the supreme judges ceased to
serve on the district bench. During the
first year of statehood eighty-nine lawyers
were enrolled in the office of the clerk of
the supreme court as members of the bar
COURTS AND LAWYERS
of the state. This number increased very
rapidly. Provision was also made for the
establishment of other courts at the pleasure
of the legislature. This power led later to
the establishment of courts of common
pleas and municipal courts.
As the constitution provided for only one
judge to a district, the growing needs of the
fourth district were met by the 'gradual
lopping off of outside counties. But in 1872
it became necessary to provide for larger
business, and a court of common pleas was
created, with Austin H. "Young as judge.
After a few years this extra court was found
cumbersome, and it was merged in the
district court. There were then two judges
of the district court. Judge Charles E. Van
derburgh had been elected in 1859 and had
retained the position ever since; holding it,
in fact, until his elevation to the supreme
bench in 1882. In 1881 the business of the
district had so greatly increased that the
legislature authorized an additional judge,
and William Lochren was appointed to the
position by Governor Pillsbury. These
three judges occupied the bench for much
longer terms than any others who have ever
served the district.
The court house of 1857 was outgrown at
a very early date. Numerous additions
gave temporary relief but added to the unsightliness of the structure, and in 1887 for
mal steps were taken towards the erection
of a suitable building. The legislature of
this year intrusted a commission with the
duty of purchasing a site and erecting a
building to be used jointly by the city and
county as a courthouse and city hall. The
members of this commission were William
D. Washburn, Charles M. Loring, John C.
Oswald, John Swift, Oliver T. Erickson, W.
S. Chowen, David M. Clough, Lars Swenson and Titus Mareck. To these were sub
sequently added George A. Brackett, E. F.
Comstock and E. M. Johnson. Upon the
resignation of Mr. Loring, John DeLaittre
was appointed. After some negotiation,
the block bounded by Fourth and Fifth
streets and Third and Fourth avenues
south was secured and the work of con
struction was commenced in 1889. The
county side of the building was practically
137
JUDGE A. II. YOUNG.
completed and opened for use in November,
1895. It is one of the finest courthouses in
the country and cost over $3,000,000.
FEDERAL COURTS.
Minnesota was constituted a judicial dis
trict of the United States immediately upon
its admission, but terms of the United
States courts were always held in St. t*aul
until 1890, when the district was sub-di
vided. . Since then the court has been held
during stated terms in the federal building
in Minneapolis. The first Minneapolis law
yer to receive appointment to the U. S. dis
trict bench was Judge William Lochren,
who had long served as judge of the state
district court. He was appointed in 1896
and served until 1908, when he resigned,
and Milton D. Purdy of Minneapolis was
appointed his successor. Eugene M. Wil
son and Eugene G. Hay have represented
the Minneapolis bar in the list of U. S. dis
trict attorneys.
138
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
JUDGES OF THE DISTRICT COURT.
The judges of the fourth judicial district
since the organization of the state have
been these: James Hall, May 24, 1858, to
October 1, 1858; Edward O. Hamlin, Octo
ber 1, 1858, to December 31, 1858; Chas. E.
Vanderburgh, January 1, 1859, t o January
1, 1882; A. H. Young, January, 1877, to
January, 1891; John M. Shaw, January 13,
1882, to January 8, 1884; M. B. Koon, Jan
uary 8, 1884, to May 1, 1886; John P. Rea,
May 1, 1886, to March 5, 1889; William
Lochren, November 19, 1881, to May, 1893;
Henry G. Hicks, March 16, 1887, to Janu
ary, 1895; Frederick Hooker, March 5, 1889,
to September, 1893; Seagrave Smith, March
5, 1889, to May, 1898; C. M. Pond, Novem
ber 18, 1890, to January, 1897; Thos. Canty,
January 5, 1891, to January, 1894; Robert
D. Russell, May 8, 1893, to October 20,
1897; Robert Jamison, September 19, 1893,
to December 1, 1897; Charles B. Elliott,
January, 1894, to October 4, 1905; Henry
C. Belden, January, 1895," to May 5, 1897;
David F. Simpson, January 5, 1897, to Janur
ary, 1909; Edward M. Johnson, May 5,
1897, to January, 1899; John F. McGee,
October 20, 1897, to November 19, 1902;
Willard R. Cray; November 19, 1902, to
January, 1905 ; William A. Lancaster, De
cember 1, 1897, to January 2, 1899; Alex
ander M. Harrison, May 19, 1898, to Janu
ary, 1905 ; Chas. M. Pond, January 2, 1899,
to January, 1905; Frank C. Brooks, January
2, 1899, to January, 191 1; Andrew Holt,
January 2, 1905, to January, 191 1; Horace
D. Dickinson, January 2, 1905, to January,
1911; John Day Smith, January 2, 1905, to
January, 191 1; Frederick V. Brown, Octo
ber 4, 1905, to January, 1913.
During, the territorial period Sweet W.
Case was clerk of the district court. Under
the state government the clerks have been
as follows: H. A. Partridge, H. O. Ham
lin, J. P. Plummer, George H. W. Chowen,
D. W. Albaugh, L. Jerome, J. A. Wolverton, E. J. Davenport, C. B. Tirrell, George
G. Tirrell, C. N. Dickey, A. E. Allen.
During the period from 1867 to 1872 the
office of city justice was held by Judge
Charles H. Woods, H. A. Partridge, D.
Morgan, J. L. Himes, and Henry G. Hicks.
The names of the city attorneys for old
St. Anthony, Minneapolis and the consoli
dated city after 1872 will be found in the
list of city officials in the chapter on Public
Affairs and Officials. Frank Healy, the
present incumbent, was appointed in 1897
and is now serving his twelfth year of ser
vice—by far the longest term of any city
attorney since the beginning of the city.
Since 1888 the term of office has commenced
on January 1 and has been for two years.
THE MUNICITAL COURT.
WILLIAM S. PATTEE.
Dean of the College of Law, University of Minnesota.
Soon after the consolidation of the two
cities an act was passed, in 1874, establish
ing a municipal court in Minneapolis. This
court was given much larger jurisdiction
than the city justices. Grove B. Cooley was
elected municipal court judge in 1874 and
served until April, 1883. In 1877 the busi«
ness of the court had so increased that a
special judge was provided, and Reubin
Reynolds was appointed and served until
1879. Francis B. Bailey was then appointed
and held the office until April, 1883, when
COURTS AND LAWYERS
139
X:
FROM THe SWEET COLLECTION
LAW BUILDING; UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA.
he was elected regular judge for the term
expiring Jan. I, 1889. At the same time
Stephen Mahoney was elected special judge.
George D. Emery was elected judge for the
term commencing January 1, 1889, and
Judge Mahoney was re-elected special judge
at the same time. Upon the resignation of
Judge Emery, in 1891, Charles B. Elliott
was appointed to the office for the unex
pired term, and was re-elected in 1892. He
served until January 4, 1894, when he was
appointed to the district bench and Andrew
Holt was appointed as his successor. In
1896 William A. Kerr was elected special
judge to succeed Judge Mahoney. In 1901
H. D. Dickinson succeeded Judge Kerr and
in 1905 both Judge Holt and Judge Dickin
son were elevated to the district bench and
Edward F. Waite and C. L. Smith were ap
pointed to fill the vacancy. In the fall of
1906 Judge Waite was elected judge of the
municipal court for the full term and Judge
Smith was elected special judge at the same
time and both are now serving on the bench.
The first judge of probate in Hennepin
county was Joel B. Bassett, who was elect
ed in 1852. It appears from the records
that during his two years' service only one
person died who was possessed of any prop
erty requiring the care of the court, and no
estates were administered. Judge Bassett
was succeeded by E. S. Jones, who held the
office for four years. Lardner Bostwick
was judge of probate in i860 and 1861, and
N. H. Hemiup from 1861 to. the close of the
year 1870. The succeeding judges were
these: Franklin Beebe, 1870-1875; E. A.
Gove, 1875; P- M. Babcock, 1876 and 1877;
John P. Rea, 1877 to 1882; A. Ueland, 1882
to 1887; F. Von Schlegel, 1887 to 1890;
Francis B. Bailey, 1890; J. R. Corrigan, 1891
and 1892; John H. Steele, 1893—1896;
140
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
building, but an appropriation of $25,000
was soon secured and the original law
building was erected in time for the open
ing of the fall session of 1889. This build
ing has since been greatly enlarged to meet
the growth of the student body. An enroll
ment of sixty-seven students during the
first year was followed by a rapid increase
until the college has become one of the lead
ing law schools of the country.
In 1895 the course of study was length
ened from two to three years. There was
some fear lest this change should prove too
radical, as this was the first western school
to propose such a forward movement; but
other schools soon followed the example.
In the same year of 1895 a graduate depart
ment was organized leading to the degree
BAR ASSOCIATIONS.
of LL. M. This course of study included
In 1883 the Minneapolis Bar association the subjects of general jurisprudence, politi
was organized with the purpose of building cal science, constitutional history and juris
up a substantial and permanent law library. prudence, and some others which vary from
Its first president was the late E. M. Wil year to year as necessity requires. Those
son, and it had a membership of forty-six students only are admitted to this course
leading lawyers. It has since grown in who have received their degree of B. L. In
strength, and its library—long housed in 1898 a third course consisting of advanced
Temple Court—has now found a permanent work in comparative jurisprudence, Roman
home in the courthouse.
law, the philosophy of jurisprudence and
The Hennepin County Bar association political science was organized. No definite
was formed in 1896, in recognition of a de time was prescribed within which the work
mand for an organization which should in required for graduation should be per
clude all reputable members of the profes formed, but students are permitted a rea
sion in Hennepin county, and with the sonable time to prepare and present their
avowed objects of advancing the science of final theses, the acceptance of which by the
jurisprudence, promoting the administra faculty entitles the candidate to the degree
tion of justice and upholding the honor of of D. C. L.
the law. The body has no regular meet
The faculty of the college of Law is as
ings, but is called together from time to follows: Cyrus Northrop, president; Wil
time as needs arise.
liam S. Pattee, dean; A. C. Hickman, James
Paige, Henry J. Fletcher, Edwin A. JagLEGAL EDUCATION.
gard, Howard S. Abbott, Robert S. Kolliner,
In 1888 the College of Law of the Uni Hugh E. Willis, Hugh V. Mercer, Homer
versity of Minnesota was established and W. Stevens, Charles W. Bunn, Christopher
was opened on September 11, with an ad D. O'Brien, and Jared How. The special
dress by Dean W. S. Pattee, who had been lecturers are John Lind, Charles B. Elliott,
called to the head of the school and who A. B. Jackson, T. D. O'Brien, John W. Wil
has since continuously devoted his time and lis, William F. Lancaster, Rome G. Brown,
abilities to its interests. At first the law Daniel Fish, Edmund S. Durment, John F.
department was quartered in the old main McGee.
Frederick C. Harvey, 1897 to 1907; George
R. Smith, 1907.
Since the organization of the state, Hen
nepin county has had eighteen county at
torneys. The complete list follows: James
R. Lawrence, November 1, 1858; W. W.
McNair, May 5, 1862; J. B. Gilfillan, May,
4, 1863; George R. Robinson, May 1867; J.
B. Gilfillan, May, 1869; David A. Secombe,
May, 1871; J. B. Gilfillan, March, 1873;
James W. Lawrence, January 1, 1875; W.
*E. Hale, 1879; John G. Woolley, 1883;
Frank F. Davis, 1885; Robert Jamison,
1889; L. R. Thian, 1891; Frank M. Nye,
1:893; James A. Peterson, 1897; Louis A.
Reed, 1899; Fred H. Boardman, 1901; A1
J. Smith, 1905.
COURTS AND LAWYERS
ABBOTT, Howard Strickland, son of the Rev.
Abiel H., and Mary Ellen Strickland Abbott, was
born Sept. 15th, 1863 at Farmington, Minn., and
spent his boyhood in Minnesota. His father be
came a member of the Minnesota Methodist
Church Conference, which he joined in 1855, con
tinuing to be an active clerical worker until his
death in 1903. The son Howard came near being
a victim of the Sioux Indian massacre in 1862,
his father being then stationed at St. Peter. When
fourteen years old he taught school, and, after
preparation at the Minneapolis Academy, he en
tered the state university, graduating in 1885 with
the degree of B. L. He studied law in Minne
apolis with James D. Springer, then general solic
itor for the Minneapolis & St. Louis and the
"Soo" railway companies, and was admitted to
the bar, after oral examination by the Supreme
Court, in April, 1887. After admission, he was
appointed assistant general solicitor for the M.
& St. L., and "Soo" railways and, in 1890, be
came assistant counsel for the Atchison,
Topeka & Santa Fe R. R., at Chicago and then
at St. Louis. From 1886 to 1890 he was secretary
of the Wisconsin, Minnesota & Pacific Ry. Co.,
and in 1897 succeeded W. D. Cornish as special
master in chancery of the Union Pacific Railway
Company, then in the hands of receivers. He
devoted himself for the next four years to the
task of closing up the affairs of that corpora
tion, which involved the solution of many dif
ficult problems and the supervision of the proper
disbursement of many millions of dollars paying
claims and operating the road besides writing de
cisions as to disbursements and questions of
policy which were in no case reversed on appeal.
Mr. Abbott, upon the termination of this work,
came to Minneapolis and was appointed Stand
ing Master in Chancery, U. S. Circuit Court,
District of Minnesota, and has lectured on public
and private corporations and civil law in the law
department of the state university. Mr. Abbott
is the author of several valuable works on the
law of corporations, the most recent being a
three volume work on municipal corporations,
which has received the highest encomiums from
judges and lawyers as a discussion of rare schol
arship and analytical acuteness. Mr. Abbott
has also distinguished himself as a bond and
security expert and an authority on railway ques
tions. He is now a director of the Minneapolis
Trust Co., and a member of the executive com
mittee. The family, which is descended from
George Abbott of Rowley, Mass., who came to
this country in 1632, can boast of many members
who have done notable work in literature, as the
historian J. S. C. Abbott, Jacob Abbott, noted
as an educator and writer, and Austin and Ben
jamin Vaughn Abbott as lawyers and the distin
guished Dr. Lyman Abbott, who are near rela
tives of Howard S. Abbott.
Mr. Abbott is a member of the Minneapolis,
the Minikahda and the Lafayette Clubs and a
141
HOWARD S. ABBOTT.
member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon college fra
ternity. He attends St. Marks Episcopal Church
and is a member of the vestry of that parish and
one of the trustees of the Diocese of Minne
sota. He was married on June 28, 1898, to Mary
Louise Johnson, of Racine, Wis. To them two
children have been born, Emily Louise and
Howard Johnson.
ALBERT, Charles Stanley, lawyer, is a Pennsylvanian, born at Williamsport, July 10, 1872,
and the son of Allen D. and Sarah A. (Faber)
Albert. Until he was sixteen he went to the
common schools of Wilkesbarre—to which city
his parents removed when he was four—and of
Towanda, where he lived between ten and sixteen.
His father then took a post as a government offi
cial at Washington, D. C., and his son Charles
studied law in the office of Worthington & Heald
and attended the law school of Columbian Uni
versity, (now George Washington University).
He graduated from Columbian with his LL. B. in
1892, and LL. M. in 1893, then came to Min
neapolis and entered the office of Benton, Rob
erts & Brown, attending the University of Min
nesota law school in the winters of '93-'94- He
received his LL. B. from this in 1894. Between
1897 and 1900 Mr. Albert was in partnership with
W. E. Dodge. After Mr. Dodge's appointment
as general attorney for the Great Northern Rail-
142
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
way, with headquarters at St. Paul, he formed a
partnership with Rome G. Brown. Mr. Albert is
a gold democrat. He belongs to the legal fra
ternity of Phi Delta Phi and to the American,
State, Hennepin County and Minneapolis Bar
associations, and is a member of the Minneapolis,
Minikahda, and the Lafayette clubs. He is un
married. As a member of the firm of Rome G.
Brown and Charles S. Albert he is attorney for a
large number of corporations in Minneapolis and
in Minnesota.
ANKENY, Alexander Thompson, son of Isaac
Ankeny and Eleanore Parker Ankeny, was born
at Somerset, Pennsylvania, December 27, 1837.
After receiving in his native town a common school
education he attended the Disciples' College at
Hiram, Ohio, and later an academy at Morgantown, West Virginia, and Jefferson College at
Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. He then received an
appointment at Washington in the office of the
United States Attorney General, Hon. Jeremiah
S. Black, at the same time reading law there. He
was admitted to the bar at Somerset in April.
1861. During the war he held a position of more
than ordinary trust in the War Department under
Hon. Edwin M. Stanton. Mr. Ankeny came to
Minneapolis in April, 1872, and for some years
was connected with thq* lumber firm of W. P.
Ankeny & Bro. In 1878 he resumed law prac
tice and has since continued therein. During his
g, a
BRUSH, PHOTO
ALEXANDER T. ANKENY.
residence in the city he has been identified with
its best progress and development. He has fre
quently been a candidate of the democrats, in
1890 coming within a few votes of election as
one of the district judges. In 1896 he was the
party candidate for mayor. From 1886 to 1895
he was a member of the board of education, and
for the last four years of the term was its presi
dent, also being ex-officio a member of the li
brary board. From 1899 to 1903 he was presi
dent of the state normal school board. Mr. An
keny was one of the incorporators of the Ma
sonic Temple Association in 1885, and for sev
eral years has been president of the board. He
is identified with the Portland Avenue Church
of Christ and is one of its three trustees. Mr.
Ankeny was married at Wheeling, West Virginia,
in 1861, to Miss Martha V. Moore. Four children
now grown reside in this city, the eldest daughter,
Mrs. Chester McKusick, having died at Duluth,
Minnesota, in 1900. Mrs. Ankeny died here May
27, 1904.
ARCTANDER, Ludvig, lawyer, was born at
Skien, Norway, on January 3, 1863, the son of
August H. and Caroline Ahlsell Arctander. His
father was a college professor at Skien. The
Arctander family is one of the old families of
Norway and one whose members have taken an
active part in the intellectual and political life
of the country for four hundred years. A cousin,
Sophus Arctander, is a member of the present
Norwegian cabinet and was one of the chief
actors in the movement which resulted in the
dissolution of the union between Norway and
Sweden. As a boy Mr. Arctander attended the
high school and college at Skien and received
the degree of M. A. at the University of Christiania in 1881. In the same year he emigrated to
the United States. He first went to Willmar,
Minnesota and taught school in Kandiyohi and
Renville counties during 1882, '83 and '84; edited
the Willmar Argus in 1885 and all this time de
voted himself to the study of law. He was ad
mitted to the bar in 1885 and in January, 1886,
commenced practice in Minneapolis. His twenty
years of practice have been closely devoted to
his profession and he has given little time to
outside pursuits. His only participation in poli
tics has been as an independent voter and citizen
—so much so that he has no party affiliations
and has never taken any active part in political
campaigns or filled public office. Mr. Arctander
was married in 1903 to Mrs. Dolly Miller. They
have no children.
AUSTIN, Charles D., lawyer, is the son of
David Austin, a Maine farmer. He was born
April 26, 1856, at Belgrade, Kennebec county,
Maine. He was brought up on his father's farm
to which he returned for his vacations while fit
ting for and attending college. During a portion
of the time he was attending college he spent
143
COURTS AND LAWYERS
against an entryman, which was carried to the
Supreme Court of the United States by him and
where his contention was finally sustained, was
a very important case and one of general inter
est.
On June 1st, 1893, he moved to Minneapolis
and formed a partnership with Judge Bailey,
which continued until his death. After that he
was in partnership with Judge Pierce for several
years, but is now in business for himself. Mr.
Austin is a Republican. He is a member of the
Westminster Presbyterian Church of Minneapolis.
By his marriage to Adelaide J. Van Vleck, Jan
uary 25, 1888, he has one child—Van Vleck Aus
tin.
BARDWELL, Winfield W., was born July 18,
1867, at Excelsior, Hennepin county, Minnesota,
son of William E. and Araminta Hamblet Bardwell, his father being an engineer. After attending
the common schools and academy at Excelsior,
Winfield entered the office of Harlan P. Roberts
in Minneapolis as stenographer and clerk, and
then took a course of law at the State University,
receiving from that institution the degree of LL.
B., and the supplementary degree of LL. M., for
the required graduate work. Since 1891 Mr. Bardwell has been engaged in the practice of his pro
fession, first in partnership with James M. Burlingame, as Burlingame & Bardwell, and later
with C. L. Weeks, as Bardwell & Weeks, and
SWEET, PHOTO
CHARLES IX AUSTIN.
his vacations in teaching school to defray ex
penses. He attended the Wesleyan College but
did not complete the course there. In the year
1880, upon the advice of his brother, Horace Aus
tin, Ex-Governor of Minnesota, then Register of
the United States Land Office at Fargo, Dakota,
he started for Fargo reaching therein the spring
of that year. At that place he entered the gov
ernment service in the Land Office where he re
mained for about one year while looking for a
suitable place to locate permanently.
He located at Lisbon, Ransom County, Da
kota Territory (now North Dakota) on July 5th,
1881, when the town was forty miles from the
nearest railroad station. This section of the
country was just being developed and he did a
large land and loan business from the outset.
Having been admitted to the bar in 1882 he en
gaged in the practice of law in addition to his
other business.
He was a member of the territorial legisla
ture during the session of 1884-5, the stormy ses
sion at which an attempt was made to remove
the capital from Bismarck. He held several other
offices having been mayor of Lisbon, a member
of the board of education, besides holding several
minor offices. As a lawyer, Mr. Austin was en
gaged in important litigation. The Hewitt case,
involving the right of the Northern Pacific Rail
road Company to select indemnity lands as
SWEET, PHQTO
WINFIELD W. BARDWELL.
144
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
with the American Express Company. In 1885
he matriculated at Williams College, and grad
uated with an A. B. degree in 1887, winning the
Van Vechten prize, awarded to the best ex
tempore speaker of the graduating class by the
popular vote of the students and faculty. He
moved to Minneapolis and the following year
commenced to qualify himself for the legal pro
fession by studying law in a Minneapolis law
office and in 1889 was admitted to the bar. Mr.
Baxter began his active legal practice in 1890
at Minneapolis, and in 1906 was appointed gen
eral counsel for the Northwestern National Life
Insurance Company, a position he now holds.
In 1891 Mr. Baxter was married to Miss Gertrude
Hooker of Minneapolis, and they have three
children, Beth, Helen and John, aged respec
tively fifteen, eleven and four years. Mr. Baxter
is a member of the Commercial Club, the Six
O'clock Club, the American Bar Association
and the Minneapolis Bar Association of which he
was for fifteen years secretary.
BLEECKER, George Morton, was born at
Whippany, New Jersey, on November 19, 1861,
being descended from one of the earlier Knicker
bocker families who settled on Manhattan island.
He attended the public schools and Whippany
Academy, and after coming to Minneapolis, in
1883, entered the University of Minnesota and
continued special work during that and the fol-
SWEET, PHOTO"
JOIIN T. BAXTER.
latterly he has practiced alone. Mr. Bardwell was
a member of the legislature in the sessions of
1903-1905, and chairman of the Hennepin county
delegation and of the committee on insurance in
1905. He introduced and put through bills for
general salary adjustment of Hennepin county
officials and introduced a bill placing city clerk,
assessor and engineers on the elective basis, but
the measure did not pass the senate. Mr. Bard
well is a member of the Commercial Club, of the
Masonic Order, and the Royal Arcanum, Secre
tary of the Hennepin County Bar Association,
and member of the executive committee of the
Minneapolis Bar Association. Mr. Bardwell is
a member of the Park Avenue Congregational
Church. He was married in 1892 to Edith May
Champlin and three children have been born to
them, Mildred I., Charles Champlin and Marion A.
BAXTER, John T., general counsel for the
Northwestern National Life Insurance Company,
was born at Berlin, Wisconsin, on October 15,
1862, the son of Thomas Baxter and Susannah
(Lewis) Baxter. He acquired a grammar and
high school education at West Salem, Wisconsin,
and then entered Ripon College at Ripon, Wis
consin, for a preparatory course. He studied
there for three years, taking a prominent part in
the oratorical work of his school; and at the
same time held a position as express messenger
8WECT, PHOTO
GEORGE M.
BLEECKER.
COURTS AND LAWYERS
lowing year. His legal education was acquired
in. the law department of the University of
Michigan, which he entered in 1885. After
graduating in June, 1887, Mr. Bleecker returned
to Minneapolis and was admitted to the bar of
Minnesota in December of that year, and has
practiced in this city continuously since that date.
With the exception of three years, from 1894 to
1897, when he was associated with Edward E.
Witchie, Mr. Bleecker has practiced alone. His
clients include a number of the larger corpora
tions of the city and state and his practice ex
tends into the state and federal courts. Mr.
Bleecker has not taken an active part in political
affairs, but has had a lively interest in good poli
tics, and has twice been called upon to serve the
public. He served as clerk of the Probate Court
of Hennepin county during the years 1891 and
1892, and was also a representative in the State
Legislature during the session of 1893, and would
probably have received further honors had he
not been a democrat living in a republican dis
trict. Mr. Bleecker is married (his wife was
Mary Frances Martin) and the family attend the
Episcopal church. He is a member of several oi*
the social and fraternal organizations of the city,
including the Masonic and Odd Fellows bodies
and the Order of Elks.
BRIGHT, Alfred H., general counsel for the
Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Rail
road, was the son of Thomas Bright and Jane
(Crittendon) Bright and was born at Adams Cen
ter, New York. Thomas Bright was of English
birth, coming to New York when ten years of
age and removing, in 1850 to Wisconsin where his
son attended the common schools and the state
university from which he graduated in 1874 with
the degree A. B. and L. B. Two years later he
was admitted to the bar. He practiced law in
Wyoming from '84 to '87. In '87 he went to
Milwaukee, where he was solicitor of the Mil
waukee and Northern Railway Co. until 1891.
During his residence in Milwaukee he was a
member of the law firm of Williams, Friend &
Bright. In 1891 he came to Minneapolis to ac
cept the position of general solicitor of the Min
neapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie railway, or
the "Soo Line" as it is more familiarly called.
This office he filled until in February, 1908, he
was appointed general counsel for the same line,
the office which he now holds. Mr. Bright is a
republican in political faith, and though not a
politician, takes a lively interest in public affairs.
In Wyoming he was for four years prosecuting
attorney of Fremont county but he has not held
office at any other time. Since coming to Min
neapolis he has taken a special interest in educa
tional matters and has been considered as a de
sirable candidate for the board of education. He
is one of the board of directors of the Associated
Charities and is a member of the Minneapolis
Commercial Club. A Universalist, he is affiliated
with the Church of the Redeemer. He married
145
Emily Haskell September 15, 1887. They have
four children, Elizabeth, George Noyes, Katherine, and Agnes.
BROWN, Frederick Vaness, was born on
March 8, 1862, in Washtenaw county, Michigan.
He lived on his father's farm until he was seven
years old, when the family moved to Shakopee,
Minnesota. After attending the public schools
and studying for one year at Hamline University,
he was employed for two years as storekeeper for
the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Rail
road in St. Paul, after which he read law in the
office of Hon. H. J. Peck in Shakopee and was
admitted to the bar at Shakopee in June, 1885.
He practiced his profession there for four years,
after which he removed to Minneapolis where he
engaged successfully in general practice. On
October 1, 1905, Mr. Brown was appointed by
Gov. Johnson Judge of the District Court to fill
the vacancy caused by the election of Judge El
liott to the supreme bench. In the following year,
1906, at the regular November election, he was
re-elected to the same office. Mr. Brown is a
democrat in politics; is a member of the Masonic
Order and of the B. and P. Order of Elks, and a
member of the Minneapolis and Commercial
Clubs. On April 7, 1903, he was elected presi
dent of the State Bar Association. He is a mem
ber of the First Unitarian Church. On Novem
ber 10, 1886, he was married to Esther A. Bailey
at Prescott, Wisconsin, and to them have been
born two children, Jessica M. and Howard Selden.
BROWN, Rome G., former president of the
Minnesota State Bar Association, and a well-known
lawyer, was born at Montpelier, Vermont, June 15,
1862. He is the son of Andrew C. and Lucia A.
(Green) Brown, and on his family tree appear
some of the most noted names of colonial his
tory—among them those of Chad Brown and of
the Putnams and Stoddards. When Mr. Brown
was born, his father was editor of the Vermont
Watchman. Later he was in the insurance and
telephone business but is now retired. The son
was educated at the Montpelier common and
high schools, and graduated with honors from
Harvard University in 1884. Bringing his A. B.
home with him to the law office of the Hon. Ben
jamin F. Fifield, after three years of study there,
he was admitted to the Vermont bar, October 24,
1887. Two months later he came to Minneapolis
and entered the office of Benton & Roberts, be
coming a partner after three years of practice,
under the firm name of Benton, Roberts & Brown.
On Col. Benton's death, January 1, 1895, the part
nership was dissolved and Mr. Brown practiced
alone, building up from that time a large general
practice. On May 29, 1895, he was admitted to
practice in the United States Supreme Court.
Since January 1, 1900, his firm has been Rome G.
Brown and Charles S. Albert. A large part of his
professional work has been given to questions of
water power and of riparian rights on lakes and
146
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
v fe
•* m ^ x
ROME G. BItOWN.
streams. He is attorney for the Great Northern
Railway, having charge of that company's legal
business in five counties of Minnesota, including
Minneapolis and Hennepin county. In all, Mr.
Brown represents some dozen corporations, lo
cated chiefly within the state of Minnesota and
dealing mostly with public utilities. He has writ
ten several monographs upon important public
questions, among them "The Pollution of Lakes
and Streams" and the "Question of Establishing
a Three Years' Course for the Degree of A. B.
at Harvard," the latter in connection with the
work of The Associated Harvard Clubs. Both
of these last have had a wide circulation, though
among different circles, throughout the country.
He belongs to the leading social and business
clubs of Minneapolis, is a member of the Loyal
Legion, vice-president of the Minnesota Harvard
Club, of the American Bar Association for Min
nesota and president of the Vermont Association
of Minnesota. On May 26, 1906, he was elected
president of The Associated Harvard Clubs, an
organization representing all the leading Har
vard clubs in the United States. Mr. Brown be
longs to the First Unitarian Church. He was
married on May 25th, 1888, to Mary Lee Hollister, of Marshfield, Vermont, and has two chil
dren—a son and daughter.
CAIRNS, Charles Sumner, has practiced law
in Minneapolis since 1883, when he came to the
city from Decatur, Illinois. He is of remote
Scotch-Irish descent on the paternal side. Wil
liam Cairnes or Careins was a Scotch-Irish Pres
byterian who came to this country in the year
1774, and settled in Maryland, at what is now
the town of Jarretsville, some distance north
of Baltimore. From him Mr. Cairns is a direct
descendant. Wm. Cairns, Jr., son of the head of
the American branch of the family, was born
and raised in Maryland. He fought in the war
of 1812; was afterward married and made his
home at Jarretsville, remaining there until a few
years after his son, Robert, was born. He moved
to Ohio and became a farmer of Muskingum
county; and his son Robert (father of Charles)
followed the same occupation as well as en
gaging in mercantile pursuits for a time at New
Concord. The ancestors of Mr. Cairns upon his
mother's side were numbered among the Puritan
colonists of rocky New England, Samuel Haynes
having come to America in the ship Angel Gab
riel which was wrecked on the Maine coast in
1635. He was a founder and selectman of Ports
mouth, New Hampshire, and his descendants
were prominent colonists, who were among the
number that served under Washington during
the War of the Revolution. Mary A. Haynes,
mother of Charles S., was a remarkably talented
woman, who accomplished considerable in liter
ary and journalistic fields, and published a book
of poems for private circulation. Her younger
brother, Judge John Haynes, was a distinguished
jurist of California. Charles Sumner was born
near Duncan's Falls, Muskingum county, on July
4, 1856. His education began in the district
school, where he acquired his preparatory train
ing, then entered the Muskingum College at New
Concord, Ohio, and graduated with the class of
1876, taking an A. B. degree, and after post
graduate work was awarded the degree of M. A.
It had, since boyhood, been his ambition to study
for a legal career, and with that end in view he
entered the, law offices of Roby, Outten & Vail
at Decatur, Illinois, reading law with that firm
about a year. He continued his legal studies in
the law department of the University of Michi
gan, graduating and taking an LL. B. degree in
1882. Soon after leaving college he entered into
a partnership with Judge William E. Nelson, but
in the following year came to Minneapolis and
determined to remain here and practice his pro
fession. He formed another partnership, in this
instance with David S. Frackelton. After &
period of five years, this connection was severed
and, for the most part, Mr. Cairns has since
practiced alone. Mr. Cairns is a republican in
politics; an enthusiastic worker in the party af
fairs of the state; and in 1893 was elected to the
state legislature, where he became prominent
through the introduction of a bill for the direct
nomination of political candidates by the people
—the foundation of the primary election law
COURTS AND LAWYERS
adopted in 1899, which latter act he drafted for
the most part. In 1896 he was an alternate dele
gate to the National Republican convention which
met in St. Louis and nominated William McKinley for president. At the time of the twelfth
United States census he was appointed supervisor
for the fifth congressional district of Minnesota,
filling the office most successfully. He was a
member and a director of the Board of Trade
and as a member of the Minneapolis Commercial
Club he has always taken an active part in its
public work. Mr. Cairns was married to Miss
Frances V. Shellabarger, a daughter of an old
Illinois family and graduate of the Wesleyan
College, Cincinnati. They have two sons, Mil
lard S. and Carl A. The family are members of
the Westminster Presbyterian Church of which
he is a ruling elder.
CARLETON, Frank H., was born at New
port, New Hampshire, October 8, 1849, the son
of Henry G. Carleton, who was for many years
a banker at that place. The family is of English
descent and traces its line back to Sir Guy Carleton. As a boy Frank H. Carleton attended the
public schools of Newport, later preparing for
college at Kimball Union Academy at Meridan,
New Hampshire. He entered Dartmouth College
in 1869 and completed the course with the class of
1872. Like many New England young men he
SWEET, PHOTO
FRANK H. CARLETON.
147
largely worked his way through college. He taught
at various places, at one time being principal of an
academy in Mississippi. After leaving college
Mr. Carleton was for awhile city editor of the
Manchester (N. H.) Daily Union. He then came
west, first finding employment in Minneapolis as
a reporter on the Minneapolis News, and later
as city editor of the St. Paul Daily Press. But
he wished to study law and after a year with the
Press he entered the office of the late Cushman
K. Davis and C. D. O'Brien where he read law,
at the same time serving as clerk of the municipal
court. Five years later his health failed and he
resigned his position and made a trip to Europe.
When he returned he served a short time as
private secretary to Gov. John S. Pillsbury—at
the time when the famous railroad bond matter
was reaching final settlement. With the expira
tion of Gov. Pillsbury's last term in office Mr.
Carleton found a desired opportunity to enter ac
tive law practice and moved to Minneapolis, form
ing a law partnership with the late Capt. Judson
N. Cross and Judge H. G. Hicks. This firm has
continued to the present time with but one
change in name—it became Cross, Hicks, Carle
ton & Cross when Norton M. Cross, son of Capt.
Cross, was admitted to partnership. In the course
of his professional career Mr. Carleton has been
called upon to handle much special litigation and
to act as administrator and trustee in many im
portant cases. He has never engaged actively in
politics but has been a lifelong republican and
has served the public in office, first as assistant
city attorney, from 1883 to 1887, and later as a
member of the library board. During his service
in the city attorney's office he had charge of much
litigation arising from the passage of the famous
patrol limits law and successfully combated all
suits brought for the annulment of that ordi
nance. Mr. Carleton has been for many years one
of the trustees of Park Avenue Congregational
church. He was married in 1881 to Ellen Jones,
only daughter of the late Judge E. S. Jones. They
have had seven children.
CHILDS, Clarence H., is a native of Iowa.
He was born August 19, 1858, at Tipton, Cedar
county, the son of Eugene Childs, a merchant,
and Caroline S. Childs. His boyhood was spent
at Fort Dodge, Iowa, where he attended the dis
trict and high schools, afterwards going to Michi
gan University from which he graduated with the
degree of Ph. B. in June, 1882. Very soon after
he came to Minneapolis and commenced the
study of law with James D. Springer, general
solicitor of the Minneapolis & St. Louis railway.
Upon being admitted to the bar in 1884 he com
menced general practice and has followed his
profession continuously since that time and since
1901 has been examiner of titles under the Torrens law in Hennepin county. Mr. Childs' po
litical affiliations are with the republican party.
He is a member of the Minneapolis and Minikahda Clubs. On June 6, 1889, he was married
148
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
1894 was a member of Company I , F i r s t Regi
ment, M. N. G. I n politics he is independent a n d
progressive, especially in local matters.
Mr.
Child is a member of the First Unitarian church
of which he has f o r many years been a trustee.
H e was married on July 5, 1 8 8 4 , t o Miss Alice
W e b b e r of Rumford, Maine. T h e y have four
children, Sherman W., Emily, Marjorie and
Lewis W .
C R A N E , J a y W., was born in the village of
Perry, New York. H i s father was the Rev.
Stephen Crane, D. D., a Universalist minister for
over forty years, now deceased. Mrs. C. J a n e
Crane, widow of Stephen, and mother of J a y W.,
now lives in Minneapolis a t the home of her son.
Mr. Crane passed the early years of his life in
New York, where he attended the public schools
and later entered the high school a t Hillsdale,
Michigan, f r o m which he graduated. After com
pleting his preparatory work Mr. Crane entered
Lombard College a t Galesburg, Illinois. H e took
up the study of law shortly after his graduation
from the Galesburg institution, and was admitted
to the bar a t Columbus, Ohio, in 1 8 9 0 . F o r t w o
years prior t o 1 8 9 0 , Mr. Crane had been engaged
in teaching in Illinois and in the public schools
of Norwalk, Ohio, and until 1 8 9 1 continued t o
hold his position a s a n instructor in t h a t city.
Since that time Mr. Crane has been continuously
engaged in the work of his profession, and has
carried on a general practice successfully. T h o u g h
S.
R. CHILD.
t o Miss Sarah M. Henshaw. T h e y have one son,
George H . Childs. T h e family attends St. Mark's
Episcopal Church where Mr. Childs has been a
vestryman f o r some six o r seven years.
C H I L D , Sampson Reed, was born on Septem
ber 2 2 , i 8 6 0 , a t Paris, Oxford county, Maine. H e
was the son of Lewis W a s h b u r n Child and Emily
Reed Child. H i s father was a farmer. Mr. Child's
boyhood was spent a t Rumford, Oxford county,
Maine, where h e attended the public schools after
which he fitted f o r college a t North Bridgton
academy, Maine. Graduating f r o m the academy
in 1 8 8 0 he entered Bowdoin college the same
year and completed his course in 1 8 8 4 , with the
degree of A. B. Mr. Child a t once came west and
commenced t h e study of law in Minneapolis with
the late J u d g e Seagrave Smith a n d the late Samp
s o n A. Reed. H e was admitted t o the bar in
1 8 8 6 and has since been in active practice of his
profession in Minneapolis. Mr. Child has been
constantly interested in the public affairs of the
city and though never an office holder o r office
seeker has been identified with various move
ments looking t o the improvement of municipal
and social conditions. H e was appointed a mem
ber of the first Minneapolis charter commission
a n d has since taken part in the campaigns looking
t o the adoption of a n improved charter for the
city. H e has been f o r years a member of the
Academy of Natural Sciences and from 1 8 8 9 t o
JAY W. CRANE.
14$
COURTS AND LAWYERS
he has applied himself closely to his legal work
he has also been a strong political worker. He
is a republican and is associated with several
organizations interested in the advancement of
the party; among them being the Fifth Ward Re
publican Club, of which he is president, and the
Garfield Republican Club. He was a member of
the Hennepin county republican campaign com
mittee for many years. The Minneapolis Com
mercial Club also includes him in its membership.
Mr. Crane is a Universalist, and is a member of
the First Universalist Society of Minneapolis (the
Church of the Redeemer), of which he is clerk.
He is not married.
CRAY, Willard Rush, for thirty years a mem
ber of the Minneapolis bar and formerly a judge
of the district court, is a native of Vermont. He
was born on May 5, 1853, at Highgate, Frank
lin county, and the son of Carlos Lawrence
Cray and Sarah Spooner Cray. The family is
traced back to Scotch and English ancestors,
whose descendants settled in New England in
early times. Carlos Cray was a farmer and his
son grew up amid the surroundings of the New
England farm life of that period, attended the
traditional little red school house and inter
spersed his years of higher schooling with terms
of teaching, clerking and such other occupations
as would serve to defray the expenses of an
education. He passed through the high school,
Addison County Grammar School (Vermont),
and graduated from Middlebury College, Ver
mont, in 1876. After leaving college he entered
the law office of Noble, Davis, Smith & Stevens
at St. Albans, Vermont, but during the follow
ing year, 1877, he came to Minneapolis and con
tinued to read law in the office of Shaw & Levi.
He was admitted to the bar in 1878 and has
practiced continuously in Minneapolis except
during the years 1902-1904 when he served upon
the district bench for the Fourth Judicial District,
Hennepin county, Minnesota. For many years
he was a law partner of the late Judge J. M.
Shaw, the firm of Shaw & Cray being one of
the most prominent in the Northwest. Judge
Cray has taken an active part in the affairs of
the city and is a member of various organiza
tions and clubs including .the Minneapolis,
Lafayette and Minikahda clubs and the Sons of
Veterans and Citizens Staff of John A. Rawlins
Post, G. A. R. He is a republican and though
not conspicuous in politics is not one of those
who neglects the primary and the voting booth.
In 1896 he was elected to the state legislature
as representative from his district and served
during the session of 1897. Judge Cray was one
of the organizers of the Minneapolis Bar Asso
ciation and its president in 1902, and is a mem
ber of the Minnesota State Bar Association and
the American Bar Association. He has been
for many years a prominent member of Plymouth
Congregational Church. He was married on
December 10, 1879, to Marguerite L. Douglas.
They have two children, Jessie Kitchel and Flor
ence Marguerite.
DEUTSCH, Henry, was born in Minneapolis,
August 28, 1874, son of Jacob and Malchen A.
(Valfer) Deutsch. He received his early educa
tional training in the public schools of Minne
apolis. was graduated from the Central high
school in 1891; was graduated LL. B. from the
law department of the University of Minnesota
in 1894; took Yale University's LL. M. ("Magna
cum Laude") in 1895, and was admitted to the bar
October, 1895, when he was associated with A1
J. Smith (now county attorney) as partner; in
1907 he became associated in active practice with
Frank M. Nye and soon became his partner under
the firm name of Nye & Deutsch. In 1908 Mr.
Nye having been elected to congress, this partner
ship was dissolved and Mr. Deutsch with E. P.
Allen and A. M. Breding formed the law firm
of Deutsch, Allen & Breding. Mr. Deutsch is a
member of the board of directors of the Minne
apolis Commercial Club, of which he was second
vice president in 1905. He is a member of the
American Bar Association, of the Commercial
Law League of America (of which he is one of
the vice presidents); of the Minnesota State Bar
Association; and of the Hennepin County Bar
Association. He is a member of the Six O'Clock
Club and of the Garfield Club and is a prominent
HENRY DEUTSCH.
150
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
member of the Elks, the Maccabees and the
Royal Arcanum. He is a Past Master Hennepin
Lodge No. 4, A. F. & A. M., has K. C. C. HDegree, Scottish Rite bodies Masonic; and is
Wise Master St. Vincent De Paul' Chapter, Rose
Croix No. 2; member of Zuhrah Temple Mystic
Shrine and past president Minnesota Auxiliary
Fraternal Congress. Mr. Deutsch is a member
of the Second Church of Christ, Scientist, of
Minneapolis. He was for two years chairman of
the Public Entertainment and Convention Com
mittee of the Minneapolis Commercial Club and
was a member of the executive committee of the
G. A. R. Encampment, in 1906. He was mar
ried May 2, 1898, to Miss Grace A. Levi and three
children have been born to them, Clarence S.,
Maria Hope, and Henry Noel.
DILLE, John Ichabod, was born at Andrews,
Indiana, on November 18, 1857, the son of Icha
bod and Rebecca Dille. His early years were
spent on his father's farm and his schooling was
that of the local educational institutions until he
fitted for college and entered the University of In
diana. From this university he obtained his de
gree of LL. B. in 1877 and shortly afterwards
entered upon the practice of his profession at
Huntington, Indiana, and remained there until
the spring of 1889. Mr. Dille's^ first entrance into
railroad service was as attorney for the Chicago,
Rock Island & Pacific Ry. for Oklahoma and In
dian Territory in 1891 with offices at El Reno,
Oklahoma. He continued to' fill" this position
until 1898, when he became assistant attorney
for the same road for Iowa, South Dakota and
Minnesota, with headquarters at • Des 'Moines,
Iowa. On September 1, 1905, he resigned to
accept the appointment of general attorney of
the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad Com
pany, the Iowa Central Railway Company and
the Des Moines & Fort Dodge Railroad Com
pany, with headquarters at Minneapolis. * He
at once took up his residence in this city and
entered actively upon his duties as attorney. Mr.
Dille is associated with the Knights of Pythias,
and is a Past Grand Chancellor of that order."
In 1897-8 he was president of the Territorial Bar
Association of Oklahoma. He has been promi
nent in educational work in the different states
where he has resided. While attorney for the
Rock Island at Des Moines he was also dean of
the Highland Park College of Law in that city.
In Oklahoma he was associated with the uni
versity of that state for several years as presi
dent of the Board of Regents, and after moving
to Des Moines received the degree of LL. D.
from that institution. Mr. Dille was married in
1876 to Miss Mary J. Mohn. They have five
children.
DODGE, Fred B., senior member of the law
firm of Dodge & Webber, was born at Moscow,
Livingston county, New York, February 4, 1854.
He received his education at Temple Hill Acad
emy at Geneseo, New York, and Fairfield Sem
inary, Herkimer county, New York, and the
University of Rochester. He was admitted to
the bar of New York in 1879, and came to Minne
apolis in 1881, where he has since been engaged
in general legal practice.
DWINNELL, William Stanley, was born at
Lodi, Wisconsin, December* 25, 1862, son of John
Bliss and Maria C. Dwinnell. His father was a
merchant and later a farmer, his family having
settled at Topsfield, Massachusetts, in 1660.
The original *home is still in the posses
sion of the family. His mother's
family
include in their direct line of descent, Jona
than Edwards and the Dwight family of
Connecticut and New York. W. S. Dwinnell
spent his early life in Wisconsin where he at
tended the public and high schools at Lodi, and
then took two years of undergraduate course at
the University of Wisconsin and graduated from
the law department in 1886. For the next two
years he was employed by the supreme court of
Wisconsin preparing opinions for publication and
at Madison he enjoyed the close friendship of
Governor Jeremiah M. Rusk. He accompanied
the Governor and his staff, on invitation, to the
funeral of Gen. Grant in New York and was with
•weet, photo
JOHN I. DILLE.
BRUSH, PHOTO
152
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Governor Rusk during the Milwaukee riots of
1886. After serving as district attorney of Jack
son county, Wisconsin, in 1888-89, Mr. Dwinnell
came to Minneapolis as attorney, under contract,
for a large building and loan association, but re
signed on account of radical differences as to
policy, and engaged in the practice of law chiefly
relating to corporations. Since 1900 he has, to
avoid too close confinement to his office, given
larger attention to outside matters and has oper
ated in realty in Minneapolis and St. Paul and
in timber lands in California and British Colum
bia. He is president of Fraser River Tannery
in the latter province, and treasurer of the Ur
ban Investment Company of St. Paul. Among
the substantial public services of Mr. Dwinnell
may be mentioned his agency in securing the con
sideration and passage of the Direct Primary
Law by the Legislature of 1899 and the passage
of the Anti-trust Law. Mr. Dwinnell has been
and is a strenuous champion of good government
and does not spare himself in the work of secur
ing the nomination of worthy candidates for
municipal, state and federal offices. He was for
several years a member of the public affairs com
mittee of the Commercial Club and was vicechairman of that committee for the year 1906.
He holds membership in the Minneapolis, Minikahda, Commercial, Six-O'clock Clubs, the Amer
ican and Minnesota Bar associations and the
American Economic Association. Mr. Dwinnell
is a member and vestryman of St. Mark's Epis
copal Church. _ He was married on April 24, 1889,
to Virginia Ingman, and they have three chil
dren—Stanley W., Katherine and James Bowen.
McNAIR, William Woodbridge, one of the
pioneers of Minneapolis, and for many years a
distinguished member of the Hennepin county
bar, was born at Groveland, Livingstone county,
New York, on January 4, 1836. He was the old
est son of William W. McNair, whose family
was of Scotch-Irish descent, while his mother,
Sarah Pierrepont, was a descendant of Rev.
James Pierrepont, one of the founders of Yale
College, and of a family which traced its line
back to the time of William the Conqueror. Mr.
McNair's talented mind received from private
tutors and the academies of Genesee and Canandaigua education and culture.
When nineteen
years old, he came west and entered the law
office of Judge J. P. Doolittle at Racine, Wis
consin, but after two years came to Minneap
olis, in 1857. He was admitted to the bar during
the same year, and for twenty-seven years re
mained in active practice in this city. From 1861
to 1868, Mr. McNair was associated with the late
Eugene M. Wilson under the firm name of Wil
son & McNair, and upon Mr. Wilson's election
to Congress in 1868, he formed a partnership with
Judge William Lochren as Lochren & McNair.
J. B. Gilfillan was later admitted to this firm,
which for many years was the leading law firm
of the city. After Judge Lochren's appointment
to the district bench in 1881, the business was
continued by McNair & Gilfillan until Mr. Gilfillan's election to Congress in 1884, when, on
account of impaired health, Mr. McNair retired
from practice. During his long practice in Min
neapolis, he was connected with much important
litigation and was considered one of the strong
est lawyers at the bar. Although much engaged
with his practice, he was deeply interested in
public affairs, but though frequently importuned
to accept office, on only a few occasions con
sented to public service. For four years prior to
1863, he was county attorney, and in 1868 was
elected one of the school directors of St. An
thony.
In 1869, he was elected mayor of St.
Anthony and continued at the head of the city
government until the consolidation of St. An
thony and Minneapolis in 1872. He affiliated
with the democratic party and, against his wishes,
received the nomination for Congress in 1876 and
was complimented by a vote which largely re
duced the usual republican majority in the dis
trict. In 1883 he was tendered the nomination
for governor, but positively declined.
A busi
ness man of unusual ability, Mr. McNair's name
was connected with many of the successful en
terprises of his time, including the Minneapolis
Gas Light Company and the Minneapolis Street
Railway Company, in each of which he was one
of the original incorporators. He was also an
original stockholder and director in the Minne
apolis & St. Louis Railroad, and was extensively
interested in lumbering and contracting for tim
ber supply for the northwestern railroads. Be
ing strongly impressed with the future of the
city, he invested very largely in real estate in
and about Minneapolis. Mr. McNair possessed
fine social qualities and the most genial and gen
erous disposition. Mr. McNair was married on
August 21, 1862, to Miss Louise Wilson, daugh
ter of Edgar C. Wilson of Virginia, and sister
of the late Eugene M. Wilson of Minneapolis.
They had two daughters, Agnes O., now Mrs.
Louis K. Hull and Louis P., now Mrs. Francis
M. Henry. Mr. McNair died on September 15,
1885, leaving many devoted friends who mourn
their great loss.
REED, Frederick Watson, was born at Fow
ler, Ohio, on November 7, 1853, the son of Ben
jamin Franklin and Susan (Dewey) Reed. The
family moved to Iowa and Mr. Reed's boyhood
was spent on a farm in that state where he at
tended school and fitted for college, making his
own way during most of his school and college
life. He was graduated from Iowa College, Grinnell, Iowa, in 1879 and immediately went to
Montana where he was principal of schools dur
ing the next two years. He then engaged in
business in Montana but after two years came
to Minneapolis and began the study of law in
the office of Shaw, Levi & Cray. In 1886 he
was admitted to the bar and has since been con
tinuously in active practice in Minneapolis.' He is
a member of the Hennepin County, Minnesota
, • , :•£ J
•
,
-
.
I
154
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
State, and American bar associations and of the
Commercial and Six O'clock clubs. In political
faith Mr. Reed is a republican though independdent in thought and action, especially in local
matters. He takes a very active interest in
municipal affairs and has been prominently iden
tified with all movements of the past twenty
years looking to the promotion of good govern
ment and better municipal conditions.
Con
spicuous in this work has been his participation
in the campaigns for a better city charter. Mr.
Reed was married at Cincinnati on December
30, 1891, to Miss Selina Brown, daughter of the
late Charles E. Brown of the Cincinnati bar.
GALE, Edward Chenery, son of Samuel C.
•and Susan (Damon) Gale, was born in Minneap
olis, August 21, 1862. The father, Samuel C.,
came to Minneapolis in 1857 from Massachusetts,
educated as a lawyer; but he early engaged in real
estate in which business as well as in the general
civic life of the community he has long taken an
active part. The family are of English descent, the
forebear in this country being Richard Gale, who
settled in Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1636. Ed
ward C. attended the public schools of Minnea
polis and graduated from the high school in
the class of 1878. He attended the state uni
versity for two years and then went to Yale
bWtET, PHOTO
EDWARD C. GALE.
University where he graduated with the class of
1884. After a year abroad he studied law in the
office of Shaw & Cray, Minneapolis, and sub
sequently took the degree of A. M. at the Law
School of Harvard University. Mr. Gale has at
tained a most worthy and honorable position in
the profession he has chosen. He is at present a
member of the law firm of Snyder & Gale, his
associate being Fred B. Snyder. Mr. Gale is
a director in the Minneapolis Society of Fine
Arts, of which society he has also been presi
dent; treasurer of the Minneapolis Academy of
Sciences; director of the Minneapolis Athenaeum-*,
secretary as well as a member of the Municipal
Art Commission of Minneapolis, and active in
many other movements making for the better
things in life, civic as well as individual. Mr.
Gale was married to Sarah Pillsbury, daughter of
Ex-Governor John S. Pillsbury, June 28, 1892.
They have one child living—Richard Pillsbury.
F. w. REED,
GJERTSEN, Henry John, (Henry J. Gjertsen) though born in Norway, October 8, 1861, has
lived in Hennepin county ever since 1868, and
has been a zealous worker for the state which
adopted him. His father was Herman J. Gjertsen, a Norwegian sea-captain who came to Min-*
nesota in 1868 and after a generation spent in
farming, retired from active labor some years
ago. Mr. Gjertsen, Sr., was born in Bergen.
COURTS AND LAWYERS
There the family has long been prominent, as
was also that of his wife, Albertina B. Gjertsen,
whose family name was that of Wulf, also of
old Norwegian history. On both sides the mem
bers of the two families have followed the pro
fessions, more or less. Henry J. Gjertsen grew
up on a Minnesota farm when farming in Hen
nepin county knew nothing of agricultural col
leges. He worked summers and went to the
district schools in winter. These last schools,
and Red Wing Seminary later, made his prelim
inary training for the study of law. For this
latter purpose he spent two years in study in
Minneapolis, was admitted at twenty-three, and
has since been successful in his profession to
more than the ordinary degree. Under the ad
ministration of Gov. Lind, he held the post of
Brigadier General for two years; under Gov.
Van Sant, he was Judge Advocate General for
four years. His politics being republican, he has
had a good chance to render effective public
services as a member of the Minneapolis Charter
Commission and as state senator from the fortysecond district in 1902. In the latter position he
drew up the bucket shop law, which was passed
in 1905. He also took an important part in the
legislation that resulted in the new code. Mr.
Gjertsen is a member of the Odin Club, the Elks,
K. P., and Masonic bodies. He attends the
Lutheran Church. He is married to Gretchen
Groebel, of Red Wing, and has one daughter,
now studying music in Berlin.
HALE, William Edward, son of Isaiah Byron
Burr and Mary E. Hale, was born at Wheeling,
West Virginia, May 11, 1845. His father was a
lawyer and was descended from Samuel Hale,
who came from England and settled in Glastenbury, Connecticut, in 1637, making a record in
the early Indian wars, while the family did patri
otic duty in the War of the Revolution, in later
years appearing with favorable conspicuity in
public life—as James T. Hale, of Pennsyl
vania, in congress, and the great naval
secretary, Gideon Wells. William, who had
visited Minnesota with his father when he
was a boy, returned in i860 and resided
in Plainview where, in 1861, he enlisted
in the Third Minnesota Infantry and served three
years during the war for the Union, receiving an
honorable discharge. He then entered H&mline
University, at that time located in Red Wing,
and, after taking a collegiate course for three
years he studied law in the office of Judge Wilder
of Red Wing, and was admitted to the bar in
1869. He located in Buffalo, Wright county,
where he practiced his profession and was elected
county attorney and held the office two years.
In 1872 he came to Minneapolis where he has
since lived. He was elected county attorney for
Hennepin county in 1878, and re-elected for a
second term. He has made a notable record in
the practice of the law. He has been in partner
ship with Judge Seagrave Smith (1877-80) and
155
subsequently with Ju.dge C. M. Pond (Hale &
Pond), and with Charles B. Peck (Hale & Peck),
and latterly the head of the firm of Hale & Mont
gomery. Mr. Hale is and has always been an
active, loyal member of the republican party, but
he has never yielded to the allurements of officeholding, except in the few instances when he has
held the office of county attorney.
HARRISON, Alexander M., was born in Ven
ango county, Pennsylvania, on November 5, 1847,
the son of Charles Harrison and Catherine E.
(DeWitt) Harrison. The father was descended
from English stock and was a successful farmer;
the mother was of Dutch descent. During his
boyhood he received excellent school training,
first attending the district school in Perry, Ven
ango County, and later an academy in the same
place and afterwards the academy at Pleasantville, Pennsylvania. He completed his education
at Fredonia academy in Chautauqua county, New
York, where he graduated when he was twentyone years of age. Before graduation he had commenced reading law and after leaving Fredonia
he worked for a time in the oil fields of Penn
sylvania to earn money with which to complete
his law studies. Having secured sufficient funds
to pay his expenses during the law course he
entered the law department of the University of
Michigan from which he graduated in 1870.
Judge Harrison came west and first established
himself at Charles City, Iowa, where for three
years he practiced alone and then became asso
ciated with Samuel B. Starr and John G. Patter
son under the firm name of Starr, Patterson &
Harrison. After the death of Mr. Patterson in
1878 the partnership was continued as Starr &
Harrison until December 1, 1886, when Judge
Harrison came to Minneapolis. In 1898 Judge
Harrison was nominated by the republican party
of Hennepin county as one of its candidates for
the district bench, and was elected by a large
majority at the election that fall. He served
upon the bench until the expiration of his term in
January, 1904. After retiring from the district
bench Judge Harrison resumed active practice.
On August 13, 1873, he was married-to Miss Lizzie
O. Chapin. They have three children, Merton E.,
Ruth, and Helen. Judge Harrison is a member
of the Minneapolis Club and the Elks.
HERTIG, Wendell, was born August 13, 1868,
on a farm in Fayette county, Pennsylvania, son
of Ulysses and Emily P. (Litman) Hertig. After
having received a good rudimentary education he
graduated in June, 1884, from the state normal
school at California, ^Vashington county, Penn
sylvania, and taught a country school the same
winter. Coming to Minneapolis in 1887 he became
connected in an official capacity with several finan
cial corporations and was a bank cashier from
1892 to 1895. In 1891 he entered the Law School
of the University of Minnesota, and, after having
taken the full night law course, graduated in
1895, since which time he has been practicing his
156
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
profession, combining with the same a real estate
and mortgage loan business. Mr. Hertig is a re
publican in politics and was elected alderman of
the Fifth Ward in 1905. He is a member of the
Commercial Club, the Roosevelt Club, the Minikahda Club, the B. P. O. E. No. 44 and of all the
Masonic Bodies. 1'
JACKSON, Anson Blake, was born in Brook
lyn, New York, February 17, 1850, the son of
William B. and Elizabeth Blake Jackson. The
father was a manufacturer and banker and the
family trace their ancestry through several
generations of Connecticut farmers, who took
part in the War of the Revolution. Mr.
Jackson's early life was spent in Brooklyn,
Foresport and Utica, New York. He gradu
ated from Hobart College, Geneva, New York,
in 1870, and from Columbia law school, New
York, in 1873, having been a student in the office
of Roscoe at Utica during the. year 1871. Mr,
Jackson practiced his profession in New York
City for about five years. During most of the
year 1878, he was employed in Kansas City as
attorney for the Bondholders Committee of the
Kansas Pacific Railway, and, on the absorption
of that road by the Union Pacific in 1880, he re
moved to Minneapolis where he has since been
engaged in private practice, from 1880 to 1883
as a member of the firm of Jackson and Pond,
and from 1885 to 1893 of the firm of Jackson and
Atwater.
. t
Mr. Jackson is a republican in politics, and was
married in 1881 to Eugenia Cheney Adams. They
have two children. living—Anson Blake Jackson,
Jr., a graduate of Yale University, class of '07,
and Margaret E. Jackson, who graduated from
Rosemary Hall, Greenwich, Connecticut, class
of '06.
HALL, Albert H., senior member of the law
firm of Hall & KollJner, of this city, was born
on July 11, 1858, at Alexandria, Licking county,
Ohio. His family on both sides were early set
tlers in that state, his maternal grandfather being
the first white child born within the confines of
Union county. Levi -Hall, his father, was for
many years a Methodist Episcopal clergyman,
who later entered the medical profession and
moved to Minneapolis where he has for more
than a quarter of a century been a practicing
physician. His mother's name before her mar
riage was Lucinda Mitchell. Mr. Hall received
his education in the public schools, first in Ohio,
and later attending the high school at Austin,
Minnesota, where the family moved in 1872.
Three years later he came to this city and en
tered the University of Minnesota, supporting
himself while in college by night work in tele
graph and telephone service. At the end of his
junior year in 1881, he left school and entered
the law office of the late Judge Frederick Hooker.
A position in the treasury department at Wash
ington was offered him which he accepted, and
at the same time attended the Columbia Law
School, from which he graduated in 1883. Re
signing his position, Mr. Hall returned to Minne
apolis, and since that time has been engaged in
the practice of his profession. Soon after return
ing here he formed a partnership with N. F.
Hawley, which continued for several years, Mr.
Hall severing the connection to accept an ap
pointment as assistant city attorney of Minne
apolis in 1889. During the two years which he
served he conducted successfully several impor
tant cases, including the well known garbage
dump cases. He resumed his general legal prac
tice until 1893, when he was selected by the grand
jury and appointed by Judge Seagrave Smith,
special assistant attorney for Hennepin county,
and filled that office for eighteen months. He
tried many important criminal cases for the
county and made a record as an able speaker
and effective trial lawyer. Among the cases with
which he was connected were the notable Scheig
and Floyd cases; the Harris murder case which
Mr. Hall successfully prosecuted; and the famous
Hayward trial in which his unceasing efforts se
cured the admissions and evidence which made
possible the conviction of the guilty parties. At
the expiration of his term Mr. Hall again took
up his practice and has since been engaged in
general practice, both in this city and throughout
the Northwest. He formed in 1902 a partnership
with Robert S. Kolliner under the firm name of
Hall & Kolliner—an association which still con
tinues. From his earliest manhood Mr. Hall has
taken an active interest in politics and has been
an efficient worker for the republican party for
many years. In 1904 he became a candidate for
the republican nomination for congress, but was
defeated in a strong campaign against Hon. Loren
Fletcher, who had been the incumbent for a num
ber of successive terms. Mr. Hall was again a
candidate in 1906 and made an even better run
against a larger field for opponents. Mr. Hall was
married in 1883 to Miss Nellie J. Pearson. They
have one daughter, Faith. The family attendsi
the Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church. Mr.
Hall is a member of the Commercial Club and
other organizations of a social character.
JOSLYN, Colin C., is a native of the state of
Illinois, the son of De Witt C. Joslyn and Philura
L. Joslyn. His father was a farmer at Cortland,
Illinois, where Colin C. was born on December
9, 1857. He grew up on the farm and attended
the graded school at Cortland. After completing
the necessary preparatory work he entered Ripon
College, in Wisconsin, where he took the aca
demic course receiving his degree with the class
of 1883. He studied law, was admitted to the
bar and commenced practice in Minneapolis, in
1885, where he has since continuously practiced.
Mr. Joslyn is a member of the Minneapolis Com
mercial Club and attends the Universalist Church.
In 1899 Mr. Joslyn was married to Miss Marie
A, Rich and they have three children.
AVJWV^-^
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W^W^SflT-JpWlfl
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J^l^i*MM<,«S
158
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
KOON, Martin B., one of the most prominent
& Bennett. The practice of the firm is mainly in
men of the Hennepin county bar, was born on
the line of corporation law. They are attorneys
January 22, 1841, at Altay, Schuyler county, New
for the Minneapolis Street Railway Company.
York. His ancestry on his father's side was
Judge Koon is a member of the Minneapolis Club,
Scotch and through his mother he was descended
the Commercial Club, the Chamber of Commerce
from Connecticut pioneers. His father, Alanson
and a trustee of the Church of the Redeemer. He
Koon, was a farmer in Schuyler county New
was married November, 1873, to Josephine VanYork, a man in moderate circumstances but of
dermark and has two daughters, Kate Estelle,
highest integrity and enjoying the respect of the
now Mrs. E. C. Bovey, and M. Louise, now Mrs.
community. While his son was yet quite young
Charles Deere Velie.
Alanson Koon removed with his family to Hills
LAYBOURN, Charles G., was born at Spring
dale county, Michigan. It was on a Michigan
field, Clark county, Iowa, March 23, 1851, the
farm that Judge Koon spent his boyhood studying
son of Joseph Laybourn and Ann (Kirkley) Layat the district school in winter and doing farm
bourn. His father was a native of Clark county,
work in summer. His advantages were those of
and was descended from an old New York family
the average farmer's boy at that period. At the
which counted among its members one of the
age of seventeen he had by diligent study pre
early mayors of New York City. His mother was
pared himself to enter Hillsdale College. During
of English descent, her parents' family having
his college course he mainly supported himself
settled in central Ohio when she was but a child.
by teaching and had, in 1863 when he graduated,
Mr. Laybourn's schooling was had in the district
so impaired his health that it was necessary to
school near his father's farm, supplemented by a
seek a change of climate. He went to California
course at a private school in which he matte such
by the old Panama route and spent two years on
progress that, at the age of sixteen, he was able
the coast holding a position as teacher. Having
to obtain a first grade teacher's certificate. For
regained his health he returned to Michigan and
some time he was engaged in teaching, but inter
took up the study of law, in the office of his
rupted this work to learn the trade of carriage
brother, E. L, Koon. In 1867 he was admitted
making which he followed until he met with a
to the bar in Hillsdale, Michigan, and soon after
disabling accident. He then took up teaching
ward entered into partnership with his brother,
which association continued until 1878. While again and desiring to secure a higher education
entered the Illinois State Normal University at
he did not go actively into politics he held the of
Normal, Illinois, in 1874, four years later graduat
fice of prosecuting attorney in Hillsdale county
ing with honor in both the normal and classical
from 1870 to 1874. In 1873 he spent four months
courses. For two years following his graduation
in travel in Europe. He had become persuaded,
he was a teacher,in Markham's Academy, Milwau
however, that Hillsdale did not offer a promising
kee, resigning to take up the study of law. He
field and in 1878 he moved to Minneapolis, where
entered
the law department of the University of
he formed a partnership with E. A. Merrill, to
Michigan, graduated in 1881, and immediately be
which firm A. M. Keith was afterward admitted.
gan practice at Creston, Iowa. He made rapid
This firm enjoyed an extensive practice until the
progress in building up a practice, but after four
fall of 1881, when, owing largely to overwork, Mr.
Koon fell a victim to typhoid fever, and on his years, wishing a wider field, he came to Minneap
olis where he has been engaged in practice since
partial recovery he went to California in search
of health. In 1883, after his return, Judge J. M. 1885. While Mr. Laybourn's practice is general
Shaw resigned from the district bench, and Gov it has been perhaps most extensive in com
mercial and insurance law. He has been fre
ernor Hubbard appointed Mr. Koon to fill the
quently retained by fraternal insurance orders.
vacancy. This was entirely without Mr. Koon's
Mr. Laybourn is a member of the leading or
solicitation and wholly unexpected. He accepted
ganizations, social and fraternal, and takes an
the office with much reluctance, doubting his
active interest in public affairs as well as in
qualifications for the position. He filled it with
politics. He has been several times mentioned
such eminent satisfaction, however, that in the
as a candidate for the district bench and has re
following fall he was unanimously elected to the
ceived very complimentary support at the prim
same office for the term of seven years. But he
did not find the duties of the office congenial to ary elections for this office. In 1883 he was mar
him, and May 1, 1886, he resigned. During his , ried to Miss Blanche Gove of Creston, Iowa, and
they have four children two boys and two girls.
occupancy of the bench he tried a number of im
portant cases, among them the Washburn will
LEONARD, Claude Bassett, was born at
case, the St. Anthony water power case, the KingRemington case, the Cantieny murder case, anc^ Chelsea, Massachusetts, son of Rev. Charles H.
and Phoebe A. (Bassett) Leonard. His father
others scarcely less notable. This work involved
is Dean of the Theological School of Tufts Col
an enormous amount of study and research. On
lege, Medford, Massachusetts, and has reached
his retirement from the bench he resumed the
the age of eighty-four years. Claude B. Leonard
practice of his profession and has been for years
received his earlier educational training at Dean
the senior member of the firm of Koon, Whelan
Academy, Franklin, Massachusetts, and gradu-
v K%'1
w^sgSwSg
Sa>*J?cdi
ttj.'fS>K
SWEET, PHOTO
160
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
ated at Tufts College with the A. B. degree.
Mr. Leonard studied law in the office of Starbuck
& Sawyer at Watertown, New York, was admit
ted to the bar in October, 1878, came to Minne
apolis from Summerville, Massachusetts, on
November 7, 1878, and entered vigorously
into the activities of the Northwestern metropo
lis.
He was clerk of the probate court
in 1879-80, and is now attorney for the Farmers'
and Mechanics' Savings Bank and for the TriState Telephone & Telegraph Company. In a
military way he has a record as a member of
the National Guard, State of New York. He is
a republican in politics; a member of the Com
mercial Club; Past Master of Cataract Lodge
No. 2, A. F. and A. M.; a member of St. Anthony
Falls, Chapter No. 3, R. A. M.; of Adoniram
Council, No. 5; of Darius Commandery, No. 7,
K. T., and Zuhrah Temple, N. M. S. Mr. Leonard
attends All Souls Universalist Church. He was
married to Ella J. Eddy at Watertown, New York,
on April 14, 1880, and they have three children—Ruth Eddy, Emily Bassett and Elva Llewelyn.
LYON, George Asa, was born at Rockford,
Floyd county, Iowa, on June 9, 1871, son of O. H t
and Belle Alden Bradford Lyon. The mother
was a direct descendant of William Bradford,
who was chosen governor of the heroic Pilgrim
band who landed from the Mayflower on the big
boulder known as Plymouth Rock, December 21,
1620, and ruled the Plymouth colony for thirtysix years as the successor of John Carver, both
being apostles of self-government in this land.
Mr. Lyon's father, who is a cousin of General
Nathaniel Lynn, served during the entire Civil
War in an Iowa regiment, and was promoted to
the captaincy of the Third Iowa Battery for
heroic service. Mr. Lyon attended the public
schools of Rockford, Iowa, then attended Grinnell College and later graduated at the Law
School of Harvard University with the LL. B.
degree. Mr. Lyon while in college was an all
around athlete, and was a member of the Grinnell college base ball and foot ball teams for three
years, being captain of the foot ball team during
the last year, and was Inter-Collegiate champion
of tennis for three years. He came to Minneapolis
November 1, 1903, and has since practiced his
profession here with marked success. He has
been associated in the practice of law with the
firm of Lancaster & McGee since 1904. His ex
perience in the responsibilities of office-holding is
derived from his tenure of the mayoralty of the
city of Rockford, Iowa, for a term or two. He
is a member of the Commercial Club, and of the
State Bar Association. He is a member of the
Plymouth Congregational Church. Mr. Lyon was
married on October 5, 1905, to Elizabeth McLean,
of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
McCUNE, Alexander, clerk of the probate
court and for a long time an attorney in general
practice in Minneapolis, was born March 2, 1859,
at Mecca, Parke county, Indiana. He is the son of
Henry Clay McCune and May Ann (Melvin) McCune. The family is Scotch-Irish in origin and
its history in America dates back over a century,
to when the first McCune came to Pennsylvania
from the north of Ireland. Its members have
intermarried with colonial stock and the family
chronicles are rich in incidents of interest. Mr.
McCune was brought up on an Indiana farm.
He went to the common schools of the country
until he was twelve. Then the grandfather for
whom he was named took him to his home at
Lima, New York. The elder McCune was a man
of unusual originality and force of character. His
grandson received from association with him an
education in the art of living which he says was
as valuable as the academic training which he
got from the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary of
Lima. From Lima the grandson was sent to
Princeton. With him went Lyman G. Morey, a
seminary classmate—afterwards well known in
Minneapolis by his work on the Minneapolis
Journal—but who met a tragic and early death
by drowning, in a Michigan lake. Mr. McCune
had also a native Minneapolitan, Wm. H. Van
derburgh, as a classmate in the classical depart
ment of Princeton. It was through his friend
ship for Mr. Vanderburgh, which brought him
here later on a visit, that Mr. McCune decided
that Minneapolis was the only city in the country
for his permanent home. After graduation at
Princeton and a year of law study in Indiana,
he went to Ann Arbor, meeting there in the law
department of Michigan University Frank Healy,
who further confirmed his faith in Minneapolis.
In March, 1883, Mr. McCune came to this city,
entered the office of Cross, Hicks and Carlton
and was admitted to practice in October of the
same year. He pays high tribute to the kind
ness of the late Capt. Cross and to the courtesy
and patience of Judge Stephen Mahoney in court
practice, for many chances to better establish
his own future as a young lawyer. After a few
months of independent practice in 1884, he united
with E. S. Slater under the firm name of Slater &
McCune. Three years later he became associated,
with the Hon. E. M. Johnson, out of which grew
the ten years' partnership of Johnson, Leonard
& McCune. Upon Mr. Johnson's appointment
as District Judge, Mr. McCune took up practice
alone and has so continued. He has held the
office of alderman of the eighth ward. His pres
ent post as clerk of the Probate Court came to
him without solicitation or previous knowledge.
Mr. McCune is a Presbyterian in church faith.
He was married October 20, 1886, at Lima, New
York, to Clara A. McNair, and as a result of this
union three children, Clara, Mary and Anna,
have been born to them.
MORRIS, William Richard, was born on
February 22, 1859, in Fleming county, Kentucky.
His father was Hezekiah Morris of three-quar
ters Negro blood, who, born in slavery in the
COURTS AND LAWYERS
161
to exercise his native talent in the successful
handling of many important cases, one of the
most notable being his defense of Thomas Lyons
in the famous Harris murder trial. Mr. Morris
has always been keenly interested in all move
ments for the advancement of his race and has
lent his own time and energy to such purposes.
In 1885 he represented the Afro-Americans of
the South at the meeting of the A. M. A. at Madi
son, Wisconsin, delivering an address on "The
Negro at Present." The following year he held
institutes in Tennessee for the Afro-American
teachers of the state under the auspices of the
Superintendent of Education. In 1891 he was
elected president of the Minnesota State League
of Afro-Americans and for some time has been
the political leader of the Negroes of the state
Republican party. Mr. Morris is a Mason of the
Thirty-third Degree Scottish Rites and has held
several important offices in that body, being a
past grand master and past grand secretary. In
the Odd Fellows he is a past most venerable pa
triarch and is a past grand chancellor of the
Knights of Pythias, in which order he is at pres
ent deputy supreme chancellor and brigadier
general for Minnesota. He is a member of the
Plymouth Congregational Church. On July 14,
1896, Mr. Morris was married to Miss Anna M. La
Force, and they have one son, Richard Edward,
born April 2, 1900.
8WEET, PHOTO
WILLIAM
R. MORRIS.
south, by his industry bought his freedom and
learned the trade of mattressmaking.
His
mother was Elizabeth (Hopkins) Morris of half
Negro parentage. When William R. was two
years of age his father died and after remaining
in Kentucky through the war his mother moved
to Ohio, locating at New Richmond. There her
son attended the public schools and later a pri
vate school of the same place and after moving
to Chicago he entered a Catholic school. Com
pleting his studies there his ambitions urged him
to acquire a college and professional training and
he entered Fisk University at Nashville, Tenn
essee, in 1876, taking the classical course. He
was at the University for eight years, and grad
uated with high honors with the class of 1884.
During his college work he was a powerful debator and orator, as well as being strong in his
studies. Following his graduation a position as
instructor of mathematics, languages and sci
ences in the institution was tendered him which
he accepted; and where he remained for four
years—the only Afro-American member of the
faculty. During this time he was also engaged in
legal studies and in 1887 completed his law
course, resigning his position at Fisk in 1889 to
begin his legal practice. He was admitted to the
bar by the Supreme Court of Illinois and came
to Minneapolis, where he immediately com
menced practice. He has found opportunity here
MORRISON, Robert George, son of David H.
and Margery B. (McConnell) Morrison, was born
at Blair's Mills, Huntington county, Pennsylva
nia, on July 31, i860. His father was a merchant
of Blair's Mills and Mr. Morrison spent the first
twelve years of his life at that place. The family
then moved to Morning Sun, Iowa, where he
finished his common school education and en
tered the local high school. After graduating
from the latter he entered the Iowa State Uni
versity and in 1882 received his A. B. degree, and
delivered the valedictory address at the class-day
exercises of his class. He studied one year
longer at the same institution and took an LL. B.
degree in the law department. He also returned
a few years later and was given his A. M. degree
in 1890. Mr. Morrison's energies have always
been turned toward the study and practice of his
profession, and, aside from the experience ac
quired in his father's store during his vacations,
he received no business training. When he fin
ished his college course, he commenced to prac
tice and since moving to Minneapolis has con
tinued to apply himself to his profession, and,
during this time has been connected with several
cases that have attracted more than local atten
tion. Mr. Morrison is a republican in his polit
ical beliefs but has never consented to run for
office, although he is actively interested in polit
ical measures. While in college he was a mem
ber of the Zetagathian Literary society, was
prominent in the work of the club and held at
one time the office of president. At the present
162
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
of the Northwest and he seems to have had his
program of activities defined in his own mind
when, in his youth, he was learning the lumber
business and preparing for the study of law. Mr.
Nichols is a republican in politics and is a mem
ber of the East Side Commercial Club.
PATTEE, William Sullivan, dean of the Col
lege of Law, University of Minnesota, was born
at Jackson, Maine, September 19, 1846, the son
of Daniel and Mary Ann (Bixby) Pattee. He
prepared for college at Kent's Hill, Maine, and
entered Bowdoin College in 1867, graduating in
1871. He studied law while teaching school after
graduation and coming to Minnesota was ad
mitted to the bar on June 28, 1878, at Faribault.
In 1884 and 1885 Dean Pattee served in the state
legislature while living at Northfield, Minnesota,
and in 1888 was elected dean of the College of
Law, organized the college and has since con
tinued at its head, building it up in twenty years
to a high position among the law schools of the
country. Dean Pattee is the author of "Illus
trative Cases in Contracts," "Illustrative Cases
in Equity," "Illustrative Cases in Personality,"
"Illustrative Cases in Realty," "Elements of Con
tracts," and "Elements of Equity." From 1886
he was a member and president of the Board of
Normal School Directors of Minnesota for a
ROBERT G. MORRISON.
time he is a member of the Westminster club
and at different times has taken a part on the
annual program of that association. Mr. Morri
son attends and is a member of the Westminster
Presbyterian Church. He was married in 1903 to
Miss Alice B. Gilmore of this city, and they have
one daughter, Elizabeth.
NICHOLS, John F., was born at Rice Lake,
Wisconsin, October 15, 1882, son of Amos C. and
Augusta C. Nichols. He attended the public
schools at Rice Lake and was employed by t,he
Rice Lake Lumber Company for some time,
meantime making such preparations for a pro
fessional life that he was able to enter the Min
nesota state university upon coming to Minne
apolis in 1901, graduating in law in 1904 with-the
degree LL. B. Since then Mr. Nichols has en
tered vigorously into the law and real estate busi
ness under the firm name of Nichols, Frissell &
Smith, which firm has for some time made its
headquarters in the Andrus Bldg., Minneapolis.
They have built up a large business in organizing
land syndicates, to develop hardwood timber,
prairie and cut-over timber tracts, dairy and blue
grass land, etc. The firm has developed several
new towns in Wisconsin and throughout the
northwest; they have lines of business in Canada,
North Dakota, Colorado and elsewhere. Mr.
Nichols is a young man to assume large business
responsibilities, but he has the push and energy
SWEET, PHOTO
JOHN F. NICHOLS.
COURTS ANt) LAWYERS
163
period of twelve years. He was married at Ply
mouth, Maine, on November 30, 1871, to Miss
Julia E. Tuttle. In 1894 Dean Pattee received
the degree of LL. D. from Iowa College. Hei is
a speaker of ability and is frquently called upon
for public addresses and lectures. He is a mem
ber of the Congregational church.
PRENDERGAST, Edmund A., was born in
St. Paul on October 16, 1875. His parents were
Patrick Henry Prendergast and Bridget Louise
Prendergast and the family was among the pio
neers of the state, six brothers having settled in
St. Paul in the year 1856. When Edmund A.
was four years old his parents moved to Minne
apolis where he has since lived. The family has
always been connected with the Roman Catholic
Church and Mr. Prendergast was educated in
the institutions of the denomination. He took
a six years' classical course in the College of St.
Thomas at Merriam Park, graduating in June,
1894, and completed his collegiate education with
a post-graduate course at Grand House of Phil
osophy, Montreal, Canada, during the years 1894
and 1895. Returning to Minneapolis he entered
the law department of the University of Minne
sota, from which he graduated in 1899. Mr.
Prendergast at once commenced practice in Min
neapolis and has a general clientele, although
making a specialty of corporation law. For the
past three years he has been general attorney for
the Northwestern Telephone Exchange Company
of Minneapolis and local attorney for the Wiscon
sin Central Railway Company. Mr. Prendergast
is a republican in political faith though not a
politician. He is interested in civic and philan
thropic problems and has been a member of the
board of directors of the Associated Charities.
He is a member of the Minneapolis Club.
ROBERTS, Harlan Page, is a native of Ohio.
His parents were Rev. George Roberts and Ann
J. Roberts and he was born on December 5,
1854, at Wayne, Ashtabula county, Ohio, while
his father held a charge in that place. When
he was nine years old he went to Iowa to live
with a sister and his schooling, begun in the
rural schools of Ohio, was continued in the
schools of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and at Howe's
Academy in the same state. Schooling, as is
often the case with country boys, was diversified
with hard work. At one time Harlan P. spent
a year at Pentwater, Michigan, packing shingles.
Fitting himself for college he entered Oberlin,
graudating in 1875. He then attended Yale The
ological seminary and graduated in the class of
1878. Next came a few years of experience as
a pastor in the west. During this period Mr.
Roberts determined to study law and entered the
office of Nathaniel E. Slaymaker of Silverton,
Colorado. He was admitted to the bar in Col
orado in 1883 and came to Minneapolis in Decem
ber, 1884. Since that time he has been continu
ously engaged in the practice of his profession in
this city. His practice has been of a general
SWEET, PHOTO
EDMUND A. I'JUCiNUEUGAST.
character but he has had special experience in land
and title law and was for several years examiner
for the state under the Torrens land title reg
istry system in vogue in Hennepin county. An
increasing general practice necessitated the re
linquishment of this position. Mr. Roberts has
taken a lively interest in good government, both
local and state, but has not entered politics, ex
cept at the caucus and in local conventions. He
is president of the Minneapolis Humane Society
and has been active in other philanthropic work.
On October 3, 1888, he was married to Miss
Margaret Lee Conklin. They have two children
living, Marjorie and Harlan C. The family at
tends the Park Avenue Congregational Church.
ROBERTS, William Preston, son of Job and
Hannah Pickering Roberts, was born June 16,
1845, in Gwynedd, Montgomery county, Penn
sylvania. The forebears of the family on the
father's side were Welsh Quakers who accom
panied William Penn to Pennsylvania in 1698,
settling in Montgomery county, near Philadel
phia, and on the mother's side they were Eng
lish Quakers. William P. was brought up on his
father's farm and continued there, with the ex
ception of a few years spent in Maryland, until
he began training for the teacher's profession at
the normal school, Millersville, Pennsylvania, in
the fall of 1862. Here his studies were interrupted
164
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
WILLIAM P. ROBERTS.
by Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania in 1863. An
emergency company of the students was hastily
armed and sent to the front to aid in obstructing
the progress of the rebel invader. Most.of these
improvised soldiers were soon mustered in the
army as Company H, Forty-seventh Pennsylvania
Volunteer Militia during the battle of Gettysburg,
but were ordered to serve under Gen. Meade in
the pursuit of Lee up the Cumberland Valley and
to the Potomac. The regiment served thereafter
under Sigel and was mustered out in the fall, and
Mr. Roberts went back to school but responded
to a call for officers to command colored troops,
and was commissioned Second Lieutenant by the
War Department "and assigned to the Forty-fifth
U. S. Colored Troops which served until the
close of the. war, in Maryland, Virginia and West
Virginia. Mr. Roberts just missed being at the
surrender of Lee, as he had been sent back with
a detachment to bring up provisions for the whole
army. He went with his regiment under Gen.
Sheridan, with the 2^th Army Corps, to the Mex
ican border to demonstrate against Napoleon's
puppet Maximilian in Mexico, and the regiment
was not mustered out until December, 1865, Mr.
Roberts having in the Texas service served on
the brigade staff and having been in command of
of his company during his whole service, coming
out First Lieutenant and recommended for a
captain's commission. He returned to his studies
in the Millersville normal school and graduated
in 1867, and soon entered the law school of the
University of Michigan, graduating in 1869, and,
on application to the Circuit Court in Ann Arbor
and examination, he was admitted to the bar of
Michigan. Six weeks later he removed to Ne
braska City, Nebraska, and practiced law there
until 1874, when he came to Minneapolis where
he has since resided. He was in partnership with
Col. Reuben C. Benton and his brother, C. H.
Benton, as Benton, Benton and Roberts, from
1878 to 1881, and with Col. Benton alone as Ben
ton and Roberts, and then with Col. Benton and
Rome G. Brown, as Benton, Roberts and Brown
until 1895. Since the death of Col. Benton, Mr.
Roberts has practiced alone. He was an original
member of the Minneapolis Bar Association, of
which he holds the oldest outstanding share. Mr.
Roberts was an active and efficient member of
the lower house of the Minnesota legislature dur
ing the sessions of 1899, 1901, 1902 and 1905, serv
ing on the most important committees. He in
troduced the first bill in Minnesota for nomina
tions by direct vote of the people, which in some
respects was better than the measure which be
came a law at the session of 1899, notably in
keeping the primaries for state, county and city
nominations separate. In 1902 he prepared and
passed through the lower house the so-called
"wide-open" tax amendment to the constitution,
which is practically identical with the amend
ment introduced by him at the session of 1905,
and ordered for submission to ratification by the
people at the ensuing general election.
Mr.
Roberts also, as a member of the House Judiciary
Committee and joint conference committee, took
an important part in the construction and enact
ment of the Revised Code in 1905. He was
prominent in his efforts that year to secure ap
propriations for the new buildings of the State
University, as chairman of the appropriations
committee, as well as for the Women's building
at the Soldiers Home.
Mr. Roberts is a strenuous republican in poli
tics and one who believes that it is every man's
duty to show his patriotism by taking an active
part in national, state and local politics between
campaigns as well as in the heat of campaign ac
tivities. He believes in intelligent organization
in political action but not in machine politics,
and his course since he came to Minneapolis in
dicates that he has lived up to his principles. He
was an active member of the old Union League
of Minneapolis and of the original Union League
of Civil War times. He helped organize the
Fourth Ward Republican Club and always at
tends its meetings when in the city. In 1872,
with many other Republicans, he joined the socalled Liberal Republican movement, involving
a coalition with the Democratic party, in revolt
against the political shortcomings of the domin
ant party, under the leadership of Horace Greeley.
He, with two other veterans of the Civil War,
COURTS AND LAWYERS
started the revolt in Nebraska and he was one of
the delegates from that state to the Liberal Re
publican Convention in Cincinnati and repre
sented it on the platform committee, exerting his
influence against the "tariff-for-revenue-only" ele
ment, who were led by Carl Schurz, Stanley
Mathews, David Wells, and others who stood for
Charles Francis Adams for nomination to the
presidency. He voted for Greeley at the start and
brought the Nebraska delegation and ultimately
the whole convention to his support. Mr. Rob
erts did some of the hardest work of his life dur
ing that campaign, whose disastrous ending con
vinced him that the reformation of a party is
only really possible by a movement from within
its own ranks, and since then he has worked for
party in regular ways in the regular Republican
ranks. He was president of the Minneapolis Un
ion League when the movement to nominate McKinley to the presidency began in 1895, and used
all his influence in securing a delegation from
Minnesota instructed for McKinley. Mr. Roberts
is a member of the G. A. R., George N. Morgan,
Post No. 4, and has always been conspicuous in
its councils officially and otherwise. He is an
original member of the Commercial Club and a
member of Hennepin Lodge No. 4, A. F. A. M.,
in which he has held and holds important posi
tions. He is a member of the several bodies of
the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite Masons
in Minneapolis, and of Zuhrah Temple of the
Noble Order of the Mystic Shrine, and of the
Independent Order of Good Templars for the
past forty years. In 1908 he was re-elected Grand
Master of the Masonic Grand Lodge of Minne
sota. He is a Universalist and a member of the
Church of the Redeemer and president of the
Universalist State Convention. He married in 1869,
Anna N. Pugh, of Chester county, Pennsylvania,
who died childless in 1870. In 1876 he married
Agnes D. Taggart, of St. Clairsville, Ohio, who
died in 1895, leaving two sons of that marriage—
Horace W., born July 8, 1877, and Roy G., born
January 29, 1880. Horace is in the Philippine
civil service and Roy lives in Manitoba.
ROCKWOOD, Chelsea Joseph, was born
September 13, 1855, at Bennington, Vermont, son
of Joseph R. and Rhoda (Hurd) Rockwood. His
father was a farmer in his earlier life and later
became a clergyman. The farm on which Chel
sea J. was born had been settled by his mother's
grandfather, Moses Hurd, in 1769. In 1869 the
family removed to Garden City, Blue Earth
County, Minnesota, arriving in December of that
year.
Mr. Rockwood attended the common
schools and studied in the preparatory department
of Carleton College, going thence to the state
university, taking the four-year course and grad
uating in 1879, B. A. Like many other under
graduates, Mr. Rockwood, during his course at
the university, had to take some reefs in his purse
strings. He had only fifty dollars when he en
165
tered, and pulled through largely by what he
made carrying newspapers. He was then em
ployed as principal of the Le Sueur schools dur
ing the next two years, and, after reading law
in the offices of Shaw, Levi & Cray and of Judge
P. M. Babcock, he was admitted to the bar by
examination of the District Court of Hennepin
county in November, 1882, and has been prac
ticing law in Minneapolis since. Mr. Rockwood
was attorney for the Board of Park Commis
sioners from 1889 to 1892 and since 1895 to the
present time. He was a member of the board in
i 893-95He is a member of the Commercial
Club and of the local and national bar associa
tions. Mr. Rockwood is a republican in politics
and a member of the Baptist church. He was
married on October 30, 1883, to Carrie D.
Fletcher, of Mankato. They have had four chil
dren, the oldest of whom, Paul, born in 1884, died
in 1890. The living are Ethel (1886), Edith (1888)
and Fletcher, born in 1893.
'•
REED, Sampson A., a practicing attorney of
Minneapolis for about thirty years, was born
in Boston, December 8, 1849, and died in Min
neapolis, May 31, 1908. He was the only child
of Elisha B. Reed of Hartford, Maine, and Abbie Brett of Canton, Maine. His father was an
older brother of Captain Axel H. Reed of Glenco, Minnesota, and a pioneer of that town. When
Sampson was very young the elder Reed, be-
SWEET, PHOTO
CHELSEA J. ROCKWOOD.
166
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
cause of failing health, returned from Boston'
with his family to his native town, where he
soon after died. He was descended from pure
New England stock through those ancestors
that settled in Oxford county, Maine, after the
Revolutionary War. He is descended on his
mother's side from three Mayflower ancestors,
and on his father's side, from one, Governor
Bradford of the Plymouth colony. Soon after
the Revolution, many revolutionary soldiers with
others, went to the wilds of Maine to found new
homes. One Sampson Reed, whose father had
died in Massachusetts, was one of those who
in 179s went with his mother to Hartford,
Maine, then a wilderness. The subject of this
sketch is the fourth Sampson Reed from the
pioneer referred to, but with him dies the name
as a family name. Sampson Reed's boyhood
was spent in Canton and Buckfield, Maine,
where he attended the public schools. He fitted
for college at Hebron Academy, of which Mark
Dunnell was at one time principal, and was
graduated from Dartmouth College in 1874.
While in college, Mr. Reed was an active and
prominent member of various college debating
FERNANDO W. ROOT.
societies. He supported himself while in the
academy and in college, by teaching school. Mr.
Reed did not linger long in the east, but in the
same year, 1874, came west as principal of the
high school in Glencoe, Minnesota. In the fol
lowing year, 1875, he came to Minneapolis and
began the study of law in the office of the late
Judge Isaac Atwater. After his admission to the
bar in 1877, he practiced for a time by himself and
in 1883 entered into a law partnership with the
late Judge Seagrave Smith, under the firm name
of Smith & Reed, which continued until the ap
pointment of Judge Smith to the district bench
in March, 1889. Mr. Reed, although always in
the general practice of his profession, made
something of a specialty of land titles and real
estate law. He also developed excellent business
judgment and was the confidential adviser of
many men of large real estate interests. He was
in politics a republican and in religion a Universalist, being a member of the Church of the
Redeemer. He was married on November 7,
1877, to Miss Abbie Eells of Belfast, Maine, and
is survived by her and by one daughter, Miss
Abbie M. Reed. He was a member of lodges
of Elks and Odd Fellows. Mr. Reed was a man
of high integrity in his profession and was
popular and well beloved by all who knew him
best.
ROOT, F. W., solicitor of the Chicago, Mil
waukee & St. Paul Railway Company, at Min
neapolis, is a native of New York. He was
born at Guilford, August 7, 1855, the son of
Silas and Mathilda Root, both of Revolutionary
stock. During his boyhood he attended the local
schools and afterwards went to Oxford Academy,
Chenango county, New York. He had deter
mined upon the law as his profession and after
leaving the academy he entered the law office
of Henry R. Mygatt at Oxford where he studied
for three years. He was admitted to the bar at
the general term of the supreme court of New
York at Ithaca on May 4, 1880. Mr. Root came
to Minneapolis in October, 1881, and for a time
was associated with the law firm of Jackson &
Pond. In the following year he entered the
office of W. H. Norris, solicitor of the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company at Min
neapolis." His position was that of law clerk and
his efficient service led to his eventually being
intrusted with many important cases, especially
personal injury cases, in the state and federal
courts. In the defense of this class of cases he
has won special distinction and is acknowledged
to be without an equal in the defense of personal
injury cases. Later the trial of important cases
involving questions connected with the transpor
tation of freight were added to his department
of the work. Mr. Root continued as attorney
for the C. M. & St. P. Ry., associated with Mr.
Norris, until the latter retired in 1902 when he
was appointed solicitor. Mr. Root is a repub
lican in political faith but has never sought
168
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
political preferment. He takes an active part
in local movements for good government and
is a member of various public and social organ
izations. Since 1904 he has been Judge Advocate
General with title of Brigadier General on Gov
ernor Johnson's staff.
SEEVERS, George W., general counsel for
the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway, is an Ohio
man,—born at Coshocton in that sta;te on Septem
ber 23, 1845. His parents were Robert and Ellen
Bryant Seevers. The family moved to Iowa
when George W. was ten years of age, and his
schooling was largely obtained in the public
schools near their new home. From high school
he went to Oskaloosa (Iowa) College, and later
completed his academic education with a post
graduate course at the University of Michigan
at Ann Arbor. He graduated from the law de
partment of the University of Michigan, after
which he began the work of his profession, and
soon had a large general practice at Oskaloosa,
Iowa, which he continued until 1895, when he was
appointed general counsel of the Iowa Central
Railway, with headquarters at Oskaloosa. In
1904 Mr. Seevers, in addition to his position with
the Iowa Central road, was made general counsel
for the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway Com
pany, and moved to Minneapolis, where he has
since maintained general offices. He afterwards
became the vice-president and general counsel of
the Minnesota, Dakota & Pacific Railway, and at
the present time is still connected with the lines
named in the same capacities. In politics Mr.
Seevers is a republican. He has become closely
identified with the railroad and legal life of the
city, and is well known in social and club circles.
He is a member of the Minneapolis Club, the
Minikahda Club, the Automobile Club, and is also
a Sir Knight Mason.
SHAW, Frank W., of the law firm of Cohen,
Atwater & Shaw, was born at Hodgdon, Maine,
the son of Charles Shaw and Mary Jane Wiggin.
His ancestors were prominent in the colonial
wars and public affairs and in the Revolutionary
War. Mr. Shaw's early life was passed at Houlton, Maine, and he received his education at
Ricker Classical Institute from which he grad
uated in 1876 and at Colby University, Waterville, Maine, graduating with the class of 1880.
In September of that year he came to Minne
apolis and during the next three years studied
law in the office of Rea, Woolley & Kitchel.
Upon his admission to the bar on June 30, 1883,
he became a member of the law firm of Rea,
Kitchel & Shaw, a partnership which continued
until 1886 when the style was changed to Kitchel,
Cohen & Shaw. After the death of Mr. Kitchel
in 1900, J. B. Atwater was admitted to the part
nership, the firm becoming, Cohen, Atwater &
Shaw as at present. Mr. Shaw is a republican in
political belief and is a member of the Lowry
Hill Congregational Church. He belongs to the
Minneapolis Club and to the Delta Kappa Ep-
silon fraternity. He has been twice married, in
1882 to Eliza A. Warnock and in 1899 to Julia C.
Fairbairn and had two children by the first mar
riage and four by the second.
SELOVER, Arthur William, for a number of
years a well-known member of the legal frater
nity in the Twin Cities, was born at the town of
Flatbush, Long Island, on July 9, 1871, the Son
of Peter and Jennie H. Selover. His father is a
builder and contractor and was engaged until
1879 i n that business in New York state, at
which time the family came to Minnesota and
located at Lake City. Their son attended the
public schools there and took his preparatory
work for college in the Lake City high school,
from which he graduated in the year 1888. He
matriculated at the University of Minnesota for
the continuation of his studies, entering the aca
demic department. He graduated from that de
partment in 1893, receiving at the time his degree
of B. A., returning to complete his training for
the legal profession, which he had determined
to follow, in the law college. He finished the
GEORGE W. SEEVERS.
COURTS AND LAWYERS
169
ward. He is a member also of the Apollo
Club. On December 19, 1900, Mr. Selover was
married to Miss Bessie S. Warner of St. Paul,
and they have two children, both sons—Arthur
Lucien, aged five, and Harvey William, now three
years of age. The family attends the First Pres
byterian Church of Minneapolis, and Mr. Selover
is the superintendent of the Sunday School.
SHEARER, James Duncan, came to Minne
apolis in 1883, when twenty-one years of age, and
since the following year has been a practicing
attorney of this city. He is descended on both
sides from old Scotch families; his father, Robert
Bruce Shearer, was a descendant of Robert Bruce
of Scotland; his mother, Elizabeth Eliza Camp
bell McDougall, was a second cousin of the last
Duke of Argyle, and grand-daughter of Dr. John
Lawson of Edinburgh, physician to Sir Walter
Scott. James D. Shearer was born on March 25,
1862, at Janesville, Wisconsin, then the home of
his parents. When he was three years of age
thfe family moved to central Iowa and he grew
up on a farm in that state, the youngest of six
children.
His education began in "the little
white school-house" and after the usual prepara
tory training he entered the Iowa State Agricul
tural College at Ames. His studies were carried
on there for five years and he graduated in 1879,
when only seventeen years old, being, in fact, up
to that time the youngest student of the instituSWEET, PHOTO
AKTI1UU W. SELOVER.
law course in 1894 taking a LL. B. degree; and
at the time of graduation was awarded the honors
of his class for the preparation of the best and
most complete legal thesis. After leaving col
lege Mr. Selover followed his legal studies for a
time and in 1897 took the additional degree of
LL. M. In 1894, following his graduation from
the law department of the University of Minne
sota, he had accepted a position on the editorial
staff of the West Publishing Company of St.
Paul, and took an important part in the editing
of the law books handled by that house. He
was associated with that firm as legal editor for
five years, but in 1899 resigned his office to fol
low his original intention of entering the legal
profession. He chose Minneapolis as the field
for his practice and has since been engaged with
legal work in this city. Much important litiga
tion has come under his management during the
course of his practice. Mr. Selover is also the
author of several legal books, the most impor
tant, possibly, being a volume on negotiable in
struments which is used as a standard authority
throughout the country and which the Yale Law
School has adopted as a text book. This was
published in 1900. A year later he completed and
published a work on bank collections. Mr. Sel
over is a republican in politics and has been ac
tive in the work of his party, and in 1908 became
the candidate for alderman from the Fifth
BRUSH, PHOTQ
JAMES D. SHEARER.
170
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
tion to receive a diploma. After leaving college
Mr. Shearer taught in the Iowa schools for sev
eral years, but the work of a teacher did not offer
scope for either his ambitions or abilities. So in
1883 he resigned his position and came to Minne
apolis, and has since been a resident and a mem
ber of the legal fraternity of the city. Soon after
his arrival here, Mr. Shearer began to study law
in the offices of Judge Bagg, and on October 17,
1884, was admitted to the bar by the state su
preme court. He commenced practice at once in
Minneapolis. His work has not been confined to
any one branch of the law, but has been along
general lines, and at the present time his list of
clients is large and his practice successful. For
several years he has been a member of the law
firm of Belden, Jamison & Shearer. On March
2 5, I 9°7, Mr. Shearer was appointed receiver of
the Minnesota Title Insurance & Trust Company
and since that time has been largely engaged in
settling up the affairs of the institution. Mr.
Shearer is a member of the republican party and
is active in its work. In 1903 he was elected to
the Minnesota house of representatives, and
served during 1903 and 1904. He is a member of
various organizations, social, political, and pro
fessional; among them being the Minneapolis
Commercial Club and the Six O'Clock Club. On
September 18, 1888, Mr. Shearer was married to
Miss Emma Evans of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and
they have
daughter.
four
children,
three
sons
and
a
SMITH, Edward E., a practicing attorney of
Minneapolis, was born on May 5, 1861, at Spring
Valley, Minnesota. He is a son of Dryden Smith
and Elizabeth Ann (Hines) Smith. He attended
the public schools at Spring Valley, where he
passed his boyhood and youth, but studied law
at Charles City, Iowa, where he was admitted
to the bar in 1883. Most of Mr. Smith's profes
sional life has been passed in Minneapolis, where
he moved not long after his admission to prac
tice. He has always taken an active interest in
politics and has been repeatedly elected to the
State Legislature as a republican. He first served
in the house of representatives in 1895, and
was re-elected for the session of 1897. He was
elected to the state senate in 1898 and again in
1902 and 1906. Mr. Smith was married in 1883
to Esther E. Leonard, and they have two chil
dren, Harriet and Rollin. He is a member of the
Minneapolis and Commercial clubs and is promi
nent in all the Masonic orders.
SMITH, George Ross, lawyer and judge of the
probate court of Hennepin county, was born in
Stearns county, Minnesota, May 28, 1864, the son
of David and Katharine (Crowe) Smith. He at
tended the district school until fifteen years of
age, working on his father's farm during the sum
mers. In 1886 he graduated from Lake View
Academy and was awarded a gold medal for
scholarship. He taught school until 1891, when he
entered the College of Law of the University of
Minnesota, from which he graduated with the
degree of LL. B. in 1893. While, in the university
he was elected president of his class. Since 1893
he has been actively engaged in the practice of
law in Minneapolis. He was elected to the legis
lature from the Thirty-eighth legislative district
in 1902, and was the first republican representative
to be sent to the house of representatives from
that district. He was elected judge of probate of
Hennepin county in November, 1906. On Janu
ary 9, 1895, Judge Smith was married at Minneap
olis to Mrs. F. J. Horan. He is a member of
the State Bar Association and several fraternal
orders and local clubs. His recreations are hunt
ing and fishing.
SMITH, Seagrave, for many years a -promi-nent member of the Hennepin county bar and
judge of the district court, was born on Septem
ber 16, 1828, at Stafford, Connecticut, the son of
Hiram and Mary A. (Seagrave) Smith.
His
father was a farmer of Welsh descent and his an
cestors on both sides were early settlers of New
England. His early life was that usual to the
farmer's boy in New England and he finished a
common school education with a course at the
Connecticut Literary Institution at Suffield,
where he graduated in 1848. He had already de
termined to be a lawyer, but this course was
strongly opposed by his father, who refused him
GEORGE R. SMITH.
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172
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
ous positions, as attorney general of the state
and chief justice of the supreme court, but with
the exceptions noted was not elected, his party
being largely in the minority in Minnesota. In
every case, however, Judge Smith ran ahead of
his party ticket, as he was widely known as a
man of the highest character and ability and one
whose partisanship could not detract from his
able, conscientious work as an official. Judge
Smith was married three times. His first wife
was Miss Almira Cady of Monson, Massachu
setts. They had four children. His second wife
was Mrs. Fidelia P. Hatch of Hastings, who had
one son, Theron S. Smith. Judge Smith's third
marriage was to Mrs. Harriet P. Norton of Otis,
Massachusetts, who survives him and is still liv
ing in Minneapolis. The only surviving child of
Judge Smith is Claribel Smith, principal of Ham
ilton school, in this city. Judge Smith died in
May, 1898.
SWEET, PHOTO
JOHN DAY SMITH.
any financial aid, and he accordingly supported
himself while studying for the bar by teaching
school. He read law with Alvin P. Hide at Staf
ford, Connecticut, and was admitted to the bat
on August 13, 1852. He began to practice in
Colchester, Connecticut, and during his residence
there served as town clerk, state senator, and
clerk of the probate court. In 1857 he grati
fied an early desire to settle in the west and
came to Hastings, Minnesota, where he formed a
law partnership with J. W. De Silva. During
his twenty years residence at Hastings he took
a prominent part in the politics of Dakota coun
ty, serving from time to time as county attor
ney, county commissioner, judge of probate and
as a member of the state senate. He was at
torney for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
railway and other railroad corporations.
In
1877 Judge Smith moved to Minneapolis and
formed a law partnership with W. E. Hale,
which continued for three years. In 1883 he en
tered into a partnership with the late S. A. Reed,
which continued until March, 1889, when Judge
Smith was appointed to the district bench. Al
though a life long democrat, Judge Smith was
elected in 1890 by the united support of all par
ties and in 1896 was again elected to the bench
on the democratic ticket. In 1887 he was elect
ed city attorney and held the office for two
terms. He was frequently nominated for vari
SMITH, John Day, member of the district
bench of Minnesota, is the descendant of English
Colonial ancestry that settled in this country a
half century before the Revolutionary War and
took part in the struggle for independence. His
great-grandfather, James Lord, was a lieutenant
"uid led a companv at Bunker Hill. John Day,
the son of a Kennebec county, Maine, farmer,
was born in that region on February 25, 1845.
After completing his preparatory education he
entered Brown University and graduated with
the class of 1872. Returning for further work he
took an A. M. degree,in 1875 and in his senior
year became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa
fraternity. He taught school for a short time
and then entered Columbia University and stu
died law, receiving an LL. B. degree at that insti
tution in 1878 and his degree of LL. M. three
years later at the same place. In 1881, shortly
after his graduation from Columbia he was ad
mitted to the bar in the city of Washington. In
1885 he came to Minneapolis and has resided here
since that time. He practiced his profession in
this city, as senior partner of the law firm of
Smith and Parsons until 1901 and then inde
pendently until his election to the district bench
in 1904. Besides his legal work Judge Smith was
a lecturer at the state university on American
constitutional law, from 1890 till 1905, when he
was promoted to the bench, and was engaged for
a time to lecture at Howard University. On June
26, 1862, he enlisted with Company F., Nineteenth
Maine Volunteers and fought in most of the prin
cipal battles of the Civil war—Fredericksburg,
Chancellorsville, Bristoe Station, Mine Run, the
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Bethesda Church,
North Anna, Cold Harbor, Siege of Petersburg
and Jerusalem Road. He was slightly wounded
at Gettysburg and at Jerusalem Road was almost
fatally shot in the face. Though given up by
the surgeons he recovered and was discharged, as
a corporal, April 25, 1865, on account of his
wounds. Judge Smith has always been active
COURTS AND LAWYERS
politically and has held several public offices. He
has usually supported the republican party
though in 1896 he followed the political leader
ship of William J. Bryan. In 1889 he served in
the lower house of the Minnesota legislature and
was the representative from the Thirty-fourth
District in the senate from 1891 to 1895, and was
an able leader of the republican sentiment and
movements in that body. During his last term
he was chairman of the judiciary committee of
the senate. After his second term in the senate
he returned to private life and practiced his
profession until 1904 when as mentioned he was
elected to the district bench. Judge Smith is
prominent in the affairs of military fraternal or
ganizations—he is a member of the G. A. R. and
in 1893 was chosen as commander of the depart
ment of Minnesota. In December, 1906, he was
elected president of the Minnesota Society of the
Sons of the American Revolution to succeed
Judge F. M. Crosby. He is also a member of
Ark Chapter, Darius Commandery of the Knights
Templar, and of Zuhrah Temple, and was the first
master of Ark Lodge A. F. and A. M. In 1872
he was married to Miss Mary Hardy Chadbourne,
of Lexington, Massachusetts, who died in 1874.
He was again married in 1879 to Miss Laura
Bean, of Delaware, Ohio. They have four chil
dren. The family attends the Calvary Baptist
Church.
SWEET, PMOTO
FRED B. SNYDER.
173
SNYDER, Fred B., son* of Simon P. and Mary
R. Snyder, was born in Minneapolis, on Febru
ary 21, 1859, in the original Colonel Stevens
house, the first dwelling erected on the site of
Minneapolis. He is the second son in the fam
ily and has spent his life from his birth in this
city. He attended the local public schools, grad
uated from the high school and then entered the
University of Minnesota from which he gradu
ated in 1881. He received his degree in that
year and then read law; first in the office of
Lochren, McNair & Gilfillan and later with the
law firm of Koon, Merrill and Keith. He was
admitted to the bar in 1882. He practiced in
partnership with Judge Jamison till 1889. He
has handled a number of important cases, notably
that of the State vs. Pillsbury, in which he upset
the provisions of the City Charter relating to
special assessments for local improvements; and
that of the State vs. Westfall, when he sustained
the constitutionality of the Torrens Land Law,
of which he himself is the author. Mr. Snyder
has always been a republican in politics and has
been elected by that party to several public of
fices. In 1892 he was elected alderman of the
second ward and served four years, being presi
dent of the council in 1894-1895. Two years later
he was the representative in the legislature from
the University district, in 1899 was advanced to
the senate, and in 1902 declined re-election for a
second term. While in the city council he pro
posed the gas arbitration plan, which materially
reduced the price of that commodity, and created
the office of City Gas Inspector. He also advo
cated and voted for the Harvey transfer ordinance.
As a member of the legislature he was the origi
nator and supporter of several important meas
ures—introducing and passing the bill increasing
the annual revenue of the state university. While in
the senate he introduced and passed the Board
of Control Bill and supported and voted for the
increase of the gross earnings tax from three to
four per cent. He was also the author of the
Probation Law for juvenile offenders.
Mr.
Snyder while in college was elected to the Chi
Psi and P. B. K. fraternities, and is a member of
the Minneapolis and Commercial Clubs. In 1885
he was married to Miss Susan M. Pillsbury, who
died in 1891. In 1896 he married Miss Lenora
Dickson of Pittsburgh. There are two children,
a son, John Pillsbury, and a daughter, Mary
Stuart. Mr. Snyder attends the First Congrega
tional Church.
SWEET, John Cochrane, was born at Fort
Wayne, Indiana, April 24, 1870, son of Kay Chit
tenden and Elizabeth (Cochrane) Sweet. His
father was a locomotive engineer whose forebe'ars
in this country came from England and settled
in Rhode Island in 1630. Mr. Sweet spent his
boyhood in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and received
his early educational training in the public
schools of that city and at Waseca, Minnesota,
whither he went in 1882. In 1890 he went to
174
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Mankato, Minnesota, and the next year he came to
Minneapolis to enter the university where he won
the Paige prize for the best graduation thesis in
1893, also winning the gold medal for first place in
the two hundred and twenty-yard dash on college
field day, 1892. Pursuing his studies in the law de
partment of the university, Mr. Sweet received
the LL. B. degree in 1893 and LL. M. in 1896.
When the Spanish war broke out Mr. Sweet en
tered the United States service as second lieute
nant, Company A, Fifteenth Minnesota Volunteer
Infantry. Mr. Sweet represented the thirty-ninth
district in the lower house of the Minnesota
legislature during the sessions of 1901 and 1902.
He is secretary and director of the Minneapolis
Oil Company and, since 1901, has been receiver
for the Minneapolis Fire & Marine Mutual In
surance Company, and since 1896 has been lec
turer on the Law of Mortgages in the Law De
partment of the state university. Mr. Sweet has
interests in Minneapolis real estate and in petro
leum lands in Kansas and is interested with W.
S. Dwinnell in British Columbia timber lands.
He is a member of the Minneapolis and Com
mercial clubs; is secretary and treasurer of the
Psi Upsilon Association of Minnesota, and a
member of the Phi Delta Phi Fraternity and, not
withstanding his professional engagements, main
tains a lively interest in athletics and automobiling. Mr. Sweet is a member of the First Con
gregational Church of Minneapolis. He was mar
ried on May 19, 1897, to Mary, daughter of Chas.
D. Lougee, and two daughters have been born
to them—Catherine Elizabeth (born February 8,
1901) and Margaret Cochrane (born June 17,
1903). Mr. Sweet resides at 526 Eleventh avenue
southeast.
THOMPSON, Charles T., of the law firm of
Keith, Evans, Thompson & Fairchild, is a native
of Ohio. He was born at Glendale, near Cin
cinnati, on June 6, 1853, the son of Samuel J.
and Eveline K. Thompson. His father was one
of the distinguished Cincinnati lawyers of the
last generation. He began his education at Glen
dale where he fitted for entrance to Denison Uni
versity at Granville, Ohio, from which institution
he graduated in 1873 with the degree of A. B. He
then went abroad studying at the University of
Edinburgh, Scotland, where, in the fall of 1874,
he took honors in logic, metaphysics and in
Roman law, having completed a two years course
in one year. Returning to America he entered
the Cincinnati Law School (now law department
of the University of Cincinnati) from which he
graduated in June, 1876. He at once began prac
tice with the firm of King, Thompson & Longworth, but on account of his health moved to
Minneapolis in 1878. For a few years he prac
ticed alone and then iq August, 1883, formed the
partnership with Mr. Arthur M. Keith, which
has continued until the present time. The firm
was at first Keith & Thompson and in 1887 the
present partnership was formed. It has always
BRUSH, PHOTO
OIIAULES J . T K A X L E R .
been one of the prominent law firms of the city
and has conducted much important legal busi
ness. During his thirty years residence in Min
neapolis Mr. Thompson has taken an active part
in all matters looking toward the betterment of
social and political conditions, though he has
never held or sought public office. His political
affiliations are with the republican party and his
church relations with the Presbyterian denomina
tion, in which he has held many important posi
tions. He has served as elder and clerk of West
minster Presbyterian Church for many years.
He is a member of the Sons of the American
Revolution, the Citizens' staff of the Rawlins post,
G. A. R., the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, the Min
neapolis Club, the Commercial Club, the La
fayette Club, the Westminster Club, the Six
O'Clock Club, and the American and Minnesota
State bar associations. Mr. Thompson was mar
ried on September 28, 1881, to Kate L. Harris of
Minneapolis. They have three sons, Arthur H.,
Telford K. and Charles Stanley.
TRAXLER, Charles Jerome, son of John and
Rebecca Yount Traxler, was born in Henry
county, Iowa, near Mount Pleasant, on December
16, 1858. The father was a farmer and brickmaker and the son spent his early years on the
farm near Mount Pleasant where, after attending
the public schools, he took the academic course
at Howe's Academy. After a course in Iowa
COURTS AND LAWYERS
Wesleyan University at Mount Pleasant, Mr.
Traxler completed his collegiate education at the
State University of Iowa at Iowa City from which
he graduated, LL. B., in 1882, meantime having
read law with prominent lawyers. He began the
practice* of his profession in partnership with
Hon. Clay B. Whitford (now of Denver, Col.)
and after that gentleman's departure for Denver,
the partnership being dissolved, Mr. Traxler be
came a member of the editorial staff of the Daily
Tribune-News, of Evansville, Ind., holding the
position of associate editor in chief. In 1886 he
resumed the practice of law in western Kansas,
where he was twice elected county attorney of
Seward County. He came to Minnesota in 1889
locating in Minneapolis where he has since been
practicing in his specialty as corporation counsel.
Mr. Traxler is an Independent in politics, in later
years generally voting for republican candidates.
As counsel for several freight receivers' associa
tions, Mr. Traxler has given intelligent attention
to the rate question and a plan for the regulation
of rates was considered by the government last
year which Mr. Traxler originated and which was
regarded with considerable favor by. the Federal
authorities and men of affairs who considered it.
It left the r-ate-making power with the railroads
and devolved upon them the burden of proof,
while avoiding any ground for basing a charge
that the commission is combining judicial and
legislative functions or that a special tribunal has
been created for a special industry. Mr. Traxler
is the author of several books which have re
ceived the "commendation of recognized legal au
thorities. His "Annotated Lien Laws of Minne
sota," published in 1890, has been indorsed by the
justices of the state supreme court and leading
members of the bar and by the dean of the law
department of the state university, where it is
used as a text book. His treatise on the "Law
of Mechanics' Liens of Iowa," also has the unani
mous indorsement of the members of the Iowa
supreme court. In 1907 Mr. Traxler was ap
pointed by the Minnesota supreme court as one
of the six members of the state board of law ex
aminers and assumed the duties of his office on
May 1 of that year. Mr. Traxler was married in
1886 to Mary Comstock, daughter of Col. A. W.
Comstock, of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. To them
have been born three children—Marian Avery,
Hazel Alice and John Austin.
TRYON, Charles John, a Minneapolis attorney
in active practice in the firm of Tryon and Booth,
was born September 8, 1859, at Batavia, New York.
He is the son of A. D., and Amanda H. Tryon,
and both parents were of English colonial an
cestry, the New York branch of the family hav
ing migrated from Connecticut—-the original
hgrne of the first settlers—and established them
selves in New York early, in that state's history
The father was a druggist and book seller in pros
perous circumstances and the son after an early
education in the common schools of Batavia,
175
went to Columbian University, Washington, D.
C., for his law course. Soon after graduation,
he came to Minneapolis, where he has since lived,
and practiced as a lawyer. Mr. Tryon is a re
publican in politics, and a Congregationalist in
church affiliations. He was married June 10, 1901,
to Miss Isabel Gale, the daughter of Harlow
A. Gale, one of the early pioneers of Minneapolis.
He has seven children—three sons and four
daughters.
VAN VALKENBURG, Jesse, was born in
Sharon, New York, on December 31, 1868, and is
of a family whose ancestors took part in the
Revolution. His father, Joseph Van Valkenburg,
was at the time of his son's birth a New York
farmer, but later engaged in business, and is now
retired; his mother was Harriet Seeley Van
Valkenburg. The family moved West and Jesse
grew up at Farmington, Minnesota, attending the
local schools and afterwards taking a course at the
Mankato state normal school. After graduating
at Mankato, he completed his education with
the academic and law courses at the University
of Minnesota, graduating from the former in
1894 a n d the latter in 1895. During the later
years of his university work he was on the staff
•of the'Minneapolis Tribune as a reporter and con
tinued for a short time after graduating, or until
he commenced practice in his chosen profession.
During his ten years' membership in the bar of
the city and state he has made a large acquaint
ance and established a satisfactory practice. " A
republican in politics, he has not taken a poli
tician's part in party affairs, but has been inter
ested in civic betterments and good government.
He is a member of the Masonic order and of
the society of the Sons of the American Revolu
tion. Mr. Van Valkenburg is married and has
three children. The family attend the Congre
gational church.
VANDERBURGH, Charles Edwin, better,
known as Judge Vanderburgh, an early settler
of St. Anthony and the first judge of the dis
trict bench from this district, was born on De
cember 2, 1829, at Clifton Park, Saratoga county,
New York. His ancestors came to this country
from Holland before the Revolution, his grand
father fought under the flag of the United Col
onies and shortly after the close of the war
settled in Saratoga county, where the father of
Charles Edwin, Stephen Vanderburgh, was born.
Charles Edwin received his grammar education
in the district school, later taking a preparatory
course in Cortland Academy at Homer, New
York, and entering Yale College in 1849 with
the class of 1852. He graduated in the latter
year and soon after commenced his legal studies
with Henry R. Mygatt, an eminent lawyer of
his day, at the same time holding the office of
principal at Oxford Academy, Oxford, New
York. Admitted to the bar in 1855, he came to
Minneapolis the following spring, where he soon
formed a partnership with F. R. E. Cornell and
176
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
commenced the practice of law, the firm becom
ing one of the most successful in the state. At
the age of twenty-nine elected judge of the
Fourth Judicial District in 1859, and successively
re-elected, Judge Vanderburgh dispensed justice
in the territory embracing everything north and
west of Minneapolis for twenty years, driving
over a large part of the circuit. In a day when
the jurisprudence of Minnesota was but slightly
developed, his excellent training and sound judg
ment blazed out the way of interpretation which
other courts followed. In 1881, he was elected
to the supreme bench, the death of Judge Cor
nell having left a vacancy, and served until the
expiration of his last term in 1894. Probably his
most famous decision was that rendered while on
the district bench in i860, in the case of Eliza
Winston, a slave woman brought by her owner,
Colonel Christmas, from Mississippi to this state
and taken before Judge Vanderburgh on a writ
of habeas corpus. He decided that slavery was
a local institution, and that a slave brought into
a free state by its owner became free. This
made the woman free to leave her former owner
and with the aid of a party of abolitionists she
evaded a forcible attempt at recapture and
escaped into Canada. His supreme court de
cisions were distinguished by strong common '
sense, thorough investigation and conciseness.
A former associate said of him, "The fidelity and
painstaking care with which he discharged judi
cial duties, may be likened to that which a
sculptor bestows in chiseling the form and face
of a statue, anxious always, that no fault or flaw
should be revealed in the finished work." When
it is remembered that Minnesota had only 150,000
people when he went on the bench and had
grown to a million and a half when he left it,
it will be seen that he was an influential factor
in the determination of most of the important
litigation that has occurred in the state. On his
retirement from the bench, he entered into the
general practice of law, took an active part in
the political campaign of 1896 and presided at
the first meeting held by W. J. Bryan, in Min
neapolis. With his family he attended the First
Presbyterian Church of this city and for many
years was an elder and the superintendent of the
Sabbath school. He was married to Miss Julia
M. Mygatt of Oxford, New York, on September
2, 1857, and they had two children, W. H. Van
derburgh, now a practicing attorney in Minne
apolis, and Julia M. Vanderburgh, who was
drowned in 1871. After the death of his first
wife in 1863 Judge Vanderburgh was again mar
ried to Miss Anna Culbert of Fulton county,
New York. One daughter, Isabella, was born,
who died in 1893. Judge Vanderburgh died in
March, 1898, at the age of sixty-eight years.
^VILSON, George Potter, son of Samuel and
Elizabeth Wilson, was born at Lewisburgh,
Pennsylvania, January 19, 1840. His father was
a farmer of Scotch-Irish descent; his mother of
wzsm.
6WEET, PHOTO
GEORGE T. AVILSON.
German descent. The father served in the war
of 1812. The subject of this sketch was a boy
when his parents died. He remained at Lewis
burgh until he was eighteen years old and at
tended the Lewisburgh (now Bucknell) Uni
versity during the last two years of his residence
there. He then attended the Wesleyan Univer
sity at Delaware, Ohio, for two years and in
i860 he removed to Winona, Minnesota, where he
studied law in the office of Lewis & Simpson and
was admitted to the bar in the fall of 1862. He
practiced his profession at Winona as a member
of the firm of Simpson & Wilson until October,
1878. Meantime he was elected, and served for six
years, or three terms, as county attorney of Wino
na County. He was elected to the lower house of
the legislature in November, 1872, and was elected
Attorney General of the state of Minnesota in
November, 1873, and was twic«e reelected, his last
term ending on January 1, 1880. Mr. Wilson then
removed to Fargo, North Dakota, and practiced
law under the firm name of Wilson & Ball until
July, 1887, coming then to Minneapolis, where he
has since remained in the practice of his profes
sion. He was elected to the state senate from
the Forty-first District in 1898, and re-elected in
1902. Among the distinctions which have marked
the career of Mr. Wilson, he was appointed by
President Grant, in 1871, one of the government
commissioners on the Southern Pacific Railroad,
....
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178
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
the construction of which had just commenced
from San Francisco south and east. The com
missioners inspected the work from San Fran
cisco to Gilroy, eighty miles. Mr. Wilson was
one of the counsel for the state of Minnesota in
that celebrated case. The State of Minnesota
against The Northern Securities Company, on
each side of which the strongest legal talent was
engaged. Mr. Wilson is a member of the Metho
dist Episcopal church. He was.married in Sep
tember, 1866, to Ada H. Harrington of Winona,
and they have had three children, Jessie M., mar
ried to W. R. Sweatt: Walter H., and Wirt, all
of whom reside in Minneapolis.
WILLIAMSON, James Franklin, was born in
the town of Osborn, near Dayton, Ohio, on Jan
uary 9, 1853. His grandfather, James W. Will
iamson, was one of the pioneer settlers of Ohio.
James Franklin is the son of George C. and Sarah
A. Williamson, being of - Scotch-Irish descent
upon his father's side and German descent on his
mother's side. He was educated at the public
schools and Princeton University, graduating
from the latter in 1877 with the degree of A. B.
and receiving therefrom the degree of Ph. D. in
1879, on examination for post graduate work.
He studied law in the office of ex-Governor
George Hoadly, at Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1881 he
came to Minneapolis, here continuing his studies
with the law firm of Lochren, McNair & Gil-
FREDERICIC B. WRIGHT.
fillan, and in November of the same year was
admitted to the bar. He accepted an appoint
ment, in the fall of 1881, as an examiner in the
United States Patent Office, remaining about two
years. He resigned from government service in
1885, a °d opened a law office in this city, making
a specialty of patent and trade-mark law and
soliciting. He has since been continuously en
gaged with that branch of legal work, and has
a well-established practice in the United States
courts and before the Patent Office. After prac
ticing alone in this city for fifteen years, Mr.
Williamson, in 1900, took into partnership Mr.
Frank D. Merchant, under the firm name of
Williamson & Merchant. This association still ex
ists, and the firm has built up a most success
ful business, numbering among its clients not
only prominent corporations in the Northwest,
but some of national repute in other sections
On June 9, 1896, Mr. Williamson was married to
Miss Emma F. Elmore, and they have two chil
dren, both sons. Mr. Williamson is a member
of the leading business and social organizations
of the city, including the Minneapolis Club and
Commercial Club of this city, and is also a mem
ber of the University Club of New York City.
WRIGHT, Fred B., was born January 17,
1856, in Coos county, New Hampshire. His father,
Beriah Wright, was a farmer of moderate means
directly descended from Beriah Wright who had a
part in the war of 1812 as a captain in the army
of the United States. The family have had dis
tinguished representation in the legal and med
ical professions in both the East and the West,
and have been eminently successful in agricul
tural and commercial life. Fred B., after a good
district school education, entered the St. Johnsbury Academy at St. Johnsbury, Vermont, from
which he graduated in 1878 and, after teaching
school for a time, he began to read law in the
office of George A. Bingham at Littleton, New
Hampshire; and later completed his studies at
the Boston Law School. In 1883 Mr. Wright
came to Minneapolis and began, here, the prac
tice of his profession. He has continuously prac
ticed here since that time and been eminently
successful in his professional career. In politics
he is a republican and is active in the work of
the State League of Republican Clubs, of which
he was president for two years. He was elected
to the state legislature in 1906 from the Fortieth
District which is identical with the Fourth Ward
of Minneapolis and during the session of 1907
was a member of many important committees
and chairman of the committee of drainage. In
response to the pressing demand for a revision
and extension of the drainage laws, Mr. Wright
revised and rewrote the old drainage laws with
the view to making them meet the present de
mand of the state. This work was done so thor
oughly that the result brought him warmest com
mendation and it is conceded that Minnesota now
has the best system of drainage laws of any state
180
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
in the Union. Mr. Wright is a high degree Ma
son and is a member of the Minneapolis No. 19
Blue Lodge, St. John's Chapter No. 9, Zion Commandery No. 2, Knights Templars, and Zuhrah
Temple. On August 27, 1884, he was married to
Helen M. Conant, of Greensboro, Vermont, and
they have four children—Ralph C., Fred B., Jr.,
Barbara Helen, and Donald Orr.
WAITE, Edward Foote, judge of the munic
ipal court of Minneapolis, was born on January
15, i860, in Norwich, New York, the son of John
Waite and Betsey N. Foote. His father was a
lawyer and his ancestors on both sides of the
family were among the early settlers of New
England. Judge Waite's early life was spent at
Norwich and in that vicinity, where he obtained
his earlier schooling and prepared for college.
He entered Colgate University at Hamilton, New
York, and graduated with the degree of A. B.
in the class of 1880. His professional education
was obtained at the Columbian (now George
Washington) University Law School at Wash
ington, D. C., from which he was graduated in
1883 with the degree of LL. B. and from which
he received his LL. M. in 1884. Judge Waite
did not engage in practice at once. He had been,
during his law studies, a clerk in the United States
Pension Department at Washington, and con
tinued in the service of the pension department,
serving as special examiner at various points, the
last being Minneapolis, where he was stationed
from 1888 to 1897.
In the latter year Judge
Waite withdrew from the public service and com
menced the practice of law. He was for some
time associated with the late Judge A. H. Young,
who had served upon the district bench in Min
neapolis for many years. In 1901 Mr. Waite was
made assistant city attorney of Minneapolis and
in August, 1902, was appointed Superintendent of
Police by Mayor David P. Jones, who had come
into office upon the retirement of Mayor A. A.
Ames. The appointment of Judge Waite as
superintendent of police was for the avowed
purpose of complete reorganization and rehabilita
tion of the police force of the city and for the
absolute suppression of various forms of vice and
crime which had been given free rein. This
work was accomplished in a few months and when
Supt. Waite retired from the position on Jan
uary 1, 1903, the police force was thoroughly re
organized on a basis of independence, complete
protection to the public and no protection to law
breakers. This reorganization was a remarkable
demonstration of the possibilities of the police
department when handled solely for the main
tenance of law and order. In December, 1904,
Judge Waite was appointed to the municipal
bench by Governor Van Sant to fill an unex
pired term and in November, 1906, he was regu
larly elected for the six years' term. Judge Waite
is a republican in party affiliations though quite
independent in local affairs. He takes an active
part in all questions of good government and
improvement of municipal conditions in all ways
and in philanthropic and charitable movements.
Since he has been on the municipal bench this
court has inaugurated a system of parole under
suspended sentences for minor offences, which
has been practically successful in effecting ref
ormation in many cases. Judge Waite is a
member of Plymouth Congregational Church.
He was married May 5, 1892, to Miss. Alice M.
Eaton, at Brooklyn, New York. They have had
one son, Bradford, who died in infancy.
YALE, Washington, Jr., was born January 7,
1875, at Norwalk, Huron county, Ohio. His
father, Charles W. Yale, a descendant of Thomas
Yale, (a brother of Elihu Yale, from whom Yale
University derived its name) is a capitalist.
Washington Yale lived in Ohio until he was
thirteen years old, then came to Minneapolis and
lived with his great-uncle, Washington Yale, for
whom he was named. He attended the Central
high school, later the Engineering school of the
state university, and finally the Law school, from
which he graduated with the class of 1898 and
was then admitted to the bar. Mr. Yale's prac
tice has had to do chiefly with commercial and
real estate law, including the care of property
for both residents and non-residents. During the
last three years and at the present time, he has
given considerable attention to the erection of
modern homes for rental purposes. During his
senior year in college, he was Major of the Uni
versity Cadet Corps. A republican, Mr. Yale
has been a member of the Roosevelt Club during
the last two campaigns. He is also a member of
the Minneapolis Commercial Club, an honorary
member of "Scabbard and Blade," the University
military society, and a very active member of
Plymouth Congregational Church, being secretary
of the society and recently a member and chair
man of the board of directors of Drummond Hall,
one of its missions. He was also a charter mem
ber and first secretary and treasurer of Plymouth
Club. He married May Wilman Emery, of Waltham, Massachusetts, October 25, 1899.
CHAPTER XIII.
MEDICINE
T
HE history of the practice of meclicine in any city is largely told in the
lives of the individual members of
the profession, and this is true of Minneapolis. For more than fifty years Minneapolis has demanded and received medical treatment of the highest order and
from the very beginning the standard of
professional life has been very high and
the medical profession has numbered among
its members physicians who have ranked
with the foremost in the country. The
first physician of the regular school of medicine to arrive in St. Anthony was Dr. J.
H. Murphy who came in 1850 and was then
just twenty-four years of age and a recent
graduate of Rush Medical College. He became one of the most distinguished physicians in the state and gave to the early
settlement a high standard in matters medical. Dr. A. E. Ames came in 1851. He
was also a graduate of Rush but had had
several years' experience. After a short
time these two physicians entered into partnership and they both took a very active
part in the affairs of the two villages at St.
Anthony Falls. Dr. Ames moved across
the river to Minneapolis and was frequently
called upon to serve the city in public office.
Dr. Ira Kingsley and Dr. Hezekiah Fletcher
also arrived at the Falls in 1851. Dr.
Fletcher was a prominent citizen of the old
Minneapolis but is not included in early
lists of practicing physicians. Another
physician to arrive in very early times was
Dr. A. E. Johnson who came in 1853 and
became a partner of Dr. C. W. Le Boutillier. The latter died in 1863 but Dr. Johnson remained to become the veteran of the
profession in the city. Dr. C. L. Anderson
arrived in 1854, Dr. Adolph Ortman in 1857.
Dr. Ortman also proved to be a permanent
resident of the city, living for many years
in St. Anthony as a successful practitioner,
Dr. J. S. Elliot who became a most distinguished citizen settled in Minneapolis in
1854. Dr. W. H. Leonard came in 1855
and Dr. J. J. Linn in 1857. AIL these remained long in practice and became well
known in the community. A list of physicians of all schools practicing at the Falls
at the close of 1858, compiled by Colonel
Stevens, includes: Dr. J. H. Murphy, Dr.
A. E. Ames, Dr. M. R. Greeley, Dr. J. S.
Elliott, Dr. W. H. Leonard, Dr. B. Jodon,
Dr. A. Ortman, Dr. W. D. Dibb, Dr. C. W.
Le Boutillier, Dr. C. L. Anderson, Dr. P. L.
Hatch, Dr. J. B. Sabine, and Dr. Simon
French Rankin.
As the number of physicians increased
the exact date of their arrival in the city
became of less importance but it is interesting to group the following men who joined
the ranks of the profession in the city between i860 and 1880: Drs. N. B. Hill, A.
H. Lindley, C. G. Goodrich, H. H. Kimball,
R. S. McMurdy, O. J. Evans, Edwin
Phillips, E. H. Stockton, Chas. Simpson,
E. J. Kelley, A. W. Abbott, T. F.
Quimby, F. A. Dunsmoor, I. D. Alger, A.
C. Fairbairn, Geo. F. French, S. F. Hance,
J. W. Murray, A. E. Hutchins, A. H.
Salisbury and C. L. Wells. Of the foregoing Drs. Hill and Lindley were among
the earliest arrivals (coming in 1861) and
became the most prominent physicians in
the city for a time. They were both men
of high professional attainments, broad culture and eminent public spirit. Of those
commencing practice here previous to 1870,
Dr. Leonard, Dr. Kimball and Dr. Phillips
are the only ones still in active practice at
the present time.
The early medical men of Minneapolis
shared with their brethren of other new
communities the difficulties of pioneer prac-
182
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
MINNESOTA COLLEGE HOSPITAL.
This building was originally the Winslow House and
a famous hotel in the days before the war.
was
tice. Fifty years ago Minneapolis physi
cians were not called to as great distances
as their successors of today but a call from
an isolated farm or lumber camp, if not
more than twenty or thirty miles away from
town, still meant infinitely more difficulty
and hardship for the doctor than a call from
a point hundreds of miles distant at the
present day.' In the absence of all means
of transportation except that afforded by
a horse and buggy, without any of the mod
ern inventions—mechanical or remedial—
which facilitate the work of the physician,,
the doctors of a half century ago found the
practice of medicine a very strenuous occu
pation. The Minneapolis pioneer physi
cians were, however, the kind of men to
whom difficulties meant no more than did
the difficulties of business to their fellow
townsmen. With few exceptions they seem
to have done their work well, maintained
the standards of their profession and at the
same time to have taken an active and effi
cient part in the organization of the young
community. Very early they realized the
advantages of organization for themselves
and the present Hennepin County Medical
Society grew out of the St. Anthony and
Minneapolis Union Medical Society organ
ized in 1855 at the residence of Dr. A. E.
Ames at Eighth avenue south and Fourth
street. Dr. Ames was president and Dr.
Wheelock, secretary. The society was re
organized in 1870 under its present name
with Dr. Ames again as president and since
that time it has taken a very prominent part
in the life of the profession and has been
most influential in maintaining standards
and securing reforms when necessary.
Among its executive officers have been:
Drs. C. G. Goodrich, Edwin Phillips, A. H.
Lindley, E. J. Brown, Wm. Asbury Hall,
L. A. Nippert, H. R. Sweetzer, A. W. Ab
bott, J. W. Bell, C. H. Hunter, D. O. Thom
as, Frank C. Todd, and F. A. Knights.
The society has brought together a large
medical library and maintains rooms in the
Donaldson building, where its semi-monthly
meetings are held. Of later organizations
the Society of Physicians and Surgeons was
active from 1882 for several years but dis
continued upon the organization of the Min
nesota Academy of Medicine in which Min
neapolis physicians have taken a leading
part. The Minneapolis Medical Club was
organized a few years ago and numbers in
its membership many of the younger phy
sicians of the city. It meets monthly at
the court house. Its presidents have been
Drs. Lester W. Day, George D. Haggard,
J. C., Litzenberg, A. T. Mann and R. E.
Farr.
J. H. MURPHY, M.
D.
MEDICINE
Until 1881 Minneapolis had no medical
schools but Dr. F. A. Dunsmoor had ad'
vocated the establishment of a college and
to his earnest work was due the organiza
tion in that year, of the Minnesota College
Hospital with a board of directors composed
of Thomas Lowry, president and Drs.
George F. French, A. W. Abbott, and C.
H. Hunter and Judge C. E. Vanderburgh.
Dr. Dunsmoor became dean. The old
Winslow House was secured and was oc-
183
lege of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery
and the College of Dentistry. Into these
colleges were merged the Hospital College
including its dental division, the St. Paul
Medical College and the Minnesota Home
opathic Medical College, the officers of all
these institutions joining in urging the de
sirability of this consolidation and tender
ing the use of their several properties with
out charge to the state. From this begin
ning has grown the medical department of
MILLARD HALL.
One of the group of medical buildings at the University of Minnesota.
cupied for four years, or until the comple
tion of a college building at Ninth avenue
south and Fifth street. At the time of the
removal to this building the institution was
reorganized, dropping the hospital feature
and assuming the name of the Hospital
College, while a free dispensary was added.
The first faculty of the Department of
Medicine of the University of Minnesota
was appointed in 1883 but for five years con
fined itself to the examination of candidates
for degrees and the general duties of a state
board of medical examiners under the pro
visions of a state law of 1883. In 1888 the
department was reorganized as a teaching
school of medicine with three colleges: The
College of Medicine and Surgery, the Col-
the university—now one of the leading
medical schools of the country. After a
few years buildings began to appear upon
the campus and the scattered quarters were
permanently abandoned.
A College of
Pharmacy was added in 1891 and the four
colleges are now housed in five buildings,
Millard Hall, the laboratory of medical
sciences, the laboratory of chemistry, the
laboratory of anatomy and the institute of
public health and pathology. In the latter
building is a very complete museum and a
technical library. The officers of the sev
eral colleges are: Frank Fairchild Wesbrook, M. A., M. D., C. M., Dean of the Col
lege of Medicine and Surgery; Eugene L.
Mann, B. A., M. D., Dean of the College of
184
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
3
A. II. LINDLKY, M. I).
Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery; Al
fred Owre, D. M. D., M. D., Dean of the
College of Dentistry, and Frederick J. Wulling, Phm. D., LL. M., Dean of the College
of Pharmacy.
The statement that the Minnesota Home
opathic Medical College was merged in the
department of medicine at the university,
calls for an account of the origin of this
institution. The practice of Homeopathy
in Minneapolis dates from 1856 when Dr.
William A. Penniman came here from Al
bany, New York. He was a graduate of
Brown University and of Jefferson Medical
College and while practicing in Pittsburg
changed to the homeopathic school. He
was the first president of the Minnesota
State Medical Institute—the first Home
opathic medical society in the state. In
1858 Dr. Philo L. Hatch, a graduate of the
Homeopathic Hospital and College of
Cleveland, visited Minneapolis and was so
pleased with the place that he made it his
home and became a prominent physician as
well as a leading citizen and an ornitholog
ist of repute. Dr. William H. Leonard, who
had been a practicing physician in the city
since 1855, determined, in i860, to embrace
the doctrines of Hahnemann and took his
place in the homeopathic school. He is the
oldest living practitioner in the city and is
held in the highest respect by physicians
of all schools as well as by the people of
the city who have known his fifty years of
devoted service. The year 1866 brought
Drs. T. R. Huntington and David M. Good
win; the year 1870 Dr. Otis M. Humphrey.
Other physicians began practice here in this
order; Dr. Adele S. Hutchison, 1877; Drs.
A. E. Higbee and John A. Steele in 1878;
Dr. W. D. Lawrence, 1879; Drs. John F.
Beaumont, W111. E. Leonard, and S. M.
Spaulding in 1880; Dr. H. W. Brazie in
1881 ; Drs. George F. Roberts and George
E. Dennis in 1884; Dr. Henry C. Aldrich
in 1887. In 1872, through the efforts of Drs.
W. H. Leonard and D. M. Goodwin, the
Hahnemann Medical Society of Hennepin
County was organized and for some years
did very effective work in the promotion of
the interests of homeopathy. Among other
things accomplished was the establishment
of the Homeopathic Free Dispensary. The
society was renamed and reorganized in
1891 as the Minneapolis Homeopathic Med
ical Society with Dr. George F. Roberts as
president. Dr. H. C. Aldrich, Dr. A. S.
Wilcox, Dr. G. E. Dennis and Dr. H. H.
Leavitt have been among the later presi
dents of the club. The promoters of this
organization were also active in the found
ing of the Homeopathic Hospital and took
a prominent part in the agitation which fin-
SWEET COLLECTION
ST. BARNABAS HOSPITAL.
MEDICINE
ally led to the organization of the Minne
sota Homeopathic Medical College which
was incorporated early in 1886 and began
college work in the following autumn. Dr.
P. L. Hatch was dean, assisted by a strong
faculty, many of whose members became
professors in the new College of Homeoathic Medicine and Surgery at the univer
sity upon the consolidation of 1888. In this
college, as in the others in the department,
the standards are equal to the highest
among the schools of the country.
185
medical profession and developed in the
last forty years. It was organized in 1870
as the Cottage Hospital largely through the
influence of Bishop Knickerbacker. It
was first located at Washington and Ninth
avenues north but in 1881 was removed to
Ninth avenue south and Sixth street and
given its present name. In later years the
buildings have been greatly extended and
the hospital very thoroughly equipped. St.
Barnabas has always been under the control
of the Episcopal denomination and has on
FROM THE SWEET COLLECTION
THE MINNEAPOLIS CITY HOSPITAL.
In 1883 the Minneapolis College of Physi
cians and Surgeons was organized with
Dr. Edwin Phillips, president and Dr. J. T.
Moore, dean of the faculty. In 1895 it was
made the medical department of Hamline
University though maintaining its own
building at Fifth street and Seventh avenue
south in Minneapolis. It continued as a
successful medical school, until 1908 when
it was merged in the medical department
of the university, the members of its faculty
generally becoming professors in the con
solidated college.
HOSPITALS AND DISPENSARIES.
St. Barnabas Hospital was the first of
the group of institutions fostered by the
its staff a number of the leading physicians
of the city.
The Minneapolis Free Dispensary was
established in 1878 by C. A. Pillsbury, Geo.
A. Brackett, C. M. Loring, A. B. Barton
and E. S. Jones. It did excellent work un
til 1882 when it was merged into the Minne
sota College Hospital which had been estab
lished in 1881 through the efforts of Dr. F.
A. Dunsmoor. The College Hospital as
its name implies combined educational pur
poses with hospital service and is referred
to under the subject of medical education.
In 1882 the Northwestern Hospital was
organized and in 1887 removed from tem
porary quarters to its present location on
186
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Swedish. Hospital was founded in 1898 and
in 1902 occupied its own building at Tenth
avenue so.uth and Eighth street. The
Homeopathic Hospital was incorporated in
1881 but was not opened until January 1883.
In 1884 it moved to Fourth avenue south
and Twenty-fifth street where it continued
in successful operation for some years.
Maternity Hospital was founded in 1886
through the efforts of Dr. Martha G. Ripley
and is the only hospital in the city or state
.devoted entirely to the care of women dur
ing confinement. Its work is largely charit
able and has interested many women, who
in fact make up its entire board of officers
and directors. It occupies a building at
2201 Western avenue. Dr. Ripley has al
ways been physician in charge. There are
various other hospitals and homes in the
city, ranging from the fully equipped hos
pital to the charitable home where med
ical treatment is merely incidental. The
physicians of the city have taken a very
large part in the promotion and conduct
of these institutions and have given very
X. B. Ill M., M. D.
Chicago avenue and Twenty-seventh street.
The lots were the gift of L. M. Stewart and
$20,000 of the building fund was contrib
uted by Mrs. Jane T. Harrison. St. Mary's
Hospital, one of the best equipped institu
tions in the city was established in 1888 by
Hishop Ireland and has been under the
charge of the Sisters of St. Joseph, having
011 its staff many prominent physicians.
The Minneapolis City Hospital was not
opened until 1888 when it occupied tempo
rary quarters at Eighth street and Eleventh
avenue south. The present City Hospital
building was commenced some years later.
The management was at first vested in the
council committee on health and hospitals
but was later transferred to the board of
charities and corrections. Asbury Metho
dist Hospital was organized in 1892 occupy
ing first the.building vacated by the Minne
sota College Hospital at Ninth avenue south
and Sixth street and only recently moving
to its own building at Fourteenth street and
Ninth avenue south. It is under the direc
tion of the Methodist denomination. The
ASA E. JOHNSON, M. D.
MEDICINE
freely of their time and professional abil
ities to the inmates.
In public service the physicians of the
city have always been active and loyal.
Much interest was taken in the organization
of the department of health immediately
upon the incorporation of the city in 1867.
The first "sanitary committee" as it was
styled, consisted of Drs. A. E. Ames, N. B.
Hill and A. H. Lindley, the latter being
health officer. After serving two terms Dr.
Lindley gave place to Dr. Leonard who in
turn was succeeded by Dr. Charles Simpson.
These men set the pace for later administra
tion of the department. There have been
few serious epidemics and these have in the
main been very well handled. I11 1889 the
health department was reorganized under a
special law and its work broadened to cover
the necessities of a large city. The health
officers have been these: 1867-68, Dr. A. H.
Lindley; 1869-71, Dr. W. H. Leonard; 187275, Dr. Chas. Simpson; 1876, Dr. G. F.
Townsend; 1877, Dr. A. A. Ames; 1878, Dr.
O. J. Evans; 1879-80, Dr. A. H. Salisbury;
1881, Dr. O. J. Evans; 1882-3, Dr. J. Cockburn; 1884-87, Dr. T. F. Quimby; 1888-90,
Dr. S. S. Kilvington; 1891-92, Dr. E. S.
Kelley; 1895, Dr. H. N. Avery; 1899, Dr.
A. K. Norton; 1901-08, Dr. P. M. Hall.
The city physicians have been, Dr. S.
M. Spaulding, 1880-1; Dr. J. C. Cockburn, 1881-2; Dr. A. B. Cates, 1883-4; Dr.
C. T. Drew, 1884-5; Dr. S. H. Van Cleve,
1885-6-7; Dr. James H. Dunn, 1887-8; Dr.
C. A. Chase, 1889-92; Dr. Charles G. Wes
ton, 1893-98; Dr. W. J. Byrnes, 1899-1900;
Dr. Henry S. Nelson, 1901-2; Dr. George
E. Ricker, 190^-4; Dr. E. H. Beckmaii, ico^7; Dr. P. M. Holl, 1908. '
Among the coroners of Hennepin county
have been Drs. -A. C. Fairbairn, R. J. Hill,
Frank E. Towers, Wm. J. Byrnes, W. P.
Spring, J. M. Kistler, George E. Dennis,
Henry S. Nelson and U. G. Williams.
ABBOTT, Amos Wilson, for many years a
prominent surgeon of Minneapolis, was born at
Ahmednuggur, India, on January 6, 1844, the son
of Amos and Anstice (Wilson) Abbott. He was
educated at the Phillips Academy, Andover, Mas
sachusetts, at Dartmouth College and at the Col
lege of Physicians and Surgeons at New York.
He served in the Union army during the Civil
war as a member of Company C, Sixteenth New
187
Hampshire Volunteer Infantry. In 1869 he com
menced practice. For many years he has resided
at 21 South Tenth street where he still maintains
his office and in • 1902 he established a private
hospital at 10 East Seventeenth street, of which
he is surgeon in chief. He is a member of the
American Medical Association, Minnesota State
Medical Association, Minnesota Academy of
Medicine, and the Hennepin County Medical So
ciety. Dr. Abbott was married on August 19,
1880, at Delhi, New York, to Miss Helen G.
Wright. '
•
:
ALGER, Edmund Whitney, son of Isaac D.
and Ellen' Whitney Alger was born in Minne
apolis, July 13, 1877. His father is a physician
of distinction who settled in Minneapolis in 1874
and was recognized as an expert in gynecology.
The family are descended from oae of the early
colonists of Massachusetts, a branch of the Algers
settling in Vermont, whence Dr. Isaac Daniel
Alger came to Minneapolis. The son, after at
tending the public schools of Minneapolis and
graduating at the East Side high school, in
stinctively followed the professional tendencies
of his forebears, many of whom were noted phy
sicians, and graduated from the medical depart
ment of the state university with the degree M.
D. in 1902, and is engaged in the practice of his
profession. Dr. Alger is a member of the East
Side Commercial Club and of the Hennepin Coun
ty Medical Society and of the Minneapolis Medi
cal Club.
ALGER, Isaac Daniel, for more than thirty
years a practicing physician of this city, was born
at Morristown, Vermont, on March 16, 1844. He
is the son of Dr. Isaac Smith Alger, a native of
Strafford, Vermont, born in 1802, who lived for
most of his life and practiced his profession of
medicine at Williston, Vermont. His health failed
when he was twenty-one years old, and for five
years he lived on the sea returning to Stowe
where he remained till he was forty-two years
old, when he moved to Williston, where he re
sided until he came West. In 1875 he came to
Minneapolis to reside with his son, who had
moved to this city a short time before. Dr. I. D.
Alger's mother was the widow of Daniel Robin
son, her maiden name being Priscella Churchill
Lathrop, born at Stowe, Vermont, on May 22,
1800. The ancestry of the family seems to have
been originally French, as a, distinguished eccle
siastic of Liege bore the name in the early part
of the twelfth century. The name is a rather
unusual one in this country and the first record
of it is that of Andrew Alger, of Scarborough;
Massachusetts, who settled in this country in
1651. There is also record of a Thomas Alger
who resided in Taunton, Massachusetts, about
1665, and although the genealogical connection
has been lost it is probable that the Algers of
Vermont are descended from these early settlers.
While he was still a child Dr. Alger's family
moved to Williston, Vermont, where he was
188
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
raised and received his academic training at the
BECK, James Flournoy, physician in general
YVilliston Academy. He took a course of medical
practice, was born at Dubuque, Iowa, April 21,
study under his father and then attended Burling1871. Dr. Beck is of Kentucky ancestry and
ton College for two years. He took a final course
Revolutionary descent. His parents went from
at Harvard University and there received his M.
Kentucky to Iowa about the time of the Civil
D. degree in 1864. After his graduation he immeWar period and Dr. Beck received his elediately went to Stowe, Lamoille county, Vermont,
mentary and common school education in the
where he practiced for four years. He then leschools of Dubuque, where he lived until he was
turned to his native town and forming a partner- fifteen
years of age. He then took the academic
ship with his father practiced there until 1874,
course at Princeton University in the class of
when he came to Minneapolis. He* has followed
1894, but left a year before graduation to study
his profession in this city continuously since that
medicine. He entered the medical department
time and for many years has had a large and
of the University of Minnesota in January, 1893,
satisfactory practice. Shortly after he had moved
graduating in 1896. During the next year he was
to Minneapolis Dr. Alger returned to his home
house surgeon at the Minneapolis City Hospital
state and on February 10, 1875, was married to
and for the six years following he was upon the
Miss Ellen Josephine Whitney, the daughter of
medical staff of the same institution. Dr. Beck
Edmund Whitney of Williston, Vermont. On his
belongs to the Minneapolis Medical Club and the
return his father and mother accompanied him
State Medical Society. He is a republican in
and resided with him until their deaths. Dr.
politics, but is not actively interested in political
Alger has one son, Edmund Whitney, born July
affairs. His church relations are Episcopalian.
13, 1877, a graduate of the University of MinneHe was married Feb. 8, 1899, to Katherine Consota, and now a practicing physician of this city.
way, and has one child, a son, born in 1901.
AVERY, Jacob Fowler, was born January 19,
1873, at Poughkeepsie, New York. He is descended from the Groton, Connecticut, branch of
the Averys. His father, Henry Newell Avery,
who married Catherine Sebring Fowler, was a
practicing physician and surgeon, who, at the
time of his death, April 17, 1898, was serving his
second term as commissioner of health of Minneapolis. It was through his influence that the
present system of city milk and dairy inspection
was instituted and put on an efficient basis. Dr.
Avery, senior, came West when his son was six
months old and lived at Winona, Minnesota, and
Galesville, Wisconsin, until 1882 when he moved
to Minneapolis. His son attended the Central
high school, graduating in 1892, had one year of
the scientific course at the state university and
then taught for a year. In '95 he entered the
medical department of the university and graduated in 1899. In 1903 he took a post-graduate
course at the Chicago Polyclinic. During the
summer of 1899 he was senior medical interne at
the City Hospital. In the fall of that year he
went to Virginia, Minnesota, where he formed a
partnership with Drs. J. R. and Cyrus Eby to
conduct a mine-hospital. He was also assistant
surgeon for the D. M. & N. Ry. and health officer
of Virginia. He was assistant surgeon at Aitkin,
Minnesota, for the Northern Pacific Railway for
a year from June 1, 1905, and while there was a
member of the library board. He is a member
of the Aitkin County Medical Society, the Upper
Mississippi Medical Society, the Hennepin County Medical Society, the Minnesota State Medical
Society and the American Medical Association.
Dr. Avery has always been a republican. He is
a member of the Fifth Avenue Congregational
Church. On June 4, 1902, he married Mary Letitia Esmond, formerly of I" ort Wayne, Indiana.
They have one child, John Esmond Avery.
BECKMAN, Emil H„ city physician from
I 9°S» t o January, 1908, was born Februar^
l &7 2 > at Grundy Center, Iowa.
He is
t h e s o n o f E m i l , H - a n d Catherine Beckman, his
father being a well known banker of that locality,
and
w a s educated in the public schools of his
n a t i v e P l a c e u n t i l h e w e n t t o Grinnell College,
From Grinnell he received the degree of Ph. B.
i n i 8 94After a brief experience in banking and
school teaching, in the latter case as principal
^he Stillwater high school, Dr. Beckman came
*°
University of Minnesota for a medical
course, graduating from the medical department
* n I 9° I - An appointment as assistant bacterioloS i s t f o r t h e S t a t e B o a r d o f Health followed gradnation. He held this for four years until his
appointment as city physician in July, 1905. Dr.
Beckman has filled this position with ability and
efficiency. He is secretary of the Minneapolis
Pathological Society as well as a member of the
national, state and county medical associations,
I n politics he is republican, and in religious
f a i t h a Methodist.
On January 1, 1902, Dr. Beckm a n married Miss Jessie Sayre.
He has one
child, a daughter.
BELL, John W., was born in Butler county,
Ohio, March 18, 1853, son of R. J. and Ann Bell,
His father was a farmer and the son was bred to
farm life, receiving his early educational training
in the public schools. With a strong inclination
to professional life he steadily accomplished the
necessary preparatory work and entered the Ohio
Medical College in Cincinnati and graduated in
1876. After a period of postgraduate study in
Germany, Dr. Bell came to Minneapolis and commenced active practice. From 1886 to 1889, he
was professor of the Theory and Practice of
Medicine at the Minnesota Hospital and has been
professor of Physical Diagnosis and Clinical
Medicine at the state university since the opening
MEDICINE
of the Medical Department. He is a visiting
physician at the Northwestern Hospital and con
sulting physician at the City, the Asbury
and Swedish and the St. Mary's hospitals. Dr.
Bell has a very high standing in his profession
and, in private as well as in his hospital practice,
his valuable experience is in demand as consulting
physician. In politics, Dr. Bell is an independent
democrat. He was a member of the State Senate
from 1891 to 1895, a member of the Charter Com
mission, and of the Voters League. Dr. Bell
belongs to the Commercial and Minikahda clubs;
of the professional organizations he is a member
of the Hennepin County Medical Society; of the
State Medical Society; of the Minnesota Academy
.of Medicine and of the American Medical Associa
tion and is an ex-president of the first three. Dr.
Bell is a Universalist in his church affiliations,
and is a member of the Church of the Redeemer.
He was married on November 11, 1890,, to Kate
M. Jones and to them have been born two sons.
BENJAMIN, Arthur Edwin, was born Decem
ber 19, 1868, at Hutchinson,Minnesota, son of John
and Elizabeth Garner Benjamin. His father was
a physician, who practiced his profession in Bos
ton until 1857 and came to Hutchinson in i860.
Both parents were educated in England. Arthur
Edwin was born and brought up on a farm, at
tended the common schools; graduated from the
high school in 1887, and after teaching school two
years, entered the medical department of the
University of Minnesota and graduated in medi
cine in 1892, when he began to practice his pro
fession in Minneapolis. The last three years he
has been limiting his practice to the specialties
of surgery and gynecology. Dr. Benjamin, after
graduation, did excellent service in the medical
department of the state university as clinical as
sistant. He has read numerous papers in surgery
before the various medical societies to which he
belongs and they have been published in different
medical journals throughout the United States.
He is a member of the staffs of the St. Barnabas,
Swedish and City hospitals, Minneapolis, and is
a teacher in clinical gynecology in the college of
medicine and surgery of the University at the
present time. • Dr. Benjamin is a republican in
politics. He was president of the Alumni Asso
ciation of the Medical Department of the State
University in 1904, and is a member of the Amer
ican Medical Association, and of the Minnesota
Medical Association and of the local medical so
cieties. In church relations he is a Congrega
tionalism He was married in 1900 to Blanche
Grimshaw and to them has been born one child
—Edwin G.
BESSESEN, Alfred Nicholas, was born Jannuary 18, 1870, in Freeborn county, Minnesota.
He is the son of John and Delia (Anderson) Bessesen, both natives of Norway. His father, a
jeweler, came to America from Bergen, Norway,
in the year 1867 and his mother came from Telemarken, her native town, in 1850. They settled
189
on a farm in Freeborn county and there Dr.
Bessesen passed the first twelve years of his life.
The family then moved to Albert Lea, Minne
sota, and Dr. Bessesen began his education, grad
uating from the high school of that city. At this
time he attended the Norwegian Lutheran Church
and in connection with it organized a young peo
ples Christian Endeavor society. In 1890 he en
tered the Rush Medical College at Chicago, and
completed his course there in 1893, receiving his
diploma in March. During the last two years
he held the office of president of the Chicago
Intercollegiate Department of the Y. M. C. A.
After his commencement he returned to Minne
apolis and assisted Dr. J. H. Dunn in his prac
tice and was also, during the winter of 1893-94
interne at St. Mary's Hospital. He was appointed
Demonstrator of Anatomy in the Medical Depart
ment of Hamline University and during 1895 and
1896 was professor of histology in the same in
stitution and a year later became a lecturer on
anatomy. Dr. Bessesen is now a surgeon on the
staff of the Norwegian Deaconess Hospital and
also a member of the board of trustees for the
United Church Hospital, which, it is planned,
shall be built in North Minneapolis and of which
he is one of the most active promoters. Dr. Bes
sesen is connected with a number of the fraternal
orders and clubs of the city, being a Mason; the
medical examiner for the Bridal Veil Camp of the
M. W. A.; a member of the Sons of Norway; of
the Minneapolis Amateur Athletic Association
and the Minneapolis and North Side Commercial
clubs. He is also affiliated with the national
state and county medical societies and attends the
United Norwegian Lutheran Church of America.
In politics he is a republican. In 1895 Dr. Bes
sesen was married to Florence Emma Holland
and they have four children—Alfred Nicholas,
Jr., Daniel Holland, Grace Isabelle and Florence
Delia.
BISHOP, Charles Wesley, was born in Mon
treal, Canada, in the year 1874. His father was
George C. Bishop, now retired from active life.
Dr. Bishop's early life was passed in his native
town and he attended the grammar schools of
that town. After finishing , his elementary and
preparatory education, Dr. Bishop graduated from
the medical department of the McGill University,
with the class of 1895. For a year after his grad
uation he continued his studies as interne at the
Asbury Methodist Hospital and during 1897-98-99
held the same position in the Manhattan Hos
pital of the eye, ear, nose and throat. He then
began to practice in Minneapolis, and in 1900
limited his attention to the study and treatment of
the diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat. Dr.
Bishop is a member of the Minnesota State
Medical Society, the Hennepin County Medical
Societv and the Minneapolis Medical Club and
City Hospital staff. He is also connected with
the Commercial and Minikahda Clubs. He was
married on February 20, 1906.
190
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
BLAKE, James Joseph, was born in Ontario,
Canada, April 2, 1872, son of John and MaryBlake. His father was a farmer of Ontario and
like many other young Canadians, he came to the
States to try his fortunes. Settling in Mankato,
he attended the Normal School and graduated
from the advanced course in 1896. He soon after
ward came to Minneapolis and entered the State
University from which he graduated in medicine
in 1901, and, after serving as interne at the Min
neapolis City Hospital for one year, he began
the practice of medicine in West Minneapolis
in 1902. He was married in 1904 (June 21) to
Agnes Catherine Macdonald, of Mankato, and
one child has been born to them.
BOOTH, Albert E., assistant professor of sur
gery in the college of homeopathy of the state
university was born at Patterson, New Jersey,
September 30, 1871. His father, Andrew Booth,
removed to Lawrence, Massachusetts, where Dr.
Booth spent the first eight years of his life. In
1879, the family came to Lyon county, Minnesota,
and settled on a farm, where the district schools
gave the only chance for an education until 1888.
Then as a youth of seventeen, Dr. Booth taught in
the country school for two years; later after grad
uating from Tracy high school he took two years
of scientific training at Hamline University, fol
lowed by the medical course in the College of
Homeopathy of the state university. For a short
time after graduation Dr. Booth was house physi
cian at the City Hospital, then went to Spokane
as a venture, but shortly returned to settle in
Minneapolis. Except for .one year of post
graduate study in New York City he has been in
active practice ever since. He is a member of
several secret societies and college fraternities,
and of the State Institute of Homeopathy, and
the Minneapolis Homeopathic Medical Society
He is also a member of the St. Anthony Com
mercial Club. Dr. Booth is republican in poli
tics. Was married to Nina L, Fritz in 1902 and
has two sons.
BRACKEN, Henry Martyn, (H. M. Bracken)
secretary of the Minnesota State Board of
Health since 1897, and Professor of Materia
Medica and Therapeutics in Minnesota Univer
sity, was born in Noblestown, Pensylvania, Feb
ruary 27, 1854. His father was Dr. Wm. C.
Bracken; his mother, Electa (Alvord) Bracken.
The Brackens and Alvords are of colonial
descent, the Brackens being early settlers
in Delaware—about 1700—and the Alvords
coming to Massachusets about fifty
years
earlier.
Both families have had genealogies
published.
Dr. H. M. Bracken's life is one
of those stories of perseverance against the
odds of circumstance and fortune which have
made the history of the American people so full
of results in nation-building. In his early life
he was given the usual advantages of education
in the common schools of Pennsylvania and
Ohio. At thirteen he entered Eldersridge Acad
emy, a preparatory school conducted by a rela
tive and fitting for Washington and Jefferson
College. Between fourteen and sixteen he studied
with a tutor. At seventeen he taught school in
the summer, but went back to Eldersridge .in
the fall. The death of his father cut 'short his
plans for a Princeton course. He made arrange
ments for study in a physician's office, teaching
school between times. At twenty he was ready
for a year at Michigan University's Medical De
partment. Then he went back to work again,
and at twenty-two was able to give another year
to medical study, this time in the Medical depart
ment of Columbia College, New York City. From
here he graduated in the spring bf '77, spent a
year in post-graduate and hospital work and at
twenty-four was in a Venezuelan gold-mining
camp as surgeon. A few months of this exper
ience enabled him to go to Edinburgh for study.
He received his diploma of Licentiate of the
Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, (L. R. C. S.
E.) in May, 1879, and in the fall of the same year
entered the service of the Mail Steamship Com
pany as surgeon. He returned to the United States
after three years of this work, went into general
practice at Thompson, Conn., where he spent one
and one half years and then again went, as sur
geon, to a gold-mining camp in Mexico, under
the superintendency of a personal friend. He
spent eighteen monfhs in camp, went back to
New York City for a post-graduate course, and
removed to Minneapolis for regular practice in
1885. The Minnesota Hospital College soon after
placed him upon its staff to occupy the chair he
still holds in the state university's medical de
partment. In 1895 Dr. Bracken was appointed on
the State Board of Health, and in 1897 was made
secretary of that body. The demands of this
post and of his university work have almost com
pletely filled his time to the exclusion of general
practice. He has twice been elected as director
of the National Association of the Study and
Prevention of Tuberculosis, his last election hav
ing been made in 1906. Dr. Bracken is also ex-vicepresident of the American Public Health Associa
tion, a member of the American Climatological
Association, and of kindred national and local
health and medical societies. Dr. Bracken has
made a most efficient and vigorous state health
official and has used his long opportunity for in
fluencing civic and state sanitary legislation in a
broad and disinterested way.
He is known
widely as a man who accomplishes things, and
though he has not escaped opposition and criti
cism, he is none the less respected as one who
stands pat to his convictions of public duty. He
is republican in politics and Presbyterian in faith.
He was married February 13, 1884, to Emily
Robinson, of Orange, New Jersey.
BROWN, Edward Josiah, (Dr. Edward J.
Brown) a Minneapolis specialist in diseases of the
eye and ear, was born January 14, 1851. in Bruke,
MEDICINE
Vermont. His father, Ira Brown, also a physi
cian, could trace his lineage back to John Browne,
one of those early Massachusetts settlers who
followed in the wake of the Pilgrims and who
was Governor's assistant from 1636-1653. He
was also a Commissioner of the United Colonies
of New England in the years from 1644-1655.
A farm at Seekonk, Long Island, bought by John
Browne's great-grandson, Samuel, is still a family
possession. Dr. Brown's mother, Emily Clark
Brown, was a descendant of Nathaniel Clarke, a
prosperous citizen of Newburyport, Massachu
setts. Her son went through the frequent youth
ful apprenticeship of the ambitious New England
boy of that day. Between village schools and va
cation farming he progressed to his preparation
for Dartmouth College, from which he graduated
with good standing, and the degree of A. B., in
1874. After two years in the West, spent in
teaching and in business, he went back to Dart
mouth for the medical course. At its close he
took a winter at New York University, and after
a few years of practice in New Hampshire re
moved to Minneapolis, in 1882. Here he at once
identified himself with those phases of medical
practice which call for fearless and vigorous ac
tion in defense of the public health. During his
first six years of Minneapolis practice he became
noted for his connection with reform methods
while upon state and city boards of health. At
the same time he filled the chairs of chemistry
and preventive medicine in the College of Phy
sicians and Surgeons and later held the chair of
deseases of the eye and ear in the same college.
Resolving upon devoting his attention to a special-;
ty he spent a year in study in New York and
Berlin, returning to take up the treatment of eye
and ear diseases. In 1891 he designed an infant
incubator which attracted considerable attention
and has been very successful in results. Dr.
Brown is a member of the State and American
Medical Associations, and of the Hennepin Coun
ty Medical Society of which he was president in
1888. He was married to Mary Peck Fullerton
in 1890 and has six children. Dr. Brown is an
Independent Democrat in his politics. To Con
gregationalism he has always been a loyal ad
herent.
BURTON, Frank, was born on October 2nd,
1853, at Albany, New York. He is of* Dutch
descent, his ancestors having located on the Hud
son with the early settlers from Holland, mem
bers of the family making a home at Albany
when that city was but a colonial village and his
father, grandfather and great-grandfather were
all born and educated in that city. On the ma
ternal side he is of Scotch ancestry, his mother's
father being born in Inverness, a printer by trade
who came when young to America and located
in New York. Frank Burton is the son of
Benjamin Burton and Christina A. (Davidson)
Burton. His father was a stone manufacturer at
Albany where his son passed the early,part of his
191
life and received his education. He attended the
Old Albany Academy and graduated from the
medical department of the Union University in
1879. Following his college work he remained
at Albany, obtaining practice by interne work m
the hospital and instructing in anatomy in his
Alma Mater where he had received an appoint
ment as assistant professor of that subject. Dur
ing this time he was also assistant to Professor
John Swinburne, the noted surgeon who at that
time had so prominent a reputation throughout
the country and for whom the famous Swinburne
Island Hospital in New York was named. In
1881 Dr. Burton had spent months abroad, study
ing in the important medical institutions of Eng
land and Ireland, returning again to Albany,
when he came in 1883 to Minnesota. He was first
located at Detroit in this state, where he prac
ticed until February 1884, when he moved to
Minneapolis. He has since practiced continuously
in this city. He has held during this time numer
ous appointments in addition to his practice. He
was the demonstrator of anatomy in the Minne
sota College Hospital and was later made pro
fessor of that subject. He also taught in the
medical school in what is now the Asbury Hos
pital. For twelve years he was the general sur
geon of the Minneapolis & St. Louis road, until
that office was abolished by a new management.
He was county physician of Hennepin County for
six years and at the present time holds the office
of chief medical inspector of the health depart
ment. He has been on the staff of St. Mary's
Hospital since it was founded and is a staff sur
geon of the City Hospital. His practice has been
confined almost exclusively to surgery, and his
work in that field has been varied and success
ful. He is a member of the Hennepin County
Medical society and the Minnesota State Medi
cal society. Politically he is a republican. Dr.
Burton was married in September 1882 to Miss
Rebecca Knower Palmer, daughter of Erastus
Dow Palmer, the sculptor.
BYRNES, William Joseph, was born in Min
neapolis, January 3, 1859, the son of William
Byrnes and Katherine (Campbell) Byrnes, both
of whom were natives of Ireland. They came to
this country in 1848 settling first in New York
but three years later preempting a claim on the
present site of Minneapolis. William Byrnes
served through the war reaching the rank of
first lieutenant of Company K., 10th Minnesota
Volunteers and in 1866 was elected sheriff of
Hennepin county. He died during his term of
office in November, 1867. His son was educated
in the public schools of Minneapolis and at St.
John's College, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin and
St. John's College, Collegeville, Minnesota. He
graduated from the medical department of the
University of Michigan in 1882 and was at once
appointed assistant house surgeon at the Univer
sity hospital. In 1883 he returned to Minneapolis
and began practice entering the office of Dr.
192
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
Edwin Phillips with whom he was associated for
eleven years. Before he had been at home a year
he was appointed demonstrator of anatomy at the
Minneapolis College of Physicians and Surgeons
with which institution he has since been con
tinuously connected being appointed professor of
anatomy in 1886, professor of surgical -anatomy
and clinical diseases of women in 1895 and pro
fessor of the principles of surgery in .1900. In
1885 Dr. Byrnes visited Europe and spent some
months in study at the principal medical schools
of the old world. He was president of the Hen
nepin County Medical Society in 1889 and in
1893 was appointed to the Minneapolis board of
pension examining surgeoas. He was appointed
county physicial of Hennepin county during the
years 1887 and '88 and from 1890 to '92 was county
coroner. In 1899 Dr. Byrnes was appointed city
physician of Minneapolis, a position which he
held for two years. Dr. Byrnes is a member of
the State and Hennepin County Medical Societies
and of many fraternal organizations including the
A. O. U. W., Royal Arcanum, Military order of
the Loyal Legion, and Brotherhood of Elks. In
political faith he is a democrat. He was married
in 1887 to Miss Josephine Armstrong of Ann
Arbor, Michigan. They have had four children,
Lyle, William, Mortice, and Josephine.
CAMPBELL, Robert Allen, specialist and in
structor in diseases of nose and throat at the
University of Minnesota, was born at Detroit,
Michigan, December 27, 1868. Through his fa
ther, Geo. G. S. Campbell, who was a Michigan
mill-owner, he is descended from the Campbells
of Argy-le, Scotland. His mother, Mary Anscomb
Campbell, was of English ancestry. Dr. Camp
bell's early education was had in the common
schools of Detroit. While still a lad, he came
to Alexandria, Minnesota, where he graduated
ffom the Alexandria high school in the first
graduating class of that institution. He took his
medical training at the University of Minnesota,
receiving his M. D. in 1896, and following this
by post-graduate work in New York. In 1899
and 1900 he was assistant city physician for Min
neapolis. Since then Dr. Campbell has also
served on the medical staff of both the City Hos
pital and Asbury Hospital. He was appointed to
his present position in the university department
of medicine in 1903. Dr. Campbell belongs to the
Minneapolis Medical Club and to the state and
county medical societies. He is a republican and
attends the Episcopal church. He was married
some years ago to Mary S. McKusick, -a grand
daughter of the Hon. Jno. McKusick of Still
water, and has three children—a daughter and
two sons.
CATES, Abraham Barker, son of Charles
Bunker and
Margaret
Baker
Cates, wa c
born on May 12, 1854, at East Vassalboro,
Maine. He was prepared 'or college at Oak
Grove Seminary at Vassalboro, and at Coburn
Classical Institute at Waterville, Maine. From
the latter school he graduated in 1870, and, at
fifteen years of age, he began to teach a district
school and was so engaged for two terms, when
he entered Colby College at Waterville, Maine,
from which he graduated, receiving the A. B.
degree in 1874 and A. M. in 1877. From 1874 to
1877 he was principal of the high school at
Cherryfield, Maine. He graduated M. D. in 1880
from Harvard University Medical Department,
and engaged in postgraduate work at the uni
versities of Berlin and Vienna in 1880 and 1881,
coming in the. fall of 1881 to Minneapolis and
entering upon the practice of his profession. At
the same period he began lecturing on obstetrics
at the Minnesota College Hospital. Ever since
that time he has lectured on obstetrics of which
subject he is professor in the medical and sur
gical department of the State University. Dr.
Cates is also obstetrician to the Northwestern
Hospital and obstetrician and pediatrician to the
Bethany Home. Within two years of his arrival
in Minneapolis Dr. Cates was honored with the
appointment of city physician, an office which he
held during 1883-84. He is a member of the state,
local and national medical societies. Dr. Cates
was married on June 19, 1-889,
Jewett Mills,
Wisconsin, to Abby W. Jewett. They have five
children: Helen, Catherine, Natalie, Abram and
Louise.
CHOWNING, William Mack, is a native of
Illinois, having been born in Millersburg in that •
state on May 10, 1874. His father was John P.
Chowning, a practicing physician; his mother
Florence Chowning. Dr. Chowning passed the
early part of his life and began his schooling in
Illinois. Dr. Chowning completed his prepara
tory training at Knox College, from which he
graduated in 1894 with the degree of B. S. The
next fall he entered Johns Hopkins University
'for one year's study, and there earned his A. B.
degree. Dr. Chowning accepted a position as
instructor of biology and chemistry in the high
school of Warren, Ohio. Later he moved to
Rock Island, Illinois, where he occupied a simi
lar position for a time. In 1901 he graduated
from the University of Minnesota with an M. D.
degree and shortly after began practice in Min
neapolis. Dr. Chowning was for three years,
1901-1904, instructor in the pathological depart
ment of the University of Minnesota, resigning
to devote his time to surgery. He is a member
of the surgical staff of the City Hospital. In
politics he is independent in his views, but be
yond the interest of the private citizen he does
not engage in political matters. He is a member
of the Hennepin County Medical Society; the
Minnesota State Medical Society, the American
Medical Association and the Minneapolis Medi
cal Club. In 1902 Dr. Chowning was married to
Miss Sophie P. Thies, and they have two chil
dren, John Patterson, aged four and a half years,
and Sophie Loraine, two years of age. The fam
ily attends the Episcopal church.
MEDICINE
COOK, Henry Wireman, was born at Balti
more, Maryland, November 8, 1877, and is de
scended from prominent southern colonial families.
His father is Wm. W. L. Cook also a native of Bal
timore, who has retired after an active business
career. Dr. Cook lived in Baltimore during the
early part of his life and there received his pre
paratory training, and later entered the academic
department of Johns Hopkins University, win
ning a valuable scholarship a t ' t h e competitive
entrance examination, and graduating with the
degree of A. B. in 1898. The same year he en
tered the Johns Hopkins Medical School and
graduated in 1902 with an M. D. degree. Upon
the excellence of his record during the four
years he was awarded a position in the Johns
Hopkins Hospital and served his interne service
there as resident medical officer. Later hospital
appointments included services as assistant
resident physician to the Thomas Wilson Sani
tarium for sick children, Maryland, and chief
resident physician of Memorial Hospital, Rich
mond, Virginia. In 1905 he returned to Balti
more to accept a position at the Johns Hopkins
and to practice medicine in association with Dr.
Joseph C. Bloodgood of that city. Dr. Cook has
acted as the referee for the Mutual Life Insur
ance Company of New York in Virginia and had
received special course for this work at the
home office in New York. He has also acted as
examiner for Germania Life, New York Life,
Washington Life, Manhattan Life, Home Life,
Security Trust & Life, Travelers Life, etc., in
Richmond, Baltimore, and Minneapolis. At the
re-organization of the Northwestern National
Life Insurance Company, Dr. Cook was offered
the position of medical director and located in
Minneapolis, January, 1906. Not only has he
been very active as a physician but has also done
considerable original research work and expe
rimenting and is the inventor of Cook's Modified
Rivo Rocco Sphygmomanometer, which he origi
nated in 1902 and which is now extensively used
by physicians both in this country and abroad
for the measurement of the strength of the pulse.
He is a frequent contributor to scientific and
technical journals and is the author of numerous
medical papers, among them, Nitrogen Excre
tion in Pneumonia, published in the Johns Hop
kins Hospital Bulletin in January, 1903; Clinical
Value of Blood Pressure Determinations as a
Guide to Stimulation in Sick Children, which ap
peared in the American Journal of Medical Sci
ences in March, 1903; the Value of Accurate De
termination of Arterial Tension in General
Practice in the Journal of the American Medical
Association on Mav 21, 1903; Arterial Hyper
tension in the same paper on January 28, 1905;
and Cardio Vascular Regulation during Opera
tion, published in the American Journal of Med
ical Sciences in April, 1907. On May 8, 1904,
he read one of the first papers presented before
a public audience in this country on the Pre
193
vention of Tuberculosis, at the meeting of the
Conference of Charities and Corrections at Nor
folk, Virginia. Dr. Cook is a member of the
more important medical societies—The Johns
Hopkins Alumni Association, the American
Medical Association, the Association of Medical
Examiners, of which he was for a time vice
president, the Minnesota Medical Society, the
Hennepin County Medical Society, the Minne
apolis Medical Club, and is a Fellow of the
Medical Society of Virginia. He also belongs to
the Lafayette Club and attends St. Marks Epis
copal Church. In 1906 he was married to Miss
Ellen McCain Davenport, of Richmond, Vir
ginia.
CORBETT, J. Frank, city bacteriologist, was
born at Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, February
16, 1872. His father, W. C. Corbett, was a mer
chant there at that time, but the schooling of Dr.
Corbett was begun in the Minneapolis public
schools, and completed by a three years' course
in the academic department of Minnesota Uni
versity followed by the full medical course. In
his academic years Dr. Corbett was president of
the Engineers Society. After his graduation as
an M. D., in 1896, Dr. Corbett was interne at the
City Hospital for a year. He was appointed pro
fessor of Bacteriology at Hamline University the
following year, which position he held until the
medical department was merged in that of the
University of Minnesota. In the 'latter institu
tion he is assistant professor of surgical pathol
ogy. In 1898 he received his present appoint
ment as city bacteriologist. At that time the
local equipment for his work consisted of one
bare room without any apparatus. Dr. Corbett
at once set to work to establish the municipal
laboratory of Minneapolis upon such a basis that
it should be able to create a national reputation
for scientific results. At present, after a decade
of work he has thoroughly equipped a suite of
rooms in the Court House, with complete appara
tus, and is still working toward his ideal of
municipal sanitation. Dr. Corbett is a member
of the American Public Health Association, the
Minneapolis Pathological Association, and the
state and county medical bodies. He is also
pathologist and bacteriologist at the city hospital.
In 1898 he was married to Miss Nellie Yates.
CIRKLER, Alexander A., a practicing physi
cian, who has the distinction of being the first
American student to whom the privilege of pass
ing the German State Examination was ever
granted, was born in St. Paul, January 1, 1865.
He is the son of Herman and Johanna Cirkler
and brother of C. H. Cirkler of Minneapolis. His
parents removed from St. Paul to Minneapolis
when Dr. Cirkler was very young, and his early
education was taken entirely in the public schools
of Minneapolis, first at the old Washington, and
later at Central high school. He then went into
the drug business with his brother for a year,
and later went to Germany to carry out his in-
194
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
tention to study medicine. There in the universi
ties of Freiburg, Heidelberg and Munich he spent
three years, followed by five years at Berlin,
where he received his degree of M. D. and where
he finally took the state examination referred to
above. Dr. Cirkler was accorded this privilege
through a special permit issued him by Chan
cellor Caprivi, in consideration of his having
studied the same number of semesters and com
pleted the same preparatory courses prescribed
for the regular German student. After another
year of preparation spent in post-graduate and
clinical study in foreign cities and in the eastern
cities of the United States, Dr. Cirkler returned
to Minneapolis, took the state medical examina
tions in 1894, and at once began work. He has
identified himself with the state and county medi
cal societies, belongs to the American Medical
Association, and is a member of the Commercial
Club. He is not married.
CRAFTS, Leo Melville, was born at Minne
apolis, Minnesota, on October 3, 1863, the son of
Major Amasa and Mary J. (Henry) Crafts. He
is a descendant from the earliest colonial stock^the Crafts being among the founders of Boston,
who came in Winthrop's expedition in 1630—
and members of the family were prominent and ac
tive as colonial and revolutionary patriots. His
parents were among the earliest prominent pio
neers of Minneapolis, having settled here in 1853.
He was educated in the public schools of
Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota
from which he took the degree of B. L. in 1886,
and Harvard Medical School from which he
graduated in 1890. During 1890 and '91 he was
house physician at the Boston City Hospital. He
then came west establishing himself in Minne
apolis where he has taken an active part in the
professional and public life of the city. He has
been professor of nervous and mental diseases at
Hamline University Medical School since 1893,
was dean of the faculty from 1897 to 1903 and
was instrumental in securing a new plant, new
grounds and new equipment for the institution.
He is now visiting neurologist on the staff of four
of the Minneapolis hospitals. Dr. Crafts was
president of the Minnesota State Sunday School
Association from 1893 to 1896, a member of its
board since 1893, president of the Minneapolis
Sunday School Officers' Association from 1895 to
1906, treasurer of the Hennepin county Medical
Society, 1895 to 1897, chairman of the Nerve
Section of the State Medical Society 1899, and a
member of the board Of directors of the Minne
sota National Park and Forestry Association,
and was secretary of the general executive com
mittee of all organizations combined for a nation
al park and reserve in the state. He has been
prominently connected with the Western Society
for the Suppression of Vice and was president of
the Native Sons of Minnesota in 1906 and is a
member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Dr. Crafts is a member of the American and
Minnesota State Medical Associations, Fellow of
the Massachusetts Medical Society, Hennepin
County Medical Society and Harvard Medical
and Boston City Hospital Alumni Associations.
He is the author 01 a number of articles for
professional magazines and is a writer on Sunday
School topics. He is also interested in forestry
and has spoken and written quite extensively on
the subject of forest preservation, and is also a
student of state history having prepared several
articles and delivered various addresses on that
subject. Dr. Crafts was married at Minneapolis
in 1901 to Miss Amelia I. Burgess. He is a mem
ber of the Minneapolis Commercial Club. For
merly a college athlete he is interested in legiti
mate sport, but finds his own recreation through
outings among the pine woods of northern Min
nesota.
DREW, Chas. Wayland, was born at Bur
lington, Vermont, January 18, 1858. His father,
Homer C. Drew, was a contractor and builder
and a representative of a family which had
lived in Vermont for several generations,
coming there from Connecticut in revolutionary
times. Charles attended the public schools of
Burlington and at fifteen entered the University
of Vermont. The natural bent of his mind was
toward the sciences and especial attention was
devoted to chemistry and collateral branches of
science. He graduated in 1877, receiving the
degree of Bachelor of Philosophy and was hon
ored by election to membership in the Phi Beta
Kappa Society. After a further study of chem
istry in leading laboratories, he entered the
Medical Department of the University of Ver
mont, graduating with the degree of M. D. in
1880, and receiving the highest honors in his
class. During the year following he practiced
medicine in Brattleboro, Vt., in association with
one of the leading physicians of the state, and
in 1881 he came to Minneapolis where he soon
secured a satisfactory practice. The following
year he was appointed professor of chemistry in
the Minnesota Hospital College which position he
held for seven years. In 1884 Dr. Drew was
appointed city physician serving for two years.
In 1886 he entered upon an extensive investiga
tion of Food Adulterations in Minnesota, pub
lishing a valuable report upon the subject, and
doing much to awaken public interest. As a re
sult he was appointed state chemist to the Dairy
and Food Department and not only did a large
amount of valuable work as a chemist during
his six years with the department but was large
ly influential in determining the policy of the
department and in securing the enactment of
the laws under which such efficient work has
since been done. In 1886 Dr. Drew established
the Minnesota Institute of Pharmacy and this
school has just completed its twentieth year.
During this time its attendance has aggregated
nearly two thousand and it numbers among
MEDICINE
its graduates nearly one-half of all the legally
qualified pharmacists in Minnesota and the sur
rounding states. In 1895 Dr. Drew was appointed
chemist to the city of Minneapolis and served for
seven years, and in 1898 he was appointed pro
fessor of chemistry and toxicology in the Medi
cal Department of Hamline University and served
until he resigned in 1902. During the later years,
Dr. Drew has been so fully occupied with his
special lines of work that he has largely discon
tinued his medical practice, devoting himself to
expert work in chemistry. He is a republican
in politics but the public offices which he has
filled have been those relating to the duties of
his profession solely. He is a member of the
medical societies of Hennepin county and the
state of Minnesota, the State Pharmaceutical As
sociation, the American Medical Association and
the American Chemical Society. He was made a
Mason in 1879 in Burlington, Vt., afterwards
affiliated with Khurum Lodge, Minneapolis,
which he left to become a charter member of
Minnehaha Lodge of which he is a Past Master.
He is at present a member of Ark Lodge, Ark
Chapter, Minneapolis Mounted Commandery
Knights Templar, of which he is Past Com
mander, and of Zuhrah Temple of the Mystic
Shrine. He is also Grand Treasurer of the Grand
Commandery of Knights Templar of Minnesota
and a member of the Elks and the Commercial
Club. Dr. Drew is a member of the Episcopal
Church. He was married Sept. 18, 1884, at Brattleboro, Vt., to Annah Reed Kellogg, daughter
of Henry Kellogg, of Boston, Mass. Two chil
dren have been born to them—Julia Kellogg and
Charles Wayland, Jr.
DUNSMOOR, Frederick Alanson, son of
James A. and Almira Mosher Dunsmoor, was
born on May 28, 1853. His parents came to Min
nesota in 1852, from Maine, and settled at Rich
field, in Hennepin county, where Frederick A.
was born, and where he began his education in
the public schools. He attended the public
schools of Minneapolis and the University of
Minnesota. His medical course he took in the
Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York,
taking the M. D. degree in 1875. He took private
courses with such eminent men in their special
ties as Frank H. Hamilton, Alfred G. Loomis,
Austin Flint, Sr., E. G. Janeway and R. Ogden
Doremus; and then commenced to practice in
Minneapolis in partnership with Dr. H. H. Kim
ball with whom he was connected about a year.
In 1877 he accepted a position in the St. Paul
Medical College as professor of surgery, which
he held till 1879, during which year he was coun
ty physician for Hennepin county. For two years
he held the chair of surgery in the medical depart
ment of Hamline University, but in 1881 became
vice president and dean of the Minnesota College
Hospital, with the organization of which he had
been prominently connected, holding at the
time the office of professor of surgery and at
195
tending surgeon in the hospital and dispensary.
This institution, in connection with other medical
schools of Minneapolis and St. Paul, was reor
ganized in 1889 into the medical department of
the state university and since that time Dr. Dunsmoor has held the chair of operative and clinical
surgery in that department of the university.
He has also served as surgeon to St. Mary's
Hospital since 1890, to St. Barnabas Hospital
since 1879, a s gynecologist to the City Hospital
since 1894, to the Asbury Hospital since 1892, and
to the Asbury Free Dispensary since its organ r
ization. Dr. Dunsmoor had made an especial and
extensive study and practice of gynecology and
surgery, increased each year by a short period of
study in the large hospitals, colleges and scien
tific centers, both in this country and Europe and
holds an enviable reputation as an operative sur
geon. He is a member of the International Med
ical Congress, the American Medical Association,
the National Association of Railway Surgeons,
the Minnesota Academy of Medicine, the West
ern Surgical and Gynecological Association, the
Tri-State Medical Association, the North Dakota
State Medical Association, the Crow River As
sociation, the Society of Physicians and Surgeons
of Minneapolis, and the county and state medical
societies. He is a surgeon for the Northern Pa
cific; the Chicago, St. Paul, Milwaukee & Omaha
and the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste Marie
railroads, and the medical director for the Surety
Fund Life Company. He is also well known in
the club and fraternal life of the city and holds
membership in the Nu Sigma Nu fraternity, the
Masonic Order, the Good Templars, the Druids,
the Minneapolis club and the Commercial club,
being a charter member of the last two. Dr.
Dunsmoor was married on September 5, 1876 to
Miss Elizabeth Emma Billings, the daughter of
the late Surgeon George F. Turner, U. S. A.
They have three children living—Marjorie Allport, Elizabeth Turner and Frederick Laton. Dr.
Dunsmoor attends and is one of the stewards of
the Hennepin Avenue Methodist Episcopal
Church.
EITEL, George Gotthelf, was born September
28, 1858, at Chanhassen, Carver County, Minne
sota, son of John G. Eitel, a farmer and flour
miller. His early life was spent on a farm in
Carver county. He attended the public schools
of Chaska' and Chanhassen and the MoravianAcademy at Chaska and received private instruc
tion in physics, mathematics, botany and geology
and began the study of medicine at the Minnesota
Hospital College, September 1, 1885, and grad
uated in May, 1888, receiving- the first prize in
surgery. He then spent the next ten months at
tending lectures at the University of Berlin, Ger
many, and in the fall of 1890, after practicing six
months, he entered the medical department of
the University of Pennsylvania where he grad
uated in 1891, returning thereafter to- the Uni
versity of Berlin to resume the special studies
196
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
which he had left in 1889. At that great school
he passed all examinations; presented and de
fended a thesis on appendicitis and received the
M. D. degree in December, 1901. Before locating
in Minneapolis in 1893, Dr. Eitel practiced in
Centralia, Washington. He was appointed one of
the surgeons to Asbury Hospital by his friend,
Dr. F. A. Dunsmoor and is a surgeon to St. Barna
bas hospital and the Norwegian hospital. Dr. Eitel
is a member of the Hennepin county, state, Min
nesota Valley, Western Surgical and American
Medical associations and of the Commercial Club
of Minneapolis.
ERB, Frederick Alexander, is a native of
Minneapolis. He was born here July 5, 1873.
His father, Alexander Erb, is a business man
of the city, who retired from the grocery
business some time ago. Dr. Erb grew up in
Minneapolis, went through the public schools,
and was a member of the first class of grad
uates from the East Side High school. He
took the academic course in the state university
as a preparation for the medical department, from
which he graduated in 1902. Dr. Erb is a staunch
republican, believing that the republican party
is the party of the past, present and future of the
country. Though in the ranks of the younger
element of the medical profession of Minnesota,
he is already becoming well known and belongs
to the standard older medical societies, as well as
to the Minneapolis Medical Club—an association
of the young physicians of Minneapolis. Dr. Erb
holds rank also in Sigma Chi and Nu Sigma Nu
fraternities. He was married June 20, 1905, to
Jessie M. Cribb, of Milwaukee. They have one
daughter, Catharine Louise.
ERDMANN, Charles Andrew, professor of
anatomy in the University of Minnesota, though
born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 3, 1866, has
so identified himself with the city of Minneapolis
in the past decade that he may be considered a
native. From his father, Andrew Erdmann, who
was a. skilled mechanic, Dr. Erdmann probably
inherited his love for the thorough study of
every new condition and of its correct adjust
ment to natural laws which has already given
him a place of authority in his profession. He is
a graduate of the Milwaukee public schools and
of the University of Wisconsin, but received his
doctor's diploma from the medical department of
the University of Minnesota in 1893. To this
preparation he added later a year at Berlin and
Vienna. From 1894 to 1899 he held the position
of demonstrator of anatomy in Minnesota Uni
versity. The following year he was given a full
professorship which he now holds. He is a re
publican and during his college course served as
deputy coroner of Hennepin county. Dr. Erd
mann belongs to several secret societies. He is
also a member of the American Association of
Anatomists, American Medical Association, the
state and county medical societies and the Min
neapolis Medical Club. He married Caroline A.
Edgar in 1896, and has two children, Edgar and
Elizabeth.
FIFIELD, Emily W., physician, was born in
Iowa, and is the daughter of the Rev. Lebbens B.
and Emily (Walworth) Fifield. On the mother's
side, Dr. Fifield is a Daughter of the Revolution,
her maternal great-grandfather having been Capt.
Charles Walworth, who served in that war. Dr.
Fifield has inherited a good deal of the pluck and
determination of those days, and whatever she
sets out to do, she usually completes, if not by
the original plan, by some other resource. Her
early education was at home and in the common
schools. Later she took a course at Holyoke,
traveling in the United States extensively after
ward. Before taking up medicine Dr. Fifield
tried teaching, and was so successful that she
was asked to take a man's place with a woman's
wages. But this not seeming to offer sufficient
practical inducements, she decided to become a
physician and entered the Woman's Medical Col
lege of Baltimore. After graduation and a year
of post-graduate study in New York, Philadelphia
and Baltimore, Dr. Fifield came to Minneapolis
in 1885 and has been in practice here since, ex
cept for study abroad. She has served in various
professional relations on the staff of Bethany,
the Northwestern, Asbury and the City hospitals,
and is a member of the Hennepin county and
the state medical societies. Dr. Fifield has al
ways been interested in the Humane Society and
the Young Women's Christian Association. Of
this last society she was one of the earliest mem
bers, her office at one time being the only meet
ing place of the members. Dr. Fifield is a Congregationalisf. Is unmarried.
GEIST, Emil Sebastian, physician and sur
geon and instructor in Orthopedic Surgery in
the University of Minnesota, is a genuine son of
Minnesota. He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota,
May 9, 1878, and his father, Emil Geist, Sr., is a
well-known jeweler of St. Paul. Dr. Geist's early
schooling went on in the St. Paul schools en
tirely until he entered the state university in
1895. He graduated at the age of twenty-two
from the medical department of the university.
After that three years were spent in European
universities. Since then his professional advance
has been rapid, although one of the youngest
members of his profession in active work. Dr.
Geist already liolds, besides his position at the
state university, several important consulting po
sitions. He is orthopedic surgeon to the Uni
versity Free Dispensary, St. Barnabas Hospital,
Asbury Hospital, St. Mary's Hospital and the
City Hospital. Dr. Geist belongs to the German
Orthopedic Society, the American Medical Asso
ciation, Hennepin County Medical Society, the
Minneapolis Medical Club and the Crow River
Valley Medical Society.
MEDICINE
GOULD, James Bennett, was born January
23, i860, at Eden Prairie, Hennepin county, son
of Aaron and Matilda (Channel) Gould. His
father was a farmer and James Bennett spent his
earlier years on the farm, receiving his educa
tional training in the rudiments at the district
school. In 1873 he entered the public schools of
Minneapolis and, continuing on the ascending
grade to the higher education, he entered the
state university, from, which he graduated in
1882 with the degree of A. B. After spending one
year as a student in the office of Dr. C. N. He
witt, then secretary of the State Board of Health
of Minnesota, he matriculated at Jefferson Medi
cal College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1883,
and in 1886 received from that institution the de
gree of Doctor of Medicine. During both his
collegiate and medical courses he filled the role
of schoolmaster. His first school was taught
when he was but. seventeen years old in a new
school building erected on the site of the "old log
school house," the one built by his uncle. He is
medical examiner for various life insurance com
panies, and for the Royal Arcanum, in which or
ganization he has held the position for some
fifteen years. Since 1901 he has been medical
examiner for the Independent Order of Foresters,
and since 1903 for the Modern Woodmen. He
is a member of the American Medical Associa
tion, State Medical Society of Minnesota and the
Hennepin County Medical Society. He belongs
to the Masonic fraternity, affiliating with Ark
Lodge No. 176, A. F. and A. M., and with Ark
Chapter No. .53, R. A. M. In politics he is a
republican. Dr. Gould married, December 26th,
1889, Ella M. Crombie, of Michigan. His present
address is 313 Pillsbury Building, Minneapolis.
HALL, William Asbury, was born at Aurelius, New York, 011 June 17, 1853. His father was
a farmer of only moderate circumstances but a
descendant of a family which came to Connec
ticut from England in 1639 and which has been
noted for its learning and scholarly work rather
than for its ability to accumulate wealth. On his
mother's side, Dr. Hall was descended from
Hollanders who settled in New Amsterdam at a
very early date. Dr. Hall received his primary
education in the public schools, graduated from
the Auburn, New York, High School, passed the
examination for the University of the state of
New York when only fourteen years old and
two years later was making his own way as a
teacher. When he was nineteen he entered the
office'of Dr. A. S. Cummings, of Cayuga, New
York, and began to study medicine. In 1872 he
entered the Albany medical college graduating
on December 23, 1875, with special honorable
mention for his graduation thesis on the sub
ject, "Inflammation." Soon after graduation, al
though only twenty-two years of age, he re
ceived, after a competitive examination, an ap
pointment as senior resident physician and sur
geon of the Albany, New York, Hospital. Here
197
he remained until 1877, when he established him
self at Fulton, Oswego county, New York, and
engaged in practice. During his ten years' resi
dence in Fulton he became widely known
throughout northern New York through his great
success in surgery and in 1885 he was elected
president of the Oswego County Medical society.
In the next year he moved to Minneapolis. In
1888 he was appointed professor of medical juris
prudence in the Minnesota College Hospital and
attending surgeon at St. Mary's Hospital. In
1892 he was elected president of the Henne
pin County Medical society and from 1894 to
1899 held the chair of professor of the principles
of surgery and clinical surgery in the medical
department of the Hamline University. He is
attending surgeon at the Minneapolis City Hos
pital and St. Mary's Hospital, consulting surgeon
at Asbury Hospital and consulting physician to
the Northwestern Hospital. In 1901 he was
elected president of the Minnesota State Medical
society, and in 1903 and 1904 represented the
state of Minnesota "in the House of Delegates of
the American Medical association. Although a
surgeon of high standing, Dr. Hall continues a
general practice as he does not look favorably on
specialization in the profession. Dr. Hall is a
republican in political faith and is an active
member of the national, Minnesota and local
medical societies and is a member of the Minne
apolis club and other social bodies of the city.
In 1880 he was married to Miss Ida A. Dickinson
of Lowville, New York. They have two children
—Le Roy and Helen. The family attends the
Episcopal Church.
HARE, Earle Russell, was born at Summerfield, Ohio, in 1872, the son of John W. Hare and
Mary Cornelia (Taylor) Hare. Dr. Hare had
the usual common school education supplemented
by a course at the Kansas City' high school,
where he graduated in 1890. Coming to Minne
apolis he entered the College of Medicine and
Surgery of the University of Minnesota from
which he graduated with the degree of M. D.
He has since been continuously in practice in
this city and has a wide acquaintance and mem
bership in all the leading medical organizations,
including the Minneapolis Medical Club, Henne
pin County Medical Society, the Minnesota State
Medical Society and the American Medical Asso
ciation. Dr. Hare was married in 1900 to Miss
Maude Wilson and they have one child, Horace
Barstow Hare. The family attend the Methodist
Episcopal church.
HAYNES, Frederick Eugene, the son of O. F.
Haynes, engineer, but formerly a blacksmith,
was born at Shelburn Falls, Massachusetts, on
November 22, 1875. A few years after his birth,
his parents moved to Minneapolis, and in this
city Dr. Haynes passed his youth and received
his education. He attended the public schools
and after the grammar course entered the South
198
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
high school and graduated from there in 1895.
In the fall of the same year he matriculated at
the University of Minnesota, and took up the
work of the medical department. The degree of
M. D. was awarded him in 1899 and he immedi
ately began to practice his profession in Pelican
Rapids, Minnesota, where he remained till the
year 1901, when he moved to .Minneapolis. He
has since continued his regular practice in this
city and in 1903 was appointed to fill the position
of inspector on the Minneapolis Board of Health.
Dr. Haynes is a member of the Minneapolis Med
ical Club, the Hennepin County Medical Society
and the State Medical Society. He was married
in 1900 to Miss Edythe Mills.
HEAD, George Douglas, son of* Newell S.
and Mary Elizabeth Head, was born September
10, 1870, at Elgin, Minnesota. His father is a
general insurance adjuster, has held this position
with several companies and is one of the pioneer
fire insurance men in this state. Dr. Head re
ceived his education in the public schools of Min
nesota; attended and graduated from the Fargo
high school, delivering the oration for his class,
and then entered the University of Minnesota.
He received his degree of B. S. in 1892, and was
again given the honor of delivering a class ora
tion. He returned in the fall of the same year
and took up his professional studies in the medi
cal department, and graduated in 1895 with a
"cum laude" degree.' In this course he also suc
ceeded in winning the Alexander Stone medal
in gynecology. Upon leaving school, Dr. Head
commenced to practice in this city. In the years
1898 and 1900 he took post-graduate work in the
Johns Hopkins Medical School. Again in the
year 1903 he studied for nine months in Vienna
arid upon his return to this country, started to
practice in Minneapolis as a specialist in "In
ternal medicine." Dr. Head has held a number
of offices at the state university and at present
is Chief of Dispensary Clinic of that institution.
Two years after his graduation he was appointed
as assistant in medicine and in 1895 took the posi
tion of instructor in clinical medicine and mi
croscopy. .The position of professor of Clinical
Medicine and Microscopy was offered to him in
1902, which place in the faculty he now holds.
He has been president of the Alumni Association
of the Medical Department of the state universi
ty, and is now a member of the Minnesota Acad
emy of Medicine; the American and state medi
cal associations; the Hennepin County Medical
Society; the Minneapolis Medical Club and the
Minneapolis Pathological Society. He holds the
position of attending physician at the City and
Asbury hospitals and is a consulting physician at
the Northwestern Hospital. Dr. Head is a re
publican in politics. He attends the Methodist
church and was married in 1898 to Miss Sarah
Belle Parry. They have one son, Douglas Parry
Head.
HILL, Richard J., a practicing physician of
the regular school, was born February 11, 1853, at
Hill's Store, North Carolina. His father, Nathan
Hill, was a physician and surgeon, who left the
south in 1861, at the breaking out of the Civil
War. He came to Minneapolis, where his son
was educated in the public schools, later taking
the first two years at the state university. De
ciding upon his father's profession and not being
able then to pursue it at Minnesota university,
the young sophomore took a full course at Jef
ferson Medical College, Philadelphia, where he
graduated in 1875. Securing a position as con
tract surgeon in the medical department of the
army, he spent three years on the frontier, re
turning to Minneapolis and a general practice in
1881. Dr. Hill's politics are republican. He was
the coroner of Hennepin county for two terms
of an effective administration. He belongs to the
county and state medical associations, to the
Minnesota Academy of Medicine and to the
American Medical Association. His church af
filiations are with the Society of Friends. He
was married to Louise T. Johnson in 1881, and
has two children, a son and daughter.
HVOSLEF, Jacob, son of Bishop F. W.
Hvoslef and Alethe Catherina Frost Hvoslef, was
born at Tromsoe, a city of northern Norway, and
the starting point of many Arctic expeditions,
near the seventieth parallel of 'latitude. The
family immigrated to Norway from South Den
mark in the beginning of the eighteenth century,
the first member arriving being a merchant; most
of the family, however, were prominent in law
and the church. Dr. Hvoslef's parents were
visited by Bayard Taylor when they lived in
Kantokeino, Norway, his father being at that
time a missionary to the Lapps. Mr. Taylor re
lated the incident in his book detailing his north
ern travels. Dr. Hvoslef attended the Latin
school in Tromsoe for five years and continued
his studies at Drammen in Southern Norway
five years more and at Bergen he made his final
preparation for admission to the Royal Univer
sity of Christiana, Norway, which occurred in
1883. Dr. Hvoslef's father was made bishop of
the diocese of Bergen in 1881, and the son, after
taking the academic course at the university,
studied medicine and graduated in 1891. After
spending a year as an interne <at the government
hospital in Christiana, he came to the United
States, locating in Minneapolis, where he has
since practiced his profession, with the ex
ception of one year which he spent at Tracy,
Minnesota. Dr. Hvoslef has built up a fine prac
tice, the fruitage of his thorough preparation
for his life work and his devotion to it. He
is a member of the Hennepin County Medi
cal Society, the State Medical Society, the Ameri
can Medical Association, and is lecturer on
orthopedic surgery at Hamline, University. He
is also a member of the Odin Club. On October
MEDICINE
ii, 1893, he was married to Miss Clara Johnson,
of Minneapolis, and they have two children, F.
Waldemar, born in Tracy, Minnesota, 1894, and
Catherine Elizabeth, born in Minneapolis in 1900.
HYNES, John Eldon, was born on July 25,
1878, at Winnebago, Minnesota, where his father,
John A. Hynes, was a farmer and stockraiser.
Here he spent all his early life, going to the com
mon school and graduating from the Winnebago
high school in 1898. He came to Minneapolis
for his professional education. In 1900 he gradu
ated from the College of Pharmacy of the Uni
versity, and in 1904 graduated from the Medical
Department. The University work was supple
mented by a year's experience as interne in St.
Luke's Hospital. He is now an instructor in
medicine at the University of Minnesota. Dr.
Hynes is a member of the Hennepin County
Medical Society, the Minnesota State Medical
Society, the American Medical Association, the
Minneapolis Medical Club, the Minnesota Patho
logical Society, and the Roosevelt Club. Dr.
Hynes was married on November 27, 1907, to
Martha F. Harris, of Minneapolis.
IRWIN, Alexander Francis, son of Thomas
and Margaret Irwin, was born in Chatham,
Ontario, Canada, receiving his early education in
the public and high schools and academic work
in the University of Toronto, receiving medals in
natural science and classics. He graduated from
the medical department of the University of
Michigan in 1889 and was honor graduate in
medicine of McGill Medical College in 1890. He
served six years in Minneapolis as assistant city
physician; was secretary of the Hennepin Coun
ty Medical Society during '93 and '94; is a member
of the American and Minnesota State Medical
Association and local Shakespeare Society; also
a member of Royal Arcanum and Masonic bodies.
JOHNSON, August Emanuel, was born in
Lund, Wisconsin, on August 23, 1881. His par
ents, a few years after his birth, moved to Min
neapolis and in this city he spent his early life.
He entered the public schools here, but after
some years' work, left his course uncompleted
and entered Carleton College, at Northfield, Min
nesota. After his preparatory work in that insti
tution, Dr. Johnson commenced to study for his
profession at Hamline University, and finished
his course and graduated from there in 1903 with
the degrees M. D. and C. M. Since that time he
has carried on a general practice in Minneapolis
and in addition held (until the closing of the de
partment) a position in the Medical Department
of Hamline University as instructor in clinical
surgery. Dr. Johnson is on the staff of the Swe
dish Hospital, and is a member of the Hennepin
County Medical Society, the State Medical Soci
ety and the American Medical Association.
JONES, William Alexander, was born at St.
Peter, Minnesota, May 24, 1859. His parents
were of Welsh and Scotch ancestry and both his
19§
grandsires were soldiers of the War of the Revo
lution. His father, a native of Vermont, was
taken by his parents to New York City, when a
child, and, when he grew to manhood, he came to
Minnesota, and, in 1854, located at St. Peter
where he opened a drug store and in 1858 mar
ried Miss M. A. Virginia Christian, a New York
lady who shared with him the storm and stress
of frontier life, when they encountered the hor
rors of the Indian outbreak of 1862. They shel
tered many refugees in their home, their son,
William, being a little child at the time. The
latter attended the common schools of St. Peter
and the high school, and gained a good knowl
edge of the drug business in his father's store.
He studied medicine at the University of the
City of New York, Medical Department, gradu
ating in 1881, after which he became assistant
physician at the State Hospital for the Insane in
St. Peter. In 1883 Dr. Jones came to Minneap
olis where he practiced medicine until 1886, when,
after his marriage to Annie R. Johnson, of Den
ver, Colorado, he went with her to Europe where
he entered upon special study of nervous diseases
in the school and hospitals of Berlin and Vienna.
After his return to Minneapolis, Dr. Jones de
voted himself to practice in his specialty, and has
proven himself a most successful lecturer 011
nervous and mental diseases, as clinical professor
of these specialties in the medical department of
the state university. He is attending neurologist
for St. Mary's Asbury Methodist,.the City, North
western, Norwegian and Swedish hospitals, and
is chief of the staff of the Northwestern Hospital,
and is editor of Journal of the Minnesota State
Medical Association and the Northwestern Lan
cet, a well-known leading medical journal. Dr.
Jones is a democrat in politics.
KIMBALL, Hannibal Hamlin, a practicing
physician in Minneapolis since 1867, was born
at Carmel, Penobscot county, Maine, on August
18, 1843. He is descended from old families of
good standing on both sides. His father, John
Kimball, was a lawyer with great ability and a
good education who was prominently connected
with the public affairs of his state and who oc
cupied a seat in the state Senate. Abigail Hornans, his mother was of Spanish descent, a woman
of much talent and power, from whom Dr. Kim
ball inherited much of his ability and to whose
early training he feels much of his success is
due. Dr. Kimball received a district school educa
tion and then entered and graduated from the
Hampden Academy and the Lewiston Seminary
(now Bates College). He intended to acquire a
medical education, so for a time studied under Dr.
P. A. Stackpole at Dover, New Hampshire, and
then entered the Pittsfield Medical College, fol
lowing his studies there with a complete course at
Bellevue, New York. During the latter part of
the Civil War he acted as contracting surgeon
under Dr. S. B. Morrison of the regular army.
200
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
He entered Bowdoin College to continue his
medical studies, during his senior year being
prosector of surgery. Graduating with the class
of 1866, he came to Minneapolis in 1867 and for
forty years has practiced in this city. For a time
Dr. Kimball's work was arduous, as in any young
town—long, hard drives of twenty and thirty
miles into the outlying districts. The number
of his patients increased with the growth of the
town, and by his thorough knowledge of medicine,
his hard work, and his own personality, he es
tablished and has sustained one of the most ex
tensive practices in the city. Soon after opening
an office in Minneapolis Dr. Kimball shared it
with Thomas Lowry, then a young but ambitious
lawyer, and later J. M. Shaw, another lawyer,
also had his office with them. In 1868 Dr.
Kimball and Mr. Lowry moved into an office in
the Old Harrison building where Dr. Kimball was
established for many years. He formed a partner
ship with Dr. C. G. Goodrich in 1869 and they
practiced together for five years, the only time
Dr. Kimball has been connected with any one in
his work. Though his practice was eminently
successful, Dr. Kimball wished to pursue his
medical studies still farther and for that pur
pose went to Europe in 1879-80, where he spent
severals months in the hospitals of London,
Heidelberg, Berlin and other large cities, and
several times since he has visited Europe with
the same motive. Dr. Kimball is a member of the
county, state and national medical associations
and since 1869 has been 011 the United States
Board of Pension Examiners. He is also a
member of the Masonic order. In 1870 he was
married to Miss Grace Everett Morrison, daugh
ter of the first mayor of Minneapolis, the Hon.
Dorilus Morrison.
HILL, Nathan Branson, a prominent Min
neapolis physician from 1861 until his death in
1875, was born in Randolph county, North Caro
lina, on May 13, 1817. He was the son of Samuel
and Mary Hill—the father a merchant and the
head of a large family. For generations the
Hills had been Friends and Dr. Hill's education,
after preparatory study at the schools of Ashboro, North Carolina, was obtained at the
Friends Boarding School, at New Garden, North
Carolina, at Guilford College and at Haverford
College, an institution maintained by the Friends
near Philadelphia. For a time he was employed
as a teacher in the New Garden school and after
graduation from Haverford he joined his father
in business. But desiring to enter the practice
of medicine he attended lectures at the Jeffer
son Medical College at Philadelphia during 1842
and 1843. In May, 1845, Dr. Hill was married to
Miss Eliza J. Menden'hall and about two years
later moved to Ohio and completed his medical
education at Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati,
receiving his diploma in 1848.
He had ex
pected to remain in the north but circumstances
led to his return to Carolina where he practiced
his profession until the breaking out of the Civil
War in 1861. During the stormy period before
the war Dr. Hill's frankly expressed anti-slavery
sentiments and his aid and advice to negroes
rendered his situation in Carolina difficult, and
war once declared he had no recourse but re
moval to the north. In company with Dr. A.
H. Lindley, his brother-in-law, he came to Mim
neapolis where the two families were soon es
tablished and the two physicians entered into
a partnership which only terminated at Dr.
Hill's death. Dr. Hill's leadership in the profes
sion was soon recognized and for fifteen years
he occupied a most prominent place in the com
munity. His natural abilities and loveable char
acter won him many friends and he enjoyed, to
an unusual extent, the confidence of his fellow
citizens. He was soon called to take a prom
inent part in the affairs of the young city, serving
three years in the city council of Minneapolis,
after the incorporation in 1867, and again after
the consolidation of the two cities in 1872, for
a one-year term. In 1871 he was appointed to
the state board of health by Governor Austin.
LAPIERRE, Charles Arthur, was born No
vember 2, 1870, at Quebec, Canada, son of Pierre
and Salome (Cinq-Mars) Lapierre. Mr. Lapierre
was brought up in Quebec, the ancient capital of
Canada and received his educational training in
Quebec Seminary from which he graduated in
1888, and in Laval University, which was founded
in 1663 by the first bishop of Quebec, whose
name it bears. From this old and well-equipped
institution, Mr. Lapierre graduated in medicine
in 1892. In 1893 he came to Minneapolis and
has been practicing his profession with great suc
cess since. Dr. Lapierre is a democrat in poli
tics, but his party affiliations are not allowed to
divert him from his professional duties. He per
mitted his name, however, to be used in 1906 as
democratic candidate for the nomination to the
office of coroner. Dr. Lapierre is a member of
the American Medical Association, the State
Medical Society, the Hennepin County Medical
Society, the St. Anthony Medical Club and the
St. Anthony Commercial Club. Dr. Lapierre is
a member of the Roman Catholic Church. He
was married in 1893 to Arthemise L. Laliberte
and they have five children—Esther, Arthur, Jean
Thomas, Ada and Marguerite.
LAWRENCE, William D., was born May 16,
1852, at Lawrenceville, Province of Quebec, Cana
da. His father, Erastus Lawrence, was the direct
descendant of Sir Robert Lawrence of Ashton
Hall, born in Lancashire, England, in 1150 A. D.
His mother was Sarah Harvey. His childhood
was spent in eastern townships of Canada and he
attended the Waterloo Academy and Granby
Academy in the Province of Quebec. Erastus
Lawrence was a merchant, so the young man saw
more or less business life in the general store at
Lawrenceville and in the lumber and milling busi
ness, but for his professional training he came to
the states—to Iowa University, to the Chicago
MEDICINE
Medical College and to the Chicago Homeopathic
Medical College. He came to Minneapolis in
1879 and has been in active practice ever since.
He has been president of the Twin City Academy
of Medicine, managing director of the Minneap
olis Homeopathic Hospital, president of the Min
neapolis Medical and Surgical Institute and presi
dent of the Lawrence Sanatorium of which he is
the founder. Dr. Lawrence is a republican. He
is actively interested in the cause of temperance
and is founder and president of the International
Uplift Society. He has had no military experi
ence in the United States, but was Captain of
the 79th Highlanders, Montreal Division, in
Canada. He is a member of the Minneapolis
Commercial Club, the national and state asso
ciations of Charities and Corrections and the
Medico Legal Society of New York. He has been
vestryman of Gethsemane Episcopal Church for
many years, and deputy to the General Conven
tion of the Episcopal Church. His marriage with
Lucy Mayo Beach, of La Fayette, Indiana, took
place in 1878. E. H. Lawrence, their only child,
died in infancy in 1881. His step son, Henry
Mayo Lawrence, is associated with him as secre
tary and treasurer of the Lawrence Sanatorium,
a large and flourishing institution.
LEAVITT, Henry Hooker, was born on a
farm near Waterloo, Iowa, April 1, i86t. His
parents were William Hunt Leavitt and Celia E.
(Dunnell) Leavitt. They were from Charlemont, Massachusetts, and had gone to Iowa a
year or two earlier, when Iowa was a new state
with almost no railroads. As a boy Dr. Leavitt
attended the public school in Waterloo, later at
tending Beloit (Wisconsin) Academy and gradu
ating A. B., from Beloit College in 1884. As
soon as he was graduated, he entered the Minne
sota Hospital College, now the Medical Depart
ment of the University of Minnesota, but com
pleted his studies at the Chicago Homeopathic
Medical College from which he received the M.
D. degree. In June 1887 he received the M. A.
degree from Beloit College. Dr. Leavitt began
practice in Minneapolis but after three years he
went abroad, spending a year in the hospitals and
clinics of Vienna, paying special attention to
diseases of the ear, nose and throat and also to
diseases of children. After his return to Minne
apolis he was appointed professor of diseases of
children in the Homeopathic Medical Depart
ment of the state university and after a few years
of general practice finished preparing himself to
make a specialty of the eye, ear, nose and throat,
studying at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary
and the New York Post Graduate Medical Col
lege. Since 1897 he has confined his practice to
this specialty. Dr. Leavitt's immediate family
consists of his wife, who was Miss Mabel L.
Howe, of Des Moines, Iowa, and three daughters,
Louise, Helen and Alice. He is a Congregationalist, a member of the Minnesota Congregational
Club, the Commercial Club, the Automobile Club,
201
the American Institute of Homeopathy, the
Ophthalmological, Otological, and Laryngial So
ciety, the Minnesota State Homeopathic Insti
tute, and the Minneapolis Homeopathic Medical
Society. Dr. Leavitt has been since 1904 profes
sor of Opthalmology in the College of Homeo
pathic Medicine and Surgery of the University of
Minnesota. Dr. Leavitt's ancestors were among
the early settlers of New England. His grand
father was Col. Roger H. Leavitt, who repre
sented his county in the state senate and his
district in the house of representatives; was one
of the incorporators of the Troy & Greenfield
railroad, and one of the earliest promoters or the
Hoosac Tunnel. His brother, Joshua Leavitt, was
the editor of the Emancipator and the New York
Independent. Roger Leavitt, Dr. Leavitt's great
grandfather rendered conspicuous services to the
cause of education and of temperance and to the
anti-slavery movement, and was nominated, the
day before his death, by the new liberty party as
its candidate for lieutenant governor. Roger
Leavitt was the son of Rev. Jonathan Leavitt,
born in 173x, one of the noted preachers of his
time. The earliest known Leavitts came to this
country from England and settled in Kingham,
Massachusetts about 1636.
LELAND, Muret N., Jr., was born January
8, 1874, at Wells, Faribault County, Minnesota.
His father, Muret N. Leland, is president of the
T. M. Roberts Co-operative Supply Company of
Minneapolis. The subject of this sketch passed
his earlier life at Wells attending the common
schools and graduating from the Wells high
school in 1891. The next three years he spent
at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and
in 1896 he graduated from the College of Physi
cians and Surgeons, Chicago, and served one term
as Resident Surgeon at St. Elizabeth Hospital in
that city. Leaving there on October 27, 1897, he
entered upon general practice at his old home,
Wells, Minn. He was county coroner there from
1898 to 1901 and served as U. S. Pension Ex
aminer and was chairman of the board of health.
Dr. Leland came to Minneapolis in April, 1901,
and has since practiced his profession here. Dr.
Leland is a member of the Hennepin county and
state medical societies. He attends the Methodist
Church While not a member of that communion.
Dr. Leland is Minnesota-born and bred and par
takes of the progressive spirit of the state.
LITTLE, John Warren, physician and sur
geon, and professor of Clinical Surgery in the
University of Minnesota, was born in Clark Coun
ty, Ohio, in 1859, on his father's farm, where
he alternately worked or went to school in the
locality until he taught his. own first pupils, when
he was eighteen years old. He is the son of
John and Mary Ann Little. On his father's side,
his ancestors were Welsh and Irish. His mother
was of English stock. This mixture of races
has so often resulted in the best blood of the
United States that it was to be expected that Dr.
202
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Little should graduate from the high and normal
school of Lebanon, Ohio, at an early age. He
took his medical training at Jefferson Medical
College, and went at once into practice in Minne
apolis upon receiving his diploma in 1883. Dr.
Little stands high in his profession. His ability
as a surgeon has brought him the position of
sr rgeon to the Chicago Great Western Railway
and that of chief of staff at Asbury Hospital. He
holds various other positions as consultant in his
own specialty at St. Mary's, the Swedish and the
City hospitals. In politics he is a republican.
He belongs to the Commercial Club, to several
Masonic orders of the Scottish rite, to the Minne
sota Academy of Medicine and to the Hennepin
County Medical Society of which he is an expresident. Dr. Little is not himself a church
member, but his family attend the Methodist
church. He was married to Nellie C. Marshall
in 1887 and has three children, a son and two
daughters.
MacDONALD, Irving Coburn, was born in
Minneapolis, on March 16, 1874. He is the son
of John W. MacDonald, who came to Minnesota
from Canada in 1865 and established throughout
the Northwest a line of flour mills, which he
owned and operated successfully until his death.
Dr. MacDonald's mother was Sarah (Coburn)
MacDonald, also, born and educated in Canada.
Dr. MacDonald attended the Minneapolis public
schools, completing his preparatory training here.
He took his college course in the University of
North Dakota, taking the academic work, and
graduated in 1895 with a B. A. degree. He did
not immediately begin his medical training, but
until 1898 served as principal in the schools of
different North Dakota towns. In the latter
year he entered the medical department of the
University of Minnesota. He graduated and re
ceived his M. D. degree in 1902 and in the same
year began a general practice in this city which
he has continued successfully. His work includes
all the branches of professional practice, but he
has specialized somewhat on obstetrical work.
In politics Dr. MacDonald is a republican, but is
not active in political work. He is a member
of the Minnesota State Medical Society, of the
Hennepin County Medical Society, of the Minne
apolis Medical Club, of the St. Anthony Medical
Club and the Alpha Kappa medical fraternity.
He is a Presbyterian and is not married. Dr.
MacDonald is fond of athletic sports and is him
self an enthusiastic automobilist.
MANN, Arthur Teall, (Arthur T. Mann) As
sociate Surgeon to the Northwestern Hospital,
and professor of Clinical Surgery in the Univer
sity of Minnesota, was born in 1866, in New York
City. He is the son of Samuel R. and Georgiana
Teall Mann, and both the Manns and Tealls have
been distinguished by the members of their stock
who have taken active part in the affairs of colon
ial times. The first Mann who came to America
was Richard Mann who left England in the reign
of Charles I and settled in Scituate, Mass. His
son Richard is on record as receiving a grant of
land in Connecticut for services in "the Indian
War." In the next century Capt. Andrew Mann's
name appears in the history of New London, Con
necticut as receiving his title of Captain at the time
the British burned New London. On the Teall side
the first emigrant to America was Oliver. His
father was apothecary-in-chief to William III
and to Queen Anne's troops. George I gave him
the family coat of arms presumably for services
on the field under Marlborough. His grandson,
Oliver Teall, Jr., followed in his steps, and was
surgeon in the British army during the French
and Indian War. In the third generation on this
side the Yankee blood began to take force, and
the grandson of the first Oliver, Nathan Teall,
cast in his lot on the American side during the
Revolution. Nathan's first child was Elmira for
whom the town of Elmira, New York (originally
Newton) was renamed. Dr. Arthur Mann spent
his youth in New York, but came West after his
father's death, entered the University of Minne
sota, and graduated with the degree of S. B., in
1888. He went to Harvard Medical School for
his M. D., and carried off two scholarships during
the course. In addition to four year ; of hospital
seivice in Massachusetts hospitals, where he was
successively House Surgeon at the Boston City
Hospital and Resident Physician at the Massa
chusetts State Hospital, Dr. Mann look a post
graduate abroad in 1904. Since hi.; return to
Minneapolis he has been occupied with his place
on the staff of the university as Professor of
Clinical Surgery and in surgical practice. He is
a republican, belongs to the state and county
medical societies, to the American Medical Asso
ciation, and to the Minneapolis Medical Club, of
which he has been president, He is also secre
tary and treasurer of the Western Surgical and
Gynecological Society. Dr. Mann married Wi
nona B. Orff in 1904.
MOORE, James Edward, (James E. Moore)
Professor of Surgery in the University of Min
nesota, chairman of the executive committee of
the American Medical Association and Surgeonin-Chief of the Northwestern Hospital, was born
in Clarksville, Pennsylvania, March 2, 1852, and is
the son of the Rev. George W. Moore and of
Margaret J. Moore. Dr. Moore has the distinc
tion of being the first specialist in surgery west of
New York City—beginning 1888—and he has now
an established position of authority in his own
line among his Northwestern associates in the
profession of surgery. Dr. Moore's early educa
tion was that which the public schools of various
Pennsylvania cities could give in the usual journeyings of a Methodist pastor. As he grew older,
he was sent to Union Seminary, Poland, Ohio,
and to the University of Michigan. He grad
uated from Bellevue Hospital Medical College in
MEDICINE
1873, took a course at the New York Polyclinic,
and spent 1885-86 at Berlin. His first practice was a
country one at Emlenton, Venango County, Penn
sylvania. Coming in 1882 to Minneapolis, it was not
until after his Berlin study that he began to call
attention to his work as a surgeon. In the past
twenty years his skill has brought him into gen
eral demand in the West and Northwest, and
insured him national recognition, as witnessed by
the associate honors which have come to him.
Beside the offices first mentioned Dr. Moore is
now the only living American Honorary Fellow
of the American Orthopedic Association and is
ex-president of the Western Surgical and Gyneco
logical Association, and ex-chairman of the sur
gical section of the American Medical Associa
tion. He is also the author of Moore's Or
thopedic Surgery, published in 1898, and editor
of the Department of Surgical Technique of
American Surgery for 1906, besides being a con
tributor to several leading American Medical
journals. In politics he is a republican. As a
clubman he belongs to the principal medical
clubs of the Northwest and to the Commercial,
Minneapolis, Lafayette and Minikahda clubs. He
attends the Universalist church. Dr. Moore's
first wife died leaving him one daughter, now
Mrs. Bessie Moore Forsell, of Minneapolis. He
was married, in 1887, to Louise C. Irving.
MOORE, Jehiel Tuttle, was born on Octo-'
ber 4, 1848, in Oxford county, Ontario, Can
ada. His father, Alexander Moore, was a gen
tleman farmer and until twenty years of age he
spent his time on his father's farm attending the
country school. In 1868 and 1869 he attended
the Canadian Literary Institute in Woodstock,
Ontario, but in 1870 he changed to the Collegiate
Institute in Gault, Ontario. During the same
year he had private medical instruction under Dr.
Joy which was followed by the medical course in
McGill University, Montreal, from which he grad
uated in 1874. He practiced his profession in
Canada for eight years holding there the posi
tions of associate coroner for the county of Ox
ford and staff surgeon of the Great Western
Railway. In 1883, the year after his removal to
Minneapolis, he was one of the organizers of the
Minneapolis College of Physicians and Surgeons
of which he was Dean for thirteen years, that
is, until 1896 when the school became the Medical
Department of Hamline University. He taught
theory and practice in the school from its or
ganization and from 1897 until the closing of the
department in 1908, he was its (vice) and acting
president. In 1886, Dr. Moore presented a reso
lution to the State Medical society of which the
ultimate result was the appointment of the first
medical board by the legislature to control the
requirements for medical practice in the state
of Minnesota. The present board is an evolution
from this first appointment. Dr. Moore was a
liberal in Canada and a republican since coming
to the United States. He has been a Mason
203
since 1869, occupying every office in the Blue
Lodge before he left Canada, and he is a member
of the Hennepin County and State Medical so
cieties and the American Medical Association.
Dr. Moore is an Episcopalian and was vestry
man of Gethsemane Church for ten years. He
married Frances Winifred Joy, daughter of his
old preceptor, in 1876. Their only child, Miss
Maude Moore, graduated from the American
Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in 1894,
and is now teaching in the Minneapolis School of
Music Oratory and Dramatic Art. Dr. Moore
belongs to the staff of St. Barnabas Hospital, and
during 1896 was chief of staff.
MURPHY, William Bernard, was born at
Chicago, March 9, 1871, son of Patrick and Mary
Ann Lawton Murphy. His father was a brick
layer and building contractor, who served in
Company F, First New York Volunteer Engin
eers in the Civil War, and was wounded in the
knee at Swamp Angle and crippled permanently,
and was discharged ranking sergeant.
His,
brother John served in the U. S. Navy through
the Civil War. William B. spent his childhood in
Chicago and from ten to eighteen years of age
he worked on a farm near Woodstock, Illinois, re
ceiving his early educational training at the pub
lic schools and, after clerking in a country store
at Stoughton, Wisconsin, and later in a wholesale
house, he studied at Hamline University and in
1897 took the degree of M. D., C. M., was ap
pointed interne at St. Joseph's Hospital, St. Paul,
in 1897-98, and was druggist at the Minneapolis
City Hospital and on the staff of that hospital
until 1905. In the course of his practice he at
tended the late Ignatius Donnelly in his last ill
ness. Dr. Murphy is a republican in politics and
has attended many conventions in Minneapolis.
He was deputy coroner from 1900 to 1904. He is
a member of the American Medical Association;
of the county and state medical societies and the
Minneapolis Medical Club, the A. O. U. W.,
Knights of Columbus, the B. P. O. E. and other
organizations of the kind. He is a member of
the Roman Catholic church. Dr. Murphy was
married on January 29, 1902, to Amelia C. Heiker,
a graduate nurse of St. Joseph's Hospital, St.
Paul. There have been born to them - three chil
dren, Kathleen Adele, William Bernard, Jr., and
Edward Patrick.
MURRAY, William Robbins, clinical profes
sor of diseases of the nose and throat in the Min
nesota University was born at Marquette, Michi
gan, in 1869. He is an Ann Arbor graduate, hav
ing received the degree of Ph. B. from that in
stitution in 1892. In 1897 he took an M. D. from
Rush Medical College of Chicago. Dr. Murray is
a member of the American Medical Association,
American Academy of Medicine, the Academy of
Ophthalmology and Oto Laryngology, and of
the state and county medical associations.
204
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
NEWHART, Horace, was born December 9,
1872, at New Ulm, Minnesota, son of J. Newhart,
a lawyer and a veteran of the Civil War. He
passed his early life in New Ulm, where he at
tended the public schools and the high school.
After studying at Carleton College, Northfield,
Minnesota, in 1892 and 1893, he went to
Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire,
where he graduated in 1895, with
com
mencement honors, receiving the honor, also,
of election to the Phi Beta Kappa Soci
ety. In 1898 he received the degree of M. D.
from the Medical Department of the University
of Michigan. The following year he spent abroad
and took up post graduate work at the University
of Vienna, where he was again engaged in special
clinical work in 1905. In 1899 he was a member
of the medical staff of the Jackson Sanatorium,
Dansville, New York, and, later, served as
surgeon on the staff. Since coming to Minne
apolis, Dr. Newhart has entered successfully on
the practice, of his profession. He is a Fellow of
the American Academy of Medicine; a member
of the American Medical Association; of the Min
nesota and Hennepin County Medical Societies;
of the Minneapolis Medical Club and of the Min
neapolis Commercial Club; the Minikahda Club;
a member of the Dartmouth Association of the
Northwest; a member of the Minnesota Congre
gational Club and of the Phi Rho Sigma and the
Sigma Chi Fraternities. Dr. Newhart was mar
ried on September 3, 1904, to Anne Hendrick, of
Albany, New York, and to them one child, a
son, has been born—Elwood Hendrick.
NIPPERT, Louis Albert, son of the Rev.
Louis Nippert, D. D., was born in Bale, Switzer
land. His father, now deceased, was formerly
president of the Methodist Theological Seminary
at Frankfort on the Main, Germany, and was
directly descended from French Huguenots, who,
when driven from their fatherland, had emigrated
to Alsace. The early years of Dr. Nippert's life
were spent in the schools of Switzerland and Ger
many, and in them he received his elementary
education. Preparatory to his college course he
took the work in the "gymnasium" and polytechnical high school in Karlsruhe, Germany,
graduating from the latter institution in March.
1879. He then came to America and entered the
Miami Medical College of Cincinnati. Ohio,
where he completed his course and was awarded
his degree of M. D. in 1883. Immediately after
his graduation he received the appointment of
house physician in the City Hospital of Cincin
nati, and a year later was advanced to the posi
tion of senior house physician in the same insti
tution, which office he held until 1885. After
leaving the hospital he went to Paris to attend
the clinics, and from March to June, 1885, was
in the hospitals of that city. In September of
the same year he went to Vienna with a like
purpose in mind, staying in the hospitals there
until March, 1886. H«? then returned to America
and commenced his general practice in Minneap
olis. In 1907 Dr. Nippert again visited Europe
and spent much time in the hospitals and clinics
at the great centers of medical research. Dr.
Nippert is a member of various medical and pro
fessional associations, among which are the Hen
nepin County Medical Society (of which he has
been president), the Minnesota State Medical
Society and the Minnesota Academy of Medicine
and is clinical professor of medicine in the Uni
versity of Minnesota. He was married in 1887 to
Miss Mary Rauen and they have two children,
Lillian, and Rauen Louis Nippert.
NOOTNAGEL, Charles F., a well known
physician and surgeon of Minneapolis, was born
in Wisconsin in 1863. His father before him
was also a physician and surgeon, and the son
took a thorough preparation for the medical pro
fession by two years at Ann Arbor, completed at
Bellevue Hospital Medical College. Dr. Nootnagel also spent a year in European study. He
has a well established and valuable practice in
Minneapolis and is regarded as one of the solid
men of the profession.
O'BRIEN, Richard P., was born February 27,
1863, at Marengo, Illinois. His father, William
O'Brien, was a grocer of that place, married to
Mary McManus. His early life was spent at
Marengo where he attended the public schools
and graduated at the high school. Later he
studied medicine at the Chicago Medical Col
lege and engaged in general practice. He was
the only member of his class to receive a hos
pital appointment from the Dean after gradua
tion. In 1887 and 1888 he was professor of physi
ology at Hamline University and served as coun
ty physician in Minneapolis in 1893 and 1894. He
is a member of the Knights of Columbus, of the
Maccabees, of the Ancient Order of Hibernians,
of the Modern Woodmen of America, of the
Bankers' Union and of the Catholic Order of
Foresters. Dr. O'Brien is a member of the
Catholic Church. He was married on November
26, 1890, to Miss Mary Ring, daughter of Martin
Ring, a prominent contractor of Minneapolis.
To them have been born four children, William
Claude, Richard Martin, Gerald and Marian.
OFSTAD, Arnt E., practicing physician, was
born in Norway, July 14, 1866. His father was
both a farmer and merchant, and the son had
excellent chances to secure the best that Norway
can give her sons in the way of higher educa
tion. He received the full course of common,
liigh and Latin schools and took his A. B. at the
University of Christiania. Coming to the United
States, Dr. Ofstad took the medical course at
Chicago Medical College, graduating in 1894, and
later returning for three months of post-graduate
work. Ten years later, in 1904, he graduated
from Hamline University of Minnesota, and then
spent one year as interne in the Minneapolis City
MEDICINE
Hospital. He came to his profession doubly
equipped with thorough preparation for work
among new conditions. Dr. Ofstad belongs to
the Odd Fellows, M. W. A., the Sons of Norway
and the Independent Order of Foresters. Before
leaving Norway he served his time in the artil
lery service under the compulsory military regu
lations of Norway. Dr. Ofstad is a republican
and of the Protestant faith. He married Anne
Marie Sorum in 1895. He has no children.
PETERS, Ralph Moore, was born May 24, 1872
at Anoka, Minnesota, son of A. L. Peters, treas
urer of the Peters Arms & Sporting Goods Com
pany, Cincinnati, Ohio. His parents have . re
sided in Minnesota since 1867. Ralph graduated
at the St. Paul high school in 1891, president of
his class. He graduated at Rush Medical Col
lege, Chicago, in 1894, and served as interne at
St. Mary's Hospital, Minneapolis, in 1894-95,
and was associated with Dr. J. H. Dunn,
when he began the practice of medicine in 1895
in Minneapolis. Dr. Peters is an active and
respected member of his profession in Minne
apolis, not only among his confreres but among
his clientele as well. Dr. Peters is a republican
in politics and a member of the Commercial,
the Roosevelt and the Automobile clubs. He is
a member of Gethsemane Episcopal Church. In
T895 Dr. Peters was married to Margaret Emily
Wiggins, formerly of Saratoga Springs, New
York.
PORTEOUS, William N., was born in On
tario, Canada, on June 20, 1857. His father was
David Porteous, who had studied medicine at
Edinburgh University in Scotland, but who had
subsequently given up practice and engaged in
flour milling in Canada. Dr. Porteous' mother,
whose maiden name was Jessie Bell, was the
daughter of a Canadian manufacturer and of a
family engaged extensively in large business un
dertakings in that part of the country. Dr. Por
teous received his common school and college
education in Ontario, graduated from McGill
University at Montreal and studied medicine in
Scotland at Edinburgh University. After re
ceiving his degree at Edinburgh he took a course
in London, England, and then returned to this
country to commence practice. In 1893 he came
to Minnesota and established himself in Minne
apolis, where he has since continued to practice,
making a specialty of the diseases of the ear,
.nose and throat. He is a member of the vari
ous medical societies, of the Minneapolis Club
and other social organizations. In 1894 Dr. Por
teous was married to Miss Alma Norton John
son, daughter of the late Col. Charles W. John
son, an old citizen of Minneapolis. Mrs. Por
teous is widely known as a concert singer of
charming voice and personality.
PRATT, Fred John, Jr., was born May 29,
1876, at Jackson, Michigan. He grew up at Jack
son, attending the grade schools and graduating
205
from the Jackson high school. He then attended
the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and
graduated from the medical department in 1901.
For the next two and a half years he was assist
ant to Dr. C. W. More, at the More Hospital,
Eveleth, Minnesota. He then took post-graduate
work during 1904 at Chicago Eye, Ear, Nose and
Throat College fitting
himself especially for
practice in diseases of the eye, ear, nose and
throat, and for one year following was assistant
to Dr. J. A. Pratt, a specialist of the eye,, ear, nose
and throat at Aurora, Illonois. Dr. Pratt came
to Minneapolis in 1905 and established himself
as an eye, ear, nose and throat specialist on the
East Side where he has since practiced. He is
a member of Phi Beta Pi fraternity, Masonic
and K. P. Lodges, Hennepin County Medical So
ciety, Minneapolis Medical Club, St. Anthony
Medical Club and the American Medical Associa
tion.
REES, Sorer P., physician and instructor in
Physical Diagnosis and Clinical Medicine at the
state university, was born in Denmark, Septen?
ber 27, 1870. He is the son of Peter Nelson Rees,
a Danish farmer, and his earliest schooling was
had in the common schools of Denmark. Com
ing to America with his parents while a child,
the family at once removed to Minnesota. Here
Dr. Rees completed his common and high school
course, graduating from the Stillwater high
school, and taking his college and medical train
ing at the University of Minnesota. In 1895 he
received his degree of B. S. from the college, and
was also honored by election to membership in
Phi Beta Kappa. Dr. Rees was editor-in-chief of
the 1895 Gopher and during his medical course
acted as instructor in Histology and Embryology.
Immediately after receiving his diploma of M. D.
he became resident physician for a year at St.
Barnabas Hospital. The next three years follow
ing were spent in general practice at Anoka,
Minnesota. In 1901 Dr. Rees returned to
Minneapolis to become associated with Dr.
J. .W. Bell, in which connection he has
made himself
recognized during the past
seven years as one of the actively pro
gressive men of his profession. He belongs
to the county, state and national medical societies
and to the Minnesota Academy of Medicine. In
politics he is a republican, taking an earnest and
active interest in all civic reforms. But he is
specially interested in the work and advancement
of the state university, for like all men who have
had to work hard to obtain an education he values
highly the opportunities of his own Alma Mater.
He has shown this appreciation by being the
chief agent in putting the present general alumni
association on an efficient basis by securing funds
to support a paid secretary for the association.
Dr. Rees is one of the board of directors of the
association, representing the medical department;
and his energy and enthusiasm are always ac
tively enlisted in plans for the future development
206
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
of the new body. He attends Trinity Baptist
Church. He was married on August 3, 1898, to
Miss Estelle Crocker, and has one son, Soren
Douglas.
RIPLEY, Martha George, a practicing physi
cian of this city and founder of the Maternity
Hospital, was born at Lowell, Vermont, on No
vember 30, 1843. She is of English and Scotch
descent; the ancestors of the family on both sides
came to America with the Pilgrims and settled
in New England. During the Revolutionary War
the great-grandfather of Dr. Ripley fought under
the flag of Washington and died while serving
his country in that bitter winter at Valley Forge.
Dr. Ripley is the daughter of Francis and Esther
Ann (George) Rogers. Her father was a stock
farmer of Vermont who became a pioneer settler
in northeastern Iowa, where he brought his fam
ily and established a typical New England home.
Dr. Ripley was raised amid these surroundings
and commenced her education in the public
schools and attended and graduated from the
Lansing, Iowa, high school, and then held a posi
tion as instructor in the public schools for seven
terms. While yet a young woman, Dr. Ripley
became actively interested in charitable and phil
anthropic objects giving her time and energies
during the Civil War to the work of the Sanitary
Commission. She was married in 1867 and went
to her husband's home in Massachusetts. The
desire to aid humanity urged her, however, to
become a physician and she entered Boston Uni
versity taking her medical studies in the School
of Medicine of the same institution. Following
her graduation in 1883 she moved to Minneapolis
and devoted herself to a practice which has
proved increasingly successful, and to the ac
complishment of many and varied works of char
ity and philanthropy. Perhaps the most worthy
of her benevolent efforts have been expended in
the foundation and support of the Maternity Hos
pital, which she organized and founded about
twenty years ago and of which she has been con
tinuously the physician in charge. This is but one
of the many ways, however, in which Dr. Ripley
has, by her sympathy, counsel and material aid,
found it possible to perform, in a great measure
unknown even to her friends, countless acts of
warm-hearted charity. In addition to these du
ties she held for a time the office of professor of
children's diseases in the Homeopathic Medical
School and is often called upon to read technical
essays before various medical bodies. Dr. Rip
ley is a firm believer in the equal right to the
ballot and is a prominent member of city and
state woman suffrage societies, being for six years
the president of the latter association. She is a
member of several professional organizations,
among which are the American Institute cxf
Homeopathy, the Woman's Medical Club of Min
neapolis and the city and state homeopathic so
cieties. She is a member of and attends the
Plymouth Congregational Church. Dr. Ripley
was married on June 25, 1867, to William W.
Ripley and they have four children, Mrs. Abigail
Ripley Smith, Mrs. Clara Ripley Smith, Mrs.
Edna Ripley Page, and Miss Hester Ripley.
There are eight grandchildren.
ROBERTS, Thomas Sadler, clinical profes
sor of Children's Diseases in the medical depart
ment of the university and director of the De
partment of Birds in the Minnesota Natural His
tory Survey, was born February 16, 1858, at Phil
adelphia, Pennsylvania. He is the son of
John
Roberts
and Elizabeth
Sadler,
his
father being of Welsh descent and of Quaker
faith, while his mother was of
English
descent and an Episcopalian. The Roberts
family in America traces its history back
to a Welsh ancestor, Thomas Roberts, who came
over in the time of William Penn, settled near
Philadelphia and became the forebear of a long
line of Pennsylvania farmers. The "Old Rob
erts Home" and "Roberts School" are still stand
ing. In 1867, John Roberts and his family re
moved to Minneapolis. Dr. Roberts was then
only nine, and his previous schooling had been
chiefly at the Friends' School in Germantown, Pennsylvania. He entered the Minne
apolis public schools and graduated from
the high school in the class of 1877 as
valedictorian.
The two years following were
spent at the University of Minnesota. Then
ill health compelled him to drop out of the
course and to take up temporarily some outdoor
occupation. During the summer of 1879, he was
with a State Natural History Survey party on
the north shore of Lake Superior studying the
birds and plants of that region and making a col
lection of ornithological and botanical specimens
for the university. During the four following
summers he was in charge of parties engaged
in examining the land grant of Northern Pacific
Railrod in Minnesota, Dakota and Montana.
When he resumed college work it was at the
medical department of the University of Penn
sylvania from which he graduated in 1885, rank
ing fifth in a class of one hundred and thirty-two.
After fifteen months of practice as interne at the
Philadelphia Children's Hospital and Philadelphia
City Hospital, Dr. Roberts came back to Minne
apolis in the fall of 1886, since which date he has
been in general practice. He was on the staff of
St. Barnabas Hospital for twelve years and chief
of staff for six years. He is at present on the
staff of the Northwestern, City and Swedish hos
pitals and the Home for Aged Women and Chil
dren, the latter for twenty years past. Besides
these positions he is a member of the anti-tuber
culosis committee of the Associated Charities
and belongs to the American Medical Associa
tion, the state and county medical societies and
the Minnesota Academy of Medicine. In his or
nithological work he has placed in the state uni
versity a collection of about 5,000 specimens for
the state natural history survey and has pub-
MEDICINE
lished numerous articles relating t© Minnesota's
birds. The latest work will be issued, when fin
ished, as a report of the State Natural History
Survey. He has been both secretary and presi->
dent of the Minnesota Academy of Natural Sci
ences and is now a trustee of that body. He has
been a fellow of the American Ornithological
Union since its formation and for some years
past one of the council. He is also a correspond
ing member of various scientific societies, and be
longs to the Minneapolis and Minikahda and Long
Meadow Gun clubs. Though in early life he
was a Friend, Dr. Roberts for a time attended the
Episcopal church, and is now a Univesrsalist. Po
litically he is a republican. He was married Oc
tober 1 8 , 1 8 8 7 , to Jane Cleveland, and has three
children—two sons and a daughter.
ROME, Robert R., was born March 4, 1865.
His childhood was passed on a farn% with his
parents, at Union Grove, Wisconsin. Here he
went to the district school. At sixteen years of
age, he went to Chicago to attend school. He
matriculated at Rush Medical College in 1883.
After one year there he was given a scholarship
in the old Chicago University where he took four
years of academic work. Then he went to Denison University at Granville, Ohio, for a year's
work to prepare for the ministry. In 1 8 8 8 he
supplied the pulpit in the Baptist church at Albert
Lea, Minnesota. The year following he matric
ulated in Hahnemann Medical College, Chicago.
After graduation there in 1 8 9 1 he came to Min
neapolis and entered the department of Homeo
pathic Medicine and Surgery of the University of
Minnesota, class of 1 8 9 2 . He was at once ap
pointed lecturer and adjutant professor in ob
stetrics in that college. In 1 8 9 5 he was made full
professor of obstetrics. In 1 9 0 1 he was appointed
to the chair of gynecology of which he is now
senior professor. Dr. Rome joined the Baptist
church in Chicago in 1 8 8 7 , and in 1 9 0 6 his letter
was transferred to the Linden Hills Congrega
tional Church of Minneapolis.
He married
Jeannie May Nichols of Buffalo, New York, in
1894.
They have two sons: Robert Carroll and
Richardson Rome.
SEASHORE, Gilbert, was born July 14, 1874,
at Dayton, Iowa. His father, Alfred Seashore,
was a farmer. Gilbert attended the public schools
of Iowa and entered Gustavus Adolphus College
at St. Peter, Minnesota, where he graduated in
1 8 9 6 valedictorian of his class, taking the A. B.
degree. He then studied two years in the medi
cal department of the University of Iowa and two
years more in the medical department of the Uni
versity of Minnesota, graduating in 1 9 0 2 . Dr. Sea
shore, after graduation at St. Peter, served ac
ceptably as principal of the public schools in
North Branch in 1 8 9 6 - 9 7 , and in 1 8 9 7 - 9 8 he held a
similar position at Marine Mills, Minnesota. In
1 9 0 2 and 1 9 0 3 he was house physician at the
Swedish Hospital in Minneapolis and is at present
207
established in a growing practice. Dr. Seashore
is a republican in politics. He is a member of
the Hennepin County Medical Society and is a
Lutheran in his church affiliations.
SMITH, David Edmund, the son of Charles
Henry and Clarissa (Moody) Smith, was born
at Winona, Minnesota, December 2 0 , 1 8 6 7 . His
youth was spent in Chicago where he attended
the public schools and the University Prepara
tory School. Dr. Smith graduated from Amherst
College in 1 8 9 1 and received the degree of A. M.
in 1 8 9 5 . His medical degree was given him in
1 8 9 4 by the Rush Medical College of the Uni
versity of Chicago. Additional training was re
ceived in post graduate work at eastern medical
schools and in service at Asbury Hospital where
he was house surgeon and where he is still a
member of the staff. Dr. Smith is a member of
the Minnesota State Medical Society, the Hen
nepin County Medical Society, the Minneapolis
Medical Club, the Commercial, Six O'clock and
Westminster Clubs. His party affiliations are
republican and he is a member of Westminster
Presbyterian Church. On September 23, 1896,
Dr. Smith was married to Miss Alice Dyer.
SMITH, Norman M., was born September 22,
in Monticello, Iowa. His father, Rufus P.
Smith, prominent business man and manager of
the Electric Light & Power Co. of Monticello,
was the son of Norman M. Smith, who held dur
ing the Civil War the position of surgeon in the
Sixth Regiment of Iowa Volunteers. After the
usual grade preparation, Dr. Smith entered the
Monticello high school and graduated in 1893.
He then attended for two years Monmouth Col
lege, at Monmouth, 111., when he left college and
entered the service of the C. M. & St. P. Ry. at
Monticello, as assistant agent. Coming to Min
neapolis in 1 8 9 8 he matriculated at the State
University in the medical department and for
three years applied himself to his professional
education. In 1 9 0 1 he entered the Hahnemann
Medical College of Chicago and graduated from
that school in the following year with the degree
of M. D. At the same time that he was com
pleting his course, Dr. Smith held the office of
instructor in physiologic chemistry in the same
college and was taking the additional course in
the Illinois College of Electro-Therapeutics, re
ceiving from the latter school his M. E. degree
in 1 9 0 2 . Soon after completing his studies, Dr.
Smith commenced to practice his profession in
Allison, Iowa, where he remained until he came
to Minneapolis in 1 9 0 3 . In addition to his suc
cessful practice in this city Dr. Smith holds a
position on the visiting staff of the City Hospital
and of the University Free Dispensary. In poli
tics he is a stanch republican and believes firmly
in the principles and doctrines of his party. In
1 8 9 8 , the governor of Iowa, Leslie M. Shaw, offi
cially authorized Dr. Smith to organize and drill
a company for service in the Spanish American
1875,
208
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
war. He was appointed captain of his company,
but the sudden termination of the war prevented
enlistment and active service. At the present
time he is associated with the Sons of Veterans
and is a member and surgeon of the Red Cross
Corps. He also holds membership in the Ma
sonic Lodge, the civic educational clubs, the Min
neapolis Homeopathic Medical Society and the
Minnesota State Homeopathic Institute, holding
in the last two organizations the office of secre
tary. Dr. Smith attends Plymouth Congrega
tional Church. He was married to Miss Crissie
May Benton, the daughter of C. H. Benton, in
1902.
SODERLIND, Andrew, was born in Sweden,
on January 31, 1861. He is the son of An
drew and Caroline Soderlind. His father was
a surveyor of logs. From both his father's and
mother's lineage Dr. Soderlind is descended from
the highest families—his mother being of the
House of Aldrin and his father directly in line
with Stalhandske, both ranking among the nob^
lest families of the kingdom. His father, how
ever, was too democratic to retain his patrician
name, so adopted that by which his descendants
are now known. Dr. Soderlind spent his early
life in Sweden and there attended the public
schools. He was anxious to acquire a profession,
so after completing his preparatory studies he
took up the study of pharmacy and in the year
1887 was awarded his diploma as a registered
pharmacist. He continued his college work and
two years later graduated as a doctor of medicine
and surgery. Since that time he has, to complete
his professional education, taken post-graduate
courses in Baltimore and Berlin. He now has an
extensive medical and surgical practice in this
city and holds the position of chief of the staff
physicians of the Swedish Hospital. Dr. Soder
lind is connected with a number of the more im
portant fraternal and professional organizations—
the American Medical Society; Minnesota State
Medical Society; the Hennepin County Medical
Society; the Masons; I. O. O. F.; Gustaf Adolf
Society; the Modern Samaritans, the Modern.
Woodmen and the Odin and South Side Com
mercial Clubs. He is a republican in politics. In
1893 he was married to Miss Anni Schult and they
have two sons and a daughter, Ellen, Ralph and
Ragnar. The family attends the Lutheran church.
STEWART, J. Clark, physician and surgeon,'
and professor of Principles of Surgery in the
University of Minnesota, was the first person to
enter the freshman class of Minnesota, 1871, and
also left his class at graduation, 1875, as first in
standing. Minnesota, however, does not claim
Dr. Stewart's birthplace. He is a New Jersey man,
born at Camden, October 21, 1854, the son of
the Rev. Daniel Stewart and of Eliza M., his
wife. The ancestry is Scotch on the father's
side. On the mother's there is a long list of the
original settlers of Rhode Island, among them
three governors and some dozen others of dis
tinction in colonial times. Dr. Stewart was edu
cated entirely in the private schools of Camden,
of Johnston, New York, and of New Albany, Indi
ana. When the family removed to Minneapolis, Dr.
Stewart entered the University at the age of
seventeen, and graduated—a B. S. and C. E.—
at twenty-one, the youngest graduate of the Uni
versity at that time. After trying a business life
in the wholesale field for several years, Dr.
Stewart took up medicine and entered the Col
lege of Physicians and Surgeons in 1881, coming
out in 1884, again with honors. After two years in
Mt. Sinai hospital and New York City dispen
saries, he returned to join the staff of the old Min
nesota Hospital College; later merged in the
Medical Department of the University of Min
nesota. He has held various positions in the
University, before taking the chair he now holds,
and is also on the consulting staff of Asbury and
Northwestern hospitals and surgeon at the City
Hospital. He is a republican who looks for the
right man in the right place rather than for party
gains. Dr. Stewart holds membership in several
important medical and social clubs, as well as in
the Society of the Colonial Wars, which last is
an inherited honor. He is a Presbyterian. Has
never married.
STROUT, Eugene Silas, though born near
the western shores of Lake Michigan on Au
gust 3, 1862, came to Minnesota when only
two years old, and therefore may be called a
native of the state. He is the son of Silas
C. and Maria L. Gatchell Strout. His father, for
some time a farmer of Raymond, Racine county
Wisconsin, removed to Stearns county, Minnesota,
in 1864, when he engaged in farming and later in
the mercantile business. Dr. Strout's prelimin
ary education was received in the common
schools and the state Normal school at St. Cloud.
He received his medical training in the University
of Michigan, from which he graduated in the year
1891. Then followed post-graduates at Chicago,
London and Vienna, with reference to an eye
and ear specialty. After some three years of
practice at Ironwood, Michigan, Dr. Strout came
to Minneapolis, where he has lived for the past
twelve years. He is a member of Hennepin
County Medical Society, and of the American
Medical Association, also of the State Medical,
and is on the staff of the Northwestern Hospital.
Dr. Strout attends Calvary Baptist Church. He
was married in 1892 to Henrietta Udell Elliott,
who died in 1896. In 1898 he married Nellie A.
Matthews, a graduate of the Northwestern Hos
pital training school. He has two children—a
son and daughter.
THOMAS, David Owen, was born in 1852 at
Penybenglog Mill, Pembrokeshire, Wales, the
son of Thomas and Margaret Thomas, of a family
of ancient lineage. When nineteen years of age
he came to America and made his home at
MEDICINE
Youngstown, Ohio. Desiring to complete his
education, which had been begun in Wales, he
entered Bethany College in West Virginia, and
graduated in 1878, with the degree of B. A. He
determined to become a physician and according
ly entered the Medical College of Indiana, In
dianapolis, where he graduated in 1884, receiving
the Mears gold medal for the best thesis on
''Caesarean Section." Dr. Thomas at once came«
to Minneapolis, but after three years practice he
determined to secure a more extended clinical
experience and went to the College of Physicians
and Surgeons of New York where he took two
years work in one and graduated in 1889. He
then went abroad and after some travel in Eu
rope, returned to London, and continued his
clinical work for two years at St. Bartholemew's
Hospital. He successfully passed the examina
tions of the Conjoint Board of the Royal College
of Physicians of London and the Royal College
of Surgeons of England, and holds the degree of
L. R. C. P. and M. R. C. S. In 1891 he returned
to Minneapolis and resumed the practice of his
profession and for years until the closing of the
department in 1908, was a professor of the Dis
eases of the Chest of the Medical Department of
Hamline University, and likewise a visiting physi
cian to the City Hospital and the Asbury Hos
pital. He is an active member of the Minnesota
State Medical Society and was president of the
Hennepin County Medical Society in 1905, and is
alive to all medical progress, as well as a con
tinuous student in some private matter of literary
research. In politics Dr. Thomas is a republican
though distinctly independent in his views. He
is a prominent member of the Portland Avenue
Church of Christ and has taken an active part
in the affairs of the denomination at large. In
1885 he was married to Miss Anne E. Butler,
daughter of the late Ovid Butler, founder of
Butler College, University of Indianapolis.
WANOUS, Ernest Z., physician and surgeon,
is a native son of Minnesota, having been born
in McLeod county, January 24, 1875. He is the
youngest of the four children of Frank Wanous,
who came to this state in 1854, and at present
resides at Glencoe, Minnesota. Doctor Wanous
received his first lessons of school discipline in
the little district schoolhouse by the roadside, but
this was soon abandoned for the much more per
fect public school at Glencoe. His parents gave
up their agricultural pursuit to enter upon a busi
ness career in the village, that the children might
receive the benefits of the grade system and the
high school work, which had been inaugurated
through the efforts of the first settlers in that
vicinity. After entering upon his high school
studies, he spent his spare time and vacations in
•a drug store, thus becoming interested in the first
elements of his chosen profession. After gradua
tion, he further prepared himself at the medical
department of the University of Minnesota. At
twenty-two he received his degree of M. D. and
209
spent one year practicing in the country. In 1898
he received the appointment of assistant superin
tendent of the Minneapolis City Hospital. He
served one year, then resigned his position to
accept the position of assistant medical superin
tendent of the Rochester State Hospital, where
he remained for three years. In 1902 he resigned
this position to enter upon a private practice in
Minneapolis. Doctor Wanous has done special
work in the New York, Baltimore, and Chicago
hospitals. He is a member of the state and
county medical societies, and the American Medi
cal Association. He was married in June, 1907,
to Miss Julia Bell Hopkins at Mendon, Michigan.
WARHAM, Thomas Tweed, was born in Can
ada, at Kingston, Ontario, on August 31, 1866,
the son of Richard Lee Warham and Agnes
Warham. The family is a very old one, the lin
eage having been traced back to the early part
of the seventeenth century to an Episcopal bishop
who bore the same surname. The father of
Thomas Tweed was a painter by occupation, who
moved with his family in 1873, to Belleville,
Canada. His son attended the public schools of
that town and continued his education in the
high school from which he graduated when fif
teen years of age. Dr. Warham did not enter
college at that time but after working in a tele
graph office for nine months and in the dry goods
business for a short time, learned the paper
hanger's trade. He came to Minneapolis in 1886
and worked at his trade in this city with several
different firms.
It was his wish, however, to
enter the medical profession, and with that end
in view he studied for a time under a private
tutor, Professor Hall, at the Minneapolis Acad
emy, preparatory to entering the Hamline Uni
versity for his professional training taking up his
work in the medical department of that institu
tion and graduating with the class of 1897 tak
ing M. D. and C. M. degrees. He commenced to
practice in Vernon Center, Minnesota, remaining
there until 1904 when he moved to Minneapolis
and resumed his medical work in this city. H?
has been appointed medical inspector for the De
partment of Health of Minneapolis for the term
of 1907-1909 and fills that office at the present
time. Dr. Warham has held several other public
and semi-public positions, for four years he was
county physician of Blue Earth county, and in
the summer of 1906 was the commander of the
Red Cross corps and surgeon-in-chief of the
emergency hospital during the Fortieth Annual
Encampment of the G. A. R. in Minneapolis. He
is a republican in politics and has engaged active
ly in the work of the state party. For two years
he was chairman of the republican county com
mittee of Blue Earth county and for four years
a member of the executive committee of the re
publican county committee of the same district.
Dr. Warham in 1888 joined the Sons of Veterans,
'and has held every office which his camp could
bestow and in 1903 and 1904 was elected Division
Commander of the state. He is also a member
210
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
of various professional and fraternal orders; a
member and Past Master of Kurum Lodge, A. F.
and A. M. Mount Horeb Chapter, R. A. M.; a
member of the Vernon Center Chapter of O. E.
T., of North Star Lodge No. 6, I. O. O. F.; Union
Encampment No. 14, P. C. P. and Captain of the
degree staff; a Past Captain of Minnesota Can
ton No. 1, P. M.; of Mankato Lodge No. 225, B.
P. O. E.; and is examining physician and a mem
ber of the following, Yoemen, M. B. A., M. W.
A.,, R. N. A., E. F. U., A. O. U. W. His profes
sional affiliations are with the following organi
zations: the Hennepin County Medical Society,
the State Medical Society, the Mississippi Valley
Medical Society and American Medical Associa
tion.
WESTON, Chas. Galen, was born at Chelsea,
Massachusetts, April 25, 1858. His father, Seth
Weston, was a successful business man of Boston,
well known as a contractor and builder. The son
had his early education in the Chelsea public
schools, from which he graduated in 1875. He en
tered Harvard Medical School two years later. At
intervals before securing his degree of M. D., Dr.
Weston was house-physician at the Boston
Lying-in Hospital and interne at Boston City
Hospital. Immediately after the completion of
his Harvard course, in 1882, he began practice at
Peabody, Massachusetts, where he remained until
coming to Minneapolis in 1888. Dr. Weston at
once established himself here on a sound profes
sional basis and was appointed assistant city phy
sician for the two years of 1891-93, and city physi
cian from '93 to '99. His latest public appointment
was chairman of the hospital committee of the
Board of Charities and Corrections. He was a
prime mover in securing the present city hospital
plant and has put the hospital on a modern basis
with a visiting staff and a training school for
nurses. Dr. Weston also occupies several staff
positions on various hospitals of the city. He
belongs to the American Medical Association, to
the state and county medical societies and to the
Minnesota Academy of Medicine. Of the last
two bodies, he is an ex-president.
Dr. Weston was married in 1884 to Ella C.
Derby of Salem, Massachusetts, and has three
children; two sons and a daughter.
WHITE, Solon Marx, associate professor of
pathology in the state university, is a native of
Minnesota, born at Hokah, July 16, 1873. He is
the son of Solon C. and Anna Armstrong White,
and for two generations before him, his ancestors
have been physicians. His maternal grandfather,
Dr. Thomas Armstrong, was a pioneer physician
of the early settlers days of eastern Wisconsin.
His father, Dr. Solon C. White, practiced medi
cine for many years in Wisconsin and at Sand
wich, Illinois. Dr. S. Marx White was educated in
the Hokah village schools until he was ten, and
afterwards went to Sandwich, Illinois, where he
graduated from the Sandwich high school in
1890. He took his college course at Champaign,
Illinois, receiving his B. S. degree from the Uni
versity of Illinois. His professional training he
gained at the Northwestern University, graduat
ing in 1897, and later served as interne at Cook
county hospital, Chicago. Dr. White has held
his present post in the medical department of the
University of Minnesota for some time, and is
also on the medical staff of St. Barnabas, the
Northwestern and the City hospitals. In 19021903 he was president of the Minneapolis Patho
logical Society. The summer of 1904 was spent
in Vienna at work along the special lines to which
he has limited his practice—'Internal Medicine and
Pathology, He belongs to the American Acad
emy of Medicine; the American Medical Asso
ciation; the Minnesota Academy of Medicine, and
the regular state and county medical societies.
Dr. White is Baptist in his religious affiliations.
He was married July 25, 1900, to Sara Miner
Abbott, and has two children, a son and daughter.
WILLIAMS, Charles Winthrop, professor of
Materia Medica and Therapeutics in Hamline
Medical College, until the closing of the depart
ment in 1908, ex-member of the Board of Health
of the city of Minneapolis and ex-physician to
post office employees, is a Wisconsin man who
was born at Barneveld, Iowa county, Wis
consin, April 10, 1863. His father, Daniel
Williams, a farmer by occupation, was born
in Wales, where he married Elizabeth Da
vis, also of Welsh ancestry and the daugh
ter of a large land owner of Wales. Daniel
Williams migrated to America and with his fam
ily settled at Blosburg, Pennsylvania, and
later moved to Wisconsin where he set
tled on a farm. Dr. Williams received his
first instruction at the district school, later
graduated at the neighboring high school
of Spring Green, and then took a course
in medicine at the Northwestern Medical
College of Chicago. Coming to Minneapolis to
practice he was soon called to the chair of
materia medica and therapeutics in Hamline
University. Besides this post, he has at Various
times been appointed to fill the public offices
previously outlined in this sketch. Dr. Williams
is also on the medical staff of the City Hospital.
He is a Knight Templar Mason and is a member
of the state and county medical societies and the
Hamline Medical Club. He is a republican in
politics. His church affiliations are Presbyterian.
Dr. Williams was married October 9, 1891, to
Minnie L. Benham, daughter of Major Benham
of Michiian.
WILLIAMS, Ulysses Grant, ex-coroner of
Hennepin county, was born in Chicago, Illinois, in
1864. His father, who came from Wales to Ameri
ca in 1838, married a resident of Oneida county,
New York, and settled in business in Chicago
until his son was about seven, when he removed
to a farm near Columbus, Wisconsin. Dr. Wil-
MEDICINE
liams received his education from the country
district school and the high school of Columbus.
He came to Minneapolis, a youth of nineteen, in
1883. Going into the drug business immediately,
he at once set about the study of medicine by a
practical experience with remedies. In 1886 he
entered the Minnesota Hospital College as a stu
dent. Before he graduated in June, 1889, that
institution had been merged in the College of
Medicine and Surgery of the state university. Dr.
Williams kept up his retail drug business during
his student years and continued it until 1897,
when the demands of an active practice led him
to abandon it. For two successive terms between
1899 and 1902, Dr. Williams was coroner, an office
which he filled with such ability and general sat
isfaction that the suggestion of his second term
received the largest majority given any republi
can candidate for that office. He also held for
a short period the office of sheriff. During his
coronership he was the author of a bill for put
ting the office on a salaried basis. He belongs to
several secret societies, to the Commercial Club
and to the state and county medical societies. He
is also an honorary member of Alpha Kappa
Kappa. Dr. Williams was married in 1899 to
Gertrude H. Twine.
WOODARD, Francis Reuben, a practicing
physician in Minneapolis since 1881, was born at
Madison, Ohio, on July 15, 1848. The ancestors
of the family were early settlers in America and
the grandfather of Francis R. Solomon Woodard,
fought in the War of 1812, holding the rank of
Colonel of his regiment. Dr. Woodard is the son
of Joseph S. Woodard and Frelove M. Baker,
who were early settlers in the state of Ohio, and
were married in 1847. Francis, the eldest son,
spent the first ten years of his life in that town
and began his education in the public grammar
schools. In 1858 the family moved to Roches
ter, Minnesota, where Dr. Woodard finished his
elementary training. In the year 1869 he entered
the University of Michigan, taking the work of
the literary department until his senior year
when he changed his course and for a year
studied law. He was anxious, however, to ac
quire the training for the profession of medicine,
so in 1876 entered Rush Medical College at Chi
cago, carrying on in connection with his studies,
practical work in the Cook County Hospital. He
graduated with the class of 1879 and almost im
mediately came to Minnesota and located at
Claremont, where he practiced for about three
years, coming to Minneapolis in 1881, where he
has since been in continual practice of his pro
fession. In addition to this practice Dr. Wood
ard holds surgical positions on the staffs of the
Asbury, Swedish, City and several other hospi
tals in Minneapolis, has other appointments in
the city, and for twelve years was chairman of
the hospital committee for the city hospital.
During the administration of Mayor Winston he
211
was appointed to the Board of Charities and Cor
rections and was a member of that body for four
teen years, during the terms of Mayors Winston,
Eustis, Pratt, Gray, Ames and Haynes, and
served for six years as president of the board.
In politics Dr. Woodard is a republican, but is
not active in political matters. He is a member
of the prominent professional organizations,
among which are included the American Medical
Association, Hennepin County Medical Society,
Minnesota State Medical Association and the
Minnesota Academy of Medicine. He is also a
member of the Minneapolis Commercial Club.
Dr. Woodard was married in 1874 and has five
children, Harry S., Joseph N., Lawrence B.,
Frances H. and Luella. The family attends the
Park Avenue Congregational Church.
WRIGHT, Charles D'a, was born November
22, 1863, and is the son of William S. and Eliza
beth Ann Wright. His early years were spent
in Wisconsin, where he attended the common
schools of Dodgeville and the higher institutions
at Madison. He received his diploma of M. D.
in 1887, from the medical department of Michi
gan University, afterward taking a post-graduate
course at the Vienna Royal University and in
London, Paris and Berlin. He came back to the
United States to the position of demonstrator of
Ophthalmology and Otology at Michigan Uni
versity. Dr. Wright limits his practice to dis
eases of the eye and ear and is now oculist and
aurist to St. Mary's Hospital and to the State
Hospital, both of Minneapolis. He is also the
consultant at Asbury Hospital. He is ex-presid^nt of the H'elmholtz Ophthalmological Society
and is at present a corresponding member of
that body and president of the Northwestern
Ophthalmological Society. Dr. Wright is a re
publican in politics. He was married to Kathryn
E. Keating in 1890, and has one child—a daughter,
Muriel Kathryn Wright. Dr. Wright is a mem
ber of Alpha Chapter of Nu Sigma Nu of Ann
Arbor, Michigan, and is by religion a Catholic.
WRIGHT, Franklin Randolph, instructor in
Dermatology and Genito-Urinary Diseases in the
University of Minnesota, was an Illinois boy,
who, like so many other western youths, came
to our state university for the completion of his
studies, and liked Minneapolis so well that he has
made it his home. His father was Dr. George W.
Wright, of Canton, Illinois, one of the early sur
geons of that state. Franklin was born at Canton,
Illinois, June 15, 1866. The family moved to Shen
andoah, Iowa, when he was twelve. His education
went on at the public schools of Canton and Shen
andoah until he entered the university from which
he graduated at twenty-four, as a member of the
dental class of 1890. He practiced dentistry at
Hutchinson for a short time, but soon returned
to university life in order to complete the full
medical course. Receiving his diploma in 1894,
212
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
he was for eighteen months the house surgeon
at the St. Barnabas hospital and then for five
years practiced general medicine in this city. In
1900 Dr. Wright took up his present specialty,
going to Vienna for study. Upon his return, he
was appointed to the position he now holds at
the state university. Dr. Wright's politics are
democratic. He inherits, membership in the
Loyal Legion through his father who was Lt.
Col. of the 103 Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Pro
fessionally he belongs to the state and county
medical associations. Dr. Wright believes in the
doctrine of evolution. He is not married.
LINDLEY, Alfred Hadley, for many years
one of the leading physicians of Minneapolis,
came to this state from North Carolina where
he was born on May 23, 1821, at Cane Creek,
Chatham county. The family was an old one,
established in Chatham county since before the
Revolution and tracing its line back to Pennslvania, where the first of the Lindleys, who.
where always Friends, probably followed William
Penn from England. Dx. Lindley's father was
Thomas Lindley, a farmer and merchant, and
his mother was Mary (Long) Lindley. He at
tended the village school until he was sixteen
years , old and then after two years study at the
Friends New Garden Boarding School in Guil
ford county, became a teacher in the same in
stitution. He had determined to be a physician
and after two years teaching, returned to Cane
Creek where he studied with Dr. Abner Holton.
Later he studied at Jefferson Medical College,
Philadelphia, where he received his degree in
1850. Until the breaking out of the Civil War
he practiced in his native place and then, at
great sacrifice, abandoned his home, connection
and interests and came north to begin life anew.
He was entirely opposed to the war both on
principle as a Friend and through his belief in
the Union and the insufficiency of cause for the
rebellion. Dr. Lindley had been married, on
May 2, 1850, to Miss Eliza J. Hill of Uharie,
North Carolina. Mrs. Lindley was a sister of
Dr. Nathan B. Hill, who shared Dr. Lindley's
views on the war and who had already left
Carolina when Dr. Lindley started. The two
families met in Indiana and settled upon Min
neapolis as their future home. Arriving here on
September 10, 1861, Drs. Hill and Lindley
formed a partnership which continued until Dr.
Hill's death in 1875. Both gentlemen entered
with enthusiasm into the life of the young city
and took prominent part in its affairs. When
Minneapolis was incorporated as a city in 1867
Dr. Lindley became its first health officer and
organized the wo*"k of this important depart
ment. For years he stood in the front rank
of the profession in city and state and was
honored" with election to official positions in the
various medical societies. With advancing age
he relinquished active practice and during the
later years of his life he devoted himself to his
property interests which were large and to the
enjoyment of well earned leisure. He remained
an -active and loyal citizen of Minneapolis, an
interested participant in all things looking to
the true progress of the city and its people, un
til his death on February 16, 1905. He was sur
vived by Mrs. Lindley, who continues a life
long interest in che philanthropies of the city,
and an only son, Clarkson Lindley, engaged in
the real estate business in Minneapolis.
CHAPTER XIV
DENTISTRY
T
HE history of the practice of Den Athenaeum library which was the founda
tistry in Minneapolis begins with the tion of the present public library of Minne
settlement of Dr. Gould in "the vil apolis.
lage of St. Anthony, early in the fifties.
Dr. J. A. Bowman came to Minneapolis
He was followed in 1857 by Dr. A. L. in 1865. He was a native of Vermont and
Bausman who opened an office on Helen commenced practice in Canton, New York,
street (the old name of Second avenue south) in 1858. This practice was interrupted by
and became the pioneer dentist of Minne the war to be resumed in Minneapolis upon
apolis proper. He is still living in the city its close. Dr. Bowman first practiced in an
though retired from practice. Dr. B. L. office on Bridge Square and from time to
Taylor had arrived in the city the year be time moved up town as the city developed.
fore Dr. Bausman but he did not commence He became one of the most prominent den
practice for some years, devoting himself
tists in the northwest and continued in
in the meantime to business pursuits. It active practice until a few years ago. Dr.
may be inferred that in those days the prac B. L. Taylor, who, as stated, came here in
tice of dentistry in the young city of Min 1856, opened an office for practice of his
neapolis offered little attraction to ambi profession in the Pence Opera House build
tious and progressive men. Compared with ing in 1869, and has been continuously in
the practice of the present day dentistry practice for nearly forty years.
'was in its infancy; and not only had the
In 1874 Dr. Charles M. Bailey came to
practitioner less to offer his patients but Minneapolis from Machias, Maine, where
people generally were not yet trained to the, he had been in practice for several years,
habit of dental consultation and treatment, •at the same time attending dental lectures
many only visiting a dentist when extrac at Harvard University from which he re
tion was necessary.
Fifty years have ceived his degree in 1871. He entered ac
brought great changes both in the progress tively into the professional life of the city
of the profession and the attitude of the and has been a working member of the city
public. In the great evolution which has and state organizations of the profession
taken place the members of the profession and was for years one of the faculty of the
in Minneapolis have taken a prominent, dental department of the Minnesota Hospi
useful and practical part.
tal College and the College of Dentistry of
Among the earlier dentists of prominence the University of Minnesota. Like Dr.
in the city was Dr. Mark D. Stoneman who Bailey, Dr. Wm. A. Spaulding, who came
came here in 1863 and. for over twenty years to Minneapolis in 1875, took a most active
was a leader in the. profession. He was a part in the work of organization and educa
native of Virginia, a practicing physician tion which made for the advancement of
for twenty years, and commenced the study the profession. Also like Dr. Bailey he was
of dentistry in 1858. During the early part a native of Maine. He had studied at the
of the war he was a surgeon in the army. Ohio College of Dental Surgery where he
About the same time that Dr. Stoneman had graduated with honor receiving the
commenced practice Dr. Kirby Spencer degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. He
opened an office on Bridge Square. He is was made a member of the faculty of the
best remembered by his bequest to the dental department of the Minnesota College
214
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Hospital in 1884 and became dean in 1886.
Dr. Spaulding left Minneapolis some years
ago and is now living in Hamburg, Ger
many.
Dr. M. M. Frisselle, who came to Minne
apolis in 1880, was the first lecturer on
medical and surgical dentistry in the Col
lege Hospital and in 1882 was authorized
to organize the dental department, taking
his place at the head of the faculty. He
was a frequent contributor to medical and
dental literature. He retired in 1889 and
for some years before his death he lived at
his country home at Lake Minnetonka. Dr.
Hugh M. Reid arrived in the city in 1880
resigning a chair in the Ohio College of
Dental Surgery to commence active prac
tice here. He was the first president of the
Minneapolis Dental Society. Dr. Francis
H. Brimmer settled in Minneapolis about
the same time. He graduated from the
Philadelphia Dental College and was made
a member of the first faculty of the dental
department of the College Hospital.
Dr. E. H. Angle who commenced practice
here in 1884 was a prominent member of
the profession, one of the faculty of the col
lege, a careful student and a contributor to
the dental publications. -He is now prac
ticing in St. Louis. Dr. J. H. Martindale,
now of Los Angeles, was also a prominent
participant in the development of dental af
fairs in Minneapolis during the early eight
ies, serving as one of the college faculty,
as a member of the state board of exam
iners and as president of the Minneapolis
Dental Society.
These were some of the men who took
part in the affairs of the profession during
the formative days. During the later sev
enties and the eighties the arrivals in the
city were too numerous for detailed men
tion. Many men of large natural ability
and splendid preparation for their profes
sional duties have come to the city and the
ranks of the profession are now filled with
as strong and progressive a group of men as
can be found in any city of the country.
The members of the profession in the
city early took measures looking to the
maintenance of a high professional standard.
Dr. Frisselle in writing of the earlier en
deavors of the profession says: "The es
sential forces that have been important fac
tors in the advancement of the profession
here, are the Minneapolis Dental Society,
Minnesota State Dental Association, and
the College of Dentistry of the University
of the state of Minnesota. These, with the
conservative, stringent laws that forbid the
practice of dentistry by any person not
authorized by the State Board of Examiners
—the board consisting of members of the
profession appointed by the governor of
state—effectually protects the community
from irregular and incompetent practition
ers."
The Minneapolis Dental Society was or
ganized in 1882 with Dr. H. M. Reid, pres
ident, Dr. A. T. Smith, vice president, and
Dr. J. H. Martindale, secretary. It was
largely through the influence of this society
that the state laws regulating the practice
of dentistry and providing for examination
by the state board of examiners, were adopt
ed. The society also took a prominent part
in reorganizing the Minnesota State Dental
Association, which was accomplished on
January 16, 1884, at a meeting at the Nicol
let Hpuse in Minneapolis. Dr. H. M. Reid
of Minneapolis was elected president; Dr.
L. W. Lyon, vice president; Dr. Crittendon, secretary; Dr. T. E. Weeks, corres
ponding secretary, and Dr. S. D. Clements,
treasurer. The organization at once be
came influential in the professional affairs
of the state and has remained a most effi
cient body.
The College of Dentistry of the Univer
sity of Minnesota grew out of the appoint
ment in 188.1 of Dr. Frisselle as lecturer
on Medical and Surgical dentistry in the
Minnesota College Hospital. During the
next year Dr. Frisselle organized a regular
dental department. Among the members
of the faculty were: M. M. Frisselle, M. D.,
D. D. S., Professor of Medical and Surgical
Dentistry and Therapeutics; W. F. Giddings, D. D. S., Professor of Operative Den
tistry ; W. A. Spaulding, D. D. S., Profes
sor of Mechanical Dentistry; J. A. Parker,
D. D. S., and Dr. L. D. Leonard, demon
strators of Operative Dentistry; F. H.
Brimmer, D. D. S., and C. E. Cleveland,
D. D. S., demonstrators of Mechanical Den
tistry.
DENTISTRY
The dental department moved to the col
lege building at Sixth street and Ninth
avenue south in 1885 and was reorganized
along with the medical department and in
1889 was absorbed into the University of
Minnesota, becoming a college of that
institution. Since its association with the
university the dental college has grown in
facilities and student body until it is one
of the prominent schools of the profession
of the country. It is a member of the Na
tional Association of Dental Faculties and
its diplomas are recognized by the dental
examining boards of every state. Dr. Al
fred Owre is dean and many of the leading
dentists of the city are-on the faculty.
BAILEY, Charles Monroe, for more than
thirty years a practicing dentist in Minneapolis,
was born in Portland, Maine, December 6, 1843.
From an early age he made his own way in life.
When only thirteen he entered the law office of
Deblois & Jackson at Portland, and for the next
six years was variously employed, having no
definite profession in view.
At nineteen,
through the influence of his brother, he . entered
the office of Dr. James E. Grant, of Calais,
Maine, where he commenced the study of den
tistry. After five years he commenced practice
at Machias, Maine, and during the four succeed
ing years combined study and practice, attend
ing lectures at the dental department of Har
vard University, graduating in 1871 with the de
gree of D. M. D. In 1874 Dr. Bailey came to
Minneapolis, where he has since been in contin
uous practice. Soon after his arrival here, Dr.
Bailey began active participation in the affairs
of the profession, taking special interest in all
movements looking to the raising of profes
sional standards. He was one of the first mem
bers of the Minneapolis Dental Society and was
twice its president; an active member of the
Minnesota Dental Association, and has fre
quently represented the state in national so
cieties of the dental profession. In 1886 he was
elected to the chair of Dental Materia Medica
and Therapeutics in the dental department oi
the Minnesota Hospital College, occupying the
chair until the College was merged in the Uni
versity of Minnesota, when he was appointed to
the chair of Prosthetic Dentistry and later added
the duties of the chair of Orthodontia. For
two years, Dr. Bailey was secretary of the Col
lege and the office of dean being then vacant,
was acting dean during this period and carried
the larger part of the responsibility of the de
partment. Dr. Bailey was married in 1876 to
Miss Laura Longfellow of Mathias, Maine, who
died within two years, leaving one son, Campbell
L. Bailey, at Northome, Minn.
215
COBB, Frederick Emory, was born Decem
ber 18, 1867, at Chicago, Illinois. He was the
son of Cyrus Bradley Cobb, a dealer in lum
ber and reaL estate, and Ella Jane Morrison.
He attended the grammer and high schools in
Chicago and the Shattuck School at Faribault,
Minnesota, graduating with the class of '86. He
graduated from the college of dentistry of the
University of Minnesota in 1895. Dr. Cobb is
a republican. He is the secretary of the Minne
sota State Dental Association, National Dental
Association, a member of the Theta Delta Chi
Fraternity and Delta Sigma Delta Fraternity, and
a Scottish Rite Mason. His church affiliations
are with the Episcopalian denomination. His mar
riage with Jessie Helen Sharpnack took place
April 30, 1892. Their daughter, Lois Steele was
born March 10, 1900.
COX, Norman Jeffrey, was born November
30, 1873, at Centerville, Wisconsin, son of Charles
and Anne Cox. His father was a Methodist min
ister of English descent. The son, after receiv
ing his earlier educational training at the grade
and high schools, took the scientific course in
the class of 1898 and afterward graduated from
the college of dental surgery at the University of
Minnesota. He has since been in dental practice
in Minneapolis, also filling the position of in
structor in dentistry, in the dental department of
the state university. Dr. Cox is a- member of the
Minnesota State Dental Association; and of the
Twin City Dental Club. Dr. Cox was married on
June 20, 1905, to Miss Stella E. Lynch.
KREMER, Frederick B., was born at Middleburgh, Snyder county, Pennsylvania, on June 22,
1861, the son of Frederick E. and Elmira G. Kremer. His father was a farmer. In 1872 the fa,mily
moved to Lena, Illinois, where Dr. Kremer com
pleted his public school education and had his
first business experience with a jeweler of that
town. Subsequently a few years were spent in
clerking but having determined to become a den
tist he went to Waterloo, Iowa, where he com
menced the study of dentistry in the office of Dr.
H. D. Spaulding. For a time he practiced at Cale
donia, Minnesota, then completed his studies at
the University of Iowa, from which he graduated
in 1890. In 1892 he came to Minneapolis and com
menced practice at the same time taking the po
sition in the college of dentistry in the university
of Minnesota, of demonstrator under Dr. Charles
M. Bailey.
After five years he succeeded Dr.
Bailey in the chair of prosthetic dentistry, but
after one year resigned to devote himself exclu
sively to his private practice. He was for some
years-lecturer on oral pathology and therapeutics
at the medical department of Hamline university
and for one year was lecturer on the same subject
in the College of Homeopathy in the medical de
partment of the university. He has for some
time been on the staff of Asbury hospital as con
sulting dentist. Dr. Kremer's practice has been
general although for a number of years he has
216
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
specialized to a considerable extent in oral sur
gery. During his residence in Minneapolis Dr.
Kremer has taken a most active part in the affairs
of the profession, has been a constant worker in
the dental societies, has held numerous offices of
responsibility and honor in these societies and has
accomplished much for the advancement of the
profession in this state. He is president of the
State Dental association and was chairman in
1907 of the committee which was successful in
bringing to Minneapolis the annual meeting of
the National Dental association—a meeting
which was a record breaker in attendance. Dr.
Kremer is an officer of the national association
and a contributor to dental periodicals. In polit
ical faith he is a democrat and he is a member of
the Masonic body, of the Minneapolis Commercial
club and supreme chapter of the Delta Sigma
Delta, the professional fraternity. He was mar
ried on December 27, 1881 at Lena, Illinois, to
Miss Lillias M. Ambrose. They have one son,
George E., now a practicing lawyer in Minneap
olis
McCREA, John Franklyn, was born March 6,
1868, near Shelbyville, Indiana. His parents were
Albert McCrea, a farmer, and Mary Campbell.
The McCreas came to this country from the
Highlands of Scotland before the Revolutionary
war and played their part in colonial affairs. It
was the murder of Jane McCrea by Indian ma
rauders which aroused among the colonists such
bitter hatred for the savages. From these early
settlers are descended nearly all the McCreas in
this country who use that orthography of the
name. When Dr. McCrea was two years of age
his mother died, and he spent his early life on
the farm until he went to college. He attended
the Normal school at Danville, Indiana, and hav
ing completed the course there entered the North
ern Indiana College, taking a course in engineer
ing. He taught school during his vacation, and
graduated in 1889 taking a B. S. degree. He
matriculated at the Chicago College of Dental
Surgery and completed his course there in the
spring of 1892, receiving his degree of D. D. S.
Since that time he has practiced in Minneapolis
and is well known in his profession. Dr. McCrea
is a member of the International Dental Congress
and in August, 1900, was a delegate to that body
at the convention held at Paris. In 1905 some
business associates commissioned him to go to
the Isthmus of Tehauntepec in southern Mexico,
to investigate the conditions in that locality rela
tive to industrial investment. Dr. McCrea is a
member of all the more important dental societies
among them, the International Dental Congress,
The Twin City Dental Academy and the Minne
sota State Dental Association, and in the last
named organization he has successively held all
the important offices including that of president.
He is also connected with, and an officer in. many
of the minor clubs about town. In politics he
is an independent thinker, but usually supports
republican principles. In April, 1895, Dr. McCrea
was married to Miss Etta Johnson of Minneap
olis. They have two children, Ruth and John, Jr.
MUNNS, Edward Ernest, D. M. D., was born
in the town of Deseronto, Ontario, Canada, on
August 11, 1874. He is the son of Edward Munns,
a constructional contractor and builder of Dese
ronto. Dr. Munns lived in the town of his birth
until he was seven years old when the family
moved to St. Paul. He there obtained his pre
paratory education in the public schools and grad
uated from the Humboldt high school of that
city. He then turned his attention to the pro
fession he intended to follow and entered the Col
lege of Dentistry at the University of Minnesota
with the class of 1900, graduating in that year
with the degree of D. M. D. He started to prac
tice soon after in East Minneapolis, and has since
been in active professional life. Dr. Munns is a
member of the State Dental Association, and at
tends the Episcopal church. He was married in
June, 1904, to Miss Marion Drew.
WELLS, James O., the son of Osborn and
Cornelia T. Wells, was born in Newberry, South
Carolina, February 13, 1871, and died at Min
neapolis August 24, i§o8. His father was a
general contractor of Newberry, and Dr. Wells
passed the early years of his life in that city.
After finishing the grade and high school courses,
he matriculated at Newberry College and in 1892
graduated from that institution with the degree
of A. B. During the two years following he re
turned for post-graduate work and took his M. A.
degree in 1894. While carrying this work, Dr.
Wells was also teaching school and he held the
position of instructor until 1896 when he came to
Minneapolis. In the fall of that same year he
entered the dental department of the University
of Minnesota and completing the three-year
course received his diploma in 1899 with the de
gree of D. D. S. Dr. Wells was, during the first
two years he spent at the University, "Quiz mas
ter" in histology and shortly after his graduation
was appointed to the position of assistant pro
fessor of operative dentistry, an office which he
held in connection with his regular practice.
Since 1899 Dr. Wells has practiced continuously
in this city and in 1904 was appointed professor
of crown and bridge work at the state university.
He was married on June 18, 1905, to Miss Helen
Barnholdt, of Minneapolis.
CHAPTER XV.
NEWSPAPERS, PUBLISHING AND PRINTING
T
HE printing press has played a prom
inent part in the history of Minne
apolis. The first press was brought
into the village of St. Anthony at so early
a period that it was quartered in a log
house, while Indians frequently peered in
through doors and windows to inspect the
white man's marvellous machine; but in
less than sixty years the product of the
press became fifth in value among the in
dustries of the city and has outstripped even
the great lumbering industry and has placed
Minneapolis far ahead of many cities of
larger population as a publishing center;
while as an influence upon the life of the
community and in promoting the interests
of the city, the press has 110 peer among
the activities of Minneapolis.
In a community of comparatively poor
people settled in the midst of a wilderness
there was 110 very inviting field for an ex
perienced newspaper publisher so it came
about that to satisfy the demand of the*
enterprising village for a paper, the first
publisher came from the tailor's bench and
the first editor from the lawyer's desk. The
St. Anthony Express came out on May 31,
1851, published by Elmer Tyler, a tailor and
edited by Isaac Atwater, a lawyer. It was
the seventh paper to be started in Minne
sota Territory; in politics it supported the
whig party. Tyler was confident of suc
cess ; Atwater pessimistic as to the outcome.
The latter proved to be correct in his ideas
for Tyler soon abandoned the venture in
disgust and Judge Atwater was obliged to
continue it in the hope of recouping him
self for advances made to the publisher.
He finally sold out at a loss of $3,000. The
paper passed through various hands and D.
S. B. Johnston closed a brief newspaper
career with it in 1861 when the paper dis
continued and the plant was sold. The ex
perience of most of the other pioneer jour
nalistic ventures was not more satisfactory
than that of the Express. The Northwest
ern Democrat, first published on July 13,
: 853> by Prescott & Jones, was the second
paper; The St. Anthony Republican ap
peared in 1855. The Democrat publishers
soon tired of the venture and the paper was
then sold and moved to the Minneapolis side
of the river where the first newspaper ever
printed west of the Mississippi and north
of the Iowa line was issued on September 2,
1854, by W. A. Hotchkiss. Although en
dorsing Fremont in 1856 the Democrat
claimed to be "Thoroughly JefTersonian."
Its plant soon passed into other hands and
for a time C. H. Pettit and John G. Williams
owned it and published the Minneapolis
Journal. The Republican was purchased by
W. A. Croffut and Edwin Clark in Septem
ber 1857 and on September 28th they issued
the first number of the first daily paper
published at the Falls—the Daily Falls
Evening News. It soon reverted to the tri
weekly class, but in i860 again tried the
daily experiment. Meanwhile there ap
peared a new force in Minneapolis journal
ism. Colonel William S. King, a compar
atively newcomer in the city, started the
State Atlas on May 28, 1859. It was an
inauspicious time for promoting new , pub
lishing enterprises but Colonel King was
not the man to stand for difficulties, however
formidable. He espoused the cause of the
new and growing republican party and dis
cussed all questions with characteristic
vigor, sparing no one when he disapproved
of actions or policies. His forcible editorial
and business management made the paper a
success in spite of local conditions; al-
218
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
•I H i t
msssam w
TIIE TRIBUNE Bl'ILDINU.
though a temporary issue of a daily proved
as financially unsatisfactory as in the case
of other early ventures.
The State Atlas continued to be the lead
ing- Minneapolis paper until 1867. In July
1866 Colonel John H. Stevens, Colonel L.
P. Plummer, Frederick L. Smith and Willard S. Whitmore commenced the publica
tion of the Chronicle as a weekly, making
it a daily a few weeks later and conducting
it with such vigor that the influence of the
Atlas was threatened. After a few months
lively competition the papers settled their
differences by consolidating, and renaming
the combined sheet The Minneapolis Trib
une.
THE MINNEAPOLIS TRIBUNE.
The first issue of the Minneapolis Tribune
came from the press on May 25, 1867, and
the paper is thus about forty-one years old
and the oldest daily in the city. The prin
cipal stockholders were Colonel W. S. King,
Dorilus Morrison, W. D. Washburn, A. B.
Stickney, Dr. Levi Butler, W. S. Whitmore,
Colonel L. P. Plummer, Frederick L. Smith.
Dr. George H. Keith and W. A. Newton,
and the first editor was John T. Gilman.
The ownership was unharmonious politically
and in those days politics cut a very large
figure in the management and success or
failure of a paper. Mr. Gilman was very
soon succeeded by George K. Shaw who
came to Minneapolis in 1868. In 1870 the
Tribune owners found agreement impossible
and a controlling interest in the paper was
sold to Hugh W. Greene of Boston. Four
years later the ownership passed to Clifford
Thompson and L. W. Powell, with Major
John H. Howell, and, later, Judge John P.
Rea, as editors. Then came an interesting
episode—the raid of the publishers of the St.
Paul Pioneer Press in 1876 by which the
Tribune was temporarily put out of exist
ence, the "St. Paul and Minneapolis Pioneer
Press and Tribune" taking its place. The
vigorous protest of the Minneapolis people
resulted in a compromise. The Evening
Tribune was started and an agreement made
by which Minneapolis was to have a morn
ing paper franchise whenever it was ready
to pay $18,000 as purchase money. In the
same operation the Pioneer Press had wiped
off the newspaper map the Evening Mail
which had been running since 1874 under
the management of Johnson & Smith. In
1879 the Tribune was owned by David
Blakely, Col. Plummer and George K.
Shaw, when General A. B. Nettleton came
to the city and purchased first Shaw's and
then Plummer's interest and in May of the
following year, paid the $18,000 to the Pio
neer Press and started the morning Tribune
again. Mr. Blakely sold his interests to
Gen. Nettleton in 1881 and the paper con
tinued under one head until 1885 when it
passed into the hands of Alden J. Blethen
and the Haskells of the Boston Herald. For
years the Tribune had been housed in the
old city hall but about the time of the new
regime it moved into the first Tribune build
ing at Fourth street and First avenue south,
now the Phoenix building. Colonel Blethen's management was forceful and sagacious
and the paper made rapid progress. In
1888 Colonel Blethen sold his interests to
NEWSPAPERS, PUBLISHING AND PRINTING
Haskell & Palmer but after a year bought
back the paper and conducted it until 1891
when he sold again to Pierce & Murphy.
Meantime, on November 30, 1889, had oc
curred the fearful Tribune building fire,
when the entire plant of the paper was de
stroyed and several lives lost. The new
Tribune building on the opposite side of
Fourth street was constructed with great
rapidity and temporary quarters were mean
while occupied in the Rochester building.
During a large part of Colonel Blethen's
regime, Dr. Albert Shaw, now editor of the
Review of Reviews, was associate editor of
the Tribune. Charles Alf. Williams, one of
the best known Minneapolis newspaper men
of the eighties, was city editor, managing
editor and dramatic critic during most of the
same period. Gov. Pierce's connection with
the Tribune was not long. The paper soon
passed solely into the hands of William J.
Murphy who has since directed its fortunes
with great success. The Tribune was. a
second time burned out in 1899. For some
years Charles H. Hamblin, who came to
the paper in 1889, has been its editor and
manager.
In 1887 C. A. Nimocks started the Even
ing Star, which he managed for about three
years, when it was merged with the. Tribune
as the Tribune-Star, becoming in fact the
evening edition of the Tribune. Within a
short time the original name was dropped
and since 1890 the afternoon edition of the
Tribune has been known as the Evening
Tribune.
THE MINNEAPOLIS JOURNAL.
The Minneapolis Evening Journal dates
from November 26, 1878, when F. E. Cur
tis, C. A. French, Charles H. Stevens and
E. J. C. Atterbury undertook the perilous
enterprise of publishing a daily without a
press franchise and with very limited cap
ital. The paper made progress from the
first and in the autumn of 1879 had reached
2,000 -circulation; but in the spring of 1880
when the Tribune went back to morning
publication, its evening franchise was pur
chased by George K. Shaw, C. A. Nimocks
and W. A. Nimocks who made preparations
to start a new afternoon paper. The pros
pects of the Journal were gloomy. At this
219
juncture the plant of the Journal was burned
and its founders sold out its name, circula
tion and good will to Shaw and the Nim
ocks for $2,000." Mr. Shaw later disposed o.f
his interest to the' Nimocks brothers who
in turn sold the whole paper to Lucian
swift, A. J. Blethen, W. E. Haskell and H.
W. Hawley in November, 1885, for $130,000.
Soon" after this transfer the office of the
paper was moved from 255 First avenue
south to the Tribune building where it re
mained until the fire of 1889.. E. B. Has
kell soon acquired Mr. Blethen's interest in
the paper and J. S. McLain and C. M.
Palmer became stockholders upon the with
drawal of Mr. Hawley. On no paper in/the
city have there been so few changes in staff.
Mr. Swift became manager at the outset and
has remained in charge of the business af
fairs of the paper, .while Mr. McLain who
was at first managing editor soon became
editor-in-chief, the position which he Mill
holds. W. B. Chamberlain and A.; J. Rus
sell have, been associated with the editorial
department, Charles A. Tuller with the
business department and William H. Web
ster with the mechanical department al
most from the beginning of the present
ownership while Charles L. Bartholomew
• Bart"—has been cartoonist since 1890.
William A. Frisbie the present managing
editor came to the paper in 1893 and W. W.
Jermane, the Washington correspondent,
went on to the staff in 1892. The fire of
1889 w a s not a serious setback to the paper
as its new building at 47-49 South Fourth
street , was nearly completed and was soon
occupied. This building has since been
much enlarged. In 1905 The Journal com
menced the publication of a Sunday morn
ing edition.*
OTHER DAILY PAPERS.
There has never been a permanently suc
cessful attempt to establish a democratic
daily paper in Minneapolis. The most am
bitious undertaking in this direction was the
Minneapolis Times which was founded in
1889 as a morning paper by C. A. Nimocks
*On September 1, 1908, The Journal was purchased
by H. V. Jones and Wm. S. Jones, both well known
Minneapolis newspaper men. Messrs. Swift, McLain
and Frisbie having sold their interests at once retired
and H. V. Jones became editor and W. S. Jones busi
ness manager.
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
220
and R. B. Gelatt, the latter being editor-inchief. James Gray, who had begun news
paper work on the Tribune in 1885, was
managing editor. The first number was is
sued on October 1, 1889. In the following
April John Blanchard purchased Mr. Gelatt's interest and remained with the paper
until his death. Although started as an in
dependent paper the Times soon developed
democratic tendencies and in the autumn
cf 1890 a number of prominent local dem
ocrats became interested. For a time the
paper prospered but the panic of 1893
brought disaster. For several years the
fortunes of the paper were uncertain. Mr.
Gray left the staff in 1898 to become a can
didate for mayor; shortly afterwards Mr.
Blanchard died, and after a few years the
paper was discontinued.
The present Minneapolis Daily News was
established in 1903 by B. D. Butler with the
prestige of association with popular one
cent papers of the Scripps-McRae group.
The Daily Tidende (mentioned more at
length elsewhere) was established in 1887
by T. Guldbrandsen. It is the only Scandi
navian daily in the Northwest and has been
very successful. The Market Record, Mar
ket Reporter and Daily Legal News serve
the purposes indicated by their names and
are successful class papers.
As suggesting the growth of daily jour
nalism in the city the following figures from
the most recent census reports are interest
ing:
Aggregate
NUMBER
Circulation
Census Total Morning Evening per Issue
1905
1900
1890
11
9
9
207,812
137,906
92,323
Average
Circulation
Per Issue
18,892
15,323
10,258
Although ranking nineteenth in popula
tion the city stands sixteenth in aggregate
circulation of dailies.
TRADE AND CLASS PAPERS.
Minneapolis is exceptionally strong in the
matter of class publications of all kinds.
As early as 1857 Col. Stevens (who had a
hand in many of the newspaper enterprises
of the city) started the Cataract and Agri
culturist—the forerunner of the large agri
cultural papers of today. Tt lived under
THE JOURNAL BUILDINO.
various names and owners until about 1870.
The Rural Minnesotian of 1859 only sur
vived a short time and this was the fate of
all other early enterprises of this character.
The first of the large trade papers of the
present time was the Mississippi Valley
Lumberman founded in 1876 by Col. Piatt
B. Walker, whose son, Piatt B. Walker, Jr.,
is now editor and manager. It has become
one of the strongest lumber papers in the
country.
The Northwestern Miller, for years the
leading milling journal of the world, was
founded at LaCrosse, Wisconsin, in 1877
and moved to Minneapolis in 1879 when C.
M. Palmer became its principal owner.
Wm. C. Edgar became business manager
in 1882 and in a few years advanced to be
general manager and editor, having had
entire charge of the paper since 1886 and
owning a controlling interest since 1895.
The Housekeeper was established by A.
G. Wilcox in the late seventies and was one
NEWSPAPERS, PUBLISHING AND PRINTING
221
of the earliest of the monthlies devoted to is to represent the dominant spirit of the
home matters. It passed through several Northwest, which is not always the popular
ownerships with varying fortunes until the one. Its tone is ultra-conservative. In
Housekeeper Corporation was formed in politics as in other things it is independent,
1895 with Lucian Swift as president and and it exercises the strictest censorship of
Frederick Fayram as secretary, treasurer any paper in the United States'over the ad
and manager. Under Mr. Fayram's direc vertising admitted to its columns. It is hand
tion the paper has taken a foremost place somely illustrated, printed on expensive
among the publications of its class and has paper and made as nearly perfect typograph. ically as is possible.
reached a very large circulation.
The Commercial Bulletin was started in
T H E SCANDINAVIAN PRESS.
1883 as the Grocers Bulletin. Wm. S. Jones
In a state where there is so large a popu
acquired an interest in 1886 and for twenty
lation of Scandinavian origin, Minneapolis
years was identified with the paper, build
has very naturally become the center of
ing it up to a strong position. He sold it
publication of journals in the Swedish and
in 1906 to the Root Newspaper Associa
Norwegian languages. Nordisk-Folkeblad
tion and George D. Mekeel is now its man
was the first of a long list of these papers.
ager. Farm Implements, a leading paper
It was moved to Minneapolis in 1868 but
in its line, was established in 1886. Luman
after a few years was sold and discontinued.
C. Pryor is its editor.
Budstikken was started as a weekly in Sep
Agricultural journals have been prosper
tember, 1873, was purchased by Mr..Guldous since the eighties. Farm, Stock and
brandsen of the Tidende in 1888 and in 1895
Home was established in 1884 a n d has be
was consolidated with other papers and
come a powerful influence among the rural
changed to the weekly Tidende and contin
population under the editorship of S. M.
ues as the largest Norwegian weekly in the
Owen. The Northwestern Agriculturist,
northwest. Folkeblaclet was issued first in
established in 1886 in North Dakota, was
1877, edited by Professors Oftedal and
moved to Minneapolis a few years later
Sverdrup of the Augsburg Seminary; Svenand since 1893 when it came under the man
ska Folkets Tidning was established in 1881
agement of P. V. Collins, has attained a by Alfred Soderstrom and with Magnus
prominent place among farm papers.
Lunnow as editor; Ugebladet moved here
In 1892 H. C. Chapin, who had been con from Chicago in 1886.
nected with the daily papers of the city for
The Svenska Amerikanska Posten was
some years, withdrew to enter business for founded in 1885 by Swan J. Turnblad as
himself and founded the Chapin Publishing a prohibition paper but developed into a
Company which issues the Improvement general weekly and has become the most
Bulletin and the Northwestern Druggist, important paper published in the Swedish
two very successful trade papers. Another, language in this part of the country. Since
prominent daily newspaper man, Herschel these older papers were established there
V. Jones, resigned from a long connection have been many more put forth, some of
wih the Journal in 1901 to found The Com which have become large and influential.
mercial West, a paper devoted to western
P R I N T I N G AND PUBLISHING.
investments, manufacturing, milling and
grain. In medical journalism the North
The story of the book and job printing
western Lancet, under the direction of W. and publishing business of the city is, of
L. Klein, has taken a foremost place.
course, very closely interwoven with that of
One of the very latest of Minneapolis the newspapers. The earlier printing offices
publications is The Bellman, edited and combined job and newspaper work as a
conducted by William C. Edgar. It was matter of course and there were few inde
established in 1906 and is published every pendent job offices for a long time. As late
week. It is a political, social and literary re as 1874 only six were listed in the city direc
view of some thirty-two pages and its aim tory, The veteran of all the printers of
222
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Minneapolis is Fred L. Smith of the Harri
son & Smith Co. who came to the city in
1857, a boy of fourteen, and soon went to
work at the printers trade in the old news
paper and job office of CrofTut & Clark.
He was connected with some of the
earlier newspaper ventures, in 1867 became
mechanical superintendent of the newly
launched Minneapolis Tribune, and in 1871,
with the late Colonel Charles W. Johnson,
established the job printing firm of Johnson
& Smith which has continued without,break
to the present time, Mr. Smith being the
THE NORTHWESTERN MILLER BUILDING.
president and manager. The Tribune estab
lished a job department soon after it was
founded which, after a while, was separated
from the newspaper company and became
fhe Tribune Job Printing Company. C. A.
Mitchell was for years the owner of this
business. Henry M. Hall of Hall, Black &
Co. is next to Mr. Smith, the oldest printer
in the city. He was the first journeyman to
work for Johnson & Smith in 1871. Of
other job printing houses of today, that of
Kimball & Storer Co. was founded as Todd
& Kimball in 1878 and Swinburne & Co.
by J. W. Swinburne in 1883.
Publishing as distinct from newspaper
printing was not a recognized business un
til about 1880. The late Major A. G. Wil
cox was one of the first book publishers of
the city, under the name of the Buckeye
Publishing Company. Warner & Foote
were early historical and map publishers.
But the larger publishing establishments,
notably the concerns publishing books in
the Scandinavian languages, have grown up
with the past two decades. The Augsburg
Publishing Company, The Free Church
Book Concern, The Lutheran Publishing
House and others are prominent. Many
of the large eastern publishing houses have
established regular offices in the city and
the A. N. Kellogg Newspaper Company
maintains its northwestern offices and plant
here. A unique and notable publishing
house is that of the The H. W. Wilson
Company. This was established in 1889 as
Morris & Wilson and at first handled only
university supplies and occupied a room in
the old main building. In 1899 the concern
moved to 315 Fourteenth avenue southeast,
enlarging its stock and adding a printing
plant and in 1907 it had grown to such pro
portions as to require a much larger build
ing and occupied the present quarters at
1401-1405 University avenue southeast. The
business of the company is principally the
publication of indexes and catalogs used in
public libraries throughout the United
States and to some extent in other coun
tries.
The enormous growth of the publishing
and printing business of the city may be best
appreciated through a comparison of the
business in 1900 and 1905 as supplied by
the United States Census bureau. In this
period the amount of capital employed, as
well as the value of the output, doubled,
as shown in the following statement:
KstabCensus ii s j,ments
1905
1900
89
73
Capital
Misc.
Cost of
Expenses Materials
Value of
Products
$977,333 $212,809 $387,577 $1,426,441
474,357
68,706 209,474
770,839
The number of employes increased from
548 to 776 and the total wages paid nearly
doubled.
NEWSPAPERS, PUBLISHING AND PRINTING
BARTHOLOMEW, Charles L., known to the
reading world as "Bart," has been the cartoonist
of The Minneapolis Journal for eighteen years.
In this long period he has drawn daily cartoons,
missing very few days of publication, an enor
mous drain upon the invention of any man no
matter how prolific. Bart draws cartoons as the
editorial writer writes articles, from the news of
the day. He is an editor in outline. His cartoon
is a first-page editorial, couched in the most tell
ing phrases and simplest grammar.
Bart was a pioneer in the newspaper cartoon
field, not only in the northwest but in the country
at large, The Journal being one of the first pa
pers in the United States to use the daily cartoon
feature. He came to Minneapolis at the age of
nineteen after taking an engineering course at the
Iowa State college. After two years with other
twin city papers, he began work with The Jour
nal as a reporter, and literally created the depart
ment in which he has made a name. The success
of the idea was immediate, but has grown from
year to year until Bart's cartoons are known
around the world, and The Journal and Minneap
olis are familiar names to many abroad who
otherwise might never have heard of them.
The Journal cartoons have been reproduced in
every part of the Union and in England and Eu
ropean countries, by many daily papers and maga
zines. Even in far away Australia they are fre
quently reproduced. In his book, "The Ameri
canization of the World," W. T. Stead says:
"One of the most capable cartoonists of the Un
ited States is Mr. Bart of The Minneapolis Jour
nal." In this book and in Mr. Stead's magazine,
The European Review of Reviews, Bart's car
toons have appeared more frequently even than
in The American Review of Reviews, whose edi
tor, Dr. Albert Shaw, says:
"The esteem in which The Review of Reviews
holds the political cartoons that appear in The
Minneapolis Journal is sufficiently shown by the
frequency with which it has reproduced them
Mr. Charles L. Bartholomew of The Journal,
whose work is signed 'Bart/ has not merely a
very ingenious and ready pencil, but he has a re
markable political instinct that makes his draw
ings to a very unusual extent valuable as elucidat
ing the situation or re-enforcing an editorial po
sition or point of view."
Of the wonderful advertising value of Bart's
cartoons B. O. Flower, the editor of The Arena,
wrote in a recent article: "We doubt if even the
management of The Journal fully appreciates the
enormous value of Bart's work in familiarizing
the reading world at large with the name of his
paper," and to this, he might have added, with
the name of his town also.
The artist has made a name for himself, but
better than that he has made a home for himself.
Mr. Bartholomew married a college classmate.
They have a home in town and a summer place at
Lake Minnetonka, where Bart, his wife and their
three boys spend the happiest of summers. Many
CIIARLKS
L.
223
BARTHOLOMEW.
flattering offers have come to him*from publica
tions in other cities east and west, but his envir
onment is so congenial where he is that it would
take something like a revolution to lift Bart from
Minneapolis or from The Journal.
Mr. Bartholomew is the son of Col. O. A.
Bartholomew, an attorney at Chariton, Iowa. He
was turned toward newspaper work by his mother
whose habit was to read aloud to her children.
She encouraged the future cartoonist to learn the
printer's trade, and later coached him in editing
the home paper during college vacations.
BLETHEN, Alden J., formerly editor and
owner of the Minneapolis Tribune and now edi
tor-in-chief of the Seattle Daily and Sunday
Times, and president of the Times Printing Com
pany, comes of one of the oldest families of this
country, his ancestry tracing back to 1680, when
representatives of the name located at Ipswich,
Massachusetts. As a rule, the men of the family
have devoted their energies to either agricultural
or sea-faring pursuits.
The paternal grand
mother was a second cousin of Ethan Allen, the
gallant Vermont general. Again the family was
represented by loyal service in the Civil War,
three elder brothers of A. J. Blethen joining
the union army. Colonel Blethen is a native of
Maine, having been born at Knox, Waldo coun-
224
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
ty, on December 27, 1846, his parents being Alden
and Abbie L. Blethen. After acquiring a com
mon school education he entered Wesleyan sem
inary and college, where he was graduated in
1868. In 1872 he won the degree of Master of
Arts at Bowdoin college. He then took up the
profession of teaching and was lessee and prin
cipal of the Abbott Family school at Farmington,
Maine, from 1869 until 1873. At the same time
he carried on the study of law and was admit
ted to the bar of Maine in the latter year, estab
lishing an office in Portland. He there engaged
in practice until 1880, when on account of ill
health he removed to Kansas City, Missor
where he entered upon the vocation for which
he is so admirably fitted. For four years he was
manager of the well known Kansas City Joural. Thence he removed to Minneapolis in 1884,
where his field was enlarged by purchasing an
interest in the two leading papers here—the
Tribune and the Journal. He served as editor
of the Tribune and manager of the Journal until
1888, when he sold his interest in those papers
for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars spot
cash.
Having a decided liking as well as a special
ability for newspaper work, Colonel Blethen re
purchased the Tribune the following year, but
fire destroyed the building in November of the
same year and he suffered a loss of one hundred
thousand dollars. Nothing daunted, he set to
work to build in 1890, erecting the new Tribune
building at a cost of one hundred thousand dol
lars, but the financial panic of 1890, caused by
the failure of the Barings Brothers followed
so closely after the fire only to be succeeded by
the greater panic of 1893, that it brought dis
aster to him as it did to so many others and he
lost all.
After his financial failure, desiring to begin
anew in the newspaper field, Colonel Blethen
went to Seattle in 1896, where he purchased the
plant of a bankrupt daily paper, with a circula
tion of thirty-five hundred. He increased this
over fifty-six per cent in the first year and the
Times has since steadily grown until its circula
tion is over fifty thousand each evening and sev
enty thousand Sunday morning. It now occu
pies its own building, and has the largest plant
in the northwest. The growth and prosperity
of the Times during the twelve years of the man
agement of Colonel Blethen may be better un
derstood from the following facts: White
paper consumed in 1895, 125,000 pounds, in 1907,
8,468,844 pounds; circulation in 1895, 3,831 copies
daily, in 1907, 53.949 copies daily; the Sunday
Times, 1907 (started in 1902) 70,125 copies each
issue. The advertising carried in 1895 was 131,040 inches, in 1907, 836,987 inches. From an in
significant plant valued at $3,000 in 1895, the
Times has increased until today its plant is val
ued, including building, above $500,000.
Newspaperdom recently said:—"With match
less energy and foresight Colonel Blethen has
made the Times the greatest afternoon and Sun
day newspaper on the Pacific Coast, and has de
voted it as a mighty instrument for the upbuild
ing of Seattle. There is not at this time a bet
ter or a more elegantly equipped newspaper
plant west of Chicago, than that from which the
Seattle Daily and Sunday Times are issued,—all
the result of the indefatigable energy of Colonel
Blethen."
While in Minneapolis Colonel Blethen took
a nost active part in the public affairs of the
city and was particularly prominent in the pro
motion of the Minneapolis exposition—an under
taking which he was the first to propose in the
editorial columns of the Tribune. He served,
while in Minnesota, as Colonel on the staffs of
both Governor Nelson and Governor Clough.
At Farmington, Maine, on March 12, 1869,
Colonel Blethen was united in marriage to Miss
Rose, a daughter of Captain David F. Hunter,
and a granddaughter of David Hunter, who came
from Scotland to America and was one of the
early settlers of northeastern Maine. Four chil
dren have been born of this marriage, two sons
and two daughters. Joseph, the eldest son, is
manager of the Times, and the secretary and
treasurer of the Times Printing Company.
Clarence B., the younger son, is the managingeditor.
ALDEN J. BLETHKN.
NEWSPAPERS, PUBLISHING AND PRINTING
PAUL V. COLLIN'S.
CHAPIN, Harold C., was born at La Crosse,
Wisconsin, on September 22, 1861, the son of
Nathan C. Chapin and Mary Fountain Chapin.
His father was a Congregational minister, who
for fifteen years until 1872 held the position of
pastor of the First Congregational Church at La
Crosse and afterwards held pastorates at Fari
bault, Rochester and St. Cloud, Minnesota. Mr.
Chapin passed the early years of his life in La
Crosse and studied there under the tutorship of
his father and in the public schools, acquiring
thus his preparatory education. He entered Beloit College, at Beloit, Wisconsin, of which his
uncle, A. L. Chapin, was president so many years,
and graduated in 1881, winning high honors in
scholarship and representing his class as its
salutatorian. Three years later he took in ad
dition an M. A. degree. In selecting the field
for a career, Mr. Chapin chose that of journal
ism, and in the fall of 1881, came from Rochester,
Minnesota, where his home had been for some
time, to Minneapolis, to accept the position of
private secretary to Mr. A. B. Nettleton, at that
time the owner and editor of the Minneapolis Tri
bune. For two years he was with that paper,
being promoted to a position on the staff of the
city editor. He resigned in order to fill a simi
lar position on the Minneapolis local staff of the
Pioneer Press, and upon the resignation of J.
N. Nind was placed in charge of the Minneap
olis editorial department. For many years he
225
held this office and by his energy and natural
ability for the journalistic work became promi
nent among the newspaper men of the North
west. He later resumed his connection with the
Tribune and for some time was city editor. At
the time of the famous Tribune Building fire on
November 30, 1889, Mr. Chapin was one of those
who narrowly escaped death in the burning build
ing. In 1892 Mr. Chapin abandoned daily news
paper work and established the Northwestern
Press Clipping Bureau. The following year he
began a publishing business and started the pub
lication of the Weekly Improvement Bulletin, and
for some years later issued the first copy of the
Northwestern Druggist. These two publications
are now ranked among the successful trade jour
nals of the country. Mr. Chapin still owns all
of these interests and is at the head of the active
management of them, the business being incorpo
rated as the Chapin Publishing Company. Dur
ing his residence in this city Mr. Chapin has been
interested in the promotion and support of all
movements for the civic welfare or improvement
and is associated with several organizations for
that purpose. In 1904 he held the office cf presi
dent of the Linden Hills Improvement Associa
tion. He is also a member of the Minneapolis
Press Club, the Minnesota Trade Press Associa
tion and the Minneapolis Automobile Club. He
was married on May 5, 1887, to Miss Virginia E.
Coe, daughter of C. A. Coe of this city. They
have two children Rollin C. and Harold F. They
have an attractive suburban home on the shore
of Lake Harriet.
COLLINS, Paul V., editor of the Northwest
ern Agriculturist, and president of the P. V.
Collins Publishing Company, is a direct descendent of the famous Quaker Collins family of
England, one of tTie first followers of George
Fox. His English ancestors were Edward and
Mary Collins of Oxfordshire. Their son, Francis,
migrated to America in 1681 with the first ship
load of colonists sent over by William Penn, and
settled at Burlington, New Jersey, where Francis
Collins built the first Quaker meeting house. In
a collateral line from the same ancestors, was
Isaac Collins, who in Revolutionary times started
and published the New Jersey Gazette, the first
editorial champion of the American patriots, and
whose loyal services as editor were recognized
by Congress in a resolution, expressly exempting
Isaac Collins and all his printers from military
duty. Another ancestor of distinction was Ed
ward Doty, a passenger on the Mayflower, who
became the forefather of Eunice Doty, paternal
grandmother of the subject of this sketch. The
maternal grandmother of Paul V. Collins, Rhoda
Littell, was a cousin of the founder of the Boston
literary magazine, Littell's Living Age. * Paul V.,
the son of Samuel and Abigail Jane Collins, was
born in Camden, Preble county, Ohio, but his
parents removed to Dayton when he was about
seven years of age, where his father was a mer
chant. He graduated from the Dayton high
226
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
school in 1879 and a year later began his journal
istic career as a reporter on the Dayton Democrat.
In 1882 he became reporter and staff correspon
dent on the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, a
position he held for two years. Discontinuing
his journalistic work, he then took up the study
of art in the Art Students' League in New York
during 1884 and 1885, after which he re-entered
journalism by forming a syndicate of metropol
itan papers, among them the New York Tribune,
Boston Globe and St. Louis Republic, for special
European correspondence by mail and cable, and
in 1885 went to Paris. From the French capital
he cabled detailed interviews with Pasteur on
the discovery of his hydrophobia cure, with De
Lesseps after his inspection of the Panama Canal
in 1886; Meissonier Bougereau, Constant, Gerome
and other famous artists on the paintings of the
Paris Salon, and while there he was a member
of the famous Ramblers' Club which consisted
of American and English artists and journalists,
having headquarters in that city. He returned to
America in 1886, and located in Minnesota, pur
chasing the St. Peter Tribune. Later, at St.
Peter, while still publishing the Tribune, he pur
chased Skordemannen, the only Swedish farm
paper in America; and in 1890 he sold the Tri
bune for the purpose of bringing Skordemannen
(a paper he could not read) to Minneapolis and
developing its business. After putting the Swed
ish publication on a successful financial basis, he
sold it in June, 1893, and purchased the North
western Agriculturist. This was a monthly of
9,000 circulation at the time of Mr. Collins' pur
chase; the following fall (1893) he changed it to
a semi-monthly, and in March, 1904, to a weekly.
It has now a circulation (1908) exceeding 83,000
a week—equal in the year to any other two farm
papers in the Northwest combined. In 1904 Mr.
Collins purchased The Home Magazine, a month
ly publication of 150,000 circulation founded by
Mrs. John A. Logan in Washington, District of
Columbia, and he removed it to Minneapolis,
where he published it until January, 1906, when
it was sold and removed to Indianapolis. In
August, 1904, the P. V. Collins Publishing Com
pany was incorporated, for publishing the North
western Agriculturist and The Home Magazine,
Mr. Collins holding a controlling interest in the
corporation, and being its president and manager.
With this business he is still engaged, and under
his editorial and business management, the
Northwestern Agriculturist has attained a posi
tion of leadership amongst the agricultural press.
Mr. Collins is prominent in the various press and
editorial associations of the country, and has
held offices in several of the more important. In
1904 he was president of the National Editorial
Association and one of the two vice presidents
for America of the World's Press Congress, both
of which organizations met at the St. Louis
World's Exposition.
The meeting of the Na
tional Editorial Association on that occasion
were the largest editorial gatherings ever held
in the world, the average daily attendance ex
ceeding a thousand, including the best known
journalists of the country. Mr. Collins was also
(in 1901) president of the National Agricultural
Press League. He is a member of the Commer
cial, Publicity, and Westminster clubs of Min
neapolis, and is an active member of Westmin
ster Presbyterian church. He was married June
20, 1889, to Miss Mary G. Rhoads.
COMMERCIAL BULLETIN—An important
factor in the growth of Minneapolis as a whole
sale center has been the Commercial Bulletin
and Northwest Trade, which since it was founded
in 1883, has ably and consistently labored to
extend and increase the trade of the wholesale
and manufacturing industries of the city. A
weekly paper, having a wide circulation among
retail merchants throughout the Northwest, it
has grown with the development of the market,
until today it is recognized as one of the strong
est trade publications of the country. The his
tory of the Commercial Bulletin and Northwest
Trade dates back to October, 1883, when T. T.
Bacheller founded the Grocers' Bulletin, which
was financed by one of the large jobbing houses
of the city. It soon became evident to Mr.
Bacheller that Minneapolis was to be a great
jobbing center and that with St. Paul it would
control the greater part of the trade of Minne
sota and the Dakotas, with sections of Iowa and
Wisconsin, and gradually reach out westward, to
the coast. Accordingly, in May, 1884, he placed
his paper on an independent footing, changing
its name to the Commercial Bulletin and cham
pioning the wholesale and manufacturing in
terests of Minneapolis in such an aggressive way
that the paper soon became known as the rep
resentative organ of the Minneapolis merchan
dise market. Up to 1885 the Commercial Bul
letin had depended almost entirely upon the Min
neapolis market for its support, but as the years
moved on its influence with the retailers of the
Northwest became so strong that manufactur
ers and wholesalers in all parts of the United
States came to recognize it as the best medium
for reaching the retail trade of the Northwest.
Its success inspired the establishment in 1884 of
the Northwest Trade. In May, 1885, Mr. Bachel
ler sold the Commercial Bulletin to S. W. Alvord, a Pennsylvanian backed by two Minne
apolis attorneys. Early in 1886 Mr. Alvord sold
a half interest in the paper to Will S. Jones, then
an advertising solicitor on one of the Minne
apolis daily newspapers, and in 1887 sold the
remaining half interest to Red Clay McCauley.
Mr. Jones a little later bought out Mr. McCauley's interest, thereby becoming sole owner and
manager. The Northwest Trade was soon after
ward acquired by Mr. Jones and the two papers
were consolidated.
Since 1902 the editorial
direction of the paper has been in charge of
W. E. Davis, with the exception of a year and a
half, when I. A. Fleming occupied the editorial
NEWSPAPERS, PUBLISHING AND PRINTING
chair. In April, 1906, the Commercial Bulletin
and Northwest Trade became the property of
the Root Newspaper Association, publishers of
a number of the most important and successful
trade publications of the country. George 1).
Mekeel, formerly of St. Louis, assumed the busi
ness management of the property. Since that
time it has been much enlarged and improved
and now ranks as one of the strongest journals
devoted to retail merchandising.
EDGAR, William C., a resident of Minneap
olis since 1882 when he came to the city to asso
ciate himself with the Northwestern Miller,
comes of old American families in both the
paternal and maternal branches. His father was
Joseph C. Edgar who for a number of years was
an architect in St. Louis, Missouri. William C.
Edgar was born in La Crosse in the year 1856.
The family soon after moved to St. Louis, Mis
souri, where Mr. Edgar passed the early part of
his life and began his education in the public
schools. He also attended the high school of
that city but did not graduate. In 1874 he took
a position in a St. Louis business house where
he remained until 1882. In the latter year he
received an offer from the Northwestern Miller,
then as now, the foremost milling journal of the
country, to become its business manager. He
accepted and came to Minneapolis to begin his
long connection with the paper. Two years later
he became general manager and since 1886 has
also been its editor. In 1895 he purchased a
controlling interest in the stock and became pres
ident of the Miller Publishing Company. Covering, as it does, one of the broadest fields with
which class journalism is connected, the Miller
has given to Mr. Edgar a splendid opportunity
to exercise his knowledge of the editorial depart
ment of newspaper work as well as his ability as
a business manager. In July of 1906 Mr. Edgar
established and began the publication of "The
Bellman," a weekly illustrated paper issued in
Minneapolis. He is a contributor to numerous
periodicals and the author of several books and
pamphlets. Among these are the Story of a
Grain of Wheat, published in 1903; The Russian
Famine, 1893, and The Miller's Evil Genius. Mr.
Edgar is actively interested in improvement and
reform movements and has been the head c>f a
number of such efforts to better the public con
dition. Possibly his most important public serv
ice was rendered by his connection with the re
lief movement for the famine stricken peasants
of Russia in 1891. The plan was conceived and
executed by him; through his efforts the millers
of this country were induced to contribute a
shipload of flour; and under his personal super
vision it was collected, shipped and distributed.
The food furnished by these means to the suffer
ing population of the Empire did much to relieve
the situation, and as a mark of the appreciation
felt for the efforts of Mr. Edgar in behalf of his
people, the Emperor presented him with a gold
227
flagon. Well known in the social life of the city
as well as in business circles, Mr. Edgar is natu
rally associated with a number of the larger
clubs, both of Minneapolis and other cities. His
local affiliations include memberships in the Min
neapolis, Minikahda, Lafayette and Skylight
clubs and he is also on the roll of the St. Louis
Club of St. Louis, and the Salmagundi Club of
New York. He is connected with several scien
tific and improvement organizations, the chief
ones being the American Social Science Associa
tion of New York; the American Free Trade
League, Boston; the National Municipal League,
Philadelphia; the Minnesota Trade Press Asso
ciation, of which he was the first president; and
the Voters League, of the executive committee of
which he is a member. Mr. Edgar was married
in 1883 to Miss Anne Page Randolph Robinson
and they have two children—a son, Randolph,
and a daughter Marjorie.
FARM, STOCK AND HOME, one of the
leading agricultural papers of the west, was
established in 1884 by the late Horatio R. Owen,
who was its business manager until his death in
1900.
The Hon. Sidney M. Owen assumed
editorial management of the paper in 1895 and
still occupies the position of editor with the
utmost success. His son, Harry N. Owen, has
long been connected with the paper, and on the
death of Mr. Horatio Owen succeeded him as
business manager and still continues at the head
of that department of the paper. The business
is now owned by the Farm, Stock & Home Com
pany, a corporation, and the enterprise is on a
sound basis financially.
Its circulation is over
104,000 copies, it is issued semi-monthly, and
the paper enjoys the confidence of a large con
stituency among the farmers of the Northwest.
Its office is at 830 Hennepin avenue, where is
occupies an entire floor, fully - equipped for the
production of a modern class paper.
FAYRAM, Frederick, was born on April 3,
[852, at Rotherham, England. His father Amos
Fayram, a life insurance actuary, is still living
but has now retired; his mother, Martha Blackmore Fayram, died in 1891. They were both na
tives of England and through them Mr. Fayram
is connected with prominent and well known
aristocratic families in England. His early boy
hood was spent in England but when he was nine
years of age, his parents came to Canada and
settled at Hamilton. In the schools of that place
and of Toronto, Canada, he received his educa
tion, going through the common schools and tak
ing a course in a business college. For a time
Mr. Fayram studied the cabinet making trade,
but his inclinations were toward a journalistic
career and in 1875 he went to Detroit, Michigan,
and there entered the employ of the Detroit Free
Press. He remained with this paper for nineteen
years, becoming business manager in 1887. He re
signed this position in 1894 to come to Minneapo
lis and one year later, in July, 1895, he associated
228
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
himself with Lucian Swift in the purchase of "The
Housekeeper," and of this publication he has
been secretary, treasurer and general manager
since that time. Mr. Fayram has always had a
keen interest in music and its promotion and for
nineteen years while in Detroit sang profession
ally in church choirs and was one of the famous
Arion Male Quartette of Detroit. He continued
his connection with musical affairs in Minneap
olis and since 1897 has been president of the
Philharmonic Club. He was largely instrumental
in bringing about the movement which resulted
in the erection of the Minneapolis Auditorium.
At the institution of the Minneapolis Symphony
Orchestra he was one of the most active workers
on the behalf of that organization and is now
one of the managing committee. Mr. Fayram is
fond of athletic and water sports, belongs to the
Minneapolis Athletic and Minnetonka Yacht
clubs and is actively interested in sailing, automobiling and all vigorous out-of-door sports.
He is also a member of the Minneapolis, the
Commercial and the Six O'Clock clubs and is
prominently identified with the club life of the
city. In 1892 Mr. Fayram was married to Miss
Carrie J. Young, of Mount Vernon, Ohio: They
have no children.
HALL, BLACK & CO.—The firm of Hall,
Black & Co., general printers, was organized in
1886 by Henry M. Hall and W. F. Black and
has continued ever since without change of
name or membership in the partnership. Both
the partners were from Maine. Mr. Hall learned
the printer's trade in Houlton, Maine, and came
west to establish himself in business. Mr. Black
had been in the printing business in Boston, but
owing to failing health had sold out and for
some years engaged in the more active work
of telegraph and telephone construction and
superintendence. He was superintendent of the
Worcester division of the New England Tele
graph and Telephone Company at the time of
the general consolidation of the Bell telephone
interests and was soon sent to Minneapolis to
act as cashier in the local office. After a year
or so of service as cashier and acting superin
tendent in Minneapolis he formed the partner
ship with Mr. Hall and has since been in busi
ness for himself. The job printing business taken
up by the firm was that originally started about
1880 or 1881 as the Journal Job Printing Com
pany. The new owners moved the plant to 304
First avenue South, where they enlarged it year
by year and'built up a satisfactory business. Af
ter 15 years the quarters were outgrown and
in 1901 the concern moved to its present loca
tion at 329 'Hennepin avenue. Here a modern
cylinder press of large capacity and other equip
ment was added to the plant and the business
still further 'developed. The firm is perhaps the
only one in the city which has undergone no
changes or suffered from any business vicis
situdes in the course of its career of a score of
years.
FREDERICK
FAYRAM.
JONES, Herschell V., editor of the Minne
apolis Journal, was born at Jefferson, Schoharie
county, New York, August 30, 1861, son of W.
S. Jones, a merchant of that place. Mr. Jones'
ancestors helped to make history in the older
days in Connecticut and Massachusetts, some
of them having been numbered among the
minute men who made the stand at Concord
Bridge in 1775 and "fired the shot heard round
the world." As a boy Mr. Jones attended the
public schools in Jefferson, New York, and after
wards the Delaware Literary Institute at Frank
lin, New York. With strong journalistic instinct
lie conducted a country newspaper, when he was
eighteen years old, and, subsequently, as a member
of the editorial staff of the Minneapolis Evening
Journal for seventeen years, he acquired ample
experience in metropolitan journalism. As com
mercial editor of that paper Mr. Jones developed
a remarkable aptitude in the difficult science of
crop-estimating and forecasting, and his close
approximations to officially declared results in
the spring wheat area, have given him a wide
recognition in the commercial world as an expert
crop estimator. In 1901 Mr. Jones founded "The
Commercial West," a journal devoted to the
promotion of the financial and commercial inter
ests of the West. This undertaking proved very
successful and the paper has taken a place as a
recognized authority in its field. On Septembei
NEWSPAPERS, PUBLISHING AND PRINTING
I , 1908, Mr. Jones, with his brother William S.
Jones, purchased the Minneapolis Journal. He
became the editor and his brother the business
manager of the paper. He is a member of the
Minneapolis, the Minikahda, the Commercial and
the Sky-light Clubs. In 1885 Mr. Jones was
married to Lydia G. Wilcox, of Jefferson, New
York, and seven children have been born to them.
KLEIN, William Livingston, publisher of the
Journal-Lancet, is a native of Illinois. He was
born at Barry, Pike county, on January 28, 1851,
the son of Joseph and Agnes G. Klein. His
father was a lawyer.
He attended the local
schools during his boyhood, and prepared for
college at the Pittsfield, Illinois, high schooi
From Pittsfield he went to Ithaca, New York,
and entered Cornell University. After completing
the four years' course he graduated in 1873 with
the degree of B. S. After leaving college Mr
Klein spent a few years teaching school being,
successively, the principal of the Argyle Academy,
Argyle, New York; principal (for three years)
of the Woodstock, Illinois, schools; and principal
of the Jefferson, Illinois, high school—now a
part of the Chicago school system. Since 1878
he has been editor and publisher of professional
books and periodicals. He came to Minneapolis
in 1882 and for the past fifteen years has been
manager of the Lancet, the leading paper of the
medical profession in the Northwest. Mr. Klein
is the author of "Why We Punctuate; or Rea
son vs. Rule in the Use of Marks," which was
published anonymously and caused much com
ment among literary and educational papers. It
received high praise from the leading literal*}
journals of the country, and Dr. J. L. Pickard, a
prominent American educator, said of it: "The
author has introduced punctuation into litera
ture." Mr. Klein was married in 1875 to Nora
C. Sprague of Homer, New York, and they have
two children, Horace C. and Kenneth O. I lie
family attends Trinity Baptist Church.
McLAIN, John Scudder, editor of the Min
neapolis Journal, was born in Brown county,
Ohio, 011 May 26, 1853, the son of James Robin
son and Nancy (Anderson) McLain. He spent
his early years 011 a farm in Kendall county, Il
linois, where the family located in 1854, and at
tended the common schools, completing his edu
cation at Jennings Seminary, Aurora, Illinois,
and at Wabash College, which he entered in 1870.
He began newspaper work 011 the St. Louis
Democrat in 1872 at the same time studying at
Washington University at St. Louis. In 1875 he
returned to Wabash College and graduated in
1877 and in 1902 received the degree of A. M. In
1897 he delivered the annual alumni address at
Wabash. From college Mr. McLain went to
Kansas City where he began newspaper work on
the Kansas City Journal, acting as city editor and
managing editor until 1881, when ill-health com
pelled him to take up another class of work. For
229
four years he was in the employ of the A. T. &
S. F. Railway at Topeka. Mr. McLain came to
Minneapolis in 1885 as editor of the Journal and
for a score of years has been one of the leading
newspaper men of the northwest. He was vicepresident of the Journal Printing Company until
September 1, 1908, when (with the other stock
holders.) he sold his interests and retired from
the editorship of the paper. A tour of Alaska
a few years ago was followed by the publica
tion in 1905 of "Alaska and the Klondike,"
recognized as an authoritative work and
the first comprehensive book written on the
subject. He belongs to the leading local clubs—
the Minneapolis, Commercial, Six O'Clock and
others and is a member of the National Municipal
League, American Social Science Association,
American Economic Association, National Geo
graphical Society, Phi Beta Kappa and Beta
Theta Pi. In 1881 he was married at Crawfordsville, Indiana, to Miss Caroline E. Thompson.
They are members of Westminster Presbyterian
Church.
MEHAN, James Edward, general Northwest
ern agent for George Barrie & Sons, was born on
November 21, 1866, in New York state, at Mechanicville, Saratoga county. His parents were Mar-
8WEET, PHOTO
JOHN S . McLAIN.
A HALF CENTUkY OF MINNEAPOLIS
230
they have one child, a daughter. They have al
ways resided in Minneapolis, their present home
being on Park avenue.
ii:
.
MEYST, Frank Jay, resident manager of the
A. N. Kellogg Newspaper Company, was born at
Amsterdam, Holland, on January 23, 1858. His
father was Peter Meyst and his mother Nellie
(Faber) Meyst. He came to St. Paul with his
father when only eight years of age. They were
accompanied by five other families and together
the colonists bought a full section of land in Sil
ver Creek, Wright county, Minnesota, from the
old St. Paul and Pacific Railway. In those days
farming meant hard work for the whole family
and the boy up to the age of twelve had but two
years of schooling. In 1870 he entered the office
of the St. Cloud Times and his education as
printer and publisher—that of so many active
and successful men—was obtained at the case and
in the editorial chair. After eighteen months as
printer's devil in the St. Cloud office he went to
St. Paul and entered the employ of the late H. P.
Hall who was then conducting the St. Paul News
paper Union. He continued with Mr. Hall for
many years working for him during his ownership
of the St. Paul Globe. For some twenty years
he was associated with Mr. Hall for most of the
time but at intervals had engaged in country
journalism being the founder of the Brainerd Dis
patch and the Osakis Observer. Soon after the
6WEET, PMOfO
JAMES E. MEHAN.
tin Mehan and Catherine Mehan, and at the time
of his birth his father was engaged in farming at
Mechanicville. James Edward began his educa
tion at that place, attending the public schools
and later continuing his studies for three years
in the Mechanicville Academy. While in the
academy he earned his tuition by performing jani
tor services for the school and doing such other
work as he could obtain. Having studied for
three years at the Academy,' .Mr. Mehan left
school land began his commercial training. He
remained in the east for a few years and then ac
cepted a position with George Barrie & Sons,
the Philadelphia book'publishers. In 1890 he
came to Minneapolis to take charge of the local
branch of that firm as its general northwestern
agent, and for the past seventeen years has filled
that office. Mr. Mehan has made a pronounced
success in establishing his, business. In 1901 Mr.
Mehan began study at the University of Minne
sota, entering the night Law Department, from
which he graduated, after completing the three
years' course, in 1904. His dfegree of Bachelor of
Laws was received at that time. After two years'
work in post graduate studies he obtained the ad
ditional degree of*Master of Laws in 1906. Mr.
Mehan does not practice his profession, having
taken up his legal training as an assistance in
his commercial work. In 1895 he was married to
Stella A. Neuman of Little Falls, Minnesota, and
FRANK J. MEYST.
NEWSPAPERS, PUBLISHING AND PRINTING
, sale of the Globe to Louis Baker in 1885, Mr.
Hall started the Mutual Benefit Publishers' As
sociation for the making of ready printed sheets,
with himself as president and Mr. Meyst as secre
tary. After two years this business was sold to
the A. N. Kellogg Newspaper Company. Mr.
Meyst has been resident manager of the Kellogg
Newspaper Company for the past fourteen or
fifteen years. He is a prominent member of the
State Editorial Association and no man is better
acquainted with newspapers and newspaper men
throughout the Northwest. Mr. Meyst is a
Knight Templar and a Shriner in Masonry and
a member of the Minneapolis Commercial Club
and other local organizations. He was married
on May 26, 1881, to Lena Furch of Minneapolis
and they have four children, Lillian D., May E.,
Bessie L. and Frank J., Jr.
NELSON, Milton Orelup, for many years a
newspaper writer in Minneapolis, was born on
September 24, 1859, at Wayne, La Fayette coun
ty, Wisconsin, the son of James H. and Sarah
Nelson.
He is descended from old Colonial
stock. His first American ancestor, John Nel
son, came from Norfolk, England, about 1660
and was a prominent citizen in Flatbush, New
York. James Nelson, great grandfather of Mil
ton Nelson, fought in the French and Indian War
and afterwards in the Revolution and his son
Justus was a captain in the war of 1812. Mr.
Nelson's father was born near West Point on
the Hudson river and was a Wisconsin pioneer,
settling in Waukesha county in 1844. On his
mother's side Mr. Nelson comes from Con
necticut Puritan stock. After a boyhood spent
on his father's farm, Mr. Nelson attended college
at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin,
and at the University of Wisconsin from which
he graduated with the class of 1884. His first
newspaper work was that of editor and'publisher
of the Northwestern Mail, a weekly publication
at Madison, Wisconsin. In 1891 he came to Min
neapolis and has filled the positions of asso
ciate editor of the Mississippi Valley Lumber
man, Commercial Bulletin and Commercial West,
and has done much general newspaper corre
spondence and editorial writing. He has for
years been an authoritative writer on lumber mat
ters and has been for some time secretary of
the Northwestern Cedarmen's Association. Mr.
Nelson early became interested in public affairs
and especially in the beautification of public and
private grounds on which subject he has written
and lectured in an enthusiastic but practical man
ner and has exerted his influence generally to
better municipal conditions. In the fall of 1906
he was elected a member of the board of park
commissioners of Minneapolis for a six years'
term. Mr. Nelson was married on June 20, 1889,
to Anna M. Henry, of Madison, Wisconsin, and
they have one son, Donald O. Nelson. They at
tend the Westminster Presbyterian Church.
231
NIMOCKS, Charles A., for many years prom
inently identified with the newspaper and public
life of the city, is a* native of Jonesville, Hills
dale county, Michigan. He was born on October
16, 1842. He spent his early life in his native
state, curtailing his education to enter the army
on the breaking out of the Civil War and making
an excellent military record as Captain of Com
pany C., Seventh Regiment of Michigan Infantry
volunteers. Mr. Nimocks came to Minneapolis
in 1871 and in 1880, in connection with George
K. Shaw, bought the name and good will of the
Evening Journal whose plant had just been de
stroyed by fire. He became business manager of
the Journal and retained an interest in the paper
until 1885 when he sold to the present owners.
Mr. Nimocks spent two years in Detroit, Michi
gan, as business manager of the Tribune of that
city and then returned to Minneapolis where he
started the Evening Star which he conducted for
three years. One year later Jie founded the Min
neapolis Daily Times which he conducted for
about three years. Later he assumed charge of a
collection agency; in connection with which he
established a bureau for the purpose of collecting
back taxes which had been over-assessed and
over paid and he has recovered for tax payers
a large sum of money. He is still the president
of the company. In 1908 he was appointed a
BRUSH, PHOTO
CHARLES A. NIMOCKS.
232
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
deputy United States marshal and served four
years. Mr. Nimocks was one of the earliest
members of the Chamber of Commerce and was
one of the group of men which donated the site
of the old Chamber. The first draft of the act
providing for a park commission for Minneapolis
was presented at a meeting of the old Board of
Trade in 1882 by Mr. Nimocks. He took a very
lively interest in promoting the necessary legis
lation looking to the founding of the magnificent
park system of the city and was elected to the
board at the first election held under the law.
During the two terms in which he served he had
an important part in the work of laying out the
earlier parks and parkways. Mr. Nimocks was
again elected to the park board in the fall of 1906
and is now serving his third term in that body.
NILSSON, Victor, editor and musical critic,
is a native of Sweden, born March 10, 1867. He
is the son of John and Bertha Nilsson. His
father was a merchant as was his father before
him. Victor Nilsson was graduated from the
Latin College at Gothenburg. He came to Min
neapolis iii 1885 and began his training for
journalism. He has been an editorial writer
and musical critic ever since. At present he is
musical critic for the Minneapolis Journal. He
is a doctor of philosophy, University of Minne
sota, 1897. For ten years he had charge of the
east side branch, public library. He has pub
lished The Lives of the Presidents of the United
States, 1893; History of Sweden, 1899; Loddfafnismal, Eddie study, 1898. Dr. Nilsson is a char
ter member* of the American Union of Swedish
Singers, and was secretary of the Scandinavian
music festivals held in Minneapolis in 1891 and
1903. Music runs in the family, Dr. Nilsson
having two sisters who are professional singers,
Emma Nilsson and Bertha Nilsson Best.
O'BRIEN, Frank G., is a native of Maine,
born at Calais on May 15, 1843. His father Wetmore O'Brien, a lumberman, and one of the early
settlers of St. Anthony, came to what is now
East Minneapolis in 1855, when his son was
twelve years old. Mr. O'Brien's education was
limited, as he attended school but eighteen
months; and for three years previous to coming
West he did his share, as was usual in the early
days, toward keeping up the* home, his first work
being in a sawmill. He started an active busi
ness career immediately after coming to Min
nesota and has had marked success in his under
takings. He has now retired from active business
life, however, and has placed his affairs in the
hands of his son, Edward James O'Brien, while
he devotes his energies to writing. His "Min
nesota Pioneer Sketches" was recently success
fully published, and he now has almost ready for
the press the '"Adventures of the Jones and Jepson Boys." In addition to his other literary work,
he is a frequent contributor, in prose and verse,
to the press and many have become acquainted
with his articles through the local papers. Mr.
O'Brien has been an active participant in the
commercial, social and club life of the city since
its infancy. He is an officer in the Minnesota
and Hennepin County Territorial Pioneers' Asso
ciation and of the Writers' League and is a mem
ber of the Press Club; The Monday Club; of the
Masonic Order; the Legion of Honor; the Min
nesota Historical Society and the New Thought
Lyceum. He attends the Unitarian Church. He
was married on May 8, 1866, to Miss Lizzie E.
Bostwick, daughter of Judge Lardner Bostwick,
a pioneer jurist of this state who came with her
parents to the Falls of St. Anthony in 1850, and
was well known in the social life of the city, and
as a writer of verse for the press. Their only
child is Edward James O'Brien of this city. Mrs.
O'Brien died on January 13, 1908.
PRYOR, Luman C., editor and manager of
Farm Implements, was born at Bay View, Mil
waukee county, Wis., January 8, 1864, the son of
William R. and Elizabeth M. Pryor. His father
is of English origin, both father and mother hav
ing been born in that country. William R. Pryor,
when about seven years of age, left England with
his father and the rest of his family. They set
tled first in Canada, near Toronto, removing a
few years later to the United States, and taking
up their permanent residence at Rochester, New
York. The spirit of adventure brought William
R. Pryor to the west in the later forties. He set-
BRUSp, PHOTO
PRANK J. O'BRIEN.
NEWSPAPERS, PUBLISHING AND PRINTING
tied on the shore of Lake Michigan, and engaged
in farming, his homestead being located within a
very short distance of the townsite of Milwaukee.
Many years ago, the city limits were sufficiently
extended to include all of the Pryor farm. Here
the childhood of Luman C. Pryor was spent.
When thirteen years of age, he moved with the
family to Waupun, Wis., following the death of
his parents. He received his education in the
common schools of Bay View, and the high
school at Waupun. After leaving school, he en
tered the newspaper business, and has made that
his life work. In 1882, he moved to Minneapolis,
and after spending ten years on the various pa
pers in Minneapolis and St. Paul, purchased Farm
Implements, the paper which he has since con
ducted. At the time of acquiring this property,
the business in farm inplements was divided be
tween the two cities, and Mr. Pryor has witnessed
the wonderful growth of the trade in Minneapolis,
including the gradual transfer of many of the
houses in this line from St. Paul, until Minneap
olis has developed into the greatest implement
center in the country. Farm Implements has kept
pace with the growth of the business. It was
established in 1887, but previous to 1892 had not
made marked progress. An energetic policy and
progressive methods have developed the paper
from meager beginnings to the position of one of
the principal publications in the implement line.
Mr. Pryor was married October ix, 1888, to Miss
Lulu Marion Judd, daughter of William A. and
Alice M. Judd, of St. Paul. They have one
daughter, Marion G. Pryor. The family attend
St. Mark's Episcopal church. Politically, Mr.
Pryor is a republican, but is not active in politics.
He is a member of various clubs, including the
Minneapolis, Minikahda, Lafayette and Commer
cial clubs.
SMITH, Fred L., was born in Maine, July 2,
1843. He came to St. Anthony in 1857 and has
resided in Minneapolis ever since. He was mar
ried in 1869 to Roxana G. Sinclair and has two
children, both married.
He commenced the
printing trade with Messrs. Croffut & Clark in
September, 1857, and was carrier boy on the Falls
Evening News, the first daily paper printed at
the Falls of St. Anthony. In 1865 he was one
of the founders of the Minneapolis Daily Chron
icle and when the Chronicle was merged with
the Atlas in 1867, forming the Minneapolis Tri
bune, Mr. Smith became superintendent of the
mechanical department of the Tribune. In 1871
he, with Col. Chas. W. Johnson, established a job
printing business, and the present concern of
Harrison & Smith Co., of which Mr. Smith is
president, is the outgrowth of the partnership
formed with Mr. Johnson in 1871. Mr. Smith
has had considerable experience in public life,
having represented the fifth ward in the City
Council of the city of Minneapolis for five years,
occupying the president's chair when he resigned
in 1881. He has served ten years on the Park
Board of the city, and is an ex-president of the
233
board. In former years Mr. Smith was quite
active in Masonic circles, and has passed the chair
in all the Masonic bodies meeting at the lodge
room of Cataract Lodge No. 2, in East Minne
apolis. He is a thirty-second degree Mason and
for many years was secretary of the Scottish rite
bodies of Minneapolis.
SWIFT, Lucian, for twenty-three years pres
ident, manager and treasurer of the Minneapo
lis Journal, was born at Akron, Ohio, July 14,
1848, the son of Lucian (his father was chief
justice of Connecticut) and Sarah S. Swift. He
graduated from the Cleveland, Ohio, high school
and from the University of Michigan in 1869
with the degree of M. E. In 1871 he came to
Minneapolis and was connected with the draft
ing department of the Northern Pacific Railway
until 1876. For the next nine years he was
identified with the Minneapolis Tribune and in
1885 with three others purchased the Minneapo
lis Journal of which he was manager for twen
ty-three years. During all this time he has
been actively connected with the development
of Minneapolis and the public enterprises of the
northwest. On September 1, 1908, Mr. Swift
(with the other stockholders of The Journal)
sold his interests and retired from the manage
ment of the paper. Mr. Swift is president of
LUCIA N
SWIFT.
234
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
the Housekeeper Corporation. He is a mem
ber of the Minneapolis, Commercial, Lafayette,
Minikahda, Minnetonka Yacht, and Bryn Mawr
Golf Club and Union League Club of Chicago,
and of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
THE SVENSKA FOLKETS TIDNING, a
Swedish-American weekly, sent its first number
into the world October 25, 1881. It was then
published by the Swedish Publishing Company
of Minneapolis, whose officers were Victor
Berggren, president; P. J. E. Clementson, treas
urer; and Alfred Soderstrom, secretary. Its first
editor was Magnus Lunnow, who held this posi
tion for nearly twenty years. Among the early
contributors were Hon. John Lind, editing from
New Ulm the judicial query department, Hon.
Hans Mattson, mostly correspondence during
travels in Europe, India and Mexico, Hon. Al
bert Berg, then of Fargo, and others. The paper
has always been liberal in its tendencies, trans
mitting and commenting upon news and the
leading questions of the day without social,
political or clerical restrictions, yet of moderate
tone. It is educationl in purpose and republican
as far at its party affiliations are concerned.
Svenska Folkets Tidning was successful from its
very start, gaining more than 3,000 subscribers
within the first three months of its publication
and increasing this number more than three
times within the second year. In 1883 the paper
was sold by the Swedish Publishing Company
to its three principal workers, Alfred Soder
strom, Magnus Lunnow and Olof Hoglund, in
whose possession it remained until the spring of
1899. The paper's career has not been without
its trying vicissitudes and has four times passed
through fire. When the first Tribune Building
was destroyed in November, 1889, the Svenska
Folkets Tidning lost its entire plant, which was
located on the seventh floor. This was a total
loss to the owners as the insurance policies had
just expired. The modern requirements for a
newspaper, solid financial backing and an en
larged, up-to-date plant, in 1899, caused the in
corporating of the Swedish Printing Company
of Minnesota, into the hands of which Svenska
Folkets Tidning was then placed. The incor
porators were N. O. Werner, C. A. Smith, J. P.
Hedberg, P. H. Stolberg, Carl Ekman, John
Peterson, N. E. Nelson, Magnus Lunnow, C. J.
Larson and Olof Hoglund. Of these the last
mentioned has later sold his shares and Magnus
Lunnow and C. J. Larson are dead. Carl Ek
man has been the general manager ever since
1899 and is in a large measure responsible for
the rapid strides of advancement made by the
paper of late years. The Svenska Folkets Tid
ning possesses in Gudmund Akermark, Ernest
Spangberg and Dr. Victor Nilsson three able
editorial writers. The former is editor-in-chief
and also edits Odalmannen, a semi-monthly agri
cultural paper started by the Swedish Printing
Company in May, 1904. Dr. Nilsson is also the
FUKD I>. SMITH.
publisher of a monthly journal, the organ of the
American Union of Swedish Singers.
MINNEAPOLIS DAILY TIDENDE, the
only Scandinavian daily paper in the Northwest,
was established in 1887 by Mr. T. Guldbrandsen.
Mr. Guldbrandsen had been publishing a small
weekly paper at Grand Forks, North Dakota,
when he conceived the bold plan of establishing
a Scandinavian daily in Minneapolis. The first
issue appeared on January 24, 1887. No better
illustration of the success which has been at
tained by Mr. Guldbrandsen in his undertak
ing could be offered than a comparison between
the modest looking four-page, five-column sheet
issued on the date named and the handsome
jubilee issue of the publication twenty years
later, January 24, 1907, when a thirty-two pagft
paper made its appearance, profusely illustrated
and full of interesting matter regarding the citv.
and especially its Scandinavian contingent, be
sides news matter and numerous special articles.
Established as it was at a time when the city's
population of Scandinavian extraction numbered
about 30,000, it took some little time for the
"Tidende" to obtain a firm foothold, but Min
neapolis grew, the Scandinavian element of the
population increased still more rapidly, and the
NEWSPAPERS, PUBLISHING AND PRINTING
"Tidende" gained in influence and importance,
until it today occupies an enviable position of
prestige and influence among the 100,000 Scan
dinavians of this city. The Daily Tidende had
been published but a few months when the
five-column pages were widened to six columns.
About the same time a large Sunday edition was
made a feature. The weekly paper which Mr.
Guldbrandsen brought from Grand Forks was
published separately until in 1888 he bought the
weekly "Budstikken," established in 1873 and the
oldest Norwegian paper in Minneapolis. The
two papers were published as one under the
latter name. In 1890 Mr. Guldbrandsen bought
"Faedrelandet og Emigranten," the oldest Scan
dinavian paper in America, established under the
name of "Emigranten" in" 1851 at Inmansville,
Rock county, Wisconsin, later moved to La
Crosse and from there to Minneapolis. Beginning
with the year 1895 these various weeklies were
consolidated and published as the "Minneapolis
Tidende." This paper has increased steadily in
circulation and importance and now stands as
one of the largest, most influential and widely
circulated Norwegian weeklies in America.
TURNBLAD, Swan Johan, was born October
7, i860, in Tubbemala, Sweden, son of Olof M.
and Ingjard Turnblad, who came to this country
and settled at Vasa, Goodhue county, Minnesota,
Swan at that time being only nine years old.
The father, who was of limited means, engaged
in farming and the son laid the foundations of his
education at the public and high schools of Vasa,
developing a strong tendency to be a printer. To
gratify an instinctive yearning for that art he
bought a small printing plant and taught himself
enough of its mysteries to set up and print an
arithmetic prepared by P. T. Lindholm, head of
the Vasa high school, when he was seventeen
years old. When nineteen years old he came to
Minneapolis and set type on the Minnesota Stats
Tidning and Svenska Folkets Tidning and, until
1887, continued in such employment and that of
insurance solicitor until he was called upon to
take charge of the Svenska Amerikanska Posten
and raised it from a moribund condition to
substantial prosperity as an independent paper in
politics and an exponent of temperance princi
ples. Mr. Turnblad has given much of his atten
tion to the promotion of temperance principles.
He organized the first Scandinavian temperance
society in Minneapolis and, a prominent Good
Templar, he has organized several lodges of that
order in the state. Independent in politics, he has
declined to enter the political arena as an office
seeker and has accepted only one state appoint
ment, that of member of the board of managers
of the state reformatory at St. Cloud, which was
offered to him by Gov. Lind in 1899. He is a high
degree Mason, a Shriner, an Elk, and a member
of Westminster Presbyterian Church. Mr. Turn
blad is an interesting example of the energetic
and progressive material which comes to this
*235
country with the Scandinavian immigration. He
gives the best talents that he has to the welfare
of his adopted country; has proven himself a
power in Scandinavian-American journalism, and
has given liberally of his acquired fortune for the
building up of the city where his life's greatest
activities have been wrought. Coming to Min
neapolis with a few dollars, he has, by his own
talent and industry, acquired a fortune. He be
lieves in buying Minneapolis realty and improving
it. In 1883 Mr. Turnblad was married to Chris
tina Nelson, of W'orthington, Minnesota, and one
child, Lillian Zenobia, has been born to them.
WALDELAND, Erik, is a native of Norway,
but has lived in this country since 1882, during
most of which time he has been associated with
the publishing business as at present, first in
Iowa and later in the state of Minnesota. He
was born at Christiansand, Norway, on January
15, 1861, the son of Erik Waldeland and Karen
W. Waldeland. His father was a school-teacher
and educator in the town of his son's birth, and
Erik, junior, was raised in Norway, and attended
school until he had reached the age of fifteen,
getting a good preparatory education. He then
obtained employment and a great part of the
training that qualifies him for his present posi
tions has been acquired from the experience of
actual business life. He remained in Norway
until he was twenty-one in 1882, and then came
to this country and went into business in De
corah, Iowa, where he remained until 1887. In
that year Mr. Waldeland removed to Northfield,
Minnesota, where he had been offered the position
of manager of the Northfield Publishing Com
pany. This office he accepted, and remained in
Northfield for three years, and devoted his time
and energies to the establishment of a progres
sive and successful publishing concern. In 1890
the business was sold to the Augsburg Publish
ing House of Minneapolis, and on the consolida
tion Mr. Waldeland was appointed assistant
general manager. He was promoted in 1904
to the office of general manager and now
has entire charge of the business, and is
rapidly making it one of the large publish
ing houses of the city. In 1904 also Mr. Wal
deland was appointed treasurer of the United
Norwegian Lutheran Church of America, an of
fice which he still holds. Mr. Waldeland is a
public spirited citizen and though never active
in politics, is interested in all measures tending
toward civic improvement and is a member of
several organizations for that purpose, among
them the South Side Commercial Club. He is a
member of the Bethlehem Norwegian Lutheran
Church. In July, 1886, he was married to Miss
Edvine Osmundsen, who died in 1887 leaving one
child, a son, Karl. Mr. Waldeland again married
in 1891, his wife being Miss Ida G. Ness. They
have five children, Leonora, Dorothy, Edmund,
Marie and Henry.
-
CHAPTER X V I .
THE GROWTH OF BANKING
T
HE business of banking in Minne in Minneapolis. Messrs. Snyder and Petapolis had an inauspicious begin tit are believed-to be the only survivors of
ning, for the pioneer bankers had this pioneer group of bankers.
scarcely opened their doors when the
In 1857 Rufus J. Baldwin opened a bank
panic of 1857 swept over the country car in the old Cataract House on lower Wash
rying away many older and much better ington avenue, Cyrus Beede and R. J. Menestablished financial concerns. In a new denhall commenced business on Bridge
and isolated community where credit Square and J. K. Sidle entered a long bank
had not been firmly settled and capital ing career in the then newly completed
had yet to be accumulated the effects Nicollet House. Other banks started soon
of the panic were even more disastrous than afterwards were those of D. C. Groh, Orrin
elsewhere. But the records of these early Curtis, B. D. Dorman and Graves, Towne
banking operations show a most creditable & Co.
story of heroic endeavors to tide over dis- "
Banking was conducted under great diffi
aster and self-denying loyalty to the home culties. The lack of currency, the isolation
business men and the community.
of the frontier town, the impending panic,
Banking was on a very different basis were all causes of trouble for the bankers.
then than now. There were no national It is said that the ruling rate of interest
banks, only crude state banking laws and was "three per cent per month and five per
no bank examiners; and, except in the larger cent after maturity."
eastern cities, no associations of bankers or
There was little available currency, and
any system of mutual support. Minnesota at one time "Indiana wild cat"—as the notes
was still a territory; Minneapolis was 300 of certain Indiana banks were styled—was
miles from the nearest railroad and more the chief circulating medium. To meet the
completely out of touch with the east than need of small change the local merchants
are the remotest settlements in Alaska to issued scrip in sums of ten, fifteen, twentyday. Most of the earlier banks were con five and fifty cents. The following is an
ducted by men engaged also in other busi actual copy of one of the issues:
ness.
Minneapolis, Minn., Oct. 20th, 1857.
The first bankers at the Falls of St. An
"25 Cts. This certificate for twenty-five cents
thony were Richard Martin, who came to will be redeemed with current bank notes, at
the village of St. Anthony in 1854, and our store, corner of Bridge and First street, when
Farnham & Tracy, who opened a bank in presented, to the amount of one dollar."
MOORE & POWER.
the same year. In 1855 Simon P. Snyder
and Wm. K. McFarlane arrived in Minne
These notes had a large circulation al
apolis and at once formed a partnership in though there was a very warm discussion
the real estate and banking business, be
over their issue. Later state scrip was is
coming the first bankers on the west side
sued and during 1858 sixty-four merchants
of the river. They were provided with
ample capital and their energy and progres joined in a published statement that they
sive methods did much for the development would receive state scrip at par for debts
of the young city. C. H. Pettit arrived in or goods. An attempt was also made to
the same year and opened the second bank establish a currency in the form of notes
THE GROWTH OF BANKING
secured on the state railroad bond issue of
1858.
* Conditions improved somewhat after a
year or so but were again so bad in 1862
that the town of Minneapolis issued scrip
which was "redeemable in bank notes in
sums not less than five dollars." The sig
natures of S. H. Mattison and George A.
Savory, president and secretary of the town
organization, and the endorsement of R. J.
Mendenhall, treasurer, gave, this temporary
currency a value which led to its free cir
culation.
Notwithstanding the almost incredible
financial hardships of the young city it 1^
a notable fact that not one of the pioneer
bankers failed to meet his obligations. Some
were forced to discontinue business but all
paid in full.
Statehood and the adoption of banking
laws and the passage of the national
bank act brought about a better con
dition of affairs. At the same time the
panic cleared the atmosphere. The bankers
who had developed staying powers pulled
themselves together and in the early sixties
the foundations of some of the older banks
of the present day were laid. R. J. Menden
hall and Rufus J. Baldwin in 1863 bought
out the State Bank of Minnesota at Aus
tin, and removing it to Minneapolis, founded
a banking institution which was the virtual
beginning of the present Security National
Bank. In the same way the First National
Bank grew out of the business of Sidle,
Wolford & Co. In 1865 J. K. Sidle re
organized the business under the name of
the Minneapolis Bank, and shortly after
wards, taking advantage of the passage of
the national banking law started the First
National Bank of Minneapolis, with the
same capital, officers and business.
From 1865 to 1873 there was almost ab
normal progress in the northwest. To meet
the necessities of business, banks multiplied
and constantly increased their capital. The
first new bank to be organized in this period
was the National Exchange Bank, which
began business in 1867, with a capital of
$50,000, and H. Miller of Troy, N. Y., as
president and W. P. Westfall, cashier.
237
Eight years later its business was wound up
with all depositors paid in full.
In 1868 the State Bank of Minnesota,
whose organization has already been men
tioned, was merged into the State National
Bank of Minneapolis. Its capital was $100,000. R. J. Mendenhall was president and
R. J. Baldwin, cashier. T. A. Harrison,
who was destined to become a most prom
inent figure in northwestern banking, suc
ceeded Mr. Mendenhall, and two years af
terwards Joseph Dean became cashier in
place of Mr. Baldwin. When the Security
Bank was organized in 1878 the business of
the State National was transferred to the
new institution.
The old City Bank was organized in 1869.
J. W. Pence was the first president, and T.
J. Buxton, long a prominent banker of the
city, was its cashier. In 1870 the First
National Bank of St. Anthony was formed
and subsequently became the Merchants'
National Bank of Minneapolis
The year 1872 saw the founding of the
Northwestern National Bank.
It com
menced with a capital of $200,000. The late
Dorilus Morrison was the first president.
In the centennial year of 1876 the Citizens
bank was added to the early list of Min
neapolis financial institutions. The Hen
nepin County Savings Bank was founded
in 1870, and the Farmers' and Mechanics'
Bank in 1874. The Security Bank of Min
nesota was organized in 1878 with a capital
of $300,000.
BANKING CENTERS.
At this period, now about thirty years ago,
the banking center of Minneapolis was at
Washington and Hennepin avenues. The
First National was at Nicollet and Wash
ington. J. K. Sidle was president, and H.
G. Sidle, cashier. Directly on the corner
of Hennepin and Washington were the Hen
nepin County Savings Bank and the Bank
of Minneapolis, the former officered by
Judge E. S. Jones as president and J. E.
Bell, cashier, and the latter headed by T. W.
Wilson. The City Bank was one block down
Hennepin, at Second street, and directly
back of it, 011 the Nicollet avenue front,
Valentine G. Hush conducted a private
bank, The old Merchants' National was
238
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
located just north of Hennepin avenue on
Washington, and the Security Bank was at
Third and Hennepin. The Northwestern
National was at First avenue south and
Washington, and the Farmers' and Mechan
ics' Savings Bank at Nicollet and Washing
ton. The only bank in the city outside oi
the immediate vicinity was the Citizens,'
which was at Washington and Fifth avenues
south. N. F. Griswold was its president
and George B. Shepherd its cashier.
During the next decade there was a de
cided tendency towards scattering. But
this movement was quickly followed by one
of concentration and nearly all the changes
of location of the last fifteen or twenty years
have been towards a new common center in
the general vicinity of First avenue south
and Fourth street.
Concurrently with this centralization of
the larger banking interests has developed
a group of neighborhood or outlying banks,
serving the needs of the smaller business
centers of the city which have come to large
commercial importance during the past
decade.
Another notable development of later
years has been the erection of permanent
banking buildings. When the banks of a
city abandon rented quarters and establish
themselves in substantial buildings of their
own, little need be said of the stability of
the institutions and the confidence of finan
cial circles in the future of the place. One
uT COLLECTION
R. J. MENDIONII ALL'S BANK,
Corner of First street and Hennepin avenue.
About 1870.
SWEET COLLECTION
OLD FIRST NATIONAL BANK.
of the first to build was the Farmers' and
Mechanics' Savings Bank. The Northwest
ern National erected in 1903 the finest bank
ing house west of Chicago. The Swedish
American occupies its own building and
the First National completed in 1907 one of
the most complete exclusive bank buildings
in the country. The Security National holds
permanent and especially constructed quar
ters in a building which bears its name. The
St. Anthony Falls Bank owns its own hand
some building and the German-American
has erected one of the most substantial and
architecturally beautiful banking houses in
the city.
THE CLEARING HOUSE.
In T88 O the Minneapolis Clearing House
Association was organized. Previous to
that time exchanges were effected through
messengers. With the organization of the
clearing house, Minneapolis banking affairs
were given a better footing, the clearings
were reported and the city was given its
place as one of the financial centers of the
west. In 1881 the clearings were $19,487,650. In 1883 they had reached $87,568,000,
and in 1885, $125,000,000.
The year 1890
found them at $303,000,000; 1895, $372,000,000; 1900, $579,000,000, and 1905, $913,000,000. In 1906 they reached $990,000,000, and
in 1907 passed the billion dollar mark with
a total of $1,145,462,149.
For many years the Clearing House
served its original purpose as a medium for
the daily exchanges, but it has gradually
assumed larger functions and within the
THE GROWTH OF BANKING
past ten years the clearing house banks of
the city have virtually become an associa
tion for mutual protection and public safety.
They employ their own special bank
examiner through whom they keep informed
•of the condition of all local financial institu
tions including their own membership; and
stand ready to act for the common good in
event of complications in a single institu
tion or general financial difficulty.
During the decade of 1880-90 banks mul
tiplied in Minneapolis as they did in all parts
of the country. Rut the enormous growth
of the city and its surrounding territory
made possible an expansion here which was
not without its evils. Too many banks were
started. Some of them were excellent in
stitutions and successfully weathered the
financial storms of the next decade, but
others were quite unnecessary and, managed
by men of little financial experience and bad
judgment, succumbed to the first squall of
the storm of '93. Of the banks organized
during the eighties which are still in exis
tence the most important are the Peoples
Bank, 1886, the Swedish American National,
1888, and the German-American, 1887. The
National Bank of Commerce, the Nicollet
National, the Metropolitan—all strong bank
ing houses in the eighties—were merged
into other banks during later years. More
239
pir"«
ft
FIRST BUILDING OF THE NORTHWESTERN NATIONAL
BANK.
Corner Washington and First avenue south. About 1880.
recently have been organized the St. An
thony Falls Bank, the Germania, the Min
nesota National, the East Side State Bank,
the Union State Bank and the Metropolitan.
R A N K S A N D C A P I T A L I N 1908.
A complete list of the banks of the city
at the present time, with their capital, fol
lows :
NATIONAL BANKS.
First
Minnesota
Northwestern
Security
Swedish American
$2, 000,000
200,000
2, 000,000
1,,000,000
500,000
STATE BANKS.
a, 1 f
—
/ r '•
j
t:*' M
•-vi.if:.
Fill] MlU-r
' TT
C
SWEET COLLECTION
OLD SECURITY BANK.
Corner Hennepin avenue and Third street.
Central
East Side
Germania
German-American
Hennepin County
Merchants' & Manufacturers'..
Metropolitan
People's
St. Anthony Falls
South Side
Union
Total capital
25,000
100,00c
50,000
100,00c
100,000
50,000
100,000
60,000
200, OOG
50,000
50,000
$6,585,000
This statement of banking capital as con
trasted with the $200,000 credited to the
Minneapolis banks forty years ago is sig
nificant. The development of banking facil
ities has been phenomenal. As late as 1870
the total capitalization of Minneapolis banks
240
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
ings banks, but did not include the deposits
of trust companies or funds in the hands
of private bankers.
INDIVIDUAL BANK HISTORY.
It. J. MEXDEXIIALL,
was given as $270,000. In 1880 it was re
ported as $2,434,800; in 1890, $7,905,000. Af
ter 1893 the total was considerably reduced,
but in 1900 was $4,835,000. In 1903 it had
advanced to $5,635,000, and at the close of
1907 to $6,585,000.
But this does not show the full capital
assets of the banks, for nearly all of them
carry heavy surplus accounts, aggregating
approximately $5,000,000, or fully eighty
per cent of the capital stock.
Deposits show a marvelous growth of
wealth in the city and the northwest. In
1866 the village was proud of a statement
of $493,000, aggregate deposits. In 1870 the
total had reached $850,000, but ten years
later, in 1880, the deposits amounted to
$4,264,000. By 1890 they had mounted up
to $27,752,000. This included savings bank
deposits of over $5,000,000. There was, of
course, a falling off after '93, but the recov
ery was rapid and by 1902 the totals had
reached fifty millions. The last statement
of 1907 showed totals of $79,327,666, which
included some $15,000,000 deposited in say
The individual history of the older banks
of the city is of much interest. The oldest
bank is the First National, which, as has
been stated, grew out of the business
founded by J. K. Sidle in 1857. This busi
ness became the Minneapolis Bank—a state
institution—and that in turn was succeeded
in 1864 by the First National, whose charter
number was 710. The first board of direc
tors consisted of J. K. Sidle, president; H.
G. Sidle, cashier; G. Scheitlin, Loren
Fletcher, E. B. Ames, D. C. Bell, E. A.
Veazie, Anthony Kelly and W. A. Penniman. John Martin was added to the board
in 1866. At the start the capital of the First
National was $50,000, but it was raised to
$100,000 in 1872, to $200,000 in 1874, to
$600,000 in 1877, t o $1,000,oco in 1885, and
to $2,000,000 in 1903. The present officers
are F. M. Prince, president; C. T. Jaffray,
vice-president; George F. Orde, cashier;
and D. Mackerchar, E. C. Brown and H. A.
Willoughby, assistant cashiers. The capital
is $2,000,000; the surplus $2,000,000 and the
deposits $14,600,000.
The Northwestern National Bank was or
ganized April 23, 1872, by Dorilus Morri
son, H. T. Welles, Anthony Kelly, Paris
Gibson, F. S. Gibson, C. G. Goodrich, E.
A. Harmon, Hon. William Windom, S. E.
Neiler, A. H. Barney of New York, C. B.
Wright and William G. Moorhead of Phila
delphia. The authorized capital was $200,000. Dorilus Morrison was elected pres
ident and S. E. Neiler cashier. The bank
was opened for business on September 21,
1872, with $183,000 paid up capital, and
deposits of $80,651. Later H. T. Welles be
came president and S. A. Harris cashier, and
the capital was increased to $1,000,000. Af
ter several changes in the course of years,
Wm. H. Dunwoody became president, M.
B. Koon, vice-president; Edward W.
Decker, vice-president and active manager;
Joseph Chapman, Jr., cashier, and Frank E.
Holton, Charles W. Farwell and R. E. MacGregor, assistant cashiers.
Under this
THE GROWTH OF BANKING
management the bank made rapid advances,
and on May 14, 1908, its statement showed
a surplus of $1,000,000, undivided profits
of $321,000, and deposits of over $12,000,000.
In June the Northwestern absorbed the
National Bank of Commerce, consolidating
the business of the two banks and shortly
afterwards increased its capital stock to
$2,000,000 and its surplus to $2,000,000,
241
Powell, cashier. In 1888 J. W. Raymond
was elected president and the capital in
creased to $1,000,000. The next year H. H.
Thayer was elected cashier. These officers
managed the bank until 1892, at which time
Mr. Raymond retired to become president
of the Northwestern and S. A. Harris, who
had formerly been associated with the
Northwestern, was elected president. In
• NORTHwE
—''ml*-,
->
«
. -,
-\
!
A.
THE NORTHWESTERN NATIONAL BANK BUILDING.
(Kees & Colburn, Architects.)
while the deposits of the enlarged institu
tion reached approximately $20,000,000.
The officers of the bank remained the same
except that Mr. Chapman became a vicepresident and Mr. Holton the cashier, while
A. A. Crane, vice-president of the Bank of
Commerce, and W. F. McLane, S. S. Cook,
and I. F. Cotton, assistant cashiers, as
sumed the same positions in the North
western.
The National Bank of Commerce had
been organized in 1884 with a capital of
$400,000. The first officers were E. F. Gould,
president; V. G. Hush, vice-president; Wm.
January, 1895, A. A. Crane was elected as
sistant cashier and in January, 1900, became
its cashier. The officers at the time the
bank retired from business were: S. A.
Harris, president; A. A. Crane, vice-president; F. E. Kenaston, vice-president; W.
S. Harris, cashier; W. F. McLane, S. S.
Cook and I. F. Cotton, assistant cashiers.
The origin of the Security National Bank
has already been traced from the State Bank
of Minnesota, brought from Austin to Min
neapolis in 1863 by R. J. Mendenhall and
Rufus J. Baldwin. T. A. Harrison came
into the bank in 1868, and in 1878 the
242
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
Security Bank of Minnesota was organized
and the business of the State Bank was
transferred to the new institution. The
capital was $300,000, and T. A. Harrison
was president, his brother, H. G. Harrison,
the vice-president, and Joseph Dean, cash
ier. The board of directors included these
officers and Judge C. E. Vanderburgh,
Judge Franklin Beebe, Judge J. M. Shaw
and W. W. McNair. The bank commenced
business in the building at Third street and
Hennepin avenue, now occupied by the
Western Union Telegraph Company. In
1879 the capital was increased to $400,000,
and in 1880 to $1,000,000. The death of Mr.
T. A. Harrison in 1877 and of his brother
in 1891 removed the founders of the bank,
but their policies were continued by F. A.
Chamberlain, who became president, and
Perry Harrison, a son of Hugh G. Harrison,
who became cashier and subsequently vicepresident. In 1908 the Security became a
national bank. The statement of July, 1908,
showed capital $1,000,000, surplus $1,000,000, and deposits of $13,427,702. The offi
cers are now: F. A. Chamberlain, presi
dent ; Perry Harrison, vice-president; E. F.
Mearkle, vice-president; J. S. Pomeroy,
cashier; Fred Spafford, George Lawther,
S. H. Bezoier, assistant cashiers.
The Swedish-American National Bank
was organized as the Swedish American
Bank in 1888, and began business with a
capital of $100,000. O. N. Ostrom, formerly
a banker at Evansville, Minnesota, was
president; Col. Hans Mattson, secretary of
state for Minnesota, the vice-president; and
N. O. Werner, formerly of Red Wing,
cashier. It gained a foothold at once, and
its growth was rapid and substantial, neces
sitating in two years an increase in capital
to $250,000. Mr. Mattson resigned the vicepresidency about this time and was suc
ceeded by C. S. Hulbert, who has since held
the position. I11 1893 occurred the death of
President Ostrom. Mr. Werner succeeded
him. In 1894 the bank was reorganized un
der a national charter. The capital of the
bank was again increased in July, 1905, to
$500,000.
The surplus and profits are
$400,000, and the deposits about $3,200,000.
The present officers are N. O. Werner,
president; C. S. Hulbert, vice-president; J.
A. Latta, vice-president; E. L. Mattson,
cashier; and A. V. Ostrom, assistant cashier.
The Hennepin County Savings Bank was
organized in 1870 by the late Judge E. S.
Jones and J. E. Bell, they being respectively
president and cashier. The capital was at
first $50,000, but was increased to $100,000
within a few years. Both a savings and a
general banking business have been done
and the bank has been very successful. Af
ter many years location at the corner of
Washington and Hennepin avenues, the
bank moved to the Phoenix building at
Fourth street and First avenue south. The
bank now shows a surplus of $100,000 and
deposits of $4,000,000, and the officers are
as follows: John E. Bell, president; David
P. Jones, vice-president; W. H. Lee,
cashier, and H. H. Barber, assistant cashier.
These with F. A. Chamberlain, David C.
Bell, F. M. Prince, and Andrew Tharalson
are the trustees.
The Farmers' & Mechanics' Savings Bank
of Minneapolis was formed in 1874. Eder
H. Moulton was its treasurer and manager
at the outset and for many years, building
it up from nothing to the position of the
largest savings bank in the Northwest. Its
board of trustees has always included a
group of the strongest business men of the
city. For many years Clinton Morrison was
president. In 1905 Mr. Moulton's outside
business interests led him to withdraw from
the management of the bank and N. F.
Hawley was elected treasurer, and has
since served the bank as its executive offi
cer. The deposits are now about $11,500,000, and the officers are: John DeLaittre,
president; Thomas Lowry, vice-president;
O. C. Wyman, second vice-president and
assistant treasurer; N.' F. Hawley, secretary
and treasurer. The officers with H. C. Akeley, T. B. Janney, C. S. Langdon, E. H.
Moulton, Wm. G. Northup, A. F. Pillsbury,
and John* Washburn constitute the board of
trustees.
The German-American Bank was or
ganized in 1886 at Plymouth and North
Washington avenues by Anthony Kelly, A.
H. Linton, Henry Gund, John Heinrich,
Edmund Eichhorn, R. B. Langdon, J.
THE GROWTH OF BANKING
M. Griffith, E. C. Chatfield, Charles Gluek,
J. A. Schlener, Henry Doerr, Jas. C. Miller,
Henry Winecke, George Huhn, Geo. W.
McClelland, Robert Pratt and J. C. Oswald,
and with a capital of $50,000. On the first
of January, 1886, the deposits were only
$36,000, but from this they have grown to
about $1,850,000. The present capital is
$100,000, and the surplus is also $100,000.
The present officers are: Francis A. Gross,
president; Chas. Gluek, vice-president; J.
243
came its cashier. Its capital is $50,000,
with as much more in surplus and undivid
ed profits accounts, while its deposits are
over $400,000. Its officers are: F. E. Kenaston, president; A. M. Woodward, vicepresident; Conrad Birkhofer, vice-presi
dent; A. A. McRae, cashier; Olaf E. N.
Olson, assistant cashier.
The Peoples Bank dates back to 1886,
when it was founded by A. D. Cotton. It
was reorganized some time later, and for
T H E F I R S T NATIONAL B A N K BUILDING.
M. Griffith, vice-president; G. E. Stegner,
cashier; G. P. Huhn, assistant cashier.
The Germania Bank was organized by
Otto E. Naegele in 1893. It has been very
successful, and in addition to its capital of
$50,000, has a surplus fund approximating
that amount and deposits reaching up
wards of half a million. The present offi
cers are: O. E. Naegele, president; L.
Paulle, vice-president; J. J. Heinrich, vicepresident; George Vollmer, assistant cash
ier.
The South Side State Bank was orga
nized in 1899 by A. A. McRea, who be-
many years has been doing a prosperous
business at the old quarters of the First Na
tional, corner Nicollet and Washington
avenues. Its capital is $60,000, and its de
posits are over $400,000. The officers are:
H. G. Merritt, president; G. J. Sherer, vicepresident; C. L. Grandin, vice-president;
C. E. Cotton, cashier; H. D. Davis, assist
ant cashier.
Two of the more recent banks of the city
are the East Side and the Metropolitan.
The former was organized in 1906, with F.
E. Barney as president and Howard Dykman as cashier. The bank has made rapid
244
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
progress. Its capital is $100,000 and de
posits run well over $200,000. The officers
are: F. E. Barney, president; Isaac Hazlett, vice-president; D. L. Case, cashier;
C. L. Campbell, assistant cashier. The Met
ropolitan was incorporated in April, 1907,
with a capital of $100,000, and George C.
Merrill as president. In a year's time it
was carrying deposits of approximately
twice the amount of its capital. The offi
cers are now: V. H. Van Slyke, president:
M. R. Waters, vice-president; C. F. Wyant, cashier.
TRUST COMPANIES.
In 1883 the business of trust companies
was commenced in Minneapolis by the Min
nesota Loan & Trust Company, which was
formed by E. A. Merrill and E. J. Phelps,
the former being president and the latter
secretary. The capital stock was first $200,000, but was soon increased to $500,000.
The company erected "a fine office building
at 313 Nicollet avenue, which it still occu
pies. It has been very prosperous, and now
shows a surplus account of some $250,000.
The officers are: E. A. Merrill, president;
M. B. Koon, vice-president and trust offi
cer; A. M. Keith, vice-president; H. L.
Moore, treasurer; W. A. Durst, secretary.
The Minneapolis Trust Company was
formed in 1888 by Samuel Hill, who was
its first president, with Clarkson Lindley
as secretary and treasurer. Its capital is
$500,000, with $25.0,000 in the surplus ac
count. For years the company occupied its
building at Fourth street and Hennepin
avenue, but in 1907 moved into the new
First National Bank building, occupying
the banking room No. 109 South Fifth
street. The present officers are: Elbridge
C. Cooke, president; W111. H. Dunwoody,
vice-president; Robert W. Webb, secretary
and treasurer.
BARNEY, Fred Elisha, president of the East
Side State Bank, of Minneapolis, was born at
Swanton, Vermont, October 10, 1859, the son of
Valentine G. and Maria L. Barney. The father
was in the marble business in Vermont; served
in the Civil War and was Lieutenant-Colonel of
the Ninth regiment of Vermont volunteers. In
1869 the family left Swanton and moved to Min
neapolis and, in 1872, moved to Charles City,
Iowa. In the autumn of 1881 he came back
to Minneapolis to work in the Commercial Bank,
East Minneapolis, having had business training
in an abstract and loan office in Charles City,
Iowa, where he attended the public schools. Dur
ing the last two years of service in the Commer
cial Bank, Mr. Barney was assistant cashier.
Since March, 1888, he has conducted an insurance,
loan and real estate agency in Minneapolis repre
senting five important insurance companies. He
was active in the organization of the East Side
State Bank, in 1906, and became its president. He
has always been a republican in politics and was
elected, in 1 9 0 0 , a member of the board of county
commissioners and served four years, in 1903-4
being chairman of the board. He is a member of
the Commercial Club, and is a director and has
been a member of the public affairs committee;
a member of St. Anthony Club and a director; a
member and director of the Minneapolis Whist
Club; a member of the Masonic order and of the
Sbriners. Mr. Barney attends the First Congre
gational church, but is not a member of any
church. He was married September 17, 1885, to
Mary Case, of Charles City, Iowa, and to them
three children ' have been born—Hadwen C.,
Elizabeth and Mary, all of whom are attending
the East Minneapolis high school.
CHAMBERLAIN, Francis A., president of
the Security National Bank, was born April 20,
1855, at Bangor, Maine, son of James T. Cham
berlain, a merchant of that city. Mr. Chamber
lain passed his early years at Red Wing, Minne
sota, where he attended the public schools and
subsequently studied two years at the State Uni
versity but did not graduate. His business train
ing was early devoted to banking and finance for
which he proved himself admirably adapted, nota
bly because such special knowledge rested upon
a broad substructure of good general busi
ness principles. Mr. Chamberlain has shown
himself to be a wise financial counselor, and the
Security National Bank, under his management,
has proved itself to be one of the strongest bank
ing institutions in. the Northwest. He is an
example of steadfast adherence to economic and
financial truth. Mr. Chamberlain is a director
of the Minneapolis Athenaeum and a member
of the Minneapolis and Commercial clubs. His
church affiliations are with the Methodist Episco
pal denomination. He was married on May 23,
1883 to Frances Foss, daughter of Bishop Cyrus
D. Foss. They have three children—Cyrus, Ruth
and Caro.
CAMPBELL, Wallace, lawyer and banker,
was born at Waverly, Tioga county, New
York, September 8, 1863. He is the son of
Solomon C. Campbell and Mary Aurelia (Farwell) Campbell. His father was, for twenty-two
years, resident buyer at New York City for the
246
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
Chicago house of J. V. Farwell & Co. There
was stanch Scotch-American ancestry on both
sides. Campbellstown, New York, was founded
by Robert Campbell, great-grandfather of Wal
lace. On the maternal side another great
grandfather, John Knox, founded Knoxville,
now part of the city of Corning, New York.
Wallace Campbell was educated in the public
schools of Corning and at Hamilton College,
from which he graduated in 1883, as an A. B.
After a year of alternate teaching in the Brooklyn
Polytechnic and of study at Columbia Law
School, he was admitted to the New York Bar,
beginning practice in the Hon. R. W. Todd's of
fice. Two years later he came to Minneapolis
where he became a member of the law firm of
Stryker & Campbell until 1891, when he entered
the firm of Hill Sons & Co., bankers. Seven
years later he gave, up his interests here to be
vice-president of the Northwestern Life Insur
ance Co. Mr. Campbell later became president
of the People's Bank. He has also occupied
other positions of trust and responsibility in
business and professional ways. He is an ar
dent republican, stumped the state in the Harri
son campaign of 1888, and has been a frequent
contributor to the best magazines of the country,
writing upon national topics with force and ease.
He is an enthusiast on rare books—also upon out
door sports; and a first edition has the same
charm of the cha,se for him that the first trout
catch has. Mr. Campbell belongs to the Minne
apolis Club, the Minneapolis Commercial Club and
the Twin City Bankers Club and the Automobile
and Miltona Clubs. At Lake Miltona he has a
country home.
He attends the Presbyterian
church. He was married in 1886 to Minnie V,
Adams, of Chicago, and has two daughters.
CHAPMAN, Joseph, Jr., vice president of the
Northwestern National Bank, is a native of Iowa.
He was born in Dubuque on October 17, 1871.
He is the son of Joseph and Catherine Cassidy
Chapman. His father for many years has been
connected with the railroad business and at the
time of his son's birth was division freight agent
of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad
with headquarters at Dubuque. At the present
time he is located at Fairport, Ohio, as manager
of the terminal? of the Baltimore &" Ohio'road.
The son attended the public schools of Dubuque
until 1887, wfien the family moved from Iowa to
this city. He at once entered the Central high
school to finish his preparatory course and grad
uated the following year. Upon graduation Mr.
Chapman obtained a position with the Northwest
ern National Bank and has since been continu
ously connected with that institution. He ad
vanced rapidly from one position to another and.
was appointed cashier several years ago. As an
aid to his business training Mr. Chapman took
the night law course of the University of Min
nesota and graduated in 1897. Mr. Chapman is
a member of several of the social and municipal
improvement organizations of the city and is
well-known among his associate business men.
He is a member of the Minneapolis Board of
Charities and Corrections, and also belongs to
thfc Minneapolis Club, the Minikahda Club, and
the Six O'Clock Club, of which he was president
in. 1906-7. For six years, from 1*900 to 1906, Mr.
Chapman was secretary of the Minnesota Bank
ers' Association and has served as a member of
its executive council and in 1908 was elected its
president. He is also a member of the execu
tive council of the American Bankers' Associa
tion, as well as a member of the board of trustees
df the American Institute of Bank Clerks. He is
a clear-cut forceful speaker and is frequently
ailed upon to make addresses on financial and
business topics. In 1897 Mr. Chapman was mar
ried to Miss Elizabeth Mayhew of Eau Claire,
Wisconsin, and they have two daughters, Katherine and Elizabeth. The family attends the
Hennepin Avenue Methodist church.
COOKE, Elbridge C , president of the Min
neapolis Trust Company, is a native of Illinois
and the son of Joseph Clark and Amy Wade
Cooke. The family is of English origin and Mr.
Cooke traces his ancestry back to the settlement
of certain of the name in Sandwich, Massachusetts,
in 1630. His early life was spent in New England,
where he attended school and prepared for col
lege. He is a graduate of Yale, 1877, and a mem
ber of the Yale Club of New York City. After
completing his college course he studied law and
was admitted to the bar in Connecticut in 1879.
He soon came west and was a prominent member
of the Minneapolis bar for many years. Since
1895 he has been connected with the Minneapolis
Trust Company and since his election as president
of the company has devoted most of his time to
the business of the institution. Mr. Cooke was
married in 1883 to Miss Belle Boies Turner whose
home was in Norwich, Connecticut. He takes an
active interest in the social and public affairs of
the city, is a member of the Minneapolis Club, the
Minikahda Club and Long Meadow Gun Club,
and is a republican in politics, though never an
office holder.
COTTON, Charles Edgar, cashier of the Peo
ples Bank, was born at Franklin, Pennsylvania,
April 30, i860, son of Austin D. Cotton, a banker
of that city. The son was educationally trained
in the local schools and graduated at the Franklin
high school, receiving business training in bank
ing and making that his life's business, follow
ing in the footsteps of his father. Mr. Cotton
was married October 30, 1895. He is a Presby
terian in his church relations.
CRANE, Archibald A., vice-president of the
Northwestern National Bank of Minneapolis,
was born at Austin, Minnesota, July 1, 1866, the
son of Caleb C. and Emily (Warner) Crane. He
THE GROWTH OF BANKING
was educated in the public schools of Austin and
Anoka, Minnesota, and entered banking as a
clerk in the Anoka National Bank in 1883. He
came to Minneapolis in 1887 as assistant cashier
of the Flour City National Bank and was made
cashier in 1893. Following a consolidation of
banking interests in 1895 he became assistant
cashier of the National Bank of Commerce and
was appointed cashier in 1900. In 1906 he was
advanced to the vice-presidency. In 1908, upon
the consolidation of the National Bank of Com
merce with the Northwestern National Bank of
Minneapolis, Mr. Crane became vice-president of
the latter institution. Besides taking a prominent
part in the financial affairs of Minneapolis, Mr.
Crane has been active in the American Bankers'
Association, of which he is treasurer. In Janu
ary, 1908, he was elected by the Minneapolis
Clearing House Association to the office of pres
ident. He is a Mason, Knight Templar and
Shriner, and a member of the Commercial and
Minikahda clubs. Mr. Crane was married at
Minneapolis in 1890 to Miss Fanny M. Stevens.
DECKER, Edward W., vice-president and
general manager of the Northwestern National
Bank, is a native of Minnesota. He was born at
Austin, August 24th, 1869. His father, Jacob S.
Decker, was of an old family of mingled Holland
and Frcnch Huguenot extraction which settled
on the Delaware River in 1700. The son spent
his boyhood and youth with his parents 011 the
farm near Austin attending the common schools
and Austin high school from which he graduated
in 1887. He at once came to Minneapolis and
commenced service with the Northwestern Na
tional Bank as a messenger. His progress was
rapid and in 1895 he was offered the position of
assistant cashier of the Metropolitan Bank. A
short service in this position was followed by
promotion to" the cashiership, and a few years
later, in 1901, by the recall to the Northwestern
as cashier. In 1903 he was made vice-president
and general manager—one of the most responsi
ble banking positions in the city. Mr. Decker has
not, however, escaped other responsibilities. He
is a director of the Northwestern National Life
Insurance Company of Minneapolis and is fre
quently called upon to participate in the public
affairs of the city. He is president of the Twin
City Bankers' club, vice-president of the Min
neapolis clearing house, a director of the Young
Men's Christian Association, a member of the
Minneapolis club, the Commercial club and
the Minikahda Club and of the Minneapolis
247
Chamber of Commerce. In 1892 Mr. Decker
married Miss Susan M. Spaulding, a daughter W.
A. Spaulding, one of the old settlers of Minneap
olis, a prominent member of the G. A. R., and
distinguished for his military service in the 2nd
Battalion Light Artillery. Mr. and Mrs. Decker
have four children, Edward W., Jr., Margaret,
Catherine and Susan. They are attendants of
Plymouth Congregational church.
GROSS, Francis A., president of the German
American Bank of Minneapolis, is the son of
Mathias and Mary Gross, the father being en
gaged in the real estate business. Mr. Gross
was born August 10, 1870 in the township of
Medina, Hennepin county, Minnesota, but the
family moved to Minneapolis the next year and
he has spent his whole life here. He attended
the public and parochial schools of this city and
St. John's University, Stearns county, Minnesota.
As a boy he clerked in his father's grocery. At the
age of nineteen he entered the employ of the
German American Bank in the capacity of mes-
" ''%
-
'
I, PHOTO
EDWARD \V.
DECKER.
248
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
senger. From the position of collection teller,
he was promoted to that of paying and receiving
teller, to assistant cashier, cashier and at last to
the presidency, the office which he now holds.
Though he has never held political office Mr.
Gross has been active in public affairs, especially
on the North Side. He was the first president
and is now ex-president of the North Side Com
mercial Club. He is a Past Regent of the Royal
Arcanum, a member of the Catholic Knights of
America and of the Elks. In 1893 he married Ida
K. Buerfening. Their children are Roman B.,
Francis B., Marie B., and Carl B. Gross. Mrs.
Gross is the daughter of Captain Martin Buer
fening and grand-daughter of Frederick Weinard,
a pioneer who came to St. Anthony, now Min
neapolis, in 1854.
HARRISON, Hugh G., for many years a
very prominent business man and banker of
Minneapolis, was born on April 23, 1822, near
Belleville, Illinois. He was the son of Thomas
Harrison who migrated from North Carolina in
1803 and settled in Illinois, then an almost un
known wilderness. His son Hugh was educated
at McKendree college at Lebanon, Illinois, and
in his early life was associated with his father
and brothers in the milling business at Belle
ville. In i860 with his brothers, Thomas A. and
William, he moved to Minneapolis where he
lived until his death on August 12, 1891. During
this residence of thirty years,"Mr. Harrison was
one of the most prominent citizens of Minneapo
lis, a progressive and far-seeing promoter of
solid business interests and an active participant
in all things which made for the betterment of
the city. In 1862 he with his brothers built the
old Harrison block at the corner of Washington
and Nicollet avenue. In 1863 he was associated
with Joseph Dean in the lumber business and in
1877 T. A. and Hugh G.- Harrison with Mr. Dean
organized the Security Bank of Minnesota, one
of the oldest financial institutions of the city.
Mr. Hugh Harrison was vice-president of the
bank until the death of his brother, when he be
came president and continued at the head of the
institution until his death. Notwithstanding the
engrossing nature of his banking interests Mr.
Harrison took an active part in other business
affairs, gave his name to one of the larger
wholesale grocery establishments of the city and
at the time of his death was vice-president of
the Minneapolis Trust Company. He also took
a very active part in the social, political and re
ligious life of the city. For many years he
served on the school board, was mayor of Min
neapolis in 1868, served as director and treasurer
of the Minneapolis Exposition and was a gen
erous contributor to church and benevolent work.
A prominent Methodist and member of the Hen
nepin Avenue Methodist Episcopal church, he
gave largely to that denomination, and took a
deep interest in the work of Hamline university.
Mr. Harrison was twice married. His first wife
died on August 13, 1876, leaving five sons, Ed
ward, George, Lewis, Hugh and Perry. On Oc
tober 25, 1877 he married Mrs. Elizabeth W.
Hunt of Allenstown, Pennsylvania, who survives
him.
HARRISON, Perry, vice-president of the Se
curity National bank of Minneapolis, was born in
this city on October 11, 1862, the son of Hugh
Galbraith and Irene Amelia (Robinson) Harri
son. He attended the Minneapolis public schools
and the Northwestern University Preparatory
school and at the age of sixteen began his
experience in banking, entering the Security
bank which had just been organized by his
father and his uncle T. A. Harrison. Mr. Har
rison began at the bottom of the ladder and
learned the banking business thoroughly. Dur
ing his thiry years connection with the Se
curity bank it has become one of the most
prominent banking institutions in the west. Mr.
Harrison became cashier in 1891 and was made
vice-president in 1898. In 1879 Mr. Harrison
joined the first
regiment, Minnesota national
guard and was for some years a prominent mem
ber of that organization, resigning in 1887 as its
lieutenant colonel. He is a republican in politics
and in church affiliations a Methodist. He is a
member of the Minneapolis club, the Long Mea
dow Gun club and the Lafayette club. In 1887
Mr. Harrison was married to Miss Miriam Thom
as at Hokendauqua, Pennsylvania. They have
had four children.
HAWLEY, Newton F., treasurer of the Farm
ers & Mechanics Savings Bank of Minneapolis,
was born at Springdale, Iowa, November 28,
1859. He was the son of N. J. and Delia (Canfield) Hawley. He attended the common and
high schools at Tipton, Iowa, and Iowa College
at Grinnell, from which he graduated in 1879 A. B.
and received the degree of A. M. in 1882. He
was admitted to the practice of law at Minne
apolis in 1884 and was successively a member of
the law firm of Hahn & Hawley; Hahn, Belden
& Hawley; and Belden, Hawley & Jamison. Mr.
Hawley continued in active practice until Janu
ary 1, 1906 when he was elected treasurer (man
aging officer), secretary and trustee of the Farm
ers & Mechanics Savings Bank. He has been
for years a trustee of Iowa College. During his
residence in Minneapolis he has taken a very
active part in municipal affairs and has had a
strong influence in movements looking to bet
ter municipal condition. He was a member of
the charter commission of 1898 and again of the
charter commission of 1906 and was a member of
the board of education from 1899 to 1905. He is a
republican but quite independent in local mat
ters. Mr. Hawley is a member of the American
Academy of political and Social Science, the
National Municipal League and other organiza
tions for the studying of social and municipal
questions. He' is a member of the Minneapolis
Commercial, Minikahda and Six O'Clock clubs.
X*
'J
vk
250
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
which he held in conjunction with the other of
fice. The following year, however,' he resigned
the cashiership to devote his time to the duties
of the higher office, which he occupies at the
present time. Mr. Jaffray is well-known in the
local club and social life and is a member of the
more prominent organizations, including the Min
neapolis and Minikahda clubs. He takes an active
interest in athletic sports, is a member of the Min
neapolis and Long Meadow gun clubs and is an
enthusiastic golfer. Mr. Jaffray is married and
has a beautiful home on Mt. Curve Avenue.
SAMUEL T. JOHNSON.
Mr. Hawley was married at Minneapolis, Septem
ber 5, 1884 to Miss Ellen M. Field. The family
attends Plymouth Congregational Church.
JAFFRAY, Clive T., for more than twenty
years prominently associated with the banking
business of Minneapolis, is a native of Canada.
His father was W. Jaffray, a resident of Berlin,
Ontario, and for a number of years the post
master of the place. Clive T., was born at Ber
lin and received his education in the Canadian,
schools. Following the completion of his acad
emic training, Mr. Jaffray entered upon a business
career and gained his first experience in the bank
ing business in the Merchants Bank of Canada. He
entered the service of that institution in 1882 and
was associated with it for five years, during that
period acquiring valuable training. In 1887 he
resigned his position to move to Minneapolis,
where, shortly after his arrival, he accepted a
clerical position with the Northwestern National
Bank. He became bookkeeper in 1889 a n d two
years later was promoted to the post of assistant
cashier, which he held until 1895. In the latter
year he was offered the cashiership of the First
National Bank, which was then, as now, one of
the leading financial institutions of the city. This
position he accepted and has since been an of
ficial of that bank. He was for nine years cashier
and in 1905 was appointed to the vice-presidency
JOHNSON, Samuel T., formerly vice-presi
dent of the Minnesota National Bank of Minne
apolis and now engaged in the lumber and manu
facturing business, is a native of Indiana. He
was born near Indianapolis, November 16, 1858.
His father, Lawrence A. Johnson, was a practicing
physician and of a family which was among the
first settlers of Marion county. As a boy Mr.
Johnson lived at home, attending the common
schools and early entering business. He came
to Minneapolis in 1884 and soon became identi
fied with the public affairs of the city, following
the family traditions—for his father and other
progenitors had been active in the public service
in various capacities. He served as vice-president
of the Board of Trade which was later merged
in the Commercial Club. Relief work during
the Spanish-American war left Mr. Johnson in
broken health and he had scarce recovered when
in 1901 Gov. S. R. Van Sant appointed him Public
Examiner and Superintendent of Banks for Min
nesota. The appointment took effect January 1st,
1902 and came at a time when the office was first
charged with the duty of examining the books
of all corporations paying a gross earnings tax.
Mr. Johnson's examination of the railroad ac
counts showed over $1,000,000 unpaid taxes over
due, of which he collected about $250,000 and left
$500,000 or more in course of collection when
he retired from office, the rest being cut off by
the statute of limitation. The change which this
investigation brought about in the system of
railroad reports for taxation has added over $125,000 a year to the taxes now being paid. During
his incumbency not one of the 400 state banks
under his supervision failed to comply with the
law and no defaults occurred among county or
state officers. Undertaking the first exhaustive
examination ever made in the state auditor's of
fice, Mr. Johnson developed claims of hundreds of
thousands of dollars in state timber and tres
pass cases but lost to the state by reason of the
statute of limitations. But he also found claims
amounting to over $200,000 not yet outlawed,
which have been collected, and others for some
$500,000 more are in process of collection, having
been affirmed by the supreme court. His action
in enforcing claims against the various individuals
and corporations was met with tremendous op
position but, notwithstanding, he proceeded for
THE GROWTH OF BANKING
the three years with his work—and the courts
have sustained the position taken by him and the
legislature has passed laws making the recurrence
of such evasions impossible. The legislature of
1903, by unanimous resolution, and Gov. Van.
Sant's message to the legislature of 1905 both
publicly recognized the "services and persist
ence" of Examiner Johnson in the performance of
his general duties and in investigating the rail
road taxes and timber trespasses, saying that as
a result "many needed reforms in the conduct of
the state's business had been adopted." The Gov
ernor further said:
"I take this occasion to publicly commend
the untiring energy and faithfulness of Hon. S. T.
Johnson, who has for the past three years served
the state in the capacity of Public Examiner.
His devotion to duty and his desire to preserve
the interests of the people, have caused him to
step beyond the mere routine of his office, and
to meet the greater requirements of the law. Not
contented with disposing of new matters as they
arose, he went back to matters that were years
ago deemed closed and brought to light the fact
that the people had been unfairly dealt with by
persons and corporations. The result is that the
state will receive hundreds of thousands of dol
lars which otherwise would have been lost to it.
The energy and devotion to duty of Mr. John
son may well be emulated by all who serve the
people."
This work of Mr. Johnson's has resulted in
timber trespass and railroad tax dodging becom
ing a lost art in Minnesota.
Upon leaving the office of public examiner,
Mr. Johnson was called to the active manage
ment of the Minnesota National Bank as vicepresident, retiring on January 1, 1907, to enter
the lumber business, at the same time becoming
a director of the Peoples Bank. Mr. Johnson is
a Mason, Knight Templar, Shriner and a member
of the Park Avenue Congregational Church. While
in the banking department, he was twice elected
president of the National Association of State
Bank Superintendents, and is now an honorary
member of that body. He was married March
11, 1880, to Miss Katherine Starr, a daughter of
John Starr, an old resident of Indianapolis. They
have one son, Everett Starr Johnson. The family
home is 1724 Logan avenue south.
McRAE, Alexander A., cashier of the South
Side State Bank, is a native of Canada, the son
of James Roy McRae and Flora McRae, and of
a family which was among the pioneers of Glencoe, Ontario, the place of his birth. He was
born on January 27, 1870, passed his childhood
and early youth at home, attended the public and
high schools of the town and in 1889 came to
Minnesota. He first entered the service of the
First National Bank of Little Falls as book
keeper. Three years later he assisted in the or
ganization of the Bank of Hutchinson at Hutchin
son, Minnesota, and served as assistant cashier
251
from its organization until September 1, 1899, when
he assumed the cashiership of the South Side State
Bank which he was instrumental in organizing.
Since that time he has remained in the active
management of. the bank which has been very
prosperous. He has taken a leading part in the
promotion of public interests and has served
as president of the very active and efficient South
Side Commercial Club. In politics he is a re
publican although independent in municipal mat
ters. Mr. McRae was married on June 3, 1896, to
Jean Adair Thomas. They have three children,
Douglas, Allister and Marion. The family at
tends Park Avenue Congregational Church.
MATTSON, Edgar Lincoln, banker, was born
in Minnesota thirty-seven years ago and has spent
practically all his life in Minneapolis. His father
was Col. Hans Mattson, a distinguished citizen of
the state who came to Minnesota in 1852, and
was prominent in pioneer days as well as serving
later in public life. Col. Mattson won his title in
the War of the Rebellion as colonel of the Third
Minnesota. After the war he was prominent in
state politics and served for several terms as
secretary of state. Later he was consul general
in India under presidents Garfield and Arthur and
held other public trusts. His son Edgar attended
the Minneapolis public schools, leaving the Cen
tral high school at the age of 17 to enter the
banking business. He has been connected with
the Swedish-American National Bank since its
organization in 1888, commencing as a messenger
and holding nearly every position in the bank up
to that of cashier—the position which he now
occupies. An active life devoted to the responsi
ble business with which he is connected has left
little time for outside affairs, but Mr. Mattson has
taken a practical business man's interest in poli
tics without seeking office. He is a republican.
Mr. Mattson is a member of the military order
of the Loyal Legion, of the Commercial Club of
Minneapolis, of the Minnetonka Boat Club and
of the Odin Club—of which organization he was
president in 1906. He is treasurer of the Min
nesota State Agricultural Society. Mr. Mattson
is married and has four children. He is devQted
to out door sports, fishing and hunting-, and spends
his summers at Lake Minnetonka where he has
a home at Wildhurst.
MERRILL, George Costin, president of the
Merrill Abstract Co., was born in Manchester,
Scott county, Illinois, son of Joseph Winthrop
and Anna E. M'errill. His father, who was a
noted horticulturist, removed to Cook county,
Illinois, residing in Chicago and suburbs of that
city where George attended the graded schools
and a private academy and studied in the under
graduate course of the University of Chicago.
In 1882 he came to Minneapolis, where he began
the business of furnishing abstracts of title to
realty in Hennepin county, forming the firm of
Merrill & Albee. This partnership continued untill 1886. For a time he conducted the business
252
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
for which his varied commercial experience gave
him unusual qualifications. H e continued a t the
head of the bank until it was well established,
when he withdrew t o devote himself t o the busi
ness of the abstract company. Mr. Merrill is a
member of the Commercial Club and other o r g a n
izations interested in the civic and material a d
vancement in the city. He was married in 1875
t o Miss Alice Swindler a n d has t w o children—
Alice Reba and F r e d Raymond.
G E O R G E C.
MERRILL.
in his own name until it increased t o such large
proportions that he organized the Merrill Ab
stract Company in 1 8 9 2 , he being president and
manager of t h e organization. I n this enterprise
h e has brought his fine expert knowledge of
title examination into most effective action. H e
studied law in the law school of the University
of Minnesota, graduating in 1 8 9 5 a s Bachelor of
L a w and was admitted t h e same year t o practice
law in Minnesota, taking the degree of Master
of L a w in 1 8 9 6 . As a title expert Mr. Merrill
has commanded the utmost confidence, and this
confidence was illustrated by his nomination on
the republican ticket in 1 9 0 0 under the new
primary law, when the friends of t h a t law were
desirous that the nominees s o selected should
have special qualificatipns for the respective of
fices, f c r register of deeds of Hennepin county
over many competitors, and his election a t the
polls in November by a very large majority. I n
1 9 0 2 he was re-elected t o the same office, and
again in 1 9 0 4 . Mr. Merrill cast his first vote
f c r Grant and is a life-long republican, but he
has never been a n office-seeker, while he may
be numbered a m o n g those who have the sub
stantial interests of the city a t heart. I n the
s p r i n g of 1 9 0 7 Mr. Merrill became one of the
promoters of the Metropolitan S t a t e Bank of
Minneapolis.
H e was closely associated with
its organization and upon incorporation was
elected to fill the office of president, a position
M O R R I S O N , Clinton, a notable figure
in
Minneapolis life and progress, was born a t Livermofe, Maine, J a n u a r y 2 1 , 1 8 4 2 , and came with his
parents, when thirteen years old, t o Minneapolis.
As a boy he was one of the pupils, in 1 8 5 6 , of the
old Union School which stood o n the site of the
present Minneapolis court house a n d city hall.
H e entered business a t an early a g e and under
t h e guidance of his father was soon a capable
business man. A t the age of twenty-one, h e a n d
his brother, George H., engaged in the business
of outfitting lumbermen and, incidentally, they
became investors in pine timbered lands, mills and
lumber. T h e brothers operated a water power
saw mill on the platform a t the Falls a n d opened
a lumber yard in the lower part of t h e city where
they did a large business until t h e death of
George H., in 1 8 8 2 , when Clinton gave special
attention t o the assistance of his father in his
many undertakings and particularly t o the build
ing up of the Minneapolis H a r v e s t e r W o r k s ,
which had been run by a stock company. W i t h
failure impending, the Morrisons assumed most
of t h e stock, took charge of t h e business and
made a great success of it. Soon after t h e re
organization the management of t h e business was
essentially entrusted t o Mr. Clinton Morrison,
who was the vice-president and whose close a t
tention t o i t s affairs brought it t o a n advanced
s t a g e of prosperity. T h e company adopted t h e
twine-binder invented by Mr. Appleby, of the
Harvester W o r k s , and the invention proved very
profitable. T h e Harvester W o r k s were sold dur
i n g t h e nineties t o t h e W a l t e r A. W o o d H a r
vester Company, which was organized in St. Paul.
Mr. Morrison has been one of the leading factors
in the promotion of the success of the F a r m e r s
and Mechanics Savings Bank of Minneapolis,
which has t w o o r three times proved its Gibral
tar-like strength in time of financial nervousness
and panic. I t has twice come out of "runs," gen
erated by mischievous tongues, and millions t o
the good, and is one of the s t r o n g e s t banks in
t h e northwest. Mr. Morrison was a trustee and
president of t h e bank for m a n y years. D u r i n g
his administration it erected t h e handsome build
i n g on F o u r t h street near First avenue south.
Mr. Morrison was married in February, 1 8 7 3 , t o
Tulia, daughter of Nehemiah W a s h b u r n .
Mrs.
Morrison died in 1 8 8 3 , leaving a s<->n, Angus
W a s h b u r n Morrison, and a daughter, Ethel, now
the wife of Mr, J o h n R. Vanderlip, an a t t o r n e y
SWEET, PHOTO
f
254
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
W'
OTTO E. NAB6BLI3.
of Minneapolis. Mr. Morrison is a member of
the Minneapolis Club and of the Universalist
Church of the Redeemer.
NAEGELE, Otto E., president of the Germania Bank of Minneapolis, was born at New
Ulm, Minnesota, May 28, 1858. He was the son
of Lambert Naegele who learned the printer's
trade in Rottweil, Germany, emigrated to America
in 1848 and became a publisher of German news
papers in this country. He published the New
Ulm Pioneer from 1857 to 1869; the Minneapolis
Free Press from 1869 to 1889; the Montana Staats
Zeitung, at Helena, 1889 to 1901, and the Wash
ington Staats Zeitung, at Seattle, 1901 to 1905.
He served in the Civil War and was absent with
the Federal Army at the time of the Indian mas
sacre of 1862, which is one of the earliest recol
lections of his son Otto. The party was with
the small band of refugees who escaped from
New Ulm during the night, arriving at St. Peter,
Minnesota, the following morning. Here they
were given shelter and care and all were con
veyed to St. Paul. After that until the close of
the war, the family lived in Milwaukee, but re
turned to New Ulm when the father was released
from military service at the front. Otto E. spent
his earlier years at New Ulm, moved to Minne
apolis with his parents in 1869 and attended the
public schools of this city. He supplemented his
schooling with a term at a business college and
then at the age of fifteen years became an appren
tice in the book bindery of the Minneapolis Trib
une then located in the old City Hall at Bridge
Square. After three years he entered the post
office, advancing rapidly to a responsible position
in the money order and registry department and
continued in the post office until May, 1886. He.
then resigned to take up the profession of bank
ing. After several years' experience as assistant
cashier he became the organizer of the Germania
Bank on May 11, 1893, a n d has from the begin
ning been the president and active manager of the
institution. His political affiliations have always
been with the republican party from the time he
cast his first vote in 1879 for Jas. A. Garfield as
president. He has taken an active part in public
affairs of the city and is associated with various
business clubs and organizations. He was mar
ried at Minneapolis on May 28, 1881, to Miss
Anna Rauen. They have had four children of
whom two are living, Richard O. and Gladys.
ORDE, George F., cashier of the First Na
tional Bank of Minneapolis, was born in On
tario in 1864. He commenced his banking career
in 1883, when he entered the service of the Cana
dian Bank of Commerce.. Three years-later in
September, 1886, he moved to Chicago where he
was employed in the American Exchange Na
tional Bank for the following ten years. When
he left the American Exchange in 1895 he had
risen to the position of assistant cashier. He re
signed to accept the cashiership of the Northern
Trust Company Bank of Chicago. This position
he retained until May 1, 1905, when he resigned
to come to Minneapolis to accept his present
position. In January, 1906, he was made a
director of the First National Bank, and although
a resident of the city but about two years is one
of the best known bankers in the Northwest. Mr.
Orde has an extensive acquaintance among the
bankers of the country and has been honored
with membership in the Executive Council of the
American Bankers Association, serving from
1899 to 1902, and was elected treasurer of the as
sociation at New Orleans in 1902, and wag re
elected at San Francisco in 1903. Mr. Orde was
married in 1887. He is a member of the Min
neapolis Club; of the Minikahda Club; and of the
Minneapolis Curling Club, of which he was
elected president in November, 1907.
PRINCE, Frank M., president of the First
National Bank of Minneapolis, was born at Am
herst, Massachusetts, on July 23, 1854. He was
the son of George H. Prince and Sarah E. (Nash)
Prince, the father being a successful business
man at Amherst. As a boy Mr. Prince attended
the public schools of his native town and on the
completion of a high school course he entered a
store where he worked until he was twenty, when
he came to Minnesota. He first went to Still
water and was employed for a year in the general
THE GROWTH OF BANKING
store of Prince & French. A short period of
school teaching was followed by employment in
the First National Bank of Stillwater where he
obtained his first experience in banking. In July,
1878, he came to Minneapolis and secured a posi
tion in the First National Bank as correspondent
.and teller. Mr. Prince remained in this position
until November, 1882, when he resigned to return
to Stillwater to accept the position of cashier in
the First National Bank, where he had been pre
viously employed as a clerk. His connection
with the Stillwater bank continued for the next
ten years and the position was resigned to take
that of secretary and treasurer of the Minnesota
Loan & Trust Company of Minneapolis. Two
years later Mr. Prince went again to the First
National of Minneapolis, this time as cashier, and
since that date, August 1, 1894, he has been con
tinuously connected with the institution with a
large part of the responsibilities of its manage
ment. On January i, 1895, he was chosen vicepresident and he was made president in January,
1905. Mr. Prince has found time to take a part
in other financial and business institutions and is
a director in the Minnesota Loan & Trust Com
pany and the First National Bank of Cloquet. He
is a member of the leading commercial and social
organizations of the city including the Minne
apolis club, the Commercial club, the Minikahda
SWEET, PHOTO
FRANK M.
PRINCE.
255
club, the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts and
others. In political faith Mr. Prince is a re
publican.
SHEPHERD, William Lyon, was born at Ra
cine, Wisconsin, December 6, 1869. Acquired his
education at Ogdensburg, New York, and his
business experience with the National Bank of
Ogdensburg and Trust Companies of Minneapolis.
He has been a resident of Minneapolis since 1889;
and since January, 1897, has been a dealer in in
vestment securities.
STEGNER, George Elias, cashier of the Ger
man-American Bank since 1905, is the son of Rev.
William Stegner and Catherine (Bauernfiend)
Stegner. Rev. William Stegner was a native of
Saxony, Germany, from whence he came to the
United States when eighteen years of age. He
settled in Minnesota, entered the ministry and
associated himself with the work of the Evangeli
cal Association of the state. For many years he
was active in the work of that organization and
held parishes at a number of towns throughout
the state, continuing pastoral work until the time
of his death on August 6, 1883. George E. was
born on*July 11, 1866, at Maple Grove, in Henne
pin county, Minnesota, where his father was then
in charge of a church.. His mother, who still re
sides in Minneapolis, was a native of Bavaria, Ger
many. Owing to his father's frequent change of
location in following his evangelical work, George
E. received his education in various public schools
of the state, attending at different times the
schools of Mankato, Waseca, and other points at
which his father had churches. For fcJUr years
he was in Minneapolis and attended the Lincoln
school, which has since been torn down. After
his schooling, Mr. Stegner learned the tinner's
trade and for a time was engaged in that business
in the city, but in 1892 he secured a position in
the German-American Bank. He served first as
a messenger, but was soon promoted and succes
sively held all of the positions in the bank mov
ing up from the bottom through hard work and
application to the details of the business. He was
appointed in January, 1905, to his present office,
that of cashier. During his connection with the
bank Mr. Stegner has become well known as one
cf the conservative bankers of the city. He is a
member of the North Side Commercial Club and
of the Odd Fellows order, and through these or
ganizations as well as in his capacity of private
citizen he takes an interest in public work, partic
ularly that involving the interests of the North
Side. He is not married.
STEVENS, Eugene Morgan, head of thft.
commercial paper and investment bond firm of
Eugene M. Stevens & Co., was born at Preston,
Minnesota, on February 1, 1871, a son of Andrew
J. and Clara M. Stevens, his father being manager
of the Winona Wagon Company at the time of
his death in 1880. Eugene lived at Rushford and
256
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
ary 14, 1899, Mr. Stevens was married to Mary
F. Rolfe. They have one child, Eugene Morgan
Stevens, Jr.
I
SWEET, PHOTO
EUGENE M. STEVENS.
Winona until 1891, receiving his education at the
common schools and high school and in the em
ploy of the Winona Wagon Company, after which
he came to Minneapolis and was employed by
F. H. Peavey & Co., in various capacities, of
ficial and otherwise, with their several subsidiary
companies during ten years, the last five years as
general auditor of the entire Peavey grain sys
tem. In 1901 Mr. Stevens established under his
own name a business in commercial paper, muni
cipal, corporation and railroad bonds, admitting
as a partner in 1906, Mr. Edward T. Chapman.
The firm have business with most of the leading
banks and many investors of capital in the Mid
dle West, handling high grade paper and the
best securities. Mr. Stevens is a republican in
politics. He is one of the founders of the
Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra association and
a member of its executive committee and has
been a director of the Philharmonic Club for
many years. He is a member of the board of
directors of the Young Men's Christian Associa
tion and a member of the state executive com
mittee. He is a member of the Minneapolis, the
Minikahda, the Minnetonka, the Roosevelt, the
Six O'clock clubs of Minneapolis, and of the
Minnesota Club of St. Paul. Mr. Stevens is a
member of the Hennepin Avenue Methodist
Episcopal Church, a member of the official board,
and chairman of its music committee. On Febru
WINTER, Bert, was born at Cleveland, Min
nesota, October 12, 1861. His father, John Win
ter, came to Minnesota with his family from
Chatham, Canada, and settled in the present Yel
low Medicine county on a farm near the Upper
Agency where the first county seat, Yellow Medi
cine village, was located. His father was one of
the first county commissioners and his family
was the first white family located in Yellow
Medicine county. Granite Falls later became the
county seat and the residence of the Winter
family. Bert Winter attended school at Yellow
Medicine village and at Granite Falls and studied
awhile at Carleton College, Northfie.d, Minnesota,
after which he taught country schools for some
time and then worked in the store of J. Winter
& Son at Granite Falls. In 1885 he was employed
as cashier of a bank at Sacred Heart, Min
nesota, remaining there
until
January
6,
1898, when he was elected cashier of the
Yellow Medicine County Bank at Granite
Falls, the first
state bank in the county.
This position he resigned on February 1,
1904, to take the position of secretary and
treasurer of the Union Investment Company,
Minneapolis, which he now holds. While in Yel
low Medicine County, Mr. Winter served as city
recorder, city treasurer, member of the board of
education and treasurer of the Board, at Granite
Falls. The Union Investment Company has built
up an extensive business in farm loans, bank
stocks, bonds and commercial paper and loans to
banks and is one of the recognized strong insti
tutions of Minneapolis. Mr. Winter is a member
of the Commercial Club and of the Men's Club of
the Church of the Redeemer, of which he is also
a member. He was married to Regina Winter
in February, 1894.
JONES, Edwin Smith, pioneer lawyer, banker
and philanthropist, was born in Connecticut, June
3, 1828. He came West with his bride and set
tled at the Falls of St. Anthony in 1854. He
studied law in the office of Judge Isaac Atwater,
and was admitted to the bar in 1855,—the first
lawyer admitted to practice in Hennepin county.
Three years later he was elected judge of pro
bate of Hennepin county and held the position for
three years. From his earliest residence here
Judge Jones was in touch with the public move
ments of the time, both business and moral, and
became a leader in philanthropic work. He was
one of the incorporators and first president of the
Atheneum Library association. After the Civil
War broke out Judge Jones entered the army and
was commissioned as Commissary of Subsistence
with the rank of captain and was assigned to
duty in the Department of the Gulf. Here his
financial ability was recognized and his services
were so appreciated that he was brevetted major.
258
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
His work was commended both by the members
of the army and the government. His services
in the south brought him in touch with the
needs of the people there and in after years, as
his means increased, he felt that the south was
in need of financial assistance and industrial and
educational stimulation. As a result of Judge
Jones' interest in the South and southern people,
a free kindergarten for colored people at At
lanta, Georgia, to which he contributed both in
money and counsel, was named "The Jones Kidnergarten" in recognition of his work. At All
Healing Springs, near King's Mountain, North
Carolina, he established and maintained a school
known as the "Jones Seminary" for young ladies
with a corps of teachers, the special mission of
which was to give education to the white girls of
the mountains, not only along the lines of the text
books, but sewing, cooking and domestic econ
omy. Judge Jones was one of the first supervis
ors of the town of Minneapolis and he was elect
ed as alderman of the city. Among objects which
were benefited largely by Judge Jones' benefac
tions were the Western Minnesota Academy at
Montevideo, Minnesota, now Windom Institute,
of which he was a trustee; Carleton College at
Northfield, Minnesota, of which he was a trustee;
The Chicago Theological Seminary, of which he
was also a trustee, and The American Board of
Foreign Missions, of which he was a corporate
member. He also gave the site of the JonesHarrison Home on the shores of Cedar Lake in
the suburbs of Minneapolis, a beautiful tract of
eighty acres, and was most liberal in general bene
factions and in the support of church activities.
He was for many years one of the prominent
members of Plymouth Congregational Church
of Minneapolis. In 1870, Judge Jones, in associa
tion with J. E. Bell and others organized the
Hennepin County Savings Bank, which has been
one of the most successful banking institutions
of the city. He was chosen the first president
of this bank and held this position continuously
until his death, January 26, 1890.
Judge Jones was a strong man, physically,
mentally and morally, courageous in his convic
tions, wise in his business judgment, kind and
sympathetic, progressive and prompt to act for
the best interests of his city, his state and his
country, and always generous with his time and
his means in supporting those things which make
for good. Had he sought to accumulate property
he would have been a very wealthy man, but he
has administered his estate by his gifts during
his lifetime and died a man of moderate means.
He was three times married, his widow, Susan
C. Jones, surviving him. Nine children were
born to him, of whom but two survive, Mrs.
Frank H. Carleton and former mayor David P.
Jones.
CHAPTER XVII.
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
T
HE first real estate transactions in
Minneapolis had to do with claims
on government land not yet sur
veyed, and to which no title of any kind
could be secured. Such claims were made
on the east side as early as 1836. They
passed from hand to hand in an irregular
sort of way, and it was not until 1848 when
that part of the old reservation was sur
veyed and formally opened to entry, that
any clear title could be obtained.
On the west side, in Minneapolis proper,
the conditions were similar, except that
entry was much longer delayed and the
official action of the government was fore
stalled by settlers who filed claims and oc
cupied the land long before anything but a
"permit" of questionable value could be
shown as a warranty. However, so confi
dent were the settlers that their claims
would be recognized, that they actually sur
veyed and platted their property some time
before they secured title, and many of these
lots were build upon and occupied for com
mercial purposes before the original pre
emptions had been made.
The original Minneapolis was surveyed
in 1854 by Chas. W. Christmas for Col.
John H. Stevens, the first settler who laid
out the city in his farm acres. It was Col.
Stevens himself who determined the direc
tion of the streets, and who fixed their
width and the size of the lots and blocks.
In a short space of time he and Mr. Christ
mas cooly staked out ground now worth a
hundred million dollars. .
And then Col. Stevens began to give it
away. To any one who would build, he
freely donated a lot. It was a policy of
development copied many times in later
real estate promotion schemes. In these
first real estate deals in Minneapolis, there
was neither deed nor covenant. "As no
deeds would be lawful," writes Col. Stevens
in his "Personal Recollections," "none were
given;" neither were* memoranda or arti
cles of agreement signed. I trusted them
and they trusted me, and when the proper
time came, they received deeds for their
land."
Col. Stevens was a splendid promoter.
In an incredibly short time buildings were
going up and business establishments were
engaged in trade. The first lot to be given
away was at the corner of Hennepin avenue
and First street, where the Northrup, King
& Company building now stands. After a
time lots had a cash value and Col. Stevens
sold a great number, but the aggregate of
sales was not large, and the man who
owned the original town site of Minneapolis
never realized a fortune on Minneapolis
real estate.
Soon the day of the real estate, dealer
arrived. Early in 1855 Simon P. Snyder
and Wm. K. McFarlane came to Minne
apolis and opened the first regular real es
tate office in the city. Their office build
ing—a small one-story frame structure,
stood "at the top of the hill" as one mount
ed the rise from the old ferry landing. In
this office a large business was transacted.
The firm had ample capital and much en
ergy and enterprise. They were the first
to use a prospectus for the advertisement
of Minneapolis real estate; and their circu
lars, telling of the advantages of Minneapo
lis and Minnesota, were spread broadcast
over the country. They were fitting fore
runners of the hustling real estate men of
the later days. Col. Stevens testified that
"probably to Messrs. Snyder & McFarlane
are the citizens of Minneapolis more in
debted than to any others for the rapid
260
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
SIMON P. SNYDER.
progress in the early industries on the west
side of the falls." Mr. Snyder still lives in
Minneapolis.
Other firms followed in rapid succession.
Hancock & Thomas, Beede & Mendenhall
and Bell & Wilson were among the earliest.
C. H. Pettit came, opened a bank and hand
led real estate and lands. H. T. Welles
made heavy investments. Daniel R. Bar
ber and Carlos Wilcox were early realty
dealers and S. C. and Harlow A. Gale be
came active real estate men. Everyone was
in real estate in those days. Whatever his
business the pioneer Minneapolitan was
sure to have some little side interest in
realty.
THE FIRST "BOOM."
With the advent of the real estate deal
ers, business became very active, and dur
ing the next year Minneapolis experienced
its first real estate "boom." Prices were
low—that is, low compared with later days,
but it must be remembered when two lots
on Fourth street between Nicollet and First
avenue south sold in 1856 for $200 that
this same land had been purchased from
the government only a few months before
at $1.25 an acre, or at the rate of about 30
cents a lot. About the same time all of
block 67, Fourth avenue south between
Third and Fourth streets sold for $1,000,
and lots 1 and 2 at Fourth street and Sec
ond avenue south for $350.
Still the
average value of lots in the city was but
$5. The year 1857 saw prices open still
higher, but with the appearance of the panic
of that year there was a collapse in the
real estate market and corner lots which
sold for $3,000 in May had little, if any,
value in October.
For the next three years there was little
progress. But values had not entirely dis
appeared, and though many mortgages
were foreclosed and many owners were
ruined, many others held to their property,
and in the end realized good prices. The
bottom was.reached about i860, and though
recovery was slow the gain was steady.
The real estate of Minneapolis was as
sessed in i860 at $1,054,812, and in St. An
thony at $800,992. After the war came the
period of railroad building and general
commercial expansion, and real estate val
ues responded to the improved conditions;
but until about the year 1880 the real es
tate business in Minneapolis was on what
might be called a village basis. City con
ditions and prices have come in the past
thirty years.
Previous to 1880, however, some of the
best known real estate men of the city had
commenced business. Elwood S. Corser
began in 1871, and with the exception of
S. C. Gale, is probably the veteran of the
real estate men continuously in business in
the city. W. A. Barnes joined Mr. Corser
in 1872, and for many years the firms of
Corser & Co. and W. A. Barnes & Co.,
which was formed in 1884, were conspicu
ous in the early affairs of the city. Lester
B. Elwood joined Mr. Corser in 1875. I. C.
Seeley was a clerk for Mr. Corser for a
year at the beginning, and in 1872 entered
business for himself and became one of the
most prominent real estate men of the city.
P. D. McMillan began in 1872, the late
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
261
FIRST REAL ESTATE OFFICE IN MINNEAPOLIS.
The office of Snyder & McFarlane, erected in 1856, cn lower Bridge Square. From a photograph made In '06
and still in the possession of Mr. Snyder. The men shown in the view were (from left to right)
J. B. Gilbert, S. P. Snyder, John Murry, John McFailane, W. K. McFarlane, \V. P. Ankeny.
Edmund Eichhorn in 1873, and the late H. established in 1886 and the David C. Bell
O. Hamlin, first in 1866 with S. C. Gale Investment Company in 1889, though hav
and afterwards on his own account in 1877. ing its origin in the business of Bell & NetW. H. Lauderdale went into real estate in tleton, established several years previously.
1879. There were many others whose prop- E X P A N S I O N I N T H E EIGHTIES.
erty interests later developed real estate
For some ten years, from about 1879 or
agencies, but who were, in the early days,
classed as real estate owners, rather than 1880, a period of most intense activity in
dealers or agents. Among these were the Minneapolis realty set in. It was a time
late Judge E. S. Jones, who was first law of the most rapid expansion of population
yer and then banker. The firm of David P. and business, in the city and the northwest.
Jones & Co. is the successor to his large There was great excitement in real estate.
interests. Richard and Samuel H. Chjife Prices advanced rapidly, and for a time
were early investors and real estate dealers, there seemed no limit to the capacity of the
though the name of Chute Brothers was investing public to absorb lots singly and
not assumed until 1865. The Chute Realty in blocks. Fortunes were made in months
Company of to-day is composed of their and even weeks. New additions were plat
sons. The Edmund G. Walton Agency was ted and placed on the market as rapidly as
262
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
the surveyors could do their work. The housed under its own roofs. In residences,
number of real estate firms multiplied as ii as in business building, there has been a
by magic; in 1883 the city directory showed marked tendency towards better quality;
213 names of agencies and dealers; in 1878 the architecture of the city has improved
they numbered but fifty. The business was
most wonderfully. The place has taken on
much overdone, largely through mistaken an air of permanence and solidity unknown
enthusiasm and confidence in the future of
twenty-five years ago.
the city, and partly, it must be admitted,
NEW METHODS OF PROMOTION.
through unscrupulousness. For its failure
to curb the latter spirit the city suffered,
In place of boom methods the develop
as have many western cities, though by no ment of "additions" along rational and logi
means to the same extent.
cal business lines has become common and
Since 1894 there has been a steady recov profitable. It is now the reasonable theory
ery of prices and a constant increase in the that any given section of tli£ city must take
volume of transactions. Business property on something of a uniform character. The
has reached prices never before realized; real estate agent nowadays plats his addi
but, compared with other cities, is now re tion, and determines from general location
garded as a most desirable investment. and surroundings what class of residences
Vacant places in the business center have and occupants it should appeal to. He then
filled up. In the same way the residence' advertises for that class and fixes his prices
portions of the city have been solidified. at a suitable figure. In this way Lowry
It has been a feature of the past decade Hill was offered to the public after the
that homes have multiplied rapidly, that panic of 1893, at prices and on terms that
the working men have bought and built, would appeal ouly to the best class of home
and that the great middle class has been builders. A little further out a notable
example was Sunnyside and Linden Hills
and Lynnhurst at Lake Harriet, Kenwood
and other additions in the vicinity of Lake
of the Isles were developed on this plan.
The name of each soon meant something
to the public; property was given a def
inite place and value. In the same way
additions particularly designed for the
occupation of artisans and the industrial
classes were platted and presented to thoss
who would find the prices and localities
suited to their needs. Perhaps the most
conspicuous example of this class of prop
erty is Columbia Heights, in Northeast
Minneapolis, owned by Thomas Lowry
and platted and placed on the market
by Edmund G. Walton as a great indus
trial suburb, the idea being to devote suit
able tracts to manufacturing enterprises
and supply on adjoining ground homes for
the officers, managers and employes of
these concerns, of every grade from the
highest to the lowest.
HOW VALUES INCREASED.
KICHARD CHUTE.
Ti e enormous advances in value in Min
neapolis real estate in the course of the past
half century have been the frequent subject
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
of interesting articles. A very few in
stances only can be given here. S. C. Gale
(the oldest real estate man of Minneapolis
continuously in business) bought a quarter
of a block at the corner of First avenue
south and Fourth street in the sixties, pay
ing $900 for the property. It was then
quite well out of the business center. He
lived on the property for many years, and
finally sold it for $150,000. It is now worth
easily $250,000 without the buildings. The
present site of Temple Court at Washing
ton and Hennepin avenues was valued by
the owner in 1857 at $2,500. It is now
regarded as worth at least $175,000. As
late as 1877 L. M. Stewart bought the half
block on First avenue south between Fifth
and Sixth streets for $20,300; it is now
estimated to be worth at least $500,000.
The other half of this block, occupied by
the Syndicate block was sold to the Syndi
cate company in 1881, for $77,500, and is
now worth about $1,250,000.
During the past few years the real estate
transactions as indicated by the recorded
transfers have been: 1901, $11,557,585;
1902, $16,873,104; 1903, $13,811,346; 1904,
$13,565,470; 1905, $18,125,485; 1906, $17,542,400; 1907, $24,911,962.
In the same period the building opera
tions as shown by the permits issued from
the office of the building inspector were:
1901, $6,766,303; 1902, $7,087,053; 1903,
$7»73 2 799; I 9°4, $6,696,985; 1905, $8,905,205; 1906, $9,466,150; 1907, $10,006,485.
THE REAL ESTATE BOARD.
A strong influence in promoting the real
estate interests of the city and in regulat
ing transactions maintaining standards, has
been the Minneapolis Real Estate Board
which was organized in May, 1892, and re
organized in the spring of 1900 upon a
very substantial and business-like basis, its
membership consisting of the representa
tive real estate and loaning houses of the
city. The officers for 1908-09 are: presi
dent, R. D. Cone; vice-president, George
Odium; secretary, H. F. Newhall; treas
urer, A. V. Skiles; chairman of executive
committee, D. P. Tones.
FIRE AND LIFE INSURANCE
The fire insurance business in Minneapo-
263
SAMUEL H. CHUTE.
lis has been for the most part that of the
agencies of companies having home offices
elsewhere, and its history is largely that of
the real estate men of the city; for the
agencies have been until very recently,
largely adjuncts of the real estate offices.
In the early days of Minneapolis the best
companies did not seek business in the
frontier towns. With the growth of the
city, however, the character of the popula
tion and its business-like attention to mu
nicipal improvements and fire protection
brought solicitation for business from the
best companies in the world.
The first insurance ^office opened in Min
neapolis proper was that of ' A. -K. Hartwell, established in 1854, Judge E. B. Ames
opened an office in 1857, and Gale & Co.,
Snyder & McFarlane and others wrote in
surance in the first few years of the city's
life. For a long time the real estate men
controlled the agencies and it was not until
comparatively recent years that exclusive
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
264
•S ;
\*
-"t;
iliMs
!£&&$¥
am*
SWEET, PMOTO
SAMUEL C. GALE.
agencies began to develop to any extent.
Twenty-five years ago there were twentyeight agencies in the city, but fully half of
them combined real estate or some other
business with that of insurance.
At that time it was not uncommon for a
real estate firm to handle fire insurance and
life insurance also. For instance, Gale &
Co., one of the largest real estate firms did
a large fire insurance business and were
also Minneapolis agents for the Mutual
Life Insurance Company. C. A. J. Marsh,
best known as a real estate man, was a fire
insurance agent, and also represented the
Continental Life. Frederick Paine, the vet
eran insurance man, only recently de
ceased, then represented both life and fire
companies.
For many years the habit in the east of
looking upon St. Paul as the business cen
ter of the northwest prevented the estab
lishment of agencies of important life in
surance companies in Minneapolis. As late
as 1883, there were but three state agents
in Minneapolis. Changes came rapidly,
however. One of the evidences of recogni
tion of the importance of the city was the
erection in 1889 of the New York Life In
surance Company building. Many import
ant state agencies have been established
here and as in fire insurance, the city is now
the general headquarters for the north
west. Few important companies, either life
or fire, are not represented here, and within
the past two decades the business of acci
dent, casualty and liability insurance—in
all its- variety of form—has been greatly
developed. Many strong agency firms have
been formed and have built up a heavy
business.
NORTHWESTERN NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE
COMPANY.— The Northwestern National un
der its former name, came to Minneapolis
twenty-two years ago, moving into offices
consisting of two small rooms on a side
street. It had been in existence but a short
time, and had recently closed its first year
with assets amounting to $600.46. To-day
the company occupies its own home office
building, at Nicollet avenue and Eleventh
street, completed in the spring of 1905.
This office building and the auditorium,
architecturally one, but practically separate
structures, constitute one of Minneapolis'
most substantial improvements of recent
years. The office building is most admir
ably adapted for its purpose. The entire
property, costing over $400,000, constitutes
a splendid investment, of steadily increas
ing value.
From $600.46, the admitted assets of the
company have steadily increased, until the
total as shown by its annual statement, De
cember 31st, 1907, amounts to $5,231,828;
the payments to beneficiaries and policy
holders at the same date having been $6,620,024; the total insurance in force reach
ing nearly $23,000,000, and protecting the
lives of nearly 30,000 people.
The company, originally organized under
the old assessment laws, was reincorporated
in 1901 upon a legal reserve basis. In the
spring of 1905, the old officers of the com
pany resigned, a complete reorganization
resulting, the management passing into the
hands of experienced life insurance men,
under the directorate of Minneapolis' most
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
265
HOME OFFICE OF THE NORTHWESTERN NATIONAL LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY.
(Bertrand & Cliamberlin, Architects.)
successful and substantial financiers.
The company, now thoroughly estab
lished upon a sound basis, has become one
of the leading financial institutions of the
Northwest, and gives promise of still more
rapid development and a most successful
and brilliant future. Its president and gen
eral manager, Leonard K. Thompson, who
took charge of the affairs of the company
in the spring of 1905, and, in connection
with Minneapolis' leading bunkers, conduct
ed its reorganization, is a trained and suc
cessful life insurance man of twenty years'
experience, thoroughly familiar with all the
details and problems connected with sound
life underwriting and successful company
management. Mr. Thompson is surrounded
with an exceptional corps of assistants:
William J. Graham, formerly of New York,
vice-president and actuary; Dr. Henry
Wireman Cook, from Baltimore, medical
director; John T. Baxter, counsel; George
E. Towle, for many years a North Dakota
banker, treasurer, and Robert E. Esterly,
secretary.
The directorate of the comgany is espe
cially strong, including chief executive offi~
cers of the leading banks of the city, and is
as follows: F. A. Chamberlain, president
Security National Bank; A. A. Crane, vicepresident Northwestern National Bank;
John T. Baxter, counsel; Geo. E. Towle,
treasurer; C. T. Jaffray, vice-president First
National Bank; E. W. Decker, vice-president Northwestern National Bank; B. F.
Nelson, Nelson-Tuthill Lumber Co.; W.
J. Graham, vice-president and actuary; L.
K. Thompson, president.
TIIE NORTHWESTERN FIRE AND MARINE IN
SURANCE COMPANY was organized at Grand
Forks, North Dakota, in 1899 and for sev
eral years did a very successful business;
gradually extending its field until, in 1904,
its officers saw the desirability of a more
central location and made plans for -re
moval to Minneapolis. This move was
made early in the year, the company ac
quiring as an office building the old In
surance Exchange at 13 and 15 North
266
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
Fourth street which had long been identi
fied in the public mind with fire insurance.
The company was subsequently reincor
porated under the Minnesota Laws with a
capital stock of $200,000. This has since
been increased to $300,000. Since coming
to Minneapolis its business has enlarged
very rapidly though along conservative
lines, and now doing business in twenty
states, comprising the best part of the coun
try. At the close of 1907 the company had
in force insurance to the amount of $44,847,108; carried a net surplus of $76,641;
and had total assets amounting to $770,092.. O. O. Tollefson who was the secre
tary of the company at the organization,
is now president and manager; Alvin Rob'
ertson is vice-president; J. D. Brown, sec
ond vice-president; H. N. Stabeck, third
vice-president; W. A-; Laidlaw, secretary;
C. H. Baldwin^ assistant secretary; and
Charles Carothers, treasurer.
Since 1895 the fire insurance companies
doing business in Minneapolis have main
tained a salvage corps or fire
insurance
patrol, well equipped'for salvage work and,
as experience has shown, doing efifective
work in lessening fire losses. The patrol
is managed by the Minneapolis Board of
Fire Underwriters, the local organization
of the insurance men. It works in connec
tion with the city fire department. Fire
losses have been comparatively small in
Minneapolis owing to good building laws,
an efficient fire department and water sup
ply and the work of the salvage corps.
ARMATAGE, Arthur Wellesley, for many
years engaged in the insurance business in Min
neapolis, is a native of Canada. He was born in
Quebec and his early years were spent near that
place on his father's farm. He began his educa
tion in the public schools, acquiring there his
elementary and preparatory training. Follow
ing his studies in the public schools, he entered
St. Francis College, at Richmond, Quebec. After
one year spent at St. Francis he left college and
entered upon his commercial life. His first po
sition wa3 in the auditor's department of the
Canadian Express Company at Montreal. He re
mained in that office for three years, at the end
of which time he moved to Minneapolis and here
began his experience with the real estate busi
ness, with which, in connection with insurance,
he has since been associated. He entered the
employ of I. A. Dunsmoor & Company, re
maining with that firm for three years. He then
resigned to enter the insurance business as an
adjustor and continued in that capacity for three
years. At the end of that time on July 1, 1891,
he formed a partnership with Mr. Samuel S.
Thorpe, and his brother, under the firm name of
Thorpe Bros. & Armatage, and engaged in the
insurance business. This association still con
tinues, the company now being a part of the
Minneapolis Insurance Agency, which carries on
a very extensive business in fire and marine in
surance. Mr. Armatage is treasurer of the com
pany. In political faith he is a republican. Mr.
Armatage is a prominent member of several
clubs and fraternal orders; among which are the
Commercial Club, of which he was for six years
a director. He is also associated with the local
Elks body; is a thirty-second degree Mason, and
a Shriner. With his family he attends the Hen
nepin Avenue Methodist Church. Mr. Armatage
was married on June 18, 1890, to Miss Maude A.
Dunsmoor of this city, and they have three chil
dren, one son and two daughters.
BADGER, Walter Louis, was born on May
27, 1868, at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He is the
son of George A. Badger, a successful merchant
of Fond du Lac, and Harriet E. Hastings; both
parents being natives of Massachusetts and de
scended from old New England families. Mr.
SWEET, PHOTO
A R T H U R W , ARMATAGE.
267
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
Badger attended the public school of his home
town till 1878 when he came with his parents to
Minneapolis. Here he again attended a prepara
tory institution for two years and then left school
to commence an active business life. He entered
the real estate office of J. Goldsbury where he re
ceived his first training in the business with which
he is now prominently identified. In 1886 Mr.
Badger opened an office for himself, which he
managed for four years. He then entered the firm
of Corser & Company as a special partner, an
association which continued for three years, until
1893, when he again opened his own office and has
since conducted his business independently. He
makes a specialty of the management of large
estates, and has built up a most successful busi
ness in general real estate dealing and the man
agement of estates and office buildings, and has
a large eastern clientage. Mr. Badger is a re
publican in politics, and though he has never
sought public office, is actively interested in muni
cipal improvement and reform. He is a member of
the Minneapolis Club and Commercial Club and
active member of the Minneapolis R. E. Board.
Mr. Badger attends Plymouth Congregational
Church. In 1890 he was married to Miss Anna
Dawson, of Keokuk, Iowa, and they have had two
children—Lester Robert and Norman Dawson.
CAMPBELL, Lewis William, was born at
Harrington, Washington county, Maine, son of
Dennison Campbell, a civil engineer. His grand
father was James Campbell, one of the framers
of the Constitution of Maine, also judge of the
Supreme Court and a colonel of the militia of
that state; his great-grandfather, Alexander
Campbell, was colonel of the 6th Massachusetts
during the war of the Rev«.0ution. later a Maior
General and judge of the Superior Court; state
senator for the Eastern District of Maine for
seven years, one of the organizers of the East
Machias, Washington countv, Academy.and one
of the original trustees of Bowdoin College.
Lewis W. during his early years attended the
Academy at East Machias, on August 4th, i86%he enlisted in the n t h Regiment of Main^ volun
teers and- served in the army until February
13th, 1866; he was in many of the greatest battles
of the war, and was present at the surrender of
Lee, April 9th, 1865. His commission as an of
ficer came to him at Appomatox. During his
army life he was on a number of different
boards and at the close was judge in the Freedmen's Bureau, near Fredericksburg, Virginia,
making contracts with the planter and his for
mer slave. He was in business at Machias,
Maine, for three years, coming to Minneapolis
in 1869; was engaged in the milling business until
1892, and since then has been prominently en
gaged in real estate, loans and insurance. He is
a member of the Masonic fraternity, a member
of the G. A. R. and Loyal Legion, of the Com
mercial Club and the Chamber of Commerce. In
1892 and '93 he was the first and second vice
•A
M
LEWIS W. CAMI'BIXl..
bai . in: - r^w
*-
5WEET . PMOTO
president of the Chamber of Commerce and the
Board of Trade at the same time, the only man
in the city to enjoy that distinction. Mr. Camp
bell is a member of the First Congregational
Church, was for fifteen years one of its deacons,
and prominently identified with the Sunday
school movement, as superintendent nine years
and as teacher eighteen years. He was president
of the State Sunday School Association in 1890,
and served on the International Sunday School
committee in 1891. He was married May 31st,
1871, to Sarah Fisk, who died November 6th, 1905.
They have two daughters, Mahala P. Holman
and Mary A. Campbell. Mr. Campbell has been
identified with all of the reform movements for
the uplift of his fellow men. He now enjoys the
title of Colonel, having been on the staff of the
former Governor of Minnesota.
CHADBOURN, Charles Henry, founder of
the Chadbourn Finance Company of Minneapolis,
son of Nathaniel and Ruth Hill Chadbourn, was
born in Sanford, Maine, November 8, 1831. His
father was a farmer and Charles, after receiving a
common school and academic education, went to
268
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
California by way of Panama. He reached there in
April, 1852, with twenty dollars left in his pocket,
the remainder of his boyhood savings. He went
to work in the gold mines at Columbia Gulch and,
after four years he left the Golden Gate with
about $5,000. Returning East, he engaged in
business with his brother at Columbus, Wisconsin,
and, in November, i860, he removed to Rochester,
Minnesota, forming a private banking partnership
in 1862, which was incorporated in 1876 as the
Rochester National Bank. Elected in 1887 presi
dent of the Flour City National Bank, of Min
neapolis, he removed to this city and in 1889 he
formed a partnership with his sons to engage in
the business of real estate and insurance. This
business was incorporated in 1893 as the Chadbourn Finance Company. Mr. Chadbourn pur
chased in 1887 the five-story Stillman Block and
remodelled it into the handsome hotel known as
The Vendome, which at the time of his death,
May s, 1900, he and his sons were conducting.
Mr. Chadbourn was married in 1858 to Henrietta
Jane, daughter of Alfred Topliff. There are four
living children:
Charles Nathaniel, Henrietta
Ruth, missionary to San Jose, Costa Rica; Katibel, and Rodney Whitney, associated with his
brother in the management of the Chadbourn
Finance Company. Mr. Chadbourn was a re
publican in politics and a member of the Congre
gational church. To his family and the com
munity he left a notable example of public spirit
and strict integrity.
CHUTE, Frederick Butterfield, is the son of
one of the early pioneers and business men of
Minneapolis and was born and has made his home
in this city. His father was Samuel Hewes
Chute, for many years prominent in business and
social affairs and one of the original Chute
Brothers who conducted an extensive and suc
cessful real estate business in this city from 1857
till 1893 when the firm incorporated as Chute
Brothers Company. His mother was Helen E. A.
(Day) Chute. Fred B. Chute was born on De
cember 21, 1872, in Minneapolis and his boyhood
was spent here and his preliminary and prepara
tory education obtained by tutor and in private
schools of this city. He entered the preparatory
department at Notre Dame University in Indiana
in 1885 and was graduated in 1892, receiving the
degree of Bachelor of Letters. He took one year
in the Notre Dame law department but wishing
to continue his legal studies at home he entered
the law department of the University of Minne
sota and at the completion of his post-graduate
work received, in 1896, his degree of LL. M.
After finishing his college work Mr. Chute prac
ticed law and later became connected with the
Chute Realty Company, of which he was one of
the incorporators, and. since that time has been
prominently associated with the real estate busi
ness in this city. Though he has practiced his
profession independently to some extent and in
connection with his commercial interests, Mr.
FRED B. CHUTE.
Chute's time has been for the most part engaged
with the real estate business and the different
firms of which he is a member have been asso
ciated with some of the largest and most impor
tant transactions in realty which have been con
summated in the city. He is at present the secre
tary of the Chute Brothers Company; the second
vice president and secretary of the Chute Realty
Company, and a member of the firm of L. P. &
F. B. Chute, and is active in the management of
the financial
and commercial interests which
these firms represent. Mr. Chute has engaged,
aside from his business life, in many branches of
public and social activity and is a member of the
more prominent organizations of a public and
social character. For some time he was connect
ed with the National Guard of Minnesota and
during two years was the First Lieutenant of one
of the local companies. As a member of the
Board of Education he has been an important
promoter of some of the educational movements.
Politically Mr. Chute is a republican but has
never desired to hold public office, though inter
ested in the advancement of good municipal gov
ernment. He is well-known in Minneapolis social
circles as well as in commercial life, being a
member of the larger cluts, among them the Min
neapolis Club, the Minikahda Club, the Minnetonka Yacht Club, the Roosevelt Club, the Sons
of the American Revolution, the Knights of Co-
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
lumbus, the State Bar Association and the Min
neapolis and St. Anthony Commercial Clubs. He
attends the Catholic Church.
CHUTE, Louis Prince, lawyer, born in Min
neapolis, October 17, 1868, belongs to a Minneap
olis family which has been prominent in the
locality from the time Dr. Samuel H. Chute,
his father, came to the early village of St. An
thony. Dr. Chute and his wife, Helen E. A.
(Day) Chute, were leaders in all enterprises of
a public or social character for nearly a genera
tion of the growth of the city, especially as re
lated to the East Side. Their children now
occupy as public-spirited a relation. Louis P.
Chute spent his early life here, getting his edu
cation at first under a private tutor. This was
seconded by several terms at the Archibald Busi
ness College, and completed in the legal depart
ment of the University of Notre Dame, Indiana.
From this institution, Mr. Chute received his
A. B. in 1890, and LL. B. in 1892. He was ad
mitted to practice in Indiana in 1892, and re
ceived the degree of LL. M., in 1893, at the
University of Minnesota. Since then law and
real. estate have occupied him. He is a busy
man, but finds time to belong to most of the
leading social clubs of the city. He is on the
Citizens' staff of John A. Rawlins Post, G. A. R.
and is a member of the Sons of the American
Revolution. Mr. Chute is a member of the Civic
Affairs committee of the Commercial Club and is
secretary of the Minnetonka Yacht club. He is
a Roman Catholic. Is unmarried.
CHUTE, Richard, a resident of Minneapolis
since 1854, and until his death a member of the
real estate firm of Chute Brothers, was of Eng
lish descent. The lineage has been traced to
Alexander Chute, . a resident of Taunton, Eng
land, in 1268, whose ancestors were among those
of Norman blood, who came to Britain with
William the Conquerer. His ancestors on the ma
ternal side were revolutionary soldiers, among
them being Captain Roger Clapp, who in 1664
commanded the "Castle," now Fort Independence
in Boston Harbor. The parents of Richard Chute
were James Chute and Martha (Hewes) Chute.
James Chute taught a private school in Cin
cinnati, Ohio, but after his son's birth entered
the Presbyterian ministry and moved to Colum
bus, Ohio. He resided at Columbus until 1831,
when he moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where
he died in 1835, having survived his wife two
years. Richard Chute was born in Cincinnati
on September 23, 1820. His education was re
ceived from his parents, and when twelve years
of age he entered the store of S. & H. Hanna
& Co. at Fort Wayne. The d'ath of his father
left him the oldest of the family, and he con
tinued his employment—being connected with
various firms until in 1841 he accepted the posi
tion of clerk with W. G. & G. W. Ewing, large
dealers in furs. In 1844 this firm desired to
establish a fur-trading post at Good Road's vil
269
lage, eight miles above Fort Snelling, and sent
Mr. Chute out for that purpose. While ac
complishing this commission Mr. Chute visited
the Falls of St. Anthony and recognized the
splendid advantages which the then almost wild
location had for the site of a large city. He
continued in the fur trading business for some
years, in 1845 becoming a partner of the Ewings
and later joining the firm of P. Choteau, Jr., &
Co. In 1854 he moved to St. Anthony and be<
came largely interested in real estate and soon
acquired a part ownership in the land controlling
the water power on the east side of the river,
then owned by Franklin Steele and others. Two
years later the St. Anthony Falls Water Power
Company was incorporated and Mr. Chute be
came its agent. This offi.ce he held until 1868,
when he assumed the presidency of the company,
holding the position until the property was sold
to Jas. J. Hill. This corporation developed the
power at the Falls which was of such importance
in the growth of the milling interests of the
city. In 1865 Mr. Chute began his association
with his brother in the realty business and since
that time the firm of Chute Brothers has been
one of the important factors of the real estate
business of the city. Mr. Chute also engaged
at various times in other industrial and com
mercial projects, which proved successful ven
tures. Mr. Chute's public services in the in
terests of the city and state were extensive and
BRUSH, PHOTO
LOUIS P. CHUTE.
270
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
varied. -With R. P. Upton and Edward Murphy
he supervised the expenditure of the public
funds for clearing the channel of the Mississippi
from Minneapolis to Fort Snelling, for steam
boat traffic, and in the fall of the same year
was appointed territorial delegate by Henry M.
Rice to aid in passing the railroad land grant
bill in Washington.
With H. T. Welles he
finally accomplished the enactment of the bill
which resulted in the construction of 1,400 miles
of railroad in the state. He was made a charter
director of several of the railroad companies
and was especially prominent in the affairs of
the Great Northern system. He was one of the
organizers of the Board of Trade, for many years
on its board of directors and for two years its
president. Governor Ramsey appointed him in
1862 special quartermaster for a detachment of
troops at Fort Ripley and he was later made
assistant quartermaster of the state with the
rank of lieutenant colonel. From 1863 until the
close of the Civil War he was United States
Provost Marshal for Hennepin County.
Mr.
Chute was particularly influential in the work
which has been done to preserve St. Anthony
Falls, first through his association with the St.
Anthony Falls Water Power Company and
later when, after failing twice to secure the
passage of a land grant bill for the purpose,
he succeeded in having passed in Washington a
bill appropriating $50,000 for permanent im
provements for the conservation of the local
water power. This sum together with subse
quent congressional appropriations and muni
cipal subscriptions erected the present _ con
crete dyke and permanent apron. While in the
fur-trading business Mr. Chute became ac
quainted with the various Indian tribes and was
influential in arranging, and was present at the
signing, of, the treaties at Agency City, m 1842,
with the Sac and Fox tribe; in 1846 in Washing
ton when the Winnebagoes sold the "Neutral
Ground;" and at Mendota and Traverse des
Sioux, when the Sioux concluded the treaties
which opened Minnesota for settlement. Mr.
Chute served some years on the board of regents
of the state university. He was a republican
and was one of twenty who in 1855 organized
that party in Minnesota. Until 1882 Mr. Chute
continued in active business life, when ill health
compelled him to retire, after which, until his
death on August 1, 1893, he spent a large part
of his time in the southern states. Mr. Chute
was married in 1850 to Miss Mary Eliza Young.
They had five children, three of whom, Charles,
William Y. and Grace, are still living.
CHUTE, Samuel Hewes, came to Minneapolis
on May 1, 1857, and has been one of the most
prominent factors in the development of the city.
He was born in Columbus, Ohio, on December 6,
1830, the son of Rev. James Chute and Martha
Hewes (Clapp) Chute. Shortly after his birth
his parents moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and
in that town Dr. Chute passed the early part of
his life and began his education which he finished
at Wabash College at Crawfordsville. He com
menced to study medicine under Drs. C. E. Sturgis and J. H. Thompson of Fort Wayne in No
vember, 1849, and shortly afterwards matriculated
at the Medical College of Ohio at Cincinnati and
in February, 1852, graduated with the degree of
M. D. Almost immediately he joined a party of
friends who were making the then perilous jour
ney across the plains to Oregon, as the physician
of the party. Dr. Chute reached Portland, Ore
gon, and spent the winter of 1852 in medical prac
tice there. In the spring of 1853 he again made a
journey on horseback to California where for six
months he engaged in mining. He resumed his
professional work, however, and for four years
practiced and was in charge of the hospital at
Yreka, being the only graduated physician in the
locality. In 1857 he returned to the "States" by
way of San Francisco, Panama and New York,
and coming west arrived in St. Anthony on May
1, 1857, having traveled by steamboat from Prairie
du Chien to St. Paul. He immediately engaged in
the real estate business with Richard Chute, his
brother. The firm name of Chute Brothers was
assumed in 1865 and was retained until the death
of Richard Chute in 1893 when the company was
incorporated as the Chute Brothers Company, of
which Dr. Chute has always been president. His
business interests have extended to numerous en
terprises. When the great improvements were
made for the preservation of the Falls of St. An
thony, Dr. Chute, as executive officer of the
board of construction, was in charge, with J. H.
Stevens as engineer. This office he held until
Col. Farquhar was sent out by the government to
take charge of the permanent construction work.
He was for a long period associated with the Mis
sissippi and Rum River Boom Company, first as
its vice-president and director and from 1879 to
1886 as president. Dr. Chute was the agent of the
St. Anthony Falls Water Power Company from
1868 to 1880. In the latter year the property was
sold to J. J. Hill and others. Before holding
the position of active manager of the plant Dr.
Chute had been a director and at one time the
stock of the company was owned entirely by the
Chute Brothers. His interests have been connected
largely with the realty business, however, and
numerous additions and divisions of the city have
been platted and developed by the firm of which
he has been the head. In politics Dr. Chute is a
republican. During his long residence in the
city he has held many municipal offices, both
elective and appointive. At several times he has
been a member of the council and as early as
1858 was supervisor of the poor. He was for
some time city treasurer of St. Anthony and was
one of the most influential and energetic founders
of the public school system. From 1861 to 1864
he was a member of the board of education and
during the greater part of that time president.
He was again on the board in 1878, at the time
when the separate educational boards of the east
and west divisions of the city were united. From
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
271
through his efforts, while the story of his ac
tivity in developing the water-power of the Falls
of St. Anthony, is one of the most interesting
passages in the history of the city, and his part
in the work of securing the national aid ill the
preservation of the Falls, when the disintegrating
sandstone brought down the Trenton limestone,
is fully recognized. William Y. has strong busi
ness instincts like his father. He attended the
common schools in his youth and attended the
state university and took a course at the Massa
chusetts Institute of Technology at Boston and
is now head of the Chute Realty Company at No.
301 Central avenue, one of the oldest firms in the
city. Mr. Chute has also been president of the
Minneapolis Real Estate Board, which is one of
the strongest and most progressive bodies in the
city. He is a member of the Minneapolis Club,
Commercial Club, the East Side Commercial
Club, the Minikahda Club, the Town and Coun
try Club and the Automobile Club and is presi
dent of the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts.
Mr. Chute is a member of the Christian Science
church.
SWEET, PHOTO
WILLIAM Y. CHUTE.
March, 1883, until April, 1885, he was a member
of the park commission. In all his public posi
tions Dr. Chute displayed ability and earnest
ness and he has been instrumental in many of
the city's progressive movements, particularly
along educational lines. On May 5, 1858, he was
married to Miss Helen E. A. Day and they have
had six children, four daughters, Charlotte
Rachel, deceased, Mary Jeanette, Agnes and
Elizabeth, and two sons, Louis Prince and Fred
erick Butterfield. Dr. Chute is a member of the
Presbyterian church.
CHUTE, William Y., son of Richard Chute,
was born September 13, 1863, in Minneapolis.
His father was most conspicuously and commendably identified with the development of
Minneapolis. It was he who, coming in 1844, to
the Northwest to establish a trading post for the
Ewing Brothers of Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the
Indian country, beheld the Falls of St. Anthony
in a natural condition and a mighty volume of
water power going to waste and took off his hat
to the rushing, tumbling waters and exclaimed,
"Here is the site of a mighty city."' With strong
faith Mr. Chute devoted his life to the work of
making good the prophetic observation. An In
dian trader, he dealt honorably with the Indians,
with whom it was his duty to negotiate treaties
and vast areas of public land were acquired
CORSER, Elwood Spencer, president of the
Corser Investment Company and for nearly forty
years interested in the real estate business in
Minneapolis, is descendetf'from the Puritan set
tlers of New England. William Corser emigrated
from London in 1635 and settled in Boston where
he married; and the lineage of E. S. Corser is
traced through the following members of the
family—John Corser, born near Boston in 1642;
John Corser, born near Boston, or Newbury,
Massachusetts, in 1685; John Corser, born
at Newbury in 1718, who served with other
New Hampshire settlers in the French and
Indian War of 1758, and later settled with
his family on Corser's Hill in the town
of Boscawen, now Webster, near Concord,
New
Hampshire.
He
had
six sons, five
of whom served during the Revolutionary War
with the New Hampshire Militia Volunteers.
David Corser, one of these sons, was born at
Kingston, New Hampshire, in 1754. He served
with the patriot army at Bennington in 1777 and
at other points, and after the war made his home
at Boscawen, New Hampshire, where a son,
David Corser was born in 1781, who removed to
Ogden, near Rochester, New York, about 1820.
Caleb Burbank Corser, father of Elwood S. was
born at Boscawen in the year 1803, and passed
his life as a farmer in Ogden, and in Gates, New
York. The maternal great-great-grandfather of
Mr. Corser was a Mr. Pell, (afterward known as
Bell) a settler in the Mohawk Valley, New York.
In April, 1758, he together with his wife and
three young sons, was ambushed by the French
and Indians near Fort Herkimer. Father and
sons were killed and scalped, and the mother
severely wounded and also scalped, was left as
dead, but was found in the early morning and
lived to give birth three months later to a
272
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
daughter, who in 1776 married Richard Elwood,
of Tryon county, New York, who served as an
ensign in the battle of Oriskany in 1777, under
General Herkimer. Elwood Spencer Corser was
born in Gates, New York, October 3, 1835. His
elementary training he received in the public
schools of New York, and his subsequent study
was in an academy in that state. Mr. Corser re
mained in New York until he was twenty-six
years of age, when at the out-break of the Civil
War he enlisted as a Berdan Sharpshooter, with
Capt. Elijah Hobart, Albany, New York, Novem
ber 9, 1861, and served through the greater part
of the war in the successive positions of orderly
sergeant, second lieutenant, first lieutenant and
company commandant. He was with the army
of the Potomac in 93rd Regiment, New York
Volunteer Infantry during years 1862, 1863 and
1864, until mustered out of service September,
1864, on account of disability from a wound. He
was present at the battles of Williamsburgh, Vir
ginia, Antietam, Maryland, Gettysburg, Pennsyl
vania, and in all the engagements from and
inclusive of May 5th to 12th, 1864, and at
the battle near Spotsylvania, Court House, Vir
ginia, May 12, 1864, being in command of
two consolidated companies, B and I, of
his regiment, he was shot inside the lines of
the Confederates at the "Bloody Angle," his regi
ment being a part of Hancock's Corps, which
formed the advance line of the Union forces,
making the assault at day dawn, upon the Con
federate intrenchments. The 93rd New York
was one of the four hundred regiments which,
having suffered severely during the Civil War,
are classed and known as the 'Tour Hundred
Fighting Regiments." Mr. Corser is' a member
of Rawlins Post, G. A. R., Minneapolis, and of
the Minnesota Commandery of the Loyal Legion.
Politically, Mr. Corser acted with the republican
party during all the presidential campaigns from
1856 to 1892 inclusive, and voted with the demo
cratic party in the campaigns of 1896 and 1900,
having been in these two campaigns last named,
active in the State and National organizations and
work of those known in 1896, as silver repub
licans, and commonly known in 1900 as Lincoln
republicans. During three years Mr. Corser rep
resented the Fourth Ward of Minneapolis in the
city council and served one term as presiding
officer. Mr. Corser is a member of the Min
nesota Historical society and of the Minikahda
club of Minneapolis as also of the Society of
Colonial Wars and Sons of the American Revolu
tion. During the incumbency of Gov. John Lind,
he held by appointment the position of Sur-^
veyor General of logs and lumber, in the Min
neapolis District. He was in early life a Presby
terian, but during the past thirty years or more,
he has been a rationalist, and has during a quarter
of a century been a member of the First Unitarian
society of Minneapolis. Mr. Corser married in
Ogden, New York, October 18, 1861, Miss Mary
Roycraft, who died in Minneapolis, August 16,
1903. He married again in Minneapolis, May 17,
1905, Mrs. Katharine (Bremer) Raines. He has
two daughters, children of his first wife—Mary
Elwood (Corser) Gale, wife of Harlow Stearns
Gale of Minneapolis; and Helen H. (Corser)
Belknap, wife of Austin L. Belknap, also residing
in this city.
EICHHORN, Edmund, a resident of Minne
apolis from 1873 until his death in 1907, and dur
ing that time prominently associated with the
real estate and fire insurance business, was a
native of Germany.
His ancestors originally
came from Austria, where they ranked with the
landed and governing class. Members of the
family moved to Germany and F. F. Eichhorn,
father of Edmund, settled in the Thuringian For
est, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits,
and for some time conducted a manufacturing
business, as well as being locally prominent in
public affairs. Edmund Eichhorn was born on
August 15, 1825, at Boehlen, in the Thuringian
Forest in the Principality of Rudolstadt. He
passed the early years of his life near the place
of his birth and attended the common schools,
until eleven years of age, when he went to the
city of Arnstadt to enter a commercial college to
continue his education and at the same time
begin his training for a commercial life. In 1838
he left school and during the next four years was
connected as an apprentice with a wholesale and
retail drug and grocery house at Arnstadt, later
going to Hamburg and Magdeburg and acting for
a time as a volunteer in the counting rooms of
several commission houses in those cities. He
acquired considerable commercial experience and
was offered a position with the large jobbing
house of Boehwe & Company in Leipsic, which
he accepted and for four years was a commercial
traveler in their tobacco business.
Political
troubles and an adherence to the revolutionary
spirit which was then prevalent among the young
men of Germany made it apparent to Mr. Eich
horn that it would be to his advantage to emigrate
to America, where the established government
offered the freedom which he and his compatriots,
Carl Schurz and Franz Segel, had vainly sought
in the country of their birth. He arrived in the
United States in September, 1848, and began ener
getically to put to a practical use his business
training. He came to the Northwest as the best
field for the achievement of material success
and located at Mayville, Wisconsin—opening a
country store and engaging in the manufacture of
potash. For a number of years he continued this
business with varied success and in 1857 moved
to Hastings, Minnesota. There he again entered
the retail line, establishing a grocery business,
which he conducted for sixteen years, finally dis
posing of his interests to move to Minneapolis
in 1873, where, during his life time, he was prom
inent in commercial and public capacities. He
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
engaged in the fire insurance, real estate and loan
business and the firm which he founded still
continues in the same lines. Mr. Eichhorn was
actively engaged in this business until his re
tirement from commercial life; but his interests
were not confined to real estate and insurance.
He was one of the principal promoters and
founders of the German-American Bank which
was established in August, 1886. He was for
three years its president, or until ill-health made
necessary his retirement, but he retained for some
time a directorship in the institution. The in
surance business organized by Mr. Eichhorn now
operates under the name of E. Eichhorn & Sons,
and is one of the prominent underwriting agencies
of the city, and does an extensive business as
well in real estate and loans. Mr. Eichhorn
retired from an active association with the firm
several years before his death and spent his
time in travel residing a great part of the time in
California. He returned to the land of his birth
several times, making trips to Europe in 1868,
1887 and in 1889, touring at these times nearly
all parts of Europe and Italy. Mr. Eichhorn
held a number of public offices at different times.
While in Hastings he was elected register of
deeds, and alderman of Hastings and school
inspector. From 1882 to 1887 he was alder
man of the Third Ward of Minneapolis, resign
ing in the latter year, winning during his term of
service the esteem of his colleagues and constit
uents. Mr. Eichhorn was a member of a num
ber of social clubs and musical organizations
about town and was fond of social enjoyments
and athletic amusements. He was married on
August 15, 1852, at Watertown, Wisconsin, to Miss
Veronica Goeldner, whose parents were from
Breslau, Silesia, who died in October, 1877, at
Minneapolis. They had two sons and two daugh
ters; Alvin A., and Arthur E. Eichhorn,
both connected with the firm
of E. Eich
horn & Sons—and Ottelie V.,
the former
wife of J. W. Dreger, but whose death occurred
in 1905, and Helma, now Mrs. Arthur Stremel.
Mr. Eichhorn was again married and his wife,
Matilda, survives him. He died on May 14, 1907,
at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Stremel, at Min
neapolis.
ELWELL, James T., was born July 2, 1855,
on a farm in Ramsey count}'. Minnesota, near the
Hennepin county line. His early life was spent
in Washington county, Minnesota, where he at
tended the district school, afterward taking a par
tial course of study at Carleton College. He was
the eldest of eight children and having been born
in Minnesota he early revealed the Minnesota spirit
and disposition to self-help. To the manner born,
he struck out for himself with a will and, when
sixteen years old, he invented what was known as
the Minneapolis Spring Bed and began to manu
facture it in Minneapolis. Out of this exploita
tion of inventive talent were developed the Min-
SWcET, PHOTO
JAMES T. ELWELL.
neapolis Furniture Company, now owned by G.
H. Elwell, and the Minneapolis Bedding Com
pany, of which C. M. Way is the head. Mr. El
well, with his Minnesota tendency to be con
tinually "doing things," and taking a large view
of the future of the state and of Minneapolis,
invested liberally in real estate where he thought
it would do the most good. In 1882 he laid out
Elwell's Addition and improved it by the erec
tion of fifty-five houses upon it immediately and
afterwards laid out Elwell's Second, Elwell's
Third and Elwell and Higgins additions. Mr.
Elwell, with intelligent regard for the future,
planted hundreds of elm trees in all these addi
tions, which now add greatly to the attractions
•of the beautiful university district. In 1886 Mr.
Elwell bought 52,700 acres of land in eastern
Anoka county. The greater portion of the lands
were meadow and needed drainage, but this de
fect was overcome by Mr. Elwell's enterprise in
•the construction of about two hundred miles of
ditching on the property, reclaiming many thou
sand of acres of land for farming purposes. He
early perceived the great advantage of good roads
for farming communities and has made a notably
good record as a promoter of such real improve
ment. He believes in straight roads as well as
good roads, and he built the first air-line wagon
road in this part of the state, notably that con
necting his two large stock farms in Anoka
274
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
County, a distance of eight miles, at a cost of
$1,000 a mile. Mr. Elwell's activities in this di
rection have been of great practical value to the
state, as he has not only proclaimed his belief
in the necessity and value of good roads, but has
supplemented theory by effective practice. When
a member of the legislature, in 1899, he did much
to promote the good roads cause as well as the
stock interests of the state. Mr. Elwell was
elected state senator from the Thirty-ninth Dis
trict in 1906. In this position his services for the
state university have been especially marked. He
has been president of the St. Anthony Commer
cial Club and has an abiding interest in the pro
motion of the development of Minneapolis and
of the state, knowing that the substantial de
velopment of the state means the sure increase
of the prosperity of the state's metropolis. He
has a strong belief, moreover, that the commer
cial union of Minneapolis and St. Paul will be ac
complished in the near future. Mr. Elwell was
married to Lizzie A. Alden June 28th, 1882, and
they have a family of nine children, five boys and
four girls—James T:, Jr., Margaret A., Edwin S.,
Alden W., Elizabeth, Ruth, Alary, Lawrence R.
and Watson R. They are members of the Como
Avenue Congregational Church.
ELWOOD, Lester B., vice-president of the
Corser Investment Company, was born in Roch
ester, New York, October 19, 1856. His father,
E. P. Elwood, was a Rochester banker, the fam
ily later moving to Oneida, New York. Mr.
Elwood came to Minneapolis in 1875, enter
ing the firm of Corser & Company, now the
Corser Investment Co., the oldest and one of the
most prominent real estate firms in Minneapolis,
and has been a member of this firm and corpora
tion continuously for the past thirty-two years.
Mr. Elwood has steadily adhered to the business
which first drew him to Minneapolis in his boy
hood, and long since won, and has ever since re
tained, the confidence and respect of the business
community. Mr. Elwood is politically, a demo
crat, never holding or running for any office,
however, until appointed in 1906 a member of
the State Board of Equalization, by Governor
Johnson! Mr. Elwood is a member of Plymouth
Congregational Church, a member of the Minne
apolis club, and one of its board of governors;
of governors; of the Commercial club; and of
the Minnesota club of St. Paul—also a member
of the Sons of the American Revolution. In
1900 he was married to Miss Mealey of Monticello and they have two children, a daughter,
Catharine P. and a son, Lester Elwood, Jr.
ESTERLY, Frank Curtis, son of George W.
and Kate Haines Esterly, was born at White
water, Wisconsin, on September 21, 1873. The
ancestors of the family were among the early
Dutch inhabitants of New York, and some of
the furniture used in the home of Governor Peter
Stuyvesant is still in the possession of the Esterlys. The grandfather of Frank C., George Ester
ly, was the manufacturer of what was probably
the first reaper. He took out patent rights on
an improved model which took the gold medal
at Chicago in 1848 for the best harvester. A
large business was built up, which was mov.ed, in
1892, to this city, when George W. Esterly became
president; but in the business depression which
immediately followed, the firm became involved
and a receiver was appointed. The father of
Frank Curtis, now Deputy Auditor for the State
Department at Washington, at the time of his
son's birth made his home at Whitewater. There
his son began his education. He attended the
State Normal School and graduated from White
water high school in 1892. In the same year
the family came to Minneapolis, and he entered
the State University, but left college in 1894 t o
associate himself with the . insurance firm
of
Fletcher, March & Co. For three years he re
mained in that business and then carried out his
ambition to study law and took up that subject
in the Columbian law school, receiving an LL. B.
degree in 1899. Two years later he was admit
ted to the bar in the District of Columbia. In
1898 he did, in addition to his legal studies, the
work of clerk in the Treasury Department at
Washington, holding the position till 1900, when
BRUSH, PHOTO
LESTER B. ELWOOD.
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
275
the War Department sent him to Porto Rico.
He returned in 1901, and for a time was in the
office of the Secretary of War, but later came
to Minneapolis and commenced advanced law
study at the university. The following year he
took an LL. M. degree and was admitted to the
bar in this state. In 1901 he had become a mem
ber of Belden, Wallace & Co., an insurance
firm, which firm in 1904 organized the EsterlyHoppin Company (Inc.), of which Mr. Esterly
is president. Mr. Esterly is a republican in poli
tics and is a member of the Roosevelt Club, of
which he was secretary from 1902 to 1906. He is
also a member of the Chi Psi, Phi Delta Phi, and
Theta Nu Epsilon fraternities, and of the Minikahda and Commercial clubs. He was married
on September 20, 1905, to Miss Stella Regina
Peterson, daughter of Theodore Peterson, of
Brookline, Massachusetts.
GALE, Samuel Chester, one of the early resi
dents of Minneapolis, and for half a century, < ne
of its most public-minded and energetic business
men and citizens, is a native of Massachus* tts.
He was born at Royalston, Worcester cot nty,
September 15, 1827. His family was an old one
in that vicinity, his grandfather, Jonathan Gale,
being a revolutionary soldier. His father, Isaac
Gale, was a farmer who died in 1838, lea^ ing a
family of ten children, of which Samuel w is the
seventh, to the care of his widow, Tamar Goddard Gale. Her limited means could affoid then
but a district school education and when a boy
Samuel was apprenticed to an uncle in the tan
ning trade. This work was not to his liking,
however, and when about seventeen years of age
he left the trade and began to prepare for col
lege. Dependent upon his resources and intermit
tently teaching school and attending some fitting
academy, he managed to enter Yale University
in 1850 and graduated four years later, a member
of Phi Beta Kappa and elected by his class of
one hundred members as class orator at gradua
tion. For a short time he resumed teaching, and
then entered Harvard Law School for one year,
leaving to read law in the law office of Bacon
and Aldrich, Worcester, Massachusetts. In 1857
he came to Minneapolis to visit his brother, Har
low A. Gale, who had located here in the year pre
vious, and, recognizing the natural advantages
which the city possessed, determined to make it
his home. Here after reading law for a few
months in the office of Cornell & Vanderburgh he
was admitted to the bar in 1858. The city of Min
neapolis at that time, offered small opportunity
for an extensive practice in the legal profession,
so Mr. Gale in i860 opened a real estate and loan
office in partnership with his brother under the
name of Gale & Co., later taking into the firm
Geo. H. Rust. From that date Mr. Gale has been
engaged continuously in the various branches
of the neal estate business and under his capable
management the firm
which he organized
has been for the most part a success. Many of
FRANK C.
ESTERLY.
the most important realty transactions of the
city have been made in the interest of that firm
or its individuals. They purchased and platted
several tracts of land as additions to the city,
the most important of which are Oak Lake, 60
acres; Forest Heights, 160 acres; Gale's sub
division in Sherburne and Bjeebe's addition, 100
acres; Gale's First addition, 40 acres; Gale's Sec
ond addition, 100 acres; and Gale & Hamlin's
Outlots, 80 acres. Mr. Gale has been during all
his life actively identified with the measures to
promote the growth or betterment of the city.
Shortly after he came here, a number of people
about town organized an association for the pur
pose of giving a series of lectures. Mr. Gale
was made president and under his management
many lectures of educational and artistic value
were given. The Minneapolis Athenaeum was
founded in 1-860 and Mr. Gale for several years
was president of the organization, and lent to its
success material aid. He was likewise one of
the original promoters of the public library and
was on the first
board of directors. From 1871
until 1880 he was a member of the Board of
Education and to his personal effort is due in
considerable measure the perfection of our pres
ent school system. Among the other institutions
to which he has given his support are the Acad
emy of Natural Sciences and the Minneapolis
Society of Fine Arts. As member, director and
276
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
president of the Board of Trade of Minneapolis
for some years he found opportunity to serve
the city in many ways. The conception of a
park system, the building and maintenance of the
city's many beautiful boulevards, the present
system of naming the streets, and various proj
ects for the betterment of transportation facil
ities in and about the city, were greatly assisted
by him. He was also one of the largest promotors of the Minneapolis Exposition while that
institution was maintained, was from the first to
last a director in that organization and for sev
eral years its president. In 1861 Mr. Gale was
married to Miss Susan A. Damon of Holdon,
Massachusetts. They have always resided in
Minneapolis and have five children, two sons,
Edward C. and Charles S., both graduates of
Yale, the former being a practicing attorney and
the latter in the insurance business in this city;
and three daughters, all graduated of Smith Col
lege, Northampton, Massachusetts, Mrs. David P.
Jones, Mrs. Clarkson Lindley and Miss Marion
Gale. Mr. Gale, has, ever since its organization,
been one of the chief supporters of the Unitarian
Church, in this city, having furnished half the
cost of the church edifice.
EVANS, Daniel Harvey, was born on January
30, 1862, at Cleveland, Le Sueur county, Minne
sota, the son of "David Evans and Mary Evans.
David Evans was a farmer and his son spent
the early years of his life on the farm attending
school at Cambria and Mankato, Minnesota. He
completed his education at the Mankato State
Normal School after which he studied law and
was admitted to the bar in South Dakota. He
has never practiced his profession, but in 1882
engaged in the loan and real estate business at
Ipswich, South Dakota. He remained at Ips
wich for eight years and in 1890 disposed of his
interests and came to Minneapolis where he
again entered the loan and real estate business
continuing in that line for several years. In 1897
he retired from the real estate business to accept
the position of Northwestern manager of the
Continental Casualty Company of Chicago and
for the past ten years has represented that com
pany, making his headquarters in Minneapolis.
This company does a general accident and health
insurance business and Mr. Evans has been very
successful with his work in his territory which
covers Minnesota, Wisconsin, North and South
Dakota. The Continental now handles a larger
volume of business in its line than any other
company represented in this section. Mr. Evans
is a republican in politics, and while a resident
of South Dakota was prominent in state politics.
Since his removal to Minneapolis he has not
been active politically. He is a member of the
I. O. O. F., Anchor Lodge Number 88. He at
tends the Fifth Congregational Church, and is
one of its trustees. On September 11, 1889, Mr.
Evans was married to Miss Margaret M. Owens.
They have three children, Ethel, Kenneth and
Dorothy.
GORHAM, George. Ives, president of the
Gorham-Braden Company of Minneapolis, is a
native of Vermont. His father, James T. Gorham, was captain of company H, 9th Vermont
Infantry in the Civil War; his mother was
Adelaide N. Ives. George Ives was born at Pittsford, Rutland county, on October 4, i860, and
spent his early years in that vicinity attending
the village schools and the Black River Academy
at Ludlow, Vermont. At sixteen he left school
to engage in business and found his first busi
ness training in the vicinity of his native town.
The year 1882 found him in the west—engaged
in the coal business at Stillwater, Minnesota,
where he remained until 1899. He entered the
fire insurance business in 1890, and from 1890
to 1899 he was local agent at Stillwater. He
moved to Minneapolis in May, 1899, a °d from
that time until 1903 was special agent, and in
March of the latter year became a general agent.
During this time he has made his headquarters
at Minneapolis and has become prominently iden
tified with the insurance business of this city
and the Northwest. With the close of the year
1906 a favorable opportunity for a consolidation
offered and Mr. Gorham's business was com-
DAXIEL
H.
EVANS.
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
277
bined with that of Chadbourn & Braden under
the name of Gorham-Braden Company, he be
ing president of that company. This brought
into the new agency a large list of strong out
side companies. He is also treasurer of GorhamGarbett Company, owners of large iron deposits
in Crow Wing county, Minnesota. A company
capitalized at $1,000,000, owning over a section of
land in the center of the Cuyuna Range. The
firms occupy part of the third floor at No. 10
South Fourth street. Mr. Gorham was a mem
ber for eight years of Co. K, N. G. S. M. at Still
water. He is a republican in political affilia
tions and a member of Wesley M. E. Church,
of which he is treasurer. He was married in
1886 to Miss Clara A. Boyden of Hudson, Wis
consin. They have one child, a son.
GRAHAM. William Joseph, vice president
and actuary of the Northwestern National Life
Insurance Company, was born in 1876 in Jeffer
son county, Kentucky. His father was Captain
William Thompson Graham, an old resident of
his home state and one of the family of "fighting
Grahams" that were known throughout the state
for their military records. The family are the
American descendants of the ancient Scottish
House of Montrose. Mr. Graham passed the
early period of his life in Louisville, where he
acquired his preparatory education and then en
tered St. Xavier College where he took up his
under-graduate work. After completing his
studies at that institution, he matriculated at the
College of St. Francis Xavier in a post graduate
course for the M. A. degree. In order to pre
pare himself for his actuarial career, Mr. Graham
took the examinations of the Actuarial Society
of America and received a Fellows' degree in
1902. He had held, however, the position of
actuary with the Sun Life Insurance Company,
having accepted that place in 1895. From 1902 to
1905 he was on the actuarial staff of the Metro
politan Life. In the fall of 1905 when the west
ern states determined to examine the New York
Life Insurance Company, Mr. Graham resigned
all company connections to become Actuary in
Charge for these states, including Minnesota,
Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee and Nebraska.
During the progress of this examination, Mr.
Graham visited the various capitals of Europe
investigating the-foreign life insurance business.
In 1906 he aceptcd his present situation with the
Northwestern National Life Insurance Company.
Mr. Graham has had wide and careful training in
his profession and is eminently fitted for his
labors and for the high esteem of the business
men of the Northwest. In 1904 he was a member
of the International Congress of Mathematicians
at Heidelberg and of the International Congress of
Science and Arts at St. Louis. Two years later
he went to Berlin as a member of the Interna
tional Congress of Actuaries. Mr. Graham holds
membership in the Graduate Club of New York,
the Catholic Club of New York, the American
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SWEET, PHOTO
WILLIAM
J.
GRAHAM.
Mathematical Society, the American Society for
the Advancement of Science and Arts; and a
fellow of the Actuarial Society of America and
the American Statistical Association.
GRAY, Fred L. } president of the Fred L. Gray
Company of this city, was born at Riceville,
Pennsylvania, in 1866. He received a common
school education and afterward attended Alle
gheny College at Meadville, where he was a
member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.
After leaving school he entered the employ of
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, occupying
various responsible positions in the traffic de
partment of that road at Jersey City and New
York. In 1891 he gave up railroad work to engage
in the, then comparatively new, business of em
ployers' liability insurance, becoming connected
with the well-known insurance firm of John C.
P&ige & Co. of Boston. In the fall of that year
he located in Minneapolis, where he has since
resided qnd where the firm which he established
in 1892, and of which he has since been the
head, has become recognized as one of the lead
ing and most successful insurance agencies of
the West. Mr. Gray is a member of the Min
neapolis, Minikahda, Long Meadow and Commer
cial clubs, and is also affiliated with the Masonic
(Scottish Rite) and B. P. O. E. fraternities.
278
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Works, one of the largest enterprises of its kind
in America, and is largely interested in the Crown
Iron Works and other manufacturing interests
in the city. He has been a member of the Com
mercial Club since its organization and, as he
himself says, during times "when we had to stand
several assessments to pay the obligations of the
club." He is also a member of the Odin Club.
In 1892 Mr. Hedwall was married to Rose Sayer,
of Two Rivers, Wiscinsin. Mrs. Hedwall is a
graduate of the University of Wisconsin and
taught mathematics in high school for two terms.
To Mr. and Mrs. Hedwall have been born two
children, Majorie and Karl.
BNU8H, PHOrO
CIIAULKS J. IIIODWAMj.
HEDWALL, Charles J., was born at Soderliamn, a town on the Gulf of Bothnia, in the
Province of Gefleborg, in eastern Sweden, on
April 12, 1865, son of Andrew and Gustava Eliza
beth Hedwall. Mr. Hedwall attended the public
schools of his native place until he was fifteen
years old, when he came to Minneapolis and,
while supporting himself, took a course of busi
ness training at the Curtiss Business College,
graduating in 1889. He then attended law lec
tures in the evening at the University of Minne
sota during 1891 and 1892. He was employed for
three years and one half in the cloak department
of Ingram Olson & Co., Nos. 213 and 215 Nicollet
avenue. He had three years' training in the in
surance and loan office of Pliny Bartlett & Co.,
Temple Court, and in that business he has been
engaged for about twenty years past on his own
account, and has given special attention to the
fire insurance business and adjustment of losses
Mr. Hedwall has, through persistent and unfal
tering energy and self-denial, won his way to a
most honorable standing in the community and
has built up one of the leading insurance agen
cies of the Northwest. Mr. Hedwall is a director
of the Peoples Bank of Minneapolis and is also
interested in the Flour City Ornamental Iron
HOOD, Charles H., head of the insurance firm
of Hood & Penney, was born in Pennsylvania,
at the town of Chester, on July 14, i860. His
family is an old one in this country, his ancestors
being among the colonial settlers. One of his
grandfathers was during the Revolutionary war
a soldier in the patriot army, and served during
the entire war. The parents of Charles H. were
George A. and Martha Hood. Mr. Hood, senior,
was a clergyman, who at the time of his son's
birth was in charge of a parish at Chester. His
son received a good common school education,
and soon after leaving school, began a commer
cial career. With his family he had moved to
Minneapolis where his brother had accepted a
call from the Pilgrim Congregational Church, of
which he was pastor for a number of years. He
entered the employ of the Minneapolis Millers'
Association, filling the position of book-keeper.
Mr. Hood was with the Millers' Association for
some time and then resigned to associate him
self with the Mandan Roller Miljs Company and
later with the Davenport Mills Company. In 1889
Mr. Hood left the milling'business to engage in
insurance, a line with which he has since been
continuously connected. For several -years he
was one of the firm of Macdonald, Hood & Pen
ney, general agents for the Ocean Accident &
Guarantee Corporation (Limited) of London.
Mr. Macdonald withdrew from the firm in 1901
and it was reorganized under the name of Hood
& Penney and as such has become one of the
largest insurance concerns of the Twin Cities.
Since reorganization the company has not only
retained its old agencies but at the present time
is the representative of the Title Guarantee &
Surety Company of Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Though Mr. Hood's business life has been- a
busy one, he has found time to become a part
• of the social and club life of the city and is
identified with the prominent organizations—be
ing a member of the Minneapolis Club, the Minikahda Club, the Lafayette Club, the Long
Meadow Gun Club, and the Lotos Club of New
York City. He has been married twice. His
first wife was Miss Madge L. Hopkins, to whom
he was married in 1885 and who died four years
later. In 1898 he was again married to Miss
Emma Allen.
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
279
HOPKINS, Daniel C., one of the most suc
cessful of the group of Minneapolis men which
has been engaged in the development of the farm
lands of the northwest, was born at Princeton,
Indiana, on April I , 1857. He was the son of
James Hopkins and Harriet Revis Hopkins, both
of old Kentucky families. James Hopkins had
been a farmer near Louisville, Kentucky, and
after a residence of some years at Princeton re
moved to Minnesota in 1869, where his son Daniel
completed his education at Carleton College,
Northfield. After leaving Carleton, Mr. Hopkins
went to the University of Michigan law school at
Ann Arbor and after admission to the bar estab
lished himself in Watonwan county, Minnesota,
where he practiced with success for eighteen
years. It was while resident at Madelia, Waton
wan county, that Mr. Hopkins consented to serve
his district in the house of representatives of the
state legislature. He has never held other office,
but has been a consistent and loyal republican
ever since he was old enough to take part in
public affairs. Mr. Hopkins' law practice brought
him into touch with land matters, ai:d his inter-
YVAUKKN M. IIORNIilt.
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ests gradually increased until he found it de
sirable to leave the practice of law and devote his
entire time to the land business.
This also
brought him to Minneapolis where in due time
the Hopkins Land Company was organized. He
has become very largely interested in farm lands
and has extensive holdings in Watonwan, Nobles,
Murray, Washington and Aitkin counties, Minne
sota, as well as in Saskatchewan and Manitoba,
Canada. In the handling of these properties and
others he has been very closely associated with F.
E. Kenaston, S. T. McKnight, F. M. Prince, S. S.
Thorpe, G. F. Piper, E. C. Warner and other
Minneapolis men who have been prominently
identified with the development of the city and of
the northwest.
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SWEET, PHOTO
CHARLES H. HOOD.
HORNER, Warren Murdock, was born on
March 14, 1870, at Ripon, Wisconsin. His family
is one which has been prominent in public service
for the country. His great-grandfather, Dr. Gustavus Brown Horner, was a surgeon in the Con
tinental Army during the Revolution. Settling in
Virginia after the war he was married to Frances
Harrison Scott. Their third son was John Scott
Horner, born in 1802, who was educated in Vir
ginia, practiced law successfully and in 1835 was
appointed by President Harrison secretary and
acting governor of the territory of Michigan, at
that time embracing what is now the whole
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
280
in the commercial and political world. In politics
he is a republican. Mr. Horner is a member of
the Minneapolis and Commercial clubs.
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PHILIP li.
H I NT.
Northwest. He was prominent in the settlement
of boundary disputes; in the adjustment of In
dian troubles and in 1836, as its secretary, as
sisted in founding the territory of Wisconsin.
Later he became Register of the Green Bay land
office, and was the original owner of the land
upon which the town of Ripon was founded by
himself and Captain Mapes. Andrew Watson
Horner, father of Warren M., was a son of Gov
ernor Horner. Mr. Horner attended the public
schools of Albert Lea,Minnesota, and studied for
two years at the University of Minnesota. Upon
leaving college he established a stationery busi
ness which he conducted for two years, and then
entered the Life Insurance business, beginning
an association with the Provident Life and Trust
Company of Philadelphia which has been con
tinuous. He has held various positions with that
company and for several years has been general
agent for Minnesota. By a natural aptitude for
the work as well as by application he has de
veloped his territory until it is now one of the
mcst successful sections which his company
covers. Mr. Horner has always been interested
in movements for public improvement, supporting
generously matters of educational and mifnicipal
interest. He has always exerted his influence
toward helping young men in business life, and
has contributed several articles to the press on
the place which the young man should occupy
HUNT, Philip Barstow, son of George S.
Hunt and Augusta Merrill (Barstow) Hunt, was
born at Portland, Maine, June 13, 1869. His an
cestors on both sides were identified with the
early history of the New England Colonies,
among them being Elder Brewster, who came
over with the first colony on the Mayflower. Mr.
Hunt's early life was spent in his native city
where he attended the public schools, entering
Tufts College in 1888. He came to St. Paul in
1890, moved to Minneapolis in 1894, where he was
engaged for five years in the tea and coffee job
bing business, afterward starting a baking powder
manufacturing plant, which still bears his name.
For the last six years he has devoted his atten
tion to life insurance, and holds the position of
State Manager for the Phoenix Mutual Life In
surance Company of Hartford, Connecticut, with
offices at 1032 Security Bank Building, Minneap
olis, and 1020 Pioneer Press Building, St. Paul.
In politics Mr. Hunt is a republican, but he is
more inclined to be guided by his own judgment
than to be restricted by party lines. He is a
member of the Minnesota Club of St. Paul, of the
Society of Colonial Wars, of the Lafayette Club
and of the Life Insurance Underwriters' Associa
tions of the Twin Cities. At St. Paul on Novem
ber 7, 1894, Mr. Hunt married Fannie E. Kibbee,
daughter of Chandler W. Kibbee, and to them
three children have been born, George S. Hunt,
2nd, Marjorie Frances Hunt and Philip Barstow
Hunt, Junior.
JONES, David Percy, son of the late Judge
Edwin S. and Harriet M. (James) Jones, was
born in Minneapolis, July 6, i860, his father be
ing of direct Welsh descent. Judge Jones came
to Minneapolis from Connecticut in 1854 and en
gaged in the practice of law. He served through
the war of the rebellion and on his return to
Minneapolis he founded the Hennepin County
Savings Bank, the first institution of its kind in
the city, and also established the real estate and
mortgage investment firm, now known as David
P. Jones & Co. David P. Jones spent his boy
hood in Minneapolis, going through the grade
schools and graduating from the Central high
school in 1878. He then took a course in the
state university, graduating in 1883 with the de
gree of Bachelor of Arts. Shortly after gradua
tion he entered his father's office and thoroughly
mastered the business, succeeding to its manage-,
ment upon the death of Judge Jones in 1890. On
January 1, 1900, the business was incorporated
under the title of David P. Jones & Co., and the
firm has become one of the foremost in its line.
Mr. Jones early became interested in municipal
affairs and made his entrance into public life in
1808 as a member of the city council from the
Fifth ward, serving six years, during the last
W*'
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282
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
four of which he was president of that body. His
incumbency of this office, when former Mayor
Ames became a fugitive from justice in August,
1902, made Mr. Jones acting mayor for the un
expired portion of the term, and gave him an
opportunity to put into operation certain reforms
in municipal government to which he had long
been devoted. As a member of the first charter
commission he stood for civic betterment, and
as alderman he was directly responsible for the
passage of what was known as the wine room
ordinance. While acting mayor he imposed strict
regulation upon the liquor business, struck a
hard blow at gambling and successfully segre
gated the social evil. He declined to be a can
didate for election in the fall of 1902 but made
the race in 1904, and took his seat as mayor on
the first of January, 1905.
His administration w-as marked by a series of
progressive reforms, continuing the policies in
augurated as acting mayor and culminating in
an order issued in November, 1905, closing the
saloons and bars of the city on Sunday. Public
gambling was entirely abolished, and the business
and residence districts were rid of all houses of
ill fame. Strict economy was exercised in the
expenditure of the funds of the departments un
der the direct control of the mayor, marked im
provement was brought about in the management
of the city hospital, poor department and work
house, and practical civil service was established
in the matter of appointments in the police de
partment. Mayor Jones also clearly established
the relative rights of his office and the city coun
cil in the matter of letting contracts by securing
a decision of the state supreme court, which gives
the mayor co-ordinate authority with that body.
As mayor he was ex-officio a member of the
board of charities and corrections, the armory
board, municipal building commission, sinkiner
fund commission, library board, park board,
board of health, and police pension board.
Mr. Jones is a member of the Sons of Veter
ans; of the Loyal Legion; of the Minneapolis,
Commercial and Six-O'Clock Clubs; is a corpor
ate member of the American Board of Foreign
Missions; vice president of the board of trustees
of Carleton College; trustee of Windom Institute;
alumni member of the University Council; mem
ber of the executive committee of the National
Municipal League; president of the board of di
rectors of the Bethel Settlement; and is an active
member of Plymouth Congregational church. He
has delivered addresses before the Economic
Club of Boston and the City Club of Chicago on
municipal reform and ballot reform.
Mr. Jones is a republican in politics but in
clined to a non-partisan position in purely mu
nicipal affairs. He was married on May 13, 1891,
to Miss Alice Gale, daughter of Samuel C. and
Susan Damon Gale, and has three children—
David Gale and Anna and Helen Holmes.
JOYCE, Frank Melville, Minnesota state
agent of the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Com
pany, was born on March 18, 1862, at Covington,
Indiana. He is of Dutch-Irish descent. His
father was the eminent Methodist clergyman,
Bishop Isaac W. Joyce; his mother was Carrie
W. (Bosserman) Joyce, born in Indiana and who
received her education in Baltimore. Col. Joyce
passed the early years of his life in Indiana, at
tending the public schools at Lafayette, and com
pleting his preparatory work by a special course
in Baltimore. He entered De Pauw University
—then known as Indiana Asbury University—at
Green Castle, in 1877, graduating in 1882, A. B.,
and later took the degree of A. M. at the same
college. During his university course Col. Joyce
was prominent in all lines of college activity and
won the gold medal for mathematics. He was
a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity and while
a resident of Cincinnati published the Fraternity
Magazine, and later the Fraternity Song Book,
which was in use for many years. At the com
pletion of his college work Col. Joyce went to
Cincinnati where he became teller in the Queen
City National Bank. In 1888 he was appointed
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FRANK M. JOYCE.
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
283
general agent of the Provident Life & Trust
Company and after two years began work for the
Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company in Cin
cinnati. In 1894 he was given the state agency
of the company for Minnesota. Col. Joyce is a
member of the Minneapolis and Commercial Clubs,
the Knights of Pythias and is a Mason of the
thirty-second degree Scottish Rite.
He is a
member of the Apollo Club and was for many
years its secretary or president. He is the presi
dent of the Northwestern Beta Theta Pi Alumni
association. He was formerly president of the
Minneapolis Automobile Club and now holds that
office in the Minnesota State Automobile Asso
ciation. Col. Joyce gained his military title as a
member of Governor McKinley's staff, an ap
pointment received in 1892. While at De Pauw
he was a Cadet Major in the military department
and organized and trained the then famous "Asbury Cadets," a company which won. many first
prizes in Interstate Competitive drills. While in
Cincinnati Col. Joyce was captain of the Cin
cinnati Light Artillery and served during the
famous Court House riots. Col. Joyce is a mem
ber of Hennepin Avenue Methodist Episcopal
Church and the secretary of the board of trustees.
In 1883 he was married to Miss Jessie Birch of
Bloomington, Illinois, and they have four children
—Arthur Reamy, Carolyn, Wilbur Birch and
Helen.
VAN NEST, Hiram, was one of the oldest
settlers in the vicinity of the Falls of St. Anthony,
where he came in 1850 when only nineteen years
of age. Mr. Van Nest was born in Sandusky,
Ohio, on January 27, 1831, the son of Addy and
Margaret Van Nest. While he was yet quite
young, the family moved to Illinois where the
father engaged in farming. At nineteen the son
determined to make his own way and came to
Minnesota where he found employment in the
lumber camps, on the frontier farms and for a
time in the management of the stage line between
St. Paul and St. Anthony. It was related that
one of his early employments was that of plow
ing on the site of the Syndicate Block in the
heart of the city. Of frugal habits and with a fai
seeing grasp of the conditions about the Falls
of St. Anthony, Mr. Van Nest commenced the
investment of his small savings in real estate
almost as soon as the present site of Minneap
olis was opened for settlement. He bought with
judgment and rapidly became a man of substance.
One of his purchases was a farm on which he es
tablished his home and which is now in the center
of the city. He became a skillful and progressive
farmer, took an active part in the promotion of
HIRAM VAN NEST.
agriculture and horticulture in the new state,
raised fine cattle, but at the same time found op
portunity to take part in public affairs, filling the
position of school trustee, asssessor and other
offices in the township of Minneapolis. He was
active in the promotion of the temperance cause
and, in 1859, was one of the founders of the local
organizations of the order of Good Templars. As
the city grew his property holdings made him in
dependent, and at the same time failing health
made it necessary for him to spend his winters in
another climate. This led to the purchase of a
forty acre tract near Los Angeles, which he
stocked with fruit and with which he occupied
himself during his seasons in California. Mr. Van
Nest was married on January 1, 1861, to Miss
Blaisdell, daughter of Robert Blaisdell of Min
neapolis. They had three sons, Robert Addy
Van Nest, a resident of Windom, Minnesota, John
H. Van Nest, who has for some years represented
the Thirteenth Ward in the Minneapolis city
council, and Charles E. Van Nest. Mr. Van Nest
died on October 17, 1894.
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
284
Odin Clubs of which he was a member for some
years. Mr. Lund died at Minneapolis on August
5, 1908.
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WIl.r.IA.M II. MLUI'IIY.
LUND, John G., was born in Rushford,
Fillmore
county,
Minnesota,
in
1868,
of
Norwegian parentage. His parents moved to
Canby, Minnesota, in 1876, and there the son
grew to manhood receiving a common school
education and a training 111 business with his
father O. N. Lund, who was a successful business
man. In 1887 Mr. Lund opened a collection, loan
and real estate office in Canby, doing business in
a small way locally. But he soon became con
vinced that more aggressive methods were neces
sary to success and commenced the development
of a system of agents throughout the farming
district of many states which has built up a very
large business and influenced the immigration to
Minnesota and the Dakotas of thousands of fam
ilies. He also established local offices at numer
ous centers through the northwest and finally
moved to Minneapolis where he opened his cen
tral office, from which he directed the operations
of the local offices and perhaps 2,500 local agents.
Although wonderfully successful in business Mr.
Lund found time to take an active part in
public affairs. While living in Canby, Minn., he
was mayor of the town and in 1905 was a member
of the state legislature. In Minneapolis he was
identified with the work of the Commercial and
MURPHY, Harry Gates, state agent of the
National Life Insurance Company of Vermont,
was born at Cincinnati, on November 9, 1870.
He was the son of William H. and Maria G.
Murphy—the former a veteran of the War of the
Rebellion and a life insurance man of long stand
ing. The son's early life was spent at Cincinnati
and Evanston, 111., where his father later moved.
He received a high school education and then
joined his father in the insurance business com
ing with him to Minnesota in 1889. The firm
of Wm. H. Murphy & Son was subsequently
formed and for some years past has held the state
agency for the National Life. Upon Mr. William
H. Murphy's death in 1906 the work was assumed
entirely by his son who is carrying on the agency
with success. Mr. Murphy is unmarried. He
takes an active part in the social life of the' city
and is a member of the Automobile, Commercial
and Minikahda clubs and of the highest degrees
of the Masonic order. He attends the First Con
gregational Church.
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REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
MURPHY, William H., for many years one
of the most prominent life insurance men of Min
nesota, was born in Cincinnati, March 31, 1842,
and died at Minneapolis, May 12, 1906. He grew
up at Cincinnati, received his education in the pub
lic schools and received his first military training
in the high school cadets. When the Civil War
broke out he was not yet of age but he entered
the army while still in his twentieth year. He
was enrolled a private in Battery H, First Ohio
Light Artillery, for three years, on October 28,
1861; discharged on surgeon's certificate for dis
ability, December 16, 1862; enrolled as a second
lieutenant in Company H, Second Ohio Heavy
Artillery, on June 18, 1863; appointed first lieu
tenant, August 28, 1863; transferred to Company
D, May 24, 1864; promoted to captain, May 31,
1865. mustered out at Nashville, Tennessee,
August 23, 1865; and honorably discharged
at Columbus, Ohio, 011 August 28, 1865.
Mr. Murphy made insurance his life work.
He was eminently successful—an active, en
ergetic and enthusiastic solicitor and show
ing much facility in handling the agents
working under him.
From 1889 until his
death he was associated with the National Life
Insurance Company of Montpelier, Vermont,
and for 18 years held the state agency
in
connection
with
his
son,
Harry
G.
Murphy, the firm
being Wm. H. Murphy
& Son. Mr. Murphy was much interested
in military and fraternal orders. He was
a member of the Loyal Legion of the United
States, being elected on January 14, 1896, a com
panion of the First Class Original, and for more
than eleven years was an active member of the
John A. Rawlins Post. No. 126. Department of
Minnesota, G. A. R. From early manhood he af
filiated with Masonic orders, being a member of
Cataract Lodge No. 2, St. Anthony Falls Chapter
No. 23, Adoniram Council No. 5, Darius Commandery No. 7, the Scottish Rite bodies and also
of Zuhrah Temple, Order of the Mystic Shrine.
It was by order of Scottish Rite bodies that he
was finally laid to rest at Toledo, Ohio. Mr.
Murphy was married at Cincinnati on August 3,
1866, to Miss Maria G. McBride. They have had
two children.
McMlLLAN, Putnam Dana, was born at Fryeburg, Maine, August 25, 1832. "Blood tells," they
say, and Mr. McMillan certainly illustrates the
saying by the sturdy way in which he has faced
the storm and stress of life and mastered difficul
ties before which weaker spirits would have
quailed. His great-grandfather on his father's
side, Col. Andrew McMillan, of Scotch-Irish
nativity, fought in the War of the Revolution,
and his son John was a general in the war of
1812, the latter's son Andrew being the father of
P. D. McMillan.
The distinguished General
Israel Putnam was Mr. McMillan's great-great-
285
BRUSH, PHOTO
1MTNAM
D.
McMlLLAN.
grandfather 011 the mother's side, her father Col.
Israel Putnam Dana, being a son of the Winches
ter Dana who married Hannah Putnam, daughter
of the fighting general and hero of Horseneck
Precipice and Pomfret Cave. Mr. McMillan's
father was a graduate of West Point, a
civil engineer and prominent in Vermont dem
ocratic politics, and a member of the legis
lature. The son received a common school and
academy educational training and, for a few
years, was a clerk in a country store, after which
he went to California on a sailing vessel around
Cape Horn and engaged in mercantile business
and mining for several years, returning to Ver
mont and engaging in farming. Upon the break
ing out of the Civil War he enlisted in the Fif
teenth Regiment of Vermont Volunteers and
served as quartermaster during its term of ser
vice, afterward going to Buenos Ayres, South
America, where he settled as a sheep farmer on the
Parana River, near Rosario. After several years of
success, civil war broke out and played havoc with
all peaceful vocations, bringing financial ruin to
Mr. McMillan, aggravated by an epidemic of
cholera which carried off his wife and four other
members of his household. Crushed with grief,
he return to the United States and located in
Minneapolis, engaging in the real estate business
in 1872, and making himself a public benefactor
by his enterprise and public spirit.
286
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
Mr. McMillan is a member of the Rawlins
Post, Grand Army of the Republic, and of the
Loyal Legion and a member of the Congrega
tional Church. In politics he is a life-long repub
lican. His first wife, who died in South America,
was Helen E. Davis, daughter of Hon. Bliss N.
Davis, a prominent lawyer of Vermont. One
child of this marriage, Emily Dana, survived the
grievous catastrophe in South America. Mr. Mc
Millan was married again to Kate Kittredge,
daughter of Hon. Moses Kittredge, of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and of the three children of this
marriage two remain, Margaret and Putnam
Dana.
PENNEY, Truman E., of the general insur
ance firm of Hood & Penney, was born in Adams,
Jefferson county, New York, on November 28,
1857. H e was the son of Simon E. and Clarissa
M. Penney. His early education was obtained
in the public schools of Newark and Columbus,
Ohio, followed later by a course at Otterbein
University, Westerville, Ohio. After leaving the
university he studied law in Kenton, Ohio, and
was admitted to the bar before the supreme
court at Columbus in 1879. Mr. Penney was
court commissioner and deputy clerk of court of
/ Cochise county, Arizona, for about three years.
He then came to Minneapolis, early in 1883, and
was engaged in the business of mortgage loans
and real estate until 1893 when he entered in
surance. In 1898 he became a member of the
firm of Hood & Penney, who act as general
agents for the Ocean Accident & Guarantee Cor
poration and the Title Guarantee and Surety_
Company. They have been very successful and
do a large business in these special lines of in• surance. In politics Mr. Penney is a republican.
He is an active member of the principal social
organizations of the city including the Minne
apolis Club and the Lafayette Club and is presi
dent of the Long Meadow Gun Club. He was
married at Springfield, Ohio, in 1886, to Miss
Kate E. Downs. They have two children, Tru
man C. and Robert S.
PRAY, Albert Fenderson, for years a prominent
insurance man of Minneapolis, was born on
September 24, 1863, at St. Cloud, Minnesota. He
was the son of Otis A. Pray and Frances A.
Pray. His father, who died in 1890, was one
of the pioneer citizens of Minneapolis and was
for many years engaged in Minnesota as a mill
contractor and in the foundry business; and at
the time of his son's birth, was a resident of
St. Cloud and engaged in constructional work
there. Albert F. Pray received the usual prepara
tory education and then went east for his college
training. He entered the Pennsylvania Military
College with the class of 1884, taking a course
in civil engineering, completing his studies with
his class and graduating on June 12, 1884. While
in college Mr. Pray was prominent in the cadet
service and during his last year was the senior
cadet officer. Following his graduation he re
turned to Minneapolis. He did not follow up his
profession of engineering, but soon after his re
turn entered his father's machine works and
foundry, and learned the machinist's trade. Mr.
Pray later entered into a partnership with his
father to establish and operate the Minneapolis
Foundry Company with a plant at Woodland near
Minneapolis. They did a general iron working
and founding business, which was continued until
after Mr. O. A. Pray's death, when his son dis
posed of the plant and business to enter insur
ance. In 1896 he accepted the position of special
agent and adjuster of the Royal Exchange As
surance, of London, England. Early in 1908 he
was elected secretary of the Milwaukee German
Fire Insurance Company and moved to Milwau
kee. For many years Mr. Pray has been promin
ently identified with the affairs of the Minnesota
National Guard. He became associated with the
local infantry organization in 1887 and was rapid
ly promoted through the various ranks, holding
the successive offices in his company. On Janu
ary 8th, 1893, he was commissioned inspector
general with the rank of brigadier general. On
March 13th, 1903, he was appointed ordinance
officer, First Artillery, M. N. G., with the rank
of first lieutenant. When the battery was re
organized in 1905 with the idea of making it a
crack artillery company, Mr. Pray was elected
captain and filled that position very acceptably
until his removal from the state. On January 7,
1908 his name was honorably entered upon the
list of retired officers. At the same time it was
officially recorded by the adjutant general that:
"To Captain Pray belongs the distinction of being
the only member of the Minntsota National Guard,
who qualified in the highest grades of markmanship with the service rifle, revolver and 3.2 field
gun in one target season, same being made during
season of 1905." To this it may be added that
Captain Pray is the only one in the United States
who has this record. In political faith Mr. Pray
is a republican, but has never cared to hold
public office. He is a member of Minneapolis
Lodge No. 19, A. F. and A. M., and is a past
master of that lodge; of all the Scottish Rite
bodies; and of St. John's Chapter and Zuhrah
Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. On June 17, 1890
Mr. Pray was married to Frances A. Laraway,
and they have two children, twins, born on Janu
ary 28, 1905, Frances and Florence.
SAWYER, Charles Lincoln, was born on
March 28, i860, at Lee, New Hampshire, the son
of Jefferson and Elizabeth J. Sawyer. His father
was a farmer and his boyhood was spent on the
farm, where he began his education in the district
schools of the vicinity. He afterwards attended
the high school at New Market, New Hampshire,
New Hampton institution, a Freewill Baptist
academy, from which he graduated in 1884, deliv
ering the latin oration, and "Partmouth college,
from which he gr^dyjfited in 1888, standing fourth
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
287
Master of Minneapolis Lodge, No. 19, A. F. and
A. M., Past commander of Zion Commandery of
Knights Templar, Past Thrice Illustrious Master
of Minneapolis Council No. 2, a thirty-second de
gree Scottish Rite Mason and a member of Zurah
Temple, Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He be
longs to a number of Minneapolis organizations,
including the Commercial club and the Six
O'Clock club and is a member of the Park Ave
nue Congregational church, of which he was a
deacon for four years. Mr. Sawyer was married
in 1892 to Miss Olive M. Bennett of Gilford, New
Hampshire. They have four children, Esmond
Bennett, Russell Jefferson, Charles Arthur and
Miriam Louisa.
CHARLES. L. SAWYER.
in a class of sixty-five. His graduation degree of
A. B. was followed by the degree of A. M., con
ferred by Dartmouth in 1891 for three years' lit
erary work. During his college life, Mr. Sawyer
made his own way, engaging in various kinds of
employment and when he left college, he turned
to school teaching and during twelve years in this
profession, spent four years as superintendent of
the schools at Waukegan, Illinois, one year in
New Hampshire and seven years as principal of
the South High school, Minneapolis. While in
the latter position, he attended the law depart
ment of the University of Minnesota, graduating
with the class of 1897, but he has never devoted
himself to the practice of law. In 1899, he re
signed his position and entered the real estate
business as a member of the firm of Moore Bros.
& Sawyer, and in recent years has been in busi
ness by himself. He has never lost his interest
in educational matters, and during a term of ser
vice in the Minnesota legislature, in 1907, was
chairman of the educational committee of the
House and introduced and carried through, the
high school anti fraternity bill and other educa
tional measures. Mr. Sawyer also introduced
and secured the passage of the mortgage registra
tion bill and the pure paint bill and also took
active part in general legislation of the session.
He was renominated and re-elected for the thir
ty-sixth session of the legislature in the fall of
1908. Mr. Sawyer is a prominent Mason, is Past
SNYDER, Simon Peter, one of the pioneer
settlers of St. Anthony, is of German descent, his
grandfather coming from the vicinity of Ham
burg to this country where he settled in Mary
land, later moving to Pennsylvania where he ob
tained a title to about half of the land on which
the town of Somerset was established. Part of
this land was afterward donated by the owner
toward the erection of a public school, court
house and Lutheran church. Simon Peter Sny
der, son of John A. Snyder and Elizabeth Shaf
fer, was born at Somerset, 011 April 14, 1826. He
received a common school education and when
fourteen began to clerk in his uncle's general
store, later taking sole charge of the establish
ment which he bought at the end of two years
and conducted in his own interest. In 1850 he
sold out, and came by team as far west as Peoria,
Illinois. Receiving there a communication from
an uncle interested in general merchandise in
Springfield, Ohio, Mr. Snyder returned and pur
chased the store, operating it until 1855, when
he came to this city. Here he immediately formed
a partnership with W. K. MacFarlane for the pur
pose of locating lands, having offices with O.
Curtis on Main street, St. Anthony, about where
the Pillsbury A mill now stands. In the fall of
1855 the firm built an office on Bridge Square
where they continued their land business and
opened the first banking house in Minneapolis.
Mr. Levic L. Cook joined the firm in 1855, which
was then known as Snyder, MacFarlane & Cook.
Soon after his arrival in Minneapolis, Mr. Snyder
bought eighty acres of land near Nicollet avenue
and Tenth at $100 per acre and platted, as Sny
der's First Addition to Minneapolis, land now
worth several millions of dollars. In the years
1856, 1857 and 1858 he was treasurer of the Min
nesota State Agricultural Society, during which
time the first fair was held on the ground where
the public library now stands. Mr. Snyder es
tablished in 1862 the first auction store in the
city and in 1876 built the first warehouse for the
storage of overtime railroad freight. During the
outbreak of the Indians in 1862, a volunteer com
pany was formed with Anson Norihrup as cap
tain and Mr. Snyder as first lieutenant, which
joined the regiment under General Sibley to go
288
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
apolis, where he has since resided. He was special
agent for the Provident Life and Trust Com
pany for four years and in 1896 he became general
agent of the Penn Mutual Life Insurance Com
pany of Philadelphia, which position he now
holds. He was elected to the lower house of the
Minnesota Legislature and served in the sessions
of 1891 and 1897, and was elected to the senate
and served in the sessions 1899-1901, and in the
extra session of 1902. He was the democratic
candidate for congress in the Fifth District in
1900. Mr. Stockwell is a democrat and an active
member of the Commercial Club and president of
the Municipal Ownership League, and is a mem
ber of the First Unitarian Society. On October
4, 1887, Mr. Stockwell was married to Maud
Conkey and they have had three children, of
whom two, Charlotte and Elizabeth, are living.
S.
AI.ItEItT
STOCKWELL,.
to the relief of New Ulm and Fort Ridgley.
Impatient at the delay of the movement this com
pany, led by Mr. Northrup and Mr. Snyder, ad
vanced on their ovvo responsibility and were.first
to bring relief to Fort Ridgley. Mr. Snyder
has lived in Minneapolis continuously since 1855
and has three children—Frank C., Fred B. and
Mary C. Snyder. Mr. Snyder has been promi
nently connected with the advance of public and
private enterprises in this city and Colonel Stev
ens, in his "Personal Recollections of Minne
sota" says: "Probably, to Messrs. Snyder and MacFarland, are the citizens of Minneapolis more in
debted than to any one else for the rapid prog
ress in the early industries on the west side of
the Falls."
STOCKWELL, Silvanus Albert, son of Silvanus and Charlotte B. Stockwell, was born June
8, 1857, at Anoka, Minnesota. His ancestors on
his father's side came from England and settled
in Massachusetts in 1628, and on his mother's
side, they came from Holland in 1700 and set
tled in New York. Silvanus Albert was brought
up on his father's farm and attended the com
mon schools, graduating at the Anoka High
School, after which he taught school three years
in Anoka and adjoining counties and then was
employed by the American Express Company
for twelve years, removing in 1880 to Minne
THOMPSON, Leonard Kellogg, named for
his grandfathers, General Leonard Thompson, of
the War of 1812, and Reverend Robert R. Kel
logg, a Presbyterian clergyman, was born at Le-,
Roy, New York, January 10th, 1861. A few
months later the family removed to- Brooklyn,
now a part of New York City, where he received
his education, going through the public and high
schools, and a preparatory college course. Being
compelled to shift for himself at sixteen, he be
gan his business career with the Merchants Ex
change National Bank, opposite the old city hall,
in New York, and was subsequently employed in
the freight traffic department by Railroad Com
missioner Fink. In 1881, when but twenty-one
years of age, he married Miss Eva H. Geraghty,
of Brooklyn, and removed to Binghamton, New
York, where he became financial manager for
Charle. 1 A. Weed & Company. A few years later
he interested himself with the senior member
of the firm in extensive lumber operations in
western Pennsylvania, which occupied him until
18S7, when he formed a partnership with H. B.
Osgood, of the Binghamton Scale Works. Messrs.
Osgood & Thompson continued business until
1892, doubling their output each year, when Mr.
Thompson, 011 his physician's recommendation,
sold his interest in the business and removed to
Minneapolis. While in Binghamton Mr. Thomp
son served as a trustee of the Board of Trade, a
director in its prosperous Building & Loan As
sociation, was president of its Y. M. C. A., and a
member of the New York State Committee. He
was also a trustee of the West Presbyterian
Church of Binghamton, and very active in all
the city's affairs, although never holding politi
cal office. After coming to Minneapolis, Mr.
Thompson was for thirteen years manager of the
Northwestern department of one of the New
York Life Insurance companies, having charge
of its business in all of the northwestern states.
In the spring of 1905 he accepted the invitation
of the bankers of Minneapolis to reorganize the
Northwestern National Life Insurance Company
Car
'
V
wmmmmi
290
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
st
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bt
m
SWEET, PHOTO
JEROME B. TABOUR.
and to undertake its management. Surrounding,
himself with carefully selected men, of special
training in their several departments, Mr. Thomp
son soon demonstrated his executive ability in
the complete systematizing of the business of
the company, and at the next annual meeting
was unanimously elected president. His special
success as an organizer, coupled witn the power
of his personality and happy optimism, is strongly
felt in every department of the company and to
its remotest agency. Under his guidance the
Northwestern National has been given a stand
ing in insurance circles and a place among the
financial institutions of the Northwest of which
Minneapolis is justly proud. Mr. Thompson has
always been actively interested in the religious
work of the city, and has been for many years a
member of the official board of Westminster
Church. He is a member of various clubs; is a
life-long republican—not caring for political
office, but actively interested in the problems of
city and state.
TABOUR, Jerome B., president Tabour Re
alty Company, was born in Minneapolis on June
8, 1856. His parents, Lorenzo T. and Sarah C.
Tabour were living in a house which stood on
what is now one of the most closely built blocks
in the business center of the city, but then in
the outskirts of the little village. Mr. Tabour
has, therefore, seen the development of Minne
apolis through all its remarkable stages and, as
boy and man, has had a part in its progress. His
father was a contractor and builder who took
part in the practical work of t city building. The
son attended the city schools graduating from
the high school, spent a few years on a farm
near Minneapolis and then returned to the city
to engage in the real estate and loan business.
He has been prominently identified with real
estate matters for the past twenty-five years. In
politics he has been a republican and in church
affiliations a Methodist.
THOMSON, James Presley, for more than
thirty years engaged in business in Minneapolis,
is of Scotch descent. He is a native of Ohio,
born in that state 011 April 12, 1852, in Jefferson
county, the son of Hugh Laughlin Thomson and
Margaret Ann Thomson. In 1854 his father
moved with his family from Ohio to Illinois.
There the son passed his early life and ac
quired his education, attending and graduating
from the Aledo Academy at Aledo, Illinois.
Having completed his course at that institution
Mr. Thomson decided to engage in business
rather than take up college work and recognizing
the splendid opportunities offered by the North
west, he came to Minnesota in 1876. In the same
year he became associated with the wholesale
dry goods business and was a member of a local
firm for a number of years. He was selected as
the American representative of the firm of Morison, Anderson & Butchart of Dundee, Scotland,
for their branch in this city and later entered
the business in which he is at present engaged.
He formed a connection with the Minneapolis
Trust Company becoming the manager of the
insurance department and has since been continu
ously connected with fire insurance business. Upon
the consolidation of some of the larger insurance
agencies of the city a few years ago under the
name of the Minneapolis Insurance Agency Mr.
Thomson became vice president. Mr. Thomson's
energies and time have been for the most part
devoted to his business associations, so that he
has had comparatively few opportunities to con
cern himself with public and political matters.
Politically he is a republican, but has never de
sired to hold public office. He takes, neverthe
less, an active part in every movement that tends
toward civic righteousness and purity in politics,
and as he himself says, his amibition is to fulfill
the duties of a good citizen. Mr. Thomson is
connected with several of the well-known busi
ness and social organizations of the city, in
cluding the Commercial Club and the Westmin
ster Club. He is a member of Westminster
Presbyterian Church. In 1880 Mr. Thomson was
married to Miss Amanda Idalette Hunter of
Toledo, Ohio. They have always made their
home in Minneapolis and have had four children,
Ruth R., Henry S., Elizabeth L. and Kenneth W.,
of whom two sons and one daughter are living.
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
TIMBERLAKE, Byron Harvey, was born
near Salem, Washington county, Indiana, August
17, 1861, son of Aquilla and Jane Thompson
Timberlake, both of whom are deceased. His
great-grandfather, John Timberlake, was a farmer
in Virginia, of English ancestry, who long be
fore the civil war, brought his family and slaves
to Ohio, and freed the latter in that state, giving
the required bond. Many of the Virginia Timberlakes fought with the Confederate Army dur
ing the war for the Union. Byron H., in his
earlier years, worked on his father's farms in In
diana and Illinois, and in Kansas.
In 1883 he came to Minnesota and attended
the Minneapolis Academy and the state university,
taking honors in oratory and receiving the degree
of B. L. in 1891. During thesd years he main
tained himself by working for the Minneapolis
Harvester Company in South Minneapolis, and
experting in the field, taking meantime a course
in a business college. After graduation at the
university, Mr. Timberlake engaged in the life
insurance business, and was for two years, 18971899, deputy insurance commissioner of Minne
sota, having his office in the Capitol at St. Paul.
He is now manager for Minnesota of the Pru
dential Insurance Company of America.
Mr.
Timberlake is a republican in politics, and was
clected in 1904 to the lower house of the state
legislature. He was again elected to the House
from the thirty-ninth district for the thirty-fifth
legislative session, was a member of several im
portant committees, and chairman of the insur
ance committee that put through so many reform
measures. He was prominent on the appropria
tions and university committees, and particularly
effective in securing large appropriations and
favorable legislation for the University.
Mr.
Timberlake is a member of the Masonic order;
of the Knights Templar; and of the Commercial
Club. He is a communicant of the Episcopal
Church. He was married in 1891 to Emma Kemp,
who died in 1899, leaving three children, Lucile,
Harold Carl and Emma.
In 1901 Mr. Timberlake was married again to
Lillian Chatterdon.
CONE, Robert D., president of the Minne
apolis Real Estate Board, 1908, was born at Lowville, New York, January 29, 1854, the son of
Robert Cephas and Mary (Pratt) Cone. He is
a descendant of Daniel Cone, who emigrated
from Paisley, Scotland, in 1662 and settled at
Haddam, Connecticut. He received his educa
tion in the public schools of New York City and
at the age of sixteen entered the employ of
Roosevelt & Son, plate glass dealers, at 94 Maid
en Lane, continuing with this house until it re
tired from business. Afterwards he was connect
ed with the firm of B. W. Merriam & Company,
manufacturers of mirrors, New York, until 1883,
when he came to Minneapolis. He established
the firm of R. D. Cone & Company, real estate
291
R O B E R T I). C O X E .
and city mortgages, on November 1, 1883, and
has continued uninterruptedly in this business
for twenty-five years. Mr. Cone is a republican
in politics, and is a supporter of all movements
for bettering civic conditions. He belongs to
various local organizations, including the Sons
of the American Revolution, Commercial Club,
Minnetonka Yacht Club and the Minneapolis
Real Estate Board of which he was elected pres
ident in 1908. He was married in New York
City on July 5, 1882, to Miss Catharine Allen.
They have two sons, Robert Allen, -born Febru
ary 21, 1887, Theodore Usher, born May 21, 1893.
The family attends the Presbyterian church.
NEWHALL, Harry Frank, president of the
Finance Company of Minnesota and secretary
of the Minneapolis Real Estate Board, was born
at Chicago, on January 21, 1849. He was the
son of Harrison and Nancy Caroline (Goodrich)
Newhall. Mr. Newhall completed his education
at Harvard College. He began business in Phil
adelphia in 1871, where he was employed by Jay
Cooke & Company at the time that that firm was
promoting the Northern Pacific railroad. Upon
the failure of these bankers in 1873, Mr. Newhall
formed the stock brokerage firm of Creamer &
Newhall, which afterwards became Rutter, New
hall & Company. During his business life in
Philadelphia Mr. Newhall became intimately as-
292
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
sociated with the men of capital and the larger
interests of the East and when he came to Min
neapolis in 1885 brought with him a connection
which has given him a leading position among
the representatives of eastern investment inter
ests. He has now been engaged for twentythree years in the real estate and loan business.
In 1901 he incorporated his business under the
name of The Finance Company of Minnesota, of
which he has since been president. In addition
to handling a general real estate and loan busi
ness Mr. Newhall has undertaken the platting
and development of various additions to the city,
notably Kenilworth, and Burnham Wood, at
tractive properties in the vicinity of Lake of the
Isles and Cedar Lake. Mr. Newhall has been a
member of the Consolidated Stock Exchange of
New York for thirty years, but does no active
business in stocks now. He is the secretary of
the Minneapolis Real Estate Board, a position he
has held for five years. He and his wife are
members of the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian) church. Among the Minneapolis social
organizations in which he is interested is the
Commercial Club. He was married on May 28,
1874, to Elizabeth Barrett. They have had six
children of whom five sons are living.
VAN CAMPEN, Charles Howard, secretary
and treasurer of the Fred L. Gray Company of
this city, was born on September 29, 1872, in
Chicago, Illinois. Among the Dutch settlers that
left Holland in 1640 to join the colony in New
York were the ancestors of the Van Campen
family who established the American branch of
the lineage. From these Charles Van Campen,
father of Charles Howard, was a direct descen
dant who in 1872 had married Miss Mary_ L.
Elkins, and was residing in Chicago. He later
received an appointment as agent of the Chicago
& Northwestern Railroad at Rochester, Minne
sota, and moved there with his family. Charles
Howard received his , preparatory education
in Rochester, attending the grade and high
schools, and then entered the law depart
ment of the University of Minnesota. He
completed his studies in 1894 and gradu
ated in that year. After finishing
college,
he began the practice of his profession in
Minneapolis, forming a partnership with Mr.
Eugene. G. Hay under the name of Hay & Van
Campen. The firm had a large general practice
in the city and was connected with several im
portant cases. The association continued until
1900, when the partnership was dissolved and
Mr. Van Campen dropped his legal practice to
become a member of the Fred L. Gray Company
of this city. This organization does an extensive
insurance business and is the northwestern man
ager of several large underwriting companies,
among them the London Guarantee & Accident
Company, the Metropolitan Surety Company of
New York, the General Accident Assurance Cor
poration of Perth, Scotland, and the United
States Casualty Company. Besides his member
ship in the firm, Mr. Van Campen fills the offices
of secretary and treasurer, and conducts a part
of the active management of the firm. Mr. Van
Campen is a member of the Minneapolis, the
Minikahda and the Lafayette Clubs. In 1901 he
was married to Miss Genevieve Clarke (the
daughter of Thos. E. Clarke, general manager
of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Rail
road Company) who died in 1903 leaving no
children.
WARREN, George Henry, for many years
connected with large real estate and land inter
ests in Minnesota, was born at Oakfield, New
York, on January 16, 1845. He was the son of
James Warren and Sarah Warren—the father a
successful business man engaged in the manu
facture of threshing machines, carriages, wagons
and sleighs. Mr. Warren's early life was spent
at Oakfield where he attended the common
schools and the Cary Collegiate Seminary. From
the latter institution he went to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, New York. He then
entered Genesee College (now Syracuse Uni
versity) from which he graduated in 1866 with
the degree of B. S. and from which institution
he received the degree of M. S. in 1872. Soon
after graduation Mr. Warren came to Minnesota
and became principal of the high school at Hast
ings,, Minnesota, during the school year of 1867-8.
During the two years following he was superin
tendent of public instruction and principal of the
high school at Faribault, Minnesota. In 1870
he left educational work to engage in land sur
veying in which he was engaged for about eight
years and during that time gaining extensive
knowledge of the resources of Minnesota and
Wisconsin. This knowledge he put to practical
use in 1878 when he entered the real estate and
land business in which he has engaged very ex
tensively, acquiring large interests in pine and
mineral lands. Mr. Warren made his home in
Minneapolis in 1872, and during his long residence
here has taken an active part in the affairs of the
city. He was elected a member of the city council
from the 13th ward in 1889 and was chairman
of the committee on railroads during the im
portant period when the street.railroad company
was required to change its system from horse to
electric power. Mr. Warren has also been a
member of the organizations which have had to
do with the public affairs of the city and as a
member of the Business Men's Union had an op
portunity, in 1892, of being of special service to
the city and the state university. His acquaint
ance with men of affairs in the northern part of
Minnesota gave him inside information regarding
a movement to secure the state School of Mines
for Duluth, thus separating that important de
partment from the University. Knowing the un
certainty of the outcome of a fight with Duluth
for this institution, Mr. Warren as a member of
the Business Men's Union urged the appointment
•iS'i&r*!
294
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
of a committee to raise the money for a building
for an ore testing plant at the state university
and, as chairman of the committee subsequently
appointed, raised the funds among the people of
the city, thus saving the School of Mines to
Minneapolis. Mr. Warren is a member of the
Masonic fraternity, Psi Upsilon, Commercial
Club, Minikahda Club, Americas Institute of Min
ing Engineers and the Academy of Natural Sci
ences. He was married November 6, 1872, to
Miss Jennie L. Conkey, of Faribault, Minnesota.
Their children were Aurie Sarah, born September
!3, 73, and who died March 28, 1876; and Frank
Merton, born December 1, 1875, and who is now
associated with his father in his various interests.
VAN TUYL, Charles White, general agent
for the State Mutual Life Assurance Company of
Worcester, Massachusetts, was born December 17,
1859, in Addison, Steuben county, New York. He
is of Dutch descent, as the name indicates, and the
family came from Holland about 1720, when Mr.
Van Tuyl's direct ancestor settled in central New
York in the Mohawk Valley in or near the pres
ent county of Schoharie. His father was Capt.
Ebenezer Van Tuyl, who commanded Company
G, First New York Infantry in the Civil War
until wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of
Chancellorsville, which closed his military career.
After the war he was engaged in railroad busi
ness as station agent and division superintendent
on the Erie Railway in southern New York until
1881, when he removed with his family to Oma
ha, Nebraska, and became general tax agent of
the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad in Ne
braska, and later manager of the Western Car
Service Association at Omaha, 'Nebraska, where
he died in 1900. His wife, the mother of Charles
White, was Sarah A. McNeil, who belonged to a
Scotch-Irish family which settled in central New
York prior to the Revolution. She died in Oma
ha in 1899.
Mr. Van Tuyl's education, judged by present
standards, was meager so far as schools are con
cerned. It was confined to fragmentary parts of
a very few years in the public schools of New
York state, namely, at Hornellsville and a country
district school in Tioga county and in the graded
schools and high school in Binghamton. In his
seventeenth year he left school and became a
clerk in the freight office of the New York, Lake
Erie and Western Railway at Binghamton, and
after about six years in this office in various
clerical situations he came west and joined his
father's family at Omaha, Nebraska, in March,
1882. In the following September he entered the
freight auditor's office of the Union Pacific Rail
way at Omaha, and after successive promotions
became chief clerk in the freight claim agent's
office; and in 1886 was appointed assistant freight
claim agent for the Union Pacific with headquar
ters at Salt Lake City, Utah. This position, to
gether with several others of like grade, was
abolished November 30, 1887, and after some
clerical work in the freight claim department at
Omaha he again received his former position as
chief clerk in that department as soon as it became
vacant. In November, 1892, he resigned this posi
tion and entered the life insurance business in the
Omaha agency of the Northwestern Mutual Life
Insurance Company of Milwaukee, Wis., and
after one successful year with that agency, came
to Minneapolis, November 1, 1893, as general
agent of the State Mutual Life Assurance Com
pany of Worcestor, Massachusetts, which agency
he still holds, having managed it successfully for
about fifteen years.
Mr. Van Tuyl is a republican in politics and a
Presbyterian in religious faith, being a member
of Westminster Presbyterian Church. He is a
director in the Young Men's Christian Associa
tion, a member of the Minneapolis Club, West
minster Club and the Six O'clock Club, and is a
Hereditary Companion of .the Military Order of
the Loyal Legion.
He was married in September, 1889, to Katherine J. Bingham, of Northfield, Minnesota, whose
acquaintance he made when she was preceptress in
the Presbyterian Collegiate Institute at Salt Lake
City, Utah. They have four children now living
—Ruth, Ray-Whittier, Katherine, and Barbara.
WASHBURN, William D., Jr., president of
the W. D. Washburn, Jr., Farm Lands Company,
was born on April 3, 1863. The family is an old
one in this country, the settlement of the first
members of the ancestral line in America dating
back to the earliest colonial days. John Wash
burn, from whom is descended the American
branch of the family, held the position of secre
tary in the Plymouth Colony; and the other
branch traces back to Uno Cooke, one of those
who came from England in the Mayflower to set
tle in Massachusetts. W. D. Washburn, a de
scendant of these early colonists, and the father
of W. D. Washburn, Jr., came to Minnesota dur
ing the time of its early development and has
been active in the flour, lumber, land, and minor
industries of the Northwest. His son was born
in St. Paul, but most of his boyhood was passed
in Minneapolis, where he attended the public
schools. He then continued his educational train
ing in Phillips Academy at Andover, graduating
in 1883. He entered Yale University for his col
lege work, completing his course afTd graduating
with the class of 1888 and since that time has
been engaged in journalistic work and in a busi
ness career. He entered the employ of the Min
neapolis Tribune as a reporter and advanced him
self to the position of editorial writer, when he
resigned to accept a place on the staff of the Chi
cago Tribune, but returned to Minneapolis to
establish himself in business. Since then his in
terests have been connected with the flour and
lumber industries, and at the present time he is
the president and head of the W. D. Washburn,
Jr., Farm Lands Company, which deals extensive
ly in wild and farm lands, and minerals. Mr.
REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE
Washburn is a republican in politics and is active
in the political work of the state, having been a
member of the state legislature during the three
terms of 1901, the extra session of 1902 and in
the regular session of 1905. He is actively inter
ested in the promotion of good government and
is a member of the Civic and Municipal Leagues
and was formerly vice-president of the Reciproc
ity League. Mr. Washburn is prominent in the
social and club life of the city and is a member of
the Minneapolis and Commercial Clubs, the Six
O'Clock Club, the Wranglers' Club, the Skylight
and Minikahda Clubs and the Minnesota and Yale
Club of New York City. He was married on
September 25, 1900, to Miss Florence Savier, of
Portland, Oregon, and they have four children,
three boys and a girl.
Y'ALE, Washington, who for many years had
large interests in Minneapolis, was a direct decendant of the original Yale family of New
Haven, Connecticut—a family whose name will
always be honored through its connection with
Yale University. I t was from Thomas Yale, a
brother of Elihu Yale (whose gift determined the
name of the university) that Washington Yale
was descended. He was born in Paterson, Put
nam county, New York, March 30, 1807. He was
educated in his native state and afterwards learned
the printing and publishing business and followed
the trade for some years at Danbury, Connec
ticut. While engaged in this business with his
brother Moses, they had the distinction of origin
ating the idea of a serial story in a newspaper
and were the first to try it in the paper they
published. Later he engaged in the dry goods
business in New Haven but wishing to enlarge
his field he disposed of his interests there and
moved to New York where he built up an ex
tensive importing and wholesale business. Mr.
Yale in 1857 made a trip to Minnesota and visited
Minneapolis, and having confidence in the future
growth of this city made his first investment in
realty two years later. During the following
years he came to Minneapolis each summer and
finally in 1871 sold his business and moved to this
city. At that time he retired from active business
life and until his death had no interests aside
from his extensive real estate holdings. Soon
after coming to the city Mr. Yale erected a resi
dence on Thirteenth street where also he held
a tract of about forty acres, part of which was
included in his original investment here. This
has since become one of the city's most beautiful
residence localities, a large part of it being in
cluded in Loring Park. Mr. Yale lived in his
home on Thirteenth street until his death on
April 23, 1897, when he was ninety years of age.
295
For a number of years Mr. Yale was a vestryman
of St. Paul's Episcopal Church and advanced the
money to erect the church formerly located on
Hennepin avenue between Twelfth and Thirteenth
streets, but which has since been moved to the
Lowry Hill district. He was never prominent
in public life nor desirous of attracting public
attention, and his private life was rather retired,
but he was interested in all movements which
tended toward a higher civic standard and the
material development of Minneapolis. Mr. Yale
was married to Abigail Couch on March 5, 1833.
There were two children born of this marriage
but both died in infancy. Mrs. Yale died, August
19, 1866. In 1871 Mr. Yale married Margaret
Gardner Perry, of New Haven, Connecticut,
formerly of Nantucket. They had no children,
Mrs. Yale died in Kennebunkport, Maine, Tulv
23, 1898.
ZONNE, Ary Edmund, partner in the real es
tate firm of J. F. Conklin & Zonne Co., was born
in the state of Wisconsin. He is the son of Ary
and Eliza Zonne, his father being a farmer of
that state and there his son was born and grew
up. His education was obtained in the public
schools. He attended the county school near his
home and later when the family moved to the city
entered the grade schools. In this way he ob
tained the usual grammar education; but did not
care to study for or lead a professional life, so
did not attend college but when seventeen years
of age entered upon an active business life, and
the greater part of his training was received in
the experiences of a busy commercial career.
When the old Grand Opera House was erected
and opened under the management of J. F. Conk
lin, Mr. Zonne was appointed to the position of
ticket agent and later assistant business manager,
and for several years served in that capacity. As
a result of this association with Mr. Conklin, tne
real estate firm of J. F. Conklin & Zonne was
finally organized and now does a large business
in the city in real estate, insurance and loans. In
this company Mr. Zonne is vice president and
treasurer. Mr. Zonne has also been connected
for several years with that historic land mark of
Minneapolis, the Hotel Nicollet, and was a half
owner and one of the proprietors of that hos
telry. Mr. Zonne is a republican in politics, but
does not take an active interest in party affairs
and has never sought to hold public office. He
is a member of the Minneapolis Club and the
Commercial Club of this city. In 1897 he was
married to Miss Louise Cole, and they have three
children, Constance Louise, Rosemary Ruth, and
Hildegarde.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE LUMBER INDUSTRY
L
UMBER manufacturing was the first
important business at the Falls of
St. Anthony and it was for many
years the leading industry. After a time it
took second place but for a generation Min
neapolis has remained the greatest single
lumber producing point in the world as well
as being the principal lumber market in the
northwest and the center of a very import
ant trade in forest products, building
materials and other closely allied articles
of commerce.
While the value of the flour product at
Minneapolis has exceeded that of lumber
for several decades the latter industry has
always been the greatest employer of labor,
and has been more conspicuous in the busi
ness life of the city. From the felling of
the timber in the pine woods to the mar
keting of the finished product it is a pictur
esque industry. In the nature of things it
occupies much space in and about the city;
in fact it is always in evidence.
A small amount of lumber was sawed in
the old government mill which was built
by the troops in 1821 but the real begin
nings of lumber manufacturing in Minne
sota were in 1839 when a saw mill was
built at Marine on the St. Croix river.
About the same time a saw mill was built
at St. Croix Falls, and in 1843 one was P11^
up at Stillwater. The industry had quite a
foothold on the St. Croix before any at
tempts were made to manufacture at Min
neapolis. But the Falls of St. Anthony
attracted the industry irresistibly. The
location was ideal for lumber manufacture.
Stretching away to the north, almost from
the falls themselves, extended the largest
body of pine timber to be found. in one
watershed on the continent. The greater
part of northern Minnesota was covered
with a magnificent growth of white pine
and nearly every log which was cut in a
large part of this region could be floated
directly to the falls through the Mississippi
and its tributaries. Nowhere in the east
had been found such a mighty logging
stream or better timber.
As to the market, west, southwest and
south lay the great treeless prairies which
must be supplied with lumber; so that the
floating of the logs to the power which was
to convert them into merchantable lumber
brought them that much nearer the con
sumer. The location was an almost per
fect conjunction of bountiful supply of raw
materials, easy transportation to the man
ufacturing point, abundant power and a
nearby and continually growing market
whose needs were imperative.
These were the conditions under which
the pioneer lumbermen of Minneapolis be
gan operations. Of course, in 1847 when
the first saw mill was built at the Falls of
St. Anthony there was little demand from
this locality for pine lumber, but the
demand developed rapidly. As to the out
side demand, there never was a time when
the products of the Minneapolis mills could
not be sold to fairly good advantage. At
first the lumber was rafted down the Mis
sissippi to Iowa and Illinois points, where
it was shipped into the interior as needed,
but with the advent of the railroad the
great bulk of the product went directly to
the south and southwest and later, to the
prairies of the Dakotas, directly west of
Minneapolis.
- THE FIRST SAW MILL.
Franklin Steele built the first mill at the
falls in 1847. Ard Godfrey, an experienced
millwright from Maine, put up the mill
and had an interest in it. It was a small
affair and had but two saws, which would
cut about 15,000 feet of lumber in a day
THE LUMBER INDUSTRY
and was first opened for sawing in the
spring of 1848. It stood at the east end
of a temporary dam on the East Side. This
mill was so profitable during the first sea
son that it was doubled in capacity in the
fall of 1848. In 1849 Arnold W. Taylor of
Boston acquired an interest in the first
mill and proceeded to erect more mills
along the dam, renting them to various per
sons ; and it was as tenants of these early
and rude mills that many of the men after
wards very prominent in developing the
lumber industry, made their start. S. W.
Farnham, Caleb D. Dorr, Charles Stimpson,
Loren Lovejoy and others were among
these early lumber operators.
A mill was built by Ard Godfrey at the
mouth of Minnehaha creek in 1853. After
a few years it was destroyed by fire, but
the ruins of the stone dam remain to the
present day. In 1854 George E. Huey
opened the first retail lumber yard in Min
neapolis.
The first saw mill on the west side in
the immediate vicinity of the falls, was that
of Pomeroy, Bates & Company, which was
put up in 1856, near the mouth of Bassett's
Creek. This mill was burned in 1859 and
was not rebuilt; for a mill without water
power was not much thought of in those
days.
At about this period definite work was
begun for the permanent improvement of
297
THE OLD WEST SIDE MILLS.
the water power. The St. Anthony Falls
Water Power Company and the Minneap
olis Mill Company were chartered in 1856,
the former controlling the east side, and
the latter the west side powers. New dams
were at once commenced and were com
pleted in 1857 and 1858. These dams joined
in mid-channel above the falls in the shape
of a letter A much as the present structure
does. The work was an enormous one for
a frontier village.
In 1858 the first saw mill on the . west
side dam—the Pioneer Mill—was com
menced by Gilpatrick & Hammons, but
Major J. B. Bassett bought it before com
pletion. This was a famous old saw mill.
It changed hands frequently and some of
the most prominent lumbermen of Minne
apolis have operated it in their day.
OLD TIME LUMBERMEN.
SWEET COLLECTION
SAW MILLS OF EARLY DAYS.
This view shows the old lumber chutes used before shipping
lumber by railroad became common.
The group of mills on the east side dam
grew until every foot of space was utilized
and the same conditions prevailed after a
few years on the west side. Associated
with the operation of the east side mills
previous to 1870 were the names of J. B.
Bassett, S. W. Farnham, Samuel Stanchfield, Captain John Martin, Butler &
Walker, W. E. Jones, Jonathan Chase,
Chute Bros., J. S. Pillsbury & Co., John
Rollins, J. Dean & Co., Leonard Day, Todd,
Gorton & Co., Tuttle & Lane, F. G. Mayo,
and Mayo & Clark. In the year 1870 the
whole row of mills and the old Steele dam
298
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
were burned. A new dam 300 feet below
the old one was at once commenced and five
mills were built to replace the burned struc
tures. These were owned by Levi Butler
& Co.; Todd, Connor, Gaines & Co.; Todd,
Haven, Leavitt & Co.; Levi Butler and
James McMullen & Co. Merriman, Bar
rows & Co. later controlled some of this
sawing capacity and was one of the lead
ing lumber firms of the city until 1891.
After the Pioneer Mill on the west side,
came mills owned by Leonard Day; W. E.
Jones; Ankeny, Robinson & Clement; D.
Morrison and W. D. Washburn. This last
mill, built in 1865, was called the Lincoln
and was Mr. Washburn's first enterprise
as a mill owner, although he had managed
the west side power for some years and
had dealt in logs and lumber.
All the space at the power dams was
now completely filled with saw mills. Fur
thest expansion of the industry at Minneap
olis meant the use of some other power;
and although steam was not supposed to
be. as economical as water power, it was
evident that it, must be utilized. One or
two small steam mills had been built, but
they had not been signally successful. But
there was a man doing business in Minne
apolis who had already surprised his busi
ness contemporaries. This was Joseph Dean,
who went into the lumber business in 1862
and startled the town by buying the entire
.block bounded by First and Second avenues
south and First and Second streets, at a
cost of $500 a lot, for use as a lumber yard.
At first J. Dean & Co. had logs sawed for
them in the east side mills, but in 1866 the
firm built the Pacific mill, at the foot of
First avenue .north. This was the largest
and best equipped mill yet built in Minneanolis. After ten years it was sold to
Camp & Walker. Its particular interest
m the history of the development of Minne
apolis lumbering is the fact that it was
the first to demonstrate the practicability
of sawing to advantage by steam power in
competition with water power and to show
the desirability of.the very best equipment.
It marked the beginning of the removal of
the saw-mill district from the Falls of St.
Anthony and a complete revolution in
methods of operating and handling. Other
changes were at hand. Previous to the
-war the market for Minneapolis lumber
was entirely along the Mississippi river.
The product of the mills was sluiced to
the still water below the falls and there
made up into rafts to be towed to down
river points where it was distributed into
the interior. But as railroads were built
west and south of Minneapolis the rafting
of lumber was discontinued and the pic
turesque old sluices were abandoned. This
change in shipping methods was of course
very gradual and fitted
in well with
the change of location and power already
referred to.
As has been said all the available space
011 the mill dams was occupied soon after
the war. The men who would enter lum
ber manufacturing thereafter must buy out
existing mills or build further up the river
and operate by steam power. In this way
the Moffit mill, later known as the Goodnow mill, was built at the "foot of Fifth
avenue north in 1871. Capt. John Rollins
about the same time built a mill at the foot
of Fourth avenue northeast which passed
through several ownerships and in later
years was best known as the Nelson mill.
MOVING FROM THE FALLS. '
"
There was little further building above
the falls for several years—in fact not until
the Minneapolis Mill Company, after 1876,
began to give notice that leases of powers
at the dams would not be renewed. This
forced the issue. At the same time the
growing inconvenience of hauling all lum
ber from the mills to distant yards by team
and the difficulty, as the city grew, of ob
taining yards at all within any reasonable
distance, was causing some of the mill own
ers to make new plans. And besides, the
mills at the falls were growing antiquated.
New inventions in saw milling machinery
were coming in. And to do the business
which was beginning to ofTer itself larger
individual mills were required. Still an
other difficulty was that of handling the
increased quantities of logs that were re
quired for a growing business in the lowei
reaches of the river near the crest of the
THE LUMBER INDUSTRY
falls. So all these, and perhaps some other
influences, working together induced a gen
eral movement to upper river points and
within ten years only one saw mill was left
at the falls. It was found that a part of the
mill refuse which had formerly been thrown
into the river could be burned and would
furnish enough power to operate the mill.
Land was secured stretching along the river
front for miles above the falls—land acces
sible to railroads and cheap enough and ex
tensive enough to provide abundant piling
facilities.
But while this change of location is
spoken of as a movement it should be ex-
299
a large amount of capital and a number of
individuals and firms who came from the
older lumbering regions. In many parts
of the lower peninsula of Michigan the
lands were fully cut over by 1885 and some
of the lumbermen came to Minneapolis as
the most favorable place at which to con
tinue business.
During this transition decade most of the
corporations which have been conspicuous
in the later greatness of the Minneapolis
lumber industry were organized, or reor
ganized from earlier firms and individual
interests. In 1880 the firm of Nelson, Tenney & Co. was formed by B. F. Nelson, W.
FROM THE SWEET COLLECTION
THE EAST SIDE MILLS AS THEY APPEARED ABOUT 18S0.*
plained that it was more accurately a move
ment of an industry than a movement of
individuals engaged in that industry. For,
rather strangely, few of the mill owners of
1876 who were then doing business at the
falls, followed the migration up the river.
Most of them, as their leases expired, or as
their mills burned, (as the East Side mills
did in 1887) abandoned the business of
manufacturing, either retiring or having
their logs sawed at other mills. The in
dustry grew up in its new environment
largely with new owners and new mills.
Another influence which had meant much
to Minneapolis lumbering was the influx,
early in the period under consideration, of
M. Tenney and Hugh McNair. In the fol
lowing year the firm purchased the Rollins
mill on the east side and the business until
lately conducted by the Nelson-Tuthill
company and the Nelson-Frey company has
developed from this beginning.
T. B. Walker had been interested in log
ging and lumbering since 1867. When he
formed the firm of Camp & Walker, in 1877,
he became for a time the- heaviest operator
in Minneapolis. In 1887 the Pacific mill,
owned by the firm for ten years, was torn
down and Mr. Walker 'discontinued manu*An excellent view of the old East Side saw mills as they
appeared about 1868 will be found on page 55. A view of the
old government mill will be found on page 28.
300
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
TIIE LUMBER EXCHANGE.
facturing in this city though carrying on
extensive operations in other parts of the
state.
Charles A. Bovey who came to Minne
apolis in the later sixties and had been the
managing member of the firm of Eastman,
Bovey & Company with mills at the east
side dam, was one of the few lumbermen
to continue business after the final de
struction of the east side mills. The com
pany was reorganized as the Bovey-DeLaittre Lumber Company, the machinery
of the Pacific mill was purchased and re
built into a modern plant at Thirty-ninth
avenue north.
The John Martin Lumber Company, or
ganized in 1875, did a very large business
until the burning of the mills in 1887 and
then discontinued operations.
The Hall & D u c e y
Lumber Company was
formed in 1866 and built
a large mill at the foot of
Fifth avenue north which
has been operated for
years by the Shevlin-Carpenter Company, succes
sors to the original cor
poration.
The firm of C. A. Smith
& Co. was formed in
1878, Ex-governor John
S. Pillsbury being the
"company" in the firm.
The great mill owned by
the firm at Shingle Creek
was not built until com
paratively recently. The
corporation is now the
C. A/ Smith L u m b e r
Company.
E. W. Backus & Co.
acquired in 1889 a mill
built by Beede & Bray
on the east side in 1882
operating it for several
years until it was burned
and then built a large
mill on the west side.
The firm was an exten
sive operator for years,
but recently sold the mill
to the Northland Pine
Company which now operates it for the
Weyerhauser interests.
The H. C. Akeley Lumber Company was
formed in 1889 and built a great mill at
Twenty-eighth avenue north which for a
while was the largest lumber producer in
the city. It is now operated by the Itasca
Lumber Company. The Carpenter-Lamb
Company built at Thirtieth avenue north
east.
Many smaller mills have been
built from time to time and several large
ones which were always occupied in sawing
lumber for the account of other owners
have not been mentioned. With the gradual
exhaustion of the timber supply they have
gone out of business one after another and
during the season of 1908 only five remained
in service. These were the mills of the C. A.
THE LUMBER INDUSTRY
Smith Lumber Company, the Bovey-DeLaittre Lumber Company, the CarpenterLamb Company, the Northland Pine Com
pany and the Itasca Lumber Company.
THE BOOM COMPANY.
The necessities of logging operations
caused the establishment of an institution
peculiar to the business very early in the
history of lumbering. Logging was at first
carried on in a very simple way. Logs
came from very short distances—mainly
301
organized in 1851 to handle all logs in the
river and separate them for the several
owners. A few years' trial showed that a
boom company was a good thing, but also
convinced the lumbermen of the futility of
two authorities of this kind, when one
might serve better. So in 1856 the Missis
sippi & Rum River Boom Company was
formed, with a capital of $15,000, and the
two older companies were absorbed. John
S. Prince was the first president, J. A. Lovejoy, secretary, and S. W. Farnham, treas-
A MODERN MINNEAPOLIS SAW MILL—PLANT OF THE C. A. SMITH LUMBER COMPANY.
out of the Rum river at first—and each op
erator hired his own men for the drive and
got his logs into the booms at Minneapolis
after his own fashion. But it soon became
plain that some more orderly way must be
devised. There were many disputes over
ownership of logs through the unavoidable
confusion in driving by so many, and the
expense was large. In order to bring the
whole subject under recognized supervi
sion the Mississippi River Boom Company
and the St. Anthony Boom Company were
urer. The boom company proved a great
success. It has continuously handled all
the logs in the river as far up as "boom lim
its" extend (and they now reach for many
miles), attending to the drive, holding back
when necessary, storing logs at convenient
points and finally delivering them to the
mills in Minneapolis in such quantities as
may be needed to allow continuous opera
tion during the season, and at the same time
prevent inconvenient surplus stocks in the
mill "pockets." All the mill owners are
302
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
represented in the boom company and have
a voice in its management. R. H. Chute
lias been for years its manager.
LUMBER OUTPUT.
From a trivial output as late as i860 the
product of the Minneapolis saw mills rap
idly increased, reaching 118,000,000 feet in
1870; 195,000,000 feet in 1880; 344,000,000
feet in 1890; and 595,000,000 feet in 1899.
By 1890 the production of Minneapolis
had exceeded that of other lumber making
points and the city stood first as a lumber
center in the world. The production "of
1899 was the high tide of the industry.
Since then the total cut has diminished and
will never again approach the half billion
mark.
The exact figures of the cut since 1890
are as follows:
Feet.
Feet.
1890
343,573,762
1899
594,373,000
1891
447,713,252
1900
501,522,000
1892
488,724,624
1901
559,914,055
1893
409,000,000
190 2
465,244,000
1894
491,256,000
1903
432,144,000
1895
479,102,000
1904
386,911,000
1896
307,179,000
190 5
362,166,000
1897
460,348,272
1906
297,112,811
1898
469,701,000
1907
214,182,932
For years past the lumber business of the
northwest has been centering in Minneap
olis. The product of scores of country mills
is now sold from Minneapolis, whether it
is actually shipped into or through the city
or not. Some mill owners whose properties
are located in various places in Minnesota,
Wisconsin, and elsewhere have their offices
in Minneapolis and live here; their lumber,
in many instances, may be shipped in an
opposite direction from this city, but the
business is done here. A conspicuous ex
ample of this branch of the business may
be found in the interests of M. J. Scanlon
of Minneapolis. Mr. Scanlon has never
owned a mill in Minneapolis but through
several corporations having mills in various
parts of the country controls ai\ immense
output of lumber and is one of the leading
lumbermen of the world. The product of
many other outside mills is handled through
Minneapolis branch offices or local jobbers
or brokers. Thus it can be seen that no
statement of receipts and shipments of
lumber into and from Minneapolis can fully
give an idea of the volume of trade con
trolled here, but, the following statement
covering the past twenty-five years will be
suggestive:
Receipts,
Feet.
Shipments,
Feet.
1880
20,400,000
167,840,000
1885
61,619,000
139,450,000
1890
117,510,000
300,495,000
Year.
1895.
81,150,000
364,635,000
1900
85,380,000
398,970,000
319,635,000
1905
157,890,000
1906
190,725,000
301,365,000
190 7
173,775,000
272,505,000
Jobbers of lumber in Minneapolis have
increased in number and volume of busi
ness very rapidly of late. Pacific coast
lumber manufacturers are more and more
establishing agencies or branches here. And
in addition the "line yard" business has
centered here as it developed to large pro
portions. This is the business controlled
by firms owning many individual country
lumber yards which they manage from a
central city office. By owning many they
are enabled to buy much cheaper in large
lots and to manage the business at a mini
mum expense. Minneapolis being the nat
ural market for the northwest, the business
has gradually centered here.
Pine has been the chief kind of lumber in
the Minneapolis market so long that other
woods have not had due attention. But
they are rapidly coming into prominence
as the white pine grows scarcer. The use
of hemlock, once despised of all lumber
men, is growing more common and south
ern yellow pine and all kinds of hardwoods
are sold more and more in this market. The
hardwood lumbermen form a large group
by themselves. Closely associated with
them is a group of men engaged in handling
a great variety of building materials. There
are also large dealers in railroad ties, staves,
hoop poles and a great variety of forest
products.
THE LUMBER INDUSTRY
303
Minneapolis is the headquarters for a
number of the great organizations of lum
bermen, notably of the Northern Pine Man
ufacturers' Association, the Northwestern
Lumbermen's Association, the Northwest
ern Hardwood Lumbermen's Association,
and the Northwestern Cedarmen's Associa
tion.
The production of lumber at Minneapolis
is approaching its end. Sawmills will be
in operation for some years, but the output
will be in diminishing quantity and must
eventually cease altogether unless the price
of lumber rises to such a point that logs
may be brought to Minneapolis by rail.
The city will continue to be a great lumber
market, however. Its position as the lum
ber center of the northwest will continue
unassailed for years to come.
BAILEY, William Crawford, was born on
July 22, 1836, at Milford, Maine. From both
branches of the family he is descended from old
New England stock, the great-grandfather having
been a lieutenant in the patriot army during the
War of the Revolution. He in turn, on his
paternal side, was descended directly from the
family of Thomas and Joseph Dudley, both gov
ernors of Massachusetts, his grandmother's maid
en name having been Catherine Dudley. Charles
bailey, father of William Crawford, was at vari
ous periods of his life, a tavern-keeper, farmer,
postmaster and country squire. He married
Mary Jane Ring and was in business at Milford
at the time of his son's birth. William Crawford
attended the district schools at that place and
studied at different periods at the Hampden
Academy and Bucksport Seminary in Maine.
When he left school he was employed for a time
in the tavern kept by his father, clerked in the
post office and worked on the farm. This work,
however, did not satisfy his aims, and he became
a school teacher, filling that position for several
terms until in 1864 he determined to enter the
logging business. For about sixteen years he.
was engaged in the Maine woods, in the logging
camps in the winter, on the log drive in the
spring, and with the disposal of his logs during
the remainder of the year. With the exception
of a short period when he was engaged in the
general merchandise business in Old Town.
Maine, and again when he was for a few months
interested in live-stock dealing he has been con
tinuously connected with the lumber industry.
In 1880 he came to Minneapolis and in February,
1881, commenced to deal in the general hardwood
WILLIAM 0. BAILEY.
lumber trade, and has been associated with that
business up to the present time, and has built up
an "extensive and prosperous trade. Shortly af
ter the outbreak of the Civil War, on July 31,
1862, Mr. Bailey enlisted with the Federal troops
at Bangor, Maine, and served as a second lieu
tenant, and before his term of service expired,
participated in the battles of Antietam and Fred
ericksburg. He is now a member of Chase Post,
No. 22, G. A. R., and is the senior vice comman
der. He also belongs to the St. Anthony CornCommercial Club. Mr. Bailey has been a stanch
supporter of the republican party since its organ
ization. Though he has never been an active
office-seeker he has held several public positions,
having been a member of the school board of his
native town and during his residence in Lewiston, Maine, one of the common council of that
city. He is a member of the Universalist church.
On May 28, 1880, Mr. Bailey was married to
Miss Phoebe Lee De Witt, and they have four
children, Mary De Witt, Katie Deering, Annie
Lucretia and George Crawford.
BOVEY, Charles A., of the Bovey-De Laittre
Lumber Company, has been with his partner,
John De Laittre, continuously in the lumber busi
ness in Minneapolis for a longer period than any
one else actively identified with the industry. Mr.
304
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Bovey is a native of Maine. He was born at
Bath, May 27, 1832, of English parents who came
to the United States in 1815. His early years
were spent at Bath receiving a common school
education, and the original Bovey homestead
where he passed his boyhood, as well as the
school house which he attended, are still stand
ing. While still a boy of fifteen, Mr. Bovey
visited St. John, New Brunswick—a visit which
led to his entering a large establishment engaged
in West India trade and the lumber business.
He was in active business there for about twenty
years. Articles on the possibilities of the west
written by Charles Cotton Coffin and others, soon
after the war, turned 'Mr. Bovey's attention in
this-direction and he came to Minneapolis in 1869.
He at once engaged in the lumber business in
partnership with the late W. W. Eastman and
John De Laittre under the firm name of Eastman,
Bovey & Company. This business has continued
without interruption to the present time. About
twenty years ago it was incorporated as the
Bovey-De Laittre Lumber Company. During the
earlier years the firm operated the "Pioneer" saw
mill at the Falls on the west side, continuing to
CHARLES A. BOVEY.
manufacture at that place until the property was
sold to the water power company. They then
bought what was known as the Butler mill on the
east side, operating it until it was burned about
twenty years ago, when they bought the present
site at Thirty-ninth avenue north where a mod
ern steam mill was erected, at which time the
present corporation was formed—including H.
W. De Laittre and Frank A. Bovey. During his
long business life in Minneapolis, Mr. Bovey has
taken an active part in the development of the
city and has had interests in various institutions
from time to time and has now a large interest
in the John C. Johnson Company, wholesale gro
cers. Soon after coming to Minneapolis he built
his home at Thirteenth street and Harmon place,
then described by his friends as being in the
outer limits of the city. To this home he brought
his family from New Brunswick. He had been
married in 1856 at Salem, Massachusetts, to a
daughter of Luke Brooks, a merchant of Boston.
They had six children who are all living—Frank
A., associated with his father in the Bovey-De
Laittre Lumber Company. Charles Cranston and
William H., both connected with the WashburnCrosby Company; John Alden of the Bovey-Shute
Lumber Company; and two daughters.
Mrs.
Bovey died November 15, 1906. The family has
attended Plymouth Congregational Church since
1870. In political affiliations Mr. Bovey is a re
publican, though independent in his views, and
especially in local elections makes it a point to
vote for the best man. He is especially inter
ested in good municipal government and in the
maintenance of good schools and worthy charit
able institutions.
BROWN, Henry Francis, one of the pioneer
citizens of Minneapolis, is a native of Maine. He
was born on his father's farm near Baldwin,
Maine, on October 10, 1843. His father, Cyrus S.
Brown, was a weil-to-do farmer and both he and
his wife, Mary Burnham, represented old and
prominent families in that part of the state. Their
son Henry, who was one of the family of ten
children, was educated at the common schools at
Fryeburg and Limerick academies, but when sev
enteen years old, came to Minneapolis in 1859,
where he at once entered the lumbering business.
For a few years he had a hard time to get a foot
ing and even engaged in farming and school
teaching to aid in securing money to invest in
lumbering, but after a short time he became one
of the most prominent lumbermen of the north
west. During his long business career in Minne
apolis, he has taken an active part in the financial
and manufacturing industries of the city. He has
large interests in flour milling, was at one time,
president of the Union National bank, a director
in the North American Telegraph company as
well as in the Minneapolis Trust company and the
Minneapolis Street Railway company. Mr. Brown
has always been deeply interested in the breeding
of fine cattle and for many years has maintained
THE LUMBER INDUSTRY
305
an extensive stock farm at Browndale, near Min
neapolis. He has become one of the most promi
nent breeders of short-horns in the country, took
the sweepstake prize at the world's fair in Chi
cago in 1893, and for years has had the first prize
for short-horns at all state fairs at his command
whenever he chose to exhibit. In connection with
his interests in stock breeding, Mr. Brown has
been very influential in the agricultural interests
of the state. Mr. Brown was married in 1865 t °
Susan H. Fairfield in Maine. Mrs. Brown was a
member of the world's fair commission for the
state of Minnesota and took an active part in the
management of the women's department at that
great exposition.
CHUTE, Richard Henry, treasurer of the
Mississippi & Rum River Boom Company, has
engaged in the lumber business in several states
and for the last fourteen years has been identi
fied with that industry in Minnesota. He is a
native of Massachusetts, born at Woburn on
March 14, 1843, the son of Reverend A. P. Chute
and Sarah M. Chute. His father was born in
Massachusetts and was educated in the eastern
states for the ministry, serving as a Congrega
tional minister and occupying his pulpit for many
years. The mother of Mr. Chute was born in
Maine, her name before marriage being Sarah
M. Chandler. Mr. Chute was educated in Massa
chusetts. He attended the public schools at vari
ous places, as the calls of his father's work made
it necessary for the family to occasionally move
from one locality to another. When he was
nineteen years of age the call came for troops for
the Civil war, and in August, 1862, he enlisted
in the Thirty-fifth regiment of Massachusetts
Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of
the war, receiving several promotions during his
term of service. He was transferred from the
Thirty-fifth Regiment to the Fifty-ninth and held
a captain's commission in the latter at the close
of fighting in 1865. After being mustered out
Mr. Chute moved from Massachusetts to St.
Louis, Missouri, where he was variously engaged
during the next four years and then entered the
industry with which he has been so closely
identified for almost forty years. From 1869 un
til 1875 he was in the lumber business at St.
Louis. He then moved to Wisconsin, where he
acquired lumber interests at Eau Claire. .Mr.
Chute remained in Wisconsin about eighteen
years, building up a large business, but in 1893
transferred his residence and business headquar
ters to Minneapolis, where the company he rep
resents is one of the principal log handling con
cerns. At the present time he is the treasurer
of the Mississippi & Rum River Boom Company
which handles the logs en route from the upper
waters of the Mississippi and Rum Rivers to the
various saw mills located at Minneapolis as well
as those which pass over the Falls to the mills
below the Twin Cities. The Northland Pine
Company is another of the firms in which Mr
HENRY F . BROWN
Chute has holdings and of which he is the gen
eral manager. Mr. Chute also holds among
other positions the offices, of secretary and treas
urer of the St. Paul Boom Company and similar
positions with the Northern Boom Company.
He gives his personal attention to the manage
ment of these several companies. Mr. Chute
has never been an enthusiastic political worker
but takes an interest in public movements for
good government and municipal improvement.
He was also a promoter of the temperance cause
while in Wisconsin. Mr. Chute is a member of
the Grand Army, belonging to Eagle Post, of
Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He attends the Lowry
Hill Congregational Church. On November 6.
1867, he was married to Miss Susan R. Nelson of
Georgetown, Massachusetts, and they have had
five children, three of whom are now living
Arthur L., the oldest son is a practicing surgeon
in Boston; the younger, Robert W., is a teller
in the Security National Bank of this city. There
is one daughter, Rebecca, who lives with her
parents at their home in Minneapolis.
CLARKE, Hovey C., was born at Flint, Michi
gan, May 7, 1859, son of George T. Clarke, who
was a civil engineer. Mr. Clarke received his
early educational training at Flint, and was a
member of the class of 1879 at Ann Arbor Uni
versity, Michigan, but did not graduate with the
306
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
class because h e entered business life before the
expiration of the term. F r o m 1876 t o 1886 he
was with the Chicago and West-Michigan Rail
way Company, and in the latter year was one of
the incorporators of the Hall & Ducey Lumber
Company which was succeeded by the ShevlinCarpenter Company, of which Mr. Clarke is treas
urer. H e is secretary and treasurer of the Crookston Lumber Company and of the St. Hilaire
Lumber Company; vice-president of the J . Neils
Lumber Company, and of the Shevlin-Clarke.
Timber Company; treasurer of the Lillooet L u m
ber Company, of the Land, L o g & Lumber Com
pany, and of T h e Shevlin-Mathieu Lumber Com
pany; director of the First National Bank of Min
neapolis and of the First National Bank of Crookston, Minneapolis, also a trustee of t h e N o r t h
western Mutual Life Insurance Company of Mil
waukee. Mr. Clarke was foreman of the grand
jury of Hennepin county in 1903, (which handled
the famous Ames scandal). H e - i s an honorary
member of J o h n Rawlins Post, G. A. R., and a
member of t h e Minneapolis, the Minikahda, the
Lafayette, and the T o w n and Country Clubs; and
is also a member of the Spokane, ( W a s h i n g t o n )
Club the Spokane T o w n and Country Club, and of
the S a n t a Barbara, (California) T o w n and Coun
t r y Club. H e is president of the Lafayette Club,
and a governor of the Minneapolis Club. Mr.
Clarke is a member of St. Mark's Episcopal
Church. H e was married in 1886 t o Maggie L.
Rice of Detroit, Michigan! Mr. Clarke's business
connections place him-distinctly a m o n g the lead
ing men of affairs in Minneapolis and a positive
factor in the forces of the forward movement of
the community.
.
_ .
DAY, Eugene H., engaged in the lumber busi
ness in this city, has been, with the exception of
a few years spent a t school in the east, a resident
of Minneapolis during the forty years of his life.
A m o n g t h e early territorial pioneers of Minne
sota was J o h n W . Day, w h o engaged in the log
ging and lumber business i n t h e pine forests"
which have played s o g r e a t a p a r t in the rapid
and substantial development of this section. H e
was closely connected with the early life of t h e
state, and underwent with the other settlers the
perils of the well-remembered Indian uprising"
and the other hardships of building a new country.
J o h n W . D a y was the father of E u g e n e H . H e
was married t o Lavinia Gray, and their son was
born on May 26, 1867, a t Minneapolis. Mr. D a y is
a graduate of the Minneapolis public schools,
where he began his education, which was later
continued in Phillips Academy, a t Andover, Mas
sachusetts. H e completed t h e course a t Andover
and returning t o Minneapolis entered the law de
partment of the University of Minnesota. T h e r e
he was engaged with legal studies until 1891, in
which year he graduated with the degree of L L . B.
Mr. Day, however, has never practiced his profes
sion b u t has used his legal training only in the
condact of his private affairs. I n speaking of his
business life Mr. D a y says that it has been un
eventful, but this does not mean lacking either in
energetic effort o r the success which accompanies
such endeavor. H e has been almost continuous
ly in the lumber business. Shortly after leaving
college he entered t h e employ of J . W . D a y &
Company, lumber dealers, the firm
which his
father had organized and of which he was the
head. H e remained with the firm f o r some time,
resigning his office t o enter the fire insurance
business with Messrs. March and Fletcher under
the name of Fletcher, March & Company. H e
withdrew from the organization in 1903 t o estab
lish the E . H . D a y Lumber Company, of which
he is the owner and manager, with headquarters
and yards in this city. A general retail lumber
business is carried on and the company, though
s o recently organized, is doing a heavy business
in and around Minneapolis. Mr. Day takes more
than a passing interest in t h e movements tending
toward the municipal and material progress of
the city and is a member of t h a t large factor
in the majority of such measures—the Minne
apolis Commercial Club. O n J u n e 24, 1896, he
was married t o Miss Mabel Conkey.
D U L A N Y , George William, Jr., was born at
F o r t Scott, Kansas, on July 11, 1877, the s o n of
George W . Dulany, Sr. T h e members of the
family for three generations have been lumber
men in the Mississippi valley, for fifty years his
grandfather, father and uncles having been well
known a m o n g the timber operations of that sec
tion. George William, Jr., resided in Hannibal.
Missouri, during his boyhood and in the public
schools of t h a t town began his education. At
intervals his studies were suspended that he
might spend his time in travel and he has been
over a considerable part of t h e country, thus add
ing an excellent general knowledge t o that of his
text books. H e entered Phillips Academy at
Andover, Massachusetts, and graduated with the
class of 1895 and following this.preparatory work
matriculated a t Yale University with the class of
1898. H e continued his studies a t that institution
for three years and a t the completion of his course
received his diploma with a degree of P h . B. in
1898. H e determined to engage in the civil en
gineering profession and studied with t h a t end in
view. T h e lumbering industry, however, in
which a number of the members of his family
were engaged, offered splendid opportunities for
a successful business career and Mr. Dulany be
came an officer in one of these concerns and has
been continuously connected with some one of
the various companies in which the Dulanys are
interested. A t the present time he holds the of
fices of vice president and treasurer of the Eclipse
Lumber Company, which has its headquarters in
this city and operates a n extensive line of retail
lumber and coal yards throughout the states of
Minnesota and Iowa. A t the outbreak of t h e
Spanish-American W a r soon after h e had left
college, Mr. Dulany enlisted in the United States
SWEET, PHOTO
308
A HALF CENTURY O f MINNEAPOLIS
Navy as a seaman, and at the close of hostilities
was discharged as a second class quartermaster.
Since moving to Minneapolis Mr. Dulany has.
been connected with the National Guard of Min
nesota as a second lieutenant in Battery B, First
Artillery. In recognition of his energy and abil
ity he was made a member of the executive com
mittee in charge of the fortieth annual National
Encampment of the G. A. R. in this city during
August, 1906, one of the most successful reunions
in every way that the organization of veterans
has ever attended. Mr. Dulany is identified with
the social life of the city and is well known in
club circles, being a member of the Minikahda
Club, the Lafayette Club, the Commercial Club,
Roosevelt Club, the Chicago Athletic Association,
the Sons of the American Revolution and the
Chi Phi fraternity. In 1901 he was married to
Miss Katherine R. McDonald, of Evanston, Illi
nois, and they have one son,, George William
Dulany III, who with his great-grandfather, Wm.
H. Dulany, eighty-nine years of age, makes four
generations of the family now living.
GERHARD, Franklin C., son of Dr. Mathias
and Harriet Gerhard, was born March 1, 1852, at
Delaware, Ohio, where he lived twenty-nine years.
Later he spent several years in the drug business
in Ohio and at various points in Illinois, coming
to Minneapolis in 1881, where he entered upon
the strong and successful activities of his maturer
life, first with the Pray Manufacturing Company
and later in association with Major J. B. Bassett.
His attention was early directed to the alluring
opportunities of the lumber business, which, de
structive in its remorseless appetite for standing
pine, taking a dozen billion feet from the upper
Mississippi region alone up to 1900, is neverthe
less an opener of wildernesses and a promoter
of towns and cities and transportation and settle
ment and development generally. Mr. Gerhard's
relations to the lumber trade are accentuated by
his official positions of treasurer and manager of
the Itasca Lumber Company; secretary and treas
urer of the Deer River Lumber Company; general
manager of the Minneapolis and Rainy River
Railway Company. The Itasca Lumber Company
was organized in 1883 by R. W. Turnbull, R. B.
Barker, of Chicago, and David Joyce, of Clinton,
Iowa; W. T. Joyce, of Chicago, being president,
H. C. Akeley of Minneapolis, vice president;
Thomas Hume of Muskegan, Michigan, secretary.
The Rainy River Railway is one of those enter
prises which open up regions for human settle
ment and Mr. Gerhard's pushing and progressive
tendencies back of it suggest abundant and fruit
ful results. His residence of a quarter of a cen
tury in Minneapolis has shown him to be the
kind of citizen needed. Mr. Gerhard is a republi
can in politics. He is a member of the Minneap
olis Club and a member of the Episcopal church.
He was married on June 8, 1875, i n Columbus,
Ohio, to Mary Louise Downer, of Vermont. They
have two children, Mrs. Franklin F. Andrews, and
Mrs. William R. Wallace.
JOHNSON, Charles J., son of John and Johana (Peterson) Johnson, was born September
12, 1849, at Hofmantorp, Sweden. His father
was a farmer and Charles J. passed his early life
on the farm and attended the public schools until
he was fourteen years of age, when he com
menced work on his father's farm and in a small
water power saw-mill jointly owned by his father
and neighboring farmers, which stood on his
father's land. While employed in this mill Mr.
Johnson received his first training in the lumber
ing and saw-milling business. In June, 1869,
he came to Red Wing, Minnesota, and the fol
lowing year moved to Minneapolis, where he
was immediately employed in the lumber yard
of Dean & Company. He wished to continue his
education and for two years he attended the
public schools and then entered the University
of Minnesota and studied for a year. He con
tinued to work in Minneapolis until 1879 when
he moved to Evansville, Minnesota, and there
started a retail lumber business in connection
with C. A. Smith of the C. A. Smith Lumber
Company of this city. In 1884 Mr. Johnson
returned to Minneapolis and became a member
of the C. A. Smith Lumber Company and is still
connected with that concern. He now holds the
offices of vice president of the C. A. Smith Lum
ber Company, the C. A. Smith Timber Company
and the Northwestern Compo Board Company.
Among his other business interests, Mr. John
son is a director of the Swedish American Na
tional Bank, of which he was one of the original
organizers. In politics he is a republican and is
active in the work of that party. For six years
he was on the park board ; of this city and while
in Evansville was for two years president of the
village board. He is a member of the Odin Club.
In 1861, Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Mary
L. Kraft, of Minneapolis, and they have three
sons, Victor, Guy and Ansel, aged respectively
twenty-four., twenty-one and nineteen years.
McKNIGHT, Sumner T., was born April 2,
1836, at Truxton, New York. His earlier years
were spent in Truxton and in Homer, New York,
where he attended the common schools. When
he was twenty years old he entered the lumber
business at Wausau, Marathon county, Wiscon
sin, and subsequently established the firm of S.
T. McKnight & Co., at Hannibal, Missouri. In
1871 the Northwestern Lumber Company was in
corporated in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Of this he
was treasurer from 1871 to 1898, and president
from 1898 until 1902, and president of the Missis
sippi Valley Lumbermen's Association in 1901 to
1903. He was vice president of the Flour City
National Bank from 1895 to 1901, when he be
came a director of the Security Bank. At the
f . .
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310
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
JOHN
MARTIN.
time of his death he was president of the S. T.
McKnight Company. Comparatively few men had
such broad, practical, inclusive and extensive ex
perience in the lumber business as had„Mr. Mc
Knight. It was his fortune to be engaged in the
trade during the time of its greatest importance in
the northwest. He was a large factor in the de-velopment of the white pine lumber industry; and
saw it rise to the highest point and then .begin
the decline which was inevitable. During the
later years of his life he made, large investments
in Minneapolis real estate and- was regarded as
one of the most sagacious and conservative busi
ness men in the city. Mr. McKnight was mar
ried to Eugenia M. Manville at Ripon, Wisconsin,
September 30, 1868, and to them three children
were born, Mrs. Harriet Crosby, Mrs. Carolyn
Christian and a son, Sumner T., Jr. Mr. Mc
Knight died on August 3, 1908, at the age of
seventy-two years.
MARTIN, John, for many years a leading
lumberman and prominent business man of Min
neapolis, was born at Peacham, Caledonia coun
ty, Vermont, on August 18, 1820. His father,
Eliphalet Martin and his mother, Martha Hoyt
Martin, migrated to Peacham from Woodbury,
Conneticut. Their son, John, was one of a family of
ten children and he shared the rugged life of the
New England farm during his boyhood, attending
school for a few weeks each winter and working
during the rest of the year on the home farm.
At the age of nineteen he left home and com
menced steamboating on the Connecticut River.
Ten years of steamboating brought him to the
gold excitement of 1849 and he went to California
by Panama and after a year returned to Vermont
with considerable accumulation as a result of his
^ear in the west. He then determined to leave
Vermont for good and settled in the village of
St. Anthony in 1855. His- experience in steam
boating was at once utilized by the people of the
village who were organizing a company to oper
ate boats on the lower river. He became a stock
holder and subsequently captain of one of the
steamers, but he had become interested in the
lumbering trade and soon turned his attention to
the purchase of pine lands and logging and saw
ing lumber.
This business developed very
rapidly and was finally incorporated as the John
Martin Lumber Company. Early in his business
career he engaged in flour-milling and upon the
organization of the Northwestern Consolidated
Milling Company became its president. It was
then the second largest flour manufacturing busi
ness in the city. Captain Martin also took a
prominent part in the financial life of the city
and was a director and officer of the First Na
tional Bank of Minneapolis from its organiza
tion in 1864 until the time of his death. He was
a director and vice-president of the Minneapolis
& St. Louis road and sustained the same relation
towards the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste.
Marie Railway. Captain Martin was married in
1849 to Miss Jane D. Gilfillan of Peacham, Ver
mont, who died in 1886. They had but one
daughter, Mrs. Jean Martin Brown.
Captain Martin and his family were for many
years prominent members of the First Congre
gational Church. Although taking little personal
part in politics, Captain Martin was a life long
republican and a most public spirited citizen.
MORRISON,. Dorilus, was born of Scottish
ancestry in Livermore, Oxford county, Maine,
December 27, 1814. He was early engaged in the
.business of outfitting lumbermen at Bangor and,
when he came to Minnesota in 1854 and located
at St. Anthony he was duly impressed with the
advantages of the state for lumbering. He took
a contract to supply the mills located on the
water power on the east side of the Mississippi
with logs, and, employing crews of loggers, he
operated on Rum river the next winter and de
livered the logs in the booms in the spring. This
business he continued for some years and after
the Minneapolis Mill Company's dam was built
he put up a saw mill and opened a lumber yard
and went extensively into the lumber business,
cutting the logs in the woods and manufacturing
the lumber. Through his indefatigable work the
property of the Minneapolis Mill Company was
thoroughly developed and the canal was soon
lined with mills and factories and received the
\
V!'
312
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
care and guidance of Mr. Morrison until the
property was sold to an English syndicate. Mr.
Morrison was chosen in 1856 the first president
and was afterward for some years a director of
the Union Board of Trade, which was designed
to stimulate the business interest of St. Anthony
and the nascent town of Minneapolis. His in
fluence was strongty felt in this connection. In
1857 he assisted in the organization of a New
England society composed of settlers from that
section. When the subject of the Five Million
Railroad Loan Bill was in agitation, Mr. Morri
son strongly opposed the proposition to loan the
credit of the state to certain chartered impecuni
ous railway companies to the extent of $5,000,000.
In 1864 and 1865, Mr. Morrison served in the
legislature with such men as Hon. John S. Pillsbury, Hon. Cyrus Aldrich and Judge F. R. E.
Cornell. In 1867, on the incorporation of Min
neapolis, Mr. Morrison was chosen the first
mayor of that city. He was again elected in
1869 and proved himself a thorough business
mayor. He was always a republican, though not
a partisan. He was. a member of the first com
pany organized to construct the first section of
the Northern Pacific Railway associated with
Messrs. Brackett, King, Eastman, Washburn and
Shepherd, of Minneapolis; Merriam, of St. Paul;
Payson and Canda, of Chicago; Balch, of New
Hampshire, and Ross and Robinson, of Canada.
The first section included 240 miles of the line
and was completed in 1872. Mr. Morrison was
made one of the directors of the Northern Pacific
which position he held until the re-organization
of the road after the failure of Jay Cooke. In
1873 Mr. Morrison was again on the board of
construction which built the second section of
the Northern Pacific, from the Red river to the
Missouri. There being no money to pay for the
work, Mr. Morrison assumed the shares of his
associates and cancelled the indebtedness and re
ceived from the company a large trac^ of pine
lands in Northern Minnesota, which subsequent
ly proved very profitable to him. During his
long business career in Minneapolis, Mr. Morrison
was identified with a large number of manufactur
ing enterprises and financial institutions. One
with which his name was most prominently as
sociated was the Minneapolis Harvester Works,
which he assisted in organizing, more as a matter
of public interest than of personal profit. When
this concern at one time seemed likely to fail,
Mr. Morrison assumed the interest of the stock
holders who desired to withdraw, gave the busi
ness his personal attention and built it up to a
position of success and made it a most valuable
industry to the city. With his many business
engagements, Mr. Morrison found time to serve
the city in many ways. Twice he served upon the
school board and for one term was its president.
He was a very prominent and influential member
of the first board of park commissioners. He was
also deeply interested in the Athenaeum and in
'promoting plans for the Minneapolis Public Li
brary. Mr. Morrison was married in 1840, in
Liverpool, to Miss H. P. Whittemore, who went
with him to Minnesota. She died in 1881 in
Austria and was the mother of three children—
George H., Clinton and Grace. George H. Mor
rison died many years ago. His second wife was
Mrs. A. C. Clagstone, a woman of culture and
refinement. Mr. Morrison was a member of the
Universalist Church of the Redeemer.
MERRIMAN, Orlando Crosby, was born July
27,1827, at Somerville, St. Lawrence county, New
York. He was the son of Orramel and Amanda
Merriman. Mr. Merriman was born and brought
up on a farm. He received his early education
in the district school. In 1845 he entered the
Gouverneur Wesleyan Seminary, the leading
school of the kind in northern New York, attend
ing the spring and fall terms for four years and
working on the farm in the summer and teach
ing school in the winter. At the age of twenty*
three he began the study of law in the office of
Charles Anthony at Gouverneur. After his ad
mission to the bar in 1854 he moved to Janesville, Wisconsin. Soon after he moved to Jef
ferson, where he formed a partnership in the
practice of law with Lieutenant Governor John
E. Holmes, In 1859 he moved to St. Anthony,
Minnesota, where he continued the practice of
law. When the Civil War broke out he was
ORLANDO C. MERRIMAN.
THE LUMBER INDUSTRY
mayor of St. Anthony. In 1862 he was re-elected
and in that same year he organized a company
and was chosen captain. The company was
merged in the Sixth Minnesota Volunteers. He
served with this company on the frontier dur
ing the Sioux uprising of 1862, participating in
several battles with the Indians, notably Birch
Cooley and Wood Lake. In June, 1864, Mr.
Merriman, on account of ill health, was forced
to resign his commission and return to St. An
thony where he resumed the practice of law,
forming a partnership with William Lochren,
which partnership lasted until 1867 when Mr.
Merriman was elected treasurer and general man
ager of the Mississippi and Rum River Boom
Company. In 1866 he was again elected mayor
of St. Anthony. In 1870 he entered the general
lumber business. His firm, L. Butler & Company
and later Merriman, Barrows & Company, was
one of the leading lumber companies at St. An
thony Falls until 1891. After the consolidation
of St. Anthony and Minneapolis, Mr. Merriman
was elected in 1875 mayor of Minneapolis. He
was for a number of years a member of the board
of education of St. Anthony. In 1864, he was
appointed regent of the state university and
together with John S. Pillsbury and John Nichols
placed the university on a foundation which will
endure for all time. He served for a long time
as director of the Northwestern National Bank
and also as director of the Commercial Bank of
Minneapolis. He also served for a number of
years as member of the Board of Managers of
the Minnesota State Reformatory and a member
of the board of the Industrial Exposition of
Minneapolis. He was a member of Darius Commandary and of the Loyal Legion. Mr. Merriman
contributed much towards founding the First
Unitarian Church of Minneapolis and was a trus
tee of that church for a number of years from
its foundation in 1881. In 1897 he w a s appointed
Referee in Bankruptcy, which position he held
down to the time of his death.
Mr. Merriman was married in. 1854 t o Miss
Rosannah Herring. To them were born seven
children, of whom three have died. Those living
are Orlando Crosby Jr., John Herring, Frances
Frederika (Mrs. F. G. James) and Harry. Mr.
Merriman died August 2, 1906.
Mr. Merriman was indeed one of the makers
of Minneapolis and was held in universal esteem
by those who knew him during his long life in
the city. An expression of this esteem was well
voiced in a resolution adopted by the city council
of Minneapolis on August 10th, 1906, immediately
after his death.
PETTIT, Curtis Hussey (C. H. Pettit), a
pioneer of Minneapolis who has been prominently
identified with the business, social and political
life of the city for the last half century, was
born in Ohio, at Hanover, Columbiana county,
September 18, 1833. He was the son of Joseph
313
C U R T I S II.
I'ETTIT.
and Hannah G. (Hussey) Pettit. To give their
children the best education possible was the
strong desire of his parents, and though a farm
er's boy he had the somewhat unusual chances,
for those days, of a course at Oberlin, after some
time spent at a Quaker school at Mt. Pleasant,
Ohio. After leaving college Mr. Pettit entered
business in Cleveland for a short time going from
Cleveland to Pittsburgh where he remained about
four years returning to Cleveland for a few
months. At the age of twenty-two he came to
Minneapolis, in 1855, where he at once established
himself in the banking business, maintaining at
the same time a real estate and land office. In
i860 he disposed of his banking interests and
engaged in the hardware trade until the autumn
of 1866 when he went into the lumber business
for a time, operating one of the saw mills at the
falls under the firm name of Ankeny-Robinson
& Pettit. Later he went into flour milling and
in connection with other parties erected the
Pettit mill which was operated by the firm of
Pettit, Robinson & Company. This mill was
destroyed in the mill explosion of 1878 but was
immediately rebuilt and Mr. Pettit continued to
h:.ve an interest in it until it became the property
314
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
and graduated from that institution. Mr. Rogers
of the Northwestern Consolidated Milling Com
did not take up a professional training, but en
pany in 1891. The mill was then dismantled and
tered at once upon an active business career, and
converted into an elevator. Mr. Pettit has long
a short time after leaving college came to Min
since retired from active executive work in busi
neapolis to accept a position with the C. A.
ness, finding his time fully occupied in looking
Smith Lumber Company. That was about ten
after his extensive interests. From the first
years ago, and Mr. Rogers was associated with
Mr. Pettit took an active part in public affairs
that firm in various capacities and for the last
of Minneapolis. He was a member, of the sec
three years as its secretary, until with his
ond city council elected in 1859 and, always an
brothers A. R. Rogers and John J. Rogers, he
active republican, was for many years a member
established the Rogers Lumber Company. Of
of the county, congressional, and state central
this organization A. R. Rogers is president,
committees of his party and at different times was
George H. Rogers vice president, and John J.
chairman of each. He was a member of the
Rogers, secretary and treasurer. Their head
Minnesota State Senate for the sessions of 1866,
quarters are in Minneapolis. Besides his official
1868, 1869, 1870 and 1871, and of the House of
position Mr. Rogers is one of the heads of the
Representatives for the sessions of 1874, 1875,
active management of the concern. In politics
1876 and 1887. The Minneapolis Patrol Law
Mr. Rogers is a republican but is not an active up to 1887 had been in force only as a city or
party worker. He is well known in the social
dinance which could be amended or repealed at
and club circles of the city and is a member of
any time by the city council. During the legisla
the more important clubs—the Minneapolis
tive session of that year Mr. Pettit introduced
Club, the Minikahda Club, the Minneapolis Ath
a bill which became a law defining the limits of
letic Club, and the Rainier Club of Seattle. Mr.
and making operative the Patrol Law by act of
Rogers attends the Presbyterian Church. He is
the Legislature thus taking the matter out of
not married.
the control of the council and making the patrol
limits practically a permanent policy of the city
SCANLON, M. J., was born August 24,
government. This law has been and is one of
1861, in Juneau county, Wisconsin, seven miles
the very best devices ever made use of for con
from Lyndon. Like other lads who were raised
trolling the liquor traffic in cities. During the
same session Mr. Pettit prepared/ introduced and - o n a farm; he early-knew the meaning of work
and the constant labors necessary to win a
secured the passage of th'e law under which the
living. During the winter months when little
present Hennepin County Court House and Min
work was done on the farm, he attended the
neapolis City Hall has been erected. He was
district school and later graduated from the
appointed a member of the board of managers
high school at Mauston, a neighboring village.
of the State Reform School, now the State Train
He taught school for several years during the
ing School for Boys and Girls, by Governor
winter months and entered the Madison Univer
William R. Marshall in March, 1869, which posi
sity in 1881. He took up the study of law at
tion he held, with the exception of a few months
the University but did not like legal work so
in 1897, continuously -for. about thirty-two years
in 1884 went to Omaha, Nebraska. Making his
and until the board was, (as were other boards
home with an aunt, he took a course in a busi
of the state institutions) by an act of the legisla
ness college and after completing it. he entered
ture, superseded in August, 1901,-by a State Board
the employ of the Nebraska Lumber Co., as
of Control. During the last twelve years of his
bookkeeper.
Mr. Scanlon remained with the
term he was president of this board to which
firm and its successors for four years, advancing
postion he was first appointed by Gov. A: R. Mcthrough the different departments until he had
Gill in January, 1887. -He'was married on June
charge of the sales and credits and occasionally
2, 1857, to Deborah M. Williams, and has had
making purchasing trips to the leading markets
five children, of whom four .died. His young
of the north and south. In March, 1889, he re
est daughter, Bessie Tabitha, is the wife of
signed and went to Minneapolis as secretary of
George P. Douglas, and has three children. The
the C. H. Ruddock Lumber Co. in charge of its
family is Presbyterian.
sales and credits. In the fall of 1890 it decided
to close up its Minneapolis business and pur
ROGERS, George Henry, one of the younger
chased a large tract of cypress timber in the
lumbermen of Minneapolis, and the vice president
vicinity of New Orleans. They organized the
of the Rogers Lumber Company, was born on
Ruddock Cypress Co. and Mr. Scanlon being
March 5, 1873, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His
secretary of the company, moved south to take
parents were Alexander H. and Martha M. Rog
charge of its sales and credits. The climate of
ers of that city. Alexander H. Rogers, the
Louisiana did not agree with his wife's health so
father, was a railroad man. George Henry at
his holdings in the Ruddock Company were dis
tended the public schools of Milwaukee, gradu
posed of and he returned to Minneapolis in
ating from the high school. Having completed
March, 1892. On his return to the north, he or
his preparatory education he matriculated at the
ganized the firm of Scanlon-Gipson & Co. which
University of Wisconsin for his college work
SWEET, PHOTO
316
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
did a jobbing business, buying stocks in Minne
sota and Wisconsin and selling to the trade.
The Scanlon-Gipson Lumber Co. was organized
about January ist, 1895, by Messrs. Scanlon,
Gipson and L. R., D. F. and A. S. Brooks. The
company did a very heavy business from the
start and in the spring cf 1896 purchased the
business of H. F. Brown of Minneapolis. This
gave the company a central wholesale yard
which did an annual business of 60 million feet.
In 1898 a double band mill was erected at Cass
Lake, Minnesota, and has produced 40 million feet
annually ever since. In 1899 Mr. Scanlon visit
ed the Pacific coast and purchased a large tract
of yellow pine timber in eastern Oregon, organ
izing for that purpose the Brooks-Robertson
Lumber Co. This concern owns upwards of
one billion feet of timber and Mr. Scanlon is
its president. The Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Co.
was organized in 1901 with a capital of $1,750,000 and built an immense five band and gang
mill at Scanlon, Minnesota. This plant has a
daily capacity of 600,000 feet and is probably one
of the finest saw-mills in the world. Mr. Scan
lon is vice president of this concern and is also
vice president of the Minnesota & North Wis
consin R. R. Co., which was built in 1897 to
haul logs to its saw-mill at Nickerson, Minne
sota, and later extended to haul logs to the
Scanlon plant. The road is standard gauge, well
built and splendidly equipped and does a large
general freight business. Mr. Scanlon is presi
dent of the Brooks Timber Company which is
the owner of valuable timber held for the dif
ferent northern plants in which he is interested.
In 1906 Messrs. Brooks Bros. & Scanlon pur
chased about 90,000 acres of timber in Louisiana,
estimated to cut over one billion feet of timber.
They organized the Brooks-Scanlon Company
of which Mr. Scanlon is president, also the
Kentwood & Eastern Ry. of which he is vice
president. The company operates two modern
saw-mills at Kentwood, Louisiana, and does a
large commercial business over its forty-five
miles of railroad, known as the Kentwood &
Eastern Ry. Co. Mr. Scanlon and his associates
are interested in the Bahamas Timber Co. Ltd.
and are now engaged in the construction of a
large saw-mill on Abaco Island. They are also
heavily interested in 110,000 acres of Florida
timber known as the Central Florida Lumber
Company of which Mr. Scanlon is president.
For a young man, Mr. Scanlon has achieved won
derful success. He is the active head of a sys
tem of lumber interests, the annual business of
which ranks with the first firms of the country.
This success has been accomplished by strict
integrity and straightforward business methods
which has won him the esteem and confidence
of his business associates. Mr. Scanlon was
married in November, 1890, to Mrs. Sarah W.
Hinkle of Minneapolis. They have a family of
three children and have a beautiful home on
Groveland Terrace.
SCHAEFER,
Jacob, prominent in business
and official life in Minneapolis from 1865 until
his death in 1884, was born at Baerenthal, near
Strasburg in 1809. He was educated in the Strasburg schools and was attending the normal
school in 1828 when he determined to come to
the United States. His first work in this country
was as a clerk in a wholesale grocery in Phila
delphia. After a few years he commenced busi
ness on his own account and for the next thirty
years passed through many varied experiences,
making and losing several small fortunes and
enduring great risks and privations. From Phil
adelphia he went to Canton, Ohio, in 1842; the
next year built an oil mill at Mishawaka, Indi
ana, which was burned with total loss; a few
years later a flood wiped out his business at
Rochester, Indiana. In 1849 he went to Cali
fornia, making the journey across the plains, and
from San Francisco went to Nicaragua where
he engaged in silver mining—again meeting with
disaster. In 1852, on the Atlantic coast, he and
six others contracted yellow fever. The other
six men died and Mr. Schaefer's coffin was pre
pared, but he recovered only to suffer shipwreck
a few years later as he was returning home after
a more successful venture in Honduras. In i860
he returned to Canton, Ohio, and in 1862 enlisted
in the 104th Ohio Vol. Infantry. He was made
quartermaster and after a few months brigade
quartermaster, and later was called to the stafif
of Gen. Jacob D. Cox as quartermaster of the
Third Division, Twenty-third army corps, in
which capacity he served until the end of the
war. Coming to Minneapolis in 1865 Mr. Schaefer engaged in the lumber business. He was very
successful and was soon recognized as not onl/
a good business man but a man in whom people
had the utmost confidence. It thus came about
that Mr. Schaefer, though a modest man and not
one to put himself forward, was nominated and
elected county auditor in 1870. He filled the po
sition with the greatest credit for four yers. In
1878 he was elected to the board of county com
missioners and served as chairman for the next
six years, retiring from official life only a few
months before his death. Mr. Schaefer was a
life-long member of the Presbyterian church and
upon coming to Minneapolis joined the West
minster church of which he became a prominent
member. In the G. A. R. his name hns been per
petuated by Jacob Schaefer Post. Mr. Schaefer
married Miss Sarah Miller, a sister of Mrs. John
H. Stevens. Mrs. Schaefer accompanied him to
Honduras in 1855 and was the first American
lady to travel into the interior of that country.
Their daughter, Frances, now Mrs. W. O. Win
ston of Minneapolis, was born at Yuscaren, Hon
duras. Mr. Schaefer's death occurred -March 9,
1885. Mrs. Schaefer survived him for many years
and died at the home of Mrs. Winston, in Feb
ruary, 1908. Possibly no clearer insight into
Mr. Schaefer's character may be gained than
through t^e words of a friend shortly after his
death, "Mr. Schaefer was one of the truest men
this city hfi§ ever known."
•-"••••v.
f :
'
JACOB SCHAEFHR
..
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318
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
ROGERS, Arthur Ross, son of Alexander H.
and Martha (Ross) Rogers, was born November
13, 1864, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Jacob M.
Rogers, his paternal grandfather, came from New
York to Wisconsin in the early days, and Hiram
J. Ross, his mother's father, migrated from Ken
tucky to Milwaukee in 1848 and for some years
operated a saw-mill on the Menominee Kiver
within the present city limits of Milwaukee. Mr.
Rogers' father was an employe of the Chicago,
Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway. Arthur Ross
was the oldest child and while acquiring his edu
cation in a measure supported himself. After
completing the grade school course he attended
the Milwaukee high school for two years, work
ing during the summer months as a brakeman
for the Milwaukee road, and in the car service
department "at the general office. In 1882 Mr.
Rogers left school and entered the employe of
Edwards & McCulloch Lumber Company as
second man in their yard at Valley City, N. D.,
of which Mr. C. E. Blackwell was manager; here
he remained for two years. He was then made
manager of the yard of the Gull River Lumber
Company at Sanborn, N. D. Two years later
failing eyesight compelled him to resign and go
to Milwaukee for treatment. Through Ex-Gov
ernor John S. Pillsbury Mr. Rogers came in
touch with Mr. C. A. Smith and when ready to
return from Milwaukee applied to him for a po
sition in his office, which he received and held
until the following year when he was placed in
charge of the retail yard of C. A. Smith & Co.,
in North Minneapolis, shortly afterward he en
tered the main office where he had charge first
of the credit and later of the sales department.
In order to more fully equip himself for a busi
ness life, Mr. Rogers entered the night law
school of the University of Minnesota and grad
uated in 1891.
In 1892 the Smith & Rogers Lumber Company
was organized, at Mr. Rogers' suggestion, with
Mr. Rogers as secretary and treasurer, and a line
of retail yards established along the "Soo" rail
road in North Dakota. The C. A. Smith Lumber
Company was incorporated the next year with
Mr. Rogers as secretary, and in 1901 he was made
vice president. From that time till Mr. Rogers
left the company the management of the extensive
business of the firm devolved upon him. His
own business operations became so large, how
ever, that he found it necessary January 1, 1904,
to devote his entire energies to his large lumber
interests throughout the country.
Mr. Rogers is now the president of the Rog
ers Lumber Company, and the Meyer Lumber
Company—controlling over seventy-five yards
located throughput the West and Northwest—
also president of the A. R. Rogers Lumber Co.
Ltd., a lumber manufacturing company of Enderby, British Columbia.
Mr. Rogers is a member of the Minikahda,
Minneapolis and Lafayette clubs and attends the
St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
In February 1894, Mr. Rogers was married to
Miss Dora Waite, sister of Mr. H. B. Waite of
the H. W. Waite Lumber Company. The family
consists of three children, two boys and a girl.
SHEVLIN, Thomas Henry, was born on
January 3, 1852, at Albany, New York. On both
sides of the family he is of Irish descent. Thom
as H. passed his boyhood in Albany and until
he was fifteen years of age attended the public
schools of that city, acquiring a common school
education. He then entered the employ of John
McGraw & Co., a lumber firm of Albany, and
with them began his training for the business in
which he has since become so successful. He
was connected with this firm until 1879, as man
ager of important interests in several New York
towns, and then went to Chicago, and thence to
Muskegon, Michigan, where he took charge of
the lumber interests of R. W. Harvey. About a
year later he associated hiirtself with the Stephen
C. Hall Lumber Company, and in 1884 started
a branch company in Minneapolis under the
name of the North Star Lumber Company. Mr.
Shevlin now moved to Minneapolis and soon
organized the Hall & Ducey Company. Upon
the withdrawal of Mr. Ducey in 1887 the firm
became the Hall & Shevlin Lumber Company
and so continued until the death of Mr. Hall in
1888. Three years later Elbert L. Carpenter
bought an interest in the business. Under the
firm name of the Shevlin-Carpenter Lumber
Company, the organization then established with
Mr. Shevlin as president, is now doing a large
business in Minneapolis. Since that time Mr.
Shevlin has extended his operations until his
interests include timber, lumber and mills in the
south, west and in Canada. With J. Neils he
established the J. Neils Lumber Company in
1895 with a mill at Sauk Rapids and in 1900 this
firm installed a mill at Cass Lake, Minnesota,,
with an annual capacity of 50,000,000 feet of lum
ber. In .1896 he joined Frank P. Hixon in buy
ing a large amount of timber on the Red Lake
Indian Reservation, forming the St. Hilaire
Lumber Company and building a mill. This
company bought out the mill, logs and timber
holdings of the Red River Lumber Company at
Crookston and reorganized as the Crookston
Lumber Company with Mr. Shevlin as presi
dent. In 1902-3 the company built a mill at Bemidji with an output of 70,000,000 feet per year,
running a logging spur east of Red Lake and
connecting with the Minnesota and Internation
al Railway at Hovey Junction, thus opening up
a vast tract of hitherto unavailable timber. Mr.
Shevlin is also connected with, and was active
in founding a line of retail yards operated as the
St. Hilaire Retail Lumber Company; with the
Shevlin-Clarke Company of Ontario; and with
the Rainy River Lumber Company which has
erected and operates a plant at Rainy River, On
tario, with a capacity of 70,000,000 feet—one of
the most complete saw-mills in the world. Mr.
320
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Shevlin is also a director and stock holder in
the Security National Bank; is president of the
Iron Range Electric Telephone Company; and
has many other important business interests. In
politics he is a republican and was a member of
the National Committee from 1900 to 1904 and
during the campaign of 1900 did valuable work
for his party. In 1901 he served as vice-presi
dent of the Minnesota state fair, representing
Minneapolis on the board of managers. His in
terest in public affairs and the institutions of his
state and city is also evidenced in his magnifi
cent gift to the University of Minnesota—Alice
Shevlin Hall, the beautiful building for the use
and convenience of the women of the institution.
Mr. Shevlin is a member of the Union League
Clubs of New York and Chicago, the Minne
apolis Club, the Minnesota Club, Manitoba Club
and numerous smaller organizations. He was
married on February 8, 1882, to Miss Alice A.
Hall and they have three children—Thomas
Leonard, Florence and Helen.
SMITH, Charles Axel, president and head of
the management of the C. A. Smith Lumber Com
pany, like so many of the men who have won
success in the northwest, is a native of Sweden,
born in the province of Ostergotland, Sweden,
on December 11, 1852. His early boyhood was
spent in the land of his birth but when fourteen
years of age he came with his father and sister
to the United States, locating soon after his ar
rival in this country at Minneapolis. During 1862
and 1863 he attended the public schools. Three
years later he entered the University of Min
nesota working all his spare time and vacations
for Governor John S. Pillsbury. Failing health
compelled him to leave school and he entered
the hardware store of Governor Pillsbury and
remained in that employment until 1878. " The
firm of C. A. Smith & Company was then formed,
Mr. Pillsbury being an equal partner with Mr..
Smith, and an elevator .and implement store and
lumber yard were opened at Herman, Minne
sota. Having formed a partnership with C. J.
Johnson, Mr. Smith opened retail yards at Evansville, Brandon and Ashby, Minnesota, and for
six years' a remarkably successful business was
carried on. In 1884 Mr. Smith accepted an offer
from Mr. Pillsbury to join him in cutting and
sawing a lot of standing timber in which Mr.
Pillsbury had acquired an interest. The former
company was reorganized, C. J. Johnson taking
an interest, and for several years operated log
ging camps and had. their logs sawed at the cus
tom mills at Minneapolis. Finally in 1887 the
company purchased the saw-mill of the John
Martin Lumber Company, which with four other
mills was operated by the power furnished by the
Falls of St. Anthony. The mill had run but sixty
days under the new management when it was
totally destroyed by fire. The Clough interests
in the mill owned by Clough Bros. & Kilgore
were acquired by C. A. Smith & Company
in 1890 and for two years the mill was under the
management of that firm, and was then sold to
Nelson, Tenney & Company, who sawed for C.
A. Smith & Company in 1892. The present or
ganization of the company was effected in 1893
and the firm name changed to the C. A. Smith
Lumber Company. The new company erected
what was then the most complete and best
equipped lumber manufacturing establishment in
the city, of which it has been said by experts
that it produces lumber at less cost and with less
labor and waste than any mill in Minneapolis.
In 1901 this mill sawed 112,000,000 feet of lumber.
The Northwestern Compo Board Company is a
branch of the C. A. Smith Company, which has
a factory in connection with the C. A. Smith
mill and utilizes the waste edgings in the manu
facture of a patent board. Mr. Smith is the prin
cipal owner of these companies as well as presi
dent; C. J. Johnson is vice-president; Edgar Dalzell, secretary; and Enoch Oren, treasurer—all
of whom have an interest in the business. Mr.
Smith is president of the C. A. Smith Timber
Company which was formed for the purpose of
procuring timber for the company's mill, and
which now has sufficient timber holding to make
sawing for several years. He is also a heavy
buyer of Pacific coast timber, holding probably
as much as any one individual. Mr. Smith holds
offices in several of the Lumbermen's organiza
tions—is vice-president of the National Lumber
Manufacturers' Association and treasurer of the
Mississippi Valley Lumbermen's Association.
Among his other club associations he is a mem
ber of the Minneapolis, the Commercial and the
Automobile Clubs. He is a republican in politics.
In 1896 was a presidential elector from that party
for McKinley and Hobart and in 1900 was a
delegate to the convention which nominated Mc
Kinley and Roosevelt. Mr. Smith has always
been prominent in charitable work among his
countrymen and has contributed extensively to
the support of schools and churches in the north
west. For this generosity he was honored by the
King of Sweden with the bestowal of the rank
of Commander of the First Degree in the Order
of Vasa. He is married and has had six chil
dren, three daughters and three sons, the eldest
of whom died when seventeen years of age.
TRABERT, Charles Luther, secretary of the
C. A. Smith Timber Company, was born on April
30, 1871, at Ephrata, Lancaster county, Pennsyl
vania. He is the son of Rev. George H. Trabert
and Elizabeth M. (Minnigh) Trabert, both of old
Colonial families that were active in the affairs
of the Colonies and the Revolution. The earliest
historical ancestor of the family fought under
Gustavus Adolphus in the Thirty Years War.
The earliest member of the lineage to settle in
this country was killed by the Indians in 1650
and during the Revolutionary War both sides of
the family were represented in the army both
with the Colonial troops and under the banner
322
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
of the king. The father of C. L. Trabert is an
English Lutheran minister, who was the first
missionary of that denomination to come to the
Northwest and at the present time pastor of the
Salem English Evangelical Lutheran - church of
this city. Mr. Trabert spent his boyhood in
Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and there began his edu
cation in the public schools. In 1883 the family
moved to Minneapolis and he then attended the
Madison and old Washington schools. He com
pleted the grammar school when fifteen years
o!d and entered the high school, being a member
of the first manual training class to be instituted
in the local schools. He entered Gustavus
Adolphus College, at St. Peter, and studied for
three years in that institution, then went to
Newberry, South Carolina, where he took a
year's work and graduated from Newberry Col
lege, receiving his A. B. degree. For three
years he studied law at the University of
Minnesota and graduated from the Law De
partment in 1899 with a LL. B. degree and in
June of the same year was admitted to the bar.
One year later he entered the office of the C. A.
Smith Timber Company and since that time has
CHARLES L. TRABERT
been continuously in the employ of that firm.
From this start he has advanced himself until
at the present time he holds the office of secre
tary of the C. A. Smith Timber Company. Mr.
Trabert has never been actively interested in
politics and has not sought to hold public office.
He is a republican in his general beliefs but 011
some questions, such as the negro problem, he
holds strong southern democratic views. The
work of the American Forestry Association and
National Geographic Society has always been of
great interest to Mr. Talbert and he is a member
of both organizations. He also holds member
ship in the Odin Club and North Side Com
mercial Club of this city. He was married on
June 25, 1894, to Miss Harriett Abney Wells of
Newberry, South Carolina, and they have one
daughter, Dorothy. His wife comes of an old
southern family, her father being a planter and
slave owner in the ante-bellum days, and during
the Civil War an officer in the Confederate
Army. Mr. Trabert's family attend the Salem
English Evangelical Lutheran Church.
WAITE, Harry B., the head of the H. B.
Waite Lumber Company, and otherwise prom
inently connected with the lumber interests of
the city, was born in Chicago, on July 23, 1865.
He is the son of Henry J. Waite and Ann (Ellis)
Waite. The family moved not long after his
birth from Chicago to Marseilles, Illinois, where
he began his education in the local schools. Af
ter coming to Minneapolis, he completed his
preparatory work, attending one of the local
high schools. After his graduation he deter
mined to study medicine and entered the Min
nesota College Hospital, an institution of medical
instruction then in charge of the most prom
inent physicians and surgeons of the Northwest.
Mr. Waite studied for several semesters in the
college. He finished his work there but had at
that time altered his purpose of following the
practice of medicine and had decided to engage
in business. Minnesota's pine forests seemed
to offer large opportunities and Mr. Waite en
tered the lumber business.
He made rapid
progress and is now at the head of one of the
leading firms of the Northwest. He established,
in- 1895, the H. B. Waite Lumber Company,
with headquarters in Minneapolis, which has
done a large and steadily increasing business in
wholesale lumber until at the present time the
volume of their trade is among the largest
handled by any one firm.
To the successful
development of this organization Mr. Waite has
devoted his energies and ability, holding the of
fice of president during the greater part of this
time, and being the active manager. Mr. Waite's
other business interests are extensive. He is
president of the Phoenix Lumber Company,
which operates a long line of retail yards; his
associates in this firm being T. S. McLaughlin,
vice-president; A. S. McLaughlin, secretary; and
H. S. Thompson, treasurer. He is also inter-
324
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
ested with Mr. Coolidge in the cedar tie and
piling supply business, under the firm name of
Marshall H. Coolidge & Company, of which he
is vice-president. In addition to these firms,
he is interested in the Soby Manufacturing Com
pany of Ballard, Washington, and other concerns
around Puget Sound. Mr. Waite was formerly
a member of the Minnesota National Guard, as
a private in Company I. He belongs to several
of the local clubs, the principal ones being the
Minneapolis Club, the Minikahda Club, and the
Lafayette Club, and attends the Episcopal Church.
In 1891 Mr. Waite was married to Miss Luella
Lichty of Waterloo, Iowa.
WALKER, Thomas Barlow—The career of a
man who makes money may or may not be inter
esting. There is a glamour about money making
which lasts while the man lives and while his
operations are being carried on. But if he has
done nothing else his fame is dissipated even be
fore his fortune is scattered. The northwest has
been fortunate in the number of men who made
money with a purpose and who left behind not
merely the tangible evidences of their business
genius, but ideas unconnected with money mak
ing as well. If Thomas B. Walker, the subject
of this sketch, had never done anything but make
money perhaps it would be unnecessary to go
farther than to record the fact. But when one
looks at the busy life of Mr. Walker his most
distinct impression is not that of a money mak
ing machine but of a life with a purpose, a pur
pose to hold to a certain conception of character
and not to allow anything to detract from that
viewpoint of existence. Mr. Walker has not only
become a local authority upon the material
growth of Minneapolis, and one of the largest
contributors to it, but stands today as one of the
strongest bulwarks of moral Minneapolis, while
in the realm of the fine arts he is the city's best
example of the man who has the genius to do
things without parade and inspire others without
coercion. One of the first things a town growing
into the metropolitan class desires is a public
library. Mr. Walker, was one of the first who
insisted that Minneapolis should have a library
and have an adequate one and that it should be
entirely one. The library was erected, equipped
and Mr. Walker appointed one of the first direc
tors, and he has been re-elected term after term
by a vote which testifies that whatever of de
traction there may be near a man. the general
public sees and apreciates his work. In working
for a public library Mr. Walker had in mind that
Minneapolis when she emerged from the frontier
stage must develop taste in the fine arts. He has
labored! for the society of fine arts which is to
day in a position to render valuable service to
the boys and girls of Minneapolis who are con
scious of artistic taste and the desire to express
it. Not only that but he has gathered from the
far corners of the earth a most complete collec
tion of the masterpieces of art to which the pub
lic has free access.
The trend of Mr. Walker's mind is not dis
tinctively commercial. His first success in life
was gained in a position which brought out the
mathematical genius. This mathematical trend
together with his idealism no doubt accounts for
the man of today. Given a problem in business
his deductions are swift and sure, but they go be
yond the mere present, the mathematical and
logical side being reinforced by the ideal. The
turning point in Mr. Walker's career was un
doubtedly reached when he was obliged to decline
an election to the chair of mathematics in Wis
consin University because of arrangements al
ready made to enter the government survey. The
latter employment brought him into connection
with the great lumber industry of the country,
and it is on lumber that his fortune rests. When
Mr. Walker first came to Minnesota he studied
the timber problem from both the practical and
the ideal standpoint. Practically and mathemati
cally he was convinced that the future of the sec
tion was more intimately related to the wood
crop than the wheat crop. States might change
their staple. California has changed hers three
times, being successively first in the production
of gold, wheat and fruit. She might change it
again. Minnesota might change hers from wheat
to dairying and probably will, but there was no
possibility of a change in the shelter problem.
Trees grew too slowly for that. Thus far the
problem was capable of a mathematical solution.
Many lumberman solved it in that way, skinned
the land, took their profits and invested them in
other lines. But Mr. Walker could not view the
matter entirely from the practical standpoint. He
wrought, wrote and pleaded for a broader con
ception of the future of the state than was in
volved in marketing the pine at the earliest pos
sible moment; and, while the pressure of competion compelled him in a measure to join the
procession of manufacturers he did not yield his
ideals and today when many of his contempor
aries have abandoned the field, he has merely
enlarged his operations and holds now the larg
est reserve of forest in California ever bought by
private capital. It is organized not merely to se
cure legitimate profits, but to perpetuate the
value of the land by the practical application of
the principles of commercial forestry. In
this connection it is curious what a unanimity
has marked the family in the matter of busi
ness. All of Mr. Walker's five sons are in
terested with him in lumber. Each has a de
partment and each has won his spurs in his
department. Of Mr. Walker's work for com
mercial Minneapolis it is unnecessary to speak at
length. It speaks for itself in the establishment
of a public market, second to scarcely any other
in the country, and in his bringing forth the capi
tal with which to secure the Butler Brothers for
the city No other man in the city could com-
if?.';
SKT A*\'
Jf-~
& a s^iVM
SflBlfSlfSffi
6WEET, PHOTO
326
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
mand the capital with which to make this vital
improvement in the wholesale facilities of Min
neapolis and Mr. Walker in coming forward knew
that he was drawing down money that was capa
ble of earning greater returns elsewhere. Again
he took money out of his own field of endeavor
and going out to St. Louis Park built a manu
facturing suburb at a time when Minneapolis was
face to face with the fact that she could not al
ways endure as a great city based on only two in
dustries, one of which apparently had reached its
zenith and the other its decline. In dealing with
so active a life as that of Mr. Walker in sketch,
one must necessarily leave out many interesting
details, but it is the big things which indicate the
trend as the peaks show the directions of the
mountain range. The achievements of Mr. Walk
er have not been entirely unmixed with dis
appointments and mistakes but the sum of it is
that he has kept his ideals and succeeded with
them. He has never compromised his convic
tions upon any question political, social or re
ligious. The life of such a man is worth more
to a community than his material successes. It
is inspiration to those who, witnessing the fail
ures of high principles and saddened by the
apparent incapacity of moral ideals to cope with
practical conditions, are cheered by the thought
that it is not impossible.
YALE, Stephen M., vice president of the Cur
tis & Yale Company, though for a number of
years a resident of Minneapolis, was born and
educated in the east, and is a member of one of
the oldest families of that section, and the one
from which the great American educational in
stitution, Yale University, derived its name. He
was born at Guilford, New York, on August 15,
1857, the son of Uriah Yale and Melissa (Car
penter) Yale. His father was engaged in agri
cultural pursuits and his son passed the early
years of his life on the farm. He received a
public school education at the Academy at Afton,
New York. When fitted for advanced vork, he
entered Cook College at Havana, New York. Af
terwards he attended several other eastern acad
emies and fitted himself for the work of an
instructor in the schools of New York state. He
was thus engaged about five years, and then re
signed to go into business. In 1881 he entered
upon his association with the firm of which he
is now an officer. This was then known as Cur
tis Brothers & Company and operated a sash
and door factory at Clinton, Iowa, to which place
Mr. Yale came from New York. He remained
at Clinton for one year, but in 1882 a new manu
facturing plant of the company started at Wausau, Wisconsin, where the factory has since been
located. The firm was later reorganized becom
ing the Curtis & Yale Company, Mr. Yale ac
quiring an interest. x He has continued to devote
the principal part of his time to the management
of this business though his interests have ex
tended in other directions. In 1893 Mr. Yale
came to Minneapolis, where the company estab
lished its principal northwestern warehouse and
from which point it distributes to its north
western trade. Mr. Yale is now vice president
of the corporation, the other officers being G.
M. Curtis, president, and C. S. Curtis, secretary
and treasurer. Among his other business con
nections Mr. Yale is president of the McCoy
Lumber Company of this city and is identified
as well with other large industrial concerns.
Though his business interests are extensive he
gives to each a portion of his personal attention
and to his energetic efforts and management is
due much of the success which has been met by
the companies of which he is an officer. Mr.
Yale has not sought to acquire political promi
nence nor distinction in public life but is never
theless interested in all movements for public
advancement and is a member of a number of
organizations for the improvement of civic con
ditions. He was one of the first members of the
Minneapolis Commercial Club. On August 14,
1879, Mr. Yale was married to Miss Cora Morgan
of Guilford, New York, and they have one child,
Harry C. Yale.
CHAPTER XIX.
FLOUR MILLING
T
HE first flour ground at the Falls of
St. Anthony was that made in the
old government mill of 1823. The
amount produced was small and it was not
manufactured on a commercial basis. It
was only the intention of the government
to utilize the labor of the soldiers at Fort
Snelling, and by raising a little wheat and
grinding a little flour, save the expense of
purchase and shipment to the remote fron
tier post. Even this experiment did not
seem to be successful, for the mill fell into
disuse as an adjunct of the fort, and a source
of supply for the commissary. From time
to time the old mill was operated under the
management of the earlier pioneers but its
main usefulness, it would seem, was to
serve as an object lesson—a humble witness
to the fact that here was a mighty power
waiting the development of man.
Thirty years after the erection of the
crude government mill, flour
was first
ground at the falls in a commercial way.
This was in a mill built on the east bank
of the river by Richard C. Rogers; but it
was a "one run" mill and did only custom
work for the few farmers who had by that
time settled in the vicinity. In 1854 the
first merchant mill was built. This may be
said to be the real beginning of the milling
industry of Minneapolis. However, this
mill of 1854 was only a "three run" mill,
and, notwithstanding its trifling capacity,
it was too large for the resources of the
country at that time. Not enough wheat
was raised in the vicinity to supply even
this little mill and the owners were com
pelled to ship in the grain from points
down the Mississippi river in Iowa and
Wisconsin. The builders of this first mer
chant mill w r ere John Rollins, John W.
Eastman and R. P. Upton. W. W. East
man was admitted to the firm after the com
pletion of the mill.
Another small mill was built in 1856, but
the business developed very slowly, and in
the panic times of 1857-58 was almost ex
tinguished. In 'these days just before the
Civil War, Minnesota was still practically
unsettled and absolutely without transpor
tation facilities.
There were scattered
farms at intervals along the Mississippi and
Minnesota valleys for a few score miles
west and northwest of Minneapolis but
their product was trivial. There was little
grain for the millstones and a meagre local
demand for the flour. To ship to the east
ern market meant an expense of an almost
prohibitory character. The first shipment
of flour was made in 1858, and it cost $2.25
per' barrel to send the 100 barrels to Bos
ton. But the 'flour sold well and from that
time on a market for the product of Min
neapolis mills was gradually built up.
On the west side the first commercial
flour milling was done in the old govern
ment mill which was refitted for business
in 1854. George W. Crocker arrived in
Minneapolis in 1855, a n d shortly after
wards acquired an interest in this mill
which was called the City mill. Through
his entry into milling at this time Mr.
Crocker has the distinction of being the
oldest flour miller of the city.
The year 1859 saw the first new mill
built on the west side of the river. This
was the Cataract mill built by Eastman &
Gibson. This mill was purchased by Dan
iel R. Barber in 1871, and was con
tinuously operated by Mr. Barber until his
death, and since that time by his son E. R.
Barber; the Barber Milling Company thus
being the oldest continuously conducted
flour business in the city. To the people
328
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
of Minneapolis this flour
mill of 1859
seemed a great institution. It was two
stories high and contained four run of
stones. Its product of 325 barrels in a day
was regarded as stupendous. Three years
before this a young man had arrived in
Minneapolis who was destined to take a
most prominent place in the development
of the city and of the flouring industry.
This was William D. Washburn, who had
come out from Maine to practice law. He
found little legal business in the frontier
village, and he soon became the secretary
and agent of the Minneapolis Mill Com
pany, the corporation controlling the west
side power at the Falls of St. Anthony.
Under Mr. Washburn's management, the
first dam on the west side was built and
the raceway opened—an undertaking re
counted here in a dozen words, but which
meant, in those days of panic and distrust,
the exercise of the best energies, business
sagacity and executive ability. The liberal
policy adopted by the young agent of the
mill company led to the establishment of
the greater group of mills on the west side
and the centering of the industry at this
point. Mr. Washburn subsequently founded
the Washburn Mill Company and is still
largely interested in the milling business.
The Cataract mill was quickly surround
ed by others. Next to follow the Cataract
was the City mill built by Perkins & Ferrant in the next year. The Union mill was
completed in 1863 by Henry Gibson, and
in 1864 Frazee & Murphy built the Minne
apolis Flour mill.
around the world. The foundations of the
great Washburn-Crosby Company were
laid by the erection of a mill which was
afterwards known as the Washburn B
This mill was built by Gov. Washburn, and
at the time was the largest flouring mill
west of Buffalo. • The operation of this mill
brought into prominence Geo. H. Christian,
who was to become one of the leading fac
tors in the development of Minneapolis
milling. In 1866 Taylor Bros, put up the
Alaska mill which, after passing through
various hands, became the present Pillsbury
"B." During the same year the Arctic mill
was erected by Perkins & Crocker. Growth
from this time was most rapid. There were,
in 1866 eight mills at the Falls of St. An
thony, and they produced that year 172,000
barrels of flour. The next year there were
thirteen mills in operation and they ground
220,688 barrels. Within a few years the
Washburn A and R" mills, the Palisade.,
Holly, Galaxy, Humboldt, Anchor, Zenith,
Pettit, Standard and other of the old time
mills were built.
At this period the first of the great disas
ters which threatened the industry occurred.
There were, then, as now, two distinct wa
ter powers at the Falls of St. Anthony—one
PROGRESS AFTER THE WAR.
Progress up to this time had been slow
but with the close of the war came a great
reaction, a demand for northwestern flour
and an era of railroad building. Immigra
tion was stimulated and the discovery was
made by the world that northwestern hard
spring wheat made the best flour that had
ever been known. In 1866 Governor C. C.
Washburn of Wisconsin, a brother of W.
D. Washburn, became actively interested in
Minneapolis milling and the result was the
building of mills and the establishment of
a great business which has become known
THE OLD EAST SIDE FLOUR MILLS.
The building at the left is the Rrmrntt mill, in the middle is
the Island mill and at the right the Morrison
& Frescott mill.
FLOUR MILLING
329
make Minneapolis flour known around the
world came into first prominence. Wash
burn, Pillsbury, Christian, Crosby, Barber,
Dunwoody, Martin, Loring, Hardenbergh
—these and others became synonyms for
enterprise and business sagacity.
INFLUENCE OF INVENTIONS.
GOV. C. C. WASHBURN.
Prominently
connected with the early development of
neapolis flour milling.
Min
on the east side and one on the west. They
were then, however, under separate con
trol. Improvement work on the east side
was ill-advised and in 1869 caused such
threatening breaks in the limestone rock
underlying the falls as to lead to the fear
that the whole ledge would be undermined
and carried away, leaving but a long, irreg
ular series of rapids in place of the falls.
This destruction of water power was avert
ed by the most prompt and drastic action
and was supplemented by subsequent under
takings by the federal government, which,
at an expense of over half a million dollars,
rendered the falls and the water power per
manent. It was in the course of this work
that the great "apron'-' was built, and the
entire appearance of the falls was changed
from a tumbling cataract to a rush of silent
water down a timber spillway.
From 1870 to 1880 was a period of intense
significance to the flour milling interests in
other ways. In the earlier part of this dec
ade the names which were afterwards to
These men were not only pioneers of a
great industry, but they were inventors,
financiers and industrial generals. During
this decade three great inventions were per
fected. These were the middlings purifier,
the roller process and the self-binding har
vester. The first two brought such im
provements into the manufacture of flour
that the product of Northwestern spring
wheat mills took an acknowledged lead in
the world's markets; the last made it pos
sible to harvest that spring wheat at a
greatly reduced cost, and, with the im
proved processes of milling, made it an ac
tive competitor with all other breadstuffs
the world over. Minneapolis millers took
an active part in the perfecting and adapta
tion of the new processes and some of them
visited Europe to stucly methods. One
leading miller, dressed as a common work
man, actually worked in foreign mills to
study their machinerv and processes.
Another event of the seventies was the
beginning of the flour export trade. Gov. C,
C. Washburn is credited with the first ambi
tions in this direction. He induced William
,
"
' '' '
THE FIRST WASHBVRN MII.L
330
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
H. Dunwoody, then, as now, a leader in
the flouring industry, to go to Europe to
arrange for a foreign sale of the Minne
apolis product. After overcoming almost
insurmountable difficulties, Mr. Dunwoody
made a beginning and exporting was com
menced in 1877, and has since continued
with generally increased volume, though
the changing conditions in foreign markets
and the varying demand at home have
caused considerable fluctuation
in the
amount of flour sent abroad. In 1890 the
exports exceeded 2,000,000 barrels and in
1900 were 4,702,485 barrels.
THE MILL EXPLOSION.
But in the midst of" this time of progress
came the terrible disaster of 1878 when the
explosion of the great Washburn A and
AFTER THE GREAT EXPLOSION OF 1878.
the destruction of five other mills by ex
plosion and fire almost wiped out the flour
another period of-increase commenced as is
interests of the city. Recovering from this
shown by the following:
blow with characteristic courage the millers
Output.
Output.
rebuilt their mills even larger than before ^
6,988,830
1899
14,291,780
and the business continued t<p thrive, in-^ 1890
7,877,947
1900
15,082,725
creasing year by year in output. With new .1891
9,750,470
1901
16,021,880
mills, with cheapened transportation, cheap •1892.
1893
9,377,635
1902
16,260,105
ened methods of handling, cheapened meth "1894...:
9,400,553 -1903
15,582,785
ods of raising and harvesting whe^t, and • i895
10,581,635
1904
13,652 ,735
12,847,890
1905
14,366,095
with greatly improved methods of grinding 1896
13,625,205
1906
13,825,795
flour, the industry found itself within the 1897
1898
14,232,595
1907
13,660,465
space of a few years entirely revolutionized.
Another aspect of the growth of the mill
Thus it was that at the clos£ of the seven
ties the millers of Minneapolis were con ing industry is found in the records of daily
ducting business under new conditions. It capacity of the mills. When mill building
may be almost .said to have been a new 'first began in earnest after the war the
business, so radical were the changes which capacity at Minneapolis was only a few
hundred barrels a day. A decade later, in
had been effected.
1875, the capacity had increased to 6, OOD
GROWTH OF OUTPUT.'
•barrels daily, and this was doubled by 1880.
Were the figures not supported by undis In 1885, the secretary of the Chamber of
puted records, the later growth of the Min Commerce reported a daily capacity of 33,neapolis flour industry would not be be 175 barrels, which had grown to 44,100 in
lieved—the increase year by year seems 1890. By this time the constantly increas
almost incredible. In 1876 the flour mills ing capacity of the mills was due largely to
of Minneapolis produced 1,000,000 barrels improved machinery which was being intro
of flour. In 1880 over 2,000,000 barrels of duced, for all available sites about the Falls
flour were produced and in i88r, the year had long been occupied and the complete
of the organization of the Chamber of Com volume of water "power was leased. In fact,
merce, 3,142,000 barrels were ground. In the power had proved insufficient for the
the next five years this production had been needs of the mills at some seasons, and
nearly doubled, but from 1886 to 1890 the nearly all were equipped with auxiliary
output remained almost stationery. Then steam plants, In 1895, the mills were cred-
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
332
ited with a daily capacity of 55,900 barrels,
and in 1908 with 88,175 barrels divided
among the several milling companies and
individual mills as shown below:
FLOUR MILLS AND DAILY CAPACITY.
PILLSBURY-WASHEURN FLOUR MILLS COMPANY
Pillsbury A
Pillsbury B* . .
Anchor
Palisade
Lincoln (at Anoka)
(LTD.).
17,000
7,000
3,5°°
4,000
1,700
— 33,200
WASHBURN-CROSBY COMPANY.
Washburn
Washburn
Washburn
Washburn
Washburn
A
B
C
D,
E
10,337
3,199
....
8,560
2,915
2,964.
—
27,975
NORTHWESTERN CONSOLIDATED MILLING COMPANY.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
3,800
2,500
2,500
2,700
2,000
3,800
1,700
1,000
—
20,000
Cataract: Barber Milling Co
Phoenix: Phoenix Mill C o
D a k o t a : National Milling Co
Christian, G. C
Russell-Miller Milling Co
:
1,300
600
600
2,000
2,500
-—
T o t a l daily c a p a c i t y . . . . . . . . . .
7.000
88,175
...GREAT MILLING CORPORATIONS.
In the statement of the daily capacity of
the Minneapolis flour mills is illustrated the
grouping of the milling interests which has
taken place more latterly. The develop
ment of the great corporations in which the
manufacture of flour at Minneapolis is now
largely centered, has been one of the most
interesting features of the flouring industry.
As has been stated, the industry in the
earlier years was carried on by a score or
'more of firms.
This condition gradually
changed until the early nineties and since
then the larger part of the output has been
produced by three concerns.
The Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills
Co., Limited, grew out of the business e«h
tablished by Charles A. Pillsbury in 1869.
Mr. Pillsbury came to Minneapolis at the
suggestion of his uncle, Gov. John S. Pills
bury, who had come here in 1855. Gov.
Pillsbury had not then engaged in milling,
but with characteristic sagacity, he had
forseen the coming greatness of the indus
try. Charles Pillsbury first bought an in
terest in the Minneapolis mill, then owned
and operated by J. Welles Gardiner and
George W. Crocker. During the following
year the firm of Charles A. Pillsbury & Co.
was formed composed of Charles A., John
S. and George A. Pillsbury. A few years
afterwards Fred C. Pillsbury was admitted
to the firm. Charles A. Pillsbury developed
a genius for flour-making and for business
finance. Mill after mill was purchased or
built; capacities doubled and tripled year
after year. The Taylor mill, now Pillsbury
B, was acquired in 1870; in 1872 another
mill was added; in 1874 the Anchor mill
came into the group, and in 1877 the Excel
sior mill was leased. The daily capacity of
the firm
had now reached about 2,000
barrels—an unprecedented figure for those
days. The introduction of improvements in
milling which came in the later seventies,
and in which Mr. Pillsbury took a most
active part, led to such promise for the fu
ture of the industry that the great Pillsbury
A mill was planned, and was completed
in 1881; Successive fires changed the char
acter of the properties controlled by the
company, and the early eighties found it
operating only three mills—-Pillsbury A,
Pillsbury B and the Anchor, but with a
much greater total capacity than in the
earlier days of more numerous mills. This
capacity was steadily increased by constant
introduction of improved machinery until
1889 when the Pillsburys sold their entire
business to the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour
Mills Company, Limited, an English cor
poration, in which, however, they retained
a very large interest. At this time the mills
of the Washburn Mill Company were ab
sorbed. Charles A. Pillsbury remained as
manager of the company until his death in
1899, when he was succeeded by Henry L.
Little, who had been his assistant for sev
eral years and an employe of the company
;
•"
ft.
J
*
*
*
"•
; ; ; ; : ' • ;/*• v . / 7 ^ '
-'
c
"
™—
•
J.
'<
,
-
•
-
A -\ :
.
A
334
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
for about twenty years. The other officers
of the company are L. P. Hubbard, treas
urer, who has been connected with the busi
ness since 1874, and E. N. Fairchild, assist
ant manager, who entered the employ of
the Pillsbury's in 1884. The company has
gradually developed its properties until its
mills now have a daily capacity of 33,200
barrels, and it has also acquired the owner
ship of the water power at, and immediately
below, the Falls of St. Anthony, and has
developed under the direction of Win. de
•
la Barre, its engineer, a large amount of
power in addition to that formerly used by
\ the flour and lumber mills.
The Washburn-Crosby Company devel
oped from the original enterprises of Gov.
C. C. Washburn. The copartnership of
Washburn-Crosby & Company, which
succeeded the firm of J. A. Christian &
Company in the operation of the C. C.
Washburn flouring mills, A, B and C, was
formed February 1, 1879, and consisted of
Gov. Washburn, John Crosby, Wm. H.
Dunwoody and Chas. J. Martin. Gov.
Washburn died in 1882 and Mr. Crosby in
1887. In 1888 James S. Bell, of the flour
establishment of Saml. Bell & Sons, Phila
delphia, removed to Minneapolis and be
came a member of this firm, which in 1889
was incorporated under the name of Wash
burn-Crosby Company. The directors of
this company were Wm. H. Dunwoody,
James S. Bell, Chas. J. Martin, John Wash
burn, John Crosby, Jr., Saml. Bell, Jr., and
Alfred V. Martin. The officers were James
S. Bell, president, Wm. H. Dunwoody, vicepresident, and Chas. J. Martin, secretary
and treasurer.
Upon the retirement from the company
of Alfred V. Martin, the number of direc
tors was increased to nine and Chas. Crans
ton Bovey, Fred G. Atkinson and Peter B.
Smith were elected members of the board.
The same executive officers have been elect
ed from year to year, John Washburn being
added as second vice-president.
The company continued to operate the
C. C. Washburn flouring mills under lease
until 1899, when it purchased the mills out
right. In addition to the C. C. Washburn
Mills, A, B and C, the company purchased
the Humboldt mill and 'the Minneapolis
mill, known as the Crocker-Fisk mill, re
modeled and added to them until the ca
pacity and efficiency of all have been very
greatly increased. The company also built
a modern 5,000-barrel mill in Buffalo, N.
Y., and a 1,500-barrel mill in Louisville,
Ky., and owns and operates a 500-barrel
MH""
WWHg.
GENERAL VIEW OF THE FLOUR MILLING DISTRICT OF TODAY.
Washburn "A" mill can be distinguished at the right oi the group; Pillsbury A in the distance at the left.
FLOUR MILLING
mill in Great Falls, Montana, and a 300barrel mill in Kalispell, Montana. The out
put of the company has increased from 3,000 barrels per day in 1879 to 30,000 in 1908.
A MILLING CENTER.
Still another tendency which has devel
oped during- the latter part of the quarter
century has been the centering of the mill
ing interests of the northwest at Minne
apolis. Minneapolis had for a long time
been the wheat market of the northwest.
This drew the buyers of country mills to
the city and gradually these outside millers
began to establish offices here. This has
gone on until a considerable number of ex
tensive country milling properties are man
aged from offices in Minneapolis. There
have also been established many brokers in
flour and millstuffs and the receiving and
shipping business has reached large pro
portions. Receipts and shipments for some
years are as follows:
RECEIPTS AND SHIPMENTS OF FLO'UR.
1890
1891
1892
1893
1894
1895
1896
1897
1898
1899
1900
1901
1902
1903
1904
1906...
1907....
Receipts.
70,302
76,788
164,133
282,232
149,704
136,045
140,263
•••• 144,342
156,885
. 196,702
233,102
240,779
246,241
291,651
352,093
246,154
240,010
Shipments.
6,693,501
7,562,185
9,368,784
8,950,760
9,025,640
10,973,713
12,757,135
13,390,573
14,262,761
13,957,798
14,954,806
15,995,427
16,818,150
16,227,299
14 ,129 ,785
14,898,348
14,082,946
THE SUPREMACY OF MINNEAPOLIS.
Over $20,000,000 is now invested in
Minneapolis milling besides a very large
amount in connected business and the flour
output now reaches $65,000,000 annually.
Possibly no better evidence of the unques
tioned supremacy of the city as a flour-mak
ing point and the certainty of its future
can be found than the comparative figures
shown in the United States census report
of 1905. Nineteen cities having a yearly
output of over $3,000,000 value are tabu
lated in order of value as follows:
335
FLOUR PRODUCT OF NINETEEN CITIES.
Minneapolis
New York
Buffalo, N. Y
Milwaukee, Wis
Kansas City, Mo
Seattle, Wash
Indianapolis, Ind
Louisville, Ky
Nashville, Tenn
St. Louis, Mo
Chicago, 111
Topeka, Kan
Toledo, Ohio
Superior, Wis
Alton, 111
San Francisco, Cal
Decatur, 111
Rochester, N. Y
Detroit, Mich
Number of
Value of
Establishments. Products.
12
$62,754,446
8
11,085,674
9
9,807,906
6
6,320,428
10
5,515,749
6
4,593,566
9
4,428,664
5 ,
4,373,890
4
4,242,491
9
3,974,437
5
3,9x9,276
9
3,745,130
8
3,676,290
3
3,617,819
3
3,460,896
9
3,422,672
5
3,407,504
10
3,222,257
7
3,034,388
On this showing the census report com
ments in these words: "Situated at the
door of the great northwestern wheat belt
and with the Falls of St. Anthony furnish
ing- an abundance of water power, Minne
apolis has become the chief milling center
of the country. At the census of 1905 there
were 12 mills in operation in that city, the
total value of production of which amount
ed to $62,754,446, an average value of prod
ucts per establishment of over $5,000,000.
The value of products for Minneapolis was
over five and a half times that of the next
largest city, and greater than the combined
output of the 11 next largest cities."
BARBER, Daniel R., one of the early pioneers
of Minneapolis and for many years a prominent
miller, was born on February 14* 1817, at Benson,
Rutland county, Vermont. His father was Roswell Barber and his mother, Aurelia Munson
Barber. The family line is traced far back into
colonial times and its members participated in
the conflicts which make up so much of the' his
tory of the colonies. Mr. Barber's early life was
that of the New England boy of the period—
divided between farm work and meager schooling
in the country schools of the vicinity. He had a
taste for business and when twenty-five years old
had saved enough to enable him to buy out the
largest general store in the village. For the next
ten years he conducted this store succes'sfully but
he had ambitions for greater things and in 1855
determined to go west and establish himself anew.
He visited the Falls of St. Anthony and was im
pressed by the certainty of the great future await-
336
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
ing the young villages, then struggling for exist
ence on either side of the Mississippi.
He
brought his family from Vermont and settling at
St. Anthony engaged in the real estate business.
The panic of 1857 unsettled realty values and for
a tir*--e Mr. Barber returned to mercantile life. At
thii pel iod he took an active part in the affairs of
the young city and for eleven years in succession
was honored with election to the office of city
assessor. Meanwhile he had been a close ob
server of the flour milling business and, in 1871,
believing that a great expansion of this industry
was at hand, purchased the Cataract mill, one of
the oldest erected at the Falls of St. Anthony.
He operated the Cataract mill with his son-inlaw, Mr. Gardner, until the death of the latter,
when he associated in the business with him,
his son Edwin, under the firm name of D. R.
Barber & Son. This is the oldest flour business
in continuous activity at Minneapolis. The Bar
ber Milling Company continues to operate the
Cataract Mill and through all its thirty-five years
of existence has been a leader in the improve
ment of processes and progressive in every de
partment of the business of flour manufacturing
and selling. Mr. Barber was a man of quiet and
reserved temperament, one who had the utmost
confidence of his friends and business associates,
SL man conservative in his business dealings and
in all his relations in life, and one who left, in
the city in which he lived so many years, a record
which was absolutely without stain. He was
marrie,d in February, 1845, to Miss Ellen L. Bottum, of Orwell, Vermont. They have had two
children—Julia and Edwin. The latter succeeded
his father in the management of the business,
which he has conducted along the same conserva
tive though progressive lines laid out in the sev
enties. Mr. Barber the senior, was for years a
member of Plymouth Congregational Church. In
political faith he was a republican, though holding
principle above party.
CHRISTIAN, George Henry, whose genius
contributed perhaps more than any other man's
to the development of milling in Minneapolis, is
a native of Alabama. His parents were John and
Susan Weeks Christian—the father a native of
Ireland but an American from his early infancy.
The son was born at Wetumpka, Alabama, in 1839,
In his earliest years he developed a taste for
mathematics and was an apt student in all the
branches taught in the schools which he at
tended. Interrupted in his education (to enter
business) Mr. Christian never lost this love for
study and throughout his business career and to
the present time has been a constant student and
a reader of wide range. He was first trained in
business methods in a counting house in New
York, .afterward became an employee of a Chi
cago flour house for several years, and came to
Minneapolis in 1867 as a flour broker for eastern
jobbers. It was a period of some depression in
flour-milling but Mr. Christian formed a partner
ship with Gen. C. C. Washburn, of La Crosse,
Wisconsin, in 1869, and commenced the manufac
ture of flour under the firm name of George H.
Christian & Co., in what was then known as the
"big mill," it being the largest in the United States,
but one. Minnesota's flour was then so little
known and liked that a favorite device with the
millers of that time was to brand their flour as
made at St. Louis, Missouri. Being by contact
with manufacturers of other states better posted in
the proper methods of milling Mr. Christian soon
made his product the leading article of the state
and when, a year or two later, he became aware
of the superiority of French processes, he in
troduced French machinery and with it what has
since been called "the new process," his flour and
that of other manufacturers of the state who
speedily took up his methods, became the favorite
bread flour of the country and distanced the best
St. Louis brands in reputation and price. Sub
sequently, in reading foreign works on milling
he discovered that the Germans had made ad
vances over the French in methods which better
suited the character of Minnesota wheat and he
introduced German machinery which placed the
flour of Minneapolis still higher in the esteem of
the bread-maker. From that time to this these
revolutionary innovations have been retained and
no mill without them could now survive finan
cially a year, while Minnesota wheat which
formerly was little esteemed is now recognized
as one of the most valuable varieties. During
these years of intense activity Mr. Christian de- 1
voted himself closely to business his only relaxa
tion being found in a trip to Europe to investi
gate at first hand the processes in vogue in for
eign mills. This journey had been devoted to
business exclusively. When, in 1875, he retired
from business, selling his interests to his brothers,
J. A. and Llewellyn Christian, he made a pro
longed tour of Europe—a means of recreation
and an opportunity for study which he has since
repeated several times. Upon returning to Min
neapolis Mr. Christian engaged in various busi
ness enterprises and some twenty years after
leaving milling returned to it for a brief period
as president of the Consolidated Milling Com
pany of Minneapolis. When the properties of
this company were purchased in the attempt to
form a flour trust, he withdrew again from con
nection with the flouring industry. Among his
other important interests has been the Hardwood
Manufacturing Company, one of the large pro
ducers of barrels and bags. Mr. Christian was
married soon after coming to Minneapolis to Miss
Leonora Hall, a daughter of S. P. Hall of this
city. They have for years been, members of St.
Mark's Episcopal Church and prominent in the
social life of the city.
BARBER, Edwin Roswell, son of Daniel R.
and Ellen L. Barber, was born in Benson, Rut
land county, Vermont, November 22, 1852. His
father was a merchant in Vermont, who, upon
I
338
a half Century of Minneapolis
visiting the West in 1855, was impressed with the
large promise of the water power of the Falls of
St. Anthony and decided to locate in Minneapolis,
returning in 1856., with his family and engaging
in the real estate business and for a few years in
mercantile business on Hennepin and Washington
avenues, in 1871 purchasing the Cataract Flour
ing Mills which he operated until his death in
1886. Edwin R. came to Minneapolis with his
parents in 1856 and passed his childhood in the
family homestead at Second avenue south and
Fourth street and has seen the city grow up from
a small village of a few hundred people to a
metropolis of over 250,000 people. He used to
shoot partridges where the West Hotel now
stands and remembers when the site of the C., M.
& St. P. R. R. depot was an impassable bog. Mr.
Barber received his early education at the public
schools and attended the State University, but
did not graduate. He attended a business college
and had private instructors in modern languages
and gained practical business experience in the
office of Gardner, Pillsbury & Crocker in what
is now Mill "D" operated by the Washburn-Cros
by Company, afterward going into the office of
Gardner & Barber in the Cataract Mills in 1871,
having now a record of thirty-six years practical
and successful experience in the milling business
and doing efficiently what was within his power
to aid in the upbuilding of the city. He has al
ways been a republican, independent in choice
of candidate for election at municipal and county
elections, and has loyally contributed his share
in the purchase of the site of the old Chamber of
Commerce, the Post Office site, the Minneapolis
Industrial Exposition, the Young Men's Christian
Association building, Westminster Church and
other enterprises, and, with D. H. Dorman, was
influential in inducing the Hennepin county dele
gation in the state legislature to join Ramsey
county in building the Lake Street bridge, paying
the interest on the bonds in advance for three
years, Hennepin county at the time having in
sufficient resources to take on any further interest
obligations. Mr. Barber is a member of the Min
neapolis, the Minikahda, the Lafayette, the Minnetonka and the Automobile clubs, and has been
one since the clubs were organized. He is a
member of Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Barber was married on October 1, 1873, to
Hattie E. Sidle, eldest daughter of Henry G.
Sidle, of the First National Bank. To them have
been born four children—Henry Sidle (1877);
Nellie L. (1882, died Dec. 28, 1888); Katherine
Sidle (1890), and Edwin Roswell (1892).
DE LA BARRE, William, engineer, agent
and treasurer of the St. Anthony Falls Water
Power Company and the Minneapolis Mill Com
pany, is the descendant of a French Huguenot
family that emigrated in 1652 from France to
Germany. He is an Austrian by birth, being
born at Vienna on April 15, 1849, the son of
Carl and Josephine de la Barre. He was raised
in the city of his birth and until he was twelve
years of age attended the Protestant schools of
that city. He then studied in the state schools
for a time and in 1863 entered the Polytechnic
Academy. He had been a student in that institu
tion but two years when he was recruited into
the Austrian Navy as a machinist and served a
term of ten months. He participated in the
naval battle of Lissa, on July 20, 1866, and while
in this service received his first mechanical ex
perience and training. Recognizing the oppor
tunities offered in the United States for advance
ment, in October, 1866, he emigrated to this
country. He landed at New York, remained in
that city long enough to look over its possibili
ties, then moved to Philadelphia where his me
chanical genius and ability soon found him em
ployment as a draughtsman and engineer, and in
these capacities he was connected with several
establishments. He finally accepted a position
with Morris Tasker and Company, engineers,
founders and builders, and was connected with
them about ten years, until he came to Minneap
olis in 1878. For a couple of years he had the
Minnesota agency for a patented apparatus for
the prevention of dust explosions in flour mills
and was engaged in selling and erecting these in
the mills of this city. In this way he became
known to the flour milling fraternity and in 1880
entered the employ of Ex-Governor C. C. Wash
burn as engineer and superintendent of his mills.
He held this position for eleven years, during
which time he erected the Washburn A and B
mills and made numerous other improvements in
the construction and operation of the plant. He
has had the management of the water-power
facilities of the Minneapolis Mill Company since
January, 1882, and when the consolidation of the
water powers on both sides of the Mississippi
River under the ownership of the PillsburyWashburn Flour Mills Company was effected in
the fall of 1889 he was appointed engineer agent
and treasurer of both the St. Anthony Falls Wa
ter Power Company and the Minneapolis Mill
Company. He has held these offices since that
time and besides discharging the regular duties
of his position has made extensive and valuable
improvements in the systems of water power at
the Falls of St. Anthony, had designed and super
vised the construction of mills and elevators and
has done considerable general engineering work.
He was married in 1870 to Miss Louise V. Merian
at Philadelphia and they have two children—Wil
liam Jr., born at Philadelphia in 1872, now a
practicing physician of this city, and a daughter
born at Minneapolis in 1889.
BRUSH, PHOTO
340
A
H ALF
CENTURY OF M INNEAPOLIS
ceived his education in the local public schools.
CROCKER, George Washington, the Nestor
He graduated from the high school and then en
of the flour millers of Minneapolis, and a citizen
tered the academic department of the University
in every sense of the word, self-made, was born
in the town of Hermon, Penobscot county,- of Minnesota. While in college Mr. Dibble was
elected to the Chi Psi fraternity by the local
Maine, in 1832, son of Asa and Matilda Crocker.
chapter. He graduated in June, 1900, with the
His father had a small farm and kept an inn on
degree of Bachelor of Science, soon after entered
the road to Bangor. When a small child he went
the Northwestern National Bank and was with
to live in the family of a neighboring farmer
that institution for a short time. He resigned his
where he remained ten years, working on the
position to engage in the grain business, accept
farm, and attending the district school as he had
ing a position with the P. B. Mann Company.
opportunity. At the age of seventeen he went
Recognizing the extensive field which offered in
to Providence, R. I., and .was employed as a nurse
the various branches of the grain industry, Mr.
in Butler Hospital. A few years later, with his
Dibble bought a membership in the Chamber of
brother, he went West to the Pacific Coast by
Commerce in 1901, and two years later, in March,
way of Panama, walking across the Isthmus.
1903, entered business for himself. He organized
They did some placer mining in California with
the Dibble Grain & Elevator Company, retaining
good returns, and opened a general store in the
the largest interest in the business and holding
Merced Valley. After splendid success they re
the offices of president and treasurer. His opera
turned to the East, landing in New York and pro
tions have expanded rapidly and since that time
ceeding West to Minneapolis where they arrived
the E. R. Dibble Company has been formed of
in 1855 and engaged in the real estate and loan
which Mr. Dibble is also president and treasurer.
business. Shortly afterwards Mr. Crocker bought
The Minnesota Flour Mill Company is another
interest in a grist mill which had been fitted up
of Mr. Dibble's business interests and he is the
out of the old government saw and grist mill at
chief executive officer of that firm. Though still
the Falls of St. Anthony, and engaged in that
a young man, Mr. Dibble has established a flour
business under the firm name of Perkins &
ishing
business, and has an extensive trade
Crocker. Mr. Crocker was not bred to the mill
throughout the Northwest. Mr. Dibble has never
ing business, but he went to work and mastered
taken an active' part in politics, nor sought to
the mysteries of the industry. In 1865 the Arctic
hold office, but supports the principles of the re
Mill (stone), with a daily capacity of 300 barrels,
publican party. He is a member of the Miniwas built and operated by Rowlandson & Crocker.
kahda, Lafayette and Automobile clubs. He was
In 1870 Mr. Crocker sold his interest in the Arc
married on September 12, 1900, to Miss Ellen
tic Mill and bought an interest in the Minneapolis
Urling Haight of New York, whose mother was
Mill, which had been built by Frazee, Murphy
before her marriage a Miss Harper, a daughter of
& Co. This mill has been burned twice and re
the Harper family of which comes the members
built each time with improved machinery and
of the well known firm of Harper Bros. Mr. and
larger capacity, producing the well-known brand
Mrs. Dibble have two children, both daughters,
of Crocker's Best, which has been on the market
Ellen Louise and Mary. The family attends the
continuously since. Mr. Crocker has been identi
St. Paul's Episcopal Church.
fied in the following milling firms as a practical
GOODING, Will G., manager of the W. J.
miller, manager and senior partner: Perkins,
Jennison Company, millers, was born on Septem
Crocker & Tomlinson; Crocker, Tomlinson & Co.,
ber 5, 1862, in Olmstead county, Minnesota.
Gardner, Pillsbury & Crocker; Pillsbury, Crocker
His father, A. Gooding, was in the milling and
& Fisk, and Crocker, Fisk & Co. In 1893 the
Minneapolis Mill was leased and afterwards sold 'grain business for a long period and made his
home in Rochester for about forty years. The
to Washburn-Crosby Co. Mr. Crocker was mar
son spent his boyhood at Rochester attending
ried December 25th, 1862, to Sarah Perkins
the public schools and entered the grain business
Moore. They had two sons, George Albert, a re
with his father who was at that time a member
tail druggist, who died in 1502 at the age of
of the firm of G. W. Van Dusen & Company.
thirty-three, and William G., who was with his
Here he acquired his first experience in buying
father from 1882 to 1893, and for the past fourteen
years has been with the Washburn-Crosby Co.
and selling grain and in 1884 felt himself fitted to
engage in business for himself which he did,
establishing in the grain trade at Watertown,
DIBBLE, Eugene Russell, one of the younger
South Dakota, About twelve years ago he be
men engaged in the grain business in Minneap
came connected with the milling industry and
olis, was born in this city on June 27, 1878. His
in his present connection as manager and vice
maternal grandfather, W. S. Judd, was one of
president of W. J. Jenniscn & Company has
the pioneer settlers of Minneapolis and was
entire charge of the eight hundred barrel capacity
connected with many of the important commer
mill of that firm at Appleton, Minnesota. Their
cial and public movements of the city. Russell
office is in the Phoenix building in Minneapolis
Dibble, father of Eugene R., was also a resident
where the principal business transactions of the
of this city for many years, and died here in 1881.
His mother was Ellen (Judd) Dibble. Mr. Dib
concern are conducted. Mr. Gooding is a mem
ble has lived in Minneapolis all his life and re
ber of the Minneapolis Commercial Club.
KMtotqn
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L. P. HUBBARD
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A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
342
1891 when the business was sold to the North
western Consolidated Milling Company. In the
following year Mr. Hardenbergh organized the
National Milling Company of which he is still
the president and which operates the Dakota Mill.
His son, Fred E. Hardenbergh, is associated with
him as treasurer and secretary of the corpora
tion. From his earliest residence in Minneapolis,
Mr. Hardenbergh has taken-an active interest in
' the affairs of the city and though a life long re
publican has never sought office although upon
the consolidation of the cities of Minneapolis and
St". Anthony in 1872 he was named as one of the
first board of aldermen and in the following year
was reelected to the city council as member from
the Seventh Ward. He has long been a member
of the Masonic order and was one of the found
ers of St. Marks Episcopal Church in 1868. For
many years during- his long connection with St.
Marks church he has held official positions there
as vestryman or warden. Mr. Hardenbergh was
married in 1859, to Miss Mary Lee of^Hartford,
Connecticut, daughter of Wm. T. Lee who after
wards came to Minneapolis and built a residence
on the present site of the Syndicate Block. They
have had ten ^children of whom six are now liv
ing— Mrs. W. P. Hallowell, Fred E. Harden
bergh, Ernest L. Hardenbergh, Mrs. J. W. Jones,
Elsie Hardenbergh and Clarence M. Harden
bergh.
CHARLES M.
HARDENBERGH.
HARDENBERGH, Charles Morgan, presi
dent of the National Milling Company and, one
of the oldest of the leading manufacturers of
Minneapolis, is a native of New Brunswick, New
Jersey. He was born on January 4, 1833. Mr.
Hardenbergh's education was obtained in the
schools of his native town and at Trinity College
at Hartford, Connecticut*. After leaving .college,
Mr. Hardenbergh entered the ship-building busi
ness, but after a few years determined to go west
and arrived in Minneapolis in 1862. He at once
entered the manufacture Of iron work in connec
tion with Wm. H. Lee under the firm name of
Lee & Hardenbergh. At first their plant was on
the east side but in 1865 they decided to cross the
river and erected extensive buildings- on the site
now occupied by the Crown Roller flour mill.
The new establishment was named the Minne
sota Iron Works and the business was continued
under Mr. Hardenbergh's management until 1879
when it was sold to O. A. Pray & Company. The
old buildings were then torn down to make way
for the Crown mill. Mr. Hardenbergh left the
iron business to become a member of the firm of
Christian Bros. & Company and to take special
charge of the construction and operation of the
new flour mill. The firm was composed of J. A.
Christian, L. Christian, C. M. Hardenbergh and
C. E. French. Mr. Hardenbergh continued as
part owner and operator of the Crown mill until
DUNWOODY, William Hood, now one of the
last of the pioneer millers of Minneapolis to
remain in active business, is«of Scottish ancestry.
His father, grandfather and great-grandfather
were farmers who successively followed agricul
ture in the same portion of Chester county,
Pennsylvania. His father was James Dunwoody;
his mother Hannah Hood, the daughter of Wil
liam Hood whose ancestors came into Penn
sylvania when Penn founded his colony. After a
period of schooling in Philadelphia, he, at the
?ge of eighteen, entered the store of an uncle in
Philadelphia and commenced what proved to be
the business of his life. His uncle was a grain
merchant. After a few years, Mr. Dunwoody
brgan for himself as the senior member of Dun
woody & Robertson. Ten "years of practical ex
perience in the flour and grain markets of Phila
delphia fitted him for wide operations in the west.
He came to Minneapolis in 1869 and very soon
afterward embarked in the milling business. Mill
ing here was then in the old style—actively oper
ated during the low freights eastward in summer,
and very moderately during the high freights by
rail in winter.
In 1875 Mr. Dunwoody devised and was in
strumental in organizing the Millers' Association,
formed to equalize the distribution of wheat be
tween the mills, at a time when the capacity for
grinding was greater than the supply of wheat.
Its work was most important in the development
of early day milling in Minneapolis. It continued
until the extension of railroads and settlement
« ( , V,
&mVy£t
kMi,
344
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
of the prairies northwest of Minneapolis led to
the production of a greater supply of wheat. It
was then found necessary to find a new market
for an increased output of flour and in 1877 Mr.
Dunwoody, at the instigation of Governor Wash
burn, made a trip to Great Britain, where he re
mained eight months in his efforts to introduce
flour manufactured in Minneapolis. Failing to
interest other Minneapolis millers, who declared
it could not be accomplished, Governor Wash
burn decided to carry the responsibilities alone
and assume all necessary expense until it was
demonstrated beyond question, that a direct
trade with Great Britain could be established.
Although provided with proper credentials and
excellent letters of introduction, Mr. Dunwoody
met with a very cool deception, and on the
boards of trade was treated with scant courtesy,
the influence of the brokers, whose commissions
were threatened by this new departure, being
distinctly felt. It was only by great persistence
and the exercise of tact, discretion and courtesy
that he induced some of the. younger men to
make a trial, which fortunately proved satisfac
tory and led to further shipments. Some months
later the larger part of the C. C. Washburn
plant was destroyed by the great fire and explo
sion of May 2, 1878, and further efforts were
held in abeyance until the mills could be rebuilt
and a steady supply assured. But the aggressive
policy adopted, in which Mr. Dunwoody was an
active participant, created such a demand and so
widened the outlet, that those millers who de
clined to join in the first experiment, were only
too glad to take advantage of the opportunity
opened to them by his foresight and persever
ance. From this small beginning in 1877 has
grown the large export trade of the Northwest,
until now there is scarcely a region of any size
on the habitable globe where Minneapolis flour
is not known and appreciated.
Shortly after the great mill explosion in 1878,
Mr. Dunwoody entered the firm of Washburn,
Crosby & Company, which had been formed the
previous year. Soon after this Governor Wash
burn imported corrugated steel rolls and puri
fiers from Hungary, which was the origin of
what was subsequently known as the "Hungarian
process" of manufacturing flour.
The experi
mental mill soon proved that the process was
well adapted to the needs of the millers of this
country. All of the mills in the city and sur
rounding region were soon changed over to the
same process, and the method has been generally
adopted by all mills throughout the country. On
July xo, 1889, the company was incorporated un
der the name Washburn-Crosby Company, of
which Mr. Dunwoody is vice-president.
Mr.
Dunwoody is also interested in several elevator
companies which are allied with the milling in
terest. He is president of the Northwestern Na
tional bank and a member cf the Chamber of
Commerce of Minneapolis and New York and
of the Minneapolis Club, the Minnesota Club
(St. Paul) and the Metropolitan Club (New
York). He is a Presbyterian; in political affilia
tions, a republican. Mr. Dunwoody, before leav
ing Philadelphia, was married to Miss Kate L.
Patten, the daughter of a prominent merchant of
Philadelphia. Their home is a handsome resi
dence on Oakland Terrace.
FAIRCHILD, Egbert Nelson, for many years
associated with the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour
Mills Company in this city, was born in New
York City on September 28, 1868. His father
was Egbert Henry Fairchild, who, at the time
Egbert Nelson was born, was conducting an ex
tensive contracting business in New York; his
mother was Mary Seymore. Mr. Fairchild
passed but a short time in the city of his birth,
his family moving when he was still a child
to Peekshill, New York. In that town he re
ceived his education, attending the public schools;
and then came to Minnesota and located in Min
neapolis. In 1884 he accepted a position with
Chas. A. Pillsbury & Company and has been
continuously identified with the milling interests
of that firm and the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour
Mills Company which succeeded it in 1889.
Through his own efforts he has advanced him
self to the office of assistant manager and holds a
high place in the esteem and confidence of the
company. He has also other extensive interests
in the city and throughout the Northwest, being
president of the Sioux Paving Brick Company,
of Sioux City, Iowa, and holds the same office
in Lower Brick Company, which has headquarters
in that city, and is also a member of the Minne
apolis Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Fairchild
has devoted much time to business affairs, but
has nevertheless found it possible to take a part
in the social life of the city and is well known
also in club circles. He is a member of the
Minneapolis Club, and the Minikahda Club, being
a governor of the latter organization, and a mem
ber of the Minneapolis Curling Club. On Octo
ber 4, 1893, Mr. Fairchild was married to Miss
Gertrude A. Kenny, and they have two children,
Catherine and Mary..
KING, Henry Havelock, president of the
Sheffield-King Milling Company of Minneapolis,
is a native of Maine. He was born at Calais, in
that state, August 30, 1861, the son of James and
Jane (Fleming) King. James King was a con
tractor. He moved to St. Stephen, New Bruns
wick, while his son Henry was still young, and
the boy grew up in that place, obtaining most of
his schooling at the St. Stephen private schools.
At the age of twelve years he left school and ob
tained a position as clerk, and was employed in
this way until he was seventeen. In 1879 he
moved to Minneapolis and for the next five years
was employed as a bookkeeper. In 1884 he went
into the feed commission business in which he
was very successful, but after about eight years
•
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3• •
Wfx.
Wr.
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SWEET, PHOTO
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•
_
.
346
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
he became interested in the milling business, and
in 1892 engaged in flour milling, forming soon
afterwards, with B. B. Sheffield, the SheffieldKing Milling Company. Mr. King was for a
time secretary and manager of the business, and
for some years now has been president of the
company. He was married on May 3, 1905, to
Helen M. Clark. Mr. King has taken an active
part in the affairs of the Chamber of Commerce/
as well as in the general interests of the city,
both commercially and socially. He is a member
of the Minneapolis Club.
.•*
LITTLE, Henry L., manager of the PillsburyWashburn Flour Mills Company, Ltd., was
born in 1857 on a farm near Webster, New
Hampshire. His education was acquired in the
public school and local high school of Web
ster. He also attended the Academy at Penacook, New Hampshire, for a short time.
His business career began as clerk in his
father's store. Mr. Little came to Minneapolis
about 1880, without friends or influence of any
sort and first clerked in a hardware store with
out reimbursement, awaiting a vacancy in the
regular force. During this time he met Mr.
C. A. Pillsbury who offered him a position in
his office, which he declined as he was averse to
doing clerical work. Shortly after this Mr. Pillsbury made him a proposition to go on the road
and sell flour, which he accepted. After traveling
a number of years Mr. Little assumed charge of
the sales department in the office and in 1897
was made assistant to Mr. Pillsbury, upon whose
death two years later Mr. Little became head of
the largest flour milling plant in the world.
LORING, Charles M., pioneer merchant, flour
miller, and for years the president of the Min
neapolis Park Board, was born at Portland,
Maine, November 13, 1833, the son of Captain
Horace Loring and Sarah (Wiley) Loring. His
father, who was a sea captain, took him, while
still a boy, on several voyages^and destined him
to become a sailor, but the young man disliked
the sea and in 1856 came west and engaged in
business at Chicago. After a few years failing
health influenced him to seek another climate, and
he secured a situation with Dorilus Morrison-in
Minneapolis during the year i860. Soon after,
however, he joined Loren Fletcher in the general
merchandise trade and the firm became prominent
in the business life of the village. From 1868 to
1894 he was engaged in the milling business; and,
since then, has been president of the Morgan
Machine Company, of Rochester, New York. Mr.
Loring's energy, business qualifications, public
spirit and affability led to his being chosen for
many posts closely connected with the general
welt-being of the community in which he lives.
He was a member of the city council from 1870
to 1873; as organizer of the North American
Telegraph Company, serving as its president from
1885 until his resignation in 1897; first president
of an improvement association existing here in
early times; member of the Court House Com
mission; president of the Board of Trade in
^75; president of the Chamber of Commerce
from 1886 to 1890; president of State Board of
Commissioners for securing Minnehaha Park;
president of the Board of Park Commissioners
from its organization in 1883 until his resignation
in 1893; for several years a vice-president of Na
tional Board of Trade; recently, president of the
American Park and Outdoor Art Association,
president of the Minnesota State Forestry Asso
ciation, and a life member of the Minnesota State
Horticultural Society. For more than 30 years
he was treasurer of Lakewood Cemetery Asso
ciation, and was one of the trustees of Washburn
Memorial Orphan Asylum until he resigned in
1905. Mr. Loring's activity in movements per
taining to civic welfare and embellishment in the
city of his adoption are recognized and appre
ciated by all who sympathize with such labors
and estimate the results at their true value. His
efforts in this direction commenced soon after
his arrival in Minneapolis and have been constant
during more than forty years. From the first he
was much interested in the subject of public
parks and took part in all the earlier efforts to
secure parks for the young city. Later as presi
dent of the park board he had opportunity to do
much for this cause, not only in actual accom
plishment as an official-but in the way of moulding
public opinion. He has been indefatigable in
striving to secure land and perfect a park sys
tem, which is counted as one of the main attrac
tions of Minneapolis. A natural taste in this
direction has been fostered and cultivated by ex
tensive travels, both in this country and foreign
lands, where keen observation, love of nature
and intercourse with kindred minds have all con
tributed to render this pursuit a veritable pas
sion. In recognition of his services to the city
the park board just before his retirement from
the presidency, and in spite of his remonstrance,
gave his name to the central park of the city,
and he is familiarly called the Father of the
Parks. Mr. Loring was married in early life at
Portland, Maine, to Miss Emily Crosman. Their
only son, A. C. Loring, is a prominent Minne
apolis miller. Mrs. Loring died in 1894. Mr.
Loring was again married in 1896 to Miss Flor
ence Barton, daughter of A. B. Barton, of Min
neapolis. Mr. Loring has always been a re
publican in politics though in this as in all mat
ters independent and liberal in his views. He is
a member of the Minneapolis Commercial Club
and other organizations of a public and social
character but finds his chief relaxation in study
ing public grounds and in assisting in the promo
tion of parks and parkways. He has been in
vited to render such assistance in many cities and
has made numerous addresses of a character cal
culated to educate public taste for "the city, beau
tiful."
fclfc,
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jjfeaBL
BRUSH, PHOTO
•
a
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m
A HALF CENTURY Of MINNEAPOLIS
MARTIN, Charles J., was born in April,
1842, at Clarendon, New York. He went to Wis
consin in 1863, and there enlisted as a private
soldier in the Fortieth Regiment of Wisconsin
Infantry and served in the war for the Union.
In 1872 he was appointed secretary to Governor
C. C. Washburn of Wisconsin and in 1874 he
removed to Minneapolis and became connected
with the Washburn flouring mills which were
then operated by George H. Christian & Co.,
and later by J. A. Christian & Co. When the
co-partnership of Washburn, Crosby & Co. was
organized in February 1, 1879, Mr. Martin was
admitted as a partner, and in 1889, upon the in
corporation of the Washburn-Crosby Company,
he was elected secretary and treasurer of the
company and has since that time held that office.
Mr. Martin's business ability was early recog
nized by Gov. Washburn, who commissioned him
to be his secretary and aide de, camp. He was
appointed one of the executors of Gov. Wash
burn's will and a trustee of the Washburn Mem
orial Orphan Asylum. Among his business rela
tions which he has filled with distinguished ability
may be mentioned his work as secretary and
treasurer of the Great Falls, Montana, Royal
Milling Company and of the St.-Anthony & Da
kota Elevator Company, and on the directory of
the National Bank of Commerce.
PILLSBURY, Charles Alfred, for many years
the leading miller of the world, was born at
Warner, New Hampshire, October 3, 1842, and
died at Minneapolis, September 17, 1899. Mr.
Pillsbury spent his boyhood in New Hampshire,
attending the local schools, and afterwards went
to Dartmouth College from which he graduated
at the age of twenty-one. During his college
life he partially supported himself by teaching
at intervals. After graduation he went to Mon
treal where he spent six years in various employ
ments. He then came to Minneapolis,' in 1869,
and purchased an interest in a small flour mill.
Minneapolis flour milling was 'at that time in a
quite undeveloped condition. There were, per
haps, half a dozen mills at the falls and all of
them used the old-fashioned buhr mill-stones
and other old time appliances. But Mr, Pillsbury arrived just in time to assist in the devel
opment and application of a number of wonderful
inventions and to participate in the enormous
growth of milling which followed the opening of
the spring wheat district of Minnesota and the
Dakotas. In 1869 when he reached Minneapolis
the railroads extended but a few miles north and
west; within a few years they had crossed large
areas of prairie land making this unrivaled wheat
raising district tributary to the Minneapolis flour
mills. At about the same time the invention of
the self binder cheapened the production of
wheat while in the mills themselves many radical
innovations were introduced. One of the latter
was the middlings purifier, a Minneapolis inven
tion which Mr. Pillsbury at once adopted with
great profit. Almost at the same time the steel
roller process was introduced from abroad and
between the two inventions the making of flour
was revolutionized both as to quality and cost
of production. Mr. Pillsbury's advance during the
seventies was extraordinarily rapid. In 1872 he
formed the firm of Chas. A. Pillsbury & Com
pany with his uncle, John S. Pillsbury, and his
father, George A. Pillsbury, as his partners. Sub
sequently his brother, Fred. C. Pillsbury, was
admitted to the firm. A group of half a dozen
mills was operated by Chas. A. Pillsbury &
Co., for several years, but the business grew
so rapidly that much larger capacity was needed
which was secured by the erection of the famous
Pillsbury A mill which when completed had <*
capacity of 7,000 barrels per day. This mill was
then the largest in the world but its capacity,
through the improvement of machinery, has
been more than doubled and is at the present
time 15,650 barrels per day. During the period
of active development of the milling industry,
Mr. Pillsbury visited Europe repeatedly and be
came widely known throughout Europe and
America as the largest flour producer in the
world. Besides making -a practical and detailed
study of every phase of the production of wheat,
its transportation, the making of flour and the
marketing of flour and its by-products, Mr. Pills
bury found time to take a large interest in many
other commercial enterprises as well as to par
ticipate in public affairs in the city and state.
He-was frequently tendered political honors but
the only office which he. held during his life in
Minneapolis was that of State Senator to which
he was elected for the term beginning in 1877
and which he held for ten years. In 1890 the
firm of Chas. A. Pillsbury & Company was
merged into the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills
Company and a large part of the stock in the
new concern was purchased by an English syn
dicate. The new corporation also secured a con
trolling interest in the entire water power at St.
Anthony Falls. Mr. Pillsbury remained at the
head of the business at a very large salary and
retained a large holding of the stock. During
the succeeding years the business was greatly
developed and maintained its position as the
leading flour producing company of the whole
world. After a few years, on Mr. Pillsbury's
recommendation, the company took up the fur
ther improvement of the water power through
the construction of an auxiliary dam a short dis
tance below the falls by means of which 10,000
additional horse power was developed. This was
the last great construction work under Mr. Pills
bury's direction. During the thirty years of his
active business life in Minneapolis Mr. Pillsbury
was probably the most popular business man in
the city, always in good health and spirits, easily
accessible and generous to a fault. His philan
thropies and benevolences were many, but for the
most part are unrecorded. Mr. Pillsbury was a
350
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
BRUbHj PHOTO
WILLIAM L. STEVENS.
member of many local organizations: He was a
very prominent member of the Minneapolis Cham
ber of Commerce and was its president from 1882
to 1894. On September 12, 1866, he was married
to Miss Mary A. Stinson of Goffstown, New Hamp
shire, who died September 26, 1902. Two sons,
Charles S. and John S., have assumed many of
the business relations so long maintained by their
father. The family has always attended Ply
mouth Congregational Church and the sons have
built, as a memorial to their parents, Pillsbury
House in South Minneapolis where the settle
ment work of Plymouth Church is conducted.
PILLSBURY, George Alfred, the oldest of
the Pillsbury family which has taken such a
large part in the history of Minneapolis, was
born at Sutton, New Hampshire, on August 29,
1816. He was the son of John P. and Susan
Wadleigh Pillsbury, of a family tracing its ori
gin back to William Pillsbury who came from
England in 1640. He received a common school
education and when eighteen entered business
life in Boston. A large part of his life was spent
in business in Warner, New Hampshire, where
he served his town and state in various public
offices. From 1844 to 1849 he was post master
of Warner. In 1851 Mr. Pillsbury retired from
mercantile business and was appointed purchas
ing agent for the Concord Railroad Corporation
and moving to Concord remained in this position
for about twenty-four years, during which he
handled very large sums of money. His inter
ests broadened, including real estate investments,
the organization of the First National Bank of
Concord, the National Savings Bank of the same
place and he also served as a member of the city
council and represented his ward in the legisla
ture. In 1878 he followed his brother, Governor
J. S. Pillsbury and his son, Charles A. Pillsbury,
to Minneapolis. He was then sixty-two years
old and had acquired a competent fortune which
he invested in business in Minneapolis, becoming
one of the firm of Chas. A. Pillsbury & Co.,
which was for years the largest flour milling
concern in the world. His many public services
in the east were known, and he was soon called
upon to serve the city of Minneapolis, being
chosen for the school board and city council and
in 1884 receiving the nomination by the republi
can party for mayor. To this office Mr. Pills
bury was elected by a majority of eight thousand.
Mr. Pillsbury gave the city a careful business
like administration. In his inaugural address he
suggested that saloons should not be licensed
in the residence portions of the city, and the de
velopment of this idea of his son Charles A.
Pillsbury, who was the originator of it, gave to
Minneapolis the patrol limits system of saloon
restriction. Besi(%s his interests in flour milling
Mr. Pillsbury entered largely into the other bus
iness undertakings of the city and was at various
times president of the Board of Trade, Chamber
of Commerce and of the Pillsbury & Hurlbut
Elevator Company,-of the Northwestern Nation
al Bank, trustee of the Hennepin County Savings
Bank, vice-president of the Minnesota Loan &
Trust Company and stock holder and director
in many of the financial and manufacturing en
terprises of the city. In 1885 he was chairman
of the building committee in charge of the first
chamber of commerce building, and in the fol
lowing year occupied the same position in con
nection with the erection of the First Baptist
church. A life long Baptist he took a prominent
part in the affairs of the denomination and served
as president of the Baptist union, Minnesota
Baptist state convention and of the American
Baptist union. He gave very liberally to Pills
bury Academy of Owatonna which took its name
in his honor. Tn 1890 he, in recognition of his
life long relations with three New Hampshire
communities, gave to Concord a free hospital
named in honor of his wife, the Margaret Pills
bury hospital; to Warner, a free public library
and to Sutton, a soldier's monument. He was
married on May 9, 1841, to Miss Margaret S.
Carlton. They had three children; a daughter
who died in infancy; Charles A. Pillsbury, known
for years as the leading miller of the world,
who died in 1899. and Fred C. Pillsbury, who was
associated with his brother and father in busi
ness, who died in 1892.
STEVENS, William Lewis, is a native of
Maine, the state which has furnished so great a
part of the ability and energy that have made
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352
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
possible the remarkable development of the
Northwest. His home was at West Waterville,
now Oakland, where he was born on December
!7> !853> the son of Joseph E. Stevens and
Susan A. Stevens. His father was a manufac
turer of that town, and there William L. passed
the years of his boyhood and began his educa
tional training. He attended the village gram
mar and high school and after completing his
preparatory work entered the University of
Maine. In 1876 he completed his studies in that
institution and graduated in that year with a de
gree of M. E. Soon after finishing his college
work he came to Minneapolis where a position
in the office of a flour milling concern was ac
cepted and since that time he has been continu
ously connected with some branch of the flour
industry. From 1879 until 1884 he was asso
ciated with a milling firm of this city which did
a large export business and received the training
of which he afterward made service in his own
interests. In 1884 he became identified with the
flour exporting line in his own name, and has
since carried on the business on his own account.
An extensive trade has been worked up in Great
Britian and Holland and the flour of some of the
leading merchant mills of the Northwest is dis
tributed in those countries. A considerable ex
port business is also done in Kansas hard wheat
flours in conjunction with the products of the
local mills. Mr. Stevens is a republican in poli
tics, but does not take an especial interest in
party matters. He was married in 1879 and has
three children. The family attends the Congre
gational Church.
WILLFORD, Joseph Lewis, for some thirtyfive years a prominent manufacturer of Minne
apolis, was born in Green county, Wisconsin, on
July 10, 1849. He was the son of Joseph Willford and Phoebe Jane Hill Willford, and from
his father, who was a miller, he doubtless in
herited a taste for the handling of machinery,
which led him to the line of business which he
has followed successfully during the greater part
of his life. Mr. Willford's boyhood was spent
in Iowa and Minnesota, where he secured such
training as the public schools afforded. But the
death of his parents while he was still a child
threw him quite early upon his own resources.
He became interested in machinery and machine
building and an experience of some years in
practical shop work fitted him for the larger
field which he has since entered. In 1871 he
came to Minneapolis and this city has since
been the headquarters of his business operations.
In 1873 the firm of Willford, Rimers & Gillmore
was formed and under this name Mr. Willford
began the manufacture of middlings purifiers.
This association was continued until about 1877
when he bought out his partners and operated
the business independently for two years. In
1879 he formed a partnership with W. P. Northway under the firm name of Willford & Northway and commenced the building of middlings
purifiers and other flour mill machinery, develop-
JOSEPH L. WILLFORD.
ing a large line of machinery, all of their own
design. At first they occupied a small shop at
Second street and Fifth avenue south, in the
milling district, but the rapid growth of the
business made necessary a larger plant and the
building on Third avenue south between Third
and Fourth streets was erected. In 1885 the
business was incorporated as the Willford &
Northway Manufacturing Company, with a captal of $130,000. Mr. Millford has taken a prom
inent part in the development of the flour mill
machinery business, which has done much to
establish and maintain the supremacy of the
city as the milling and mill building center of
the world. In 1896 Mr. Willford established the
Willford Manufacturing Company, of which he
was president and executive head until 1905.
when he sold his interest to his associates. Mr.
Willford is an inventor of much ability and has
devoted his attention to the development and im
provement of flour mill machinery and systems.
He has invented and patented many important
machines, a number of which still take an im
portant part in the milling industry. He is iden
tified with the leading social and commercial
associations of the city and is a thirty-second
degree Mason, a Knight Templar, a Knight of
Pythias and a member of the Order of Elks.
Mr. Willford was married April 8, 1874, and has
had five children, of whom three, Eugene, Mabel
and Arthur, are living.
CHAPTER XX.
GRAIN TRADE AND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
T
HE first grain shipped into Minne
apolis came to supply the early
flour mills and, strange as it may
seem (when the supremacy of Minnesota as
a wheat-raising state is considered) the first
wheat for grinding here came from Iowa
and Illinois. A little was brought into the
village by the farmers hereabout, but the
first merchant mill found it necessary to
import grain from the south or shut down.
At first the wheat from the south came in
small quantities, and it was regarded as an
important event in the trade when a ship
ment of 2,000 bushels arrived on one steam
boat in 1855. Settlement was rapid, how
ever, and the trend of the wheat trade was
soon turned in the opposite direction. With
this turn in the course of the crop move
ment Minneapolis for a time lost her hold
upon the wheat. The southern part of Min
nesota was settled in advance of the region
west of Minneapolis, and very soon that
part of the state was producing more wheat
than the early Minneapolis mills could use
and it turned naturally to another market.
James J. Hill is authority for the state
ment that the first wheat shipped out of
Minnesota was raised about Le Sueur and
went down the river on a barge in 1857.
For some years after that this barge trade
from the Minnesota river was a feature of
the wheat business. But the gradual growth
of the Minneapolis flour milling industry
forced the wheat trade to this city. The
rapid settlement of Central and Western
Minnesota immediately after the war in
creased w r heat production enormously, and
the railroad building which went on at the
same time furnished the means of bringing
the grain to the Minneapolis mills. But,
through all this period there was nothing
corresponding to the grain commission
business of the present day. Nearly all the
wheat was bought directly by the millers. In
1859 the following dealers were classified
as handling "grain and produceKimball,
Johnson & Co., Jos. Moody, Thos. Moulton,
George Perkins, J. H. Green & Co., Nut
ting, Brown & Co., H. T. Crowell, Fletcher
& Gould, and J. G. McFarlane. None of
them made an exclusive business of hand
ling grain. As late as 1871 there were but
nine firms in the city classified as "grain
dealers" and some of these were not ex
clusively in this line. They were: Clark
& Linton, W. H. Dun woody, Harvey &
Bradley, John Osborne, E. & B. Palmer,
Pratt & Foster, John Scheible, J. M. Varney & Co. and Wright & Fiske.
Statistics of the early wheat trade are
scarce and not altogether trustworthy, but
the following figures (preserved by Mr.
George A. Brackett, who was then a flour
miller) showing the shipments into the city
over the first railroad, and from practically
the only railroad points then shipping here,
are unquestioned and of much interest:
MINNESOTA CENTRAL RAILWAY
SHIPMENTS,
Stations.
Rosemount
Farmington
Castle Rock
Northfield
Dundas
Faribault
Medford
Owatonna
Totals
Increase
1867-8.
Crop, 1867. Crop, 1868.
Bushels.
Bushels.
...
35,386
40,204
161,794
132,392
14,910
10,454
101,231
68,830
13,485
13,788
44,989
76,086
14,982
20,669
74,846
186,930
461,623
549,353
87,732
In 1867 the Minneapolis Millers' Associa
tion had been organized to buy wheat for
all the mills and to prevent "dangerous
354
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
competition." The tardiness of the devel
opment of a general grain commission busi
ness was due to this association, which
practically controlled the Minneapolis re
ceipts of wheat.
It is only necessary to glance at the sta
tistics of receipts and shipments for the
last five years of the Millers' Association
before the organization of the Chamber of
Commerce to see how the association con
trolled the receipts. There were practically
no shipments, and the wheat which was not
shipped was handled by the association,
and went into the mill bins.
year, while for the past nine years they
have been above 80,000,000, and in 1905
exceeded 93,000,000 bushels. The enormous
consumption of the mills is shown by the fact
that in the last few years the shipments have
been not more than ten or eleven million
bushels annually. Since 1886 the receipts and
shipments have been as below:
Receipts,
Bushels.
Shipments,
Bushels.
1887
45,504,480
12,347,440
1892
72,727,600
21,161,010
1897
72,301,530
12,175,370
1902
88,762,120
11,770,170
15,608,800
Receipts,
Bushels.
Shipments,
Bushels.
1903
86,804,070
1904
86,935,980
18,177,340
4,510,440
21,200
1905
93,263,910
23,152,920
1870
4,581,040
209,600
1906
80,694,580
20,332,970
1879
7.523,864
177,400
1907
86,030,990
20,343,590
10,258,700
133,600
16,316,950
514,250
Year.
1877
1880
188 1
:
;
;
'.
During the year following the organiza
tion of the Chamber of Commerce the ship
ments sprung from 500,000 to 2,000,000
bushels. Within five years they had grown
to over 6,000,000 bushels, as follows:
Year.
Receipts,
Bushels.
Shipments,
Bushels.
1882
18,947,500
2,105,000
188 3
22,124,711
2,125,719
1884
29,322,720
4,586,960
1885
32,900,560
4,944,240
1886.
34,904,260
6,651,780
From 1882 the business of handling
wheat became a staple one. A market was
assured and orders poured in from south
ern and eastern millers. The grain men set
to work to develop this shipping demand.
So successful were they that vast amounts
have been thus marketed during the past
twenty years, the volume of the shipping
business varying with the crops and the
demand of the local mills. As high as 21,000,000 bushels have been shipped in one
year.
GREATEST PRIMARY MARKET.
Minneapolis for the first time appeared in
the list of the ten greatest primary wheat
markets of the country in 1879—ninth on
the list with receipts of about 7,000,000
bushels. New York stood first, credited
with 71,000,000 bushels. Two years later,
in 1881, Minneapolis had reached third
place, as the following figures indicate:
It
WHEAT RECEIPTS OF TWENTY YEARS.
Meanwhile, the receipts have increased
more rapidly than the shipments. At no
time since 1886 have the receipts fallen
below 40,000,000 bushels in any calendar
FIRST CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUILDING.
GRAIN T R A D E A N D CHAMBER O F COMMERCE
355
Received, Bu.
1 New York
44,297,11^
2 Baltimore
20,933,255
3 Minneapolis
16,317,250
4 Chicago
14,824,900
5 St. Louis
13,243,571
6 Toledo
12,697,413
7 Milwaukee
.
10,176,094
8 Philadelphia
8,399,032
9 Detroit
5,807,073
10 Kansas City
4,102,049
After four years more Minneapolis took
first place as a primary market, and has
maintained it ever since. The figures of
that year, 1885, were as follows:
Received, Bu.
1 Minneapolis
32,900,560
2 New
24,329,458
York
3 Chicago
19,266,772
4 Duluth
14,869,675
5 Toledo
10,717,145
6 St.
10,690,677
Louis
7 Milwaukee
9,814,903
8 Detroit
8,731,495
9 Baltimore
8,588,763
10 Kansas City
4,763,844
Comparisons with other cities than Duluth-Superior and Chicago became unnec
essary as time went on as all other cities
had dropped far behind 'as wheat markets.
The figures which follow show the com
parative receipts of these three leading mar
kets for 1891, 1896, 1901 and the years since.
Minneapolis has maintained a long lead ;
and in several years has received twice as
much wheat as the other two markets com
bined :
Minneapolis
Duluth
Bushels
Bushels
1891
57,811,615
40,491,974
1896
69,568,870
56,607,897
19,161,812
1901.
90,838,570
47,000,965
51,197,870
Years
Chicago
Bushels
42,931,258
1902
88,762,120
42,406,923
37,940,953
1903
86,804,070
29,091,142
27,124,585
1904
1905-
86,935,980
92,176,870
26,655,205
31,186,725
24,457,347
26,899,012
80,694,580
41,558,151
28,249,475
86,030,990
52,299,825
24,943,690
1906
1907-
...
COARSE GRAINS.
Wheat being the most conspicuous grain
in the Minneapolis market, most of what
has been said about the development of the
grain trade relates to the handling of that
cereal. But wheat is by no means the only
grain in which Minneapolis dealers traffic.
COL. GEORGE I). ROGERS,
First Secretary Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce.
There is a constantly developing trade in
coarse grains which will continue to enlarge
with the diversification of agriculture in the
northwestern states and the extension of
farming to bring into productivity all the
available arable land west and northwest of
Minneapolis. Each year corn is being cul
tivated further and further north. Rye and
barley are well adapted to the climatic con
ditions of Minnesota and the Dakotas, while
the northwest is the finest place in the
world for raising flax. In fact, the produc
tion of flaxseed has developed so rapidly,
and seems based on such stable conditions
that Minneapolis has become the chief mar
ket of the country and has more linseed oil
mill capacity than any other point in Amer
ica. The city has also wrested from Mil
waukee and Chicago pre-eminence in the
handling of barley.
Receipts of corn in late years have
averaged about 5,000,000 bushels annually
and were, in 1907, 6,151,000 bushels. Oats
are averaging over 20,000,000 bushels; bar-
356
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
war some method of
economical handling
and storage became a
necessity.
At first
the flour mills pro
vided storage, but
they rapidly outgrew
such facilities. And
with the progress of
agriculture and the
lengthening o f t h e
railroads there devel
oped a tendency to
hurry grain to market
as soon as harvested.
Bulk storage of some
sort was necessary.
This need was keenly
felt before capital
could be induced to
invest in elevators.
But in 1867 the Union
Elevator was erected
by the Union Eleva
tor Company, com
posed of W. W. East
man, A. H. Wilder,
Col. Merriam and D.
C. Shepherd. It stood
at Washington and
Ninth avenues south,
PRESENT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BUILDING.
on the Chicago, Mil
waukee & St. Paul Railway, and had a capac
ley reached- 20,000,000 in 1907; - and flax
ity of 130,000 bushels. In the following year
seed is 'averaging 10,000,000 bushels yearly.
W. F. Davidson built the Pacific Elevator at
ELEVATORS AND STORAGE.
Washington and Fourth avenues north. It was
a small house of only 85,000 bushels capa
During the half century of grain handling
at Minneapolis there has been a wonderful city, but in one of those early years it hand
evolution in methods. In the fifties, rousta led a million bushels of wheat. When in
1879, elevator A, belonging to the Min
bouts carried the wheat from the steamers'
decks to the landing in the sacks in which neapolis Elevator Company, was built on
the farmers had placed it on the lower river the Great Northern Railway at Chestnut
farms.
It- was hauled to the mills in avenue, it was regarded as an event of the
wagons. After a time bulk barges were utmost importance. The capacity was 780,built for handling grain but when the rail 000 bushels, and it was the largest elevator
roads began carrying wheat sacks were west of Chicago. The Minneapolis Eleva
again resorted to.' Cars carried about 16,- tor Company, which built this structure,
was officered by: L. Fletcher, president;
000 pounds as the limit or about 260 bushels
C. H. Pettit, treasurer; F. S. Hinkle, sec
as against 1 ,000, or more, frequently hauled
retary; and C. W. Tracy, superintendent.
on eight wheels nowadays.
As the grain production and milling ca During the following year the Pillsbury
pacity increased with great strides after the elevator was built on the east side, and in
n
GRAIN TRADE AND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
j 88 i the old Central elevator at Western
avenue and Holden street was put up.
These were the leading elevators up to the
time of the organization of the Minneapolis
Chamber of Commerce. To follow the
building since then would be almost impos
sible. With the rapid development of busi
ness in the early eighties, which has been
sketched elsewhere, elevator building went
on with great rapidity. At the close of
1885
city boasted an elevator capacity
of 9,515,000 bushels. In 1890 the capacity
was 16,315,000 bushels; and it is now over
40,000,000 bushels.
This terminal elevator capacity does noi,
however, by any means represent the stor
age capacity controlled by Minneapolis
grain men. Throughout the entire North
west, reaching from Wisconsin to the limits
of grain production, there are elevators and
grain warehouses at every railroad station.
These country "houses" vary in capacity
from a few thousand bushels to complete
elevators of several hundred thousand
bushels storage. A large proportion of
these outside elevators are owned or con
trolled by companies having headquarters
in Minneapolis. Through these systems the
Minneapolis grain companies extend their
influence to every part of the West, buying
in many cities and towns and controlling
in the aggregate many times the terminal
storage of Minneapolis proper.
357
gressive attitude of the grain men of this
section has made this the center of the ele
vator building business of the country.
EVOLUTION OF GRAIN F I R M S .
As was stated at the beginning of this
chapter grain handling in Minneapolis was
first a side line with the general merchants
of the village; then a few commission men
appeared, generally doing business as in
dividuals; and as time went on great cor
porations and large firms controlling heavy
properties developed from their small pre
decessors. The rise of the grain handlers
is a story of great interest but can only be
touched upon here. The development of
the Peavey business is, perhaps, most fa
miliar and at the same time most striking.
In 1873 the late F. H. Peavey was man
aging a little elevator at Sioux City; in
1874 he commenced to buy wheat for a
Duluth elevator; in 1875 he was buying for
the Minneapolis millers. By 1882 he was
operating on all lines of the "Omaha" line
southwest of Minneapolis and opened .an
EVOLUTION I N GRAIN H A N D L I N G .
Even the elevators themselves have
changed radically in form and construction
and method of operation. The accepted
construction at first was of wood, but with
in the past fifteen years many experiments
have been made to secure some permanenl
material at a reasonable cost, and steel, tile,
concrete and brick elevators have come in.
All of these materials are being used with
success, and each has its advocates. At all
events, the old style of wooden elevators
seems to be doomed. The new construc
tion reduces expense of maintenance and
operation, and obliterates the insurance ac
count.
The activity in elevator building in Min
neapolis and the Northwest and the pro
FRANK IT. PEAVEY,
For many years the head of the largest grain business in
the country.
358
A H a l f Century o f Minneapolis
office here and two years later he moved
to Minneapolis. The next fifteen years saw
the building up of a system comprising
some ten affiliated companies controlling
terminal storage of many millions and hun
dreds of country elevators with enormous
aggregate capacity.. The original Peavey
company continued under the direction of
George W.- Peavey, Frank T. Heffelfinger,
Frederick B. Wells and Charles F. Deaver,
who had been associated with Mr. Peavey
while the allied companies include many
well known Minneapolis grain men.
• The business of H. Poehler Company is
picturesque in its origin. Henry Poehler,
the founder of the business, came to Minne
sota in 1853 -and became a grain dealer at
Henderson in 1855, participating in the
earliest shipments of wheat out of the Min
nesota river by steamboat and barge, and
fighting Indians during the uprising of
1862. In 1887 he moved to Minneapolis
and founded the present company with his
sons Alvin H., Charles F. and Walter C.
and George A. Duvigneaud. It has become
a large and important business.
James Marshall, in 1903 the president of
the Chamber of Commerce and a very well
known dealer, was one of the first members
of the Chamber. He has the distinction of
being the first member to make an option
trade. This was in 1885—the beginning of
the great "futures" market here. Another
early member was William Griffiths, whose
business after various changes became the'
Brooks-Griffiths Company. Into this com
pany John R. Marfield entered in 1902
through the purchase of the Brooks inter
est. Mr. Marfield had had long experience
in the grain business in Winona, and the
consolidation of interests was fortunate.
The firm
became the Marfield-Griffiths
Company in 1903 and in 1906 it was incor
porated as Marfield, Tearse & Noyes, Mr.
Griffiths retaining his interest and the office
of vice-president.
The late Samuel S. Linton was one of the
first members of the Chamber and the firm
of Mills & Linton did a large business in
two small rooms in the old Johnson, Smith
& Harrison building in the early eighties.
In 1884 Mr. Linton with W. D. Gregory
organized a new firm and from this grew
the present firm of Gregory, Jennison & Co.
Another of the older dealers is George C.
Harper, who came in 1882 and has done
business continuously under his own name
ever since.
•
•
The Van Dusen-Harrington company
also dates from the early eighties when G.
W. Van Dusen, who had been in the grain
business at Rochester opened in Minne
apolis with C. M. Harrington, who had been
in his employ at Rochester. The business
has changed little in form but has now a
number of associated corporations and con
trols a very large terminal and country ele
vator capacity.
George C. Bagley came to Minneapolis
in 1885. His interests now include the At
lantic Elevator Company, the Royal Eleva
tor Company, the George C. Bagley Eleva
tor Company and the Homestead Elevator
Company—corporations which control a
great terminal and country storage. The
Huhn Elevator Company is the outgrowth
of the small business established by Anton
Huhn in 1884 and now one of the most ex
tensive of the elevator companies of the
city. One of the largest of the line elevator
companies is the Minneapolis & Northern,
of which C. M. Amsden has been the head
for many years.
It is, of course, impossible to trace even
the beginnings of the scores of trading firms
now doing business in the Chamber of
Commerce. Many interesting facts will be
found in the brief individual sketches form
ing a part of this chapter.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The history of the Chamber of Com
merce cannot be separated from that of
fiour-milling and the rise of the grain trade
—in fact, the three must be read together
to secure the complete story of the relation
of Minneapolis to the cereal products of the
country. The chamber was the logical
sequence of the conditions which were to
make the city a great grain market; but
without the chamber the development of
the market would have been much delayed.
The organization of a Chamber of Com
merce was first suggested by Col. George
D. Rogers, who subsequently became the
GRAIN TRADE AtfD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
359
MODERN TYPE OF STEEL TANK ELEVATOR.
first secretary of the Chamber, and, after
some years, again occupied that position
and is now general counsel. Colonel Rogers
in 1881 succeeded in interesting a group of
business men. First among these were the
few commission and grain men of the city.
But it was deemed important to secure the
support of the whole business community,
and, to make a good showing of strength
at the outset, a number of prominent men
in general pursuits were secured as incor
porators, the names appended to the articles
being these: H. G. Harrison, A. C. Rand,
John Dunham, A. H. Bode, E. V. White,
R. P. Russell, J. T. Buxton, W. F. Meader,
C. M. Loring, A. D. Mulford, Samuel P.
Snyder, A. B. Taylor, D. C. Bell, Anthony
Kelly, James A. Lovejoy, Frank L. Morse,
D. Syme, S. W. Serl, Robert McMullen, J.
R. Coykendall, and R. L. Crocket. The
articles of incorporation which were filed
on October 19, 1881, were brief but so com
prehensive as to give the Chamber a wide
range for possible activities. The objects
were stated to be: "To facilitate the buy
ing and selling of all products, to inculcate
principles of justice and equity in trade, to
facilitate speedy adjustments of business
disputes, to acquire and disseminate valu
able commercial information, and, generalIv, to secure to its members the benefits of
co-operation in the furtherance of their legi
timate business pursuits, and to advance
the general prosperity and business inter
ests of the city in Minneapolis."
The charter of the Chamber provided the
following list of officers: president, H. G.
Harrison; first vice-president, A. D. Mul
ford ; second vice-president, A. B. Taylor:
secretary, G. D. Rogers; treasurer, T. J.
Buxton; directors, H. G. Harrison, A. D.
Mulford, T. J. Buxton, James A. Lovejoy,
R. P. Russell, F. L. Morse, W. F. Meader,
John Dunham, S. W. Serl, D. Syme, R.
McMullen, A. B. Taylor and John Coyken
dall.
Temporary quarters were secured in a
room in the basement of the building at the
corner of Third street and Hennepin ave
nue, now occupied by the Western Union
Telegraph Company. Here the first meet
ing under the charter was held on Nov. 15,
when the membership was increased by the
election of twenty-one men, among whom
were practically all the grain dealers then
in the city. These new members were:
F. A. Bishop, D. C. Moak, C. W. Johnson,
Albert Hoppin, Oliver Merion, T. K. Ro
gers, C. G. Hillman, Louis Deunsing, W.
E. Steele, A. M. Woodward, O. A. Pray, J.
A. Walkley, W, M. Cochrane, A. C. Loring,
G. D. Rogers, Francis Hinkle, E. F. Dodge,
360
A HALF" CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Samuel S. Linton, Joseph H. Clarke, Wil
liam Griffiths and Thomas Wight.
Within a few weeks the most necessaryrules and by-laws had been adopted and
the Chamber had moved from the basement
quarters at Third street and Hennepin ave
nue to the third story of the old Johnson,
Smith & Harrison building at the corner of
Third street and First avenue south. It
did not take long, however,.to demonstrate
the need of more accessible rooms, and
quarters on the first floor of the same build
ing were soon secured. More new mem
bers were elected as follows: Theodore A.
Sammis, Samuel Morse, T. S. King, C. G.
Daggett, E. D. Bowen, D. H. Wright, C.
P. Reigal, E.-W. Batcheldor, John T. West,
Ed. M. Clement, W. A. Dolliver, C. W*
Tracy, W. W. Huntington, John T. Byers,
C. S. Hulbert, H. G. Croswell, James Mar
shall, J. C. Joslyn, Oscar Absalom, W. S.
TYPE OF BRICK ELEVATOR.
Designed and built by S. II. Tromanhauser, Minneapolis.
Embody, E. Cooley, Henry W. Holmes, M.
W. Yerxa, R. H. Hankinson, Chas. P. Lovell, Louis Muldahl, C. H. Carpenter, Ste
phen Cox, S. Grover Williams, and M. B.
Rollins.
During the month following organiza
tion there were almost daily applications,
and by the close of 1881 the membership
had increased to one hundred and forty-six.
The membership fee had been fixed at $25,
but applications were so numerous in the
first two months of 1882 that the Chamber
voted to make the fee $250, after March 1
of that year; but before the date was
reached there were enough applications to
make a total of 53$ members. The limit
was 550. Trading in memberships at once
commenced and they were found to have a
market value of from $60 to $70. This value
subsequently increased greatly! In Octo
ber, 1883, the fee was increased to $500
and the market value at once jumped
from $160 to $175 and from that rose to
$200 to $225. After the first building was
completed, memberships commanded $300,
but speedily went higher. At last the fee
was advanced to $1,000, but the market for
transfers continued to rise until sales were
actually made at $4,000. As high as $5,000
apiece has been offered for a block of fif
teen memberships.
Within four months the Chamber was
talking of a building and on April 5, 1882,
a committee on site was appointed, con
sisting of Thomas Wight, A. D. Mulford,
R. P. Russell, John Dunham, R. McMullen,
S. S. Linton, T. A. Sammis, C. M. Loring,
George A. Brackett and T. J. Buxton, and
F. S. Hinkle, A. B. Taylor, and J. H. Clarke
were subsequently added. This committee
recommended the site at Third street and
Fourth avenue south, which had been of
fered free of cost by property owners, and
before the close of the year the foundation
of the building had been laid. This build
ing, long outgrown, was regarded at the
time as a very large undertaking for a
young trading organization in a new city
and market. It was 90x150 feet in size, and
cost about $175,000. The exchange room
was occupied early in 1884.
For four years after its organization the
GRAIN TRADE AND CHAMBER OE COMMERCE
361
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MODERN TILE TANK ELEVATOR.
Chamber was unable to secure recognition
Chamber have been:' H. G. Harrison, L 88 I from the New York Produce Exchange and 82; E. V. White, 1882-83; Geo. A. Pillsthe press associations refused to send out bury, 1883-85; C. M. Loring, 1885-89; F.
its quotations in the market reports. In
L. Greenleaf, 1889-92; C. A. Pillsbury,
fact, it was not until Minneapolis actually 1892-94; J. H. Martin, 1894-96; L. R.
reached first place among primary wheat Brooks, 1896-98; C. M. Harrington, 1898markets that New York grudgingly accord 1900; John Washburn, 1900-02; James
ed recognition to the new market.
Marshall, 1902-04; E. S. Woodworth, 1904Within ten years after the occupancy 05; P. B. Smith, 1905-07; J. D. McMillan,
of the old chamber building there was talk 1907-08; Henry F. Douglas, 1908-09.
of another. After prolonged discussion it
Col. George I). Rogers was secretary the
was decided to build something quite in first year; C. C. Sturtevant served from
keeping with the importance of the organi i882 r to 1893 when Col. Rogers again be
zation and its tremendous business. Dur came secretary until 1905, when be was
ing the winter of 1900 the decisive vote was made general counsel. L. T. Jamme suc
taken. Shortly afterward the Chamber pur ceeded for two years and was followed by
chased lots immediately in the rear of the John McHugh, who was appointed in 1907
old building, and diagonally across from and who is now in office. The, officers and
the magnificent courthouse and city hall. directors for the year 1908-09 are H. F. Doug-,
On this property was erected the new las, president; G. F. Ewe, vice-president; J.
building, at a cost of about $700,000. Of R. Marfield, vice-president; H. P. Douglas, G..
all the exchange buildings of the country F. Ewe, F. M. Crosby, J. L. Tracyj A. H.
it is much the best adapted to the needs Poehler, C. A. Magnuson, J. D. McMillan, J.
of a grain trading body.
R. Marfield, A. C. Loring, F. B. WeHs, F.
The great exchange room is the heart of A. Hallet, W. O. Timerman, and G. F. Piper,'
the building. It is a truly magnificent apart directors; G. D. Rogers, general counsel; John
ment, seventy-five by one hundred and thir G. McHugh, secretary; E. S. Hughes, assists
ty-two feet in size, and three ordinary ant secretary;"and C.-T. Jafffay, treasurer. \
stories in height. It has a floor area of
AMSDEN, Charles ^M., was born at Belvi9,900 square feet.
dare, Boone county, Illinois, son of Noah C. and
Since organization the presidents of the Sarah Hulbert Amsden, both parents being
362
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
natives of New York State. The son's earlier
life was spent in Dubuque, Iowa, from which
place he went to Lamars, Iowa, and there began
active business life in a country store following
the vocation of his father. In 1879, like many an
other enterprising and discerning man, Mr. Amsden came to the North Star State and settled in
Minneapolis, where he has since resided) engaged
in the elevator and grain business, for some time
being associated with the Pillsbury" company.
Mr. Amsden shares the progressive and aggres
sive spirit of the stout-hearted and intelligent
men who projected "the mighty flour mill and
elevator corporations which have developed into
such industrial giants of today. Although not
numbered among the early pioneers, he has con
tributed largely to the work of buttressing the
structure which is rising step by step from the
original foundations. Mr. Amsden is a member
of the Minneapolis, the Minikahda and Lafayette
Clubs, and some years ago was president of the
Minneapolis Club. He attends the Plymouth Con
gregational Church. He was never married.
CUMMINGS, A. J., a well-known member of
the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, was born
in St. Paul, May 15, 1865, the son of Peter Cum-
8RUSH, PHOTO
1IENUY F. DOUGLAS.
mings, an early settler of that city. At the age
of fifteen he learned telegraphy and became an
operator for the St. Paul ; Minneapolis & Mani
toba railroad, doing the first telegraphic work
ever done for the young road, which was after
wards to become the great transcontinental Great
Northern system. P'rom railroad work the young
man drifted into commercial ,'telegraphy and his
proficiency won him the • post of night chief
operator for the Western Union in the St. Paul
office^ a post which he held during the years 1886
to 1888 inclusive. Seeing wider opportunities,
Mr. Cummings left the operator's desk and went
into the brokerage business. He was in business
in Pittsburgh from 1890 to 1892, in New York in
1892 and .1893, and came back to Pittsburgh in
1894. He remained in Pittsburgh until 1898,
when he removed to St..Paul, where he has since
been engaged in general commission brokerage,
maintaining a membership in the Minneapolis
Chamber of Commerce as an essential. He has
been very successful and has built up a large
business.
DOUGLAS, Henry F., president of the Min
neapolis Chamber of Commerce, was born on
February 1, 1852, at Chambly, Province of Que
bec, Canada, son of John and Elizabeth B. Doug
las... .His father was born near Edinburgh, Scot
land, and was a clergyman, and his mother was
a native of,New England. Mr. Douglas lived in
Montreal, Canada, attending private and high
schools until 1870, when he removed to Winorra,
.Minnesota, where he engaged in commercial busi
ness whcnce, after three years, he went to North
Dakota and, during the next^twenty years, was en
gaged in merchandising, banking and stock-raising in North Dakota and Montana, having been
for seventeen years of this period post-trader
• and Indian trader at Fort Yates on the Standing
Rock Indian Reservation, N. D. Mr. Douglas
came to Minneapolis in 1893, where he has since
resided; . engaged in the grain business, to the
activities of which he brought his manifold busi
ness experience in the Northwest. Mr. Douglas
is a republican in politics. He attends the West
minster Presbyterian Church . and was married
011 March 18, 1874, to Eva M. Mead, at New
Brighton, Pennsylvania. To them have been
born two daughters, Mrs. Neale Murray, of
Bowling Green, Kentucky, and Miss Marion
Douglas, of Minneapolis.
DUVIGNEAUD, George Auguste, a promi
nent grain man of Minneapolis, is a native of
Waukesha, Wisconsin, where he was born in 1859.
He comes of ancestors prominent in France dur
ing the earlier part of the last century. His
father, Mitchell Justin Duvigneaud, took an im
portant part in the French Revolution of 1848
and received much honor for his efforts. His
mother was Marie Desire Evrard whose father
Augustus Evrard received a decoration from
Napoleon III. Mr. Duvigneaud spent his early
. . .
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364
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
life at Waukesha attending the common schools
both at Waukesha and Milwaukee, finished a
course at the Spencerian Business College at
Milwaukee, and completed his education at Car
roll College, Waukesha. His first experience in
the grain business was as book-keeper. After
employment at Hilbert and Chilton, Wisconsin,
and with grain concerns in Chicago, he came to
Minneapolis, August 29, 1883. He was first en
gaged with W. F. Meader & Company but a few
years later became associated with Henry Poehler and his sons, Alvin, Charles and Walter, the
firm being even then prominent in Minneapolis
and the Northwest. Later the H. Poehler Com
pany was incorporated, with Henry Poehler,
president; G. A. Duvigneaud, vice president;
Alvin H. Poehler, treasurer; C. F. Poehler,
secretary, and Walter C.- Poehler, assist-'
ant manager. A few years later the Ex
change Grain Company was incorporated, with
E. A. Child, president; G. A. Duvigneaud, vice
president. During his twenty-five years in the
Minneapolis grain trade, Mr. Duvigneaud has
become, perhaps, as widely known as any man
on 'change. While never seeking office Mr.
Duvigneaud has been an active republican worker
since he cast his first vote for James A. Garfield,
and as a delegate in many conventions. He is
OEOHC.E A. DI VKiNEAl'D.
a prominent member of the Commercial Club of
which he was one of the organizers and of which
he has been vice president for two terms. Dur
ing the difficulties of the club in 1898 and '99 he
devoted much time to the settlement of its af
fairs. He is a Scottish Rite Mason, Knight
Templar and a Shriner. Mr. Duvigneaud has
been actively interested in the advancement of
science throughout the country, devoting much
of his leisure time to the study of scientific sub
jects, and has developed theories that have been
of general interest to American scientists. He
is a member of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science, and has contributed at
different times a number of papers, the results
of his studies, that have attracted national atten
tion. Though born a Catholic he is not now af
filiated with any church. Mr. Duvigneaud is un
married.
BAGLEY, George C., was born at Stewartstown, New Hampshire, March I, 1851. His fam
ily removed to Milwaukee in 1856 and Mr. Bagley obtained his education in the public schools
there. He commenced in the grain business in
northern Wisconsin in 1875. Ten years later he
came to Minneapolis where he has since been a
prominent grain dealer and a leading member of
the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce. Mr.
Bagley is president of the Atlantic Elevator Com
pany, the Royal Elevator Company, the George
C. Bagley Elevator Company and the Homestead
Elevator Company, operating through these cor
porations an extensive system of terminal and
country elevators. He is also a member of the
commission firm of Whallon, Case & Company
and besides his membership in the Minneapolis
Chamber of Commerce, which he has held since
1885, he is a member of the New York Stock Ex
change, the Chicago Board of Trade and the
Duluth Board of Trade. Mr. Bagley is a mem
ber of the Minneapolis, Minikahda and the La
fayette clubs.
BROOKS, Lester Ranney, was born May 19,
1847, at Redfield, New York, and died at Min
neapolis, November 11, 1902. He was the son
of Dr. Sheldon Brooks and Jeanette Ranney
Brooks. In 1856 Dr. Brooks, by reason of ill
health, came west and since that time for more
than half a century the family has been promin
ently identified with Minnesota history. Dr.
Brooks built a home in the Whitewater Valley,
and laid out a town which he named Beaver. He
was a member of the second Minnesota state
legislature and to reach St. Paul for the legisla
tive session made a thirty hour journey by stage
upon the frozen surface of the Mississippi river.
His son, Lester R. Brooks, very early manifested
a decided talent for business and became especial
ly interested in the grain trade and in 1873 formed'
the firm of Brooks Brothers, of which he con
tinued the senior member throughout his life.
In 1880 he organized and became president of
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366
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
the Winona Milling Company which erected what
was then the largest steam flour mill in the
United States. In it he installed the first Edison
incandescent light system west of New York
City. Soon after this the growing importance
of Minneapolis as a grain market led him to re
move to this city (in 1885) and establish here
the headquarters of the Brooks Elevator Com
pany of which he was president. He also founded
the grain commission firm of Brooks-Griffiths
Company which with various changes in style is
still one of the leading grain firms of the city.
Mr. Brooks at once became a prominent mem
ber of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce,
served on various important committees and in
1897 was elected president. His service as presi
dent was recognized as most efficient and con-'
scientious and was signalized by his active agita
tion of the movement for a new building. This
agitation was successful and when the building
was decided upon Mr. Brooks was made chair
man of the building committee, a position of
the utmost responsibility which he filled with
complete satisfaction to the membership of the
Chamber. Mr. Brooks also gave to the grain
trade the Chamber of Commerce Clearings As
sociation—an organization of which he was the
first to recognize the need and which he or
ganized, becoming its first president. Besides his
large interests in grain and milling, Mr. Brooks
was actively identified with other important af
fairs, and notably in the lumber business. He
was president of the Brooks-Scanlon Lumber
Company and director of the Scanlon-Gipson
Lumber Company and the Brooks-Robertson
Lumber Company. Mr. Brooks had early acquired
a decided taste for banking and finance and was
recognized as an able financier and during most
of his life in the city was a director in the
Northwestern National Bank, the Minnesota Loan
& Trust Company and the Second National Bank
of Winona. He was a constant and thoughtful
student of all currency and money questions and
was particularly well informed on these matters.
Mr. Brooks was an enthusiastic yachtsman and
served as comm&dofe of the Minnetonka Yacht
Club. He was a member of the Minneapolis *
Club and the Minikabda and one of the officers
of the Lafayette Club, the chairman of its build
ing committee and a memb'er of its board of
governors. I11 politics he was" a republican and .
as a Mason was a Knight Templar and Shriner.
Mr. Brooks was married in 1873 to Josephine
Bullene, w T ho with their son Philip Ranney
Brooks, resides in Minneapolis.
GREGORY", William Daniel, was born at
Maumee, Ohio, March 22, 1855. His father was
a physician of that town and the son received
an academical education in Maumee and received
practical training in the miller's trade, and has
been in the milling and grain business through
out his maturer life. He began his activities in
this direction with the firm of Geo. W. Reynolds
& Co., of Toledo, Ohio. Mr. Reynolds was his
step-father and was one of the oldest millers in
Toledo and Put-in-Bay. Mr. S. S. Linton and W.
D. Gregory organized a 'grain commission firm
in 1884. Mr. Gregory had met Mr. Linton when
connected with Fallis & Lincoln, after leaving
Reynolds & Co. The firm occupied quarters in
the old Chamber of Commerce building, Minne
apolis, after it opened in May, 1884. The firm
is now composed of William D. Gregory, W. J.
Jennison, E. H. Gregory, W. A. Gregory and
W. J. Russell, under the firm name of Gregory,
Jennison & Co. This firm controls and owns the
Midway Elevator, with a capacity of 1,500,000
bushels of grain. W. D. Gregory is president of
the company. He is also vice president and
secretary of the Powers Elevator Company, which
has thirty-eight country elevators and twenty-two
lumber yards throughout the Northwest. He is
vice president of the Duluth Universal Milling
Company and president of Gregory, Bliss & Co.,
whose head office is in Duluth, the mills being
located in Duluth and Royalton, Minnesota. Mr.
Gregory was married on October 28, 1889, to
Miss Nellie Sowle, whose father is head of the
grain firm of L. T. Sowle & Sons. They have
one son, Lawrence S. Mr. Gregory lives in one
of the most beautiful homes on Park avenue.
He is a member of the Commercial Club, the
Minikahda Club and the Lafayette Club and of
the Chamber of Commerce and Chicago and
Duluth Boards of Trade. .
GUNDERSON, G. B., was born in Minnesota
in 1862. His parents came from Norway in the
early fifties, settling first in Wisconsin and later
moving to Goodhue county, Wisconsin. It was on
this Goodhue county farm that Mr. Gunderson was
born on December 24, 1862, and lived until he
was fourteen years of age. He then left home,
working his own way, spending the summers at
farm work and going to school in the winter.
He succeeded in so well equipping himself for
business life that he, at the age of twenty-one,
secured the position of assistant secretary of the
then- newly organized Chamber of Commerce in
Minneapolis. He soon went to North Dakota,
however, where he spent two years in a position
as bookkeeper and acquiring more practical busi
ness experience. In 1885 he engaged in the milling
business at Kenyon, Minnesota, and in 1888 came
to Minneapolis again and became associated with
W. L. Luce. Three years later he engaged in
the grain commission business on his own ac
count. The firm then formed, G. B. Gunderson
& Co., continued in that style until 1904, when
the business was consolidated with the Minne
sota Grain Company, of which Mr. Gunderson
has since been manager. As well as holding
membership in the Minneapolis Chamber of
Commerce, Mr. Gunderson is a member of the
Duluth Board of Trade and the Chicago Board
of Trade. He is a member of the Minneapolis
Commercial Club and of the Odin Club of Min-
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368
A H A L F CENTURY O F M I N N E A P O L I S
committees of the chamber. H e is regarded as
an expert in all matters pertaining to grain and
the grain business. Mr. Ewe was married in 1891
to Miss Julia Molitor and they have four children
—Willie Frank, Clark W., Laura and Caroline.
Mr. Ewe is a Shriner and has attained to the
highest rank in Masonry. H e is a member of the
Minneapolis Club, the Minikahda Club and other
leading social organizations.
GEOKGE" C. IIAUPER.
neapolis, and was president of the latter organiza
tion in 1905. He was married 011 February 5,
1885, to Miss Jennie C. Jarl. They have four
children, Herbert J., Walter B., Charles F. and
Alice Jannette. Mr. Gunderson is a republican in
political faith.
E W E , Gustave F., a leading member of the
Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, was born in
May, 1863, a t La Crosse, Wisconsin. His father,
Otto Ewe, was a native of Berlin, Germany, and
came t o America in 1850, settling in La Crosse
in the same year and establishing himself as a
grain merchant. IT is son Gustave was, therefore,
acquainted with grain handling from his boyhood
and after leaving the La Crosse public schools
where he received his education he began active
participation in his father's business and for
twenty-eight years has devoted himself exclusive
ly to this line. After a time he came to Minne
apolis and became associated with the Van
Dusen-Harrington Company of which he is now
vice president and one of the active managers.
H e is also vice-president of the National Elevator
Company, of the Home Grain Company and of
the Atlas Elevator Company, all organizations
affiliated with the Van Dusen-TTarrington Com
pany. Mr. Ewe is now and has been for seven or
eight years past a director of the Chamber of
(Tommerce and has served on several important
H A L L E T , Ferdinand A., the founder of the
grain firm of Ilallet & Company in this city, was
born in Taribault, Minnesota, on September 18,
1868, the son of II. C. Hallet, and Frances (Lieb)
Hallet. The early part of his life he passed in
Faribault and acquired his education there, at
tending the public schools, and later becoming a
student at Shattuck Military Academy in the
same city, from which he graduated. After com
pleting his college training, Mr. Hallet was en
gaged for about ten years, first with the Cudahy
and later with the Armour packing interests.
This association continued until 1899 when lie
resigned his position to organize and establish
the grain firm of Ilallet & Company with head
quarters in Minneapolis. T h e company, of which
at the present time Mr. Hallet is president, and
G. A. Bailsman secretary and treasurer, has since
its foundation, done an extensive grain business
and has held a membership in the Minneapolis
Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Hallet is at the
present time a director and an influential member
of the chamber. He is also a member of the
Kenkel-IIopkins Company, grain dealers, which
with his other varied interests gives full employ
ment for his time and energy. Mr. Hallet is a
member of the Minneapolis club. On August 13,
1898. lie was married to Miss Katherine Kenkel
of this city and they have five children; Hermania, Ferdinand A., Jr., Eileen and Muriel. The
family attends the Catholic Church.
HARPER, George Clmdining, for many years
engaged in the grain business in Minneapolis,
was born in the Dominion of Canada on January
29, 1849. ITis boyhood lie spent in Orono and
Toront6, Canada, attending the public schools,
where lie received the usual grammar education,
and then qualified himself for a business life by
a course in the Toronto Business College, where
among other subjects he studied telegraphy. H e
graduated from that institution and put his tele
graphic training t o practical purposes by accept
ing a position as telegraph operator and express
agent. This was in 1870, when he was twentyone years of age. H e filled that place until 1877,
when lie became a freight and ticket agent, being
connected with the railroad until 1882. In that
year lie moved to Minneapolis, and here estab
lished the grain commission firm, George C. Har
per Company, which has done a commission
business in this city since that time. T h e firm
has grown with the increase of the grain business
and has a large established clientage and trade
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370
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
throughout the Northwest. Mr. Harper is also
interested in the grain elevator business, and
some years ago organized the Hennepin Elevator
Company, which operates a line of elevators
through the wheat states and has its headquarters
in this city. He is president of both companies
and at the head of their active management. Mr.
Harper is a republican, but has never been de
sirous of holding public office. He is a member
of the Masonic order. In 1871 he was married to
Miss Mattie Ingersoll Davison. They have no
children.
and is now known as one of the largest grain
and lumber operators in the Northwest. The
Imperial Elevator Company was organized in
1893 and owns and controls an extensive line of
elevators on the Great Northern Railway in Min
nesota and North Dakota, lumber yards in Min
nesota and North and South Dakota and large
saw mills in Minnesota and Montana. Mr. Howe
is a prominent member of the Minneapolis
Chamber of Commerce, and of the Minneapolis
and Lafayette Clubs. He is a republican on na
tional questions, but inclined to be independent
in local matters. He was married at Owatonna,
Minnesota, on September 9, 1884, to Miss Min
erva Adell Marble.
HARRINGTON, Charles Medbury, one of
the most prominent grain men of Minneapolis,
is a native of the state of New York. He was
born at New Berlin, New York, on July 11, 1855,
HUHN, Anton, one of the prominent grain
the son of Daniel Harrington. His early life was
dealers of Minneapolis, was born February 18,
spent in New Berlin where he obtained his « 1856, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Frank
schooling. After graduating from high school he
and Anna Durr Huhn. During his boyhood he
learned telegraphy and in 1872 when but seven
attended private schools in Milwaukee and this
teen years of age he came west and secured a
early education was supplemented by a thorough
position as telegraph operator with G. W. Van
business college training. Upon leaving school
Dusen at Rochester, Minnesota. It was here that
he entered the office of one of the grain firms of
he first entered the grain business with which he
Milwaukee and was bred, so to speak, to the grain
has been identified for thirty-five years. When
business, as from his youth he has been continu
the Van Dusen interests outgrew the southern
ously connected with it. At the time when he
Minnesota field Mr. Harrington, then much ad
entered the business as a boy Milwaukee was one
vanced in the business, came to Minneapolis and
of the great grain markets of the country. As
at once took a prominent place in the grain
Mr. Huhn gained experience he became an ex
business. After a time the corporation became
pert grain man and during the latter part of his/
the Van Dusen-Harrington Company—-t'he name
life in Milwaukee was connected with one of the
under which it has been known for about a score
leading grain firms of that city. In 1884 seeing
of years. Mr. Harrington became well known
larger opportunities in Minneapolis, which was at
and popular in the Chamber of Commerce and
that time just coming into prominence as a grain
has frequently been called to serve in its official
market, Mr. Huhn came to this city and estab
positions. He was elected second vice president
lished himself as a grain shipper. He was the
in 1896, first vice president in 1897 and president
first large shipper of wheat from Minneapolis to
in 1898 and again in 1899. It was during his
eastern millers. Although business was large
incumbency as president that the final decision
for that period, the volume of shipments was
to build the present great Chamber building was
small compared with that of the present time for
reached and he was largely instrumental in bring
the business has developed enormously, and 'now
ing about this conclusion of a long agitation.
amounts to from seven to- ten million bushels of
Mr. Harrington has always taken a prominent
wheat per year, all of which is shipped to millers
part in the social and business affairs of the
outside of Minneapolis. During his twenty years
city. He was one of the organizers and the first
and more of business development in this city
president of the Commercial Club and has been
Mr. Huhn has seen Minneapolis supersede Mil
for years a leading member of the Minneapolis
waukee and even Chicago as a primary market,
Club—of which he is an ex-president. He also
and the development of his own business is a
belongs to the Minikahda Club and other or good illustration of the great prospects of Min
ganizations having much to do with the varied
neapolis as a grain handling center. Some years
life of the city. Mr. Harrington was married in ago Mr. Huhn organized the Huhn Elevator Com
1877 to Miss Grace Ross and they have one
pany to care for the rapidly expanding business
daughter, Laura Belle, now the wife of Walter G.
under his control, and this company is voted one
Hudson of Minneapolis. The family have long
of the largest buyers of grain in Minneapolis,
been members of St. Marks Episcopal Church.
aside from the great milling companies. Mr.
Huhn is conceded to be one of the best judges of
HOWE, Pierce Lyman, president of the Im
perial Elevator Company, was born at Monona, grain in the Northwest. In 1883 Mr. Huhn was
married to Verona Sieben of Milwaukee. They
Iowa, August 31, 1862, the son of Leonard Henry
have a daughter and two sons, and the latter are
and Alta (Chamberlain) Howe.
He attended
actively engaged with the father in the grain
school at Monona, but had his first business ex
perience in Minnesota where he came in 1882.
business. Mr. Huhn is a member of the order of
He entered the grain elevator business in 1886,
the Knights of Columbus.
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A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
IREYS, Volney S., was born at Newport, R.
I., May 26, 1872, son of John and Sarah A. Ireys.
His father was a cotton planter of Mississippi.
Volney Ireys' early life was spent at Newport,
Rhode Island, where he received educational train
ing in the common school and the high school
from which he graduated. For several years after
coming to Minneapolis, Mr. Ireys was employed
in the auditor's office of the "Soo" Railway Com
pany and subsequently established himself in the
grain business for the successful prosecution of
which he has shown himself eminently adapted
by a natural endowment and personal inclination.
Mr. Ireys is a member of the Chamber of Com
merce.
JAMME, Louis T., formerly secretary of
the Chamber of Commerce, born at Troy, New
York, June 10, 1870, is the son of George and
Theresa Jamme. His father was a mining en
gineer and the son's early life was spent in Nova
Scotia. He was educated at St. John's College,
Fordham, New York, and at sixteen began his
business life in the west as office boy in the gen
eral freight department of the C., St. P., M. & O.
Ry. His headquarters were at St. Paul at first.
He has filled a variety of positions, having been
successively stenographer, contracting agent,
chief clerk of the general freight department and
assistant general freight agent. He was made
secretary of the Miller's National Federation for
1904-05, and July 1, 1905, appointed assistant
secretary of the Minneapolis Chamber of Com
merce, with full powers as secretary of the same
body on October, 1905. In 1907 Mr. Jamme re
signed this office and moved to Chicago to ac
cept one of the principal offices of the Chicago
Transfer & Terminal Railway Company, for
which both his railroad experience and training
as a grain man render him especially fitted. Mr.
Jamme is a republican. He is not married. In
all the executive positions he has held he has
shown remarkable efficiency.
JOHNSON, Denman Frederick, a member of
the grain firm of Piper, Johnson & Case, is
a native of Minneapolis. He was born on De
cember 18, 1873. For many years his father.
Col. Charles W. Johnson, held public office in
Minneapolis and Washington, being the treas
urer of Hennepin county at the time of his
death in 1906. Denman F. attended the public
schools of this city and acquired his elementary
training, later going to New Jersey to continue
his education at the Lawrenceville Preparatory
school. He did not take a college course, but
upon leaving the school at Lawrenceville began
his business career by entering the wholesale
dry goods house of Harrison, Hopwood &
Cross in Minneapolis.
This connection Mr.
Johnson continued for a little more than three
years, until the firm retired from business and
dissolved on December 31, 1895. From that
time he has been connected with the grain busi
ness both in this city and Chicago. He first
accepted a position with Frank H. Peavey as
bookkeeper of the Monarch Elevator Company,
which has its headquarters in this city and ope
rates a large elevator line. Mr. Johnson con
tinued this association until 1898 when he re
signed his position to become the secretary of the
Duluth Elevator Company and was with that
in this city. On February 1, 1905, Mr. John
son moved to Chicago where he became secretary
of the Peavey Grain Company resigning in 1902
to return to Minneapolis and take charge, as
the local manager, of the Minneapolis office of
Finley Barrell & Company, a stock and grain
brokerage firm of Chicago with a large branch
in this city. On> February 1, 1905, Mr. John
son, together with Messrs. George F. Piper, W.
D. Douglas, and E. C. Warner, established the
firm of Piper, Johnson & Company, and began
a business in grain commissions, stocks and
bonds. The firm assumed its present form in
1908. Mr. Johnson is still a member of this
company, which has grown rapidly and has an
extensive and successful business. Mr. John
son has found time outside of his business life
to become identified with the social phase of
the city and his name is enrolled with the more
r
PENMAN F. JOHNSON.'
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373
prominent clubs; among them the Minneapolis
Club, the Minikahda Club, and the Lafayette
Club. He was married on May 15, 1901, to Miss
Gertrude Darragh Linton.
JUDD, William Sheldon, a prominent business
man of Minneapolis in the early days, was born
on March 10, 1823, at Elizabethtown, New York.
He was the son of David Judd, a farmer, and his
early life was that common to the farmer's boy
of New York in the earlier part of the last
century. He obtained his education at the local
schools and at the Keesville Academy of New
York state and had his first business experience
at Elizabethtown where he found occupation in
the iron business. In 1857 he determined to come
west and traveled by stage and steamboat to
Faribault, Minnesota, where he entered the bank
ing business.
Seven years later he came to
Minneapolis—in 1864—and entered manufacturing
as a member of the firm of Eastman, Gibson &
Company in which he was associated with Paris
Gibson, the late W. W. Eastman, John De Laittre and Geo. A. Brackett. In 1867 Mr. Judd formed
a partnership with Mr. Brackett, as Judd &
Brackett, and leased the Cataract, Union and
Washburn mills and for a time controlled twothirds of the flour output of Minneapolis. After
wards Mr. Judd engaged extensively in the lum
ber and grain business but during the latter part
of his life retired from active mercantile pur
suits. It is worthy of notice that he was one
of the incorporators of the Minneapolis street
railway the fore-runner of the present electric
system. At the time of his greatest business ac
tivity, Mr. Judd erected the well-known "Judd
House" at the corner of Fifth avenue south and
Fifth-street, which he occupied as a residence for
many years, and which is one of the best known
landmarks in that part of the city. Mr. Judd was
a life-long republican and a public-spirited and
enterprising citizen of Minneapolis. He was married in 1851 in his native town to Miss Mary A.
Bishop. They had three children, Ellen H. Judd,
now Mrs. Russell Dibble, Wm. B. Judd and Frank
D. Judd. Mr. Judd died in Minneapolis on Nov
ember 25, 1902.
McLAUGHLIN, Walter S., is one of those
enterprising Canadians who, preceiving the com
mercial advantages of Minneapolis as a conven
ient point to get a leverage on business in the
Dominion and in the states concurrently, came
to Minneapolis, where he has been since 1887
and has wrought to some purpose in his special
ty, the grain business, in which he has been en
gaged since the above named year. He is senior
member of McLaughlin, Ellis & Co., who operate
a line of elevators in Minnesota, South Dakota,
Iowa and Nebraska, and, through the related
house of McLaughlin & Ellis, Winnipeg, operate
a line of country elevators on the line of the
Canadian Pacific Railway in Manitoba, Assiniboia
and Saskatchewan, where the agricultural devel-
SWEET, PMOTO
WILLIAM
S. JUDD.
opment during the past few years has been
marvelous.
McLaughlin & Ellis led in the
American invasion of the Canadian Northwest
and has, by widening the market and facilitating
the disposal of grain, been a large factor in the
promotion of the settlement of that region. Mr.
McLaughlin is proud of the city of his adoption
and is particularly sympathetic with every for
ward movement of the community. He is mar
ried and has two children.
MacLEAN, William B., was born October
25, 1862, at Great Barrington, Berkshire county,
Massachusetts. His father was Edwin W. MacLean, a drygoods merchant at that place, where
he died on February 25, 1875. William B. was
educated in the public schools of Great Barrington and at Williston Seminary at East Hampton,
Massachusetts. His earlier business experience
was in the ^shirt and collar industry at Troy, New
York, from which city he came to Minneapolis,
arriving on August 30, 1885, and has since been
connected with the grain trade of Minneap
olis and Duluth, having been associated with
Marfield-Griffiths Company (grain commission)
374
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Agnes E . (McMurdy) Marfield, who moved from
Chilicothe t o Winona, Minnesota, in 1 8 8 0 . T h e r e
Mr. Marfield acquired his preparatory education,
attending t h e public schools until he was about
seventeen years of age. After a few years spent
with a Winona firm he entered t h e University of
Michigan with the class of 1 8 8 9 , being while in
college a member of the Sigma Phi Greek letter
fraternity. H e did not complete his course but
returned t o his active business career. H e began
his training for a commercial life in 1 8 8 4 , when
he accepted a position with H . J . O'Neil, a grain
dealer of Winona. H e remained in his service
until 1 8 8 9 and then with his father engaged in
the grain business under the name of O . L. Mar
field & Company. T h i s was in 1 8 8 9 , and Mr.
Marfield continued that association until his father
died in 1 8 9 6 . F o u r years previous t o this the
firm had been made the Marfield Elevator Com
pany, and in the reorganization following t h e
death of Mr. 0 . L. Marfield, his son was made
president and manager of the concern. Under his
management the business expanded rapidly and
had become one of the largest grain houses of
Winona when, in 1 9 0 2 , t h e owners disposed of
their entire interests t o t h e W e s t e r n Elevator
Company of Winona. Of this organization Mr.
Marfield was made a director, and still holds t h a t
office in the company, which now controls a large
line of elevators in the northwestern states. Mr.
Marfield had acquired valuable training in the
BRUSH, PHOTO
grain
business through his association with the
WILLIAM R. MAC MOAN.
*
several firms a t Winona, and after the consolida
now Marfield, T c a r s e & Noyes, for fifteen
tion of the Marfield Elevator Company with the
years. Mr. MacLean .is prominent a m o n g tlip
Western Elevator .concern, lie determined t o
enterprising men whose activities maintain the
come t o Minneapolis-and enter upon the grain
dominent position of Minneapolis a s a great grain
trading business on a larger scale. H e purchased
market. Mr. MacLean, when in T r o y , New York,
the Brooks interest in what was then the Brookswas a member of the T r o y Citizens Corps a t
Griffiths" Grain Company, the firm continuing t o
tached t o the Fifth .Brigade N. G. N. Y.,- and
conduct its business under t h a t name until t h e
considered the crack reginiQiit of" t h e E m p i r e
year. 1 9 0 3 . A t that' time Mr. Marfield incorpo
State. W h e n he came west lie was honorably — rated his name in the firm title making it the Mardischarged and is still a n honorary menjber. H e
field-Griffiths Company. . T h a t ' n a m e was retained
is president of the Lin wood Gun Club; was pres
until August, 1 9 0 6 ; - when following a reorgan
ident of the Lake of. the .Isles Driving Club for
ization it was changed t o its present form, Mar
five years and last season his horses w o n , the
field, Tearse^ & .Noyes. T h e firm is one of the
championship in t h e , pacing and t r o t t i n g events.
largest organizations interested in t h e grain trade
H e was a member o f , t h e Lurline Boat Club,, the
in this city, and in addition t o the home office
first boat club in Minneapolis, and has always
here has branch houses in Duluth a n d Chicago.
been deeply interested in the promotion of all
Mr. Marfield has numerous o t h e r business con
athletic sports. H e is a prominent member of
nections, especially with other grain firms of t h e
the Chamber of Commerce. H e was married o n
Northwest. H e is president of t h e Federal Ele
September 1 4 , 1 8 8 9 , t o Miss Addie M. Lockwood
vator Company which maintains its headquarters
of Minneapolis, daughter of Mr. Addison Lockin Minneapolis and controls a line of thirty-seven
wood, one of the pioneers of Minneapolis, w h o
elevators along t h e lines of the Great Northern
died in 1 8 7 9 . T o t h e m has been born one son,
and Northern Pacific railways in Minnesota a n d
Edwin Lockwood, on August 9, 1890.
North Dakota. H e is a director in t h e Reliance
Elevator Company which operates a line of ele
M A R F I E L D , J o h n Russell, senior member
vators along the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
of the grain firm of Marfield, T e a r s e & Noyes,
railroad in Iowa and N o r t h a n d South Dakota,
and prominently associated with the grain busi
handling grain a t sixty-two different points in
ness in Minneapolis and Winona f o r m a n y years,
those states. T h e W e s t e r n Elevator Company
was born in Chilicothe, Ohio, on October 29,
of which Mr. Marfield is a director and stock
1867.
H e is the son of O t h o L. Marfield a n d
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376
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
holder has two hundred branch houses in Iowa,
Minnesota and South Dakota and through them
handles annually an enormous amount of grain.
Mr. Marfield's interests are not confined to the
grain trade, however, extensive as are his hold
ings in that business. He is the treasurer and a
director of the Winona Fire Insurance Company
and has other minor connections. His chief as
sociation has always been, notwithstanding, with
the business which has played so large a part in
the commercial development of the Northwestern
region. Receiving his early training under his
father, who had before him achieved compara
tive success he took up the management of af
fairs relinquished by Marfield, senior, at his
death, and has been engaged during practically
his whole life in that business. By. his practical
methods and executive genius he has built up a
large and well-organized firm and has achieved
great success in establishing his private fortunes.
His integrity has won the esteem and honor of his
business and social associates and he is a member
and officer in many of the prominent organiza
tions of the city. He is a director of the Cham
ber of Commerce; a member of the board of gov
ernors and the president of the Minikahda Club
and member of the Minneapolis and Lafayette
clubs. The family attends the St. Paul's Epis
copal Church and Mr. Marfield is one of its ves
trymen. He was married in 1892 to Miss Helen
Horton, daughter of Charles Horton, a prominent
lumberman of Winona. They have three chil
dren—Katherine, John Horton and Marcella Rus
4
sell Marfield.
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MARSHALL, James, a veteran among the
grain men of Minneapolis, was born at Kinross,
Scotland, in 1835. In his youth 1 he attended the
common schools and was for some time a pupil
in one which had for its principal Robert Burns
Begg, a nephew of Scotland's wonderful bard,
Robert Burns. Later he graduated from a busi
ness college and entered upon the practical busi
ness life. In 1862" in his young manhood, he vol
unteered to serve in the Indian war growing out
of the massacre of settlers in Minnesota by the
Sioux and was a 'member of Captain Strout's
company, participating in the Battle of Acton and
in the defense of Hutchinson. Mr. Marshall
has made a most excellent record as a patriot
and a public spirited business man. He was
president of the Minneapolis Chamber of Com
merce for two years. Mr. Marshall takes pleasure
in declaring that he is "an old-fashioned, Goldmoney Democrat"; but generally he does not
care to talk about himself or his experiences,
modestly saying that lie only "belongs among the'
all sorts and conditions of men." Mr. Marshall
was married in 1871 to Elizabeth Sturgeon and
they have one daughter, Mary S. Marshall.
PEAVEY, Frank H., founder of the Peavey
system of grain elevators and the largest grain
business in the world, was born on January 20,
1850, at Eastport, Maine, and died at Chicago,
011 December 30, 1901. Mr. Peavey was the son
of Albert D. Peavey and Mary Drew Peavey.
His father was engaged in the lumber and ship
ping business and his boyhood was spent at
Eastport where he attended school until fifteen
years old when he went west to make his own
way. He first went to Chicago where he be
came bookkeeper in the Northwestern Bank.
Two years later he moved to Sioux City, where
he soon became interested in the possibilities of
the grain business. At that time grain handling
in the west was in its infancy, both in volume
and method. But Mr. Peavey believed in its
future greatness, and at twenty-three he was
manager and owner of an old-style "blind horse"
elevator of 6,000 bushels capacity at Sioux City.
In the next year he obtained control of four
small elevators on the old Dakota & Southern
railroad, and commenced to buy wheat for the
account of the first elevator built at Duluth,
which had just been completed. At this period
the Minneapolis flour
mills were expanding
rapidly, and Mr. Peavey in 1875 transferred his
connection to the Minneapolis Millers' Associa
tion, for which he bought wheat during the life
of that organization. Gradually expanding his
business, he reached the year 1878 with control
of elevators at all points on the Chicago, St.
Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha railway in South
Dakota. Four years later Mr. Peavey's opera
tions took in the entire "Omaha" road south
west of Minneapolis, and in the same year, the
Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce having been
organized and the grain business here put on a
substantial basis, he opened his first offices in
this city. Progress was so rapid that Mr. Peavey
moved to Minneapolis in 1884 and from that
time on took a most prominent part in building
up the Minneapolis market. In the same year
he extended his operations to all points on the
Minneapolis & St. Louis railroad. From "1884
the history of the business is one of constant
extension and expansion of resources. Only a
few notable steps can be mentioned. The year
1889 saw the building of the Interior elevators
at Minneapolis; and in the same year Mr. Peavey
"built* a great elevator at Portland, Oregon, and
put up thirty country houses on the lines of the
Oregon Railway & Navigation Company in Ore
gon and Washington. This was the first great
terminal elevator on the Pacific coast. During
the next year he built the Union Pacific eleva
tor at Kansas City, extended his operations to
the lines of the Union Pacific and leased a ter
minal elevator at Omaha. In 1893 he took in
points on the Northern Pacific. In 1894 he built
the Republic elevator at Minneapolis, and in
1897 acquired the Belt Line elevator at West
Superior. In 1898 the Peavey elevators at South
Chicago were built, and in 1899 the Peavey Du
luth terminal house, at Duluth, and the big eleva
tor at Council Bluffs, and operations were in
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378
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
that year extended to a part of the Great Northern railway system. The Duluth Terminal elevator was the result of a long series of investigations and experiments looking to a more permanent and less destructible method of elevator construction.
Mr. Peavey sent a special
representative to Europe to investigate the concrete storage of that continent, and as a result
determined to adapt the system to the needs of
grain handling in America. An experimental
concrete bin or cell was built at one of the Minneapolis elevators and after being thoroughly
tested by filling and operating for some .months
satisfied Mr. Peavey with the success of the system. He then commenced the erection of the
Duluth Terminal elevator which was the first
great concrete elevator to be erected in this
country. In 1900 the Peavey Steamship Company was organized and four large grain carriers
were built to operate on the Great Lakes. This
was the last of Mr. Peavey's new enterprises.
His sudden death on December 30, 1901, ended
a most remarkable business career. Counting
from the time he established his Minneapolis
business in 1882, only nineteen years had been
spent in building up the largest .grain"handling
business in the world, the establishment of the
highest credit and the acquisition of a Marge
fortune. A dozen or more constituent corporations had been formed, owned or controlled by
F. H. Peavey & Company. The operations of
the company, cefitcred at Minneapolis, touched
the Great Lakes at Chicago and Duluth, extended
far into the southwest beyond Kansas City and
Omaha, and reached far away to the - Pacific
northwest. Since Mr. Peavey s death the business has continued * under the management of
his son George W. Peavey, and Frank T. Heffelfinger, Frederick B. Wells and Charles F.
Deaver, all of whom had been associated with
Mr. Peavey for some years. Although engrossed
in public matters Mr. Peavey looked-forward to
the period when he might devote time to other
things than business; • His interest 111' the public •
schools led him to accept a place on the board
of education in 1895; otherwise he never held
public office. He was a republican m principle
and practice though independent-in his political
thinking. He was connected with the Universalist denomination. Mr. Peavey was married "
in 1872 to Mary Dibble Wright. They had three
children, Mrs. Frank T. Heffelfinger, Mrs. Frederick B. Wells and George W. Peavey.
PIPER, George F., vice-president of the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce, is a native son
of Minnesota. He was born in Minneapolis on
April 11, 1856, the son of Jefiferson Piper and
Mary McDuffee Piper. The father had come
from New England to Minnesota for his health,
stopping first in Minneapolis and afterwards engaging in farming near Mankato.
His son,
George, though born in Minneapolis, grew up on
the farm and did not return to Minneapolis until
1873, when he entered the University of Minnesota. After a time, he entered the linseed oil
business making a pronounced success. The
larger opportunities opening in Minneapolis led
him to remove to this city in 1896 and since then
he has been prominently connected with the development of an industry which now has grown
to feuch proportions that Minneapolis is the largest linseed oil producing point in the country,
Mr. Piper is one of the principal owners of the
Midland-Linseed Co. and also has large interests
in the Canadian Elevator Co., the Winnipeg Elevator Co. and the Empire Elevator Company of
Canada. - These companies have extensive elevator holdings in the Canadian Northwest and
also operate a line of lumber yards. His acquaintance with the western Canada country has
led Mr. Piper to invest extensively in farm lands
in that section and he is treasurer and a large
stockholder in the Saskatchewan Valley Land Co.
Among his other interests are holdings in Douglas & Company of Iowa, one of the large manufacturing concerns of that state. He is director
and^secretary of the Moran Oil Company in the
Indian Territory. This is one of the prominent
and substantial oil properties in that part of the
country and is also extensively interested in lumber business in British Columbia. In Minneapolis he r has many interests and is connected with
various financial
institutions, holding among
other offices a directorship in the Security National Bank. For a number of years he has been
associated with the grain commission business in
this city, and is now a member of Piper & Com
pany, grain dealers, and of Piper, Johnson &
Company, which conducts a large business in
grain commission, stocks and bonds. Mr. Piper
i i a s been for years a prominent member of the
Chamber of Commerce and has been its vicepresident for several years. He is also a leading
member .of the social^ and commercial organizations of the city, including the Minneapolis Club,
the-Minikahda Club and the Lafayette Club and
i s a l s o a member of" Zuhrali Temple and is a
Shriner. \ He was married in 1882 and has four
sons—Clarence B., Louis H , Harvey C. and
George F., Jr. The family attends the Westminster Church
*
POEHLER, Alvin Henry, a prominent grain
dealer of Minneapolis, was born at Henderson,
Minnesota, January 15, 1864, the son of Henry
a r , d Elizabeth (Frankenfield) Poehlen
He at
tended the public schools of Henderson and then
entered the Shattuck School at Faribault from
which he graduated in 1883, the valedictorian of
his class, and captain of Co. B. In the fall of
the same year he began his business career and
during the next four years obtained experience
in the banking business at Gaylord, in general
merchandising with his father at Henderson, and
in the grain business at Minneapolis. He located
permanently in Minneapolis in 1887. Upon the
incorporation of the business of Mr. Henry
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380
BRUSH, PHOTO
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
ALVIX II. POEHLER.
Poehler and his sons, as H. Poehler Company,
Mr. Alvin Poehler became its treasurer and has
been its executive manager, in fact, for some
years. Is also treasurer of the Exchange Grain
Company and vice-president of the Pacific Ele
vator Company and of the German Bank at Eu
reka, South Dakota. Mr. Poehler is a democrat
in politics and is a member of Governor John
son's staff with the title of. colonel. He is a
trustee of Shattuck School, a director of the Min 7
neapolis Chamber of Commerce, a member of the
Duluth Board of Trade, of Milwaukee Chamber
of Commerce, and St. Louis Merchants Exchange.
His club and fraternal associations are many, in
cluding membership in the Minneapolis Club, the
Commercial Club, the Minikahda Club, and the
Linwood Gun Club, while in Masonry he is a
Scottish Rite Mason and Knight Templar. Mr.
Poehler was married at Minneapolis, February 19,
1896, to Miss Eugenia L. Cole, daughter of the
late Emerson Cole.
POEHLER,
ler Company of
grain dealer of
identified with
Henry, president of the H. Poeh
Minneapolis, is the oldest living
Minnesota and has been actively
the mercantile and political life
of Minnesota for the last half century. He is a
native of Germany and was born on August 22,
j 833, at Hiddesen, a village at the foot of a small
mountain along the Teuteburger Wald on the top
of which mountain stands the noted monument
of Hermann, or Arminius, the deliverer of the
Germans from the Roman Yoke, in the year
A. D. 9. Mr. Poehler's father was the principal
of the school at Hiddesen.
Mr. Poehler with
an uncle emigrated to America in the spring of
1848 at the age of fourteen, landing at New
Orleans. . He lived in Iowa a number of years,
going to St. Paul from Burlington in the year
1853, and thence up the Minnesota Valley. That
same year, he and his elder brother, Frederick,
built two of the first log cabins near Mankato,
intending to take up claims at that point. A year
later, by chance, he became employed by Maj.
Joseph R. Brown, a prominent man in the early
history of Minnesota, and assisted in the trans
portation of goods from the outpost of Hen
derson to Fort Ridgely.- All transportation up
the Minnesota Valley was then done by boat and
teams. In 1855- Mr. Poehler bought out the
mercantile business of Maj. Brown at Hender
son. The grain business in those days was done
by steamboats and barging down the river to
market at St. Paul and La Crosse. The ex
periences of the early days were much the same
as that of all the regular pioneers and merchants.
The Sioux Indian outbreak of 1862 saw Mr.
Poehler with others defending the frontier, while
the women and children were transported for
safety to Fort Snelling and St. Paul.
Mr.
Poehler moved to Minneapolis in 1887, became a
member of the Chamber of Commerce and es
tablished the business in its present form, though
it was not till 1893 that it was incorporated. The
members of the company are Henry Poehler and
sons, Alvin H. Poehler, Chas. F. Poehler, and
Walter C. Poehler and Geo. A. Duvigneaud.
Alvin H. Poehler became identified with the
grain business in 1883 and came to Minneapolis
in 1885. George A. Duvigneaud, the vice-presi
dent of the company, came from Wisconsin in
1883, having received part of his commercial
training in the Milwaukee market and on the
Chicago Board of Trade. He became identified
with this'Company in 1887. Chas. F. and Walter
Poehler entered the company upon their gradua
tion from college. A. H. and C. F. Poehler are
graduates of Shattuck School and Walter Poeh
ler is a graduate of Minnesota State University.
The company is affiliated with the grain trade
in its various branches at the principal markets
of Minneapolis, Duluth, Milwaukee, Chicago and
St. Louis. The company celebrated its golden
anniversary or semi-centennial May 1, 1905. Mr.
Poehler's political record show-s that he was
elected a member of the first state legislature in
1857-58, and re-elected in 1865; was elected state
senator of 1872-73 and re-elected for 1876-77; and
was elected in 1878 to the Forty-sixth Congress
''fvi
i/
BRUSH, PHOTO
.
" •
'
382
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
at Washington as a democrat (the first demo
cratic congressman since 1859 from this state,
except Eugene M. Wilson) representing the
second of the then three districts. Since his
congressional service he has not been very ac
tively in politics; but has served on various state
boards, including the state reformatory board,
he having also been on the commission which
located the reformatory at St. Cloud. Mr. Poehler is a member of the local Chamber of Com
merce and the Chicago Board of Trade. His
church affiliations have been with the German
Reform church. Mr. Poehler was married Sep
tember 15, 1861 to Elizabeth Frankenfield of
Bucks county, Pennsylvania. They had six chil
dren, five of whom survive and are Alvin H.,
Charles F., of Minneapolis; Walter C., of Duluth,
and the Misses Irene and Augusta of Los An
geles, California. Mr. Poehler moved his resi
dence from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1895,
but spends the summer and autumn seasons in
Minnesota.
POWERS, Walter K., treasurer and manager
of the Powers Elevator Company, was born at
Tccumseh, Lenawee county. Michigan, in 1869.
JOHN II. kiiii:U>AITI:U.
He commenced his career as a grain man early in
life as he left school at the age of sixteen and
went to McGregor, Iowa, where he entered the em
ploy of Bassett, Hunting & Co. After two years
he came to Minneapolis and since 1887 has been
one of the active members of the Minneapolis
Chamber of Commerce. The Powers Elevator
Company under his management has developed
from a small business to an extensive concern
operating elevators and lumber yards through
North Dakota and handling a large volume of
business on the floor of the Chamber.
R1HELDAFFER, John Henry, son of Rev.
John G. Riheldaffer, D. D., was born in St, Paul,
Minnesota, on December 2, 1859. His father, a
Presbyterian minister, came to Minnesota in
1850 and located at St. Paul, where he made his
residence until his death. John H. obtained his
grammar and high school education in the pub
lic schools of St. Paul and after graduating from
the latter, entered the University of Minnesota
with the class of 1882. He did not desire to take
up a profession, so he did not complete his col
lege course, but took up architectural work in
the office of A. M. Radcliff of St. Paul. He re
mained with Mr. Radcliff about a year, and in
1880 accepted a position as clerk at Elevator B,
in St. Paul. After a year's experience in that
capacity he was made superintendent of the
plant and remained in charge until 1893, when
lie resigned his place to associate himself with
J. Q. Adams & Company, grain dealers of Min
neapolis. He severed his connection with that
firm three years later and associated himself
with Commons & Company with whom he re
mained until 1907. On May 8th of that year Mr.
Riheldaffer, with D. L. Raymond, purchased Ele
vator "H" from the Great Eastern Elevator Com
pany and incorporated as the Sterling Elevator
Company. Mr. Riheldaffer is vice president and
general manager of this company. Mr. Rihel
daffer has become prominent in the grain busi
ness of the Northwest and at the present time
is chairman of the Board of Appeals of the Min
neapolis Chamber of Commerce. He is a mem
ber and for six years has been a director of the
Commercial Club; lie is a member and treasurer
of the Automobile Club; is vice president of the
Minneapolis Curling Club, and is on the board
of managers of the Sons of the American Revo
lution. Mr. Rihaldaffer was married in 1883 to
Miss Susan Timcrman of St. Paul and they have
live children. Helen, Margaret. Kathryn, Florence
V., and John Paul. The family attends the Grace
Presbyterian Church.
SHELDON, Albert Millard, was born in
Owatonna, Minnesota, 011 May 15, 1868. The early
years of his life he passed at the same place and
began his education in the local public schools.
In the year 1882 he entered the Owatonna high
school and graduated four years later. Not car-
GRAIN TRADE AND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
383
Minneapolis. He was first in business under the
name of J. L. Tracy & Company, which was
changed in 1906, to Lake, Brown & Tracy, when
a partnership was formed with William H. Lake,
of Chicago, and Edward L. Brown, of this city.
Later the firm became Brown & Tracy. The
firm is a member of the Minneapolis Cham
ber of Commerce, the Chicago Board of Trade
and Stock Exchange and the Milwaukee Chamber
of Commerce. Mr. Tracy has been prominent in
the affairs of the Chamber of Commerce and is
one of the board of directors. He is a member
of the Minikahda, Commercial and Automobile
clubs and is a Scottish Rite Mason of the thirtysecond degree. In 1886 Mr. Tracy married Miss
Kate Tunnicliffe at Erie, Pennsylvania, and they
now make their home in this city.
WHALLON, James F., was born at Mayville,
New York, on March 13, 1858, the son of G. W.
Whallon and Helen Pratt. His fa.ther was a mer
chant both of Mayville and other cities of New
York, and in that state Mr. Whallon passed his
early boyhood, until the family came west to
Minnesota in the year 1866. His father again en
gaged in business and James F. entered the public
schools of this state and there received his ele
mentary training. He continued his education at
the Shattuck Military Academy in Faribault, Min
nesota, leaving school in 1876 to accept a position
in the office of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
8WEET, PHOTO
ALBERT M. SHELDON.
ing for a professional education, immediately
after leaving the high school in 1886, Mr. Shel
don entered upon his active business career and
entered the employ of the First National Bank
of Stillwater, Minnesota, as bookkeeper. He oc
cupied this position until 1889, when he estab
lished the firm of Prince, Sheldon & Company,
and organized a private bank at Cloquet, Minne
sota. This banking business he managed until
1896 when he became convinced of the great op
portunities offered by the grain business in Min
neapolis, and together with P. L. Howe organ
ized the Imperial Elevator Company. Since that
time he has continuously held the office of treas
urer and manager of this business. Mr. Sheldon
is a member of the Minneapolis Club and at
tends the Park Avenue Congregational Church.
He was married in June, 1893, to Miss Wilhelmine
C. Heegard and has one child, a son, Ralph Mil
lard Sheldon.
TRACY, John L., a member of the firm of
Brown & Tracy, grain commission, was born
at Titusville. Pennsylvania, June, 1861, the son
of John S. and Margaret (Madden) Tracy. He
attended the public schools and graduated from
a high school course, then entering commercial
life. In 1881 he engaged in the speculative branch
of the oil business and was in that line for ten
years, withdrawing in 1891 to enter the grain
trade. Two years later, in 1893, he moved to
SWEET, PhOTQ
JAMES 1«\
WIIALLON.
384
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
Railroad at Faribault where he remained until
1884 in the capacity of agent. The grain business
seemed to offer large opportunities in this city,
and in 1884 Mr. Whallon came to Minneapolis,
and became connected with the grain firm of
Pratt, Porter & Morton. This relation he discon
tinued in 1890 to begin dealing in grains in his
own interests under the fi-m name of Whallon &
Co., and operated a line of country elevators
through the Northwest. This proving to be a
very successful venture, the company was, owing
to the rapid increase in the business, reorganized
and incorporated in 1902 as the Columbia Elevator
Company, which now controls a system of eleva
tors throughout the whole northwestern territory,
and of which Mr. Whallon is vice president and
manager. In August, 1901, Mr. Whallon together
with Geo. P. Case, Charles M. Case and George
C. Bagley established the firm of Whallon, Case
& Co., doing a general commission business in
stocks, bonds and grain. On January 1, 1908,
the firms of Whallon, Case & Co. and Piper,
Johnson & Co., consolidated, the new firm becom
ing Piper, Johnson & Case. The firm is a mem
ber of the New York Stock Exchange, of the Chi
cago Board of Trade, the Minneapolis Chamber
of Commerce and the Duluth Board of Trade, and
has a large established clientage in the city. Mr.
Whallon is well known among his business asso
ciates and is a member of the Minneapolis, the
Minnesota, the Minikahda and Lafayette clubs of
this city. In politics he is a republican, but does
no active work in party affairs. He is a member
of the Episcopal church. Mr. Whallon was mar
ried 011 January 23, 1902, to Miss Louise Eustis of
this city. They have 110 children.
to this country from Darmstadt, Germany, the
capital of the grand duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt,
to test the breezy atmosphere of the New World's
Northwest. Charles E. spent sixteen years on
his father's farm working in the usual round of a
farm boy's duties and attending the public school.
Wishing a larger field for his life work, he took
a course of training at a business college, and
believing that there was profit to an industrious
and practical man who understood the grain busi
ness, he early gave it attention and study and
since he was eighteen years of age has devoted
his time and energies to this line. His experi
ence has been chiefly in Minneapolis, where he is
now secretary and manager of the Inter-State
Grain Company, which has a line of terminal and
country elevators with a storage capacity of three
million bushels. He is also president of the Belen
Mining Company, of the state of Sonora, Mexico.
Mr. Wenzel is a democrat in his political affilia
tions, but did not join it in its rambles among
the quantitative and flat money theories and ad
hered to sound money principles. He is a mem
ber of the Minneapolis and the Commercial Clubs
and of the Masonic order. He was married in
1879 and has three children.
TIMERMAN, William O., of the grain firm
of Stair, Christensen & Timerman, and form
erly secretary and treasurer of Nye, Jenks &
Company, grain dealers, was born on July 18,
1859, at Minneiska, Minnesota. He was the son
of William S. Timerman r.nd Carrie J. (Orton)
Timerman; the former engaged in business as
a grain dealer. The son received his common
school education at Lake City, Minnesota, and
in St. Paul, where the family later resided and
where Mr. Timerman was in business until lie
came to Minneapolis in 1890. He has been man
ager of the business of Nye, Jenks & Company
for many years and is one of the well-known
grain men in the Minneapolis Chamber of Com
merce and a director at the present time. The
present firm was formed in September, 1908. Mr.
Timerman belongs to the republican party, is
a member of the Minneapolis Commercial Club,
of the Masonic fraternity and is a Shriner. He
was married in 1884 to Miss May Hazzard of St.
Paul and they have two children, Donald and
Dorothy. The family attends Fowler Methodist
Church.
WENZEL, Charles E., was born in Hillsdale
county, Michigan, son of Valentine and Catha
rine Wenzel. His father was a farmer who came
WU.UAM (>. TI.MKK.MAN.
CHAPTER XXI.
VARIED PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRIES
T
HE first explorer who gazed upon
the primitive Falls of St. Anthony
must have realized that eventually
tliey must be exceedingly useful to man.
This certainly was the conclusion of the lat
er explorers and the opinion of Franklin
Steele Avhen he made the first claim at the
falls and started the utilization of the power.
Just how useful the falls would be could
not have been anticipated by the pioneers or
explorers, however, for few of them could
have fancied that after a while the falls
would move but a small part of the wheels
of industry turning in the vicinity—having
served their purpose of centering produc
tion at this point and having been outgrown
by the sturdy makers of things who have
succeeded to the rights of the pioneers. The
falls created Minneapolis but the majority
of the manufacturers of the present day
scarcely realize their presence and it might
almost be said, that they might be wiped
out entirely without affecting the perma
nency of the manufacturing industries of
the city.
For decades, however, the falls were the
mainstay of the city. The lumber and flour
milling industry depended upon the cheap
power and got its foothold in the commer
cial world through this advantage. And to
the falls must be given all honor for giving
a location to the first manufacturing done
in Minnesota. In 1821, when the soldiers
of Fort Snelling started up the primitive
waterwheel at the Falls of St. Anthony,
they laid the foundations of an industrial
development which was to demolish prec
edents and records and be the central fig
ure in the Activities of a commercial empire.
Years passed away before any further
attempt was made to utilize the power fur
nished at the falls for other manufacturing.
In 1847 the first sawmill was built, and in
1854 the first merchant flour mill. The lat
ter year saw the erection of the first furni
ture factory. This was built by Orin Ro
gers, who established a business which has
continued to the present time, and is now
the Barnard-Cope Manufacturing Company.
Mr. Rogers was also the pioneer in the sash
and door business. He commenced the
manufacture of sash and doors in a small
way in the same year that he started his
furniture factory, and in the following year
erected a building especially for the busi
ness. This building w r as on Hennepin
island and water power was utilized. Few
people know that the old East Side
pumping station occupies this same old
sash and door factory of 1855. A certain
Mr. Morey established himself in the same
line of business in 1857, and from his hum
ble start the great business now conducted
by Smith & Wyman has grown. Various
small shops were opened during the very
early fifties but few developed into any
thing more. In 1854 the demand for building brick
led R. P. Russell, Isaac I. Lewis, David
Bickford and Col. John H. Stevens to form
a company for the purpose of opening a
brick}^ard and the foundations of the pres
ent great brick-making industry were laid
then and there.
The first of the iron workers of the city
was E. Broad, who established a shop for
making edge tools at St. Anthony in 1855.
An iron foundry was established by Scott
& Morgan in 1859—the junior member of
the firm being George H. Morgan who
afterwards became a general in the Union
army during the Rebellion. This foundry
386
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
was burned and the business discontinued.
S. T. Ferguson commenced to make plows
in i860, and was thus a pioneer in the ex
tensive business of manufacturing agricul
tural implements.
PROGRESS FOLLOWING T H E WAR.
The census of i860 reported 562 manu
facturing establishments in Minnesota, em
ploying a capital of $2,388,310. A consid
erable proportion of this capital was in
vested at Minneapolis, not a little of it
EARLY MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENTS.
The building in the background in the center of the view is
the old Prescott furniture factory; at its right stands
the Scott & Morgan factory which was burned in
1863. These buildings faced on Main
Street Southeast.
being in flour and lumber manufacturing.
The war brought a cessation of develop
ment for a time, but with the close of that
struggle the northwest took on new life and
manufactures made rapid progress. The
story of the development of the flour lrfilling and lumber industries at this period are
told in other chapters. Along with their
rise almost every line of manufacture pros
pered in Minneapolis; and at this period
many of the strong manufacturing estab
lishments of the present time had their be
ginnings.
Before the war was over, in 1864, the
North Star Woolen mill was built by East
man, Gibson & Company. After changing
hands and names several times it passed
into the hands, in 1875, of the North Star
Woolen Mill Company, which has contin
ued to operate it ever since. Wm. G. Northup, its president, has been the manager of
the business ever since 1879. Another
woolen mill was built about this time, but
the demands of the flour business led to its
diversion to the uses of the millers.
The. paper manufacturing business began
in 1859, when Cutter & Secombe established
the Island Paper Mill on Hennepin island.
The Minneapolis Paper Mill was built , in
1866, at the foot of Seventh avenue South,
and was operated successfully by Warner,
Brewster & Co. for many years. It was
purchased in 1889 by B. F. Nelson, T. B.
Walker and Gilbert M. Walker, who incor
porated as the Hennepin Paper Company.
This mill stood partly on the site of the old
government mill of 1821. It was torn down
some years ago to make room for the new
building of the Pillsbury-Washburn Flour
Mills Company, erected for the cereal food
department of its business. When the lat
ter building was erected the old founda
tions of the government mill were brought
into view.
The most conspicuous undertaking in
iron working immediately following the
war, was the business of Lee & Hardenbergh. They had commenced in i860 and
in 1865 built a large plant on South First
street. C. M. Hardenbergh, the veteran
flour miller, conducted the business until
1879 when the shops were torn down to
make room for the Crown Roller mill.
Otis A. Pray entered the iron business in
1868 and until his death in 1890 was a
prominent figure in the trade. P'hilip Herzog started a small iron working shop in
1869—establishing the business which grew
to prominence as the Gillette-Herzog Com
pany and which is now the Minneapolis
division of the American Bridge Company.
In 1872 J. E. Lock wood founded the busi
ness still well known as the Union Iron
Works. Gregor Men/.el, in 1874, began
business at Third Street and Tenth avenue
south, and built up a foundry business
which is still in existence.
t
VARIED PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRIES.
The beginnings of the furniture industryhave been alluded to. The second under
taking which had any permanence was that
of M. C. Burr, who, in 1868, opened a
small furniture factory on Second street.
I11 1873 D. M. Gilmore secured an interest
and the business finally grew into large pro
portions as D. M. Gilmore & Co., with a
plant on Western avenue, which is now
operated by the Luger Furniture Company.
Salisbury, Coots, Rolph & Co. began the
manufacture of spring beds, mattresses and
such goods in 1877. After Mr. Coots' death
the concern became Salisbury, Rolph & Co.
and in later years was incorporated as Sal
isbury & Satterlee Company by the present
proprietors, Fred R. Salisbury and W. E.
Satterlee. They have a large plant on Main
street southeast. The Minneapolis Furniture
Company commenced business in 1882 with
James T. Elwell as president, and George
H. Elwell, secretary. The latter had begun
the manufacture of furniture in 1874. This
business developed rapidly and became one
of the largest in the northwest. George
H. Elwell is' now president and has been
for years the executive head of the busi
ness. Charles M. Way, who was at one
time vice-president and secretary of the
Minneapolis Furniture Company, withdrew
and founded the Minneapolis Bedding Com
pany of which he is still the head with J.
M. Anderson as vice-president and man
ager.
I11 the sash and door line Mr. Rogers'
pioneer shop was followed by many under
takings, parts of an enormous industry.
The Morey business changed hands from
time to time but since 1862 when J. G.
Smith purchased it, the company has been
under the continuous management of him
self, his son (the late H. Alden Smith), and
James T. Wyman, who became a partner
in 1874. The name has been Smith & Wy
man since 1881. A sash and door mill was
started in 1863 by George Wheaton and
C. E. Reynolds, which through successive
changes continued to be one of the leading
factories for more than thirty years. George
A. Wheaton, son of the founder, was for
many years the executive head of the con
cern. I11 1872 J. F. Wilcox became a part
387
ner, but in 1884 retired and founded the
extensive business of J. F. Wilcox & Co.,
now owning one of the largest plants of
the city.
The Bardwell-Robinson factory origin
ated in the partnership of L. C. Bisbee and
C. S. Bardwell who built a shop in 1873
about where the Pillsbury A mill now
stands. The firm became Bardwell, Rob
inson & Co. in 1877 a n d the extensive plant
in North Minneapolis was built in 1885.
During the later eighties the sash and door
business became very profitable and many
factories were erected.
Linseed oil manufacture came in 1869,
when the Minnesota Linseed Oil Works
were started by G. Scheitlin, David C. Bell
and J. K. and H. G. Sidle. Four years later
the North Star Boot and Shoe Company
Avas organized, and the manufacture of
shoes in Minneapolis commenced. Major
C. B. Heffelfinger was manager and has
always been at the head of the business,
which is now one of the largest in the
northwest. In the same year the manufac
ture of crackers and confectionery was
commenced by H. F. Lillibridge in a build
ing at Washington and First avenue south.
The plow business founded by Mr, Fer
guson in i860 grew into the Monitor Plow
Works, long one of the leading manufac
turing concerns in that line. O. M. Laraway, a Minneapolis pioneer, with C. K.
Perrine, started the Minneapolis Plow
Works in 1868. The Minneapolis Har
vester Company was organized in 1873 and
for many years was a prominent industry
of the city. Its influence was felt in center
ing the implement business here rather than
in St." Paul.
Willford & Northway were the pioneers
in the flour mill machinery business. They
commenced the manufacture of middling
purifiers and other machinery in 1879 and
built up a very large business. The North
western Casket Company had its beginning
in 1882 ; the manufacture of saddlery and
harness was commenced in the same year
by Bishop, Dodson & Fisher, now the Dodson, Fisher, Brockmann Company; leaded
and stained glass was first made in 1885 by
Young & Brown; and knit wear was first
388
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
GENERAL VIEW OF THE MINNEAPOLIS THRESHING MACHINE COMPANY'S PLANT.
made in 1888 when the Northwestern Knit
ting Company commenced business.
STATISTICS OF PRODUCTION.
To trace even the beginnings of the mis
cellaneous manufacturing industries of
Minneapolis during this period would be
impossible within reasonable limits. But
it may be said, in a general way, that dur
ing the seventies and early eighties the
principal lines had been started in some
way or other, and the foundation laid for
a great structure of varied industries. Sta
tistics for the period are rather doubtful.
The Minneapolis Board of Trade claimed a
total value of the product of miscellaneous
manufacturing in Minneapolis and St. An
thony in 1866 of $831,650, as detailed in the
following statement written out in a report
by George A. Brackett:
Capital Value of
Invested. Product.
Woolen and carding mills.... $119,500 $174,000
Pail and tub factory
40.000
60,000
Machine shops, etc
203.700
211,450
Paper mills
25.000
100,000
Planing, sash, blind and door
mills
62.000
c84,200
Cooper shops
20,700
106.000
Furniture
39,000
96,000
Total
$609,900
$831,650
Ten years later the board claimed a total
product of $3,776,000, and in 1877, $4,802,000. All these figures are stated to be ex
clusive of flour milling and lumbering.
CHANGING CONDITIONS.
It must be remembered that the condi
tions under which Minneapolis manufactur
ing had developed during its first quarter
century were vastly different from those
which now surround new undertakings.
Commencing w r ith war times, the consum
ing market was very small and shipping
facilities were wanting. These conditions
changed rapidly but even as late as the
early eighties were very different from the
present time. Many raw materials then
brought from the east and other distant
places, are now produced close at hand.
Fuel for power was high ; electrical power
was not thought of. And many lines of
production were then impossible simply
because inventions now common and of
necessity to the business were not then in
existence.
Changes came rapidly with the enormous
growth of tributary population, the rapid
railroad extension and the development of
inventions in the decade of 1880-90.
One of the first changes was the scatter
ing of factories to suburban locations. This
was due to the rapid growth of individual
concerns and to the great advance in real
estate prices. Expansion was imperative
in many instances, and it was natural to
seek cheap locations in outlying districts.
It was also necessary in many cases to lo
cate upon railroad lines for convenience in
receiving and shipping. The invention of
the telephone and the electric street car
VARIED PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRIES.
made this change in manufacturing loca
tions easy. The move brought into exist
ence the manufacturing suburbs of St.
Louis Park and Hopkins, and led to the
development of other districts considerably
distant from the business center.
.
Coincident with the tendency to establish
manufacturing establishments of the larger
kind in suburban locations came the devel
opment of the small manufacturing busi
ness in groups in large buildings. In the
earlier time all the manufacturing was
small; but the shops were for the most part
scattered. Where they used power it was
steam power, operated at large comparative
cost. The first notable move towards con
solidation of plants was the erection by the
Island Power company of a building 011
Nicollet island, in 1882. This building was
supplied with power from the east side
dam, and has always been filled with small
manufacturing establishments, which have
economical power and the economy of one
roof. As electricity came in, opportunities
for these economies of concentration multi
plied. The most notable example of con
centration with the use of electrical power
was in the Edison building, which was put
up about 1890.
As transportation facilities developed
Minneapolis manufacturers rapidly extend
ed their selling territory from a circumfer
ence of a few hundred miles to almost
world-wide limits. Of course, foreign ter
ritory is open to but a few lines. Minne
apolis flour is exported across both the At
lantic and Pacific; and not a few of the
other manufactures reach foreign parts.
But for the most part the Minneapolis ter
ritory is the western part of the United
States; and in a still more restricted class
of products—staples which come into com
petition with staples of substantially the
same quality—the Minneapolis territory is
the immediate "Northwest"—that is Minne
sota, North and South Dakota, Montana,
western Wisconsin and northern Iowa.
But in many lines Minneapolis manufac
turers are not confined to a local or logical
territory. The makers of some kinds of
building materials are in a position to com
pete in almost any part of the country and
389
frequently accept orders for construction in
distant parts of the south and east in com
petition with bidders from nearer points.
CONCRETE EXAMPLES.
A few examples will suffice to show the
wonderful advance of manufacturing enter
prise in Minneapolis during this latter
period of development. The Minneapolis
Threshing Machine Company was orga
nized in 1887 with a capital of $300,000,
and erected an extensive plant at Hopkins
on the western borders of the city. In twen
ty years this plant has been enlarged, mod
ernized and developed in productive capa
city until it is the equal of any thresher
manufactory in the country. It now pro
duces threshers, thresher engines and trac
tion engines besides various accessories.
Its product now sells in every part of the
United States and in many foreign coun
tries. Shipments have been made in recent
years to European countries, to Constanti
nople for the Turkish trade and to South
America. F. E. Kenaston, president of the
company has been for years its executive
officer, and it is to his policies and progres
sive management that its remarkable suc
cess is due.
In 1890 the business managed for years
m Wisconsin by S. E. Davis was moved to
Minneapolis and incorporated as the Moni
tor Manufacturing Company with a capital
of $200,000. The plant was established at
St. Louis Park where it has grown to large
proportions. Subsequent changes made it
the Monitor Drill Company with a capital
of $1,000,000. It is one of the largest manu
facturers of grain drills and other farm im
plements in the west. Mr. Davis has always
been the executive head of the business.
In 1902 the Minneapolis Steel & Mach
inery Company was organized by a group
of Minneapolis men headed by J. L. Rec
ord, who had large experience in steel con
struction ; and George M. Gillette, who had
been engaged for years in the structural
iron and steel business. A complete plant
was erected near Lake street and Minne
haha avenue and buildings covering many
acres of ground were put up with the ut
most rapidity so that the company was able
to commence active business at once. It
390
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
immediately undertook the largest contracts
to be had and has erected the structural
steel work for many prominent buildings in
Minneapolis and the Northwest as well as
on the Pacific coast and in Honolulu. Steel
construction for mining and manufacturing
purposes has extended to all parts of the
west and into Mexico; bridge construction
has been undertaken in distant states and
steel elevators in every part of the grainproducing section. The plant employs 1,200
Other knitwear factories have been estab
lished, each manufacturing some special
class of goods and are making rapid ad
vances as, for instance, the Northland Knit
ting Company, which has recently absorbed
a concern from another city and erected a
new factory where knit jackets, coats, fine
sweaters, toques, shawls and other special
ties are made. Another factory produces
the coarser wear wanted in the outdoor in
dustries of the north, another makes under
VIEW OF THE MINNEAPOLIS STEEL AND MACHINERY
hands and is the equal in equipment and
effectiveness of any in the country.
Another establishment which demon
strates the way in which Minneapolis has
developed manufactures at a distance from
usual supply of raw materials is the North
western Knitting Company, which has built
up the largest knitwear business under one
brand or name in the country. This com
pany was organized in 1888. Twenty years
have been sufficient to put it in the front
rank of underwear makers. The plant which
is modern and complete in every detail, now
has a capacity of 20,000 garments per day
and these goods are sold in every part of
the United States and in some foreign coun
tries. Clinton Morrison is president of the
company, E. J. Couper, vice president and
active executive manager, F. M. Stowell,
secretary and C. S. Gold, treasurer.
COMPANY'S WORKS.
wear to order, and so on. The total output
of the industry now exceeds $1,000,000 per
annum.
FIRST IN LINSEED OIL.
The making of linseed oil has progressed
so rapidly in late years that the city is now
the first in the country in this line and lin
seed oil ranks third in value among the
manufactures of the city. There are seven
linseed oil mills in the city and vicinity,
whose product approximates $5,000,000 in
value yearly and with a capacity of about
700,000 barrels.
It will surprise many well-informed Min
neapolis people to learn that the fourth in
dustry of the city, according to the census
of 1905, was bag making. There are only
two bag factories in the city, those of Bemis
Bro. Bag Company and the Hardwood
Manufacturing Company, but their output
391
is valued at upwards of $5,000,000 per year.
They not only supply the great Minneapolis
flour mills but sell to hundreds of mills in
every part of the northwest.
Within a short time Minneapolis has be
come the principal point of manufacture of
artificial limbs and this "commodity" is
sent to every part of the country. No one
has been able to give any logical reason for
the development of this industry here, ex
cept the enterprise and energy of the men
every part of this continent and abroad. A
few years ago the old Minneapolis Exposi
tion building, one of the largest structures
in the west was purchased to house this
business and the allied industries which
have grown up about it. Numerous other
stock food and stock medicine factories are
in operation and the entire volume of the
trade, including patent medicines of all
kinds, now approximates $2,000,000 an
nually.
THE KILGORE-PETELEK COMPANY'S MAXI'FACT!'RING
PLANT.
Here is manufactured much of tlie equipment for the great contracting business conducted at Minneapolis.
engaged in the business. It is equally diffi
cult to account for the large production of
saur kraut in a community where the pre
vailing foreign element is not German.
On the other hand, it is very easy to
understand the development of such indus
tries as the sash and door line (now sixth
in importance in the city), the cooperage
industry, the cereal foods line, the fur busi
ness and others which find their raw ma
terials ready to hand.
A little more difficult to account for is
the remarkable growth of the stock food or
stock medicine business. M. W. Savage
came to Minneapolis in 1889 and founded
the International Stock Food Company,
which manufactures a tonic or stimulant
which is sold in enormous quantities in
CONTRACTING AND OUTFITTING.
Another large business of which little
account is taken by the general public, but
which has had much to do with the pros
perity of the northwest in the past twenty
years, is that of railroad and other heavy
contracting.
The building of railroads,
though not properly classed as manufactur
ing, requires the maintenance of large exe
cutive organizations, the employment of
many men and the purchase and mainte
nance of a great amount of equipment.
Many heavy contracting firms have their
headquarters in Minneapolis and a great
amount of capital is invested in the busi
ness. One of these firms, Winston Bros.
Company (composed in earlier days of the
late Philip B. Winston, Fendall G. Winston
392
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
and W. O. Winston) carried on many of extent and importance of the manufacturing
the larger contracts in railroad building industries of the city may be found in the
during the past thirty years not only in returns of the census of 1905. Until the
the northwest but in distant parts of the United States census bureau put the col
country.. F. G. Winston is still at the head lection of manufacturing statistics on a
of this business. The late R. B. Langdon business basis all figures were wholly or
with A. H. Linton were very prominent in partly estimates. And the constant changes
railroad construction work and the business in the methods of taking the census make
is still carried on by Mr. Linton and C. S. comparisons difficult, if not actually mis
Langdon.
leading. A very crude census in 1880 gave
The outfitting of contractors has been an the city credit for about $29,000,000 as the
enormous business and it is a most inter value of its manufactures. In 1890 the total
esting fact that a Minneapolis manufacturer was placed at $82,922,974; in 1900 (new
and inventor—Col. Francis Peteler, who in basis of collection) $94,407,774 and in 1905,
vented the dump car—made possible rail $121,593,120.
road construction which could hardly have
The census reports the number of wage
been accomplished otherwise. In 1870 Col. earners as 21,752, the wages paid as $11,Peteler organized the Peteler Portable Rail 460,385 and the cost of materials as $89,way Manufacturing Company and put 011 086,269.
the market his dump car then just invented
LEADING CITY OF THE STATE.
and perfected. It was the first dump car
In the whole state of Minnesota the total
ever used in railroad construction and revo
lutionized the contracting business. To in value of products was $307,858,073. A com
troduce his cars and show their merits Col. parison of the manufacturing of Minne
Peteler took contracts on some of the early apolis with that of the two next largest
railroad construction in the northwest. The cities of the state is this:
car was a success and has been imitated by
MANUFACTURING IN FOUR CITIES.
other manufacturers, but the Peteler car
Number of
made in Minneapolis is still the standard all
Establishments
Capital
over the country. A few years ago the
Minnesota
4,756
$184,903,271
business was consolidated with that of the Minneapolis
877
66,699,604
Kilgore Machine Company and is now the St. Paul
614
36,401,282
Kilgore-Peteler Company. This concern Duluth
163
9,537,548
manufactures dump cars, steam shovels and
Value of
sawmill machinery, but the largest output
Wage Earners
Products
is in dump cars. The plant, which is a , Minnesota
69,636
$307,858,073
21,752
121,593,120
large one, is on Thirtieth avenue southeast. Minneapolis
14,363
38,318,704
Charles S. Hale is president of the com St. Paul
Duluth
3,987
10,139,009
pany; F. B. Snyder, vice president; Frank
C. Bestor, secretary and treasurer, and
From these figures it may be seen that
Charles B. Peteler, superintendent. The St. Paul employs but one-half as much capi
latter is a son of Col. Peteler, who has re tal, and about two-thirds as many wagetired from active business but still lives in earners, and produces just about one-third
Minneapolis.
the product.
The citation of such examples of the di
Even with flour and lumber eliminated
versity, progress, success and general econ from the Minneapolis totals, the city is still
omic value of Minneapolis manufacturing some millions ahead of St. Paul. It is also
industries might be carried on at great interesting to observe that, although the
length if space permitted.
combined population of St. Paul and Duluth
was, in 1905, about the same as that of Min
THE CENSUS RESUME.
A more comprehensive and, at the same neapolis, the combined values of the manu
time,
luminous showing of the variety, factures of the two places do not approach
VARIED PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRIES.
the Minneapolis figures in any classification
—number of establishments, capital, wageearners or product.
Among the great manufacturing centers
of the country Minneapolis ranks fifteenth
as shown in the subjoined table:
RANK OF PRINCIPAL MANUFACTURING CITIES.
i
2
- 3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
ix
12
13
14
New York
5j51 ,526,523,006
Chicago
955,036,277
Philadelphia
591,388,078
St. Louis
267,307,038
Boston
184,351,163
Cleveland
172,115,101
Cincinnati
166,059,050
Pittsburg
165,428,881
Baltimore
151,546,580
Newark
150,055,227
Buffalo
147,377,873
Milwaukee
138,881,545
San Franciscoi . . . 137,788,233
Detroit
128,761,658
15
Minneapolis
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Kansas City, Kan.
Providence
New Orleans
Louisville
Rochester, N. Y..
Indianapolis
Jersey City
South Omaha... .
Peoria
Bayonne, N. J . . . .
Lynn. Mass
Paterson, N. J...
Omaha
Worcester, Mass..
Youngstown, O..
$1 ,172,870,261
797,879,141
519,981,812
193,732,788
162,764,523
126,156,839
141,677,997
165,002,687
135,107,626
112,728,045
105,627,182
110,854,102
107,023,567
88,365,924
121,593,120
94,407,774
96,473,050
91,980,963
84,604,006
83,204,125
82,747,370
82,227,950
80,023,107
78,657,103
57,446,116
66,110,474
59,668,959
59,322,234
72,929,690
69,508,899
75,740,934
67,415,177
60,920 ,411
60,633,761
44,569,371
38,601,429
55,003,023
39,347,493
54,673,083
54,003,704
52,144,965
48,126,885
48,502,044
38,074,244
46,793,372
33,908,459
It will be noted that the position of Min
neapolis is much nearer the cities immedi
ately above her in rank than the group right
below. And the advance in manufactures
during the three years since the taking of
the- census has been such as to warrant the
belief that had the comparison of the re
sults of 1908 been possible Minneapolis
would have had a considerably higher place
in the list.
ANDERSON, Josiah M., was born March 3,
1863, at Eden Prairie, Minnesota, son of Robert
and Mary Anderson. His father was a farmer
and both parents were of Scottish descent, the
forebears coming from Paisley, Scotland, to this
country, where the family distinguished them
selves for their public spirit in the Colonial period
and in the War of the Revolution. Josiah M.,
393
born and brought up on a Minnesota farm, had
the advantage of a good common school educa
tion and having otherwise prepared himself, he
entered the state university when he was twenty
years old and remained there through the Jun
ior year winning high honors in oratorical work,
and then entered the service of a mining syndi
cate in Canada for a year, and was engaged dur
ing the next fifteen years in Minneapolis in the
music business. Mr. Anderson in 1905 entered
upon the manufacturing business as vice-presi
dent and manager of the Minneapolis Bedding
Company, a position which he now holds. He
is a republican in politics. He was appointed by
Governor Clough one of the commissioners to
represent Minnesota at the Omaha Exposition.
Mr. Anderson was a member of the Executive
Committee of the Y. M. C. A. for ten years. He
is a member of the Minnesota Congregational
Club and a member of the Commercial Club. He
is a Congregationalist in his church relations.
He was married on September 26, 1888, to Mary J.
Dyer and to them have been born four children,
—Alice, Edward, Margaret and Elizabeth.
ANDREWS, George C., was" born on May 10,
1863, at Minneapolis, or St. Anthony, as it was
called at that time. Among the early pioneers
that settled at St. Anthony was Thomas Francis
Andrews, who came here from Merrimac county,
New Hampshire, in the fall of 1855, and was a
resident of Minneapolis for many years and one
of its public-spirited and useful citizens. For
nearly twenty years he was engaged in business
as a merchant in company with his brother, and
built up a large and substantial business. In 1862
he was elected as an alderman, and at various
times served for thirteen years, being in 1882
president of the council and holding at times the
office of acting mayor. He was appointed by
Mayor George A. Pillsbury as one of the Board
of Water Commissioners in 1884, and held at
other times various offices of public trust. In
1859 he was married to Miss Lizzie Fisk, the
mother of his son, George C.
He lived in Min
neapolis continuously until his death, on July 14,
1892. George C. Andrews has passed his whole
life in this city. He attended the public schools,
graduated from the high school in 1882, and then
entered the mechanical engineering department
of the University of Minnesota and graduated
with the class of 1887. For a short time he held
a position with the Porter Steam Heating Com
pany of this city and then began business on his
own account. Since that time he has been en
gaged in the various branches of the heating
business. He originally directed his attentions
toward a contracting business in steam and hot
water heating plants, and during this period in
stalled some immense and elaborate plants, such
as those in the Northern Pacific Railroad shops
at Tacoma and the Great Northern shops at
Spokane. He also executed contracts for heat
ing many of the buildings belonging to the Uni-i
394
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
he has made the company one of the best or
ganized and widely known concerns in the coun
try. In politics Mr. Andrews is a republican
and has always taken an interest in the local
campaigns and elections with a view of pro
moting the cause of good government and civic
progress. He is a member of the St. Anthony
Club, of the Publicity Club and Delta Tau Delta
fraternity. He was also for a number of years
one of the few members of the American Society
of Mechanical Engineers in the state. He attends
the First Congregational Church. Mr. Andrews
was married on April 30, 1903, to Miss Jessie
Fuller, who died on March 13, 1904, at the birth
of her son, Thomas Franklin Andrews. Mrs.
Andrews was a woman of unusual beauty of per
son and character, and possessed of wonderful
business ability. She had been with the Andrews
Heating Company from its beginning, and much
of its success as a national business was due to
her efforts.
8WLET, PHOTO
GEOKGE C. ANDREW'S.
versity of Minnesota and several of the Minne
apolis school buildings.
He later began the
manufacture of radiators under the name of the
Minneapolis Radiator & Iron Company, and at
one time the firm supplied to the trade one-half
of the radiators used in "Minneapolis. Mr. An
drews invented" several new forms of radiators,
one of which resulted in gaining an increase of
twenty-five per cent, in " the heating capacity, and
this was used in the new Hennepin County Court
House. About 1898 Mr. Andrews organized what
is now known as The Andrews Heating Com
pany, for .the purpose of selling by mail steam
and hot water plants.' This has now been built
up into a^busines's that extends over the whole
country, an innovation in the heating business
that was pronouiiced impossible when begun. He
has supplied heating plants to customers in all
but one of the states and Canada and Alaska.
Under the name t>f the Andrews Heating Com
pany he has'offices in Chicago, Minneapolis and
St. Paul, and Winnipeg, Canada, and handles
much important contract work, among his pres
ent commissions being the heating in the two
new main buildings of the Minnesota State Uni
versity and the new shops for the Twin City
Rapid Transit Company. Air. Andrews has at all
times kept in touch with every branch of the
business, and by his personal supervision and the
employment of educated engineers as assistants
BARNARD, Frank M., is a native of Minne
sota, being the son of one of the state's early pio.neers, Dr. Albion Barnard. Dr. Barnard, before
moving to this state had a successful medical
practice in Maine, which he was forced to aban
don in 1858, owing to ill health. He 'came to
Minneapolis, and built a home where the ware
house of Wyman-Partridge & Company now
stands at First avenue north and Fourth street.
His father had been associated with the original
survey of considerable land in Minnesota, includ
ing a large part of the grant to the state univer
sity. Albion Barnard engaged in a continuation
of this work for some years. In 1865 he was ap
pointed superintendent and physician of the
Leech Lake Indian Agency. He had married
Miss Emily A. Marshall and their son, Frank M.,
was born in Minneapolis on October 27, i860,
so that he was not yet six years of age when he
moved with his father into the Indian country.
At that time the agency settlement, consisting of
but five families, all government employees, was
located in the heart of a wilderness reached only
after a journey by stage from St. Cloud, the near
est railroad point, to Crow Wing and from there
to Leech Lake by team. Dr. Barnard held the
position from 1865 until about 1875, during which
time the settlers, located in the midst of three
thousand Indians, were several times in danger by
uprisings. In these surroundings Frank Barnard
spent six years of his boyhood, acquiring a knowl
edge of the Chippewa language almost equal to
that of his own tongue, as well as becoming famil
iar with the habits and traditions of the tribe. Dr.
Barnard returned to Minneapolis after ten years
of service and engaged in the milling business.
He still makes his home here although now re
tired from active business. His son attended the
public schools, and in 1876 entered the prepara
tory department of the University. He began
the scientific course with the class of 1882 but
VARIED PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRIES.
after the sophomore year he left college to begin
business. While in school Mr. Barnard had car
ried papers for the local dailies, first for the
"Evening Mail," at the time when Charles W.
Johnson and Fred L. Smith were the publishers.
He also served as carrier on the Pioneer Press,
the Tribune and the Journal, and upon leaving
college obtained a situation with the circulating
department of the Tribune then owned by Gen
eral A. B. Nettleton. He soon became manager
of his department and later, with Lucian Swift,
bought the contract to handle the circulation of
the paper. When Mr. Swift bought an interest
in the Journal, Mr. Barnard purchased his inter
est in the Tribune contract and for some time
handled it alone. After being with the Tribune
about ten years he organized the Minneapolis
Printing Company. About this time Mr. Barnard
was appointed United States stamp-agent and
served until the repeal of the law after the Span
ish-American war. In 1900 he withdrew from the
printing business to become promoter of paving
for the Kettle River Quarries Company and has
since been connected with that corporation. He
was made assistant secretary and treasurer and
later, in 1905, became secretary, the position he
now holds. Mr. Barnard is a republican in poli
tics and is a member of the Commercial Club and
the Elks. He was, from 1898 to 1902, a director
of the first named organization. In 1883 he was
married to Miss Minnie A. Wilson and they have
had two children—Marshall and Margaret, of
whom the latter is living.
BARNETT, Lewis Cass, president of the Barnett & Record Company, is a native of Kentucky
and descended from ancestors who came across
the mountains soon after the War of the Revolu
tion and settled the new state in the wilderness.
The line is traced even farther back to Scotch
Presbyterian emigrants to the North of Ireland
in the days of religious persecution. From Ire
land, William Barnett, great-grandfather of Lewis
C. Barnett, emigrated to America in 1750 settling
in South Carolina. His sons served in the con
tinental army and after the war emigrated to the
new lands in the west, William, grandfather of
Lewis C. settling in Kentucky where he became
extensively possessed of land and slaves. His son
William married as his second wife Lucy Reed
Cable (whose family also had a revolutionary
record) and of twelve children, eight of whom
were boys, Lewis was the seventh son. He was born
January 13, 1848, at Greensbury, Kentucky,
where he passed his boyhood, attending the pub
lic schools until fourteen years of age. In 1864
the family moved to Rock Island, Illinois, where
Lewis continued his schooling. He also studied
at Davenport, Iowa, before entering the Iowa
State University, where he spent four years but
left before graduation to take up farming. From
farming he turned to the grain business. This
led'by degrees to the line of business in which
395
Mr. Barnett has become a conspicuous figure,
the construction of grain elevators. In 1880 he
began his career as a contracting builder, mak
ing a specialty of elevator construction. During
the past twenty-eight years Mr. Barnett in his
elevator building has kept pace with the wonder
ful progress and development of this producing
section. The' extent of his operations' can be real
ized from the fact that the company has designed
and built approximately one thousand grain eleva
tors, many of them among the greatest elevators
in the world. Mr. Barnett in 1892 organized the
Barnett & Record Company, he being presi
dent of the Company. Soon after this corpora
tion was formed F. R. McQueen became prom
inently identified with it and is now general
manager.* - In 1905, owing to the rapid develop
ment of»'the Canadian Northwest, Mr. Barnett to
gether with Mr. McQueen organized a corporation
under the laws of Canada, the Barnett-McQueen
Company, limited. These two companies in their
extensive building operations are using to advan
tage patents on grain elevators and grain handling
devices issued to Mr. McQueen. In the construc
tion of fire proof concrete and tile grain eleva-
W$>Y!§ P- IUUNETT.
396
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
tors these companies are easily among the most
prominent concerns in the world. Among the
elevators erected are, the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy Railroad Company's elevator at Kansas
City, Missouri, being of original fire-proof ter
minal elevator construction, with a storage capac
ity of 1,000,000 bushels; the "PV" elevator at
Duluth, a fire-proof tile working elevator, with
a capacity of 650,000 bushels; the steel working
elevator, fire-proofed
with tile, built at Fort
William, Ontario, in 1905, for the Canadian
Pacific Railway Company, having a Kvoirking
capacity of 1,700,000 bushels, and the Canadian
Northern Railway Company's elevator at Port
Arthur the largest in the world with a capacity
of approximately 7,000,000 bushels. This type
elevator is the result of many years experience
and experimenting and the demand for absolutely
fire-proof construction. The company has also
constructed many coal, dry, iron ore and other
docks on the Great Lakes and on the Atlantic
coast and Gulf of Mexico. Air. Barnett has
never been active politically. His principles so
far as national policy is concerned are demo
cratic. He is a member of the Minneapolis Club,
the Iroquois Club of Chicago and the Kitchi
Gammi Club of Duluth. He is affiliated with
the Presbyterian church. O11 November 16, 189,5,
Mr. Barnett married Miss Laura A. Tombler,
and they have one child Lucy Cable Barnett.
SWEET, PHOTO
GEORGE K. BELDEX.
BELDEN, George K., son of Henry C. Belden, attorney, was born in Vermont, at the town
of Lyndon in 1870. The family moved to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, and at that place George K. spent
the early years of his life. Later his parents re
moved to Minneapolis and in this city he com
pleted his education. He entered the academic
department of the University of Minnesota and
graduated with the degree of B. S. in 1892. Mr.
Belden was anxious to take up the profession of
his father and with that end in view returned to
college two years after receiving his first degree
and studied law. He graduated from the legal
department in 1897 and soon afterwards was ad
mitted to the bar. For several years he was con
nected with Thomas F. Wallace Jr., under the
firm name of Belden, Wallace & Company, and
held the agencies for several bonding and liability
companies. In 1903 he engaged in the electrical
contracting business as a partner in the W. I.
Gray Company and is in that business at the
present time. Mr. Belden is a member of the
prominent clubs of the city—the Minneapolis, the
Minikahda, the Roosevelt and the Minnetonka
Yacht clubs. He has been connected with the
Minnesota National Guard for many years and
held a commission as captain of Company M,
Fourth Regiment, sargeant major of the First
Regiment and now holds a commission as first
lieutenant of Battery B. Mr. Belden is a repub
lican in politics and in his connection with the
Roosevelt club has been interested in the work
of that party in Minneapolis. He was married in
January, 1906, to Miss Edith H. Knight of this
city. They attend the Methodist Church.
BESTOR, George Wilber, is the son of George
L. Bestor, a lawyer and railroad contractor of
Peoria, Illinois. He was born in that town 011
August 19, 1865, and his early life was spent in
Illinois and Ohio. In the schools of those states
lie received his preparatory education and after
moving to Minneapolis in 1887 he entered the
University of Minnesota, graduating from the
College of Law in 1891. For a short time he
was in the grain business both in this city and
Illinois, then went to Seattle to accept a posi
tion there with the Trust Company during 1892-3.
He returned to this city, however, and was at
torney for the Minneapolis Trust Company for
two years. Mr. Bestor recognized the oppor
tunities offered by the stone quarrying business
and in 1895 turned his energies in that direction,
assuming control of the Kettle River quarries at
Sandstone. Minnesota. Since that time he has
been continuously connected with the stone busi
ness as president of the Kettle River Quarries
Company. Mr. Bestor inherited through his father
a membership in the Loyal Legion and also be
longs to the Minneapolis, Lafayette and Com
mercial clubs. He attends the Westminster Pres
byterian Church. In 1900 he was married to Miss
Nelle P. Hale. They have two children, George
Clinton and Flora Hale Bestor.
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BRUSH, PHOTO
A.
398
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
twenty years of age, who is attending the Uni
versity of Minnesota.
Mr. Bintliff's father,
Gershom Bintliff, was born in Salterebble, York
shire county, England, on September 22, 1830,
and came to America in 1840. He is secretary
of the Bintliff Manufacturing Company at the
present time.
it
BOUSFIELD, Edward Franklin, head of the
Bousfield Wooden Ware Company of Minneap
olis, is a native of Ohio. He was born September
4, 1849, at Kirtland, Lake county, a few miles
from Cleveland, the son of John and Sarah Bous
field. His father was a manufacturer of wooden
ware—sash and doors, lumber, matches and other
wooden products—at Cleveland and it was in his
father's establishment that Mr. Bousfield obtained
the acquaintance with the wooden ware business
which has been the ground work of his success in
later years. During his boyhood he attended the
country schools at Kirtland and public schools of
Cleveland, afterwards going to Oberlin College at
Oberlin, Ohio. After leaving college he spent
several years with his father in the business at
Cleveland and in 1875 moved to Bay City, Michi
gan, where he was in business for twelve years.
In 1890 he came to Minneapolis and commenced
the manufacture of wooden ware, developing a
large and profitable business which is at the pres-
CHARLES J. BINTLIFF.
BINTLIFF, Charles J., was born in Ashland,
Minnesota, on May 25, 1861. He attended school
at Ashland until he was twelve years old when
he moved with his parents to Minneapolis where
he continued his schooling and began his busi
ness life by selling newspapers after school hours.
When he left school he secured work at the
Ninety-nine Cent Store at three dollars per
week. After several years he left this position to
become book-keeper for Zesbaugh Bros., and
about five years later bought out the half in
terest of one of the brothers. This was the
beginning of his career as a manufacturer of
mouldings and picture frames. The firm was
then known as Zesbaugh & Biritliff. In 1888 the
firm of Zesbaugh & Bintliff was succeeded by
the Bintliff Manufacturing Company, of which
Mr. Bintliff is now president. Through his ef
forts the company has been built up from a
small concern to one of the largest of its kind
in the Northwest. In 1902 he was elected a
member of the board of education for the term
of six years and in 1906 was elected president of
the board. About the same time he was also
elected one of the directors of the Commercial
Club. He is and has always been a staunch sup
porter of the republican party. Mr. Bintliff was
a member of the Centenary Church, Wesley
Church, and is at present a member of the
Fowler M. E. Church. In 1887 he was married
to Miss May C. Kinsey. They have one son
•\
BRUttHj PHOTO
EDWARD F. BOUSFIELD.
VARIED PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRIES.
ent time being rapidly extended. Mr. Bousfield
was married in 1872 to Miss Delia B. Weed. They
have three children, Fayette, Louis and Gladys,
and another son, Clifton, who died in 1888.
COUPER, Edgar J., vice-president of the
Northwestern Knitting Company, was born July
21, 1864, at Morristown, New York. His father,
J. P. Couper, was a farmer. His connection with
the Northwestern Knitting company dates from
1887—or about the time of the organization of
the business. Since that time the business has
developed from quite small proportions to one
of the largest knitgoods concerns in the country,
producing and marketing its goods under its own
brand or name. A capacity of 10,000 garments
of new buildings and the installation of new maper day is being doubled through the erection
chinery. Through the period of its greatest
growth and development Mr. Couper has been
actively associated with the management of the
company.
DOERR, Henry, of the well known tobacco
firm of Winecke & Doerr, and vice president of
the Minneapolis Drug Company, is a native of
Wisconsin. He was born at Milwaukee. His
father was Val Doerr, the owner and proprietor
of a hotel at La Crosse, and Henry passed the
early years of his life in Milwaukee and there
received his education graduating from the Mil
waukee Academy and entering immediately upon
business life. For some time he was located
at La Crosse, Wisconsin, and then came in 1870
to Minneapolis, where he has since been engaged
in business. His first employment in this city
was with a wholesale cigar house, where he ac
quired his training for the business in which
he has since - been so successful. In 1873 Mr.
Doerr formed a partnership with Henry Win
ecke and engaged in the wholesale and retail
cigar and tobacco business in Minneapolis. Mr.
Winecke died in 1901, and at that time Mr.
Doerr became full owner and manager of the
business though the firm name remained un
changed. From a modest beginning the com
pany's business grew until it was one of the
largest wholesale tobacco handling establish
ments of the Northwest, and carried its trade
all over that territory. It also operated a large
number of retail stores in Minneapolis. In 1907
the wholesale branch of the business, was con
solidated with the Eliel-Jerman Drug Company
under the name of the Minneapolis Drug Com
pany, Mr. Doerr becoming vice president of the
new corpoi-ation. The city retail ' business has
continued as before under his individual owner
ship and supervision and the same firm name
as that taken in 1873. Mr. Doerr has extensive
interests outside of the tobacco business. He is
secretary and treasurer of the Salzer Lumber
Company which operates a line of country yards;
and is the president of the Minneapolis Plow
Works. He is also a director of the German-
399
American Bank of this city. Mr. Doerr is a
republican. He is prominently identified with
the club life of the city; is a member of the
Minneapolis, Minikahda, Commercial and La
fayette clubs, and also associated with the Ma
sonic order. He attends the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Doerr is married and has three children,
George, Henry, Jr., and Clara.
ELWELL, George Herbert, was born Novem
ber 25, 1856, at St. Anthony, Minnesota. His
father, Tallmadge Elwell, was engaged in the
photograph business at that place which was
then regarded by many as the real "future great"
city of the Northwest. George Herbert was
educated at the public schools of the town with
supplementary higher education at Carleton Col
lege and the state university. In 1874, in his
early manhood, he began the manufacture of
spring beds and furniture and has since 1882 been
president of the Minneapolis Furniture Company.
The manufacture of furniture has been, one of
the noticeable features of the industrial activity
of Minneapolis, the abundant supply of hard
wood timber inviting investment in this business.
The intelligent direction of the activities of the
Minneapolis Furniture Company under Mr. Elwell's presidency has given that firm a leading
place in the business. Mr. Elwell has served as
chairman of the manufactures committee of the
Commercial Club and is one of the directors of
the St. Anthony Commercial Club. He is a
staunch republican in politics, but has never been
a candidate for office. He is a member of the
First Congregational Church and superintendent
of its Sunday school. He was married in 1882
to Miss Belle Horn, of Appleton, Minnesota.
To them have been born seven children, of whom
five are living.
DAVIS, Spencer E., was born March 30, 1841,
at Cazenovia, Madison county, New York, son
of Edmund and Ada Curtis Davis. His father
was a farmer whose ancestors came from Wales
and settled in New England, where the greatgrandsires took part in the War of the Revolu
tion. Spencer worked on his father's farm and
for neighboring fafmers and worked teams in
the lumber woods and clerked in the village hotel
and took a turn at buying cattle and working in
a melodeon factory at Syracuse until the break
ing out of the Civil War, when he enlisted at New
Woodstock, New York, on August 13, 1862, in
the 114th New York Volunteers, a regiment
which made a splendid record of pluck and en
durance during the war. It was engaged in most
of the severe battles in Louisiana and at Win
chester, Virginia. Mr. Davis' clothing was cut in
five places by Minie balls, one of which struck an
army and navy dictionary which he carried in a
breast pocket and glanced ofif leaving him un
injured. This book he keeps among his war
relics. After the battle and on the battle field
at Winchester, Virginia, he showed such skill in
400
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
dressing the wounds of his fellow soldiers that his
work attracted the attention of Surgeon Wagner,
who, finding out who had done the work, de
tailed him, against his will, to become field hos
pital assistant. He protested vigorously, as he
wanted to stay afield under any circumstances.
He did wound dressing thereafter and when Sur
geon Wagner was made medical director of the
Middle Military Division, Mr. Davis was put in
charge of the wound-dressing department. His
regiment had 197 men killed and wounded at the
battle of Winchester out of 300 men that were
engaged; and 128 were killed and wounded at the
battle of Cedar Creek a month later where 250
recruits and veterans were engaged. The state
of New York erected a monument at Winches
ter in commemoration of the heroism of the
114th New York. After the close of the war Mr.
Davis returned to New Woodstock, New York,
and embarked in the grocery business, but, not
satisfied with the outlook, sold out and went to
Wisconsin where he worked as baggageman for
the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, and
then entered the employment of Van Brunt &
Barber of Horicon, Wisconsin, as shipping clerk,
to which was soon added the responsibility of
the purchase of lumber for the company's fac
tory. In 1870 Mr. Davis became assistant super-
BRUSH, PHOTO
1IENUY E. FLETCHER.
intendent for the Northwestern Furnace Com
pany, manufacturers of pig iron, at Mayville, Wis
consin, and in a few months was given entire
charge of the works. In 1872 he went into
business for himself and formed a copartnership
with Mr. Van Brunt, son of his former employer,
under the firm name of Van Brunt & Davis. In
1878 a stock company was organized with $75,000
capital, as the Van Brunt & Davis Company.
The capital was increased in 1882 to $100,000 and
in 1890 Mr. Davis bought a controlling interest
and the plant was moved to Minneapolis and
capitalized for $200,000 under the name "Monitor
Manufacturing Company" and upon a further re
organization, the name "Monitor Drill Company"
was adopted with capitalization for $1,000,000,
embracing one of the largest manufacturing
establishments in the Northwest. During the
thirty-four years Mr. Davis has been in the man
ufacturing business he has experienced the in
convenience of only one strike. He has looked
after the financial part from the start, 1872, and
has promptly met every pay roll to date. He
was a director in the Northwestern National
Bank of Minneapolis for two years. In recent
years he has conducted a sheep ranch in Wyom
ing and a rice plantation in Texas. Mr. Davis
is a self-made and a very successful man and he
must be credited with the admirable chivalry of
proudly conceding to his wife eminent ability as
a counselor of great wisdom and an unusually
good financier through all the varied experience
of his career. This lady holds stock in all the
various enterprises in which her husband has
been engaged. Mr. Davis is a member of John
Rawlins Post, G. A. R., of Minneapolis and has
been First Commander of John Hanf Post, Hori
con, Wisconsin, for two terms, and was member
of E. B. Wolcott Post, Milwaukee. He cast
his first vote while in the army for Abraham
• Lincoln's second term and has always voted
the republican ticket at presidential elections,
but has at times exercised his power and right
of contrary choice at local elections. When in
Wisconsin, Mr. Davis was elected mayor of
Horicon for three terms and was a delegate to
Wisconsin State conventions and has generally
been active in politics. He is a member of the
Masonic Order; an Odd Fellow and an Elk. He
is a member of the Commercial Club and his
religious sympathies and affiliations are with the
Christian Science Church. Mr. Davis, on De
cember 26, 1871, was married to Alice Sherman,
and to them have been born two children, Spencer
Edmund and Phosa.
FLETCHER, Henry Erskine, is descended
from early pioneer families of New England—
Robert Fletcher, born in England in 1592, emi
grating to this country in 1650. The remote an
cestors of the family were natives of Switzerland,
from whence various members of the line moved
and settled in England, establishing the branch
of the family from which Mr. Fletcher is de-
'
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•
i
402
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
scended. Captain Joel Flctchor, grandfather of
Henry E., was born November 26, 1763, and
thirty years later moved to Vermont where his
ninth child, Joel, was born on March 3, 1818, at
Lyndon, Caledonia county. Henry E. was born
on July 31, 1843, at Lyndon, the son of Joel
Fletcher and Zerviah Townsend Meigs.
His
family moved to St. Johnsbury, Vermont, where
he secured the major part of his education, at
tending the grammar schools and St. Johnsbury
Academy, and in 1859 entered Dartmouth Col
lege. He did not complete his college course, but
entered the general office of his father's whole
sale flour and grain business as bookkeeper, later
being sent to Newport, Vermont, 011 Lake Meniphremagog, as manager of a branch house. Hav
ing acquired some knowledge of the flour-manu
facturing business he moved to Chicago in 1867
where he became a member of the milling firm
of Marple & Fletcher, and was building up a
promising business when the mill was totally de
stroyed by explosion and fire.
His father's
health had been rapidly failing and in 1869, Mr.
Fletcher returned to Vermont to take charge of
the business there.
His father spent several
years in the Northwest, where his health seem
ingly improved, but, returning to his old home for
a visit in 1875, he suddenly died of apoplexy.
Mr. Fletcher remained in St. Johnsbury until
1879, continuing the business established by his
father, and became connected with other interests
at that place, holding the office of vice presi
dent in the Merchants National Bank of St.
Johnsbury from its organization in 1875 until
1879. In the latter year he came to Minneapolis
and became a member of the firm of Sidle,
Fletcher, Holmes & Company which erected the
well known Northwestern Mill and began the
manufacture of flour. Under the firm name of
Fletcher Bros, he was engaged in the lumber
business from 1880 to 1886. In 1886 he was elect
ed president of the Northern Pacific Elevator
Company and held the office for one year. Mr.
Fletcher was one of the incorporators of the Min
neapolis, Sault Ste. Marie & Atlantic Railroad
and was the treasurer and a director of the Min
neapolis and Pacific Railroad. After the consoli
dation.of the two roads into the "Soo" Line Mr.
Fletcher resigned his directorship. He was the
president of the City "Elevator Company organ
ized in 1889. Mr. Fletcher's business life has
been active and varied and in the course of his
commercial career he has 'been connected with
enterprises that have not alone-been successful
from his point of view but have materially helped
to make known the rapidly increasing importance
of Minneapolis. Politically he is a republican
but has never desired public preferment. He is
a member of the Minneapolis and Commercial
clubs and with his family attends the Plymouth
Congregational Church. On December 8, 1866,
Mr. Fletcher was married to Miss Rebecca A.
Smith and they have had two children both of
whom died in infancy.
GILLETTE, George M. : the son of Mahlon
B. Gillette, a farmer, was born December 19,
1858, at Niles, Michigan. His ancestors were
French Huguenots, who during the period of
Huguenot persecution fled to England. Thence
the direct ancestors of Mr. Gillette came to
America, in 1620, in the ship "Mary and John,"
and took their part in.the early colonial events.
His parents located on a farm in Michigan, and
he spent the early period of his life there. He
obtained the common school education, graduated
from the high school at Niles, and then entered
the University of Michigan. He graduated from
the literary department in 1880, and for a time
employed himself 011 the farm. He then en
gaged in the manufacture of farm implements,
and later established a plant for the production
of strawboard. In the year 1889 he moved to
Minneapolis, and almost immediately became in
terested in the manufacture of structural iron
and steel and bridge work. Since that time he
has been almost continuously engaged in that
business and is now vice-president and treasurer
of the Minneapolis Steel & Machinery Company,
the largest concern of its kind in the city, if
not in the Northwest, employing a force of one
thousand to twelve hundred men. Mr. Gillette is
a republican, and served for one term in the
state legislature. Fie is active in the social and
CHARLES GLUEK
"""S".
PH0T0
403
GLUEK, John G., was born in Minneapolis,
May 1.1, 1868, son of Gottlieb and Caroline Foel
Gluek. The father died in 1881 and the mother
is still living. Gottlieb Gluek established the
Rank & Gluek Brewery in 1857, which has now
developed, through the activity of the sons, into
the large Gluek Brewing Company. John G.
Gluek was educated in the public schools of Min
neapolis and received a thorough business col
lege training and was admirably prepared to take
a responsible position in the conduct of the brew
ing business, which had been established by his
father. He became secretary and treasurer of
the Gluek Brewing Company, of which his broth
er is the president. Mr. Gluek was a young man
of fine business ability and, like his brother, was
numbered among the effective industrial forces
of Minneapolis. He was a member of the B. P.
O. E. and of the Knights of Pythias. He was
married on April 24, 1895, to Minnie Miller of
Minneapolis. They have one child, Eugene G.
Mr. and Mrs. Gluek were killed in an automobile
accident near Lake Minnetonka August 19, 1908.
GLUEK, Louis, president of the Gluek Brew
ing Company, was born at St. Anthony, now the
east division of Minneapolis on September 21,
1858, the son of Gottlieb and Caroline (Foell)
Gluek. His father was one of the pioneers of
Minneapolis who very early established himself
JOHN G. GIXEK
SWEET, PHOTO
club life of the city and is a member of the prin
cipal clubs of Minneapolis and holds a member
ship also in the Engineers' Club of New York.
Mr. Gillette attends the Baptist church. He was
married to. Miss Augusta M. Perkins on October
18, 1883, and they have three children.
GLUEK, Charles, was born in Minneapolis
June 6, i860, son of Gottlieb Gluek, who came
to this country from Germany in 1854, and after
working in Philadelphia one year came the next
year to Minneapolis where in 1857 he started a
brewery, which has now developed into imposing
dimensions through the business energy of his
sons. Charles Gluek attended the public schools
of Minneapolis and took a full course in business
college and, when fully equipped with prepara
tory business training, he took up his father's
business and became vice president of the Gluek
Brewing Company, which succeeded to the busi
ness of Rank & Gluek, and represents a plant hav
ing an annual capacity of over 100,000 barrels of
beer. Mr. Gluek is also vice-president of the
German-American Bank, a member of the leading
clubs of Minneapolis, including the Commercial
Club, a member of the Chamber of Commerce,
and is a prominent member of the Benevolent
and Protective Order of Elks. On December 8,
1888, Mr. Gluek was married to Mary Thielen, of
Minneapolis, who died leaving three children:
Carl G., Emma C., and Alvin G.
LOUIS GLUEK.
404
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
GOLD, Clias S., treasurer of the Northwest
ern Knitting Company and vice-president of the
Frank S. Gold Company, jobbers of notions, is a
native of No'rthfield, Vermont. His parents were
Sherman Gold and Eunice A. Golcf—and from
the father who was a manufacturer, Mr. Gold per
haps inherited his business instincts and abilities.
He was one of the founders of the Northwestern
Knitting company and has been its treasurer and
one of its directors for upwards of a score of
years. His political sympathies are with the
republican party and his church connection with
the Universalist denomination. He is a member
of the Minneapolis Commercial Club. Mr. Gold
is married and has two children—Frank S. Gold
and Carolyn L. Gold.
BRUSH, PHOTO
WILLIAM
I.
(iKAY.
in the brewing business in the northeastern part
of the city. Louis attended the public schools
of Minneapolis and was early apprenticed to the
brewing business. Under the instruction and di
rection of his father, lie early became an expert
in this department of "manufacturing. . After his
father's death, about thirty years ago, he suc
ceeded to the management of the business and
upon the incorporation of the Gluek Brewing
Company, became its president, and has re
mained its executive head and active manager
ever since. The business, which was established
in 1857, is the oldest in its line in the city and
one of the oldest business concerns of any kind
in the state of Minnesotaf It has been continu
ously prosperous for more than forty years. Mr.
Gluek was married at Minneapolis in 1893 to
Miss Laura Giesmann. Mr. Gluek is social in
his tastes and is a member of many societies and
orders, including the I. O. O. I'., B. P. O. E.
and Knights of Honor, and takes an active in
terest in the commercial affairs of the city, hav
ing membership in the St. Anthony Commercial
Club since its organization. I11 politics he is a
democrat; in church affiliations, a Lutheran.
Such time as he finds for recreation, he devotes
to the management of a farm near Minneapolis,
or to fishing and hunting.
GRAY, William Irving, of the contracting
firm of W. I. Gray & Co., was born at Lake
City, Minnesota,, the son of Alexander Gray and
Mary Dingwall Gray. All his ancestors were
Scotch and his parents came to this country in
1862, settling in Wabasha county, Minnesota. His
boyhood was spent on his father's farm, eight
miles from Lake City, where he attended district
school, later attending and graduating from the
Lake City high school. He then entered the
University of Minnesota, and graduated from
the engineering department in 1892 with the de
gree of electrical engineer. After a short time
spent in practical experience in his profession, Mr.
Gray, in 1894, engaged in the business of a con
tracting engineer under the firm name of W. I.
Gray & Co. taking contracts for mechanical
plants of all kinds, such as heating, electric
lighting, ventilating and plumbing. In addition
to doing a large local business, the operations of
the firm extend to three or four adjoining states
and to Western Canada. Mr. Gray is independent
in his political beliefs, but takes an active part
in the public affairs of the city, is a member of
the Commercial Club, and has been president of
the State Board of Electricity since 1899. He is
a member of Park Avenue Congregational Church
and of the Congregational Club of Minnesota.
In 1899 Mr. Gray was married to Isabelle W.
Welles, and they have two sons, Alexander
Welles and Frank Dingwall.
HALE, Charles Sumner, president of the Kilgore-Peteler Company, was born on April 1, 1870,
in Minneapolis, the son of Jefferson M. and Lou
isa M. (Herrick) Hale. His father was one of
the pioneer merchants of Minneapolis and was
long identified with the dry goods business in
the firm which was originally G. W. Hale &
Company and later Hale, Thomas & Company.
On his mother's side Mr. Hale also springs from
pioneers of the city, his grandfather, Mr. Nathan
Herrick, having established a marble yard in Min
neapolis in 1851 on the present site of the Min
neapolis Loan & Trust Company on Nicollet
avenue. Mr. Herrick, who died in 1891, was one
of the first business men in Minneapolis. At the
406
A
HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
neapolis Club, Minikahda Club, Minnetonka
Yacht Club and cxf the Chi Psi fraternity. He
was married on June 23, 1897, at Mankato to Miss
Marjorie L. Patterson. They have one son, Sum
ner Patterson Hale. The family attends Ply
mouth Congregational Church.
SAMUEL J. IIKWSOX.
time of Mr. Hale's birth the family home was at
the corner of Sixth street and First avenue south.
As a boy he attended the public schools of the
city, graduating from the high school in-1888 and,
entering the university, took the academic course
and graduated in 1892. His first business expe
rience was in the dry goods store of his father
and uncle, G. W. Hale & Company, then located
at the corner of Third and Nicollet. After gradu
ation he was associated in the lumber business for
four years with the late Jesse G. Jones and after
wards was with W. S. Hill in the same business.
In 1896 he became secretary and treasurer of the
Kettle River Quarries Company, a corporation
controlling extensive properties at Sandstone,
Minnesota. This company does a large business
in supplying building and paving material. I11
1904 Mr. Hale with George W. Bcstor organized
the Kilgore Machine Company which soon after
wards absorbed the Peteler Portable Railway
Manufacturing- Company, the consolidated com
pany taking the present name; Kilgore-Peteler
Company, and engaged extensively in the pro •
duction of contractors' machinery, making a spe
cialty of the manufacture ,of dump cars. Mr.
Hale is also president of the American Locomo
tive Equipment Company of Chicago and presi
dent of the Sandstone Land Company, owners of
the town site and electric and water companies
at Sandstone. Mr. Hale is a member of the Min
HAYFORD, George Warren, secretary and
treasurer of the Electrical Engineering Company,
was born October 27, 1854, a t Boston, Massa
chusetts. His parents were Warren and Abby
(Lewis) Hayford. His father was a builder.
On both sides of the family Mr. Hayford traces
his descent back to colonial times and his an
cestors took part in the stirring affairs of the
colonies, the war of the Revolution, and the in
teresting events incident to the building of a new
nation. Mr. Hayford's boyhood was spent in
Boston where he attended the public schools—
the Brimmer Grammar School and the English
high school—and completed his education with
a course at the Boston University School of Law
from which he graduated in 1875 with the degree
of LL. B. The rapid development of electrical
invention attracted his attention and after he
came west in 1896 he became one of the founders
and officers of the Electrical Engineering Com
pany, one of the oldest concerns of its kind in
Minneapolis. The company has recently estab
lished itself in new and commodious quarters at
21 North Sixth street. Mr. Hayford was mar
ried on December 17, 1885, to Ida A. W. Bright
and they have two children living.
He is a
member of the Commercial Club and other busi
ness and social organizations of the city.
HEWSON, Samuel James, for twenty years
prominent in the building material business of
Minneapolis, was born at Detroit, Michigan, on
September 28, 1857, the son of John and Alice
Hewson. His father held a position in the
office of one of the larger firms of Detroit. Sam
uel J. passed the early years of his life in the
city of his birth and was educated in the public
schools there. He obtained a business position,
and was associated with various firms of Detroit,
until 1879 when he moved to St. Paul where he
entered the employ of one of the large jobbing
houses as shipping clerk. He remained with that
company for about eight years, filling various
positions and finally was made a traveling sales
man. He continued his connection with the firm
until 1887 when he resigned to come to Minne
apolis and enter the building material business, as
the general sales agent of the Menomonie Hy
draulic Press Brick Company and has been in
terested in that organization since that time.
This company, with headquarters at Minneap
olis, does a large business in the manufacture of
staple and fancy lines of especially constructed
bricks. Mr. Hewson, who as the general mana
ger of the company has charge of its actual op
eration, has built up a large and successful plant
which has furnished the material for a majority
VARIED PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRIES.
of the finer brick buildings of the city. Mr. Hewson is a member of the Minneapolis Club, the
Minikahda Club, and the Automobile Club. He
was married on August 20, 1885, to Miss Fannie
J. Burdick and they have two daughters, Katlierine and Alice.
HEYWOOD, Frank, founder of the Hey wood
Manufacturing Company, has been engaged in
the paper box manufacturing business in Minne
apolis for twenty-five years. He is the son of
C. R. Heywood and Sarah A. (Brown) Heywood, his father being for many years in busi
ness at Rutland, Massachusetts, where he owned
and operated a saw mill. His son, Frank, was
born on July 9, 1857, and passed the early years
of his life in the place of his birth. He began
his commercial career by accepting a position
with a paper box manufacturing concern of
Lowell, Massachusetts, and there acquired the
training and experience in the line of work which
he has since followed. He continued with the
company in different capacities for four years
and in 1878 resigned his position to continue his
education at Phillips Andover Academy. He was
at the academy four years, leaving school in
1882 to come west, where he located in Minne
apolis. He engaged soon after his arrival in the
paper box manufacturing business, starting a fac
tory at 123 Nicollet avenue. The company has
grown from a comparatively small beginning to
the largest of its kind in the Northwest and is
organized now as the Heywood Manufacturing
Company, in which Mr. Heywood is president
and general manager. Later Mr. Heywood added
facilities for the manufacture of envelopes and 1
a printing department, and with these lines the
plant now occupies a large three story building
for manufacturing and warehousing purposes.
Mr. Heywood is a Mason, and is also a member
of several other local fraternal orders.
HOWELL, R. R. & Company—About 1878 R.
R. Howell and D. R. Howell came to Minneapolis
from Cambria, Wisconsin, where they were born
and where they had been engaged in the machin
ery business, and commenced the manufacturing
and jobbing of well and pump machinery at 222
North Washington avenue. The business rapidly
expanded and in a few years a manufacturing
plant was erected at Prospect Park in southeast
Minneapolis. This plant was entirely destroyed
by fire in 1890, but was immediately rebuilt and
has since been enlarged from time to time to
meet the growing demands of the business until
it is now one of the leading general manufactur
ing plants of the city. The firm has constantly
added to its line of products and now makes a
great variety of machines, including engines, boil
ers, saw mills, gang edgers, lath and bolting ma
chines, shingle and excelsior machines, well bor
ing machines, rock drilling machines, feed mills,
feed cookers, wood saws, drag saws, self feeders,
horse powers, hay' tedders and complete grain
407
elevator outfits. The business is one of the sub
stantial manufacturing enterprises of the city, and
its product is distributed, all over the United
States, Canada, Alaska, and Mexico.
KELLY, Hubert, was born in New York City
in 1862, the son of Hubert Kelly and Mary McClure Kelly. His. father remained in New York
only a few years after the birth of Hubert, mov
ing to Cleveland, Ohio, in 1868, where the family
remained but two years, in 1870 moving farther
west to Minnesota, where they made their home
at Leaf Valley. Mr. Kelly ^pent his boyhood
there and began his education in a neighboring
town attending the public school at Alexandria.
His parents came to Minneapolis from Leaf Val
ley in 1879 and his education was continued here
in the public schools but in 1881 he decided to
leave school and prepare himself for a commer
cial life by an active business training. He im
mediately became connected with the business
with which he is so prominently identified at the
present time, starting in the plumbing and steam
heating business in this city. He spent several
years in acquiring a knowledge of the trade and
then engaged in business under his own name,
organizing the firm of' H. Kelly & Company
which has since done general work in plumbing,
gas fitting and the installation of steam and hot
IIUHEttT KELLY.
408
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
water heating plants. Mr. Kelly is the active
head of this company and through his capable
management and energy the business has grown
steadily and rapidly from the time of its inception
until at the present time it does probably the
largest business in that line in the Northwest.
The company's operations are not confined to
the Northwest, however, but extend to all parts,
of the country. It has equipped some of the larg
est elevator and other power plants in nearly
every state in the Union as well as many in
Canada and several of the big malting plants
in the country have also been furnished and
erected by them, the largest being in Montreal,
Winnipeg and Omaha. Mr. Kelly is also largely
interested in the Engineering & Steam Supplies
Company which was incorporated in 1902, and in
which he holds the offices of president and treas
urer. This organization, as its name implies, en
gages in the furnishing of steam fitting and en
gineering accessories, and has a heavy trade in
those lines. Mr. Kelly, though he devotes the
principal part of his time to his business inter
ests, is also active in the social and fraternal life
of the city. He is a member of the Commercial
Club, the Automobile Club, the Elks, and the
Knights of Columbus. He attends the Catholic
Church. In 1883 he married Miss Julia A. Movery, who died in 1894, leaving four children,
Violet M., Frank J., Thomas E., and Irene. Mr.
Kelly was again married in 1897, to Miss Bernadette Byrnes. "
*
'
JOHNSON, William Chandler, was born at
St. Anthony Falls, Minnesota, on November 1,
1856, son of Luther G.. and Cornelia E. Morrill
Johnson, the father being a merchant. William
C. attended the public schools of St. Anthony and
those of Minneapolis after the consolidation, and
studied three years at the state university, but
did not graduate. "Mr. Johnson's activities have
been chiefly in manufacturing lines and he has
been a strong factor in the building up of the
great manufacturing interests of the city. The
railroads perform the essential work of providing
the inlets and outlets^.of transportation, while
the manufacturing forces of a city perform the
major part in determining the amount of busi
ness the rolling stock shall carry. A city's ex
pansion is measured by the expansion of its in
dustries and the manufacturers deserve all the
credit they can receive as builders of the majesty
of cities. Mr. Johnson is one of those builders,
and, as treasurer of the Northwestern Casket
Company, and vice president of the Minneapolis.
Office and School Furniture Company, he can
feel that he has contributed his share to the
progress 1 and greatness of the metropolis of the
Northwest. Mr. Johnson is a republican in poli
tics and is a member of the Minneapolis Com
mercial Club, the St. Anthony Commercial Club,
the Lafayette Club and the Native Sons of
Minnesota. In 1891 Mr. Johnson was married to
Blanche Gilbert McCall.
KENASTON, Frederick Eugene, was born
November 14, 1853, at Hatley, Stanstead county,
Province of Quebec, Canada, son of J o s e p h P.
and Jane W. E. Kenaston, both of Scotch an
cestry. Mr. Kenaston received his early educa
tional training in Canada and the United States,
coming to the latter country when he was eleven
years old. His training was largely under pri
vate tutelage. After living seventeen years in
Iowa, he came to Minnesota in 1881. Although
he studied law and was admitted to the bar, Mr.
Kenaston has never practiced although he would
beyond doubt have stood high in the profession
had he willed to put as much energy into the
law as he has into his business activities. His
training on the farm and in the shop and in
the counting-room has borne fruit in the produc
tion of a man of extraordinary executive ability,
with a far-reaching vision in business operations.
As president of the Minneapolis Threshing Ma
chine Company, Mr. Kenaston, who fills
the
positions of president and treasurer, is at the
head of one of the largest industries in that line
in the country. The business reaches into Can
ada and Mr. Kenaston, who was born in Canada,
is one of those enterprising men who believes
that international boundary lines and hostile
tariffs are not able to fatally restrict profitable
commercial intercourse between countries which
geographically were intended to trade with the
least restraint possible. The part his firm is
playing in making a practical demonstration of
the necessity for reciprocity is noticeable. He
is interested in other lines of business, having
Canadian connections which present the same
suggestion. Mr. Kenaston stands high in the
estimation of the community. He was married
on November 22, 1874, to Julia E. Smith at
Northwood, Iowa. They have one son, Burt
Kenaston.
LANGDON, Robert Bruce, was born in 1826,
at New Haven, Vermont, the birthplace, also, of
his father, Seth Langdon, a farmer of that local
ity. He is of English descent on both sides of
the family, his ancestors having settled in New
England during the colonial days. His grand
father was an officer in the patriot army, who
later settled in Vermont. Mr. Langdon's mother
came of an old English family, bearing the name
of Squires. Robert Bruce received the usual
academic education, and in 1848 became con
nected with the railroad construction business as
a foreman with the Rutland and Burlington road.
He came west shortly after and for several years
was engaged under Selah Chamberlain, in Ohio
and Wisconsin, and then began constructional
contracting for himself, his first work being the
fencing of the Chicago & Northwestern line from
Fond du Lac to Minnesota Junction. In 1853 he
constructed for the Illinois Central a section of
track from Kankakee to Urbana, and following
that filled contracts for the Milwaukee & La
6WSET, PHOTO
410
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Crosse, and Milwaukee and Prairie Du Chien
roads. In 1 8 5 8 he superintended the construc
tion of the first railroad in Minnesota and two
years later took the contract for the building
of the Mobile and Ohio road but the out-break
of the Civil War interrupted this work. In 1866
he moved to Minneapolis where he soon after
became connected with the building of the Min
neapolis Mill Company's canal. Outside of the
railroad construction business Mr. Langdon's in
terests were large and extended. He erected
and owned at various times several blocks of
buildings in this city, being president of both
the companies which built and owned the Syndi
cate block and the Masonic Temple. He was
also the first executive officer of the Terminal
Elevator Company and of the Belt railway, con
necting the stockyards at New Brighton, of which
he was a director, with the interurban systems
of railroad. H e held at one time a director
ship in the City Bank and was interested in the
wholesale grocery trade, being partner in the
house of Geo. R. Newell & Company. Very
naturally he became connected "with the railroad
business, and was a director and vice president
of the Minneapolis & St. Louis railroad and vice
president of the -Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie &
Atlantic, now known as the Soo Line. Mr. Langdon was a republican in politics, active in the
political affairs- of the state, and several times
the successful candidate of his party. In 1872
he was elected to the state senate and served the
interests of the people so well that he was suc
cessively re-elected until 1 8 7 8 . He was again
elected to the senate in 1 8 8 0 and served at the
biennial sessions of 1 8 8 1 - 3 and 1 8 8 5 . His party
again nominated him in 1 8 8 8 , when he was de
feated a t the election.* During his senatorial
service he was strictly devoted to the interests of
the people and state, and filled the duties of his
office with honor and integrity. H e served on
the more important standing committees, such
as election, railroad, prison, retrenchment and
reform. In the national republican conventions
of 1876 at Cincinnati, 1884 at Chicago, and 1888,
he was a delegate from this state; and at the
time of the national convention in Minneapolis
served on several committees on arrangements.
Mr. Langdon was for many years president of
the Minneapolis Club and of the Vermont Asso
ciation. His family attended St. Marks Episcopal
Church and he was a vestryman of that parish.
When he moved to Minneapolis in 1 8 6 6 Air.
Langdon built a handsome home and lived there
until his death in 1895. lie was married in 1859
to Miss Sarah Smith, daughter of Horatio A.
Smith, a physician of New Haven, and at his
death left three children, Mrs. IT. C. Truesdale.
and Mrs. W . F. Brooks, both of this city, and
a son, Cavour S. Langdon, a partner of his
father's former business associate, A. IT. Linton,
in the Linton & Company railroad constructing
firm. As was his father, C. S. Langdon is a
member of the Minneapolis Club, and has been
fhe president of the organization.
JACOB Kl'XZ.
KUNZ, Jacob, one of the enterprising busi
ness men of Minneapolis, is of German parentage
and birth, but has been a resident of Minnesota
for forty years, for the greater part of which
time he has been engaged in business in Min
neapolis. He was born in Germany in 1 8 5 7 , and
spent his early boyhood in that country. When
eleven years old, in 1 8 6 8 , his parents left Ger
many to emigrate to America, and settled near
Chaska, Minnesota, where his father entered the
farming business. Jacob Kunz, remained at home
upon the farm, aiut attended the public schools,
until he was sixteen years of age. At that time
he sought a position in which he might learn the
railroad business, and secured a position as a
locomotive fireman with the Omaha railroad. H e
continued in this work for five years and then
came to Minneapolis, in T 8 7 8 . W . W . Eastman
was then in charge- of the management of the
Island Power Company and he offered t o Mr.
Kunz an opportunity to enter the service of that
company as engineer and millwright. Mr. Kunz
was connected with the company for several
years and was advanced through a number of
offices until lie was finally placed in charge as
general superintendent. H e is largely interested
in this company at the present time and is its
general manager. His business associations have
extended, however, to several other local con
cerns and he is now the vice-president and a
VARIED PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRIES.
411
director of the North Star Malting Company;
the treasurer and a director of the Minneapolis
Brewing Company; the organizer and president
of the Kunz Oil Company; and a director of the
German-American Bank. Varied as Mr. Kunz's
interests have been, he gives to-each his personal
•attention, and it is in a large part due to his
energy and efficient management that they now
rank among the leading concerns of the North
west. Mr. Kunz's time is, necessarily, largely
taken up by his commercial responsibilities, but
he has also" found time for the social' life of the
city and is a member of some of the larger clubs,
among them the Automobile Club and the Com
mercial Club.
LEIGHTON, Horace Newel, one of the
building contractors of Minneapolis, was born
at Machias, Maine, on January 8, 1853. His
father, Joseph H. Leighton, was a lumberman—
the type of sturdy New Englander who has
done so much in person or through his de
scendants. for the building of, the northwest.
During his early boyhood Mr. Leighton attended
the schools at Machias but at.fifteen left school
to begin work, completing his education as so
many successful'men have done, in the shop,
mill and business office. Seeing opportunities
in the west he followed the example of many
Maine men and came to Minnesota establishing
OLIVER B. McCLINTOCIv.
BRU8M > PH0T0
himself in Minneapolis. For the past twentyfive years he has been a contractor and builder
and has erected many of the larger and more
conspicuous buildings of the city. Although Mr.
Leighton is a good type of the successful busi
ness man of today he has not confined his ac
tivities entirely to his private enterprises but
has taken a large interest in public affairs, and,
though not an office seeker, was induced to serve
the city as alderman from his ward, the Third
for four years from 1898 to 1902. He is a re
publican in political faith though by no means
party bound in municipal affairs. He is a mem
ber of the Pilgrim Congregational Church and a
trustee of Windom Institute at Montevideo,
Minnesota,—one of the educational institutions
fostered by the Congregational denomination of
the state. Mr. Leighton was married on May
J 9, !875, to Sarah L. Heaton, and they have had
seven children, Mabelle E., Addie L., Maud A.,
Lizzie A., Lewis L., George E., and Sara L.
HORACE N. r.KIOIITON.
SWEET . PHOT °
McCLINTOCK, Oliver Bonnaffon, president
of the McClintock-Loomis Company, is a Wis
consin man, born near Berlin, Green Lake county,
on November 20, 1865, the son of Robert C. and
Ann David McCHntock. Much of the larger part
412
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
of his life has been spent in Minnesota. After
attending the common school, night school and a
commercial college, Mr. McClintock entered the
grocery business at Owatonna in 1889 under the
firm name of McClintock & Lennon. Seven years
later he went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, as collec
tor and solicitor for the- Minneapolis Threshing
Machine Company. Only a few months later he
was appointed manager of the branch house at
Council Bluffs and filled that position until 1901
when he organized the American Bank Protection
Company and moved to Minneapolis where the
corporation established its office. Mr. McClin
tock was elected secretary and treasurer and as
such managed the business of the concern until
March, 1908, when he resigned the active man
agement, remaining a stockholder and director
of the company. He is also a stockholder in the
Sperry Manufacturing Co., of Owatonna, and
other manufacturing corporations of the North
west.
Mr. McClintock's many business duties
have not prevented him from taking a keen in
terest in public affairs, although he has never
held office except as a member of the board of
education at Owatonna for three years, 1892, '93
and '94. He is a republican in politics and is a
member of the I. O. O. F., K. P., R. A. and the
Minneapolis Commercial Club. He was married
October 28, 1892, at Owatonna to Miss Evva
Webb. They have one daughter, Margaret.
McMILLAN, Frank Griggs, was born Octo
ber 4, 1856, at Danville, Caledonia county, Ver
mont, son o£ Col. Andrew McMillan, a graduate
of West Point. Educated in the public schools
and at the Dummer Academy of Massachusetts,
he learned the printer's trade and, until 1878, he
set type in Boston and elsewhere in New Eng
land, and then, because of failing health, he came
to Minneapolis, where he worked as printer, car
penter and millwright until he found the life
work which brought him deserved prominence in
the community where he had cast his lot. He
stands in the front ranks of the builders and con
tractors who have played such a great part in
the promotion of the material welfare of Min
neapolis. Throughout the business and residence
portions of the city may be seen in varied forms
of attractive architecture the evidences of Mr.
McMillan's designing and constructive skill. His
industry and conscientious activity brought him
into demand for the service of the public and
among his public services may be mentioned his
four years' work in the state senate where he in
troduced a resolution looking to the building of
a new Capitol. He was chairman of the State
Capitol Commission for two years and drew up
the bill under which the present magnificent
structure was erected. Mr. McMillan served as
a member of the board of park commissioners for
two years and for six years on the board of edu
cation, of which he was elected secretary, and
was chairman of the building committee, under
whom the new East Side high school was con
structed. He introduced measures in the board
to secure the system of savings banks in the
public schools. Mr. McMillan was appointed by
Governor Lind a member of the State Board of
Equalization for this district and, in recognition
of his fine business sense he was elected presi
dent of that important body and his work there
has been strongly in behalf of correct assess
ments and honest valuations. Mr. McMillan was
six years president of the Master Builders Asso
ciation of Minneapolis and president of the Min
nesota Society Sons of the American Revolution
and president of the John A. Rawlins Post of the
Citizens Staff. He is a charter member of the
Vermont Association of Minnesota to which he
has given earnest and effective work, serving on
the executive committee and as vice-president and
latterly as president. In 1881 Senator McMillan
married Miss Lillian A. Conner, a native of Min
neapolis, and to them have been born four chil
dren. The family attend the First Congrega
tional Church of which Senator McMillan is a
member and a trustee.
NORTHUP, William G., was born at Salis
bury Centre, Herkimer county, New York, July
21, 1851. His father was Daniel A. Northup, a
merchant of that town. Mr. Northup came to
Minneapolis in 1867 after receiving a common
FRANK G.
McMILLAN.
413
school education at the place of his birth and
has resided here since. He was bookkeeper and
mailing clerk in the office of the Minneapolis
Tribune in 1871, and then learned the hardware
trade in the establishment of John S. Pillsbury
& Co., remaining there until 1874. Mr. Northup
then went into the service of the North Star
Woolen Mills Company, which was organized in
1864. In 1879, he was placed in management of
this successful enterprise of which he is now the
president. The company is widely known as the
largest manufacturers of fine
blankets in the
country. It is one of those industries, the quality
of whose product advertises the city where it is
located. The company has a branch office at
Twenty-first street and Fifth avenue, New York
City. The success of the business is illustrative
of the value of Minneapolis as a distributing
point for merchandise. Mr. Northup is vice
president of the Minneapolis Trust Company, a
director of the Northwestern National Bank, a
trustee of the Farmers and Mechanics' Savings
Bank and a director of the North American Tele
graph Company. He is a member of the Min
neapolis and Lafayette Clubs. His ancestors ac
companied Roger Williams when he left the
Massachusetts Bay Colony and sought to estab
lish a new colony in Rhode Island where religious
freedom and real self-government could be en
joyed, in 1636-63. Mr. Northup attends the Universalist Church. He was married in 1874 to
Lela Tucker, of Providence, Rhode Island.
PAULLE, Leonard, was born at Buffalo, New
York, April 23, 1855. He is of French descent,
his father, who lived to the age of ninety-five
years, having served in the French army in the
campaigns of Napoleon I. The family has an un
broken record of longevity on the father's and
mother's side, the latter being of German descent.
Mr. Paulle, the subject of this sketch, spent his
early years and was educated chiefly in the paro
chial schools of Buffalo and St. Paul. Leaving
the latter city in 1872, he came to Minneapolis
where, after a few years, he embarked in the show
case manufacturing business in which he has been
engaged ever since with marked success. Mr.
Paulle started in business where the Loan and
Trust building now stands, and it is an interesting
fact that he sold to William Donaldson the first
show case the latter bought after he began busi
ness in Minneapolis, the article being bought on
credit. Mr. Paulle is first vice-president of the
Germania Bank; a member of the Commercial
Club; a member of the Masonic order since 1875,
and one of the oldest thirty-second degree Masons
in the city. He is a republican in political prefer
ence. He held a colonel's commission on the staff
of former Governor John Lind. He was married
in September, 1905, to Miss Minnie Crozier of
La Crosse, Wisconsin. Mr. Paulle has a part in,
every movement for the advantage of the com
munity.
SWEET, PHOTO
WILLIAM G.
NORTHUP.
PECK, Park W., secretary, treasurer and gen
eral manager of the North Star Woolen Mill Co.
of Minneapolis, is a native of Illinois. He was
born in 1869, son of Edwin Peck, a farmer, and
Nellie Warren Peck, and spent his boyhood on
the farm in Illinois, Iowa and Minnesota. He
entered *he employ of the North Star company
in 1891 while still a very young man, and worked
up through various positions until he reached
that of executive head of the business. Mr. Peck
is a modest and unassuming man whose business
ability and high character have won him the con
fidence and esteem of his friends and business
associates.
RAWITZER, Clarence M., was born on No
vember 2, 1868, in Omaha, Nebraska. His father,
William Rawitzer, was a veteran of the Civil War,
who enlisted as a private in the Forty-first Regi
ment of Wisconsin Volunteers at the beginning of
the war, and was promoted before the term of ser
vice was over to the rank of corporal. He mar
ried Sophia Erdman of Platteville, Wisconsin,
and after the war located in Omaha where he en
gaged in business as a merchant. Clarence M.
passed the first twenty-five years of his life in that
city and was educated in the public schools.
After'completing his course, he began a business
life and a little later engaged in the tent and awn
ing business, organizing a company and operating
414
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
SAVAGE,
tional
M. W., president
Stock
Food
of
Company
the
of
Interna
Minneapolis,
began life as the son of
a physician and drug
gist
and
of
moderate
means
largely
made
his
own way from boyhood.
His father wished him
to
the
become a
doctor
and
young man
com
menced the study of medicine but a natural love
of animals and growing things turned him away
from
the practice of
that
immediately
the medical profession, so
after
his
marriage
he
settled
upon a farm in Iowa and commenced the breed
ing of
age
livestock.
would
It
never
is probable
have
turned
that
Mr. Sav
aside from
farm
life had not a tornado completely destroyed ev
erything above the ground on his farm.
ing
himself
crippled,
he
moved
to
Find
Dubuque
to
make a
new start and commenced the manufac
ture
stock
of
food
and
remedies
prescriptions long used in
put
up
his. father's
after
practice.
After a short time he moved to Minneapolis and
since that time, 1889, has made steady and rapid
advances until the business is much the largest
of its kind in the world.
T h e q u a r t e r s first
occu
pied were rapidly outgrown and some years agb
Mr.
Savage
purchased
the
sition building on the
occupied
this
enormous
boyhood it had been
horses.
Minneapolis
East Side and
structure.
Expo
has since
From
his
his a m b i t i o n t o r a i s e fine
As soon
as his growing business made
the realization of
this dream possible, Mr. Sav
age bought a farm of some 700 acres about
BRU8H, PHOTO
CLARENCE M.
RAWITZEU.
miles
south
river,
where
breeding
horses
of
Minneapolis
he
farm
as
on
established
in
Dan
the
the
horse
buying
such
Cresceus—2:02%,
a factory at Omaha for several years, but discon
Directum—2:05^4.
tinued his relations with this in 1897 to come to
and notable records.
this city.
a m o s t c o m p l e t e w a y a n d h a s a fine
He immediately organized the Ameri
others
ten
Minnesota
largest
country,
Patch—1:55,
a»d
the
of fine
breeding
This farm is equipped in
mile track
can Tent & Awning Company and
took charge
for exercising and speeding.
of the active management himself.
The factory
track, entirely enclosed, has recently been erect
w a s first
located at First avenue north and Sec
ed
where
his
horses
ond street, but in 1905 the capacity of this plant
during the winter.
are
A half-mile covered
trained
and
worked
The farm and the surround
had been altogether outgrown, and the establish
ing country are very attractive and
ment was moved to its present situation on North
has made it his summer home.
Washington
a beautiful house on the bluffs overlooking the
avenues.
avenue, between Third and
T h e firm
Fourth
there occupies a three
story
building with the factory, warehouses and general
farm
and
the valley for
Mr. Savage
He has erected
twenty miles
and during the season spends much of
offices, a significant proof of the development of
here.
ests and his horses, Mr. Savage has other sub
plant is now one of the largest in that line west
jects
of Chicago, a n d t h e business of t h e firm
tion.
over all the west and northwest
extends
territory.
The
of
his
many
more
his time
the company since its organization in 1897.
The
Besides
or
importance
to
manufacturing
which
he
gives
inter
atten
Notable among these is the electric rail
way the Dan Patch Air Line to run from Min
demand for their goods in these states steadily in
neapolis
creases, and during 1906 the Montana trade alone
now
amounted to more than $25,000, facts that put the
business in the front rank of growing enterprises
is manager of
in the Twin Cities.
ness as well as its foreign affairs, and Harold M.
Mr. Rawitzer is well
known
among his business associates and is a member of
the Minneapolis Commercial Club.
member of
the
thirty-second
degree.
He
was
president.
married
to
on
St.
Paul
to
construction,
Dubuque,
and
of
which
which
he
is
is
He has two sons, E. B. Savage who
the Toronto branch of
the busi
Savage, still in school in Minneapolis.
He is also a
the Masonic order and has risen
and
under
SATTERLEE,
William
Eugene,
vice
presi
dent of the Salisbury & Satterlee Company, with
w h i c h firm
he has been associated for the past
August 2, 1890, to Miss Lizzie M. Keeler of Oma
twenty-eight
ha, and they have one daughter, Geneve.
the
years,
was
town of Viroqua.
born in
Wisconsin, at
He is the son of William
415
VARIED PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRIES.
Wilson Satterlee and
Sarah
Wilson Satterlee was a
at the time of
Sattcrlee.
William
Methodist minister, who
his son's birth-on April 2, 1861,
•was in charge of a parish at Viroqua.
When Wil
the entire Northwest.
interests
Mr.
promoters
Side
and
State
liam E. was but a few years old the family moved
rector
t o M i n n e s o t a , a n d first
associated,
he
entered
the
located at Elysian.
grade
schools,
There
continuing
his
studies in the schools at Waseca and St. Cloud,
of
party.
Among his other business
Satterlee
an
Bank
that
was
one
organizer
and
is
at
institution.
politically,
of
of
present
Mr.
with
the
the
East
a
di
Satterlee
the
is
republican
He takes an active interest in municipal
and party affairs and at "the election of 1904 was
Minnesota, to which towns the family had moved;
made alderman of the Second ward, and at pres
and later graduated from the high school at Min
ent
neapolis and
T h o u g h his t i m e i s filled,
mercial life.
immediately entered
H e first
upon a com
entered the employ of Sal-
is
a
member
numerous
of- the
business
Charter
Commission.
in great measure, by his
and
political
interests,
Mr.
isbury-Rolph & Company in 1880, and began his
Satterlee has not been separated from the social
training in the bedding and furniture manufac
side of the city and is a member of several organ
turing business. He became a partner in the busi
izations, among them the Minneapolis Commer
ness in 1887.
This association was continued for
several years and
then with
Mr. Satterlee formed
Company.
Fred
R. Salisbury,
the Salisbury & Satterlee
This organization has since been in
cial Club, the Minneapolis Whist Club and
St. Anthony Commercial Club, and in
1907, was elected president of the last named or
ganization.
In 1883 Mr. Satterlee was married to
corporated and the present officers are Fred R.
Miss
Salisbury, president; W. E. Satterlee, vice presi
children—Gertrude
Dorothy Adelaide.
dent, and A. F. Smith, secretary.
T h e firm
car
the
October,
Lillian
M.
Barton
and
Lillian,
they
Roland
have
three
Eugene
and
ried on a general business in the manufacture and
wholesaling of
mattresses, spring beds and iron
bedsteads—and now handle a trade which covers
SIMMONS, Chester, son
of Chester W. and
Emily White Simmons was born in
City, December 26, 1850.
New York
His father was a mer
chant of New York and both, parents were Eng
lish by birth.
Mr. Simmons spent his early years in
Tarrytown and Yonkers, New York, and received
his education in the public schools, early develop
i n g fine
business qualifications, which, actualized
in his maturer years, gave him a most honorable
position
in
the
business
world.
He
has
been
identified with the Bemis Brother Bag Company
for more than thirty years and has been a strong
c o n t r i b u t o r y f o r c e i n t h a t p r o g r e s s i v e firm.
He
is a member of the Minneapolis and the Commer
cial clubs, and is a member of
Church.
Trinity
Baptist
In politics he has always been a repub
lican and an active member of his party.
In 1875
he was married to Fannie A. Bemis and to them
six children have been born—Chester B., Ethel,
Lois M., Marmion J., Emily R. and Donald B.
SMITH, Bela
1861, at
Smith.
Winficld, was born November,
Norwich,
Connecticut, son
of
Ezra
L.
His early years were spent at Norwich,
until he was thirteen years old, when he came to
Minneapolis
and
door
where
he
was
manufacturing
he organized
trained
business
the City Sash
in
the
and,
& Door
sash
in 1895,
Company,
which has taken a conspicuous place among the
larger operators in that business, notably in the
j o b b i n g line of activity, t h e firm
the largest jobbers in
claiming to be
that specialty in the city.
Mr. Smith is thoroughly identified with the group
of active promoters of
the city, and is himself
the material interests of
an illustration
of
what
pluck and energy will accomplish in
the stimu
lating atmosphere of
Mr. Smith
the Northwest.
is a mem'ber of the Commercial Club and of the
Minneapolis Automobile Club.
He is a member
WILLIAM E. SATTERLEE.
of the Lyndale Congregational Church.
416
A H A L F CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
capital stock of $150,000, occupies a large factory
at 1 3 0 1 - 1 3 3 1 Central avenue and is the largest
manufacturer of knit specialties in the world.
On account of ill health, Mr. Stevens resigned
active connection with the company in May, 1908.
Mr. Stevens is a member of the republican party,
attends the Methodist church and is one of the
manufacturing committee of the Minneapolis
Commercial Club. In 1 8 9 9 and 1 9 0 0 he was a
member of the Minnesota National Guard. In
1 9 0 1 he married Miss Nellie G. Stickney and they
have one son, Gould S. Stevens.
ARTHUR W. STEVENS.
STEVENS, Arthur Wellington, secretary and
treasurer of the Northland Knitting Company, is
a native son of Minnesota. H e ' w a s born Janu
ary 3 0 , 1 8 7 5 , at Rushford, Minnesota, the son of
Andrew J. Stevens and Clara M. (Bentley) Stev
ens. His father who died in 1 8 8 0 was president
of the Winona Wagon Company, a large manu
facturing establishment at Winona, Minnesota.
The family is of English descent, Mr. Stevens'
ancestors on both sides coming to this country
before the Revolution. Mr. Stevens passed his
boyhood at Rushford and Winona, attending the
public schools of the latter city and completing
his education in the Minneapolis central high
school from which he graduated in 1 8 9 4 . His
business experience was obtained through sev
eral years with F. H. Peavy & Company and
two years in a bank which he left in 1 9 0 3 to
organize the Twin City Knitting Company. This
concern commenced the manufacture of specialties
in knit wear, rapidly developing a large business
which was put on a much stronger bagis in 1907
by consolidation with the Appleton Knitting
Company of Appleton, Wisconsin, the Northland
Knitting Company being incorporated t o take
over both concerns. The new company has a
WILCOX, John Finley, a prominent manu
facturer of Minneapolis, was born at Middlebury (now Akron) Ohio, on January 4 , 1 8 4 7 , the
son of David G. Wilcox and Hannah C. Wilcox.
He received his education in the public schools
of Akron and at Dennison University, Gran
ville, Ohio, where he took the scientific course.
Mr. Wilcox's father was in the lumber, sash and
door business and when, in 1 8 6 7 , he came to
Minnesota he naturally turned to that line of
business and entered the employment of Wheaton,
Reynolds & Francis, pioneer manufacturers of
sash, doors, and interior finish.
In 1 8 7 1 , when
Mr. Francis retired, Mr. Wilcox became a part
ner, the firm then becoming Wheaton, Reynolds
& Company. In 1 8 8 5 he disposed of his interest
to his partners and started on his own account
as manufacturer of wood specialties in which he
still continues, carrying on an extensive busi
ness on Marshall street northeast, in a very large
plant which he has developed during the past
score of years. He is also vice president of the
City Sash & Door Company, Gugler Electric
Manufacturing Company, Wilcox Bros., H. E.
Wilcox Motor Car Company and is a director
in the St. Anthony Falls Bank. Mr. Wilcox is a
Mason ( 3 2 n d degree) and a member of the Min
neapolis, Commercial, Minikahda and Lafayette
Clubs. In 1 9 0 7 Mr. Wilcox was elected presi
dent of the Citizens Alliance. In politics he is a
republican but has never held office. On June
1 3 , 1 8 7 1 , Mr. Wilcox was married at Minneapolis
to Miss Emma E. Clement and they have four
children,—Harry E., Archie E., Myrtice E., and
Beatrice E. During a large part of the year the
family resides at their beautiful summer residence,
Old Orchard, Minnetonka. They attend the Con
gregational church.
WASHBURN, Edwin C., general manager of
the Washburn Steel Casting & Coupler Company,
manufacturers of steel castings and couplers, was
born in Minneapolis, on April 11, 1 8 7 0 . He is
the son of Senator William D. Washburn, so
prominently identified with the development and
growth of the city, and Lizzie (Muzzy) Wash
burn, daughter of the H 0 1 1 . Franklin Muzzy of
Bangor, Maine. The American branch of the
Washburn family traces back to the earliest New
England colonists; John Washburn, who served
as the secretary of the council at Plymouth, being
the first to come to this country. His son, John
Washburn, Jr., accompanied him when he came
k • -"* . • *. '
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.iwi
418
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
to New England and later married Elizabeth
Cook, granddaughter of Francis Cook, one of
the Pilgrim settlers that crosscd in the May
flower. Edwin C. Washburn attended the pub
lic schools of Minneapolis, and then continued
his education in Exeter Academy, at Andover,
Massachusetts. Graduating from that school he
entered the Lawrcncevillc Academy at Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and pursued his studies there
for some time. He did not take a full profes
sional course, however, as it was not hjs inten
tion to follow a professional life, but returned
to Minneapolis and at once became associated
with his father's business interests. He was con
nected for a time with various branches of rail
road work, and received a practical training as
a mining engineer. His time has been chiefly
devoted, however, to the steel and iron manu
facturing business, and he has not only success
fully assumed the management of the Washburn
Company, but is himself the inventor of numer
ous mechanical devices. The most important of
these is, perhaps, the Washburn coupler, an
automatic car coupling contrivance now in gen
eral use on many railroads. Some of his other
patents have been car trucks, draft rigging, and
•"m
*
»
ir [r
EDWIN C. WASIIBURN.
various other railway appliances. Mr. Washburn
was first connected with the Washburn Steel
Casting & Coupler Company as its general man
ager and was then associated for a time with
the B. W. & Gt. F. railroad. He has also been
an active officer of the Washburn Lignite Coal
Company and the Washburn Steamboat Com
pany. At the present time he again holds the
office of general manager of the Washburn Steel
Casting & Coupler Company, which operates an
extensive casting and manufacturing plant at
Minneapolis. His business interests are not con
fined to the companies mentioned, however, but
extend to numerous subsidiary and allied con
cerns both in Minneapolis and throughout the
Northwest. Mr. Washburn is a republican in
politics but lias never taken an active part in the
affairs of his party. He is a prominent social
and club man, and is connected with several of
the larger social organizations, among them the
Minneapolis Club, the Commercial Club, Lafay
ette Club and Town and Country Club. On
November 21, 1907, he was married to Miss
Ethel Dunning Fraser of Brooklyn, New York.
WINSTON, Fendall G., president of Winston
Bros. Company, contractors, and of Winston,
Harper, Fisher Company, wholesale grocers, has
been a resident of Minneapolis since 1872. He is
a native of Virginia where he was born in 1849,
the son of William O. Winston, a farmer, and
Sarah Ann Gregory Winston. He spent his boy
hood 011 his father's plantation at Courtland,
Hanover county, attending the local schools.
When he came to Minnesota in 1872 he joined
one of the engineering parties engaged in laying
out the Northern Pacific Railroad and a few
years later with his brothers Phillip B. Winston
and Wm, O. Winston, engaged in railroad con
tracting. In the past thirty years the Winston
brothers have constructed many miles of the ex
isting system of Northwestern railroads and have
also taken extensive contracts in many of the
western and central states as well as their native
state of Virginia. Mr. Winston has been very
successful and has gradually extended his inter
ests in many directions. In 1893 he became inter
ested in the old wholesale grocery house of Har
rison, Farrington & Company which, since
its re-organization, has become the Winston, Har
per, Fisher Company. He is also identified with
various financial institutions, notably the Security
National Bank, and has made extensive invest
ments in Minneapolis property. In political faith
Mr. Winston is a democrat and he has taken a
very active interest in politics although seldom a
candidate for office. The most notable exception
was his candidacy for lieutenant governor in 1904,
though he was not elected, Minnesota being a
strong republican state. In the following year he
was appointed Surveyor General of Logs and
Lumber by Governor Johnson, holding office dur
ing 1905 and 1906. In municipal matters he is
420
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
STANLEY WASHBURN.
independent in his views and has been an active
participant in all movements for the betterment
of municipal conditions without regard to party
affiliations. He is a member of the Minikahda
and Minneapolis Clubs. Mr. Winston was mar
ried in 1876 to Alice L. Olmstead of Minneapolis,
who died in 1881. He was again married in
1884 to Lillian Jones of Virginia, who died in
1903. There are two daughters and one son by
each marriage. The family attend the Presby
terian Church.
WASHBURN, Stanley, is a native son of Min
nesota, born in Minneapolis, February 7, 1878, and
of a distinguished family, and though still a
young man, has seen more of stirring and event
ful life than falls to the lot of most civilians. He
is a son of Senator William D. Washburn, one
of the most prominent citizens of Minneapolis, and
his boyhood was spent in this city and in Wash
ington, where he attended the public schools.
He prepared for college at the Hill School at
Potstown and entered Williams College in 1897,
graduating in 1901 with the degree of A. B.
After attending Harvard Law School he returned
to Minneapolis and entered upon newspaper life
as a reporter on the Minneapolis Journal. He
remained on the Journal during parts of 1901
and 1902, and then went with the Minneapolis
Times, on which he was successively commercial
editor, police reporter, Sunday editor and editor
ial writer during 1902 and 1903. Upon the break
ing out of war between Russia and Japan, in
1904, Mr. Washburn obtained the appointment
of staff correspondent for the Chicago Daily
News, and went at once to the far East. During
the spring of 1904, from March to July, he
operated the dispatch boat for the News in con
nection with the operations of the Japanese navy,
and had many exciting and thrilling experiences.
In the fall of the same year he served with
General Nogi before Port Arthur. January, 1905,
found him in Turkey and Bulgaria for the News,
and in Russia, covering the revolutionary uprising
of that period. He soon returned to America,
but went at once again to Japan and then to
Manchuria, where he remained with the vic
torious Japanese army until the close of the war.
Mr. Washburn then organized a news service for
his paper in China, Japan, Straits Settlements,
Ceylon ^nd India, returning west as far as Con
stantinople in time to cover the Russian revolu
tion on and about the Black Sea. At Constanti
nople he chartered a dispatch boat, the "France,"
and went to the front, where he took an active
part in the exciting scenes of the revolution at
Odessa, Sevastopol and that region. He carried
dispatches for the British foreign office to Odessa,
then cut off from communication, and his boat
was the first carrying the American flag to enter
Batuum in eighteen years. The town was then
in a state of siege, under martial law and entir.ely
isolated. The "France" brought out refugees,
mails and dispatches for the British and American
governments! After the revolutionary movement
was suppressed, Mr. Washburn reorganized the
news service in Russia, returning to America on
March 1, 1906. In two years he had twice circled
the globe, taken an exciting part in the greatest
war the world has seen, and accomplished distin
guished service in the newspaper profession.
Returning to Minneapolis, Mr. Washburn joined
his brother in The Washburn Company, of which
he became a director and sales manager. On
November 27th of the same year he was married
to Miss Alice Langhorne of Virginia* and Wash
ington. He is a member of the Minneapolis
Club, the St. Paul Town and Country Club, the
Minneapolis Commercial Club, of the fraternity
of Delta Psi and an honorary member of the
Japanese Red Cross Society.
WINSTON, Philip B., mayor of Minneapolis
in 1890 and 1891, was the oldest son of William
Overton Winston and Sarah Anna Gregory Win
ston, both of whom were natives of Virginia and
descendants of the early colonists who came over
in the seventeenth century. They were in the best
sense members of Virginia's best families. They
were imbued with a patriotism which they passed
on to the sons. Hence we have the picture of Philip
B. Winston at the age of seventeen enlisting in
422
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
that army of the south which was to immortalize
the name of Robert E. Lee and hold the forces
of the Union at bay for four years of terrible
warfare. The list of engagements in which the
young lieutenant (the rank to which Mr. Win
ston was promoted as the result of gallantry on
the field) participated included Gettysburg where
he faced the men who in later years became in
Minnesota his most ardent supporters in politics
and his warmest personal friends. At the close
of the war Mr. Winston returned to the old
homestead where he re-engaged in farming until
1872 when he came west. Settling in Minneapo
lis he organized with his brothers, Fendall G.
and William O., the contracting firm of Winston
Bros. This firm had as its first large contract
the building of one thousand miles of the North
ern Pacific railroad, and afterwards built many
thousands of miles of railroad throughout the
country. Philip B. Winston entered politics as a
democrat in 1888 when he was the democratic
candidate for mayor of Minneapolis. He was de
feated. Two years later he was renominated
and was successful by over six thousand majori
ty. He declined renomination as" mayor but was
elected to the legislature in which he took an
active part as a member of the house. Two acts that he was instrumental in pushing through
characterized his service in the house. -The first
was the general election law, the other the free
text book law for Minneapolis which has proved
CII.VKUOS M.
WAY.
a great economy for the taxpayers having chil
dren in the public schools. Mr. Winston, after
his legislative service, withdrew from active poli
tics refusing many times to head his party ticket
for different offices. He retained his interest in
the democratic organization, however, and made
liberal contributions to its campaigns besides
serving as delegate to its national and state con
ventions. Mr. Winston married in 1876 Katherine D. Stevens, the daughter of Colonel John H
Stevens, the first settler of Minneapolis. Mrs.
Winston survives him, with her two children now
1
grown.
WAY, Charles M., son of Marshall and
Georgiana M. Way, was born at Blue Earth City,
Minnesota, March 9, i860. His early life was
spent on
his
father's
farm
in
southern
Minnesota,- and, "after attending the state
university for three years and a half, he
turned his attention to business and soon
devoted his energies to the upbuilding of
a plant for the manufacture of furniture
and bedding and the fruit of his intelligent
activities is seen.in the extensive establishment of
the Minneapolis Bedding Company. Mr. Way
has been successful in solving the problem of the
proper relations of employer and employed, by
promoting confidence between them. He pro
motes stability of relations by making an annual
gift of $1,000, as a nucleus for the purchase of a
home, to the oldest employe of .the company and
several of the men are now enjoying the fruits
of this liberality. Advantages are given them in
the way of free lectures and in various other
ways, and Mr. Way sets a most excellent ex
ample of'personal interest in the welfare of the
employes. He is a Congregationalist in church
relations and is a member of the Como Avenue
church, of whose Sunday School he has been
superintendent for twenty years. In politics he is
a Prohibitionist and is an active member of thai
party and was a candidate for the mayoralty of
Minneapolis on one occasion'. He is a member
of the State. Central committee of his party and
a member of the executive committee of the St.
Anthony Commercial Club. As president of the
Minnesota Furniture Manufacturing Association,
Mr..Way has shown himself-a strong factor in
the making of the progress of Minneapolis and
to stand among those "makers" is recognized as
a most honorable distinction. Mr. Way was mar
ried in 1885 to Fanny Kamrar, of Blue Earth
City, and to them have been born three sons—
Henry, Kenneth and Milden.
WINSTON, William Overton, son of William
O. and Sarah A. (Gregory) Winston, was born
in Hanover county, Virginia, on February 6, 1853.
He passed his boyhood and youth on a farm, and
received his education in private schools. In 1872
he left school and entered the service of the
Chesapeake & Ohio railroad in Richmond, Vir
ginia, as rodman in an engineering corps. In
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WII UAM OVERTON WINSTON.
424
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
May, 1874, he left Virginia for Minnesota, taking
up his residence in Minneapolis. From 1874 to
1879 he was engaged for part of the time in en
gineering work, government, municipal and rail
road, and a part of the time employed by his
brothers, Philip B. and Fendall G. Winston on
contract work of various kinds. In 1879 the
three brothers formed a partnership under the
firm 'name of Winston Brothers, and made con
tracting their business. In 1902, the year follow
ing the death of Philip B. Winston, the corpora
tion of Winston Brothers Company was organ
ized,, of which William O. Winston was made,
and still remains, its vice-president. On Decem
ber 9, 1885, Mr. Winston married Francisca S.
Whitaker, widow of Charles S. Whitaker and
daughter of Captain and Mrs. Jacob Schaefer.
STOWELL, Frederick M., secretary of the
Northwestern Knitting Company, is a native of
Holden, Massachusetts. He was born August 1,
1870, the son of F. M. Stowell, a manufacturer,
engaged in business in Holden, and received his
first schooling at Newton, Mass. As secretary of
the Northwestern Knitting Company he has had
a prominent part in the, development of one of
the best organized and most successful of Min-j
neapolis manufacturing institutions. He is a re
publican in politics though not taking an active
part in party affairs. Mr. Stowell was married in
1893 and has two children. He is a member of
the Commercial Club and the Roosevelt Club.
WYMAN, James Thomas, was born October
15, 1849, at Millbridge, Maine, one of a family
of twelve children born to John and Clarinda Wyman, both of whom were of English ancestry, the
first arrivals in this country settling at Woburn,
Massachusetts, in 1640. On the father's side
the family came from West Mill, Hereford
shire, England, and on the mother's side
from Leeds, Yorkshire. The ancestors took
part
in
the Colonial
and
Revolutionary
Wars, and, after the War of the Revolu
tion, Mr. Wyman's great-grandfather removed
to Maine, which was then a part of Massa
chusetts. The father of Mr. Wyman was a dealer
in building material with limited means, and
James, after obtaining a good common school
education at home, when eighteen years old, went
to Northfield, Minn., where, during 1869, lie at
tended Carleton College but did not graduate.
His business training began in early boyhood,
as he worked for a living during all school vaca
tions and his reading was of books relating to
business life as far as possible. Although he was
unfortunate in his first business venture, a small
sash, door and blind factory, and a saw mill cut
ting hard wood lumber, the mill burning down,
with no insurance, he pluckily paid his share of
the liabilities, one hundred cents on the dollar,
and, in 1871, looking to the larger field of Min
neapolis for business, he came to this city and
was employed by Smith & Parker (Jothan G.
Smith and Lorenzo D. Parker) who operated a
small sash, door and blind factory on the old
sawmill platform at the foot of Cataract Street,
now Sixth Avenue South. The same year Mr.
Wyman became superintendent of the factory and
became a member of'the firm in 1874, under the
firm name of Smith, Parker & Co. In 1881, as
sociated with his present partner, H. Alden
Smith, they bought out the interests of the senior
partners and changed the firm name to Smith &
Wyman and have operated the same line of busi
ness since, the business having grown from the
early days to a plant employing three hundred
hands. Mr. Wyman, with others, founded the
Metropolitan Bank of Minneapolis in May, 1889,
and became a member of the board of directors.
In January, 1900, he was elected president of the
bank and held that office until March, 1902, when
the bank was merged in the Northern National
Bank, paying stockholders premium on their
stock. Mr. Wyman became a director in the
Northwestern National Bank, a position he still
retains. During the money panic of 1893 he was
a member of the Clearing House committee of
the associated banks of Minneapolis and later be
came president of the Clearing House Associa
tion for one term. He was chairman of the com
mittee on manufactures of the Minneapolis Board
of Trade for many years and was president of the
Board for two terms, 1888-89. In the latter year
he helped to organize the Business Men's Union
of Minneapolis and became a member of the
board of directors.
Mr. Wyman has been identified with the re
publican party since he became a voter, but wields
his power of contrary choice, notably in the elec
tion of municipal officers. His public services
have been conspicuously valuable. As a member
of the lower house of the state legislature in the
session of 1903-4, representing the East Minne
apolis District, and of the state senate for the
same District in the sessions 1905-6 and 1907-8,
he left the impression of his practical business
experience on important legislation, such as the
present banking law of the state, of which he is
the author and promoter, and which has received
the most favorable criticism from banking ex
perts throughout the country. He is the author
of the present laws for the protection of em
ployees from accidents in machinery of factories
and in building operations. Another important
law due to Mr. Wyman's public spirit, is the
University tax law for the support of the Uni
versity of Minnesota. He was appointed a mem
ber of the board of regents of the state university
for a six-year term in 1901 and was elected presi
dent of the board in 1904 and chairman of the
executive committee, which positions he held
until the expiration of his term. He was one of
the founders of the Associated Charities of Min
neapolis and was for several years on its board
of directors and served as president of the board
for some time. He has been for more than a
425
quarter of a century a trustee of Hamline Uni
versity, the denominational college of the Metho
dist Episcopal church, and is a member of the
executive committee and vice-president of the
board. Mr. Wyman has been a member of the
Methodist Episcopal church since 1866. is a com
municant in the Hennepin Avenue church and is
a member of its board of trustees. He is a mem
ber of the Minneapolis Club, the Minikahda Club
and the St. Anthony Club, and a staff member
of John A. Rawlin's Post, G. A. R.
Mr. Wyman was married September 3, 1873,
to Rosetta Lamberson, daughter of a Methodist
clergyman. To them were born seven children—
Roy L., Guy A., Grace A., James C., Ethelwynne.
Earle F., and Ruth. The first wife died April
15, 1899. On June 12, 1901, Mr. Wyman married
Mrs. Anna G. Shotwell, daughter of Jonathan D.
Seaton, an early settler of Minneapolis engaged
in the dry-goods business.
McIVOR, Lawrence A., for many years one
of the foremost artist-decorators in the North
west, was of Scotch descent though born in Can
ada. He was the son of William and Eliza (Mer
cer) Mclvor, the former a native Scotchman who
came to America when a young man and lived in
Canada and afterwards in Binghamton, New
York, where he was a prominent business man.
The son was born at Hamilton, Ontario, in
!853, but the family almost immediately moved
into the United States and his education, both
primary and professional was obtained in this
country. His artistic tastes led him to form a
connection with a New York house engaged in
decoration and furnishing, which was given up
later to form a partnership with Warren Hayes
at Elmira, New York. Later he went to Chicago
and in 1888 moved from that city to Minneapolis
where he formed the firm of L. A. Mclvor &
Company. In this city he rapidly achieved promi
nence and the rapid advance of the northwest in
wealth and culture gave him ample opportunity
for the exercise of his refined taste and unusual
artistic ability. He came here at about the time
that-many people were beginning to call for the
best in interior fittings and decorations for their
homes and public buildings. His ability was im
mediately recognized by architects among whom
he was regarded as a man of genius in his pro
fession and as one of the leading decorators in
the country. Among the prominent buildings
which he decorated are the Westminster Presby
terian Church, Gethsemane Episcopal Church, the
Northwestern National Bank, and the Orpheum
Theatre of this city, the Auditorium and the Or
pheum Theatre of St. Paul and many other struc
tures in other cities of the country. Many beau-
• -sm ~r
LAWRENCE A. MC IVOR
tiful residences testify to his skill—in fact he did
his full share in beautifying the city and raising
the standard of art in interior decoration. During
later years he was called to distant parts of the
country and frequently had commissions and
contracts under way in widely separated places—
a situation, which, though very complimentary to
his ability, was certain to result in overwork for a
man of his temperament. During his profession
al career of nearly a score of years in Minneap
olis—which was terminated by his sudden death
on April 24, 1907—he had not only achieved a
high reputation but had made many warm per
sonal friends. He was a member of the Masonic
Order, of the B. P. O. E. and of various local
clubs and organizations. In political faith he was
a republican. While living in Chicago he was
married to Miss Mary E. Wheeler and to them
were born two daughters who reside in Min
neapolis.
CHAPTER XXII.
WHOLESALE TRADE
ers, educated to buy at St. Paul, should find
RADE ill commodities at wholesale it difficult to change their custom. But the
must in the nature of things be one conditions which developed manufacturing
of the later developments of a com so rapidly in Minneapolis were operating
mercial community. . The first commercial quietly to promote wholesaling. It was in
undertaking in a new village is ordinarily evitable that the receiving market for grain
the "general store," which sells goods of all and other farm products of the northwest
descriptions, but at retail. It must be years should become in time the principal dis
before the village can become a market for tributing market for the goods for which
distribution to the business men of other these products were to be exchanged. As
villages in the surrounding country. It the greatest grain market of the west Min
must first be a buying or consuming market, neapolis was bound to become a jobbing
means of transportation must be developed, city as well.
the tributary region must be sufficiently set
As in the case of manufacturing the job
tled to warrant the maintenance of whole bing business of Minneapolis has grown to
sale stocks of goods at a central point, and mammoth proportions from the simple be
capital must be available for the Harger ginnings of the frontier country village.
trade. These well-recognized laws of busi The first wholesaling done in Minneapolis
ness governed in the early days of Minneap was the result—rather oddly it may seem—
olis. And beyond them was the prevailing of a great financial disaster. After the panic
idea that Minneapolis was to be a manu of 1857 there was universal distrust in the
facturing city exclusively—an idea which business world, and the storekeepers of the
seems to have been so generally accepted northwest, at least outside of Minneapolis
that the thought of jobbing trade was given and St. Paul, had great difficulty in secur
little attention for several decades. The ing credit. The region was too remote from
neighboring city of St. Paul had become a eastern markets, and communication was so
distributing market before Minneapolis was uncertain that it was not worth while for
fairly settled and was, in the very earliest eastern jobbers to extend credits into what
years, looked upon as the market and supply they regarded as a wilderness. But some
point for the traders and trappers of the In of the larger Minneapolis dealers weathered
dian times. Minneapolis people turned their the panic successfully and were able to car
attention to her undoubted manufacturing ry large stocks of goods. To these the
advantages and so thoroughly was the country storekeepers turned in their diffi
thought of leaving the wholesale trade to culty. At first they would drive in with
St. Paul cultivated that it is difficult at the their teams and buy small supplies for cash.
present day to convince some Minneapolis Later they were able to show themselves
people that their city has far surpassed St. worthy of credit and obtained goods in
Paul in the wholesale field.
larger quantities. It seems that this first
Under these conditions it was not strange wholesaling was more of an accommodation
that eastern merchants seeking new oppor than anything else, but the idea took ready
tunities for development of business, should hold, and in a few years a number of the
establish jobbing houses in St. Paul rather leading general merchants of the village
than in Minneapolis, and that country deal were doing both a wholesale and retail busi-
T
WHOLESALE TRADE
ness. This continued for a long time, and
it was not until after the war that any ex
clusive jobbing business was to be found
in the city.
EVOLUTION FROM RETAILING.
For the most part the jobbing of the later
period was the result of the establishment
of new mercantile houses having the def
inite purpose of wholesaling goods. But a
few of the pioneer establishments developed
gradually into jobbing houses, dropping
after a time, their retail departments. This
process of evolution has developed, from
the pioneer hardware store established by
Gov. John S. Pillsbury in 1855, the great
wholesale house of Janney, Semple, Hill &
Co., now and for years the largest hardware
house in the northwest. Gov. Pillsbury's
business was at first exclusively retail, but
it gradually entered the wholesale field and
in 1875 was the largest house of its line in
the city. In the meantime Thomas B. Jan
ney had come to Minneapolis, in 1866, and
had entered the retail hardware business in
partnership with his brothers. In 1875 Gov.
Pillsbury's other interests demanded His en
tire attention and he sold out to Mr. Jan
ney, who associated with himself Messrs.
Brooks and Eastman under the firm name
of Janney, Brooks & Eastman. For some
years the new firm continued at the same
place—on Bridge Square—and then sold
out its retail department and moved the
wholesale business into the large warehouse
at the corner of Second street and First
avenue south, where it has since remained,
although the building has been more than
doubled in size since its first occupation.
Mr. Eastman retired from the business in
1883, and Mr. Brooks died soon after. The
late Frank B. Semple entered the firm in
1884 and the name then became Janney,
Semple & Co. Later Horace M. Hill was
admitted to partnership, and in 1898 the
business was incorporated as Janney, Sem
ple, Hill & Co. Thus while the business
has changed in name and ownership and
location, it is essentially the same enter
prise established by Gov. Pillsbury more
than fifty years ago; although to Mr. Jan
ney is due credit for developing it from the
427
comparatively small establishment of 1875
to the great commercial institution of 1908.
The wholesale grocery trade affords an
other example of this gradual development
of a small village store into a large jobbing
house. P. H. s and Anthony Kelly, two
brothers who came to Minneapolis in 1857,
opened a retail grocery the following year.
It was at the corner of Washington and
Second avenues south; but the growth of
the business necessitated several moves
which ended in the establishment of the
warehouse at Second avenue north and
Washington where the business has been
conducted since 1877. P. H. Kelly with
drew from the firm in 1864 and went to St.
P'aul and established the business which
still bears his name. After a short time
Anthony Kelly formed a partnership with
H. A. Wagner which continued for many
years under the firm name of Anthony Kel
ly & Co. Retailing was gradually aban
doned and for thirty or thirty-five years the
house has been an exclusively jobbing con
cern. After Mr. Kelly's death the business
came into the hands of W. B. & W. G.
Jordan but has continued at the same place
without intermission.
John Dunham went into the grocery busi
ness in Minneapolis in 1859, a n < i * n 1&70
developed into a jobber under the firm name
of Dunham & Johnson—a concern which
was the father of two large grocery jobbing
houses of to-day, the Green & De Laittre
company and the John C. Johnson company.
Thomas K. Gray with his brother John
D., as Gray Brothers, opened a drug store
on Bridge Square in 1857. Under the' same
circumstances as in other instances men
tioned, he commenced the wholesaling of
goods and continued it in connection with
his retail business for many years only dis
continuing when the establishment of large
exclusive drug jobbing houses rendered the
combined business unprofitable. Mr. Gray
was, however, the pioneer drug jobber of
Minneapolis.
In 1861 C. H. Pettit founded a retail
hardware store and employed Joshua Wil
liams as a clerk. In a few years Mr. Wil
liams became a partner, and after a while
jobbing was added to the business. It is
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
428
now the Williams Hardware company, and
exclusively a jobbing house.
JOBBERS AFTER T H E WAR.
None of the other jobbing houses of the
present time originated before the war. And
it was not until the reaction after the war
time that any exclusively wholesale house
was established in Minneapolis. In 1866
George R. Newell came to Minneapolis and
soon entered the grocery business. In 1870
::
and First avenue north, only to again out
grow its quarters and to erect the large
warehouse at Third street and First avenue
north which has been occupied for the past
twenty years. The business has been in
corporated for some years with Mr. Newell
as president and his son, L. B. Newell, as
secretary and treasurer.
In 1869 the fi rm °f Lyman & Tucker was
established soon to be succeeded by Lyman
Brothers, the first exclusive wholesale drug
M
1
MODERN TVI'E OF WHOLESALE BUILDING
IN MINNEAPOLIS.
Wjman, Partridge & Company, Wholesale Dry Goods.
he became partner in the firm of Stevens,
Morse & Newell, wholesale grocers, and
has continued the business ever since with'
out intermission, though there have been
several changes in the firm. After the with
drawal of Messrs. Stevens and Morse, Mr.
Newell continued the business alone a short
time and then formed a partnership with
H. G. Harrison as Newell & Harrison. In
1882 the firm became George R. Newell &
Co. For years the concern occupied the
building at 9, 11 and 13 North Washington
avenue, but in 1881 moved to Washington
house in the city. George R. Lyman, who
founded the business remained at its head
for thirty-six years. His brother, Frederick
W., who entered the firm during the 70's
had been associated with Dorilus Morrison
in the Minneapolis Cotton Mill. Both were
young and energetic men. Their business
developed rapidly and in 1883 was incor
porated as the Lyman-Eliel Drug Company,
the late J. C. Eliel and H. H. Eliel coming
into the business at that time. The busi
ness was located at 423 and 425 Nicollet
avenue in buildings which have since been
429
WHOLESALE TRADE
displaced by the Powers Mercantile Com
pany building. After a disastrous fire in
this location the concern moved to 111-113
First avenue south, reopening at once on a
larger scale. The business grew so rapidly
that the large warehouse at First avenue
north and Washington was occupied as soon
as vacated by George R. Newell & Co.
about 1888. This building was in turn out
grown and the present structure at First
avenue north and Third street was secured.
1873.
Kennedy-Andrews company was
one of the later wholesale houses of the city.
DRY GOODS.
The jobbing of dry goods in Minneapolis
commenced with the formation of the firm
of Wyman & Mullen in 1874. At the be
ginning the business was conducted on a
small scale, the young concern occupying
but a single floor of a warehouse and having
to meet the competition of long established
31181
MjT'Pqw
55i
A MODEL FARM IMPLEMENTS WAREHOUSE.
Building of Dean & Company.
In 1905 the Lymans retired to give their
attention to their large private interests and
Charles A. Jerman acquired a large holding
in the business, the name at the same time
being changed to the Eliel-Jerman Drug
Company. During 1907 the business was
consolidated with that of the Kennedy-An
drews Drug Company and the wholesale
cigar business of Winecke & Doerr, as The
Minneapolis Drug Company, making it the
largest house in its line in the northwest.
Winecke & Doerr was the pioneer cigar job
bing house, having commenced business in
Bertram! & Clianiberlin, Architects.
houses in other cities. But progress was
rapid and within a comparatively short time
the building at 214 and 216 Hennepin ave
nue was erected especially for the occu
pancy of the firm. O. C. Wyman, then, as
now, the head of this business, early devel
oped marked abilities for wholesaling and
handled his business with skill and facility.
In 1880 W. J. Van Dyke was admitted to
partnership, the firm
becoming Wyman,
Mullen & Van Dyke. In the meantime the
firm of Coykendall Bros. & Co. had been
formed, first as a retail house in 1873; and
430
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
later turning" to jobbing (in 1877) and occu
pying the building at Second street and
First avenue north now housing the busi
ness of the Paris-Murton Company. John
R. Coykendall, the resident member of the
firm was drowned in Lake Minnetonka in
1885 and the sudden interruption of the
business made necessary a change which
was effected by consolidation with Wyman,
Mullen & Van Dyke. At this reorganiza
tion the firm became Wyman, Mullen &
Company. Five years later upon the retire
ment of Mr. Mullen, George H. Partridge,
who had long been with the concern, was
admitted to partnership, and the house as
sumed its present name of Wyman, Par
tridge & Co. For some years the large
warehouse at First avenue south and Sec
ond street was occupied and in 1897 the
modern building at First avenue north and
Fourth street was erected. .This has since
been supplemented by the construction of
an immense warehouse at Seventh street
and Third avenue north, a factory on First
avenue north near Seventh street and the
leasing of other warehouse buildings. The
house does the largest dry goods business
northwest of Chicago, giving Minneapolis
a pre-eminence in this department of jobbing.
The coal business of the city in a large
way had its beginnings with the organiza
tion of the Northwestern Fuel Company in
1875 with John A. Armstrong, the pioneer
Minneapolis fuel dealer, in* charge of the
business at this place.
A wholesale fancy grocery house was
opened in 1877 by W. W. Harrison at 222
Hennepin avenue. In 1880 the firm of W.
W. Harrison & Co. was organized and the
business was transferred to 19 Washington
avenue north. D. H. Murray & Co. soon
succeeded to the business and in 1882 the
concern became Murray, Warner & Co.—
the company being T. A. Harrison, a prom
inent capitalist and president of the Security
bank. For several years the firm did a very
successful business at 217, 219 and 221
North Third street, but upon the death of
Mr. Harrison, retired from the trade. An
other large business was founded by H. G.
Jiarrison, brother to T. A. Harrison, in
1880. This was the wholesale grocery firm
of H. G. Harrison & Co., which almost from
the beginning occupied a building at First
avenue south and Second street, now the
home of the W. S. Nott Company. In 1884
H. G. Harrison retired and his son Hugh
and Samuel P. Farrington continued the
business as Harrison, Farrington & Co.
Mr. Farrington had had long experience in
grocery jobbing in Chicago and the business
at Minneapolis was rapidly developed. In
1892 Mr. Harrison retired and his interests
were purchased by Fendall G. Winston, the
firm name becoming Winston, Farrington
& Co. Mr. Farrington remained in active
management of this business until his death
in 1897 and was succeeded by his son, L. H.
Farrington. The business was incorporated
in 1904 as Winston, Harper, Fisher &
Co. It occupies a large warehouse at
Fourth street and Second avenue north.
The name of Harrison occurs frequently
in the records of Minneapolis commercial
enterprises. The brothers, T. A. and Hugh
G. were actively engaged in banking, but
took a lively interest in the promotion of
jobbing and manufacturing. Another large
concern which T. A. Harrison fostered at
the beginning was the heavy hardware
house of Harrison & Knight, which he (with
J. M. Knight) founded early in the eighties.
Commencing business at 207 Nicollet ave
nue the firm soon moved to 240 and 242
First- avenue south. There have been vari
ous changes in its management and location
but it is now the Minneapolis Iron Store
Company and is located at Second street
and Second avenue north. H. S. Gregg is
the president and executive head of the con
cern.
The pioneer in the wholesale glass busi
ness was the firm of Steele, Forman & Ford,
which in 1880 opened a warehouse at 414-16
Third avenue north. This concern subse
quently became Forman, Ford & Company,
and under that style is now the leading
wholesale glass house in the northwest. Its
warehouses extend from Washington to
Second street between First and Second
avenues south.
• • In the wholesale rubber goods and belt j
ing line W. S. Nott was the pioneer. He
WHOLESALE TRADE
entered the field in 1880 as the manager of
the firm of E. B. Preston & Co. Business
was commenced at 240 Hennepin avenue
and rapid expansion necessitated several
removals until suitable quarters were found
at Second street and First avenue south.
For many years the firm has been the W. S.
Nott Company.
THE PAPER TRADE.
Wholesale trade in paper was commenced
early in the eighties by the Bradner-Smith
Paper Company at 121-23 North Washing
ton avenue. They were succeeded by James
H. Bishop. This concern subsequently
closed out but the jobbing of paper has been
continued and developed by several firms.
The Minneapolis Paper Company, founded
about 1890, first occupied a small store on
Nicollet avenue near Second street, and aft
er repeated moves to accommodate growth
of business built a modern paper warehouse
at Fifth street and Fourth avenue south.
Its president and executive head for many
years has been E. J. Stilwell. In 1892 John
Leslie, who had been for three years the
manager of the Minneapolis Paper Com
pany, founded the firm of Leslie & McAfee,
which became after the death of Mr. Mc
Afee, the John Leslie Paper Company.
After several enlargements -of quarters the
firm erected its present large warehouse at
Fifth street and Third avenue south. The
McClellan Paper Company was established
about the same time and grew from small
beginnings to the occupancy of a large
warehouse on First avenue north between
Washington and Third street.
The jobbing of hats, caps and furs was
begun in 1884 when Robert H. Patterson
came to Minneapolis from Ohio and orga
nized the Patterson & Chestnut Company.
Quarters were first secured at 511 Hennepin
avenue, but these were speedily outgrown
and several moves were made before the
present large warehouse was occupied at
422 First avenue north. Thomas W. Ste
venson came into the firm in 1891 and it is
now the Patterson & Stevenson Company.
Immediately after the war Maj. C. B.
Heffelfinger opened a retail shoe store in
Minneapolis in partnership with John S.
Walker. Seeing larger opportunities Maj.
431
Heffelfinger in 1873 organized the North
Star Boot & Shoe Company, which at once
entered the jobbing and manufacturing of
footwear. At first the jobbing end was tffe
largest part of the business but the firm has
gradually developed manufacturing until
the most of the goods sold are of its own
make. It is now the North Star Shoe Com
pany and Maj. Heffelfinger remains at its
head as president of the corporation.
FIRST IN FARM IMPLEMENTS.
William J. Dean commenced the jobbing
of agricultural implements in Minneapolis
in 1877—the pioneer in a line which has
grown to be one of the most important
branches of local wholesale trade. A few
years ago Dean & Company erected one of
the most complete implement warehouses
in the country at the intersection of Wash
ington avenue north and the Great North
ern Railway. David Bradley & Company
commenced business in 1879 and have con
tinued without break, except the change of
name to Bradley, Clark & Company, caused
by the admission of George A. Clark to
partnership. The Deere & Webber Com
pany had its beginning in 1880 as a branch
of C. IT. Deere of Moline, Illinois. About
A MOPERN MINNEAPOLIS JOBBING BUILDING
432
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
the same time the J. I. Case Implement
Company was started. This is now the
Great Northern Implement Company. T.
B. Lindsay entered the trade about the same
period and in 1886 William Lindsay was
admitted to the partnership.
The firm
(Lindsay Brothers) built one of the most
substantial of the great warehouses devoted
to implement jobbing and has carried on a
large business for twenty years.
These are but a few of the earlier imple
ment concerns. To mention all which have
been started during the thirty years would
be impossible. Many manufacturing estab
lishments in all parts of the country have
opened branches or agencies here and there
have been changes and consolidations, dis
solutions and new arrangements, without
number. A large part of the gale of imple
ments is that of the products of local fac
tories and the more conspicuous firms, espe
cially interested in manufacturing are men
tioned in the chapter 011 that subject.
Minneapolis now leads Kansas City as a
jobbing point for farm implements, no other
'I'll 10 I.A lt(iKKT JOHI'IXG
city in the country approaching these two
as a distributor of this class of merchandise.
THE PRODUCE BUSINESS.
The wholesaling of fruits, vegetables and
country produce generally has become one
of the important branches of Minneapolis
jobbing. It was commenced soon after the
first railroad entered Minneapolis in a very
small way. George H. Whiting, F. S. Gib
son, Levi Longfellow and C. G. Hilman
were pioneers. In the early days the trade
was practically all on a commission basis
and each merchant handled any and all
classes of goods which might be consigned.
With the development of the business it
became specialized and exclusive fruit, or
butter houses appeared, while the dealers
are now very generally buyers as well as
commission men. At first the business was
much scattered but was finally centralized
at the present "commission row" 011 and
about North Sixth street in the vicinity of
the central market erected by T. B. Walker.
The Minneapolis Produce exchange was or-
liUlI.DIXG
Itntlor Brothers' Northwestern J>epiirtin<nt.
W E S T OK CHICAGO.
Hurry W . .T«nes. Architect.
WHOLESALE TRADE
•• ••••.
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433
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T^'k&wA
ONE OF THE NEW WHOLESALE WAREHOUSE TYI'ES.
Building of the John Leslie Taper Company.
ganized in 1884. Prominent firms at this
time were S. G. Palmer & Co., E. P. Stacey
& Sons, E. G. Potter, Woodward & Co., L.
Longfellow, G. C. Hillman, and Wm. Al.
Sargent & Co. Even at .this date the pro
duce and grain businesses were still more
or less mixed, but the division lines were
soon clearly drawn. Minneapolis has now
become the fourth largest fruit distributing
point in the United States and the annual
business in fruit and produce aggregates at
least $25,000,000.
GREAT VARIETY OF LINES.
Practically every line of goods handled
by merchants may now be purchased in
Minneapolis wholesale houses. Within the
past two decades, or a little longer, there
have been established houses handling all
Bertram! & Chamberlin,
Architects.
sorts of goods not already enumerated, in
cluding specialties handled also by the
larger wholesalers. The lines include crock
ery, glass ware, paints, oils, shoes, notions,
cigars and tobaccos, candies, leather goods
and findings, spices, coffee and tea, machin
ery, bakers' supplies, barbers' supplies, brick
and building materials of all kinds, vehicles
of all kinds, carpets, furniture, clothing,
coal, electrical machinery and apparatus,
fireworks, fish, fruits, gentlemen's furnish
ings, harness, hides, hops, hosiery, jewelry,
laundry machinery and supplies, leaf tobac
co, lime and cement, liquors, lumber and
all kinds of lumber specialties, forest prod
ucts of all kinds, meats, Hour mill machin
ery, sawmill machinery, elevator machin
ery, millinery, mirrors, mouldings and pic
ture frames, oils, paints, paving materials,
434
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
plumbers' supplies, radiators and steamfitters' supplies, scales, seeds, silks, cloth and
tailors' supplies, wall papers, plaster, watch
es, wool, etc., etc.
While many specialty houses have been
established, perhaps the most notable event
in wholesaling in many years was the selec
tion of Minneapolis as one of its places of
business by Butler Brothers, the great
wholesalers of general merchandise. This
concern erected in Minneapolis, in 1906-07,
a mammoth warehouse in which is carried
every article of merchandise likely to be
wanted in a country store. Minneapolis is
made the Northwestern headquarters of a
business which covers the United States
and this city shares with New York, Chi
cago and St. Louis the commercial distinc
tion of the maintenance of such head
quarters.
IMPROVED ARCHITECTURE.
The Butler Brothers building is one of
the examples of modern commercial archi
tecture in Minneapolis. One of the inter
esting and very creditable evolutions of the
later period of local wholesaling has been
the distinct change from slipshod building
to substantial architecture. No class of busi
ness is now better housed than the whole
sale trade of Minneapolis, and many of the
structures are models of the best business
architecture. It has been found that beauty
is not incompatible with business utility,
and that archijtectufal correctness is not
necessarily prohibitively expensive. The
implement warehouses of the Advance
Thresher Company, the Great Northern
Implement Company and adjacent con
cerns, the new warehouse of the Hurty-Simmons Hardware. Company, the WymanPartridge & Company main building, as
well as the warehouse on Seventh street, the
Leslie Paper Company building, the Minne
apolis Paper Company building—these are
all structures which show the progress
which is being made in wholesale architec
ture in Minneapolis.
Several times during the last quarter cen
tury the ultimate location of the jobbing
center has been considerably in doubt. The
latter part of the period has, however, de
termined more definite bounds and limits.
The general wholesale trade of the city is
rapidly getting into quarters in the district
immediately north of Hennepin avenue,
from the river to Sixth street. There is a
tendency in the agricultural implement line
to scatter beyond this limit, the main pur
pose being to secure track facilities, but
there seems no doubt that the main whole
sale center will be in the district mentioned.
Figures purporting to give the totals of
the wholesale business in any city are apt
to be far from accurate. No government
statistics are collected and private tabula
tion is largely based 011 estimates. Such
estimates have always been made, however
some of them in the early days when job
bers were few, probably quite accurate. At
the present time any canvass of the city
wholesaling is obviously impossible. In
1880 the wholesale trade was estimated at
about $24,000,000; in 1890, at $135,000,000;
in 1900, about $200,000,000; and in 1907,
about $280,000,000.
In the latter year Minneapolis wholesale
trade had reached a point of unquestioned
supremacy northwest of Chicago, and there
seemed no limits to its future development.
BROWN, Charles William, a prominent busi
ness man of Minneapolis in the decade following
1886, was born on June 14, 1858, at Newburyport,
Massachusetts, the son of Jacob B. and Anna A.
Brown. His father was a sea captain and after
attending the primary schools and such secondary
schools as Allen's English and Classical School
at West Newton, Dummer Academy at Byfield
and Newburyport high school from which he
graduated, the son at the age of sixteen, gratified
an intense desire for a sea life by sailing for
China in a sailing vessel. He was for some time
in the employ of the China Merchants Steam
ship Navigation Company and obtained rapid ad
vancement, becoming master of a ship at a very
early age. Captain Brown served as master
mariner for five years in command of a vessel
engaged in the Australian and Chinese trade
but in 1885 left the sea and came to Minneapolis
where he established the first stained glass works
in the Northwest. The firm was at first Brown
& Haywood. In 1891 its scope was enlarged to
include the jobbing of plate and window glass
and the business was incorporated as the Brown
& Haywood Company. It developed rapidly and
was one of the leading concerns in the city in
1898 when the business was sold to the Pitts
burgh Plate Glass Company. With this con
solidation Captain Brown became a stockholder
WHOLESALE TRADE
435
the Edgeworth Club. He was married in 1885 to
Miss Alice Greenleaf and they have six children
—Agate, Jacob Bartlett, Theodore F., Alice G.,
Charles W., Jr., and Harold DeWolfe.
The
family home is at Sewickley, near Pittsburgh.
BURNETT, William J., manager and pro
prietor of the Northwestern Hide & Fur Com
pany, of Minneapolis, was born at Pittsburgh, Pa.,
in 1 8 4 2 , the son of Virgil Justice Burnett and
Harriet S. Burnett. His ancestry on both sides
of the family was Scotch-English, his father's
family presumed to have been of the same as that
of Bishop Burnett. His fore father in America was
Thos. Burnett who landed in Salem, Mass., from
England about 1 6 3 5 , and who moved from there
and helped to settle the town of South Hampton,
L. I. in 1 6 4 3 . There most of the family lived
until about 1 7 0 0 when two of his ancestors moved
to Madison, N. J. This was the last settlement
of the old Puritan stock. Mr. Burnett's father
was engaged in business at Newark, N. J. in 1837
when the panic of that year brought him financial
ruin. He started west with his family and it
was while enroute that his son William was born
at Pittsburgh. They came west by boat from
Pittsburg to Evansville, Ind., and by river to
Terre Haute. When they arrived there the father
had just fifty cents left, but having friends, in
dustry and skill he was soon in comfortable cirCHARLES W. BROWN.
and director in the Pittsburgh company and was
appointed its secretary and at once moved to
Pittsburgh where he has since lived. He is now
vice-president and chairman of the commercial
department of that company. While in Minne
apolis Captain Brown took an active part in the
commercial and public affairs of the city. He
was president of the Jobbers' association in 1896
and 1 8 9 7 and a director in the Commercial Club
from 1894 to 1898. During the campaign of 1896
he served as chairman of the non-partisan busi
ness men's sound money committee and rendered
such effective service that he was tendered, after
the election, a complimentary banquet at the
West Hotel at which about five hundred of the
leading men of the city joined in the expression
of their appreciation. This work and its recogni
tion was the more appropriate in that Captain
Brown has always been especially independent
in political matters, making no party affiliations,
and supporting the best men and measures with
out regard to party. In 1 8 9 4 and 1 8 9 5 Captain
Brown was president of the National Window
Glass Association. He is also president of the
Michigan Chemical Company and a director of
the National Bank of Western Pennsylvania.
Captain Brown retains his membership in the
Minneapolis Club and Zuhrah Temple, Zion Commandery and Minneapolis J.odgc 4 4 15. P. O. E..
Alleghany Country Club and is president of
SWEET, PHOTQ
WILMAM J. BUUNKTT.
436
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
cumstances. He was a man of studious tastes,
and like Elihu Burritt, became known as the
"learned blacksmith." He was elected to the
legislature in 1856 and was one of the prime
movers in the passage of the famous Indiana
liquor law. He died in 1859 honored by all who
knew him and survived by his wife, six boys and
two girls. The mother died at the advanced age
of ninety-four. In 1858 William J. Burnett en
tered the hide and fur business with a cousin at
Terre Haute and after thoroughly learning the
business and following it in several locations
came to Minneapolis. He came here in the fall of
1890 and established the firm name of the North
western Hide & Fur Co., renting a two-story
building at 417 Main Street Southeast. In the
fall of 1895, ' i e purchased the property at 409
Main Street Southeast but his business soon
outgrew this warehouse and he moved to the west
side where he built at the corner of First Street
and Second Avenue North a warehouse of five
times the capacity and equipped with all modern
facilities for handling the business. Mr. Bur
nett's pronounced success is largely due to his
progressive methods in advertising and to a num
ber of devices of his own invention pertaining to
the hide and fur trade. He has displayed un
usual enterprise in the conduct of his business.
In 1897 he sent men to explore the almost un
known regions of the northern part of Minnesota
to secure information as to the resources of the
country. The facts showing the richness of the
territory he gave to the public through the press
and his publication called "Hunters and Trappers
Guide," and he has been a consistent advocate of
the development of the region which he believed
would become one of the richest parts of the
state. The rapid advance of the railroads to the
north in the past few years has proved the
soundness of his contention and settlers are rap
idly filling the great north country. Mr. Bur
nett married Miss Alida Suits of Huron, S. D.
in June, 1888. They have one daughter, Harriet
Alleda, age sixteen. They reside in southeast
Minneapolis and are members of the Como Con
gregational Church. He has one son by his first
wife, W. F. Burnett, who lives in Rodonda, Cali
fornia.
COOL1DGE, Marshall H., president of the
Marshall H. Coolidge Company of Minneapolis,
is a native of Wisconsin and waS born on July
27, i860, at Dotyville, and was the son of John
H. Coolidge and Elizabeth (Coleman) Coolidge.
His father was a railroad tie contractor and
manufacturer of lumber and the son, after re
ceiving a common school education in his na
tive state, came to Minneapolis some years ago
and established himself in the same line of busi
ness. He has been very successful and his com
pany has a very extensive trade in railroad ties,
cedar poles, piling and other forest products. Mr.
Coolidge affiliates with the republican party, is
MARSHALL II. COOLIDGE.
""" SH,
PHOTO
a thirty-second degree Mason and Shriner and a
member of the Minneapolis and Minikahda clubs.
He was married in 1883 to Miss Jennie A.
Holmes. They have three children,—Harry H.,
Byron H., and Marshall H., Jr. The family at
tends the Episcopal church.
DEAN, William J., was born July 19, 1843, at
Fort Hope, Canada, whither his parents, Matthew
and Ann Dean, had gone from their native Ire
land. The father was a farmer and, in that year
of great migration westward, 1855, he came to
the territory of Minnesota and settled on a
farm. The son William spent his early life on his
father's farm and as the splendid common school
system was only a process of development in
Minnesota territory, educational advantages were
not many in the farming country, but the boy
learned to do good work on the farm and sub
sequently showed his ability to make up for any
educational deficiencies on his part. When he
was nineteen years old lie responded to the call
for volunteers and left the harvest field where
WHOLESALE TRADE
he was working to enlist in Company I, Ninth
Minnesota Volunteers, and went to the front,
serving for three years as a private soldier and
corporal, his regiment participating in many
battles of the Civil War. Returning home in
1865, Mr. Dean began business life as a clerk
in a country store and, after four years service
he spent seven years as bookkeeper and super
intendent of agencies in a wholesale implement
business. In 1877, he commenced the implement
trade in Minneapolis, his being the first jobbing
house in agricultural implements in the city, and
he has since continued in the business with
marked success. Mr. Dean adhered to the re
publican party until 1886, after which he became
a conscientious champion of the principles of the
prohibition party and has been a candidate for
various offices, state and municipal, on the ticket
of that party. He was a member of the Board
of Charities and Corrections for four years and
a director in the Children's Home Society for
thirteen years, and was a director of the Young
Men's Christian Association for seventeen years
and president of that organization nine years, and
is well known as an active promoter of many
other institutions for the moral and intellectual
good of the people. Mr. Dean has been a mem
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church for fortytwo years and has held every office in that
church to which laymen may be called upon to
WIl.l.IAM J. DEAN
437
fill. Mr. Dean was married in 1867 to Cordelia
Rebecca Pond and four children have been born
to them.
FARR1NGTON, Samuel Putnam, was born
011 January 29, 1819. The ancestors of the family
settled in this country before the Revolutionary
War, and the grandfather of Samuel P. fought
with the Colonial troops and was the first per
son to erect a frame house in Concord, New
Hampshire, a building which was still standing in
1896. Benjamin E. Farrington, father of Samuel
P. was living near Concord at the time of his
son's birth. The latter passed the early days of
his life in Concord. He attended the public
schools and later the Gilmonton Academy, gradu
ating from that institution in 1836. He went to
Boston about a year later, and there entered the
wholesale dry goods business. After three years
he became a member of Clark, Sweet & Company,
wholesale dry goods dealers in Boston. He sev
ered his relation in 1850 and moved to Chicago
where he entered the wholesale grocery business,
first as a partner in the firm of Day, Allen &
Company. For thirty-five years Mr. Farrington
was engaged in that business in Chicago, estab
lishing after a few years the firm of Farrington
& Schnall and later organizing the firm of S. P.
Farrington & Company, of which his interests
formed the major part. In 1884 he sold out his
establishment in Chicago and moved to Minnerpolis, where he reorganized the wholesale gro
cery business of H. G. Harrison & Company as
Harrison, Farrington & Company. By his exec
utive ability and capable management he put this
business on a solid basis, and built up one of the
largest wholesale houses of the Northwest. In
1893 his senior partner, Mr. Harrison retired, Mr.
F. G. Winston purchasing the interests of Mr.
Harrison and the firm name was changed, becom
ing Winston, Farrington & Company. Mr. Far
rington was the head of this company and re
tained its management until his death in 1897,
making it one of the most successful business
concerns of the city. After his death his place
was taken by his son L. H. Farrington, who,
when the company was incorporated in 1904,
under the name of Winston, Harper, Fisher
Company, was made secretary of the organiza
tion—a position which he still holds. Mr. S. P.
Farrington was prominent among his business
rssociates, both in Minneapolis and other cities
where he resided and connected with numerous
trade and social organizations, being for eight
years president of the Chicago Wholesale Gro
cers' Association while in that city. He was
also a well known member of the Presbyterian
Church and during his life was an active worker
and supporter in a number of charitable and
benevolent institutions. In 1853 Mr. Farrington
was married to Miss Harriet L. McKay, daughter
of Benjamin McKay.
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
FISHER, Elmer E., was born December n ,
1862, at Boston, Massachusetts, son of Freeman
A. and Marion W. Fisher. His father was a large
contractor who built such structures as the Bos
ton Block, Temple Court, Masonic Temple, the
old Chamber of Commerce building and others
which marked the earlier advance in modern
business building construction. Mr. Fisher, who
was head of the firm of F. A. Fisher & Company,
died in 1902. His son, E. E. Fisher, came to
Minneapolis in 1879 from Chicago. He had his
earlier educational training in the common schools
and received a thorough business training in a
business college and in practical mercantile life.
In 1883 he organized the hardware and saddlery
manufacturing firm of Dodson, Fisher, Brockmann Company. The firm first located at Nos.
247-249 Hennepin avenue and three years after
ward they found their business was rapidly out
growing their quarters and removed in May, 1886,
to their present location, 15-17 and 19 North Third
street. In July, 1883, when the firm began busi
ness, they operated in western Wisconsin, Min
nesota; and a portion of North Dakota and today
they do an increasing business in northern Michi
gan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Mon
tana, Iowa, Nebraska, Nevada and the South
western country to the Pacific Coast. The firm
employs from 175 to 200 men and fourteen travel
ing men. They have installed an up-to-date plant
W I L L I A M P. H A L L O W E L L
for the manufacture of saddlery harness and col
lars. Such a record of business and industrial
expansion is one of the gratifying evidences of
the mighty growth of Minneapolis as a business
center. Minneapolis men have made the growth
and made the center. Mr. Fisher is a member of
the Commercial Club. He was married on Jan
uary 3, 1883, to Miss Carrie Whittier, who was
born in Minnesota. They have one son—Free
man G. Fisher.
HALLOWELL, William Penrose, Jr., for
nearly twenty-five years a resident and for many
years a well-known fuel dealer of Minneapolis, is
a native of Pennsylvania, having been born at
Germantown on November 30, 1863. He is the
son of William P. Hallowell, Sr., and Elizabeth
D. Hallowell, his mother having been before her
marriage Miss Elizabeth C. Davis. When Wil
liam P., Jr., was a few years of age the family
moved to Philadelphia and he there passed the
early years of his life and obtained his educa
tion. Commencing his studies in the Cheltenham
Academy he later continued his preparatory train
ing in the Friends' Central School at Philadel
phia. His college education he also received in
Pennsylvania, at Swarthmore College, where he
remained until 1883 when he left to come to
Minneapolis, arriving in September of that year.
He was variously engaged for a few years in this
city and then about 1888 he entered the fuel busi
ness in which he has since been continuously en
gaged. Mr. Hallowell has always had his head
quarters in this city, and at the present time he is
a member of the Holmes & Hallowell Company,
holding the offices of vice president and treasurer
in that organization, its other officers being A.
J. Holmes, president, and H. L. Murray, secre
tary. The firm has offices in both St. Paul and
Minneapolis and handles a large and increasing
business in coal and wood both in the Twin
Cities and in the surrounding northwestern terri
tory. Mr. Hallowell has for many years been
a member of the larger club organizations of the
city, among them the Minneapolis Club, the Minikahda Club and the Lafayette Club. Shortly af
ter coming to the city in 1883 he became con
nected with Company I, N. G. S. M. and was a
member until 1888. Politically Mr. Hallowell has
always been a republican but is not an active
party worker and has never desired public prefer
ment. On June 5, 1888, he was married to Miss
Agnes Hardenbergh. One son has been born,
William Penrose Hallowell, III. The family at
tends St. Mark's Episcopal Church.
- JANNEY, Thomas B., president of Janney,
Semple, Hill & Company, wholesale hardware,
was born at Schaneville, Ohio, October 5, 1838,
the son of Phineas M. and Frances (Smith)
Janney. His parents moved from Ohio to Van
Buren county, Iowa, in 1839, and to Henry, Il
linois, in 1851, and their son received his educa
tion in the common schools of Iowa and in the
WHOLESALE TRADE
academy at Henry. His first business experience
was as clerk in • a general store. He came to
Minneapolis in July, 1866, and entered the re
tail hardware business with his brothers. In
1 8 7 5 Mr. Janney bought the hardware stock of
Governor J. S. Pillsbury (the business which
had been established in 1 8 5 5 ) and a new firm
was formed under the title of Janney, Brooks &
Eastman. In 1884 this firm was succeeded by
Janney, Semple & Company, and in 1 8 9 8 was
changed into a corporation under the present
name. The business is the largest wholesale
hardware business in the Northwest as it is the
oldest. During his long business career in Min
neapolis, Mr. Janney has taken a very prominent
part in the commercial and public life of the
city and has been connected with many of the
leading business corporations and organizations
for the benefit of the public or of a philanthropic
•character. He took a prominent part in the
Minneapolis Exposition project and has from
time to time done effective work in the public
organizations of the city. He is a director of
the Northwestern National Bank and the farm
ers and Mechanics Savings Bank and a member
of the Minneapolis, Commercial, Minikahda and
Lafayette clubs. Mr. Janney was married at
Minneapolis to Miss Mary Wheaton.
LYMAN, Frederick Wolcott, for many years
prominent in the jobbing trade of Minneapolis,
was born June 18, 1849, at Plymouth, Connec
ticut. His father was Ephraim Lyman, a Con
gregational minister one of whose ancestors was
Lord Mayor of London. His mother was Han
nah D. Richards whose ancestor, General Hun
tington of the war of the Revolution, was a
member of General Washington's staff. Mr.
Lyman's early life was spent in Plymouth and
Washington, Connecticut, and in Northampton,
Massachusetts. He attended the Gunnery School
and public schools, and at Northampton, Massa
chusetts clerked in a dry goods store. On Sep
tember 15, 1871, he arrived in Minneapolis where
he entered business first as a partner of Dorilus
Morrison in the Minneapolis cotton mill. Later
he entered into partnership with his brother,
George R. Lyman, as Lyman Bros., in the whole
sale drug business, and became treasurer of the
Lyman-Eliel Drug Company when it succeeded to
the business in 1883. In 1905 he withdrew from
this corporation to give his attention to his pri
vate interests. Mr. Lyman has been vice-presi
dent of the Lyman Bank at Sanford, Florida;
president of the Winter Park Florida Hotel and
Town Site Company, and president of the board
of trustees of Rollins College, of which he was.
one of the organizers. In political belief Mr.
Lyman is a republican, although of independent
attitude in local matters. He is deeply interested
in the promotion of good government and has
given his influence to all movements in this di
rection. He has served as a member of the Min
neapolis Charter Commission, as treasurer of the
439
Citizens' League, and as chairman of the Busi
ness Men's Association. He is a member of the
Minneapolis, Lafayette, Six O'Clock, and Com
mercial clubs. He is a member of Plymouth
Congregational Church, and is chairman of its
board of trustees. Mr. Lyman married Miss
Elizabeth H. Clark on May 9 , 1876. They have
three children—Katherine H-, Margaret F. and
Frederick C.
LYMAN, George R., for many years a prom
inent wholesale merchant of Minneapolis, was
born at Plymouth, Connecticut, December 27,
1844. He was the son of Ephraim and Hannah
D. (Richards) Lyman. His father was a Con
gregational clergyman, who graduated from
Yale College in 1 8 3 2 and from Yale Theological
Seminary in 1 8 3 5 and was settled in Plymouth
and Washington, Connecticut, from 1835 to 1864.
He subsequently came to Minneapolis where he
died in 1880. On his mother's side Mr. Lyman
is descended from revolutionary ancestors, his
grandfather, Gen. Jedediah Huntington, having
been on General Washington's staff and a warm
friend of Washington and Lafayette. Mr. Lyman
was the eldest of eight children of whom four
are still living. One brother, Hart Lyman, is
editor-in-chief of the New York Tribune; Frede
rick Lyman has been for years a resident of
Minneapolis, as has been Miss Ellen Hart
Lyman. Mr. Lyman received his education at
The Gunnery, Washington, Connecticut; Williston Seminary, Easthampton, Massachusetts;
Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, and
Yale Scientific School. Soon after leaving Yale
he came to Minneapolis in March, 1868, and en
tered the retail drug business, succeeding the
firm of Leonard & Gardiner, and later estab
lished what has since grown to be the second
largest wholesale drug house in the Northwest,
from which he retired in 1905. During this
long period the firm
name was successively
Lyman & Tucker, Lyman & Williams, Geo. R.
Lyman, Lyman Bros., and the Lyman-Eliel Drug
Company—now the Minneapolis Drug Company
—of which he was the president. He was also
a partner for years in the' retail drug firm of
Melendy & Lyman. Mr. Lyman's entire busi
ness career has been one of uninterrupted suc
cess during more than forty years. During his
mercantile life in Minneapolis Mr. Lyman ac
quired large interests outside of the house which
he founded and since his withdrawal from whole
saling continues the care of these and related
interests in association with his'-brother Frederick
under the names of Lyman BroSi and the Lyman
Bros. Company, of which he is president. Mr.
Lyman has taken-a lively interest in the affairs
of the city, though never becoming prominent in
politics or official life iia any way, but has been
a member of the republican party since he came
of age. He has been especially prominent as
a member of Plymouth Congregational Church,
which he joined in 1868. For thirty-five years
440
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
he was officially connected with the church in
the various offices of deacon, trustee and mem
ber of the prudential and music committees and
other working bodies in the church. He has
always been interested in music, and was for a
long time a member of the Plymouth church
quartette and choir, and was one of the organiz
ers and the first president of the Minneapolis
Choral Society, one of the earlier musical as
sociations of the city. He was also the bass in
a noted Minneapolis quartette of the seventies,
of which Airs. Alexander Tyler was soprano,
Miss Ettie Ballon, alto, and Mr. Henry Tucker,
tenor. For many years he has been a trustee of
the Young Men's Christian Association and was
its president from 1891 to 1895, during which
years the present building was erected. He has
been a trustee of Carleton College, Northfield,
Minnesota, since 1892. He was a charter mem
ber of the Minnesota Congregational club and
its first
secretary; and is a member of the
Lafayette Club at Lake Minnetonka. Mr. Lyman
was married on August 10, 1875, to Miss Marietta
P. Ives of Minneapolis, only daughter of Solon
E. and Emma (Crockett) Ives, who came to
the city from Newark, New Jersey, in 1871. They
have had seven children of whom six are still
&WcET, PMOTO
HERBERT II. MARTIN.
living—Mrs. Mabel Lyman Flocken, Florence R.
Lyman, Marietta, Alice, Henry De Forest and
Marjorie. The eldest son, George H„ died in
December, 1902.
MARTIN, Herbert H., northwestern manager
for the Columbus Buggy Company, is an Ohio
man, born in Columbus in 1867, and of a family
which has resided in that city since 1818. Mr.
Martin was educated in the public schools of
Columbus and at an early age entered the em
ploy of the Columbus Buggy Company and re
mained in the establishment for about seventeen
years, working up through various departments
until he had thoroughly mastered the business.
This concern is the largest builder of high class
pleasure vehicles in the world. It was founded
in 1875 by C. D. Firestone, who is still at its
head, and at one time maintained branches in
all the large cities of the country. The Minne- #
apolis house was established in 1891 and is the
only branch house of the company still main
tained, a change in the policy having led to the
closing of all the other agencies. The Minne
apolis house has, however, been so successful
that it has been continued and is, perhaps, the
only exclusive vehicle house in the northwest. Its
territory covers Minnesota, North and South Da
kota and parts of the adjoining states. The com
pany has recently commenced the manufacture of
a power carriage—a vehicle which has a feature
of both an automobile and a horse carriage and
which is expected to revolutionize the road trans
portation methods. Mr. Martin was appointed
northwestern manager in 1902 and has resided in
Minneapolis since that time, taking an active part
in the business affairs of the city but devoting
himself closely to the development of his trade.
MARTIN, James H., has been for about fif
teen years, identified with the commercial devel
opment of Minneapolis, and in that time has
achieved rapid and substantial success. The J. H.
Martin Leather Company is now recognized as
one of the leading jobbers of shoe-store supplies
in the Northwest. Mr. Martin is a descendant of
one of the oldest families of Illinois, his mother's
family, the Harrells, having been among the first
pioneer settlers at Decatur. His father, Capt.
Isaac N. Martin, fought in the Federal army dur
ing the Civil War and at the end of his service
returned to Illinois, where he engaged in business.
For many years he conducted a contracting busi
ness at Decatur, doing work from that place as
headquarters on an extensive scale. He has now
retired from active business life. Shortly after
the close of the war he became one of the first
members of Post I of the G. A. R. At the time
of his son's birth, on August 9, i860, his home
was at Decatur, and in that city James H. Martin
passed his boyhood. He attended the public
schools of Decatur until 1881, when he entered the
employ of a leather-handling establishment, and
with that firm acquired his first knowledge of the
WHOLESALE TRADE
441
measure, to Mr. Martin's conservative yet enter
prising methods and reliable policy. In 1896 Mr.
L. G. Adams was taken into the organization, and
at the present time is the manager of the Martin
& Adams Leather Company at Spokane, of which
Mr. Martin is president. In addition to his other
business interests, Mr. Martin is vice president of
the I. N. Martin Dry Goods Company of Peoria,
Illinois. Mr. Martin is a member of various com
mercial and social organizations. Before coming
to this city, he served in the National Guard of
Illinois. He is a thirty-second degree Mason—
being a member of Ark Lodge of Minneapolis.
At the time of the formation of the National
Leather & Shoe Finders' Association in 1905, he
was honored with the office of secretary, which
office he still holds. Mr. Martin attends the Wes
ley Methodist Church; is the superintendent of its
Sunday School, and holds the position of chair
man of the executive committee of the State Sun
day School Association.
JAMES II. MARTIN.
business with which he has since been identified.
He remained with the Decatur house for three
years and then went to a Springfield concern in
the same line. In 1887 he returned to Decatur as
cashier of the branch office of the Standard Oil
Company. He left this company in 1893, with the
intention of entering business on his own account,
and appreciating the advantages of Minneapolis,
came to this city. Owing, however, to the fi
nancial panic of 1893, Mr. Martin postponed the
organization of his business until 1894. He then
formed the firm of J. H. Martin & Co., to engage
in the leather business in which he had acquired
experience in Decatur and Springfield. A store
was opened on First avenue south and Sixth
street with a small stock, and to the development
of his business, from this beginning to its present
proportions, Mr. Martin has devoted all his
energy and ability. The business grew rapidly
and in 1902 was moved from its original location
to the building it now occupies, which was es
pecially designed and constructed for it at 20 and
22 North Fourth steet. This building was put up
by Major C. B. Heffelfinger, who had observed
the growth of Mr. Martin's business and believed
in its future success. Here the firm occupies four
floors, and has the best facilities possible for
handling its trade, which extends not only over
the local territory, but the whole Northwest. And
this successful growth has been due, in large
NEWELL, George R., head of the grocery
jobbing house of George R. Newell & Co., was
born in Jay, Essex county, New York, July 31,
1845, the son of Hiram and Phoebe Newell. The
father was a dry goods merchant and the family
originally came from New England, where the
name is traced back to an early period. As a
boy Mr. Newell attended the public schools, but
at twelve years of age went into business, obtain
ing a general experience in general stores of
various kinds until the age of twenty, when he
came West. At first-he obtained a position as
clerk in Minneapolis, and has thus been identified
with the business interests of this city for forty
years. In 1870 he became a partner in the firm
of Stevens,-Morse & Newell, the beginning of the
present extensive wholesale business. ' This part
nership was dissolved in 1873, and for one year
Mr. Newell continued the business alone. He
then entered into partnership with H. G. Harri
son, the firm being known as Newell & Harri
son. After about ten years the firm of George
R. Newell & Co. was organized, and "after a
time the business was incorporated-under the
same name, Mf. Newell being its president, and
his son, L. B. Newell, secretary and treasurer.
The business is one of the largest of its line
in the Northwest and among'the oldest under one
continuous management in the city. Mr. Newell
has been an active member of the various public
organizations and is a member of the -Minneapolis,
the Commercial and other leading clubs and so
cieties. In political belief he is a republican. He
is a member of the Masonic body and of other
fraternal organizations. In 1876 Mr. Newell was
married to Mrs. Alida Ferris of Wyoming, New
York.
NORTHRUP, Jesse E., president of Northrup. King & Company, Minneapolis, was born at
Saline, Michigan, December 1, 1857, the son
of Elijah S. and Sarah (Brown) Northrup. His
442
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
father was a man of standing in the state
and at the time of his death was a state
senator representing the Thirty-seeond dis
trict of Michigan. Mr. Northrup attended
Waterville Academy, Waterville, New York,
and Hungerford Institute, Adams, New York.
Soon after completing his
education
he
entered business as a seedsman and since
1879 has been continuously in that line".
In 1884 he came to Minneapolis and founded the
firm of which he has always been the head, and
since its incorporation, president. During the
quarter of a century of his business life in Min
neapolis, Mr. Northrup has taken a deep interest
in orginating and introducing valuable seeds
suited to northern conditions and through con
stant experimentation has been successful in ex
tending northward the practicable limits of many
crops as well as contributing effectively to the
diversification of northwestern farming opera
tions. Notable in this work has been the de
velopment of corn until it is now raised hundreds
of miles farther north than was thought pos
sible in 1884. Mr. Northrup's interest in plant
life and outdoor beautification early led to his
selection for membership in the park board on
which he has served altogether sixteen years,
taking an active and intelligent part in the de
velopment of the Minneapolis park system. He
was elected president of the board in 1907 and
again in 1908 and has just been re-elected to
ALBERT II. RUIINKE
membership for the term beginning January 1,
1909. Mr. Northrup is the vice-president of the
Northern Warehouse Company and has other
business interests* in the city. He is a member of
the Minneapolis, Minikahda, Commercial, Six O'
clock and Publicity clubs; is a republican, and af
filiated with the Congregational church. He was
married at Adams, New York, to Miss Carrie
White (now deceased) and has five children.
RUHNKE, Albert R., president of the Minne
apolis Milk Company, was born in Germany,
April 25, 1851, the son of Michael Ruhnke and
Louise '(Held) Ruhnke. His father was a millet
and farmer and the son lived at home on the farm
until he w,as twenty years of age, attending the
public schools of the vicinity. In 1871 he emi
grated to America and after two years came to
Minneapolis remaining here about six years. The
next ten years were spent in southern Minnesota
but in 1882 Mr. Ruhnke returned to this city and
embarked in the dairy business, his sole capital
being two hundred dollars. In 1888 the business
had made such progress that he organized the
Minneapolis Milk Company which has since be
come one of the largest concerns of its kind in
the west and one of the prominent business in
stitutions of the city. .At the outset about twentyfive years ago, Mr. Ruhnke did a business of
about ten dollars a day which has been developed
by progressive methods and close attention until
at the present time it is averaging eighteen hun
dred dollars a day. The company not only does
a very large retail business in supplying families
with milk and cream but handles dairy products
extensively at wholesale and also manufactures
ice cream. Mr. Ruhnke is a republican in politics.
He was married in April, 1888, to Miss Ida G.
Osmer.
PATTERSON, Robert H., was born at
Athens, Ohio, May 10, 1846, son of John and
Octavia Farlin Patterson. His father was a
farmer and Robert H., was bred to the farm life
and worked until he was twenty-one years old,
meantime attending the public schools and taking
a short course at college. He then was a sales
man in a wholesale boot and shoe establishment
for eight years and subsequently went into the
hat and cap business for himself at Chillicothe,
Ohio, for six years. In 1884, Mr. Patterson left
Chillicothe and came to Minneapolis and organ
ized the Patterson & Chestnut Company in the
same line of business, opening in the old J. E.
Bell store at No. 511 Hennepin avenue, which is
still standing. The quarters were too contracted
and the firm moved to First avenue north and,
in January, 1903, they moved into their new
building at No. 422 First avenue north, which is
eighty by ninety feet and seven stories high. Mr.
T. W. Stevenson entered the partnership in 1891,
and the firm, now Patterson & Stevenson Com
pany, does one of the largest businesses in the
Northwest in the wholesale line of hats, caps,
gloves, mittens and furs. Mr. Patterson is a
443
and later assumed the duties of assistant gener
al freight agent a t Peoria, Illinois. I n January,
1889, he resigned his office with the Indiana,
Bloomington & W e s t e r n and accepted a n offer
which had been extended t o him of the position
of general freight agent f o r t h e T e r r e H a u t e &
Peoria Railroad with headquarters a t Decatur,
Illinois, filling the office until 1893. A t t h a t time
he came t o Minneapolis, a n d o n November 6,
1803, became the Northwestern sales agent f o r
the Philadelphia & Reading Coal & I r o n Com
pany which maintains a n important branch in
this city. Mr. Sessions has continued t o occupy
t h a t position and has directed his energies
toward the building of a n extended business, and
his efforts have m e t with success. H e is a m e m
ber of several fraternal orders, is a Knight T e m
plar and a Scottish Rite Mason. O n December
30, 1878, Mr. Sessions was married t o Miss Eliz
abeth T . Wilson and they have t w o children,
J o h n Chandler Sessions, and M a r y Sessions.
T h e family attends t h e Episcopal Church.
R I C H A R D S O N , H e n r y Kneeland, secretary
and treasurer of the T . M.. Roberts Supply Com
pany, was born on August 12, 1871, a t Waitsfield,
Vermont. H i s father, Clarence M. Richardson,
was a farmer a t Waitsfield, and the son passed
the early years of his life on the farm a n d a t
tended the district schools. W h e n fourteen years
old he left school and for three years worked
HENRY K. RICHARDSON.
member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church,
and of the Commercial and Lafayette clubs. H e
is a republican in politics.
S E S S I O N S , J o h n Hebard, was born a t Ran
dolph, Vermont, the son of Milan H . Sessions
and Caroline C. (Chandler) Sessions. H i s father
was a lawyer who practiced his profession at
Randolph until a few years after his son's birth
on November 6, 1848, and then removed with his
family t o the middle west, making his home at
Waupaca, Wisconsin.
T h e r e his son J o h n
passed the early years of his life and began his
education, which he later continued in the Ran
dolph Academy a t Randolph, Vermont, from
which institution he graduated when about
twenty years of age. Shortly after finishing his
course and leaving the academy, in 1868, Mr.
Sessions began his business career taking up
railroad work, which h e followed for many
years. H e first secured a position with the Chi
cago, Milwaukee & St. Louis Railroad a s their
clerk a t Sparta, Wisconsin, and remained in t h a t
capacity about four years.
Following this he
was for some time agent of the Atchison & Ne
braska Railroad a t Lincoln, Nebraska, but later
transferred his services t o the Indiana, Bloomington & W e s t e r n road, becoming its local agent
a t Indianapolis. Mr. Sessions successively held
several positions with this road, being promoted
to t h e office of general agent a t Columbus, Ohio,
§
bWtET, HMOIU
JOHN II. SESSIONS.
444
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
with his father on the farm. He then secured
a position with a clothing house at Springfield,
Massachusetts, which he relinquished two years
later to come to Minneapolis. After a course at
a commercial school, Mr. Richardson entered
the employ of the Minneapolis Street Railway
Company as a clerk in the cash office and was
soon promoted to the position of book-keeper
which he held until 1 8 9 6 . He resigned and be
gan his first connection with the shoe business
with which he was for a number of years con
nected, joining with George Cravens in the man
agement of the shoe department of Olson's De
partment Store, now the Power's Mercantile Com
pany. After a year spent in this connection he
became city salesman for F. F. Dexter of the
Twin City Shoe Company and for three years
held that position. An offer was made him by
the Woife Bros. Shoe Company of Columbus,
Ohio, to act as a traveling salesman, and during
the short time he was with that firm made the
most brilliant record of any salesman that ever
came to the Northwest. He gave up his con
tract, however, to become a member of the
Grims.rud Shoe Company of this city, holding
BRUSH, PHOTO
EDWIN P. STACY.
the office of vice president and having an active
part in the firm's management. In the spring
of 1 po7 he severed his relations with the Grimsrud Company and accepted the positions he
now holds, those of secretary and treasurer of
the T. M. Roberts Supply Company. He is a
member of a number of the social and fraternal
orders—the Commercial Club, the Garfield Club,
the U. C. T., the Woodmen and the Knights
Templar. For three years he was a member
of Company I of the First Regiment M. N. G.
I11 1892 Mr. Richardson was married, and has
two children—a son, Clarence D.; and a daughter,
Katherine Isabel.
STACY, Edwin Page, has been a resident of
Minneapolis since 1883, and has been during that
time actively connected with the commercial de
velopment of the city, and is now president of
the wholesale commission firm of E. P. Stacy &
Sons. He is a native of New York state, born
at De Kalb, St. Lawrence county, on May 31,
1831, the son of Isaac Stacy and Orpah (Page)
Stacy. He was the youngest son of a farmer
who through a long and severe illness had been
reduced to moderate circumstances, and conse
quently it was necessary for the son to begin,
as soon as possible, some remunerative occupa
tion. He attended, however, the public schools
of De Kalb, and there laid the foundation of an
academic training which was later continued in
the Gouveneur Academy in New York. His
studies in the latter institution were continued
until Mr. Stacy was eighteen years of age, when,
in 1850, he left school to enter upon a commercial
career which has been varied but successful. For
a year he was connected with the firm of Stacy,
Golden & Co. at Utica, New York, and was then
sent to take charge of a branch house at La
fayette, Indiana. With his oldest brother he
formed, in 1854, a partnership to operate a gen
eral merchandise, grain and lumber business at
Dover, Illinois, which was continued for seven
years. For four years he was located at Stacyville, Mitchell county, Iowa, and then went to
Mitchell, Iowa, in 1865, where he was in busi
ness for twenty years. On January 1, 1879,
Arthur Page Stacy, his eldest son, then twentyone years of age, was admitted to a partnership
mi the firm, which then became E. P. Stacy &
Son. A few years later Mr. Stacy himself came
to Minneapolis and established a branch house.
At this time his other son, Harlan B. Stacy, was
taken into the firm.
The Mitchell branch was
continued until 1885, when the business was dis
posed of and a larger plant opened in this city.
Since that time the firm has devoted its time to
the development of a large wholesale produce and
fruit commission business, and with eight branch
houses located in Minnesota, Iowa, North Da
kota and South Dakota, covers the entire North
west. They also have a line of shippers from all
parts of the United States. Mr. Stacy continues
at the head of the firm, Arthur P. Stacy is vice-
WHOLESALE TRADE
president; Clinton L. Stacy, who has become a
member of the firm since its removal to Minne
apolis, secretary, and Elmer E. Merrill, treas
urer. Politically Mr. Stacy is a republican, and
while in Mitchell, Iowa, was active in the work
of his party, and held the office of mayor of
the city for four terms. Though he has been less
actively identified with political affairs since com
ing to this city, he is nevertheless interested in
movements for municipal improvement and the
public welfare in the fulfilling of his duties as a
citizen. Mr. Stacy has for many years been a
member of the Congregational denomination and
now attends Plymouth Church of this city. He
is also a member, among other organizations,
of the Jobbers' and Manufacturers' Association
and the Produce Exchange, and is president of
the Minneapolis branch of the National League
of Commission Merchants. Mr. Stacy was mar
ried on December 10, 1856, at Gouveneur, New
York, to Miss Elizabeth E. Leonard, and they
have three sons, Arthur Page, Harlan B. and
Clinton L. Mrs. Stacy died on January 8, 1874,
and Mr. Stacy was married on October 21, 1880,
to Mrs. Amelia (Wood) Kent, at her home in
Naperville, Illinois, a native of Vermont and a
descendant of Governor Bradford.
STILWELL, Eugene Jay, president of the
Minneapolis Paper Company, was born in Wash
ington county, Wisconsin, June 2 7 , 1849, son of
Hiram and Elizabeth S. Stilwell. His father was
a contractor, who came to St. Paul in October,
1851, his family following the next year. In his
early life Eugene Jay attended the public schools
and graduated at the high school. He entered
the wholesale paper business in 1 8 7 3 as shipping
clerk for the firm of Averill, Russell and Carpen
ter of St. Paul and became a member of that
concern in April, 1886. During his residence in
St. Paul, Mr. Stilwell was a member of the Fire
Board of that city and president for one term, re
signing in 1 8 9 2 when he removed to Minneapolis.
Since he took the management, the Minneapolis
Paper Company has developed a very extensive
business. Mr. Stilwell is recognized as one of
the best equipped men in the paper trade in the
northwest. He is a member of the Lafayette and
Commercial clubs and in his chuch relations is
a Presbyterian. He was married on March 19,
1878, to Kittie M. Goewey and they have one
daughter.
STEVENSON, Thomas W., was born at At
tica, Fountain county, Indiana, October 29, 1853,
son of John and Margaret Wilson Stevenson.
His father served through the Civil War and was
appointed captain of Company G, Thirty-ninth
Regiment Indiana Volunteers. He was a lumber
dealer of Noblesville, Indiana. Thomas W. went
to the common schools and, although a poor boy,
he diligently improved every opportunity for bet
terment whether in business life or farming.
When a young man he went to work for an uncle
445
in Kinikinick Valley near River Falls, Wisconsin,
in 1872, and worked at fifteen dollars a month as
a farm hand and then was employed by Burhyte
Brothers at River Falls as a clerk in their retail
store for eight years, going from there to St.
Croix Falls where he went into business with his
father-in-law, Mr. W. J. Vincent. In 1 8 9 0 he
came to Minneapolis and in January of the fol
lowing year bought the interest of Mr. Dickinson
in the then firm of Patterson & Dickinson, dealers
in hats, caps, gloves, etc., at wholesale, at 204
Nicollet avenue. The business grew so rapidly
that they had to move into a new building 011
First avenue north and Washington avenue, but
increasing trade necessitated another movement
to the Harrison building between First and Sec
ond avenues north on Third street, where they
remained until they moved into their present
store, 8 0 x 9 0 and seven stories high, a most com
modious structure for their jobbing trade. They
employ sixteen traveling men. Mr. Stevenson has
been vice president of the Commercial Club dur
ing the last two years and a member of the board
of directors for several years. He is a member
of the Bryn Mawr Golf Club and of the Portland
Avenue Historical Club, of which he has also
been president. He is a member of the First
Presbyterian Church and for some time a mem
ber of its board of directors. His wife, who was
Miss Cora Vincent, was born in St. Croix Falls,
ti
THOMAS W. STEVENSON.
3v' - 'WiT^5^
v.>.
^*34i"E*."~Nwj
tfjfsW'C*^
T"'
'..'.V;•'
WHOLESALE TRADE
Wisconsin, and t o t h e m have been born eight
children—Mrs. C. R. Williams, William C., Maude,
Nellie, Jessie, Raymond, Cora and Florence.
W Y M A N , Oliver Cromwell, one of the men
prominent in the commercial life of Minneapolis
since 1874, as the senior member of one of
the larger jobbing firms of the city, is a native
of Indiana. H i s father came f r o m New York,
his birthplace, t o Anderson while the state of In
diana was still sparsely settled and was one of
t h e men who were active in the early develop
m e n t of that section. H e was married t o Miss
Prudence Berry, the daughter of another pioneer
family, and their son, Oliver was born a t Ander
son, Indiana, in January, 1 8 3 7 . H i s mother died
a few months after his birth and when seven
years old he moved with his maternal grand
mother t o the state of Iowa. T h e r e he acquired
a common school education but did n o t seek a n
advanced training, choosing rather t o commence
a business career. Until 1 8 7 4 he was engaged in
business a t Marion, Iowa, disposing of his inter
ests there a t that time t o come t o Minneapolis,
t h e growing importance of which city, a s the
commercial center of the Northwest, was then
assured. Mr. W y m a n , in partnership with Mr.
Mullin, a former business associate, organized
the firm of W y m a n & Mullin, and under t h a t
name established a wholesale d r y goods house,
a n d in this business, Mr. W y m a n has been inter
ested since t h a t time, though several changes
have been made in the personnel of t h e company.
Mr. Mullin continued his connection until 1890,
when he withdrew, and George H . Partridge, w h o
for a number of years had been in charge of the
credit department, was admitted a s a n active
member, and Samuel D . Coykendall, a s a special
partner of the firm. Mr. W y m a n was made presi
dent of t h e organization and Mr. Partridge its
secretary, offices which they still fill. T h e growth
of the business has been rapid and substantial and
the company n o w has in addition t o its splendid
building used a s salesrooms and warehouse, artother f o r warehouse purposes, and also operates
a large manufacturing plant. T h e house now has
a n established trade and sales territory which ex
tends f r o m the Great Lakes t o t h e Pacific coast
a n d easily ranks a m o n g t h e foremost wholesale
d r y goods concerns of this country. Much of this
success is due t o the energy and careful planning
of Mr. W y m a n . As head of the firm he has dis
played business abilities of the highest order.
Mr. W y m a n has never been prominently identi
fied with politics and has n o t been desirous of
holding public office, but in general belief he be
longs t o the democratic party. H e is a member
of several social organizations, a m o n g them the
Minneapolis Commercial Club, the Minneapolis
Club, the Minikahda Club, and also holds mem
bership in the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts.
I n 1 8 5 8 Mr. W y m a n was married t o Miss Char
lotte E . Mullin, a t Loudon, Iowa, who died on
447
October 1, 1880. Nine years later, Mr. W y m a n
was again married t o Miss Bella M. Ristine of
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and he has three children
living.
P A R T R I D G E , George H e n r y , secretary of
W y m a n , Partridge & Company, was born a t
Medford, Minnesota, August 2 1 , 1 8 5 6 , the son of
George H . and Mary E . (Francis) Partridge.
H e was educated in the public schools of Steele
county, W i n o n a S t a t e Normal School and t h e
University of Minnesota, from which he grad
uated in the class of 1 8 7 9 . H e a t once entered
the employment of the firm of W y m a n & Mullin,
the pioneer d r y goods house of the city. H e
takes a n active p a r t in the public affairs of the
city, and is an independent in politics. O n D e
cember 24, 1881, he was married a t Minneapolis
t o Miss Adelaide W y m a n .
W I L L I A M S , Louis Hudson, t h e s o n of
Joshua and . Martha Rittenhouse Williams was
born o n April 2 6 , 1 8 7 4 , in Minneapolis. H i s
father, a wholesale and retail hardware dealer,
was one of t h e early pioneers w h o settled in St.
Anthony, coming t o this city f r o m Newville,
Pennsylvania, in 1 8 5 6 , and for forty years was
prominently identified with the local hardware
trade. I n 1 8 6 1 he entered the s t o r e of C. H .
Pettit and in a few years had acquired a partner
ship in the business. Mr. P e t t i t withdrew f r o m
the company about 1 8 6 5 , when t h e firm became
Chalmers & Williams and s o continued until
1 8 8 7 . I n t h a t year Mr. Williams bought out t h e
interests of the senior partner and maintained the
entire management of the concern till his death
in 1 8 9 6 . During almost this entire period this
establishment had been located a t 1 0 2 Hennepin
avenue, and Mr. Williams gained the distinction
of being possibly t h e only m a n in t h e city w h o
has done business for m o r e than thirty years in
one location. U p o n the death of the father the
t w o sons, Louis H . and Charles Rittenhouse
Williams (born in this city, J a n u a r y 3 0 , 1 8 7 6 ) with
their .mother incorporated under t h e name of t h e
Williams H a r d w a r e Company, which has de
veloped into one of the permanent and responsible
heavy hardware houses of t h e Northwest, and
whose business extends f r o m the Great Lakes t o
t h e mountains. Both Louis H . and Charles R.
Williams attended the public schools of the city
and graduated from the local high schools. U p o n
completing their education they entered their
father's business and prepared themselves by
practical experience t o assume the management
of t h e firm. Mr. L. H . Williams is a member of
the Minneapolis and Lafayette Clubs and attends
the First Presbyterian Church. H i s brother is
also affiliated with t h e church and is a member
of the Minneapolis Commercial Club. Charles R.
Williams was married October 1 2 , 1 9 0 4 , t o Miss
Mable Stevenson of this city, daughter of T . W ,
Stevenson.
CHAPTER XXIII.
RETAIL BUSINESS
R
ETAIL trade, always the first to ob
tain a foothold in a new community,
commenced at the Falls of St. An
thony in 1848 when R. P. Russell opened a
store in a two-story log building which had
been erected by Franklin Steele. Mr. Rus
sell thus became the pioneer of. the great
retail business which now occupies many
streets and reaches a total of transactions
amounting" to many millions each year.
During .the following year William R.
Marshall, afterwards governor of the state,
opened the second store at the falls. A
R. 1>. KUSSIiLL
The first retail dealer at the Falls of St. Anthony
little later John G. Lennon, representing
P. Choteau & Co., extensive fur dealers,
opened the third store; and two years
later, Franklin Steele and Col. John H.
Stevens, in partnership as Steele & Stev
ens, established the fourth store.
They
were quickly followed by J. P. Wilson and
E. and S. W. Case.
Every one of these
men, except perhaps Mr. Wilson, became
very prominent in the affairs of the set
tlement, although none of them became a
great merchant.
Their stores were all of the kind now
known as the "general store," in which al
most every kind of merchandise was to be
found and where barter was as common as
cash dealing—in fact, more common in
those early days. Not only the settlers in
the vicinity found trading convenient; the
trappers and Indian traders came in from
the west and northwest with furs and pelts
obtained from the Indians and exchanged
them for goods with which to carry on fur
ther transactions with the red men. Even
the Indians themselves were frequently to
be seen in the pioneer stores.
While still conducting his store on the
east side Col. Stevens planted his home on
the west bank of the river and a village
rapidly grew up in the vicinity. There
seemed to be an opportunity for trade and
in 1 8 5 3 Thomas Chambers and Edwin Hedderly formed a partnership and opened a
general store near the ferry. They were
the pioneers of retail trade in Minneapolis
proper. Soon after Joseph Le Due and A.
King began business.
Col. Stevens had abounding faith in the
future of Minneapolis and early in 1854 had
his farm surveyed and platted and gave
away lots to those who would start busi
ness establishments. The first lot selected
RETAIL BUSINESS
449
OCNTIST.
FROM THE SWEET COLLECTION
RETAIL DISTRICT ON WASHINGTON* AVENUE IN 1869
The first store of G. W. Hale may be seen about the middle of the view. The old part of the Nicollet house is at the extreme right.
was at the present corner of Hennepin ave
nue and First street, where the Northrup,
King & Co. building now stands. On this
property Isaac I. Lewis erected a large
dwelling and store building and in company
with a Mr. Bickford opened "the largest
stock of goods outside of Fort Snelling."
Then came the first specialty store—a hard
ware store opened by E. H. Davie and John
Califf. During the same year W. D. Bab
bitt opened a stock of goods, Samuel Hid
den established the Boston Store, Warren
Sampson opened a dry goods store and
other lesser establishments were started
upon their commercial career. In the same
year a book store was established by John
M. Anderson, a harness shop by William
G. Murphy, a gun shop by John Morrison,
and a millinery store by Mrs. A. Morrison.
St. Anthony was also making rapid prog
ress, and in this same year of 1854 boasted
of a list of thirty-one stores.
The first bakery in Minneapolis was
opened in 1854 by C. C. Berkman. The
boot and shoe business dates from 1855,
when J. J. Kennedy moved over the river
and opened a store. The drug business was
pioneered by Savory & Horton in 1855.
From this time on business establishments
came in rapidly and only those of special
importance or significance can be mention
ed. Notwithstanding the rapid increase in
the number of stores, business methods
were very primitive in the two villages for
years to come. Barter was not outgrown
for a decade or more. The advent of the
first dray upon the streets of Minneapolis
was a great event in business circles in
1854. Goods had been hauled from the
steamboat landing in farm wagons or on
sledges, or perhaps in the overland freight
ing wagons which were used to a consider
able extent before the day of railroads.
Buildings were almost invariably rude
frame structures of the type seen in the
newer country villages at the present time.
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
450
had been established for about a year and
the business has been carried on at the same
place without break for fifty-two years.
Anton Knoblauch established himself in the
shoe trade in the year 1857 a n c ^ the same
business is now being conducted by his sons
as A. Knoblauch & Sons—an unbroken pe
riod of fifty-one years of trade. Another
very old business is the retail hardware es
tablishment conducted by W. K. Morison
& Co. Governer John S. Pillsbury founded
this business in 1855. He afterwards became
Ill
(iEORGE W. HALE & CO.'S STORE, ABOUT 1880.
Tn front were wooden sidewalks, and fre
quently a wooden awning extended to the
sidewalk line.
OLD
HOUSES
ESTABLISHED.
However, these early days of crude equip
ment and methods saw the 'founding of
business institutions which were to last to
the present time. The oldest retail house
in the city which has continued without es
sential change in name or character of busi
ness is that of T. K. Gray at no Hennepin
avenue. In 1857 Mr. Gray formed a part
nership with his brother, John D. Gray, who
WILLIAM DONALDSON,
I'ioneer
TIIE OLD MARKET IIOI'SE.
It stood tit the corner of First street and Hennepin avenue.
of
the
larger
development
business.
of
Minneapolis'
retail
a wholesaler and in the seventies sold out
his entire interests, which were later sep
arated, Janney, Semple, Hill & Co., now
conducting the wholesale section of the
business and W. K. Morison & Co. the re
tail. There has been 110 break in the busi
ness, though the name has changed several
times. YV. YV. Wales opened a book store
in St. Anthony in 1854.
RETAIL BUSINESS
C. M. Cushman opened in the book and
stationery business at 24 South Wash
ington avenue in 1857, where he con
tinued in the same line for nearly fifty years
until his death in 1906. S. M. Williams is
the oldest living bookseller in the city. He
commenced business in 1863 at 224 Henne
pin avenue.
In these years a number of men who were
to be very prominent in Minneapolis life in
the seventies and eighties and—some of
451
Bank, began to sell dry goods in Minneap
olis in 1857, and his brother, David C. Bell,
was associated with him soon afterwards.
Dorilus Morrison, who had been a prom
inent lumberman for several years, opened
a large store in 1862. John Dunham and H.
O. Hamlin, afterwards prominent business
men, were among the retail grocers of 1859.
FOUNDING THE GREAT STORES.
For a long time after the war there was
not much advance in the character of the
rrrER xicoli.et avenie in tiie retail district.
them—to the present time, began their busi
ness careers in a small retail way. O. M.
Laraway opened a store in 1857. He long
ago abandoned retailing and was prominent
in real estate and insurance, and as one of
the postmasters of the larger Minneapolis.
He is still an active Minneapolis business
man. Anthony Kelly, later a prominent
grocery wholesaler, began business as a re
tailer in 1857. George A. Brackett opened
business in 1858 at the corner of Second
street and Second avenue south. He soon
abandoned retail trade for large operations
in milling, contracting and real estate.
Loren Fletcher became a Minneapolis re
tailer in 1860 and Charles M. Loring became
his partner in i86r. John E. Bell, long
president of the Hennepin County Savings
Minneapolis retail stores, although they in
creased quite rapidly in numbers. With one
exception, none of the great dry goods or
department stores of the present day had
its origin until about 1880. The excep
tion was the firm of G. W. Hale & Co.
George W. Hale commenced business on
Washington avenue between Nicollet and
First avenue south in a little "balloon
frame" building in 1867. In 1872 this busi
ness was moved to the brick building at the
corner of Nicollet and Third street and
shortly afterwards consolidated with a busi
ness started in 1871 by Jefferson M. Hale
at 250 Nicollet avenue. The firm continued
at Nicollet and Third until 1884 when the
increasing business was moved to the then
new Sidle Block at Nicollet and Fifth street
452
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
THE FIRST DEPARTMENT STORE IX MINNEAPOLIS.
where it has since remained. In 1908 the
business again moved to a new building at
Eighth street and Nicollet avenue. Through
successive chajiges it became Hale, Thomas
& Co., and latterly J. W. Thomas & Co.
Goodfellow & Eastman commenced the
dry goods business in 1878 on Nicollet be
tween Washington and Third street. This
business was moved to the Dayton building
at Seventh and Nicollet in 1902, and is now
the Dayton Dry Goods Company, one of
the largest department stores in the city.
George D. Dayton is its president and ex
ecutive head.
Ingram, Olsen & Co., dry goods dealers,
started business in 1880. As S. E. Olsen
& Co., the concern developed into a large
department store now the Powers Mercan
tile Company. H. J. Burton entered the
clothing business in Minneapolis in the
same year and opened a retail department
in 1882—the beginning of the Plymouth
Clothing House.
William Donaldson began business in
a small way at 310 Nicollet avenue in 1881.
He later took a department in the Glass
Block, which had just been erected by Colton & Co. In 1884 he bought out the estab
lishment and with his brother, L. S. Don
aldson, commenced the business which has
since been conducted as William Donaldson
& Co. and L. S. Donaldson Company.
Dales, Barnes, Morse & Co. opened a dry
goods store in 1883 of which the present
Minneapolis Dry Goods Company is the
outgrowth. The carpet department of this
business, however, grew out of the business
established in the early sixties by Wake
field & Plant. O. J. Griffith, the present
manager of the department, entered the em
ployment of Wakefield & Plant in 1865,
later became interested in the business and
the firm of Folds & Griffith was prominent
until 1892 when it sold its business to the
present company. The Metropolitan Music
Company grew out of the business estab
lished by W. J. Dyer & Bro. in 1880. John
A. Schlener began business as a boy in
Minneapolis first working for W. W. Wales
and afterwards for C. D. Whitall. He
began business for himself in 1884, start
ing first at 425 Nicollet avenue and mov
ing to 517 Nicollet some years later.
J. S. Bradstreet has been identified with
the furniture and decorating business since
the early seventies. For a time the firm was
Phelps & Bradstreet. This later became
Bradstreet, Thurber & Co., developing a
very extensive business and maintaining
one of the most beautiful furniture stores in
453
the country. Some years ago Mr. Bradstreet entered a more exclusive line of work
and the Craftshouse of to-day is the result.
One of the largest house furnishings es
tablishments in the country—the New Eng
land Furniture & Carpet Company—was es
tablished by W. L. Harris, its president and
manager about 1885. The Holtzermanns
established their south town business in
1887.
-M
Svi,,,' ASin.:-,
t....
CHANGES IN RETAIL CONDITIONS..
Since the larger houses of to-day were
founded, twenty or twenty-five years ago,
there have been most radical changes in the
appearance of the retail district, in its loca
tion and in the buildings occupied. In the
early eighties the modern Nicollet avenue—
the Nicollet as it is known today— : had not
yet developed as a retail street. The prin
cipal stores were on lower Nicollet, lower
Hennepin and Washington avenues. A
three-story brick store was an exception;
frame buildings of one and two stories pre
vailed. One of the best buildings in town
was the three-story brick at Nicollet and
Third street occupied by G. W. Hale &
Company. Hale & Company were almost
on the borders of retail trade on Nicollet.
There were a few scattered establishments
between Third and Fifth streets, but above
the latter street were residences.
The move up Nicollet avenue was grad
ual. Wm. Donaldson showed his enterprise
by establishing himself at Sixth street and
the famous old Sea's department store was
built at Ninth street and a free bus was run
from "the center of the city" to take lady
shoppers out to the new retail mart. The
building of the Syndicate block in 1882-3
gave the upward movement an impetus
which settled the question of the retail
trade center for years following. Modern
store buildings, new fronts and show win
dows, and modern equipment within, have
kept pace with the development of retail
trade until Nicollet avenue became known
as one of the finest retail streets in the
country.
ATKINSON, Elmer E., of E. E. Atkinson &
Co., was born in Waterloo, Iowa, March 28, 1867.
His father was Dr. Thomas Atkinson and his
ELMER E.
ATKINSON.
8WEET .
photo
mother, Anna M. Atkinson, both being born in
Belmont county, Ohio, of families of standing
and position, his maternal grandfather, Isaac
Holloway, having been the largest land owner
in that district, and a prominent and influential
man in public and political affairs, as well as in
his business relations, who represented his dis
trict for several successive terms in the state
legislature, and was actively identified with a
number of prominent legislative movements. Mr.
Atkinson's paternal grandfather was also one of
the wealthy and esteemed citizens of Belmont
county—facts, however, to which little thought
is given by Mr. Atkinson who believes emphatic
ally in the merits and achievements of the in
dividual and little in the glories of ancestry. As
a boy he attended school, mostly in the public
schools of DeWitt, Iowa, and found his earlier
business training in the large department stores
of Chicago. His last place of employment there
and the place in which he secured his specialty
store training, was the Parisian Suit Company of
Chicago. From this position Mr. Atkinson went
to Anthony, Kansas, and went into the general
454
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
d r y goods business for himself. T h i s was in 1887
when he was but twenty years of age. H e man
aged this establishment about t w o years, then
disposed of his business there t o take charge of
the departments devoted t o women's apparel in
one of the largest department stores of Cleveland,
Ohio. T e n years a g o h e came t o Minneapolis
and has remained here ever since, with the ex
ception of one year spent in San Francisco. Not
liking the coast climate he returned t o Minneap
olis and has been successful in building up a large
women's and children's outfitting establishment,
handling the various articles of women's ready
t o wear apparel. T h e business now occupies the
large corner s t o r e a t 7 0 1 , 7 0 3 and 7 0 5 Nicollet
avenue. Mr. Atkinson is a member of the Min
neapolis Commercial Club, of the Retail Mer
chants Association and is president of the Retail
Cloak Buyers Association of Minneapolis. H e
was married, September 2 6 , 1 8 8 8 , t o Miss Minnie
F . Morey, of Clinton, Iowa.
C H U T E , David McBride, president of the
Cedar Lake Ice Company of Minneapolis, was
born on December 1 0 , 1 8 5 9 , a t Lafayette, Indiana.
H i s father, J a m e s T . Chute, was engaged in the
grain business a t Lafayette. T h e son attended
t h e common schools a t Lafayette, and afterwards
attended Purdue University. Almost his entire
business career has been spent in t h e ice busi
ness. H e came to Minneapolis shortly after leavEDML'XL) A. BRUSII.
ing college, and soon became connected with the
Cedar Lake Ice Company. H i s experience of
twenty-four years in t h e ice business has well
fitted him for the conduct of the largest concern
of its class in the Northwest. Mr. Chute is a
republican in politics, but never a politician o r
active political worker, although h e has taken
a practical interest in public affairs and good
government. H e has been prominent in the so
cial and club life of the city, a n ex-president and
prominent member of t h e Minneapolis Club, and
is a member of the Commercial Club, the Minikahda Club and all the town a n d country clubs
about Minneapolis. Mr. Chute has never married.
JAMES A. BRUSH.
T H E B R U S H S T U D I O S were established by
the late J a m e s A. Brush in 1876 a t 223 Nicollet
avenue, later moving t o the present site of the
Glass Block and t o Hennepin avenue a n d Sixth
street. T h e present studio, located a t 33 and 35
South Sixth street, was opened in 1896.
Mr.
i: rush was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1847.
H e early developed marked talent for photog
raphy, a n d he entered business f o r himself a t the
age of eighteen. During his l o n g career of over
forty years a s a photographer, Mr. Brush became
a leader in the profession and was recognized a s
one of the g r e a t photographers of the country,
a man of high artistic ability, progressive in his
ideas and with a very broad conception of the
photographic art. H i s work reached such a de-
RETAIL BUSINESS
gre'c of excellence" that it found but few com
petitors in the exhibitions of the photographers'
associations, and for years Mr. Brush had only
to exhibit to secure the highest award. Mr. Brush
was married to Miss Alice L. Sprague of Detroit,
Michigan. He died in Minneapolis in May of
1906, and was succeeded by his son Edmund A.
Brush, who was born in Detroit in April, 1866,
receiving his education in Minneapolis where he
came with his parents when ten years old. After
leaving school, Mr. Brush studied under his fath
er and in Eastern studios at Chicago and New
York, and with such tutelage and inherited talent,
early reached an advanced position in the photo
graphic art, .and he has the distinction of having
the leading photographic studio in the Northwest.
Mr. Brush is a republican in political faith, a
member of the Commercial Club, and a Scottish
Rite Mason and Shriner. He was married in
November, 1903, to Miss Mary B. Sheldon.
CUSHMAN, Charles Metcalf, for fifty years a
business man of Minneapolis, was born July 6,
1 8 2 9 , at Attleborough, Massachusetts and died at
Minneapolis, April 2 6 , 1 9 0 6 . Through his father,
Bartholomew Cushman, he was a direct descend
ant (the ninth generation) from Robert Cushman,
agent for the Plymouth colony, and throughout
his life the spirit and traditions of his ancestry
}•
SWEET, PHOTO
'•*.
C H A H I . E S M. C U S H M A N .
455
may be said to have been dominant. Mr. Cushman's father was a farmer and his early life was
spent on the farm, the work in the fields being var
ied by attending the common schools during the
winter months—the common experience of many
New England boys of his time. As he advanced to
wards manhood he attended Pembroke Academy,
New Hampshire, and later studied at Phillips
Academy at Andover, Massachusetts. After leav
ing that institution he taught school for several
years in his native town. The attraction of the
west which brought so many young men from
New England during the fifties led Mr. Cushman
to come to Minneapolis in May, 1 8 5 7 , and in the
following year he established himself in the book
and stationery business at 2 4 South Washington
avenue, where he continued without interruption
for nearly half a century. After a time the firm
became Cushman & Plummer and remained under
that name until its dissolution upon the death of
its founder. This uninterrupted course of fortyeight years made Mr. Cushman one of the very
oldest retail merchants of the city. Soon after
coming to Minneapolis Mr. Cushman became a
member of Plymouth Congregational Church
and during his long connection with the church
held every office in the gift of the church includ
ing the work of clerk, treasurer, Sunday School
superintendent, leader of the choir and deacon.
For fifteen years in the early days he sang in
the church choir and for over thirty years he
filled the office of deacon. During all his life
he was a liberal contributor to worthy objects in
both his city and the church. ^During his whole
mature life he was a member of the republican
party though never known as an active and
prominent public man. In disposition he was
modest and retiring and his sterling integrity
was recognized by business, church and social
acquaintances during all of his long life in the
city. On November 2 5 , 1 8 5 9 , he was married to
Miss Emeline S. Clark and they had.four children,
Isabel H., Elizabeth M., Mary D., and Ellen M.
The eldest and youngest died in early childhood.
His wife and two daughters, Elizabeth C. (Mrs.
Benjamin H; Woodworth) and Mary D. Cushman
survive him.
•
DAYTON, George. D., was "born at Clifton
Springs, New York, on March 6 , 1 8 5 7 .
His
father was- a physidan there, but the place was
too quiet for George D., and, when sixteen years
old, he began to look about- for a more inviting
locality for the exercise of his expanding powers.
Thus it was that in 1 8 8 3 he found himself in Min
nesota taking large views of the great future of
that sturdily developing state.. At Worthington
he organized the Minnesota Loan and Investment
Company and the State Bfink of Worthington,
both of which proved to be profitable invest
ments. In 1 8 9 2 he began to purchase realty in
Minneapolis-and has owned more Nicollet Avenue
frontage than any one man. He built the Pills-
456
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
bury Building in 1893, and the present Dayton
Building in 1901 and 1902, and has set a com
mendable example of improving realty to the
best advantage. Mr. Dayton served twelve years
on the Board of Education, at Worthington, Min
nesota, but has kept aloof from public office seek
ing and prefers recognition as one of the builders
of the city of his choice. He is a loyal Presby
terian. is married and has four children, the eld
est son, D. D. Dayton, being treasurer and gen
eral manager of the Dayton Dry Goods Company.
Mr. Dayton is an enthusiast 011 the subject of
investments in realty and improvements in Min
neapolis. He has been so successful that he has
reason to reiterate the advice he gave the Min
neapolis Real Estate Board recently: "Buy real
estate yourselves and improve it."
DORSETT, Charles William, twice nominee
for governor of Minnesota upon the prohibition
ticket, and active worker at present upon the
central executive committee of the Minnesota
branch of the party—also one of the leading
caterers of Minneapolis—was born at Sinclairville,
Chautauqua county, New York, September 28,
1850. Mr. Dorsett's family ancestry is a notable
one. His father, Daniel Brewster Dorsett, was a
descendant of the French settlers of Arcadia, and
the name was probably originally spelled Dorsette.
His mother, Harriet Fox Preston, dates her fam-
6WEET, PHOTO
CHARLES W. DORSETT.
ily name, 011 the paternal side, back to an Eng
lish earldom of ante-Cromwellian days. On the
maternal side the Fox blood came in bringing in
the Fox who wrote the "Book of Martyrs." The
personal record of both Mr. and Mrs. Dorsett is
full of interest. Mr. Dorsett spent his early life
at Sinclairville going to Randolph, New York, for
preparation for his university course at Michi
gan. At Randolph, he met Martha Angle, whom
he married in 1876, both of them having graduated
the year before from Michigan University and at
tended the same law school at Des Moines, Iowa,
in 1875-76. Secretary Shaw was a member of
the same class at the Des Moines school. Mr.
and Mrs. Dorsett received their diplomas to
gether and later were admitted to practice law
in Iowa at the same time. Immediately after
their marriage, they came to Minneapolis where,
upon application for their joint admission to the
bar, Mrs. Dorsett was refused, as the state law at
that time, prohibited women from the practice of
law. Through the efforts of Mr. and Mrs.
Dorsett, a bill was soon after passed changing
this statute and Mrs. Dorsett was the first woman
admitted under the change to the Minnesota bar.
Circumstances, however, prevented both husband
and wife from the practice of law, and finally threw
them into the catering business. Both of them
have been and are still active, as promoters of
several reforms—chiefly of women suffrage and
temperance. The family is Swedenborgian. The
two daughters, who are married, are identified
with the business. Mr. and Mrs. Dorsett have
adopted three children—two boys and a girl. Mr.
Dorsett carries his doctrine of women suffrage
into personal practice by always associating the
record of his life work with that of Mrs. Dorsett.
Mrs. Dorsett is a Christian Scientist in religion.
GRAY, Thomas Kennedy, the oldest living re
tail merchant of Minneapolis and the oldest drug
dealer in the state, was born in 1833 and is of
Scotch descent. The family was originally lo
cated at Andover, Massachusetts, and from that
town moved to Jefferson, Lincoln county, Maine,
at which place Peter T. Gray, father of Thomas
Kennedy, was residing at the time of his son's
birth. The mother of Mr. Gray was Elizabeth
Kennedy Gray. His father practiced medicine at
Jefferson, but when Thomas K. was four years
of age his father died, and in 1842 Mrs. Gray
moved with her family to Waldoboro, Maine.
There the son attended the public schools. Hav
ing completed his elementary training, he passed
three years in the Wiscassett Academy, at the
same time developing a taste for the knowledge
and handling of medicines and drugs by a study
of the "medical bo'oks left in his father's library.
For three years he clerked in a dry goods store
at Waldoboro, obtaining his first business ex
perience. When twenty years of age he moved
to Toledo, Ohio, and again took a position in a
retail establishment, remaining there for eigh-
RETAIL BUSINESS
457
business, continued prosperity being the reward
of continued and energetic industry. For the
past fifteen years his oldest son, Horace, has
been associated with his father in the manage
ment of the business. In 1865 Mr. Gray was
married to Miss Julia Allen, daughter of Rev. L.
B. Allen, at one time pastor of the First Bap
tist Church. They have had five children—three
sons, Horace A... Burton N. and Edward L., and
two daughters, Grace Elizabeth and Marguerite.
All are living except Edward, who was the vic
tim of an accident and died from the injuries
received while still a young man. The family has
always resided at Oak Grove and Spruce streets,
where Mr. Gray purchased a tract of land about
the time he entered the drug business and erected
a residence, which has since been enlarged and
modernized.
SWEET, PHOTO
Til O.MAS K. OKAY.
teen months, coming with his two brothers, in
October, 1855, to Minneapolis. Oliver C. Gray
remained in the city but one winter and then
moved to the South. John D. Gray entered the
drug business with Dr. M. R. Greeley, while Mr.
T. K. Gray found employment as a clerk with
D. W. Ingersoll of St. Paul. One and one-half
years later he purchased Dr. Greeley's interest
in the drug business, and the firm of Gray Bros,
was formed. This association was continued for
many years, the company doing a large busi
ness in drugs, medicines, paints and oils, and
have always engaged in the wholesale drug trade
in a small way. In 1871 John D. Gray retired
from the firm and moved to the Pacific Coast.
Mr. Thomas Gray became the sole owner and
manager of the business, and since that time
has operated it independently, devoting his en
tire attention to the management of the establish
ment. Mr. Gray's headquarters and store have
been located since the foundation of the business
on Hennepin avenue, opposite the old City Hall.
In 1864 the whole block of buildings was burned
out, but after rebuilding with brick, the business
was continued in the same place, so that Mr.
Gray has the distinction of being engaged for
half a century in the same location. The suc
cess which has attended his efforts has been in
a great measure due to the close attention Mr.
Gray has given the routine and details of his
GRIFFITH, Oscar J., of the Minneapolis Dry
Goods Company, has the record of the longest
continuous term of selling goods on Nicollet
avenue of any business man in the city. Mr.
Griffith was born in Washington county, Penn
sylvania, the son of Eli R. Griffith, a merchant.
His ancestors came over in 1692 with William
Penn and on both sides the family have been
Quakers as far back as the line can be traced.
Mr. Griffith's early life was spent on a farm in
Pennsylvania and after attending the common
school of the district he became a teacher in the
same school. He desired to come west and on
the completion of the Chicago & Northwestern
Railway, came as far as Marshalltown, Iowa,
where he spent a year. ; He then returned to
Pennsylvania but in the summer of 1865, imme
diately after his marriage, came to Minneapolis.
Mrs. Griffith was Miss Mary Elma Pettit of Mt.
Pleasant, Ohio, and is the Snly sister of Hon.
C. H. Pettit who had been living in Minneapolis
for about ten years. Upon reaching Minneapolis,
Mr. Griffith entered the employ of Wakefield &
Plant. The firm occupied the original section of
the Center block, Nos. 206 Nicollet and 207 Hen
nepin avenues on its completion on October 12,
1865, then the center of the retail district. At
first the firm handled dry goods, -carpets and
other merchandise, but later, about 1868, the dry
goods department was disposed of and the estab
lishment became the first exclusive carpet store
in Minneapolis. Soon after this Mr. Wakefield
sold out his interest and the business was con
tinued under the name of Henry Plant, but man
aged by Mr. Griffith. Later Mr. W. B. Folds
purchased an interest and with Mr. Griffith es
tablished the firm of Folds & Griffith which for
a number of years was the largest carpet concern
in the Northwest. On the completion of the
one of the large stores of that building, Nos.
505 and 507 Nicollet avenue, maintaining the fin
est carpet store in the northwest—one of the
features of the retail business of the city. They
had only occupied these quarters for a few
months when fire destroyed the entire section of
458
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
the building as well as the adjoining section oc
cupied by Drennan, Starr & Everett. The burned
sections were soon replaced, however, and the
firm continued in this location until 1892 when
it sold out to the Minneapolis Dry Goods Com
pany with which Mr. Griffith continued as man
ager of the carpet department. Mr. Griffith has
thus been continuously in business on Nicollet
avenue for mbre than forty-three years. During
his life in the city he has taken an active part
in its affairs. He was president of the Homeo
pathic Hospital Association and served in the
same capacity for the Associated'Charities, and
for years was a director and active worker in the
Young Men's Christian Association. For some
years after coming to'Minneapolis Mr. Griffith
was a member of the Friends church but in 1878
united with Plymouth Congregational Church,
which, with his family, he has since attended and
in which he has served in various official ca
pacities, including that of deacon. Mr. and Mrs.
Griffith have three living daughters, the Misses
Hannah M., Edith and Helen.
HARRIS, William Lane, was born in Boston,
in March, 1854. He is the son of William G.
Harris, a well to do merchant of Boston, and
Julia A. (Lane) Harris. His family on both
sides were early settlers in the Colonies and were
prominently connected with Colonial affairs and
the events of the Revolutionary War.
W. L. Harris was raised in Boston and there
received his education in the public schools. He
left school at fourteen, .however, and for four
years was employed under his father, a successful
Boston merchant, and it was during this period
that the foundation of his own business success
was laid. In 1872 he started a retail dry goods
business in his own name and seven years later
entered the carpet business. When he was thirtytwo years old, he came to Minneapolis and or
ganized the New England Furniture & Carpet
Company, which has since developed into one of
the largest house-furnishing establishments in
the country, of which company he is president.
Mr. Harris is a member of the Citizens' staff
of the John A. Rawlins Post of the G. A. R. He
is a republican in politics and in 1900 was a mem
ber of the Charter Commission. For two years
he was president of the Minneapolis Retailers'
Association and has always been actively inter
ested in promoting any measure of municipal im
provement or reform that promised to be of
value to the city. He belongs to the Minneap
olis and Commercial clubs and various other or
ganizations about town. Mr. Harris is a Universalist and attends the Church of the Redeemer.
He was married in 1882 to Miss Elizabeth E.
Daniels of Boston, and they have three children,
one daughter and two sons, one of whom is a
graduate of Yale University.
HOLTZERMANN, Louis J., was born Sep
tember 18, 1866, at Piqua, Ohio. His father,
Christopher August Holtzermann, whose fore
bears were all officers in the German army, was
a merchant at Piqua. Louis J. spent his early life
in Piqua where he attended school and took
courses in the higher education at Piqua and at
Indianapolis. In 1885 Louis J., and Jacob D. Holt
zermann, his brother, who was born at Piqua in
1871, came to Minneapolis and in 1887 they started
the present dry goods business on Cedar Avenue,
now under the firm name Holtzermann's Chicago
Store Company. The firm has built up a large and
flourishing business and have won respect and ap
preciation in the business world and in the com
munity at large. J. D. is a director on the Board
of Corrections and Charities and is a director of
the Humane Society and a member of the direc
tory of South Side State Bank. The church af
filiations of the Holtzermanns are with the
Evangelical Lutheran Church.
SWEET, PHOTO
OSCAR J.
GRIFFITH.
LUGSDIN, George H., son of William and
Elizabeth Emery Lugsdin, was born at Toronto,
Canada, on August 2, 1862. His father was of
English descent and came from England to
Canada in 1840 and located in Toronto. George
H. Lugsdin spent his early years in the city
where he was born and there began his edu
cation in the public schools. While still a boy
he found employment in the fur business with
which he has since been connected. Having ac
quired a thorough knowledge of the fur trade
459
RETAIL BUSINESS
and expecting to establish a business of his own
he determined to move to Minneapolis where he
saw a good opening for his line and came here
from Toronto in 1891. Five years later he estab
lished a fur house in connection with Charles H.
Lloyd, under the firm name of G. H. Lugsdin &
Company, and has conducted this establishment
since that time. Mr. Lugsdin is one of the prom
inent retail business men of the city at the pres
ent time and is a member of various com
mercial and fraternal organizations among which
are the Commercial club, the Masonic order, the
Knights of Pythias. He is an Episcopalian in
his religious beliefs and attends that church.
PENCE, Harry E., president and general
manager of the Pence Automobile Company,
was born on October 7, 1867, in the state of
Ohio, at the town of Springboro. His father,
Charles N. Pence, was a farmer in the vicinity of
Springboro, and his son spent his early life on
the farm and began his education in the public
schools. He remained in Ohio until eighteen
years of age, when he went to New York state,
and entered the Eastman Business College at
Poughkeepsie, taking a course to prepare him
self for a commercial life. Then for five years
Mr. Pence spent his whole time in travel and in
the course of his tours visited almost every part
of the world, thus gaining a practical knowledge
of the different countries such as few possess.
Upon his return to this country Mr. Pence en
gaged in business, and after a few years came
to Minneapolis and has since made this city his
home. He has been connected with several busi
ness enterprises here—for a time traded in real
estate, for two years was a member of the Cham
ber of Commerce and dealt extensively in
grains, and during the last five years has been
in the automobile business. In 1902 Mr. Pence
established the Pence Automobile Company of
which he has been from the beginning president
and general manager. This company has the
local and northwestern agencies for several of
the large automobile manufacturing plants, and
does a general business in the sale, furnishing
and repairing of automobiles. They also handle
gas engines. Mr. Pence is a member of the
Minneapolis Automobile Club, and is a trustee of
that organization. On February 9, 1898, he was
married to Miss Dorothy Draper and they have
one child, a daughter.
POWERS, Fred M., was born July 28, 1863,
at Excelsior, Hennepin county, Minnesota. His
father, George M. Powers, was a farmer. The
family 011 the mother's side came from England
with the people who, in 1620, landed first at Cape
Cod and then at Plymouth, and signed the Com
pact of the "Mayflower" and sowed the seeds of
a great nation and a great system of government.
On the father's side the forebears came over with
Winthrop and his sturdy colonists and founded
the Boston colony, which was to be developed
8WEET, PHOTO
HARRY E.
PENCE.
into a state and an independent government. Mr.
Powers passed his early life in Excelsior, where
he attended the common schools, and received his
academic training in Minneapolis. He is the pro
prietor of the flour, feed and fuel firm of Powers
Brothers, and an active business man. He rep
resented the Eighth Ward in the Council for six
years, and he made a creditable race for the
shrievalty nomination at the primaries of 1906.
Mr. Powers is a republican in politics. He was
married in 1887 to Mamie A. Kinne and to them
have been born three children.
SCHLENER, John Albert, a resident of Min
neapolis since his childhood, and one of its pro
gressive and public minded citizens, is of Ger
man parentage. His parents came to the town of
St. Anthony in 1857 and his father John A.
Schlener, soon after opened a bakery under his
own management and before his death in 1872
built up a successful business. The mother of
Mr. Schlener, Bertha Sproesser,.is still living and
resides in the city with her son. John Albert
was born on February 24, 1856, in Philadelphia,
Pa., where his parents were at that time living.
His boyhood was passed in Minneapolis and he
acquired his education here, attending private
and public schools. He later entered a local
business college and completed a practical course
in that institution, leaving school when only
460
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
twelve years of age to find employment. At that
time a suspension bridge joined the two sides of
the river where the steel arch structure now
crosses, and this was a toll thoroughfare. As as
sistant to the toll-keeper Mr. Schlener performed
his first business duties; helping collect the tolls
and keeping accounts, and continuing to hold that
position about four years. In 1872 he entered the
employ of the book and stationery firm of Wistar,
Wales & Company. The company was reorgan
ized several times, but Mr. Schlener continued his
association with it until he was finally admitted
to a partnership under the name of Bean, Wales
& Company. Mr. Wales later disposed of his
interests and the management of the establish
ment was taken up by Kirkbride & Whitall. In
1884 Mr. Schlener severed his relation with the
company and entered the stationery business in
his own interests as John A. Schlener & Com
pany. The firm continued under that name for
years only recently becoming the John A.
Schlener Stationery Company, and has been very
successful, carrying on at the present time what
is probably the most extensive stationery busi
ness of its kind in the two cities. Mr. Schlener
has always been the head of the management and
to his business ability and energy is due its rapid
and substantial progress. Mr. Schlener has been
BRUSH, PHOTO
JOHN A. SCnLENER.
*Mr. Schlener died on November 5, 1908.
an active member of the National Association of
Stationers and Manufacturers of the United
States and has served as president of the organi
zation. For many years Mr. Schlener has been
actively interested in the work of the republican
party and has been its candidate for office at
various times. In 1896 he was elected a member
of the board of education and has served since
that time and for a number of years was president
of the board. While on the board he served as
chairman of the committee on teachers and on
the finance and building committees. In the
campaign of 1900 he was a candidate for nomina
tion for mayor on the republican ticket, but was
defeated at the primaries. He is a high degree
Mason and has held many offices in that order,
including those of treasurer of the Masonic Tem
ple association, of the Masonic Library associa
tion and of Zurah Temple. He is also a member
of the Commercial Club and has served on the
educational and retail trade committees of the
organization; is a member of other clubs, and on
numerous occasions has been connected with
movements tending toward civic betterment or
advancement.
Mr. Schlener was married in
March, 1892, to Miss Grace Holbrook of Lockport, N. Y. The family attends Plymouth Con
gregational Church.*
VOEGELI, Thomas, head of the Voegeli
Brothers Drug Company of Minneapolis, was born
at New Glarus, Wisconsin, September 24, 1856. His
father, Tobias Voegeli, who is a native of Swit
zerland, came to the United States in 1852, and
settled at New Glarus, Wisconsin, removing after
ward to Fountain City, Wisconsin. He has re
tired from business and lives in Minneapolis.
The subject of this sketch received his educational
training in Wisconsin, graduating at the Plattville Normal School and at the Felton & Spencer
Business College, Cleveland, Ohio. He taught
school at Fountain City, Wisconsin, for twelve
years and was principal of the high school there
for five years. He engaged in the drug business
in La Moure, North Dakota, for five years, coming
to Minneapolis in 1887 on November 1. Mr. Voe
geli and his brother purchased at that time a small
drug store on the corner of Washington and Hen
nepin avenues, where during the first year they
did a business of less than $10,000. In 1892 they
enlarged the store to three times the size of the
original store and in the following year the busi
ness increased to $45,000. In a few years exten
sions and improvements increased the business to
$70,000. Development of the business necessitated
many other improvements and storage rooms for
the accumulating stock, and the firm extended its
operations judiciously to other parts of the city,
until now it requires four stores to do its large
wholesale and retail business. These establish
ments include the original store at Washington
and Hennepin avenues, and others at Nicollet
and Seventh, Fourth avenues south and Twentysecond street and at Twentieth avenue north
RETAIL BUSINESS
461
and Lyndale. At present the business total is
running close to a quarter of a million dollars,
and shows what good methods can accomplish in
Minneapolis in twenty years. Mr. Voegeli is a
republican in politics, and prominent in the coun
cils of his party and active in the promotion of
all real public interests. He is a member of the
Masonic order, Chapter, Commandery, a thirtysecond degree Mason, a Shriner, a member of the
Elks, and a member of the Commercial Club. Mr.
Voegeli has been twice married, and has one
daughter by the first marriage, now Mrs. George
Riebeth, of Minneapolis, and one child by the sec
ond marriage, Margaret Irene.
WHITE, Charles Day, senior member of the
jewelry firm of White & MacNaught, was born
in Minnesota, at Lake Addie, now Brownton, on
December 25, 1858. The family is an old one in
the state. W. J. White and his wife, the parents
of Charles D., came from Philadelphia to Minne
sota in September, 1856, and were among the
pioneer settlers who passed through the years of
Indian trouble which retarded the early growth
of the state. Charles D. passed the early years of
his life in Glencoe, Minnesota, and, attending the
public schools, acquired the usual education. He
preferred a commercial to a professional career,
however, so did not take up college or profes
sional studies, but entered immediately upon
business life, and most of his training he has
obtained from the experiences of every-day busi
ness life. During almost his entire life he has
been associated with the jewelry trade. When
fifteen years of age, in 1875, he came to Minne
apolis from Glencoe and secured a position with
the firm of Eustis Bros., and remained in that
connection for about twenty-three years, finally
severing his relations to associate himself with
S. Jacobs & Co. of this city. He remained there
until June 1, 1899, when he engaged in the jewelry
business on his own account as C. D. White &
Co. The establishment was maintained under
this name for. three years, but in June, 1902, Mr.
White reorganized the firm, admitting John MacNaught to an active partnership. The firm name
was changed to White & McNaught, and as
SWEET, PHOTO
CHARLES D. WHITE.
such the company is still known. Under the
management of Mr. White a well-organized and
extensive business has been established. In 1908
the firm moved to the store at 506 Nicollet avenue
in the Andrus building, formerly occupied by John
W. Thomas & Co., and now have one of the finest
jewelry stores in the northwest. They employ six
teen people. Mr. White is well known among his
business associates and is affiliated with several local
organizations for the promotion of commercial and
municipal improvement, among them the Roosevelt
Club, and the Minneapolis Commercial Club, of
which he has been a member since 1899. He is not
married.
CHAPTER XXIV.
TRANSPORTATION.
T
HE earliest means of transportation
in the northwest was the canoe of
the Frenchman who came to ex
plore the land and incidentally to traffic with
the natives, purchasing, for a few beads or
trinkets, furs and pelts which had immense
value in the European markets. As this
trade increased the bateau was brought into
use and with the further progress of inva
sion of the wilderness the keelboat made its
appearance. This was a craft somewhat re
sembling a small canal boat and was. pro
pelled by means of poles. It was on such
boats that the first detachment of the army
traveled to the site of Fort Snelling in 1819.
But the establishment of a military post
meant protection to settlers and for settlers
there must be adequate transportation.
It was on May 10, 1823 that the first note
of modern transportation was sounded, per
haps heard on that day by wild Indians en
camped at the Falls of St. Anthony. It was
the unmusical whistle of the little steamer
Virginia, arriving at Fort Snelling and
sounding loud and long, which proclaimed
that the days of the canoe were past and
steam transportation had made its advent
in the northwest. The Virginia was but an
insignificant steamer, but she was the fore
runner of a great fleet of river steamers—
few, and scattered at long intervals, at first,
but gradually increasing in numbers until
in one year the arrivals at St. Paul num
bered 1,090. What might be called the
"steamboat period" of Minnesota transpor
tation lasted for about fifty years. During
the first half of this period the traffic was
comparatively light. This was for two rea
sons : first, the country was as yet very
little developed and no considerable return
business originated at St. Paul, Mendota or
St. Anthony.; second, there was no organi
zation. But in 1847 the first of the old time
steamboat companies was organized and
river traffic was put upon a business basis.
Trips were made w r ith regularity - and rates
were fairly well established. Competing
lines were organized. Settlers were pour
ing into the west; and traffic became plenti
ful when it had a regular and assured route.
Fortunes were made in a business which
was so profitable that a steamer costing
$20,000 cleared $44,000 in a season.
But while communication with the south
and east was opened by steamboat very
early in the period of settlement there was
no adequate means of transportation north
and west of the young Minneapolis. For
lighter traffic dogs were used in the early
days. A well-equipped dog train would
make the journey from the Falls of St. An
thony to Pembina and Fort Garry in a
remarkably short time but could carry little
more than the mails. A team coming
through from Pembina in 1852 in sixteen
days was thought to have made excellent
time. The principal objective point was the
Red river, at the place where Fargo now
stands. From there extended continuous
water navigation to many points in the
northwest territories. The problem was,
how r to bring the furs, which reached the
incipient Fargo by canoe, overland to the
Mississippi at St. Anthony and St. Paul.
The problem was solved by the use of the
famous "Red river cart," said to have been
invented in 1800 by Alexander Henry of the
Northwest Company. It was made all of
wood of the roughest construction, with
wooden wheels and axles which squeaked
and shrieked as the slow oxen hauled the
cart along. It is said that a train of these
carts could be heard miles away. Con
ducted by drivers wild in garb and appear-
TRANSPORTATION
ance, these Red river cart trains were ex
ceedingly picturesque.
-But they soon
proved too slow for the energetic people of
the northwest. Organization again stepped
in and from the first wagon freighting,
which was done about 1849, there developed
a regular system of stage lines and over
land freight wagons extending from St.
Paul and St. Anthony to the Red river, to
Duluth and south through Minnesota and
Iowa to Dubuque. At the height of this
staging and freighting business the firm of
Burbank, Blakely & Merriam operated
routes covering one thousand three hundred
miles and employed over two hundred men
and seven hundred horses. It was in con
nection with this business that J. C. Burbank established the first express service in
the northwest—the forerunner of the gigan
tic express business of the present day.
STEAMBOAT TRANSPORTATION.
Attempts were made to establish steam
boat transportation on the Mississippi river
above the Falls of St. Anthony, and for a
while these prospered. Captain John Rol
lins built and launched the Governor Ram
sey in 1851 and ran her with success be
tween Minneapolis and Sauk Rapids. Later
other boats were put in this trade and did a
profitable business until the war when the
government purchased all the boats, partly
dismantled them, hauled them around the
falls on rollers and launching them again
below, sent them south for military service
in the lesser southern waters. After the
war the railroads paralleled the upper river
463
and no further attempts at navigation were
made.
All through the fifties the people at Min
neapolis were constantly making endeavors
to secure regular steamboat connections
with the lower river. Most of the steamers
stopped at St. Paul, owing to the difficul
ties attending navigation above Fort Snelling. Occasionally boats would come up to
Minneapolis for a while and then would re
sume the custom of discharging all their
freight at St. Paul with the consequent
heavy expense of the overland haul by
wagon to Minneapolis. There was much
excitement at the Falls on May 31, 1852,
when the Dr. Franklin, No. 2 came up
almost to Hennepin Island, demonstrating
the possibility of navigation.
All attempts to secure regular boat traffic
were combatted then as now by the people
of St. Paul. At last in 1854 the citizens o£
Minneapolis and St. Anthony organized a
stock company with $30,000 capital, and
subsequently put a boat called the Falls
City regularly in the Minneapolis and lower
river trade. Capt. J. C. Reno, an Ohio river
steamboatman came to Minneapolis in 1856
and in 1857 became interested in the devel
opment of river traffic here and through
his exertions four boats were put regularly
in the trade. -During 1857 there were fiftytwo arrivals of steamboats at Minneapolis
and 10,000 tons of freight were discharged
here on the landings below the present
Washington avenue bridge.
But the panic of that year soon crippled
the business and there were few steamboats
FROM THE SWEET COLLECTION
DOG TRAIN—ONE OF THE EARLIEST MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION IN THE NORTHWEST
464
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS.
here in 1858. The depression continued un
til the war broke out and while there were
occasional arrivals of steamers during the
later sixties the general interest in railroads
drew attention from the river traffic which
was gradually abandoned for the time being.
T H E FIRST RAILROAD.
Up to the middle sixties the Mississippi
river continued to be the only outlet for
the northwest. The earlier railroads only
the state through bond issues in the later
fifties. The project failed and the people in
their exasperation and disappointment repu
diated the bonds. This, with the shadow
of impending war, effectually stopped rail
road construction. However, the need re
mained as prominently in the eyes of the
people of the northwest as before, and dur
ing the war the franchises granted in 1857,
and which had fallen in by default, were let
-vr---v
C > * 'r, -
; ••
•;
.
FROM THE SWtET COLLECTION
RED RIVER CARTS—USED JUST BEFORE THE RAILROADS CAME IN.
reached the river—a fact which gave to
towns like Galena, Rock Island and Prairie
du Chien a very great importance. During
the days just before the war there was con
stant talk of railroad building and the spirit
of the times was felt in Minnesota, and the
people believed that they must have rail
roads at almost any cost. The intensity of
the desire for transportation led to a great
blunder—one which set back the railroad
development of the northwest for years.
Certain ill-advised projects for railroad
building were unwisely given the credit of
to new corporations and building was re
commenced in a tentative way. The ten
miles of road between Minneapolis and St.
Paul were built in 1862 by the St. Paul &
Pacific, but so slow was further progress
that Anoka was only reached in 1864, and
Sauk Rapids in 1867. During the latter
year the Breckinbridge division was com
menced, but made equally slow progress.
However, the St. Paul & Pacific reached the
Red river valley in 1870, and became the
first feeder for the young metropolis at the
Falls of St. Anthony.
TRANSPORTATION
Meanwhile, other projects had been start
ed after the close of the war. The forerun
ner of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
railway was the Minnesota Central, which
commenced to built south to Faribault and
Austin in 1863. This line was opened to
Faribault in 1865. In 1867 it reached Aus
tin, and was transferred to the Milwaukee
& St. Paul, which built westward through
Dubuque. For several years this was the
only route to Chicago, but in 1872 the
465
of several small roads which were consoli
dated during the next ten or fifteen years.
While these roads were being built to
ward the south, the Lake Superior & Mis
sissippi railroad, afterwards the St. Paul &
Duluth, was being slowly constructed, and
about the time it was opened to Duluth, in
1870, an old charter for the Minnesota
Western railway was revived, the name
changed to the Minneapolis & St. Louis,
and construction commenced towards Al-
. -
mmm
PROM THE 8WEET COLLECTION
STEAMER "MINNEAPOLIS" AT THE MINNEAPOLIS LANDING.
Milwaukee opened its River division and
thereafter operated Chicago trains via La
Crosse.
In June, 1864, the first work was done on
the grade of the Minnesota Valley—the line
which afterwards became a part of the Chi
cago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha, or
the Northwestern line, as it is better known.
The Minnesota Valley was authorized to
build to Sioux City, but it did not reach
that point until 1872. The present Chicago,
St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha is made up
bert Lea. Thus was the skeleton of the
railroad map of the northwest sketched out
during the first decade after the war.
All this time, and in fact long before,
there were men looking forward to the
building of a railroad to the Pacific ocean.
Thirty years before the war a transconti
nental railroad had been seriously proposed
and had received government sanction as
far as the consideration of plans and routes
was concerned. The northern route was
believed to be the best and in 1853 Major
466
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Isaac I. Stevens, of the United States Army,
was directed to explore a route for a Pacific
railroad from the Falls' of St. Anthony to
the Puget Sound country. Major Stevens
outfitted here and left Minneapolis on June
6, 1853, with a large party and ample equip
ment and with Pierre Bottineau, the veteran
frontiersman, as guide. It is a matter of
common knowledge that the northern route
to the Pacific was found to be the best of
all proposed, but the exigencies of the wai
led to the adoption of the central route as
that likely to most speedily reach the center
of Pacific coast population in California.
However, the Northern Pacific railroad se
cured its charter two years after, the Union
and Central Pacifics—in 1864—and con
struction was actually begun west of Duluth in 1870. In the previous year Gov. J.
Gregory Smith, president of the road, had
made an expedition over the route of the
road and this party also started from Min
neapolis and was under the conduct of
George A. Brackett, who afterwards built
several sections of the line in connection
with other Minneapolis contractors. The
actual completion of such a road seemed lit
tle more than a dream to many people even
at that time.
Contrasted with the great work of the
late sixties the decade of 1870-80 was a
most serious one for the northwestern rail
road enterprises. The panic of 1873 de
stroyed all confidence for a time. Jay
Cooke, who had been the life of the North
ern Pacific, failed disastrously; the St. Paul
& Pacific, after a bitter struggle, went
through bankruptcy; the St. Paul & Duluth
mortgage was foreclosed; and nearly every
line in the northwest had similar experi
ences or was forced to reorganization on a
new basis.
With the close of the decade there came,
however, a quick recovery. Immigration
was becoming enormous as the public
learned of the rich prairie land of Minne
sota and the Dakotas and the discovery of
the possibilities of spring wheat and the
improvement of milling processes made the
agricultural possibilities of the northwest
limitless. A new era in railroading was
opening.
CONDITIONS IN l88o.
Before taking up the progress of the last
quarter century, it will be interesting to
take a glance at railroad conditions in and
about Minneapolis as they were about 1880.
At that time the railroad map of the north
west was vastly different from that of to
day. Instead of seven lines to Chicago,
there were two; in place of three lines to
Omaha, there was one; instead of three
lines to Duluth, there was but one. To the
west the Northern Pacific was just begin
ning to push on west from Bismark—a sin
gle line without feeders. The St. Paul &
Pacific divisions terminated at the Red riv
er. The Minneapolis & St. Louis operated
only to Albert Lea. The Soo line, the Great
Western, the Wisconsin Central, the Bur
lington and the Rock Island had not yet
become parts of the Minneapolis railroad
system.
And the lines actually constructed were
for the most part main lines; the great net
work of branches and feeders which now
make the map of Minnesota ancl the Da
kotas look like an erratic spider's web had
for the most part not even been laid out.
Terminals in the city were meager. The
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul had recent
ly completed what is now remembered as
"the old Milwaukee depot" on Washington
avenue opposite Fourth avenue south. It
was such a station as a railroad manager
of today would plan, for a first-class junc
tion point on his line. All the other lines
used the old St. Paul & Pacific station at
Washington and Fourth avenue north—
an old wooden station of the type found 011
unprogressive lines today at country towns
of small population.
Freight handling
facilities were inadequate; yards were
scanty.
Equipment was that of the day;
much better comparatively than the ter
minals.
THE EVOLUTION OF TWENTY-FIVE YEARS."
The work of the railroad builders of the
early period was a great one but it seems
almost insignificant beside the achievements
of the later years. The great events of the
past quarter century have been the con
struction of the transcontinental lines, the
TRANSPORTATION
467
FROM THE SWEET COLLECTION
THE "WILLIAM CROOKS"—FIRST LOCOMOTIVE RUNNING INTO MINNEAPOLIS.
absorption of the small lines by the greater
and the building up of large consolidated
properties, the reaching out of the great
southern systems to secure entry into the
northwest, and the development of the
"lake and rail" route to and from the east.
Through all these events, and as a part of
them, there has been an enormous amount
of construction.
In 1879 the Northern Pacific re-com
menced building westward from Bismarck.
At this time it did not even have its own
rails into Minneapolis. Four years later
the last spike was driven in the mountain
division, and the great celebration of the
completion of the work was held; the mile
age had grown from about 700 to 2,500
miles. A new route of commerce was
opened; the waters of the Mississippi and
Lake Superior were linked to those of Puget Sound; one of the great achievements
of the world's work had been successfully
ended. Not only was the completion of
the Northern Pacific celebrated at the end
of the two tracks in the mountains, but in
Minneapolis there was a demonstration
such as had never been seen before.
In 1879 the St. Paul & Pacific was in the
hands of a receiver. It lines terminated at
the Red river. But there was a vigorous
man in charge of the St. Paul station, who
had unbounded confidence in himself and
in the road, and at one step James J. Hill
reorganized the railroad and lifted himself
from the position of station agent to that
of general manager of the new St. Paul,
Minneapolis & Manitoba railroad. He com
menced an aggressive policy of building
and development. In 1883 he was made
president of the company; in 1890 the vari
ous companies which had developed in con
nection with the parent company were con
solidated under the name Great Northern,
and three years later the coast line was
opened. In fifteen years a bankrupt road
of 600 miles' length had become a prosper
ous transcontinental system of over 6,000
miles.
For some years previous to 1883 Gen. W.
D. Washburn of Minneapolis had firmly be
lieved that the city must eventually have a
direct railroad outlet to the east, independ
ent of Chicago. Each year saw a greater
attention to the northwest upon the part
of the Chicago-Minneapolis lines, but it
was an interest which did not always fall
in with the views of Minneapolis shippers.
The tendency of Chicago interests was to
468
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
the United States senate, and has ever since
remained at the head of the company.
LAKE AND RAIL TRANSPORTATION.
FROM THE 8WEET COLLECTION
THE VILLARD PARADE OF 1883.
This was in celebration of the completion of the Northern
Pacific Railway.
dominate; to handle rates and to divert
shipments for her own profit. General
Washburn had built one road—the Minne
apolis & St. Louis—for the special benefit
of Minneapolis, and he determined to build
another. He proposed a direct road to Sault
Ste. Marie, Michigan, there to connect with
the Canadian Pacific, and thus form a short
line to. tidewater quite independent of the
route around the lower end of Lake Michi
gan. In 1883 the Minneapolis, Sault Ste.
Marie & Atlantic was organized, and in
1887 was completed and opened for traffic.
General Washburn was its first president,
and has for years had a place on its direc
torate.
The name was subsequently
changed to Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault
Ste. Marie, and the Minneapolis & Pacific—
a western feeder—was consolidated with
the eastern line. The western line was then
extended to the Canadian boundary where
connection was again made with the Canad
ian Pacific, and a new transcontinental route
to Puget sound opened. Thomas Lowry
was elected president of this road in 1889,
upon the election of General Washburn to
The building of the Soo line served to
emphasize the special advantage which
Minneapolis and the northwest enjoys
through the nearness of the great lakes; for
the Soo line, although built to connect with
the Canadian Pacific, had also its lake port
and was a successful bidder from the first
for "lake and rail" business.
In the earlier years the advantages of the
lake route and its meaning to the future
Minneapolis, had been but dimly realized
by some of the more far seeing. Lake ves
sels were then small and few, the locks
and channels of the lakes would accommo
date only small ships and the traffic was
not large enough to bring rates down to a
low level. Still there were great advan
tages in rates and it was even then true
that goods could be transported from east
ern points to Lake Erie ports where they
were transferred to vessels, brought to
Lake Superior ports and again transferred
and brought on by rail to Minneapolis, on
about even terms with direct shipment to
Chicago. East bound goods have the same
advantage. In other words, Minneapolis,
though 400 miles nearer the grain fields
and the consumers of the northwest than
Chicago, is on equality with that city as
far as rates to and from the east are con
cerned.
As the advantages of the lake route be
came fully realized, traffic made wonderful
strides. In 1880 Minneapolis was con
nected with Duluth at the head of the lakes
by only one road, the St. Paul & Duluth.
The North-Western hastened to open its
line to Ashland and Duluth, and later the
Eastern Minnesota—a Great Northern road
—was built to Superior and Duluth. The
Soo line reached Lake Michigan at Glad
stone. Following these roads was the im
provement of the locks at the Soo and tEe
construction of great freight steamers as
large as ocean liners to ply the waters of
the Great Lakes.
SOUTHERLY RAILROAD CONNECTIONS.
All the large railroad systems operating
TRANSPORTATION
out of Chicago towards the west and north
west wanted an entrance into Minneapolis
and as the result of construction during
these latter years all but one of them came
in over their own rails. After the Mil
waukee and the Northwestern came the
Rock Island gaining entrance over the Min
neapolis & St. Louis early in the eighties.
For nearly ten years these three routes
469
Chicago than it had before operated. Thus
in 1908 instead of two lines to Chicago, Min
neapolis has a choice of seven. And there
is abundant competition to St. Louis, Kan
sas City, Omaha and the southwest. The
Minneapolis & St. Louis, through its ab
sorption of the Iowa Central, has a through
line to Peoria and a direct line to St. Louis
in connection with the Wabash system.
CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL PASSENGER STATION.
were the only ones to Chicago. But in the
later eighties the Chicago-Great Western,
the Wisconsin Central and the Burling
ton built their lines. More than ten years
again passed away and then the Rock
Island determined to have an independent
line into the twin cities and built from Al
bert Lea the new line through Owatonna
and Faribault which was opened in 1902.
At the same time the Minneapolis & St.
Louis transferred its business to the Illinois
Central—a corporation which had long been
credited with a desire to enter the north
west—and opened a much shorter line to
From Fort Dodge, Iowa, it has, by an oper
ating agreement with the Illinois Central, a
short line to Omaha. Its Pacific division
now reaches the Missouri river and is be
coming one of the important western lines.
At the present time, 1908, the Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul is extending its Hast
ings & Dakota division, a line running di
rectly west from Minneapolis, and will very
soon open a new transcontinental line with
western terminals at Seattle. The North
western system was extended to the Plack
Hills from Pierre, South Dakota, in 1907,
bringing Minneapolis into direct rail con-
470
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
nection with this very rich mineral produc
ing district. In the last decade the enor
mous railroad system under construction
in the Canadian Northwest has been
brought into close touch with Minneapolis
through the building of a short line to the
Canadian boundary by the Soo line and the
opening of the fast service to Winnipeg"
over both the Soo and Great Northern lines.
DEVELOPMENT OF TERMINALS.
Nothing has been more striking in the
railroad development of the quarter cen
tury, as far as local conditions in Minneap
olis are concerned, than the wonderful
change in the terminal facilities of the roads.
Reference has already been made to the
condition of the passenger terminals in 1880.
One of the first moves of the new man
agement of the St. Paul, Minneapolis &
Manitoba (now the Great Northern) was
for a better entrance into Minneapolis and
suitable passenger station facilities. Early
in the eighties the four-track short line to
St. Paul was built, and the stone arch bridge
over the Mississippi, directly below the
Falls of St. Anthony, commenced. The
bridge and the Union passenger station
were completed in 1885.
At the same time great changes in termi
nal facilities for handling freight were going
on. During the eighties the Northern Pa
cific built model freight houses and yards
and constructed its own line between the
cities. Prolonged litigation between the
city and the Minneapolis & St. Louis and
Great Northern companies ended in an ad
justment, which led to the lowering of the
tracks of these companies along Fourth
avenue north, the construction of highway
bridges and the building of adequate freighthouses. The Great Northern has also ex
pended large sums in enlarging its general
yard terminals and the building of eleva
tors. When the Soo line was built it estab
lished extensive shops, but not until recent
ly did it secure its own freight terminals.
Within a few years millions have been spent
by the Wisconsin Central, the Great West
ern, the Rock Island, the Soo and the North
western in improving and enlarging their
terminal facilities.
I11 1898 the Milwaukee built a new pas
senger station, which is a model of its kind.
The road has also increased its freight hand
ling facilities - at large expense. Both the
Milwaukee and the Minneapolis & St. Louis,
like the Soo line, have developed extensive
shops in Minneapolis.
The general offices of the Minneapolis &
St. Louis and of the Soo line are in Minne
apolis, and this is general division headquar
ters for all lines of the Milwaukee system
west of the Mississippi in Minnesota and
the Dakotas. As a large part of the freight
carried east and south originates here, the
city is the headquarters for most of the
contracting and northwestern freight agents
operating in this territory.
While it has been shown that the devel
opment of transportation has been con
fined to the railroads and "lake and rail"
facilities during the past quarter century, it
is not so certain that the progress of the
next decade or so will be in the same direc
tion. A great awakening to the importance
of water transportation in 1907 and the near
completion of the locks in the Mississippi
river just below Minneapolis suggest a re
vival of river traffic and perhaps a large
amount of river and canal improvement for
the northwest in future years.
Another new element is the electric rail
way, which is just beginning to appear as
a factor in the situation. The progress of
electric railway construction in the east
suggests that there must be a large mileage
of such lines of traffic out of Minneapolis
within a short time.
Notwithstanding the vast amount of ex
penditure for terminals and equipment both
are now overtaxed and great additions must
be made in the near future to adequately
care for the constantly growing traffic in
and out of the city.
BRECKE, Ole E., prominently identified with
the transportation business of the Northwest for
many years, is a native of Winnishiek, Iowa,
where he was born on March 25, 1862, the son
of Andrew and Anna Brecke. His parents were
Iowa pioneers. They settled in Iowa in 1847 and
became prosperous in a prosperous farming com
munity. Until he was thirteen years old the
son lived with his parents on the farm, attend
ing the local schools. He then entered Luther
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472
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
College a t Decorah, Iowa, and graduated in 1881
with the degree of B. A. H e afterwards took
a post graduate course in the University of Min
nesota. After completing his education he en
tered business in Minneapolis, and for the past
fourteen years has been engaged in transporta
tion affairs a s agent of ocean steamship lines.
F o r ten years he was Northwestern passenger
agent of t h e W h i t e S t a r Line, and for the last
four years has occupied the same relation t o the
"International Mercantile Marine Company,"
which includes t h e W h i t e S t a r Line, the Ameri
can Line, the Red S t a r Line, the Atlantic T r a n s
port Line, the Dominion Line, t h e Leyland Line,
and t h e Holland-American Line. Mr. Brecke's
territory covers Northwestern Wisconsin and
Michigan north of the S o o Line t o the Soo, Min
nesota, t h e Dakotas, Montana, Idaho, Washing
ton and Oregon. As a n enormous amount of
passenger traffic originates in this great region,
t h e extent of his business may be guessed. Mr.
Brecke belongs to the Lutheran church. H e is
married and has four children.
C L A W S O N , Charles A., was b o r n April 14,
in Denmark,
son of Christian Clawson.
H e graduated f r o m one of t h e excellent Danish
high schools ( t h e educational system in Den
mark is compulsory avid t h e whole g r a m m e r
school system is under the control of the Uni
versity of Copenhagen) and took a course in a
business college a t Hartland, Wisconsin, where
the family had settled, and upon the breaking
out of the Civil W a r in April, 1 8 6 1 , he enlisted
in t h e Union A r m y in Company K., Second
Wisconsin Infantry and also served in Company
A., First Wisconsin Heavy Artillery and was
discharged July 1 2 , 1 8 6 4 , a s a non-commissioned
officer. L a t e r he received a captain's commission
in t h e Fifty-second Wisconsin, but, the war end
ing, h e did not muster. H e was also a charter
member of J o h n A. Rawlins Post, G. A. R. H e
entered the railroad business with t h e Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul R. R., and, in 1 8 6 8 and
T 8 6 9 , was a shipping clerk on t h a t road in Minne
apolis, and from 1872, until his death in December,
1907, was commercial agent for the Pennsylvania
lines west of Pittsburgh. Mr. Clawson was a Past
Grand Vice Chancellor of the K. of P . ; Past Dep.
Grand Master, A. O. U. W . ; Past Commander, G.
A. R . ; and Past Grand Guide of the Knights of
Honor. H e was a member of Gethsemane Episcopal
church. H e was married in 1865 and has two
children.
1839,
D A N I E L S , F r a n c Burchard, superintendent
of the Minnesota division of the American E x
press Company, was born a t Cayuga, New York,
May 8 , 1 8 4 8 . H e was the son of J o h n H o r t o n
Daniels and Frances Louisa Daniels and spent
the early years of his life on his father's farm a t
Cayuga, coming west with the family when five
years old. H i s father, Mr. J 1 1 0 . H . Daniels, be
came later a banker and coal operator in central
Illinois making his home at Wilmington. H e
was a member of the Illinois legislature which
was called in special session t o vote funds t o re-lieve the sufferers from the Chicago fire and he
was also in the legislature which elected J o h n A.
Logan United States senator. T h e s o n attended
school a t Wilmington until 1 8 6 3 and a t Grand
Rapids, Michigan, preparing for college during
the next four years. I n 1 8 6 7 he entered Hamilton
College a t Clinton, New York, and in 1 8 7 1 grad
uated f r o m this institution. H i s first employment
by the American Express Company was in 1874,
when he became clerk in the supply department
a t Chicago. Seven years later he was appointed
cashier a t the St. Paul office and t w o years after
wards, in 1 8 8 3 , was made agent a t Minneapolis.
I n 1 8 9 0 he was appointed general agent a t Min
neapolis and in 1 8 9 3 superintendent of the Min
nesota division of the American Express Com
pany, a position which he still fills. H i s business
headquarters are now a t St. Paul, but h e has lived
in Minneapolis continuously for the past twentyfive years. I n politics Mr. Daniels is a republican.
H e was married in 1 8 8 6 t o Miss Florence L.
Farrington, of Minneapolis. T h e y have three
sons, Farrington Daniels, F r a n c P . Daniels and
J . H o r t o n Daniels. T h e family attends the W e s t
minster Presbyterian Church.
H A T H A W A Y , William L., district passenger
agent of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Rail
way, was born a t Pepperel, Massachusetts, March
4, 1 8 5 5 , the son of A r t h u r and M a r y A. (Bar
tholomew) Hathaway. H e attended t h e public
schools of Boston and Somerville, Massachu
setts. H e began business a s a bookkeeper, and
after five years as salesman for a Boston con
cern, commenced railroading in 1 8 7 9 a s clerk for
the Boston & Maine Railway, at Boston. In 1882
he came W e s t and obtained employment a s clerk
in t h e construction department in the Northern
Pacific Railway. After about a year in this po
sition he went t o the old St. Paul, Minneapolis
& Manitoba Railroad, and in 1884 commenced a
t e r m of twenty years' service a s city ticket agent
in Minneapolis f o r the Minneapolis & St. Louis
Railway. In 1903 he became ticket agent for the
Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway, and in
1904 was made its district passenger agent, with
headquarters a t Minneapolis. Mr. H a t h a w a y is
a Mason and Odd Fellow and a member of the
Royal Arcanum. I n politics he is a republican
and he is a member of the Congregational church
and t h e Congregational Club of Minnesota. I n
May, 1 8 7 9 , he was married t o Miss Anna D.
W a t s o n . T h e y have one son, William N. H a t h
away.
H U E Y , George Taylor, assistant general
freight agent of t h e Wisconsin Central Railway,
is a native of Minneapolis. H i s father, George
E. Huey, came west f r o m New York state in
1 8 5 1 and located in Minneapolis in 1 8 5 3 engaging
in lumbering and sawing the first lumber ever
produced on the west s i d e a t the Falls of St.
TRANSPORTATION
473
quired in Minneapolis. Through his large ac
quaintance, general knowledge of the northwest
ern field and thorough training in railroad busi
ness Mr. Huey has become prominent and in
fluential in railroad circles. He was married 011
Oct. 30, 1884 to Miss Ella A. Swett and lias two
sons, George Owen and Harold G. The family
attends the Episcopal church. Mr. Huey does
not take an active part in politics and is inde
pendent in his political beliefs. He belongs to
the Minneapolis Commercial Club and is a
Mason, a member of Blue Lodge, Chapter and
Commandary and the Scottish Rite of the 32d de
gree.
(JKOlUiK T. III KV
Anthony. He afterwards engaged in flour mill
ing and served the village and county in various
public capacities, such as justice of the peace and
register of deeds, and took a prominent part in
the development of the young town in those
pioneer days. George T., the oldest in a family of
five sons, was born on March 12, 1859. His
-education was in the public schools of Minne
apolis and the University of Minnesota. After
leaving school he entered the employ of the
pioneer dry goods firm of G. W. Hale & Co.,
serving as cashier, clerk and bookkeeper from
1876 to 1879 when he determined to make rail
roading his work and obtained employment with
the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad. He filled
successively the positions of clerk in the audi
tor's office, freight clerk in the same office in
charge of joint freight accounts, traveling auditor
and chief clerk in the local freight office.
On January 20, 1885 he went with the Wisconsin
Central Railroad then just entering Minneapolis
serving first as contracting freight agent and
afterwards as northwestern freight agent. In
1901 he was made general northwestern agent
of the Wisconsin Central system and on June 1,
1903 became assistant general freight agent at
Minneapolis. In the twenty-two years of his
connection with the Wisconsin Central that com
pany's business has" grown to large dimensions
and extensive terminal facilities have been ac
JAR VIS, Peter Robinson, agent of the Lehigh
Valley Railroad Company and the Lehigh Valley
Transportation Company in this city, is a native
of Canada, having been born at Stratford, On
tario, Canada. He is the son of P. R. Jarvis,
Sr., a merchant of Stratford, where Peter Rob
inson, Jr., passed the years of his boyhood and
received his education. He attended the gram
mar schools of the city and later entered and
graduated from the Stratford high school. He
did not desire to take up a profession, so entered
upon a business career and soon became con
nected with the railroad business, in which he
has been interested up to the present time. His
first position was with the Grand Trunk Railroad
and later was for some time in the employ of the
Fitchburg Railroad, Boston, Massachusetts. Mov
ing to Buffalo, New York, he accepted a place
with the Traders' Despatch Fast Freight Line.
In 1885 he moved to this city, and has since
resided here, holding the office of Northwestern
agent for the Lehigh Valley Transportation Com
pany and Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, as
mentioned above. Mr. Jarvis' interests have been
principally directed toward the railroad business,
and almost his entire time devoted to the dis
charge of his official duties. For five years, from
1894 to 1899, Mr. Jarvis was a member of Com
pany I, First Regiment, Minnesota National
Guard. He is a member of the Minneapolis Com
mercial Club, of the Minikahda Club and belongs
to the B. P. O. E. Oil June 5, 1893, he was
married to Miss Grace E. Moses, and they have
four children, three daughters, Marion, Zeta, Lor
raine, and a son, Alfred.
LOOMIS, Louis N., is descended from one of
the old New England families, whose ancestors
were among the early colonial settlers, and whose
name has long been among the respected and
public-spirited citizens of Connecticut. The first
representative of the lineage, Joseph Loomis,
came to the Colonies in 1634 a n d f ° u r years
later located at Windsor, Connecticut, and twelve
years later erected in that town the old Loomis
homestead. This house, built in 1650, is yet
standing and is one of the landmarks and points
of interest in Connecticut. It was recently deed
ed to the Loomis Institute of Windsor and at
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
474
the present time is in the care of that organiza
tion. From Joseph Loomis was descended
Horace E. Loomis, father of Louis N., who came
to Minnesota with the pioneers of the state, set
tling in Elmira township, and later opening a
shop at Chatfield commenced to deal in harness.
His son was born in Elmira township on Novem
ber 19, 1857. He received his education at Chatfield, Minnesota, where he attended the public
grammar and high school. He did not attend
college but for a time studied law and in 1886
was admitted to the bar in South Dakota.
Though he had no intention of following the
legal profession as a permanent calling, he prac
ticed for a time and achieved considerable suc
cess as a lawyer. A commercial career, how
ever, seemed to offer a larger field for his energy,
so in 1888 he organized and founded the Bank
of Alpena, at Alpena, South Dakota, and for
fourteen years conducted it under his personal
management. During this time he also became
connected with the grain business, operating an
extensive line of country elevators and was en
gaged in the management of this business about
twelve years. In 1904 he disposed of these inter
ests and established in Minneapolis the LoomisBenson Company, grain commission dealers, of
which he became president, B. F. Benson vice
president, and M. J. Renshaw secretary. Mr.
SWEET, PHOTO
LOUIS N.
LOOMIS
Loomis was the active head of the firm and his
energy and capabJe direction had built up a
large clientage and a prosperous business.
In 1908 he withdrew from the concern to be
come president of the Twin City & Lake Su
perior Railway Company. Though Mr. Loomis
has had -in his charge heavy business interests
he has been active in the work of the republi
can party wherever he has lived.
He was
elected probate judge of Miner county, South
Dakota, in 1882, but resigned his office a year
later and moved to Jerauld county. In the lat
ter county he was elected register of deeds in
1884, and served for four years. He was later
chosen to represent the same district in the state
senate in 1898, and served for four years in that
office and would have been re-elected had he not
moved to Minneapolis before the expiration of his
last term. At various times he has held other
minor public offices such as school officer and
village mayor in different places. Mr. Loomis
is a member of the Minneapolis Commercial Club,
and of the several Masonic orders. On Novem
ber 19, 1883, he was married to Miss Alice A.
Nisbet, and they have five children, Leon E.,
Ralph R., Veda H., Paul N., and Elno A.
LOWRY, Thomas, president of the Twin
City Rapid Transit Company and of the Min
neapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway,
has been a leading citizen of Minneapolis for
forty years. He was born in Logan county, Illi
nois, on February 27, 1843, the son of Samuel R.
Lowry and Rachel Bullock Lowry.
Samuel
Lowry was a native of Londonderry, Ireland.
He emigrated when a young man settling first
in Pennsylvania. Here he acquired a competence
and in 1834 came west and became one of the
pioneers of Illinois. While his son Thomas was
still quite young he moved to Schuyler county,
Illinois, and it was there that the boy grew up
attending the village schools in the winters and
working on the farm in the summers. His op
portunities for education were better than fell to
the lot of most farmers' boys of the period, how
ever. He fitted for college and at the age of
seventeen entered Lombard University at Galesburg, Illinois. His college course was inter
rupted by ill health but he returned to Galesburg
and completed his course and shortly afterwards
entered the law office of Judge C. Bagly at Rushville where he remained until he was admitted to
the bar in 1867. During the interruption of his
college work, Mr. Lowry had spent some time in
traveling and had heard much of the young city
of Minneapolis. He had already made up his
mind to establish himself at Minneapolis and im
mediately upon his admission to the bar he-came
north arriving in this city in July, 1867. He at
once opened a law office in the old Harrison
Block at the corner of Nicollet and Washington
avenues. After the usual struggles of a young
lawyer to obtain a foot-hold, he found his prac-
TRANSPORTATION
tice increasing and within a short time was do
ing a good law business. In 1869 he formed a
partnership with the late Judge A. H. Young, an
association which continued until Judge Young's
appointment to the bench. But with the growth
of the city Mr. Lowry found his interests grad
ually turning away from the practice of law.
With unbounded faith in the future of Minne
apolis he began to invest extensively in real es
tate and to handle property for eastern invest
ors. This business occupied much of his time
and gave him the beginnings of the extensive
acquaintance which has been of remarkable ad
vantage to him during his long business career.
He was first attracted to the street railways of
the city on account of the possibilities of using
the system to develop outlying real estate. A
few primitive horse car lines had been estab
lished early in the seventies which were in an
unsatisfactory financial condition and had little
prospects of becoming paying properties. Tak
ing up these lines with another object in view
Mr. Lowry soon discovered that he had a prop
erty which promised to become much more val
uable than any of his other holdings. At this
time his wonderful executive ability became ap
parent to his fellow citizens and after a few
years of successful management of the pioneer
street railroads, Mr. Lowry had so demonstrated
his ability that he could command influence and
financial aid for any undertaking to which he
put his energies. The history of the develop
ment of the street railway system is given in de
tail in another part of this work and it is here
sufficient to say that Mr. Lowry's thirty years
of management of street railway properties has
placed him among the leaders of the street rail
way world and has established for him an al
most world wide reputation as a financier. The
wonderful change of the entire system from horse
power to electric power, about 1890, was one of
the most remarkable accomplishments ever seen
in street railroading. With the continued growth
of the street railway system Mr. Lowry still
found time and opportunity for engaging very
extensively in other enterprises. He has always
continued his interest in real estate and has been
for much of his life in Minneapolis, one of the
largest holders of business and outlying property.
One of his interesting undertakings in this direc
tion was the development of an enormous tract
in northeast Minneapolis known as Columbia
Heights which is rapidly becoming a heavy manu
facturing district. Mr. Lowry's executive ability
and genius carried him into the Minneapolis, St.
Paul & Sault Ste. Marie railway project at its
inception and he served as one of the board of di
rectors for some years during the period of con
struction and has now been president of the com
pany for more than a decade. This company has
been of enormous value to the business interests
of Minneapolis, as it has furnished an outlet both
east and west entirely free from control or in
475
fluence of competitive cities. The financial man
agement of the Soo Line in recent years has
been regarded as exceptionally fine and eminently
successful by the business world. The enterprises
mentioned are only the larger and more con
spicuous of those in which Mr. Lowry has en
gaged. He has taken a part in countless com
mercial undertakings in Minneapolis, lending his
aid to the establishment of many new industries
and investing liberally in securities and financial
institutions. He is probably better known among
the financiers of the world than any other man
in the Northwest and his standing in financial
circles is of the very highest. Through this wide
acquaintance and the confidence which he enjoys
in financial circles, Mr. Lowry has been instru
mental in directing much outside capital toward
the Northwest for investment. Personally Mr.
Lowry is a man of agreeable presence, polished
manners, approachable and companiable.
His
fund of good stories is profuse. His estimate
of men and his knowledge of human nature, to
gether with an extensive acquaintance of affairs
and a broad grasp of public questions, would
have assured him success in the political field
had he ever cared to enter it. He has been a
life long republican and occasionally has repre
sented his party in conventions but has never
sought office although he has been repeatedly
mentioned for places of the highest responsibility.
Mr. Lowry was married in 1870 to Beatrice M.
Goodrich, daughter of Dr. C. G. Goodrich of Min
neapolis. They have had three children, their
son, Horace Lowry, being now associated with
his father in many of his enterprises.
RENO, John Christmas, a tireless champion
of river navigation and of such navigation from
Minneapolis to the Gulf, and a notable progres
sive citizen of the Northwest, was born at Loudonville, Ohio, December 30, 1822, His grand
father, Rev. Francis Reno, was a priest of the
Episcopal Church, who was ordained by Bishop
White in Philadelphia in 1792 and built the first
Episcopal church west of the Allegheny Moun
tains. The family name was originally "Reneau."
They vyere Huguenots who were compelled to
leave France and take refuge in England. The
father of John C. Reno was a merchant and
farmer, who settled in Ohio, and his mother was
Eliza W. Christmas, a sister of Charles W. Christ
mas, who settled in Minneapolis in 1850. John C.
Reno, after clerking for several years in Beaver
county, Pennsylvania, entered upon the steam
boat business, making many voyages on various
steamers on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, ex
tending his trips to St. Louis and New Orleans.
In 1854 he built and owned and commanded the
Fairy Queen, one of the finest steamers plying
on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Having sold
this boat, he came to Minneapolis in 1856 and
invested his means in lands about the Falls of
St. Anthony, After his arrival in Minneapolis,
476
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
JOHN C. RKNO
Captain Reno exerted himself to promote river
business to this city. In 1857 he effected contracts
to bring several steamboats to make trips be
tween Fulton City and the Falls of St. Anthony.
This was a great stimulus to the trade and the
steamboat landing below the Falls was often busy
with steamer traffic. After the financial depres
sion of 1857, Captain Reno moved to Pittsburg
and, after the war broke out, he was engaged in
the transportion of troops and government sup
plies and while carrying out a military night
order during the Yazoo Pass Expedition he re
ceived injuries which compelled his abandonment
of the service and he went into the ship chandlery
business in Cincinnati. In 1877 he resumed
river business on the Tennessee River and, in
1884, he retired permanently from the trade and
settled in Minneapolis, where he was engaged in
looking after his property and doing all he could
to promote public interests, his efforts being con
spicuously directed to the work of making Min
neapolis the true head of navigation. He did
much for the promotion of the project for the
government dam at Meeker's Island. Captain
Reno was a devout and loyal Episcopalian. He
was one of the original members of Gethsemane
Church and later a prominent member of St.
Mark's Church. He was married in 1852 to Miss
Jane Howard, daughter of William J. Howard, of
Pittsburg, a former mayor of that city. They had
gix children. Captain Reno died April 13, 1902.
ROWLEY, Frank Barrett, was born at
Rochester, New York, on January 23, 1871. Until
he was ten years of age he lived in Rochester,
attending school there and completing his edu
cation in the public sphools of Minneapolis where
the family moved in 1881. After leaving school
he obtained his first business experience in the
wholesale dry goods line but for some years has
been connected with railroading as general agent
for fast freight companies. He is now agent for
the Lake Shore-Lehigh Valley Route and Le
high Valley Despatch at Minneapolis. Major
Rowley is widely known in the state as a promi
nent member of the National Guard in which he
enlisted on December 6, 1888, as a member of
Company B, First Regiment. He was promoted
through all grades to be Captain of Company B
and is at present Major of the First Infantry,
Minnesota National Guard. During the SpanishAmerican War and subsequent insurrection in
the Philippine Islands he served as Captain of
Company B, Thirteenth Minnesota Volunteer In
fantry and was mustered out with that regiment.
He is now a member of the state examining
board of the National Guard. In politics he is a
republican though not of the class which upholds
his party right or wrong. He is a member of
various fraternal organizations and local clubs.
In October, 1896, he married Miss Matilda Jor
dan and they have two children, Martha Emeline
and Richard Jordan. The family attend the Pres
byterian Church.
SWISHER, Fred S., northwestern agent for
the Blue Line and commercial agent of the
Michigan Central Railroad in Minneapolis, was
born on November 3, 1843, in Petersburg, Mahonning county, Ohio. He received the usual
education and when less than eighteen years of
age, 011 April 22, 1861, enlisted with the Federal
troops for service in the Civil war and was in
service until 1864. After being mustered out he
immediately entered the railroad business and
has been associated continuously with some road
since that time. He first accepted a position
with the Oil Creek Railroad, resigning his posi
tion after being two years in the service of that
company, to accept service with the Pennsyl
vania Railroad Lines, which he held until No
vember 1, 1873, when he severed his connection
with that line to come to Minnesota and accept
the position of agent of the Blue Line and com
mercial agent of the Michigan Central Railroad.
Mr. Swisher located first in St. Paul and resided
there for sixteen years until he came to Min
neapolis in 1886. He has since made his head
quarters and residence in this city and being as
he is one of the oldest railroad men in the Twin
Cities, is one of the prominent and well known
business men of this section. Mr. Swisher is
a member of the Masonic order, his Chapter
Council and Commandery being in St. Paul, and is
a member of Zuhrah Temple in Minneapolis. His
military service makes him also a member of
477
TRANSPORTATION
the Acker Post of St. Paul, of the G. A. R. Mr.
Swisher was married in 1865 to Miss Rebecca
Frame, and they have four children living, two
sons and two daughters. The family are mem
bers of the Fowler Methodist Church.
TITTEMORE, James Nelson, son of Nelson
and Margaret Tittemore, was born on a farm in
Waushara county, Wisconsin, on March 2, 1864.
When seventeen years of age he entered the rail
road business and has been connected with various
roads continuously for twenty-six years, lately
making his headquarters in Minneapolis. Mr.
Tittemore spent his early life in Waushara and
Winnebago counties, Wisconsin. His opportun
ities for acquiring an education were limited and
beyond a few years schooling obtained in the
public schools of Eureka and Poy Sippi, Wiscon
sin, his training has been received in active busi
ness life, the experience of his continued service
fitting him to fill the positions he has occupied.
In 1881 he entered the railway service as station
agent and telegraph operator for the Milwaukee
Lake Shore & Western Railway at Kempster,
Wisconsin, later holding similar positions for this
road at Summit Lake, Eagle River, Princeton and
Sheboygan, Wisconsin. For a time he acted as
traveling auditor of the Chicago & Northwestern
line, resigning his position to again enter the
service of the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western
in the capacity of traveling passenger agent. Mr.
Tittemore at this time transferred his work to
the freight department, becoming traveling freight
agent and later chief clerk in the traffic depart
ment for the "Soo" Line. After holding the of
fice of traveling freight agent with the Great
Northern road for a time he was made general
freight agent of the Sioux City & Northern road
and Pacific Short Line, and was also assistant
to the president of the same companies. In the
month of May, 1894, Mr. Tittemore was ap
pointed general freight and passenger agent of
the Des Moines, Northern and Western Railroad.
On March 1, 1898, he resigned this office to ac
cept a place with the Iowa Central Railway,
with which he has been associated since that
time. He first served as general freight agent,
until September I, 1899, when he was made act
ing general manager until January 1, 1900. At
the latter date he was appointed traffic manager
JAMES N. TITTEMORE
and held the position until he took his present
office of freight traffic manager on January 1,
1905, being appointed at the same time to the
service of the Minneapolis & St. Louis road in
the same capacity. Mr. Tittemore has devoted
his entire time to the railroad business, and has
turned all his energy and ability to the service
of various roads of which he has been an official,
fulfilling his duties most successfully. He has
never been interested in politics. Mr. Tittemore
is a member of the Catholic Church.
CHAPTER XXV.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
I
T HAS been stated in the earlier
chapters that the City of Minne
apolis is the outgrowth of two vil
lages, each having separate govern
mental organizations until the consoli
dation in 1872. St. Anthony, on the east
bank of the Mississippi river, was the first
to have an organized city government. Un
der authority of the territorial legislature
the first city council met on April 13th, 1855,
Henry T. Welles having been elected mayor
and Benj. N. Spencer, John Orth, Daniel
Stanchfield, Edward Lippincott, Caleb D.
Dorr and Robert W. Cummings aldermen.
The young city was divided into three
wards which a few years later was increased
to -four. W. F. Brawley was made city
clerk and Lardner Bostwick justice—a post
which he had held during the early unor
ganized village days and which he contin
ued to occupy for years following, with
great satisfaction to the community. At
first the mayor was given a salary of $200,
and aldermen $100, but in 1856 an ordin
ance was passed "dispensing with the sal
aries of mayor and aldermen."
Minneapolis was authorized to form a
town government by act of the territorial
legislature approved March 1, 1856, but ac
tion was not taken until the summer of 1858,
when an election was held. The plan of
government was that of a board of trustees
with a president who had powers similar to
those of a mayor. Henry T. Welles, who
had been the first mayor of St. Anthony,
was elected president of the trustees of Min
neapolis and Isaac I. Lewis, First Ward;
Charles Hoag, Second Ward; William Gar
land, Third Ward; and Edward Hedderly,
Fourth Ward, were the ^trustees. William
A. Todd was the first clerk, John Murry,
Jr., treasurer, and David Charlton, city en
gineer. • The first session of the board was
held on July 20, 1858—from which time
dates organized government under the name
"Minneapolis."
In 1859 Cyrus Beede was elected presi
dent and J. O. Weld, C. H. Pettit, N. S.
Walker, and H. E. Mann members of the
board of trustees, or "council," as it was
frequently called. G. I. Hamilton, who had
succeeded Mr. Todd as clerk during the
first year, was chosen for 1859, but was in
turn succeeded in November by C. L. Sav
ory. These officers held over until 1861,
when S. H. Mattison was chosen president
with J. H. Jones, John E. Bell, E. H. Davie
and E. Hedderly, trustees.
The town government was not regarded
with favor and in the winter of 1862 the leg
islature was petitioned for its repeal and
Minneapolis was merged into the town
ship of the same name which had since
1858 had an independent organization. It
became necessary to have more extensive
authority for the township board, however,
and in 1864 an act was secured giving larger
powers to the supervisors. The board for
the next three years was composed of S. H.
Mattison, E. B. Ames, and Miles Hills for
the first term; Cyrus Aldrich, George A.
Brackett and O. M. Laraway for the sec
ond ; and E. S. Tones, J. M. Eustis, and R.
P. Russell for the third.
MINNEAPOLIS A CITY.
The act incorporating the City of Minne
apolis was passed in the early part of the
legislative session of 1867. It was followed
by an election on February 19 and the in
duction into office of the successful candi
dates on Feb. 26. It will be seen that no
time was lost when once it was decided to
establish a city government. Dorilus Mor
rison was the choice of the people as mayor.
The council appointed Thomas Hale Wil-
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
liams as city clerk, D. R. Barber, assessor;
H. H. Brackett, chief of police, and Charles
E. Flandreau, city attorney. Fire limits
were established, four policemen were ap
pointed and various minor offices were filled.
Dr. A. H. Lindley was the first health offi
cer. It is of interest that a bond of $300
was regarded as sufficient for the city treas
urer.
For five years Minneapois continued un
der the charter of '67. It was a time of con
siderable municipal activity—when the
479
This feeling gradually wore away, however,
and was counterbalanced by the manifest
advantages of consolidation.
Even when
the final step was taken the wishes of the
objecting minority were so far considered
as to retain for some years separate organ
izations of various city departments for the
two sides of the river.
The act uniting the two cities was ap
proved on February 28th, 1872, and on April;
9 t h the city council was organized by the
election of A. M. Reid as president and
STEEL ARCH BRIDGE OVER THE MISSISSirri RIVER.
This bridge was completed In 1800 upon the site of the old suspension bridges erected in 1855 and 1875.
waterworks system and fire department had
their beginnings, when the sewerage system
was commenced, the police department or
ganized and street improvements began to
receive attention.
TWO CITIES MADE ONE.
It is difficult to understand the hesitation
which prevented the consolidation of Min
neapolis and St. Anthony at a much earlier
period than the beginning of the seventies.
The two places had been one in interests
since the first settlement. In fact, many
of the settlers of Minneapolis first lived in
St. Anthony, while others had large prop
erty holdings in both places. But there was
some jealousy among the people and many
had a sentimental desire to maintain the
separate community life and institutions.
Thomas Hale Williams as clerk. At the
next meeting Eugene M. Wilson, the first
mayor of the greater Minneapolis, delivered
his inaugural address. The council was
composed of Aldermen Richard Fewer, M.
W. Glenn, Baldwin Brown, G. T. Townsend, T. J. Tuttle, John Vander Horck, W.
P. Ankeny, Peter Rauen, A. M. Reid, C. M.
Hardenbergh, S. C. Gale, O. A. Pray, Leon
ard Day, N. B. Hill, Edward Murphy, Isaac
Atwater, Joel B. Bassett, and John Orth.
From 1872 to 1887 annual elections of
city officers were held in the spring of the
year. There were objections to this plan
and in 1887 the time was changed, making
the municipal election fall on the same date
as the state, county, congressional and na
tional elections—the first Tuesday in No
vember. At the same time the municipal
480
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
term was lengthened to two years—a change
which received nearly universal approval.
ADMINISTRATION OF CITY AFFAIRS.
tirely successful, but defects in the law
were remedied by amendment and with a
growing understanding of the possibilities
of the principle, the workings of the direct
primary are likely to become more and
more satisfactory as the years pass.
Municipal campaigns and party con
tests will not be discussed here. Neither
will the administrations be traced from term
CHARTER CAMPAIGNS.
to term. A full list of the principal city
The charter granted by the legislature in
officers will be found in tabulated form at
the end of this chapter. The names of the 1872, consolidating the two cities, was an
mayors heading these lists from year to year attempt to conciliate opponents of the plan
include some of the best men who have been and soon became worse than useless. With
citizens of Minneapolis. Dorilus Morri in a few years it had been amended out of
son, H. G. Harrison, E. B. Ames, Eugene all likeness to the original act. In 1881 a
M. Wilson, George A. Brackett, O. C. Mer- practically new charter was obtained, but
riman, John DeLaittre, A. C. Rand, George this, like its predecessor, took little account
A. Pillsbury, E. C. Babb, Philip B. Wins of the coming growth of the city. While
ton, William H. Eustis, Robert Pratt, James an admirable document in many ways it
Gray, J. C. Haynes, David P. Jones—that is was not adapted to the conditions which
a list that has almost uniformly stood for were coming and had not that elasticity
good government, however their opinions which would make it possible to work out
may have varied as to methods and the more modern ideas of municipal government
degree of strictness with which the admin under its provisions. Many amendments
were made during the decade after its adop
istration should draw the lines.
The consolidation of municipal and gen tion, but after a while an amendment to the
eral elections at first had the effect of sway state constitution prohibiting special legis
ing the result of municipal elections to the lation made further direct changes in the
Under
national party, which ordinarily received a Minneapolis charter impossible.
more
recent
legislation
and
another
consti
large majority of the votes of the city. In
fact, there has not been a democratic mayor tutional amendment, a charter was formu
of Minneapolis elected since 1888 in any lated 011 a "home rule" basis and submitted
year of presidential elections. There is a to a vote of the people in 1898. This failed
tendency, however, in later years, towards of adoption and other charters, more or less
more independent voting. The vote for resembling the first, were prepared and
mayor since 1888 forms an interesting submitted atr the elections of 1900, 1904 and
1906, but w ith the same result.
study:
VOTE FOR MAYOR.
Dem.
Plurality
1 8 8 8 . . . . 1 7 , 8 8 2 . . . . 1 4 , 7 5 9 . . . .Babb, R
-3,123
1 8 9 0 . . . .11 , 0 0 0 . . . . 17 , 2 0 0 . . . . Winston D „ ... .5 , 2 0 0
1892
17,910
1 5 , 7 2 8 . . . .Eustis, R.
2,182
1894
19 , 6 6 6 .... 15,343
Pratt, R
4,323
1896... .25,401. . . .16,610
Pratt, R
.8,791
1 8 9 8 . . . . 9 , 4 9 4 . . . .1 6 , 0 6 6 . . . . G r a y , D
6,572
1900
17,292
12,732
Ames, R
4,560
1 9 0 2 . . . . 1 4 , 4 3 7 . . . . 2 0 , 3 4 5 . • • • Haynes, D. . . . . . 5 , 9 0 8
1904.... 18,445.... 18,189....Jones, R
256
1906
18,213. • • -21,778
Haynes, D
3,565
Rep.
Minneapolis was one of the first cities in
the country to try a direct primary law.
The first experiment in 1900 was not en
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS.
An account of the building of the first
suspension bridge is given in the chapter on
the formative period of the city's existence.
This bridge was at first a private enterprise,
but it was soon taken over by the munici
pality. I11 1875 ^ w a s torn down and a
larger and stronger bridge set in its place.
This in turn gave way, in 1890, to the steel
arch bridge built at a first cost of $80,000.
Nine other highway bridges span the Mis
sissippi within the city limits and innumer
able lesser bridges carry streets across
creeks and railway tracks in various parts
of the city.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
481
be found in Minneapolis were almost all of
wood. This material was used in residence
districts for some years thereafter, but has
long since given place to artificial stone,
which has also been extensively used for
curbing.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
W.M. W. WALES,
A pioneer and former mayor of St. Anthony.
Alderman George A. Brackett introduced
a resolution in the city council on June 23,
1869, which was the beginning of the Min
neapolis sewer system. Work was com
menced on June 15, 1871, and during that
year the main Washington avenue sewer
was built. There are now some 225 miles
of sewers in the city, mostly the work of
the past twenty years.
At a town meeting in 1865 it was voted
to grade Hennepin and Nicollet avenues
from the suspension bridge to the west side
of Washington avenue. This seems to have
been the first definite step towards street
improvement.
Paving waited on better
financial conditions and was not begun in
earnest until the early eighties. In ten years
twenty-five miles had been laid, of which
80 per cent was of cedar blocks. There are
in 1908 about 125 miles of paved streets. The
materials used are asphalt, granite, brick,
sandstone and creosoted blocks—nearly all
on concrete foundation.
Until 1880 what sidewalks there were to
Municipal buildings of any kind, except
schools, were not undertaken in Minneapolis
for years after the organization of the town.
In the very early days when the people
wanted to meet for any purpose, they gath
ered in Col. Stevens' living room. Anson
Northrup's house was also used from time
to time and the old government mill was
utilized occasionally. On the east side
Lardner Bostwick's justice court office was
used as the first council chamber. After a
while several small public halls were ar
ranged over stores and some of these were
occupied by the municipal governments.
Elections were held in some vacant store
or the office of any accommodating citizen
who had available quarters. An important
town meeting on September 1, 1865, was
held in Dorilus Morrison's store at the cor
ner of Washington avenue and Helen street.
After the organization of city government
in 1867 the Pence Opera House was se
lected as a meeting place for the council.
The old city hall which still stands on
the triangular tract at the intersection of
TIIE OLD CITY HALL.
Erected in 1874.
4S2
A HALF CENTtJkY OP MINNEAPOLIS
Nicollet and Hennepin avenues and Second
street, was erected in 1874 at a cost of about
$50,000. It was then one of the best build
ings in the city. For years it was larger
than the city required for ordinary office
purposes and parts of the building were
rented. With the rapid growth of the city
during the eighties the tenants were crowd
ed cut and city departments themselves
were soon unable to find room in the old
building. Meanwhile, the county court
house had become quite inadequate and a
plan was formed to erect a building for the
use of the county and city jointly to be
known as the Court House and City Hall.
The Board of Court House and City Hall
commissioners was authorized in 1887 and
the building was soon commenced, though
only recently completed. As this building
is one in which the courts and the legal af
fairs of the community have the largest
part, it is referred to more at length in the
chapter on Courts and. Lawyers.
WATER WORKS'.
The Minneapolis water works system has
always been under municipal control. In
1867 the subject was taken up by the new
city government and the records show that
on June 1 Aldermen Atwater, Hill and
Brackett were added to the committee on
fire department for the purpose of securing
a water works system and on June 14, the
Holly system of waterworks was adopt
ed. In the next year a board of water
commissioners was appointed and in 1871
the first crude water works went into ser
vice. A single wooden main extended along
Washington Avenue to Hennepin and
thence to Bridge .Square. The Holly pump
was at the falls, where it was operated by
water power. James Waters, for years su
perintendent of the water works, invented a
pump which was later added to the plant at
the falls. At first the east side was supplied
through a main carried across the suspen
sion bridge, but later an auxiliary pumping
station was installed on Hennepin island.
From this original system has been built
up a modern water supply—complete in
everything except a means of purification.
It was not many years before there were
complaints of the water drawn from the
river near the falls and in 1889 a modern
station was built at Camden place five miles
up the river. Here pumps with a capacity
of 30,000,000 gallons daily were installed.
The cost of the station and connections was
approximately $330,000. This plant was in
turn outgrown and a reservoir was com
pleted in' 1897 and a new pumping station
in 1904 at a total cost of over a million dol
lars. The average daily consumption of
water is over 18,000,000 gallons, or about
64 gallons per capita. The city collects an
nually about $250,000 in water taxes.
THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
The first fire company at the Falls was a
very loose organization formed in 1851 in
St. Anthony. The equipment consisted of
two wooden buckets and a canvas bag for
each member—the buckets for water for
extinguishing purposes and the bag to hold
property while it was being rescued from
the flames. A more complete organization
was effected in 1854 when the Cataract En
gine Company No. 1 was formed and in
1858 other companies were organized. All
were composed of the men of the village
and were to a large extent social organiza
tions. On the west side the first organiza
tion was the Minnehaha Hook & Ladder
Company No. 1, of which A. F. McGhee
was foreman and William A. Todd, secre
tary. This company was formed in the
spring of 1856. Other companies followed
in due time, but no effective fire department
was formed until 1868. In 1867 a water
works system was formally planned and on
October 18, Alderman George A. Brackett
introduced in the city council a resolution
for the purchase of equipment for a hook
and ladder company, provided twenty or
more citizens would organize such a com
pany. This led to the organization of the
Minneapolis Hook & Ladder Company No.
1. Two hose companies were also formed
and through the active work of Mr. Brackett
there was soon the foundation for a com
plete department.
Early in January, 1868, the members of
the fire companies met and agreed to form
a department under the supervision of the
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
city council and on January 31st the council ratified this action, appointing- George
A. Brackett as chief engineer; R. B. Langdon, first assistant engineer; Paris Gibson,
second assistant engineer; and as fire war
dens: John S. Walker, first ward; A. M.
Greely, 2d ward; R. P. Dunnington, 3rd
ward; J. H. Clark, 4th ward. Mr. Brackett
was a most energetic chief and as a city al
derman and one of the most active of the
of other apparatus. The whole value of the
fire department property now approximates
three-quarters of a million dollars. After
Chief W. M. Brackett came Frank L. Stet
son, who served eight years, August H.
Runge, Stetson again, and since 1899 J. R.
Canterbury. The headquarters of the de
partment are in the city hall. It is a matter
of gratification to the people of the city
that since the organization of the depart-
KO. W.hale &e<>
AR8LC WORKS
HOLSTERIN
FROM THE SWE.ET COLLECTIO*
VOLUNTEER Flit KM EN OF 1870.
young men of the city was in a position to
make the new department effective.
In 1872, as the result of a railroad acci
dent, Mr. Brackett was incapacitated from
active service in the department. He w r as
succeeded by David Wvlie, who served one
year, when W. M. Brackett was chosen
and continued for nine years. In 1879 it
became evident that the city had reached
the stage when a volunteer department
should be succeeded by a paid organization
and the old volunteers formally disbanded.
The new department consisted of fifty-nine
men and eight companies, including two
steam fire engine companies. The first en
gine had been secured by the East Side de
partment in 1873 and the first on the West
Side in 1875. In 1908 the department has
grown to a force of over 350 men, twentythree steam engines, and a large equipment
ment there has not been any devastating
conflagration.
BUILDING INSPECTION.
From the earliest city organization there
was more or less attention to the style and
methods of construction of buildings within
certain limits, but the department of build
ing inspection was not regularly organized
until 1884, when Walter S. Pardee was ap
pointed inspector. Ordinances regulating
building matters have been adopted, revised
and re-revised until now Minneapolis has
one of the best building laws among Ameri
can municipalities. All classes of buildings
are considered and regulations governing
details of masonry, wood construction, steel
and concrete work, plumbing, electric wir
ing, elevators and everything pertaining to
safety, sanitation and the general welfare,
are provided for. Henry J. Bauman sue-
484
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
ceeded Mr. Pardee in 1887; J. M. Hazen
began service in 1890; John H. Oilman in
1893, and James G. Houghton, the present
incumbent of the office of inspector, in 1899.
HEALTH AND SANITATION.
Minneapolis has always been a very
healthy city. Natural and climatic condi
tions have been supplemented by intelligent
attention to sanitary matters. A health de
partment was provided by the first
city
charter and in later years has become an
important branch of the municipal machin
ery. Besides inspection and sanitary regu
lation, the department undertakes the col
lection of garbage, which is conveyed to a
crematory situated in the northern part of
the city, w r here it is burned, at the same
time producing a power which furnishes
electric light for the plant and the adjoin
ing workhouse. The death rate in Minne
apolis in 1907 was 8.56 in the thousand. Dr.
P. M. Hall is the present health officer.
FINANCIAL MATTERS.
The finances of Minneapolis have been so
managed that the city has always had ex
cellent credit. Prohibited from incurring
floating indebtedness and with many re
strictions upon the increase of bonded in
debtedness, the city council has been obliged
to maintain a reasonably conservative atti
tude in the matter of expenditures. With
rare exceptions the financial officers of the
city have been of the highest integrity; the
loss to the city from defalcation has been a
very small percentage of the moneys
handled. A sinking fund provides for the
payment of all city bonds as they become
due. In recent years the methods of ac
counting have been put upon a modern basis
and the city's books show the condition of
its affairs and its resources and liabilities
as accurately as those of any other corpora
tion. The assets of the city corporation
now approximate $35,000,000.
The as
sessed valuation of the taxable private
property has reached $168,038,386 and the
bonded debt is about $10,000,000. Annual
city expenditures are now approximately
$6,500,000.
The subjoined table shows the assessed
valuation of the city for the past three dec
ades, together with the tax rate, total tax,
and total debt:
VALUATION AND INDEBTEDNESS.
Year
1879
1880..
188 1
188 2
188 3
188 4
188 5
188 6
188 7
188 8
188 9
189 0
1891
189 2
189 3
189 4
189 5
1896.
189 7
189 8
189 9
190 0
1901
1902
190 3
190 4
190 5
1906........
1907
Average rate
Valuation per $1,000
$23,415,733
14.50
28,013,315
16.80
31,188,486
20.80
40,702,044
19.50
53,901,812
22.40
74,310,711
17.80
77,468,267
19.60
99,591,762
17.90
103,581,566
21.50
126,139,886
19.20
127,101,861
21.40
136,944,372
19.30
137,721,790
21.80
138,286,370
22.68140,624.490
21.24
134,478,572
20.92
135,884,286
21.60
109,316,247
23.25
109,654,337
25.00
107,227,385
23.00
106,729,265
26.15
99,492,054
27.40
102,212,506
29.86
121,279,537
25.33
128,596,734
28.46
135,708,902
28.56
138,690,490
29.75
164,419,145
26.50
168,038,386
30.17
Total
tax
$339,528
470,623
648,720
794,589
1,207,400
1,322,730
1,517,378
1,782,692
2,227,003
2,421,885
2,719,979
2,643,026
3,002,335
3,136,234
2,986,864
2,813,291
2,935,100
2,540,667
2,741,358
2,466,229
2,609,447
2,774,669
2,981,464
3,070,808
3,660,615
3,775,111
4,057,921
5,016,125
5,843,316
Total
debt
$1,101,000
1,101,000
1,188,000
1,534,000
2,216,000
2,425,000
3,000,000
3,708,000
4,985,500
5,778,500
6,486,500
7,080,500
7,540,500
7,462,000
7,515,000
7,465,000
7,565,000
7,840,000
8,215,000
8,315,000
8,415,000
8,375,000
8,250,000
8,269,000
8,869,000
9,434,000
9,384,000
9,534,000
10,394 000
Deducting the amount in the sinking fund
from the bonded debt at the close of 1907,
the net debt is found to be about $7,750,000.
The percentage of the net debt to total as
sessed valuation is rapidly decreasing.
THE PARK SYSTEM.
From its earliest days Minneapolis had
citizens who believed in "the city beauti
ful." They voiced ideas which cultivat
ed a spirit which finally led to the estab
lishment of a park system. Col. Stevens
himself was a lover of natural beauty
and deplored the destruction of the groves
on the site of Minneapolis when the claims
were first occupied. In 1858 Richard Chute
bought 2,000 young trees which he had set
out on the streets of St. Anthony. Two
years before this Edward Murphy had pre
sented to the yet unorganized Minneapolis
its first park—Murphy Square. In i860 the
Rev. Dr. Horace Bushnell of Connecticut,
then visiting in Minneapolis, advocated the
purchase of Nicollet Island as a v permanent
city park. In 1865 a vote was taken on the
purchase, but the measure was defeated by
a small margin. The island had been offer
ed to the city for $28,000. Leaders in this
project were Dorilus Morrison, Franklin
Steele, Paris Gibson, W. W. McNair, E. M.
Wilson, W. W. Eastman, C. M. Loring, W.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
S. Judd and George A. Brackett. How
ever, the village people did decide to pur
chase the triangular piece of ground, now
the site of the old city hall. The price was
$2,500 and of this the owner, Mr. Eastman,
donated $500, while $1,000 was raised by
subscription and $1,000 by taxation. In
1867 the city was incorporated and active
efforts were made to secure action in the
new city council looking to the acquisition
of public parks. Several valuable tracts
were offered at low cost, but nearly all
these plans were defeated.
Alderman
George A. Brackett was chairman of the
council committee on public grounds and
buildings and he worked energetically to
obtain action. The most notable offer,
which was defeated in 1869, was of forty
acres lying between Nicollet and Third
avenues, south of Franklin, which would
have cost the city but $16,000. This prop
erty is now probably worth more than a
million dollars.
THE PARK COMMISSION.
The park system of Minneapolis had its
real beginning in 1883, when the park com
mission was created by legislative act. The
Minneapolis Board of Trade had been agi
tating the subject for several years and H.
W. S. Cleveland, the landscape architect,
had spent some time in the city and his
talks on civic beautifying had had much in
fluence. In addition the most influential
men of the city were now arrayed in favor
of the park idea. So when the act was sub
mitted to the vote of the people it was rati
fied by a majority of 1 ,315. The park com
mission was given authority to acquire land
by purchase and condemnation, to assess
benefited property for purchase cost, and to
levy a tax and issue securities. The com
missioners named in the act were Charles
M. Loring, Dorilus Morrison, John S. Pillsbury, Henry T. Welles, O. C. Merriman,
John C. Oswald, Wm. W. Eastman, George
A. Brackett, Judson N. Cross, Daniel Bassett, A. C. Austin, and A. C. Haugan.
Messrs. Welles and Merriman declined to
serve and E. M. Wilson and Samuel H.
Chute were selected in their places. Later
in the year B, F. Nelson succeeded A. C.
485
Haugan. C. M. Loring was elected presi
dent and R. J. Baldwin, secretary.
To this first board belongs great credit
for laying the foundation of the Minneapolis
park system. Immediately upon its organ
ization the city council turned over the
Murphy Park, Franklin Steele Square (a
gift of the daughters of Franklin Steele),
Hawthorne Park (now Wilson Park), and
Market Square, on the east side. Within a
few weeks Mr. Cleveland outlined to the
board a plan for a park system which is
substantially that followed during the past
twenty-five years. Dr. Jacob S. Elliott soon
deeded Elliott Park to the commission. In
the meantime the acquisition of park lands
by purchase was commenced. Central Park
was the first to be acquired. Commissioner
George A. Brackett was chairman of the
committee and things moved so rapidly
that within about sixty days the board re
ceived the deeds for the original portion of
the park. During the following winter and
spring Mr. Brackett personally took charge
of the excavation of the lake so that within
the first year the park was practically com
pleted as far as grading and excavation
were concerned, and planting was begun.
That was the way in which things were
done in those days. Parks, then known as
the First ward and Third ward parks, were
also acquired during the first year and gen
eral plans were laid for the campaign to
follow.
It is, of course, impossible to follow in de
tail . the acquisition of all the parks in the
Minneapolis system. Within four years
the principal lake parks and surrounding
parkways had been secured and outlines of
the system were beginning to take shape.
Minnehaha Park was secured in 1889, after
overcoming almost insurmountable difficul
ties, and Kenwood Parkway, Minnehaha
Parkway, the East River bank parkway,
Dean Boulevard, and Lyndale Park follow
ed in quick succession. During the panic
years of 1893-4 there was little gain in park
area, but in the next ten years important
advances were made, one of the most not
able being the West River Bank parkway,
one of the most valuable acquisitions ever
made by the city.
486
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
GIFTS TO THE PARK SYSTEM.
MINNEHAHA FALLS.
One of the greatest attractions of the Minneapolis park system.
Minneapolis citizens have
been most generous and
public spirited in their gifts
to the park system of the
city. The presentation of
Murphy Square, Franklin
Steele Square, and Elliott
Park have already been
mentioned. Stinson boule
vard on the east side was
given in 1886 by James Stin
son ; a considerable part of
Lake of the Isles park was
the gift of a group of own
ers; Col. Wm. S. King gave
Lyndale Park, much of the
Lake Harriet frontage and
most of King's Highway; a
large part of the Minnehaha
Parkway land was given;
the heirs of Joseph Dean
gave the Dean Boulevard,
and Thomas Lowry gave a
large part of the Parade, be
sides funds for improve
ments in which he was
joined by William H. Dunwoody, Charles J. Martin
and others.
There have
also been many other gifts
of property. Of buildings
or improvements there have
not been so many gifts. The
most notable is that of the
pavilion in Loring Park,
presented to the city by C.
M. Loring.
Of all the gifts, however,
those of personal service
have been the most import
ant. Many men have given
time and expert abilities in
park work absolutely with
out compensation and to
some extent without recog
nition. It is not generally
known at this day how much
was done for the park sys
tem by Dorilus Morrison,
who was an active business
man and influential in the
handling of large projects,
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
when the park board was created. George
Brackett's work was invaluable: that
in connection with the acquisition of Min
nehaha Park alone should entitle him to
honor. Col. William S. King gave not only
land in most generous measure,, but time
and influence, although not a member of
the park board. It has fallen to .the lot
of Dr. W. W. Folwell to give the longest
service on the park board—eighteen years—
during seven of which he was president.
A man of conspicuous ability and the most
cultivated tastes, he has been a strong and
refining influence. Charles M. Loring, for
many years the recognized apostle of civic
beauty in Minneapolis, has given more than
generously of time and expert work to the
park system. He was president of the
board from 1883 to 1894. The universal
recognition of his life-long devotion to the
Minneapolis parks has been given perma
nence through the naming of Loring Park
in his honor.
Long service has been characteristic of
the park work. J. A. Ridgway has been
secretary of the board for many years;
W. M. Berry was superintendent for two
decades and Frank H. Nutter engineer
for a like period. Mr. Berry's work for the
park system was notable.
With pro
nounced executive ability he handled all the
original park improvements and built many
miles of excellent drives at an astonishingly
low cost.
Theodore Wirth, the present
superintendent, is a man of lifelong experi
ence in park management.
The officers and commissioners in 1908
are as follows: Jesse E. Northrup, presi
dent; Wilbur F. Decker, vice-president; J,
A. Ridgway, secretary; Chelsea J. Rockwood, attorney; Theodore Wirth, superin
tendent; P. D. Boutell, Daniel W. Jones,
Fred L. Smith, J. W. Allan, Chas. O. John
son, E. J. Phelps, AVilliam McMillan, Mil
ton O. Nelson, Charles A. Nimocks, Carl F.
E. Peterson; ex-officio members, J. C.
Haynes, mayor; John H. VanNest and
Piatt B. Walker, chairmen council commit
tees.
The park system now comprises nearly
2,000 acres (including two large lakes), and
over thirty miles of drives in parkways.
487
The value of lands - and improvements
based on original cost is over $4,000,000.
Acquisitions now in process of comple
tion, or contemplated, will add several more
large lakes and hundreds of acres of beauti
ful park lands. The system includes a gen
eral plan of medium sized neighborhood
parks scattered throughout the city, a large
central park (Loring Park), and leading
from this center a system of parkways and
boulevards skirting the lakes, Minnehaha
creek and the picturesque gorge of the Mis
sissippi river and connecting several large
outlying parks. It is the purpose to com
plete this system so as to surround the city
with parkways linking charming parks. No
other city has in its park system three of
Nature's choicest gifts—lakes, waterfalls
and a picturesque river gorge.
THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.
. -
The Minneapolis public library grew out
of the. old Athenaeum, a private library
founded in i860. The first meeting looking
to the establishment of a library was held
on May 16, 1859, and two days later the
Young Men's Library Association was
formed with David Charlton as president
and Thomas Hale Williams librarian. The
name was soon changed to the Minneapolis
Athenaeum and in August, 1859, the first
purchase of books—sixty-eight volumes,
costing $106.38—was made. In i860 the
Athenaeum was incorporated with Judge E.
S. Jones president and Mr. Williams, sec
retary and librarian, and at the close of the
year the institution owned. 450. books. In
ten years the library had increased to ,2,269
volumes and the stockholders numbered
200. At this time—1870—Dr. Kirby Spen
cer died, leaving the Athenaeum, the larger
part of his property. Although not a large
bequest at the time, the property has so in
creased in value as to make a very import
ant endowment. The institution had in the
meantime put up a building and was well
established, though it remained a private li
brary. The need of a public library was so
manifest that in 1877 T. B. Walker secured
a revision of the plans of the Athenaeum,
materially reducing the cost of using the li
brary and making the reading rooms free
to the public.
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
488
The growth of the city, however, caused
a demand for something larger and more
absolutely free to the public, and after some
discussion the Athenaeum directors joined
with other citizens in promoting the public
library, and in 1885 an act was passed cre
ating the library board and authorizing the
erection of a building. It was provided
that of the $150,000 contemplated as an
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sity, ex-officio. Mr. Walker was elected
president and Mr. Johnson secretary. A11
arrangement was then consummated with
the Athenaeum by which it was to transfer
all its books to the public library for the
free use of the public, the library to care
for the books and to pay all expenses, while
the funds of the Athenaeum should be de
voted solely to the purchase of books. This
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THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER GORGE.
The park system includes both banks of the Mississippi river for some miles.
expenditure, $50,000 should be raised by
public subscription. This was done, the
Athenaeum heading the list with $8,000 and
T. P>. Walker, C. A. Pillsbury & Co., Thom
as Lowry, W. D. Washburn, Clinton Mor
rison, C. G. Goodrich, W. S. King, and J.
Dean subscribing $5,000 each, while many
other public spirited people provided the
remainder. The first board under the la\*
was composed of Thomas Lowry, M. B.
Ivoon, John B. Atwater, Sven Oftedal, T.
B. Walker and E. M. Johnson, together with
the mayor, the president of the board of
education, and the president of the univer-
was a most fortunate arrangement for the
new public library. It gave it a large ini
tial collection of books and assured a con
stant purchase of reference works and other
publications which might not have been
possible with only the ordinary public funds
at command. It has enabled the librarians
to build up both the reference and the more
popular departments with very unusual in
dependence.
The library building when completed and
furnished in 1889 cost with the site more
than $330,000, and it has since been en
larged. It is a very handsome building,
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
489
well lighted, and fully equipped for all the apolis has always been the county seat and
departments of library work. Besides the as the years have passed the rapid develop
public library and Athenaeum collections the ment of the city has made its history sub
building houses the Academy of Natural stantially that of Hennepin county. In the
Sciences with its extensive museum, the half century many prominent citizens of
Minneapolis School of Fine Arts and a Minneapolis have served the county in one
large art collection. When opened in 1889 way or another. The names of those in the
the library contained 30,000 volumes. It legal profession will be found in the chap
now has over 165,000. There are more ter on Courts and Lawyers.
In the early days the duties of the regis
than 50,000 borrowers and an average of
2,000 books are issued daily. Six branches ter and county auditor were performed by
and ten delivery stations serve outlying dis the former officer and Col. Stevens, Geo. E.
tricts.
Huey, Chas. G. Ames, and other of the pio
The first librarian was Herbert Putnam, neers filled the office with satisfaction. Honow librarian of congress, to whom the in bart O. Hamlin and Harlow A. Gale were
stitution is much indebted for careful foun among the earlier auditors. For county
dation work and organization. After his treasurer the people elected such men as
resignation in 1892, Dr. James K. Hosmer Allen Harmon, David Morgan, Joseph Dean,
was appointed and brought to the post O. B. King, Jesse G. Jones, and W. W.
scholarly attainments of a high order. In Huntington. Franklin Cook and G. W.
1904 he resigned to devote himself exclu Cooley were well known names on the list
sively to literary work, and Miss Gratia of surveyors. The leading county officers
Countryman, who had been a most capable since 1900 have been: Auditors, C. J.
assistant, was appointed to the position, Minor, Hugh R. Scott; registers of deeds,
which she still fills. Mr. Walker has re David G. Gorham, George C. Merrill, A. W.
mained for more than twenty years a mem Skog; sheriffs, Philip T. Megaarden, J. W.
ber of the library board and its president; Dreger; treasurers, A. W. Hastings, D. C.
and many men of ability have served on the Bell, Chas. W. Johnson, Henry C. Hanke;
board. The present library board is com surveyors, Geo. W. Cooley, Wm. E. Stoopes,
posed of T. B. Walker, president; Lettie , Frank W. Haycock.
M. Crafts, secretary; S. C. Gale, Jacob
POSTOFFICE.
'
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Stone, Frank H. Carlton; ex-officio, James
C. Haynes, mayor; C. J. Bintliff, president
AVhen Col. Stevens built his,house on the
of the board of education; Cyrus Northrop, present site of Minneapolis, there were but
president University of Minnesota.
three mail routes in ;; the territory of Minne
sota, and the. nearest postoffice was at Fort
HENNEPIN COUNTY.
Snelling. Letters and papers were usually
The official life of Hennepin county has received once a week and in winter the Col
always been very closely connected with onel was well pleased if he received his
that of the city, as in much of the county mail as often as that. In 1851 a postoffice
business, of course, the city has the largest was established at St. Anthony with Ard
interest. Hennepin county was organized Godfrey as postmaster and a weekly mail
in 1852, when it was set off from Dakota service from St. Paul; but during the next
county by the territorial legislature. The year an order came from Washington, di
first election, which was held in Col. Ste recting that St. Anthony be given a service
vens' house, was the only unanimous elec three times a week.
tion ever held in the county. Among the
The first postoffice on the west side was
candidates were these familiar names: Reg established in the spring of 1854 in a small
ister of deeds, John H. Stevens; judge of store building near the river bank, on what
probate, Joel P>. Bassett; surveyor, Charles is now High Street, and during the follow
W. Christmas; assessors, Eli Pettijohn, Ed ing summer a daily mail was at last estab
win Hedderly and Wm. Chambers. Minne lished. Dr, H. Fletcher was the first post-
490
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
master and h i s
first quarterly re
port states that
t h e postage re
ceipts f o r t h e
three
months
amounted to just
$5.95.
With in
creasing business
the postoffice
moved to Wash
ington avenue, be
tween Fifth and
Sixth a v e n u e s
south, and from
t i m e to t i m e
found new quar
ters i 11 various
parts of the town
until 1874, when
space was secured
in the then new
city hall.
This
l e a s e was for
twenty years, but
the quarters were
much too small
before the expira
tion of that time
Till'] MINNEAPOLIS POST OFFICE BUILDING.
and part of the
ground floor of
the Boston Block at Third street and Hen Wm. D. Hale. Deputy postmaster T. E.
nepin avenue was occupied in 1882.
Hughes has occupied that position for many
Agitation for a federal building was com years having large responsibility in the con
menced in 1 8 7 9 and in 1882 the site at First duct of the office.
avenue south and Third street was pur
The business of the post office has devel
chased and a building commenced but was oped from receipts of $138.71 in its first year
not completed until 1 8 8 9 and by that time to $1 ,527,146.60 in 1907.
was already outgrown. In 1 9 0 7 the pur
chase of a site for a~ new building was com
BRACKETT, George A. } a citizen of Minne
pleted. This is the entire square bounded
apolis for more than fifty years, is a native of
by Washington and Second street and Sec Maine. He was born at Calais on September 16,
ond and Third avenues south, but as yet 1836, the son of Henry H. Brackett, a mechanic,
no definite plans for building have been who was descended from English ancestors. He
was the second of a large family of children and
consummated.
The post masters following Dr. Fletcher
have been: Dr. A. E. Ames, C. Wilcox, S.
Hidden, W. P. Ankeny, D. Morgan, Daniel
Bassett, W. W. McNair, Cyrus Aldrich, Dr.
George II. Keith, O. M. Laraway, John J.
/uikeny and the present incumbent Maj.
was obliged to devote most of his time during
his boyhood to such work as a boy could do to
assist in the support of the family thereby pre
venting an education he so much desired. The
boy grew up with the qualities of self-reliance,
industry, perseverance and courage which were to
serve him in good stead during a life in which
schooling was to count but little beside char-
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SWEET, PHOTO
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492
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
acter and natural ability. When nearly twentyundertaken in 1885, Mr. Brackett was made one of
one he determined to come west and arrived in
the first board of directors and was particularly
Minneapolis at the same time as his boyhood's
active and efficient in the work of construction
acquaintance, William D. Washburn. He first
of the immense building which was completed
obtained employment in a butcher shop and then
in a wonderfully short time. In the early sixties
upon the new dam and in the next spring opened
he was called to serve in the village council and
a meat store of his own. His success was not
for years thereafter was almost continuously in
marked at first but his experience in handling
municipal office—an alderman in the first city
meats opened the way for contracts for the supcouncil, promoter of the water works, sewer
ply of the troops when the war broke out. While
system, fire department (and chief of the latter
engaged in supplying Gen. H. H. Sibley's comdepartment for years), mayor, member of the
mand during the Indian outbreak of 1862, Mr.
park board—always at the forefront of what was
Brackett nearly lost his life in an attack by tne
of most importance and interest at the moment.
Indians in North Dakota and, separated from
To him Minneapolis owes the organization of its
the command, spent five days alone on the plains, fire
department and in great measure its park
walking two hundred and twenty-five miles before
system. When chosen mayor in 1873 Mr. Brackett
rejoining the troops. After the close of the war
made such a vigorous campaign against vice
Mr. Brackett engaged in flour milling, first as
that the city was unable to live up to its opporpartner in the firm of Eastman & Gibson and
tunities thus offered and at the next election reafterwards with W. S. Judd as Judd & Brackett,
lapsed ino a less strenuous policy. Of all his
purchasing the Cataract mill and leasing the new
efforts for the park system nothing was more
Washburn mill in 1867. As the latter was the
important than his work in raising $100,000 at a
largest mill in the west the firm was for the time
critical time in the struggle to acquire Minnethe most prominent in the city. Mr. Brackett's
haha park, securing the tract for the city at the
bent was, however, for large constructive work
moment when it appeared to be lost forever. He
and he welcomed the opportunity in 1869 to take
served on the park board for six years from the
charge of the Northern Pacific Railroad reconoriginal formation of the board in 1883. Early in
naissance under Governor J. Gregory Smith,
the eighties Mr. Brackett was largely instrumental
president of the road. This expedition fitted out in
in organizing the Associated Charities and served
Minneapolis and traveled westward over the plains
as its president for many years and is still vice
to the big bend of the Missouri. Such a satisfacpresident. This was only one direction in which
tory impression of the country was obtained that
the wise charitableness of the man found practical
construction was determined upon and Mr.
exercise; of the many acts of helpfulness of a
Brackett's intimate knowledge of the country and
long lifetime there is no record. His particular
local conditions enabled him with others to make fitness
for such work led Governor Merriam to
a bid which secured the contract for the first two
appoint him to the state board, of charities and
hundred and forty miles from Duluth to the
corrections on which he served for some years.
Red river. Associated with him in this work
After the panic of 1893 Mr. Brackett found his
were W. D. Washburn, Col. W. S. King, W. W.
resources crippled and the accumulations of a
Eastman, Dorilus Morrison and others. It was
life of hard work largely dissipated. He went to
the beginning of ten years largely devoted to rail^
Alaska determined to make a new start in the
road building in which Mr. Brackett had a hand
new country. At Skaguay he became interested
in the construction work on some of the main
in the project of transporation over the mountains
northwestern roads. Through all this time and in
and was the means of demonstrating, through the
later years Mr. Brackett had many other business
construction of a wagon road, the possibility of
interests' in the city and also found time for work
a railroad. Overcoming tremendous engineering
for the public and for those private works of
difficulties and in the face of bitter opposition and
charity and friendliness which made his name
financial and political trickery, he completed the
synonymous for helpfulness. While still a very
wagon road and, though losing heavily in the end,
young man Mr. Brackett began to take a hand in
had the satisfaction of the acknowledgment by
the public affairs of the city and it soon came
the great Canadian and American constructionists
about that if a distinguished guest visited MinHenry Villard, James J. Hill, Sir William Van
neapolis Mr. Brackett was, as a matter of course,
Home and others—that he had accomplished
called upon to arrange the proceedings, get up
more in building the wagon road than the rail^
the program and perchance pass the subscription
road people did in building a steam road after
paper. From the time of the welcoming of the
the wagon road had demonstrated the possibilireturning soldiers after the war to the great
ties. Mr. Brackett also took a prominent, part
Harvest Festival of 1891, Mr. Brackett was the
in the Alaskan boundary fight and is credited with
acknowledged and unquestioned leader of all such
having done more for the retention of the confestivities. Into such undertakings as official
tested territory than any other man. Returning
work he threw himself with the utmost ento Minneapolis in 1905 Mr. Brackett established
thusiasm, and was not satisfied unless everyone
himself at his beautiful Minnetonka home, Orono,
else was working at the same high pressure as
which he purchased many years ago, and is dehimself. When the Minneapolis Exposition was
voting himself to his private affairs and to the
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
business of the Lakewood Cemetery association
with which he has been connected as a trustee
since its organization. For many years he has
been a member of Plymouth Congregational
church. He was married in 1858 to Anna M.
Hoit. They have had ten children, of whom six
sons and one daughter are now living. Mrs.
Brackett died in 1891. Although seventy-two
years of age Mr. Brackett is a vigorous man,
quite as enthusiastic as ever about Minneapolis,
ready if need be to take up any worthy work for
the city he loves, and as proud of the achieve
ments of the present time as when he was in the
forefront of every undertaking. No man is more
highly regarded and as one of his successors in
the Mayor's chair said, not long ago: "He is dear
to the hearts of the people of Minneapolis, for
what he has been, and for what he is."
BROWN, Daniel Chester, (Dan C. Brown),
city comptroller of Minneapolis, was born in
this city, on March 12, 1861. His parents, Charles
Daniel and Henrietta Sophia Brown, were of that
sturdy Maine stock which sent so many recruits
to the Revolution. Seven of the ancestors on the
Brown side enlisted from Edgcomb, Maine, where
the original family lived for many generations.
Charles Daniel Brown was a carriage maker and
is still, having been in business since 1857. The
DAN C. BKOWN.
493
present comptroller learned his father's trade at
intervals during his school years, which began
in what was called the "old White school"—now
used as a dwelling house, and situated just north
of the Marcy school, on Fifth street southeast.
From there he went to the Marcy, and later spent
a term and a half at the Central high, which was
his last public school experience. For some time
after leaving the high school he worked at his
trade, taking a course at business college also.
About 1881 Mr. Brown was appointed to a posi
tion in the water works department, serving in
that department in various capacities for eighteen
years, the latter half of this time as assistant
registrar. In 1899 he resigned to try a year of
private business life, but went back to office again
with Hugh R. Scott, serving as deputy county
auditor from 1900 to 1903. In 1904 a new sys
tem of accounting was adopted by the city, and
Mr. Brown, having recently resigned from the
auditor's office and taken a position with the city
comptroller, was given charge of the new method.
The comptroller's term expiring soon after, Mr.
Brown was elected to the vacancy in 1904 and
commenced his term on Jan. 1, 1905. His official
record thus far has added more testimony to the
efficiency of the old time belief in a practical busi
ness experience as a training for boys. In poli
tics he has always been an active republican.
He is a member of the Masonic and Odd Fellow
fraternities, of the Minneapolis Commercial Club,
the St. Anthony Commercial Club and of the
Native Sons of Minnesota. Soon after Capt.
Naylor's company v was organized in the First
Minnesota N. G. A., Mr. Brown enlisted and was
discharged as corporal three years later. He was
married August 1, 1889, to Grace Winifred Newland, of New York, and has one daughter. The
church membership of the family is Episcopalian.
CALDERWOOD, Willis Greenleaf, was born
at Fox Lake, Wisconsin, on July 25, 1866. His
perents were John Calderwood and Emily B.
(Greenleaf) Calderwood, his father being a Wesleyan Methodist preacher.
His mother was
descended from the earliest Puritan families that
settled in New England, while his father was a
native of Scotland. Mr. Calderwood's early life
was spent in Wisconsin and Iowa, and being of
a practical nature, his mind turned early to
sources of revenue, and when seven years of age
he earned his first wages herding cows. He
steadily increased his income, until at the age
of fourteen he was able to support himself.
When sixteen years old he came to Minnesota
and entered the Wesleyan Methodist School at
Wasioja, Dodge county, graduating, from that in
stitution in 1886. Then for four years he taught
school in Dakota, and in 1890 obtained a position
as instructor in a commercial college in this city.
In 1894, however, he laid aside this work to
assume the responsibilities of the agency depart
ment and assistant secretary of the Northwest
ern Life Association, for whom he had been
494
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
married in 1892 to Miss Alice M. Cox, the
daughter of the Rev. Charles Cox, a Wesleyan
Methodist preacher. Mrs. Calderwood is actively
interested in her husband's work.
CANTERBURY, James Rudolph, chief of the
fire department of Minneapolis, is of English
and German descent. His father, John David
Canterbury, is of English parentage though his
mother had German blood in her veins. Mr. Can
terbury, Sr., was by trade a stationery engineer,
served with the Federal troops in the Civil War
for three and a half years and lived at Pomeroy,
Ohio. He was married to Harriet Stanley, a
daughter of old American families on both
sides. James Rudolph was born on March 15,
1858, at Pomeroy, Ohio, and in that town he
passed his early life and attended the common
schools until he was fifteen years of age. He
then left school to begin a business career and
found employment with the New Cumberland
Towboat Company of Cumberland, W. Va., and
was connected with that firm until he was twenty
years old. At that time the Mississippi river
steamboat traffic was at its height and Mr. Can
terbury for a time was lamp trimmer, watchman
and mate on a line of boats that made the river
run between Pittsburg, St. Louis, and New Or
leans. In 1878 he entered a position with the
Belcher Sugar Refinery at St. Louis, resigning his
WILLIS G. CALDHRWOOD
^gent the preceding year. Mr. Calderwood had
been active in prohibition work while in school,
and in 1888 was chairman of the non-partisan
prohibition association in his judicial district, in
the North Dakota amendment campaign, and
from 1893 was secretary of the Hennepin county
prohibition committee. In 1896 he was elected
assistant secretary of the state prohibition com
mittee, and the following year received the office
of secretary, the duties of which he assumed in
1898, when he severed his connections with the
Northwestern Life Association. He still has the
management of the affairs of the state commit
tee and conducts ,the campaigns for the prohi
bition party. Mr. Calderwood originated the
"legislative" plan of the campaign by which the
vote of the prohibition party was greatly in
creased and three men sent to the legislature and
one elected sheriff, something never accom
plished by the party before. He was also a can
didate in 1904 and 1906 for the legislature in the
thirty-ninth district. He was elected secretary
of the Prohibition National Committee in 1904,
and still holds' the position. Mr. Calderwood has
during his public career often been a speaker and
writer on various reform subjects—prohibition,
public ownership, the referendum, equal suffrage,
and similar questions of the day. He attends the
First Methodist Church in this city, in which he
fills an official position. Mr. Calderwood was
JAMES R. CANTERBURY.
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
office in 1882 to come to Minneapolis and engage
in the making of barrels, buying stock in the Co
operative Barrel Manufacturing Company. On
May 1, 1883, he was appointed to the fire de
partment of this city and for twelve years was
connected with the sendee. He began in the ca
pacity of pipeman with chemical engine No. 1,
being transferred on February 26, 1886, to hose
No. 5, and the captaincy of engine No. 6 on De
cember 8, 1887. He was appointed second assist
ant chief engineer on January 9, 1891, and held
that office until February 1, 1895, when he re
signed from the department. Shortly after this
on June 20, of the same year, he was assistant
boiler inspector and was in that position for sev
eral years. In 1900 he was made chief of the
department and has filled the position with ability
and fidelity. Mr. Canterbury is a republican in
politics and a member of several political organi
zations. He is a member of the Commercial
Club, and of the Masonic order, Minneapolis No.
19, Blue Lodge; St. John Chapter, Royal Arch;
Zion Commandry, Knights Templar; Minneapolis
No. 2; the Nicollet Lodge No. 16, A. O. LI. W.,
and Minnehaha Council 1160, R. A. He is presi
dent of the Fireman's Relief Association, and
vice president of the international association of
chief engineers of fire departments. In 1883 Mr.
Canterbury was married to Miss Lizzie Plumer
Hanscom, of Minneapolis and has two children,
Ethel May, and James Ralph. The family attends
the Methodist church.
CLARK, E. William, was born July 4, i860,
at Cannon Falls, Minnesota, son of Elijah
and Mary (Wright) Clark, who were pio
neers in Goodhue county in the Territor
ial' days, settling in Cannon Falls in 1856.
His father served four years in the army
during the Civil war, being a member of
Company F., Eighth Minnesota. The last nine
months of his service was as first lieutenant of a
colored regiment. Mr. Clark spent the first twen
ty-one years of his life at Cannon Falls and
graduated from the high school at that place. He
entered the dry goods business at Cannon Falls
and subsequently was in the same business in
Fargo,
North
Dakota,
for
three
years.
Since 1884, Mr. Clark has resided in Min
neapolis, where he has been engaged in
the coal business.
Mr. Clark is a life
long republican and is serving his second
term as alderman of the eighth ward. He is one
of the official members of the Simpson Methodist
Episcopal Church. He is also a member of the
Masonic fraternity. On August 31, 1887, he was
married to Alice Ada Kingston, of Northfield,
Minnesota, and they have four children—Ada,
Mary, Richard and Agnes.
COMSTOCK, Edgar F., a resident of Min
neapolis since 1866, is a native of Passadumkeag,
Maine, where he was born on March 4, 1845. He
was the son of James Madison and Louisa M.
495
Comstock—the father a lumberman, town officer
and member of the state legislature—paths of en
deavor and service which the son was destined to
follow. The common school education of a coun
try boy in Maine was cut short for Edgar F. by
the breaking out of the Civil War. At the age
of seventeen he enlisted as a private in Com
pany A of the First Maine Cavalry and partici
pated in several battles before December, 1863,
when his term of enlistment ended. In March,
1865, he re-enlisted in the Seventeenth Maine
Infantry and served until mustered out at the
close of the war. Soon afterwards he came to
Minneapolis and engaged in the lumber business.
His forty years of residence in the city have been
evenly divided between lumbering and railroad
contracting, the latter business being taken up
in 1886. During his long residence in the city
Mr. Comstock has taken a lively interest in pub
lic affairs and has served the municipality and
state in many capacities. In 1882 he was elected
to the city council—the first
republican ever
elected to office from the First Ward of Minne
apolis. During his service in the council he was
chairman of the committee on roads and bridges
for three years and ex-officio member of the park
board for two years. In 1886 he was elected to
the state legislature and commenced a long serv
ice to the state, serving in the lower house in
1887, 1889 and 1893 and in the senate in 1903 and
1905. Mr. Comstock was appointed on the Min
neapolis Court House and City Hall Commission
upon its creation and served as chairman of the
construction committee from 1889 until the com
pletion of the building in 1906. During his coun
cil and legislative service Mr. Comstock took an
active part in the establishment of the Minne
apolis "patrol limits" system and in the passage
of the high license law. Mr. Comstock was mar
ried on June 28, 1868, to Miss Mary Hacking of
Greenbush, Maine. They have three sons, Rob
ert M., James M., and Edgar F., Jr.,—all of them
residents of Minneapolis. Mr. Comstock is a
member of Chase Post, G. A. R and of the St.
Anthony Commercial Club.
CONDIT, Lannes A., son of Benjamin Frank
lin Condit, was born on March 17, 1849, at Ad
rian, Michigan. He spent his early life in Adrian
and began his education in the public schools of
that place. After completing his preparatory
studies he entered Ann Arbor College. It was
not his desire, however, to take up a professional
career, so he took an accountant's course in the
Mayhew Business College at Mayhew, Michigan,
to prepare himself for commercial life. On Au
gust 21, 1873, he came to Minneapolis from Adri
an and secured a position with Barnard Bros. &
Cope, the well known furniture manufacturers of
this city. He remained with that firm for two
years and in May, 1877, he entered the office of
auditor of Hennepin county where he remained for
thirteen years, nine as deputy auditor and from
1887 to 1890 as auditor of Hennepin county. He
496
A H A L F CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
then became secretary and manager of the Moore
Carving Machine Company. In 1 8 9 8 he again
became deputy auditor and held the position until
1 9 0 5 when he accepted the position of assistant
city comptroller of Minneapolis and still holds
that office. Mr. Condit has been in the employ
of. the county and city except as above stated
since the year 1 8 7 7 and has fulfilled the duties of
his office with marked ability. Mr. Condit is a
member of the Masonic fraternity and is a past
master of Minneapolis Lodge, No. 19. He at
tends the Fifth Avenue Congregational Church.
On April 2 5 , 1875, Mr. Condit was married to
Miss Anna L. Pinkham and they have three
Gjiildren—Irving L. now in the glove business in
Seattle, Mrs. Jessie F. Baird, and Edythe who
lives with her parents.
COOLEY, George W., state engineer and
secretary of the highway commission of the stateof Minnesota, was born in New York City in
1845. His common school education was supple
mented by a course at Cooper Institute where
he laid the foundation for his professional work,
completing his training for the engineering pro
fession in practical work as assistant on railroad
surveys. H e came to Minneapolis in 1 8 6 4 and
at once found employment with the St. Paul and
Pacific Railroad, now the Great Northern, which
was just commencing its survey for the great
system west of the Mississippi. Mr. Cooley was
assistant engineer of the surveying party and
drove the first stake west of the Mississippi river
for a line which has since been extended to the
Pacific coast. H e was the first locating and con
struction engineer on the eastern end of the
Northern Pacific Railroad, having commenced
that work on February 15, 1870, after which he
had charge of preliminary surveys and was suc
ceeded on location and construction work by
General Rosser. In 1 8 8 4 he was elected alder
man from the Eighth Ward of Minneapolis and
gave the city the benefit of his abilities; originated
the underground electric system for the city and
secured the passage of the ordinance in the coun
cil. Mr. Cooley was also one of the promoters
of the patrol limits system, perhaps the most
practical and popular method of restricting the
liquor traffic ever devised in an American city.
In 1 8 9 8 Mr. Cooley was elected county surveyor
of Hennepin county and was re-elected in 1900,
1 9 0 2 and 1904.
After serving in that office for
seven years he became state engineer and secre
tary of the state highway commission, which
office he still occupies. During the entire period
of his residence in Minnesota, when not engaged
in railroad or government engineering, he has
conducted a general surveying and engineering
office in Minneapolis. Mr. Cooley was married
in 1 8 7 2 to a daughter of the late R. E. Grimshaw
and has six children. He is prominent in the
Masonic order and is a member of various local
organizations and county, state and national Good
Roads Associations.
CONKEY, James Henry, a pioneer of Minne
sota and a resident of Minneapolis from 1872
until his death in 1908, was born at Plattsburg,
New York, December 2 5 , 1820, the son of Lucius
Conkey and Phebe (Townsend) Conkey. H e re
ceived his education in the common schools and
fitted himself to become a civil engineer in
which capacity he was employed on the Vermont
Central railroad as early as 1846. About 1 8 5 0 he
moved to Burlington, Wisconsin, and laid the
first track of the Milwaukee & St. Paul rail
way between Milwaukee and Waukesha. During
the following year he laid track on the Cincin
nati, Hamilton & Dayton railway in Ohio. Mr.
Conkey moved to Minnesota in 1864 and traveled
from Mendota to Faribault with his family over
the Minnesota Central railway (now the Chi
cago, Milwaukee & St. Paul) on the first pas
senger train to enter Faribault.
In his new
home Mr. Conkey was interested in flour mill
ing. In 1 8 7 2 he moved to Minneapolis and en
tered the planing mill business. He was for
many years the proprietor of the Union planing
mills conducting a large and prosperous business
but in 1894, when seventy-four years of age he
retired to enjoy well earned leisure. Mr. Conkey
was an alderman of Minneapolis in 1876 and
1877. He was chairman of the committee on
roads and bridges and was sent to New York to
buy wire for the construction of the second sus
pension bridge which preceded the present steel
JAMES H. CONKEY
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
arch bridge. In his youth while conducting a
railroad survey in Vermont his lines ran across
the farm of Seth Langdon and by chance he
met one of Mr. Langdon's daughters, Martha
A. Langdon, a sister of the late Robert B.
Langdon of Minneapolis, and this acquaintance
was followed by their marriage in 1848. They
had four children of whom the oldest son,
Frank L. Conkey, is buried at Khartoum,
Africa, while Robert Bruce and Emma L. Conkey died at Minneapolis. His only surviving
child, Mrs. George H. Warren, has long been a
resident of Minneapolis and Mr. Conkey died at
her home on April n , 1 9 0 8 . He is survived by
Mrs. Conkey.
CORRISTON, Frank T., superintendent of
police of Minneapolis, is a native of Minnesota,
born on February 1 0 , 1 8 6 8 , at St. Peter. He re
mained in the town of his birth till he was four
teen years of age, attending the public schools.
The family moved to Minneapolis at that time,
and here Mr. Corriston completed his prepara
tory training including the study of shorthand
and entered the Law School of the University of
Minnesota with the class of 1 8 9 0 . He finished
his studies in that year and received an LL. B.
degree. He had previously read law in the offices
of Wilson & Lawrence of this city from 1 8 8 7 to
1 8 8 9 , and on March 1 4 t h of the latter year was
admitted to the bar of Hennepin county. Fol
lowing his admission to the bar he began to prac
tice and in 1 8 9 3 formed a partnership with James
W. Lawrence and Hiram C. Truesdale, as Law
rence, Truesdale & Corriston, and practiced as
one of that firm until 1 8 9 6 when Mr. Truesdale
was appointed Chief Justice of Arizona. With
his departure from the city the partnership was
dissolved. Shortly afterward, on January 4, 1897,
Colonel Corriston was appointed the official court
stenographer for the Hon. David F. Simpson,
District Judge of Hennepin county, and with the
exception of eighteen months spent in the Philip
pines, he held that office until January 7, 1907.
On that date he was appointed by Mayor James
C. Haynes, to the office of Superintendent of
Police of Minneapolis, a position for . which his
experience with the National Guard and his police
and court duties in Manila, as well as his legal
training here, give him exceptional qualifications.
As Captain of Company I, Thirteenth Minnesota
Volunteers, he went to the Philippines, arriving
there July 3 1 s t , 1 8 9 8 , where he was stationed at
Manila until the return of the regiment to the
United States on September 7 , 1 8 9 9 ; and was
mustered out of the service on October 3, 1899.
Soon after his arrival he was detailed on duty
with the Provost Guard of Manila and for seven
months was detailed as Judge of the Provost
Court. Since his return he has again become
active in the National Guard and at present ranks
as Lieutenant Colonel of the First Regiment,
with which he has served since April 14, 1889.
He is a member of the Armory Board of this
city and was largely instrumental in securing the
497
new Armory for Minneapolis. Colonel Corriston
is a democrat in his political beliefs, and has
taken an active interest in party matters. He was
secretary of the democratic Congressional Com
mittee when James W. Lawrence was candidate
for Congress in 1 8 9 2 , and in 1 9 0 0 was himself the
democratic nominee for special judge of Munici
pal Court. He is affiliated with a number of the
fraternal and social societies, being a member of
the Masonic Order, Khurum Lodge, Ark Chapter
of which he is a Past High Priest; of the Min
neapolis Mounted Commandery of Knights Temp
lar; of the Elks; the Royal Arcanum and the
Native Sons of Minnesota. He is also a mem
ber and, past commander of A. R. Patterson Camp
No. 1, Army of the Philippines and past State
Commander of the Minnesota Society, Army of
the Philippines. Mr. Corriston was married 011
May 1, 1 8 9 8 , to Miss Lela E. Benham, and they
have one child, a daughter.
COUNTRYMAN, Gratia Alta, librarian of the
public library, was born in Hastings, Minnesota,
in 1 8 6 6 . Her father was an early settler in Dakota
County, having preempted a homestead there in
1854.
Miss Countryman attended the public
schools of Hastings and graduated from the High
School there in 1 8 8 2 and from the University of
Minnesota in 1 8 8 9 . After graduation at the
University and holding the deserved honor of
membership in the Phi Beta Kappa Society, she
entered without delay upon what has proved to be
her life-work in the service of the Public Library,
which" at that period may be said to have been
in the formative phase of efficient organization.
Mr. Herbert Putman, who is now librarian of the
library of congress at Washington, was bringing
order out of something akin to chaos, and Miss
Countryman, who had an instinctive love of sys
tem and is skilled in bibliography, which includes
the topical arrangement of books, showed. her
adaption so soon that she was made head catalog
uer at the end of the first year of her work.
When Dr. James K. Hosmer became librarian,
after Herbert Putman left Minneapolis, Miss
Countryman's abilities were recognized by her
appointment as assistant librarian, a position
which she filled with great efficiency until Dr.
Hosmer resigned in 1 9 0 4 . Since then Miss Coun
tryman has performed the responsible duties
of librarian to which position she was appointed
after the retirement of Dr. Hosmer. She has
held the position of Councellor and vice president
of the American Library Association. She was
also responsible for the passage of an act creat
ing the Minnesota State Library Commission, and
has held an appointment on that board since its
creation.
' DAHL, John F., first assistant county attor
ney of Hennepin county, is a native of Bergen,
Norway," where he was born on January 22, 1870.
He was the son of Andrew Dahl and Wilhelmina
Cedergren Dahl. When he was only six months
of age his parents came to America and settled
498
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
in Minneapolis, and it was in this city that Mr.
Dahl spent most of his boyhood. He received
his education in the Minneapolis public schools
and in Gustavus Adolphus College at St. Peter,
Minnesota, and after graduation from the latter
institution took the academic and law course at
the University of Minnesota. Upon graduating
from the university in 1892 he at once commenced
the practice of his profession in Minneapolis. He
had a taste for politics and being a good public
speaker soon became prominent in local republi
can party activities. In 1894 he was elected to the
state legislature from the thirty-second district
and served during the legislative session of 1895,
being the youngest member of the house that
year. In 1896 he was re-elected to the legislature
on the ticket with Judge Henry G. Hicks, Judge
Willard R. Cray and Hans Simonson. Upon the
election of Al. J. Smith as county attorney in
1905 Mr. Dahl was appointed first assistant and
was re-appointed at the beginning of the year
1907. During his service for the county Mr. Dahl
has conducted some of the most important prose
cutions, notably the proceedings against the former
officers of the Northwestern National Life Insur
ance Company. He has been very successful in
handling all public business entrusted to him, and
has won a reputation as a competent prosecutor.
Mr. Dahl was a member of the Theta Delta Chi
fraternity at the University and is now in the
leading clubs and societies of Minneapolis, in
cluding the Odin Club and the Apollo Club. His
tastes are musical and besides singing in the
last "mentioned organization he is musical director
in the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church.
Mr. Dahl was married to Miss Sophia Skjerdingstad of Minneapolis and they have one child, a
son, Theodore.
DREGER,' J. William, was born March 23,
1846, at Bergholtz, Niagara county, New York,
son of John W. and Louisa Dreger. The father
was a farmer and both parejits came from Pasewold, near Stettin, Pomerania, Germany, in 1843,
and settled in Bergholtz, New York. The son
attended the German Lutheran parochial school
until he was fourteen years old (his parents were
strict Lutherans) and for three years thereafter
he studied at Martin Luther College in Buffalo,
New York. In 1863 he taught a German school in
Walmore, Niagara county, New York, and then
was a salesman in a retail lumb-er yard in Buffalo.
After coming to Minneapolis he was a salesman
and surveyor in lumber yards in 1868-69. He
was a member of the firm of 1L. Eichorn & Sons
from 1887 to 1902. He served as president of the
Board of Arbitration and Conciliation in 1900 and
1901 and, on March 10, 1902, was appointed sher
iff of Hennepin county to which office he was
elected in that year and reelected in 1904 and
again in 1906. When Mr. Dreger was appointed
sheriff in 1902, the fee system was abolished and a
fixed salary system followed making many im
portant changes necessary under the law, and
they were made in a manner satisfactory to the
public, notably the tax payers. Mr. Dreger has
always taken a deep and active interest in the
cause of good government and is a member of
the Good Citizens League and other societies, as
the Liederkranz Singing Society; the Gymnastic
Union, the Teutonia Kegel Club, the German So
ciety of St. Paul and Minneapolis; the Masonic
order and other organizations. He was married
on May 4, 1887, to Ottilie J. Eichorn, a daughter
of Ex-Alderman Eichorn of the Third Ward.
Mrs. Dreger died in June 1905, leaving no chil
dren.
DUTTON, Ellis Roy, first assistant city engi
neer, was born on August 13, 1859, at the town
of Marion Linn county, Iowa. The family was
one of the oldest in that region. This was par
ticularly true of his mother's family, she having
come to Marion with her parents in 1845, making
the trip from Ohio, their former home, by oxteam. Mr. Dutton is the son of John A. Dutton
and Louisa L. Dutton. The father was a black
smith and wagon manufacturer at Marion, where
his son passed the early years ot his life and at
tended the public schools. He entered the Mar
ion high school, then considered the best prepara
tory institution in the state, and graduated witn
the highest honors of his class. Mr. Dutton then
entered Coe College at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, tak
ing a literary and scientific course. The school
was located five miles from Marion and he trav
eled this distance daily, a greater part of the time
on foot. He continued his college work for three
years but unexpected circumstances made it im
possible for him to complete his course. It was
not his intention while in college to follow the
engineering profession, but an opportunity was
offered him which he accepted. The Chicago,
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railr.oad was at that time
engaged in building its line between Marion and
Omaha, and Mr. Dutton engaged in the engi
neering department. Since that time he has
been continuously in engineering work. He re
mained in the service of the Milwaukee road, at
different places in Iowa and later in North and
South Dakota until 1883, when an opportunity
was offered him to enter the city engineering de
partment of Minneapolis.
He came here on
March 4, 1883, and with the exception of six
months has since been continuously connected
with the department. He has held several dif
ferent offices and has been identified with almost
all of the public improvements constructed since
1883. In 1888 failing health compelled him to re
sign and for six months he held the position of
assistant city engineer of Los Angeles, California.
Returning to Minneapolis in 1899 he was made
first assistant city engineer. On January 6, 1886,
Mr. Dutton was married to Miss Lillie G. Miller,
who had come to this city in 1880 with her parents, Albion and Maria H. Miller, who before
moving to Minneapolis had been long time resi
dents of Whitneyville, Maine. Mr. and Mrs.
499
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
Dutton have four children—Hazel E., born on
December 15, 1888; Roy M., born on October 11,
1891; Ruth L., born June 7, 1893, and Helen L.,
born June 1, 1898. . The family are connected
with the Congregational denomination.
EUSTIS, William Henry, is of English ances
try. His father, Tobias Eustis, came from Corn
wall, England, when a young man and learned
the trade of wheelwright which he followed, al
though his forefathers had been Cornish miners.
He was married to Mary Markwick, who, like
himself, was of English lineage. They finally
settled at the village of Oxbow, Jefferson county,
New York, where, in 1845, William H. Eustis was
born, the second of a family of eleven children.
As soon as able he was obliged to assist in the
support of the family. For this purpose he was
taken from school at an early age. When about
fifteen years old he met with an accident,
which incapacitated him for manual labor, and
he determined to be a lawyer. He was com
pelled, however, to depend for a higher edu
cation upon his own exertions. He first learned
telegraphy and bookkeeping and taught them to
select classes. This service, supplemented by
what he earned in soliciting life insurance, en
abled him to take a preparatory course at the
seminary at Gouverneur,St. Lawrence county, New
York. He then entered the Wesleyan University at
Middleton, Connecticut, in 1871, and graduated in
the class of 1873, having supported himself during
the course by teaching. He next went to New
York City and entered the Columbian Law
school. By doing two years work in one he fin
ished the course in 1874, but was a thousand dol
lars in debt. He again resorted to his old occu
pation of teaching and at the end of the year
was out of debt. He bought a new suit of clothes,
paid his fare to Saratoga Springs, and had fifteen
dollars left. He had previously formed the ac
quaintance of Mr. John R. Putnam, a member of
the Saratoga bar, who offered him a partnership..
It proved to be a fortunate event for both men,
for the practice of the firm became large and re
munerative. The partnership was continued for
six years, and was dissolved in 1881, when Mr.
Eustis was determined to visit Europe. He had
taken an active part in public affairs and had
gained celebrity as a public speaker, traveling
over the state in political campaigns. Although
Mr. Eustis planned to be gone two years when
he left for Europe in the spring of 1881, political
events drew him home in a few months. He
then set out in search of a new home, and made a
very thorough examination of the condition of
the principal cities west of the Mississippi, finally
concluding that Minneapolis was the most prom
ising and attractive. He came here on October
23, 1881, and began immediately to practice his
profession. He had faith in the future of the
city, and while pursuing his law business, he
boldly invested the comparatively small savings
of previous years- in real estate and contributed
with enthusiasm to the extent of his ability in
purse and brain to commercial and industrial en
terprises designed to build up the material in
terest of the community. He erected the build
ing at Hennepin and Sixth street, so long oc
cupied as the Republican Union League head
quarters and now known as Elks Hall; the
Flour Exchange and the Corn Exchange, besides
other business edifices less known. He was a
director of the building committee in charge of
the erection of the Masonic Temple. He was one
of the projectors of the North American Tele
graph Company, designed to secure competitive
telegraph service for the northwest, serving both
as director and secretary of the enterprise. He
was one of the incorporators of the "Soo" rail
road, built to furnish cheap transportation by a
new route to the east, and he was one of its board
of directors. Mr. Eustis has large real estate
interests and is known as a successful and skill
ful operator. Early in 1907 Mr. Eustis completed,
WII.I.IAM HENRY EUSTIS
500
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
in extraordinarily rapid time, a deal characteristic
of the energy and executive ability of the man.
Securing from the United States Government the
order for a block of land for the site of a new
Minneapolis post office, Mr. Eustis in seven weeks
perfected his title, cut through yards of Wash
ington red-tape, obtained the acceptance of the
deeds and abstracts in a few hours where months
are ordinarily consumed by the Post Office de
partment, secured his warrant for the money in
six hours, where as many days are usually con
sumed and closed the whole transaction with a
startling rapidity which fairjy took away the
breath of the Washington officials. Mr. Eustis
was in 1892 elected mayor of Minneapolis. His
administration was one of the most careful and
economical in the history of the city. He made
a very careful study of the saloon question and
the laws relating to the liquor traffic at-the be
ginning of his term of office and sought to en
force them in such a way as to secure the best
results. His theory of administration did not call
for the strictest enforcement of. the law in ac
cordance with the letter, but for such enforce
ment as, while granting more license to the
saloon than the law specified, sought to enlist
the saloonkeepers in a general effort for the sup
pression of crime and the diminution of drunken
ness. The statistics of the police department and
the workhouse for the two years of his admin
istration showed a great decrease in crime under
his system. Drunkenness diminished, commit
ments to the workhouse were cut down, the sale
of liquor to minors was noticeably reduced and
the evils resulting from the liquor traffic gen
erally minimized. He was subsequently nomin
ated by the republican party as a candidate for
governor of the state. His defeat was not per
sonal to him, but entirely due to the nationality
of his opponent. Mr. Eustis was not soured by
his defeat. He has continued in his active sup
port of the party as of old. Mr. Eustis grew up
under Methodist influence, and is a member of the
Methodist church. He was never married, but
occupies comfortable bachelor quarters in his
Sixth street building. He is the possessor of a
fine library and derives much pleasure and en
joyment from his books. Mr. Eustis is an orator
of grace and power, and has rendered invaluable
service to his party in campaign work. He was
a delegate to the Republican National Conven
tion in 1892, and voted for Blaine. His gift as a
public speaker makes him in great demand on
public occasions.
FINNEY, Albert Carlyle, assistant city attor
ney, was born May 12, 1863, in Brown county,
Ohio, to Jonathan Finney, a Presbyterian minis
ter and farmer, and Agnes L. (Bevans) Finney.
His boyhood was spent on a farm in Goodhue
county, Minnesota, where he attended the public
schools. He obtained the degree of B. A. at
Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, with
the class of 1887. After graduation he studied
law. Since he began practicing his profession in
Minneapolis twelve years ago, he has been con
nected with much important litigation pertaining
to municipal affairs. He has always been a re
publican and has always been interested in good
government. During his term as assistant city
attorney, during four years past he has handled
many important cases, and in his official capacity
did much to assist in placing and holding down
the "lid" in Minneapolis. Mr. Finney is a member
of the Minneapolis Commercial Club, and of the
Fraternal order of Elks, B. P. O. E. No. 44. He
belongs, also, to the Greek letter society, Phi
Kappa Psi. He belongs to no church but attends
the Linden Hills Congregational Church. He has
never married.
GERBER, Michael A., was born in St. Paul,
Minnesota, on October 10, 1864. He is the son
of Peter and Barabara Gerber, who moved, when
Michael was still a child, to Minneapolis, so that
Mr. Gerber was raised and received his early
training in this city. In the German Catholic
M1CIIAEI, A. GERRER.
501
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
schools of this city he was given his preparatory
education and then entered the St. John's Univer
sity with the class of 1878. He spent some time
at that institution, and then entered upon an
active business life; and after the usual vicissi
tudes of a commercial career, in 1899 established
himself in his present occupation of bookbinding.
W i t h Mathias H . Gerber he organized t h e firm of
Gerber Bros., and commenced a general binding
business.
Mr. Gerber is a democrat in politics
and is prominent in the democratic work of the
city. He served a four years term as alderman
of the First Ward, and in 1906 was re-elected to
the office for a like period.
Among his other
public services Mr. Gerber was actively interested
in the establishment of the Gerber baths on Hall 's
Island, a public bathing place in the river at the
east end of the Plymouth avenue bridge. After
considerable effort Mr. Gerber succeeded in hav
ing the baths instituted in the summer of 1905
and they proved such a success that during the
following summer they were enlarged and im
proved till now the city has almost a model place
for utility and recreation. He is a German Cath
olic in his church affiliations, and is a member of
the Catholic Order of Foresters, the Catholic
Knights of America, the Knights of Columbus,
the St. Boniface German Catholic Society and the
St. Anthony and Northeast Commercial Clubs.
O n June 8, 1886, Mr. Gerber was married to Miss
Mary Wiedenfuehr and they have six children,
five g i r l s a n d a b o y .
GRAY, James, was born in Falkirk, Scotland,
February 18, 1862. His father was John Gray, a
miller and his mother, Elizabeth Ronald. John
Gray emigrated to America in 1866 with a family
of seven, of whom James Gray was the sixth.
James Gray received his early education in the
public schools of Jackson and Dubuque counties,
Iowa, and after a winter spent in Jackson county
as a school teacher came to Minneapolis in the
spring of 1880 where he was employed through
the summer in the sash and door factory of
Fraser & Shepherd as a helper in the shipping
department.
Later he was appointed shipping
clerk but left the position to take the entrance
examinations at the state university, where he
was matriculated in September, 1880, as a subfreshman. He was graduated from the scientific
course in June, 1885, standing at the head of his
class and delivering the valedictory address. On
the day previous he delivered by appointment of
a l l t h e s t u d e n t s t h e a d d r e s s o f w e l c o m e , 011 b e
half of the under graduates, to the new president,
C y r u s N o r t h r o p , 011 t h e o c c a s i o n o f h i s i n a u g u r a
tion.
Immediately after his graduation Mr. Gray
began newspaper work as a reporter on the Min
neapolis Tribune. Within a year he became city
editor of the paper and later an editorial writer
and dramatic editor.
When the Times was
started in 1889 Mr. Gray became its night editor
and made up the forms of the first issue of a
BHU5H, PHOTO
J A M E S GRAY
paper which soon attained a degree of influence
in the community not often accorded to new
publications. Mr. Gray was successively city ed
itor and managing editor of the Times. I n jthe
spring of 1898 he was commisssioned to go to
Washington as a special correspondent of the
Times and write his views of the Cuban question
as it appeared at the capital. The result was a
series of telegraphed letters which so set the
local people to talking of their author that on
his return home Mr. Gray was solicited to allow
his name to be used as the democratic candidate
for mayor. After much hesitation he consented,
received the nomination over Franklin G. Holbrook and, leaving the paper in September, 1898,
began a campaign which resulted in his election,
by a majority of 6,572 votes. After serving two
years Mayor Gray was nominated for re-election
and was defeated.
Since his retirement from politics Mr. Gray
has been engaged in newspaper work, mainly as
associate editor of the Minneapolis Journal. In
October, 1893, Mr. Gray was married to Grace
Orpha Farrington of Minneapolis, formerly of
Jamestown, New York, Mrs. Gray, was, before
her marriage, a newspaper woman and after her
marriage continued for a number of years to
contribute editorials to the Minneapolis Times.
They have four children, Elizabeth, Jean, James
and Philip.
502
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
WILLIAM U. IIALE.
HALE, William Dinsmore, was born August
16, 1836, at Norridgewock, ' Maine, son of Rev.
Euscbius Hale, a minister of the Congregational
Church. His family is of English and Scotch
descent. The English branch came to this coun
try in 1635 and settled in Concord, Massachusetts,
"""he Scotch ancestor came in 1840 and settled in
Londonderry, New Hampshire. His great grand.uarents removed to Maine about i77o.
MHale's boyhood was passed in Maine up to 1852,
in which year his family removed to Long Island
where his father continued in the ministry until
his death in 1880.
In 1856, the subject of this sketch, with keen
quest for change and opportunity, came to the
then new west, and settled and took up govern
ment land in Goodhue county> Minnesota. His
assets were good health, English and Scotch
pluck and energy, and a good common school
and academic education. The Civil war broke in
upon his activities and, obeying the impulses of
a patriotic spirit, he enlisted in 1861 in the Third
Minnesota Infantry at Fort Snelling and followed
the fortunes of war through the entire four years'
struggle for the maintenance -of the Union, his
services being entirely with the Army of the
West in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi and
Arkansas. At the battle of Murfreesboro, July
1862, his regiment was captured, its officers taken
south and held in rebel prisons, while the enlisted
men, having been paroled, returned to Minne
sota and took a prominent part in the suppres
sion of the Sioux Indian outbreak of 1862. After
exchange, in December of that year, the regi
ment again went south and took part in the im
portant campaigns of 1863 which, resulted in the
capture of Vicksburg and the opening of the
Mississippi river from Cairo to the gulf. The
regiment, having been assigned to duty in Ark
ansas, took part in the campaign that ended in
the capture of Little Rock in September, 1863,
and the practical suppression of armed resistance
to the government in that state. In November
of that year Mr. Hale was appointed major of
the Fourth U. S. Colored Artillery, in which
regiment in Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas,
he served until the close of the war and was
mustered out of the service in February, 1866.
In 1867 Major Hale returned from the south and
settled in Minneapolis, where he became actively
engaged in the lumber and flour manufacturing
business with the firm of W. D. Washburn & Co.
and the Washburn Mill Co., into which corpora
tion the business of the company was merged.
The business and mills of the company were lo
cated at Minneapolis and Anoka. As manager of
the varied interests of the company and corpora
tion, Major Hale's business qualifications were
given full play and he bore the pressure of busi
ness, characterized by great multiplicity of detail,
with an instinctive apprehension of the value of
system and of the importance of selecting cap
able assistants. The business of the company
was continued to 1889 when, having cut all the
pine timber owned and the senior partner having
been elected United States senator from Minne
sota, it was closed up and Major Hale, being
without special engagement, accepted from Presi
dent Harrison appointment as postmaster of
Minneapolis in 1890, and filled that position for
the four succeeding years when, owing to a
change of politics of the national administration,
he transferred the office to a democratic suc
cessor.
From 1896 to 1901 Major Hale was receiver
of the American Savings and Loan Association
and during this time became interested in the
business of the Northwestern Consolidated Mill
ing Company as its secretary, which position he
has since retained. His first vote, in i860, was
cast for President Lincoln and he has been a
consistent republican ever since. He was a mem
ber of the board of education of Minneapolis
from 1884 to 1891; is now a member of the
board of trustees of the Washburn Memorial
Orphan Asylum; of the board of trustees of the
'.akewood Cemetery Association; of the Terri
torial Pioneer Association; of the Masonic order
of Clan Gordon, Order of Scottish Clans; of
George N. Morgan Post, G. A. R., and of the
Commandery of the Minnesota Military order of
the Loyal Legion. In church affiliations he is
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
connected with the Church of the Redeemer
(Universalist). I n 1 8 7 0 Major Hale was married
t o Flora A. H a m m o n d and t o them four children
have been born.
Major Hale has the distinction of having been
appointed a second time t o the office' of post
master by President Roosevelt in 1 9 0 3 and holds
that position a t this time.
H A L L , P . M., son of D r . Levi and Lucinda
Mitchell Hall, was born a t W e s t Jefferson, Ohio,
October 1 9 , i 8 6 0 . H i s parents were of EnglishScotch-Irish ancestry, the forbears on both sides
taking a n active part in the W a r of the Revolu
tion.
I n 1 8 7 5 l i e came t o Minneapolis from
Austin, Minnesota, having removed f r o m O h i o in
[ 8 7 3 t o that town, and prepared t o enter the
State University having received his early educa
tion in the public school. After studying t h r e e
years a t the University he entered the H a h n e
mann Medical College in Chicago, graduating
in 1 8 8 2 , when he returned t o Minneapolis where
he has since resided, practicing his profession.
In 1 8 8 4 he was chosen by the management of the
"Sheltering Arms," a n institution under the care
of the Episcopal Church f o r y o u n g and friend
less children, t o be attending physician, and has
held that position since. H e was a member of
the State Board of Medical Examiners from 1887
t o 1 8 9 3 , and a member of t h e Minneapolis Board
of Health in 1897 and 1898. On January 7, 1901,
Dr. Hall was elected Commissioner of Health by
the City Council and has since served in that
office, with fidelity.
D r . Hall is a high degree
Mason, a member of the Royal Arcanum of the
Ancient O r d e r of United W o r k m e n and other
fraternities. H e was married on May 25, 1882,
t o Anna C. Depew, daughter of J o h n C. Depew
and t o them three children have been born,—
Francis, Jessie and Levi.
H A N K E , H e n r y C., county treasurer of H e n
nepin county, was born on October 6 , i 8 6 0 , the
son of Christopher and Frederica Hanke. H i s
parents were a m o n g the earliest settlers of H e n
nepin county. T h e y came here in 1 8 5 6 , and dur
ing his long life Christopher H a n k e became one
of t h e best known farmers in this vicinity. H i s
son g r e w up on the farm just west of Lake Cal
houn receiving a common school education, at
tending business college and, a t the Minneapolis
academy fitted himself t o enter the University
of Minnesota. At twenty-two he entered the
lumber and land business which he followed for
a number of years until he was appointed treas
urer of Hennepin county upon the death of Col.
Chas. W . Johnson, December 2 6 , 1 9 0 5 . Mr. Hanke's
experience in adjusting tax matters in connec
tion with thousands of acrcs of land in northern
Minnesota gave him a familiarity with the sub
ject and the routine of county treasurer's work
which especially fitted him for the position. Since
503
entering the office he has entirely revised the sys
tem of accounting and has also adopted the plan
of mailing real estate t a x statements t o all t a x
payers without request. I t is now possible t o
d o this because of the fact t h a t he has acquired
the address of every taxpayer who pays taxes
into the office. T h i s plan has met with general
approval a s it eliminates t o a large extent the
possibility of e r r o r in t a x payments and is in
general a great convenience and time-saver t o
the public. Mr. H a n k e received the republican
nomination for the treasurership in the fall of
1 9 0 6 and was elected without opposition a t the
November election. ' H e has always been a
staunch republican, has served on the local cam
paign committees in various capacities for some
years and was a member of the legislature of
1 8 8 8 and 1 8 8 9 a s a republican from the T h i r d
W a r d ,of Minneapolis.. H e is a member of all
the Masonic bodies in the_ city—Minneapolis
Lodge No. 1 9 , St. J o h n s ' Chapter No. 9 , Minne
apolis Council No. 2 , Mounted Commandery,
Knights Templars No. 2 3 , a n Ancient and Ac
cepted Scottish Rite Mason, 3 2 n d degree; is a
member of Minneapolis Lodge No. 4 4 , B. P . O .
Elks, and Nicollet Council No. 11, Modern
Samaritans. Mr. H a n k e was married September
1 9 . 1 8 8 8 , t o Miss M a r y A. Gluck, o n l y daughter
of the late John G. Gluck, w h o was a well-known
IIKNItV 0. IIANKB.
504
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
and successful merchant tailor in Minneapolis for
many years. They have two daughters, Ethel
Francisca and Laura Marguerite. The family at
tends the Grace Presbyterian Church of which
Mr. Hanke is a trustee.
HAYCOCK, Frank E., county surveyor of
Hennepin county, was born in St. Paul, Minnesota,
November 1 5 t h , 1 8 5 9 . He was the son of E. R.
Haycock, a steamboat captain on the Mississippi
river in the early days when railroads were un
known in Minnesota and the river was the chief
highway between the territory and the east. As
a boy Mr. Haycock attended the public schools
in St. Paul and grew up among the influences
and surroundings found in the frontier towns of
St. Paul and Minneapolis—the family moving to
the latter place while he was still young. Those
were days of rapid development, however, and
the boys of that period had the inspiration of
the bustling, energetic communities and the ex
ample of many enterprising and public-spirited
citizens. They were moved to activity and high
ambition and caught the spirit of the day. Grow
ing up among the bustling activities of the young
Minneapolis Mr. Haycock determined to follow
a professional career and succeeded in fitting
himself for that of engineering. His studies and
work were turned in this direction and he be
came a civil engineer while still a young man
and has been for years engaged in the practice
m
6WtET, PHOTO
FRANK
E.
IIAYCOCK.
of his profession. Going beyond the ordinary
limits of surveying he has studied large engi
neering problems and has received patents for a
complete system for the disposal of garbage and
sewerage which he has spent some time in in
venting and perfecting. He now holds the posi
tion of county surveyor of Hennepin county to
which he was elected in the fall of 1 9 0 6 . He was
previously for some time deputy county surveyor
and drainage engineer for the county. Mr. Hay
cock is a republican in political belief and affilia
tion, a member of the Masonic order and the
president of the Hennepin County Junior Pio
neers' Association, of which he was the promoter
and organizer. He was married December 31,
1 8 8 2 , to Miss Carrie J. Higgins. They have five
children—Leon L., Irene J., Elaine L., Vivian G.
and Francis S. The family attends the Presby
terian church.
HAYNES, James Clark, son of James and
Eliza Ann Haynes, was born September 22, 1848,
in a log house on his father's farm, near Baldwinsville, Onondaga county, New York. His
father was a farmer most of his life, latterly en
gaging in the hardware and lumber business and
operating a canal boat-yard on Oneida Lake. He
died at seventy-two years of age. His mother,
still living at the age of eighty-four, was the
daughter of Sereno Clark, of Oswego county,
New York, a man prominent in local and state
affairs, representing Oswego county in the state
constitutional convention held at Albany in 1846.
There he worked with such men as Charles
O'Connor and Samuel J. Tilden. One of the
forebears, Joseph Haynes, of Haverhill, Mass.,
was active in the Revolutionary struggle and
was a member of the first provincial congress at
Ipswich and Salem, Mass., in October, i774>
which formulated resolutions for presentation by
a committee to the Continental Congress. He
was an officer in a New Hampshire regiment
during the War of the Revolution. The subject
of this sketch was brought up on his father's
farm and was taught the rudiments of his educa
tion at home, until his father sold the farm and
the family moved into Baldwinsville where,, at
eleven years of age, he for the first time saw the
inside of a school house. When he was fifteen
years old the civil war was in progress and he
continued to work on the farm, labor being
scarce and the family needing his help. In the
autumn of 1 8 6 7 he entered the Baldwinsville
Academy and thereafter he taught school while
studying and furnished a hand to help his father
on the farm. Former attorney general H. W.
Childs was a farm boy with Mr. Haynes and they
entered the Academy together and were examined
together and authorized to teach district school
at the same time. During four winters Mr.
llayncs taught district school near his old home
at $ 4 0 a month and board, and kept up his studies
at the Academy. He then attended the Onon-
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
daga Valley Academy and the Cazenovia Sem
inary, after which he studied law at Syracuse and
Baldwinsville with private firms
and in 1874-5
took a final course at the Columbia Law School,
of New York City and was admitted to the bar at
a general term of the Supreme Court of New
York held in Buffalo, June, 1875. Thereafter he
practiced his profession for three years with the
law firm of Pratt, Brown & Garfield of Syracuse,
N. Y. In the fall of 1 8 7 8 he formed a partner
ship with R. A. Bill, of Eau Claire, Wis., and in
1879, Mr. Bill removing to North Dakota, Mr.
Haynes came to Minneapolis, where he has since
practiced law, especially the branch relating to
business corporations. In politics Mr. Haynes is
a democrat, but in local matters and in candi
dates he prefers to exercise his independent
choice. In 1 8 9 0 he was elected alderman of the
Second Ward by a plurality of twenty-three votes,
having been nominated on the democratic ticket.
In 1892 he accepted the democratic nomination
for mayor of Minneapolis on the democratic
ticket against W. H f . Eustis and while defeated
ran nearly two thousand votes ahead of his ticket.
In 1 9 0 2 he defeated Julius J. Heinrich in the
primaries for the democratic nomination for
mayor and was elected against Fred Powers, the
republican candidate by a plurality of nearly six
thousand votes. He defeated Orville Rinehart
for the democratic nomination for mayor at the
primary election in September, 1904, but was de
feated at the election by the republican candidate
by a plurality of 2 3 3 votes. In 1 9 0 6 Mr. Haynes
was again nominated by the democratic party and
at the November election was elected mayor by
a plurality of 3,565 votes. When a member of
the city council, Mr. Haynes as chairman of the
committee on ways and means was largely in
strumental in promoting the establishment of the
great city reservoir which has proven a de
cidedly forward step in the work of securing pure
drinking water for Minneapolis and has stimu
lated the agitation for filter beds, the construc
tion of which is now pressed as an essential step
in the proper sanitation of the city. Mr. Haynes
did excellent service in the council by his advo
cacy of the present system of street car transfers.
He served on the original charter commission for
six months without salary. When mayor of the
city as chairman of the Board of Corrections and
Charities, he established the city hospital, the
poor department and the work house upon a pro
gressive and business-like basis. Mr. Haynes is
a member of Lodge No. 4 4 , B. P. O. E. of Min
neapolis; a Thirty-Second Degree Mason; a mem
ber of the Mystic Shrine, Royal Arcanum, A. O.
U. W., and of the Knights of Pythias. He was
formerly a member of the public affairs commitfee of the Commercial Club and has been a di
rector of that body. He is also a member and
director of the St. Anthony Commercial Club of
east Minneapolis. Mr. Haynes is a member of
All Souls Universalist Church of Minneapolis. He
505
was married September 4, 1879, to Sara E. Clark,
of Skaneateles, New York. Three children have
been born to them, of whom two are living—a
daughter, Ruth, and a son, Dean Clark.
HEALY, Frank, city attorney of Minneap
olis, born a farmer's lad of Onondago county, New
York, is the son of Thomas and Mary (Kelly)
Healy, and was born December 2 7 , 1854. He came
to Minnesota as a child, and the family settled on
a farm near Preston. There the son got his earlyeducation at the district cross-roads school-house
and at the Preston graded schools. His Uni
versity life was chiefly at Minnesota state uni
versity, with a short course at Ann Arbor Law
department. From the College of Law at Min
nesota he graduated in 1 8 8 4 and began the prac
tice of his profession in Minneapolis at once.
He established a record for legal ability and fair
dealing which helped largely in securing him
the office of city attorney in 1897. He has held this
office ever since. His repeated re-election is good
evidence of a conservative and reasonable hand
ling of the city's court business. Mr. Healy was
married in 1 8 8 9 to Marie L. Henry, who grad
uated with honors from the academic department
of the state university, in the same class with
Mr. Healy. They have two children, a son and
daughter. The family are of the Unitarian faith.
FRANK HEALY.
506
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
RINKER, Andrew, was born April 15, 1849, at
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, son of Francis and
Elizabeth Rinker. He received his early educa
tional training in the common schools and grad
uated at the Philadelphia high school. At the
age of eighteen years, he entered the Ninth Dis
trict Survey office in Philadelphia and was em
ployed there in the Philadelphia Registry Bureau
until June, 1 8 7 1 , when he became assistant city
engineer of Minneapolis. In April, 1 8 7 7 , Mr.
Rinker was appointed city engineer of Minneap
olis and held the position nearly sixteen years.
On January 1, 1 8 9 3 , he formed the firm of Rinker
& Hoff, consulting and constructing engineers,
a partnership which continued until 1 8 9 6 , when
Mr. Rinker accepted the position of engineer,
secretary and treasurer of the Great Falls Water
Power & Town Site Company. He held this
position until October, 1902. On January 5, 1903,
Mr. Rinker was reappointed city engineer of
Minneapolis, which office he has held since. Dur
ing his connection with the engineering depart
ment nearly all of the public improvements now
existing were inaugurated and carried to comple
tion, involving the expenditure of millions of dol
lars. Mr. Rinker was married in September, 1876,
to Susan E. Johnson, and to them have been born
three children—Florence E., Charles H., and
Dorothy.
HOSMER, James Kendall, librarian of the
public library from 1 8 9 2 to 1 9 0 4 , was born at
Northfield, Massachusetts, January 2 9 , 1 8 3 4 , the
son of Rev. George W., and Hanna P. Hosmer.
He was graduated from Harvard college in 1855,
studied for the ministry and was Unitarian pastor
at Deerfield, Massachusetts, from i860 to 1866.
In 1 8 6 3 Mr. Hosmer went into the army as a pri
vate, having declined a staff appointment and
served until the close of the war in the 52nd
Massachusetts volunteers, 1 9 t h army corps. Af
ter the war he was professor in Antioch college,
in the university of Missouri and professor of
English and German literature in Washington
university, St. Louis, Missouri, from 1874 to 1892.
Dr. Hosmer is author of various works, mainly
volumes of history including "The Life of Samuel
Adams," "Life of Sir Henry Vane," "Short His
tory of Anglo-Saxon Freedom," "Life of Thomas
Hutchinson," "History of the Louisiana pur
chase" and volumes 20 and 21 in the Harper his
torical series, "The Appeal to Arms" and "The
Outcome of the Civil War." Dr. Hosmer was
president of the American library association in
1902-3.
HOUGHTON, James Gilbert, was born in
Waterford, Oxford county, Maine, on March 14,
1855.
He is the son of Howard Houghton, a
farmer and mason and Elizabeth T. (Robbins)
Houghton, both of English descent. Mr. Hough
ton worked the farm and attended the district
school during the early period of his life, but
when twenty-five years old he came west, arriv
ing in Minneapolis on June 2 5 t h , 1 8 8 0 . He im
mediately went to work at his trade of carpenter,
and soon obtained and held' for several years, a
position as foreman with one of the large con
tracting firms of the city. He then started a con
tracting business on his own account and con
ducted it until 1 8 9 4 , when he, was appointed first
assistant inspector of buildings for Minneapolis.
After serving in this capacity until January 1,
1 8 9 9 , he was elected to the office of building in
spector, .to which position he was successively
re-elected in 1 9 0 1 , 1 9 0 3 and 1 9 0 5 . Mr. Houghton
has made -several changes in the administration
of the department, among which is a simplifica
tion of the system of records employed in the of
fice, and the institution of several new records.
Mr. Houghton was also instrumental in the re
vising of the. city building ordinances and Min
neapolis is, now.noted -for the comprehensiveness
of her building laws. Mr. Houghton has re
cently installed in connection with his depart
ment, a laboratory for the testing of cement and
other building materials which has been a great
aid in the work. In politics Mr. Houghton is a
republican. In 1 8 9 8 and 1 9 0 0 he served as ward
committeeman and in 1 9 0 2 3s ward chairman. He
represented the Eighth Ward on the Hennepin
county campaign committee in 1 9 0 4 and two
years later was a member of the congressional
committee. Mr. Houghton is affiliated with Hen
nepin Lodge No. 4 , A. F. and A. M., and is a
Past Master of that body; he is a member and
Past High Priest of Ark Chapter No. 5 3 , R. A.
M.; a member and 111. D. M. of Minneapolis
Council No. 2 , Royal and Select Masters; a mem
ber and Grand R. A. C. of the Grand Chapter of
Royal Arch Masons, a member of Hiawatha
Camp No. 1 9 3 1 , Modern Woodmen of America;
a member and past commander of Minneapolis
Mounted Commandery No. 2 3 , K. F.; and of.
Nicollet Council No. 11, Modern Samaritans. He
is also a member of the Minneapolis Engineers'
Club. Mr. Houghton attends the Tuttle Universalist Church and is one of the board of
trustees. He was married in 1 8 8 2 to Susan C.
Drew and has three children, Harry D., Lucy M.,
and Robert J.
HUGHES, Twiford Eagleson, assistant post
master at Minneapolis, has been engaged in the
postal service for forty-six years. Beginning in
the city of Owatonna in 1 8 6 2 , he served as a clerk
in the postoffice and store of W. H. Wadsworth
for three years and for the five succeeding years
was postmaster and express agent of that city.
Removing to Minneapolis in 1 8 7 0 , he was on Oc
tober 1, appointed to the position of clerk in the
postoffice by Postmaster Col. Cyrus Aldrich. A
few months later, when Dr. George H. Keith suc
ceeded Colonel Aldrich as postmaster, Mr.
Hughes was promoted to finance clerk and in
1 8 7 4 was again promoted to the position of as-
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
507
ter position being held by him since the organiza
tion of the society in 1895. On May 23, 1866, Mr.
Hughes was married at Owatonna to Mrs. Matilda
Nichols Elwell of Waterloo. Iowa.
While Mr. Hughes is not without decided
political opinions and party affiliations, he re
frains from an offensive participation in political
movements, considering that as a servant of the
whole people in his official position it would be
unbecoming, if he were so inclined, to make
himself politically obnoxious to any party.
mfc
BRUSH, PHOTO
TWIFOIU) IS. IIUGIIES.
sistant postmaster, which he has since held to
the eminent satisfaction of the community and
department through all succeeding administra
tions, having served, in all, under eight post
masters, representing both the dominent political
parties.
During the period of Mr. Hughes' service in
the Minneapolis postoffiee the force of employes
has grown from five to upwards of four hundred,
while the annual sales of postage stamps during
that period has increased from less than twenty
thousand dollars to nearly two million. He has
seen many changes in the local and general pos
tal service and numerous new methods and im
provements introduced during his forty-six years
of service.
Mr. Hughes was born at West Jefferson,
Madison county, Ohio, November 20, 1842, the
son of James Eagleson and Pamelia N. Hughes,
the third in a family of ten children. The father
was a hat manufacturer whose ancestors from
Wales settled in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in
1700. Twiford received his early educational
training in the common schools of Madison and
Franklin counties, Ohio, and when fourteen years
of age came with the family to Minnesota. Mr.
Hughes is a member of the Central Baptist
Church; was for a period of thirteen years presi
dent of the Baptist Union of Minneapolis, and
is president of the Union City Mission, the lat
KISTLER, Jonas M., M. D., has been a prac
ticing physician of this city for twenty-four years,
having come to Minneapolis in 1883 to engage in
the practice of his profession. His family is of
old Pennsylvania stock; the first members having
settled in the Colonies before the Revolutionary
War. Dr. Kistler was born in Schuylkill county
of that state on September 9, 1856. His father
was David D. Kistler—his mother Mary A. Kist
ler. The former was a farmer and Jonas M.
passed the early years of his life on the farm in
Schuylkill county and received his elementary
education in the neighborhood. He attended the
Lehighton high school for his preparatory work
and following the completion of his studies there,
for six years taught in a country school, and at
that time had the intention of becoming a teacher.
With that idea he entered the Keystone State
normal school and graduated in 1880. He had
abandoned his purpose of taking up educational
work and after his graduation from the normal
school determined to study medicine. He entered
Franklin and Marshall College in Pennsylvania
and studied there for two years, leaving at the
beginning of his junior year to complete his
medical studies at Jefferson Medical College at
Philadelphia. He obtained his degree of M. D.
after one year's work and graduated with the
class of 1883. Recognizing the opportunities of
fered by Minneapolis, he came to this city soon
after commencement and began practice. From
that time he has been continuously engaged with
his professional work and has established a most
successful practice. In addition Dr. Kistler has
held public office as a county official, having been
elected by the republican party as coroner of
Hennepin county, which position he held during
1804-5. He was reelected in 1905 and held the
office during 1905-6-7. He is also associated with
the Swedish Hospital holding an appointment on
its medical staff. In religious affiliations he is
Lutheran and attends St. Johns Church. Dr.
Kistler was married in 1887 to Miss Minnie A.
Anderson and they have four children—Alvin,
Olive, Marie and Hellen.
HULBERT, Charles Smith, city treasurer of
Minneapolis for five successive terms, was born at
Fayetteville, New York, March 7, 1832. His father
was Stephen Edward Hulbert, a mechanic of the
early order of industrial independence. He sent
his son to the little red school house of the time
508
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
until he was about fifteen years of age. Then
Mr. Hulbert went into business training, begin
ning as a clerk in a drygoods store and taking
up the hardware trade also. When the great
impetus to western immigration came, about the
middle of the last century, he followed the pio
neer trail to the Northwest and found scope for
his youth and commercial abilities in the grain
and elevator business and later in banking. Mr.
Hulbert is virtually a son of Minnesota in the
sense of having given his best years and ener
gies to the building up of Minneapolis and the
section of wide agricultural interests represented
by this city. That he holds the position he now
does, and has done for a decade, is one of the
returns of a life of integrity and public spirit.
Mr. Hulbert is a republican. He was married in
1856 and has one daughter. The family aie
Congregational in faith.
MARCHBANK, Hugh B., is a native of Scot
land, where .he was born in Glasgow, on Septem
ber 8, 1866. His parents were James and Eliza
beth Marchbank, who made their home in Glas
gow, where his father conducted a grocery estab
lishment. Hugh B. spent the early years of his
life in that city, and there received his education,
attending the public schools. After finishing
his grammar course he entered Glasgow High
CHAllLES S. HULBERT.
" RUSH,
PHOTO
School and graduated when he was about nine
teen years of age. He remained in Glasgow
until 1885 when he left Scotland and came to
the United States, locating, soon after his ar
rival, in Minneapolis. , Shortly afterward, in 1887,
he was appointed to a position in the county
auditor's office as deputy auditor and served in
that capacity until the year 1891. Two years
later Mr. Marchbank again entered the public
service, accepting a position as clerk of the Board
of Education, and since 1891 has been continu
ously connected with the board in that capacity,
and has performed the duties and responsibilities
of the office with energy and ability. Mr. Marchbank is well known among his official and busi
ness associates and is a member of the Minne
apolis Commercial Club. In 1893 he was married
to Miss Mary H. Stewart, and they have two
children, a daughter, Marjorie, and a son, James.
The family attends the Presbyterian church.
McVEY, Frank L., chairman of the Minne
sota State Tax Commission, was born at Wil
mington, Ohio, November 10, 1869, the son of
A. H. and Anna (Holmes) McVey. He received
his education in the public schools of Toledo,
Ohio, at Des Moines College, Des Moines, Iowa,
and at the Ohio Wesleyan University, from which
he graduated A. B. in 1893. His degree of Ph.
D. was received from Yale in 1895. Prof. McVey
began his active career as an editorial writer in
New York City in 1895. The next year he was an
instructor at the Teachers' College at Columbia
University from which he was called to the Uni
versity of Minnesota in 1896 as instructor in
economics. He became assistant professor in
1898 and professor of economics in 1900. He re
mained in this position until 1907, when he was
appointed on the Minnesota state tax commission
of which he is chairman. This commission is
charged with the important work of supervising
and administering the tax system of Minnesota,
securing uniformity of method and recommending
new legislation. During his residence in Min
neapolis, Prof. McVey has taken a very active
part in the affairs of the city and especially in
those matters looking to the improvement of
social conditions. He has been for ten years
president of the Minneapolis Associated Charities,
a member of the executive committee of the Na
tional Conference of Charities and Corrections,
and a member of the board of directors of the
Minnesota State Tuberculosis Association. In
1904 he had charge of the Twin City exhibit at
the St. Louis Exposition, where he also served
as a member of the International Jury of Awards.
He is a member of the American Economic As
sociation and associate editor of the Association's
Bulletin. He belongs to the Phi Gamma Delta
fraternity and the. Commercial and Six O'Clock
Clubs of Minneapolis. Prof. McVey has been
a prolific writer and besides numerous articles
and reviews in the economic and general press
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
FRANK R. MCDONALD.
has published "The Populist Movement," 1896,
"The History and Government of Minnesota,"
1900-1908, and "Modern Industrialism," 1904.
Prof. McVey was married in 1898 at Minneapolis
to Miss Mabel Moore Sawyer.
McDONALD, Frank R., superintendent of
the Minneapolis city workhouse, was born at St.
Catherines, Ontario, January 29, 1857, the son of
Daniel McDonald, an officer in the United States
Navy, and Agnes Kerwin McDonald. He was
educated at the schools of Toronto and at the
age of twenty moved to the United States and
in 1883 came to Minneapolis. His work for the
city as superintendent of the workhouse has been
notable. In 1903 he was appointed private secre
tary to Mayor J. C. Haynes but on July 1st of
the same year was chosen by the board of chari
ties and corrections to take charge of the work
house. Two years later he resigned to become
organizer and manager of the International Up
lift Society, which was built up under his ad
ministration, but in July, 1907, was again called
to the charge of the workhouse, his election be
ing by unanimous vote of the board. Mr. Mc
Donald's management of the workhouse has
been practical, humane, economical, and dominat
ed by the purpose of improving the mental, phys
ical and moral condition of those under his
charge. One of his first reforms was the provid
ing of labor for the prisoners instead of locking
them in their cells for most of the time. He
discovered a clay bed on the workhouse grounds
509
and established a brick yard which produced
2,500,000 brick the first year. The prisoners have
also been utilized in various improvement work
on the grounds and a greenhouse has been estab
lished where the old and feeble are given em
ployment and flowers are grown for the poor of
the city who may be ill. For the women prison
ers a new cell room has been erected (by prison
labor) and their condition very much improved.
Mr. McDonald has done away with the system
of rigorous punishment and has made the insti
tution a "work" house in fact, believing that in
most cases what the prisoners need is to be
taught to work and gain self-respect. Following
out this policy he has abolished armed guards
and made the overseers teachers instead of po
licemen. Free liquor cure is given to all who de
sire. Mr. McDonald's ideas have been very suc
cessful. Not only has the morale of the prison
ers greatly improved, but the institution, through
intelligent management of the great body of
labor constantly at hand, has become self-sup
porting and is now saving the city about $17,000 per year. Mr. McDonald is a member of the
B. P. O. E., Knights of Columbus and the Royal
Arcanum. He was married on May 6, 1881, to
Miss Ellen Brady and has two daughters, both
graduates of the University of Minnesota.
NELSON, Nels J., alderman of the Sixth
Ward, has been a resident of Minneapolis and of
the district which he represents in the municipal
council, for twenty-six years. He was born at
Fredericksburg, Sweden, and passed the early part
of his life in his native land and there began his
education in the public schools. He lived in
Sweden until 1881, when he came to this country
with his parents and located in Minneapolis. For
some time after coming to the city he attended
the public schools and Achibald's business college.
He began business life in a position with the L.
Paulle Companj'-, manufacturers of office furniture
and store fixtures. He was associated with the
firm for seven years, but resigned to devote his
time to other business and political interests. He
received an appointment in the office of the county
auditor's office and was engaged in that work for
two years. Mr." Nelson is best known, however,
in connection with the city council to which he
was elected from the Sixth Ward in 1900. He has
since held the office continuously, being twice re
elected. Mr. Nelson was for five years a member
of Company B, First Regiment, Minnesota Na
tional Guard. He is also a member at the present
time of the Knights of Pythias and of the Odin
Club. With his family he attends the Augustana
Lutheran Church. On October 15, 1894, Mr.
Nelson was married to Miss Emma C. Johnson.
PRATT, Robert, was born December 12, 1845,
at Rutland, Vermont, son of Sidney Wright and
Sarah Elizabeth Harkness Pratt. Robert, whose
parents were poor, after receiving the training
which the district schools and the Brandon (Ver
mont) Seminary could give him, when a little
over fifteen years old, enlisted as a private at
510
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
Brandon in Company H., Fifth Vermont Volun
teer Infantry and fought for the Union in the
A r m y of t h e P o t o m a c t h r o u g h i t s b l o o d i e s t e x
p e r i e n c e s until A p p o m a t o x b r o u g h t peace. M u s
t e r e d o u t J u l y 1 2 , 1 8 6 5 w i t h t h e r a n k of C a p t a i n
a n d still u n d e r a g e , t h e y o u n g s o l d i e r f o u n d h i m
self f a c i n g life t o m a k e w h a t h e could o u t of i t
by his own unaided exertions, backed by a
courageous, hopeful spirit and energy which
never abated its force.
Bred to work on a
f a r m , w h e n h e c a m e t o M i n n e a p o l i s in N o v e m b e r ,
1 8 6 6 , w i t h a n invalid b r o t h e r , h e t o o k t h e first
w o r k w h i c h p r e s e n t e d itself a n d i n t e n y e a r s h a d
s a v e d e n o u g h b y e c o n o m i c a l living t o e m b a r k
in t h e l u m b e r b u s i n e s s a n d b e g i n d e a l i n g in w o o d
a n d coal. T h e fuel b u s i n e s s received h i s particu
lar attention throughout his career and increased
to very large proportions. Mr. Pratt was identi
fied w i t h all t h e f o r w a r d m o v e m e n t s of t h e city.
H e w a s elected a m e m b e r of t h e c i t y council in
1 8 8 4 a n d s e r v e d t h r e e y e a r s ; w a s a m e m b e r of
t h e s c h o o l b o a r d f r o m J a n u a r y 1, 1 8 8 9 , t o t h e
close of 1 8 9 9 a n d f r o m F e b r u a r y 5 , 1 9 0 0 , u n t i l his
death, and serving for some years as president.
In 1894 he was nominated for the mayoralty on
the republican ticket and elected, and, in 1896,
h e w a s a g a i n n o m i n a t e d a n d re-elected b y a l a r g e
majority and made a commendable record dur
i n g h i s t w o t e r m s of s e r v i c e i n t h e r e s p o n s i b l e
position. H e w a s a m e m b e r of t h e G . A . R., t h e
L o y a l L e g i o n , t h e E l k s a n d of t h e M a s o n i c o r d e r .
H e w a s a l s o a m e m b e r a n d h a s b e e n a d i r e c t o r of
t h e C o m m e r c i a l C l u b a n d a d i r e c t o r of t h e G e r
man American Bank. On August 30, 1871 Mr.
P r a t t was" m a r r i e d t o I r e n e L a m o r e a u x . S i x
children were born to them, Roberta, Helen
Clare, S i d n e y , R o b e r t , J r . , S a r a a n d T h o m a s . M r s .
Pratt died in 1901 and Mr. Pratt on August 8,
1908.
S T O O P E S , W i l l i a m E m m e t , w a s b o r n J u l y 15,
1858, in Minneapolis, t h e s o n of J o h n C. a n d A g n e s
A. S t o o p e s . H i s f a t h e r w a s a b l a c k s m i t h a n d
m i l l w r i g h t a n d a m e m b e r of t h e G. A . R .
William
received h i s e d u c a t i o n a t p r i v a t e a n d t h e public
schools and graduated at the high school. He
s t u d i e d civil e n g i n e e r i n g u n d e r p r i v a t e t u t o r s
a n d t o t h a t p r o f e s s i o n lie has. a d h e r e d s i n c e h e
e n t e r e d u p o n his m a t u r e r life, his p r o g r e s s i v e n e s s
and attention to business bringing him promotion
a n d s u c c e s s . . M r . S t o o p e s w a s a m e m b e r of t h e
staff of t h e city, e n g i n e e r f o r eleven y e a r s a n d
w a s chief d e p u t y of t h e c o u n t y s u r v e y o r f o r
seven years. He was elected county surveyor
a n d held t h a t office d u r i n g 1 . 9 0 5 .and 1 9 0 6 . S i n c e
t h a t t i m e h e h a s b e e n c o n n e c t e d w i t h t h e civil
e n g i n e e r i n g f o r c e of t h e M i n n e a p o l i s p a r k b o a r d .
H e h a s all h i s life b e e n a r e p u b l i c a n a n d h a s held
m a n y c o m m i t t e e a p p o i n t m e n t s ; is v i c e - p r e s i d e n t
of t h e E n g i n e e r s C l u b of M i n n e a p o l i s ; a m e m b e r
of t h e M a s o n i c o r d e r , t h e M o d e r n W o o d m e n , t h e
Samaritans, and the Royal Arcanum. In 1899
JVlr. S t o o p e s w a s m a r r i e d t o M a b e l C. P o d a s .
SWEET, PHOTO
ROBERT PRATT
They have two children—William David and Ed
w a r d R a y m o n d . M r . S t o o p e s is a m e m b e r of t h e
Methodist Church.
S C O T T , H u g h R a l p h , s o n of C h a r l e s a n d
Margaret Hamilton Scott, was born June 6, 1863,
on Third avenue southeast, between Fifth and
S i x t h s t r e e t s , Minneapolis, in a h o u s e y e t s t a n d
i n g in L e o n L a n e R o w . H i s f a t h e r w a s a m a n u
f a c t u r e r of m a c h i n e r y i n p a r t n e r s h i p w i t h G e n .
M o r g a n , a f o r m e r c o l o n e l of t h e f a m o u s F i r s t
M i n n e s o t a R e g i m e n t d u r i n g t h e Civil W a r . T h e
firm built t h e first m a c h i n e s h o p a n d f o u n d r y a t
t h e F a l l s of S t . A n t h o n y . T h e f a m i l y o n t h e
Ajnerican side trace their ancestry to Richard
S c o t t , w h o , w i t h t h e d i s t i n g u i s h e d c h a m p i o n of
religious f r e e d o m , R o g e r W i l l i a m s , h e l p e d t o e s
tablish the new colony, Rhode Island, in 1636,
a s a p r o t e s t a g a i n s t t h e s t r i c t P u r i t a n r e g i m e of
t h e c o l o n y of M a s s a c h u s e t t s . T h e f a m i l y c o n
t i n u e d t o live in R h o d e I s l a n d until C h a r l e s
S c o t t , t h e f a t h e r of H u g h R a l p h S c o t t , c a m e t o
Minneapolis. T h e f o r e b e a r s of H u g h R a l p h h a v e
b e e n in e v e r y w a r i n w h i c h t h i s c o u n t r y h a s b e e n
e n g a g e d e x c e p t t h e Civil W a r , a n d h i s f a t h e r
w o u l d h a v e f o u g h t in t h a t , b u t f o r t h e f a c t t h a t
a s e v e r e w o u n d received d u r i n g t h e M e x i c a n
W a r left h i m physically u n a b l e t o p a r t i c i p a t e in
a c t i v e service. H e died in 1 8 6 4 a n d t h e f a m i l y
moved to a farm in Hennepin county, where
H u g h lived until his e l e v e n t h y e a r w h e n , a f t e r
a f e w y e a r s a t J o r d a n h e w e n t t o live w i t h a
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
511
water works. He is a member of the Commercial
Club and a member of the Masonic Order, the
Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Royal
Arcanum, the A. O. U. W., and Modern Samari
tans. He is a member of Westminster Presbyter
ian church. He was married on June 27, 1888,
to Mary Alice Graves at Stillwater, Minnesota,
and to them have been born two daughters:
Mary Alice (March 16, 1891) and Jeanette Ham
ilton (May 23, 1892).
SKOG, August W.. register of deeds of Hen
nepin county, was born April 9, 1863, in Sweden,
where he received some of his earlier educational
training, continuing it in this country where he
graduated from the grade and high school course,
and entered a business college where he received
practical training for the business life toward
which his maturer endeavors pointed. Like many
other young Swedish-Americans, who appreciate
the opportunities presented to the seeker after
betterment, Mr. Skog took hold of the first work
offered, and, after being employed by various
lumber companies, he worked for some mortgage
loan firms and obtained much useful experience in
HI GH It. SCOTT.
brother at Stillwater. He attended the Hennepin
county public schools and graduated from the
Stillwater high school in 1882, subsequently
graduating in pharmacy at the University of
Michigan and is a registered pharmacist in Min
nesota and North Dakota, by examination. At
the outbreak of the Spanish war, Mr. Scott, fol
lowing the military traditions of his family, en
listed in the Thirteenth Minnesota regiment, as
second lieutenant, and served from April 29, 1898,
until it was mustered out October 3, 1899. His
regiment was engaged at San Miguel, Salacot,
San Isidro, and in several skirmishes. Mr. Scott
is a member of Camp A. R. Patterson, Army of
the Philippines, and held the office of treasurer
from its organization in 1901, until January, 1905,
and has been a delegate to the national conven
tion of the society several times. Mr. Scott has
always been, a republican, and was, in 1896, a
member of the Hennepin county campaign com
mittee. He was elected county auditor in 1900
and reelected in 1902, 1904 and 1906, receiving
the nomination without opposition. In* 1901 he
reformed the method of accounting in the audi
tor's office on a new and thoroughly modern
basis, and the operations of the office have al
ways received the commendation of the public
examiner of the state. Mr. Scott previously had
done commendable work in the offices of the city
engineer, the county treasurer and of the city
I
^
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--
r r r
AUGUST W . SKOG.
•
r
-
r
K
f:
512
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
that line. In 1900 he found congenial employment
as Chief Deputy in the office of the Register of
Deeds of Hennepin county, which he held until
1906, when he received the republican nomination
for Register of Deeds at the September primar
ies, and was elected in November for the term
commencing January 1, 1907. Mr. Skog is a mem
ber of the Odin Club; of the K. of P., of which
he is a P. C.; of the Royal Arcanum, and of the
M. W. A. On September 18, 1895, Mr. Skog was
married to Henrietta Tubesing.
TATTERSFIELD, Richard, secretary of the
Board of Charities and Corrections, was born 011
September 9, 1866, the son of Aked and Catherine
Tattersfield. His father was a manufacturer of
blankets and later in life became a rancher in the
west. The son spent his early life in Yorkshire,
England, and was a graduate of Askern College,
Doncaster, England. When eighteen years of
age he returned to the United States and came
to Minneapolis in March, 1891, entered the Uni
versity of Minnesota law department and grad
uated in 1894 with the degree of B. L. During
his student life he was engaged in the office of
C. G. Laybourn as stenographer and after grad
uation entered practice for himself. Mr. Tatters
field began to take an active part in local politics
soon after his arrival in the city and has been
secretary of the city and county democratic com
mittees for six years and secretary and treasurer
for two years and still holds these offices. He
was appointed secretary of the superintendent of
police of Minneapolis on January . 1, 1907, and
filled the position until August I of the same
year, when he was elected secretary of the Board
of Charities and Corrections and superintendent
of the poor. Mr. Tattersfield is a Thirty-second
Commandery, York Rite Mason, a Shriner and
degree Scottish Rite Mason, a member of the
member of Zuhrah Temple and has passed
through all the chairs of the Modern Woodmen
of America. In November, 1891, he was mar
ried to Miss Anna C. De Leeuw, of Glencoe,
Minnesota, and they have six children, four boys
and two girls.
VAN NEST, John Henry, a member of the
Minneapolis city council, was born on November
3, 1867, in this city. He was the son of Hiram
Van Nest and Rachel E. Van Nest, both of them
among the earlier settlers of the city. The elder
Mr. Van Nest came to Minneapolis in 1850 and
through thrift, industry and foresight became a
well to do and progressive citizen whose property
interests at the time of his death in 1894 were
considerable. His son, John Henry, grew up in
Minneapolis, attending the public schools, and
upon reaching manhood engaged in business in
connection with his father's interests and in other
•lines on his own account. He was for some years
a member of the firm of Babendrier and Van Nest,
proprietors of the Homeopathic Pharmacy at 608
Nicollet Avenue. Mr. Van Nest developed a
JOIIX II. VAN NEST.
practical interest in local political affairs and city
government and in 1902 was elected alderman
from the Thirteenth Ward and after four years
service was easily re-elected in 1906. In the city
council he has taken a very active part in the
government of the city, standing for progress and
business-like administration. His efficiency was
recognized in 1905 when in the organization of the
council he was made vice president, a position
which he has since held. Mr. Van Nest was mar
ried on November 4, 1891, to Miss Laura E.
Sprague and they have three daughters, Rachel M.,
Gladys S., and Marion F. Mr. Van Nest is a
member of various local organizations, including
the Minneapolis Commercial Club.
WHEELOCK, Ralph Wright, was born Sep
tember 24, i860, at Oberlin, Ohio, son of Frank
and Rose Wright Wheelock. His father was a
railroad passenger agent and the forebears, pater
nal and maternal, were of the sturdy stock of the
period of the Revolution. Mr. Wheelock is a
direct descendant of the distinguished President
Wheelock of Dartmouth College. He received
his earlier educational training in the common
schools of Oberlin, Ohio, where he also learned
the printer's trade, but he was one of those men
who instinctively perceive that they could not
hold themselves down to a case for life, and he
graduated from the chapel to the editorial chair.
His newspaper work covered a period of twentyfive years divided betwen Toledo, Cleveland.
South Dakota and Minneapolis. Always a repub
lican in politics his party service was rewarded
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
by his appointment a s receiver of the United
States Land Office a t Mitchell, South Dakota, f r o m
President Harrison. Mr. Wheelock held this post
f r o m 1 8 8 9 t o 1 8 9 4 . H i s more recent work on the
Minneapolis Tribune brought him into wide and
high repute as a humorist. Upon the election of
Mayor David P . Jones in the fall of 1 9 0 4 , Mr.
Wheelock was offered the post of private secre
t a r y to the mayor, a position which he filled dur
i n g 1 9 0 5 and 1 9 0 6 . I n politics Mr. Wheelock is a n
active speaker and writer and is particularly en
thusiastic and efficient in the cause of good gov
ernment. H e is now engaged in business in Min
neapolis.
H e is a Royal Arch Mason and a member of
t h e P r o t e s t a n t Episcopal Church. H e was m a r
ried in October, 1 8 8 6 , t o Lillian G. Steele, of
Bismarck, N o r t h Dakota, and they have two
daughters, Adelaide and Hazel.
N O R R E D , Charles Henry, has been for many
jrears one of the city's prominent physicians.
H i s career has been characterized by fearlessness
of public opinon and adherence t o high principle,
and, in the positions of public t r u s t which he has
held, have been displayed a n enthusiasm, integ
rity and ability which have won him high esteem.
H e is thoroughly and lastingly identified with
the sanitary interest of the city. H i s ancestors
were Virginians of English extraction. H e is
the. son of
William and Elizabeth
Ellen
(Dowdell) Norred, and was born J a n u a r y 19,
1842, in Loudon county, Virginia.
D r . Norred's boyhood was passed in Illinois,
where his father had large land holdings near
Springfield a s well a s flour mills and lumber
yards. T h e son acquired a practical knowledge
of farming, stock-raising, lumbering, engineering
and milling, in time becoming competent t o su
perintend these various branches of industry,
and t o buy and sell stock. A t this period the
boy was brought under an influence which per
manently and powerfully aided in the develop
m e n t of his character and in determining the
course of his future life. H i s father, in legal
matters consulted Abraham Lincoln, and D r .
Norred, a m o n g the pleasant recollections of his
boyhood, numbers the memory of t h a t great
man, then comparatively unknown, taking him
upon his knee, kindly talking with him, and ad
vising him a s t o his future life.
D r . Norred's preliminary education was ob
tained in the public schools in Illinois and the
Illinois State University a t Springfield.
His
training for the medical profession began in 1860
under Dr. R. S. Lord, of Springfield, and was
continued in Pope's Medical College, St. Louis,
Missouri, and in the School of Anatomy and Sur
g e r y of Pennsylvania, of which he fs a graduate.
I n 1886 he received the degree of Doctor of Medi
cine from Jefferson Medical College of Phila
delphia.
Early in 1862 he enlisted as a private in the
114th Regiment 111. Vol. Infantry, and organized
513
the first regimental hospital for the regiment a t
Camp Butler. H e went before the Illinois S t a t e
Military Examining Board and passed a success
ful examination a s senior assistant surgeon, and
received a commission a s Captain of Cavalry.
H e served in various military hospitals until o r
dered t o the Seventh Regiment Illinois Cavalry,
and was placed in charge of the medical depart
ment of t h a t regiment, where he was o n duty
until the close of the war.
H e entered general practice a t Dawson, Sanga
mon county, Illinois, whence he moved t o Middletown, Illinois, thence t o Lincoln, Illinois, and
in 1885 t o Minneapolis. I n the spring of 1900 a
smallpox epidemic swept over the city, and the
health department seemed unable t o cope with
the situation. A t t h e instance of m a n y leading
physicians and citizens and a t the unanimous re
quest of the board of health, D r . Norred was ap
pointed special quarantine officer. After having
quarantined about four hundred cases, he pre
sented the city with a clean bill of health. A t
his suggestion the citizens of Minneapolis con
tributed about thirty thousand dollars for the
construction of three fine quarantine hospitals.
Dr. Norred, a s special quarantine officer, prose
cuted his work with s o much zeal and skill a s t o
command the unqualified approbation and respect
of all classes of t h e community.
H e was for a number of years consulting sur
geon to, and also examining surgeon for, t h e
Minnesota S t a t e Soldiers' H o m e of which he later
became surgeon and likewise the sanitary officer,
in which positions he made m a n y changes in
the conduct of the hospital which have inured t o
the benefit of the inmates. H e left the Soldiers'
H o m e and hospital in the best sanitary condition
that it had ever been.
H e was a t one time medical director of the De
partment of Minnesota Grand A r m y of the Re
public, and held the office of United States ex
amining surgeon under President Harrison. H e
is now president of Board No. 1, United States
Examining Surgeons, and was formerly consult
ing surgeon t o the Minneapolis City Hospital.
H e is a member of the American Medical Asso
ciation, the Minnesota State Medical Society, and
the Hennepin County Medical Society. H e is
a member of J o h n A. Rawlins Post, No. 126,
G. A. R., and is a Scottish Rite Mason, a K n i g h t
T e m p l a r and a Shriner, and a member of the
Wesley M. E . Church.
P A R D E E , W a l t e r Stone, for upwards of
twenty-five years identified with the official life
of Minneapolis, was born in New Haven, Con
necticut, in 1852. H i s early education was ob
tained in the military school a t New Haven and
in the public schools of Connecticut and Minne
sota. I n 1868 he entered the preparatory depart
ment of the University of Minnesota and in 1877
was graduated, having completed the full course
of civil engineering and architecture. Mr. P a r
dee practiced his profession in Minneapolis and
St. Paul during the next six years and in 1884
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
514
tem of mechanical ventilation and water carriage
plumbing for Minneapolis school buildings—a
reform which has been perpetuated as a custom
in all later construction. The following spring
Mr. Pardee became architect for the board, and
during his term of service carried out his ideas
of ventilation, sanitation and slow burning con
struction and these remain the invariable prac
tice in Minneapolis school building. From 1891
to 1899 Mr. Pardee was in private architectural
practice; but in the latter year became connected
with the city engineering department and his
next work for the city was the design for the
superstructure of the Northeast pumping station
in which the total investment was $500,000.
Throughout his long official service Mr. Pardee's
object has been the systematic investigation of
existing conditions with the purpose of improv6ment and it was this desire which led him to de
vote a large part of his professional career to
public service. Mr. Pardee was married in Min
neapolis in 1881 to Miss Etta A. Sabin. They
have had three children, Harvey, Charles and
Esther.
entered official life upon the establishment of
the department of building inspection. He was
appointed the first inspector and the organiza
tion and development of the department were
his work. Official building inspection was then
rather new in the United States and building
departments were inadequately organized. Mr.
Pardee devised methods and systems which put
his department upon a practical and rapid work
ing basis and which have remained largely in
use to the present time. He also had a large
part in the necessary work of educating the pub
lic to the appreciation of modern sanitary meth
ods as well as to the acceptance of department
rules and regulations in all matters of building
and plumbing restrictions. The efficient work
done in the building department from 1884 to
1887 was followed by four years of service as
architect for the board of education. In 1886 the
thirty odd school buildings of Minneapolis had
been pronounced unsanitary by physicians and
architects and Mr. Pardee was employed to in
vestigate, report and recommend. His recom
mendations led to the adoption of thg first sys
City Officers of St. Anthony.
Officers
Org. Apr. 13, 1855 Elected Apr. 7, 1856 Elected Apr. 6, 1857 Elected Apr. 5, 1858 Elected Apr. 16, 1859 Elected Apr. 2, 1860
H. T. Welles
Ira Kingsley
W. P. Brawley
E. L. Hall
Benj. N. Spencer..
John Orth...
Aid. 2d Ward.. D. Stanchfield
Edw. Lippincott...
Aid. 3d Ward.. Caleb Dorr
R. W. Cummings..
Aid. 4th Ward.
Mayor
Treasurer
Clerk
Attorney
Aid. 1st Ward..
Alvaren Allen
Richard Fewer
W. F. Brawley
J. S. Demmon
Wm. Fewer
John Orth*
A. D. Foster
Edw. Lippincot^*..
D. A. Secombe
R. W. Cummings*.
Wm. W. Wales
W. F. Brawley
G. A. Nourse
D. Knoblauch
Wm. Fewer*
L. W. Johnson
A. D. Foster*
Wm. McHerron
D. A. Secombe*
John C. Johnson...
City Officers of St. Anthony.
Officers
O.
C.
Officers
R. B. Graves
John Babcock
W. W. Wales
J. B. Gilfillan
E. W. Cutler
Henry Hechtman*.
Richard Fewer
Wm. Lochren*
O. T. Leavitt
Chas. Crawford
J. S. Pillsbury...
J. H. Murphy
Elections of 1861—1866
O. C. Merriman...
W. W. Wales
Jas. A. Loveioy... Saml. H. Chute...
D. M. Demmon... D. M. Demmon...
Wm. Lochren
Louis Vorwerk.... Hubert Weber
T. M. Bohan
Louis Verwerk*...
T. M. Bohan*
Wm. Lashells*
John' M. Cushing, L. B. Schrum
L. B. Schrum
John M. Cushing*.
J. L. Newman*... L. B. Schrum*
Elijah Moulton... T. J. Tuttle.
T. J. Tuttle
Elijah Moulton*...
Chas. F. Simms*. T. J. Tuttle*
John A. Armstrong
Wm.
Gleason
S. W. Farnham*.. W. F. Cahill
Wm. Gleason*..
S. W. Farnham... W. F. Cahill*
Merriman. E. S. Brown
E. Ortman
W. W. Wales
N. H. Minor
Peter Weingart
Wm. M. Lashells.
T. M. Bohan
D. M. Demmon... J. L. Newman
Richard Fewer*...
Chas. F. Simms... Chas. F. Simms.
W. W. Wales
J. S. Pillsbury*
City Officers of St. Anthony.
Mayor
Treasurer
Clerk
Attorney
Aid. 1st Ward.
Orrin Curtis....... Orrin Curtis.
Orrin Curtis
W. F. Brawley
W. W. Wales
D. M. Demmon... N. H. Hemiup....D- Knoblauch..... Henry Hechtman.
D. Knoblauch*
Wm. Lochren
Jas. Crowe
Geo. W. Thurber. Geo. W. Thurber*.
John Pomeroy
Jas. McMullen
Wm. McHerron*.. Jas. McMullen*...
R. W. Cummings. Benj. Parker
John C. Johnson*. R. W. Cummings*
Elected Apr. 3, 1861 Elected Apr., 1862 Elected Apr. 7, 1863 Elected Apr. 5, 1864 Elected Apr. 6, 1865 Elected Apr. 3, 1866
O. C. Merriman
D. B. Dorman
W. W. Wales
J„ B. Gilfillan
P. Weingart
H. Hechtman*
Aid. 2d Ward.. Richard Fewer
Wm. Lochren*.....
Aid. 3d Ward.. O. T. Swett
Chas. Crawford*,
Aid. 4th Ward. J. S. Pillsbury
J. H. Murphy*
Mayor
Treasurer
Clerk
Attorney
Aid. 1st Ward.
Elections of 1855—1860
Elected Apr. 2, 1867
O. C. Merriman
....
Edw. S. Brown
D. M. Demmon
Wm. Lochren
T. M. Bohan
Hubert Weber*
Aid. 2d Ward.. Gilbert B. Dake
L. B. Schrum*
Aid. 3d Ward.. Jas. S. Lane
T. J. Tuttle*
Aid. 4th Ward. Geo. D. Perkins
John A. Armstrong*
Elected Apr. 7, 1868
Winthrop Young.
Edw. S. Brown..
Wm. Lochren
Nicholas Risch...
T. M. Bohan*
L. B. Schrum
Gilbert B. Dake*.
J. B. Gilfillan
D. M. Demmon..
Jas. A. Lovejoy..
Geo. D. Perkins*.
0. C. Merriman.
Jas. A. Loveioy..
D. M. Demmon..
Elections of 1867—1871
Elected Apr. 6, 1869
W. W. McNair...
Edw. S. Brown...
Peter Thielen
Wm. Lochren
T. M. Bohan
Nicholas Risch*..
Patrick Kennedy.
L. B. Schrum*
M. W. Getchell...
J. B. Gilfillan*...
J. M. Pomeroy...
Jas. A. Lovejoy*.
Elected Apr. 5. 1870
W. W. McNair...
E. Ortman
Peter Thielen
J. B. Gilfillan
Phillip Pick
T. M. Bohan*
Gilbert B. Dake..
Patrick Kennedy*
S. H. Chute
M. W. Getchell*..
Thos. Moulton
J. M. Pomeroy*..
* After a name indicates that the official held over from the previous election,
Elected Apr. 7, 1871
Edw. S. Brown
Ernest Ortman
Solon Armstrong
T. M. Bohan
Phillip Pick
Patrick Kennedy
Gilbert B. Dake*
M. W. Getchell
S. H. Chute*..
Chas. F. Smith
Thos. Moulton*
PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND OFFICIALS
City Officers of Minneapolis.
Officers
Elected Nov. 8, 1904
Mayor
Comptroller ...
City Treasurer.
City Clerk
City Attorney..
City Engineer..
All. 1st Ward.
Aid. 2d Ward..
Aid. 3d Ward..
Aid. 4th Ward.
Aid. 5th Ward.
David P. Jones
Dan C. Brown
C. S. Hulbert
L. A. Lydiard
Prank Healy
Andrew Rinker
John Ryan
M. A. Gerber*
W. E. Satterlee
E. C. Chatfield*
Claus Mumm.....
W. P. Nye*
Perry Starkweather...
A. E. Merrill*
Chas. B. Holmes
D. P. Jones*
JWendell Hertig
Elected Nov. 6, 1906
J. C. Haynes
Dan. C. Brown
C. S. Hulbert
L. A. Lydiard
Prank Healy
Andrew Rinker
M. A. -Gerber
John Ryan*
Ed. J. Conroy
W. E. Satterlee*....
Geo. V. B. Hill
Claus Mumm*
A. E. Merrill
Perry Starkweather*.
Wendell Hertig
Chas. B. Holmes*...
517
Elections of 1904—1906
Elected Nov. 8. 1904
Aid. 6th Ward. Nels J. Nelson
Lars M. Rand*
Aid. 7th Ward. Harry G. McLaskey
A. C. Vaghan*
Aid. 8th Ward. P. B. Walker, Jr
E. W. Clark*
Aid. 9th Ward. P. W. Castner
Peter McCoy*
Aid. 10th Ward A. J. Anquist
J. H. Duryeat*
Aid. 11th Ward W. M. Petterson
G. A. Westphal*
Aid. 12th Ward W. W. Ehle
D. C. Bow*
Aid. 13th Ward P. L. Schoonmaker
J. H. Van Nest*
Elected Nov. 6, 1906
Lars M. Rand
Nels J. Nelson*
T. O. Dahl
Harry G. McLaskey*.
E. W. Clark
Piatt B. Walker, Jr.*.
Peter McCoy
P. H. Castner*
Jas. Dwyer
A. J. Anquist*
A. P. Ortquist
W. M. Petterson*
Martin P. McHale....
W. W. Ehle*
J. H. Van Nest
P. L. Schoonmaker*...
^Elected at special election Jan. 17, 1905, to fill vacancy caused by resignation of D. P. Jones.
* After a name indicates that the official held over from the previous election.
NOTF,—The city clerk, city attorney and city engineer are elected by the city council.
tables they are not actually chosen until the aldermen have organized the city council.
Although included in the above
,
CHAPTER XXVI.
PUBLIC UTILITIES.
W
ITH the exception of the supply
of water all the more important
public services are rendered to
the people of Minneapolis by corporations
organized for the purpose and acting - un
der the general control of the city gov
ernment—a control more or less com
plete according to the various provisions of
the charters or ordinances governing the
several companies. The subject of munici
pal ownership of any of the public utilities
except water seems never to have been seri
ously considered in the early days.
The first franchise to be granted was that
for a street railway made in 1867 in favor
of William S. Judd, Frederick A. Gilson,
Godfrey Sheitlin, B. S. Bull and Dorilus
Morrison, as incorporators. They were re
quired to commence construction within
four months and complete two miles of
track and have the lines in operation before
the end of a year. The time for street rail
ways had not arrived, however, and the or
iginal company did nothing. In fact, its
existence seems to have been overlooked by
those who have written about Minneapolis
affairs. I11 1873 the project was taken up
again, Mr. Morrison again assisting as an
incorporator, but this time with Wm. S.
King, R. J. Mendenhall, W. D. Washburn,
R. B. Langdon, J. C. Oswald, W. W. McNair, W. P. Westfall, Paris Gibson and W.
W. Eastman. With this company, which
was called the Minneapolis Street Railway
Company, Thomas Lowry first entered the
transportation field, in the capacity of at
torney. One of the principal objects of this
company, as well as of its predecessor, was
that of connecting the flour mills with the
lower levee, and accordingly the first track
was laid along Second Street from Henne
pin avenue nearly to Cedar avenue and a
steam motor was purchased and operation
attempted. But the enterprise was a fail
ure and was shortly abandoned. Col. King
and Mr. Lowry, however, retained their
faith in the project and in 1875 reorganized
the company, with outside capital inter
ested. The first line built was from Fourth
avenue north and Washington, down
Washington to Hennepin, and thence across
the river to Fourth street southeast and to
the vicinity of the university. One "bobtailed" car drawn by a single horse was the
equipment. Other lines followed quickly,
however, and within two years reached the
more important divisions of the young city;
and by this time Mr. Lowry had acquired
a controlling interest. Until 1889 it re
mained a narrow gauge, horse car system.
In the meantime the Lyndale Railway
Company (afterwards the Minneapolis,
Lyndale & Minnetonka) was incorporated
by Col. Wm. McCrory and built a steam
motor line via First avenue south and Nic
ollet to Lakes -Calhoun and Harriet. With
the growth of the city this became a very
important line, especially after it was ex
tended to Minnehaha Falls and to Lake
Minnetonka. But it was unpopular with
residents on account of its motive power.
In 1888 it was absorbed by Mr. Lowry's
company.
At that time Mr. Lowry determined to
convert all his lines into a cable system and
had actually commenced installation when
the rapid progress of electrical invention
caused him to change all his plans hurriedly.
Many thousands of dollars worth of cable
line equipment was sacrificed and the entire
PUBLIC UTILITIES
519
TYPE OF FIRST ELECTRIC CAR.
THE FIRST HORSE CAR.
system was converted into an electrically
operated one in two years' time. This in
volved the purchase of entire new equip
ment as the guage was changed to the
standard and few of the old time cars
were available, even for use on the new
electric motor trucks. At the same time
the St. Paul lines—previously acquired—
were converted to electricity and the first
interurban line commenced. The Twin
City Rapid Transit Company was organized
to control the united properties. Develop
ment in the past decade has been very rapid.
The company now operates 360 miles of
electric railway, covering both cities and
reaching Lake Minnetonka on the west and
Stillwater on the east. Its electric power
house at Sixth avenue southeast and the
river cost $2,500,000 and has a capacity of
50,000 horse power. The company occupies
its own office building at Hennepin avenue
and Eleventh street. The present officers
are: Thomas Lowry, president; C. G.
Goodrich, vice-president and managing di
rector; E. S. Pattee, secretary and comp
troller; D. J. Strouse, auditor; E. A. Crosby,
treasurer; W. J. Hield, general manager;
A. W. Warnock, general passenger agent;
superintendents, Minneapolis division, Hor
ace Lowry; St. Paul division, J. S. Pevear;
interurban lines, L. S. Cairns.
GAS AND ELECTRICITY.
.
The Minneapolis Gas Light Company or
ganized in 1870 was for a long time a very
small institution, working at first with a
few miles of wooden mains and gas pro
ducers of very limited capacity. Dorilus
Morrison was the first president and Geo.
H. Rust was secretary. Afterwards Judge
C. E. Vanderburgh was its president, and
a little later a controlling interest in the
company passed into the hands of the late
L
v
STANDARD ELECTRIC CAR, 1908.
*. :•
1
.
.
*
• . 't'j /•
ON THE MINNETONKA ELECTRIC IJNE.
520
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
station at the foot of Third avenue south
east, which has a maximum output of 8,200
horse power. A few years later the com
pany erected an office building and storage
plant on Fifth street between Hennepin and
Nicollet avenues. In 1907 a power plant at
Taylor's Falls on the St. Croix river was
completed, supplying at the outset 12,000
horse power which is conducted to the cities
for distribution to the consumers of light
and power. The name of the company was
changed some years ago to the Minneapolis
General Electric Company. The officers in
charge are A. W. Leonard, manager, and
S. B. Sewall, assistant treasurer.
TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE.
EXPRESS BOAT ON MINNETONKA.
These boats are operated in connection with the Lake Minnetonka Electric Line of the Twin City Rapid Transit
Company, extending the service to all parts
of the lake.
A. C. Rand, who remained for many years
the president and the executive head of the
company. Under Mr. Rand, H. W. Brown
was the first superintendent and A. T. Rand
secretary. After the death of Mr. Rand in
1885, Mr. Brown became president. Ex
tensive works were constructed at the foot
of Fourteenth avenue south and from them
there now extend some three hundred miles
of pipes reaching every part of the city. In
1903 the company erected a beautiful office
building on Seventh street near Hennepin
avenue. With the enormous increase of
consumption and improved processes of
manufacture and distribution, the price of
gas in Minneapolis has dropped 75 per cent
in the past thirty years. In 1877 it cost the
consumer $4.00 per thousand feet; in 1882,
$2.50; in 1891, $1.60; in 1895, $1.30; in 1901,
$1.20; in 1904, $1.10; and in 1906, $1.00.
The present officers of the company are:
Alonzo T. Rand, president; Rufus R. Rand,
vice-president and treasurer; and W111. H.
Levings, secretary.
Electric light in Minneapolis was intro
duced in 1881 when the Minnesota Brush
Electric Company was organized with Geo.
A. Pillsbury, president; J. B. Bassett, treas
urer ; and T. S. King, secretary. The first
plant was at the foot of Fourth avenue
north and was occupied until the comple
tion, about ten years ago, of the generating
Minneapolis first had telegraphic service
about 1865, when the Northwestern Tele
graph Company opened its local office in a
room over R. J. Baldwin's bank on Bridge
Square. As late as 1866 the entire railroad
and commercial telegraph business of the
town was done over one line by one oper
ator. The Western Union entered the city
in 1881, established an office in the old city
hall, and began business with a force of fif
teen operators.
In 1886 the North American Telegraph
Company was organized by Minneapolis
men with C. M. Loring as president. Harry
A. Tuttle, who had served with the West
ern Union, had charge of the construction
of the lines and still remains with the com-
TRAIN ON THE OL1) MOTOR LINE.
This line was operated by steam on First avenue south and
Nicollet avenue and to Lake Harriet, Minnehaha
and Minnetonka.
PUBLIC UTILITIES
pany as secretary and general manager.
The company's service covers the continent
and is closely affiliated with the Postal
Telegraph Cable Company and the Com
mercial Cable Company, operating lines
across both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
The present officers of the company are
Clinton Morrison, president; E. C. Cook,
treasurer; Harry A. Tuttle, secretary and
general manager, and D. G. Mcintosh, man
ager.
Telephones were first used in Minneap
olis about 1877 and in 1878 the Northwest
ern Telephone Exchange Company was or
ganized and opened exchanges in Minneap
olis and St. Paul in 1879. The Minneapolis
office opened with fifty-three subscribers.
During the thirty years of its life the com
pany has not only increased its service
many hundred fold but it has practically
rebuilt its system a number of times to keep
pace with the progress of electrical inven :
tion. The general offices are now in the
company's building at Third avenue south
521
and Fifth street, where the main exchangt
is located and there are in addition branches
in various parts of the city. The officers
are C. E. Yost, president; C. P. Wainman,
vice-president; C. M. Mauseau, general
manager; and J. W. Christie, treasurer.
The Mississippi Valley Telephone Com
pany was incorporated, in 1898 and began
business a year or so later with a system in
both cities. After a short time the company
was reorganized as the Twin City Tele
phone Company and with Eder H. Moulton as president and active executive officer.
The growth of the company has been very
rapid, so much so in fact that Mr. Moulton
found it necessary to resign a life long con
nection with the Farmers' & Mechanics'
Savings Bank in order to give his entire
time to the telephone company. After a
time a number of affiliated companies which
had been formed were amalgamated with
the home company which then became the
Tri-State Telegraph and Telephone Com
pany. with lines reaching all parts of the
Northwest. Its main office building and
exchange is at the corner of Third avenue
south and Seventh street.
i
%
t
MINNEAPOLIS GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY BUILDING,
CHRISTIE, James William, treasurer of the
Northwestern Telephone Exchange Company,
was born at Plymouth, Massachusetts, on April
12, 1863, the son of Alexander and Catherine
Christie. His father was a farmer and his boy
hood was spent at the home farm while he at
tended the public schools of Plymouth. He en
tered business life at an early age, first being
employed by R. Warner & Company, wholesale
dealers in woodenware in Boston. In 1884, he
came west and entered the service of the North
western Telephone Exchange Company at Min
neapolis and has continued with the company
ever since, advancing from minor positions to
the office of treasurer to which he was appointed
in 1906. For many years he was general super
intendent of the extensive system controlled by
the company. He is also treasurer of the Min
nesota Central Telephone Company and the
Willmar Telephone Company, and assistant treas
urer of the Duluth and Mesaba Telephone com
panies. Through his official position in the
Northwestern and these allied companies, Mr.
Christie is in charge of the finances of one of
the most extensive telephone systems in the
country. This system has been almost entirely
built up since he became connected with the
company in 1884 and in this development work
he has had a large part. Mr, Christie was mar-
522
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
JAMES \\\ -.CIIUISTIK. ,
ried in 1885 to Miss Carrie R. Johnson of
Plymouth and they have two children, Carroll
and Marjorie. He is an active member of the
Minneapolis Commercial Club, serving for several
years on the civic improvement committee; is a
member of the Engineers Club and takes special
interest in all technical matters, particularly those
having a bearing on the telephone business. Mr.
Christie belongs to the Royal League and is
treasurer of Blue Bell Council, No. 260.
GOODRICH, Calvin G., vice-president and
managing director of s the Twin City Rapid Tran
sit Company of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and
president of the Duluth & Superior Traction
Company of Duluth and Superior, was born at
Oxford, Ohio, March 1 2 t h , 1856, the son of Dr.
Calvin G. Goodrich and Mary A. (Wall) Good
rich. He passed his early boyhood at Oxford.
In 1 8 6 8 Dr. Goodrich moved to Minneapolis and
his son finished his education here and at the
age of twenty-one, in 1877, entered the employ
ment of the Minneapolis Street Railway Com
pany (as secretary) with which he has since been
identified. With the rapid development of the
system he was advanced to many positions of
responsibility. For many years he has been the
general executive head of the system which has
become one of the most successful electric sys
tems in the entire country. Mr. Goodrich is a
member of all the leading Minneapolis and St.
Paul clubs.
MAUSEAU, Carroll Milo, general manager of
the Northwestern Telephone Exchange Company,
is a descendant of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton
of colonial fame. He was born in Quincy, Illi
nois, in the year 1868. His father, Joseph
Mauseau, was a merchant of Quincy, and one of
the prominent business men of the city. Carroll
Milo Mauseau during his early years lived in the
town of his birth and other cities of southern
Illinois and attended school there. In 1880, when
,he was twelve years of age, the family moved
to Minnesota, and located in St. Paul. Mr.
Mauseau continued his education in Macalester
College, where he took a course in civil engin
eering, completing his studies and graduating
from that institution in 1 8 8 7 . In the same year
he moved to Duluth, where the rapid increase
in population and business at that period pro
duced conditions that offered an excellent oppor
tunity for operating in realty and mines. For
five years Mr. Mauseau was engaged in the real
estate and mining business. He continued in that
business until 1893, when he accepted a position
with the Duluth Telephone Company as book
keeper. Since that time he has been continu
ously connected with the telephone business. He
w^s promoted to the office of cashier of the
Duluth company a short time after entering their
service, and later was made manager of the busi
ness. This association continued until 1 9 0 2 when
Mr. Mauseau received an appointment as assist
ant general manager of the Duluth and Mesaba
Telephone Companies. He left Duluth three
years later, in July, 1905, coming to Minneapolis
and accepting the office of assistant general man
ager of the Northwestern Telephone Exchange
Company of this city. He became general man
ager of the Northwestern, Duluth, Mesaba &
Minnesota Central companies, on January 1, 1907.
Mr. Mauseau was appointed by President Cleve
land as the Clerk of Construction on the Federal
Building which was erected in Duluth in 1890.
He is a member of the Minneapolis Club and of
the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
MINNEAPOLIS
GENERAL ELECTRIC
COMPANY—In the electrical history of Minne
apolis, the development of The Minneapolis
General Electric Company plays an important
part. It is with no little interest that its de
velopment is noted from its nucleus in 1881 on
the bank of the Mississippi river at Fourth
avenue north, where a small generating station
was erected, to its present large organization of
many departments and with a generating capacity
of thirty-five thousand horse-power. The little
station on the river bank with its few hundred
horse power of engines soon became utterly in
capable of handling the rapidly growing busi
ness. A few years later, a water and steam plant
of eight thousand horse-power was established
011 the east side of the river, furnishing the pres
ent congested business district with light and
power. At this time electricity was used almost
• • •> ;
524
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
entirely for lighting, but soon its value as an ef
ficient means of power drive presented itself. In
1899 the Minnesota Brush Electric Company, un
der whose guidance a generating station on First
avenue southeast was being operated, was sold
to Messrs. Stone & Webster, of Boston. The
plant at this time was but one of three com
peting companies. Service was an uncertain
quantity and of variable quality.
Under the new management a large officebuilding and rotary sub-station was built on
South Fifth street, between Hennepin and Nicol
let avenues—in the heart of the business district,
in order that business, necessarily of a public
nature, should be centralized and also to assist
from an operating standpoint in better handling
the business. At this time an annual business of
$200,000 was transacted, but today, as the result
of good management, the yearly business is near
ly $1,000,000. But this is not without new and
better equipment and constantly increasing ef
forts of an organization of men whose aim is to
give good service at reasonable rates.
Again in 1907 the demand for electric power
exceeded the supply and the result was that one
of the largest hydro-electric developments in the
country was constructed on the St. Croix river,
forty miles from Minneapolis. And over a pri
vate right of way the power of a whole river is
brought to Minneapolis manufacturers over a
few small copper wires. Twenty seven thousand
horse-power of energy materially aids in the
making of a great industrial center, a still great
er manufacturing and distributing metropolitan
city. It further aids in the abatement of the
smoke and dirt common to manufacturing dis
tricts.
LEVERING, Anthony Zell, was born in the
city of Philadelphia on the second day of July,
1851. He is a lineal descendant of Rosier Lever
ing, the first of the name of whom any authentic
account can be had. Rosier Levering is supposed
to have been born in France about the year 1600.
In early life he fled from his native country to
avoid religious persecution and settled in Hol
land or Germany. He was there married to
Elizabeth Van De Walle of Wesel in Westshalin.
Their oldest son, Wigard Levering, was born in
Westphalia and in the year 1685 emigrated to
America and first settled in Germantown, Penn
sylvania, in 1692 removing to Roxborough—the
same state. Jacob Levering, one of the sons of
Wigard and Magdelena Levering, was the first
of the family born in Roxborough, and
was afterward the first
settler in what is
now known as Manayunk, Pennsylvania. An
thony, son of Jacob Levering, had a son
Anthony whose son John was the father
of Edmund, the father of A. S. Levering.
Mr. Levering passed the years of his boyhood
in the city of Philadelphia, where he remained
until 1870 when he settled in Minneapolis. From
1870 to 1873 he was in the employ of Kelly &
Brackett and was also connected with the pur
chasing department of the Northern Pacific dur
ing the construction work in Minnesota in 1871.
He was a member of D. P. Jones & Co. from
1872 to 1875. From that time until 1885 he was
deputy surveyor general of logs and lumber under
Geo. A. Brackett, and to lvs skill and ability as
an accountant is solely due the present perfect
system of keeping the accounts of that office.
From 1885 to October, 1906, he was secretary
and treasurer of the Minneapolis District Tele
graph Company; and he is secretary of the St.
Paul City Railway Company; secretary of the
Minneapolis Street Railway Company; treasurer
of the Minneapolis, Lyndale & Minnetonka Rail
way Company and private secretary of Thomas
Lowry, and for the past four years secretary
of the Arcade Investment Company. His edu
cation was such as the public schools of his
native city afforded and the fund of information
which he now possesses has been acquired amid
the cares and responsibilities of an active busi
ness life. He was married May 5, 1875, to
Miss Minnie Dorchester of Ripon, Wisconsin,
who died May 31, 1876. He was again married
IRUSH, PHOTO
ANTHONY Z. LHViiRING
PUBLIC UTILITIES
525
large proportions. During his residence in Min
neapolis, Mr. Moulton has served six years as
city treasurer and has been a member of the
board of park commissioners. He generally votes
the republican ticket but exercises his preferen
tial rights, when he sees fit, as to candidates. He
is a member of the Minneapolis and of the Minikahda clubs and attends Westminster Presby
terian Church. Mr. Moulton wa?, married in No
vember, 1874, to Harriet E. Skiles and they have
two children living, Eder H., Jr., and Katherine S.
HARRY A. Tl'TTLE.
to Miss Minnie A. Menzel, daughter of the Hon.
Gregor Menzel of Minneapolis, December 3,
1879, and his surviving children are Mrs. Arthur
R. Farr of Bedford, South Africa, and Miss
Emma -M. Levering of Minneapolis.
MOULTON, Eder H., was born in New York,
January 10, 1844, son of R. G. and Cornelia Moulton. His father was engaged in the wholesale
dry goods business in New York and in that city
Eder H. spent his earlier years. He received his
first instruction at Abbott's school at Norwich,
Conn., visiting England when he was eleven
years old and attending school in Geneva, Swit
zerland, in Paris, and at Atkinson's grammar
school at Manchester, England. Then he matric
ulated at Oxford University, England, leaving
there before graduation on account of the break
ing out of the Civil War in the United States.
From 1865 to 1868 he was engaged in the import
ing business in New York and Paris. Coming
to Minneapolis he became one of the founders
and the executive head of the Farmers' and Me
chanics' Savings Bank, of which he remained the
treasurer and manager for thirty years. As his
other interests reached great magnitude he found
the duties of the bank taking up too much of his
time and he resigned his office with the bank
in 1906, to devote his entire time to his telephone
interests which had by this time reached very
TUTTLE, Harry A., was born at Oswego, New
York, September 19, 1846, son of John and Mary
Elizabeth Tuttle. His father was a builder and
pattern maker by trade. Harry A. spent his
early life in Oswego and, when fifteen years old,
after graduating in the senior class of the high
school, he entered the telegraph service at Adams,
New York, as operator on the U. S. Branch Tele
graph Company's lines; was transferred to the
i'ion office the same year and, upon the con
solidation of the U. S. lines with the Western
Union in 1865, he was made manager at Ilion and
was, in 1866, transferred to Oswego, his former
home, and was manager there until 1876. He
then engaged in commercial business until 1882,
when he came to Minneapolis as manager for
the Western Union Company. Resigning in Feb
ruary, 1886, he entered upon the construction
of the lines of the North American Telegraph
Company and became secretary and general man>
ager, the position which he still holds and in
which he has done most excellent work which
is fully appreciated by the public. Mr. Tuttle is
a republican in politics. He is a member of the
Commercial Club, of Minneapolis; the Minne
sota Club, of St. Paul, and the Chicago Athletic
Club. He was married on June 15, 1870, at Ilion,
New York, to Miss Amanda Carpenter. They
have one child living—Charles W. Tuttle.
PETTENGILL, Heman J., was born in
Brunswick, Maine.
Telephone and telegraph
wires have played a prominent part in Mr. Pettengill's life since he graduated from the public
school in Brunswick, Maine. At an early age he
learned telegraphy by practicing in the telegraph
office at Brunswick. He was employed first by
the Western Union Telegraph Company as an
operator, and rose to the position of manager,
during the years between 1875 and 1882. He re
mained in Maine and Boston during this period.
In 1882 he became superintendent of the Postal
Telegraph-Cable Company, and his field included
most of the New England states; this position
he held until 1899. He has since been with tele
phone companies affiliated with the American
Telephone & Telegraph Company.
Mr. Pettengill has recently resigned the presi
dency of The Northwestern Telephone Exchange
Company to devote his entire attention to the
administration of the affairs of the Southwestern
526
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
SWEET, PHOTO
CHARLES I \ WAINMAN.
Telegraph & Telephone Company, of which he
has been the president for several years. The
Southwestern is one of the largest telephone com
panies in the United States, furnishing service to
more than ioo,coo subscribers in the states of
Texas and Arkansas.
Mr. Pettengill is a 32d degree Mason, and
holds the position of Past Commander of Hugh
de Payens Commandery, Knights Templars of
Melrose, Massachusetts, past president of the
Boston Electric Club, and also of the Old Time
Telegraphers Association. Since coming to Min
neapolis he has become a member of the Min
neapolis, the Lafayette and the Minikahda clubs.
In politics he is a republican. He has three sons
—Harrison Victor, in the employ of the American
Telephone & Telegraph Company, Heman Judson, Jr., Yale '07, and Russell Arthur, Dartmouth
College '09.
WAINMAN, Charles Paul, a resident of Min
neapolis since 1886, and during that time connect
ed with the Northwestern Telephone Exchange
Company of this city, was born in New York
state. He is the son of Alfred J. Wainman and
Elizabeth (Paul) Wainman, who resided at the
time of their son's birth at Utica, New York,
where Charles Paul was born in the year 1845.
The elder Mr. Wainmain was a prominent mer
chant and was for a number of years engaged in
business at Utica where he was well known and
esteemed among his business and social asso
ciates. The son passed the years of his boyhood
in central New York and attended the public
schools of that state. As a boy he entered the
army and served with the Federal troops during
the Civil war. He enlisted at Utica, New York,
in July, 1863, and at the expiration of that term
of service re-enlisted in January, 1864. On June
3 of the same year he was wounded at the battle
of Cold Harbor. When mustered out of the army
he began the study of telegraphy and soon pre
pared himself to accept a position as operator,
and as such acquired his first knowledge of the
telegraph business, finding that it was in this field
that he could use to the best advantage his prac
tical knowledge and best develop his executive
ability. For a time he was variously engaged and
then accepted a position with the District Tele
graph Company at Cleveland, Ohio, and began
an association with the practical science of rapid
transmission. Later he was promoted to the
office of manager with the same company and
filled the duties of that position until 1877 when
he resigned to engage in the rapidly extending
telephone business. During 1877 and 1878 he was
the electrician of the Cleveland Telephone Com
pany. During the latter year he was made the
superintendent and continued in the service of
the company until 1886, for several years before
his resignation holding the office of general su
perintendent. Coming to Minneapolis in 1887,
he became interested in the Northwestern Tele
phone Exchange Company in the same capacity
and has been continuously connected with that
corporation for over twenty years. He is now
the vice president of the company and is en
gaged in its management. During this time Mr.
Wainman has made his headquarters in Minne
apolis but has held for several years and now
holds offices in the Duluth Telephone Company
and the Mesaba Telephone Company being the
vice president of those corporations. Mr. Wain
man is a member of the G. A. R. and in addition
to holding all the offices of his post has been
aide on the staff of the commander-in-chief. In
political faith Mr. Wainman was formerly a re
publican, but now holds independent views on
public questions. He is a member of the Minne
apolis Club, of the Commercial Club, the Kitc'nf
Gamma Club of Duluth, the Long Meadow Gun
Club and the Town and Country Club. In i860
Mr. Wainman was married to Miss Mary Doran,
who died in 1870, leaving one daughter, Lizzie.
He was again married, in 1878, to Miss Clara E.
Cadman, of Cleveland, Ohio, and they have two
daughters—Edwina and Maud.
CHAPTER XXVII.
SUNDRY ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVITIES
I
N organization for the promotion of the
general good, in trade association, in
professional societies, in social clubs, in
athletics, music, the arts, charities an^l phil
anthropies, and the thousand and one activi
ties of a busy and progressive community,
Minneapolis has been distinguished for thor
oughness and completeness. Many of the
endeavors suggested have been mentioned
elsewhere in appropriate connection, but
some remain for consideration.
After some temporary organizations in
the earliest days the Union Board of Trade
was formed on July 1, 1855, and although
there were some lapses and reorganizations,
Minneapolis continued to maintain a board
for about forty years. In 1867 the board
formally incorporated. From this time un
til the representation of the people in public
affairs was taken up by the Commercial
Club, in 1901, the Board of Trade remained
the foremost public body and numbered
among its members and officers the leading
men of the city. The presidents included
Dorilus Morrison, Richard Chute, Capt.
John C. Reno, C. E. Flandreau, W. D.
Washburn, S. C. Gale, C. M. Loring, John
S. Pillsbury, F. W. Brooks, E. J. Phelps,
Judge Isaac Atwater, James T. Wyman, B.
F. Nelson and others. The board never
became a trading organization nor did it
represent any particular line of business,
although for a time it collected and pub
lished general commercial statistics of the
city.
Upon the organization of the Chamber
of Commerce in 1881 that body undertook
the publication of reports of trade and com
merce. But it has always been a distinc
tive trade organization and has refrained
from taking part in the general public affairs
of the city. In the same way the Jobbers'
Association, organized in 1884, devoted it
self exclusively to the interests of whole
salers and manufacturers, and the Produce
Exchange, formed in the same year, has
been entirely occupied with the affairs of
the produce dealers. Of broader purpose
was the Minneapolis Business Union,
formed in 1890 for the purpose of bringing
manufacturing establishments to the city.
For several years it was one of the strong
est and most effective organizations of Min
neapolis.
T H E COMMERCIAL CLUB.
In 1892 a number of prominent men, be
lieving that the promotion of public affairs
COL. WM. S. KING
528
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
been outgrown and ar
rangements have been
made for more commo
dious quarters to be occu
pied in 1909. C. M. Har
rington was the first pres
ident of the club. He was
followed by J. F. Calderwood, 1893-8; E.
].
Phelps, 1898-9; S. H.
Hall, 1899-1900; E. C.
Best, 1900-1; A. C. Paul,
1901-3; John Leslie, 19034; Fred R. Salisbury,
1904-6; C. W. Gardner,
1906-7, and B. F. Nelson,
1907-9. E. J. Westlake
has been secretary since
1902. S. H. Hall was first
chairman of the public
affairs committee.
He
was' followed by W. Y.
Chute, P. F. Nelson, W.
THE MINNEAPOLIS EXPOSITION M *iLr >ING.
W. Heffelfinger and F.
R. Salisbury. Wallace G.
could be better attained through the combi Nye has been commissioner since the orga
nation of social and public features in an nization of the committee. The member
organization, met-and formed the Minneap ship of the club is now 1,200.
AGRICULTURAL FAIRS.
olis Commercial and Athletic Club. The
The Minnesota State Fair, now the great
plan proved popular and the membership in
creased rapidly. Rooms were taken in the est in the country, grew out of a meeting
Kasota building. For a time the social and
athletic features, of the organization were
given prominence, but after a period of de
pression the gymnasium idea was entirely
dropped and the club, reorganized and re
juvenated (largely through the untiring
efforts of a committee headed by the late
S. H. Hall) occupied new and larger quar
ters in the Andrus building, eliminated the
word "athletic" from its name and added
to its activities systematic attention to pub
lic matters, through a "public afifairs com
mittee." This committee manages its own
finances and employs a commissioner of
public affairs. With the organization of this
committee in 1901 the Board of Trade was
discontinued. Special attention has been
given to the acquisition of new industries,
the invitation of conventions and their en
tertainment, the promotion of civic improve
ments and general publicity for the city.
The club rooms in the Andrus building have
AT ONE OF THE "KING" FAIRS
SUNDRY ORGANIZATIONS A N D ACTIVITIES.
of settlers in the little parlor of Colonel
Stevens' pioneer cottage on the river bank
at Minneapolis. Here the Hennepin Coun
ty Agricultural Society (the first agricul
tural society in the territory) was organized
and at a subsequent meeting of this society
plans were definitely laid for the formation
of a state agricultural society, which was
duly formed in 1854 with Gov. W. A. Gor
man as president and Col. Stevens as vicepresident for Hennepin county. Col. Stev-
529
fair owing to the hard times and the war
excitement. In 1859 a joint fair was again
held at Minneapolis, and in 1860 it was hel.l
at Fort Snelling, with Charles Hoag of Min
neapolis as president. In 1865 another suc
cessful state fair was held in Minneapolis,
and on this occasion Horace Greeley made
an address. During the next two decades
the fairs were held in various parts of the
state. The Hennepin county society main
tained its organization and secured grounds
OPENING OF THE FIRST MINNEAPOLIS EXPOSITION.
The photograph was taken at the moment Archbishop Ireland was offering the prayer. With a glass the faces
of many prominent men of 1880 may be distinguished in the group upon the platform.
ens was a prime-mover in the organization.
The first fair ever held in Minnesota was
that of the Hennepin county society, on
October 20, 1854. The second fair was held
on October 17 and 18, 1855, jointly by the
state and Hennepin county organizations.
This was the first "state fair." Colonel
Stevens was president. The second an
nual state fair was held in Minneapolis on
grounds near what is now Tenth street, on
October 8, 9 and 10, 1856. At this fair
over $2,000 was paid in premiums and the
gate receipts produced about half the
amount. For some years there was consid
erable irregularity in the holding of the state
in the southern part of the city, where fairs
were held with tolerable regularity, espe
cially under the regime of Col. Wm. S.
King, who conducted them for some years
with such vigor and originality that the
series under his management are still known
as the "King Fairs." Col. King, Henry F.
Brown, Col. Stevens and R. C. Judson were
prominent in fair matters in this period.
In 1885 Ramsey county presented the
state with the present fair grounds, midway
between the two cities, and since that time
the state fair has developed into a great
institution. The presidents in the past two
decades have been Fred C. Pillsbury, D. M.
530
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
Clough and Col. John H. Stevens, of Minne
apolis; John Cooper, of St. Cloud; C. N.
Cosgrove, of Le Sueur, and 1>. F. Nelson,
of Minneapolis, the present incumbent. Col.
W. M. Liggett, who has been active in the
fair management for years, was secretary
in 1890, and E. W. Randall served for
twelve years, ending in 1907, making a con
spicuous record as a successful fair execu
tive. The present secretary, C. N. Cosgrove, was president for some years and a
member of the board of managers since the
eighties. With a permanent home and judi
cious management the state fair has been
built up from a weak institution to a selfsupporting position, having property worth
approximately a million dollars, and in 1908
an attendance of 326,075, ticket sales of
$173,950, and net profits of about $85,000.
CHAItl.ES M.
UAUUINGTON
First president of the Commercial Club
Minneapolis contributes largely to its suc
cess in exhibits and attendance.
THE EXPOSITION.
When the fair was first located at the
present site there was much indignation in
Minneapolis. There had been a tacit un
derstanding between the cities that the mid
way district should be left unappropriated
by either as neutral ground for the develop
ment of suburbs and industrial sites for
both cities, and at the moment a joint com
mittee of the two cities was at work upon
a plan for locating the fair in this neutral
strip at a place satisfactory to both. While
these negotiations were in progress Minne
apolis was astounded by the unexpected gift
from St. Paul and the sudden action of the
legislature in accepting, followed, almost im
mediately, by the annexation of the midway
territory to St. Paul. It seemed an appro
priation of the state fair—-always hitherto
fostered by Minneapolis—and a particularly
aggravating instance of bad faith upon the
part of the other city. This feeling was
intensified by charges, made during the fair
of 1885, that St. Paul had secured railroad
discrimination in its favor, and on Septem
ber 14th Alden J. Blethen, then editor of
The Minneapolis Tribune, wrote a vigorous
editorial proposing that Minneapolis estab
lish an industrial exposition and maintain
annual exhibitions of her own, independent
of any other community. The idea met
with instant favor. With practically no
dissenting voice the people of Minneapolis
rose to the occasion, subscribed $100,000 at
one meeting, and $400,000 within three
months, formed a corporation, and opened
a complete and comprehensive exposition
on August 23 of the following year. The
building, costing over $250,000, was erected
in 124 working days from the date of letting
the first contracts. The exposition was
opened on the date promised and was at
tended by 338,000 people. It was a most
remarkable instance of a city's enterprise
and the possibilities of accomplishment
when a whole people act together.
The officers of the first exposition were:
W. D. Washburn, president; S. C. Gale,
vice-president; W. G. Byron, secretary; H. G.
Harrison, treasurer; Lewis B. Hubbard, gen
eral manager.
531
SUNDRY ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVITIES.
* -i'
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VIEW AT MINNESOTA STATE FAIR.
The exposition continued for several
years with pronounced success, but with
the coming of hard times and the general
decline in interest in local expositions ev
erywhere, it was finally discontinued. It
had, however, served its purpose. Its edu
cational effects upon the people of the city
and state were not lost and as an adver
tisement for Minneapolis it has never been
equalled.
SOCIAL CLUBS.
Among the social organizations of the
city the Minneapolis Club, organized in
1886, is the most prominent. When it was
formed Minneapolis had scarcely reached
the point where club life was regarded fav
orably, and the club was not entirely suc
cessful in its early years. For a time it
occupied a remodeled dwelling at Sixth
street and First avenue north, and after
wards better quarters at Seventh street and
Sixth avenue south, and then built a hand
some club house at First avenue south and
Sixth street. This building has been out
grown and a new club house at Eighth
street and Second avenue south was com
pleted in 1908—one of the finest club houses
in the west.
The Minikahda Club was organized in
1898 and erected a beautiful club house on
the west shore of Lake Calhoun, where it
owns about 120 acres of land. It is a com
pletely appointed town and country club
and its membership is open to both men and
women. The Lafayette Club and the Minnetonka Yacht Club have club houses at
Lake Minnetonka, and the Automobile and
Long Meadow Gun Clubs maintain club
houses overlooking the Minnesota valley.
The Odin Club, organized in 1899, has
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
532
4-
m
TIIE MASONIC TEMPLE
rooms in the Evanston building at Sixth
street and Second avenue south, and the
Roosevelt Club has quarters at Seventh
street and Hennepin avenue.
The Six
O'clock Club, organized in 1894, has a mem
bership of one hundred men who meet fort
nightly for the discussion of municipal and
social questions. These are some of the
leading organizations of the city.
MASONIC AND OTHER ORDERS.
The Masonic Temple, erected in 1888
and 1889, and one of the finest buildings
of its class in the west, marked the great
growth of the orders and fraternal organi
zations at this period in the history of Min
neapolis. Masonry had had its beginnings
in the city in 1851 when Cataract Lodge
was organized by Dr. A. E.
Ames. Col. Stevens, Ard
Godfrey, Emanuel Case.
I s a a c A tw a t e r ,
Anson
Northrup, John H. Murphy,
Robert Cummings and other
prominent pioneers were
among its early members.
The passage of thirty-five
years found Masonry very
strong in Minneapolis, and
in *1885 the first steps to
wards a temple were taken
through the organization of
the Masonic Temple Asso
ciation of Minneapolis. The
corner stone of the building
was laid in 1888, and the
building was completed dur
ing the following year at a
total cost of over $300,000.
Masonry has continued to
flourish, the membership is
very large, and in the higher
degrees, and the Scottish
Rite and the Mystic Shrine
includes in its ranks many
prominent business and pro
fessional men. Minneapolis
Lodge No. 19, which has
recently celebrated its semi
centennial, is one of the
largest blue lodges in the
country.
The Odd Fellows and
Good Templars also organized very early
in the history of the city and both are
strong orders. The Knights of Pythias are
exceptionally prosperous and have quarters
in the Masonic Temple. All the other
prominent orders are well established.
Posts of the Grand Army of the Republic
were formed in Minneapolis in the autumn
of 1866. One on the east side did not sur
vive for long, but that on the west side,
of which Dr. Levi Butler was the com
mander, continued and later assumed the
name of the George N. Morgan Post, under
which it flourished and became for years
the largest post in the state. It has been
the parent post from which nine others
have gone out. John A. Rawlins Post has
rooms in the Masonic Temple, which are
SUNDRY ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVITIES.
533
s,mz .Hr
ENTRANCE TO LAKHWDOl) CEMETERY.
said to be the finest of any Post rooms in
the country. The auxiliary and related
orders of the Women's Relief Corps, La
dies of the G. A. R., Sons of Veterans, etc.,
are well organized in the city. Minneapolis
has twice entertained the national encamp
ment of the G. A. R.
LAKEWOOD CEMETERY ASSOCIATION.
Public spirit in Minneapolis has not con
fined its endeavors to the commercial ad
vancement of the city. One of the most
notable examples of untiring" effort for the
general good is found in the history of the
Lakewood Cemetery Association, which
was organized in 1871 by a group of men
who realized the importance of the early
establishment of an extensive and suitable
cemetery. The original property, consisting
of 80 acres lying between Lakes Calhoun
and Harriet, was purchased from Col. Win.
S. King, who, with H. G. Harrison, W. D.
Washburn, George A. Brackett, D. Morri
son, Dr. C. G. Goodrich, W. P. Westfall,
Levi Butler and R. J. Mendenhall, consti
tuted the first board of trustees. Of these
only Messrs. Brackett and Washburn are
now living; they have given the work thirtyseven years of constant service. Adopting
the most approved plans the trustees grad
ually developed the cemetery until it be
came one of the most beautiful in the coun
try. It now comprises 240 acres. At the
entrance is a gateway building erected in
1889 at a cost of $35,000. Nearby is the
receiving vault, and in course of erection is
a modern crematory. The association is
perpetual, and belongs to the stockholders
who are the owners of the lots; while no
stockholders or trustees receive any divi
dends or any other compensation. The re
ceipts from sales of lots are devoted to main
tenance. and improvements and additions,
and are now also creating a fund which will
have reached three and one-half millions when
all lots are sold, and will be then sufficient to
provide a perpetual income for maintenance.
A. W. Hobert has long been secretary and
superintendent.
GARDNER, Charles W., auditor of the Min
neapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad,
was born on February 17, 1861, at Rushville, New
York. He is the son of Harvey R. Gardner and
Marietta (Mills) Gardner, who moved while their
son was still a child to St. Paul, Minnesota.
There Charles W. spent his boyhood and attend
ed the public schools. After his graduation he
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
534
distributing company in Great Britian. In 1888
he came to America and entered the employ of a
wholesale paper house in St. Paul. He rose
rapidly in the business and very soon was put in
charge of a branch establishment in Minneapolis
where he remained as manager for three years
when he resigned to commence business on his
own account. With H. J. McAfee he organized
the firm of Leslie & McAfee which at once took
a leading place among the paper jobbers of the
northwest. Upon the death of Mr. McAfee 0
few years latex, Mr. Leslie became sole proprietor
of the business which he soon afterwards incor
porated as The John Leslie Paper Company.
After two successive moves to accommodate the
growing business the company erected the mas
sive warehouse now occupied at the corner of
Third avenue south and Fifth street. Mr. Les
lie has taken no active part in politics except to
use his influence for the best things in state, na
tional and municipal government, but has been
very active in municipal affairs. In the public
affairs work, of the Minneapolis Commercial Club
he has been a hard worker and has served as
director, vice-president, president and member
of the public affairs committee, of the club. He
was married in 1 8 8 8 to Bessie May McAfee of
Minneapolis and has four sons. The family at
tends the Fowler M. E. Church.
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CHARLES
W. GARDNER
commenced an active business career and after a
few years of conscientious work was appointed,
in 1 8 8 6 , auditor of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and
Sault Ste. Marie Railroad. This position he still
holds, so he has been in the employ of the Soo
Line for twenty-two years. Mr. Gardner was
president of the Minneapolis Commercial Club
during 1 9 0 6 - 7 and has been one of its most inter
ested members since its inception. He was one
of the original promoters and secured the first
members for the organization. He was elected
as the first secretary of the club and served in
that capacity without remuneration. He was
elected president of the club in 1 9 0 6 . Mr. Gard
ner was married in 1 8 8 2 to Miss Helen M. Con
nolly of St. Paul, and they have one boy, Elmer
Valentine.
The family are members of the
Trinity Baptist Church.
LESLIE, John, president of The John Leslie
Paper Company of Minneapolis, is a native of
Ireland but of Scotch descent. His family is of
ancient Scottish lineage, prominent in the his
tory of Scotland. Mr. Leslie's father was James
Leslie, a merchant. John was educated in the
national schools of Ireland and was then bred to
the book, stationery and printing business, serv
ing an apprenticeship according to the custom of
the country. After concluding his term as appren
tice he was connected for a time with the Dublin
branch of the largest paper manufacturing and
LINTON, Alonzo Herbert, for more than fifty
years identified with the development of the
Northwest,- was born in Johnstown, Pennsyl
vania, November 4, 1836. He was the son of
John Linton, a merchant and iron manufacturer.
His mother was Adelaide Lacock of Virginia.
Mr. Linton was the third of eight children. At
fifteen years of age he left school to enter the
employ of Joseph and Selah Chamberlain of
Cleveland, prominent railroad contractors from
whom he learned the business which was to be
his life work. About 1854 he came to Wisconsin
with Selah Chamberlain and a few years later
came to Minnesota where Mr. Chamberlain had
extensive contracts. Besides having a part in
these undertakings Mr. Linton acted for a time
as manager of Mr. Chamberlain's banking inter
ests, then returned to Milwaukee where he ob
tained further railroad experience and in 1860
went to Cuba to take charge of the construction
of a railroad from Havana to Pinar Del Rio.
After his return to the United States, Mr. Lin
ton was sent to Minneapolis, in 1863, to take
charge of the local office of the Chamberlains
and about the same time began contracting on his
own account, taking the section of the Minnesota
Central railroad from Owatonna to Austin. In
1870 Mr. Linton formed a partnership with the
late R. B. Langdon and during the next twenty
years constructed some five thousand miles of
railroad, including the river division of the Mil
waukee, other portions of the same system, of
the Northwestern, Northern Pacific, Omaha, Soo
Line, Minneapolis & Pacific, St. Paul, Minneapo-
536
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AI.ONZO
II.
LINTON
lis & Manitoba, and Canadian Pacific railroads.
They built seven hundred miles of the Canadian
Pacific west of Winnipeg. They also executed
contracts in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and other
more distant states. Upon Mr. Langdon's death
in 1895, the business was continued by Mr. Lin-'
ton with whom. Cavour S. Langdon has been
associated in recent years. Mr. Linton was mar
ried in 1866 to M-iss Gertrude Darragh of Beaver
county, Pennsylvania. • Mrs. Linton was a de
scendant of John Hart, one of the signers of the
Declaration of Independence. They have four
daughters. For many years Mf. Linton has been
identified with St. Mark's Episcopal Church and
has taken a prominent part in the business af
fairs of the city aside from his extensive opera
tions in contracting.
NELSON, Benjamin Franklin, for many years
closely identified with the public affairs and
commercial interests of Minneapolis, was born
in Kentucky on May 4, 1843. H e was the son
of William and Emiline (Benson) Nelson, both
of whom were natives of Maryland. The cir
cumstances of the family were such that the
boys early took up a part of its support and
after brief terms of schooling in the public
schools of Greenup and Lewis counties, Mr. Nel
son, at the age of seventeen, had his first ex
perience in the lumber business, cutting timber
and rafting it down the Ohio. This work was
interrupted by the war. At nineteen he en
listed in the Second Kentucky Cavalry and
served under the famous Confederate leaders,
Generals Morgan, Forest and Wheeler.
The
close of the war found him a prisoner at Camp
Douglas, near Chicago. He returned to Ken
tucky but soon decided to try a more promis
ing region, and in September, 1865, arrived at
Minneapolis, where his experience in lumbering
brought him into immediate employment. And
since that time he has been continuously in the
business, becoming after a few years one of the
leading lumbermen in the Northwest. During
the first year Mr. Nelson worked as a laborer
in woods and mills and 011 the river. In the
second winter he took a contract to haul logs,
a little later a contract for the manufacture of
shingles, and, in 1872, formed a partnership with
Warren C. Stetson in the planing mill business.
This led directly to lumber manufacturing. 11 *
1881 he formed, with W . M. Tenney and H. W.
'McNair, the firm of Nelson, Tenney & Com
pany, and next year purchased the Clarke saw
mill. At first the business was small, but it
developed rapidly with the progress of the city
and the northwest during the eighties, and the
concern soon became one of the heaviest in
Minneapolis. H. B. Frey soon succeeded Mr.
McNair in the firm and later W. F. Brooks held
an interest for some years. After the withdrawal
of W . M. Tenney, S. G. Tuthill became interested
and the concern became the Nelson-Tuthill
Lumber Company, retaining this style until a'l
its pine holdings had been cut over and its mills
were sold and it withdrew from manufacturing
in 1905. During all this long period of over
forty years in the lumber business Mr. Nelson
had acquired interests in many other connected
lines and affiliated companies, besides taking part
in the development of other classes of manu
facturing and in the financial affairs of the com
munity. He is president of the Leech Lake T um
ber Company, the Nelson Sash & Door Com
pany. the Hennepin Paper Company, the Nel
son Paper Company, B. F. Nelson & Sons Com
pany, the Leech Lake Land Company, and vicepresident of the Spokane Lumber Company. He
is a director of the Swedish American National
Bank of Minneapolis and of the First National
Bank of Walker, Minnesota, and trustee of the
Swedish Savings Bank of Minneapolis. He is
also largely interested in mineral lands in north
ern Minnesota.
Notwithstanding the extent of his business in
terests Mr. Nelson has also found time for pub
lic service, when it was asked of him, and has
taken a large part in the philanthropic, educa
tional and religious work of the city. He served
in the city council from 1879 t o 1885 and was
one of the first board of park commissioners,
taking a prominent part in laying the founda
tions of the Minneapolis park system. A most
valuable service to the city was that on the
school board from 1884 to 1891—a time during
BRUSK, PHOTO
(J3 cJ\JCAJImk
538
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
which the unparallelled growth of the school
population made heavy demands upon the abil
ities of the members of the board. A prominent
Methodist he was long ago called to take part
in the affairs of Hamline university and is a
trustee and vice-president at the present time.
His experience in educational affairs and his
recognized business ability led to his appoint
ment to the board of regents of the state
university in 1 9 0 5 , and since then he has served
the state with conspicuous success in this capac
ity.
Elected vice-president of the Minnesota
State Agricultural society in 1 9 0 2 he became at
once one of the most valued of the members of
the board and in 1 9 0 7 was made president and
was elected again in 1 9 0 8 . In this position he
has large responsibilities in connection with
Minnesota's very successful state fair. For a
number of years he served on the board of man
agers of the Minnesota state prison.
In the semi-official work of the organizations
of business men for the promotion of the pub
lic good, Mr. Nelson has taken a most active
and efficient part. He was for many years a
member of the old Board of Trade and its
president in 1 8 9 0 - 9 1 . He was one of the directors,
and treasurer, of the Business Men's Union in
1890.
Upon the incorporation of the Minne
apolis Exposition in 1 8 8 5 he was named, one of
the directors and continued prominent in the af
fairs of the institution, taking heavy financial
responsibilities and incurring subsequent losses
for which he never received compensation. In
1 9 0 4 he became a director of the Minneapolis
Commercial Club and at the same time was ap
pointed chairman of the public affairs committee
and during two years in this position accomlished notable commercial development work. In
1 9 0 7 he was elected president of the club and is
now in that office. He is also connected with
many other organizations including the Minne
apolis, Lafayette and Minikahda Clubs, the Min
nesota State Historical Society and the Masonic
order—a member of the 3 2 n d degree and a Shrill
er and Knight Templar. Mr. Nelson was mar
ried in 1869 to Martha Ross who died in 1874,
leaving two sons, William Edwin and Guy H.
He was again married in 1 8 7 5 to Mary Fredenburg of Northfield, Minnesota. They have one
daughter, Bessie E.~ Mr. Nelson's sons are as
sociated with him in many of-his business inter
ests. .Although a lifelong democrat Mr. Nelson
has never held an office by partisan election, his
selection for service being principally by appoint
ment and in recognition of. particular fitness
rather than for political considerations. He has
frequently been requested to stand for high po
litical positions but has never consented to be
come a candidate.
NYE, Wallace G., was born at Hortonville,
Wisconsin, October 7, 1859, the son of Freeman
James and Hannah Pickett Nye. His father was
a soldier of the Union army in the Civil War
and traces descent from Benjamin Nye, who
SWEET, PHOTO
WALLACE G.
NYK
came from England in 1635 on the ship "Abigail"
and settled at Sandwich, Massachusetts. The
Nyes shared the storm and stress of the colonial
wars, the war for independence, the second war
with Great Britain in 1 8 1 2 , and the Mexican war.
The son, Wallace G., after his boyhood spent 011
the paternal farm, and gathering initial knowl
edge at the district school, showed his apprecia
tion of the virtue of self-help by teaching school
when sixteen years old, and, with the proceeds,
attended the normal school at Oshkosh, Wiscon
sin, at intervals teaching to secure funds. He
learned the retail drug business in Chicago and
came to Minneapolis in September, 1 8 8 1 , open
ing a drug store in North Minneapolis and oper
ating it until 1 8 9 3 . An active member of the
republican party, he served on the campaign
committee in 1 8 8 8 and was chairman of the city
committee in 1 8 9 8 . In 1 8 9 2 he was elected city
comptroller and was twice re-elected to that im
portant office. He was elected secretary of the park
board in 1 8 8 9 , served four years, and was elected
a member of that board to fill a vacancy in 1894
serving for three years. Mr. Nye is a member
of the board of court house and city hall com
missioners to which he was elected in 1 9 0 4 . Mr.
Nye has given notably effective service as com
missioner of the public affairs committee of the
Commercial Club, a position which he still re
tains. This organization is recognized as a
539
SUNDRY ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVITIES.
where he has made a specialty in his practice of
the law of patents and trademarks. He is the
author of a work on the law of trademarks,
which was published in 1903. Mr. Paul is a
member of the Minneapolis Commercial Club, of
which he was president for two years.
PHELPS, Edmund Joseph, since 1878 one of
the progressive and successful citizens of Min
neapolis, was born in Ohio, at the town of
Brecksville, Cuyahoga county.
His ancestors
were English, the family being descended from
William Phelps, who came from Tewsbury, Eng
land, to America and settled at Dorchester, Mas
sachusetts, in 1630, later moving to Windsor,
Connecticut. Joseph Edmund Phelps, father of
Edmund J., emigrated from Massachusetts to
Ohio, as did Ursula (Wright) Phelps, and located
on a farm, where their son was born on Jan
uary 17, 1845. He grew up at the place of his
birth, and began his education in the public
schools of Brecksville, and later entered the
preparatory department of the Baldwin Univer
sity at Berea, Ohio, and continued his educa
tion with two or three terms in Oberlin College.
When about eighteen he left college for a time
to teach school, and then prepared for an active
business life by taking a course in the business
AMASA C. PAUL
wideawake promoter of the commercial and
other substantial interests of Minneapolis, and
Mr. Nye is closely identified with its progressive
spirit. He is a member of the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows; A. F. & A. M.; A. O. U. W.,
and B. P. O. E. He is a 32d degree Mason. To
the I. O. O. F., he has given most active fraternal
work. He was grand master of the Grand Lodge
in 1890 and grand patriarch of the Grand En
campment in 1893 and representative to the Sov
ereign Grand Lodge for ten years. Mr. Nye is
not a member of any church organization. He
was married in 1881 to Etta Rudd at New Lon
don, Wisconsin, and to them have been born two
children—Marshall A. and George M. Nye, both
of whom are engaged in business in the city.
PAUL, Amasa C., a leading specialist in law
in Minneapolis, was born in Wakefield, New
Hampshire, September 12, 1857. After two years'
attendance at Dartmouth College he taught in
the Franklin school at Washington, D. C., from
February, 1877, to January 1, 1881, when he was
appointed Assistant Examiner in the United
States Patent Office. He attended the law school
of the National University and that of the Co
lumbian University, graduating from the former
in 1880 and from the post graduate course of the
latter in 1882. He was admitted to the bar in
1880. In 1884 Mr. Paul came to Minneapolis
v
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EDMUND
J.
PHELPS
-4, I si
540
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
college at Oberlin, Ohio. An appointment as
instructor in the Northwestern Business Col
lege of Aurora, Illinois, was offered him, which
he accepted, retaining it for about two years.
He then entered the banking business with the
firm of Valentine & Williams, at Aurora, and
there gained his first practical experience in
banking. In 1870 Mr. Phelps resigned his po
sition with the bank to organize the firm of E.
J. Phelps & Co. and engage in the furniture
business. In 1878 he moved to Minneaoplis,
having disposed of his business interests in
Aurora, and has since that year been continu
ously in business in this city, and has taken an
energetic part in its development and progress.
After locating here Mr. Phelps purchased the
furniture business of J. B. Hanson, later forming
a partnership with J. S. Bradstreet as Phelps &
Bradstreet, and commenced to manufacture and
trade in artistic furniture and house furnishings,
and when, in 1883, Mr. Phelps withdrew from the
firm and retired from the furniture business, the
company's trade extended through the whole
Northwest. He then directed his energies, in
company with E. A. Merrill, to the organization
of the Minnesota Loan & Trust Company, cap
italized at $200,000, at the time the business was
founded, the capital stock later being raised to
a much larger amount. Mr. Phelps retained his
interest in the corporation for several years, and
one of the foremost financial institutions of the
city was built up. After a decade of active finan
cial business Mr. Phelps withdrew from the
loan and trust company to engage in the grain
business. He ^became associated with the Peavy
interests, and for a number of years has been
the president of the Belt Line Elevator Company.
Though these have been the principal enterprises
with which Mr. Phelps has been connected, his
other business interests have been large and
varied. He has been a director of the Minne
apolis .Threshing Machine Company, of the
Brown 8z. Haywood Company (now merged in
the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company), of the
Northwestern Elevator Company, and of the Na
tional Bank of Commerce,, and has long been
an officer of the Moore Carving Machine Com
pany and is its president at the present time.
Notwithstanding his commercial activities, Mr.
Phelps' part in the public life of Minneapolis has
been an active^ one, and for years he has been
a member of the prominent commercial organiza
tions. He became a member of the Board of
Trade in 1879, and was its president in 1884 and
1885, and was one of the promoters of the Min
neapolis Business Union.
Among the public
services have .been the. suggestion of the great
harvest festival held in Minneapolis in 1891; the
supervising as one of the-commissioners of the
distribution of the cargo" of the relief ship sent to
Russia in 1893, and his work on the census board
in 1890, and as treasurer of the fund for the na
tional republican convention held in Minneapolis
in 1892. He is now a member of the Park Board,
and in 1899 held the office of president in that
organization. Mr. Phelps is a member of the
Minneapolis Club, the Commercial Club, the
Minikahda Club, the Lafayette Club, the Auto
mobile Club, of which he was the first president;
of the Minnetonka Yacht Club, being a former
commodore of that club; a member and expresident of the Minneapolis Whist Club, and of
the Society of Colonial Wars. Mr. Phelps has
been actively connected with the development of
the Commercial Club, and was its president in
1899, at- the time when the consolidation was
effected, Mr. Phelps being one of the promoters
and workers in that movement. He was mar
ried on September 16, 1874, to Louisa A. Rich
ardson, and they have three children, Ruth Shepard, Richardson and Edmund J., Jr.
SALISBURY, Fred Richardson, was born
January 18, 1861, in Madison county, New York,
son of Thomas G'. Salisbury, a manufacturer. Mr.
Salisbury received his earlier educational training
at Cedar Falls, Iowa, where he attended the
public schools, graduating at the high school and
taking a course in a business college. From his
seventeenth- year, Air. Salisbury was engaged in
Jk
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FRKD It. SALISBURY
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SUNDRY ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVITIES.
541
year. He did not take up college work as he had
no ambitions to follow a profession, so began at
once to work out for himself a commercial suc
cess and has been connected with several different
enterprises. For about two years and a half he was
associated with the retail hardware business, dis
continuing that connection to become employed in
the packing and retailing of meats. He contin
ued this business about ten years, until 1897,
when he received an offer from the Minnesota
Loan & Trust Company of this city. He with
drew from the packing trade and accepted this
position, being for four years identified with the
mortgage department of the Loan & Trust Com
pany. This association was continued until 1901.
He resigned his office at that time to enter the
John Leslie Paper Company as credit manager
and successfully filled that office about four and
a half years, severing his connection with the
Leslie concern about three years ago to open an
office in this city as an expert accountant and audi
tor, and has sincc been so engaged. Mr. Webb
has a large established clientage and is rapidly
building up a successful practice. In his political
beliefs Mr. Webb is a republican. He is a mem
ber of the Commercial Club of Minneapolis and
for some years has been the auditor of that or
ganization. He is also connected with a number
of the fraternal orders—the Hennepin Lodge No.
4, A. F. and A. M.; St. John's Chapter No. 9
SILAS H. TOWLER
the bed-manufacturing business, and, since com
ing to Minneapolis, his energy, industry and
business experience have built up one of the
strongest firms in that line of manufacturing
in the city—Salisbury & Satterlee Co., Nos. 21519 Main street southeast. Mr. Salisbury is a
democrat in politics. Among the positions of im
portance he has held in civic life are treasurer of
the Firemen's Relief Fund; president of the Min
neapolis Credit Men's Association; president of
the Twin City Merchants Association; president
of the Minneapolis Furniture Manufacturers' As
sociation and president of the Minneapolis Com
mercial Club. Mr. Salisbury is a member of the
First Methodist Church. He was married in 1885
to Miss Nellie F. Barrows, of Minneapolis, and to
them have been born four children—Maurice,
Willis, Kenneth and Emmett.
WEBB, Ralph Day, son of James Knapp
Webb, was born in Lenawee county, Michigan,
on August 28, 1862. His father was a farmer of
that district, having a farm about four miles
from the town of Adrian, Michigan, where his
son, Ralph Day, passed the early part of his
life. He acquired the customary grammar and
preparatory education and then continued his
training in the Raisin Valley Seminary. He en
tered this institution with the class of 1880, and
completing his course of study graduated in that
SW«T, PMOT9
RALPH D. WEBB
542
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Central and in 1892 came west again and estab
lished himself as a merchant in St. Paul. In 1895
he became assistant secretary of the St. Paul
Commercial Club and at the same time, during
the summer, had the management of the hotels
in Yellowstone National Park, continuing in
these capacities until March, 1902, when he was
called to the secretaryship of the Commercial
Club of Minneapolis. Mr. Westlake is essentially
a club man and besides his connection with the
Commercial Club belongs to many organizations
including the Lafayette Club, the Sons of the
American Revolution—of which he is a member
of the state board of managers—the Elks, the
A. O. U. W., and the Royal Arcanum. He is a
thirty-second degree Mason and a Shriner. In
politics he is a republican. Mr. Westlake was
married in Jersey City in August, 1879, to Miss
Grace E. Thomas and they have two children—
J*ohn Ellis Westlake and Winifred Righter Westlake.
The family attends the Presbyterian
church. Their home is at 2015 2nd Av. S.
WHEATON, Fred E., the editor of the "Py
thian Advocate," the official publication of the
Knights of Pythias, is the son of Benjamin F.
and Lovina (Clark) Wheaton. He was born on
September 24, 1862, at Machias, Maine, where he
was raised and received his education. He was
trained in the common schools of Washington
county, Maine, and received a good working edu-
BRU8H, PHOTO
ELLIS J. WESTLAKE
R. A. M.; Minneapolis Council No. 2, R. and S.
M.; Zion Commandery No. 2; Knights Templar;
Minneapolis Consistory No. 2, A. and A. S. R.
In 1898 Mr. Webb was Master of Hennepin
Lodge and from 1901 to 1904 was Master of St.
Vincent da Paul Chapter, Rose Croix No. 2, A.
and A. S. R. Mr. Webb was married on June
17th, 1903, to Miss Lyla B. Baker.
WESTLAKE, Ellis J., secretary of the Com
mercial Club of Minneapolis, was born at Horse
Heads, Chemung County, New York, on April
30, 1854. He was the son of Charles D. Westlake, a farmer, and the early years of his life
were spent on the farm and in obtaining the edu
cation afforded by the public schools of the
vicinity. He early entered business, his first em
ployment being with hotels at Elmira and Bi'nghamton, New York. His experience and effici
ency as a hotel man brought him rapid promo
tion when he, later, entered the employment of
the Pullman Company first as conductor of hotel
cars, then as assistant general commissary, from
which position he went to the Northern Pacific
in 1882, as the first superintendent of its dining
car and hotel department. Three years later he
went to the Wagner Palace Car Company as as
sistant district superintendent at New York, and
was afterwards superintendent of the eastern di
vision of the Union Palace Car Company, New
York, a passenger conductor on the New York
FKED E. WIIEAXON
SUNDRY ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVITIES.
cation. Natural inclination and ability urged him
to take up a journalistic career and soon after
finishing his studies he engaged in newspaper
work in Machias. In 1881 he moved to Minne
apolis and for a time was connected with the
Minneapolis Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer
Press. On September 15, 1883, the Webster
Lodge, No. 29, Knights of Pythias was instituted
in St. Paul and Mr. Wheaton became a member.
He was installed as Keeper of Records and Seals
and, barring a few months has been continuously
in office in the Order since that time. His offices
have been many, twice Grand Vice-Chancellor,
Grand Chancellor for three years and for twelve
years Grand Keeper of the Records and Seals of
the state. Mr. Wheaton aided in establishing
the Pythian Advocate in 1883 and four years later
organized the first press association ever estab
lished among the Pythian publishers, the Pythian
Editorial 'Association. He also founded and or
ganized the Association of Grand Keepers of
Records and Seals. In 1884 he joined Uniform
Rank and served in company and regimental po
sitions. For seven years he was Assistant Adju
tant General and is now serving his second term
as Brigade Commander. At the time when Mr.
543
Ward was Supreme Chancellor of the Order, Mr.
Wheaton served as Deputy Supreme Chancellor
for Cuba and performed the initial work in in
troducing the Order on that Island. His atten
tion has not been devoted exclusively to the af
fairs of his Order, however, he has found time to
keep up his newspaper work and at the close of
Cleveland's first term accompanied the President
and his cabinet to the West Indies as special cor
respondent for the American Press. In politics
he is a democrat and has several times represent
ed his party at the polls, in 1902 as candidate
for City Comptroller of this city, for Clerk of
Court of Hennepin county in 1904, and two years
later as nominee for Clerk of the Supreme Court
of the state. For five years he belonged to Co.
I, First Regiment, M. N. G. and in 1905 was ap
pointed to the staff of Governor Johnson. In
1906 he was also made Surveyor General of logs
and lumber by Governor Johnson. Besides his
membership in the Knights of Pythias, Mr.
Wheaton is a member of the Elks, the Press and
Commercial clubs and the State Press Associa
tion. He was married September 24, 1890, to
Miss Grace Merrill at Fort Dodge, Iowa, and
they have four sons.
CHAPTER XXVIII
HOMES AND SUBURBS OF MINNEAPOLIS
M
INNEAPOLIS has always been
justly entitled to the reputation
which it has gained as a city of
homes. And this must be understood to
mean individual homes, detached houses,
dwellings which belong to the occupants.
The original town site was laid out on a
generous plan. The lots were large and the
streets wide. There was a plenty of land
and it was intended to make the most of it.
So the village grew, a group of white frame
houses, each on a lot of good size and al
most invariably occupied by the owner.
As the place came to a city's estate the
streets were pushed out over prairie and
wood lot, the diligent and thrifty real estate
dealer assisting energetically in the opera
tion. These real estate men did a very good
thing for Minneapolis. If they at times
helped investors to the ownership of unprof
itable property they effectually spread Min
neapolis out over a wide expanse; they gave
the city elbow room. Built on this plan
there was no excuse for crowded tenements
or unsanitary piling up of buildings in nar
row limits. Even the very poor have been
generally housed in detached, if not com
fortable houses. In the grade above the
lower level there have been some houses
built in rows after the eastern fashion but
they have never been very popular. For a
while there was much mushroom architec
ture—houses built to sell, or to rent at
prices which should make good the owner's
investment in a short time. This period
was inevitable but it passed quickly and
gave place to one of substantial building—a
movement somwhat accelerated by the
establishment of a department of building
inspection and the adoption of restrictive
building ordinances. At the same time
there developed a desire for home owner
ship, which has become so pronounced that
it is now safe to say that a larger propor
tion of the people of Minneapolis occupy
their own homes than in any other city of
its size.
A marked peculiarity of the Minneapolis
residence districts is the absence of show
streets or exclusive districts devoted to the
homes of the wealthy. There is a decidedly
democratic lack of exclusiveness. And,
while there are hundreds of costly and most
beautiful homes, there are few which show
extravagance. The city has no palaces.
The great preponderance of residences in
the city are those of the middle class; al
though it is a fact that within a few years
there has been a very large number of
houses built and paid for by the so-called
working class. Whole additions have been
built upon by laborers and artisans.
Among the better class of homes there
has been a decided tendency within the past
decade towards the planting of trees, vines
and shrubbery, the beautification of grounds
by gardening, the planting of hedges and
the building of walls—all tending to give
the city an air of permanence and solidity.
> FROM THE SWEET COLLECTION
AX OLD-TIME MINNEAPOLIS HOME.
The old Sidle residence which stood 011 the present site of
the Andrus building until about 1883.
HOMES AND SUBURBS.
545
VIEW IN LATE AUTUMN ON PARK AVENUE—LOOKING SOUTH.
Added to this is the constantly increasing
attention to architecture and evident appre
ciation of the advantages of the beautiful
building locations on the lakes and park
ways of the city.
The apartment house came in with the
great growth of Minneapolis in the eighties
but has never been as popular as in some
other cities. Flats are used largely because
detached houses at moderate rentals are
scarce, landlords finding the apartment
houses the most profitable investments.
Of all the charming places about Minne
apolis Lake Minnetonka easily holds first
place. This beautiful lake, fifteen miles long
but so irregular in outline as to have more
than a hundred miles of shore, lies imme
diately west of the city and within easy
run by automobile or ride by steam or elec
tric cars. Minnetonka was first known to
white men in 1822 when Joseph R. Brown
and a son of Col. Snelling visited its shores.
It was visited from time to time by the
older settlers and it is claimed that its name
was bestowed by Gov. Ramsey in 1852.
Settlements were made at several points in
the fifties and during the early years of
Minneapolis the lake was a favorite picnic
and camping place but it was not until the
late seventies that it began to take on the
character of a summer resort. This devel
opment came first through the interest of
southerners. Previous to the war Minne
apolis had been a famous resort for the
wealthy people of the lower Mississippi val
ley from St. Louis to the gulf and the old
Winslow house was crowded each summer
with a gay company. The war cut off this
stream of southern visitors and naturally
the annual visits were not resumed for some
years after the struggle; but in 1878 the
Hotel St. Louis was built on Bay St. Louis
and soon became a very popular place with
visitors from down the river. Other build
ing followed rapidly. The great Hotel La
fayette was erected at Minnetonka Beach
and innumerable cottages were built not
only by Minneapolis people but by residents
of distant cities. A fleet of steamers sailed
the lake—some of them as large as the river
boats to which the visitors were accustomed.
With the flight of years another change
took place. The great hotels gave place to
smaller houses less expensive to maintain,
the big steamers were replaced by small and
fast ones and the lightly constructed cot
tages of the Minneapolis summer residents
began to disappear to make room for beau
tiful and costly villas, many of them so con
structed as to be habitable the year round,
546
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
A MODERN MINNEAPOLIS RESIDENCE.
Residence of Churles J . Martin.
Win. dimming Whitney, Architect.
A RESIDENCE STREET—GROVELAND TERRACE, LOOKING WEST.
HOMES AND SUBURBS.
i •'
547
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A TYPE OF RECENT RESIDENCE ARCHITECTURE.
Home of F. W. Clifford.
Ilarry W. Jones, Architect.
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LAKE MIXXKTOXKA.
The club house of the Miunctonka Yacht Club on the island is at the entrance to Hay St. Louis.
Harry \V. Jones, Architect.
548
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
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THE SHORE AT FERXDALE, LAKE MINNETONKA.
Villa of Alonzo T. Rand is seen in tlie center of the view.
OXE OF MIXXETOXKA'S CHARMING RESIDENCES.
"01(1 Orchard,"
the summer home of
John F. Wilcox.
Bertram! & Chambcrlin,
Architects.
.HOMES AND SUBURBS
549
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MINIKAHDA CLUB HOUSE—LAKE CALHOUN.
or at least from early spring to late autumn.
One of the most beautiful and conspicu
ous places at Minnetonka is "Highcrpft," a
large brick residence in English style erect
ed by the late Frank H. Peavey in the midst
of extensive grounds- overlooking a large
part of the "lower lake." It is in the im
mediate vicinity of Ferndale, where the
summer homes of W. G. Northrup, A. T.
Rand, Alfred S. Pillsbury, George H. Chris
tian, E. J. Phelps,. Charles S. Pillsbury, E.
R. Barber, C. J\I. Hardenburgh, and others
equally beautiful, form a continuous park
for some distance along the shore of the
lake.
Across the bay from Ferndale is
Breezy Point, where there is a very attrac
tive group of homes, including T. B. Janney's beautiful "Red Oaks."
Another
charming center is at Deephaven on the
eastern shore of the lake, where the club
house of the Minnetonka Yacht club occu
pies a small island at the entrance to the
r'
THE OLD BOUND TOWER AT FOItT SNELL1NG—1801-1908.
550
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
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MINNESOTA SOLDIERS' HOME.
Overlooking the Mississippi at the mouth of Minnehaha creek.
bay. On a commanding promontory over
looking the bay and much of the "big lake"
is "Katahdin," the fine summer home of
Lucian Swift.
Minnetonka Beach is still another center
with beautiful cottages and villas occupy
ing points of vantage along the picturesque
shores and the club house of the Lafayette
club in a commanding central position.
From the Beach it is but a short distance
to the narrows which lead to the "upper
lake"—a more remote but not less beautiful
part of Minnetonka. On the south shore
of the upper lake is one of the beautiful
places which shows, to a wonderful degree,
the possibilities of suburban home making.
This is "Old Orchard," the summer home
of J. F. Wilcox of Minneapolis. Only a
small part of the estate of eighty-five acres
is shown in the illustration appearing in this
chapter, and the work of the landscape
architect, which, taking advantage of the
naturally beautiful surface, has made the
place a series of delightful lake and wood
land vistas, is only suggested by the partial
view. The house stands on a bluff fifty feet
above the lake and commands most charm
ing views in all directions.
Through all the region about Minne
apolis there are beautiful drives through
woodland and on lake shore and though
there are few suburban villages there are
many places of special interest and attrac
tive as resorts. Following the picturesque
gorge of the Mississippi below the city past
the Falls of Minnehaha and the Soldiers
Home Fort Snelling is reached over a most
charming series of parkways and rural
drives. Though never a part of the city the
fort has always been closely connected with
its life—at first the basis of settlement and
protection and later the scene of unnum
bered social gatherings. Much of the early
history of the state and town was made
within the walls of the old Fort. With the
passage of years the appearance of the fort
has greatly changed but the old round tow
er still remains to show that the now peace
ful military station almost within gun shot
of two large cities, was not long ago a
place of defence against the savages.
CHAPTER XXIX
THE CITY'S RECENT PROGRESS
I
F that period of Minneapolis history ex-"
tending from about 1880 to the early
nineties was aptly styled "An Era of
Broader Development," the succeeding period, covering the years from 1893 or 1894
to the present, may be quite as appropriately described as a time of sound development,
Probably no period will ever show as wonderful percentages of growth in population
and business transactions as that of 1880-90,
but in solid and substantial progress of the
better kind the past decade has far eclipsed
anything which has gone before. It has
been a period of crystalization of tendencies,
some of which were just making themselves
manifest about 1890; a time of solidification
and strengthening; of intellectual as well as
much material progress. It may be said
truly that Minneapolis has made more real
history in the last quinquennium than in
any similar period since she was founded;
but it is equally true that the period has
been one in which no great or significant
events stand forth clearly by themselves.
It has been essentially a time when events,
many of them of no special importance
singly, must be grouped together to determine the tendencies which they illustrate,
Minneapolis came to the close of the previous period an overgrown village, just beginning to dimly comprehend the metropolitan possibilities lying before her. Growth
had been too rapid for attention to details,
or deep and thorough consideration of the
finer things of life—they had not been altogether neglected, but the public sense of
proportion was slightly blunted. To the
community the shock of the financial clisaster of 1893 came almost as a complete
surprise.
It had seemed that prosperity
was a thing which belonged to Minneapolis
as a right; in many people's minds continued growth and constant advance in val-
lies of property and volume of business
were assured. Over-confidence was prevalent.
There had been financial bubbleblowing; wild inflation of real estate values
in outlying districts; unwise development of
credits in the rush of competition in the rap:dly opening tributary country; over-production
in the factories; overstocking among the merchants.
'
Minneapolis suffered inevitably, but not
as severely as some other cities. For a few
months the paralysis was serious.;^ Then
the old Minneapolis spirit began to assert
itself. The lesson of the panic had been
well learned—so well, indeed, that the whole
life of Minneapolis has been changed and
the spirit of the community has been such
in recent years as to bring a substantial
progress, in the judgment of many persons
wholly unequaled in any other American city,
This has not been in commercial matters alone,
It has seemed that the city has passed from
youth to manhood, and sobered by the disaster
of '93, has since conducted itself with the dignity, circumspection, forethought and integrity
of a responsible man.
In this new atmosphere one of the first
tendencies to become marked was that of
business conservatism. Led by the bankers
the business community very generally
adopted methods which have been so positive in their results that Minneapolis withstood the effects of the monetary crisis of
1907 better than any other city, and during
that trying period attracted the attention of
the entire business world. Sound banking
and commercial practice made this condition possible.
.
Not less significant was the civic awakening which took place early" in the period
and has continued with more or less virility,
-This first took the form of a demand for
better public service, better organic la v.
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
552
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THE SECURITY BANK BUILDING.
A substantial office building typical of recent progress in commercial architecture.
better public improvements and for oppor
tunity for direct participation of all the- peo
ple in the city's affairs. The efforts to se
cure the adoption of an adequate city char
ter, the good' government campaigns, the
adoption of the direct primary law, the mul
tiplication of organizations for the discus
sion of public questions and the accomplish
ment of public reforms have all been ex
pressions of an aroused public interest and
sense of responsibility.
The" results of
elections within recent years have shown a
decided tendency upon the part of the mass
of the voters to do their own thinking.
Equally important has been the develop
ment of broader ^culture and better appre
ciation of those things which are usually
called "the higher things of life"—a ten• dency which has, of course, had much to
do with the progress of the city in all ways,
social, civic and commercial.
t
Illustrative of progress along the lines
suggested a few things may be mentioned.
In material development important and sig
nificant have been: the construction of a
great number of buildings of modern type;
the use of fire-proof
materials in busi
ness buildings; the substitution of inde
structible steel, tile and concrete in elevator,
mill and factory construction; the signifi
cant fact that Minneapolis, and not eastern,
capital has built many of these structures;
the further development of the waterpower
afforded by the Falls of St. Anthony; the
great enlargement of all the railroad ter
minals in the city; the rapid multiplication
of wholesale business and manufacturing
establishments. Within this period the city
has stepped to first place as banking center
and as the wholesale distributing city of the
northwest; has become the first in import
ance in the whole country as a distributing
THE CITY'S RECENT PROGRESS.
553
point for farm implements, and continues development completed in the current year
at the head of the lumber markets and produced 12,000 additional horsepower. At
the flour milling cities of the world. Gen the same time 12,500 horsepower devel
eral recognition in the commercial world oped at Taylors Falls on the St. Croix
as the leading business center northwest
river has been made available through elec
of Chicago is daily bringing to Minneapolis tric transmission. Wheat receipts in the
more and more business. This position has early nineties averaged about 60,000,000
been definitely attained in the past decade.
bushels a year, while now they average
Some of the totals reached in summing about 90,000,000 bushels. But in the same
up Minneapolis' material progress in this period the city's business in coarse grains
period are both surprising and significant. " has' increased 600 per cent. It is a very
Minneapolis has within about fifteen years moderate estimate to say that the city's
constructed buildings costing approximately manufacturing and wholesale business has
$100,000,000; the banks have increased de doubled in the quinquennium. In trans
posits from $11,533,040 in 1894 to $24,761,- portation facilities the advance has been lit
705 in 1900 and $76,535,042 in 1908; while tle short of marvelous. In Minnesota alone
bank clearings have advanced from $309,- the railroad mileage has increased practi
002,009 in 1894 to $1,145,462,149 in 1907; cally 50 per cent in this period, but far more
flour production has grown from 9,400,535 important has been the opening of new
barrels in 1894 to an average of over 14,- trunk lines, the improvement of roadbeds
000,000 barrels in late years, the milling and rolling stock, and the development of
capacity increasing at the same time from Minneapolis terminals. Exact figures are
56,850 to 88,175 barrels daily. An expendi unobtainable, but it is estimated that fully
ture of $1,000,000 in 1895-7 added 10,000 $15,000,000 have been spent in terminal im
horsepower to the developed waterpower at provements in and about Minneapolis.
the Falls of St. Anthony, and further
Equally impressive has been the progress
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TIIE MINNEAPOLIS AVIMTOUH'M.
of the city' ; aesthetic advance in the last decade, l-'roin the drawinus of Bertram! & Chainbcrlin, .
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554
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
in urban transportation facilities. In 1893
Minneapolis was served by a new electric
system—good for the time, but antiquated
by comparison with the rebuilt system of
today operating" not alone in the city but
through and beyond St. Paul and to Lake
Minnetonka. Electric lines to. more distant
points are. also under construction in 1908.
Water transportation has made progress in
the period—through the improving ofc con
ditions on the Great Lakes,•""cheapenin-gfreights to-and from the -seaboard, aiuf
»
* ' .
Hall and other buildings on the university
campus, Westminster Presbyterian, Ply
mouth Congregational, and Fowler Metho
dist churches, the new Minneapolis Club,
and—in course of construction in 1908—the
new Minneapolis Hotel, the Catholic ProCathedral, and St. Mark's Episcopal church.
The same spirit which has called for bet
ter business methods and which has literally
housed a large part of the business of Min
neapolis in new, modern fire-proof structuresf Iras demanded and obtained substan
THE LOWER DAM AND RAPID TRANSIT COMPANY'S POWER HOUSE.
Two examples of the enormous increase of available power for commercial purposes.
through the construction of dams and locks
in the Mississippi river (now approaching
completion), which will lead to resumption
of river traffic.
Notable buildings of the period have been
the Court House and City Hall, the Minne
apolis Auditorium, the new Chamber of
Commerce, the Andrus Building, the Don
aldson Building, the Security Bank Build
ing, the Northwestern National Bank Build
ing, the First National Bank Building, the
Butler Brothers' building, the Cream of
Wheat Companv's building, the Armory,
the East and West high schools, Eohvell
tial public improvements.
In 1893 the
down-town streets were nearly all paved
with cedar blocks laid on planks resting
directly upon the underlying sand or clay;
in 1908 this temporary paving has been re
placed by asphalt, brick, sandstone or creosoted wooden blocks, all laid upon concrete
foundation—and the system has been ex
tended over many miles of streets which
had no paving whatever fifteen years ago.
In the same way the sewer and water sys
tems have been extended and to some extent
rebuilt, while the distributing reservoir has
been added to the latter system.
The
THE CITY'S RECENT PROGRESS.
555
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PLYMOUTH CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
period has seen the completion of the Court . which is rapidly giving [Minneapolis a repu
House and City Hall, the erection of many tation. In fact, nothing speaks more em
other public structures and the construction phatically of the broadening of general cul
of a number of substantial bridges. Inci ture in the city than the improvement in
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' *
dental to the extension of paving", electric architectural conditions. '
wires have been placed
underground
'
A CIVIC CENTER.'
\
through hundreds of blocks, on a plan con
Closely connected with this tendency has
templating the gradual abandonment of
overhead wires with the development of the been the movement for a civic center. Un
til the past few years there had been little
system of pavements.
consideration of the setting of ' individual
T H E CITY BEAUTIFUL.
buildings or the general appearance ' of
The abolition of the wires was one of the streets or localities except in the residence
first developments of the movement which districts and, of course, in the arrangement
of outlying parks. The business center de
has latterly given Minneapolis a strong im
veloped along the lines of least resistance.
petus along the path leading to "the city
When new stores were wanted they were
beautiful." The unsightliness of poles and
overhead wires once recognized, other ob erected "farther out" on vacant ground,
jectionable features of the city streets were while the older localities were allowed to
brought to attention, with the result that lose caste and run down at the heel.
It
projecting signs are losing favor and artistic thus happened that the natural gateway to
street lamps are supplanting cheap iron the city adjacent to the union passenger
standards and grotesque swinging arc station, which is the principal entrance, has
globes.
Nicollet avenue, as now lighted fallen into neglect. Here, at Bridge Square,
from Second to Seventh streets, is one of
the two principal streets of the city, Nicollet
the finest streets in the country. This is and Hennepin avenues, converge to a com
due not alone to the lighting, however, for mon center, while to the east side lead the
another of the developments of the period steel arch bridge and Central avenue—the
principal thoroughfare of the east district.
has been a recognition of the worth of good
Here, then, is the logical civic center of
commercial architecture, and coincident
with the rebuilding which has been alluded Minneapolis. Many cities are now paying
to has come a studv of architectural effect, millions of dollars to open converging av-
556
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
enues to gain what Minneapo
lis has ready to hand. The
movement now on foot (in the
autumn of 1908) contemplates
the creation of a small gateway
park with possible additions
and developments of the plan
as time goes on.
The general park system has
made most remarkable prog
ress within a decade. The year
1893 found the system outlined
and partly improved, but with
a decidedly hostile sentiment
abroad as to further acquisi
tions. This state of affairs con
tinued for several years until
a broadening public sentiment
warranted the park board in
undertaking the completion of
the system through the acqui
sition of several very imporant tracts. One of the most es
sential was the land along the
Mississippi river, which was
duly acquired and is now be
coming one of the most beauti
ful parks in the world. Other
notable additions have been
made, including much of theshore land of the lakes about
the city, assuring for all time
municipal control of these
beautiful sheets of water.
S tc; XI PICA NT TEN L)ENCI liS.
Closely allied to these aes
thetic developments has been Under construction
the advanced position taken
in the matter of the location of school build
ings and the improvement of their archi
tectural appearance and surroundings.
Very significant is the recent action of
the regents of the University of Minnesota
in holding a competition for plans for the
permanent and comprehensive improvement
of the enlarged campus of that institution.
Heretofore the architecture of the univer
sity buildings has been quite without ap
parent consideration of congruity, while in
arrangement little thought has been taken
for future growth. It is now definitely de
cided to follow a comprehensive plan which
ST. MARK'S EPISCOPAL CIU'RCII.
in 1908.
From tlie sketclirs of Edwin II. llewitt, architcct.
shall look forward to the development of
years, and at the same time assure some
general harmony of architecture in the
buildings hereafter to be erected. The out
line sketch which appears on another page
is the one which received first prize in the
competition. It may be considerably modi
fied before final adoption of a plan.
This step in the university development
is typical of the advanced thought and posi
tion of the city in matters pertaining to the
"higher life." This thought has found ex
pression also in the increased attention to
THE CITY'S RECENT PROGRESS.
557
PROPOSED PLANS FOIt THE ENLARGED IMVKHSITV CAMI'IS.
Birds-eye view from sketches prepared by Cass Gilbert, architect, winner of first prize in the competition.
The plsms will probably be changed in many particulars.
art and music and the building of churches
and structures for the carrying on of phil
anthropic work. Advanced ideas of archi
tecture have been developed in-such build
ings as the Auditorium, Pillsbury Library.
Plymouth Congregational and St. Mark's
Episcopal churches and the Catholic ProCathedral—types, it might be said, of the
new Minneapolis—and all buildings which
would not have been possible in the Min
neapolis of twenty-five years ago.
Municipal administra
tion has made distinct
progress during the fif
teen years. Agitation for
an up-to-date city charter
lias reflected an advanced
public opinion. Minne
apolis was the first city
in the West and one of
the first in the country
to adopt (in 19C0) direct
primary elections.
An
improved system of pub
lic accounting has been
established. P>etter meth
ods p r e v a i l in most
of the city and county
departments. A f t e r a
lapse in 1901 and 1902, when serious scan
dals developed under the administration
of Mayor A. A. Ames, Mayor David P.
Jones demonstrated what might be done in
city government on a business basis by
eradicating the gambling evil and metamor
phosing the police force and generally giv
ing the city a moral house-cleaning in four
months.
Again in 1905-6 Mayor' Jones
brought the city administration to the high
est plane which it has ever reached, enforc^
•* -
PILLSBUIIY LIBRARY BUILDING.
558
A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
THE MINNEAPOLIS GATEWAY—OI.D CITY HALL IN FOREflROI'ND.
This view shows the locution of the proposed "gateway park" anil the relation of the natural "civic center'
to tiie general business center indicated by the familiar sky-line.
ing the laws firmly and consistently, estab
lishing practical civil service in the police
department, and in general conducting the
afifairs of the office on business, rather than
political, principles.
Minneapolis was deeply interested in the
Spanish war of 1898. Minnesota responded
promptly to the call for volunteers, and the
Thirteenth Minnesota, including several
Minneapolis companies, and commanded by
Col. Chas. McC. Reeve of Minneapolis, was
the only regiment to see active service.
After its return from a long campaign in
the Philippines the regiment was given a
royal welcome at Minneapolis on October
12, 1899, when President McKinley and oth
er distinguished guests reviewed a great
military parade in which the Thirteenth oc
cupied the place of honor. This was one
of the greatest public gatherings in the his
tory of the city; but the past decade has
been notable for the large number of con
ventions held in Minneapolis.
Conspicu
ous among them was the G. A. R. national
encampment of 1906 when Minneapolis for a
second time entertained the veterans of the
Civil war.
1905, which gave the city a population of
261,974. The population shown by the
United States census count in decennial
periods from 1850 to 1900 is as follows:
Gain in
Population.
lOyrs.
1850
538
1860
5,849
5,311
1870
18,079
12,230
1880
46,887
28,808
1890 V
164,738
117,851
1900
202,718
37,980
The population of 1850 is that of the vil
lage of St. Anthony alone, Minneapolis hav
ing no existence at that time. For 1860 and
1870 the figures are the combined totals of
the two towns, which were consolidated in
1872.
Minneapolis in 1908—only fifty
years
since the name was officially assumed—
;*2*3
\::i
POPULATION.
In the absence of a census in 1908 exact
population figures are impossible.
Esti
mates of the present population of Minne
apolis (1908) range from 275,000 to 310,000
people. There has undoubtedly been a very
large growth since the last state census of
THK ARMORY.
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A HALF CENTURY O F MINNEAPOLIS
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THE CATHOLIC I'KO-CATHEDRAL.
From the architect's sketches.
stands in the group of the first twenty cities
of the country, actually nineteenth in rank
according to population in KOO, but much
nearer the head of the line in many things
which make for a city's good. Some of
these things can be stated in figures, but
for the most part they are not to be ex
pressed in dollars and cents or weights or
measures.
Few cities, indeed, have such possibilities
Of future prosperity. For it is true that
the conditions which made the selection of
the site of Minneapolis most fortunate a
half century ago are still existing and more
potent than ever as factors in the city's
growth. The Falls of St. Anthony—the
original determining factor in the location
of the city—have lost their proportionate
value as elements in the commercial prog
ress and future of Minneapolis; but their
tremendous importance must not be lost
sight of on that account. They still afford
(Now under construction.)
the major portion of the power used in the
flouring industry and are the productive
force around which the flour milling busi
ness of the Northwest is gradually center
ing. The strength of the strategical loca
tion of Minneapolis has not suffered with
the passing of time. Her geographical ad
vantages as a receiving and distributing
market have been strengthened by railroad
construction, the improvement of water
ways and modern inventions for cheapening
the water transport of commodities. Owing
to various reasons the commercial territory
tributary to Minneapolis las produced no
rivals towards the north or west.
And this territory on which Minneapolis'
future so much depends, although now one
of the richest farming districts in the coun
try, has been only partially developed.
Many millions of acres in Minnesota, north
ern Wisconsin, the Dakotas and Montana
have never yet been touched by the plow.
THE CITY'S RECENT PROGRESS.
Minnesota, with a population of 2,000,000,
could support four times that number of
people and yet not be as densely popu
lated as most of the states east of the
Mississippi river.
With the improved
methods of cultivation which will certainly
come every crop which now finds a market
in Minneapolis will be greatly increased
even on the present acreage, and much more
increased when the land is all tilled. It is
quite within the range of credibility that
Minneapolis will, within a generation, be
come the market for a farming community
of 20,000,000 people, whose productivity
through the continued progress of educa
tion, practice and invention, will have
reached a point beyond anything now
thought possible. The products of this ter
561
ritory will continue to be largely marketed
at Minneapolis, assuring the permanence
and growth of the great industries of the
city; while the natural demand for the
wares of the Minneapolis merchants will
tremendously increase the distributing busi
ness of the city.
In other ways Minneapolis finds herself
in 1908 rich in possibility. For years rec
ognized as a most desirable place of resi
dence, she has attracted a class of popula
tion which has added to this desirability in
many ways, taking a part in the general up
lift of the city's life. The unquestioned
religious, educational, musical and art cen
ter of the Northwest, Minneapolis may well
look forward to wonderful progress along
all social and educational lines.
INDEX
Abbreviations—Minn, for Minnesota; M. for Minneapolis;
Abbott, Dr. A. \V., 1S1; 1S2;
183; 187*.
Abbott, H. S., 140; 141; 141*f.
Academy of Music, 115; ill. 115.
Academy of Natural Sciences,
489.
Accault, explorer, under La
Salle, 17.
Agricultural conditions in tlie
Northwest, effects on Minne
apolis development, 11; 500-1.
Agricultural fairs, one of the
"King" fairs, ill., 528; Hen
nepin county fair organized,
529; first state fair held at
M., 529; the "King fairs",
529; recent growth of state
fair, 530; view at state fair,
531.
Agriculture, college of, 93; 94;
farm, ill., 95.
Akeley, H. C., 242.
Albert, C. S., 141*.
Aldrich, Col. Cyrus, 38; 47S;
490.
Aldrich. Dr. Henry C., 184.
Alger, Dr. Edmund W., 187*.
Alger, Dr. Isaac D., 181; 1S7®.
Allen, A. E., 138.
Allen, Alvaren, 514.
Ames, Dr. A. A., 187; 515; 510;
557.
Ames, Dr. A. E.. 34; 30; school
trustee, 90; 130; 181; 182;
187; 489; 532.
Ames, Rev. C. G., 70; 489.
Ames, E. B., 38; 240; 203; 47S;
480; 515.
Amsden, C. M., 358; 301*; 303'j\
Anderson, Dr. C. L.. 181.
Anderson, J. M., 387; 393*.
Andrew Presbyterian Church,
09; 72.
Andrews, Geo. C., 393*; 394v.
Angle, Dr. E. II.. 214.
Ankeny, A. T., 142*f.
Ankeuy, .T. .T.. 490.
Ankeny, William P., 38; 201;
479; 490.
Apollo Club. 114.
Appleby. Win. It., 98.
Apron, built, 329.
Architecture and Engineering.
125; Architectural Club. 120;
improved architecture, 434.
Arctander. Ludvig, 142*.
Arctic mill, 328.
Armatage. A. W., 20G*f.
Armory, 554; ill., 558.
Armstrong, John A., 430.
Art, Architecture and Engineer
ing, 124; early artists, 124;
art societies, 124; school,
124; Handicraft Guild. 124:
Craftsliouse,
125;
T.. B.
Walker's art collection. 12";
art commission, 125; architec
ture and engineering, 125.
Art Commission, 125.
Asbury Hospital, 180.
Assessed Valuation, in 1800,
200; since 1879, 484.
Associated Charities, organized,
04; 70.
Asvlnms — see Churches and
Philanthropies.
Athenaeum. 40: basis of pub'ic
library, 04; 487.
Atkinson, E. E., 453*t.
Atterbury, E. J. C.. 219.
Atwater. Isaac. 30: 91: 135;
135f; 217: 479; 5?7: 532.
Atwater. John B.. 4S8.
Auditorium. 110; ill.. 20">; ill..
553; 554; 557.
ill. for illustration; * indicates biographical mention; t indicates portrait.
Augsburg Seminary, 9S: £9.
Auguelle, explorer with Accault
and Hennepin, 17.
Augustana Swedish Lutheran
Church, 70.
Austin, A. C., 91; 485.
Austin, Chas. D., 142*; 143j\
Avery, Dr. H. N., 187.
Avery, Dr. Jacob F., 188*.
Babb, E. C., 480; 510.
Babcock, P. M., 139.
Badger, Walter L., 200*.
Bag making, 390.
Bagley, Geo. C., 35S; 301*;
305f.
Bailey, Dr. Chas. M., 213; 215*.
Bailey, Francis B., 138; 139.
Bailey, Win. C. 303*i\
Baldwin, R. J., 38; 40; 135;
230; 237; 241; 485; 520.
Banking, early, 40; survival of
panic, 41; progress after war.
51; history, 230-258; clearing
house, 238; capital, 190S, 239;
trust companies, 244.
Banks and capital in 1908, 239.
Bar Associations, 140.
Barber, Daniel R., 3S; 200; 327;
335*; 337f; 479.
Barber, E. R., 327; 330*; 339t;
549.
Barber, II. H., 242.
Barber, J. N.. 39.
Bardwell, C. S.. 387.
Bardwell, W. W., 143*f.
Barnard, F. M., 394*.
Barnes, W. A., 200.
Barnett, L. C., 395*j\
Barney, Fred E., 243; 244;
244*.
Bartholomew, Chas. L., 219;
223*f.
Barton, Asa B., 38: 185.
Bassett, Daniel, 485; 490.
Bassett. Joel B., 34; 30; 139;
297; 479; 489; 520.
Bauman, Henry J., 483.
Bailsman. Dr. A. L., 213.
Baxter, John T.. 144*t; 205.
Beaumont, Dr. John F., 184.
Beck, Dr. Jas. F., 188*.
Beckman, Dr. Emil II., 187;
188*.
Beebe, Franklin. 139; 242.
Beede, Cyrus, 38; 230: 478.
Beede & Mendenhall. 200.
Belden, Geo. K.. 390*t.
Belden. Henrv C., 138.
Bell. D. C., 240; 242; 359; 387;
451; 489.
Bell, Jas. S., 334.
Bell. John E., 38; 237; 242;
451; 478.
Bell, Dr. John W.. 182; 188*.
Bell & Wilson, 200.
Bellman, The, 221.
Benjamin, Dr. Arthur E.. 189*.
Benson, A. F., 99*.
Bergquist, J. Victor, 110*f.
Berry, W. M., 487.
Bertrand. Geo. E.. 77: 110:
120*; 205; 433: 548: 553: "0.
Bessesen, Dr. Alfred N., 189*.
Best, E. C., 528.
Bestor, Frank C.. 392.
Bestor. Geo. W.. 390*; 39";-.
Bezoier. S. H.. 242.
Biennial elections, 479.
Bilou Opera House, 110.
Bintliff, Chas. J.. 398*f> 4S9.
Birkhofer, Conrad. 243.
Bisbee, L. C.. 387.
Bishop, Dr. Chas. W., 1S9*.
P.laisd'll. John T., 30.
Blaisdell, Robert, 34.
Blake, Dr. J. J., 190*.
Blakely, David, 114; 21S,Blanchard, John, 220.
Bleeker, Geo. M., 144*f.
Bletlien, Alden J., 218; 219;
223*; 224-j-; proposes industrial
exposition, 530.
Board of Trade, 388; continues
forty years, 527; succeeded
by Commercial club, 5L7.
Boardman, Fred II., 140.
Bode, A. H., 359.
Boelime, C. A., 120*.
Boom Company, 301.
Booth, Dr. Albert E., 190*.
Boss, Andrew, 100*.
Bostwick, Lardner, 135; 139;
478; 481.
Bottineau, Pierre, 27; 30y; 400.
Bousfield, E. F., 398*f.
Bovey, Chas. A., 98; 300; 303*;
304t.
Bovey, Chas. C., 334.
Bowman, E. M., 113.
Bowman, Dr. J. A., 113; 213.
Bracken, Dr. Henry M., 190*.
Brackett, Geo. A., 38; 70; 137;
1S5; 353; 300; 388; 451; 400;
supervisor, 478; mayor, 480;
481; organizes fire depart
ment, 482; chief, 483; park
board, 485; 487; 490*; 49 I t :
515; 532.
Brackett, II. II., 479.
Brackett, W. M., 483.
Bradley, John E., 91.
Bradstreet, John S., 125; 127*;
128f; 452.
Brazie, Dr. II. AV., 1S4.
Brecke, O. E., 470*.
Bridge Square, in 1851. ill.. 35;
in 1850, 39; 555: ills., 558-9.
Bright, A. H., 145*.
Brimmer, Dr. F. II., 214.
Bristol, -Warren, 34; 135.
British occupation of northwest,
19; British traders, 20.
Broad, E., 385.
Brooks, Frank C., 138.
Brooks, F. W., 527.
Brooks, L. R., 301; 304*; 3G7t.
Brown, Baldwin, 479.
Brown, Chas. W., 434*; 43"f.
Brown, Dan. C., 493*f; 517.
Brown, E. C., 240.
Brown, Dr. Edward J., 182;
190*.
Brown, E. S., 514.
Brown, F. V., 138; 145*.
Brown, Henry F.. 304*; 305f.
Brown, H. W., 520.
Brown, Isaac, 34.
Brown, Jos. R., 545.
Brown, Rome G., 14!); 145*:
146f.
Brown, Rev. W. C., 70.
Brush, Edmund A., 454|.
Brush, James A., 454t.
Building inspection, 483.
Buildings, notable, of reccnt
years, 554.
Burbank, J. C., 403.
Burlington Railway, 409.
Burnett, Wm. J.. 435*f.
Burr, M. C., 387.
Bnrrell. Rev. David J., 72.
Burt, Henry F., 70.
Burton, Dr. Frank, 191*.
Burton. H. J., 452.
Bushnell, Rev. Dr. Horace, 484.
Buslinell, Rev. John E., 77*;
78f.
Business center, in '57, ill.. 41.
Butler, B. D., 220.
Butler, Dr. Levi, 43; 218; 29S;
532; 533.
Buxton, T. J., 237; 359.
Byrnes, William, 34.
Byrnes, Dr. Wm. J., 187; 191*.
Byron,.... W.. G., 530.
Cairns, C. S., 140*.
Calderwood, John F., 528.
Calderwood, W. G., 493*; 494f.
Camp, Geo. A., 30; 43.
Campbell, L. W., 207*f.
Campbell, Dr. Robt. A., 192*.
Campbell, Wallace, 244*.
Canterbury, J. II., 483; 494*f.
Canty, Thomas, 138.
Carleton, Frank H., 147*f; 489.
Carotliers, Chas., 200.
Carpenter, E. L., 75.
Carpenter, Sergeant, his claim,
20.
Carver, Jonathan, 18; 19f; trav
els, 20; his sketch of Falls,
20.
Case, D. L., 244.
Case, Emanuel, 34; 30; 448;
532.
Case, Sweet W., 34; 30; 130;
138; 448.
Cataract mill, 327; 328.
Gates, Dr. A. B., 187; 192*.
Catholic Orphan Asylum, 75.
Central Baptist Church, 71.
Chadbourn, C. II., 207*.
Chaffee, Rev. J. I<\, 38; 72; 73t.
Chamber of Commerce, 59; 353;
first building, ill., 354; pres
ent building, ill., 350; 358;
new building, 301; officers,
301; 527.
Chamberlain, F. A., 242; 244*;
245f; 205.
Chamberlain, Rev. J. S.. C9.
Chamberlain, W. B., 219.
Cliamberlin, A. B., 77; 110;
128*; 205; 433; 548; 553; 559.
Chambers, Thos., 448.
Chambers, Wm., 489.
Chapin, H. C., 221; 225*.
Chapman, Jos., Jr., 240; 240*.
Charities and Corrections, Board
of, 77.
Charlton, David, 478; 487.
Charter, 52; 00; 72; campaigns
for new, 480; 552.
Chase. Dr. C. A., 187.
Chatfield, E. C., 125; 243; 51G.
Cheever, William A., 28.
Cheney, Mary Moulton, 124.
Chicago-Great Western Ry., 409.
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul
Ry., 405; 409.
Chicago. St. Paul, M. & Omaha
Ry., 405.
Child, S. R.. 148*f.
Childs. C. H., 147*.
Choteau, P. & Co., 448.
Chowen, W. S., 137.
Chowning, Dr. Wm. M., 192*.
Christian church—see "Disci
ples."
Christian, 6eo. H., 328; 330*;
549.
Christie, J. W., 521; 521*; 522f.
Christmas, Charles W., 34; 259;
489.
Church of the Redeemer, 70;
71; 72; ill. 75.
Churches, and Philanthropies,
04; 09; Presbyterian church
at Ft. Snelling, 09; First
Presbyterian church, 09; ori
gin of larger churches, 70:
rapid growth 1880-90. 71;
Scandinavian
denominations,
564
72; conventions, 73; churches
of today, 74; number build
ings, 74; membership, 74; al
lied organizations, 74; homes
and asylums, 75; settlement
work, 76.
Chute Bros., 261; 297.
Chute, D. »!., 454*.
Chute, F. B., 268*tChute, L. P., 269*tChute, R. H., 302; 305*.
Chute, Richard. 38; 261; 262f;
269*; 484; 527.
Chute, S. H., 38; 261; 263f;
270*; 485.
Chute, W. Y., 271*f, 528.
Cirkler, Dr. A. A., 193*,
City Bank, 237.
City Beautiful, the, 555.
City Hall, Old, 52; author'ty
for erection of new, 61; ill.,
481; ill., 558.
City Hospital, ill. 185; 186.
City Justices, 138.
City mill, 327; 328.
City Mission of 1883, 77.
City Officers, see Public Affairs
and Officials, 478-517; tabu
lated list, 514-17.
Civic Affairs, 51.
Civic center, 555; ill. 558; pro
posed plan for improvement,
ill., 559.
Claimholders' association, 34;
Claim jumpers, 27; 34; 35.
Clark, Edwin, 217.
Clark, E. W., 495*; 516; 517.
Clark, Hovey C., 305*; 3w7|.
Clark, Joseph H., 113.
Clawson, C. A., 472*.
Clearing House, the, 238.
Cleary, Rev. Jas. M., 78*.
Clements, Dr. S. D., 214.
Clergymen, of the pioneer pe
riod, 69; of the '80's, 72-73.
Cleveland, Dr. C. E., 214.
Cleveland, H. W. S., 485.
Clough, D. M., 38; 137; 530.
Clubs, social, etc., 531.
Cobb, Dr. F. E., 215*.
Cockburn, Dr. J. C,. 187.
Colburn, S. M., 128*.
College of Law, Univ. of Minn.,
established, 140.
Colleges, 98.
Collins, P. V., 221; 225*f.
Commercial Bulletin, 221; 226.
Commercial
Club,
organized
1892, 527; growth, officers,
etc., 52S.
Commercial recognition, 59.
Commercial West, 221.
Comstock, Ada L., 98.
Comstock, E. F., 137; 495*.
Condit, L. A., 495*.
Cone, R. D., 263; 291*f.
Conkey, Jas. H., 496*f.
Consolidation of Minneapolis and
St. Anthony, 52; 479.
Contracting and outfitting, 391.
Conventions, 68.
Cook, Franklin, 489.
^
Cook, Dr. Henry W., 193*; 265.
Cook, S. S., 241.
Cooke, Elbridge C., 244; 24G;
521.
Cooke, Jay, 466.
Coolev, Grove B., 138.
Cooley, G. W.. 489; 496*.
Coolidge, M. H., 436*tCorbett, Dr. J. Frank, 193*.
Cordelia, Victor, 128*.
Cornell, F. R. E.. 38; 39; 135.
Corrigan, J. R., 139.
Corriston, Frank T., 497*.
Corser, E. S., 260; 271*.
Cosgrove, C. N., 530.
Cotton, A. D., 243.
Cotton, C. E., 243; 246*.
Cotton, I. F., 241.
Countrvman, Gratia A., 489;
4P7*.
County government, 489.
Couper, E. J., 390; 399*.
Court House and City Hall, 61;
ill. 136; 137; 4S2.
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Courts and Lawyers, 134; pio
neer
lawyers,
134;
early
courts, 135; first court house,
136; present court house ana
city hall, 137; federal courts,
137; judges of district court,
138; municipal court, 138; bar
associations, 140; legal edu
cation, 140.
Cox, Dr. Norman J., 215*.
Coykendall, J. R., 359; 430.
Crafts, Dr. Leo M., 194*.
Crafts, Lettie M., 489.
Ci-aftshouse, 125; 453.
Crane, A. A., 241; 246*; 265.
Crane, J. W., 148*f.
Cray, Willard R., 138; 149*.
Crocker, Geo. W., 327; 332;
333t; 340*.
Croffut, W. A., 217.
Crosby, Caroline M., 76.
-• "
Crosby, E. A., 519.
Crosby, F. M., 361.
Crosby, John, 334.
Cross, Juusuii H., 485.
Cmornings, A. J., 362*.
Cummings, Robert W., 28; 478;
532.
Curtis, F. E., 219.
Curtis, Omn, 236; 514.
Cushman, Chas. M., 113; 451;
455*f.
D
Dahl, John F., 497*.
Daniels, 1>. B., 472*.
Danz, Irank, Jr., 114.
Davenport, E. J., 138.
Davie, 10. H., 478.
Davis, Frank F., 140.
Davis, S. E., 389 ; 399*; 401f.
Day, Eugene H., 306*.
Day, Leonard, 36; 297; 298;
479.
Day, Dr. Lester W., 182.
Dayton, Geo. D., 452; 455*.
Dean, Joseph, 237; 242; 297;
298; 486; 488; 489.
Dean, Wm. J., 431; 436*; 437f.
Death rate, 484.
Deaver, Chas. F., 358.
Debt, 484.
Decker E,. W., 75; 240; 247*f;
265.
Decker, Wilbur F., 487.
de la Barre, Win., 334; 338*.
De Laittre, John, 137; 242;
480; 515.
Dennis, Dr. Geo. 10., 184; 187.
Dentistry, 213; College of, 214;
Minneapolis Dental Soc., 214.
Depai tment store, first, ill., 452.
Deposits, bank, 240; 553.
Deutsch, Henry, 149*|.
Dibble, E. R., 340*.
Dickey, C. N., 138.
Dickinson, H. D., 138; 139.
Dille, J. I., 150*f.
Disciples, Church of the, 71.
Dispensaries, Homeopathic, 184;
Minneapolis free, 185.
Dodge, F. B., 150*.
Dodge Treaty (1837), 23; 26.
Doerr, Henry, 243; 399*.
Dog Train, 462; ill-.. 463.
Donaldson, L. S., 452.
Donaldson, Wm., 450-j-; 452;
453.
Dorman, B. D., 236.
Dorr, Caleb 1)., 28; 297; 478.
Dorsett, C. W., 456*f.
Douglas, Henry F., 361; 362*f.
Dreger, J. W., 489; 498*.
Drew, Dr. C. T., 187.
Drew, Dr. Chas. W., 194*.
Dulany, Geo. W., Jr., 306*.
Du Lul.h, at the Falls of St.
Anthony, 17.
Dunham, John, 359; 4^7; 451.
Dunn, Dr. J. H., 187.
Dunsmoor, Dr. Frederick A.,
181; 183; 185; 195*.
Dunwoody, W. H., 98; 240;
244; 330; 334; 342*; 343t;
353; 486.
Durst, W. A., 244.
Fanning, J. T., 129*f.
Dutton, Ellis R., 498*.
Duvigneaud, Geo. A., 358; 362*; Farm Implements, 221; a model
warehouse, ill., 429; first in,
364f.
431.
Dwinnell, W. S., 150*; 151f.
Farm, Stock & Home, 221; 227.
E
Farmers' and Mechanics' Sav
Early Explorers, The, 14; Groings Bank, 237; 238; 242.
seilliers and Radisson, 14; Farnham, Sumner W., 28; 30;
Hennepin, 17; Du Luth, 17.
297; 301.
Early Settlement, Period of, 25; Farnham & Tracy, 236.
the Ponds, 25; Stevens at Farr, Dr. R. E., 182.
Lake Harriet, 20; Franklin Farrington, L. II., 430.
Steele, 27; Bottineau, 27; R. Farrington, S. P., 430; 437*.
P. Russell, 28; Col. John H. Farwell, Chas. W., 240.
Stevens, 30; pioneer life, 31; Faulkner, C. E., 75; 78*; 79f.
other early settlers, 34-36.
Fayram, Frederick, 221; 227*;
East Side Saw Mi.Is, ill,, 55.
228f.
East Side State Bank, 239; 243. Federal Building, 61; 490.
Eastman, John W., 327.
Federal Courts, 137.
Eastman, Capt. Setli, 10; 124. Ferndale, Lake Minnetouka, ill.,
Eastman, W. W., 38; 327; 356;
548.
484; 485; 518:
Ferrald, Samuel, 28.
Eddy, Henry T., 98; 100*; 101f. Ferry, established by Col. Stev
Edgar, Wm. C., 220; 221; 227*.
ens, 31; Capt. Tapper, ferry
Education, 63; 90; see Schools;
man, 32.
University; Private Schools Fewer, Richard, 479.
and Colleges,
98;
Public Fifleld, Dr. Emily W., 196*.
School Music, 114; Music Finances, 484.
Schools, 115; Art Schools, 124; Finney, Albert C., 500*.
Legal Education, 140; Medi Fire Department, organized, 52;
cal Education, 183.
482; volunteer firemen,
ill.,
IOichhorn, Edmund, 242; 261;
483.
272*.
First Baptist Church, ill., 62;
Eitel, Dr. Geo. G., 195*.
70; 71; ill., 72.
Elections, time of, 479; vote for First building, 25.
mayor, 480.
First claim at falls, 26.
Electric lights, 520.
First commercial advance, the,
Electric
railway,
factor
in
50; rise of flour milling, 50;
transportation question, 470;
railroad building, 51; public
works, 51-2; obstacles and
Minneapolis system, 519,
discouragements, 52.
Elevators, 356; capacity, 357;
building, 357; ills., 359, 360, First Congregational Church, or
ganized, 69; 71.
361.
First farm on west bank of
Eliel, H. IL, 428.
Mississippi, 31.
IOliel, J. C., 428.
First Methodist church, 69.
Elliot, Dr. J. S., 181; 485.
Elliott, Charles B., 138; 139; First Minnesota volunteers, 42.
First National Bank, 237; old,
140.
ill., 238; 240; ill., 243.
Elwell, Geo. II., 387; 399*.
First National Bank of St. An
Elwell, Jas. T., 273*t; 387.
thony, 237.
Elwood, L. B., 260 ; 274*f.
First Presbyterian Church, 69;
IOniery, Geo. D., 139.
70; 71.
Engineering, 125; College of
First real estate office, 40; 259;
126; Engineers' Club, 126.
ill., 261.
Era of Broader Development,
59; population gains, 59; com First Unitarian Church, 71.
mercial recognition, 59; rail First white men in Minnesota,
14.
road system developed, (i0;
exposition, 60; great public Fish, Daniel, 140.
undertakings, 60; municipal Fisher, Elmer E., 438*.
improvements, 60; park sys Fiske, Woodbury, 38.
tem, 62; education, 63; pop Flandrau. Chas. E., 136; 479;
rr 1PC. K07
ulation, 68.
Fletcher. H. E.. 400*f.
IOrb, Dr. Frederick A., 196*.
Fletcher, Henry J., 140.
Erdmann, Dr. Chas. A., 196*.
Fletcher, Dr. Hezekiah, 34; 181;
Erickson, Oliver T., 1.37.
489.
Esterly, Frank C., 274*; 275f.
Fletcher, Loren, 240; 356; 451.
Esterly, Robt. E., 265.
Flour mill explosion, 52; 330.
Eustis, Chas. B., 113.
Flour milling, beginnings of, 41;
Kustis, Geo. B., 113.
shipments, 45; rise of, 50;
Eustis, J. M., 478.
revolutionized, 51; ill., 55;
Eustis, W. H., 480; 499*f; 516.
first shipment, 327; output.
Evans, D. H., 276*f.
328; export trade, 3f9. 330;
Evans, Dr. O. J., 181; 187.
larger growth of, 330; ex
Ewe, G. F., 361; 368*; 3C9f.
plosion, 330; daily capacity of
Expeditions, Pike's, 22; Long's,
mills, 330, 332; great corpora
22.
See Explorers.
tions, 332; receipts and ship
Explorers, the earlv, 14; later,
ments, 335; product of nine
17.
teen cities, 335.
Exposition, the, 60; ill.. 5'"8;
opening, ill.. 529; organiza l'olsom, Edgar, 34.
Folwell
Hall, Univ. of Minn.,
tion, etc., 530.
ill., 98.
Express service, first, 403.
Folwell, W. W., 52; 63; presi
F
dent of University, 93; re
Fairbairn, Dr. A. C., 1S1; 187.
signs, 94; 95f; 124; 487.
Fail-child, E. N., 334; 344*; Formative period, the, 38; in
345-j-.
fluence of the men of '55Falls of St. AntUonv, frontis
'65, 38; commercial founda
piece; 9; ill., 10; ill., 11;
tions, 40; development of wa
recession of, 14; Ilennep'n
ter power, 40; panic and re
visits, 17; ill., 16; Carver
covery, 41, 45.
visits, 20; Carver's sketch, Fort Snelling, commenced. 22;
ill., 20; Pike, 22; Long, 22;
ill., 23; map, 25; early reli
development of water power,
gious organizations, 69; state
4!); in '59. ill.. 42; ill., 55;
fair, 1860, 529; round tower,
ill.. 61; ill., 207; 3S5; ill.,
ills., 549; relation to early
5o4.
history, 550.
A HALF CENTURY OE MINNEAPOLIS
Fort Snelling reservation, ac
quired, 22; reduction expect
ed, 31; claims upon without
title, 34; reduction, 35.
Foss, Bishop Cyrus D., 72.
Foundations
of
Minneapolis,
the, 9.
Fowler Methodist Church, 74.
Franchises, 518.
Frankforter, Geo. B., 98.
Free Baptist Church, 70.
French, C. A., 219.
French explorers, 14-17; 19.
French, Dr. Geo. F., 181; 183.
French ownership in northwest,
19.
Frisbie, Wm. A., 219.
Frisselle, Dr. M. M., 214.
Frontier life, see Pioneer Life,
31.
Fruit, fourth largest distribut
ing point, 433.
Fur traders, 20; 22; 448; 462.
Furber, J. W., 91.
Future of Minneapolis, 560-1.
Gale, E. C.-, 125; 154*+.
Gale, Harlow A., 113; 260; 489.
Gale, S. C., 38; 91; 113; 260;
261; 263; 264f; 275*; 479;
489; 527; 530.
Gardner, C. W., 528; 533*;
534+.
Garland, Wm., 478.
Gas, 519.
Gear, Rev. E. G., 34; 09.
Geist, Dr. Emil S., 196*.
Gerber, Michael A., 500 4 v.
Gerhard, F. C., 308*.
German-American Bank, 238;
239; 242.
Germania Bank. 239; 243.
Gerould, Jas. T., 97; 100*.
Getcliell, Washington. 30.
Gethsemane Eniscopal Church,
69; 70; ill., 71; 71; 74.
Gibson, F. S., 240; 432.
Gibson, Paris, 38; 240; 483;
484; 518.
Giddings, Dr. W. F., 214.
Gilbert. J. B., 261.
Gilbert, S. Cla.v, 117f.
Giles, Robert T., 130*; 131f.
Gilfillan, John B., 38; 135; 140.
Gillette, Geo. M.. 389; 402*.
Gilman, J. B., 129*; 130+.
Gilman, John H., 484.
Gilman, John T., 218.
Gilmore, D. M., 387.
Gilson, Frederick A., 518.
Gjertsen. H. J.. 154*.
Glenn. M. W., 479.
Gluek, Charles, 243; 402+; 403*.
Gluek, J. G., 403*+.
Gluek, Louis, 403*+.
Godfrey. Ard, 30; 290; 297;
489; 532.
Gold. C. S.. 300; 404*.
Gooding, W. G., 340*.
Goodrich. Dr. C. G., 181; 182;
240' 532
Goodrich, C. G., 488; 519; 522*;
523+.
Goodwin, Dr. D. M.. 184.
Gorham, David G.. 489.
Gorham. G. I., 276*.
Gould, E. F., 241.
Gould. Dr. Jas. B.„ 197*.
Gove, E. A., 139.
Government, organized, 478; see
Public Affairs and Officials,
478-517.
Government mill,. 25; ill., 28;
296; 327.
Graham Hall, 98.
Graham. Wm. J.. 265; ?77*+.
Grain Trade an-1 Chsimber of
Commerce, .353-381; first ship
ments wheat, 353: dealers in
1859. 353; first shipments in
to Minneapol's. 353; millers'
association, 353; receipts and
- shipments whei't. 354, 355;
coarse grains. 355; elevators,
356; evolution in handling
grain, 357; great firms, 357;
Chamber of Commerce, 358",
first building, 36J; ill., 354;
present building, 361; ill.,
356; officers, 361.
Grand Army of the Republic,
national encampment, 68; or
ganization in M., 532.
Grand Opera House, 115; ill.,
116.
Grandin, C. L., 243.
Grant, Gen. U. S., visits city,
43.
Grasshopper plague, 52.
Graves, R. B., 514.
Gray, Fred L., 277*.
Gray, James, 220; 480; 501*+;
516.
Gray, John D., 427; 450.
Gray. T. K., 427; 450; 456*;
457f.
Gray, W. I., 401*t.
Great Northern Ry., 467. '•
Greelev. Horace. Predictions of
in 1865, 44; 529.
Green, Samuel B., 102*.
Greenleaf, F. L., 361.
Greer, John N., 91; 102*f.
Gregg, II. S., 430.
Gregory, W. D., 35S; 366*.
Griffith, J. M., 243.
Griffith, O. .T., 452; 457*; 458+.
Griffiths. William. 358.
Griswold, N. F., 238.
Groli, D. C., 236.
Groseilliers and Radisson, 14;
map of travels, 15; at site
of Minneapolis, 15-16.
Gross, Francis A.. 243; 247*.
Gruman, G. A.. 75.
Guaranty Bldg. See Metropoli
tan Life Building.
Guiwits, A. A., 113.
Guldbrandsen. T.. ''O; £21.
Gullette, A. M.. 103*f.
Gund, Henry, 242.
Gunderson, G. B., 366*.
H
Haggard, Dr. G. D., 182.
Hahnemann
Medical
Society,
184.
Hale, Chas. S., 392; 404*; 4:5f.
Hale, Geo. W., 451.
Hale, Jefferson M., 451.
Hale, Wm. D.. 490; 502*+.
Hale, W. E., 140; 155*.
Hall, Albert H.. 156*; 157f.
Hall, Black & Co., 228.
Hall, Christopher W., 1C3*;
104f.
Hall, Henry M., 222.
Hall. James, 138.
Hall, Dr. P. M., 187; 484; 503*.
Hall. S. H., reorganizes Com
mercial club, 528.
Hall. Dr. Wm. Asbury, 182;
197*.
Hallet. F. A., 361: 368*.
Hallock. Rev. L. H., 79*; 80f.
Hallowell, Wm. P.. Jr.. 438*f.
Hamblin, Charles H.. 219.
Hamlin, Edw. O., 138.
Hamlin, II. O., 138; 261; 451;
489.
Hamline University, 98; 185.
Hance. Dr. S. F., 181.
Hancock & Thomas, 260.
Handicraft Guild, 124; ills.,
125.
Hanke. Henry C.. 489 ; 503*+.
Hardenbergh, C. M., 342*+; 386;
479; 549.
Hare, Dr. Earle R., 197*.
Harmon, Allen, 34; 489.
Harmon, E. A., 240.
Harmonia Hall, 115.
Harmonia Society, 113.
Harmsen, Ludwig, 113.
Harper, Geo. C., 358; 368*+.
Harrington, C. M., 35S; 361;
370*; 528; 530+.
Harris, S. A., 240; 241.
Harris, W: L., 453; 458*.
Harris, W. S., 241.
Harrison, A. M.. 138; 155*.
Harrison, Geo.. 113.
Harrison, Hugh, 430.
Harrison, Hugh G., 38; 242;
248*; 249+; 359; 361; 428;
430; 480; 515; 530; 53.3.
Harrison, Mrs. Jane T\, 186.
Harrison, Perry, 242; 248*.
Harrison, T. A., 38; 237; 241;
242; 430.
Harrison, W. W., 430.
Hartwell, A. K., 263.
Harvest Festival, 68.
Harvey, F. C., 140.
Haskell, E. B., 219.
Haskell, W. E., 219.
Hastings, A. W., 489.
Hatch, Dr. P. L., 38; 181; 184;
185.
Hathaway, W. L., 472*. .
Hawley, II. W., 219.
Hawlev, N. F., 242; 248*.
Hay, Eugene G., 137.
Haycock, Frank E., 489; 504*+.
Ilayford, G. W., 406*.
Haynes, Dr. Frederick E., 197*.
Haynes, J. C.. 480; 487; 489;
504*; 516; 517.
Hays, Theodore, 116.
Hazen, J. M., 484.
Hazlett. Isaac, 244.
Head. Dr. Geo. D., 19S*.
Health, department of, 187;
484.
Healv, Frank, 138; 505*+; 516;
517.
Hedderlv, Edwin, 448: 478; 489.
Iledwall, Chas. .T.. 278*+.
Hett'elfinger, C. B., 38; 43; 3S7;
431.
TIef'1'elfinger, Frank T., 358.
Iteffelfinger. W. W., 538.
Ileinrich, John, 242; 243.
Hemiup. N. H., 139.
Hennepin county, 139; 140: 489.
Hennepin County Bar Associa
tion, 140.
Hennepin County Medical Soci
ety, 182.
Hennepin County Savings Bank,
237; 242.
Hennepin. Louis, ill.. 16; trav
els, 17; names Falls of St.
Anthony, 17.
Henry, Alexander, 46?.
Hertig, Wendell, 155*.
Herzog, Philip, 386.
Hewitt, E. H., 131*: 556.
Hewson, S. J., 406*+.
Heywood. Frank, 407*.
Hicks, Henry G., 138.
Hidden. S.. 490.
Hield, W. J., 519.
Higbee, Dr. A. E., 184.
Hiarh schools, 91; state system,
94.
Hill, H. M., 427.
Hill. Jas. J.. 59; 353; 467.
Hill. Dr. Nathan B., 181; 186+;
187; 200*; 479.
Hill. Dr. It. J.. 187; 198*.
Hill, Samuel. °*4.
!,, s. Miles,
478.
Hilman, G. C., 432; 433.
Himes, J. L.. 1.38.
Hoag. Charles, 34: proposes
name of Minneanolis, 37: 478;
president state fair, 529.
Hobbs. Waldo W.. 91.
Hobert, A. W., 533.
Hoevel. Ileinrich, 114; .117*+.
Holl, Dr. P. M.. 1S7.
Holt, Andrew. 138; 139.
Hoi ton, Frank E.. 240.
Holtzermann, J. D., 453: 458.
Holtzermann, L. J.. 453: 458*.
Holy Rosary Catholic Church,
71.
Holy Trinity Episcopal Church,
organized, 69.
Home for Children and AgeQ
Women, 76.
Homeopathic Hospital, 184; 186.
Homeopathic Medical Society,
184.
Homeopathy, 184.
Home rule, attempts to secure,
;
4S0.
„
565
Homes and suburbs of Minne
apolis, 544-50; L&Ke Minnetonka, 545; Fort Snelling,
549-50.
Hood, Chas. H., 278*; 279+.
Hooker, Frederick, 138.
Hopkins, D. C., 279*.
Horner, Warren M., 279*+.
Ilosmer, James K., 489; 5)6*.
Hospitals and dispensaries, 185.
Hotels, early, 40.
Houghton, J. G., 484; 506*.
Housekeeper, The, 220.
Howe, P. L., 370*.
Howell, R. R. & Co., 407.
Hoyt, Rev. Wayland, 72.
Hubbard, L. P., 334; 341+.
Huey, George E., 38; 297; 4S9.
Htiey, George T., 472*; 473+.
Hughes, Twiford E., 77; 490;
506*; 507+.
Huhn, Anton, 358; 370*; 371+.
Huhn, George, 91.
Huhu, G. P., 243.
Hulbert, Chas. S., 242; 360;
507*; 50S+; 516; 517.
Humphrey, Dr. O. M., 184.
Hunt, Hamlin II.. 118*.
Hunt, P. B.. 280*+.
Hunt, Wm. S., 131*.
Hunter, Dr. C. II., 182; 183.
Huntington, Dr. T. R.. 184.
Huntington, W. W., 489.
Hush. Valentine G., 237; 241.
Hutchins, Dr. A. E., 181.
Ilntchinson. Dr. Adele S., 184.
Ilvoslef, Dr. Jacob, 198*.
Ilynes, Dr. Jolm E., 109*.
Illinois Central R,v.. 469.
Immaculate Conception, Church
of the, 70; 74.
Immanuel Baptist Church. 71.
Improvement Bulletin, 221.
Incorporation of Minneapolis,
52; 478.
Indians, original occupants. 14;
visited by explorers, 15-18;
treaties with, 22, 23, 24; at
the Falls. 32; camp on Bridare
Square, 35; outbreak of 1862,
42; 43.
Industries, see Productive In
dustries, 385.
Insurance. 259 : 263.
Iowa Central Ry., 469.
Ireland. Archbishop, 186: at
opening of first
exposition,
ill., 529.
Ireys, V. S., 372*.
Irwin, Dr. Alexander F., 199*.
Jackins, John, 34.
Jackson, A. B., 140; 156*.
Jaffray, C. T., 240; 250*; 265;
361.
James, Geo. F., 98.
Jamison, Robert, 138; 140.
Jatnine, L. T., 361; 372*.
Janney, T. B., 242; 427; 438*;
549.
•Tarvis, P. R., 473*.
Jeft'ery, Miss M. Belle, 75.
Jerdee, Rev. Lars J., 73; 80*;
81+.
Jermane, W. W., 219.
Jobbing Center, location. 434.
Jobbing Trade, see Wholesale
Trade, 426.
Johnson, Dr. Asa E., 181; 186+.
Johnson, Dr. August E., 199*.
Johnson, Chas. J.. 308*.
Johnson, Chas. W., 113; 222;
359; 489.
Johnson, Denman F., 372*+.
Johnson, Edw. M., 137; 138;
488.
Johnson, Gustavus, 114; 115;
118*.
Johnson, S. T., 250*+.
Johnson, Wm. C., 408*.
Johnston. D. S. B., 98; 217.
Jones, David P., 242; 263; 280*;
281+; 480; 516; 517; 557.
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
566
Jones, E. S., 38; 135; 139; 185;
237; 242; 256*; 257+; 261;
478; 487.
Jones, Frederick S., 97; 104®.
Jones-Harrison Home, 75.
Jones, Herschell V., 219, 221;
228*.
Jones, H. W., 132*; 432; 547.
Jones, Jesse G.. 489.
Jones, J. H., 478.
Jones, Dr. Win. A.. 199®.
Jones, W. S., 219; 221.
Jordan, C. M., 91; 105®.
Jorgens, J. O., 91.
Joslyn, Colin C., 156*.
Journal. Minneapolis, 217; 219;
building, ill., 220.
Joyce, Frank M., 2S2*f.
Joyce, Rev. Isaac W.. 81*; S3+.
•Tudd, W. S.\ 373*+; 485; 519.
Judges of tlie District Court,
138
"
Judson, Abby A., 98.
v
K
Keelboat, 462.
Ivees, Frederick, 132*+.
jlveith, Dr. Geo. II., 218; 490.
v Kelley, E. J.. 181.
Kel ley, Dr. E. S., 1S7.
Kellogg,
A.
N.,
Newspaper
Company. 222.
Kelly, Anthony, 38; 240; 242;
359; 427; 451.
Kelly, Hubert, 407*f.
Kelly. P. H., 427.
Kenaston. F. E., 241; 243; 389;
408*; 409+.
Kerr. Wm. A., 139.
Kilsrnre-Peteler Co.'s Plant, ill.
391.
Kilvington. Dr. S. S.. 187.
Kimball, Dr. Hannibal II., 181;
199*.
King, H. H., 344*.
King, 0. B., county treasurer,
489.
King, T. S.. 520.
King, William S., 38; 217; 218;
486; 487; 488; 518; 527*; ac
tive in fair management, 529;
532.
Kingslev. Dr. Ira, 181.
Kistler. Dr. ,T. SM.. 187: 507*.
Klein. Wm. I,., 221; 229*.
Knickerbacker. Rt. Rev. David
B., 38; 69; 70; 71t; 72; 80"';
185.
Knights, Dr. F. A., 182.
Knoblauch. Anton. 450.
Koehler. Robert. 124: 125;
Kolliner. Robert S., 140.
Koon. Martin B., 13S; 158*;
159f: 240; 244: 488.
Kremer. Dr. Frederick B., 215*.
Kunz, Jacob, 410*+.
Ladies' Thursday Musicale, 114.
Lafayette club, 550.
Laidlaw. W. A., 266.
Lake Superior & Mississippi
Ry., 51; 465.
Lake and rail transportation,
468.
Lakewood cemetery, 533; en
trance. ill.. 533.
Lancaster, Wm. A.. 138; 140.
Langdon, C. S.. 242; 392.
Langdon. R. B., 242; 392; 408*;
483; 518.
La Penotiere, Mrs. E. M.. 75.
Lapierre, Dr. Clias. A.. 200*.
Laraway, 0. M., 387; 451; 478;
490.
La Salle, sends explorers, 17.
Later explorers, 17; Carver. 18,
19, 20: Pike, 18, 22; Long,
18,
22;
Schoolcraft.
18;
Keating, IS: Beltrami. 18;
Featherstonehaugh, 18; Nicolet. 18: 18+.
Latta, ,T. A.. 242.
Lauderdale. W. H.. 38; ?61.
Lawrence, James R.. 140.
Lawrence, James W., 38; 140.
Lawrence, Dr. Wm. D., 184;
200*.
Lawther, Geo., 242.
Lawyers, see Courts and Law
yers, 134.
Laybourn, Chas. G., 158*.
Laying out Minneapolis, 36.
Layman, Martin, 34.
Leavitt, Dr. Henry II., 184;
201*.
Le Boutillier, Dr. C. W., 181.
Lee, W. H., 242.
Legal Education, 140.
Legislation, affecting M., 43.
Leighton. H. N., 411*f; 516.
Leland, Dr. Muret N., Jr., 201*.
Lennou. John G., 34; 448.
Leonard, A. W., 520.
Leonard, C. B.. 158*.
Leonard, Dr. L. D., 214.
Leonard, Dr. W. E., 184.
Leonard, Dr. W. II., 181; 1S4;
187.
Lrslie. John, 431; 528; 534*;
535+.
L» Sueur, explorations, 17.
Levering. A. Z.. 524*f.
Levings. Wm. II.. 520.
Lewis. Isaac I., 385; 449; 478.
Libraries, first association. 40:
see Athenaeum, Public Li
brary.
Lies, Eugene T., 76. '
Liggett. W. M.. 94: 105*f; 530.
Lillibridge, II. F.. 387.
Lind. John. 97: 140.
Lindley. Dr. Alfred H.. 181;
182; 184t; 187; 212*; 479.
Lindley, Clarkson. 244.
Lindsay, T. B., 43?.
Lindsay, Wm.. 432.
Linn. Dr. ,T. J., 181.
Linseed oil, first in. 390.
Linton, A. H., 242; 392; 534*;
530+.
Linton, S. S.. 358; 360.
Lipoincott. Edw.. 478.
Little, Henry L., 332: 346*.
Little. Dr. John W.. 201*.
Litzenberg, Dr. J. C., 18?.
Location, strategical. 9: 560.
Lochren. William. 38; 42; 135;
137; 138.
Lockwood, J. E., 380.
Long. Maj. Stephen II., explo
rations, 22.
Longfellow. Levi. 432; 433.
Loomis, L. N.. 473*: 474+.
Loring, A. C., 359: 361 .
Loring, Charles M., 38: 137:
185; 346*; 347+: 359: 360:
361: 451: 484: first president
• park board. 485; gives pavil
ion in Loring park. 486; l'felong work for parks, 487;
520; 527.
Loring Park, ill.. 66.
Lovejoy. .T. A., 301.
Lovejoy. Loren, 297.
Lowrv, Horace, 475. 519.
Lowrv, Thomas. 183; 242: 26?:
468; 471t; 474*; 480: 488;
518; 519.
Lngsdin. Geo. H.. 458*.
Lumber Exchange, ill., 300.
Lumber industry, the, 9: gov
ernment mill, 25; Steele's
mill (1848). 30: mills in
1845, 45; mills of 1868. ill.,
55; history. 296-326: begin
nings in Minnesota. 296; first
mill at M., 296: pioneer lum
bermen. 297; moving from
falls. 298; east side mills
(1880). ill., 299: Lumber Ex
change. ill., 300: boom com
pany. 301; output. 302: re
ceipts and shipments, 302.
Lund. John G.. 284*.
Lunnow, Magnus, 221.
Lyceum Theater, 115.
Lyman, F. W., 428; 439*.
Lvman. George R., 113; 428;
439*.
Lvon, Geo. A.. 160*.
Lyon, Dr. L. W., 214.
M
McClelland, Geo. W.. 243.
McClintock, Oliver B., 411*+.
McCrea, Dr. John F., 2.16*.
MeCrory, W'illiam. 518.
McCune, Alex-., 160*; 516.
McDonald, Frank R., 509*+.
McFadon, O. E., 114.
McFarlane, John, 261; 353.
McFarlane, Wm. K., 2.3(5; 259;
261; 353.
McGee, John F., 138; 140.
McGolrick, Bishop James, 70;
72.
McHugli, John, 361.
Mclvor, L. A., 425*f.
McKnight, S. T., 308*; 309+.
McLain, John S.. 219; 229*+.
McLane. W. F., 241.
McLaughlin, W. S.. 373*.
McMillan, F. G., 412*+.
McMillan, J. D., 361.
McMillan, P. D., 260: 2S5*+.
McMurdy, Dr. R. S.. 181.
McNair, W. W.. 38; 135; 140;
152*; 153+; 242; 484; 490;
514; 518.
McRea, A. A.. 243: 251*.
McVey, Frank L.. 76: 508*.
Macalester College. 98.
MacDonald, Dr. Irving C., 202®.
MacGregor, R. E., 240.
Mackercliar, D.. 240.
MacLean. W. B.. 373*; 374+.
Magnuson, C. A.. 361.
Mahoney. Stephen. 139.
Mann, Dr. Arthur T.. 182; 2 2®.
Mann. Dr. Eugene L., 97: 183.
Manufacturing, begins. 28; see
Printing and Publishing. 221;
Lumber. 296: Flour. 327.
Man, early, of northwest, 21;
first of M.. 25.
Marehbank. Hugh B., 508*.
Mareck, Titus. 137.
Ma 'field. John It., 358: 361;
.".74*; 375+.
Market House. The old, ill.,
450.
Marsh, C. A. J.. 264.
Marsh. Charles. 114.
Marshall. Clarence A.. 114;
115; 118*.
Marshall. James. 358: 360: 361;
376*: 392+.
Marshall. .T. M.. 28.
Marshall. William R.. 28: 31+:
35: 91: 44S.
Martin, Chas. .T.. 334: 348*;
349+; 486: residence, ill., 546.
Maiiin. H. H . 440*+.
Martin, Jas. II.. 440*; 441+.
Martin, J. II., 361.
Martin, J. M., 7".
Martin, John, 297: 310*+.
Martin. Richard, 236.
Martindale. Dr. ,T. II.. 214.
Masonry. 532; Masonic Temple,
ill., 532.
Maternity Hosnital. 186.
Mattison. S. H.. 237: 478.
Mattson. E. L.. 242; 251*.
Mattson. Col. Hans. 43: 242.
Mauseau. C. M.. 521; 522*.
Mayer, Frank B.. 24; 124.
Mavors. 47S-9: of M. since '72,
480: vote for. 4S0; since 1855,
514-17.
Mearkle, E. F., 242.
Medicine. 181: pioneer nliysicians, 181; Hennepin County
Med. Soc., 182: Medical club,
182: Minn. College Hospital,
ill.. 182. 183; Dept. of Med.,
Univ. of Minn.. 183; Homeopathv. 184: College of Horn.
Med. and Surgery. Univ. of
Minn.. 185; hospitals and dis
pensaries. 185: nublic service
of physicians. 187.
Meeker, Bradley B.. 28; 30; 91.
Megaarden, Philip T., 489.
Mehan. Jas. E.. 229*; 230+.
Mekeel. Geo. D.. 221.
Mendenliall. R. J., 38: 40: 236:
237: bank, ill., 238; 240+;
241; 518; 533.
Meudota, 24.
Menzel, Gregor, 3S6.
Mercer, Hugh V., 140.
Merchants' National Bank of
Minneapolis, 237.
Merrill, A. E., pres. city coun
cil, 516; 517.
Merrill, E. A., 244.
Merrill, Geo. C., 244; 251*;
252+; 489.
Merrill, Rev. Geo. R., 82*; 84+.
Merriman, O. C., 38; 43; 92;
312*+; 480; 485; 514; 515.
Merritt, H. G., 243.
Metropolitan Life Bldg., ill.,
67.
Metropolitan Opera House, 116.
Metropolitan State Bank, 239;
243 * 244.
Meyst, Frank J., 230*+.
Military occupation, 21.
Millard Hall, 183; ill., 183.
Miller, James C., 243.
Miller, John P., 34.
Millers' association, 59; 353.
Milling district, views of, 11:
42: 44; 55; 61; 297; 299; 328;
330; 334.
Mills, see Flour, Lumber, etc.
Minneapolis Academy, 98.
Minneapolis Choral Society. 113.
Minneapolis College of Physi
cians and Surgeons, .185.
Minneapolis
General
Electric
Co., 520; ill., 521: 522.
Minneapolis Medical Club, 182.
Minneapolis Mill Co., 40; office,
ill., 44; 297; 298; 328.
Minneapolis. St. Paul & Sault
Ste. Marie R.v.. see Soo Line.
Minneapolis Society of I-'ino
Arts, 03; 124; art school, 489.
'•Minneapolis,"
steamer. ill.,
405.
Minneapolis Steel & Machinery
Co. Works, ill.. 390.
Minneapolis Symphony Orches
tra, 114.
Minneapolis Threshing Machine
Company's Plant, ill., 388.
Minneapolis Trust Co., 244.
Minneapolis & St. Louis Ry.,
465; 468.
Minnehaha Falls, shown on
early map as falls of the
"Little river." 25: in park
system. 62; ill., 486; 550.
Minnesota Central Railroad, 45;
51; 465.
Minnesota College Hospital, ill.
182; 183; 185; 186.
Minnesota Homeopathic Medical
College, 184; 185.
Minnesota Loan & Trust Co.,
244.
Minnesota National bank, 239.
Minnesota Soldiers' Home, 76:
550; ill., 550.
Minnesota State Dental Asso
ciation, 214.
Minnesota Valley R. R.. 465.
Minnetonka, lake, 545; ill., 547;
Ferndale. 548; yacht club,
549; Lafayette club, 550.
Minor, C. J., 489.
Missions, to Indians, 25: 26: in
city, 52; 69; Rev. E. S. Willliams work, 72; Union, 77.
Mississippi river, 9: 12; 14:
15; 17: 18; 19; 20; 22; 31;
32; bridged, 38: second sus
pension bridge, 53; gorge, ill..
488: see "Water Power" and
"Falls of St. Anthony.
Mississippi Valley Lumberman,
220.
Mississippi & Rum River Boom
Co., 301.
Moore, H. L., 244.
Moore, Dr. .Tames E.. 202*.
Moore, Dr. J. T., 185; 203*.
Morgan, Rev. Charles I... 38.
Morgan, D., 138; 489; 490.
Morgan, Geo. N.. 42: 385.
Morrill, Rev. G. L.. 84*: 85+.
Morris, W. R,, 160*; 101+.
A.HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Morrison. Clinton, 242: 252*;
253f; 390; 488; 521.
Morrison, Dorilus, 38; member
bd. of Education, 01; 98; 218;
237; 240; 298; 310*; Silt;
428; 451; 478; 480; 484; 485;
4S6; 515; 518; 5.19; 527; 533.
Morrison, R. G., 101*; 102f.
Moseau, Charles, 34.
Moulton, E. II., 242; 51C; 521;
525*.
Municipal Affairs, 04; see Pub
lic Affairs and Officials.
Municipal court, 138.
Municipal Improvements. 01;
see Public Affairs and Officilas.
Munns, I)r. Edw. E.. 210*.
Murphy, Edward. 34
479:
484.
Murphy, II. G.. 284*f.
Muroh.v, I)r. John It., 30; 181;
182f; 532.
Murphy, Dr. Win. B.. 203*.
Murpliv, Wm. II.. 281f; 285*.
Murphy, Wm. J., 219.
Murray, Dr. J. W.. 181.
Murray, Dr. Wm. 11.. 203*.
Murry, John. 201; 478.
Music and Theaters. 113; ITarmonia Society, 113; Choral
Society, 113; Christine Nilsson,
in concert, 114; IJanz Orches
tra, 114; Philharmonic Club,
114;
Symphony
Orchestra,
114; Apollo Club, 114; Public
school music, 114; Music
schools, 115; theaters and mu
sic halls. 115; auditorium,
116; Music Schools, Private,
115.
N
Naclitrieb. II. F., 106*.
Naegle, Otto E., 243; 254*f.
Naming the City, 30.
National Bank of Commerce,
239; 241.
National Banks, capital, 239.
National Exchange Bank, 237.
Navigation, Head of, 9; see
"Transportation." 402.
Neiler, S. E., 240.
Neill, Rev. E. D.. 35; 69.
Nelson, B. F.. 97; 265; 299;
386; 485; 527; 52'8; 530;
536*; 537f.
Nelson, Dr. Henry S., 187.
Nelson mill. 29S.
Nelson, Milton O., 231*; 487.
Nelson, Nels J., 509*; 510;
517.
Nelson. Socrates. 92.
Nettleton. Gen. A. B., 218.
Newell, Geo. R., 428; 441*.
Newhall, IT. F.. 203; 291*.
Newhart. Dr. Horace. 204*.
News, Minneapolis Daily, 220.
Newspapers,
Publishing
and
Printing, 217; first
papers.
217; pioneer editors. 217;
Tribune, 218; Journal. 219;
Times. 219; other dailies.
219; trade and class papers.
220;
Scandinavian
papers,
221; printing. 221; publishing,
221; census figures. 222.
Nichols, John F., 102*f.
Nicolet, Jean N., 18f; explor
ations, 18.
Nicollet House, opened, 40; ill.,
54.
Nicollet Island. 30; 1808; ill..
54; park proposition voted
down. 07: 484.
Nicollet National Bank, 239.
Nicols. John. 92.
Nilsson. Victor, 232*.
Nimocks, Chas. A.. 219; 231*f:
487.
Nimocks, W. A.. 219.
Ninpert, Dr. Louis A., 182;
204*.
NootnagH. Dr. Clias. F., 204*.
Norred. Dr. 0. IT.. 513*.
North, John W.. 30; 91; 134.
Northern Pacific R. R.; com
pleted, 61); 460; 407; comple
tion celebrated at M., 407.
Northrop, Cyrus, called to Uni
versity, 63; 65f; 94; 97; 140;
489.
Northrup, Anson, 30; 34; 135;
oo2.
Northrup, Jesse E., 441*; 487.
Northup, Win. G., 242; 38i;
412*; 413t; 549.
Northwest Company, 20; 402.
Northwest Territory, 19; map
of (1795), 21.
Northwestern Agriculturist,' 221.
Northwestern Democrat, 217.
Northwestern Fire & Marine In
surance Company, 205.
Northwestern Hospital, ' 185.
Northwestern Lancet, 221.
Northwestern Miller, 220; build
ing, ill., 222.
Northwestern National Bank,
237; 238; first building of the,
ill., 239; 240; present build
ing, ill., 241.
Northwestern National Life In
surance Co., 110; 204; home
office, ill., 265.
Norton. Dr. A. K., 187.
Nott, W. S.. 430.
Nutter, F. II.. 133*; 4S7.
Nye, Frank M., 140.
Nye. Wallace G., 516; 517; 528;
538*f.
O'Brien, Frank J., 232*f.
O'Brien, Dr. Richard P., 204*.
Oberhoffer, Erail J., 114; 119*f.
Odium, Geo., 203.
Officers, of the city, 478-517.
Ofstad. Dr. Arnt E., 204*.
Oftedal, Sven, 91; 106*; 221;
488.
Old Orchard. Lake Minnetonka,
ill., 54S; 550.
Oliver Presbyterian Church, 71.
Olivet Baptist Church. 70.
Orde, Geo. F., 240; 254*.
Orders, fraternal, etc., 532.
Organizations and Activities,
527-543; Board of Trade, 527;
Commercial Club. 527: agri
cultural fairs, 528; the ex
position, 530; social clubs.
531; orders. 532; Lakewood
Cemetery association, 533.
Orpheum Theater, 116.
Orth, John. 478; 479.
Ortman, Dr. Adolpli, 181.
Ostrom, A. V., 242.
Ostrom, O. N., 242.
Oswald, John C., 137; 243;
485; 518.
Owen, S. M.. 97; 221.
Owre. Dr. Alfred. 97: 184 ; 215.
Ozias, A. N., 91; 107*f.
Pacific mill, 298 ; 299; 300.
Paige, Jas., 140.
Paine. Frederick, 264.
Painter, D. H., 107*f,
Palmer, C. M., 219; 220.
Palmer, S. G.. 433.
Panics, of 1857-8. 41; of 1873,
52; 237; of 1893, 239, 551;
of 1907. 551.
Pardee, W. S., 483; 513*.
Park
Avenue Congregational
Church. 71.
Park avenue, view on. 545.
Park System, established, 02;
Loring Park, ill., 66; early
work for parks, 484; park
commission created. 485; first
parks acquired, 484-5; Minne
haha Falls, ill., 486; gifts to
system, 486; personal service,
486-7; officers. 487; Missis
sippi river gorge, ill.. 4SS.
Parker, Benjamin B., 34.
Parker. Dr. J. A., 214.
Parks. Florence E.. 120-v.
Partridge, Geo. II., 430; 447*.
Partridge, H. A.. 138.
Patch, Edward, 28.
Patch, Luther, 28.
Pattee, E. S., 519.
Pattee, W. S., 94; 07; 138f:
140; 102*.
Patten, Willard, 114; 120*,
121f.
Patterson, R. II., 431; 442*.
Paul, A. C., 528; 539*f.
Paulle, L., 243; 413*.
Paving, 02; 481.
Peavey, Frank II., 357; 357f;
370*; 549.
Peavey, George W., 358.
Peck, Park W., 413*.
Pence, II. E., 459*f.
Pence, J. W., 237.
Pence Opera House, ill., 114;
115; 481.
Penney, T. E., 280*.
Penninian, Dr. Wm. A., 184;
240.
People's Bank, 239; 243.
Peteler, C. B., 392.
Peteler, Col. Francis. .43: 392.
Peters, Dr. Ralph M., 205*.
Peterson, Carl F. E., 487.
Peterson, James A.. 140.
Petri, Rev. C. J., 72; 85*tPettengill. II. J., 520*.
Pettersen, W. M.. 10S*f; 317.
Pettijohn, Eli. 489.
Pettit, C. II.. 38: 40: 98; 217:
236; 260; 313*f; 350; 427;
478.
Pharmacy, College of, 183.
Phelps, E. J., 244; 487; 527;
528; 539*f; 549.
Philanthropies, see Churches and
Philanthropies.
Philharmonic Club. 114.
Phillips, l)r. Edwin. 181; 1S2;
185.
Physical Characteristics of Min
neapolis, 10.
Pike, Zebulon Montgomery, 22f.
explorations. : 2.
Pillsburv A flour mill, ill.. 334.
Pillsbury, A. F., 58; 242; 549.
Pillsbury, Charles A., 76; 185;
33If; 332; 348*; 301; 488.
Pillsburv. Charles S. and John
S., gift of Pillsbury House,
76.
Pillsbury, Fred. C., 332; 529.
Pillsbury. Geo. A., 332; 350*;
351f; 361: 480; 510; 520.
Pillsbury Hall, ill.. 03.
Pillsbury Home, 75.
Pillsbury House, 70; ill., 77.
Pillsbury. John S., 38; 43; 44;
52; 53*; 57f; 63: regent uni
versity. 92: gives Pillsbury
Hall, 96; life-long service for
University. 96*: made regent
for life. 90: 300: 332; 427.
450: 485; 514; 527.
Pillsbury library, 557.
Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills
Co., 332.
Pioneer Lawyers, 134.
Pioneer Life at the Falls, 31.
Pioneer Mill, 297;
Pioneers, character of, 12; of
'47 and '48, 28.
Piper, G. F., 361: 378*; 379f.
Plummer, L. P., 218.
Plymouth Congregational
Church. 71; 74; 79; ill., 79;
choir, 113; new building, ill.,
555; 557.
Plympton's claim. 26.
Poeliler, Alvin II., 358; 301;
378*; 380f.
Poeliler, Chas. F., 358.
Poeliler, Henry, 358; 380*;
381f.
Poeliler, Walter C.. 358.
Pomeroy, J. S.. 242;
Pond, C. M., 138.
Pond. Gideon II., at Lake Cal
houn. 25; 20f; 09.
Pond. Samuel W., at Lake Cal
houn. 25; map. 25: 20f; 09.
Pope, Rev. E. It., 80*.
567
Population, in 1865, 44; in 1880,
59; gains, 68; resume, 558.
Porteous, J. S., 75.
Porteous, Dr. Wm. N., 205*.
Portland Avenue Church of
Christ, 71; 72.
Postoffice, 35; 61; 489; post
masters, 490; building, ill.,
490.
Potter, E. G., 433.
Powell, Wm., 241.
Powers, F. M., 459*; 510.
Powers, Walter K., 382*.
Pratt, Dr. Fred J., Jr., 205*.
Pratt, Robert, 243; 480 ; 509*;
510f; 510.
Pratt, Rufus, 34.
Pratt, Stephen, 34.
Pray, A. F., 280*
Pray, O. A., 359; 380; 479. Prendergast, E. A., 163*f.
Primary elections, direct, 480;
557.
Prince, F. M., 240; 242; 254*;
255f.
Prince, John S., 301.
Printing, 217; 221; 222.
Private schools and colleges, 98.
Probate, Judges of, 139.
Pro-Cathedral,
Catholic,
74;
554; 557; ill., 500.
Produce Business, 432.
Produce Exchange, 432.
Productive Industries Varied,
385-425; falls the founda
tion, 385; pioneer factories,
385; progress after war, 386;
beginnings of sundry manu
factures, 380-7; value of
products 1800-77, 388; chang
ing conditions, 388; great ex
amples of progress, 389-91;
contracting and outfitting.
391; products, 392; compari
sons, 392-3.
Progress, the City's Reccnt,
551-01.
Pryor, Lunian C., 221; 232*.
Public Affairs, see "Sundry Or
ganizations and Activities,"
527-543; committee of, 5:.8;
commissioner of, 528.
Public Affairs and Officials, 51;
01; 02; 04; 60; (chapter)
478-517: early village govern
ment, 478; Minneapolis a city,
478; Minneapolis and St. An
thony consolidated, 479; first
officers, 479; time of elections,
479; administrations, 480; elec
tions, (vote) 480; charter
campaigns, 480; public im
provements, 480; public build
ings, 481; old city hall, (ana
ill.) 481; water works, 482;
fire department. 482; building
inspection, 483; health and
sanitation, 484; finances, 484;
park system, 484-87: public
library, 488; Hennepin coun
ty. 489; Postoffice, ,489; tabu
lated lists of city officers, St.
Anthony
and
Minneapolis,
514-7.
Public buildings, 481.
Public Improvements, 52; 01;
07; 480.
Public library, 40; 01; ill., 02;
64; 487; library board creat
ed, 488; building, 488.
Public Utilities. 68; 518-20;
first street railway franchise,
518; Thomas Lowry enters
the field, 518; great develop
ment of system, 519; gas and
electricity, 519; telegraph and
telephone, 520.
Publishing. 217: 221.
Purdy, Milton D., 137.
Purves, Rev. S. B.. SO*: S7f.
Putnam, Herbert, 04; 489.
Q
Quimby, I)r. T. F., 181; 187.
568
Radisson, explorations, 14.
Railroads, first connection, 45;
building, 51; 59; railroad
system, 60; see "Transporta
tion," 462; the first railroad,
464; reorganization, 466; ter
minals, 466; 470.
Ramsey, Alexander, 92.
Rand, A. 0., 359 ; 480; 515;
520.
Rand, Alonzo T., 520; 548; 549.
Rand, Rufus It., 520.
Randall, Eugene W., 97; 108*;
109t; 530.
Rank among manufacturing cit
ies, 393.
Rauen, Peter. 113: 479.
Ravoux, Father, 70.
Rawitzer, 8. SI., 413*; 414f.
Raymond, J. W., 241.
Rea, John P., 138; 139; 218.
Real Estate, first "boom," 40;
first real estate office, 40;
Real Estate and Insurance.
5159-295: early dealers, 259:
Simon P. Synder, 259, 260t;
assessed valuation 1860, 260;
first office, ill., 201; increase
of values. 262; Real Estate
Board, 263.
Recent Progress, 551-61; mate
rial development. 552; facts
and figures.
553;
notab'e
buildings. 554; public im
provements, 554; the "City
beautiful," 555; civic center,
555: advanced thought, 55">:
municipal administration, 5"7:
population gains, 558; possi
bilities for the future, 560.
Record, J. L., 389.
Red river cart, 462; ill., 463.
Reed, F. W., 152*; 154f.
Reed, Louis A.. 140.
Reed, S. A., 165*; 167f.
Rees, Dr. Soren P.. 205*.
Reeve, Gen. C. McC., 113; 5o8.
Regents, Board of, 97.
Reid, A. M., 479.
Reid, Dr. Hugh M., 214.
Reno. J. C., 38; 463 ; 47.> a ",
476f; 527.
Reservation. Fort Snelling, see
Fort Snelling Reservation.^
Residences, views, 546; 547;
548.
Retail Business, first merchant.
28: evolution to wholesaling.
427; history, 448-61: R. P.
Russell, 448f; early retai'ers,
448; retail district on Wash
ington avenue, 1869, ill., 449:
old houses established. 450;
old market house, 450; the
great stores, 451; first
de
partment store, ill., 452.
Reynolds, C. E.. 387.
Reynolds, M. H., 109*. .
Rice, Henry M., 92.
Richardson, H. K., 443*f.
Ricker, Dr. Geo. E.. 187.
Ridgway, J. A., 487.
Riheldaffer, J. H., 382*f.
Rinker, Andrew, 506*; 515; 5 1 6.
Rinlev, Dr. Martha G., 186;
206*.
Roberts, Dr., Geo. F., 184.
Roberts, H. P., 163*.
Roberts, M. Emma. 125.
Roberts, Rev. S. B., 87*.
Roberts, Dr. Thos. S.. 206*.
Roberts, Win. P.. 163*; 1041'.
Robinson, Geo. R.. 140.
Robinson. S. C., 38.
Rock Island Rv., 469.
Rockwood. C. J., 165*f; 487.
Rogers, A. R., 318*.
Rogers, Geo. D., 355f; 358;
359; 361.
Rogers, Geo. H.. 314*.
Rogers, Orin. 385.
Rogers, Richard Q., 327.
Rollins, John, 28; 298; 327;
463.
Rome. Dr. Robt. R., 207*.
Rondo, Joseph, 27.
A HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Sewall, S. B., 520.
Root, F. W., 166*f.
Sewer system, 481.
Rowley, F. B., 476*.
Shaw, Dr. Albert, 219.
Ruhnke, A.. H., 442*f.
Shaw, Frank W., 168*.
Runge, August H., 483.
Shaw, Geo. IC., 218; 219.
Russell, A. J., 219.
Shaw, John M., 138; 242.
Russell, R. D., 138.
Russell, R. P.. 28; 359; 3C0; Shearer, J. D., 169*f.
Sheldon, A. M., 382*; 383f.
385; 448; 448f; 478.
Shepherd, Geo. B., 238.
Rust, George II., 519.
Shepherd, Win. L., 255*.
S
Slierer, G. J., 243.
St. Anthony in "1851, ill.. 37; Shevlin, Thos. II., 96; 318*;
organized city, 478; officers,
319f.
514.
Shryock, 1)., 114.
St. Anthony Express, 36; 217.
Shryock, J. W., 114 .
St. Anthony Falls, see "Falls Shutter, Rev. Marion D., 88*;
of St. Anthony."
89f.
St. Anthony Falls Bank, 238; Sibley, Henry IT., 24; 92; 134.
239.
Sidle. II. G., 38; 40; 237; 240;
St. Anthony Falls Water Power
387.
Co.. 297.
Sidle. J. K., 38; 40; 236; 237;
St. Anthony of Padua Catholic .240; 387.
Church, 70.
Sidle residence, ill., 544.
St. Anthony Republican. 217.
Simmons, Chester, 415*.
St. Barnabas Hospital, ill., 184; Simnson, Dr. Charles, 91; 181;
185.
187.
St. John's English Lutheran Simpson, David F., 138.
Church, 73.
Sioux Indians, see Indians.
St. Margaret's Academy, 99.
Site of Minneapolis, advantagi s
St. Mark's Episcopal Church,
of. 9; owned by four nations,
70; 74; new building, 554;
19.
ill., 556.
Sidles, A. V., 263.
St. Mary's Hospital, 186.
Skog, A. W.. 489; 51l*t.
St. Paul and Minneapolis Pio Skogsbergli. Rev. E. A.. 73.
neer Press and Tribune. 218. Smith, A1 .T.. 140.
St. Paul. Minneapolis & Mani Smith, Dr. A. T.. 214.
toba Ily., 467.
Smith, B. W., 415*.
St. Paul & Duluth Ry.. 465,
Smith. C. A.. <7; 320*; .°.21f.
St. Paul & Pacific R.v., 51; 467. Smith, C. Tv., 9?.
St. Stephens Catholic Church, Smith, C. L.. 139.
72.
Smith, Dr. D. Edmund, 207*.
Salisbury, Dr. A. II., 181; 187. Smith, E. E.. 17;)*.
Salisbury, Fred R., 387; 528; Smith. Fred L.. 38; 21S; 222;
540*f.
233*; 234f; 487.
Salvage Corps, 266.
Smith, Geo. R.. 140: 170*f.
Sample, Rev. Dr. Robt. F., 7:'; Smith, J. Gregory. 466.
72f.
Smith, TI. Alden, 387.
Satterlee. W T . E., 387; 414*; Smith, .Tolm Day. 138; 172*f.
415f; 517.
Smith, J. G., 387.
Satterlee, Rev. W. W.. 88*f.
Smith, Dr. Norman M., 207*.
Savage, M. W., 391; 414*.
Smith, P. B., 361.
Savory, C. L., 478.
Smith, Robert, 30.
Saw mills, first,
28; 30; 45; Smith. Seagrave, 138; 170*;
ill.. 55; 296: ill.. 297; i 1 !.,
171f; 516.
D99; ill., 300.
See Lumber Snelling, Fort, see "Fort Snel
Industry.
ling."
Ssiwyer, Clias. L., 286*; 287t.
Snelling reservation, see "Fort
Scandinavian Press, the. 221.
Snelling reservation."
Scanlon, M. J., 314*; 315t.
Snvder, Fred B., 173*f; "92.
Schaefer. Jacob. 316* 317f.
Snyder, Harry, 109*.
Scheitlin, G.. 240; 387.
Sclilener. John A., 243; 45"; Snvder, Simon P.. 38; 236; 2"9;
260f; 261; 287*.
459*; 460f.
Sch'^n-Rene, Anna E., 114; Snvder & McFarlane. 40: °36;
259; office, ill.. 261; 203.
122*f.
School of agriculture, 95.
Soderlind. Dr. Andrew. 208*.
School of Fine Arts, 124: 489. Soderstrom. Alfred. 221.
Schools, first. 26; foundations of "Soo Line," 60: 468.
system, 39; 90; first public, Sorin, Rev. Matthew. 69.
99; first
district organized. South Side State Bank, 243.
90; Union school, 90; old Spafford, Fred, 242.
Washington school, 90; ill., Spaulding, Dr. S. M., 184; 187.
same, 91; buildings in '78, Spaulding, Dr. Wm. A., 213;
91; present system estab
214.
lished, 91; typical building of S'lencer, Benj. N., 478. .
today, ill., 92.
Spencer, Dr. Kirby, 213. 487.
Scientist churches, 74.
Scott, Hugh R., 489; 510*; Spring Wheat, 11; 50; 51; 59;
329; see "Grain Trade."
511f.
Scrip, issued by T\L business Spring. Dr.. W. P.. 187.
Squatter Claims. 26: 34.
men, 236.
Stacy, E. P., 433; 444*f.
Seashore, Dr. Gilbert, 207*.
Stage lines, 463.
Secombe, Rev. Charles. 69.
Secombe, D. A., 36: 135; l-'0. Stanchfield, Daniel. 28: 478.
Second Church of Christ, Sci Stanclifield, Samuel, 297.
Stanlev Hall, 98.
.
entist, 74.
Securitv Bank Building, ill., State Atlas, 217; 218.
State
Banks,
caoital,
239.
552; 554.
Security National Bank, 237; State National Bank, 237.
Statistics,
newspapers,
220;
238; 241.
printing and publishing, 222;
Sedgwick, C. S.. 76; 77; 133*.
banking. 238-40; lumber. 30??;
Seeley. I. C.. 260.
flour, 330-35; grain, 353-55;
Seevers, G. W., 168*tmanufacturing, 386, 388, 392,
Selover, A. W.. 168*; 169f.
393; finances
of city, 484;
Semnle, Frank B., 457.
population, 558.
Sessions, J. IT.. 443*f.
Steamboats,
see
"Transporta
Settlement, early, 25.
tion," 462; 463; 465.
Settlement work, 76.
Steel arch bridge, ill., 479;
erected, 480.
Steele, Franklin, stakes claim,
27; influence of, 27; 29f; 92;
134; 296; 385; 448; 484.
Steele, Dr. John A., 184.
Steele, John H., 139.
Stegner, G. E., 243; 255*.
Stempf, Richard, 113.
Stetson, Frank L., 483.
Stevens, A. W., 416*tStevens, Clias. H., 21!).
Stevens, Eugene M., 255*; 256f.
Stevens, Rev. Enos, 69.
Stevens House, the, 31; ill., 32;
54.
Stevens, Maj. Isaac I., 466.
Stevens, Rev. J. D., at Lake
Harriet, 26; 69.
Stevens, Col. John H., 25; ar
rives, 30; builds first house,
30; marriage, 31; house, ill.,
32; 33f; lays out M., 36; 38;
school trustee, 39; house, ill.,
54; 90; 113; 218; 220; gives
away lots, 259; 385; 448;
county offices, 489; promotes
county and state fairs. 529;
president state fair, 529-30;
532.
Stevens. Win. L., 350*f.
Stevenson. T. W., 431; 445*f.
Stewart, Dr. J. Clark, 208*.
Stewart, L. M., 38; 135; 181!:
263.
Sticknev, A. B., 218.
Stilwell, E. J., 431; 445*.
Stimpson, Charles W.. 2S; 29".
Stinson, Waterman. 34.
Stockton. Dr. E. II.. 181.
Stockwell, S. A., 288*f.
Stone Arch Bridge, built, CO:
ill., 61.
Stone,. Jacob, 489.
Stoneman, Dr. Mark D., 213.
Stoopes, Wm. E., 489; 510*.
Stowell. F. M., 390; 424*.
Street Railway system, growth
in the eighties, 68; 518-19;
evolution of cars, ills., 519.
Strout, Dr. E. S., 208*.
Sturtevant. C. C., 361.
Surveys. 30; 34; 35; 36.
Suspension Bridge, first.
38;
ill., 39; 52; second, ill., 53.
Svenska Amerikanska Posten,
221.
Svenska Folkets Tidijing, 221;
234.
Sverdrup, Geo, 221.
Swedish
American
National
Bank. 238; ?39; 242.
Swedish Hospital, 186.
Swedish
Mission
Tabernacle.
71.
Sweet, John C.. 173*.
Sweetzer, Dr. II. B., 1S2.
Swenson. Lars. 137.
Swift, John, 137.
Swift, Lucian, 219; 221; 233*f;
Swinburne, J. W., 222.
550.
Swisher. Fred S., 476*.
Syndicate block, 453.
Tabour, Jerome B., 290*f.
Tapper. Capt. John, 32; 38.
Tattersfield, Richard, 77; 512*.
Tavlor, A. B., 359.
Taylor, Dr. B. L., 213.
Taylor, N. C. D., 92.
Telegraph and telephones, 520.
Territorial governments, 19.
Tliaralson, Andrew, 242.
Thayer, H. H., 241.
Theaters and Music Halls, 115.
Thian, L. R., 140.
Thirteenth Minn. regt. welcomed
on return from Philippines,
558.
Thomas, Dr. David O., 1S2;
208*.
Thompson, Chas. T.. 174*.
Thompson, L. K., 265; 288*;
289-i'.
Thomson, J. P., 290*.
HALF CENTURY OF MINNEAPOLIS
Thwing, Rev. Chas. F., 72.
Tidende, Daily, 220; 221; 234.
Timberlake, B. H., 291*.
Timerman, W. O., 361; 384*f.
Times, Minneapolis, 219.
Tissot, Rev. Father, 72.
Tittemore, J. N., 477*f.Todd, Dr. F. C., 182.
Todd, Wm. A., 478.
Tollefson, O. 0. 266.
Tousley, O. V., 90; 91.
Towers, Dr.* Frank E., 187.
Towle, Geo. E., 265.
Towler, S. II., 541f.
Townsend, Dr. G. F., 187.
Townsend, G. T., 479.
Trabert, Chas. L., 320*; 322f.
Trabert, Rev. G. H., 73.
Tracy, J. L., 361; 383*.
Trade and Class Papers, 220.
Traders, the days of the, 19;
British, 20.
Transportation, water, 9; 10;
railroad legislation, 43; first
rail connection, 45; railroad
building, 51; 59; 60; Soo
Line, 60; history, 462-77;
steamboat period, 462; dog
trains, 462; Red River carts,
462, 111., 464; steamboat
transportation, 463; wagon
freighting, 463; first railroad,
464; St. Paul & Pacific, 40*;
Minnesota Central, 465; Min
nesota Valley, 465; Lake Su
perior & Mississippi, 465;
Minneapolis & St. Louis, 465;
Steamer "Minneapolis," ill.,
465; Chi. St. P. Minpls. &
Omaha, 465; Northern Pacific,
406; railroad failures 1873.
466; transportation conditions
in 1880, 466; evolution of past
twenty-five
years,
466-68;
"William Crooks," first loco
motive, ill., 467; Great North
ern, 467; Soo line, 468; lake
and rail transportation, 468;
southerly connections, 468;
Chi. Mil. & St. P. passen
ger station, ill., 469; develop
ment of terminals, 470.
Trask, Helen M., 114.
Traxler, Chas. J., 174*f.
Treaties, Gov. Dodge's -(1837),
23; of Traverse des Sioux
(1851), 23; ill., 24.
Tribune building fire, 219.
Tribune, The Minneapolis, 218;
building, ill., 218.
Trinity Norwegian and Danish
Church, 70.
Tromanhauser, S. II., design
er of brick elevator, 360; ill.,
360.
Tryon, Chas. J., 175*.
Tuller, C. A., 219.
Turnblad, Swan J., 221; 235*.
Tuttle, Calvin A., 28.
Tuttle, H. A., 520; 521; 525*f.
Tuttle, Rev. Jas. II., 70; 73;
74f.
Tuttle, T. J., 479.
Tyler, Elmer, 36; 217.
University of Minn., site, 28;
36; 40; 52; campus in '90,
ill., 63; farm purchased, 63;
history,
91-8;
preparatory
school, 92; Gov. Pillsbury's
work, 92; first building, ill.,
93; reorganization, 93; W. W.
Folwell's presidency, 93; Cy
rus Northrop's presidency, 94;
agricultural department, 94;
buildings, 96; memorial en
trance, ill., 96; regents, and
executive officers, 97; library
building, ill., 97; farm, ill.,
97; Folwell Hall, ill., 98;
musical federation, 114; law
building, ill., 139; dept. of
medicine, 183; plans for per
manent improvement of en
larged campus, 556; sketch of
plans, 557.
Upton, R. P., 327.
Valuation, 484.
Van CaniDen. C. II., 292*.
Van Cleve, Mrs. Charlotte O.,
22f.
Van Cleve, Horatio P., 43.
Van Cleve, Dr. S. II., 187.
Vanderburgh, Chas. E., 38; 98,
135; 137; 138; 175*; 177f;
183; 242; 519.
Vander Ilorck, John, 479.
Van Dusen, G. W,, 358.
Van Dyck, A. R., 126.
Van Dyke, W. J., 429.
Van Nest, Hiram, 34; 36;
283*f.
Van Nest. J. II., 487; 512*f;
516; 517.
Van Slyke, V. H., 244.
Van Tuyl, Chas. W., 294.
Van Valkenburg, Jesse, 175*.
Van Vorhees, Abram, 92.
Veazie, E. A., 240.
Virginia, steamer, 462.
Voegeli, Thos., 460*.
Volk, Douglas, 124.
Vollmer, Geo., 243.
Volunteers, for war, 42.
Von Schlegel, F., 139.
Vote, for mayor, 480.
W
Wagner, H. A., 427.
Wagon freighting, 463.
Wainman, C. P., 521; 525*;
526f.
Waite, Edw. F., 139; 180*.
Waite, H. B., 322*; 323f.
Waldeland, Erik, 235*.
Wales, Florence, 125.
Wales, William W., 31; 36;
450; 452; 481f; 514.
Walker, Col. I'latt B., 220.
Walker, Piatt B., 220; 487.
Walker, T. B.. 125; art gal
lery, ill., 127; 299; 324*;
325f; 386; 432; 487; 488;
489.
Walton, E. G., 262.
Wanous, Dr. Ernest Z., 209*.
Warham, Dr. Thos. T., 209*.
Warnock, A. W., 519.
War
Record, The City's, 42.
UV
Warren, Geo. H., 292*; 293f;
TJeland, A., 139.
516.
Union City Mission, 77.
Washburn A mill, 328; ill., 334.
Union mill, 328.
Washburn B mill, 328; ill., 329.
Union passenger station, 60.
Washburn, Gov. C. 0., 50; 75;
Union School, 40; 90.
328; 329f; 329; 334.
Union State Bank, 239.
WasHburn-Crosby Company, 334.
Unity House, 76.
Washburn, E. C., 416*; 418f.
Universalists, see Church of Washburn, F. L., 110*.
the Redeemer.
Washburn, John, 242; 334; 361.
Washburn
Memorial
Orphan
Asylum, 75.
Washburn, Stanley, 420*f.
Washburn, William, D., 38;
improvement of water power,
40; 45*; 47f; promotes Soo
line, 60; 70; gift to asylum,
75; 98; 135; 137; 218; en
ters lumber manufacturing,
298; founds Washburn Mill
Co., 328; railroad enterprises,
467; 488; 518; 527; pres.
Exposition board, 530; trustee
Lakewood cemetery, 533.
Washburn, W. I)., Jr., 294*.
Washburn, W. W., prin. Uni
versity preparatory school,
93.
Washington School, 40; 90; ill.,
91.
Water Power, Development of,
30; 40; threatened destruc
tion, 52; 329; 552; ill., 554.
Waters, James, 482.
Waters, M. R., 244.
Waterworks, 52; 482.
Way, C. M„ 387; 422*f.
Webb, Ralph D.. 541*.
Webb, Robert W., 244.
Webster, W. F., 91; 110*.
Webster, Wm. H., 219.
Weeks, Dr. T. E., 214.
Welch, Wm. II., 135.
Welles, II. T., 38; 240; 260;
478; 485; 514.
Wells, Dr. C. L.. 181.
Wells, F. B., 358; 361.
Wells, Dr. Jas. O., 216*.
Wells Memorial House, 76.
Wells, Rev. T. B., 72.
Wenzel, Chas. E.. 384*.
Werner, N. O.. 242.
Wesbrook, Frank F., 97; 110*;
183.
Wesley Methodist church, 72.
West Hotel, erected 1883-4, ill.,
64.
West, .John T.. 360.
West Side mills in 1895, ill.,
44.
Westfall, W. P., 518; 533.
Westlake, E. .T., 528; 542*f.
Westminster Presbvterian
church. 70; ill, 70; 71; 74;
ill.. 76.
Weston, Dr. Chas. G., 187;
210*.
Wliallon, J. F., 383*f.
Wheat, first shipments into the
city, 353; receipts and ship
ments, 354; greatest pri
mary
market,
354;
see
Spring Wheat and Grain
Trade.
Wlieaton, F. E., 542*f.
Wheaton, Geo., 387.
Wheaton, Geo. A., 387.
Wheelock, Ralph W., 512*.
White, Chas. D., 461*f.
White, E. V., 359; 361.
White, Dr. S. Marx, 210*.
Whiting, Geo. H., 432.
Whitmore, Willard S., 218.
Whitney, Rev. Jos. C., 43; 70.
Whitney, W. C., 77; 125;
133*; 546.
Wholesale Trade, 426-447; first
wholesaling, 426; evolution
from retailing, 427; origin of
great houses, 428; largest
jobbing building west of Chi
cago, ill., 432; variety of
lines, 433; volume of busi
ness, 434.
569
Wilcox, A. G., 220; 222.
Wilcox, Dr. A. S., 184.
Wilcox, Carlos, 260; 490.
Wilcox, John F., 387; 416*;
417f; 548; 550.
Wilcoxson, Rev. Timothy, 69.
Wiley, S. Wirt, 75.
Willford, J. L., 352*f; 387.
Williams, Charles Alf., 219.
Williams, C. R., 447.
Williams, I)r. Chas. W., 210*.
Williams. Rev. Edwin Sidney,
72; 73f; 77.
Williams, Dr. II. L., lll*f.
Williams, J. Austin, 121*.
Williams, John G., 217.
Williams, Joshua, 427.
Williams, L. H., 447*.
Williams, S. M., 451.
Williams, Thomas Hale, 38;
478; 479; librarian, 487; 515.
Williams, Dr. U. G., 187; 210*.
Williamson, Jas. F., 178*; 179f.
Willoughby, H. A., 240.
Wilson, Eugene M.. 38; 43; 135;
137; 479; 480; 484; 485; 515.
Wilson, Geo. P., 176*f.
Wilson, II. W., 222.
Wilson, J. P., 448.
Wilson, T. W., 237.
Winchell, Horace V., 18.
Winchell, N. H., 14; 17; 18.
Windom, William, 240.
Winecke, Henry, 242.
Winslow House, erected, 40;
ill., 182.
Winston, F. G., 391; 418*;
419f; 430.
Winston, P. B., 391; 420*;
42.lt; 480; 516.
Winston, W. O., 392; 422*;
423tWinter, Bert. 256*.
Wirth, Theo., 487.
Wisconsin Central Ry., 469.
Woman's Boarding Home, 75.
Woman's Christian Association,
75.
Woodard, Dr. Francis R., 211*.
Woodruff, Henry S., 114. 122*.
Woods, Charles H., 138.
Woodward. A. M., 243; 359.
Wood worth, E. S., 361.
Woollev, John G., 140.
Wright, Dr. Chas. I)'a, 211*.
Wright, Dr. Franklin R., 211*.
Wright, Fred. B., 178*tWuliing, Frederick J., 97; 112*;
184.
Wyant, C. F., 244.
Wylie, David. 483.
Wyman, J. T., 387; 424*; 527.
Wyman, O. C., 242; 429; 446t;
447*.
Yale, Stephen M., 326*.
Yale, Washington, 295*.^Yale, Washington, Jr., 180*.
Yost, C. E., 521.
Young, Austin II., 36; 137;
137t; 138.
Young Men's Christian Associa
tion, rapid growth, 64; 74;
ill., 77.
Young, Winthrop, 91; 514.
Young Women's Christian Asso
ciation, 75; ill., 77.
Zoch, Herman, 114; 123*tZonne, A. E., 295*.
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