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Duluth and St. Louis County
Minnesota
Their Story and People
An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular
Attention to the Modern Era in the Commercial,
Industrial, Educational, Civic and
Social Development
Prepared under the Editorial Supervision of
WALTER VAN BRUNT
Assisted by a Board of Advisory Editors
ISSUED IN THREE VOLUMES
VOLUME II
ILLUSTRATED
TTK AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
CIIICAOO aiul XEW YORK
1921
r\>
41347A
Copyright 1021
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Chicago and New York
History of
Duluth and St, Louis County
CHAPTER XXII
THE INCORPORATED VILLAGE OF EVELETH
The city of Eveleth, one of the leading- and most active incorpo-
rated places of the ranges, had its beginning in mining explorations.
Therefore, properly, a historical review of its development should
begin with data regarding its mining. And no more authoritative
information could be obtained than from the man who, above all
others, was chiefly responsible for the founding of the village of
Eveleth.
David T. Adams, a mining explorer of Duluth, U'hose first trip
over the Mesabi range was in 1883, when he "was attracted to the
possibility of the existence of commercial bodies of hematite ore on
the southern slope, or in the lowlands of the Mesaba," was one
of the most successful of the .early explorers of the Mesabi range.
He was the first to discover marketable ore, finding it on the Cin-
cinnati in 1891, Captain Kehoe almost simultaneously finding blue
ore on the Biwabik workings. In the next year Adams, acting for
A. E. Humphreys, George G. Atkins, and others, "had seventeen
camps in operation in township 58-17," mainly in the Virginia district.
In a narrative written specially for the current historical work
Mr. Adams makes the following statements regarding his early opera-
tions in the Eveleth district :
"In, or about, the month of July, 1892, I discovered coloring on
the south line of section 30, 58-17, by means of a spring pole drill,
operated by Hugh McMahon and Noble Beatty — the first operation of
the kind undertaken on the range.
"In the month of September of that year an option was acquired
by the late Peter L. Kimberly from the late Simon J. Murphy, George
O. Robinson, E. M. Fowler and others, on three quarter-sections,
which I had previously selected, in sections 31 and 32 of 58-17, and
were designated as selections Nos. 1, 2 and 3, and the explorations on
these selections were known as Adams Nos. 1, 2 and 3. A little later,
George L. Cheeseborough secured an option from these same parties,
on the sw. qr. of section 31, which I had previously selected and
which was selection No. 4, known as the Cheeseborough explorations.
"On or about the first of October, 1892, I started explorations in
the northern part of section 31 on- the Adams No. 1, and the first ore
discovered in what is now known as the Eveleth Group of Mines,
or anywhere on the southern slope of the hills running down from
Virginia, was discovered there in my first pit. (On this, as on all
former and later explorations I always located my own jnts.) Thomas
Short was in charge of the men, and under him work proceeded rap-
idly. It was not long before a very large body of what is now the
standard ore of the range was discovered.
"Shortly thereafter, I discovered ore in the Cheeseborough.
"My next discovery was on Selection No. 2 of the Adams explora-
tions, but the ore in the discovery pit on this selection was not con-
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DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 513
sidered a commercial ore at the time, and as Kimberly Jones and
myself wanted the land for townsite purposes, the exploration was
abandoned, our option surrendered, and the surface rights finally pur-
chased by us.
"A little ore was found on Selection No. 3 of the Adams explora-
tions, and was finally ^consolidated with Selection No. 1 of the Adams.
"On January 9, 1893, the Adams Mining Company was organized
by Mr. Kimberly, Mr. Jones and myself, on Selection No. 1, in the
northern part of the section.
"Selection No. 4, the Cheeseborough, became known as the
Clocjuet.
"The next deposit of ore to be discovered by me in the vicinity
was on the nw.-nw. of section 5, and the n. half of section 6, township
57-17, in the month of November, 1893, which is now known as the
Fayal No. 1. Fifty-one per cent of the capital stock of the Adams
Mining Company was sold to John D. Rockefeller, for the Lake Su-
perior Consolidated Iron Mines, in the month of July, 1893." (The
cash consideration for the transfer was $410,000.)
"The Fayal No. 1 was explored by the Mclnnis Mining Company,
which was organized by me on the 31st of January, 1894, in honor of
the late Neil Mclnnis, who had been my purchasing agent of goods to
supply the camps, and paymaster during the latter part of my explora-
tions in connection with Humphreys and Atkins, on the Virginia
Group of Mines, and who also acted in the same capacity for the
Adams Mining Company, during their development of the Adams
mine. The late Marvin Van Buskirk was in charge of the men, and
under him the work of development was rapid indeed. The Mclnnis
Mining Company finally sold their lease on the Fayal No. 1 to the
Chicago Minnesota Ore Company on September 6, 1894.
"About two and a half years later, I discovered ore on that part
of section 5, township 57-17, which was known as the South Fayal."
Winchell's Review (1894). — ^Horace V. Winchell, in the winter
of 1894-95, wrote of mining development in the "Eveleth Group
of ]\Iines" as follows :
Adams Mine. — "This property is being developed by the Consoli-
dated Company. The mine is in the north half of section 31, 58-17.
It is operated on a lease from Chicago and Michigan lumberman, who
own the fee. This deposit of ore is supposed to be one of the largest
on the Mesabi range, and to contain ore of more than average value,
because of its granular and shaly nature "" * '^' It is being stripped
at present. Ore was discovered here by Neil Mclnnis and D. T. Adams,
of Duluth, in 1893. The superintendent is ]\Ir. J. H. Hearding.
Vega Mine. — "West of the Adams is the Vega, lying under too
great a burden of glacial till to permit of open cut mining. It pro-
duced 5,628 tons of ore in 1894, and is under the direction of
Mr. Geo. St. Clair.
Fayal Mine. — "This is one of the recent acquisitions of the Min-
nesota Iron Company. It "*' * "•' was first discovered in 1894.
Other properties in this vicinity, and in section 34, 58-17. arc known
to contain more or less ore, but are not being very rapidly developed
at present. This mine is also under the direction of Captain Wallace,
assistant general manager of the Minnesota Iron Company."
The Vega, referred to by Mr. Winchell. was "operated for a time
as the Clocjuet by Josej:)!! Selhvood" stated another writer, adding
that Sellwood "finally turned it over to the Minnesota Iron Com-
pany." It later became part of the Adams-Spruce mine. It included
part of the old townsite of Eveleth. Regarding the .Adams Mine,
514 DULUTH AXD ST. LOUIS COUNTY
the same writer (1906) stated that "Credit for discovery of the first
ore in the Eveleth field 'â– ' * -^ is due to D. T. Adams and Neil
Mclnnis, who commenced explorations on * * * the Adams mine
on October 1, 1892. A lease on all the land in sections 30 and 31 was
taken by D. T. Adams, Neil ]McInnis, P. L. Kimberly and John
T. Jones, from Messrs. Robinson and Flynn, the Detroit lumbermen.
Ore was found in the first test-pit put down under the direction of
Mr. Mclnnis. The writer visited the camp in his company soon after
. the explorations were started."
Neil IMcInnis, in 1906, put into writing his "Recollections of
early mining explorations." After referring to the excitement that
followed the discovery of blue ore on the Biwabik in 1891, stated :
"The winter coming on shortly after this discovery, not very
much was done until the early spring of 1892, when numerous com-
panies were organized, and prospecting commenced in great earnest.
March of that year brought the writer from Tower, and associating
with A. E. Humphreys (one of the chief promoters of that day), had
immediate charge of twelve camps, beginning at the Hale and
Kanawha mines, section 1, town 58, range 16, to town 58, range 19,
the principal camp, known as headquarters, being in section 9, town
58, range 17, near the present city of Virginia. The results of these
explorations amounted to the following: the Kanawha, Cincinnati,
Lincoln, Commodore, Franklin, Lone Jack, Moose, and Auburn mines.
"Mention should be made of David T. Adams, of Duluth, as the
party selected by Mr. Humphreys to go out into the wilderness dur-
ing the severe winter of '91 and '92, and select the land above-stated
for exploration, and who, after severing his connection with
Mr. Humphreys and associating himself with John T. Jones, of Iron
Mountain. Mich., and the late P. L. Kimberly, of Sharon, Pa., secured
option and afterwards leases on land now occupied by the great mines
—the Adams, Spruce and a portion of the Fayal.
"This brought the writer down from the Humphreys camp, and
on the first of October, 1892, began the exploration of lands in section
31, town 58, range 17, and showing up what is now known as the
Adams mine. A camp was established. One or two of the log build-
ings can yet be seen. A force of 45 men was used during the winter
of 1892-93. Buckets and windlass, picks and shovels were the only
tools used to show up the big deposit and in the early summer of
1893 the lease of the Adams mine was turned over to the Consolidated
Mining Company, on the recommendation of their chief and capable
mining expert at that time, Mr. W. J. Olcott.
"With the summer of 1893 came the depression in the iron busi-
ness, and consequently in the prospecting, nothing doing; men we
had paid $40, or more, a month, and their board, now could not get
a day's work anywhere.
A small start was made to establish the town of Eveleth. Hank
Hookwith came in to open a saloon. Archie McComb had a hotel
building (afterwards destroyed by fire), and Jerry Sullivan had a
boarding house on the site of the future town * * * in September,
Mr. Adams, already referred to, and myself, in looking over the pros-
pects around the neighborhood, thought of doing a little work on lands
now covered by the great Fayal mine. I made known to the population
of Eveleth at that time, which consisted of the three named above, that
I was going to start a crew test-pitting, and the result was ]\lcComb,
Tookwith and Sullivan worked six months, sinking pits, at $1.25 a day,
during the fall and winter of 1893, resulting in showing to the world
the beginning of that great mine on section 5, town 57-17."
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 515
A study of the foregoing gives one an idea of the principal mining
operations that were destined to find communal expression in the
estabhshment of Eveleth. And one should not leave the subject of
pioneer mining in the Eveleth Group without making reference to
one worthy pioneer of mining as well as of Eveleth. Marvin Van
Buskirk, first president of the village of Eveleth, was one of the early
lieutenants of David T. Adams. He directed the operations that dis-
covered ore on several valuable properties, although he apparently did
not profit much by his work. David T. Adams, in a letter to his friend,
J. C. Poole, another pioneer of Eveleth, stated, on February 7, 1920:
"The greater part of the explorations are what is now known as
the Adams mine was done by Thomas Short, under my supervision,
until I replaced him by the late Marvin Van Buskirk. The late Xeil
Mclnnis was paymaster for the company, timekeeper and purchasing
agent for the camp."
The subsequent history of these pioneer mines of the Eveleth
group is as follows:
, Adams Mine. — The property, combined with others, was for many
years under the direction of Capt. John H. Hearding, as superintend-
ent, the mining being mostly underground. The mines are now
known as the Adams-Spruce. Captain J. H. Hearding became assist-
ant general manager of the Oliver Iron Mining Company in 1909, and
thereafter had to devote the whole of his time to executive aftairs in
the head offices of the company at Duluth. The present general super-
intendent at Eveleth is Charles Grabowsky. Work has been almost
constant since the beginning at the Adams-Spruce, which has been
one of the principal mainstays of Eveleth. Up to the end of 1919, the
Adams mine had shipped 22,310.351 tons, in some years shipping a
million and a half tons. Included in that total are the outputs of the
Cloquet, or Vega, mine, the Hull 40, and the Nelson, all adjoining
properties and grouped as one. The Spruce gave 11,182,140 tons to
end of 1919.
Fayal Mine. — That also is a combination of several, and, as in
late years constituted, is classed among the great mines of the Mesabi
range. Adams and Mclnnis were interested in the "forty," nw.-nw.
of section 5, 57-17, which "forty" they leased from E. F. Fowler, of
Detroit, Mich., forming the Mclnnis Mining Company to operate it.
Their lease they sold to the Minnesota Iron Company. Louis
Rouchleau purchased 80 acres adjoining the Mclnnis for $50,000,
eventually transferring to the Minnesota Iron Company for $125,000.
The remainder of the Fayal property was leased from Murphy, Dorr
and Flynn by the Minnesota Iron Company direct. Eventually, of
course, the Fayal mines passed to the Oliver Iron Mining Company,
which has since controlled them. Captain Richard R. Trezona was
superintendent for many years. Of late years W'm. F. Pellcnz. Jr.,
has been superintendent of the Fayal mines, of sections 5 and 6, 57-17.
The mines are designated the Fayal Fee, Fayal Xo. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and
No. 4; and to the end of 1919 they had yielded an aggregate of
29,908,246 tons, more than a million tons a year since the beginning.
At first, the mining was by shaft, Init later three dififerent systems
were being operated concurrently. There were two large open pits,
milling being carried on in one and loading direct into cars with
steam shovels in the other, while underground mining was continued.
The Leonidas mine, whicli may be considered to be within the
Eveleth group, is referred to in the Nichols township chapter. And
several of the mines reviewed in the Gilbert chapter may be con-
516
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
sidered as within the sphere of Eveleth. Nevertheless, if Eveleth be
credited with only the Fayal and Adams mines, the available ore de-
posits on these two are sufficient to ensure Eveleth a definite degree
of prosperity, probably irrowth, up to the time when it will have other
interests and assets to supplement or take the place of its present
dependence upon mining activities. The Adams-Spruce mines have
proved deposits of iron ore aggregating to more than fifty-two million
tons, and the five Fayal mines have a reserve of about seventeen
million tons, enough to keep Eveleth in its present degree of pros-
perity for at least a generation. And a generation should see the
development in agriculture of all the outlying land, a development
which will ensure stable and permanent prosperity to Eveleth, assum-
ing it does not in the meantime become a manufacturing city, or that
other large ore deposits are not "shown up," which is always possible.
Eveleth, therefore, is reasonably sure of prosperous continuance as
a city.
AN EVELETH MINE
Platting of Original Townsite. — Again, it is proper to refer to, and
quote, the narrative of David T. Adams, who was the founder, or was
the most active among the founders, of the village of Eveleth. He
writes, under date of December 7, 1920: "I promoted the townsite
of Eveleth in the year 1893. The original plat consisted of the w.
half of the se. quarter of section 31, township 58-17. It was surveyed
by C. E. Bailey, and the plat was filed for record April 22nd of that
year. My associates in the original townsite (project) were Peter
L. Kimberly, John T. Jones and Fred Robinson, the latter of Detroit,
Michigan. Shortly after the plat was filed for record, I bought out
Mr. Kimberly and Mr. Jones. Mr. Robinson held a tenth interest, and
remained in the townsite throughout.
"In finding a suitable name for the town * * * j had my
troubles. I wanted to name it Robinson, that being the name of one
of the fee owners of the Adams mine. Elisha A. Flynn, law-partner
of Mr. Robinson, however, objected. I never knew why, but I always
surmised that he thought that the town would never amount to
anything, and did not want his name attached to it. I then asked
the name of the cruiser who estimated the timber on the land when
they bought it, and they told me his name was Eveleth. I thought
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 517
over the name of Eveleth for some time, comparing it with other
names, such as Iron Point, Iron City, etc., and the more I thought
the name Eveleth over, the better I liked it ; and as it seemed to be
an easy name for the Scandinavian element to pronounce, I decided
on that name. I then wrote to Mr. Eveleth for permission to use
his name. He consented; hence the name 'Eveleth' was adopted."
Neil Mclnnis, who evidently was consulted regarding the nam-
ing of the city-to-be, wrote, in 1906, upon that point : "Many a name
proposed * * * had to be abandoned, because it was already in
existence in some other portion of the state. However, we finally
settled this matter by naming the town after a woodsman from Michi-
gan, sent up here about twenty years ago in the interests of Robinson,
Flinn and Fowler, to pick up pine lands. This man's name was
Eveleth."
Primitive Living. — For a year or more after the platting of the
townsite, life in Eveleth had a spartan aspect and rigor. "On the
slope" Dr. More had "a little red shack," which, because he happened
to be a physician, and a good one, and in emergency could handle
a surgical case in it, was called a hospital ; the company ofifice was a
small log cabin; the men of the camp lived as best they could, some
in "boarding houses," and some under canvas, and worked "for grub
stakes," some, if not all of them, during the peri'od of extreme financial
stringency of 1893, and considered themselves fortunate in having
work at all. It is said that at least two of the pioneers lived "for a
time" on moose meat. The mail came in from Virginia by dog-team
during the winter of 1892-93, and possibly 1893-94; and even well into
1894 there were only four or five buildings on the townsite, according
to one account, so that newcomers had to "make-shift" under canvas,
until a frame building could be put together. Another account states
that "about a dozen buildings were erected in 1894 upon the first site."
Petition to Incorporate. — Seeing that the county commissioners
approved the holding of an election, in August, 1893, to decide whether
Eveleth should be made an incorporated place, or should not, it is
rather surprising that the first election of officials did not take place
until October 18, 1894.
A petition, presented to the county commissioners on June 9,
1893, by Neil Mclnnis. Joseph Elliott and Thomas Short, sought per-
mission to proceed with the legal measures whereby the residents
"upon the western half of the southeast cjuarter of section 31. of
township 58-17 (which lands had been platted, and the plat duly
filed, on April 22, 1893, with the Register of Deeds), might, if the
majority favored it, institute corporate government of the com-
munity under the provisions of chapter 145, Laws of 1885." The
signers of the petition were : Neil Mclnnis, Joseph Elliott, Thomas
Short, Archie McArthur, John Nelson, Rt. Fogarty, Thomas Simpson,
Henry Hookwith, Archer McCombs, John White, Fred Whitney,
Aaron Johnson, John Gray, L. Jacobson, Fred Nelson, John Johnson,
Ole Johnson, John Goodwin, Edward Grayson, John Elfstrom. Peter
Elfstrom, John Hill, Martin Webber, John Morrow, Peter Enright,
John Mullens, Axel Johnson, Martin Erickson, John Graham, and
Fred Reynolds. The three first-named testified to the accuracy of
the statements made in petition, one important statement being that
at the time of the circulation of the paper for signatures (June, 1893),
a census then taken of the residents within the territory for which
incorporation was sought disclosed the fact that there were then
living on it two hundred pers6ns.
518
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Commissioners Approve Petition. — On June 13, 1893, the petition
was considered at the session of the Board of County Commissioners,
and resolution was passed, approving of the proposed incorporation,
as the Village of Eveleth. Consequently, a date was set upon which
legal voters should assemble and cast a vote for, or against, the
sought incorporation. The commissioners ordered "election to be
held on July 25, 1893, at the building of Thomas Short, lot 23, block
8, Eveleth." And they appointed "Neil Mclnnis, Tom Short and
Joe Eliot" to act as inspectors of election at that gathering. Copies
of "Notice of Election" were posted "at AlcComb and ^\'ilson's board-
ing house, at H. Hookwith's store, at Thomas Short's building, at
Jerry Sullivan's boarding house, and at Edward Simpson's place of
business," by Neil Mclnnis.
The voting, apparently, took place, and, presumably, was in favor
of the proposed incorporation, for the county commissioners, on Au-
gust 11, 1893, "gave notice to the legal voters to meet and organize
and elect officers for the ensuing year," on August 26, 1893. No
record of election is on file in the county offices, as is required by
law, and, presumably, the election was not held.
SPRUCE NO. 4 MINE, EVELETH
It is possible that the population so dwindled during the depres-
sion of 1893 that the few remaining decided not to proceed with the
election. Indeed, Neil Mclnnis, in his narrative, before-quoted, stated
that he drew to the Fayal exploratory work in September. 1893, the
whole of the man-power of Eveleth, namely. Hank Hookwith, Archie
McComb, and Jerry Sullivan ; and these men were too busy digging
for their bread, "at $1.25 a day," during that fall and winter, to have
much inclination to pursue matters of town-planning and corporate
government."
Marvin Van Buskirk either had not yet come into the neigh-
borhood, or was subordinate to Thomas Short at the Adams camp.
Soon, however, he was in charge of the mining operations, and during
the next year seems to have become very popular, and much respected,
among his co-workers. So much is evident in the result of the first
election.
First Officials. — On October 5, 1894, the countv commissioners
again "gave notice" to the legal voters of Eveleth "to meet and
organize and elect officers for the ensuing year," on October 18th,
1894, "at the corner store of the Adams Block." Accordingly "a
meeting of voters- of Eveleth" was held on October 18, 1894, states
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 519
the first entry in the minute book of the trustees of the Village of
Eveleth, "at 9:00, a. m., for the purpose of nominating a board of
judges of election." Marvin Van Buskirk was "appointed chairman
of committee on nominations" and Frank Kempffer, secretary. John
Salvo and Frank Kempffer were appointed judges, with Joseph Leach
and Annie Burnett acting as clerks. The voting then proceeded, and
the result was in due course announced by the judges, who found
Marvin Van Buskirk legally elected to the oi^ce of president. Ninety-one
votes were cast in his favor, his candidacy having been unopposed.
The trustees were Henry Hookwith, John Grey and \\\ H. Shea,
having received 60, 91, and 57 votes respectively, the unsuccessful
candidates being Alfred Riff and John Anderson, with 31 and 34
votes respectively. A. S. Erickson was elected recorder, having re-
ceived 57 votes; S. S. Childers became treasurer, receiving 91 votes;
John F. Towell and Chas. Wyman were elected justices of the peace,
and Jerry Sullivan, constable, having received 90 votes.
First Council Meeting. — The first meeting of trustees was held
"in the back room of Stetton's store," on October 25, 1894. Present
at the meeting were: M. Van Buskirk, president; John Grey, Hy.
Hookwith, and \V. H. Shea, trustees; A. S. Erickson, recorder.
Marvin Van Buskirk was "appointed a committee of one, to se-
cure room and furnishing, to be used as a council chamber," which
appointment supports the statement that the first meeting of the
village council was held "in the townsite company's frame building."
Possibly, the "back room of Stetton's store" was the "room and fur-
nishing" secured by President Van Buskirk, after that first meeting
in the townsite company's building. It is known that council meet-
ings in the first year "used to be held" in Stetton's store."
First Village Hall. — After a year or so of the use of a rented
room as council chamber, the village officials moved into a building
of their own. The first village hall was a two-story frame structure,
erected at a cost of $656.69, in 1895. It was built upon lot Xo. 36,
in block 12, of the "old town," the village paying the townsite com-
pany $200 for the lot. Eventually, the hall w^as moved to the new
town, and now stands on Grant Avenue, "next to Max Stipetich's
saloon." Latterly, it has served as a cinema.
First Marshal. — Jerry Sullivan was appointed marshal on Novem-
ber 1, 1894, at $30.00 a m'onth, having secured the office by competitive
sealed bid. The marshal's hours of duty were from 9:00 p. m. to 7:00
a. m. In 1896, the salary of the marshal was $75.00 a month.
First Fire Company. — A volunteer fire company was formed in
June, 1895. It consisted of fifteen members, the compensation to
firemen being fixed at one dollar for each call, with an additional
fifty cents for each hour after the first. One of the first measures insti-
tuted for the purpose of fire protection was the employment, in Jan-
uary, 1895, of "a force of men to cut, ])ilc ami l)urn, for a distance of
250 feet back from the borders of the village."
First Board of Health. — A board of health was organized on
February 4, 1895. Members of the board were Dr. II. L. Darms, John
Grey, and B. J. McCormick. Dr. Darms was also one of the village
trustees in its first vear, taking the ])lace of A\'. H. Sliea. who "moved
away" early in 1895.
First Hotel. — The first hotel was i)rol)ably that l)uilt in 1893 by
Archie McComb. I'.ut it was "not o\ much account." In May, 1895,
owners of lots on Jones Street petitioned the trustees of the village
"to condemn, as a street, the east 120 feet of Jones Street, between
520
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
blocks 10 and 11, and allow some to revert to the townsite owners,"
the Duluth Mining and Investment Company, provided they deed
the land to David T. Adams "for immediate construction of a good
first-class hotel building" thereon. Although that project did not
carry, it is stated that David T. Adams built the first hotel in Eveleth.
It was called the Mclnnis Hotel and was situated on the southeast
corner of Grant Avenue and Jackson Street. Charles Jesmore was the
first manager. The building still stands.
First SchooL— The first school was "in the valley by the creek."
It was opened in 1895, and the first teacher was Florence Kent, who
came from Virginia. The schoolhouse was "a one-story frame shack,"
and its furniture consisted of "two benches and a plank table," with
a small table for the teacher. Some of the pupils enrolled at that
school in 1895 were : Charlie Higgins, Rosie Walker, Fred Chilters,
and several of the children of the Gross, Springer, and Van Buskirk
families. There were five or six of the Gross children, three girls and
two or three boys ; they drove to school each morning from their
homestead, about two or three miles away. There were two Spring-
THE PRESENT MORE HOSriTAL, EVELETH. (THE FIRST MORE
HOSPITAL WAS "ON THE SLOPe" WITH THE PIONEERS ) AND
IT WAS "a LITTLE RED SHACK")
ers, Bert and Otis ; and of the Van Buskirk family, Tony, Mae, and
Anna attended the first school. By the way, Tony Van Buskirk, now
city clerk, was the first boy to come to Eveleth, it has been stated.
He came with his mother and sisters, from Crystal Falls, Michigan,
in 1893, or 1894, to join their father, who had come earlier. They
came by rail as far as Virginia, or rather as far as the Auburn mine,
walking from there into Eveleth. The family had to live in a tent
for a couple of weeks while a house was being built for them.
First Church. — The first church built in Eveleth was in 1896,
for the Methodist Episcopal society, which was organized on Sep-
tember 17. 1895. Services were held in the schoolhouse until March,
1896, when "a neat frame building was dedicated." The Rev. Olin
J. Gary, a local preacher, was the first pastor. He and Russell
and Howard Buokthought were the first trustees, and the church was
built under his supervision. "On February 12, 1896, lots were secured,
as donation, from E. M. Fowler, of Chicago, and a subscription paper
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 521
was then started for the purpose of raising- funds for erection of a
church building." The next pastor was L. F. Merritt (1896-97). He
was succeeded by C. H. Stevenson, and in 1898, Rev. M. O. Stocl^land
was in charge. A new church was built during his pastorate, which
ended in October, 1901, when Rev. R. J. Taylor came.
First Postmaster. — The first postmaster was P. E. Dowling. He
also had the first drug store in Eveleth.
Pay of Pioneer Village Officials. — In 1896, the president received
$10 a month ; the recorder, $25 a month ; the street commissioner, $2.50
a day, "for actual services" ; the marshal, $75, and his deputy, $60 a
month; the waterworks engineer, $75; the janitor at Village Hall,
$30 a month, it being also his duty to light street lamps, without'
extra pay. Unskilled labor was secured at $1.75 a day, and a team at
$4 a day'
First Teamster. — John Morrow was the first teamster in Eveleth.
David T. Adams, in February, 1920, wrote : "John Morrow, who I
believe is now living in the old Adams camp, was teamster for the
company during" the explorations, and is the only one of the old em-
ployees left on the Mesabi range." He lives with his wife in the log
cabin which was originally the office of the Adams Mining Company,
which cabin it was recently stated had "been purchased by the city,
and will be given a permanent place in one of the city parks as a
monument to the early mining industry."
First Storekeeper. — The first storekeeper was Stetton, it has been
stated, so possibly the "store" of Hy. Hookwith, upon which "Notice
of Election" was declared to have been posted in June, 1893, was not
a store at all, but a hotel.
First Sawmill. — The erection of a sawmill was a necessity as soon
as it became evident that a community would develop near the Adams
explorations. One was built by David T. Adams near what is now
No. 5 shaft of the Spruce mine. It was burned down in 1896 or 1897.
First Bond Issue.- — On May 9, 1895, the voters approved the issu-
ance of bonds to the amount of $3,000, "for the construction of a sys-
tem of waterworks." Bond No. 1, of one thousand dollars denomina-
tion, and bearing date June 1, 1895, "payable one year later," was
bought by David T. Adams. The interest was 8 per cent, and Mr.
Adams became "security" for the whole issue. In July, 1895, he took
up the whole issue, "at face value."
Water System. — Thus, the village was enabled to build its first
water plant. It served until 1905, when a new system was installed,
at an expense of $60,000, providing "an excellent supply of water
from St. Mary's lake, two and a half rriiles distant." In 1914, "an en-
tirely new system of waterworks" was completed, at a cost of $65,-
000. The water plant in 1920 comprised two motor-driven centrifugal
])umps, with a capacity of 1.600,000 gallons daily, and two steam
pumps of one million daily capacity. Two mains, one 16-inch and
the other 10-inch, "carry the water from St. Mary's lake to the ele-
vated tank of 300,000 gallons capacity, located at the highest point in
the city." The water is "soft and pure." About fifteen miles of
water mains are in use. In July. 1920, 26,000,000 gallons were pumped
at a cost of 6 cents a thousand gallons. The superintendent is
F. E. Forristel.
Lighting.— On May 28, 1896, Frank McCormick. of Duluth. was
given a franchise, "for ten years," to supply Eveleth with electric
light, the village "contracting for seven arc street lights at ten dollars
each per month," and stipulating that private users be supplied at
522 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
"not to exceed one cent per hour per light of 16 c. p." McCormick
did not complete the installation within the time limit set, but, re-
ceiving an extension of time, he ultimately established a satisfactory-
lighting system. His plant and franchise eventually passed, by sale,
to C. H. Webster, who later met his death at the plant, being instantly
killed when struck by fragments of a flywheel that broke. His widow
sold the plant to Alexander Hughes of Duluth, who, on August 9,
1901, was confirmed in the ownership of the franchise, and also some
time later was granted a franchise to establish a heating system. In
1914, there were, on Eveleth main thoroughfares, fifty-one standards
of five lights each, making a "white way" for seven blocks ; and in
addition, eighty-four arc lights. A public heating system had just
been installed, extending "to most parts of the city." At about that
time the "Home Electric and Heating Company, of Eveleth," offered
to sell its plant to the city, for $134,655.05. The proposed bond issue,
however, did not carry, and the lighting, heating, and power utilities
at Eveleth are still in private ownership. The Minnesota Utilities
Company, of Eveleth, was organized in 1917, with an authorized cap-
ital of $650,000. The first president was Neal Brown, of Wausau,
Wis. He was succeeded by Cyrus C. Yawkey. Mr. R. M. Heskett
is the only officer living at Eveleth ; he has been secretary and treas-
urer since the organization. In addition to the Eveleth service, the
company supplies power to Chisholm, and at various places from
Eveleth to Deer River, and the company maintains local electrical
distributing systems in Kinney, Chisholm, Carson Lake, Kelly Lake,
Stevenson, Nashwauk, Calumet, Marble, Taconite, Bovey, Coleraine,
Grand Rapids, Cohasset and Deer River. It is only at Eveleth, how-
ever, that the company furnishes steam for heating purposes. That
utility is a comprehensive one, "most business places and a considera-
ble number of residences" in Eveleth being connected with the steam
mains.
Moving of Village.— It was evident, even in 1895, that the vil-
lage would soon, or eventually, have to be moved from the original
townsite, because needed iron ore lay underneath. But it was not a
matter that could be disposed of in a short period of time. Indeed,
it seems that the removal was not completely effected until the early
years of the present century. David T. Adams writes :
"In 1895, I re-explored the townsite of Eveleth (which was orig-
inally No. 2 of the Adams selections), for the mineral owners, on
a percentage basis. I developed a large body of ore on the townsite,
and thereafter gave it the name of Spruce mine. It then became
necessary, in order to mine out the ore, to vacate the townsite. To
do so, I withdrew the lots from sale, and in company wath the min-
eral owners, proceeded to lay out the First Addition to Eveleth, on
the east half of the se. quarter of section 31, in the same township.
The plat of the First Addition was filed for record on the 31st day
of August, 1896. The Village of Eveleth then annexed its first addi-
tion, and the moving of the Village of Eveleth, with its twelve or
fifteen hundred inhabitants, on an average of one-fourth of a mile, up
the hill, to the east, ensued, at a cost of about $125,000, for moving
and repairing the buildings alone, and exclusive of the bonuses paid
to each improved-property owner, in the way of an additional lot, or
in cash, according to their discretion."
Municipal action regarding the First Addition to Eveleth did
not come until 1899. A "petition to annex land platted and designated
'The First Addition to Eveleth' was filed with the countv auditor on
DULUTil AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
523
April 4, 1899, and on June 26th, of that year. Village Ordinance No.
22 was passed. Said ordinance ordained that ''the east half of the
southeast quarter of section thirty-one, township fifty eight north, of
range seventeen west.
designated as the 'First Addition to
Eveleth' (be) declared to be an addition to the said X'illage of Eveleth,
and a part of said village, as effectually as if said territorv hereby added
had been originally a part of said \ illage of Eveleth."
At that time, apparently, tlie removal had not been accomplished,
or had not been completed. A 1910 history of the City of Eveleth
states that "manv of the buildings were moved thither (to the First
Addition) in 1900."
Bearing on the good fortune of the early merchants of Eveleth,
Mr. D. T. Adams writes:
'"The opening of the Spruce mine, by Peter L. Kimberly. who
had taken another lease on it after the ore body had been thoroughly
developed, and the additional men employed in the vicinity by the
â– I mill jD,
,.„ „., M... . mp^ 1
>-:^
EVEI.KTll AUIJITOKIU.M AND ARMORY
Opening ot the mine>. slinnilatcd the business and growlh of b^veleth.
The property started to rise in value, and it was not long before a
business lot on Crant .\venue. 25x110- feet, would bring from $12,000
to $15,000. or more, ])er lot. according to the location. J-Jut the town-
site people had disposed of all their lots, on the business streets.
in the way of bonuses, and the inhabitants onl\ i)rofited. The result
was that in a few years there were more well-to-do business men
along the l)usiness street of iM-eleth than there were on a like street
of X'irginia or llibbing, the other two i)rincipal cities of the Mesabi
range.
That wa> a gratifying outcome, for in tlu' early days of tin-
village, its slow advancement nnist have caused its pioneers many
regretful moment.^. David T. Adams, writing, on b'ebruar\- 7, 1*)20.
stated :
''!*** had some disapj^ointments with my early townsite
cntcrprisi's. The influence of so many nonbelievers in the existence
of ore in the southern part of township 5S-17. had its efl'ect. and was
plainly revealed when I ])lalte(l your now beautiful Cil\ of Eveleth.
Platting the townsite of X'irginia a few \-ears earlier, and holding it
524 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
up as the coming metropolis of the Range, made it. indeed, hard for
me to induce people to purchase lots and settle in the Town of Eve-
leth; and it was a long time * * * before Eveleth started to grow
as it should have grown, and not until the old town was vacated and
moved to its present location, to gWe room for the mining of the
Spruce mine, did Eveleth come into its own. But now it is a beau-
tiful and proud city, with enough of the best ore on the Range sur-
rounding it on two sides to continue it as the most steady, pros-
perous, and longest lived city on the Range, by a margin of many
years."
Village Presidents. — The succession of presidents of the \ illage
of Eveleth, from 1894 to 1902, in which year Eveleth became a city,
was as follows: 1894-95, Marvin Van Buskirk : 1895-96, H. L. Darm.s ;
1896-97, W. \\ Caldwell: 1897-98. Marvin \'an Buskirk: 1898-99,
Chas. Tesmore: 1899-1900, P. E. Dowling: 1900-02. Chas. Jesmore.
Eveleth Becomes a City. — A petiti(»n was circulated in the vil-
lage in January. 1902. by certain residents, who desired to advance
the status of the place, which had reached a state of development that
entitled it to a place among the cities of the state. The petition was
delivered to the county commissioners on January loth, and sworn
to by Patrick McClory. Eric Gastrin, John A. Healy and Mather
Prettner. Hearing of arguments for and against the chartering of
the village was set for February 7. 1902, by the county commissioners.
On March 4, 1902, they issued a certihcate, ordering election to be
held on April 1st. The voting showed that a majority of the resi-
dents wished the change of status, brought into effect. 98 voting in
favor, and 55 against.
So, Eveleth became a city, Charles Jesmore becoming first mayor.
There was no further change in status until 1913, when, as the result
of an election, held on October 7. 19L3. a new city charter was adopted,
and the city government changed to what is known as the commission
form. The mayor and four commissioners assvniied direction of, and
responsibility for. city aft'airs. The council, in 1920. consisted of :
Victor E. Essling. mayor, with direct responsibility for the depart-
ments of Public Health. Sanitation, Police, and General Welfare :
Robert Meyers, commissioner in charge of the department of Ac-
counts and Finances : \\'illiam Morrey. commissioner in charge of
department of Parks, Public Grounds. Buildings, and hire Protection;
D. A. Murray, commissioner in charge of department of Waterworks
and Sewers; Andrew Anderson, commissioner in charge of Streets and
Alleys. Anthonv \'an Buskirk is city clerk.
Mayoral Succession. — Chas. jesmore. 1902-03; ]vlike Maxwell.
1904-05; Chas. Jesmore. 1906-07; M. B. Maxwell. 1908; W. 1. Smith.
1908 (M. B. Maxwell having died). 1909. 1910; |. S. Saari, "1911-13 ;
T. I. Gleason. for portion of^l914; 1. S. Saari, 1914-17; E. H. Hatch,
19i8-19: V. E. Essling. 1920.
City Hall. — The present city hall has been in use for many years.
It was built in 1906. at a cost of $20,000. The architect was W. T.
Bray, of Duluth, and the contractor, Edward Jackson. The corner-
stone was laid June 16. 1906, and the hall was at first fitted so as to
serve the purpose of police and fire departments on ground floor, and
the second floor was alloted to the several other city purposes. When
the Fire Hall was built, the quarters in City Hall, vacated by that
department, were at once taken over by other departments.
Auditorium. — The Auditorium, wnich also is the armory, is a
comnnmitv building of distinct usefulness. It was erected in 1912.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
525
at a cost of $35,000. The main hall is 68x72 feet, and is provided with
opera chairs for 780 persons. The stage is 50 feet wide. There are
club rooms, shower baths, kitchen and dining room. The building is
open at all times to the free use of all local associations that may
have need of its hall for free gatherings. In the basement is a rifle
range. The auditorium is in keeping with the community-hall spirit
that was engendered by the leveling of class distinctions during the
war, but it gives Eveleth this distinction — that it was projected be-
fore the time when the shock of war demonstrated that currency is
but a symbol ; that the world goes forward only by the good will,
confidence and fellow-feeling of its peoples.
Recreation Building. — The Recreation Building is another indica-
tion of the community spirit that manifests itself in Eveleth. It
was built in 1918, at a cost of $125,000. There are two main floors,
the first being devoted to the winter sport of curling, and the second
to indoor skating in the winter, and to various athletic games at other
times. The institution is a municipal enterprise, and the membershp
CITY HALL, EVELETH
of the Eveleth Curling Club embraces all classes in the city. The
city did its work thoroughly, engaging, as director, Robert Dunbar,
curling champion of the Northwest.
Masonic Temple. — In October, 1920, the Eveleth Masonic bodies
dedicated a new Masonic Temple, having elaborately remodeled a
somewhat historic building for that purpose. The Masonic Temple,
which stands at the north end of Adams Avenue, was until 1910 out-
side the city limits. The building was originally built by the town-
ship administration. W. T. Bray was the architect, and Harry Pear-
son, of Duluth, the contractor. Construction began on August 20,
1906, and the building was ready for occupancy on December 20th
of that year. The cost was $10,000, and, until it came within the city
limits, the building served as the Missabe Mountain Township Hall.
Other quarters were eventually found for the township administration,
and the building passed to the local Masonic fraternity at a satisfac-
tory price. The furnishing of the old township hall, as a Masonic
Temple, has been thoroughly, but tastefully, carried out, the hand-
some furnishings and cxc|uisite interior decorations giving Eveleth
a Masonic Temple of very high grade. One of the most active and
enthusiastic Masons responsible for the housing of the local body
Vol. II — 2
526
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
of that order in this magnificent center, was J. C. Poole, chairman
of the building committee. Others associated closely with him in
that work were W. R. Van Slyke and A. E. Bawdcn.
Transportation. — The city is served by two steam railways, the
Duluth and Iron Range, and the D. M. and N. In early days, the
D. and I. R. station was ''on top of the hill, about three-quarters of a
mile from the village, the D. M. and N. station being nearer the vil-
lage." By the way, Mike ]\Iaxwell operated the first dray line in
the village, and it was well patronized.
On January 4, 1910, the city passed an ordinance granting to
A\'. H. and E. M. Prindle, "the right to maintain and operate motor
railwav lines ^' * * in and over streets and avenues of the City
of Eveleth" for a period of twenty-five years. In due course there-
after, the street railway that connects Eveleth with Gilbert, on the
east, and Hibbing, on the west, came into operation.
GRANT AVENUE, EVELETH. (BUSINESS LOTS ON THIS AVENUE
WERE ORIGINALLY GIVEN AWAY, AS BONUSES, LATER TO BE
WORTH FROM $12,000 TO $15,000 A LOt)
Banking. — Eveleth has three banks, the First National, the Min-
ers National, and the Peoples State. The combined deposits, more*
than two and a half millions, indicates the wealth of the city.
The First National Bank of Eveleth was organized in 1900, with
the following named board of directors : D. H. Bacon, G. W. Wallace,
W. J. Smith, W. E. Harwood, and G. A. Whitman. The original
capital was $25,000, and the first officers were : George A. Whitman,
president; and Walter J. Smith, cashier. In 1901, the private bank-
ing firm of O. D. Kinney and Company was absorbed, E. B. Haw-
kins joining the directorate of the First National. A cash dividend of
100 per cent was declared in 1910, and, by unanimous consent of the
stockholders, was used to increase the capital to $50,000. In 1920,
the bank had a surplus of $25,000, undivided profits of $15,000, and
deposits of about $1,000,000. Present directors are: Geo. A. Whit-
man, R. J. Mitchell, Peter Peterson, Thomas H. Davev, R. N. Corn-
wall, W. P. Chinn, and Dr. C. W. More.
The Miners National Bank of Eveleth was incorporated in 1903.
Its original capital was $25,000, and the following-named people of
Eveleth and vicinity were its principal organizers and first officers :
Walter I. Smith, president; las. A. Robb, vice-president; R. H.
Pearce, cashier; C. W. More, 'F. W. Bullen, N. B. Maxwell, R. R.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
527
Bailey, J. C. McGilvery; Jas. A. Robb, and W. J. Smith, directors.
Its capital is still $25,000, but its development is indicated by its sur-
plus, which now is $36,000, there being also undivided profits amount-
ing to $3,620.66. The present directors and executives are : Chas.
B. Hoel, president; Jas. A. Robb and J. C. McGilvery, vice-presi-
dents; L. E. Johnson, cashier; J. C. Poole, Jas. A. Robb, J. C. AIcGil-
very, Albert Roher, R. M. Heskett, L. E. Johnson, and C. B. Hocl,
directors. The Miners National Bank of Eveleth stands in good
place among national banks of Minnesota, and gets its due proportion
of banking patronage in its sphere.
The Peoples State Bank of Eveleth was organized on July 2, 1918;
with capital of $25,000. The first officers were : J. S. Saari, presi-
dent; C. R. McCann, vice-president; Joseph A. Quinn. These three,
with Sam Seigel, Peter Peterson, J. J. Brince, and E. M. Moline,
RECREATION BUILDING, EVELETH. THE HOME OF CURLING AND INDOOR
ICE SPORTS
formed the original directorate. The only changes since 1918 are:
H. J. Coleman, cashier, in place of J. A. Quinn, taking that gentle-
man's place on the directorate also; and Edward Smith, director, in
place of Peter Peterson. The capital is still the same, but there is
now a surplus of $12,000. The directors of the Peoples State Bank
of Eveleth have good reason to be pleased with the development of
the bank during the few years it has been in existence.
Public Library. — The Eveleth Public Library, one of the city's
most elevating influences, is also one of the citv's most artistic build-
ings. It was built in 1913-14, at a cost of $30,000, half of which
amount was contributed by Andrew Carnegie, of worthy memory.
The library has already outgrown its (juartcrs, and plans have been
passed for its enlargement. The cost of maintenance in the first year
was about $8,500, and its circulati(Mi of books was about 45,000.
When opened, on July 1, 1914, the lil)rary h.->d 1.721 books, but in the
first year of service was increased to 4,387 volumes, "acquired by
528
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
purchase and gift," and an inter-library loan gave Eveleth readers
facility of collections from Duluth, Virginia, Hibbing, Chisholm and
Two Harbors libraries. It was estimated that 43,872 people were
"accommodated in the reading room of the library during the first
305 days of its operation," and that 2,463 men had used the smoking
room. "The Sunday attendance has totaled about 6,784 readers,"
stated the same review, adding that "The juvenile department has
maintained a steady growth, the children having borrowed 26,405
volumes."
According to the "Sixth Annual Report, for the Year Ending
June 30th, 1920," the circulation has increased to 67,970 volumes,
W'ith corresponding increase in other phases of the work. The club-
room, for instance, was used for 226 meetings during the year. The
juvenile department had growMi so much that the number of juvenile
books on the shelves in 1920 far exceeded the total number of books
owned by the library when it first opened.
PUBLIC LIBRARY
Credit for the gratifying growth of the library service has been
earned by the library board, which has proved to be an active, alert
and interested body, and by good direction of the library work by Miss
Margaret Hickman, who has been librarian since the institution op-
ened, in 1914. Mr. D. W. Freeman, who, until recently, was vice-
president, has also given much time to the affairs of the library. The
present library board is as follows : Dr. C. W. More, chairman ; Sol-
omon Sax, George McCormick, Mrs. G. E. Peterson, Miss Hilma
Berg, C. B. Hoel, H. J. Coleman, Peter Peterson, and ^^^ H. Harvey.
Cost of maintenance is about $15,000 a year, the city appropriation for
the year 1919-20 being $15,429.11. Books to the value of $1,792.18 were
purchased in 1920.
Church History. — Eveleth Church history began with the efforts
of local members of the Methodist Episcopal society, which was the
first to erect a church building in the village. The establishing of
that church in the "old town" has been referred to earlier in this
chapter.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was the only one built in "the
old town." In about 1899, or 1900. a new church building was
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 529
erected in the "new town," Rev. R. J. Taylor in charge. The present
Methodist Episcopal Church is at Adams Avenue and Monroe Street,
Rev. I. J. Thorne, present pastor.
The Presbyterians early had a society in Eveleth. It is thought
that the Rev. E. N. Raymond, who, for a few years, from 1893, was
minister at the Virginia Church, held services in Eveleth, in 1895, or
1896, using the schoolhouse for that purpose. The First Presbyte-
rian Church at Eveleth (the new town), was "moved over to Eveleth
on logging sleighs, in 1899," from the Auburn location, where it had
been used as a schoolhouse. It "broke away coming down the hill,
but nothing serious happened," the early account further states : "It
was used for two years at Fayal location, as a school, then moved to
Eveleth for a church." The Presbyterian Church "was organized
November 21, 1900, by Rev. S. A. Jamieson." The first elders were
James May and John Urquhart. Early ministers were J. M. Todd
and S. M. Marsh. Pioneer elders, George Turner and J. E. Rankin.
"The church building near Fayal School was dedicated November 2,
1902." The present Presbyterian Church is situated on McKinley
Avenue, near Monroe. Rev. Wm. Jobush, pastor.
The Catholic Church now has three church buildings in Eveleth :
the Church of the Holy Family, corner Adams Avenue and Pierce
street, Rev. Anton Leskovic ; the Church of the Holy Conception,
corner Jones street and Elba avenue, Reverend Elias, pastor ; and
St. Patrick's, corner Jackson street and Roosevelt avenue. Rev. D. P.
Pratt, pastor. The Church of the Holy Family was built in 1900.
"It stood all alone at that time." The Reverend Father Bilban "came
from Virginia to minister," and later became resident priest. Rev-
erend Father Hogan succeeded him, in 1903. The St. Patrick's Church
was built in 1905, "for English-speaking Catholics." Reverend Father
Floyd was one of the first pastors.
The St. John's Episcopal Church Society was "founded by Mrs.
Caroline Barrett, and a few others of Episcopalian faith." The Rev.
W. E. Morgan, of Virginia, was "instrumental in raising funds for
erection, in 1905, of the first building, corner of B avenue and Pierce
street. The Rev. Albert Carswell was pastor, in 1906. The present
church is on the corner of Pierce and McKinley streets. Rev. James
Ward is pastor.
The Swedish Baptist society built a church in 1900, and in 1906
had a membership of thirty-five. Rev. h- E. Peterson was then pas-
tor. The present pastor is Victor E. Anderson, the church being on
Adams avenue, between Hayes and Garfield streets.
Of the Lutheran churches (which now are the Finnish Lutheran,
Adams avenue, near Monroe, Reverend Merijarki. pastor, and the
Swedish Lutheran, corner Adams avenue and Pierce street. Rev. S. E.
Johnson, pastor), the Finnish Church was the first to be established.
That society "built on Grant avenue, near the M. E. Church, in I'XX),
soon after the town was removed up the hill." There was a Swedish
Mission in 1906, in charge of C. O. L. Peterson.
The residents of Hebraic faith congregate at the Agudath Achim,
situated at the corner of Jackson street and Adams avenue. M.
Cohen is present Cantor.
Fraternal and Benevolent Societies. — There are many strong local
organizations of fraternal orders, among them Masonic, Elks, Eagles,
Moose, Odd-Fellows, Owls, Workmen, and Lady Maccabees; and
many other benevolent societies of Swedish, Italian, Austrian, and
530
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Finnish character. Available space does not permit present compiler
to even briefly review the histories of these societies.
Public Parks. — Eveleth has three public parks, and the people in
general realize the value of them, and appreciate the facility. The
Central Park has an area of 6 acres, North Side Park has 6.5 acres,
and Lake Park consists of about 200 acres, at St. Mary's and Ely
lakes. Central Park is well fitted for such a use. It was purchased
in 1912, and has been well improved under the direction of J. A.
Spurrier, park superintendent, who has made it "one of the finest"
in this part of the state. North Side Park "was donated by the town-
site owners, when Highland Addition was platted, in 1910." This
also is a very beautiful park, and greatly appreciated by the inhab-
itants. Lake Park has been allowed to remain more in its wild
CENTRAL PARK, EVELETH. (PUBLIC LIBRARY ON LEFT)
state, with the virgin timber preserved, where possible. A zoo is
maintained at Lake Park, and the "holding of band concerts in Cen-
tral Park has been a feature for a number of years."
Lakes and Summer Resorts. — AMthin easy reach of Eveleth are
several beautiful sheets of water. Ely Lake is within two miles of the
city. Long Lake and Horseshoe Lake are about five miles distant,
southward. Six miles south is Half Moon Lake. There is good bass
fishing in these waters.
Real Estate. — Eveleth real estate has never "boomed," but the
city's growth since removal from original townsite has been sturdy.
"Ground values on Grant Avenue, the main business street, range from
$2,500 a lot to $5,000 for inside lots, and up to $10,000 for corner lots."
Residence lots range from $350 to $1,000.
Agriculture. — The development of outlying lands within the Eve-
leth sphere of trading is fostered by the city administration, and
business organizations. "Much good land is available at from $15
to $25 an acre, according to location. Close-in wild land has been
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 531
sold at $40 an acre." The land pays well for development from its
"cut-over" state. Potatoes are an excellent crop on new land, then
,a three-year rotation, oats or other grain, timothy or clover, and po-
tatoes is recommended. Clover is practically a weed in St. Louis
County, and in an average season it has been asserted that the yield
is "in round figures .$100 worth of forage from an acre." Cleared
and ploughed land in the vicinity of Evcleth "is worth not less than
$100 an acre." It is excellent sheep land, and the pioneer farmer,
Wm. F. Haenke, has had surprisingly good results in sheep raising.
To Eveleth belongs the distinction of being the first city in the Range
country to establish a Farmers' Market, and "every year Eveleth
holds a' Farmers' Day, at which the products of the surrounding farms
are displayed and prizes awarded." Much of the future prosperity
of Eveleth lies in the proper development of surrounding agricultural
land.
General City Improvements. — "More than 95 per cent of the
streets of Eveleth are paved. Bitulithic pavement is the most com-
mon, with a few blocks of concreted block pavement. The total yard-
age completed with the six years to end of 1919 was 105,256, all of
which is bitulithic on concrete base, excepting 14,241 yards_ of ere-
osoted blocks on concrete base. The sewage-disposal system includes
a septic tank, built in 1916, at a cost of $20,000. There are ten miles
of sanitary sewers and five miles of storm sewers, and the streets
are kept clean by modern motor-driven flushing equipment. There
is a detention hospital, and several other public facilities that indicate
that Eveleth is a good place in which to live. The system of play-
ground activities directed at the public expense is thorough and effec-
tive. The supervisor of playground activities, A. W. Lewis, is paid
$2,280 a year.
Publicity. — The Eveleth Commercial Club leaves no stone un-
turned that might uncover benefit to Eveleth. George A. Perham,
present secretary, is an enterprising, experienced, and alert public
ofiacial, and the club embraces all phases of Eveleth activities and
interests. The present directors are: C. B. Hoel, president; John E.
Manthey, V. E. Essling, vice-presidents: L. E. Johnson, treasurer;
P. J. Boyle, J. C. Poole, E. J. Kane, J. S. Saari, J. G. Saam, and C. R.
McCann, directors.
The local newspaper, of course, is a direct and ever-present
means of publicity. The Eveleth periodical goes by the name of the
"Eveleth News," and is a well-edited newspaper. Its history may
be said to embrace all the newspaper history of Eveleth, for in it have
been merged all the other papers ever published in Eveleth. 1^he
"Star" was the original Eveleth paper, and was published for many
years bv P. E Dowling George A. Perham founded the "Mining
News" in 1903. It later became the "News," and was owned and
edited by Mr. Perham from 1903 to 1909, when ownership and direc-
tion passed to David Yarin, of Mayville, N. D., who, one year later,
sold to A. E. Pfremmer. In 1914 the ownership passed to T. H. Peter-
son and L. O. Magee, who conducted the consolidated papers, "Star"
and "News," under the name of the latter, until 1915. as a private part-
nership. Since that year, the business has had corporate existence,
the newspaper and printing business being incorporated under the
trading name of the Eveleth Printing and Publishing Company.
Mr. Magee was a stockholder and an active associate in the editorial
direction of the ])aper until 1918, when he entered the Ignited States
military forces. In due course he reached France, and met his death
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 533
on the battlefield, at Argonne Forest, on October 1, 1918. (Further
reference to his national service will be found in the World War
chapter of this work.) Since the departure of Mr. Magee from Eveleth
in 1918, Mr. Peterson has been in full charge of the paper, as manager
and supervising editor. The "News" is a seven-column weekly, all
"home print," 8 to 16 pages; its circulation is about 1,350 copies
weekly, and its advertising patronage is good. The company owms a
good printing plant, having the latest typesetting machinery.
Cemetery. — The Eveleth Cemetery was established in 1910-12,
J. H. Hearding and George H. Perham being those chiefly instru-
mental is securing the necessary land for that sacred purpose. In
an ordinary community, such would not be a very difficult matter to
negotiate, but in a mining community w^here all unexplored land is
potentially valuable in mineral deposits, negotiations are more diffi-
cult to carry through.
Taxation. — To indicate the development of Eveleth, the following
comparison is given. The taxable property, real and personal, with-
in the village of Eveleth in 1895 was assessed at $28,571. In 1919 it
was $17,303,737.
Population, — Another comparison, but not so striking, is in the
census statistics. According to the original petition for incorporation
200 persons resided in Eveleth in June, 1893. In 1900, the population
was 2,7S2; in 1910 it was 7,036; and in 1920 residents cognizant with
the growth of the city in most of its phases in the preceding decade,
were somewhat surprised to learn the federal census-taking only re-
corded 7,205 persons as then having residence in Eveleth. A recan-
vassing was suggested, but apparently was not made. However,
with that population, Eveleth takes fifth place among the incorporated
places of St. Louis County.
Old Settlers Association. — Reference to the society which, above
all others, is pledged to devote itself mainly to the preservation of
Mesabi range history, must not be forgotten. The Mesabi Range
Old Settlers Association had its inception at Eveleth in 1919. Charles
Jesmore being the most active promoter. An organization was
affected at the county fair held at Hibbing in that year. First officers
were: Chas. Jesmore, president; W. E. Hannaford, secretary; Frank
Ansley, treasurer. There were several vice presidents, the endeavor
being to elect one pioneer of each town to that office. Those elected
included: Dudley W. Freeman. Eveleth; ^^^ J. Eaton. \^irginia ;
Joseph Haley, Hibbing; Fred Talboys. Aurora: George Smith. ]\Ioun-
tain Iron ; Frank Caldwell, P>iwabik. The first annual meeting was
held at Biwabik in August, 1919. Nearly 600 pioneers of the Mesabi
range have now joined the society.
School History. — Last, but certainly not least in importance,
comes a review of the history of Eveleth schools. Indeed, when a
stranger first enters one of the cities of the Mesabi range, and views
the magnificent school buildings, which are generally the outstanding
landmarks of the place, he is forced to the conclusion that those respon-
sible for the public weal in the Mesabi range have a proper apprecia-
tion to the importance of the community of an adequate system of
education. Certainly, the future prosperity of the city depends in
great measure upon the excellence, or otherwise, of its public schools
of the present. T^vcleth recognizes that ; and so apparently do the
directors of the principal mining companies. They have resisted
increase in municipal taxation on many occasions, but have never
seemed to adopt a niggardly attitude toward a levy for school pur-
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DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 535
poses. The school levy for Independent School District No. 39 (Eve-
leth) in 1919 was $444,981.57, and some school districts have an even
higher levy, the bulk of which is payable by the mining companies ; yet
it seems that the latter have always been ready to co-operate in the
establishment of an even better educational system than can be found
in other communities of even higher social status. To the public
schools of the range go children of very many nationalities (thirty-
nine being represented in the enrollment of one school district), yet
they are afforded as fine schools as can be found almost anywhere
in America. And the standard of education is equally high, the school
districts having the financial means wherewith to attract into service
the best public school educators of the country. Consequently, the
children of the range communities, mostly children of hardworking,
honest, but in many cases illiterate, parents, will be able eventually to
pass out into the world, or into higher schools, well-grounded in
"academics, and possibly in vocational knowledge.
The first school established in Eveleth has been referred to earlier
in this chapter. The little school erected in 1895 was evidently only
for the smaller children. Those of higher grade used to go over to
Virginia to school. And the Eveleth schools up to the year 1903 were
under the direction of the Virginia District (No. 22 School District),
Air. John H. Hearding, of Eveleth, however, being one of the principal
members of that school board. From 1903, Eveleth has been the
administrative center of Independent School District No. 39, and,
fortunately, the school history from that time to 1915 was compiled
for, and published in, the Eveleth High School Annual for 1915. That
review is the basis for the following.
It appears that in 1903, "Virginia had the greater part of popula-
tion, but the southern end of the district (Eveleth) objected to have
part in paying for the new building in Virginia." There was "some
excitement," but eventually Eveleth separated, assuming $13,500 of
current debt, and 69 per cent of bonded debt. Independent School
District No. 39 was then organized, having responsibility for public
education in the whole of Fayal Township and in six sections of
Missabe Mountain Township, a resolution passed March 22, 1903, by
the county commissioners describing the new district as "all of town-
ship T'l n. of range 17 w., and sections 28, 29, 30, 31, Z2 and ZZ, of town-
ship 58 n. of range 17 w."
"The first election brought into office J. H. Hearding, director,
G. H. Dormer, treasurer, and W. J. Smith, clerk. They found them-
selves to be in debt, to the extent of $35,000 to old district," and in
possession of what is now known as the Spruce School, the "first
real school building erected in Eveleth." It has been added to and
repaired, and is still giving good service. They also had at the outset
one other school building, the Fayal, a frame building, "built by
Mr. D. T. Denton in a picturesque country clubhouse style." The
new board found a deplorably overcrowded condition existent in the
t\yo schools, and immediately applied themselves to the task of
remedying that condition. Martin Finucan was given contract to
erect two small school houses. These became known as the Adams
and Fayal kindergartens, and were erected at a cost of nearly $4,000.
They were only intended to serve a temporary need, but have been
in almost constant use ever since, the enrollment increasing more
rapidly than the school accommodation.
The first brick school house built became known as the high
school. Construction began in the fall of 1904, and in the spring
536 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
work was resumed. It cost about $48,000, and served as the high
school until June, 1908, when it was gutted by fire. The present
Junior High School now stands upon its site. The burning of the
Fayal school house, on April 25, 1911, placed the district again in a
very much overcrowded state, notwithstanding that the Adams
school house, now called the Lincoln Annex, was built in 1908, and
a new high school had been built. The Adams School was begun in
October. 1907, when J. A. Roberts, of Duluth, secured the general con-
tract. The building is of red brick, and of eight-room capacity. It
cost about $33,000. Bids for the building of the high school, to re-
place that burned in June, 1908, were opened at the October, 1908,
meeting of the school board. Henry Henricksen secured the general
contract, the total cost being about $73,000, and for many years it
was considered "one of the finest school buildings on the range."
W. T. Bray was the architect.
In June, 1910, the form of organization changed. Mr. Hearding,
who had fathered the school district and had given very much of his
time to school matters since he first settled in Eveleth, removed to
Duluth, and could no longer take part in local school administration.
He was succeeded by T, H. Davey. Members of the new board of
education were Dr. C. W. More, G. H. Dormer, J. J. Murnik, Albert
Rohrer and H. S. Sherman.
A new school was built at Fayal in 1912, to take the place of that
destroyed by fire in 1911, and it was thought that adequate provision
for growth had been provided by making the capacity of the new
school ten rooms, for 420 children. The old school building could only
accommodate 200 children. The contractor was J. Donlin, and the
total cost $60,000.
The Lincoln school building was erected in 1912, bids for its
construction being opened on April 1st of that year. It cost about
$75,000.
Educationally, Eveleth attained an unic|ue distinction in 1914,
when it opened its Manual Training School, "the first school building
in Minnesota devoted entirely to boys' industrial subjects." It cost
about $60,000, and has drafting room, printery, mill shop, elementary
wood-working, and many other industrial departments. The building
is of Menominee pressed brick, and is supposed to be fireproof.
In 1918 another school building was added to the impressive
group on Jones Street. The Senior High School is the third of the
group, beyond the Junior High (wherein are the administrative
offices), and the Manual Training schools. And soon will be added
"another modern building, for use as a Grade and Girls' Vocational
School, on a site to the north of the Senior High School."
"An open-air school has been maintained at Eh' Lake during the
last two summers. This school is composed of one school building
and two sleeping cottages," and is intended for sickly children. There
is a rural school in section 36 of Fayal Township, a rapidly-growing
agricultural center.
Independent School District No. 39 now has eight large school
houses and several smaller. The enrollment for the school-year 1919-
20 was 2,992. Forty-one male and 101 female teachers were employed
in that school-year, the average monthly salary of the former being
$180, and of the women teachers, $146. School property was estimated
to be worth one million dollars in that year. The present Board of
Education is: J. M. Stearns, clerk; T. H. Davey, treasurer; Dr. C. H.
More, chairman; James A. Robb, W. R. Van Slyke and C. B. Hoel,
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 537
directors. J. V. Voorhees, district superintendent of schools, assumed
supervision of Eveleth schools on July 15, 1920. He came from Wi-
nona, Minn., with a good record as an educator, and executive, and
he is maintaining, perhaps advancing, the standard of thoroughness
demanded from principals and teachers of Independent School District
No. 39. Thus will Eveleth schools maintain their good repute among
range schools, which are equal to the best of their kind in the north-
west, perhaps in the whole country.
A review of Eveleth school history would be incomplete and an
injustice would be done, unless it included reference to the excellent
work of Mr. B. O. Greening as school superintendent for more than a
decade. He was appointed superintendent of Eveleth school district
in 1904, and continued in that capacity until 1917, when he entered
upon military service, being one of the first to leave Eveleth after war
was declared. As to his work as superintendent, the following opinion
is given by one who well knew the results obtained :
"Mr. Greening came here in 1904, as school superintendent, and
continued in that capacity until 1917. * * * During the period
in which he was in charge of the schools most of the buildings were
constructed, and he organized, or laid the foundation for the junior
college course we now have in connection with the school system of
Eveleth. As an educator, Mr. Greening stood high among school men
of the state, and much of the credit for the high standing now attained
in our schools is due him ; as an executive Mr. Greening was progres-
sive and thorough, a good citizen always promoting things worth-
while."
CHAPTER XXIII
THE HISTORY OF HIBBING, MINNESOTA
The history of Hibbing, "the Place of Big Things," is a wonder-
ful and holding story, a record of great doings, of wonderful achieve-
ments, and of immense wealth and possibilities — even from the be-
ginning. Everything connected with Hibbing's history has been big.
In the first place, the stand of timber was such that the lumbermen
made money rapidly in logging it. The seekers for iron had a similar
experience. They made great discoveries. Nothing small was pos-
sible in the Hibbing district. The explorers found such deposits that
the mines subsequently developed have been the most wonderful of
the many stupendous mines of the most wonderful iron range of
America. Hibbing proved to be the center of the treasure country,
the richest portion of the Mesabi Range. And, as she grew, she held
to her original status of supremacy. Hibbing has excelled in most
things, as will be appreciated by a reading of her history. She is a
village, it is true^ — the "richest village in the world," by the way, — but
she has forged ahead of all other communities of the Range country,
in population and wealth, and is the richest incorporated place in the
county — exceeding Duluth even in wealth, by almost as much as is
the total wealth of the City of A^irginia. Hibbing's nearest rival on
the range. It can, therefore, be readily understood that her place in
the state is that of a very important, very promising, and very aggres-
sive city.
In the Days of the Timber Barons. — To appreciate the story of
Hibbing fully one must have some knowledge of the earliest activities
of white men in its vicinity. The story has grounding in the opera-
tions of the timber barons, the lumber kings, who became the land
barons, and by sitting still soon had the "grubbing ore men" paying
them fief.
Passing briefly over the earliest pre-settlement history. Northern
Minnesota, until 1855, was the hunting ground of the Indian ; and it
was not until the seventies were almost spent that white men set-
tled far from the shore of Lake Superior, at its western extremity. In
the middle sixties and seventies some had passed over the eastern
end of the Mesabi Range — in great numbers during the "gold rush"
to the Vermilion in the sixties, and spasmodically in the seventies,
hoping against hope that the lean magnetite formations of the Eastern
Mesabi would bring a little money to the well-nigh empty pockets
of Duluthians, after the panic of 1873 had taken away Duluth's first
treasure. Jay Cooke. But very few had been in the middle and west-
ern parts of the Mesabi Range until the eighties ; and those who did
pass along the range, or touched parts of it, were mapmakers, geol-
ogists, or timber cruisers. Geologists, of course, had eyes mainly
for mineral indications, but the cartographers and timber cruisers
might be grouped, the mapmaking being in most cases incidental to
timber cruising. Northern Minnesota was the land of white pine.
St. Louis County had an especially heavy "stand" ; and Stuntz town-
ship was, it seems, among the best areas in that respect. But noth-
ing could be done until the government survey had been made and the
vacant lands had been thrown open to entry, which was done in the
seventies and early eighties. The period 1875-1884 was, perhaps,
538
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 539
the most active in land-office transactions, i. e., in the sale of pine
lands to lumbermen. Pardee writes :
as fast as these vacant lands were thrown open to entry, two or three
townships at a time, the pine-land crowd was waiting at the land office, with
purse and scrip, to take their pick of the pine * * * The explorers, who
had been crossing and recrossing the lands to be offered, came in with their
estimates of standing pine, their rough maps showing what streams could be
used to drive the logs and where the boom should be, and their rumors of iron.
To which, since the cruiser was a bit of a seer and a prophet, the land men
listened indulgently; but when he spoke of pine, they hearkened — for the
cruiser knew. Iron was not in their books; buj'ing land at a dollar and a
quarter an acre, and holding it until the timber fetched fifty dollars an acre was
profit enough for their modest desires * * *
Many of these bewildering prizes that Fortune thrust on the pine-land
men were bunched in two fall openings, in 1875 and in 1882 * * * These
were largely offered lands, sold under a law of 1854 (repealed in 1889) by
which an}' lands that seemed especially choice were to be auctioned off at a
minimum bid of $1.25 an acre. More often than not that was the top price, for
baronial truces were formed from time to time, each land man marking off
his selection. Sometimes, however, there was lively bidding.
At the big sale in Duluth. in 1882, when lumbermen from all over the
country were present * * * some feeling had risen. One group of big
buyers, fearing the price would be run up on them, asked a young cruiser to
put in a bid for a thousand acres they wanted. The lad made his bid. "That
for yourself, George?" asked A. J. Whiteman * * * George gulped hard
and admitted it was. "Then I'll not bid against you." "How many pieces are
on your list?" asked one of the Pillsburys. "Twenty-six" the young man
said, breathing hard. "Looks like a good deal for a cruiser," said the big
lumberman, "but if all the rest will hold off, I will." And so, much to his
confusion, the whole block was knocked down to the young man at his opening
bid. When his principals heard it, they were so delighted that they had half
a notion to give him an interest in the mineral rights — for all the country was
under suspicion of value — but they compromised on a twenty-dollar Ijill. The
same land contained seventy million tons of ore.
The Pillsburys * * * were buying pine lands in the country in 1875,
sometimes at public sale, and often by soldier's additional scrip. An ordinary
citizen who exercises his homestead right thereby exhausts it; but a soldier or
his widow who failed to take all he might claim could have scrip for the
remainder, good anywhere at any time. And it seemed as though every veteran
had been taking up a homestead that left something coming to him. Anyway,
the Pillsburys filed on thousands of acres at a uniform price of $200 a parcel.
Well, years later, H. M. Bennett of Minneapolis came to them, saying
he thought there was iron under some of their lands. Naturally, they were
pleased to hear it, though they did not feel like spending money on an im-
probability. But they would give him a chance to prove it. If he could show
up 100,000 tons of ore, he could have a half-interest in the mineral rights.
With that contract in his pocket, Bennett went to John M. Longyear, of Mar-
quette, an experienced explorer then operating on the Gogebic, offering him
one-half of his half for all the ore he could uncover. They found some
millions of tons, the Monroe, Glen, Pillsbury and a number more. These
mines are paying the Pillsbury estate and the Longyear-Bennett partnership
immense royalties * * * for the husks of a pine-land deal * * *
Likewise acquired by scrip and sagacity, the 50,000 acres of timber land
of the Lorenzo Day estate, and the holdings of T. B. Walker and Pettit and
Robinson and others * * * have turned out a number of good ore
properties.
Fortune played many whimsical tricks. Tames McCahill, a carpenter and
capitalist in a small way, loaned $1,000 on a homestead up in the woods. The
homesteader, tickled to death to get that much out of his claim, hurried away,
thinking what a cute trick he had played, leaving McCahill to bemoan his
folly and worry along under the carrying charges. Last heard from, the
Shenango mine was paying him close to $1(X),(XX) a year royalties on that
abandoned homestead.
But the big prizes fell to a comparatively small group of men. most of
tliem members of the Saginaw crowd. Wellington R. Burt, Ezra T. Rust. El-
bridgc M. Fowler, Clarence M. Hill and Aaron T. Bliss, the Wright and Davis
syncHcate * * * Simon J. Murphy," Morton B. Hull, of Chicago, \yilliam
Boeing and W. C. Yawkcy, nf Detroit, and others, on whom Opportunity lay
in wait, with a richly upliolstcred club.
540 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
In the heart of the Hibbing district is a solid body of ore two miles
long, half a mile wide and a hundred million dollars thick, known as the
Burt-Pool and the Hull-Rust, as the government line crosses it. Burt, former-
governor and otherwise prominent in Michigan, followed the pine bargains
into the new country, buying in the same district from 1883 down to 1888.
His best purchase was in the last year, when George X. Holland bought for
him a few forties from Eaton and Merritt * * * ^^^ about 1,500 acres
from the C. X. Xelson Lumber Compan)-. Xow the Xelson people, who had
a confidence in mineral values that was hardly warranted by the developments
up to that time, were reluctant to let the land go. But they happened to need
the money just then, and so Burt bought the land, timber and all, for $17,000.
That was in 1888. Two years later, the first discoveries (on the Alesabi
range) were made, and inside of five years Burt was leasing his mining prop-
erties at a rate that has paid from the Burt mine alone as high as $250,000
a year.
The Hull and Boeing lands also shared in the capital prizes. In 1882,
Hull and Boeing engaged with Marshall H. Alworth, a reliable Saginaw
cruiser, to look up lands for them in the towns that were about to be opened.
They would furnish the money on his judgment, and after they had been reim-
bursed, with interest, one-third of the profit was to be his, "in consideration
for his services in locating and selecting these lands." He brought them
several good tracts on which the pine yielded a profit, and at the big December
sale they bought 7,500 acres. Their total outlay for the several tracts was
$22,500. Alworth's one-third, which cost him a summer's campaign, through
woods and swamps, fighting mosquitoes * * * has made him a millionaire
a dozen tirnes over. These mines were in the group uncovered by Frank
Hibbing in 1893. In a few months he showed up 10,000,000 tons — not one-
tenth of the deposit — and sold for $250,000 a half-interest in his mines, on
which the lessees reckoned they could net a dollar a ton, on a guaranteed
product of 300,000 tons a year (a million was nearer the actual figure).
Clarence M. Hill and Aaron T. Bliss paid about $50,000 for some 11,000
acres picked up by F. R. Webber in 1887. scattered over a tract sixty miles
one way and thirty-five the other. Most of the land yielded nothing ibut pine,
maybe half a million dollars worth; but in four years they were making leases
at twenty-five cents a ton for the ore in a few of the forties, and after the
known deposits were disposed of they sold the remaining mineral rights, on
a chance, for $150,000.
High and low, the fairies scattered their favors. One poor cobbler
homesteaded a forty, and, as soon as he got his patent, gave an option on it
for $30,000. He died soon after. It was more prosperity than he could endure.
Leonidas Merritt spent exactly $41 in digging a testpit, and turned up a
mine worth a million (Missabe Mountain).
But speaking of fairies whose favors were scattered so widely. The
Wright and Davis syndicate had 25,000 acres near Swan River. In the hard
times of 1894. they would have been glad to sell it for $75,000. They kept it
because nobody wanted it, and in a few^ years the Mahoning had developed on
this land. In 1904. James J. Hill, coming into the ore market bought the
Wright and Davis lands. "The Michigan people had offered it to Weyer-
haeuser for $3 an acre," says Hill. "I paid them $4,000,000: it will yield
$60,000,000." As happy over it as a -boy who has got the best of it, swapping
jack knives.
Which narrative by I\Ir. Pardee gives the reader an intelligent
idea of the fundamentals of Hibbing history. The timber barons were
the land barons, and are the lords of the manor today. They, or
their heirs, are still enjoying the favors of Fortune, without risk or
labor. A feeholder, royalty taker, has an enviable existence. "The
ore is found, and he may, therefore, sit at his ease; the mining com-
pany will mine it for him." If the mining company should fail, the
feeholder need not worry. Another operator will "turn up." Mean-
while, "the ore will keep." As James J. Hill once said: "The ore
won't burn up. and it won't go out of fashion." His treasure is moth
and rust proof.
That was the happy psychology of the land baron, the feeholder.
The tragic failures of Mesabi history have been among the operators,
the mining men ; the great fortunes yielded by the Mesabi have gone
to the land barons, the feeholders, mainly.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 541
Early Explorers. — ^Frank Hibbing was on the range from 1888,
but until the end of 1891, or early in 1892, was to the eastward, it is
believed. Captain LeDuc. a mining man, was in the vicinity of Hib-
bing in 1887, and found "drift ore and quartz on the surface" in many
places, but he passed on to the westward. Other early explorers were
more or less conversant with conditions and prospects along the
range, and the Merritts who, from the early 'eighties, "hovered over
the Range," and seemed to know "every foot of it," may be presumed
to have stood upon the site of Hibbing long before E. J. Longyear
cut his "tote" road through, to Nashwauk, in 1891. But it seems
that the first to engage in actual explorations, that is, to establish
a mining camp, within close proximity to what now is the Village
of Hibbing,. was Frank Hibbing. He was in township 59-14 in 1891,
but several leases of land in the Hibbing district were granted to
him late in that year, or early in 1892, so that the time of his coming
to Hibbing may, with fair assurance, be recorded as 1891.
The first indication, in lease record, that Frank Hibbing had
been in township 58-20, is lease of December 29, 1891, from Welling-
ton R. Burt, of Saginaw to Frank Hibbing, giving the latter right to
mine ore deposits found on "parts of sections 13, 20, 21, 23, 24, 28, 31,
32„ and 34 of township 58-20. This lease was transferred on March
17, 1892, to the Lake Superior Iron Company, and called for a 35-
cent royalty, and $6,000 advance payment. Another lease bears date
of January 1, 1892, and is from George L. Burrows and Ezra Rust, of
Saginaw, and Gilbert B. Goff, of Edenville, Michigan, to Frank Hib-
bing, the leasing being of lands in sections 4 and 5 of 57-21, at 30
cents a ton royalty. Another from Burrows and Rust to Hibbing,
same date, leased seven forties in 58-21 and 57-21. These also were
assigned to the Lake Superior Iron Company, on March 17. 1892.
And at the same time that company received transfer of lease secured
of Alworth and Trimble, from Foster Lumber Company of Milwau-
kee, of lands in 58-20. at the same royalty.
Burt-Poole Mine. — These activities of Frank Hibbing had in-
centive particularly in his discovery of merchantable ore on what was
known at the outset as the Lake Superior mine, but eventually came
into record as the Burt-Poole mine. "To Frank Hibbing," states
an early record, "belongs the honor of discovering the first mer-
chantable body of ore in the Hibbing District." The record continues:
"In 1892, Capt. T. W. Nelson, working for Mr. Hibbing,- discovered
ore on the property known as the Burt-Poole, and the I>urt bears
the reputation of being the first shipping mine" (of the Hibbing Dis-
trict, presumably, seeing that it was not until 1895 that the first ship-
ment was made). Winchell confirms the discovery of ore at the
Lake Superior Mine in 1892.
The Lake Superior Iron Companv was organized on March 15,
1892, by A. J. Trimble and Frank Hibbing, o'f Duhith : \\'. D. Vernam
and William Munro, of Superior, and W. PI. Bufi'uni, of Xew York.
The capital authorized was $5,000,000. in shares of ^25 denomination.
The Lake Superior Iron Company became the oj)erating com-
pany for many holdings of llibbing, Trimble and Alworth. many
leases being transferred to it during the next vear or so. .\mong
them were: Lease October 8, 18'^2. M. II. Mull to A. J. Trimble
and M. H. Alworth, lands in section 2-57-2], in 12 57-21 and 13-57-21 ;
lease February 23, 1892, C. L. Ortman to Frank llibbing and M. H.
Alworth, thirteen forties in 58-20, sections 11. 12, 13, 14 and 15;
October 8. 1892, M. B. Hull to Trimble and Alworth. 11-57-21; .same
Vol. II— 3
542 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
date and lessor, to Hibbing and Alworth, section 14-58-20, and other
leases sections 14, 15, 22 of 58-20. Further leases from Hull to Trim-
ble were filed in 1893. In March, 1893, E. B. Bartlett, of Brooklyn,
and C. W. Wetmore, of New York, come into the record. These pro-
moters, in March, 1893, working with the Merritts, sought to elifect
a consolidation of the more important Mesabi mining companies, and
an arrangement was made by them, on March 6, 1893, with the Lake
Superior Iron Company, by which a one-half interest in the Hibbing
group of mines was to be transferred to the new company, for $100,-
000 cash, and a further $150,000 in deferred payments over eighteen
months, the promoters to guarantee that the Duluth, Missabe and
Northern extension to Hibbing "would be in not later than September
1, 1893." The agreement was assigned by Bartlett and Wetmore
to the ill-fated New York and Missabe Iron Company — the new hold-
ing company organized by these promoters, with the Merritts, — as
was also assigned the Hibbing-Trimble contract of April 11, 1893, to
them, covering seven forties in 31-58-20, leased by Lorenzo D. Day
and J. W. Day to Hibbing and Trimble. The intracacies of the finan-
cial endeavors of \\^etmore are referred to in the chapter that deals
with the general history of the Mesabi Range, and need not be re-
stated here. Suffice it therefore to state that the New York and Mis-
sabe Iron Company's assets eventually (in August, 1893) passed to
John D. Rockefeller, and in November to the Rockefeller subsidiary
formed to operate the mines. The importance of the Hibbing group
is reflected in the name of the new company, the Lake Superior Con-
solidated Iron Mines, by the forming of which and the eventual
merger into the subsidiary of the United States Steel Corporation
(in 1901), Hibbing and his associates became millionaires.
The Lake Superior (Burt-Poole) mine development was placed
under the superintendence of Capt. P. Mitchell, in 1893, when the
Rockefeller subsidiary, the Lake Superior Consolidated Iron Mines,
was formed, W. J. Olcott becoming general manager of all the mines.
In 1894 the Lake Superior, or Burt-Poole, mine was being developed
for underground mining, and Winchell stated that the basis of opera-
tions by the Rockefeller Company was "a 30-cent lease, and the
profits * "" * divided between the Consolidated and the Lake
Superior Companies." In other words, Hibbing's original company
still held a one-half interest in the property, or, to be exact, in the
mining lease.
The Duluth, IMissabe and Northern Railway Company reached
Hibbing in the fall of 1893, but although there were several mines
then in process of development, no ore was shipped from the Hib-
bing District until 1895, the Burt-Poole being the first to reach the
shipping stage. Only 201,938 tons were shipped to 1900, but up to the
end of 1919 the Burt is shown as having yielded 16,347,691 tons.
This total covers shipments from the Poole Mine. There are today
several Burt reserve mines, in Stuntz and Balkan townships, all con-
trolled by the Oliver Iron' Mining Company. They show available
deposits of approximately 24,000,000 tons of ore.
Sellers Mine. — The Sellers Mine was opened in the same year
as the Burt. The feeholder, M. B. Hull, in 1893, gave John M. Sellers
mining right to much of section 6 of 57-20, lease of January 17th
covering the n. half of nw. qr., on the basis of a 35-cent royalty,
with $7,000 cash advance ; lease, April 5, 1893, was for n. half of sec-
tion 6, on similar terms ; and another lease of that date and terms
referred to the sw. of ne. and nw. of se. of section 6. The first lease
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 543
was transferred on October 20, 1893, to the Sellers Ore Company,
"a combination of Pittsburg furnace men." C. H. Munger became
superintendent, and shafts were being sunk in 1894. Winchell noted,
in 1895, that the mine then had "an unpleasant amount of water to
contend with."
Up to 1900, the total quantity shipped from the Sellers mine was
188,102 tons, but the mine has been yielding fair quantities ahnost
every year since that time, the total mined to end of 1919 being
8,952,358 tons. The property passed to the Oliver Iron Mining Com-
pany, present operators, and shows an available deposit still of about
thirteen million tons. What is known as the Sellers Townsite mine,
also an Oliver property, has an available deposit of 33.373.500 tons, to
be able to work which is one of the reasons for the recent removal
of part of the Village of Hibbing.
Mahoning Mine. — The Mahoning IMine was purchased from the
Wright and Davis Syndicate, and the great property has been termed
"the largest open-pit iron mine in the world." It probably is, in com-
bination with the other adjoining mines, which, by the ceaseless shov-
elling of the many and tireless steam shovels, have become merged
into one vast gaping chasm. One writer thus describes the chasm,
and the activity:
Stand on an edge of an open pit near Hibbing. One looks across a gulf
a quarter of a mile wide and deep enough to. lose a skyscraper in its huge
trough. As far away as Grace Church from City Hall Square (New York)
in one direction, as far in the other as from City Hall Square to the Battery,
a puffing steam shovel is gnawing at the steep purple bank, perhaps a dozen
of them here and there nipping at the rim of the bowl. Each thrusts its
dipper against the bank, its jaws creak, the derrick groans, and five tons of
ore are swung over the waiting car. As the bucket lets go its burden, one can
hear one dollar and twenty-five cents clink into the feeholder's pocket, while
another dollar and twenty-five cents jingle in the till of the leaseholding com-
pany. Ten of these bucket-loads fill a fifty-ton car that looks, from the brink
of the pit, like a match-ibox on spools, as it crawls on the bottom. Another
car is warped into place and the steam-shovel again groans under its burdening
wealth. AH day long, all through the summer, these shovels are scooping up
six, eight, ten thousand tons a day of fusible wealth.
Such activity has been going on for a generation, not only in
Hibbing, but in all parts of the Mesabi Range, the excavations (of
earth as well as ore) being approximately as much every three or
four busy years as were accomplished in the whole of the work at
Panama Isthmus. But at Hibbing, from the brink of the Mahoning-
Hull-Rust Mine, the result of the ceaseless delving is impressively
evident. The Hull-Rust-Mahoning open-pit alone has yielded more
than eighty million tons of ore up to the present. That means,
roughly, one hundred million yards of excavation, and probably
another forty million yards could be added for original stripping; say,
1 50,(X)0,(X)0 yards of excavation, in all. The Panama excavation repre-
sented only 80,000,000 yards up to July 1, 1909, and it was then esti-
mated than only another 100,000,000 yards would complete the work
of cutting the canal. This com])arison will give the general reader
some indication of the stupendous work daily j^roceeding at Hibbing.
The Mahoning Mine was explored by W. C. Agnew, in 1894.
The Mahoning Ore Company was formed, and the work of stripping
the surface was at once begun. It was the first mine to be strij^ped
in the Hibbing District. The original discovery by Agnew was in
the ne. qr. of section 3, township 57-21. but soon the development
extended to the north half of sections 1 and 2. The mine came into
the shipping list in 1895, the ore going over the W^right and Davis
544 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
logg-ing road, known as the Duluth, Mississippi River and Northern,
to Swan River, where it connectecl with the Duluth and Winnipeg-
line, leading to the ore docks at Superior. By the way, strenuous
objection was made by the Mahoning Ore Company, in 1896, to the
proposed inclusion of township 57-21 in Stuntz township, Mr. Agnew
explaining that township 57-21 "is very rich, if not the richest in
mineral and timber lands in the county/' and, to support his belief
that an injustice would be done the mining company by the pro-
posed annexation which would give the township supervisers right
to tax the company, he instanced the case of the school fund. Large
amounts were drawn from the company, in school levy for the Hib-
bing District, in which the Mahoning location had been placed, not-
withstanding that the children thereof "must walk from one to two
miles to reach the schoolhouse." However, the protest was ignored,
and the Mahoning location, with township 57-21, came within the
jurisdiction of Stuntz, the richest township in the state.
The Mahoning Mine shipped more than two million tons of
ore in the nineties, when A. O. Beardsley was the mining captain,
and up to the end of 1919, had shipped 29,618,759 tons. The mine
is still under the direction of Mr. Agnew, though the Mahoning Ore
Company has given way to the Mahoning Ore and Steel Company.
R. N. Marble is the general superintendent, and the mine still has
an unworked deposit of approximately 75,000,000 tons, including the
several Mahoning reserve properties controlled by the same com-
pany.
Day Mine. — The Day Mine was explored in 1892 or 1893 by Frank
Ribbing. It adjoins the Burt, and passed eventually to the Lake
Superior Consolidated Iron Mines, subsequently coming into the con-
trol of the Oliver Iron Mining Company. It had yielded only 20,626
tons by 1900, and is credited with only 319,453 tons up to the end of
1919, though some ore from it is included in Burt Mine figures.
There is still available a deposit of approximately six million tons.
Hull-Rust Mine. — The Hull and Rust Alines are owned, in fee,
by the Hull and Rust families, the original landowners being M. B.
Hull and Ezra Rust. The mining leases were the Hibbing, Trimble
and Alworth, the mining leases passing to the Lake Superior Iron
Company, and in turn to the Lake Superior Consolidated Iron Mines,
and 'the Oliver Iron Mining Company, present operators. The Hull-
Rust Mines entered the shipping list in 1896, under management of
the Consolidated. It was then an underground mine. The separate
figures for the Hull and Rust Mines are not available, but the com-
bined shipment up to the end of 1919 was 51,848,910 tons. No other
Mesabi mine comes anywhere near the Hull-Rust in tonnage shipped,
or in c]uantity mined in one year. Within recent years the mine has
given more than five million tons a year, the record* being 7,665,611
tons in 1916. The available unworked deposit of the Hull-Rust and
Hull Reserve Mines aggregates to the stupendous total of about
120,000,000 tons.
Penobscot Mine. — The Penobscot Mine was explored in the
middle nineties, by Cheeseboro, of Duluth, and shipments began in
1897, Eddy Brothers and Company being then in control. It was an
underground mine, and very wet. In fact, it had the reputation of
being "the wettest in the Lake Superior Region, the inflow of water
being about 5,000 gallons a minute.'' The superintendent was John
A. Redfern. In 1901, the property passed to the Oliver Iron Mining
Company, previous shipments having been 127,204 tons. Between
1903 and 1918, the mine did not yield a thousand tons, but 32,531
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 545
tons came from it in 1919. There is an available deposit of about
eight million tons.
Agnew Mine. — The Agnew Mine was explored by W. C. Agnew
and associates in 1901. The propeifty was eventually leased to the
Great Northern and passed to the Deering Harvester Company, which
later became the International Harvester Company. That corpora-
tion still operates it, B. W. Batchelder being general superintendent
of its Mesabi properties, and Martin Trewhella, captain at the Agnew.
Shipments began in 1902, 45,582 tons. Total shipments to end of
1919 are 1,907,238 tons. About two and a half million tons are still
available.
There is also the Agnew No. 2 Reserve, and the No. 3 Reserve,
with deposits of about eleven million tons, in all, but these belong
to the Oliver Iron Mining Company.
Albany Mine. — The Albany Mine was explored in 1901 by A. M.
Chisholm, D. C. Rood, and A. Maitland, who leased it to Pickands,
Mather and Company, who have controlled it ever since. It was
operated by two methods, underground and open-pit, and first entered
the shipping list in 1903, with 109,608 tons. Robert ]\Iurray has been
identified, as superintendent and general superintendent, with Pick-
ands, Mather operations in the Hibbing District since the early days.
The Albany to end of 1919 yielded 4,831,974 tons, and there is still
about as much available.
Cyprus Mine. — The Cyprus Mine was one of the discoveries of
W. C. Agnew. He found it in 1901, and soon afterwards leased it to
Joseph Sellwood and Pickands, Mather and Company. First ore
shipped was in 1903, 121.818 tons. Total shipped to end of 1919,
1,780,986 tons. But the statistics show that only a further 50,000
tons are available. The mine was an open-pit from the beginning.
It has reverted to the Sellwood interests again.
Forest. — The Forest was one of the mines of the Hibbing Dis-
trict in the first years of this century. It was explored by M. L.
Fay, in 1902, and developed "as an open-pit milling proposition" by
the Tesora Mining Company. The first shipment was in 1904, and
the last in 1910. Total quantity shipped, 248,540 tons. Fee-owner is
'the Mississippi Land Company.
Laura Mine. — The Laura Mine was explored by the Fay Explora-
tion Company, in 1901. The company sank a shaft, and began to
ship ore in 1902, first year's shipment being 16,453 tons. In 1903
the lease was transferred to the Winifred Iron Mining Company.
Eventually it passed to the Inland Steel Company, which corpora-
tion has operated the mine for many years. \\'illiam W'carnc. gen-
eral superintendent, has been with the company since the beginning
of their operations on the Mesabi Range. The ore from the Laura
Mine, went, mainly, to the company's furnaces and steel mill at In-
diana II arbor, near Chicago. The mine has yielded about an cfpial
<|uantity vearly since 1906, and the total of shipments to end of 1919
is 2,548,300 tons, with about 2,000,000 tons still available.
Leetonia Mine. — The Lcetonia Mine was discovered in VKX), by
George H. Warren and associates. It was devehiped as an open-pit
by Joseph Sellwood, the first shipment coming in 1*'02, 28,784 tons.
There was a heavy overburden, and by \^Kf> more than 2,000.000
vards of overburden had been removed. Indeed, in some parts of
the mine, it seemed more practicable to mine by underground methods.
The property was ac(|uire(l by the Inter-State Iron Company, and,
although latterly it has i)een operated by the Leetonia Mining Com-
l)any, both are subsidiaries of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Com-
546 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
pany, which corporation has controlled the pronerty since 1905. In
the fall of 19C8 a shaft was sunk, and at that time an incline slope
was also in operation. An electric hoist was installed, and the Lee-
tonia was the first Mesabi mine at which that method of mining
was instituted. E. S. Tillinghast has been the superintendent at the
Leetonia since 1905. The total quantity mined to the end of 1919 was
6.924.545 tons, and there is still a deposit of about two million tons
available.
Longyear Mine. — The Longyear is another of the Mesabi prop-
erties of the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company, and Mr. Tillinghast
is superintendent of that mine also. It was discovered in 1901 by
E. J. Longyear. The lease was assigned by him to the Columbia
Mining Company, who transferred it to the Williams Ore Company,
and that company sold it to the Inter-State Iron Company, present
operators. It was developed as an underground mine, and the first
shipment was made in 1902, when 22,788 tons were mined. From 1905
the mine has been dormant, with the exception of the year 1913, when
11,799 tons were shipped. The total cjuantity mined to the present
is only 133,190 tons, but it is a good property, having about 5,218,420
tons available. The Longyear Reserve Mine, from which nothing
has yet been mined, also has about 2,000.000 tons available.
Morris Mine. — There are three Morris Mines. They all belong
to the Oliver Iron Mining Company, and all are in sections 31 and 32
of township 58-20. The Morris Mine was discovered by Duluth min-
ing men in 1902, and soon afterwards leased to the Oliver Company.
From the outset, the Morris was destined to be one of the big mines
of the Mesabi. Its first year's shipment was the record for an open-
ing year, being 1,070,937 tons in 1905. The next two years averaged
almost two million tons, and altogether, the Morris Mines have
yielded, to the end of 1919, 14.949,021 tons, and the available quantity
is still about 20,000.000 tons. There was very little stripping neces-
sary at that mine.
Nassau Mine. — The Nassau Mine was discovered by E. J. Long-
year. It was leased to the Rhodes Mining Company, and later to the
Nassau Ore Company, a subsidiary of the Pittsburg Iron Ore Com-
pany, which was organized in 1905. Capt. Alfred Martin was the
superintendent. A shaft was sunk, and shipments began in 1907.
The mine, however, only yielded 71,563 tons to the end of 1919, though
there is a deposit of more than 3,300,000 tons proved. The property
has passed to the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company.
Pillsbury. — The discovery of the Pillsbury ]\Iine was one of the
first E. J. Longyear made, on behalf of J. S. Pillsbury. The mine
came into the shipping list in 1898. Eventually it passed to the Oliver
Iron ^Mining Company. It had yielded 206,178 tons by 1900, and to
the end of 1908, 1,640.265 tons. Since that year it has been idle.
Scranton Mine. — The Scranton ]\Iine is one of the large mining
properties of the Ribbing District, although, up to the present, it has
only yielded 520,673 tons of its deposit of more than eighteen million
ton's. It was discovered in 1902, by A. M. Chisholm and associates,
and as an underground mine was at first known as the Elizabeth.
It was disposed of to the Lackawanna Steel Companv, under which
company the first shipment was made in 1904, 1.168 tons, the ore
being hauled in wagons to Hibbing and there shipped in that year,
"in order to comply with conditions of state lease." The mine has
remained in the control of the Pickands ]\Iather interests ever since,
although nothing was mined between the years 1904 and 1910, and
nothing has come from it since 1915.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 547
Stevenson Mine. — The Stevenson Mine was discovered by E. J.
Longyear in 1894, and leased eventually to the Stevenson Iron Mining
Company, which seems to have been a company formed by Corrigan
McKinney and Company. It is said that the mine "was named for
Stevenson Burke, who was prominently identified with Corrigan
McKinney and Company." At the outset, mining was by shaft, and
the first year of shipment was in 1901, 56,031 tons. However, it was
soon decided to strip the heavy overburden, and that work was
begun in 1901. A review of Mesabi mining in 1902 stated that the
Stevenson was "the largest thus far opened on the western end of
the Mesabi Range." Mining operations at the Stevenson were then
"carried on with steam shovels, there being three of them on ore
bodies, besides two working on stripping." The property then was
under the supervision of Amos Shephard, and the mining captain
was Frank McCreary. Several million yards of surface were removed,
and "the immense pit opened" was "one of the largest and most note-
worthy of any on the Range, being one mile in length, while the
extreme width is 800 feet." It is now very deep. Water became one
of the main obstacles to mining, and in 1906 and 1907 shafts were
sunk, primarily to drain the water, but incidentally to mine. One
of the features of the mine was a suspension bridge, 815 feet long, to
span the open-pit gully, and to provide means of getting from the
location and offices to the shafts. G. E. Harrison was the superin-
tendent from 1904 until the property passed, a few years ago, to the
McKinney Steel Company, E. D. McNeil being now the general su-
perintendent, and E. L. Cochran, superintendent. Altogether, to the
end of 1919, the Stevenson Mine has given 13,945,402 tons, but its
available deposits seem now to be very little.
Susquehanna Mine. — The first attempt to develop the Susque-
hanna mine was made in 1900 by E. Dessau, of New York. He failed
and abandoned the lease. The property eventually passed to the
Great Northern Railway Company, and was sub-leased by that cor-
poration to the liufifalo and Susquehanna Iron Company. The mine
was opened in 1906, and is one of the "big holes" that hem Hibbing
in. The shipment in 1906 was 20,984 tons. Up to end of 1919 the
mine yielded 6,324,358 tons. But the hole will be much bigger and
deeper before the deposit has been exhausted, for there is still an ore
body of about eighteen million tons to mine. The early superintendent
was Bert Angst, and A. E. W^ilson is now general superintendent.
The pro]:)erty is now in the control of the Rogers-Brown Iron Com-
pany, a Chicago promotion.
Sweeney. — The Sweeney Mine was discovered by E. F. Sweeney
and J. B. Adams. Leased to the Denora ^Mining Company, and later
absorbed by the Oliver Iron Mining Com])any. The property has
a deposit of about 1,800.000 tons, but has only yielded about 8.000
tons. It is interesting in one respect, in that "it has a very light
surface" and should have been one of the first discovered, the ore
being "but a few inches" below the surface in places, and located
"on the old ( Irand Ra])ids road" which was traxclk'd o\-er for years
by mining men without l)fing suspected." It was not discovered
until vm.
Utica Mine. — The I^tica mine is a Pickands Mather property,
and it has yielded, to end of 1<U9, 3,999,524 tons. It was explored in
1900 bv Thomas J- Jones and others, and leased to Pickands Mather.
Under Robert Murray it was develo])ed as an open-pit and as an
underground mine, first shipment being made in PX)2, 9,009 tons.
There is an available deposit of about 2,700,000 tons.
548 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Webb Mine. — The Webb mine was explored by P. H. Nelson in
1901. An underground mine was developed by the Shenango Ore
Company, but shipments did not begin until 1905. D. C. Peacock
was superintendent. Up' to the end of 1919, the total quantity
shipped was 1,524,746 tons. The mine still belongs to the same
people, the Shenango Furnace Co., E. J. Maney being manager, and
H. S. Rankin superintendent. It is a valuable property, having almost
ten million tons of ore still available.
Great Northern Iron Ore Properties. — When the United States
Steel Corporation was organized in 1901, "panic seized owners of
mining property." They felt that they had lost their ore market.
It is said that "one could have bought the whole of the Mesabi range
(that lay outside the Oliver Iron Mining enclosure) for little more
than the Dutch gave for Manhattan Island." But there were some
independent operators and financiers who were more courageous. A
few, who saw further, gathered up handfuls of these begging prop-
erties, and it "was not long before there began the first era of lasting
prosperity the range had known." Independent steel manufacturers
were in the market for ore, and the demand expanded amazingly.
The history of the Mesabi range indicates that "it has alTlicted
with additional wealth men already laboring under great fortunes."
Lumbermen who bought these lands for a trifling price, for the
timber only, found themselves "besieged by promoters who pleaded
for leave to pay them a million or so for their discard. Rockefeller
loaned a million and was recompensed by fifty. Carnegie, yielding to
Oliver's entreaties, to buy something that cost him not a penny, was
thereby master of the situation. James J. Hill bought a second-hand
logging road to oblige a friend, and was introduced to an estate on
which he once placed a value of eight-hundred million dollars."
Hill, it seems, was indifferent to ore until almost forced into it.
by the Wright-Davis logging railroad purchase, by which, figuring
haphazardly, he knew to be worth $60.000;000, in ore values. But
soon he took up the ore matter deliberately, and to the surprise of the
steel men gathered in all the "odds and ends" they had passed by,
and made the "odds and ends" into the "enormous assembly of ore"
the Great Northern properties represent. In a few years, his holdings
became almost as enormous as those of the Steel Corporation, which
could not permit him to have such a weapon of raw material to "hold
over their heads." To keep the supremacy for the Steel Corporation,
to maintain a safe base in raw materials, the United States Steel
Corporation were forced to come to James J. Hill eventually, and pay
him a larger royalty than had ever been paid on Mesabi ore. The
matter is dealt with in the general Mesabi Range chapter, of this
work.
Going back to the beginning, A. W. Wright and C. H. Davis,
of Saginaw, and John Killoren and M. H. Kelly, of Duluth, acquired
at the early land sales about six thousand acres of timber land, much
of it along the Mesabi range. They built a logging road from Swan
River into the heart of their land, which was near Hibbing, and
commenced logging. The Weyerhaeusers were their best customers,
and eventually the Wright and Davis syndicate offered them what
timber they had remaining, with the land as well, for a million and a
half. The Weyerhaeusers thought it better to take the timber for
$1,300,000, and leave the land in the possession of Wright and Davis.
Cut-over land was then worth from $2 to $5 an acre, where settle-
ment was possible. That on 6,000 acres did not represent much, and
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 549
taxes were a small but certain liability. Still, cut-over land "beyond
the pale of civilization" was not worth having. So the great timber
barons took only the timber, forming a company to handle the logs.
Wright and Davis still had the land, which they looked upon as a
"white elephant," and even though there were certain discoveries of
iron made, they could not get anyone to "nibble" at their holding
when offered for $3.00 an acre. So they held it, having no option. A
few years later the Mahoning mine was developed on their land ; then
the Stevenson. In 1899, James J. Hill paid them $4,000,000 for their
land, and their railway.
He was c]uite satisfied with the transaction, knowing its poten-
tialities, yet it does not seem that he was over-anxious to enter into
mining operations himself. And had it not been for the formation of
the huge steel corporation in 1901, and the consequent "flurry" amorjg
independent mining companies of the Mesabi range, it is doubtful
whether he would have invested further in ore lands, even with a
legitimate accessory, a railway. But when the deflation came, he
saw his opportunity and bought Mesabi ore properties courageously,
being quite content to hold them until the great steel corporation
came to him, as has been elsewhere stated. The astounding leasing
contract made by Hill with Judge Gary of the Steel Corporation in
1907, held until 1915, and while he drew enormous royalties during
that period, incidentally, the steel corporation developed some im-
portant properties for Mr. Hill, leaving him much richer in mines
when the contract terminated than he had been when it began.
That is the history of Hibbing mining in general, and it is a
sufficiently sensational story to be fiction instead of fact.
Many of the important mines of the Great Northern have within
recent years been taken over (on a royalty basis of course) by the
Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company, which has been operating on the
Mesabi range since 1903, and in recent years has been finding em-
ployment for about 900 men. In 1919, a subsidiary corporation, the
Mesabi Cliffs Iron Mining Company, was organized, to operate the
leases from the Great Northern, the properties including the Boeing
mine at Hibbing, the Hill and Trumbull mines at Marble, and the
North Star at Taconite. The Boeing mine is being opened as an
open-pit and milling proposition, and the Winston Deere Company
began stripping operations in 1920. Previously, in September, 1919,
the Mesaba Cliffs Company had begun to sink a shaft, for under-
ground devclo])ment of the property. The Hill and Trumbull mines,
which adjoin, are to be operated as an open pit, though until taken
over by the Mesaba Iron Mining Company no stripping had been
attempted on the Trumbull. The Hill was one of the properties
developed by the Steel Corporation during the leasing. The North
Star was also opened by the Oliver Com])any. Altogether, James
T. Hill did (|uite well by his introduction to the Mesabi range, through
the initial transaction with the Saginaw lumbermen, Wright and
Davis.
There are one or two other Hibbing properties worthy of men-
tion, among them: the Kerr, which included the Sheridan, discovered
by James Sheridan, in 1894, and now one of the Oliver properties;
the Morton, a I'ickands Mather mine; the Philbin, operated by the
Oliver Company ; and some inactive mines. Hut page space is un-
fortunately not unlimited, and more s])acc has already been given to
the recording of the important Hibbing mining history than had been
originally planned.
550 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Municipal History
When men first were drawn to township 57-20, they were at-
tracted by possibilities in lumber. Some men saw only lun)ber,
nothing else meant "bread and butter" to them. Such a cruiser inust
have been John Day, who, according to a well-authenticated storv,
published in the "St. Paul's Despatch," May 20, 1918, stood upon tlie
site of Hibbing many years before it was settled, and actually knew
that there was iron in the immediate vicinity — knew it without being
in any way excited by the knowledge. The story is :
Twenty-five or more j-ears ago, John Day, a land cruiser for the lum-
• bering interests, stopped one evening, near sundown, to get his bearings. The
country was new to him, and to his companion. Neither had ever been in
that section of Minnesota before.
They decided to take their bearings, and so unslung their compass. But
the instrument was crazy; the needle danced this way and that. It whirled
round and round. It refused to perform its proper duties as a compass.
Wonderstruck, Day and his companion, carefully moved the instrument to
another place. But still it danced and whirled, and whirled and danced.
Never in his long life as a cruiser had old man Day experienced a similai
phenomenon. The two men cast anxious looks at each other, and then at
the sun, which was rapidly sinking in the west. Here they were, lost in the
great north woods, with a crazy compass.
Old man Day cursed softly to himself, and slowly scratching his head
boxed the compass.
"Son" he said, turning a sorrowful face to his companion, "\^'e camp
right here. Build a fire."
He sat down on a log, lit his pipe and smoked for a while in silence.
Then:
"Son, I reckon I've got it. There's iron round about here somewhere,
and some day some tenderfoot is going to find it. But that ain't your business
nor mine just now, and I don't reckon it'll be of any use in your time or mine,
anyhow; so, after we've had a l)ite, we'll turn in and get away from here to-
morrow."
And so they camped that night less than a mile from the mouth of the
great Mahoning open-pit mine, which, until the past few years, was the greatest
ore-producing property in the world.
Today, on the spot where old man Day stood, in impenetrable wilderness,
stands the city of Hibbing.
Day was not the only man who, in the eighties, knew that there
was iron along the Mesabi range. But there was little activity in
logging, or in mining exploration, until Longyear cut a road "west-
ward as far as Nashwauk," in 1891. The Wright and Davis logging
operations had been proceeding since the late eighties slowly north-
ward along their logging railroad, which started "at what was called
Mississippi Landing, across from the old Duluth and Winnipeg rail-
road at Swan River Junction, eight miles east of the Mississippi."
The railroad, however, did not reach the vicinity of Hibbing until
1894, according to Joseph Moran, who was a cruiser for the Wright
and Davis syndicate at the time. And there was probably very little
logging done until the railroad was near, whereas hot-footed on the
heels of Longyear came mining explorers, in 1891. So that after the
"tote" road had been cut through (and one seems to have been cut
through all the way from [Mountain Iron, where mining explorations
were feverishly pursued at that time) there seems little doubt that
logging became of secondary importance, excepting to the lumber-
men. It interested the mining men only so far as logging was
necessary to clear the timber from the land they wished to explore and
develop. Yet, while mining was the direct and lumbering the inci-
dental activity in the first years of Hibbing, the place was to an
extent a lumber camp for some time after Frank Hibbing began "to
explore for iron, late in 1891, or early in 1892. Soon, the Hibbing
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 551
district had many little exploration camps, and with the coming and
going of interested mining men, a central community, not very regu-
larly delineated, came into evidence in the vicinity of the spot later
chosen by the Hibbing townsite projectors. The community, with-
out legal authority, came to be known as "Superior," because of
Frank Hibbing's first find, the Superior mine, presumably.
The original landowners of the site of Hibbing are stated to have
been Martin B. Hull, Rudolph Ostman and Marshall Alworth. All
were purchasers of timber land in the range townships in 1882, al-
though in 1892 Al. H. Alworth was also identified with Frank Hib-
bing and A. J. Trimble in mining explorations. The land had be-
come so potentially valuable in minerals by the time Hibbing and
Trimble thought of platting a townsite that it was impossible for
them to purchase outright the land they wanted for townsite pur-
poses. They had to be content with a leasehold, and so it happened
that the village of Hibbing eventually was termed, "The Town on
Wheels," and ultimately was destined to be actually raised onto
wheels and transported to a new site, two miles or so distant, the
land upon which it had rested and developed for a generation being
especially important to, and needed by, the landlord and mining com-
pany, seeing that for a depth of two or three hundred feet the town-
site was all iron ore, of high grade, probably a hundred million
tons of it.
Platting the Townsite. — The original towmsite of Hibbing was
platted by H. L. Chapin, a civil engineer, in the spring of 1893, for
Frank Hibbing and A. J. Trimble, leaseholders. The original plat
embraced, according to the subsequent petition for incorporation,
"Lot five (5), and the se. qr. of ne. qr. of section 6, in township ^7 n.,
range 20 w." The plat was "designated as the town of Hibbing" and
"on the fifth day of June, 1893, duly approved and certified by the
Plat Commission of * -'= .* St. Louis County," and "on the sixth
day of June, 1893, duly filed in the office of the Register of Deeds
* * * in r.ook F. of plats."
Conditions at that Time. — C. M. Atkinson, editor of the "Mesaba
Ore," wrote in 1902 some interesting "Early Day History of Hib-
bing," gathering his material, in part, from John B. Conner, a pioneer
settler. He begins:
From the time Mr. Longyear completed the connecting link of the road
in from Swan River, there were comings and goings and, with the announce-
ment of the discovery of iron ore, many people came in here with the intention
of remaining with the new camp. New mining camps had sprung up all along
the range, and many of them had been seriously overdone, and the overflow,
looking for a new world to conquer, came here. Some of the early travelers
are here yet, and mighty good citizens they are too. After a time a considerable
"town"' of shacks and tents came up, from no one knew where, and the little
settlement in the wilderness was known as "Superior."
Additions were made to tlTc village from time to time. Hibliing and
. Trimble, of I)uluth, secured interest in iron lands here and nearliy, and
Mr. liil)lMng, having full faith in the future of this end of the range, finally
decided to make a town and call it Hibbing — a name good enough for anybody,
or any town.
.Accordingly, he selected the townsite, started a crew of surveyors at
work, and the announcement <if the birth of a husky robust infant was re-
corded in the court liouse at Duluth in June, 1893.
The struggle for existence was a most fierce one, and that every man in
town was not discouraged and quit the "diggings" is sometliing to be won-
dered at, as one stn])s to look back at the sore trials that lieset the pioneers
of what is now the leading village of the Xorthwest. Virginia was then the
center of attraction of the whole range, and when Hil)liing was announced it
was made the laughing-stock of the wdiole country.
552 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
That conditions were rigorous for the pioneers of Hibbing may-
be well imagined. It was almost inaccessible. The railway had not
reached it in 1892, and the journey along the "tote" road from Mesaba
Station, the nearest railway point, was well-nigh unbearable. The
traffic, along the dirt, and in the worst spots corduroyed, mountain
road to Mesaba Station in 1891 and 1892 was exceptionally heavy,
there being innumerable mining carnps needing supplies, with mining
equipment as well as provender, and the road was at time almost im-
passable. The further to the westward the mining camp lay the
harder the conditions, and Hibbing at that time was almost the
farthest westward. During those first years of the nineties, Captain"
A. H. Stevens, who later joined Oliver in mining work, had about
thirty horses employed constantly in hauling supplies westward from
Mesaba Station, and to make a "round trip'' between that point and
Hibbing seven days were needed. Today, the distance could be
covered, by auto, in a few hours at most. The freight rate from
Mesaba Station to Hibbing was six cents a pound, and mining com-
panies had the preference. Frank Hibbing paid $100 a ton for hay.
The hardships were made even harder in 1893 by the almost
universal depression. As the year advanced, money actually was not
to be had, and what work was not absolutely urgent was postponed.
Where work was found, payment was usually "in kind," food being
the most acceptable. Much of the exploration work was continued
on "grub-stakes," and one of the modes of payment in currency was
in "clearing house certificates." That state of aft'airs prevailed not-
withstanding that, from August of 1893, the great John D. Rocke-
feller, was in command, to all intents, of the mining activities of Frank
Hibbing and his associates. What would have happened in Hibbing
had the great financier not taken hold at that time is hard to con-
jecture. It is quite certain however that at that time Hibbing, Trim-
ble, and Alworth had little or no money. Atkinson quotes Conner
as stating that :
The winter of 1893-94 was very dull; there was little or no work of any
kind going on. The "jumping lumberjacks" were paid anywhere from $6 to
$12 a month, and were compelled to accept due bills, payable the following
January. The discount on this paper was from 25 to 50 per cent, and jobs
were exceedingly hard to get even at that figure. Therefore, inducement
was not great to work in the woods, and there was very little exploring going
on. A few men were being employed by W. C. Agnew, for the Mahoning
Company, and it is history that Mr. Agnew created for himself the title of
"The Working Man's Friend." He employed all the men he could make room
for and paid them from $40 to $60 per month. After pay-day, a Mahoning
miner was looked up to with respectful awe in Hibbing, and the less fortunate
ones speculated on whether he could buy a railroad, a line of steamships, or go
to Europe for an extended vacation. Hibbing at that time was a mere handful
of buildings on the townsite proper, but there were all kinds of shacks, pictur-
esque, grotesque, and otherwise, in all directions. They were occupied for the
most part by men who did not know where the next meal was coming from.
In the early morning, a person might stand on the west end of Pine street^
(that being the only street in town) and not see another man. Between 9 and"
10 o'clock the shackers would begin to crawl out, and froni that time on could
be seen a continuous string of men coming in from all directions. That was
the army of "shackers" who lived in the woods on all sides of Hibbing. The
tract of land west of First avenue was then known as Cedar Dale.
First Business Men in Hibbing. — The first boarding house "of
any note" in Hibbing was that established by Patrick Slattery, though,
somewhat earlier, "a mining-camp shanty was run awhile by Joseph
Stewart." "Prior to August, 1893, all there was of Hibbing" stated
Mr. Atkinson, "was what was called the Hay Market, located north
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 553
and northwest of the present power plant." Murphy Brothers, it appears,
"had the first general store established in Hibbing; it was housed in a
tent on the lot where later stood the saloon of Ed. LaChance." James
Gandsey was the second to open business, having a grocery store. He
was a grocery man in Hibbing for very many years. The first to open
an "exclusive dry-goods store" was the firm of O'Leary, Bowser and
Day. In 1920, Air. Day was still conducting the same business at
208 Pine Street. Berdie also was one of the early general-store
dealers of Hibbing. •
Petition to Incorporate. — The petition to incorporate the platted
portion, and also quite a considerable additional acreage, in all about
2,560 acres in townships 57-20 and 57-21, was circulated in June, 1893.
It was signed by 89 persons, the first to sign being John Meehan. The
petition stated that a census had been taken on June 6, 1893, and dis-
closed that there were 326 persons then resident upon the land for
which corporate powers were sought. Petition bore date of July 7,
1893, and it was filed with the county auditor at Duluth without delay.
On July 11, 1893, the county commissioners approved, and ordered
that election to make known the will of the majority of the inhabi-
tants, be held on August 15th next, at the ofiice of the Lake Superior
Mining Company. Dennis Haley, Ed. Champion and Dl. Dugan
were appointed inspectors of election. Frank Hibbing was deputed
to see that election notices were properly posted, and testified soon
afterwards that he had posted notices in five places : at Lake Superior
Iron Company's ofiice ; at the Trumble Sawmill; at the Lake Superior
Iron Co.'s shaft house ; at Brown's hotel ; and at Bradley's store. The
election was duly held, and 106 votes were cast, 105 being for in-
corporation.
First Election. — The way was thus clear, and the commissioners
ordered election of officers to be held on August 30, 1893, at the same
place. The outcome was that J. F. Twitchell, who seems to have been
unopposed, was elected president of the village, receiving 176 of 176
votes cast. The other first officials chosen were also almost unani-
mously elected. They were : John McHale, J. D. Campbell, and
T. N. Nelson, trustees ; C. T. Robinson, recorder ; Dennis Flaley,
treasurer; Ed. Champion and G. L. Robinson, justices of the peace;
John Meehan and Patrick Harrington, constables.
Regarding the first election, and the outcome, Mr. Atkinson
wrote :
The first election of the new village of Hibhin.^ was a special, held
August 8, and J. F. Twitchell was elected president, without opposition.
Mr. Twitchell at that time was timekeeper, storekeeper, and cashier for
Granville and Sullivan, the contractors who were doing construction work on
the extension of the Duluth, Missabe and Northern railway, from Wolf to
Hibbing. The ticket elected however did not suit the fancy of the shackers.
The Shackers' Union. — They decided to organize a "union" for self-pro-
tection. Xo time was lost, and the union was soon organized, with Robert
F. Berdie as president, and J. B. Connor secretary. .Xs there was not thirty
cents in the whole bunch, a treasurer was deemed an unnecessary luxury. The
object of the union was a most worthy one, Iieing to fill the elective oftices of
the village with men who would pledge themselves to have village work done
by the day, instead of by contract (some of the work was done by the year).
Second Election. — Drawing on the time of the regular election, a caucus
was duly called in "Germany Hall," a small doul)le-log cabin, in use by
Mr. Sellers in exploring the land now occupied by the Sellers mine. This
camp was situated near the former otTicc of tlie .Minnesota Iron Company, and
was one of the very first buildings erected in Hibliing. The caucus was called
to order and the man who was not a member of the Shackers Union was hard
554 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
to find * * * There was no opposition to the names presented, and the
following village ticket was speedily placed in nomination: R. F. Berdie, for
village president; J. B. Connor, for recorder; James Geary, D. C. Young and
John McHale, trustees; D. Healy, for treasurer; John F. Meehan and
W. F. Dalton, for constables. The opposition ticket was: J. Fred Twitchell,
for president; C. F. Robinson, for recorder; Burton Hurd, J. D. Campbell, and
James Geary, for trustees; D. Healy, for treasurer; John E. Meehan and
John McHale, for constables. The S:hackers elected their ticket, with the
exception of Mr. Berdie for president and Mr. Dalton for constable.
Mr. Twitchell, however, did not continue in office for long. His
policies probably met with opposition ; at all events, he soon resigned,
and James Gandsey succeeded him as president before 1894 was far
spent.
Pioneer Hotels. — ^Continuing John B. Connor's narrative Air. At-
kinson wrote :
The winter of 1893-4 was very dull * * * There were three hotels
in the town that winter, the Coffinger, the Brown, and the Cosmopolitan, and
James Dillon had a restaurant, located where the New York restaurant now
stands. The Hotel Superior was commenced that winter.
The Cosmopolitan hotel was owned by Dorsey and McKinary. Dorsey
was one of those freehearted fellows who could not see anyone go hungry if
he could help it, and, as a result, his business partner was often taxed to the
limit to keep things going. The dining room of the Cosmopolitan was about
24x40 feet, with three tables extending the full length of the room. Dorsey
would throw open the door, and announce dinner as follows: "Take it" — in
a voice that penetrated the depths of Cedar Vale. That was the signal: and
the jam at the tables made light of the opening of an Indian reservation in
Oklahoma * * * In less than an hour, everything eatable had vanished
from sight, and Dorsey would say confidentially to his partner: "There was
about half-a-dozen money guys in that bunch." _ It was a common occurrence
to see hanging over the Cosmopolitan every Friday or Saturday the following
notice, printed in large letters: "No more stiffs wanted — this place is closed."
The hotel 'had a bar-room in .connection, and Dorsey would take in enough
money over the bar in a few days to buy a ham and a sack of flour, and, re-
ceiving a grape-vine telegram a few days later, announcing the intended visit
of a few strangers, he would promptly declare the Cosmopolitan open for
business again.
Besides the hotels, however, there were eight saloons in Hibbing
in 1893. They were those conducted by Churchill and Sullivan,
Eugene Brown, John Munter, J. D. Campbell, Thomas Shank. John
Bruce and James Geary. One incident of the earliest year is referred
to by Mr. Atkinson thus:
In the "woolly" days of the town "Dufif" Campbell, now of Duluth, occu-
pied a tent on Pig Tail Alley, wherein he conducted a first class sample room.
It is hinted that be manufactured his own hardware and varnish. * * * As
is usual in all new mining camps, there were many "hangers-on," who were
no good to themselves, or anyone else. Duff had a number of these customers,
and one, more aggressive than the others, pestered Mr. Campbell unrelentingly.
After the usual request for "just one more, for a bracer ye know," Mr. Camp-
bell handed the vagabond ten cents and told him to go and buy a rope and
hang himself." He did so. "That was the first suicide in Hibbing."
Another reminiscence repeated by Mr. Atkinson is to the efitect
that:
W. C. Barrett was the first wholesale beer agent. The goods (of Fjt-
ger's celebrated stock) came overland from Mountain Iron, hotter and frothier
than * * * after the long jolt. But we drank it, smacked our lips, and said
it was good; probably because whisky was cheaper at that time.
And yet one more of Mr. Atkinson's reminiscences connects with
"the Trade." He wrote :
There is a difference of opinion as to the first ball held in Hibbing. Sev-
eral of the very old-time swell-set declare that the first dance antedated that
held in the "new bank building" by several months, and that it was held
in a tent, which was located near wbere the Center Street School building
now stands. A keg of beer was on tap for refreshments * * *, and it is
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 555
recorded that tlie weather was so cold that the "snout" of the keg froze up
solid, and about half the fun was spoiled.
First Franchise. — The first franchise granted by the viHage of
Hibbing was to Messrs Hibbing and Trimble, who organized the
Hibbing Light and Water Company. The ordinance under reference
is No. 8, which was adopted on February 27, 1894. When it became
known that Hibbing and Trimble would soon be laying water-mains,
the poverty-stricken and unemployed residents of the village felt that
relief was at hand, in work for the water company. But they were
doomed to disappointment. The contract for the laying of the mains
and erection of supply tank was placed with Fairbanks, Morse and
Company, which company imported men to lay the water-mains on
Pine Street and Third Avenue. As Mr. Connors described the hap-
pening, to Mr. Atkinson :
A long, gimlet-eyed, red-headed, seven-foot gasbag named Hammer, from
St. Paul, was brought in by the construction company to superintend the work.
Mr. Hammer ignored the Shackers by bringing his own crew of workmen
along with him. Hammer was up against no less than a dozen physical en-
counters a day at the start, and he finally armed himself with a two-faced
ax, for protection. However, the work was completed, and was the means
of bringing some money to the famishing town.
First Bond Issue. — Arising out of the first franchise granted came
the first bond issue. Ordinance No. 10, following resolution adopted
by the village council on April 30, 1895, made provision for the issu-
ance of bonds to the extent of $11,400, so that the village might pur-
chase the water plant of the Hibbing Light and Water Company, for
$9,700, and make certain extensions to the service at an expense
of $1,700.
It was therefore not long before that valuable public utility be-
came municipally owned, at little expense. As a matter of fact, Frank
Hibbing had to all interests, loaned the village the sum necessary to
establish the waterworks, having apparently never intended to hold
the franchise for his personal profit.
Improvement in General Conditions. — Although the "Shackers"
were disappointed because of their failure to get work on the water-
works contract, conditions soon began to improve, even though con-
ditions were "dull" throughout the whole of 1894. Mr. Atkinson
wrote :
About tliis time (completion of the waterworks contract in 1894), Frank
Hibl)ing advanced $3,000 to the country, for the purpose of building a road,
from Hibbing to the Mahoning mine. That caused a decided flurry in the
financial circles and every man boasted of the wave of prosperity that had at
last struck the town. Of the construction of the Mahoning road we give the
telling to Mr. Connor, who was there at the time:
"There arc not many of the old-timers who worked on that road now
(1902) with us, altliough I can name a few: Thomas McMillan, J. J. Stuart,
proprietor of the Hibbing Hotel; Dan Murphy, and myself. Poor old Trucky,
who had a ])lacksmith shop at that time also worked on the road, and carried
in five picks daily to be shari)enc(l at night, thus increasing his daily earnings
to $2.00, which was Si) cents more tlian the rest of us made. I remember
Peter ^icl lardy, the lumber dealer, bemoaning his ill-luck, because he was
laid up in bed with a fever, and could not get out to make $1..^0 a day, by
working on the road."
First Barber. — Hibbing was certainly improving, in general tone
and ])r(>si)ccts, and by the summer of 1894 a barber. A. C. Mc.\rthur,
apiK*areil in Ilibl)ing, and resolved to stay. He established his shop
at the s]K)t wluTt- later stood the Crystal restaurant, lie was follmved
bv James \'aii Merc. Maurice Hosteller later "oixmhmI a sho]-) in tlio
556 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Hotel Superior, and in a short time erected the building on Third
Avenue" later occupied by John Orr and Company.
Some of the Original Happenings. — One of the most interesting
"first" happenings, perhaps, was the tax levied, for all purposes, in the
village of Hibbing for its first municipal year, 1893. The total assessed
valuation of taxable property then was $31,318, and total tax was
$963.03. One is able to get a quick appreciation of the enormous
growth of Hibbing since that year by knowing the figures for recent
years. The county "Tax Notice for the Year 1920," shows that the
taxable value of Hibbing property in 1919 was $84,603,682, upon
which the total taxes for that year were $4,670,123, which is more
than one^fifth of the total revenue of the county. Add the Stuntz
township tax, $1,570,510, to that of Hibbing, and it is clear that Hib-
bing district yields more than one-fourth of the revenue of the w^hole
county. And St. Louis county is by far the largest tax-payer in the
state.
Interesting other first happenings are tabulated by Mr. Atkinson.
It appears that :
To Mr. and Mrs. Edw. Champion belong the honor of being the parents
of the first child born in Hibbing. The child was a boy, and was named
Philip. He did not, however, live.
Mrs. York was the first woman to arrive in Hibbing; she afterwards
'became Mrs. William Wills. (By the way, Joseph Moran claims that "Mrs.
Champion, wife of James Champion, engineer, was the first white woman to
reach Hibbing; that she came in on horseback, and that it was hard to state
which was ihorse and which was rider, the mud was so thick over them).
Mrs. Charles Gourdette was the first person who died in Hibbing.
There was no cemetery at that time, and the coffin was carried along a path
connecting the embryo village with Leighton's lumber camps, east of town.
In the woods, about forty rods off the trail, a cemetery was staked off, and
the grave is yet (1902) to be seen at the east end of Superior street. Pills'bury.
The 'first man who died here was James Dixon; he was the father of Miss
Jennie Dixon, of the telephone exchange.
The Hibbing News * * * was the first newspaper of Hibbing.
John Bergman, later a prosperous business man of Duluth. was a mem-
ber of one of the early village boards of trustees, and when a motion to install
an electric lighting plant came before the 'board, Mr. Bergman moved that
the "lection lamps be placed under the table." A motion to "adjoin" was
then made and carried.
D. C. Rood was the first resident physician and surgeon.
Hibbing's first postmaster was John Murphy.
The first depot was a D. M. & X. box-car.
John E. Meehan was the first policeman.
J. Fred Twitchell was the first real-estate agent.
Murphy brothers had the first hardware store.
John Daigle had the first restaurant, and he "made considerable money."
The first religious service was conducted by Reverend Mevel, who found
his way in here from Cloquet.
F. E. Doucher was the first lawyer.
The first drug store was established by J. H. Carlson and J. O. Walker.
Carlson later was the head of the Carlson Mercantile Company, and Walker
went to the county auditor's office in Duluth.
The first man arrested in Hibbing was "Padd}', the Pig"; 'he stole a
ham from Grocer Gandsey, and ham's were worth something in those days.
Ed Lehman was the first contractor and builder.
Mrs. Reynolds, now Mrs. Casey, was the first wash-woman. She made
money later in real estate.
Malcolm Noble was the first miner injured in the district. A bucket
fell fifty feet in the shaft at the Sellers mine, striking him on the head. The
injury was a bad one, but Mr. Noble weathered it.
James Dillon was the first drayman. On his dray was a sign which read:
"Pioneer Drayman." James Dillon is reputed to have moved one Hibbing
family six times in one year "on an advertising contract of $1.00 per." He
did well in business.
The first fire occurred on the morning of February 20, 1894, when the
Coppinger Hotel was burned.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 557
The pioneer ball in Hi'bbing took place on January 24, 1894. The party
was held in the "new bank building" now (1902) occupied iby W. J. Ryder's
furniture store. Tickets were placed on the market at $1.50 each, and it cut
even the pioneer swells to dig up $1.50 in those days. But the dollar-fifties
were forthcoming readily enough, when it was seen that there was no help
for it, and everybody went. And everybody had a jolly time. The floor
managers were J. F. Twitchell, G. G. Robinson, Dan McFadden, Mrs. J. J.
Stuart, and Miss Celia Gandsey.
The first banking institution started in Hibbing was the Bank of Hibbing,
wihich later became the Lumbermen's and Miners' Bank.
Early Mails. — It seems that the mails came in over the trail from
Mountain Iron in the early days before Hibbing was a railroad town.
There was no regular system of mail-carrying, but occasionally a
young man would come through, and for the carrying would be paid
"for the delivery of each letter."
First Post-Office. — The first post-ofBce was established in the
store of Murphy Brothers, said store having a tent for protection
against wind, rain, and yeggs. The tent was on First Avenue, but
before the winter came, the store and post-office were housed in a
stronger shelter, a frame building on Pine Street.
Abundance of Game. — In the hard times of the first year, 1893,
it indeed was fortunate for the "shackers" that there was an abun-
dance of game to be had. R. F. Berdie was responsible for the state-
ment that, at that time, "it was nothing unusual to step out and in
a few minutes kill, with a club, enough partridges to last a family a
day or so." Mr. Berdie also told "of a monster bull moose that he saw
standing in the street, near where the office of the 'Mesaba Ore' was
later located."
The Coming of the Railway. — Hibbing became a railroad station
in the fall of 1893, even though the first depot was only "a D. M. & X.
box-car." All depended on that vital transportation connection, and
had it been a normal year, instead of one in which all industry was
gasping — in all parts of the country — in an endeavor to recover from
the stifling effects of the world-wide money shortage there would
have been great rejoicing in Hibbing when the railway actually came.
There were many perplexing obstacles to overcome before the short
spur of steel track, from Wolf Junction cotild reach Hibbing. L.ack
of money stopped the work for months, and with the financial difii-
culty overcome, in August, 1893, there was still an uncanny natural
obstacle that for a time baffled the engineers. "Work was delayed
considerably by a sink-hole just one "mile east of the present depot.
The sink-hole was the most stubborn ever encountered in road-buikl-
ing in the Mesabi country. The track would be worked up to a level
at night, and in the morning it would be ten feet below." However,
the obstacle was finally overcome, and "Jack Dorsey, landlord of rhc
Cosmopolitan Hotel, drove the last spike that connected Hibbing
with the outside world."
Hibbing Fire Department. — Nibbing organized a fire department
in the summer of 1894. At the outset it was not much more than "'a
bucket brigade," because funds with which e(|ui]iment could be bought
was not to be had. Frank Hibbing, to help on the village, had under-
taken t(^ bear the ct)st of jiutting in a water system, that being an
urgent necessity for reasons of health. And he was approached for
funds to establish the fire brigade, but could not handle that expense
also, until an opportunity came, early in 1895, to acquire cheaply the
fire-fighting a])paratus of a decadent Mesabi place, the village of
Mcrritt, near ISiwabik. Nose cart and hose were purchased, and to
receive it a ]>ole and tackle was erected at the corner of Pine and
Vol. II — I
558 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Second avenue. On the morning of July 4th, 1895, the pole was
struck by lightning, "and shattered to its very foundations."
R. F. Berdie was the first fire chief, and had part thus in the beginning
of a municipal department of which Hibbing is most proud. In 1920,
the total valuation of the Hibbing fire equipment, not including the
water system, hydrants and real estate, but merely the legitimate fire-
fighting equipment, was $165,449.90. Cut ofif the 165 and you prob-
ably have the maximum figure paid to the village of Merritt for the
original second-hand equipment.
Hibbing in 1895. — One writer, who visited Hibbing for the first
time in 1895, described the place as follows :
In those days Hibbing lacked much of being a "right smart place."
* * * It was only a step from hotel to swamp, muskeag, or an outcrop of
rock. Many of those steps, too, had to be taken over a couple of planks,
instead of a cement sidewalk. Archie Chisholm was cashier in a dinky little
bank, limited in personal purse, but with a soul rich in hope. W. P. INIars,
now an official in a wholesale hardware firm of international importance,
then conducted a retail hardware here and did much of the heavy work with
his own hands. On that visit I met John A. Redfern. It was a warm sunny
da}' and he was setting a new boiler at the Penobscot mine, garbed in a red
undershirt that harmonized with his perspiring face and his rather vivid head
of hair.
In those days, Hibbing certainly was an ugly duckling. The U. S.
Steel Corporation had not yet been organized, and \'ictor L. Power was
wearing knee trousers, playing hookey, and thinking over whether he had
better -be a sailor or a soldier.
Notwithstanding appearances, conditions were brightening for
HibbincT in 1895. Atkinson writes :
'&
The coming of the summer of 1895 brought brighter prospects with it.
The D. M. & N., which had established its depot building at what was then
the south end of Third avenue, and did considerable track-laying, which
gave needed employment to the people. The Lake Superior Consolidated
Iron Mines * * * began preparation to open several mines, and that gave
the future a brighter tint than it ever had before. Property along Pine street
began to come up a little, and lots advanced in price from almost nothing to
$300, in some instances. The Itasca Mercantile Company- purchased the lots
it now (1902) occupies, at the corner of Pine street and Third avenue, from
Ole Hagerson. paying $750 therefor. The same lots cannot be had today
(1902) for twenty ttimes that sum. The year 1895 saw the opening of several
iron mines, and the town began to grow.
The City Hall was erected in 1895, and the village became a place
of dignity when in the winter of 1895-96 Frank Hibbing so far showed
his confidence in the future of Hibbing as to build "the first hotel
of first-class character erected on the range."
The Opening of the Hotel Hibbing. — The Hotel Hibbing was
opened on February 22, 1896, and "it was an event that interested
the people of the entire range." Atkinson writes :
The Hotel Hibbing was opened with a grand hall on Saturday, Feb-
ruary 22, 1896. Excursion trains were run from Duluth and all of the range
towns and our good neighbors drove across country from Grand Rapids to
join -in the festivities. The reception committee was: F. Brady, F. H. Dear,
Frank Hibbing, P. F. Eagan, Tames Gandsev, Garry Graham, W. L. Hon-
nold, M. H. Godfrey, James Geary, T. B. Beethold. A. M. Chisholm, Dr. D. C.
Rood, C. H. Munger, Dr. G. X. Burchart, P. Mitchell, and Dr. M. H. Man-
son. The floor committee of the memorable ball was Wm. H. Wright, D.
McEachin, F. E. Halbert, A. H. Sicard, C. F. Sheldon, W. L. Selden, and
Thomas J. Godfrey.
The Hibbing, until quite recently, when it became necessary to
remove the lower end of town to the new townsite at South Hibbing,
was the more exclusive of the two leading hotels of Hibbing. But
it, and the other hotel, the Oliver, would, in any event, be hope-
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 559
lessly outclassed by the four-story fire-proof structure that was in
process of erection in the fall of 1920 at South, or new, Hibbing. The
Androy Hotel, a palatial hostelry of 162 rooms and 100 baths, prom-
ises to excell all hotels in the county, even including the Spaulding of
Duluth.
However, such a structure was not even the subject of the
craziest dream of even the most optimistic Hibbingite, of the '90s.
Hibbing for Long Literally a Mining Village. — As a matter of
fact, Hibbing for very many years was a mining village, a place where-
in mining was supreme, and where all other considerations were sec-
ondary. Hemmed in as she was by mines on three sides of her, and
actually not owning the ground upon which she stood, her position,
as a municipality, and as a place of homes, was not an enviable one.
The attitude of the mining company was that the people were there
because of the mines ; which of course was true. They argued, or
thought, that the people without the mines, without the employment
the mines gave and the money the mines circulated, would starve ;
consequently, the comfort and interests of the people must be sub-
ordinate or secondary to the interests of the mining companies. And
when it became necessary to blast, for instance, within dangerous
proximity to the home of the people, the people must make the best
they could of such conditions, which were unavoidable. One writer,
who may have been perhaps, somewhat too graphic in his description,
pictured the condition in the following words :
You sit with your little family around the tabic, partaking of the humble
repast your daily pittance allows you. Suddenly a mig-htj- roar and blast
shakes everything in view, and a few seconds later there comes crashing
through your roof, or windows, the upheaved rpcks and debris, endangering
your lives and the lives of j^our loved ones. Picture the condition as a daily
occurrence. Likewise imagine yourself walking upon the public streets of
a town and then be suddenly forced to flee for safety into shelter, from sim-
ilar causes.
Put yourself in the place of a merchant, having erected a suitable build-
ing for your use, to wake some day to see the yawning abyss right at your
door, witih the hungry maws of the steam shovel tearing away at your streets.
And this is just what happened here.
Such a condition has been duplicated, in respect to caving, in
quite recent years in the great city of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where
cavings have dropped buildings, or parts of buildings, without warn-
ing, 20, 30 or 40 feet into the bowels of the earth. But at any time
in early, or in modern, times such a state of things is deplorable. It
held llibbing down for many years, just as similar conditions in
Scranton, Pennsylvania, resulted in an increase of only 3 per cent in
its population during the last decade. However, most wrongs are
righted eventually. Unreasonable conditions cannot prevail for long.
But the righting of Ilibbing's wrong came by an unusual se(|uence
of events. The condition at Hibbing in its early years, and the ulti-
mate remedy were referred to in the- "St. Paul Despatch," of Mav
29, 1918, thus:
In the early days, open-pit mining encroached upon the town of Hibbing
from all sides, and the clatter and roar of the steam shovels and the blast
of explosives filled the air day and ni^lit. The din resembled at all hours a
miniature battle (if the .'\isnc.
With each and every blast, the rocks and shale had a most unjilcasant
way of coming down through one's roof, or giving one a sudden attack of
heart failure, by falling in one's immediate neighborhood. Hibbing was being
literally blasted <<(( the ma]). P.ut nobody complaineil. It was expected as a
matter of cnur.-e — an hourly docunrcnce. It was Ir^n, and llii)bing was iron.
The iron and the l)lasting went hand in hand, and there could be no com-
plaint.
560 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
But Fate had written that things were to change. Down near the edge
of Sellers' open-pit mine lived a Swede named Iver Lind.. Lind owned a
span of Kentucky mules. These animals, lean and angular, powerful and
stu'bborn, were Lind's choicest possession. Long ago they had become ac-
customed to the din of the dynamite and the steam shovel.
One morning Lind was harnessing his mules, preparatory to starting his
day's labors. Half harnessed they were, and Lind was sweating and swearing
over their stubbornness, congratulating himself, withal, upon owning such a
perfect span when, suddenly the whistle in the Sellers' mine blew a warn-
ing note.
A blast was due. It was too late for either Iver or his mules to get to
shelter.
Bang. The blast tore loose. It sent a barrage of stones and gravel
high in the air. * * * One of the descending rocks struck one of Lind's
mules.
This was something to which the mule had never become accustomed.
Wit'h a kick and a bray he broke loose. The bray filled the air, whil'e the
kick found lodgment in Lind's anatomy.
Iver rose full of wrath. First, the mules and then the mining company
was to feel the weight of his anger. Into the barn, with accompanying blows
and curses, went the mules. To the office of power went Iver.
At once the Swede wanted to start injunction proceedings against the
Sellers' Mining Company. The ensuing action affected only Lind's property,
but its results were far-reaching.
It started a legal battle in Hibbing which extended over several years,
and attracted and aroused the interest of the entire country.
Here are some of the results of the suit, and the resultant injunction:
a. It cost the mining companies several million dollars, they now
admit.
b. It paved every street in Hibbing.
c. Likewise, in every street it installed a white-way.
d. It woke the people of Hibbing up with a start.
e. It brought them a clearer realization of a number of problems affect-
ing their welfare than they ever had before.
f. It roused the Hi'bbing spirit, and that sustained the people of Hib-
bing through one of the most trying periods in the history of the town.
g. It put thousands of dollars into the pockets of the people, who now
are disposing of their holdings on the "north forty."
It is the best thing all round, that ever happened to Hibbing, and every-
body realizes it now.
And so, with an injunction growing out of a kick of a mule, peace, com-
parative quiet, and much prosperity, came to Hibbing.
The Outstanding Figure. — The outstanding figure in this period
of Hibbing's history, this period of evolution — it has been called
revolution — undoubtedly was Victor L. Power, "who worked his way
through the mines as a blacksmith" and thus knew mining conditions
almost as well as he knew Blackstone and state law, when he took
up the legal fight for the people of Hibbing against the mining com-
panies. He has been termed : "Hibbing's Fighting Mayor," and
again: "Little Grant of the North," and in the years of litigation, so
strenuously prosecuted by the mining companies until they came to
the realization that human rights, the right of life and limb, are pre-
eminent. Attorney Power demonstrated his ability at the legal bar.
He has many enemies — that much may be inferred ; every forceful
successful man is envied ; indeed, the man who never made enemies,
never did anything worth envying — but Victor Power is undoubtedly
the outstanding figure in the municipal history of Hibbing, and Hib-
bing has been wonderfully transformed since he became mayor, in
1913. Quoting from a campaign statement recently issued by the
"Power Administration," it appears that extraordinary development
has come to Hibbing since 1913. The statement reads, in part:
Victor L. Power's first service as a village official began in March,
1912. At that time Hibbing was a ragged village of only 8,250 souls. Today,
the population has incerased to 15,082.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY . 561
When the so-called "Little Giant of the North" first became president
of the Village of Hibbing, there were only one and a half miles of pavement;
today there are fifteen miles. In addition, there are twenty-six miles of
graded and gravelled streets. In 1912 there were not more than seven miles
of concrete sidewalks; today there are twenty-twp miles. Then full account
must be taken of forty miles of water mains and sanitary and storm sewers.
* * * a beautiful park system has been developed. First came
Mesaba Park, in the very heart of the village, with greenhouse, grassy lawns,
shrubbery, flowers, rustic seats and a bandstand. It was a small, but very
attractive, breathing place. * * *
Then came Bennett Park. 61 acres in area and developed at a cost of
$300,000, as artistic as anj^thing ancient Greece ever possessed * * * neat
fences, * * * driveways, * * * bandstand, * * * White-way, * * *
conservatory, * * * refectory, a swimming and wading pool for children,
apparatus * * * for children's games, and fifteen out-of-door picnic stoves
for the use of picnic parties. Athletic Park, embracing 20 acres, improved
at a cost of $20,000 * * * for baseball, basket ball, * * * a warming
house for winter skating, and other features. * * *
* * * a public library building that cost $250,000. * * *
* * * a complete new water system, at a cost of $750,000.
An up-to-date electric power and municipal heating plant * * * the
admiration of engineers of international fame; its cost was $l,3{X),0O0. A mu-
nicipal gas plant * * * $289,000; and a city incinerator, cost $55,000.
* * * a detention hospital, finished in 1920, at a cost of $35,000. * * *
* * * a newer, bigger, and carefully-planned town (on the new town-
site) Sout'h Hibbing.
The most recent aim of the Power administration is to bring into
operation a city form of government, which "will bring in much out-
lying territory, and make a city of about twenty square mil'es." Cer-
tainly, the advance of Hibbing during the years of the Power ad-
ministration has been rapid. And, fundamentally, Victor L. Power
seems to be obsessed by the desire to institute public improvements
which will bring to the realization of the alien people who have been
attracted to the district by the opportunity of work (which it must
be admitted is lucrative) in the mines, that their lot in America is not
merely a day of toil and a night of domestic squalor. The wonderful
schools of Hibbing and other range places, and the parks, libraries,
and suchlike provisions have their effect. Hibbing is no longer a
"mining camp" ; it is a metropolitan, cosmopolitan city, in which the
hornv-handed miner may, and does, hold his head high, and provide
for his family a typical American home. Hibbing has changed. Not
many years ago "Hibbing, as a town, looked little better than some
of the mere mining camps, ramshackle and tough in exterior, and
with housing conditions of a kind that put the blush of shame on the
slums of our biggest cities." Today Hibbing is an object lesson in
what is possible in "the Melting-Pot of the World."
Of course, all the credit is not due to the Power administration ;
the mining companies are deserving of ])art. Without the co-opera-
tion of the mining companies, such advancement would be impossible,
and it will probably be admitted that they have gone "more than
half-way" in recent years — since they reached the point where they
appreciated that the mining company did not have supreme jurisdic-
tion over all the affairs of the miner that life and limb have right of
place even before the vital interests of great industrial enterprises.
New Hibbing is a convincing demonstration of the good that comes by
union of classes, by co-ojjcration of emi)loycr and employee. All
prosper; and accomplish marvels.
There is little more space available, so the remaining historical
records must be brielly stated.
Annexations and Additions. — The l^illsbury addition was the first
made to the boundaries of the village of Hibbing; that comprised forty
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DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 563
acres, adjoining the original townsite on the south. It was platted
in 1896. In 1902 another forty acres, known as the Southern addition,
was brought vyithin village limits ; it lies next south to the Pillsbury
addition. In 1910, Hibbing sought to annex the townsite of Brooklyn,
and election was held on April 19, 1910. Brooklyn was added to the
village, and Ansley's addition came in 1916. Alice came into the vil-
lage in 1913, including Koskiville and Sunnyside, and on September 13,
1919, the se. qr. of ne. qr. of 57-21, adjoining Alice came in to provide
the site for New Hibbing, where the other additions known as Central,
Sargent and Eastern additions, belong to the Oliver Iron Mining
Company.
Village Hall. — The first city hall was built in 1895. It was re-
placed in 1909 by an imposing block of pressed brick, with Bedford
stone trimmings, the three-story structure costing $135,000 and pro-
viding quarters for all municipal departments. New quarters, it
seems, is to be provided in the new Hibbing.
Public Library. — In 1907 Andrew Carnegie was approached and
promised to donate $25,000 toward the cost of establishing a public
library. The building was constructed, and opened in 1908. Its
cost, including site, was $35,000. Improvements since made, in 1917,
at a cost of $100,000, give Hibbing a public library better than any
other on the ranges. The library had about 23,000 volumes to open
its circulation with. In 1920, it had 8,414 active borrowers, and the
circulation for the year was 171,032 books.
The original librarion was Miss Margaret Palrper, who came to
be recognized as the "Dean of the Range Librarians." Latterly, Miss
Dorothy Huilbert has had charge of Hibbing library. Mainly through
the initiative of Captain Wm. H. McCormack, Hibbing soon estab-
lished a unique library service. Its "traveling library," a circulation
of books in outlying locations by means of a bus, was instituted in
1910, and has been the subject of many magazine articles since that
time. The service is a praiseworthy and appreciated one. Miss
Charlotte Clark is the "traveling librarian," and the bus serves 25
mining locations in an area of 160 miles. A gong announces the
arrival of the "Traveling Library," and it is heard in each location
once a week, summer and winter. Hibbing also has two branch
libraries.
Oliver Club. — The Oliver clubhouse was an appreciated com-
munity service . It was built by the Oliver Mining Company, at an
expense of $20,000, for the use of its employees, and their friends,
and was equipped with many of the conveniences of a modern city
clubhouse.
Banking History. — The first bank organized and established in
Hibbing was the Bank of Hibbing. It was merged into the Lumbcr-
mens and Miners Bank, in 1894, A. M. Chisholm being the first
cashier of the latter bank. A bank known as the Security was
founded in the nineties, and conducted business for some time, but
was absorbed by the Lumbermen's and Miners', which remained a
])rivate banking house, owned by A. D. Davidson, A. D. McRac and
A. M. Chisholm. In 1901 the First National Bank of Hibbing was
organized, to succeed the Lumbermen's and Miners'. Its original
capital was $25,000, but it subse(|uently was increased to $50,000. and
it now has a surplus of more than $60,000. The original officers of
the First National were: A. D. Davidson, president; A. D. McRae,
vice: F. S. R. Kirbv. cashier. The present officers are: S. R. Kirby.
president: Dr. D. C. Rood and Pentecost Mitchell, vice presidents;
564 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Lewis C. Newcomb, cashier; L. O. Kirby, John A. Redfern. and
R. L. Griggs, directors.
The Merchants and Miners State Bank was incorporated on De-
cember 31, 1903, and opened for business on February 1, 1904. Its
original capital was $25,000, and its first officers were : J. F. Killorin,
president; A. M. Chisholm, vice president; L. G. Sicard, cashier. It
prospered, and on September 1, 1909, increased its capital to $50,000.
Since 1916, Gust. Carlson has been president, and the present vice
presidents are G. L. Train and B. M. Conklin. The succession of
cashiers of the institution is as follows : L. G. Sicard, A. W. O'Hearn,
J. L. Lewis and A. L. Egge, present cashier. The business of the
bank is, it is stated, about five times more than it was in 1904.
The Security State Bank of Hibbing was organized on February
9, 1911. Its original capital was $25,000, and its first officers: Hans
C. Hansen, president; H. P. Reed, vice president; W. R. Spenceley,
cashier. Mr. Hansen did not qualify and C. A. Remington was
elected as the "first acting president." The capital of the institution
has never changed ; the only change in official roster was the election
of H. C. Hansen, as president, in 1919, and the addition of Emil Sal-
minen, as assistant cashier. Deposits are near $800,000, and there is
now a surplus of $5,000.
There is now a fourth bank, the Hibbing State Bank, which was
organized on November 10, 1919, and serves the people of South
Hibbing. First officers were: H. P. Reed, president: W. J- Ryder,
vice president ; E. G. Hoskins, cashier. The capital is $25,000 with
surplus of $5,000.
Hospitals. — Hibbing has three hospitals. The first to be estab-
lished was the Rood. Dr. D. C. Rood came to Hibbing in 1893-94,
and soon established his hospital which served the village and the
mining companies. In 1898 Dr. H. R. Weirick came to Hibbing, and
ever since has associated with Dr. Rood in the hospital service. In
1920, the new Rood Hospital at South Hibbing was completed at a
cost of $350,000. It is by far the finest hospital on the range, and the
same two physicians, Drs. Rood and Weirick, head the medical staff.
They have had enviable part in the development of the community,
also during the last 20-25 years. '
The Adams Hospital was first opened in June, 1902, by Dr.
B. S. Adams, and provided accommodation for fifteen patients. The
hospital has developed considerably since that time.
Hibbing in addition has a detention hospital owned by the
municipality. It was completed in 1920, at a cost of $35,000, and "is
the only hospital in St. Louis county, if not in all Minnesota, that has
a receiving ward for tubercular patients."
Churches. — The pioneer church activity has already been re-
ferred to. The first church services, it appears, were held in Murphy
Brothers' store. The religious meetings were of union character.
There are ten or more strong church societies in Hibbing today, all
w^ith church buildings, the largest being the Methodist Episcopal.
The Catholic church was early active in the pioneer village.
Fathers Joseph F. Buh and Mathias Bilban were the early attending
priests, being in the village in 1894. The first mass was offered up on
January 27, 1895, by Rev. C. V. Gamache, and for the next three
years mass was held in the city hall. The first Roman Catholic
church was built in 1897, but not completed until 1900, the first resi-
dent pastor being Rev. C. V. Gamache. Unfortunately space in
which to enter into details of church history is not available. The
Church of the Blessed Sacrament, the oldest Catholic church of
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 565
Hibbing-, has the largest membership of any church society of the
village. Rev. James Hogan has been pastor since 1911. The Church
of the Immaculate Conception, of which Catholic church Rev. Raphael
Annechiarico is pastor, is attended by Italians and Southern Euro-
peans, generally.
The Presbyterian church has one of the strong memberships of
Hibbing churches. Present pastor is Robert von Thurn.
The Episcopal church maintains its dignity and service, and its
church building adds to the beauty of modern Hibbing. Present
pastor is R. A. Cowling.
The Grace Lutheran has a substantial church at South Hibbing.
Pastor is Rev. Walter Melahn.
The First Methodist Episcopal church, the largest in Hibbing,
is on Sellers Street, and has a very strong membership. The Metho-
dist church society dates back, in Hibbing history, to the early years
of pioneer struggle. Present pastor is H. W. Bell.
The Swedish Methodist Episcopal church has a strong member-
ship. Its present pastor is Rev. C. M. Carlson.
The Immanuel Swedish Lutheran is in charge of Rev. G. P. Wil-
liams ; and Our Saviour's Lutheran, at South Hibbing", is the pas-
torate of A. E. Baalson. There are also two Finnish Lutheran
churches, which together have a larger membership than any other
Hibbing society. There is also a Norwegian Lutheran.
Then there is the Union church, at Alice, the Christian Science
church, and the Jewish Synagogue." Certainly, in church attendance,
and religious observance, Hibbing has long since passed out of the
category of a "mining camp."' She has, of course, in all things, and
there are just as many devout men in Hibbing as in the average east-
ern city of like size. Possibly the people of Hibbing are even more
liberal and loyal in the support of its church societies than is the
general experience in other places.
The New Power Plant.- — Flibbing has a "million-dollar" power
plant. The magnificent plant built in 1919-20 at new Hibbing was
estimated to cost $900,000. It was decided upon in 1918, when it be-
came evident that the original site of Hibbing would be needed soon
for mining purposes. In any case, a plant would have soon been
Tiecessary, the existing plant having become inadequate. So it was
decided to ])uil(l "for the future," in new Hibbing. Contract was
awarded in Ai)ril, 1919, and the ])lant completed in September, 1920.
Technical description cannot here be given, but it should be stated
that the completed plant as it stands is a credit to its designer, Charles
Foster, who is general superintendent of the Hibbing Water and
Light De])artment. and supervised the construction. There is not a
finer munici])al power planf in St. Louis County, it is claimed.
Parks. — Conrad B. Wolf became superintendent of parks in 1913,
the year in which Victor L. Power became mayor for the first time.
Both made themselves e\ident by accom])lishnient of great tilings.
Wolf has had all he has asked the village administration for, and has
had the hearty co-operation of the mining companies in his plans of
city betterment, and so has been able to establish a system of parks
that must be an inspiration and n jdeasure to the people of the ])lace.
The ])arks have been elsewhere referred to herein, but tribute must be
paid to the planner. By his work in Hibbing, 'Mr. Wolf has come
into good rei)uti' throughout the country among park superintendents,
and landscape architects in general. His task was an exceptionally
difficult one, owing to the severity of the climate, but he has brought
566
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
color, fragrance and beauty to the village, and pleasure to the children.
The people of Hibbing should get good return for all the money in-
vested in the park system.
Commercial Club. — Hibbing is fortunate in having an unusually
alert business body. The Commercial Club is making Hibbing very
evident in other parts of the state, and neighboring states. Its ener-
getic secretary, S. V. Saxby, has the hearty co-operation of almost
all the business people of the place, and especially of the ofificials of
the association. The officials of the Commercial Club are :
R. A\'. Hitchcock, president; C. C. Alexander, E. A. Bergeron,
E. \\\ Coons and John Curran, vice presidents; S. V. Saxby, secre-
tarv ; A. L. Egge, treasurer; C. C. Alexander, E. C. Eckstrom,
C. V. Chance, S. C. Scott, O. G. Lindberg, F A. Wildes and G. H. Alex-
ander, directors.
bird's-eye view of BENNETT PARK, HIBBING, 1915 — AFTER FIRST YEAR OF WORK
UPON IT
Newspapers. — The Hibbing "News" was established in 1899, as
a Hibbing paper, although as a range new^spaper its age can be in-
creased five years, for it was in the spring of 1894 that C. A. Smith
issued his first number of "The Ore," at Mountain Iron. It was
intended to cover the whole ofthe range, and at that time Mountain
Iron was, perhaps, the most important place. But with the great
development of mines at Hibbing the center of activity changed, and
in 1899 the owners of the "Ore" decided to move their office to
Hibbing. There the paper became "The Mesabi Ore and Hibbing
Daily News," and so it remained until 1920, when it became a daily,
a successful morning paper, the only morning paper of the range,
by-the-way, and in consequence enjoying a good circulation through-
out the range. Claude AI. Atkinson, a gifted and original writer,
acquired the paper in May, 1899, and with his son, Alarc M., has
conducted it ever since.
Another early paper was the Hibbing "Sentinel," Will A. Thomas,
editor and proprietor. The paper was in existence in 1899, the "Sen-
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 567
tinel" plant having- been "hauled overland from La Prairie by Wm.
McGrath. Publication of the "Sentinel" was discontinued in the fall
of 1899, but resumed in July, 1902.
The "Tribune," which of late years has been an evening journal,
was founded in June, 1899, and in the early years was a weekly pub-
lication. It was originally owned, it has been stated, "by a stock
company, whose manager was J. Waldo Murphy." Another record is
to the effect that in 1902 the plant was owned by H. C. Garrott, of
Eveleth, and that the editor then w^as Theodore C. Surdson. Early
identified with it as partners were T. C. Congdon, druggist of Hibbing,
and F. G. Jewett, pioneer dentist of the village. A. E. Pfremmer w^as
the sole owner of the paper in 1906, when R. W. Hitchcock, present
editor-owner, acquired a part-interest in the journal. With the re-
tirement of Pfremmer in 1910 Mr. Hitchcock became sole owner. The
"Hibbing Daily Tribune" has a good circulation, and covers the after-
noon field well.
Another local paper of merit established recently is the "Gopher
Labor Journal," a weekly, founded by W. T. and C. J. Lauzon, at
South Hibbing in 1919. W. T. Lauzon became sole owner in March,
1920, Sandford A. Howard, an experienced newspaper man, coming
to Hibbing to assume editorial direction of the paper. Recently from
the Gopher Printing House came a well-written and elaborately-illu^
strated booklet on Hibbing, "The Old and the New."
Transportation. — Hibbing has two railroads, and a wonderfully
efficient motor-bus service along the range. And in addition, an elec-
tric trolley system that brings all the important places of the range
within an hour of tlibbing. The motor-bus service, owned by the
Mesabi Transportation Company, is an instance of how rapidly
worth-while things are developed in that country. The Mesabi Trans-
portation Company was organized on January 1, 1916, to operate a
line of motor buses between Hibbing and Grand Rapids. At the out-
set, the company had five busses, the officers of the company being the
drivers. In 1920 they were building a $75,000 garage at South Hib-
bing to house its twenty-three W^hite and Studebaker buses ; and they
were averaging seven thousand passengers daily, and maintaining a
service "as regular and reliable as a good clock." The officers of the
company are : C. A. Heed, president ; C. E. Wickman, vice president
and manager; E. C. Ekstrom, secretary; A. G. Anderson, treasurer,
and R. L. Bogan, director.
Court House. — The magnificent District Court House at Hibbing
is one of the finest buildings, probably the finest, in old Hibbing;
and it is far enough away from the point of mining to be sure of
its present site for many years. It was built in 1911, so as to give to
the western part of the Mesabi range within St. Louis county a service
equal to that established in Virginia, for that part of the range, in
1910.
Hibbing ere long hopes to have a Federal building.
War Record. — liibbing's war record was a meritorious one. Its
young men went into the fighting forces, as has been recorded else-
where ; its women formed a powerful Red Cross chapter; its miners
put even more "steam" into their work; and its people, rich and poor,
combined to give to the limit of their means tc the \arious war funds.
If the Lake Superior district represents 8-lOths of America's ore sup-
ply, and the Mesabi produces more than all the other ranges com-
bined, then Hibbing's part in the providing of the raw material with
which to make the shells and the ships was by no means insignificant,
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DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 569
when one realizes that from one alone of Ribbing's open-pits, the
Mahoning-Hull-Rust, came about 9,000,000 tons of the 40,0000,000
tons won for the world and the allies from the Mesabi Range in 1917.
. Moving of the Village. — While it is erroneous to state that Rib-
bing as a whole is being removed, it is proper to assert that all build-
ings on the original townsite will have to be removed. The removal
will be undertaken gradually, and even when completed, about two-
thirds of what is known as the "old town" will remain undisturbed,
the Pillsbury and another ''forty" not being needed by the mining com-
pany. The Minneapolis Daily Tribune, of May, 1920, stated :
For twenty years it has been common knowledg'e to the townspeople
that the ore body in the east, west, and north sides of the origfinal townsite
of Hibibing extended under the principal business section. * * *
For the last ten* years the most densely populated district of Hibbing
has been surrounded by open pits, making it impossible for the town to ex-
pand. The northerly extremity extends out thumb-like and somewhat like a
plateau, some of its buildings being perched on the edge of a wild gorge,
hewn deep into the earth. Since the original townsite was laid out, the mines
have steadily encroached on it, the Sellers' from the north and east, and
the Rust from the west.
The Oliver Company * * * h^^j already acquired the right to the
minerals under part of the town by lease, in 1899, and two years ago began
to buy the surface rights. It paid $2,500,000 for them, and today owns the
majority of the lots and buildings in an area of more than eight city blocks.
After these purchases were made, it became necessary to acquire a new
location for that part of the town that had to .be transplanted. One mile
away was the Central Addition, owned by the mining company, and here is
to be the "New Hibbing."
The first buildings moved from the original townsite to the new addi-
tion, in September, 1918. All frame buildings in good condition have been
transferred. * * *
The moving of the buildings had to be done by steam log haulers and
tanks (traction engines) of the caterpiller type.
The Central Addition is growing very rapidly. Since last September
sixty-two buildings, dwellings, and three store buildings have been moved
onto the site, and twenty-four new buildings have been built. * * *
* * * Within another year, the mining company officials say, there
will 'be little left of what was the original business section of Hibbing.
Recently fifteen persons residing in the soutihern end of the business
and residential district, the Pillsbury and Southern Additions, and in the
township of Stuntz, just outside the village, began an action against the
Oliver Company, the Town of Hibbing, and the Mesa'ba Electric Railway
Company, to enjoin the town from disposing of its property in the original
townsite, enjoining the vacation of streets,- enjoining the railways company
from removing its tracks, and enjoining the Oliver Company from doing cer-
tain things which would permit the mining of the northerly forty acres.
They suggested that the Oliver Company purchase their property, but
it has no interest in the ore underlying the Pillsbury or Southern Additions.
The application for a temporary injunction was argued Novemiber 28 and 29,
and was taken under advisement.
An issue of the "St. Paul Dispatch," that of September 8, 1920,
stated that $20,000,000 was being expended in the removal of the
town and the building of the new. Other estimates place it at $18,-
000,000. And the "Ribbing Daily News," of July 4, 1920, thus tabu-
lated the cost incurred in removal and new construction :
New business buildings $3,000,0(X)
New hotel and hospital 1.000,000
New power and cheating plant 1 .(XKI.OOO
New homes, already constructed or under construction 1,000,000
New school buildings 2,600,000
Water and sewer mains 650.()(X)
Street grading 450.000
Recreational building 750,000
City hall 500.000
570 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Depot and railway improvements $ 500,000
\\ arehouses oUU.Uoj
New homes and apartments to be built by the Oliver
Company for its employes 1,800,000
Office buildings, Sargent Land Company, and Meridan
Iron Company 500,000
Interurban line improvements 100,000
County Fair Grounds 250,000
Municipal Athletic Park 25,000
Additional boulevarding 50,000
Other civic improvements 2,500,000
$16,950,000
which is quite a "big construction bill for a little villag-e of fifteen
thousand." It would be "big" in other places than Hibbing, where
dimensions, no matter how "big," bring no surprise to men who know
Hibbing's history. Hibbing started "big," aiid always will be.
Schools. — The biggest, most astounding, fea.ture of Hibbing is
its schools. The new high school at South Hibbing, the cost of which
is expected to pass $2,000,COO will, probably, be the finest high school
in the state, indeed in many states, because not many public school
districts have the means with which to provide such a costly school.
There is no doubt that educators of eastern parts of the country would
look with amazement at the range schools, if they paid a visit to this
part of the country. And they would look with envious amazement
at the salaries drawn by the teaching staff of a range school. The
superintendent of Hibbing District receives a higher salary than any
other public school superintendent in the state, it has been stated.
Hibbing's school history begins with the first school session, held
in the pioneer village in 1893, when Miss Annie McCarthy had the
use of the upper floor of J. H. Carlson's store building, on Pine street.
In 1894, the first school building was built, and at the tim-e it was
thought that they were planning well ahead of requirements in build-
ing a four-roomed schoolhouse. But the building problem has always
been a serious one in Hibbing, where the enrollment outgrows the
schools almost before they are ready for occupation. "A building
that was thought to be ample for several years' growth would be
filled to overflowing almost before it was fully completed." The fol-
lowing grade buildings have been erected within the last nine years : A
twenty-room building, costing, with equipment, $150,000; four four-
room buildings, costing $20,000 each ; one eight-room brick building,
costing $40,000; two four-room frame buildings, built on leased sites
* * * at a cost of $18,000 each ; two two-room frame buildings, cost-
ing $15,000 each, and five one-room buildings. In addition, there is
the large Central high school building, the Lincoln, built in 1912, at a
cost of $350,000. But notwithstanding this costly building program,
there was serious overcrowding in some of the Hibbing schools in
1920. In South Hibbing fourteen classes were held in store buildings,
and the kindergarten in the fire hall. In the main school it was found
necessary to take the enrollment in sections, and to use the basement
rooms.
Relief will come with the completion of the present building
program, which includes a large school and the $2,000,000, or $2,600,-
000 high school and junior college. Hibbing-, by the way, has the
third-largest junior college west of the Alleghenies and east of the
Rockies. The high school growth has been from 73 to 650.
The enrollment for the Hibbing district in 1893, perhaps, reached
the tens, but did not get far into it ; the enrollment for the school-
year 1919-20 was 4.080. The teaching staff grew from one, in 1893,
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
571
to 181, in 1919-20, ninety of the latter being graduates of college or
university. Average salary to male teachers in that year was $244;
to female teachers, $152. School property then included sixteen frame
school houses, and six of brick, the whole valued, in county statistics,
at $1,127,501. In addition there is an enrollment of more than 500
in the parochial schools. The school district has an assessed valua-
tion of $135,000,000, and therefore can always command the funds
needed for its proper administration. The school tax for the year
1919-20, in the Hibbing school district was $1,129,915.96, and for the
year 1920-21 the tax will be more than $1,400,000.
Mr. C. E. Everett, of the Hibbing school board, in his remarks
before the graduating class of 1920, on June 17, 1920, gave an inter-
esting and concise review of educational progress in the district. In
part, he said :
Tihe Hibbing School District, legally called Independent School Dis-
trict No. 27, of St. Louis County, covers six townships and eight sections of
another. It is twenty-four miles long at its extreme length, and twelve miles
wide at its widest point. It consists of such locations as Stevenson, Carson
NEW HIGH SCHOOL AND JUNIOR COLLEGE AT NEW HIBBING, FINEST SCHOOL BUILDING IN NORTHERN
MINNESOTA; COST MORE THAN $2,000,000
Lake, Kelly Lake, Kitzville, Mahoning, Pool, Webb, and Addition of Alice, and
Brooklyn, besides the City of Hibliing. It was organized in 1898 as a common
school district, and in 1908 as an independent district. It comprises 224
square miles.
There are seventeen location schools, having * * * from one to ten
rooms. Two school buildings are under construction at the present time,
the grade school, Cobb-Cook building, consisting of twelve rooms, and one
High school and Junior college.
Buildings, however, do not make a school, and Hibbing is noted for
its corps of instructors. Grade teachers with the same qualifications are paid
the same salary as High school teachers. Many of our grade teachers are
university, as well as normal, graduates. We believe in ol)taining the best
possible (|ualified teachers for every department of our schools.
Every student, beginning with the fourth grade, is taught some form
of manual training, cooking and sewing, physiology, hygiene, and civil gov-
ernment liave been included in the curriculum for next year, beginning with
the seventh grade.
Twelve Iiundrcd and fifty children are transported eacii day into the
town schools. The location scIkkiIs offer work through the third grade.
Above the third grade, the pupils are transported to town schools, where they
enter departmental work. Departmental work gives each pupil an oppor-
tunity to have a special instructor to each subject. The sixty-minute, or
hour i)lan is used. The first thirty minutes is used for recitation, the second
thirty minutes for supervised study. I'upils are put in classes according to the
mentality of the child, so that each child may get character and pace work
wiiicli he is able to do.
572
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Pupils who are transported into the town schools have the privilege of
using the soup kitchen, feeding 250 a day free of charge, or cafeteria for hot
lunches at cost price of food materials.
The school has one teacher giving her entire time to working in the
homes of the non-English-speaking people, doing Americanization work. The
health of the school children is not neglected. Two nurses give their entire
time working with school children, and one doctor has, in the past. The
board recently hired a dentist to give his full time to school work.
The members of the Hibbing school board, the Independent
School District No. 27 of St. Louis County, in 1920, were : C. E.
Everett, Hibbing, clerk; Frank Andley, treasurer; T. J. Godfrey, chair-
man ; Dr. F. W. Bullen, W. F. Kohagan, R. Ray Kreis, directors ;
C. C. Alexander, superintendent. The last named is recognized as
A CONCRETE-FLOORED BUILDING MOVED SUCCESSFULLY TO NEW
HIBBING THE OLD COLONIA HOUSE, ON ITS WAY TO NEW
SITE, THERE TO BE RENOVATED AND RENTED TO SCHOOL
BOARD AT $500 A MONTH, FOR USE AS TEACHERS' APART-
MENT HOUSE
one of the most capable educators of the state, and the Hibbing sys-
tem has been described as "Out-Garying (the famous) Gary."
And the certainty is a good field in the Hibbing district for the
fullest and most capable work of the most able educators. In Hib-
bing school last year thirty-nine nationalities were represented, Amer-
icans predominated of course, but attending school were : 759 chil-
dren of Swedish origin, 393 Clovanian, 257 Servian, 200 Norwegian,
933 Italian, 186 German, 320 French, 918 Finnish, 256 Croatian, 417
Austrian, and smaller numbers of other nationalities. In very many
cases, the children acquire American ways and speech before their
parents. In many cases, the children go to school by day, and the
parents are just as enthusiastic students by night, and while the par-
ents are in school the school administration sees that their children
are cared for in the home. It is a very enlightened system, producing
good results for the town and nation. There was an enrollment of
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 573
more than 600 adults for the night-school sessions in the Hibbing dis-
trict in 1920.
Population. — Hibbing, on June 6, 1893, had a population of 326; in
1900 the federal census figures for Hibbing were 2,481 ; in 1910, 8,832;
in 1920, 15,089. It has passed all the communities of the range ter-
ritory.
Mayoral Succession. — The presidents of the Village of Hibbing
from the beginning have been: J. F. Twitchell, 1893; J. F. Twitchell,
and James Gandsey, 1894; James Gandsey, 1895; R. L. Grififin, 1896;
J. A. Mclntyre, 1897; A. N. Sicard and E. J. Longyear, 1898; T.
Waldo Murphy; 1899; James Gandsey, 1900; John A. Redfern, 1901;
W. J. Power, 1902; Frank H. Dear, 1903; W. J. Power, 1904; Peter
McHardy, 1905; Frank Ansley, 1906; H. R. Weirick, 1907-12, and
Victor L. Power, from 1913 to the present.
Now the historical review must close. Enough has been written
to indicate that Hibbing has had a great past, and promises to have
a great future. Its citizens have the spirit to keep it ever moving
forward ; and they certainly have the money to help them.
Vol. II— 5
CHAPTER XXIV
HISTORY OF THE CITY OF VIRGINIA
"Queen City of the Mesabi"
By reason of its geographical position fundamentally, but for
other reasons also, the city of Virginia rightly is termed the "Queen
City of the Mesabi Iron Range." She has since the 'nineties been the
centre, the metropolis, of the range, one might say of the ranges, for
she is recognized as the business metropolis of the Vermilion as well
as the Mesabi range. Hibbing is becoming increasingly conspicuous,
and is notably aggressive, but the general impression a stranger
in Virginia gets of things municipal, social and civic is that Vir-
ginia is, and long has been, the established leader among the com-
munities of the range territory.
Mining. — As is the case of course vs^ith all communities of the
Mesabi range, the history of Virginia begins with mining explora-
tions, and it is therefore proper to review the history of mining in'
the Virginia district before writing about civic affairs.
Among the early explorers of the Mesabi, those that are known
to have passed over and noted the Virginia "loop" and suspected its
mineral value in the 'eighties, were members of the Merritt fam-
ily, David T. Adams, and John McCaskill. It is hardly possible now
to decide who was the first to begin actual explorations, in the way
of test-pit sinking. One record indicates that "the first exploratory
work (in the Virginia group) was done on the Ohio" by a com-
pany in which Dr. Fred Barrett, of Tower, Thomas H. Pressnell,
of Duluth, and others were interested. Winchell states that "the
first pit in ore in this township, 58-17, was sunk on the southeast
quarter, northeast quarter sec. 8, by Captain Cohoe, and discovered
ore at a depth of thirteen feet. This was in March, 1892, and was
the Missabe ^Mountain mine." It is generally supposed that the
first ore discovered in the Virginia district was at the Missabe
Mountain mine, but David T. Adams writes:
In the winter of 1890-91, I made a trip into township 58-17, in the in-
terests of Humphreys and Atkins and myself, and camped for ten days on
section 4 * * * north and east of the present city of Virginia. During my ten
days' stay in that township I located every deposit of ore in the Virginia hills,
from the Alpena and Sauntry, in section 5, down to the Auburn, in section 20,
and I brought back the minutes with the deposits well marked, including the
minutes of the lands where Virginia stands. All of the lands containing de-
posits that could be acquired in some way were acquired by Humphreys, At-
kins and myself, including the lands upon which stands the city of Virginia.
In the spring of 1891 I engaged the services of John Owens, then of
Tower, to erect exploring camps on the nw, qr. of the nw. qr. of section 9,
now the Commodore, which was the first exploring camp built in township 58,
range 17. Explorations on this property ensued, with Mr. Owens in charge
of the men, and in the second test-pit, of a series which I had located to be
sunk, the first ore in this township was discovered. A little later, I discovered
ore on the s. half of the sw. qr. of section 4, now the Lincoln mine, but the
discovery was in the low lands, and, on account of the water, the work, was
abandoned for the time being.
The next discovery in that township was made by the Merritt Brothers,
on the ne. qr. of section 8, now the Missabe Mountain mine, and the next dis-
covery was by me, on the sw. qr. of the nw. qr. of section 9, now the Lone
Jack. Next following were the Norman mine, by Louis Rouchleau; the Min-
newas, by the Merritts; the Rouchleau Ray. by Louis Rouchleau; the Moose,
by John Weimer; the Shaw, by Gridley and Hale, and the Auburn, by Cap-
574
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 575
tain N. D. Moore. Meantime, Frank Hibbing reported a discovery of ore on
the w. half of the sw. qr. of section 31, of 58-20. These discoveries were made
in rapid succession and furnished undisputed evidence of the existence of
vast deposits of iron ore in the taconite formation, and the great possibilities
of the Mesabi range, and did more to establish the Range solidly in the
minds of the people throughout our country than all that was said and done
previous thereto. It then became everybody's game, and everyone for him-
self, to do the best he, or they, could in acquiring options and raising money
for developments, and explorations along the range became general. In the
meantime Captain Edward Florada, who was left in charge of the explora-
tions on the Cincinnati when I started work at Virginia, took an option on the
Missabe Mountain from the Merritt brothers, and succeeded in interesting
the late Harry Oliver in the option. The entry of Mr. Oliver on the range
further stimulated explorations, and thereafter proved the nucleus of the
Oliver Iron Alining Company.
Another record reads : "The first ore actually discovered in the
district (Virginia) was on the Missabe Mountain mine, now known
as the Oliver, by Captain John G. Cohoe." Supporting- that statement,
Mr. Fred Lerch, who has resided in Virginia since 1892, writes:
"The first ore discovered in the Virginia district was by Capt. John
G. Cohoe. He was conducting exploration work at Biwabik." Cap-
tain Cohoe, by the way, was sent to Biwabik in August, 1891, and in
ten days "had ten pits in ore" at the Biwabik mine. He might possibly
have gone over to the Virginia district soon afterwards.
Captain Florada was a mining man of experience in the Michigan-
ranges at the time ore was discovered on the Mesabi, and presumably
\yas in the Biwabik district in 1891. However, a review written in
1909 of his activities in Minnesota mining includes the following para-
graph regarding his part in pioneer mining in Virginia district:
In 1892 he turned his attention to prospecting on the Mesabi range, where
a few deposits of ore had been recently located. Here he met the late Henry
W. Oliver, by whom he was engaged to locate and open an iron mine._ A
series of brief investigations on the part of Mr. Florada sufficed to convince
him that the property now known as the Missabe Mountain mine was_ what
he was seeking, and he proceeded to strip and develop the same, in which he
retained an interest for several years.
The same 1909 publication makes the statement cjuoted below,
as to the coming of John Owens to Virginia:'
Early in 1892. Mr. Owens went to Virginia, and engaged in exploration
work for Mr. A. E. Humphreys and associates. He took charge of a force,
which by test-pitting located the famous Commodore mine, then known as
the New England.
Another, and an earlier review of Mesa1)i mining states, regarding
the Commodore, or New England, mine :
The Commodore mine * * * has the distinction of being the first
property in the Virginia group On which actual development work was done.
It was explored in 1891-2 by A. E. Humphreys and associates.
So that the records are somewhat conflicting. The fact is, all the
prospectors were more concerned in finding and developing ore prop-
erties than in keeping the historical record correctly, in those exciting
and strenuous early years on the Mesabi. So, we will now pass on to
brief reviews of the individual mines of the Virginia district, beginning
with the .
Missabe Mountain Mine. — This mine is situated on "nidcmnity
school lands belonging to the state." The first pit on the property was
sunk on the se. qr. ne. qr. of section 8, by Captain Cohoe. "and dis-
covered ore at a depth of 13 feet" in March. 18^2. Captain Cohoe was
employed by the Merritt brothers, who had secured the mineral lease
576
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
from the state, on a royalty of 25 cents a ton of quantity mined. Fred
Lerch gives the information that Captain Cohoe "located the southeast
corner of the quarter section * * * took three hundred paces to
the north, three hundred paces to the west, and located his testpit,
which encountered ore at a total expense of ^33, a remarkably cheap
discovery, when one considers that the Missabe Mountain mine
originallv had about sixtv million tons of ore, worth today about
$100,000,000." However, the Merritt brothers "had their hands full ;"
they had more ore "in sight" than they knew what to do with, which
perhaps explains why they were willing to let a proved mine in that
early day of the Mesabi pass to another. ' They leased, or sub-leased,
the property to Henry W. Oliver, through Capt. Ed. Florada, on the
OLIVERS FIRST VENTURE IN MESABI MINING THE MISSABE MOUNTAIN MINE. VIRGINIA,
SOON AFTER STRIPPING OPERATIONS BEGAN
basis of 65 cents a ton royalty, 25 cents of which would have to go to
the state. That transaction was the making of the Mesabi, for Henry
W. 01i\er became interested in Mesabi ore at the opportune moment
— at the time when the peculiarities of the Mesabi ore made it proble-
matic whether it would eventually prove to be worth anything at all
to the finders. Oliver had furnaces of his own, was well known to
steel men, had the co-operation of Prick, and so was able to push past
the obstacles that might have made other steel men become indifferent
to Mesabi ore, and refuse to exert themselves to adapt their furnaces
to the peculiarities of the raw material. Oliver was "in it" and he just
had "to go through with it" : he had to make his mining investment
good. He did so, and incidentally made the Mesabi, becoming by far
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 577
the largest operator oii the range. (See Chapter XVIII, reviewing the
main epochs of Mesabi mining history.)
One record states that the Missabe IMountain mine was found
"a. few months after the Biwabik discovery." The Biwabik mine was
proved in August, 1891, by Captain Cohoe, who also sank the proving
testpit at Missabe Mountain mine. ^Missabe ^Mountain Iron Com-
pany was incorporated by the Merritts on January 27, 1892, the capital
being $3,000,000, and the incorporators Leonidas and John E. Merritt
and K. D. Chase. On March 2, 1892, the company was granted a
state lease. No. 59, on the usual royalty basis presumably. It has been
stated that the Merritts expected "to spend $150,000 in exploration"
on the Missabe Mountain property, but that "they actually spent only
$41." How it happened that Henry W. Oliver, a steel manufacturer
of Pittsburgh, made the journey to the Mesabi range at all, at a time
when only local speculators were "grubbing around," must it seems
be attributed to his interest in national politics. He happened to be
"present at the nomination of Harrison (for the presidency) in 1892,
and as he was in Minneapolis he made a side trip to the new Mesabi
range, the fame of which was being noised among ore men. From
the nearest railroad station on the Duluth and Iron Range it was thirty
miles across country to the new field, a fearful trip, to be made in a
buckboard, through swampy woods, over corduroy roads, churned
liuii-dcc]) with the hauling of many teams. With Mr. Oliver were
George T. Tener and C. D. Fraser, also of Pittsburgh, among the
ablest of his lieutenants whom he was even then gathering about him.
They visited the Cincinnati mine, at that time the nearest to a mine
on the Mesabi. * * * They lodged at the Cincinnati location, and
then Tener and Fraser, in their misery, refused to go another foot.
Oliver went next day to the Missabe Mountain Iron, and was so
impressed with its possibilities that he leased it forthwith on a 65 cent
royalty." The leasing agreement was a good one for the Merritts; it
gave them a little ready cash, with more soon to follow, thejease of
August 1, 1892, calling for an advance cash payment of $75,000 by
Oliver to the ^Missabe Mountain Iron Company, $5,000 upon signing
of lease, $45,000 in equal monthly installments over the next three
months, and the balance before operations began in 1893, in which
year Oliver was to mine 200,000 tons. The lease was to run to
January 1, 1903. Oliver was not a wealthy man, but he "caught the
fever" when he reached the range, and risked the future. He was a
good business man but somewhat speculative. A mutual acquaint-
ance, meeting a friend of his while traveling, once asked : "Is he rich
or poor this vear?" Oliver had. experienced many vicissitudes in the
course of his business career ; "he had made and lost fortunes." When
he invaded the Mesabi, it is said he was "fairly rich." A year later,
when the mine was ship])ing, he was "desperately poor." And in the
"Pittsburgh grou]) are men today who remember how the Missabe
Mountain shipped 300,000 tons in 1893 without a cent." Still in that
year nobody seemed to have money, and men on the mining range con-
sidered themselves f(irtunate if they were "grub-staked."
After securing the Merritt lease to the Missabe Mountain mine,
in August, 1892, Oliver went on quickly with his plans, and on
September'30, 1892, the ()liver Mining Comi)any. with an authorized
capital of $1 200,000, was incori)orated. the princii)al promoters being
11. W. Oliver, 11. R. Rea. C. E. Tener, !•:. D. Rcis. C. D. I'raser and
Edward Florada, the last-named having been given charge of mnimg
operations. How Oliver drew into co-operation with him the most
powerful steel men of America is told in the Mesabi general chapter.
578
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
In 1894, in consideration of "very large output," a minimum of
400,000 tons a year, Oliver was able to get the Lake Superior Con-
solidated Iron Mines, John D. Rockefeller's mining subsidiarv, which
had succeeded to the Merritt interests on the Mesabi. to reduce the
royalty to 25 cents, with, presumably, an additional 25 cents for the
YAWKEY MINE
state treasury. The first year of shipment was 1'893, when 123,015
tons were mined. In 1894 the output was 505,955' tons, the Mountain
Iron and Missabe Mountain mines standing well out from the other
twelve producing Mesabi mines of that time. Regarding the Missabe
Mountain Mine, in early 1895, Winchell wrote :
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 579
Including the 1 cent tax, the income to the state from this mine has
amounted to $163,532.20 in two years. This mine has been developed and its
wonderful record made, under the direction of Capt. Ed. Florada and Capt,
A. J. Carlin. A greater depth of ore has been proven here than at any other
point on the Mesabi, a vertical drill hole 320 feet in ore having failed to pass
through it.
One need not wonder why, with such evidence before them, min-
ing- men were enthusiastic in the early nineties, as to the future of
Mesabi mining.
Captain Florada was not the man who introduced the steam
into Mesabi mining, but it was he who first demonstrated its great
value in Mesabi operations. Bridge's "The Inside History of the
Carnegie Steel Company" makes reference to the astounding work of
the steam shovel at "the first Mesabi mine secured by Mr. Oliver,
pointing out that 5,800 tons of ore were mined and loaded into cars by
one steam shovel in ten hours," and that the output for one month was
164,000 tons. Continuing, he wrote :
This was the work of only eight men. Three such machines * * *
mined from its natural bed 915,000 tons of ore during the season of 1900,
working day-shift only.
Still, notwithstanding that it was the second-largest shipper in the
first year, the Oliver Mining Company had only taken about three
million tons out of Missabe Mountain Mine up to the end of 1917.
The mine resumed its old activity in 1918, however, and by the end of
1919 the total ciuantity mined had reached 5,368,615 tons. Still, the
present rate of production could continue for many years, for there
is about fifty-five million tons still available. F. R. Alott is general
superintendent, and W. A. McCurdy, superintendent.
Commodore Mine. — A. E. Humphreys, and his associates,
including Atkins and Adams, "secured a lease on what were known as
the Nelson lands, belonging to the C. N. Nelson Lumber Company,
of Cloquet." As .before stated, the explorations were directed by
David T. Adams, with whom was Neil Mclnnis, and it is said that
"ore was shown up on the Ohio and the Commodore within a few days
after the first discovery on the Missabe Mountain."
"It was explored in 1891-2, and at that time known as the New
England" Mine, stated one record. Humphrey's company, the New
England Iron Company, subleased the property to James Corrigan on
November 11, 1892, on the basis of 55 cents royalty, with a first year's
minimum of 50,000 tons. The operations were in the hands of
Corrigan, Ives, and Company at the outset, the firm later becoming
Corrigan, McKinney and Company. In June, 1893, the property
passed to the Franklin Iron Company, Franklin Rockefeller being
president of that company, and Thomas Goodwillie of Iron Belt,
Wis., secretary. There being a heavy overburden, the mine was
worked by a shaft, and in 1893 exceeded the minimum, o5,137 tons
being mined. Whether the operation by the Franklin Iron Company
was merely "a working agreement," or not cannot be decided from the
papers now available. The Commodore and Franklin mines, which
adjoined, were both in 18')4 under the sujierintendence of Capt. John
Harris, and Winchell recorded that they .were then •'owned ancl o])er-
ated by Messrs. J. Corrigan, P. ^IcKinney and \\ Rockefeller." The
Franklin jiropertv however "became involved financially." and passed
into the ])()Ssession of John D. Kocket'eller, and was later acquired by
the Republic Iron and Steel Company, which corporation still owns
the h^anklin Mine. The Commodore Mine, hmvever, passed to Cor-
rigan, McKinney and Company, under the superintendence of E. D.
580 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
McNeil, who in 1907 started the heavy task of stripping the over-
burden. The mine is still owned by the McKinney Steel Company,
and E. D. McNeil is still general superintendent.
The Commodore mine has yielded 6,421,911 tons, to end of 1919,
having been consistently operated since it became an open-pit. It is
now, however, near the end of its proved supply.
Franklin Mine. — The Franklin mine was opened in 1893, in which
year 46,617 tons were shipped. The Franklin Iron Company seems
to have been handicapped financially and eventually the property
passed from Franklin Rockefeller to John D., his brother. The former
was so hard-pressed for ready money in 1893 that, according to Fred
Lerch, analytical chemist of Virginia, he could not meet, on due date,
an account of $250 but then had to ask Lerch Brothers to accept a
note, payable in sixty days, for the amount. The Franklin, with other
mines, including the Union, Victoria and Bessemer, passed ultimately
into the operation of the Republic Iron and Steel Company, present
operators. C T. Fairbairn was manager of the mining interests of
the Republic Iron and Steel Company in 1907, and Capt. Wm. White
general superintendent of the Franklin group. In 1919 the Republic
company's mining afifairs, which had reached out to the westward and
now included several important mines of Kinney and Nashwauk dis-
tricts, are directed by Francis J. Webb, with T. A. Flannigan, general
superintendent. The Franklin mine has yielded 2,241, 761 tons, to end
of 1919, but seems to have reached nearly to the end of its available
deposit.
Union Mine. — The Union mine was opened in 1900, and in four
years shipped 296,424 tons. There was idleness for a few years, and
then for some years the output was not appreciable. In 1912, however,
more than 200,000 tons came from the L^nion, which ever since has
maintained that volume of production. To end of 1919 the total of
shipments was 2,278,229 tons. At present rate of production the
proved deposit will be exhausted in a few years.
Victoria Mine.— The Victoria was opened in 1893 by Corrigan
and Rockefeller, passing to the Republic Company eventually. No
ore was shipped from it until 1906. and the total up to end of 1919
was only 637,300 tons, with very little still available. .
Bessemer Mine.— The Bessemer was opened also in 1893 by same
parties. It is not now on the shipping list. The last shipping year
was 1915, when 49,459 tons were mined, the property having yielded
altogether 1,238,540 tons.
Ohio Mine. — The Ohio mine was one of the first to show activity,
if not the first to produce ore. It was probably already certain to the
promoters that ore was in the property when they, on January 7,
1892, formed the Ohio Mining Company, of $1,000,000 capital, to
mine it. Identified with the promotion were : James E. Campbell, of
Columbus; E. D. Sawyer, of Cleveland; W. J. Hilands, of same
place ; C. F. Nestor, of Lancaster, Ohio ; R. S. Munger, M. R. Baldwin,
T. H.' Pressnell and J. K. Persons, of Duluth ; S. R. Ainslee, of Chi-
cago," and Fred Barrett, of Tower. The last-named was the pioneer
newspaper editor of both ranges, having conducted the "Vermilion
Iron Journal" for some years before founding the first Mesabi Range
newspaper. He, however, was enthusiastically prospecting on the
Mesabi range almost from the beginning of mining at Mountain Iron.
Regarding him one writer stated :
Those were the days of many prospective millionaires, and Dr. Barrett
fondly imagined that he was one of them. Although he died without reach-
ing the goal of his ambition, he was richer than any mere money-grubber
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 581
that ever lived, for he possessed a wealth of human kindness, an inexhausti-
ble fund of humor, and one of the noblest hearts that ever beat in sympathy
for others.
The compiler may, perhaps, be pardoned for so diverting. As
to the Ohio mine, Winchell wrote in 1895 : "Leases and sub-leases have
been made and forfeited upon this property, and its exact status at
present is unknown to the writer."
It seems that two parties had a lease to the property, and both
subleased to the Ohio Mining Company. S. R. Ainslee, of Chicago,
leased to the Ohio Company on March 29, 1892, at a royalty of 25
cents. And on June 13th, following, James Sheridan and John B.
Weimer, who seemed to have established some right to the property,
leased it to the Ohio Company at 65 cents, with 150,000 tons minimum,
and $15,000 advance royalties. Trouble seems to have followed the
promoters. On March 31, 1894, the decree of court forfeited interests
of Sheridan and Weimer in Ohio Mining Company's lease, "in default
of lease of June 24, 1892."
Weimer, however, was, from the beginning, involved in the
attempt to exploit the mine. They found the ore, but before mining
decided to strip the property. Before they could complete that work,
the money panic of 1893 set the Ohio Company on the inactive list.
John B. Weimer had undertaken the stripping contract, but he failed —
for a like reason. Then followed the years of deflation, the period in
which Mesabi ore could not be mined at a profit. Eventually, it
became evident that small independent companies could not live, and
the Ohio stock was swept into the Rockefeller holdings, passing
eventually with his other property to the U. S. Steel Corporation's
mining subsidiary, the Oliver Iron Mining Company. The mine has
only been worked spasmodically. Up to 1900, 540,514 tons had been
mined; in 1900 the output was 172,597 tons; but no more was mined
until 1905. Eight hundred thousand tons was worked in 1907, but
since that time the mine has only been worked during one year, 1916,
when the shipment was 23,665 tons. It must therefore be considered
as one of the reserve properties of the Oliver Company, there being
about four million tons still available.
Lone Jack. — The Lone Jack mine adjoins the Ohio. The property
was owned originally by Alonzo J. Whiteman, of Duluth, who seems
to have leased it (or sold it) to John T. Jones and D. T. Adams.
Another account states that it "was owned by A. J. Whiteman, who
sold it before iron was discovered. A lease was taken by David T.
Adams, James Foley and associates, who explored it and soon found
.ore." The Merritts also were interested in it originally, a lease passing
•from them to N. D. Moore and J. F. Foley, thence through Humi)h-
reys to Lone Jack Iron Company. The Lone Jack Iron Company was
formed July 24, 1892; the incorporators were A. 1^. Humphreys,
George E. Milligan and Arthur Howell ; and the capital was $500,000.
Two inclined shafts were sunk preparatory to mining by Captain
Folev, but the properties were brought into the Merritt group to be
consolidated, when the Merritts were struggling to extricate them-
selves from their financial difficulties. They failed and their options
passed to Rockefeller. The properties also eventually became his,
by purchase from D. T. .Xdams and others. I\ventually, the Lone Jack
came under the control of the Oliver Iron Mining Company, present
owners.
Less than 200,000 tons have been mined since IIHX). and there
is still as much in the mine as has been taken from it. The available
deposit is 2,329,356 t<Mis ; the (juantity mined is 2.206,292 tons.
582 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Lincoln and Higgins Mines. — The Wyoming Iron Company was
formed on April 22, 1892, with a capital of $300,000. The organizers
were Frank Cox, S. W . Eckman and ^^^ F. Gore, and the result of their
operations were the Higgins, Tesora and part of the Lincoln. The
company sub-leased the ne. of nw. of sec. 9-58-17 to John T. Jones on
a royalty of 50 cents and 25,000 tons minimum.
John T. Jones and his associates explored the Lincoln, which
adjoined their Commodore property. Later they disposed of their
lease to the Inter-State Iron Company, the mining division of the
Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. The mine, however, did not come
onto the shipping list until 1902, when 87,908 tons were shipped. It
has been continuously operated ever since, averaging about 250,000
tons a year, at which rate there is enough proved ore to last for about
another seven years. C. T. Fairbairn was the mining manager when
shipments first began, Thomas Pellew succeeding him in 1906. They
were working four shafts in 1907, a'nd it was then the best equipped
underground property in the district. The Lincoln still belongs to
the Interstate Iron Company. ]\Iark Elliott being general superinten-
dent and J. H. Mclnnis, assistant general superintendent.
The Higgins mine passed to the Oliver Mining Company in 1897
or 1898, Capt. John Gill becoming superintendent for the Oliver Com-
pany in 1898. The mining was somewhat more difficult than at some
other mines, at the Missabe -Mountain for instance. The first ship-
ment from the Higgins was made in 1904. The surface was stripped
and the mining carried on both by milling a4id by steam shovel,
although owing to the steep grade the ore mined by steam shovel was
not taken direct from the mine but dumped through a chute, and then
hoisted in the shaft. About a million and a half tons have been taken
from the mine, and about eight million tons still remain.
Norman Mine. — The Higgins Land Company was the original
owner, paying $1.25 an acre, in 1887, for 11.661 acres on the range.
The right to explore and mine was sold to Louis Rouchleau, the lease
being of July 11, 1892, from F. \\". Higgins, of Olean, to Louis
Rouchleau, who sub-leased to the Minnesota Iron Company. The
company opened the mine in 1894, and "was the second to adopt the
'milling' method" of open-pit mining, the process being to strip oflf
the overburden and mill the ore down through a winze into cars in the
mine, from which the ore was dumped into skips and hoisted. The first
superintendent was Capt. John Armstrong. By the end of 1898,
421,132 tons had been shipped. Eventually the mine passed, with the
consolidation, into the control of the Oliver Iron Mining Company,
but with the exception of a few thousand tons in 1907, nothing was
mined from the Norman from 1898 until 1908, when the Oliver Com-
pany worked it "in connection with the Lone Jack, Ohio and Oliver
(Missabe ^lountain)." The Norman was a very deep and narrow
mine, and as the open-pit mining proceeded furiously (as it did in
1908, 1909 and 1910, the three years averaging a million tons a year),
the mine developed the appearance of a deep gully. The feeholders
were concerned at the method of mining, and brought suit to set aside
the lease, alleging that the Oliver Company was "wasting the ore,
and hurting the mine." A compromise was efifected, much to the
financial advantage of the feeholders, it is believed. The lease was to
expire on March 31, 1913, and just prior to that time a much richer ore
bed was discovered beneath the other. The total shipment to end of
1919 was 6,481,788 tons.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
50 ">
Rouchleau-Ray Mine. — The Rouchlcau-Ray mine is one of the
great mining properties of the Mesabi. Not a ton has yet been taken
from it, but the proved deposit is 23,953,707 tons. F. T. Higgins and
Giles Gilbert were the feeholders, and mining right was granted to
Rouchleau, of Duluth, the Rouchleau-Ray Iron Land Company being
formed. The deposit was proved, to an extent, but no attempt was
made to mine the deposit, probably because of the money panic of
1893, and the flatulency of market "in 1894 and 1895. On November
20, 1895, however, the Rouchleau-Ray Land Company, together with
feeholders, gave H. V. Winchell an option to purchase the mine for
$1,125,000. For a ninety-day option -$125,000 was paid, and it tran-
AUBUKN MINE, 1902, AS IT APPEARED THEN, AND AS IT STILL IS, NOT A TON OF THE
TWO MILLION TON DEPOSIT HAVING SINCE BEEN MINED
spired that the interested partv wrs the Lake Superior Consolidated
Iron mines, then owned by John D. Rockefeller. "Just before the
(jption expired, the company asked for an extension of time, which
was refused." That meant the saving of a few hundred thousand
dollars to Rockefeller, for about a year later he purch.-.sed the property
for $750,000. The mine, of course, passed with the other mining
property of John 0. Rockefeller, to the Steel Corj)oration in 1901.
It has since lain dormant in the control of the Oliver Iron Minmg
Comi)any.
Auburn Mine. — A mile to the southward of the Normrn is the
Auburn, which was originally known as the Iron King. The prc:p-
erty was explored by Nat Moore, for A. E. Humphreys and otbers.
Soon it was leased bv the Minnesota Iron Comi)any. on a 30-cent basis,
584 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
and "under the direction of Capt. George W. Wallace became an
example of the best results that could be obtained from the milling
process." The Auburn was considered in 1894 to have "one of the
finest plants and locations on the range." In 1894, 110,809 tons were
shipped. Nothing has been mined from the Auburn since 1902, and
up to that time a total of 2,143,028 tons had been shipped, leaving
still available 1,793,917 tons. It is a reserve property of the Oliver
Iron Mining Company.
Other Important Dormant Mines. — The history of several other
important mining properties in the Virginia district is similar to that
of the Norman and Auburn, in that there are enormous deposits
available, but unworked. The Great Western and Great Northern
properties were partly explored by the Alerritts ; the Great Western
Reserve belongs to the Oliver Company and is considerd part of
the Auburn ; not a ton has been mined of 5,108,305 tons available. The
Moose is another Oliver property from which nothing has been taken
of the proved deposit of 8.688.651 tons. From the Shaw, adjoining,
nothing has been mined of 5,703,195 tons available. The Minnewas
mine has given 68,084 tons of its 11,313,710 deposit. The Sauntry has
a deposit of 18,573,108 tons, and not a ton of shipment is listed, while
another undeveloped portion has a reserve of 6,628,395 tons, according
to the Minnesota School of Mines statistics. From the Alpena mine,
classed on the shipping list as the Sauntry-Alpena mine, and including
shipments from the Sauntry mine, 9,193,272 tons have come since the
two mines were first opened, and there is a reserve of about three
million tons. These mines all belong to the Oliver Iron Mining
Company, or are leased to them.
The "Moose was first explored by A. E. Humphreys. Later John
B. Weimcr secured an option on it and made further explorations but
lost it. The property was aftenvards sold for $400,000 and was cheap
at the price."
The Shaw, adjoining the Moose, was one of the earliest exploita-
tions. The Shaw Iron Companv, capitalized at $3,000,000, was organ-
ized on December 19, 1891. by'D. W. Scott, J. E. Da vies and R. H.
Palmer. It was a Merritt promotion, the first officers being: D. W.
Scott, president; A. R. Alerritt, treasurer; A. J. Tallow, secretary;
Alfred, E. T. and C. C. Merritt, and H. T. Hildebrand, directors.
Their operations, however, did not reach the producing stage, and
that has not yet been reached by their successors.
The Minnewas Mine was explored by Louis Rouchleau, and
developed as an underground mine by Captain Cohoe and Capt. Phil
Scaddcn in 1893, in which year 13,858 tons were shipped.
The Sauntry. — The Sauntry property was explored "in the early
days by a man named McDonald, for the Musser-Sauntry Lumber
Company, of Stillwater. It was later sold to the Oliver Iron Mining
Company for $750,000, and in the spring of 1900 stripping operations
began, William Montague being then superintendent, and Otis Was-
son, captain. "After considerable overburden had been moved, the
work was discontinued, and the property has been idle since" stated
a 1907 review.
The Alpena. — The Alpena adjoins the Sauntry. It was explored
by Capt. M. L. Fay, for the Yawkey interests, "who sold it to the Steel
Corporation."
The Minorca. — Captains M. L. Fay, J. H. Pearce and Harry-
Roberts discovered ore on the Minorca in 1900. They afterwards
sold the lease to Pickands Mather and Company, "the first two receiv-
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 585
ing $30,000 each, and the latter $65,000." The mine was opened in
1901, and became a shipper in 1902. Captain Joseph Roskilly was in
charge. The mine was worked steadily until 1915, at the end of which
year there was only an available deposit of 25,000 tons. Nothing has
since been shipped and Pickands Mather and Company have given
up the lease.
Larkin Mine. — This mine, as the Tesora, was explored by Capt.
M. L. Fay, and the Tesora Mining Company was formed to operate
it. Captain Fay and W. H. Yawkey, the fee owner, constituting the
company. They sank a shaft in 1906, with the intention of mining the
ore, but an opportunity came to lease it, which they did to the New
York State Steel Company, the mine then being changed in name to
the Larkin, under which name it has since been known. Mining
began in 1906 and ended in 1913, a total of 204,837 tons being mined.
No further quantity has been proved up.
Onondaga. — The Onondaga mine, a small property, was operated
by the Republic Iron and Steel Company for six years, which ended
in 1913, but only about 200,000 tons have been mined.
Columbia Mine. — The Columbia mine, north of the city of Vir-
ginia, was explored for A. E. Humphreys and his associates in 1900.
They sold the property, or the lease, to the Inter-State Iron Company.
A shaft was then sunk, and shipments began in 1901, but mining had
to be abandoned because of "the great volume of water encountered."
Another attempt was made in 1905, but only 1,500 tons had been mined
when mining ceased. Nothing has since been done with the property
which eventually, presumably, will be made to yield its four million
tons deposit. The Inter-State Iron Company still controls the
property.
Quantity Still Available in the Virginia District. — It has been
stated that there must be at least three hundred million tons of ore
still unworked in the Virginia district, and the probability is that
when that quantity has been mined more will still be available. Min-
ing cannot be claimed to be carried on to the limit of production at
present, but from the Virginia group in 1919 about 2,500,000 tons of
ore were shipped.
Mining is not the only industry of Virginia, by the way, but it
is undoubtedly its mainstay.
Municipal History
Growth of the "Queen City." — Virginia was "nothing but a dense
and untracked forest in 1892"; in 1920 it was the fifth city of the state.
In 1892 its bank deposits were almost nil ; in 1920 they were $4,300,000.
In 1893 it had the use of one room for school purposes; in 1920 the
cost of one school only, of the fourteen owned by the \'irginia school
district, was about $1,500,000. There are as many teachers today in
the Virginia schools as there were pupils in 1893. In 18^)2 there
was one little portable sawmill; in 1920 Virginia could be- proud of
the fact that within the city limits is the largest white pine mill in
the world. In 1893 about 230,000 tons of ore were shii)iK'd : in 1920
about two and a half million tons were mined, at which rate of ship-
ment the ore deposits already proved in the Virginia district will last,
probably, for more than another one hundred years. \'irginia had one
building for public purj)oscs in 1893 — church, lecture hall, concert
room, community center; today there are a dozen substantial church
586 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
buildings, some millions of dollars worth of school structures, a
$275,000 courthouse, a $60,000 library, four theatres, a "sky-scraping"
office building, a $100,000 opera house, and a couple of good hotels.
Virginia hadn't a foot of paved highway in 1893 ; in 1920 she had
more than sixteen miles of paving and twenty-six miles of sidewalk.
In 1892 the total assessed value of Virginia was $4,640, upon which
the total lew was $38.05 ; in 1919 the total valuation of the city of
Virginia was' $16,873,834 and the total taxes $1,525,394.59.
By these outstanding comparisons may be gauged Virginia's
advance to metropolitan status in little more than a generation.
The Beginning. — Mining developments in the "Virginia Loop"
of the Mesabi range during the spring and summer of 1892 made it
quite evident to the mining explorers that a communal centre must
soon develop near the mines. While in the first excitement and uncer-
tainty of mining exploration, little thought was paid to more than
emergency shelter, but with the ever-increasing discovery, and the
rapidly-increasing number of men engaged in the preliminary, the
matter of townsite, and the advantage that would accrue from the
promotion of one, soon demanded consideration and recognition.
Planning the Townsite. — One alert group of explorers and pro-
moters, those associated with A. E. Humphreys, early came to that
opinion, and proceeded to select and to secure the most favorable
site for a village. These men were A. E. Humphreys, David T.
Adams, John Owens, G. W. Milligan, Frank Cox and Xeil Mclnnis.
Several other mining men, among them O. D. Kinney and George W.
Buck, were interested in helping the project forward, but the men
directly concerned in the promotion of the townsite company were
Humphreys, Adams, Milligan, Eckman and Cox. The Virginia Im-
provement Company was organized by these men on July 12, 1892,
the company being capitalized at $50,000.
Finding a Name. — Regarding the early planning of A^irginia
David T. Adams writes :
It would seem to some people an easy matter to arrive at a name for
a townsite in that country, especially at a time when the entire country was
in its natural state and covered with timber, but, foolish as it may look, it
seemed hard for the promoters to decide among themselves. Each proposed
a different name, and insisted that their's was the only one, and before a
name was agreed upon considerable dissension arose among the promoters.
I had previously selected the place for the townsite; the idea was mine from
the first. I engaged the services of M. E. Cook, an engineer of Duluth, to sur-
vey the townsite. I had everything done in my own way, and there was no
complaint from the promoters, and for these reasons I thought I was entitled
to the sole right of giving it a name. I proposed the name "Humphreys." in
honor of A. E. Humphreys, but the name was rejected. I believe Mr. G. E.
Milligan stated that, as the town was in a virgin country, and the first to be
platted on the range with any prospective future, a name at least suggestive
of the virgin country should be found. After two or three days of deliberation,
I believe I suggested the name "Virginia," thinking it an appropriate name that
would answer all purposes, as it would still be in honor of Mr. Humphreys,
as Virginia was his home state, and would also be suggestive of the country.
Hence, the name "Virginia" was finally agreed upon. Thereafter, on July 12,
1892, the Virginia Improvement Company was organized by myself, G. E.
Milligan, A. E. Humphreys, Frank Cox and S. W. Eckman, and the original
plat of Virginia was filed for record, on September 13, 1892. Then the lots
were ready for sale.
Sale of First Lots. — We rented a vacant storeroom in Duluth, hung up
a large plat on the wall, with maps showing the deposits of ore which had
been developed up to that time around Virginia, and where others could be
found, and then advertised the lots to be sold at public auction. The sale
took place, with Captain Carr, of Charleston, West Virginia, as our auctioneer,
and the first lots sold in the townsite of Virginia were sold that way.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 587
The first lots on the townsite were sold at "prices running from
$300 to $400 per lot." The timber "was slashed out along what is now
Chestnut Street * * * and a few rough buildings erected that
fall." The work of clearing the townsite was in charge of John Scott.
At about the same time the Virginia Light and Water Company-
was organized by Messrs. O. D. Kinney, A. E. Humphreys and George
D. Buck, by which early promotion it seems clear that the projectors
believed that the town planned would soon develop into .a place of
importance and of profit to holders of public utilities.
Petition to Incorporate. — In September, 1893, a petition was cir-
culated among the people resident in the district and it was signed
by forty-four men. The petition was addressed to "the County Com-
missioners of the County of St. Louis, State of Minnesota," who were
"prayed" to approve of the necessary legal formalities being taken
to effect the incorporation of land "regularly laid out and platted"
and as shown on the plat filed in the office of the Registrar of Deeds on
the 13th day of September, 1892. The petition stated that census taken
on September 14. 1892, showed that "on said day the resident popula-
tion of said territory so sought to be incorporated was found to be
181 ;" and the petition asked that the proposed village be designated as
the village of "Virginia." The signers were Richard O'Neal, M. J.
Grady, John Hoy, Dougal Johnson, John Byrne, Mike Hines, Geo.
Morris, John Gibbins, Pete Johanson, Ole Sattos, John Nossorn,
Isaac Koski, Frank Neddon, Ole Anderson, George M. Rees, J. R.
Humphrey, H. Vanhorn, Hugh McMahon, P. J. Foley, Chas. Johnson,
Thomas Huartson, William Bradley, James Hill, John Haley, James
Ryan, Alex. Cain, Louis Rood, Fred Rossom, Will A. F. Williams, Joe
Elliott, N. A. Beatty, Tom Short, John Thorsby, John Graham, John
Elfstrom, Peter Elfstrom, G. A. Peterson, James Graham, Peter Berg-
lund, Xupifti Jappila, Wm. Harvey, Chas. French, Robert McGruer,
P. W. Scott.
The regularity of petition, and accuracy of its statements were
vouched for by P. W. Scott, Thomas Short and Robert McGruer, on
September 19, 1892, on which day the paper appears to have been
presented to the county officials.
Petition Granted. — At the October session of the Board of County
Commissioners the petition was considered and approved ; whereupon
the county commissioners ordered election to be held, to ascertain
the will of the residents, on the 12th day of November, 1892, "at the
store building of E. C. Burk, situated upon lots numbered 32 and 33 in
block 21 of the Town of "Virginia," according to the recorded plat
thereof." P. W. Scott, Thomas Short and Robert McGruer were
appointed "to preside as inspectors at such meeting and election."
Notices of Election were posted "at the sawmill and boarding house
of J. E. Sher, situated in block 9 on W^yoming avenue ; * * * at
the ofifice of the X'irginia Improvement Company, on lot 32, in block 19,
on Chestnut Street ; * * * ^^ ^j^g store of E. C. Burk ; * * *
at the Hotel of Nels Anderson, situated on lot 15 in block 26 on Chest-
nut Street ; ''' '^^ * at the office of Nigro and Librock, situated
upon lot 8 in block 24, on Chestnut Street, all in \'irginia." The
meeting, or preliminary election, was duly and regularly held, and
sixty-five ballots were cast, sixty-four being "For incorporation ; yes,"
and one "no."
First Election. — Accordingly, the county commissioners ordered
an carlv meeting of voters, so that village officials might be elected,
and the incorporation completed. The election was held on Tuesday,
588 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
December 6, 1892. The following-named residents were elected to
constitute the first village administration: John Owens, president;
Howard Filegal, George Liebrock and John F. Towell, trustee ; John
F. Burke, recorder, and Neil Mclnnis, treasurer.
Virginia a Railway Station. — One day after the election took
place Virginia was, on December 7, 1892, given the facihty of railway
connection, the spur of the Merritt railway, the Duluth, Missabe and
Northern, being completed from Wolf Junction to Virginia on that
day. Thereafter, the growth of the village was very rapid.
Growth had been almost impossible before, because those who
wished to reach the place "were compelled to travel to the west along
'tote roads' which were almost impassable" all the way from Mesaba
station, a stopping place on the Duluth and Iron Range railroad. It
was the only point on a railroad from which any of the Mesabi expe-
ditions could start, and there was such a tremendous rush of exploring
parties, and such a heavy traffic developed by their operations, that
in the early nineties the only corduroy road became almost impassable.
In the late summer of 1892 the Duluth, Missabe and Northern reached
Mountain Iron, which made the road much shorter for the people of
Virginia ; still that road soon reached the state in which it was a
hardship to have to walk or ride along it, and much traffic was
impossible. So it is possible to "imagine the joy that abounded when
the first sixteen cars of miscellaneous freight reached Virginia on the
afternoon of December 7, 1892. Part of the freight brought in by the
first train was the machinery for the waterworks plant." A little later
the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad also reached the city.
First Frame Store Building. — Tradespeople began to flock in, and
temporary buildings gave place to "some of more substantial char-
acter." "Every line of retail business was soon represented." "One
of the first frame buildings was put up by the Maas Hardware Com-
pany, on the northwest corner of Chestnut street and Central avenue."
First Sawmill. — One of the great inconveniences experienced by
the early settlers was the lack of lumber for building purposes. The
only means by which it was possible to get any lumber at all was by
"importing it from other places," at considerable trouble and ex-
pense. However, this was soon partly remedied, John Owens bring-
ing in a small portable mill, which he placed "on the shore of Vir-
ginia lake," near where the Primary school building later stood. John
Owens had many tasks to do at that time, and in the sawmilling busi-
ness he took into partnership a man named Robert McGruer, who
operated the mill, which was soon working at full capacity. Even
then, it could not cope with the demand for lumber, and when the
place really began its first spurt, in the fall of 1892, the little mill
could not hope to cope with the recjuirement. However, relief was
in sight, for it appears :
The first of October, 1892, the news was heralded throughout Virginia
that Finlayson and Company, of St. Paul, had purchased 50,000,000 feet of
pine in the vicinity, and had decided to erect at once a large sawmill on a site
leased from the Virginia Townsite Compan}^ This meant the employment of
at least 100 men in the sawmill itself.
It does not seem, however, that this larger mill was "at once"
erected, otherwise it probably would have met the same fate as Owens'
mill, which was destroyed in the fire which also destroyed the village
of Virginia, in June, 1893. The Finlayson mill was in existence and
operation in 1900, when it was also burned, at the time of the second
razing of the city. For some years prior to its destruction in 1900,
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY ' 589
however, the Finlayson mill was in the possession of Moon and
Kerr.
A Distinguished Early Visitor. — W. J. Olcott, who later took
over the direction of the mines owned by Rockefeller, and eventually
became president of the Oliver Iron Mining Company stated, in 1908:
I remember my first visit to Virginia, in 1892, when there was only one
small log building there, and that was on the hill near the Missabe Mountain
mine. Some people reported before I made the trip that the ore on the Mesabi
range was no good, and would never be merchantable. However, I went on
horseback from Mesaba station, on the D. & I. R., through to Hibbing, took
my samples from test-pits, and found high-grade ore.
He probably never expected that near the log hut at the Missabe
Mountain mine would grow th? fifth city of the whole state within
a generation. '
First School. — Although School District No. 22 was not organized
until February 1, 1893, there is record that a term of school was held
"in the winter of 1892-93" and that eighteen children attended the
school in that term. The school-house "was a one-roomed frame
building," heated by wood stove, the fuel "to feed it being chopped ofif
the timber on the lot."
A school history, written in 1904, makes the following statement
regarding the first school :
"There had been a school, taught by Sarah Gleason, from March,
1893, to June of the same year, in Herman Niculou's house, which
house was later burned. It was located on lot 7, block 20."
Conditions That Prevailed in Early Virginia. — There was no
church building in Virginia before the fire of 1893, but Crockett's
Opera House, which was one of the first halls to be built on the range,
was available for any public meeting. It went the way of all other
burnable property in Virginia in 1893. In the winter of 1893, a two-
story frame building was built by William Hayes. It became known
as Hayes' Hall, and in it were held all public meetings, and indoor
gatherings, church services, minstrel show, dog fights, socials, bac-
chanalian carousals, and gambling events. On the ground floor of
Hayes' Hall the village barber had his shop, fronting the sidewalk;
the central rooms were used as a saloon ; and in the rear were gambling
dens, it appears, while "back of that was the Enterprise office.''
The upper floor was, seemingly, unfinished, the floor being of loose
boards. Here, the public meetings were held. At one end "was a
platform on trestles" ; the trestles, however, were beer kegs. When
church service was held "beer kegs were rustled together" in suf-
ficient number to provide seating with planks. The first minister
of the Gospel to hold services in that environment was, it is said, a
Presbyterian, who came from Tower, the Rev. E. N. Raymond, a
worthy pioneer minister, who knew the Greek Testament well, but
knew men just as well. The story has it that when he first came in,
on a Saturday evening, he saw several groups of men, all much en-
grossed in games with cards. He stayed with them for an hour or
so, and actually "took a hand." 'Before he left, the men had "warmed"
to him, so that when he invited them "upstairs to church meeting next
day" many promised to come, and it seems "all the men attended."
It was not an unusual occurrence in those early days for a miner
to "ride up to a saloon bar on horseback ;" and when the village
streets were graced with lamp-posts, it was not uncommon to see a
line of drying clothes hanging between posts on Chestnut Street.
That was the pcrirxl in which \'irginia \\as what sotrie people slill
Vol. II — (i
590 • DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
imagine mining villages of the Mesabi range must be. But the pe-
riod, fortunately, was soon over, and the civic dress and social stand-
ard of Virginia of today are as well ordered as an eastern city of
very much longer establishment might expect to prevail.
Fire Department Organized. — Albert E. Bickford was one of the
men who saw \'irginia through her "pioneer stage of crudity," and
helped it through, if one may judge from the fact that he has been
city clerk for twenty-two years. He was not long in recognizing
that the greatest danger was of fire, there being such a stand of resin-
ous timber around the little village. He organized a volunteer fire
company on March 10, 1893. C. W. Musser, in his "Virginia in the
Great State of Minnesota," writes, regarding it :
* * * in March, 1893, * * * nearly ever}- able-bodied man in town
assembled in the rear of William Hayes' saloon, and organized Virginia's tirst
fire-fighting squad.
The first chief was E. W Coons ; the first secretary, P. J. Ryan ;
and the company was no doubt of service in the following June, though
they could not save the village. The Virginia Fire Department Re-
lief Association was organized in May, 1895, and is a strong fraternal
and financial body.
The First Fire. — The first check Virginia was destined to expe-
rience was in June, 1893, when it was "swept off the map," or at
most had no more visible property above the surface than the twisted
and half-molten remains of what hardware their residences, now
ashes, once contained. The "Virginian." industrial edition, of August
30, 1907, reports the catastrophe as follows :
By June 1, 1893, Virginia had become the most important town on the
range. There were over fifteen developed mines in the vicinity of the village,
and the town had a population of almost 5,000 people. But in the midst of
the season of growth and prosperity came a blow which was a severe check
upon the development of the town. On Sunday, June 18, 1893, a terrible bush
fire was raging southwest of the village. It was a very hot day. Everything
was dry and parched as it possibly could be. A strong southwest wind had
begun to blow, and this drove the flames directly towards the town, and forty
minutes after the first shanty in the outskirts of the village had begun to
burn there was nothing left of Virginia, the metropolis of the range. No doubt
this catastrophe discouraged our early citizens and manj- of the faint-hearted
left the town never to return, but there were others who had the bravery, the
pioneer strength, hope and spirit, that caused a larger and more beautiful Vir-
ginia to rise from the ashes of the old.
It was a disaster, a catastrophe, but not a holocaust, as that word
is generally understood ; it was not a calamity like that which came
to Hinckley in the same year, or like that which swept property and
life from many parts of Northern ^Minnesota in 1918. Property was
gone, but Virginians still lived, and it was only a question of time be-
fore she would recover. As a matter of fact, the recovery was quick,
notwithstanding the hard times of that year. And times certainly
were hard.
Depression of 1893. — The depression experienced in \^irginia in
1893 was, by the way, not in the slightest degree caused by the forest
fire, though such incinerating of their possessions inade the hard
times harder to bear. But the money stringency was a national, in-
deed a world-wide, condition. The full force of it was felt about
mid-summer, when the state of things, financial, in Dulutli was tragic.
On the range, there was even less money. Clearing House certificates
were in places the only currency. In Virginia, instancing one case
only, things must have been desperate. The Lerch brothers had come
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 591
to the range, with good connections, in December, 1892, and soon
had as much ore analyses to make as they could handle. But work
did not bring them money. The Oliver Mining Company owed them
about five hundred dollars for chemical analyses made, and had to
confess itself unable to pay until "new blood was injected into the
company." "Times were so hard in the winter of 1893-94" that George
Lerch "accepted a position in St. Paul, making brick for the St. Paul
and Duluth Railroad Company." But even that did not bring the
money he thought he might be able to send to his brother in Vir-
ginia, who had remained there to "hold onto" the business. Indeed,
the railroad company could not pay him at all "until the following
spring." However, through the winter Fred Lerch went on with the
making of analyses, but when he had reached the realization that he
"owed for ten weeks board, and saw no way of paying it," he be-
came ashamed, took an ax, and "went batching" in the woods, staying
there until he had chopped enough to barter for a bushel of potatoes.
Other men had experiences similarly precarious. Common labor
brought only $1.10 at the mines — the few that were being then op-
erated — and payment oftener than not was in kind.
However, as with all things, time brought a change. The national
and local state purse improved, and there was soon a very visible im-
provement in the village of Virginia.
First Telephone Company. — Virginia soon had advanced so far
in metropolitan conveniences as to have telephone service. In 1894,
Messrs. Talboys and Campbell, of Eveleth, strung a wire from their
general store to the home of one of the partners. Soon afterwards,
they opened a branch store in Virginia, and they wanted it con-
nected with Eveleth, so a private wire was run between the two vil-
lages. So many people wanted to use the wire that it occurred to
some alert residents of Virginia that the franchise was worth acquir-
ing. So Kinney and Griggs finally organized a telephone company,
which grew and grew, until it was quite a valuable business when sold
to the present company. The city of Virginia now has about sixteen
hundred telephones.
Leading Hotel. — It was probably in 1894, that the McGarry Hotel
was built. Fred Lerch, writing about the hotel, states:
This was a three-story frame building, located on the site of the present
Lyric Theatre. P. H. McGarry, who is now a state senator, was the pro-
prietor. He was a jolly landlord, and he specified, in placing an order for
the main heating stove, that he wanted one that would heat a forty-acre lot,
when the thermometer was forty below zero. The stove took pieces of cord-
wood four feet long.
Community Building. — Mr. Lerch also makes reference to "a
community building," which perhaps was the same building as that
hereinbefore referred to as Hayes' Hall. The Lerch brothers arrived
in Virginia on December 10, 1892, and Mr. Lerch writes:
We began business as analytical chemists on the second floor of what
may be called today a community building, located in the center of the town,
on the site now occupied by the First State Bank. On the first floor, which
consisted of two rooms, one for office purposes and the other for sleeping
quarters, were located the real estate firm of Kennedy and Gleason, the vil-
lage president, and tlic village marshal. This room was also used on Sun-
days by Reverend Raymond, Presbyterian minister, who came from Tower.
These were the first churcli services held in Virginia.
Virginia Becomes a City. — An attcnqit w.is made in Linuary,
1894, to annex to the village about four hundred acres oi land in sec-
tions 7 and 8, and electioTi was ordered to be held "at the office of the
1 —
.0
• v.*
i^5J*
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 593
New Virginia Hotel" on ]\Iarch 1, 1894. However, the election does
not seem to have supported the wish of the petitioners. Possibly the
election was not held.
However, in the following year the village proceeded to incor-
porate as a city, under the so-called Probate Law of 1895, and in-
cluded then within its limits the western half of southeast quarter
of section 8. One local record reads :
In 1895. the citizens of Virginia demanded a city charter. All the steps
in securing this right were now complete, with the exception of some docu-
ments which had to be made out and signed by Judge Ayers, of Duluth. A
committee, composed of E. S. Smith, M. C. Palmer and Dr. Stuart Bates, was
then sent down to Duluth to see the judge. Mr. Ayers had been ill for some
time, and asked the committee to postpone the matter, but the Virginians
did not take kindly to the hint. Mr. Palmer fixed up the papers himself, and
all the judge had to do was to sign them. Consequently, on the 7th of Feb-
ruary, 1895, Virginia became incorporated as a city. The first city election
was held on the first Tuesday in April. In this election Robert McGruer led
the Citizens-Democratic party, while the Republican forces were led by Dr.
Bates. The Citizens party won a complete victory. Mr. McGruer was elected
rhayor, by a majority of 163, Mr. J. R. James was elected treasurer, and E. S.
Smith recorder. Under the city charter elections were held annually, two
aldermen served each of the four wards. Each served two years, and one
alderman was elected from each ward every year.
A new charter was adopted in 1902, and another mode of gov-
ernment, that known as the "Home Rule" charter, took effect in
June, 1909. The charter was again amended in 1914, and even once
more, final readings of a new charter being made in November, 1920.
"Important features of the new charter are built largely around the
principle that only the mayor and the city council can legislate."
Mayoral Succession. — The chief executive of the village and city
administrations from the beginning of Virginia have been : John
Owens, president of village, December 6, 1892, to April 1, 1894; Stuart
Bates, to April 15, 1895 ; Robert McGruer, first mavor of the citv, to
April 15, 1896; ]. C. Jackson, to 1897; P. W. Scott, to 1899; M. C.
Palmer, to 1901 -A. N. Thompson, to April 15, 1902; Wm. H. Eaton,
from April 15, 1902, to January 1, 1904; M. L. Fay, to January 1. 1906;
Wm. H. Eaton, to January 1, 1908; A. Hawkinson," 1908-12 ; M. A.
Murphy, 1912-14; Michael Boylan, 1914-19; and Wm. M. Empie, 1919.
Second Fire, 1900. — Not many municipalities have to experience
such complete wreck as has come twice to the city of Virginia. The
second fire occurred, and was worse than the first fire, in one respect.
Virginia was more valuable in in 1900 than she was in 1893, although
the people of the healthy young city were probably better able in
1900 to bear the calamity than they had been in the precarious state
in which all things were in 1893. The "Virginian," August, 1907, re-
viewing the second fire, wrote :
From the time when Virginia became incorporated as a city, up to 1900,
the city was enjoying unrivalled prosperity. New mines were constantly be-
ing developed, tDgethcr with the older and larger ones. Two sawmills were in
operation, and many other minor industries had now gained a firm foothold
in the town.
But just at this time, when Virginia's future seemed brighter than it
ever had been before, a second fire destroyed the main business district of the
city, June 7, 1900. Through carelessness in handling the shavings Inirncr at
the old Moon and Kerr mill, a i)laze was started which in a short time had the
whole sawmill in flames. The day was very hot and everything as dry as it
possibly could be. This, together with a strong west wind, carried the flames
directly towards the town, and when one of the many flying sparks fell on the
dry shingles of a building in the very center of the city, the work of de-
struction had begun. At sunset, there was nothing left of it but one vast
space of smouldering ruins. It must have been hard for the citizens of Vir-
594 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
ginia, when thej^ walked up and down the streets of their city that evening.
They were homeless, penniless, with poverty staring them in the face, but
not discouraged. They had the bravery, the strength, and the spirit of '49,
that carries everything before it. And almost before the smoke of the fire
had cleared away the citizens had begun to rebuild a new and greater Vir-
ginia upon the ruins of the old. And today, Virginia stands forth as the best
built and most beautiful city in northern Minnesota.
One advantage — it perhaps may be so termed — came to Vir-
ginia, as the result of the second fire. It was soon afterwards de-
cided that Virginia should forever be spared a repetition of the fire,
at least as far as the more important part of the city was concerned.
It was resolved that nothing inflammable would be permitted to be
erected on Chestnut street, all structures being required to be of brick,
stone, or concrete. As a consequence. Virginia is "today one of the
most substantially built cities in the state."
Lumber Industry. — The lumber industry which was the cause
of the second fire at \'irginia has, notwithstanding that calamity, been
a boon to the city. The first sawmill of W. T. Bailey was erected in
1895, and found employment for thirty-five men. The mill was en-
larged in 1907. John Owens ran the shingle mill of Moon and Kerr's
mill until that was destroyed, and later he had another.
In 1902, Plummer and Ash built "an immense sawmill." Later,
the property was transferred to the Virginia Lumber Company. In
1904 the company erected a large planing mill plant, which found
employment for an additional hundred men. In 1907, a large new
lath mill was erected by the same company. In that year the Vir-
ginia Lumber Company had on its payrolls, in "Virginia and vicinity,"
about 1,500 men.
The company eventually was absorbed by the Virginia and Rainy
Lake Company of recent years, which has been such a factor in the
development of Virginia. The company was mainly responsible for
giving Virginia its fourth railroad, and for the develpment of tribu-
tary territory north of Virginia. The company buift a logging road
to the northward, which eventually passed to the Canadian Northern
Railway Company. The Great Northern Railroad built into Virginia
in 1902', and in that year the first surveying was done on the route
of the logging road, the Duluth, Rainy Lake and Winnipeg Railroad.
The present Virginia and Rainy Lake Company is a merger of the
Weyerhaueser and other large lumber interests. Its sawmills at Vir-
ginia cover 300 acres, and Virginians are probably right in claim-
ing that it is the "largest white pine lumber plant in the world," for
its capacity is 300,000,000 feet a year. Thomas S. Whitten is the gen-
eral manager, and F. H. Gillmor, superintendent of logging. Their
operations are enormous, both in logging and in lumber. In sawmills
i\t Virginia, in full operation "carry 1,500 men and women on their
payrolls," and during the logging season the company finds employ-
ment for another thousand or two men ; in fact, it can generally find
work for all the "lumberjacks" and mill hands that apply.
During the recent readjustment of the lumber market, they had
to reduce operations considerably, but curtailment of operations is
a verv unusual happening with that company.
Church History, — The meeting place of the Reverend Raymond,
pioneer Presbyterian minister, has already been referred to. It seems
that the first service he held in Virginia was in April, 1893. Soon
afterwards he organized a Presbyterian society in Virginia and re-
mained "several years as its pastor."
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 595
The first church meetings were held "in a small building on Wal-
nut street, between Cleveland and Central avenues, which was also
utilized for a time as a schoolhouse, and for holding meetings by other
denominations." The "street leading to this building is described as
having been almost impassable, on account of the mud. at times, and
ladies and children were often in danger of getting mired on the way-
there."
It was not long after the fire of 1893 that the Presbyterians built
a small church near their present place of worship. "This was the
first building constructed expressly for religious purposes."
The First Methodist Church Society was organized in 1893, by
W. H. Easton, then a student at Queens College, Kingston, Canada.
(Think this should be Kingston, Ontario. There is such a college
there, but I never heard of another in Montreal.) During his pastor-
ate, the "old First Methodist Church building of Duluth was secured,"
through the influence of the Merritt family. It was removed to Vir-
ginia, "and set up on the site of the present First Methodist Church,
where it stood until 1907, when it burnt down." • It was soon replaced
by a substantial brick church, which cost about $18,000 to erect, and
at the time was "one of the most conspicuous of many fine churches
in the city." It was dedicated September 27, 1908.
The Catholics were active in Mrginia from the beginning of its
settlement. Previous to the 1893 fire. Father ]Mavelle, who was then
stationed at Cloquet. "began holding occasional services in Vir-
ginia, the first meetings being held in private houses." In 1894. "a
small church was built at the corner of Wyoming Avenue and Poplar
Street, which building later formed part of the Polish Catholic
Church."
In 1895, Archbishop Appleby, of the Episcopal Church, came to
Virginia, and organized an Episcopal Church Society, the members
gathering for the first service at the residence of W. H. Eaton.
Those were the main church activities of the early days of Vir-
ginia, and laid the foundations of many of the strong church organiza-
tions of Virginia of today.
In 1920, Virginia had the following strong church societies, all
with places of meeting and worship, and most of them with resident
pastors: The Finnish Apostolic; the Adventist, Rev. H. Christiansen;
the Swedish Baptist, Rev. Carl Bergstrom ; the Lady of Lourdes,
Catholic, Rev. Father Limmer; St. John the Baptist, Catholic; St.
Paul's, Episcopal, Rev. J. G. Ward ; English-German. Lutheran, Rev.
Walter Melahn ; Finnish Lutheran, Rev. M. E. Mcrijarvi ; Norwegian
Lutheran, Rev. J. E, Reinertsen ; Swedish Lutheran, Rev. Samuel A.
Johnson; First Methodist Episcopal, Rev. A. H. McKee; Norwegian
Methodist. Rev. J. Laurenz; Scandinavian Mission, Rev. F. J. Hjelm ;
Salvation Army ; Scientist ; Jewish B'nai Abraham ; Finnish Unitarian,
Rev. R. Lappalla; First Presbyterian, L. W\ Gade ; People's Church,
Henry Clark.
The Young Men's Christian Association has also since June, 1919,
maintained an establishment in Virginia, and plans to extend to
other parts of the Range territory, erecting huts somewhat similar
to those of the war-service plan. They also hope soon to have
an adequate "city industrial building." General secretary is R. H.
Risdon; president, A. P.. Coates ; vice-president, J. D. Lamont ; sec-
retary, Ralph C. Pickering; treasurer, C. E. llendrick; directors,
Thomas S. Whitton and Alex. Reid.
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DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
597
Banking History.— The First National Bank of Virginia was orig-
inally organized as the Bank of Virginia, in 1892, by O. D. Kinney and
E. Z. Griggs. The pioneer bank was a private banking house, and
was comparatively strong when, in June, 1893, its building was de-
stroyed with the other buildings of the village. Again, in 1900, the
bank property was destroyed by fire, but these losses did not ma-
terially affect the stability of the corporation. In 1903, however, it
was decided to place the banking business under national banking
laws, and with that object the First National Bank of Virginia was
chartered, the original capital being $25,000. On July 25, 1905, this
was increased to $50,000, its present capital. The first officers were
O. D. Kinney, president; E. Z. Griggs, vice-president; B. F. Britts,
cashier; W. H. Cole, R. R. Bailey, E. B. Hawkins, and J. R. James,
CHESTNUT STREET, VIRGINIA, 1909. (TELEPHONE POLES HAVE SINCE
BEEN REMOVED TO ALLEY)
directors. Eventually Pentecost Mitchell became president, and was
still president in 1920, when the other officers were: S. R. Kirby,
Dr. C. B. Lenont and B. F. Britts, vice-presidents, and A. E. Ship-
ley, cashier. In 1913, the present conspicuous bank and office building
was erected. It is a five-story concrete and steel fireproof building.
The ground floor is devoted to banking purposes, and the upper
floors rented for offices. The fine building cbst about $125,000 to
erect.
The State Bank of Virginia was organized in 1911, the capital
being $50,000. First directors were: Douglas Greeley, F. H. \Vcll-
come, C. H. Rogers, C. E. Hendrick. J. E. Ilanson, H. O. Johnson
and C. E. Moore. There has been no change in this directorate. The
first officers were: I^ougias Greeley, president; C. E. Tfenflrick, vice;
Peter Western, cashier. Succession of cashiers is as follows: H. V.
Peterson, J. I. Frasa and H. W. Pribrow, present cashier. The cap-
ital is still the same, but the surplus is $10,000, witli $4,515 undi-
vided profits.
598 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
The American Exchange Bank of Virginia was incorporated in
March, 1904, as a state bank. Its original capital was $25,000, but
this was increased to $50,000 on July 1, 1907. At that time the di-
rectorate was: W. H. Cole, president; J. D. Lamont, vice-president;
D. W. Stebbins, cashier; C. T. Fairbairn, D. B. McDonald, A. Hawk-
inson, Fred Lerch, W. J. Sincock and E. J. Bush. It will thus be
seen that the bank had a strong mining and municipal support, and
was thus destined to grow into the bank it became.
Another bank, the Farmers and Merchants State Bank, was or-
ganized, with good prospects, and a particular field, on January 1,
1917. The bank devoted its efforts mainly to the developing of a
connection among agriculturalists in the Virginia sphere, the land
to the north of Virginia beyond the range, and along the Canadian
Northern system, being rapidly converted into excellent agricultural
properties. Farming, therefore, is becoming increasingly important.
The Farmers and Merchants State Bank began with a capital of $50,-
000, and soon had a surplus of $10,000. On May 30, 1920, its deposits
totalled to $400,000. Directors then were : Andrew Grande, presi-
dent ; B. J. Kelsey, vice-president; C. T. Eckstrand, cashier; Joseph
Christopherson and E. J. Larsen, directors.
The banks of Virginia, in August, 1920, had total deposits of
$4,300,000. which gives indication of their business prosperity.
Light and Water. — The light and water utilities are now mu-
nicipally owned. Originally they belonged to the Virginia Light and
Water Company, which was organized by O. D. Kinney, A. E. Hum-
phreys and others, in 1892. The first installation of water pipes was
done in the spring of 1893, and an electric light plant installed in
1894. The plants grew with the city, and met its requirements fairly
well. Just prior to the reorganization, in 1909, the officers of the com-
pany were: O. D. Kinney, president; B. F. Britts, vice-president;
Geo. W. Buck, secretary; E. Z. Griggs, treasurer; O. H. Griggs, man-
ager. In July, 1909, the company became the Virginia Electric Power
and Water Company, and proposed an issue of $70,000 bonds, to meet
cost of extensive improvements planned. The officers of the new
company were : O. D. Kinney, president ; O. H. Griggs, vice-president
and general manager; E. Z. Griggs, treasurer, and G. W. Buck, sec-
retary.
Virginia "was one of the first towns in Northern Minnesota to
adopt the policy of municipal ownership of public utilities." In 1913
the city purchased the plant of the Virginia Electric Power and Water
Company, and for several years the municipal operation of the plants
showed a net profit of about $80,000 a year. The plants have been
considerably enlarged and include "a. complete heating and extension
system," constructed in 1919, at a cost of $350,000. The "Seventh
Annual Report of the Water and Light Commission" of Virginia,
October 1, 1920, shows that the surplus assets above liabilities of the
city in these public utilities is $729,280.89.
Public Improvements. — In 1894, the "White-Way" of Virginia
consisted of "some fifteen arc lamps," of which possession "the citi-
zens boasted"; in 1920, Virginia had upon its streets 155 white-way
standards, each having five lamps, and about 175 other street lights.
Other comparisons are equally striking. In 1894 there were seventeen
hydrants ; in 1920, the city owned 141. In 1894 there were four blocks
of water mains ; in 1920 there must have been much more than twenty
miles of water mains; its storm sewers alone extended for thirteen
miles, and there were eighten miles of sanitary sewer in 1918, the
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
599
both laid at a cost of $328,000. According to the "Minneapolis Daily
News," October 19, 1918, Virginia had "the biggest sewage purifica-
tion plant in the world," built at a cost of $125,000. It is, without
doubt, the largest in the state. Virginia has sixteen miles of paving
that cost $742,000; twenty-three miles of sidewalk, laid at a cost of
$117,000; there are more than seven miles of bitulithic pavement,
and a greater length of creosoted wood-block pavement, and some
concrete paving. The sidewalks are of cement.
The municipal authorities, at a time when coal was scarce, es-
tablished a municipal wood yard, securing "stumpage at $2.00 actual
cost for wood to be cut in lengths to feed furnaces." There is a fine
municipal band ; the city has seventy-five acres of park land. The
only possession it really lacks, in order to be a well-balanced city
of the highest grade, is an appropriate city hall.
CITY HALL, BUILT 1905
City Hall.— The Virginia City Hall was built in 1904-'O5. Its
site cost $600, and the building was completed in the summer of
1905. There is additional unused ground adjoining and perhaps, some
day, it will be used to give the space necessary for the erection upon
it and the other two lots a city hall commensurate with the standing
of the city. The unused lot was acquired in 1905, at a cost of $700.
It is now worth $10,000. at least. The original cost of the city hall
was $15,lv39.16, and a like amount was spent in remodeling the
structure in 1910.
Parks. — "The city owns 55 acres of part property, in Olccnt and
South Side parks, among the finest in the state." records the "Min-
neai)olis Daily News." "Its [)ark board maintains more than 35 miles
of boulevards and has planted more than 10,000 trees. Olcott Park is
known as one of the play-spots of the range. .Its zoo is a feature
that draws visitors from all sections. * * ^i= ]^ contains elk, deer,
grizzly bear, timber \\()lfs and coyotes; * * * foxes; water fowl,
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DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 601
cavies, and everything to make a complete zoo. All the parks are
equipped with playground apparatus, while a wading pool for the
children is a feature at Olcott Park." OlcottPark was leased from
the Great Northern Mining Company in 1910, for ten years, one of
the conditions of lease being that the land was "to be used strictly
for park purposes," and that no exhibitions for compensation were
to be permitted. Apparently, the lease has been extended, for the
original term has expired, and the city is still in possession. Olcott
Park has cost the city, it is said, about $75,000. The pleasurable serv-
ice it gives is well worth the expense.
Public Library. — Albert E. Bickford, in his "Financial History
of Virginia," 1911, writes:
In 1905, Andrew Carnegie granted the city of Virginia the sum of $10,-
000 for the purpose of constructing a library building in his name in this city,
providing that the city would purchase or provide a suitable site * * *
and levy for the maintenance of the library annually a sum equal to 1 per
cent of the donation * * * . The library was constructed at a cost,
orginally, of the amount of the grant.
The library grew rapidly in service and reciuirement, and in 1911
Andrew Carnegie was asked to grant more money so that the build-
ing might be enlarged, or another built. Another was built in 1912,
out of it, it is said, "city funds," the new building and site costing
$65,000. It gives a valued service, having about 20,000 volumes, with
an annual circulation of about 90,000. There is also now a branch li-
brary on the north side of Virginia. The first library building is now
used as a freight office by the Canadian Northern Railway Company
at Virginia.
The first library was opened in 1907 ; the first librarian was Miss
Dunnigan. The City Public Library building, opened in 1912, had
as its first librarian Miss Newhard, present librarian is Miss Grace
Stevens. In addition, two men's reading rooms are maintained by the
library board, on Chestnut street.
Fire Department. — The volunteer company, formed in 1893, was
disbanded in 1908, when the city organized a salaried Fire Depart-
ment, with A. F. Thayer, chief. A new fire-hall was built at a
cost of $16,000 at that time. It was enlarged in 1914. During
about fifteen years of its existence, the volunteer company consisted
of from twelve to twenty men, and a chief, the firemen receiving $5
a month for their services, and the chief proportionately low.
Court House. — One of the magnificent buildings of Virginia is
the District Court House, which was erected in 1910, at a cost of
$275,000, and is now to be doubled in capacity, a much needed en-
largement.
Virginia was the first city on the range to have a county court
house, and it was established, it is believed, mainly through the initi-
ative of Judge Bliss, who was then superintendent of the \^irginia
Public schools. He noted that all juvenile ofifendcrs had to be tried
in the Juvenile court at Duluth, and the contact that necessarily came
between the erring juveniles and older, more hardened, offenders was,
he thought, not conducive to improvement of normal conduct of the
juveniles. He called a pul)lic meeting. It was held in the auditorium
of Roosevelt school. Virginia, and eventually brought action by the
state legislature, with the consequent establishment of the district
court houses. Judge Martin Hughes was the first to hold district
court in Virginia. He held his first session in the Municipal Court
602 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
room, but in the following year the present Court House building
was erected .
Post Office. — Virginia has a very fine Federal building, erected
recently, the first on the ranges.
Cemeteries. — There are two beautifully-kept cemeteries, the
Greenwood and Calvary, the latter being the Catholic place of burial.
They embrace forty acres.
War Record. — Virginia has an enviable and worthy war record.
She sent more than fifteen hundred of her young men into the na-
tional service when the call came in 1917 and 1918, and many of
them made the Supreme Sacrifice. (Reference to their individual
records is made in another chapter.) And when the pressure was
greatest, the people in the home sector, the residents of Virginia in
general, indeed in whole, to-ordinated their efiforts in war work. The
local Red Cross Chapter had more than 5,000 members, and under
the "chairmen" of the various departments, Mesdames West, Kimball,
Lerch, Hultquist, Alalmberg, Colgrove, and others, accomplished very
much. Douglas Greely gave much of his time to the direction of Red
Cross work, and Virginia's contributions to the various Liberty Loans
aggregated to well over $5,000,000. The issues for welfare service
were also liberally subscribed, to. It was a period in which Virginia,
like most other patriotic communities, strove to outdo its neighbor
in national service. That spirit, in the aggregate, brought the over-
whelming of the German resistance eventually, and Virginia might
well be proud of its record of personal service, during the national
period of stress.
Population. — The population of Mrginia in September, 1892, was
not more than 181. By June, 1893, it is said, the population was about
5,000. The blotting out of the village by fire then reduced the popu-
lation, by exodus, very considerably. It had not recovered even by
1900, when the federal census figures credited the city with only
2,962 inhabitants. In 1910, the population had increased to 10,473 ;
and the last census, 1920, disclosed that Virginia then had 14,022
residents.
Its trading, however, is with much larger population, Virginia
being the "shopping-centre" of both the Mesabi and V^ermilion ranges.
Publicity.- — The city is well served by two good daily journals,
the "Daily Virginian," and the "Enterprise." The latter is the older
paper, having been founded in 1893, before the fire, by F. B. Hand and
W. E. Hannaford. The "Enterprise" is the oldest of existing range
newspapers, and from the time of the fire, in 1893, until 1908, its
quarters were in what became knowm as "the Tar Paper Shack,"
which of course it was. The owners lost a printing plant worth
about $10,000 in the first fire. A. E. Bickford, city clerk, was on the
stafif of the "Enterprise" in the early days. The other paper, the
"Virginian," dates from May, 1895. It was founded by Wm. R. Mc-
Garry, who published the paper for the first four or five months. Since
October, 1895, the paper has been owned by the Cuppernull family,
David E. Cuppernull, who was "one of the best-known journalists on
the range," holding the direction for the greater part of the time.
Ransom Metcalfe was at one time part-owner of the paper. The
"Virginian," too, lost its plant in one of the big fires of the city,
that of 1900. Both newspapers have up-to-date plants today, and
are well edited.
Hospitals. — Virginia has five hospitals. The Virginia Hospital,
conducted by Dr. C. W. IMiller, was established by him in 1893 on
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 603
Wyoming- Avenue, and then had accommodations for forty patients.
It was a private enterprise. The Lenont Hospital was built in 1903,
by Dr. Charles B, Lenont. It was modernly equipped and could ac-
commodate thirty patients.
It became necessary for the city to have a "pest-house," or de-
tention hospital, soon after the twentieth century came in. The first
attempt made was the renting of the "old David Kelly house in block
53," in 1901. A year later, the city bought the house, paying $700
for it, and the rental of $300 for the previous year was taken in part
payment. It continued as the "pest-house" until 1909, when the De-
tention Hospital was erected on leased land in section 18. The build-
ing cost the city $2,495.45, and the furnishing only $357, and the
nurse-caretaker, "a man of considerable age, and who wants a home,"
being paid $2.00 a day when he only occupied the place, and an addi-
tional dollar a day when he had patients to nurse and cook for. So
that city funds were not extravagantly used for that purpose. As a
matter of fact, the public funds of Virginia have been carefully hus-
banded one must acknowledge, when comparison is made with use of
public funds in other range municipalities. And during the last ad-
ministration, Virginia has shown an even greater inclination to "re-
trench."
The one great expense is for schools, and, having regard to the
bearing education will have upon the Virginia of the next generation,
the school authorities are justified in endeavoring to provide the high-
est standard of public education possible.
Educational Progress. — The first school has been already re-
ferred to. The enrollment was eighteen, and there was one teacher.
In the 1919-20 school year the enrollment was 3,653, and there were
148 teachers. The expense incurred in the first term of school did not
exceed, probably, $100, whereas the school levy for the purpose of
Independent School District No. 22, which is the Virginia district,
was $619,839.40 for the year 1919-20. So that the progress made has
certainly been substantial.
School District No. 22 was organized on February 1, 1893. The
first directors were : John F. Gleason, Neil Mclnnis and Jared D.
Taylor, Mclnnis being treasurer and Taylor clerk. One early re-
view reads :
The district, when first organized and which until 1903, included Eveleth,
found it quite difficult to float a loan of $10,000 with which to begin business.
Many moneyed men did not have the faith in the Mesabi Range iron prospects
that they now have. Many men of wealth, who looked over the country at
that time, shook their heads and said that the whole northeastern part of the
state was not worth $10,()()0. Through the faith and efforts of Mr. E. Z. Griggs
the district secured the loan of $10,CXX), and thus struck its natural pace, which
has been a lively one up to the present.
As there was difficulty in raising the fund, it seems probable
that it was not available before the fire of June, 1893, occurred. After
the fire, there was no school until November of 1893. and school
was then opened in the Methodist Church, the one brought from Du-
luth through the munificence or interest of the Merritt family. It
was a trying emergency arrangement for the teachers. Thomas Row-
ley, principal, taught in the main building. Miss Mac Gill taught
a hundred pupils in the Sunday School room, in the spring of 1894.
There were no books or blackboards, and the room was so small
that she had to "take the childrt'ti in lialf-day sessions." Thomas
Rowley was succeeded by ( lodrgc RaynK^nd. while the school was
still conducted in the Methodist Church. However, better conditions
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
605
came eventually, the Central School being built in 1894, at a cost of
$14,000. In 1896, another was built, the Franklin, at a cost of $1,500.
It was enlarged in 1904, at a cost of $1,000. The Primary building
was erected in 1898, and the Homestead in 1903 ; the former cost
$7,000, and the latter only $500. The Homestead School was of logs,
and was built in an outlying agricultural section. Finnish farmers
constituted that small sub-district, but their children had to be pro-
vided with the means of education, and it was quite impossible
to transport them to the Virginia schools. There were no roads,
and when Judge Bliss, then district superintendent, visited the
school, he had to go on horseback, or on a sled. By the way, the
first teacherage put into operation on the range was at the Homestead
School, the teacher finding it just as difficult to get to and from Vir-
ginia as other people, of course, and therefore, having no option but
to remain near her school. But that little school ultimately gave a
VIRGINIA TECHNICAL HIGH SCHOOL. (aN IMMENSE VOCATIONAL
SCHOOL BUILDING HAS SINCE BEEN BUILT IN REAR, ADJOINING)
good demonstration of the value of the public schools in the Ameri-
canizing of the alien population. Nine out of ten of the pupils, prob-
ably, spoke only Finnish when they first entered the. log schoolhouse ;
in eight years, it had a class ready for high school — a class of bright,
apt and promising Americans. Judge Bliss, who never took a vaca-
tion while he was superintendent, was especially interested in the
evolution of the foreign element into citizens of good American spirit,
and instituted several unicjue ways of efifecting that purpose through
the pupils of the Virginia schools, and by the establishment of night
schools. Virginia was the first to start such work on the range.
In 1904 the Roosevelt School building was erected, at a cost of
$65,000, and it became the High school. Then came the Johnson and
Farmstead schools in 1907, and the Higgins in 1908; the Technical
High, Northside and Southside schools, in 1909. A larger school
became necessary on the Southside in 1915, and was then built, at a
cost of $55,000. An appraisal of the school property of the Virginia
district, made in 1914, showed the total valuation of real estate to
be $167,200; of buildings, $468,000; of eciuii.mcnt, $89,244; of text
Vol. IT-
606 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
books, $10,000; of supplies and library, $5,000. The last official ap-
praisal, made for the county board of education, school-year 1919-20,
showed school property of Independent School District No. 22 to be
$1,590,562. That includes the first section of the Technical High
School, $250,000, but not all of the expense incurred in constructing
the recent additions to that imposing block of school buildings. The
enlargements were begun in 1917, and were not completed until 1921.
It was estimated that the total cost, when complete, would be about
$1,500,000. The Vocational, or Technical High, is a marvel of school
architecture, and its scope and efficient direction enable Virginia to
maintain its proper place educationally among the wonderful school
districts of the Mesabi range. The main Virginia School is so vast
in its equipment, scope, departments, and possibilities, that the com-
piler of this record would not attempt a detailed description. It could
not be properly given in the space he has available. However, it
should be recorded that "the master mind of this advanced system
of education was P. P. Colgrove," the school superintendent. The
architect was Carl E. Nystrom, of Duluth.
In all, there are fourteen schoolhouses in Independent School Dis-
trict No. 22, five of brick and nine of wood. The present superin-
tendent is E. T. Duffield, a capable educator and an efficient well-
paid executive. All salaries are high ; the male teachers of the dis-
trict during the school-year 1919-20 received an average salary of
$197 a month, and the women teachers $147.
District No. 22 is responsible for public school-work in town-
ship 59-17 and part of 58-17. Until 1904, District No. 22 had au-
thority over the Eveleth schools also, but it was rather an unsatis-
factory arrangement. Virginia, the richer place, and consequently
a heavier taxpayer, did not feel that it was getting a proper share
of the school levy. There were other reasons also, and in the last
years of the undivided district, when J. H. Hearding. a man of strong
personality, was school director, Virginians were especially uneasy,
believing that Eveleth had a stronger representation on the school
board. However, with the organization of Independent School Dis-
trict No. 39. and the separation of Eveleth from Virginia, the latter
had what she wanted, and with the election of Joseph Roskilly, di-
rector, Robert E. Bailie, and Chas. C. Butler clerk, Virginia held
full sway over her own schools, and over the whole of her school-
levy. Many able men have served on the Virginia school board
since that time, but space is not here available to name them. But
the Board of Education, in 1920, consisted of: R. J. McGhee, clerk;
W. T. Irwin, treasurer: C. R. Johnson, chairman; A. E. McKenzie,
H. A. Ebmer and A. Hawkinson, directors; E. T. Duffield, super-
intendent.
The superintendents from the beginning have been : Thomas
Rowlev, 1893-94; George Raymond, 1894; Bert N. Wheeler, 1894-98;
William Park. 1898-1901; S. W. Gilpin, 1901-04; Lafayette Bliss,
1904-1914; P. P. Colgrove, 1914-20; E. T. Duffield, 1920.
The Mrginia school system is in keeping with its buildings,
which probably, as a group, cannot be excelled by those of any other
place of like size in the country, off the Mesabi range. Hibbing has
a more expensive high school building, it must be admitted, but if
one groups the schools of St. Louis County, there is not much doubt
that they will favorably compare with those of any county of any
state of the Union. The finest educators of the country are attracted
to the range schools, which offer far better salaries than universities
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 607
can offer its professors ; and, consequently, the standard of education
is excellent.
Virginia's Advantages. — Albert E. Bickford tersely described
some of the outstanding features of Virginia, in 1920. His summary
reads, in part :
The taxable valuation of Virginia * * * is $17,000,000 * * * .
The city has * * * 26 miles of cement sidewalks * * * ; 8,000 hand-
planted trees, * * * about fifty acres of parkland ******
the largest white pine sawmill in the world; the best automobile roads in
the northwest; * * * the finest line (trolley) in the states * * * ;
many dependable iron ore mines; a large farmers' market place; aviation
f^gjj * * * . ^yg hospitals; eighty acres of experimental school farm; the
purest and coldest water in the state * * * ; a new and up-to-date deten-
tion hospital: a most improved incinerator plant; an $8,000 band stand * * *
the best band in the state; twelve miles of sanitary sewer, and absolutely
the largest sewage disposal plant in the state; four miles of storm sewer
* * * ; four strong banks; two daily papers * * * ; all of the fraternal
lodges of modern times; eighteen churches * * * ; the finest grade
schools and vocational schools in the United States * * * ; one large
flour mill; three creameries * * * ; a splendid class of merchants; four
railroads * * * ; four * * * theatres, and a $100,000 opera house
* * * and * * * the Best People on Earth.
Virginia certainly had a definite and conspicuous place in the
county and state.
CHAPTER XXV
THE CIVIL AND SPANISH WARS
Men of St. Louis County have participated in all the wars in
which this nation has engaged, i.e., in those of their time. The
War of the Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Mexican War were
all before the time of the pioneers of St. Louis County ; and while
many of the pioneer families of the county were of colonial descent,
and in consequence probably contributed to the strength of Washing-
ton's forces, it hardly seems possible that any soldier of the Revolu-
tion lived within the borders of St. Louis County. Some soldiers
of the War of 1812 may have, but they are not of record. It is possi-
ble that some of the early settlers were veterans of the Mexican
campaign, but of them even there is no authentic record. St. Louis
County, as a white settlement, was still in its infancy, and very
sparsely populated in the early '60s ; nevertheless, to the limit of
its strength, it gave of its best to the Federal cause, and shares with
Minnesota a glorious Civil war record, men of St. Louis County rally-
ing to the first regiment ofifered to Lincoln — the first in the whole
country. That distinction, that unique honor, will be referred to
later in this chapter.
When the call to arms came in 1861, only the fringe of St. Louis
County had been settled, and the inhabitants of the few little hamlets
of the North Shore were denied the partiotic urge that in later wars
swept most of the full-blooded and right-minded young men into
the military forces. There was no chance of organizing a Duluth
battalion in 1861 ; nor even a company. The patriots of that outpost
of civilization who felt the military "urge," who felt a patriotic desire
to strike with the federal forces at the section which refused govern-
ance by the principles of liberty to all, had to warm their patriotism
by stern and long-sustained resolution. They had to depart singly, at
their own expense, and in some cases go long distances before they
could reach the place where they could enlist. And then, to an
extent, they were among strangers. The young men of later wars
had a different experience ; they rallied in their home town to the
colors ; they had their schoolmates as comrades ; and they left their
home town cheered by the handgrips of friends, and the expressions
of love and admiration from their own relatives. It was different in
1861. For instance, consider the case of Robert Emmit Jefferson.
He had married in 1859, and, says Carey :
After the breaking out of the Civil war, Mr. Jefferson and his wife and baby girl
left Duluth for his old home in St. Anthony Falls, going back by way of the
grand portage of the Fond du Lac, up the St. Louis and Savannah rivers,
down Prairie and Tamarac rivers into Sandy Lake, and down the Mississippi
to St. Anthony. Before starting on their trip Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson stopped
with the writer at Oneota, while preparing for the journey. It was considered
by all that their journey would be extremely tedious and a dangerous one for
Mrs. Jefferson and the baby; yet theredid not seem to be any other way for
them to get out of the country. In that year, while there were not many people
at the Head of the Lakes, those that remained had very little left after the year
of the panic (1857). There was no money in the country, nor any employment
that could afford a living. It was one of those "fish and potato" years, when
the people had to resort, in part at least, to the Indian style of living.
Mr. Jefferson was without money and therefore could not go around by lake,
nor could he pay $35 fare for stage by way of the military road to St. Paul.
608
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 609
He was not so well prepared for the trip as Duluth was 200 years before,
yet he concluded to face the perils. * * * After a perilous * * * trip
he reached his old home.
Jefferson enlisted, and within a year had given up his life, his
wife dying- soon afterwards. However, the little girl, who by the way
was the first white child born within the original village of Duluth,
lived to reach maturity and a happy marital state. Yet, their parents
entered upon their patriotic purpose in '61 with a firm resolution and
devotion to country. Many others left Duluth and the Head of the
Lakes in much the same unostentatious way during the dark years
of the early 'COs. No draft was demanded of Duluth until the war
was far spent, and then it was disclosed that Duluth had practically
fulfilled her moral liability by the call of the heart. Her sons had
already gone into the thick of the struggle, fearlessly and by their
own election ; they had volunteered, many of them in the first year.
Doras Martin's case is another instance of grim determination
to fight for his country, no matter what obstacles came to prevent it.
He was well over sixty years old, had no money, but he borrowed
$25 to go to St. Paul to enlist. There he was rejected, his gray hair
and whiskers belieing his statement of age. But he dyed his hair, and
crossed into Wisconsin, where he was admitted into the 30th Wis-
consin Regiment as a man of forty years. He served until June 15,
1865, then being discharged at Louisville, Kentucky, for physical
disability.
He returned to Duluth, proud of his military record, and proud
of his uniform, as every war veteran has a right to be. ^o proud
indeed of it that he had resolved to die in the national uniform.
And as he was then "nearing seventy years," and had many pre-
monitions of death, he was wont, it is said, to dress often in his
regimentals. One morning, in 1867, he was found motionless, seated
in his chair near the open door of his cottage, in full uniform, even
to his hat. He was dead. But the sturdy old patriot, quadroon
though he was supposed to be, was reverently given the last rites of a
soldier of the nation. Dressed in "Blue,'' the uniform of honor, he
was given full military honors, and buried in Franklin Square, Minne-
sota Point. Later his body was removed to the Soldiers' Rest, in
Forest Hill Cemetery, his grave being No. 7, of Tier No. 1.
Judge Carey writes as follows regarding the part taken by
St. Louis County in the Civil war:
In 1861, when the southern states rebelled, and the Civil war in all of
its sad and sorrowful features had become an accomplished fact, the Head of
the Lakes had not recovered from the (money) panic and depression of 1857.
During the summer of 1861, many of those that yet remained departed, some
with the patriotic spirit to enlist in the Union army, some went to St. Paul,
others to their homes in other states, and others to their old homes in Canada
(not being citizens). * * *
In 1860 the total population of St. Louis County was given as 406. * * *
In 1862, the total enrollment of ablebodied men in St. Louis County subject
to draft was only 46. * * * This shows a remarkalile thinning out in two
years. There was no call for a draft of recruits for the army until 1864; in
that year there were three calls — on February 1, March 14 and July 2. There
were required from St. Louis County under the three calls a total of 23, and
a total credit of 21, as furnished up to October 31, 1864. * * * Sixteen
were volunteers, and five received bounties of pul)lic money voted by the
county commissioners. During the si.x months in which those draft calls
were made active steps were taken by interested citizens through the adjutant-
general of the state and all other available sources, to obtain credit for all the
volunteers from St. Louis County that had been enlisted since the beginning
of the war, whether they enlisted in Minnesota, or in any other state; and in
610 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
this way the credit of sixteen volunteers was obtained up to the last call of
President Lincoln, in July, 1864, for 500,000 more men; then St. Louis County
lacked seven more men to fill her quota.
On September 12, 1864, an appropriation of $1,500 was made by the board
of county commissioners for bounties for volunteers, and at the same session
a levy of 8 mills on the dollar was made on the property of the county,
to make good that amount.
A few individuals that were anxious to avoid draft raised some "green-
backs," which they contributed to the county fund. This bounty had the
effect of inducing five more men to enlist before October 31.
Judge Carey could not recall the names of many of the sixteen
volunteers, but remembered that among them were : Col. J. B. Culver,
Freeman Keene. John G. Rakowsky, Julius Gogarn, Robert P. Miller,
\\'illiam C. Bailey, and Alonzo Wilson, also of course Robert E.
Jefferson. The names of the other pioneer residents of St. Louis
County who served will probably be found included in the roster
painstakingly prepared for this compilation by the late Asa Dailey,
of Duluth.
Considering the Civil war record of St. Louis County as it now is,
i.e.. including in the record those of the residents of St. Louis County
who served in the Civil war and afterwards took up abode within the
county, as well as those who enlisted from St. Louis County, the
roster is a large one, and connects the county with many distinguished
regiments. As will be seen by referring to the list, men who then or
later were of St. Louis County, were found upon the rosters of many
regiments of many states. It would not be possible to here review
the records of all the regiments in which men of the county served,
but brief reference might be appropriately made to the distinguished
records of Minnesota regiments. In every one of the famous Minne-
sota regiments from the First to the Eleventh were men who are
registered as of St. Louis County. The lists before the writer of
this review give the names of 581 soldiers of Civil war service claimed
to be of St. Louis County; and among them are fifty-eight who served
in Minnesota military units.
Regimental Records. — The State of Minnesota was not four years
old when, on April 13, 1861, Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina,
surrendered to the forces of secession. Washington officials and
President Lincoln knew of it that night, but the country in general
knew nothing of it, and not many of the people of Washington sensed
its real significance. There was one man in the Federal capital,
however, who immediately grasped the dire portent of the message
from Sumter; he was a sturdy pioneer of the Territory of Minne-
sota. Alexander Ramsey, then governor of the state. He was in
Washington on state business at that time, and with the characteris-
tic quickness of action and thought had resolved that Minnesota
should be one of the first states to prove its loyalty to the principles
for which Lincoln and the Republic stood. Impatiently he waited
for night to pass. With daylight he took action. It is said that
"early on the morning of the 14th, Alexander Ramsey, governor of
Minnesota, * * * presented in person to President Lincoln his
written offer of 1,000 men for the suppression of the rebellion. It
was then stated by the president, and the fact has never been con-
troverted, that this tender was the first response to the President's
call for 75,000 men." Thirty years later, ex-Governor Ramsey, in
a public address, stated:
In the month of April, 1860, upon official business as governor of Minne-
sota, I was called to the City of Washington. * * * Qn Saturday night,
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 611
April 13, * * * Washington was deeply moved by the intelligence that
Fort Sumter * * * had been attacked * * * and * * * had sur-
rendered. Early Sunday morning, accompanied by two citizens of Minnesota,
I visited the War Department and found the secretary (Cameron) vnth his hat
on and papers in his hand, about to leave his office. I said: "My business is
simply, as governor of Minnesota, to tender a thousand men to defend the
Government." "Sit down immediately," he replied, "and write the^ tender you
have made, as I am now on my way to the President's mansion." This was
quickly done, and thus Minnesota became the first to cheer the President by
offers of assistance in the crisis which had arrived.
Surely a proud distinction for a region then in its first decade of
statehood. The offer was accepted, and enlistments began next
day, April 15th, at St. Paul and other places.
Probably Governor Ramsey had reckoned that one thousand
men would more than meet the quota expected of the young state,
which when created in 1857 had a population of only 150,000, many
thousands of whom were of the red race. Yet, before the four years
of war were over Minnesota had "furnished 25,053 Union soldiers,"
or "72 per cent of her presidential vote in 1860, and 14 per cent of
her entire population in that year." Ten per cent, or twenty-five
hundred men gave their lives to the nation, "and probably as many
more died after their discharge as the direct result of wounds received
or disease contracted" during military service.
Major Battles. — The mortality among men of Minnesota was
deplorable, yet the fame of Minnesota regiments of the Civil war is
immortal. "Official reports show that Minnesota regiments were
engaged in all the sixteen leading battles of the war. * * *
Gettysburg, Spottsylvania, Wilderness, Antietam, Chancellorsville, Cold
Harbor, Fredericksburg, Manassas, Shiloh, Stone River, Chickamauga,
Petersburg, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Nashville, and Atlanta. =f= * *
The First Minnesota at Gettysburg, the Second Minnesota at Chicka-
mauga, the Third Minnesota at Fitzhugh's Wood, the Fourth Minne-
sota at Vicksburg, the Fifth Minnesota at Corinth and Nashville left
much conclusive evidence of their prowess that no story of either
battle is complete which does not make acknowledgment of their
effective participation."
And through the greater part of the national strife, when Minne-
sota was stripped almost bare of its man-power to keep the Union
flag in the van, the few that remained in the home sector had to be
almost constantly on guard lest the restless and cruel Indian at
their very frontier, in fact within their borders, might get beyond
control and manifest their traditional hatred of white people by bloody
massacres in outlying settlements. Once they did get beyond control,
as has been elsewhere narrated. It was a trying time, yet those who
lived through the Civil war period look back in reminiscence to that
period as "glad grand days," as they really were, for in that period,
as during the periods of other serious wars, the Revolution, the Span-
ish and \\'orkl wars, men and women, young and old, were enthused
by a spirit of unselfishness, of loyalty to and consideration for others, of
patriotism to the nation ; they were filled with that exaltation of
service in a righteous cause which makes sacrifice glorious, and hard-
ship a privilege. The soldiers that went to war left the capital of
Minnesota thrilled by the enthusiasm and courage displayed by every-
one. The First Regiment left St. Paul (Fort Snelling) on June 22,
ISGl, at 5 o'clock in the morning; yet the "town was out." a vast
crowd to "see them off" at the lower levee, and at H:'M) A. M., the
line of boats cast off, "the band playing a lively air, the crowd on the
612 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
shore and the soldiers cheering lustily." all proud to enter upon per-
sonal sacrifices for the nation, and thinking it "a glorious day" even
though tears came to the eyes of some at the same time.
Now to review briefly the records of the regiments in which men
of St. Louis County served. The review begins with :
First Minnesota Infantry. — The First Regiment of Minnesota
volunteers, which became an infantry unit, was organized in April,
1861, and originally commanded by Col. Willis A. Gorman, former
territorial governor of Minnesota. Ordered to Washington, District
of Columbia. June 14, 1861 ; embarked, June 2*1. Participated in the
following marches, battles, sieges and skirmishes : Bull Run and
Edward's Ferry, 1861 ; Yorktown, Fair Oaks, Peach Orchard, Savage
Station, Glendale and Nelson's Farm, Malvern Hill, Vienna, Antietam,
Charleston, first Fredericksburg, 1862; second Fredericksburg, Gettys-
burg, and Bristow Station, 1863. Discharged at Fort Snelling, Minne-
sota, May 5, 1864. At Gettysburg, out of 252 men engaged, the First
lost 205. "the greatest relative casualty list suffered by any command
during the war."
The following named men of St. Louis County were upon the
rosters of the First Regiment: E. A. Austin, W. H. Bassett, G. H.
Durphin, J. J. Egan, E. H. Foster, W. H. Johnson, E. R. Jefferson,
R. E. Jefferson, J. O. Milne, Thos. H. Pressnell, Franklin Paine, and
John Young.
Second Minnesota Infantry. — The organization of the Second
Regiment of Minnesota volunteers was entered upon even before the
first had left St. Paul. Officially, the .Second Regiment was recorded
as having been organized in July, 1861. It was originally commanded
by H. P. Van Cleve, a. West point graduate, a veteran of the Black
Hawk war. He became a brigadier-general in 1862. The Second
Regiment was ordered to Louisville, Kentucky, in October, 1861, and
became part of the Army of the Ohio. Engaged in the following
campaigns, battles, and sieges: Mill Spring, siege of Corinth, Braggs
Raid, Perryville, 1862 ; skirmishes of the Tullahoma campaign, Chicka-
mauga, and Mission Ridge. 1863. The regiment was veteranized in
January, 1864, and joined Sherman's forces for the Atlanta campaign,
taking part in the following engagements : Resaca, Kenesaw Moun-
tain, 1864; Jonesboro ; Sherman's march through Georgia and the
Carolinas ; Bentonville, 1865. Discharged at Fort Snelling, July 11,
1865. The regiment "covered itself with laurels" in the battle of
Chickamauga, and "few Minnesota regiments, if any, performed more
long and laborious marches."
St. Louis County men of the Second Regiment were : J. N. Barn-
card, A. C. Bentley, Thomas Bowen, J. W. Burbank, M. C. Russell,
and R. W. Sanburn.
Third Minnesota Infantry. — The Third Regiment was organized
in October. 1861, and originally commanded by Col. Henry C. Lester,
of Winona. Ordered to Nashville. Tennessee, in March, 1862; thence
to St. Louis, Missouri, and to Minnesota. Engaged in Indian expedi-
tion of 1862. Participated in battle of Little Rock, Arkansas, Novem-
ber, 1863. Veteranized in January. 1864. Engaged at Fitzhugh's
Woods, March 30, 1864; ordered to Vine Bluff, Arkansas, April, 1864;
mustered out Devall's Bluff, September 2, 1865; discharged Fort
Snelling. Regiment was conspicuous at Fitzhugh's Woods.
St. Louis County men in Third Regiment : Andrew Brink, H. J.
Eaton, Hans Eustrom, E. L. Woodward, and E. S. Woodsworth.
Fourth Minnesota Infantry. — Organized December, 1861, Col.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 613
John B. Sanborn. Ordered to Benton Barracks, Missouri, April 19,
1862. Participated in: Siege of Corinth, April 1, 1863; luka, Sep-
tember, 1863; Battle of Corinth, October, 1863; Siege of Vicksburg,
Raymond. Jackson, Champion Hills, assault on Vicksburg and cap-
ture of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863; Mission Ridge, November, 1863.
Veteranized January, 1864. Allatoona, October, 1864; Sherman's
march through Georgia and Carolinas ; Bentonville, March 30, 1865 ;
Raleigh, 1865. Mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, July 19, 1865.
Discharged at Fort Snelling.
St. Louis County men on rosters of Fourth Regiment : U. S.
Ayers, Brady Johnson, W. B. Patton, Charles Stewart, Fred Stauff,
E. A. Tyler, and W. H. Van Valkenberg.
Fifth Minnesota Infantry. — Organized May, 1863, Col. Rudolph
Borges'rode of Shakopee. Col. Lvicius F. Hubbard of Red Wing later
in command. Ordered to Pittsburg Landing, May 9, 1863. Left
three companies in Minnesota for garrison duty. Regiment in many
battles in 1863', including Siege of Corinth, April-May; Battle of luka,
September, 1863; Corinth, October, 1863. Minnesota detachment
engaged with Indians at Redwood, Minnesota, August 18, 1862 ; Siege
of Fort Ridgely, August 30-23, 1863 ; Fort Abercrombie, D. T.,
August, 1863. Regiment with Sixteenth Army Corps saw heavy
fighting in 1863, including: Jackson, Siege of Vicksburg, Assault of
Vicksburg, Mechanicsburg, Richmond, 1863. The regiment was at
Fort DeRussey, Louisiana, in March, 1864; then followed the Red
River fighting, March-May ; Lake Chicot, June, and Tupelo. July,
1864. In that month the regiment was veteranized. In August it
engaged in the Battle of Abbeyville. Ordered to Nashville, Tennes-
see, in November, 1864, it took part in battle of Nashville, Decem-
ber 15-16. In April, 1865, it was at Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely,
and finally, on September 6, 1865, was mustered out in Demopolis,
Alabama.
M. Bruletti, James Farrell, N. Hettinger, W. G. Huston, and
J. McGraw were the St. Louis County men of the Fifth Regiment.
Sixth Minnesota Infantry. — Organized August, 1863. Ordered to
participate in Indian expedition forthwith. In liattle with Indians at
Birch Coulee, September 3, and Wood Lake, September 22, 1863.
Garrison duty, frontier posts, next eight months, then actively in
field against Indians. Three engagements. Similar garrison duty
September, 1863 to June, 1864, then leaving for Helena, .Arkansas.
Ordered to St. Louis, Missouri, November, 1864, thence to New
Orleans, January, 1865. With Sixteenth Army Corps engaged at
Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. April, 1865. Col. A. D. Nelson,
original commander, was ordered to frontier before the organization
was completed but he soon resigned and Col. Wm. Crooks appointed.
James H. La Fans seems to have been the only St. Louis County
man in that regiment.
Seventh Minnesota Infantry. — Organized in August. 1863*. Col.
Stephen Miller, of St. Cloud, commanding. Participated Indian expe-
dition, 1862; battle Wood Lake, Minnesota, September 22. Garrison
duty frontier until May, 1863. Actively in field against Indians that
summer; engagements July 24, 36 and 38. Ordered St. Louis, Mis-
souri, Octol)er 27, 186:); thence to Paducah, Kentucky, April. 1864;
thence to Memphis. Tennessee. Assigned to Sixteenth Army Corps,
June, participating in: T.attle of Tupelo, July; Tallahatchie. August;
pursuit of Price from .Arkansas to Missouri; Battle of Xashvillc, Ten-
nessee, December. 1S64. Last engagements Spanish Fort and Fort
614 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Blakely, Alabama, April, 18G5. Discharged at Fort Snelling, Minne-
sota, Aug-ust 16, 1865.
Lt.-Col. Wm. R. Marshall, later governor of state, may be
claimed as St. Louis County man, being one of pioneer townsite
owners on the North Shore in the '50s ; but the men of the Seventh
Regiment shown on St. Louis County rosters are Frank Burke, John
Hagadon, McNeil, and Thos. Stokes.
Eighth Minnesota Infantry. — Organized August, 1862, Col. Minor
T. Thomas, of Stillwater, commanding. At frontier posts until May,
1864, when regiment took field against Indians. Distinguished itself
at Tah-cha-o-ku-tu, July 28, 1864, Little Missouri River, that engage-
ment being only one against Indians commemorated in oils, the
famous picture now hanging in the Minnesota State Capitol.
Other engagements of Eighth Infantry include battles against Con-
federate troops, the record including Battle of the Cedars, Wilkin-
son's Pike, Tenn., December, 1864, and near Murfreesboro same
month. Regiment took part in battles of Kingston, March, 1865, and
was mustered out at Charlotte, North Carolina, July 11, 1865.
H. C. Helm and J. F. Russell, of St. Louis County, were of the
Eighth Regiment.
Ninth Minnesota Infantry. — Organized August, 1862, Col. Alex.
Wilkins, of St. Paul, commanding. At frontier posts until Septem-
ber, 1863, then ordered to St. Louis, Mo.; Garrison duty, Missouri,
until May, 1864, then going to Memphis. Later engagements: Gun-
town expedition, June, 1864; Oxford expedition, August, 1864; Talla-
hatchie, August, 1864; pursuit of Price, Arkansas to Missouri; battles
of Nashville, Tennessee, December, 1864; Spanish Fort and Fort
Blakely, April, 1865. Discharged at Fort Snelling, August 24, 1865.
G. K. Barncard was the only known man of St. Louis County
who served with the Ninth Regiment.
Tenth Minnesota Infantry. — Organized August, 1862, Col. James
H. Baker, of Mankato. commanding. Frontier duty until June, 1863.
In field against Indians during summer; engaged July 24, 26 and 28th.
At St. Louis, ^Missouri, October, 1863 ; Columbus, Kentucky, April,
1864; Memphis, Tennessee, June, 1864. With Sixteenth Army Corps
at Battle of Tupelo, July; Oxford expedition in August; Price pursuit;
battles in Nashville, December, and in April of next year, 1865, at
Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely, Alabama. Discharged Fort Snelling,
August 19, 1865.
There were at least four St. Louis County men in the Tenth
Regiment ; they were : James J. Barns, Hugh A. Cox, Amos Franken-
field and Henry Wellgarde.
Eleventh Minnesota Infantry. — The Eleventh Regiment was not
organized until August, 1864, under command of Col. James Gilfillan.
It left for field of bitterest warfare, Tennessee, but was not destined
to take part in actual fighting, being detailed to guard railroad
between Nashville and St. Louis. It was mustered out in June, 1865.
H. F. Johnson, of St. Louis County, was in that unit.
First Regiment Heavy Artillery, — It was not until April, 1865,
that the first Minnesota regiment of heavy artillery was organized.
The first battery of light artillery had been organized in October, 1861,
and the second and third batteries in December, 1861, and February,
1863, respectively, but there seemed to be no call for heavy artillery
until 1865, when Col. Wm. Colville, of Red Wing, organized the First
Regiment. It was ordered to Chattanooga, Tennessee, and there
remained until September, 1865, when it was mustered out.
DULUTH AXD ST. LOUIS COUNTY 615
On the rolls of the regiment were John Saxton, Conrad Schoffer,
and Albert Woolson, of St. Louis County.
Second Company, Sharpshooters was mustered until the Federal
service for three years, in March, 1862, under command of Capt.
Wm. F. Russell. It was part of a corps of picked men, known as
"Berdan's Sharpshooters," recruited for special service. Its record is
practically the record of the First Minnesota Infantry, for it was
assigned to duty with that regiment in June, 1862, and remained
attached until mustered out.
W. H. Smith, of St. Louis County, was of the Sharpshooters.
First Mounted Rangers was organized in March, 1863, by Col.
Samuel McPhail, of Houston. It took part in the Indian expedition of
that year, and was mustered out before the end of that year.
The St. Louis County men among the Mounted Rangers were
Geo. R. Page, Nelson Hooper, Geo. N. LaVaque and John H. LaVaque.
Brackett's Battalion Cavalry. — Major Alfred B. Brackctt, of
St. Paul, organized the battalion of cavalry known by his name in
October and November, 1861. The three companies soon left for
Benton Barracks, Missouri, and in December, 1861, the battalion was
assigned to " 'Curtis' Horse," and in February. 1862, left for Fort
Henry, Tennessee. In the following April the regiment became the
"Fifth Iowa Cavalry," and as such took part in siege of Corinth,
April, 1862. Ordered to Fort Heiman, Tennessee, August, 1862;
veteranized February, 1864 ; ordered to Department of Northwest in
1864, Indian warfare, engagements July and August. Mustered out
by companies May and June, 1866.
Charles Cotter and Leonidas Merritt were of Brackett's Cavalry,
and another St. Louis County man. H. H. Hawkins, who is listed as of
Second Minnesota Cavalry, may have belonged to the second com-
pany of Brackett's battalion.
Hatch's Battalion, Cavalry. — Hiatch's Battalion, otherwise known
as the Independent Battalion of Minnesota Cavalry, was organized in
July, 1863, by Major E. A. C. Hatch. It was formed for service
against the Indians, and although a Federal unit, it was permitted
to operate independently of General Pope, then in command of the
department, reporting direct to the War Department, \\^ashington.
The battalion was order to Pembina, D. T., October, 1863, and to Fort
Abercrombie, D. T., May 1864, and there remained until mustered
out by companies April to June, 1866.
S. L. Bohanan seems to have been the only St. Louis County
man in Hatch's Battalion.
The Late Asa Dailey. — The foregoing review covers the records
of Minnesota regiments in which St. Louis County men served,
but as will be seen by the following list, men of the North Shore
were in very many other regiments, many of them of very distin-
guished record. But obviously this review must confine itself to
Minnesota regiments. However, so that a complete roster might
be preserved in an authentic county history, the compiler of this
work approached Mr. Asa Dailey, of Dulutli, in November, 1!»20,
knowing him to be the man best fitted for the preparation of such
a roster. Mr. Dailey, a worthy loyal comrade, readily entered upon
the work, having during the latter part of his life devoted himself
exclusively to Grand Army affairs. It is thought that he was loyally
engaged in such work of compilation when stricken in the spring
of this year. He never recovered, death coming on June 19, 1921.
Among his papers were later found the pencilled lists containing
616 DtJLUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
the Civil war information that follows this chapter. Whether the
list is complete, or not, the compiler of this county work is unable to
state, but the information is given so that the worthy patriots who are
of record in St. Louis County, e.g., who were of local residence either
before or since the Civil war, and gave the nation personal service
during that long and terrible struggle, might feel that the editors of
this work desire to honor them, or their memory, in acknowledging
their war service.
The lists prepared by the late Asa Dailey, and here given, include
only men of St. Louis County, it is presumed. The branch of service
is given where possible. The list begins : Anderson, Charles U. S. N. ;
Austin, E. A., 1st Minn. ; A. O. Ayers, 8Gth Ohio ; S. C. Aldrich, 65th
Ohio; Charles Arnold, 142nd N. Y. ; Samuel Anderson, 11th Pa.;
Henry Alger, 1st Conn.. Charles N. Ashford, 10th N. Y.; U. S. Ayres,
4th Minn, Martin Anderson, 33rd Wis.; John Abair, 153 N. Y. ;
R. W. Abbott, 9th Maine ; J. J. Ash, 2nd N. J. Charles Archer, 14th
N. Y. ; Martin Anderson, 53rd Wis.; J. N. Albertson, 11th N. Y.
S. F. Boyer, 104th Ohio ; C. N. Bonnell, 5th Wis. ; W. H. Black,
23rd 111.; John Butler, 6th N. Y. ; John O. Benson, 4th 111.; T. B.
Bedell, 1st Cal. ; William Ball, 45th Wis. ; Thomas S. Brown, 5th N. H. ;
J. H. Baker, 31st Iowa; B. H. Brown, 5th N. H.; John Burns, 15th
U. S.; Frank E. Birdsell, 7th Mich.; C. B. Bjmark, 7th Mich.; James
J. Barns, 10th Minn. ; Lucien J. Barnes, 1st Mo. ; Myron C. Bunnell,
10th Mich.; Wm. G. Benson, 12th Mich. Inf.; A. E. Briggs, 110th Pa.;
G. Bywater, 3rd Mo.; Fred D. Barnett, 84th Pa.; Geo. C. Blackwood,
177th Ohio; U. A. Burnham, 76th N. Y. ; Milton Buell, 48th Wis.;
E. L. Barber, 10th N. Y. ; M. Bruletti, 5th Minn.; W. H. Bassett, 1st
Minn.; John Bucha, 12th Wis.; Frank Burke, 7th Minn.; Daniel L.
Bishop, 13th Me.; Chas. E. Budden, 1st Mich.; Hiram E. Barker, 2'nd
Wis. ; Samuel Barge, 13th Wis. ; Andrew Brink, 3rd Minn. ; S. H.
Brinn, 7th N. J.; John R. Balsh, 141st N. Y. ; H. G. Blackmor, 56th
111. ; A. C. Blackman, 28th Ind. ; Alfred Baker, 65th N. Y. ; C. P. Bragg,
N. S. N.; G. H. Barncard, 9th Minn.; Daniel Bigber, 1st Wis.; M. W.
Bates, 21st Mich.; J. W. Butt, 46th Iowa; A. H. Burke, 75th Ind.;
F. H. Barnard, 44th Mass.; R. S. Barker, 31st Me.; Henry Brown, 26th
Mass. ; W. F. Bailey, 12th Iowa; S. E. Burnham, 1st Me.; L.J. Butter-
field, 6th Wis.; D. J. Budd, Wis.; Thomas Brooke, 76th Ohio; S. L.
Bohanan ; John T. Bright, 13th Pa.; Lewis Barrett, 28th Ohio; Ardin
H. Bowen, 54th 111.; J. M. Burbank, 5th Wis.; J. M. Barr, 9th Iowa;
W. J. Baker, 3rd Wis.; Jas. S. Bush, U. S. N.; Thomas Burns, 29th
Mich.; John Barton, 43rd Wis.; Henry Brown, 26th Mass. ; Edwin
Barnham, 1st U. S. Engrs. ; M. R. Baldwin, 2nd Wis.; Thomas Bart-
lett; S. S. Barnett; G. H. Brown, 5th N. H.; A. C. Bentley ; Thomas
Bowen; J. N. Barncard, 2nd Minn.; Chas E. Bostwick, 128th N. Y. ;
J. Brierly, 3rd Mass.; T. O. Brown, 18th 111.; J. W. Burbank, 2nd
Minn.; F. H. Brassett, 12th Wis.; Wm. F. Butters, 1st Me.; W. T.
Bailey.
C. J. Crassett, 10th Wis.; P. O. Carr, U. S. N. ; Miles Colson,
U. S. N. ; Thomas Cantwell. 143rd N. Y. ; D. G. Cash, 27th Mich. ; J. H.
Cole, 12th Mich. ; Cunningham, 73rd Pa. ; E. M. Crassett, 18th Wis. ;
J. H. Cramer, 13th N. Y. ; Chamberlain, 4th Wis. ; A. Caisse, 3rd Mich. ;
Hugh A. Cox, 10th Minn.; R. S. Cowden, 7th Ohio; R. Cavanaugh,
U. S. N.; Henry Champlin, 30th Wis.; M. J. Crothers, 6th Mich.;
H. H. Covert, 148th N. Y. ; Orson Coon, 49th Wis.; Chas. W. Gate,
8th Mich.; Ira Coburn. 950th Pa.; M. M. Clark, 5th Iowa; Henry
Cleveland, 5th N. Y. ; Chas. Cotter, Minn.; Dd. Crowley, 30th Wis.;
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 617
Chas. Caya, 45th Wis. ; A. M. Cox, 2nd 111. ; E. G. Chapman, 8th Iowa ;
S. W. Clark, 4th Mass. ; Chas. F. Clement, 10th Ind. ; Elkin Corbett,
1st N. Y. ; James G. Clark, 30th Ohio ; Osgood Churchill, 13th Me. ;
J. B. Culver, 13th Mich.; H. W. Coppernall ; C. D. Campbell, 27th
Mich.; Anthony Cloud, 44th Ind.; R. B. Campbell, U. S. N. ; W. L.
Carey, 29th Ohio; J. C. Cook, 8th Mich.; L. G. Colman, 30th Mich.;
R. J. Clemon, 8th N. Y.; Arthur B. Chapin, 1st Ohio; N. B. Church;
Michael Casey, L. U. Case, 1st Mich. ; W. C. Corey, 18th Wis. ; C. Car-
gall, 2'nd N. Y.; D. S. Cole, 3rd Mich.; E. B. Christie, 8th 111.; A. W.
Clark, 5th Mich.; Walter M. Clark, 2?th Wis.; Louis B. Coffey, 2nd
Wis. ; Wm. Carnethan.
Marion Daniel, 3rd Wis.; A. S. Daniel, 11th Conn.; J. S. Daniels,
2nd Wis.; Asa Dailey, 30th Wis.; W. F. Davey, 97th N. Y. ; John
Donovan, 145th N. Y. ; E. S. Dodd, 14th Ohio ; Job P. Dodge, 11th 111.;
Richard Dodge, 27th Wis.; Wm. Doudanow, 27th Mich.; Nelson
Drake, 5th N. Y. ; Cornelius Donohue, 4th Mich. ; Geo. W. Donaldson,
27th Mich.; John Dimond, 1st N. Y. ; Don A. Dodge, 101st N. Y. ;
James L. Dow, 49th Wis.; H. A. Douglas, 2nd Wis.; T. F. Dean, 9th
Ind.; Darius Dexter, 7th 111.; Sylvanus Doris, 2nd N. Y. ; G. H.
Durphin, 1st Minn.
Chas. Emrick, 21st N. Y. ; H. Evans, 9th Mich.; Clark Esmond,
7th Mich.; Durgan Evans, 1st N. H.; R. P. Edson, 144th N. Y. ; J. P.
Easton, 14th 111.; Wm. Elswick, 5th Vir. ; N. T. Esty, 3rd R. I.; H. J.
Eaton; Hans Eustrom, 3rd Minn.; J. J. Egan, 1st Minn.; H. E.
Emmerson, 2nd Wis. ; Cook Ely, 41st Wis.
J. S. Forward, 28th Wis. ; James Finley, 9th Pa. ; J. W. Frazer,
15th N. Y.; J. C. Ferguson, 1st Del.; E. P. FoUett, 8th N. Y. ; Chas.
Falkenstein, 35th W^is. ; John E. Fassett, 3rd Me. ; H. R. Fish, 35th Pa. ;
C. F. Foster, 9th Ind.; J. S. Featherley, 20th Wis.; E. H. Foster, 1st
Minn. ; J. B. Flack, 1st Ky. ; John Finlayson, 18th N. Y. ; E. S. Fletcher,
23rd Wis. ; Amos Frankenfield, 10th Minn. ; John Frazier, 142nd N. Y. ;
James Farrell, 5th Minn.; M. Fitzpatrick, 3rd N. Y.; F. W. Flint, 7th
Mich.; Edward Florada, 16th Wis.; John Finnigan, 3rd Wis.; Chas.
W. Farrington, 135th Ohio; Lewis Franklin, 45th Wis.; A. H. Fish,
3rd Mich. ; James H. Flint, 15th Iowa ; Ed. Flannagan, 20th 111. ; Fred
Fisher, 6th N. Y.; H. W. Ford, 29th Wis.; M. Fitzgerald, 16th 111.;
James H. Felt, 32nd Iowa.
R. A. Gray, 21st Me.; A. W. Gillett, 37th N. Y.; C. F. Griffin,
47th Wis.; Joseph Glockle, 9th N. Y. ; Giles Gilbert, 7th N. Y. ; J. B.
Geggie, 105th Pa.; E. Gouser, 192nd Ohio; Peter C. Gilley, 1st N. Y. ;
E. L. Gregg, 2nd Iowa; T. F. Grav, 1st N. J.; John Gates, 9th Mich.;
John Grace, 7th Mich. ; W. H. Gorndell, 93rd 111.; H. Green, 6th Mich. ;
Chandler Gross, 8th N. Y. ; Gilpatrick, 6th Me.; N. A. Gearhart, 104th
N. Y.; E. Gleason, 22nd Wis.; M. W. Goodrich, 187th Pa.; John A.
Gray, 8th Pa.; John A. Goss, 6th U. S. Cav. ; Wm. Gutt. 74th 111.;
Carl Grieve, 8th N. Y. ; C. H. Graves, 40th N. Y. ; R. G. Geusse, 12th
Ris. Carp. ; John D. Gunn, 27th N. Y. ; James R. Glass, 125th Pa. ; S. L.
Gage, 8th Pa.; James E. Goodman, 12th Mich.
C. W. Harvey, 74th 111.; G. H. Holden, 179th N. Y. ; G. Hamilton.
9th 111.; S. W. Higgin, 69th Ohio; D. W. Hayden, 1st Me.; C. L.
Hooker, 5th Wis. ; Hy. Hingson, 130th Ind. ; A. E. Haughton, 2nd Me. ;
N. Hettinger. 5th Minn.; F. C. Hazelton, 10th Wis.; D. B. Heacock.
14th Ohio; I'. W. Hunt, 11th Wis.; A. J. Herring, 195th Ohio; John
Hagadon, 7th Minn. ; E. J. ilcath, 3rd Mich. ; F. W. Harris, 21st Mich. ;
E. C. House. 5th U. S. ; B. F. Howland. 7th Wis.; W. H. Harrison,
3rd Wis.; G. Harding. 3rd Wis.; David Hood, 5th Mich.; II. C. Helm,
618 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
8th Minn.; Harrison, 2nd Wis.; W. H. Helm, 48th Mo.; N. F.
Howe, 22'nd Wis.; E. D. Hadley, 14th N. H.; F. B. Hizar, 1st Del.; F.
Halladayce. 18;5rd Ind. ; C. E. Holt, 6th Ohio; H. H. Hawkins, 2nd
Minn.; James Hooker, 150th 111.; A. N. Hopkins, 2nd Mich.; J. D.
Holmes, 5th Mich.; W. P. Haines, 3rd Mo.; Benj. Hogan, ;3rd N. Y. ;
H. J. Henderson, 15th Wis. ; John Harrington, 24th Mich.; W. C. Hill,
2nd Pa.; Wm. F. Hyde, 1st Wis.; R. J. Hogan, 50th Wis.; Chas.
Hamstead, 29th Mich.; Albert Huber, 72nd 111.; Wm. G Huston, 5th
Minn; James B. Hughes, 49th N. Y. ; Robert P. House, 11th Wis.;
Frank K. Hill, 3rd Miss.; Nelson Hooper, 1st Minn.
Jerome B. Inman, 2nd. Mich. Cav. ; John Irvin, 1st Ohio Lt. Art.;
Daniel Ivery, 44th Wis.
E. F. Johnson, N. Y. ; W. H. Johnson, 1st Minn.; H. F. Johnson,
11th Minn.; Rufus Johnson, 1st Del.; Leslie Johnson, 1st Neb.; Brady
Johnson, 4th Minn.; E. R. Jefferson, 1st Minn.; R. H. Jefiferson, 1st
Minn. ; Porter M. Jones, 12th Wis. ; A. Jacobs, 1st Mich. Engrs.
H. A. Kiihli, 27th Mich.; Freeman Keene, 1st Mich.; R. C. Ken-
nedy, 89th N. Y.; E. F. Kingler, 55th N. Y. ; J. A. King, 4th Wis.;
K. Leiler, 2nd Ohio; John Krackenberger, 27th Wis.; D'avid Kimball,
27th Mich.; H. C. Kendall, 135th Ind.; — Kennedy, 137th Ind.; Frank
Kirky, 6th N. Y. ; Joshua Klein, 199th Pa.; J. W. Kilgow. 9th Ind.;
M. F. Kalenbach, 32nd Wis.; Fred Knowlton, 8th Me.; O. D. Kinney,
6th Pa.: S. M. Keiller, 8th Wis.; Jeremiah Kimball, 1st N. ; R. F.
Kegg, 152nd Ind.; Geo. W. Keys, 150th Ohio.
C. A. Loundsbury, 21st Mich.; Jacob Laux, 27th Ohio; A. M.
Longstreet, 20th Pa.; L. M. Leiman, 13th Me.; E. E. Lloyd, 12th
Vermont; Alex Longmieur, 1st Mich.; Levi le Due, 39th Wis.; J. A.
Lathrop. 57th N. Y. ; William Little, 17th Wis.; Geo. N. LaCaque. 1st
Minn.; John H. LaVaque, 1st Minn.; Chas. Laurel, 14th Conn.; R. S.
Lench, 2nd Pa. ; Warren Lucom, 39th Wis. ; O. H. Lucken, 15th Wis.;
John Lake, 192nd N. Y. ; Wm. H. Long, 11th Ind.; W. J. Long, 50th
Ind. ; James H. La Fins, 6th Minn. ; Thos. Lanigan, 8th Pa. ; C. LaBel ;
James LaGott, 16th Mich.; Joseph Laundrie, 5th Wis.; Leonard
DeWitt, 27th Mich.
F. M. Meyers, 2nd Mich.; James K. Magie, 78th III.; S. C. Max-
well, 76th Ind. ; J. F. Moody, 2nd Mass. ; T. J. Mitchell, 3rd Mo. ; Chas.
Miner. 19th Mass.; B. Minor, 22nd N. Y. ; Doras Martin, 30th Wis.;
John Monson; Joseph Moran. 12th Wis.; H. B. Moore, 1st Brig., 2nd
Div. ; C. F. J. Meyer, 16th N. Y. ; A. H. Merriman, 22nd Wis. ; W. H.
Miller, 21st Pa.; J. S. Merrill, 1st Wis.; J. H. Miller, 74th Ind; E. P.
Martin, 5th 111.; A. McComber, 1st N. Y. ; T. F. McGowan, 78th U. S.
Cav.; J. McCrum, 5th U. S. Art.; P. McKane, 184th N. Y. ; Chas.
McNamara, 12th Mo.; S. C. McQuade, 27th Mich.; J. F. McLaren,
10th Pa.; W. A. McDonald, 41st Wis.; Leonidas Merritt; John Mall-
man, 27th Mich.; Frank E. Miller, Cogwell's Bn. ; Jewett McPherson,
1st U. S. Inf.; F. M. Meyers, 2nd Mich.; W. D. Mair, 30th Inf.; J. O.
Milne, 1st Minn.; R. W. Mars, U. S. N.; J. E. L. Miller, U. S. N. ;
S. C. McCormick, 134th Pa.; E. W. McClure. 61st 111.; John B.
Mussett, 87th 111.; Austin Morden, 61st Mass.; Leonard Madden, 1st
Iowa; Thomas McGill, 91st N. Y. ; J. McGraw, 5th Minn.; R.
McKinley, 14th Iowa ; — McNeil, 7th Minn. ; J. W. Morgan. 21st Wis. ;
James Meyers, 134th N. Y.; W. H. McCullum, 1st Ohio; Luther
Mendenhall. 1st Pa. Res.
Chas. Nelson. 2'7th Mich.; C. A. Nichols, 27th Mich.; Sherman
Norris, 7th Ohio; W. A. Noble, 13th Mich.; W. L. Nichols, 17th 111.;
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 619
Peter Needam, 40th Ind. ; A. D. L. Newman, 50th Wis.; J. H. Niel,
14th Mo.
R. H. O'Neale, 2nd U. S. ; F. A. Olmstead, 27th Iowa; Chris.
Ottinger, 5th Ohio; H. C. Osterhout, 101st Ohio; John Orr, 107th
N. Y.; J. G. Osborne, 92nd Ohio; Robert Oliver, 55th 111.
Geo. R. Page, 1st Minn. Rang; Wm. Phalen, 27th Wis.; A. G.
Peabody, 51st Wis. ; J. H. Porter, 38th Wis. ; L. W. Palmer, 59th Ind. ;
W. H. Pierce, U. S. N.; W. G. Peek, 12th Ind.; Edward Payne, 198th
Ohio; S. E. Philhps, 50th Wis.; J. E. Patten, 10th N. Y. ; Hiram
Parsons, 7th Ohio; Thos. H. Pressnell, 1st Minn.; August Polman,
35th Mass.; S. M. Pellow, 3rd Mich.; Franklin Paine, 1st Minn.; R.
Patton, 13th Pa.; E. D. Paxon, 10th Mich.; Chas. C. Plummer, 44th
Ohio; W. B. Patton, 4th Minn.; W. H. Pride; E. M. Pope, 8th N. Y.;
Alfred Parker. 3rd Iowa ; F. E. Phillips, 22nd Me.
G. V. Quillard, 7th N. Y. Inf.
Wm. Ross, 18th Mich.; J. M. Riley, 108th Ind.; G. A. Robinson,
100th U. S. Cav. ; J. F. Russell. 8th Minn. ; J. G. Rakowsky, 58th Ohio ;
G. E. Ramsey, N. S. N.; Asa Rockwell. 5th Iowa; H. T. Robbins. 7th
N. H.; H A. Robbins, 16th Wis.; C. W. Rossiter, 7th Ohio; G. J.
Ruddy, 5th Conn. ; N. O. Roswell, 12th Iowa.; J. G. Robinson. 1st
Mich.; Andrew Riefer. 16th Mich.; M. C. Russell, 2nd Minn.; Edward
Rice. 2nd Wis. ; J. R. Randall, 18th Mich. ; G. W. Ryan, 50th Pa. ; John
M. Rich, 7th Pa.; Richard Redman, 15th N. Y. ; James Riddle, 66th
Ohio; E. R. Rockwell, 3rd Md. Cav.; E. B. Ryan, 21st Wis.; F. Ris-
land, 48th Wis.; Ira J. Richardson, 68th N. Y. ; Warren Rice, 60th
N. Y. ; Lafayette Robinson. 52nd 111.; Chas. H. Reid, 2nd Vt. ; Arthur
W. Ridd, 2nd Mich.; James B. Rice, 29th Wis.; W. H. Reeves, 35th
Mass.
William Shaw, 13th Iowa; Asa Shepherd, 62nd 111.; E. Slaughter,
3rd Wis.; W. H. Smith, 2nd Minn.; P. W. Smith, 59th N. Y. ; F. M.
Smith. 46th Ind.; L. C. Smith, 4th Wis.; L. J. Smith, 2'Oth Pa. Cav.;
Wm. Schmidt. 37th Ohio; P. P. Stewart. 1st Me.; D. S. Scott. 16th
111.; D. W. Scott, 23rd U. S. Cav.; W. W. Scott. 1st Me.; C. Stoots,
118th Ind.; J. D. Sourwinn, 14th Pa.; R. W. Sanburn, 2nd Minn.';
Chas. Stewart, 4th Minn.; Thomas Stokes, 7th Minn.; R. B. Stone, 1st
Mich.; S. W. Sherman, 55th 111.; Rudolph Segar, 1st Mich.; J. W.
Spohn, 50th Wis.; F. W. Spear, 8th Mich.; Joseph Stickney. 18th
Mich.; Chas. Simson, 10th N. Y. ; John Saxton, 1st Minn.; W. D.
Sharp, U. S. N. ; Chas. E. Salter, 14th Conn.; G. K. Swan, 2nd Cal. ;
C. H. Stockin, 105th Ohio; Franklin P. Simpson, 2nd N. Y. ; Fred
Staufif, 4th Minn.; James Stratton, 3rd Mich.; J. S. Stewart, V. R. C. ;
Frank Shepard. 5th N. Y. ; John Shaw, 14th Wis.; O. P. Stearns. 39th
U. S. Cav. ; Conrad Schofifer, 1st Minn. ; Karl Stackmusser, 45th Wis. ;
R. L. Scoville, 14th N. Y. ; H. S. Sawyer, 17th N. Y. ; Jonas Strauss,
56th N. Y. ; Joseph Seruna, 27th Mich. ; Peter St. George, 1st Ohio ;
Joseph St. George, 17th Ohio; Aaron Springstead, 102nd N. Y. ; A. O.
Strickland, 194th N. Y. ; T. W. Streeter, 17th Wis.; Geo. Skelton. 38th
Iowa; B. H. Smith, 47th Wis.; McKeon Smith, 137th Pa.; David S.
Scott ; J. W. Stewart ; W. R. Schendel, 7th Ind. ; H. E. Skelton, 90th
N. Y. ; Geo. Singleton, 1st Ind.; Louis Sandion. 6th Mich. Cav.;
William Simpler, '76th Pa.; W. H. Smallwood, 76th U. S. Cav.; W. P.
Strickland, 121st N. Y.
Charles F. Todd. 140th 111.; Samuel Thompson. S5th N. Y. ; J. E.
Teft, 12th U. S.; John A. Trow, 13th Mass.; J. H. Triggs. 7th Iowa;
J. B. Thomas, 1st Mich.; W. G. Ten Brook, 107th N. Y. ; E. A. Tyler,
- DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 621
4th Minn.; J. W. Thompson, 142nd Ohio; Frank Telford, 74th Ohio;
J. J. Tanner, 1st Mich.; C. Thompson, 5th Wis.
John H. Upham, 149th N. Y. ; N. L. Upham, 35th N. J.
W. H. Van Valkenberg, 4th Minn.; W. F. Verrill, 13th Me.; John
Van Allen.
Geo. Wiseman, 14th Ohio; Thomas A. Whittaker, 131st Ohio;
S. F. White, 28th Mich.; V. S. Wilkinson, 9th 111.; Louis Wolfrom,
16th N. Y.; J. N. Weldon, 5th Conn.; Andrew Wilson, U. S. N.; J. E.
West, 3rd N. J. ; Theophilus Wilson, 85th Pa. ; W. J. Wallace, 188th
Pa.; J. R. Wagner, 40th Wis.; Albert Woolson. 1st Minn.; Hiram
Whire, 25th U. S. Col. Inf. ; W. W. Wood, U. S. N. ; William Williams,
79th U.S . Col. Inf. ; Jacob Wood, 18th Ind. ; C. G. Wilson, 198th Ohio ;
J. R. Ward, 155th N. Y.; J. H. Woon, U. S. N. ; Geo. W. West, 8th
Me.; S. M. Wessenberg, 11th Ohio; Geo. E. Wells, 60th Ohio; John
Wadleigh, 18th Wis.; James Wallace, 14th U. S. Inf.; Henry Wickey,
16th Ohio ; J. W. Western, 16th N. Y. ; Zavier Wehrli, 10th 111. ; Henry
Wellgarde, 10th Minn.; Alvin White, 1st N. Y. ; Chas. S. Weaver, 3rd
Mass.; Hampton Wade, 2nd 111.; Patrick Walsh, 7th Ind.; E. L.
Woodward, 3rd Minn.; C. M. Wilson, 175th Ohio; G. M. Wilson, 24th
N. Y.; W. S. Woodbridge, 1st Kans. Cav. ; C. H. Wilcox, 75th N. Y. ;
E. S. Woodworth, 3rd Minn. ; — Wright.
John Young, 1st Minn.
The last word Mr. Dailey seems to have written was "Wright."
No initial or regiment are shown opposite the name, but underneath
is an address, indicating perhaps that he intended communicating with
that address. Unfortunately he was not able to go further. Still, Asa
Dailey's is by far the most complete list of Civil War soldiers of St.
Louis County ever compiled.
May he rest in peace, knowing that he has well served his
comrades.
Grand Army Activities. — Since the mustering out of the surviv-
ing patriots in 1865, and their entry then into civil life, the histories of
villages, cities, towns, states, and of the nation make it clear that the
strongest force in American life has been that which shouldered the
gun during the war. In various walks of civil life the men who proved
their strength of character and purpose during the trying years of
civil war took a prominent part. They and their sons' and daughters
have held the nation's helm in all that has since threatened ; and some
have lived long enough to see that their grandchildren were destined
to be the backbone which would not bend to the pressure of the mighty
German military force in the most recent of the nation's wars. The
work of the men of Civil War record has been especially evident
through the activities of the Grand Army of the Republic once so
strong but, alas, now faltering in old age, and unable now to carry
on its purpose with the virility and vigor of the latter decades of the
nineteenth century. St. Louis County, in common with other districts
throughout the country, has had the good fortune to have had a strong
and active grand-army force; and it must be said that the county, as a
whole, have sought to show the Grand Army posts tiiat it appreciated
the service of its members, both in military and in civil activities. One
of the finest meeting places for a Grand Army post is that set apart
and dedicated to their use in the Court House at Duluth.
And one of the most recent and gratifying indications that the
Grand Army posts of St. Louis County are still usefully functioning
is seen in the recent installation of an inspiring statue, entitled
"Patriotism," on Court House S(|uare. Duluth. placed there as a gift
Vol. 11—8
622 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
to the city of Duluth from the J. B. Culver post of the Grand Army of
the RepubHc to commemorate the service of soldiers and sailors to
the nation in time of war.
The cornerstone of the statue was laid on Memorial Day of 1918,
and on that day of 1919, it was dedicated by Dr. J. D'. Budd, com-
mander of the J. B. Culver post. The invocation and benediction were
given by Rev. H. A. Ingham.
The statue stands as a recognition of the past, and as the hope
of the future, for "Patriotism" will ever be the proud possession of
St. Louis County ; sons and grandsons of the Civil War patriots have
shown a like strength, and if there be a future need, the great-grand-
sons will probably rally to the flag as fervently patriotic and self-
sacrificing as were their forebears. Such is the heritage passed on by
the stalwart men of 1861-65.
Spanish War. — After more than thirty years of peace, war clouds
again gathered, this nation becoming involved in another struggle to
free an oppressed people. And the nation was destined again to have
it demonstrated that Minnesota was as ready as of yore to uphold the
cause of liberty, by personal sacrifice — of life, if need be. It is said
that Minnesota was the "first to respond to the call of President
McKinle}' for volunteers at the beginning of the war with Spain." At
5 o'clock in the afternoon of April 25, 1898, Gov. D. M. Clough received
the telegraphic requisition for three regiments of infantry. The gov-
ernor immediately replied : "Troops ready at once," giving statement
as to arms, equipment, etc. They were to serve for two years, or
during the war. The First, Second and Third regiments of the state
troops, the National Guard units, were soon mobilized, and filled to
war strength by careful selection from the abundance of volunteers
available. By April 2'9th the National Guard regiments had mobilized,
only four days after receipt of the first intimation from federal authori-
ties that there was a need ; and when the regiments passed into federal
control they followed the numerical order of the infantry regiments of
the Civil War, the First, Second, and Third regiments of National
Guard becoming the Twelfth, Thirteenth, and Fourteenth regiments
of Minnesota Volunteer Infantry. Subsequently the Fifteenth Regi-
ment was organized. In all of these regiments men of St. Louis
county served, therefore some review of the regimental records should
be given.
Twelfth Minn. Infantry. — The Twelfth Regiment of Minnesota
Volunteer Infantry was enrolled on April 29, 1898, and mustered into
the service of the United States at Camp Ramsey, St. Paul, on May 6
and 7, 1898. Col. Joseph Bobleter, of New Ulm, was in command.
The regiment left Camp Ramsey. May 15th, for Camp Thomas, Ga.,
and was there assigned to First Brig., Third Div., First Army Corps.
Transferred August 24, 1898 to Camp Hamilton, Ky., and left there
Sept. 15, 1898, for New Ulm, Minn. Six days later the regiment "was
furloughed for thirty days," and was mustered out of the service oh
Noveniber 5, 1898. the Spanish resistance having been broken, and
there being no further need for all the troops mobilized.
Thirteenth Minn. Infantry was enrolled on April 29, 1898. and
federalized at Camp Ramsey, St. Paul, May 7th. Col. C. McReeve
commanding. On May 16th the regiment proceeded to San Francisco,
California, to prepare for service in the Phillipine Islands. From
Camp Merritt on June 26, 1898, the Thirteenth embarked on the
steamer "City of Para," bound for Manila, P. I. The regiment
debarked on August 7th at Paranaqua, P. I., marching to Camp Dewey
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
623
the same day. On August 13, 1898, the regiment participated in the
battle before Manila, as a part of the Third Brigade, Second Division.
On August 22nd the regiment was assigned to provost guard duty at
Manila. It was relieved March 19, 1899, and ordered into the field as
a unit of Third Brigade, Second Division, under command of Gen.
R. P. Hall. March 25th and 26th it was engaged with insurgents in
the Mariquina Valley. From March 29th to August 4th the Thir-
teenth was on duty guarding the lines of communication and had
numerous engagements, including the battle of Santa Maria, April
12th. Two battalions of the regiment were detached on April 23rd to
form part of the Provisional Brigade, a unit of Lawton's expedition
into the interior.
On August 4th the regiment was relieved from further duty in
the Phillipines, and returned to Manila for embarkation ; it reached
San Francisco eventually on September 7th and debarked two days
THE ARMORY, DULUTH
later, marching to the Presidio camp, where it was mustered out on
October 3. 1899.
Fourteenth Minn. Infantry. — The Fourteenth Regiment was
enrolled on April 29th, 1898, and became United States troops on May
8, 1898, at Camp Ramsev, under command of Col. H. C. Vanduzee.
Reached Camp Thomas, Ga., May 19, 1898. On August 2S, 1898, left
Camp Thomas for Camp Poland, Knoxville, Tenn., and on September
20, 1898, left for Camp Van Duzee, St. Paul, Minn., a week later, being
furloughed. The regiment was finally mustered out of federal service
on Nov. 18, 1898, the national war need being over. In the record of
the Fourteenth Regiment, however, is service along the Great North-
ern Railway during Indian unrest. "Several companies participated
in the operations as a part of General Bacon's forces, returning in the
afternoon of October 23, 1898."
Fifteenth Minn. Infantry. — This regiment was mustered iuitj the
United States Army at Camp Ramsey, St. Paul. Minn., julv 9 to 18,
1898, under the second call of the President for volunteer troops.
624 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
From Camp Ramsey the regiment went to Camp Snelling, thence on
September 15, 1898, to Camp Meade, Pennsylvania. On November 15,
1898, the reg^iment was transferred to Camp Mackenzie, Ga., and there
remained until mustered out on March 27, 1899.
The men of the Minnesota regiments enlisted for service during
the Spanish war were of fine physique, as may be imagined from the
fact that only a limited number could be enlisted, whereas the young
men of the state, almost as a whole, were eager to enlist. And had the
war lasted, seriously, into the following year there is no doubt that
the Minnesota regiments would have distinguished themselves as
nobly as did the state troops of the Civil war. Fortunately, they were
not called upon, with the exception of the Thirteenth, but their rec-
ords nevertheless should be treasured among the military annals of
the several divisions of Minnesota. St. Louis County's contribution,
perhaps cannot be completely shown, but the best information now
available is embodied in this chapter, so that the local veterans of the
Spanish war may know that their national service (which in hardships
and camp rigors, was as hazardous as that experienced by many of
the units of the Civil war period, and of the last great World war), is
not unappreciated. The most authentic record, perhaps, is in the
rosters of the United Spanish War Veterans. The local veterans
of that war are of record in the two camps of the county, the
John G. McEwen Camp, of Duluth, and the Major Wilkinson
Camp, of Chisholm. Culling the information from the ofificial
records of the United States Department of Minnesota, United
Spanish War Veterans, it appears many of the contingent from St.
Louis County enlisted in the 13th, 14th, and 15th Minnesota Volun-
teer regiments. Those veterans that were on the roster of the John
G. McEwen Camp in 1919 were: Alfred Arnson, 15th Minn.; Christ
Anderson, 14th Minn.; H. Ahl, 14th Minn.; Louis G. Andrews, 5th
Mass. ; J. A. Barron, 33rd Mich. ; Nick Bergerson, 15th Minn. ; Walter
B. Burchard, 14th Minn.; Frank L. Bradley, 6th U. S. Cav. ; T. F.
Brown, 34th U. S. Inf. ; P. J. Bestler, 2nd Wis. ; W. A. Bone, g-nd Wis. ;
W. A. Berridge, 17th Ohio; Julius Boetcher, 14th Minn.; Martin T.
Burns, 14th Minn. ; Edward Blackwood, 34th Mich. ; Harley Brigham,
34th U. S. Inf. ; J. B. Caverly, 5th U. S. Cav. ; Dr. T. L. Chapman, 33rd
Mich.; Judd Canning, U. S. N.; Thomas Carrigan, 13th Minn.; A. R,
DeVohn, 14th Minn.; A. P. Dbly, 14th Minn.; Pat Derrig, 1st Mont.;
L. A. Erickson, U. S. N. ; Dr. C. E. French, 14th Minn.; E. J. Fitz-
gerald, U. S. N.; A. Friis, 14th Minn.; J. A Eraser, 14th Minn.; Geo.
Frame, 14th Minn.; Wm. J. Fitzenmeier, 14th Minn.; Andrew Frie-
lund, U. S. N.; J. B. Gileson, 14th Minn.; Thos. W. Gunn, 18th U. S.
Inf. ; R. R. Houghtalling, 35th U. S. Inf. ; Rov V. Hamlin, 33rd U. S.
Inf.; Hans Hagelin, 4th U. S. Inf.; Robert Haskins, U. S. N.; F. R.
Holmberg, 14th Minn. ; H. M. Hutchengs, U. S. Marines; A. W. Jacob-
son, 10th U. S. Inf.; Chas. Jacobs. 26th U. S. Inf.; Horace B. Keedy,
7th 111. ; Francis J. Kendall, 14th Minn. ; W. J. Kennedy, 14th Minn. ;
Wm. Kubiski, 15th Minn.; Geo. A. Kennedy, 1st Ky. ; W. W. Keilly,
14th Minn.; W. C. Kimball, 46th U. S. ; J. H. Koors, 13th Minn.; Her-
man Krause. 3rd U. S. Inf.; D. D. Kreidler, 15th Minn.; J. E. Law-
rence, 14th Minn.; Chas. F. Loerke, 34th Mich.; Geo. Lloyd, 14th
Minn.; John Lueck, 3rd U. S. Inf.; Ed. Loftus, 13th Minn.; T. J.
Leahy, 14th Minn.; Emil Lundberg, 14th Minn.; Edw. S. LaCroix,
14th Minn. ; Louis Lohman, 14th Minn.; R. H. Long, 14th Minn. ; Geo.
Morin, 15th Minn.; Fred S. Moulster, 4th Wis.; M. C. Miller. 14th
Minn.; Walter M. Mee, 14th Minn.; H. Moody, 1st U. S. Cav.; H. L.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 625
Merrill, 47th U. S. Inf.; Joseph Maley, 15th Minn.; Rod McDonald,
33rd Mich.; W. A. McKee, 14th Minn.; P. E. McCormack, 1st Wis.;
W. S. McCormack, 14th Minn.; Chas. V. McCoy, U. S. Hosp.; C. L.
McCool, 32nd U. S.; A. E. Neilson, 1st 111.; Rudolph Nelson, 13th
Minn.; O. F. Nelson, 34th Mich.; M. P. Orchard, 14th Minn.; W. L.
Peirce, 14th Minn. ; W. E. Pugh, 1st 111. Art. ; Anthon J. Peterson, 14th
Minn.; O. F. Phillips, 158th Ind. ; Jacob M. Plank. 1st 111.; Thomas
Ross, 14th Minn.; W. T. Ryan, 16th U. S. ; W. C. Robinson, 14th
Minn. ; W. Y. Richardson, 13th Minn. ; F. R. Stuckman, U. S. N. ; Rev.
John G Schaibly, 5th Ohio ; Geo. J. Sherman, U. S. Hosp. ; C. J. Suther-
land, U. S. N.; F. M. Schutte, 13th Minn.; J. D. Schweiger, 14th
Minn.; Philip R. Sherman, 31st Mich.; Ed. F. Spink, 14th Minn.;
D. W. Stocking, 14th Minn.; Benj. Swarthout, 5th U. S. Inf.; E. G.
Shepard, 14th Minn.; M. M. Turnhull, 49th Iowa; Jacob Thoresen,
U. S. N. ; Herman Toewe, 8th Penn. ; C. C. Teare, 14th Minn. ; Leonard
Usher, 28th U. S. ; Harry Witz, 14th Minn. ; J. O. Westerlund, 34th
Mich.; R. M. Weaver, 14th Minn.; Oscar Wetterlind, 14th Minn.;
Oscar Dehlin, 35th Mich.; Joseph Carhart, Jr.; Alva G. Catlin, 13th
Minn.; Walter J. Cook, 13th Minn.; J. Scott Cash, 14th Minn.; W. A.
Bone, 3rd Wis.; Rudolph Deitz, 14th Minn.; John A. Johnson, 15th
Minn.; C. E. Haines, 14th Minn.; R. C. Haxton, 4th U. S. Inf.; Fred
C. Moulster, 4th Wis. ; Albert LaPoint, 4th U. S. Inf. ; Richard Little,
14th Minn.; Lawrence Long, 14th Minn.; J. R. Miles, 14th Minn.;
O. W. Mittie, 7th U. S. Art.; Geo. H. Miller, 14th Minn.; Frank
Musolf, 14th Minn.; E. D". Loftus, 13th Minn.; E. F. Mathews, 12th
Minn. Vol.; Marvin McLaren. 14th Minn.; W. E. Phillips, 1st Ind.;
Brown McDonald, 2nd Tex. ; Chas. McEvoy, 34th Mich. ; M. C. Parker,
3rd U. S. Art. ; Frank Story, 14th Minn. ; F. O. Steel, 33rd Mich. ; Chas.
H. Willis, 14th Minn. ; Louis Gscheidle, 15th Minn. ; J. F. Watson, 14th
Minn.; H. D. Wood, U. S. N.; E. J. Whalen, 4th Mich.; Hector
Lamont, 14th Minn.; Lewis A. Dunaway, 1st Wis.; Richard
McCarthy, 51st Iowa; Geo. W. Mee, 14th Minn.; Ira B. Smith, 13th
Minn.; Chas. E. Carroll, 14th Minn.; Patrick Long, 14th Minn.;
Andrew Zellar, 14th Minn.; Carl Lovelace, 1st Wis.; Walter G. Whit-
ney, 14th Minn.; Geo. H. Christopher, 14th Minn.; Peter Novack, 14th
Minn.; Alex. Kalish, 6th U. S. Inf.; F. H. Wood, 14th Minn.; J. L.
McPhee, 3rd U. S. Inf.; M. J. Murray, 14th Minn.; J. W. McCormick,
13th Minn. ; J. J. Beattie, U. S. Signal ; C. G. Wickman. 3rd U. S. Inf. ;
Dr. W. J. Works, 13th Minn.; H. A. Hanson, 3rd Wis.; J. C. Eaton,
14th Minn.; P. L. Anderson, 14th Minn.; J. M. Frink, 3rd Wis.; Edw.
Legh Page. 2nd Tex.; And. H. Smith, 13th Minn.; G. T. Bates, 14th
Minn.; R. H. Kehl, 34th Mich.; P. O. Haugland. 2'lst U. S. Inf.; D. A.
Small. 13th Minn.; Frank J. Small, 15th Minn.; and the following
named deceased: Theodore Simon, 13th Minn.; G. A. Henry, 14th
Minn.; Daniel E. Edklund, 3rd U. S. Inf.; W. H. Smallwood, 14th
Minn.
The veterans who are members of the Major Wilkinson Camp of
Chisholm are: Thomas O'Connor, 3rd Inf.; W. B. Brown. U. S. N. ;
Walter H. Ogden, 22nd Inf.; Wm. H. Clemens. 1st Art.; P. Mungo-
van. 3rd Neb.; Andrew Hagland, 87th Vol.; Dayton H'. Flinds. 34th
Mich.; Adolph M. Peterson, 3rd Inf.; Thomas Cody, 37th Vol.; Frank
Green, 22nd Inf. ; Joe Verant. 45th Vol. ; Clarence B. Banks, 3rd Wis. ;
George Meyers. 3lth Mich.; John Sladkey, 45th Vol.; John P. Lanto,
34th Mich. ; Geo. A. Lindsey. 5()th Iowa ; A. Antonelli. 3rd Inf. ; Joseph
Havelick, 15th Art.; Herman Junsola, 34th Mich.; J. V>. Frazer, 3rd
U. S. Inf.; H. A. Thompson, 3rd U. S. Inf.
626 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
The commander of the John G. McEwen Camp, Duluth, is
Thomas W. Gunn ; and the commander of the Major Wilkinson Camp
of Chisholm is Herman Junsola.
By reason of their numbers (so small when compared with those
developed by the greater needs of the Civil and World wars) the
Spanish war veterans do not seem to have been accorded a just need
of praise. In reality, however, they have been, for all who think of the
matter at all know that the same spirit of true patriotism was mani-
fested by them, and as fully as that shown in the days of the Civil
war. They were prepared to go to the end, if need be, to uphold all
that this nation stands for, and they may rest assured that, though
their numbers be few, the place of the Spanish war veterans among
the patriotic organizations of the United States is a definite and'
honorable one.
CHAPTER XXVI
THE WORLD WAR, 1917-18
The World War, the most tremendous and stupendous of all
modern wars, probably of all wars since history was first chronicled,
found Duluth and St. Louis County practically at "attention." Com-
panies A, C, and E, Supply Company and Hospital Unit, all Duluth
units of the Third Minnesota Infantry, Company F of Eleventh and
Company M, of Hibbing, had only returned a few months before from
active campaigning on the Mexican border during the time of Per-
shing's expedition into Mexico. But from the moment President
Wilson declared that the nation actually was (in the first days of
April, 1917) in an actual "state of war" with Germany, the national
guard units of Minnesota were ready for an immediate call to arms.
On April 10, 1917, companies of the Third Minnesota National Guard
were called into active state service, including companies A and E
of Duluth.
On April 28, 1917, the citizens of Duluth gave way to what was
at that time an unique outburst of patriotic fervour, seventeen thou-
sand three hundred citizens marching in well-marshalled procession,
to "do homage to the Red, White and Blue."
It was a memorable and inspiring day. the Duluth "News-Trib-
une," next morning stating: "Citizens of Duluth yesterday reached
a common level before the flag. The steady tramp of marching thou-
sands thrilled Duluth with the biggest thing in its history. It was
patriotism. It was the crystalization of an ideal — that tramp of march-
ing thousands. Its citizens, rich and poor, mingled ; its streets
devoted to business waved with a pulsing line of color — the Red,
White and Blue."
Duluth, in common with all other communal parts of the United
States, was destined to experience many even greater thrills during
the next two years of united effort to adhere, even unto death, to
the cause of right over might. Those who went into the armed forces
of the nation, those who enlisted in the national industrial effort
in the home sector, those who prayed and gave to their utmost to the
governmental funds so that this country might be sustained unto
victory, will ever vividly remember the stirring times; and at times
may long for the renewal of such fervent patriotism, and whole-
souled fellow-feeling. Common dangers uncover truer and nobler
traits in man than do any other situations.
On August 26, 1917, the Duluth and Range companies of the
Third Minnesota Infantry entrained at the Omaha station, Duluth,
for Camp Cody, New Mexico, where the state regiment would be
mustered into the federal service, and intensive training would begin.
There were many pathetic scenes at the station, women fainting
and men weeping as they saw their sons depart perhaps never to
return. But, as a whole, the regiment left cheered and inspirited by
the warm-hearted, sincere and cheerful farewell tendered them by
the people of Duluth. Colonel Eva's "message to the home folk."
as he left with his regiment, was: "Duluth will be proud of its boys
when they get into active service on the French battlefields." They
expected to be in France early in the new year.
627
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DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY, 629
On August 29th, rosters were published of the Third Bn, of
the Minnesota Home Guard, which had been organized to take the
place of the National Guard units federalized. Companies A, B, C
and D, 315 men and fourteen officers, all told, constituted the third
battalion, recruited almost wholly in Duluth, the commander being
Captain (acting major) Roger M. Weaver. (That unit was destined
to give the state good service in military capacity, in December,
1917, during the street railway strike at St. Paul.)
During the first week of September, 1917, the St. Louis County
draft boards were able to publish the names of men first to be called
into national military or naval service under the Selective Service
Act. And in that month the first detachment of men called into
service from St. Louis County under that act and plan left for camp.
As the months passed and demonstration followed demonstration,
the people of the county were destined to realize that their own
affairs were absolutely bound in and yet secondary to the national
interest which was ever before them in those days. The boys had
departed, or were departing, or were to depart, to take part in the
armed resistance the government and nation were building to aid
in the final defeat of the enemy ; and drive followed drive for the
money wherewith to equip and maintain the armed forces of the
nation. People gave of their substance — gave "till it hurt," and
were glad to have that opportunity of sharing in the national efifort.
Each drive was an event worthy of chronicling. For instance, ten
thousand persons marched in procession in Duluth on April 13, 1918,
on which day the Third Liberty Loan campaign was opened, of which
loan Duluth was expected to take bonds to the extent of $5,000,000.
Some of the slogans written on banners and other writing surfaces,
by some of those who marched in that procession indicated the
spirit and confidence of the nation. Some of the slogans read : "Slip
a pill to Kaiser Bill" ; "The early bird catches the worm ; your bonds
will help catch the kaiser"; "Save, save, save; then dig some more.
Your bonds will bring the boys back home from Europe's western
shore" ; "Your dollar is the seed of- victory ; plant it in Liberty bonds
and watch it grow"; "Ho, Skinny! My dad bought some Liberty
bonds. Did yours?"; "Dig and we'll dig with you; slack and you
slack alone"; "Put up, or shut up"; "Five million or bust; Duluth
has never failed"; "This is the spring drive over here, to help the
spring drive over there" ; and other equally appealing slogans. Prac-
tically every organized society of public character was out in full
force in that procession. The local paper next day stated: "The
steady tramp of marching thousands gave a new thrill to the achieve-
ment of Duluth. It was more determined enthusiasm than that
displayed in the first loyalty demonstration of a year ago. It was
the crystalization of an ideal to do."
Duluth and the county in general, did well. The war record
is an enviable one, and whether the demand was for man-power or
for money the county met it to more than the full. More than nine
thousand men were taken into the federal armed forces, and many
joined the auxiliary service corps. Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., and other
welfare organizations. At least 232 men of St. Louis County gave
their lives to the nation. It is not possible to give the space in this
volume to name the whole of the valiant young men of St. Louis
County who entered the armed forces of the nation in its supreme
need, but space will not be stinted in an endeavor to honor the mem-
ory of those who failed to return. This chapter will end with as
630 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
complete a biographical review as it has been possible to compile
of the men who, in their supreme self-sacrifice, have constituted an
honor list worthy of the county.
Fortunately, St. Louis County was destined to welcome home
again all but a few hundred of the 9,000 men that went to war. And
it was fitting that the "biggest and most successful celebration Duluth
ever staged" was that organized to welcome home the boys who
had donned the uniform of "Uncle Sam." The "Welcome Home"
celebration was held on Saturday, August 18, 1919, and "from the
blowing of the whistles and the firing of the 100 guns at 10:30 o'clock
Saturday morning until the bands stopped playing, for the dancers
on the street, at 12:00 o'clock (midnight), the day was crowded with
features for the entertainment and enjoyment of the heroes of the
Zenith City."
That celebration over, the young men who for more than a
year had had to give first thought to military matters, donned civilian
garb and passed quietly into civil life again, the majority of them
better men for their military experience. And that association will
be perpetuated by the organizations the ex-service men have formed.
There are many very strong posts of the American Legion in St.
Louis County all of them resolute in determination to hold to what
in reality was one of the principal motives of those good patriots
who organized the American Legion — the maintaining of Ameri-
can institutions by orderly and legal government. In the manifesta-
tions of social and industrial unrest that followed the war, the Amer-
ican Legion on many occasions proved to be the stable body upon
which reliance could be placed. In addition, the posts serve to
cement a comradeship begun in the throes of a great national struggle.
And each American Legion post has been dedicated especially
to the sacred duty of adequately honoring each year the memory of
those of their comrades and neighbors who lost their lives while in
war work with the national forces.
The Honor List of St, Louis County .^ — Of those who made the
Supreme Sacrifice, it has been possible to collect some biographical
data. The record is not complete, but is given in the hope that it
will add something to existing printed record, and as a tribute to
those brave patriots who willingly placed their personal interests
second to those of the nation, and gave of their strength, even unto
death, to defeat the power that sought to establish Might as Right.
F. O. Abrahamson met death in France. He belonged to the
Machine Gun Company of the One Hundred and Second Regiment
of Infantry, Twenty-seventh Division of the American Expeditionary
Forces.
C. Albertson was twenty-six years old when he was killed in
action in France in 1918. He was earnest in the cause, and had
made many unsuccessful attempts to enlist before June 28, 1918,
when he was accepted as a substitute for a volunteer who had been
called but had failed to report for duty. Albertson left Duluth that
day. The time was one of the darkest of the war and the need of
man-power at the Western front was desperate. Apparently, Albert-
son was given practically no military training in this country for a
few months later he was in France.
E. P. Alexander was a young Duluthian of distinct promise. He
was born in Duluth, November 4, 1891, son of Edward P. and Agnes
G. Alexander, of Duluth. He was an engineer of good collegiate
training, for as well as being a graduate of the University of Minne-
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 631
sota he was a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technol-
ogy. He married Myra Salyards of Duluth and had entered civil
engineering practice in Duluth, with bright prospects, when this
nation became involved in the European war in 1917. He was one of
the first to leave Duluth, going in June, 1917, to Fort Snelling,
where he was given the responsibility of commissioned grade in the
Engineering Corps. As a first lieutenant, he saw active service in
France with the Five Hundred and Ninth Engineers. He succumbed
to the ravages of influenza at St. Nazaire, France, and was there
buried. His military record was good, and promotion to the grade
of captain came to him on the day of his funeral.
Bryan Allen, who died in May, 1918, was a member of Battery C,
One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Field Artillery, a unit originally
belonging to the Minnesota National Guard. He was the son of Leo
Allen, of 315 South Fifteenth Avenue, east, Duluth.
Francis Allie, who died in France, of wound received on July
16, 1918, right at the beginning of the great Allied counter-ofifensive,
which did not end until the enemy went down in final defeat, in
November, 1918. He was well-known in West Duluth and was
assigned to, and saw active service with, the Machine Gun Company
of the One Hundred and Fifty-first Field Artillery, Battery B.
Alfred J. Anderson enlisted from Duluth. His sister is Mrs. D.
Lake, of 1308 East Fifth Street.
Dr. John Andres practiced his profession iii Duluth before
entering the Medical Department of the United States army.
Robert Arbelus, whose place of enlistment was Ely, is survived
by a sister, Mrs. Minnie Retois, now resident in Iron Belt, Wisconsin.
Hillard Aronson belonged to a well-known Tower family. He
was born in Tower, son of John and Beda Aronson, and was in lucra-
tive business with his brother, as boat owners on Lake Vermilion.
He registered early in 1917, but was not called into military service
until June 24, 1918, on which day he reported at Ely for duty, as a
private in the Infantry of the National Army. He was assigned to
Company C. Three Hundred and Thirty-third Machine Gun Battalion,
Eighty-sixth Division, at Camp Grant. Rockford, Illinois, and after
an intensive course of machine-gun training was transferred to Camp
Mills, New York. On September 14, 1918, he embarked on the
British troopship "Olympic," and on September 20th, arriver at South-
ampton. Conditions of sea-travel in that time of shipping scarcity
were rigorous, the troopships being much overcrowded. Young
Aronson contracted sickness on the voyage and eight days after being
landed at Southampton died of Lobar Pneumonia at Shirley Warren
Hospital, Southampton, England. His body was interred in the
United States Military Cemetery, Magdalen Hill, Winchester. Eng-
land, on September 29, 1918, but eventually the body was disinterred
and brought back to the United States by the government. His
remains now rest in Forest Hill Cemetery, Duluth, the funeral taking
place, with military ceremonies, on June 3. 1920.
Mike F. Bagley is claimed as a Duluthian. He was a married
man and his widow, Alice, still lives at 318 West Fourth Street,.
Duluth.
Lorenta Bakke, whose name is in the Duluth records, resided
at 3614 West Fourth Street, Duluth, prior to enlistment. His father,
Ulrik B., lives in Bergen. Norway.
Glenn J. Ball, who was killed in action on September 5. 1918,
on the French front, was a machinist in the employ of the South
632 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Shore Railway Company, at Duluth, prior to entering upon military
service. He was enlisted in June, 1917, at Marquette, Michigan, of
which state he was a native, having been born October 20, 1899, at
Peck, Michigan, son of Edward and Abbie Ball. After enlistment,
in the grade of private, he was assigned to Company G, 128th
Infantry, of Thirty-second Division, and sent to Camp Arthur, Texas,
where for five or six months he remained. On February 8, 1918, he
embarked, at Hoboken, New Jersey, and thus reached France before
the great German offensive of 1918 had begun. His father now lives
in St. Louis County, Rural Route No. 3, Duluth.
Alexius Rinhild Bang, who died of pneumonia, at Camp Cody,
New Mexico, November 3, 1918, was formerly a resident in Culver
Township. He was born on February 28, 1897, at Fielboberg, Vil-
helminy Wisterbotten, Sweden, the son of E. F. Bang, now of Culver,
St. Louis County. Young Bang was called to duty on October 21,
1918, and left then for Camp Cody, New Mexico. He was never
destined to be assigned to a military unit, being stricken with influ-
enza almost upon arrival at Camp Cody. Pneumonia developed and
he died on November 3rd.
Chris. W. Baumgarten was of Duluth, where his mother, Mrs.
Augustine Baumgarten lives.
Norman K. Bawks was a resident of Stevenson, Minnesota, where
his widow, Alphonsine O., still lives.
Eli Belich was of Servian origin, his father being Waso Belich,
of Labon, Servia.
Howard L(ewis) Bennett was a popular young resident of Buhl,
and before the war was in the employ of the Oliver Iron Mining
Company, Buhl, as assistant engineer. He was born on October 4,
1894, at Ironwood, Michigan, son of William H. Bennett, who has
lived in Buhl, St. Louis County, for many years. Howard was one
of the first in the Range country to enlist. He enlisted on May 23,
1917, and was sent to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, where he was assigned
to the Medical Detachment of the First Minnesota Infantry. Later,
he was sent to Camp Cody, New Mexico, about that time being
transferred to the One Hundred and Thirty-fifth Regiment, a unit
of the Thirty-fourth Division. He succumbed to pneumonia at Camp
Cody, on April 14, 1918, at that time having the rating of private,
first-class. To honor his memory his service comrades of Buhl gave
his name to the Buhl post of the American Legion.
Harold Berg, whose name appears on the Honor Roll of St.
Louis County, was of Norwegian birth, and lived at Proctor for some
time prior to enlisting. His enlistment papers name as his father
Lavritz Berg, of Lena, Ototen, Norway.
William E. Berg, son of Charles Berg, of 401 Mygatt Avenue,
Duluth, was in the employ of the Rust-Parker Company, Duluth,
before he entered the United States Army. He was called to active
duty in June, 1918, and assigned to Company C, of the Three Hun-
dred and Fifty-eighth Infantry. His training was short, for on July
4th his regiment embarked for France. On September 16th, 1918, he
was killed in action.
Rada Besonovich lived at Buhl before the war. His brother is
John Besonovich, of that place.
William Bodin was the son of Gust Bodin, of Proctor.
Herman Bjormhang, of Proctor, was kin to Paul Hendrickson,
Grand Marais, Minnesota.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 633
Alfred John Bradford was a married man, his widow, Mrs. M. C.
Bradford living at 1011 East Third Street, Duluth.
Carl Bowman, who was killed in aerial combat in France on
July 25, 1918, was a native of Seattle, Washington, although he was
in business in Duluth when war came. He enlisted at Duluth in
June, 1917, being accepted for assignment to the Aviation Corps. He
became an observer, and was early sent to France.
Solem Eric Broman, who was killed in action on the French front
on September 29, 1918, was one of those true defenders of liberty
who sought to enter the fight before the United States Government
was prepared to accept service. He was a resident of Duluth, but
early in March, 1917, went into Canada, and enlisted in the Canadian
Expeditionary Forces. On March 16, 1917, he was assigned to the
Two Hundred and Forty-ninth Overseas Battalion. He saw five
months of hard service in the front trenches in France before meet-
ing death in action in September, 1918. The military record of the
Broman family is a worthy one, two other brothers having given
military service, one in the Canadian forces. Henry Broman, the
father, lives at 232 Mesaba Avenue, Duluth.
Leo Arthur Brooks is listed as of Crookson residence prior to
-entering the service, but he might have been included with the
honor men of Duluth, for he enlisted from Duluth, and had had resi-
dence in Duluth, living with his sister, Mrs. Leslie Code, 5107 Colo-
rado Street, and working as a fireman in Duluth. He was born on
December 11, 1886, at Hungerford, Michigan, son of Mr. and Mrs.
A. Brooks. When he enlisted he was more than thirty years old,
and proved to be a most zealous and reliable soldier. After enlist-
ment, he was sent to Camp Wadsworth, S. C, and assigned to Com-
pany K of the Fifty-third United States Infantry. He embarked
at New York in July and reached the front line trenches in the
Vosges Mountains, on September 6th. He was killed during a trench
raid night of September 15-16th, and his conduct during that raid
was such as to bring him commendation from his commanding officer,
Capt. R. A. Helmbold, who wrote that Brooks continued to fight after
being wounded, the captain stating that he had lost, in Brooks, "one
of his bravest and best soldiers." He testified that Brooks kept his
automatic rifle going until he was relieved, notwithstanding that he
was mortally wounded; and he was of the opinion that it was due
chiefly to the bravery and reliability of Brooks that the German raid
was repelled.
Wallace Orab Brown, who was gassed in the 1918 battle of the
Marne, and died in hospital in France on October 17. 1918, was
born on June 23, 1901, at Kennan, Price County, Wisconsin. His
father, John Brown, lives at Woodland and Wallace for a while was
a brickmaker at Princeton, Minnesota, at which place he enlisted
on August 27, 1917, electing to give service in a field artillery unit.
He was sent to Camp Cody, New Mexico, and assigned to Company
B, One Hundred and Second Field Artillery, eventually embarking
for France.
Peter Bruno, of West Duluth, was of Italian origin, his father
being Antonio Bruno, of Goddisca, Udine, Italy.
Charles C. Butler, of Virginia, gave his life voluntarily in a
brave, self-sacrificing service to his division. He enlisted Novem-
ber 23, 1917, in the Tank Corps, which eventually became part of the
American Expeditionary Forces; and his division came into action
at one of the most difficult parts of the Hindenburg line of trenches.
634 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
at Bony, France. Butler, the record states, volunteered to lay out
black and white tape for tanks, one report stating that he was the
only man of his division to volunteer for such work of extreme dan-
ger. He was killed while so engaged, a shell closing his career, and
bringing his name onto the immortal roll of worthy American sol-
diers, who exceeded their duties in an endeavor to better serve their
country. Butler was well-known and esteemed in Virginia, where
his mother, Mrs. C. C. Butler, lives. He was born at Iron Mountain,
Michigan, on November 15, 1889.
Charles A. Campbell, who died of pneumonia in France, just one
day before the Armistice ended hostilities in November, 1918, was a
volunteer above the draft age. He enlisted in the lowest grade and
by reliable service reached the responsibility of a sergeant. He was'
the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles D. Campbell, of 1511 East Third
Street, Duluth.
John William Campbell, of the Marine Corps, A. E. F., died
of bronco-pneumonia at Coblez, Germany, on February 9, 1919. He
was born May 20, 1890, at Calumet, Michigan, and was called to mili-
tary service in April, 1918.
Oscar C. Carlson, of Duluth, was the son of Mrs. Mary Carlson,
of East Fifth Street, Duluth.
Leonard William Cato, of Duluth, was enlisted in September,
1917, and became a member of an Infantry regiment of the famous
Rainbow Division. He, however, was not destined to see foreign
service, death coming on December 6, 1917, at Camp Dodge. Iowa,
from spinal menengitis. He was a native of Duluth, born in that
city on January 24, 1896 (or 1897), son of Louis Cato, who now
lives at 2131 Columbia Avenue.
Ole H. Christenson, whose papers show that he was a resident
of Harding, St. Louis County, was the son of Mrs. Gunhild Christen-
son, of 508 W. Superior Street, Duluth. He died of pneumonia, at
Camp Fremont, California, where he was stationed. He was a lieu-
tenant of the One Hundred and Sixty-sixth Depot Brigade, and his
body was sent under military escort to Duluth for burial in the For-
est Hill Cemetery.
John Christopher, of Duluth, deserves good place among the
Honor men of St. Louis County. He was a veteran of the Spanish-
American War, and notwithstanding that he was forty-three years
old, and could not get into the United States Army, which under the
Selective Service plan was amply filled by much younger men, he
was determined to find a place in the military forces arrayed against
the German machine. He went to Canada, and at once was accepted
for the Canadian Expeditionary Forces, and assigned to an infantry
unit. He was killed in action in France on September 27, 1918. He
was mourned by many in Duluth, having for years been an employee
of the Scott-Graff Lumber Company. His mother, Mrs. Mary Chris-
topher, lives at 321 East Fifth Street, Duluth.
Raulin H. Clark, a Duluth boy, was one of the first to enlist
in May, 1917. He was assigned to the Medical Detachment of the
One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Field Artillery, and went to France
with that unit. After passing through all the dangers that came to
his unit during the period of active fighting, he was destined to die
of sickness, pneumonia necessitating his transfer to a hospital in
Bordeaux, France, almost on the eve of the departure of his unit
for home. He died in that hospital on January 21, 1919, but event-
ually his body was returned to the United States, and now rests in
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 635
Oneota Cemetery. He was born on January 31, 1898, at Willow
River, Minnesota, and the family later came to Duluth, his mother,
Mrs. E. Clark, now living at 5809 Cody Street. The boy graduated
from Denfield High School in 1916, and was well under the draft age
when he enlisted.
Mark Allen Cook lived in Cotton Township, his mother being
Mrs. Allen Cook, of Cotton.
Alexander Cosgrove, who was a member of the Canadian Expedi-
tionary Forces and was killed in action in France, was a Duluthian.
Walter Crellin, the first Virginia boy in United States uniform to
give his life, was on board the British liner "Tuscania" when it was
torpedoed ofif the coast of Ireland on February 5, 1918. His body
was recovered and buried at Kilnaughton, Islay, Scotland, but in
due time was disinterred and brought back to America, so that it
might have honored place in the Arlington National Cemetery, near
Washington. Interment there took place on October 22, 1920. Young
Crellin was well-known in both Eveleth and Virginia. He was born
on August 15, 1895, at Ishpeming, Michigan, the son of Captain John
S. Crellin, a mine manager, who later came to Virginia, and latterly
has been of Leonidas Location, Eveleth. Walter attended the Vir-
ginia schools, eventually, in 1914, graduating from the Virginia High
School. In October, 1917, he enlisted in the Aviation Section, Signal
Corps.
Frank M. Cullen, whose name is on the Duluth Honor Roll,
has a sister living in West Duluth, Mrs. Minnie Gilbert, of 20 Fifty-
third Avenue.
Benjamin Dachyk, of Duluth, was killed by a falling tree not
far from the front-line trenches in France, on July 22, 1918. He
was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Dachyk, of Greysolon Farms,
near Duluth, and he enlisted at Duluth, in June, 1917, being then
assigned to Company A of the Third Minnesota Regiment. Later.
he was transferred to the Eighth Company, Third Motor Mechanic
Corps, Air Service.
Charles Daniels, whose father, Alphonse Daniels, lives in Buyck,
St. Louis County, was a Belgian by birth, born at Berges, Belgium,
May 23, 1896. The family came to St. Louis County in 1910, and
took up the cultivation of an acreage of wild land in Buyck town-
ship. Charles was inducted on June 5, 1917, when he became a
private of infantry. National Guard. He was assigned to Company I.
One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Infantry, and in due time crossed
the sea to the French front. He was killed in action on the Argonne
front on October 16, 1918.
Rocco Decenzo, who was in the employ of the Republic Iron
and Steel Company, Gilbert, before entering military service, was
born at Sagliono, Italy, the son of Victoriano Decenzo, of that place.
He was inducted on May 24, 1918, at Eveleth, Minn., in the grade
of private of infantry of National Army. He was assigned to the
Thirty-Fourth Company, Ninth Battalion, One Hundred and Sixt}-
Sixth Depot Brigade, soon after arrival at Camp Lewis, Wash., and
later became a member of Company H. One Hundred and Fifty-
Seventh Infantry, Fortieth Division. With that unit he embarked
from New York, on August 8, 1918. His regiment was soon in action,
and he received wounds from which he died. His body was interred
in the American Cemetery, Commune of Brievcaux, Meuse. France,
on October 3, 1918.
636 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
James T, Doherty, who, like his father of same name, was
well-known and popular in Buhl, Minn., where he was in the employ
pf the Dower Lumber Company, was born at Grand Rapids, on
September 17, 1893. Inducted December 16, 1917, at Chisholm, he
was destined to see strenuous service in France, and to safely pass
through many major ofifensives, including St. Mihiel, and Meuse-
Argonne. He also saw severe fighting on the Champagne front, and
in a Verdun sector. A month or so after the Armistice he was taken
sick, tubercular trouble keeping him in Base Hospital No. 52, Remau-
court, France, from December 15, 1918 to March 26, 1919. He was
only partially convalescent when he left France in May, 1919, on
the troopship "DeKalb." He succumbed to lobar-pneumonia during
the voyage. His military service included six months of training at
the Presidio of San Francisco. On June 24, 1918, he was transferred
to Company B. Army Artillery Park, First Army, and embarked
July 1st at Hoboken, for Bordeaux.
Frank Donatello, who was in the employ of the Oliver Iron
Mining Company, at Hibbing, was inducted on June 28, 1918, at
Duluth, and assigned in the grade of private to the Engineers Na-
tional Army. He was born on June 4, 1886, at Barron, Wisconsin,
and died of disease in France on November 25, 1918. His father,
San Donatello, lived at Cumberland, Wisconsin.
Joseph Dragich's death, on May 1, 1918, at a Texas camp, was
attributed to the effects of pneumonia. He was one of the most
eager volunteers of the early days of the war, enlisting in May, 1917.
He was an Austrian by birth, born October 17, 1888, at Tarvi, Austria,
son of Nicholas Dragich, now of Chisholm.
Laurence P. Drohan, of West Duluth, left Duluth on April 26,
1917, and was early in France. He was killed in action on October 5,
1918. His mother, Mrs. Mary Drohan, lives at 9 Sixteenth Avenue,
West. Duluth.
Arthur J. Duggen, whose mother, Minnie Duggen, lives in Brad-
ford, Pennsylvania, had residence in Ely before enlisting.
Dr. Harry Dunlop, who died of wounds on November 2, 1918,
was at one time in active practice in Duluth, associated with Dr.
David Graham, of West Duluth. In 1912 he went to Peru, but the
outbreak of the war in 1914 drew him to Canada, where, in 1914, he
enlisted in the Canadian Army. He w^as commissioned and assigned
to the Medical Department, and sent overseas. Eventually he be-
came captain, and passed through the long, dark, and dangerous
years of vigil with the Canadian Expeditionary Forces, his death
coming only nine days before the Armistice ended the strain. A
brother of Dr. Dunlop lives in Duluth, and has reason to be satisfied
with the part taken by his family in the struggle for the Great Cause.
Four of the family were in war service, three brothers and one
sister.
Napoleon Duprey, a Duluthian who was killed in action in
France, was born at Rib Lake, Taylor County, Wisconsin, on April 6,
1901, but lived for years in Duluth prior to entering service on
November 3, 1917, as a private of infantry of the regular army. He
was sent to Jefferson Barracks, and later to Camp Green, S. C., and
embarked at New York on March 3, 1918, as a member of Company
E. Thirty-Eighth Infantry, A. E. F. He was killed in action on
July 15, 1918, in the Commune of Courtemont, Varennes, France.
His mother, Celia Duprey, lives at 1932 West Michigan Street,
Duluth.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 637
Clarence E. Ellison was a Saginaw, Minnesota, boy, son of Elias
Ellison, of that place.
Albert A. Erickson is claimed to have been a Duluthian ; his
brother, John G., lives in Cumberland, Wisconsin.
Edgar Eubanks, who was killed in action in France in October,
1918, and who prior to entering service lived in St. Louis County,
was born in 1897 in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, where his parents still
live. He was called to service in 1917, and assigned to the Machine
Gun Company, Third Wisconsin Regiment, which eventually became
a unit of the A. E. F.
John Fairgrieve, Jr., was well-known in Duluth. Until he was
called into service on October 21, 1918, he was a salesman for the
Knudson Fruit Company, of Duluth. He was born on November 26,
1893, in Galashiels, Scotland, the son of John and Margaret Fair-
grieve. After enlistment, he was sent to Camp Cody, Deming, New
Mexico, and there assigned to Company E, Three Hundred and
Eighty-Eighth Infantry. He, however, was taken sick soon after
arrival, and died in Deming, New Mexico, November 5, 1918. He
was a married man, his widow, Edith (Hamilton) Fairgrieve still
living in Duluth.
Guy Raymond Forbes, who died in France, was a volunteer much
over draft age. He was born January 29, 1879, at Grand Rapids,
Michigan. He enlisted on May 13, 1917, his technical experience
causing him to elect to join an Engineer Service Battalion, with
which he went to France. He died of cerebral hemorrage, near Toul,
France, on May 5, 1918. His widow, Grace, now lives in Minneapolis.
Frank Leo Fox, a Duluthian killed in action in France, was the
son of Michael Fox, of 213 North Fifty-Third Avenue, Duluth.
Frank enlisted in Duluth April 26, 1918, and soon went overseas.
Mozart Fredland was known to very many business men of
Duluth. He was a barber in the Wolvin Building, Duluth, for some
time before returning to his former home, Madison, Wisconsin, in
May, 1918, to take military service. He was sent to Camp Grant,
Illinois, and there died of influenza on October 10, 1918.
Leland Chester Giddings, who was killed in an aeroplane acci-
dent at Scott Field, Belleville, Illinois, on July 11, 1918, was a native
of Duluth, born in that city on January 27, 1896, son of Mr. and
Mrs. C. H. Giddings, of 19 East Victoria Street, Duluth. He was
one of the early volunteers, enlisting in the aviation branch of the
U. S. Army on May 3, 1917.
Walter Glockner, of Grand Forks, went with a Duluth quota to
Camp Dodge, and eventually reached France. He was killed in
action on August 2, 1918.
Cornelius Bertram and Frederick Norbert Goodspeed, brothers,
were the sons of Alvin and Rose M. Goodspeed, of Kinney. Both
boys were born in Virginia, Minn., Cornelius on February 15, 1898,
and Frederick on November 10, 1899; and both were educated in the
local schools. Cornelius was a brakeman at Kinney before entering
the army, and Frederick was a locomotive fireman for the Swallow
and Hopkins Mining Company, at the same place. The elder
brother was called to military service in April, 1918. and sent to
Camp Dodge, Des Moines, Iowa, to join a Regular Army infantry
regiment. He became a meml)er of Company C, Twentieth Infantry,
Tenth Division, and was stationed at Fort Douglas. Utah, for a
period, and later at Fort Riley, Kansas. He was appointed corporal
on September 1, 1918, and probably considered himself unfortunate
Vol. II— 9
638 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
in having to pass the whole of his service at a home station. He
contracted scarlet fever at Fort Riley early in 1919, and died there
on February 2d. His younger brother, Frederick Norbert, enlisted
on May 6, 1917, at Virginia, as a private, and left without delay for
Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, where he was assigned to the Head-
quarters Company of the Sixteenth Regiment, First Division. He
was only at Fort Bliss for one month, leaving in June, 1917, for
Port of Embarkation, He sailed from Hoboken on the "Havana,"
on June 14, 1917, and arrived safely at St. Nazaire, France, on June
25th, being thus with one of the first American units to set foot in
France. The regiment remained in the Gondrescourt Area until
October 20, 1917, and was in action on October 21, 1917, in the sector
north of- Canal de Parroy. Later, the regiment was in action at
Cantigny, Soissons, St. Mihiel, and Argonne. For gallantry in action,
young Goodspeed was cited on one occasion by his brigade com-
mander, Brigadier-General Parker. Finally, the brave boy was killed
in action, in the Meuse-Argonne offensive, on October 4, 1918.
Henry Patrick Gowan was an enterprising business man of
Duluth, member of the firm of Gowan-Lenning-Brown Company,
wholesale grocers of Duluth. His sister, Mrs. Mary Dacey, lives at
1621 East Fourth Street, Duluth.
John Graden, nephew of Charles Sandgren, 2901 West Third
Street, Duluth, was thirty-two years old when he enlisted. In prior
civil life he was an employee of the Duluth, Missabe and Northern
Railway Co., Bridge and Building Department, at Duluth Docks.
He went overseas, and died of pneumonia in France on October 9,
1918.
Charles H. Gordon, who lived at Proctor, was the son of Mrs.
Katherine T. Graves, 534 West Second Street, Duluth.
Elmer L. Grift'en, who was inducted at Duluth, was formerly
a resident of Solon Springs. He reported for military duty at Duluth
on July 25, 1918, being enlisted as private of infantry, and sent to
Camp Wadsworth, South Carolina. There he was assigned to Head-
quarters Company, Three Hundred and Twenty-third Infantry, and
with that regiment eventually crossed the seas. He died of pneu-
monia, in France, on October 8, 1918. His sister, Mrs. Bessie Mosher,
now lives at 313 Morgan Park Street, Duluth.
Herman Gulbranson, who was wounded in action on the Vesle
River front, August 1, 1918, and died a week later in hospital, was
a native of St. Louis County, born at Hermanstown, February 2,
1896, son of Peter and Hilma Gulbranson. Before entering the service
he was in the employ of the Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway
Company at Proctor. He enlisted on September 22, 1917, at Duluth,
and left for Camp Dodge, Iowa, where he was assigned to Company B,
Three Hundred and Fifty-Second Infantry. About a month later he
was transferred to Camp Cody, New Mexico, and there remained
until June 16, 1918. when his unit was ordered to Port of Embarka-
tion. The regiment was at Camp Merritt, New Jersey, for a week,
and sailed on June 28th, at a time when the call for man-power
was most urgent, and the outlook darkest. Soon after reaching
France, the regiment moved to a front area.
Alfred Israel Gustafson, who lived at Chisholm for some time
before enlisting, was born in Eveleth, son of Fred Gustafson, now
of Cook, St. Louis County. Date of birth, May 29, 1896. He entered
the service on May 25, 1918, as private of infantry, and was assigned
to Company I, of One Hundred and Twenty-Fifth Infantry, Fifth
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 639
Army Corps. He was killed in action in France on October 21, 1918.
Charles R. Gustafson, of Duluth, elected to give service in one
of the most dangerous branches of the army, the Air Service. He
was early in France, and as a lieutenant of the Twenty-Fifth Aero
Squad, Fourth Pursuit Corps, was on the French front during the
e!arly days of the German drive of 1918. He was killed in action on
April 9, 1918.
John Gustafson was a farmer at Angora prior to enlisting.
Robert H. Gustafson was of Duluth ; his step-mother, Mrs. Mary
Johnson, lives at 430 West Fifth Avenue.
William August Gustafson is on the Hibbing roll, his mother,
Ida Gustafson, still living there.
Edward Cornelius Hagar, son of Mr. and Mrs. A. Hagar, of 814
Third Avenue, east, Duluth, was killed at sea on September 29, 1918.
He had enlisted in the United States Navy, and was one of the
ship's company of the U. S. transport "Ohioan." Death came from
fracturing of skull and other injuries sustained by mishap encountered
in launching a lifeboat.
Earl F. Haire is on the Honor Roll, but no biographical or service
records are available from which his life and army service might be
reviewed.
Theodore George Hall, son of George Hall, of 3124 Chestnut
Street, Duluth, served in the army for twenty-two months and was
in action in most of the major offensives and defensives from Chateau
Thierry to the end. He was born on February 19, 1900, at Erie,
North Dakota, son of George and Ida Ayers Hall. He was at heart
a soldier and took keen interest in the functioning of the Minnesota
National Guard. He was a member of Company C, Minnesota Na-
tional Guard, and with that unit served on the Mexican border in
1916. Not many months after he had returned from the border, he
enlisted for World War service. On July 15, 1917, he Avas assigned
to Company C, Third Minnesota Infantry, which federalized became
part of the Thirty-Fourth Division. From August, 1917, to June,
1918, the regiment was at Camp Cody, New Mexico. In June, 1918,
young Hall'was transferred, at Camp Cody, to the June Automatic
Replacement Draft, and later to the Third Trench Mortar Battery,
Third Artillery Brigade, Third Division, A. E. F. He sailed for
France in the "Justicia," in the latter part of June, 1918, and upon
arrival went almost immediately to the front. He saw fighting in
most of the major ofifcnsives from Chateau Thierry to the end. being
present at Chateau Thierry, Verdun, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne.
After the Armistice, his division became part of the Army of Occupa-
tion, and marched to the Rhine. He was stationed at Mayen, Ger-
many, until he died. Death came, after only one day of illness, on
the last day of 1918, the sickness being diagnosed as lobar-pneumonia.
Eventually, the body was disinterred, and brought back to this coun-
try, and to Duluth. Funeral services were held at Grace IMethodist
Episcopal Church, Duluth. on October 19, 1920, on which day his
remains were laid finally in Oneota Cemetery with military honors,
the ceremony being conducted under the auspicco of the local post
of the American Legion.
Carl Hansen, who was killed in action at the Mouse River,
France, on October 31, 1918, was a well-known West Duluth musi-
cian. He was born on February 8, 1889. in Skrup, Sweden, where
his mother still lives, although he had other relatives in Minnesota,
a sister, Mrs. O. O. Woods, living at Hopper, Minn. Carl was
640 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
called into military service on April 26, 1918, and assigned to an
infantry regiment, crossing the sea without much delay, being killed
in action within six months of enlistment, almost.
Herbert Constantius Hansen, son of Thor and Atlanta Hansen,
of Duluth, was born May 23, 1898, at Kennsett, North County, Iowa.
He was a machinist by trade, and before entering the navy was em-
ployed at his trade at the Clyde Iron Works, Duluth. He was called
to active duty on August 10, 1918, at Duluth, and was sent for train-
ing to the Great Lakes Naval Station. There he died of pneumonia
on September 24, 1918.
Peter Hansen's endeavor to be of some use to his country in
the time of need is obvious in his bare record. He was a cripple even
before enlisting, a hunting accident injuring his spine. He was in
a wheel chair when enlisted in September, 1917. He was a skillful
radio operator, and asked to be assigned to such work at a home
station, so as to relieve one physically fat man for everseas work. He
served for more than a year, dying eventually of pneumonia, in
October, 1918, at the Marine Hospital, Chicago. He was born on
March 9, 1897, at Biwabik, the son of Peter and Jennie Hansen, now
of Chisholm.
Bernard C. Hanford was a member of Company B, Fifteenth
Machine Gun Battalion.
Thomas Hammer, who lived in Duluth for some time prior to
enlistment, was killed in action in the Argonne offensive on October
7, 1918.
Jack Hanford, a lieutenant who died in a French hospital on
August 8, 1918, of wounds received nine days earlier, was a native
of Duluth, born in the city in 1897. His father, Harry C. Hanford,
now lives at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but for many years lived in Duluth,
being at one time agent for a coal company of that place. He lived
on Third Avenue, near Eleventh Avenue, east. Therefore Lieutenant
Jack Hanford may rightly be placed on the Duluth Honor Roll.
About Thor Harris, who made the supreme sacrifice, there is no
information available.
Arthur James Hayes, a native Duluthian, who died of pneu-
monia in a home camp within a few months of enlistment, was a
young writer of promise. He was born in Duluth on October 1,
1894, the son of James J. and Margaret A. Hayes, now of Chisholm,
and was given a good education, becoming eventually a college
graduate. He took to literary pursuits, and gave indications of
marked adaptability to that profession. He reported for military
duty at Duluth in February, 1918, and was assigned to the Thirty-
Sixth Engineers at Camp Grant, Illinois. There, on April 16th fol-
lowing, he died.
Edward Hedenburg, of Duluth, was one of four sons of A. Heden-
berg, of 4525 Peabody Street, Duluth, to give service. He enlisted
in October, or November, 1917, in the Ordnance Department, U. S.
Army, and saw service in France with the Supply Division of Ord-
nance. Returning to this country, he was detained in a New York
hospital, where he died in June, or July of 1919, of pneumonia.
Earl B. Herbert, who lived at 217 Second Avenue, west, Duluth,
before enlisting, seems to have had no other relatives in St. Louis
County. His mother lives at Menominee, Michigan.
George Heber is claimed by Hibbing, his mother, Margaret
Heber, living there.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 641
Michael Hesdal was of Duluth, although his parents still live
in Norway. His father is Mons Hesdal, of Lillebergen, Bergen,
Norway.
John E. Higgins, also of Duluth, died in October, 1918. He
was a private in Casual Company No. 397. Beneficiaries of his estate
are Helen and Delia Bridget Higgins.
Arvid I. Hill, who died while crossing the sea to the War Zone,
was a Virginia boy, born in that city on February 24, 1896. His
father, Isaac Hill, lives in Embarrass, St. Louis County. Young Hill
was called to duty on June 24, 1918, and assigned to Ambulance
Company No. 341, Three Hundred and Eleventh Sanitary Train,
Eighty-Sixth Division. He had the grade of wagoner, and died
during the voyage to Europe. His body was buried at Liverpool,
England, on October 4, 1918.
Joseph Horovitz was a Duluth boy, son of Mrs. Lottie Horovitz,
of 320 East First Street. He died of influenza in France.
Axel M. Howalt, son of Louis Howalt, of Park Point, Duluth,
was a sergeant of Battery B, One Hundred and Fifty-first Field
Artillery, Rainbow Division. He was twice in hospital, being gassed
on May 27, 1918, and severely wounded in the July fighting. He
died in hospital in July-August, 1918.
Joseph Hurovitch, son of Mr. and Mrs. Hurovitch, of 320 East
First Street, Duluth, was employed in the linen department of
George A. Gray and Co.'s Duluth store before entering the army.
He became a corporal, and acting sergeant of Headquarters Com-
pany, Three Hundred and Forty-Eighth Infantry, A. E. F. He died
of bronco-pneumonia, in France, on October 25, 1918.
Frank Fred Indihar was of the prominent Gilbert family of that
name. He was born at Biwabik, September 12, 1896, and passed most
of his life in Biwabik and Gilbert. He was the son of Frank and
Meri Indihar, and latterly was a clerk in his father's store at Gilbert.
He enlisted in August, 1917, being assigned to an infantry regiment,
which eventually was sent to France. He was killed by shrapnel
on September 26, 1918, in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. His brother
is village clerk of Gilbert.
Fred Jackson, of Tower, was a son of William R. Jackson, of
that place.
John Alfred Jacobson, of Virginia, was born at Messabe, St.
Louis County, son of August Jacobson, now of Virginia. He was
in an infantry regiment, and was killed in action in France, being
mortally wounded by bayonet.
Edward Jarvi was of Duluth residence ; his brother, Nerst Jarvi,
now lives in Hibbing.
Alfred Johnson, who was. born on June 16, 1891, was the son
of Christ Johnson, of Duluth. Alfred died of wounds in a base
hospital in France.
Arnold Walter Johnson, whose name is on the Duluth list, was
a son of Mrs. Nellie Johnson, Virginia.
Axel W. Johnson lived at 1331 West First Street, Duluth. prior
to enlistment. His nearest relative is given as Miss Jennie Helbert,
an aunt, of Kansas City, Missouri.
Carl W. Johnson, who went from Duluth, was the son of Charles
E. Johnson, 2085 Sixty-Seventh Avenue, West, Duluth.
Cecil A. Johnson lived at Proctor. His widow, Effie, now lives
at Bayfield, Wisconsin.
642 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Conrad Gilbert Johnson was a native of Duluth, and a promis-
ing student at the University of Minnesota when war came. He was
born in Duluth on November 25, 1896, the son of Otto and Christina
Johnson, now of 2615 West Third Street, Duluth. He attended
local schools, and eventually entered the University of Minnesota.
On April 17, 1917, he enlisted at Minneapolis, as a candidate-officer,
and was sent to the First Officers' Training School at Fort Snelling,
Minnesota. Successfully passing examinations at the close of the
course of training, he was accepted into the Air Service of the United
States Army, which meant that he was as nearly physically perfect
as was possible, the physical test of the aviation branch of the U. S.
forces being the most rigid. He was assigned to the Princeton
School of Aeronautics in July, 1917, and remained there until Sep-
tember. On September 25, 1917, he embarked, as a cadet, on the
liner "Saxonia," at New York, safely reaching England, where for
long he was in training. Crossing to France eventually, he went into
action, and saw dangerous exciting service at the front. He was
killed in action on October 23, 1918, during the last six months of
service holding the rank of first lieutenant.
Frank F. Johnson, of Duluth, was called into service on June 28,
1918, and assigned to an infantry unit at Camp Grant where he did
not remain for more than a month. On November 5, 1918, he died
of wounds received in action in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. His
mother is Mrs. Bertha Johnson, of 21 South Sixty-Sixth Avenue, West,
Duluth.
Fritz Johnson, of Duluth, was a nephew^ of Thor Hanson, 2415
West Sixth Street, Duluth.
Harry E. Johnson was the son of John A. Johnson, of 125 North
Sixty-First Avenue, West, Duluth.
Johan A. Johnson, who lived in Chisholm before going into
military service, appears to have no relatives in St. Louis County.
His sister, Esther, lives in Pittsburg.
John Johnson, whose mother now lives in Eveleth, was born on
July 11, 1896, at Wasa, Finland, son of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew John-
son. He was enlisted into the infantry branch of the National Army
in July, 1918, and was ordered to Camp Cody, Deming, New Mexico.
There he was assigned to Casual Company No. 4, of the Three Hun-
dred and Eighty-Eighth Infantry. He died of pneumonia in that
camp on November 6, 1918.
Leonard Johnson, of Duluth, w^as a nephew of Mrs. Sardra A\'illis,
104 South Forty-Eighth Avenue, West, Duluth.
Robert M. Johnson, of Duluth, lived at 2112 West Third Street
before enlistment.
Anthony Kaelis lived at 1022 West Superior Street.
John E. Kalahar lived in Hibbing, his widow, Viola C, still
living there.
David Kaplan had lived in Duluth for about ten years before
entering upon military duties, but he was born in Russia. Fie was
killed in action in France on October 4, 1918.
Dan D. Katoski, who before entering upon military duty was a
teamster in the employ of J. H. Clough, contractor of Duluth, was
born in August, 1890, at Ragrot, Poland. He was enlisted, as private
in infantry of the Regular Army, on July 24, 1918, at Duluth, and
sent to Camp Wadsworth, Spartansburg, South Carolina, where on
July 28th he was assigned to Company K. Fifty-Fifth Pioneer In-
fantry. His regiment left Camp Wadsworth, for Port of Embarka-
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 643
tion in August, and in September arrived at Brest, France. Katoski
was transferred to Company D, One Hundred and Sixth Infantry,
and saw five weeks of active fighting. As the result of his service,
he was paralyzed, and rendered helpless in January, 1919. On March
3, 1919, he arrived in New York, and was sent to United States Army
General Hospital No. 29, Fort Snelling, Minnesota, from which he
was discharged on July 30, 1919. He died on October 29, 1920, at
the home of his uncle, Charles Wisocki, 512 North Fifth Street,
Duluth.
Paul R. Keehn, who lived in Duluth before entering upon army
duties, was the son of Mrs. Lena Keehn, of Mount Clemens, Michigan.
Ambrose Manley Kelley was in business in Duluth before being
called to service, being grain clerk for the Kellogg Commissiot^ Com-
pany of Duluth. He enlisted at Duluth in the early months of the
war, on May 25, 1917, joining the Machine Gun Battalion of the
Third Minnesota Regiment. Was at Camp Cody, Deming, New
Mexico, from August, 1917, until September, 1918, when he left for
Port of Embarkation, reaching France in October. He was sta-
tioned at La Bozage, Sarthe, France, for some time, and later was
at Le Mans, France, where, on February 28. 1919, he died of bronco-
pneumonia. He was born at Taylor Falls, Minnesota, January 3,
1892, son of J. D. and Mary (Manley) Kelley. His widow. Olivette
Kelley lives in Duluth.
Fred Michael Kenney, whose aunt is Mrs. Frank Lesler of
Duluth, was born on December 8, 1889, at Detroit, Michigan. By
trade he was a granite cutter, and before enlistment was working at
his trade in Chicago. It was in Chicago that he was influenced in
November, 1916, to enlist, going to Canada for the purpose. He
became a member of the Fourth Canadian Reserve Battalion, Cana-
dian Expeditionary Forces, and after this nation joined the Allies,
he was assigned to recruiting duties at the British Recruiting Mis-
sion's Chicago headquarters. Later, he returned to Toronto, and
there embarked for England. He was in training at Witley, Surrey,
for a short while in 1917, but was in the front-line trenches in France,
and in action, in that year, meeting death there on August 9, 1917.
Marshall Louvain Knapp, a native Duluthian. popular in West
Duluth and an accomplished violinist, died of influenza at Camp
Humphries, on September 28, 1918, six months after enlistment. He
was born in Duluth on March 9, 1897, son of Jerome M. and Susie H.
Knapp, his mother now living at 17 North Sixty-Second Avenue,
West Duluth. His education was obtained at local schools, he even-
tually graduating from the Denfield High School. Entering business
life, he became a clerk in the offices of the Duluth, Missabe and
Northern Railway Company, at Duluth, and was an estimable young
man of steady refined character. Entering upon military service in
March, 1918, he was asigned to duty with Ctjmpan}- H, Second Engi-
neering Training Regiment, at Camp Humphries, \'irginia. There
he died.
Teddv Kovecavich, who was killed in action in l-'rance in October,
1918, lived in Chisholm, where his brother, Xick, also lives. Teddy
was born at Tisovic, Kalji, Croatia, Jugo-Slavia, on I'ebruary 16. 1893.
He enlisted in the infantry in May, 1917.
Henry S. Knowlton, who has a place on the nuhilli Honor Roll,
was in war service long before the United States joined the Allies.
He enlisted at Winnipeg, Canada, in Company A, Twenty-Seventh
Battalion, Canadian Army, and saw much service at the Front before
644 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
he was killed, on May 3, 1917, at Fresney, France. He was born at
Superior, Wisconsin, February 1, 1891, the son of Edwin S. and
Matilda Knowlton, now of Duluth.
Adam Kucharski, a native Duluthian, was not yet twenty years
old when he enlisted at Duluth, in the early months of the war, in the
Third Minnesota National Guard. He was assigned to Company C,
at Camp Cod3% New Mexico, and left with the regiment for France.
He was killed in action on September 5, 1918. His father, Anton
Kucharski lives at 316 East Ninth Street, Duluth.
William Henry Lahti was a native of St. Louis County. He
was born April 2, 1895, at Soudan, the son of Alexander Lahti, now
of Cook, St. Louis County. He reported for military duty in May,
1918, and was assigned to an infantry unit. He served in Fran-ce
during the time of greatest stress, and succumbed to influenza on
October 6, 1918.
Svante Lampi, who was killed in action in the Meuse-Argonne
offensive, was well known in Gilbert, where before entering military
service he was a city official. He was of Finnish origin, born in
Karvia, Finland, August 22, 1886, son of Alexander Lampi. He en-
tered the U. S. Army on May 24, 1918, at Eveleth. From there he
was sent to Camp Lewis, Washington, and there assigned to the
Thirty-Fourth Company, One Hundred and Sixty-Sixth Depot Bri-
gade, Fortieth Division. Six weeks later he was transferred to Camp
Kearney, California, but within a month was on the way to France,
embarking at Boston on the troopship "Berrima" on August 8, 1918,
with Company I, One Hundred and Fiftieth Infantry, Fortieth Divi-
sion. On September 25th he was transferred to Company D, One
Hundred and Ninth Infantry, Fortieth Division, and was with that
unit when he met his death, in action, on October 7, 1918.
Albert P. LaTendress was a Duluthian, and before reporting for
military duty lived at 3 West Fifth Street, Duluth.
Lloyd Ernest Le Due, also a well-known Duluthian, was the son
of A. C. LeDuc, of 10 North Twelfth Avenue, east. Lloyd was in
the United States Navy.
Fred LePage was known to a large circle in West Duluth, where
he lived before enlistment. He left Duluth early in 1918, and was
at the Front during about three months of hard fighting. He was
killed in action in France on October 8, 1918. A sister, Mrs. J.
LeSarge, lives at 2405 West Sixth Street, Duluth.
Martin Larson lived at 4405 Pitt Street, Duluth, before he en-
listed.
August Felix Leppi, son of Andrew Leppi, of Floodwood, was
born at Ely, St. Louis County, on December 4, 1895. He entered the
army in September, 1917, and for eight months was in training at
Camp Pike, Arkansas. He became tubercular, and died of consump-
tion at Floodwood on July 18, 1919.
Rudolph M. Lindquist, of Duluth, was 29 years old when he
reported for military duty on July 25, 1918. He was sent to Camp
Wadsworth, Spartansburg, S. C, and there assigned to the Fifty-Sixth
Pioneer Infantry, then being equipped for overseas duty. The unit
left for France soon afterwards, and was hard pressed in the cam-
paigning of that time. Lindquist developed pneumonia, and died in
France on September 30, 1918. His widow, Jennie R. Lindquist, lives
at 613 East Tenth Street, Duluth.
Frank A. Littlefield, who joined the Canadian Army and was
killed at Hennencourt, Belgium, September 28, 1918, was in the
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 645
employ of H. C. Royce, Cramer, Minn., before enlistment. Little-
field was a native of Lowell, Massachusetts, where he was born on
April 17, 1895, but for some years had been in Minnesota. He left
Duluth in December, 1917, for duty with the Forestry Division of
the Canadian Army, and was assigned to the Eighth Battalion. He did
not go overseas until early in September, 1918, on the 28th of which
month he was killed, being at that time a member of the Fifty-
Second Battalion. His mother is Mrs. Emma Royce, 613 East
Tenth Street, Duluth.
Allen Lloyd, who was killed in action in France on October 16,
1918, is given place among the Gold Stars of Chisholm, where he
lived for some time before entering upon military duties. He was
born on December 12, 1890, at Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, where his
mother, who now is Mrs. James W. Winkler, lives. Lloyd en-
listed in September, 1917, and became a member of the Three Hun-
dred and Seventh Engineers.
Victor Loisom was of Eveleth, but more regarding his civil and
military record is not available. A brother, Mike, lives at Republic,
Washington,
Beio Luiso was also of Eveleth.
Vito Luiso, an Eveleth boy, was killed in action in France.
Frank Lozar, of Ely, was a good loyal American soldier, notwith-
standing that he was born in Austria. He died gallantly fighting for
his adopted country. He was born on October 22, 1895, at Ritnica,
Austria. He lived with his mother in Ely for many years before
taking military duty, and was in good business as a storekeeper. He
reported for military duty at Ely on September 21, 1917. and was
sent to Camp Dodge, Iowa, where he was assigned to Campany A,
Three Hundred and Fifty-second Infantry, Second Division. Later,
he was transferred to Camp Pike, Arkansas, but eventually cross'ed
the sea, and saw much service at the Front. He was killed in action
in France on September 13, 1918, and buried at the St. Mihiel Ameri-
can Cemetery 1233, grave 66, section 16. plot 2, Thiacourt, Meurthe-
et-Moselle.
Earl Bertram Lozway, of West Duluth, who died in service, was
born November 26, 1897, at Sylvan Lake. Crow Wing County, Minne-
sota. His mother, Mary A. Lozway, lives at 124 South Twenty-
Eighth Avenue, West Duluth, and he was well known in that part
of the city. He enlisted in the United States Navy in the first month
of war, and died at Philadelphia, where he was stationed, on Julv 4,
1918.
Fred Luhm, of Duluth, son of W. H. Luhm, of 4229 Gladstone
Street, Duluth, was early in national service, enlisting at Duluth in
the Ambulance Corps. He was assigned to the Forty-Eighth Ambu-
lance Section, and was killed by a shell while at his duties on the
Western front in 1918.
Louis McCahill. who was killed in action on November 7, 1^18,
is listed with the Duluth men. He was born in 1896, son of James
McCahill, and the family lived in Duliith until the death of the
father in 1909, when the family removed to Lake City, Minnesota,
where Mrs. McCahill still lives.
Arthur W. McCaulcy was a brave Duluth boy. He was only
seventeen years old when, in 1915, he left his home and went to
Winnipeg, to enlist in the Canadian Army. His family never saw
him again. He was born on July 10, 1898, the son of E. j. McCauley.
who now lives at 13 East Superior Street, and as a boy attended
646 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Jackson School, Duluth. He saw three years of terribly hard service
in France, and passed through the severe fighting of 1916 and 1917
without as much as a scratch. Early in 1918, however, he was
wounded, and when partially convalescent was sent on recruiting
duty to Scotland. That assignment accomplished, however, he was
again ordered to France, and was again wounded. That was on
July 22, 1918, but the wound was not a serious one and he was
soon back in the trenches, only, however, to meet instant death in
action on August 8, 1918. He surely served the cause of Liberty to
the full.
Edward J. McDermott, eighteen-year-old son of James McDer-
mott, of 2325 West Ninth Street, Duluth, enlisted in the Marine
Corps, on April 15, 1918, and died in France on August 10th of that
year. Before leaving home he was in the employ of the Duluth
Paper and Stationery Company.
Clarence McDonald is listed among those Virginia boys who
did not return. His widow, Mrs. Jennie McDonald, now lives in
Duluth. McDonald was killed in action in France.
Kenneth Mclnnis, who had lived in Duluth for some years and
was in the employ of the Duluth Marine Supply Company, was of
Scottish birth, and in October, 1917, enlisted in the Canadian Army.
He crossed the sea in the spring of 1918, and in September, or
October, following, was killed in action in France.
Luther McKey was of Duluth, his military papers show.
Frederick Thomas McLain, son of W. D. McLain, of Kenwood
Park, Duluth, enlisted in the United States Navy and was assigned
to the U. S. S. "Alabama." He died of spinal meningitis in 1918.
Douglas McLean was the son of George McLean, of 915 East
Fifth Street, Duluth.
Robert McLennan, who died in France in 1918, of wounds re-
ceived in action, was formerly of Duluth residence, living with his
aunt, Mrs. M. C. Littleworth, at 409 Mesaba Avenue. He was as-
signed to the Chemical Service, and was a member of the First Gas
Regiment, American Expeditionary Forces.
Garrick McPhail, of Duluth. was in the Air Service. His mother
is Mrs Margaret McPhail, of 821 West Fourth Street.
Kenneth D. MacLeod, of Duluth, was born July 5, 1898, at Rice
Lake, Wisconsin, where his mother, Mrs. George MacLeod still lives.
Early in 1917 Kenneth enlisted in the Machine Gun Section of the
Third Wisconsin National Guard. He was killed in action in France
in October, 1918. .
Lloyd O. Magee, city editor of the Eveleth "News" and a
popular young man of that city was killed in action in the Argonne
Forest, France, on October 1, 1918. He was born on February 11,
1894, in Wisconsin. He reported for military duty on February 28.
1918, and was assigned to an infantry regiment, which soon went
overseas. His father, H. M. Magee, lives at Little Falls. Minn.
Anton Maleski left Duluth with the first draft for Camp Dodge.
Iowa, in September, 1917. He was assigned to Company E, Fifty-
Eighth Infantry, Fourth Division, and was later transferred to Camp
Greene. He embarked in May, and safely arrived at London, Eng-
land, on May 26, 1918, soon afterward crossing the English Channel
to France. He was killed in action at Chateau Thierry on July 18.
1918. His brother, John J. Maleski, lives at 621 Central Avenue,
Duluth.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 647
Garrett Mandeville, who was a cadet in the aviation branch of
the U. S. Navy at the time he met his death, in August, 1918, by
a fall of his seaplane at Pensacola, Florida, enlisted in Minneapolis
where he then Hved, but he was formerly of Duluth. He was born
in Superior, but attended Duluth schools.
Albert Martinson was of Aurora. His sister, Mrs. J. Nassum,
lives in Minneapolis.
Nick C. J. Marion went to Canada in 1917 and enlisted in the
Canadian Army, being assigned to the Forty-Third Battalion. He
was killed in action in France, on August 16, 1918. He was twenty-
nine years old, the son of N. F. Marion, 1 Palmetto Street, Duluth.
Henry Edward Masucci, who was cited for gallantry in action,
was a resident in Eveleth before entering the service. He was born
on February 23, 1895, at Negaunee, Michigan, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Otis Masucci, and his mother now lives in Eveleth. Henry was called
into service on May 26, 1918, at Eveleth, and there enlisted in the
ijifantry, and assigned to the Fortieth Division. He was transferred
in September, 1918, to Company I, 305th Infantry, 77th Division, and
with that regiment was in action at Argonne Forest, where he was
killed by machine-gun fire on October 3d. He distinguished himself
in the fighting and was recommended for a medal by his commander.
Jacob Andreas Kristofer Mattson is another of the Gold Stars
of Virginia. Born April 18, 1884, at Trondhjem. Norway, he had
lived in America for many years before enlisting on June 25, 1918,
in the Medical Department of the United States Army. He died of
disease while on the voyage to France, death occurring on October 11,
1918. His widow still lives in Virginia. Minnesota.
Samuel Nehemiah Maxwell, of Eveleth, was born on February
24, 1897, the family being well known in Eveleth. He was not called
into service until August, 1918, and then assigned to the Motor Trans-
port Corps. He died of influenza at Indianapolis, Indiana, on October
7, 1918.
Oscar A. Melander was a Duluthian by birtJi, and seemed to
have a promising career before him as a dentist. He was born in
Duluth on March 1, 1893, son of August H. and Cecelia Melander,
now of East Fourth Street. He attended Duluth schools, and in
1912 graduated from the Central High School. He proceeded to the
University of Minnesota, and was still an undergraduate when war
came in 1917. He joined the Student Corps of the University of
Minnesota when that was organized and became a sergeant of it.
Very soon after graduating, as a dentist in 1918, he decided to enlist
in the regular army, and did so on June 14, 1918. at St. Paul, Minne-
sota, as a private of the aviation branch. He was assigned to the
Air Service Mechanical School, at St. Paul, and at that establishment
was detailed to the medical section, because of his jirofessional train-
ing. He was soon expecting examination for c^)mniission in the army
when sickness intervened. Stricken with influenza, he was removed
to the army hospital. Overland Building. St. I*anl. and there died
on October 11, 1918. Thus ended long preparations for a useful pro-
fessional life.
Arthur A. Mellin. a Duluth b(.)y who was killed in action within
sixteen days of landing in France, was born in Duluth. ( )ctol)er 11,
1897, the son of Alexander and Ida Mellin. now of 1719 West Xcw
Street. He was interested in soldiering long before the nation became
involved in the Euro])ean struggle, and as a nieinbcr of the Third
Minnesota Infantry, of the National Guard, went to the Mexican
648 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Border, in 1916 when the country was virtually at war with Mexico.
In civil life, he was a typewriter mechanic, and was w4th the Reming-
ton Typewriter Company, Duluth. In June, 1917, he enlisted for
World War service. He belonged to Company C of the Third Min-
nesota Infantry, Thirty-fourth Division and was at Camp Cody, New
Mexico, until June, 1918, then leaving for Camp Merritt, New Jersey,
w^here he remained until July 12th, when he embarked for Europe
with the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Field Artillery, to Com-
pany C of which he had been transferred while still at Camp Cody.
He left Camp Cody as a machine gun casual. Almost immediately
after debarking in France, he was transferred to Company K of the
One Hundred and Sixty-third Infantry, and went into the front-line
trenches in the Argonne within four days of landing. He was killed
in the Argonne Forest early in August, 1918.
William G. Messner. who made the Supreme Sacrifice, was a
son of Jake B. Messner, of Hibbing.
Edward F. Mettner was born in Duluth on September 16, 1890,
son of Edward Mettner, now of 5723 Avondale Street, Duluth. He
died of influenza at Camp Edgew^ood, Maryland, October 10, 1918.
Sigurd Peter Moe, of McKinley, was one of the outstanding
heroes of the early days of American participation in the fighting on
the Western front. He was in the Marine Corps, and was killed in the
memorable engagement at Belleau Wood on June 12. 1918, and
because of his bravery in that engagement, the French Government
honored his memory by awarding him the Croix de Guerre. The
report shows that Sigurd Moe and another marine, Willis Shoemaker,
left a shelter trench during heavy bombardment to rescue a wounded
comrade. Moe was killed in the attempt.
Walter Monett, of Duluth, was nineteen years old when he met
his death of wounds in France in October, 1918. He was born in
Duluth and enlisted at Duluth on July 26, 1917. He was sent to
Fort Snelling, Minnesota, and assigned to Company H. First Minne-
sota Infantry, later going to Camp Cody, New Mexico and overseas
in June. 1918, with the Twelfth Casual Company. He died of wounds
on October 6, 1918. His father is Amos Monett, of 280 Third Ave-
nue, East, Duluth.
Harvey H. Morey was of Eveleth ; a sister. Mrs. William Hein,
lives at Tonesboro, Arkansas. Morey was killed in action in France,
August 1, 1918.
William H. Morrison, who was killed in action in France in Sep-
tember or October, 1918, was a Duluthian. His sister. Miss Agatha
M., lives at 1815 West Superior Street.
Michael J. Murphy, whose home was in Sioux City, Iowa, will
be remembered by Duluth people. He was a sergeant of Marines,
and was in charge of recruiting for the United States Marine Corps
in Duluth ; also, he w'as captain of the Duluth Marine Scouts. After
leaving Duluth, he was stationed for a time at Quantico, Virginia,
but soon assigned to service abroad. He was killed in action in
France in August, 1918.
John J. Mustar, of Gilbert, succumbed to pneumonia, following
influenza, at Camp Eustis, Virginia, on October 13, 1918. He had
been in service for ten months, having enlisted at Gilbert on Decem-
ber 16, 1917, in Battery C, Forty-ninth Regiment. He was born in
Biwabik, April 11, 1896, but lived for many years in Gilbert latterly,
being in the employ of the Gilbert Hardware Company for some time
before enlistment. His mother, Maria Mustar, still lives in Gilbert.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 649
Arthur Nelson was of Prosit, Minnesota.
Charles G. Nelson was the son of Gust Nelson of Soudan.
Edward G. Nelson of Duluth died June. 1919. His sister is Mrs.
Edward Peterson, 917 East Tenth Street, Duluth.
Max Neubauer, son of Florien Newbauer, of Ninety-second
Avenue, West, and Grand, Duluth, departed from Duluth with the
first detachment drafted in September, 1917. He went overseas and
died of wounds in France in July, 1918, at first being reported: "Miss-
ing in action."
Carl Oscar Niemi belonged to a well-known and respected
Eveleth family. He was born on July 28, 1894, at Tower, St. Louis
County, son of Oscar Niemi. Carl attended the first Officers' Train-
ing Camp, at Fort Snelling, in June, 1917, and after a two months'
course was commissioned second lieutenant, and assigned to the Air
Service. He soon went overseas, and as an aviator did valuable and
dangerous work along the Western front during the severe fighting
in 1918. He also was for a time on the Italian front. When the
Armistice came, he was on the French front, and soon afterwards
was under orders to return home. The orders were rescinded and
he continued to do reconnaissance work with his organization and
met his death as the result of a mid-air collision of aeroplanes. He
was buried in an American cemetery in France with the honors cus-
tomarily tendered an aviator.
Gilbert Winsford Nordman, who was killed in action at Cote
de Chatillon, France, October 16, 1918, had lived in Duluth for many
years with his parents, Julius and Jennie Nordman of 221 East Fifth
Street. Gilbert was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on November 17,
1894, and by trade was an auto mechanic. He was employed by the
Central Auto Company, Duluth, before enlistment, which took place
on September 5, 1917, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was sent to
Camp Custer, Michigan, and there assigned to the Thirty-second
Company, One Hundred and Sixtieth Depot Brigade, Eighth Bat-
talion. He arrived at St. Nazaire, France, on March 6, 1918, and \<as
in action at Badonvillers four days later. He saw considerable fight-
ing during the following six months in Champagne, at St. Mihiefl.
Aisne, Meuse, Argonne.
James Novak, of Virginia, was a Bohemian by birth, hut evi-
dently seriously afifected by the state of war in Europe. He went to
Canada and enlisted in the Canadian army long before the United
States became involved in the war. He. however, appears to have
been transferred to the United States army in May. 1918. at his
request. During that summer, he was at Fort Brady. Michigan, and
during the epidemic of Spanish Influenza he contracted the disease
and died on October 16, 1918, at that fort. His father is Frank
Novak, of Greaney.
Erick Ofsted w&s of Duluth. He enlisted at Duluth. in .•\pril.
1918, and eventually became a member of Company F, of the Throe
Hundred and Eighty-fifth Infantry, with which unit he sailed for
France in July. 191/8. He was reported. "Missing in action."
Axel William Olson was a Duluthian. his mother being Mrs.
Alice Olson of East First Street.
Chester Norman Olson lived at Cresson before enlistment. His
nearest relative in America seems to have been Mrs. H. C. Hess, of
Phelps, Wisconsin
Ernest R. Ols )n was a Duluthian. his widow. Mabel Olson, liv-
ing at 216 South Sixtv-third Avenue, west. Duluth.
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DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 651
John R. Olson, a Norwegian by birth, followed the trade of
painter in Duluth before entering the service in May, 1918. He lived
at 2422 West Seventh Street, Dukith, before reporting for duty. His
military record covers four months of service at Camp Dodge, Iowa,
where on October 15, 1918, he died of pneumonia. His body was
returned to Duluth and buried with military honors. He had no
relatives in America, but his mother, in Norway, survives him.
Fred Ostrom, of Eveleth, was gassed at the front, and later died
of influenza. His remains now lie at Negaunee, Michigan Cemetery.
John Leo Ossowski was the son of John Ossowski, of 2830 North
Hudson Avenue, Duluth.
David Livingston Page, of Duluth, enlisted early in 1917 in the
Third Minnesota Infantrv, Thirty-fourth Division. Later, he was
transferred to the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Field Artillery, of
the same division. He died while on the voyage overseas, and was
buried in England. His mother is Mrs. Mary Page, of 1001 Twelfth
Avenue, West, Duluth.
Albin F. Palmer, of Duluth, was the son of C. A. Palmer, of
Chisago City, ]Minnesota. Albin was called to military duty on
May 25, 1918, and went overseas with the Seventy-seventh Division.
He was killed in action on the French front on October 4, 1918.
When in Duluth he lived at 2316 West Second Street.
Mervin Palmer was a brother of Albin.
John Paul Parker, who was well-known in Gilbert, was born in
Minneapolis, Minnesota, February 20, 1888. He enlisted almost as
soon as this country entered into the struggle in April, 1917, and
was with one of the units early in France. He was killed in action
at the Aisne River, France, July 20, 1918, and was buried in the
American Area Cemetery, Row C, Grave 76, Commune Lecharmiel,
Aisne territory.
Otto Pazari, of Eveleth, was killed in action in France.
John Perone lived at 1408 Gary Street, West, Duluth, before
entering upon military duties.
xA.ndrew Peterson, of Cotton, Minnesota, was the son of Peter
Peterson, of same town. He was born in Norway, January 24, 1890.
He enlisted on September 20, 1917, and was assigned to Company E,
of the Fifty-eighth Infantry, which was sent to France in time to
take part in the supreme effort made by the Allies after the July,
1918, drive of the Germans had spent itself. Andrew took part in
the counter-offensive, but was killed on the second or third day of
the great French counter-offensive which was destined to bring to the
Allies a triumphant issue. Andrew Peterson is recorded as having
been killed on July 18th.
Atry Peterson, of Eveleth, died of pneumonia on September 25,
1918. His remains were brought to Virginia, Minnesota, for inter-
ment.
August Peterson was the son of Nels G. Peterson, of Biwabik,
and was born on May 23, 1892, at St. Ignace, Michigan. On July 27,
1917, he enlisted in the artillery and was assigned to Battery B, One
Hundred and Twenty-fifth Heavy Field Artillery, Thirty-fourth Divi-
sion. He went overseas and died of influenza at Liverpool, England,
on October 15, 1918.
Axel Rudolph Peterson was a native-born Duluthian, son of
Oscar R. Peterson, of 912 North Fifty-seventh Avenue, West. He
was educated chiefly in Duluth schools, and was a steady boy, of
exemplary h'il)its, never having smoked. He was also a teetotaler,
652 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
and was earnest in his endeavor to succeed in life. He received
license as assistant druggist at the age of twenty, and had it not
been for the national situation early in 1917, would probably soon
have secured the major license. He was twenty-one years old when
he enlisted, in June, 1917, and was assigned to the medical detach-
ment of the One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Field Artillery, going
with the regiment to Camp Cody, New Mexico. There he died a
year later, on June 2, 1918, of pneumonia.
Carl William Peterson was the son of August W. Peterson, 5632
West Eighth Street, Duluth.
Ernest O. Peterson, also of Duluth, was brother of Arthur W.
Peterson, 2702 West Third Street, Duluth.
Harold Peterson, brother of Mrs. Carl Olson, 427 Forty-third
Avenue, West, Duluth, lived in Duluth before the war came.
Helmer A. Peterson was born in Duluth, and was well-known.
He was born January 23, 1894, son of John and Hannah Peterson,
and his academic schooling was obtained in Duluth schools. He
became a pharmacist and in that capacity was employed at Beyers
Drug Store, Duluth, for some time before reporting for military
duty on September 21, 1917. He was sent from Duluth to Camp
Dodge, Iowa, and assigned to the Medical Corps, 350th F. A., 313th
Sanitary Train. At Camp Dodge he remained for the winter and
would probably have gone overseas in 1918 had he not succumbed
to disease at Camp Dodge, on April 10, 1918. His mother now lives
at 119 East Third Street, Duluth.
Henning O. Peterson lived at 520 West Superior Street, Duluth,
before entering the army. His brother, Arvid lives in Chicago.
Rudolph Peterson was the son of Oscar R. Peterson, of 912 North
Fifty-seventh Avenue, West, Duluth. Rudolph worked in Duluth
before entering the service.
Elia Peteruka was of Duluth residence prior to the war, but
appears to have no relatives in Minnesota. His brother. Gust Peteruka,
is at Fort Morgan, Colorado.
John Pitich was one of the boys from Buhl.
John H. Pluth was of Ely, where his mother, who is now Mrs.
Anna Matiehick, lives.
Neno Molidro lived at Aurora, his papers state.
George E. Porthan, of Ely, was the son of John E. Porthan, of
that place. Porthan was killed in action in France.
Mott Prelbich was also of Ely ; his father is John Prelbich.
Louis Press lived at Chisholm before leaving for military serv-
ice. His brother, Samuel, lives at Eveleth, at 705 Hayes Street. Louis
was born August 17, 1891, at Trovi, Russia, but had lived in the
United States for many years before the war. He was enlisted in
February, 1918, and went overseas with an infantry regiment. He
was killed in action in France on August 15, 1918.
Clyde E. Prudden, who became a major of the Medical Corps,
United States army and was much respected by the men of the One
Hundred and Twenty-fifth Field Artillery, was a well-known and
successful physician of Duluth before the state of war into which the
nation became in 1917 so radically changed the course of the lives
of so many of its worthiest citizens. Major Prudden was born in
Duluth, and attended local schools. For the medical course he pro-
ceeded to Northwestern University, from which he graduated with
the degree of Doctor of Medicine, with the class of 1909. In 1912
he was an associate of Dr. C. A. Stewart, in practice in Duluth, and
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 653
later with Drs. Bagby, Kohagan and Gillespie. He was for many
years interested in military affairs, and in peace time was a" member
of the old Third Minnesota Infantry. He went with the regiment
to Fort Snelling, and when it was converted from an infantry to a
field artillery unit, he was advanced in rank and made senior officer
of the Medical Detachment at the Base Hospital. Within a short
time, he was again promoted and became major. Eventually, he
became senior major of the Regimental Medical Detachment of the
One Hundred Twenty-fifth Field Artillery. From August, 1917,
to the autumn of the following year, he was with the regiment
at Fort Deming, New Mexico. In September, the regiment
went overseas and during the voyage Major Prudden devel-
oped pneumonia, from which he died before the regiment debarked.
Doctor Prudden was married in Oklahoma City in January, 1918,
and a child was born to his widow five or six months after his death.
Both widow and child, however, inet a tragic death, being drowned
in the tidal wave that swept Corpus Christie, on September 14, 1919.
The body of Major Prudden was returned to the United States in
October, 1920. It was received in Duluth on November 1, 1920, and
reinterred on American soil in his native city, with full military
honors and with many other indications of the respect in which his
memory is held by people of Duluth. His father is A. E. Prudden,
of 3501 Minnesota Avenue.
Otto Pusarim, another of the soldiers of Ely who gave national
service to the full, was the son of Matt Pusarim of Ely.
Howard C. Quigley, who was killed in action in the Argonne
Forest, France, November 4, 1918, was a native of Duluth, born in
the city July 18, 1894, the son of James R. Quigley. now of 123 Min-
neapolis Avenue, Duluth. Young Quigley passed through the Duluth
schools, and was with the American Bridge Company, Duluth, when
called into service on April 26, 1918, at Duluth. As a private of
infantry, he was sent to Camp Dodge, Iowa, and became a member
of Company D, Three Hundred and Sixtieth Infantry, Ninetieth
Division, going to Camp Travis, Texas, within three weeks of reach-
ing Camp Dodge. In June, 1918, his regiment embarked at Hoboken
and was soon in action in France. Quigley was present at St. Mihiel
and Meuse-Argonne major offensives, being killed in the Argonne
within a week of the signing of the armistice.
William Henry Reddy, of Biwabik, was in the United States
navy, and had the rating of baker, 2cl. His mother is Mrs. Mary
Reddy, of Biwabik.
Frank Reed, of Arnold, was born in Duluth on July 27, 1897,
son of Mike Reed, of Arnold, R. F. D. No. 4, Duluth. Ne was a
smart, well-developed boy, and when enlisted, on March 30, 1918.
was assigned to the cavalry branch of the United States army, and
sent to the Mexican border. He died of pneuomnia at El Paso, New
Mexico, December 8, 1918, pneumonia developing at a time when
he was somewhat weakened, owing to inaction that followed a fall
from a horse while on patrol.
Charles C. Ringler was of Duluth prior to entering upon mili-
tary duties. He was in the Chemical Service of the United States
army, as chemist, and died at the United States Marine Hospital,
Cleveland, Ohio, on November 22, 1918. His mother, who now is
Mrs. Philip AUcndorfer. lives in Chicago.
Albert Carl Robertson, who died of wound, was a Duluthian,
born in the city on April 21. 1894, son of Charles and Hedvig Rob-
Vol. 11â €”10
654 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
ertson, now of 2516 West Twelfth Street, Duluth. He also was a
married 'man at the time of entering the army, and was employed at
the Great Northern Power Plant. Enlisted at Duluth on June 28,
1918, he left that day for Camp Grant, and w^as there assigned to
Company I, Four Hundred and Thirty-first Infantry. He was trans-
ferred in August to Company D of Three Hundred and Tenth Infan-
try and left for Port of Embarkation early in September. After a
short stay at Camp Upton, New York, he embarked at New York,
September 8th, and arrived in France on September 25th. He was
in action on October 7th, at Bois de Loges, Argonne Forest, and
from that time until he was wounded on October 18th, he was almost
continuously in action. He died in hospital in France on November
5, 1918.
William L. Robideau before the war lived at 123 Astor Street,
Duluth.
Yalmer Leonard Saari, of Virginia and Duluth, was born Octo-
ber 27, 1895, at Calumet, Houghton County, Michigan. His widow,
Hulda Saari now lives at 540 West Fourth Street, Duluth. Saari
reported for enlistment on April 28, 1918, and at Camp Dodge, Iowa,
to which cantonment he was sent, he was assigned to Company D,
Three Hundred and Fifty-eighth Infantry. Two months later he
was on the way overseas; and on September 26th, 1918, he was killed
by machine gun fire, in an attack on the Hindenburg Line in France.
Piotre Sagotowski, whose papers show that he formerly had
Duluth residence, was a Russian, his father, Piotre, at Wytxamers,
St, Kawno, Russia.
Christ O. Sandwich, who was a sawyer in the mill of J. P. Pfeiflfer,
Iverson, Minnesota, and lived in Duluth, where his widow still lives,
was a Norwegian by birth, born in Gubbiansdalen, Norway, Decem-
ber 15, 1894. He was called into service on June 28, 1918. at Carlton,
Minnesota, and sent to Camp Grant, Illinois, where he was assigned
to the Three Hundred and Forty-first Infantry, a regiment of the
Eighty-sixth Division: Soon afterwards he was transferred to Com-
pany D, Three Hundred and Eighth Machine Gun Battalion, Seven-
ty-eighth Division. In August he left for an eastern camp, prepara-
tory to going overseas and left Camp Upton, New York, September
8th, embarking then. He received promotion to the grade of cor-
poral during the voyage. He first went into action at Verdun on
October 12, 1918, and was fighting on that front until the 19th, when
he received a shrapnel wound and was also gassed. The shrapnel
wounds were not serious, but the gas set up a lingering illness. Fin-
ally, he died of tubercular meningitis, at the American Base Hospital,
Brest, France, May 29, 1919.
Thomas B. Shaughnessy lived at Morgan Park prior to enlist-
ing. He was born at Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 27, 1891. son
of James P. and Ellen Shaughnessy, who, now live at Morgan Park,
Duluth. Thomas B. by trade was a structural ironworker and was
with the Universal Portland Cement Company. He was a young
man of grit, and earnest patriotic purpose, as he showed when called
upon to report for military duty. He had received notice to report
at Duluth on February 26, 1918, and on that morning sprained his
ankle. But he refused to be left behind by the detachment then
departing, so he was taken to the station in an auto, and upon arrival
at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, was placed in hospital, where he
remained for ten days. Following that, he was in a detention camp
for seventeen days and was given ten days of intensive drilling, and
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 655
then sent on to the port of embarkation. It was at the time of the
breaking of the British front in France during the great spring drive
of the Germans. Shaughnessy was on the British front in May, 1918,
and in a Belgian sector. In June, he was in the Vosges Mountains.
He was at St. Mihiel September 12th and from September 26 to Octo-
ber 2 was in the terrible fighting in the Argonne Forest, and later
in the Meuse sector, five miles south of Verdun. He passed through
the terrible fighting without hurt, but while waiting for home orders,
he was taken sick and pneumonia developing he died at Base Hos-
pital, No. 9, Bazoilles, France, on February 7, 1919.
Willard Shea, of Eveleth, succumbed to pneumonia in an Ameri-
can camp on September 25, 1918. His body was brought to Eveleth
for burial.
Joseph Shepatz was of Virginia, son of John Shepatz of that place.
James Shannon, of Virginia, had a distinguished military career.
He was the son of the late C. E. Shannon, of Duluth, and brother of
Mrs. Harry Sleepack. of 2419 East Fourth Street, and had passed
through West Point, having been appointed to that military academy
by Judge Page Morris, then congressman from this district. He
was killed in France in 1918, having attained the grade of lieutenant-
colonel and a place on the staff of General Pershing, in France.
George E. Sigel, who is listed as a volunteer from Virginia, was
a native of Duluth, born there on June 28, 1900. The family, however,
has lived in Virginia for many years, and the boy was in school there.
In fact, he volunteered in his senior high-school year and was gradu-
ated by proxy, with seven others who received diplomas. He enlisted
on May 25, 1918, and became a member of Company B, One Hun-
dred and Twenty-sixth Engineers, with which regiment he went
overseas. He passed through the exciting latter half of 1918. but
in February, 1919, suffered from bronchitis, at Brest, France, from
which he never recovered. He returned to this country and was
sent to Fort Bayard, New Mexico, his lungs having become affected.
He died there on June 14, 1919, of tuberculosis. "A serious, right-
living, clean-minded young man," Father J. O'Brien, army chaplain
at Fort Bayard testified of him.
Matt Smuky, who made the Supreme Sacrifice, lived in McKinley
before the war.
Mike Simney, of Duluth, was the son of Albert Simney, of 2631
West Fifth Street, Duluth, and was a member of the first detach-
ment of Duluth manhood called into service under the Selective
Draft. They left Duluth in September, 1917, for Camp Grant. Sim-
ney eventually saw much service in France. He was in the Engi-
neers and on October 6, 1918, succumbed to wounds received in
action.
Otto Smuland, son of Christian Smuland, Bangsund, Xamdalen,
Norway, and brother of Helmar Smuland, of 504 East Fourteenth
Street. Duluth, was in the fishery business at Isle Royale before he
was selected to give military service. He was twenty-eight years
old when enlisted on July 25, 1918, at Duluth. He left at once for
Camp Wadsworth, Spartansburg, South Carolina, and there was
assigned to an infantry regiment. He died at Camp Wadsworth in
August, 1918. Funeral services were held on .August 28. 1918. at
Bethesda Norwegian Lutheraii Church. Duluth. following the return
of the body to Duluth under military escort.
Anthony Snider was of Tower, although, unfortunately, more
regarding his life and military service is now not available.
656 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Peter Stark lived in Eveleth before going into the service. He
was killed in action in France on November 7, 1918, only four days
before hostilities ceased. His body lies in an American cemetery in
France. His brother is Michael Stark, of McKinley.
Edward F. Snyder, who is on the Duluth list of gold stars, lived
in that city for about two years before enlisting, although he was a
native of Buffalo, New York. He enlisted in June, 1917, and was
for more than a year on the Western battle line, France. He joined a
Canadian regiment and was killed in action in 1918. He married
Ruth Berglund, of West Duluth, in 1916.
Philip Steen, who enlisted at Duluth in August, 1917, and became
a member of an artillery unit, died on the way over to France, on
or about July 10, 1918. He was born in Duluth, and his father, John
Steen, now lives at 510 Third Avenue, east.
Albert C. Steiner, also a Duluthian by birth, owned and worked
a farm in St. Louis County before enlisting. He was born on Novem-
ber 25, 1891, and he reported for military duty on May 25, 1918, at
Duluth. He was assigned to Company L, One Hundred and Fifty-
ninth Infantry, Fortieth Division, at Camp Lewis, Washington. On
June 29th he was transferred to Camp Kearney, California, and in
August at that camp was transferred to Company E, Three Hundred
and Seventh Infantry, with w^hich regiment he embarked, after a
period of preparation at Camp Nills, Long Island, New York, The
regiment arrived in France before the end of August and was rushed
to the front. Steiner was killed in action on November 4, 1918, and
was buried in the Commune of Pierremont, Ardennes, France. Albert
Steiner's brother, Fred, lives at 9 West Second Street, Duluth.
Ola H. Strand was of Virginia.
Pedro Stuppa also lived in Virginia before the war. His sister
is Mrs. James Hogan, of Virginia.
Clarence B. Sundquist, of Duluth, son of Clarence B. Sund-
quist, of Palo (R. D. Box No. 72), Minnesota, was born November 12,
1895, in Superior. He was enlisted at Duluth, as a private of the
Signal Corps, Air Service, and was assigned to Company C, Three
Hundred and Twenty-third Field Service Battalion at Camp Funston.
Later, he was at Camp Stanley, Texas, but eventually embarked for
foreign service at New York, sailing on the United States transport
Leviathan," wdiich arrived at Brest, France, on September 28, 1918.
Sundquist developed pneumonia while at Brest and died there on
October 11, 1918. At that time he held the grade of corporal. The
body was exhumed in 1920 and returned to this country, eventually
reaching Duluth. Burial service was held on July 21st, former com-
rades firing the last salute over his grave at Park Hill Cemetery,
Duluth. The funeral ceremonies were held under the auspices of
the Duluth post of the American Legion.
Leslie Severt Swanman, who was a shipping clerk with the Knud-
son Fruit Company, Duluth, before enlisting, was born in St. Paul,
Minnesota, on December 12, 1892. Duluth has been the home of the
family for a long time and his mother still lives there, at 915 North
Seventh Avenue, East. Leslie was enlisted at Duluth on May 25.
1918, and sent to Camp Lewis, Washington, where he was assigned
to Company L, One Hundred and Fifty-ninth Infantry, Fortieth Divi-
sion. On July 25th he was transferred to Camp Kearney and there
transferred to the Three Hundred and Twenty-fourth . Infantry,,
Eighty-first Division. On August 20th he embarked at New York
and made quick passage to Liverpool, eventually reaching France.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 657
He was in front-line trenches in the Vosges Mountains ; was present
in the battle of St. Mihiel, and passed through terrible fighting in
the Meuse-Argonne offensive. On November 10, 1918, just one day
before the signing of the Armistice, he was wounded in action at
Haudimont, and died of those wounds twelve days later, on Novem-
ber 22. 1918.
Edward B. Swanson lived at Saginaw, Minnesota, son of Ben
Swanson, of that place.
Wallace J. Taylor was of Virginia, where his mother still is.
Olaf Ugstad, of Duluth, was born October 3, 1891, at Hurum,
Buskruds County, Norway, but has been in America for many years.
At one time he was employed by the Wilson Contracting Company,
Duluth, and later was foreman at the St. Louis County Work Farm.
He was enlisted into the United States army in January, 1918, and
assigned to the Spruce Production Section of the Forestry Division.
He was accidentally killed at Emuclaw, Washington, on August 2,
1918. The body was returned to Duluth for burial. A brother is
Reginald Ugstad, of Hermanstown.
Fiori Valbiter, a resident in Virginia before the war, was born
in Rome, Italy, and at the time of enlistment in 1918 was twenty-
seven years old. He died at Detroit, Michigan.
Haralebes Vasilion was of Hibbing.
Florent Van de Perre also was of Hibbing.
Peter Verdi made his home in Eveleth before entering the serv-
ice, but was born at Agri, Italy, on May 2, 1897. He was a married
man at time of enlistment, and his wife, Lydia, still lives in Eveleth.
Peter left for military duty on May 17, 1918, and went to France
with an infantry regiment. He was killed in action in France on
November 1, 1918.
Leander Waillin, lived at Sandy, Minnesota, where his father,
Tom Waillin, has a farm. The family is Finnish, and Leander was
born in Finland on September 8, 1886. He was included in the sec-
ond Duluth draft for the National Army, but was destined not to go
overseas. During the epidemic of Spanish Influenza which swept
through the home cantonments in the autumn of 1918, Waillin con-
tracted the disease, and died on November 10, 1918, being then at
Camp Kearney, California.
Aino Nicanor Wene was a stalwart agricultural pioneer of Buyck,
St. Louis County. He was developing an acreage of wild land near
Buyck when called into service in September, 1917. He was assigned
to the Corps of Engineers and ultimately reached France, where he
was killed in action on October 15, 1918. His sister. Mrs. Niemi
Ahlgren, lives in Buyck, but the Wene family is of Finnish origin,
Aino was born at Rauma, Finland, January 10, 1892.
Philip T. White was of Ely, son of Harry E. White, of that
place.
Arthur Charles Williams was a native of Hibbing, although the
family lived at Kinney at the time he enlisted. He was born on
December 26, 1898, and lived on the Ranges practically all his life,
his father having been connected with mining operations on the Range
for almost a generation. He, William Williams, latterly has been
blacksmith in the shops of the Oliver Iron Mining Company at
Hibbing. The son was not yet twenty years old when, on August 5,
1918, he enlisted in the Medical Department of the United States
army. He was almost immediately assigned to overseas duty and
soon after landing in I-^ance was taken sick, pneumonia developing.
658 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
He died at Brest on September 26, 1918, and was there buried. In
1920, however, his body was returned to the United States and
arrived at Virginia on June 12, 1920. Burial took place in the part
of Virginia Cemetery set apart to mark the last resting place of its
World War heroes who made the Supreme Sacrifice.
David Gilbert Wisted, in whose honor the Duluth post of the
American Legion was named, was born in Duluth on September 13,
1893. In the early days of the war, he was a clerk with the United
States Food Administration, but he enlisted in the Marine Corps on
December 14, 1917, at Paris Isle. He was assigned to the Eighty-
second Company and for a time was stationed at Paris Isle and
Quantico, Virginia. On February 24, 1918, he was transferred to
the One Hundred and Thirty-eighth Company, Replacement Bat-
talion, and later to the Sixth Marines, embarking at Philadelphia on
March 12th, 1918. Debarking at Brest on April 1, 1918, the Marines
were soon at the front and were destined to bring glory to their
country, in the part they took in the fighting at Chateau Thierry and
Belleau Wood in May and June of that vital year. Wisted was killed
in action at Belleau Wood on June 3, 1918, being instantly killed by
a high-explosive shell. His father, Iver Wisted, lives at 1201 East
Fourth Street, Duluth.
John Oscar Wuori is listed with the men from Duluth, but he
lived in Gilbert for some time prior to enlistment. He was a Finn,
born at Pomarkku, Finland, March 9, 1888. He reported for duty
on August 8, 1918, and was sent to Camp Dodge, Iowa, where he
was assigned to Company Thirty, One Hundred and Sixty-third
Depot Brigade. He died of pneumonia in that camp on October
8, 1918.
As will be appreciated from a reading of the foregoing some of
these men had wide accomplishments and definite capability, some
were worthy tillers of the soil and some were industrious workers
in commercial affairs of St. Louis County. But all were patriots;
and the names of all who have been inscribed on the great national
Roll of Honor, there to remain for as long as the great republic
lasts. And for as long as there is a County of St. Louis, Minnesota,
for so long will these of her sons be willingly and deservedly accorded
the pface of honor in any comprehensive review of the County's part
in the Great World War.
CHAPTER XXVII
HISTORY OF THE TOWNSHIPS OF ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Unorganized. — A glance at the map of St. Louis County will
show that it is now well organized, only a small part of its terri-
tory being now^ outside of the jurisdiction of some organized town-
ship. And while the unorganized townships are, in the main, only
sparsely populated, it would be erroneous to suppose that because
a township has no organized township administration it is neces-
sarily undeveloped, or uninhabited, territory. Several of the unor-
ganized areas adjoin townships of old establishment, and in many
cases the unorganized townships exceed in population those exer-
cising organized township privileges.
While it is not possible to go much into detailed review of the
unorganized spaces of St. Louis County, it might be appropriate in
this township chapter to briefly record the census statistics of those
unnamed parts of the county. Beginning in the south, unorgan-
ized township 50-18 is part of the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation.
The population in 1910 was 105, and in 1920, 203. Township 50-19
is a continuation of the Indian Reservation. Only six persons were
recorded as living in it in 1900; 67 in 1910, and 146 in 1920. Town-
ship 51-19 continues on between Floodwood and Culver townships.
Its population was thirteen in 1900; fifty-seven in 1910^ and 120 in
1920. Township 52-19 completes that chain of unorganized territory.
It had six inhabitants in 1900; twenty-seven in 1910, and seventy-
four in 1920. Township 52-21 is crossed, from southeast to north-
west by the Great Northern Railway and on section 16 is a station,
named "Island," one version stating that the station was so named
because "this was about the only dry spot between Floodwood and
Wawima, at the time of the building of the railway. Drainage, how-
ever, has now converted swamps into fertile fields. Township 52-21
had four inhabitants in 1900; in 1910 it had sixty-nine, and in 1920
there were 123 people living in it. Township 53-15 recorded twenty-
seven inhabitants in 1910, but made no report in 1920. Township
53-16 had sixteen inhabitants in 1910, and 240 in 1920. Township
54-13 had a population of 14, in 1910 and 61, in 1920. Township
54-15 had 169 residents in 1910 and only twenty-three in 1920. Town-
ship 55-14 had no recorded population in 1910, but the 1920 census
gives it a population of 300 then. Township 55-15 had fourteen in
1910, and seventy-three in 1920. Township 55-18 had thirty-one
inhabitants in 1910, and 130 in 1920. Township 55-21 had sixty-nine
in 1910, and seventy in 1920. Township 56-14 had two residents in
1900, none in 1910, and 264 when last census was taken. Township
56-16 had a population of 196 in 1910, and 340 in 1920. The next
township west, 56-17, had three inhabitants in 1900, sixtv-nine in
1910, and 157 in 1920. Township 57-14 had 27, in 1900.' none in
1910, and 125 in 1920. Township 57-16 had ninety-five residents in
1910, and 126 in 1920. Township 57-19 had seventy-nine residents
in 1910, and 279 in 1920. Township 58-14 is prominent chiefly
because it is the railway junction between the Mesabi and Vermilion
range towns. It had thirty-seven inhabitants in 1900, sixty-two in
1910, and 100 in 1920. Township 59-12 had two inhabitants in 1900,
none in 1910, and no report was made in 1920. Adjoining town-
659
660
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
ships, however, have recently become active, with the impending
exploitation of low-grade ores. Township 59-16 has shown no popu-
lation in the last three census-takings. Only the northern half of
township 59-18 is unorganized, the southern half being included
in Nichols township. No population was recorded in the unorgan-
ized portion in 1920, although there were sixty-two residents in the
township in 1910. Township 59-21 had fourteen inhabitants in 1910,
and eighty-four in 1920. Township 60-18 recorded nine inhabitants
in 1900, forty-three in 1910, but no report was made in 1920. Town-
ship 60-19 had 122 in 1910, and ninety-two in 1920. One tier of sec-
tions of this township was added to Great Scott Township and per-
haps explains the decrease in population. Township 61-12 had fifty-
six people in it in 1910, and thirty-eight in 1920. Township 61-13
had live inhabitants in 1910 and twenty-six in 1920. Township 61-17
recorded one inhabitant in 1900, none in 1910 and fifty-six in 1920.
';^jy*f^^^fl:?^TO
m
A. J. FILIATRAULT S ORIGINAL HOME NEAR THE MUDHEN RIVER,
T. 56-16. (it is typical of the log HOUSE OF TWENTY
years ago^ in outlying parts of st. louis county;
the homesteader of today, however, favors the tar-
papered shack, for the first year or two of pioneer
effort)
Township 62-16 had twenty-two residents in 1900. 198 in 1910, and
112 in 1920. Township 62-17 had thirty-seven inhabitants in 1900,
twelve in 1910, and 116 in 1920. Township 62-21 had 197 in 1910
and 237 in 1920. Township 63-14 had fourteen residents in 1910, and
only eight in 1920. Township 63-15 has been recorded as uninhabited
during last three census-takings. Township 63-16 was credited with
fifty-eight inhabitants in 1900, none in 1910, and twenty in 1920.
Township 63-17 had forty in 1900, fourteen in 1910, and eighteen in
1920. In 63-19 there were eighty-nine people in 1910, and 116 in
1920. In township 63-21 there were 270 inhabitants in 1910, and
282 in 1920. Only three townships of sixty-four north have organ-
ized administration, the unorganized divisions being those of 12, 13,
14, 15, 16, 17 and 21 west; and out of a total population, in 1920, ot
307 persons, 185 lives in township 64-21, part of which is allotted to
the Bois Fort Indian Reservation. Townships of sixty-five north not
yet organized are those of icinge 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 21 west. As
is in the case in sixty-four north, the bulk of the population of sixty-
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 661
five north is found to be in range 21, that township having in 1920,
194 of 353 inhabitants. The Indian Reservation extends into and
beyond sixty-five north, range 21 west, and includes the western half
of each township. It seems, however, that the census tabulation
given above is- of white settlers only, as the federal announcement of
population, for 1920, gives no figures for the Bois Fort or Vermilion
Lake Indian reservations, although the former was shown to have
• 210 residents in 1910, and the both reservations 881 inhabitants in
1900. Seven townships of sixty-six north are unorganized. Portage
(formerly Buyck) township embracing the other three townships,
range 17, 18 and 19, west. Four townships had no population in
1920, ranges 12, 13, 14 and 15. Logging operations probably are
responsible for the presence of 283 persons in township 66-16 in 1920.
Then there were fifty-four in 66-20 and twenty persons in 66-21.
Fractional townships of sixty-seven north, ranges 13, 14, 15 and 16
are uninhabited; township 67-17, in 1920, had eleven inhabitants,
67-18 had 123, 67-19 had ninety-eight, 67-20 had 261, and 67-21 had
twenty-three. Fractional townships sixty-eight north, ranges 14 and
15 and townships sixty-eight north, ranges 18 and 19, had no popula-
tion in last census, township 68-17 had four persons, 68-20 had 235,
and 68-21 had ninety. No figures were reported from townships
sixty-nine north, and only from one of 70 and 71 north, fractional
township 70-18, recording 145 residents in 1920.
The northern townships are mostly in virgin state and logging
operations will continue in them probably for another fifteen or
twenty years. Some of them have mineral possibilities.
The unorganized lands of St. Louis County figure in the tax
sheet to an appreciable extent. In 1919, the assessed valuation of
these areas was $2,364,023, and the taxes $163,117.59. The logging
companies probably are the principal taxpayers in the northern terri-
tory, but some good farming acreages are opening. It is still possible
to homestead in the county, and some of the state lands, without
mineral rights, can also be bought almost as cheaply as from the
federal authorities.
The total assessed valuation of St. Louis County in 1877 was
$1,339,121.68. In the intervening forty-two years to 1919 the seem-
ingly infinitesimal efforts of the individual toiler within its limits have
brought an aggregate increase in the assessable wealth of the countv
to $357,787,544. The total taxes levied in 1877 were $29,034.41 ; in
1919 the taxes were $20,705,448.24.
St. Louis County is not only the largest of the state of Minnesota;
it is also the wealthiest. The total value of taxable propcrtv in
the State of Minnesota in 1919 was $1,777,153,420. St. Louis County's
part of that total was $357,787,544, roughly one-fifth. From its mines
come more than half the yearly United States output of iron ore,
and from the operation of its mines chiefly comes the about three
million dollars it has of late years contributed to the maintenance of
the state administration ($2,894,650 out of a total requirement of
$14,373,427 in 1919). The result from a region which Proctor Knott,
in his historic ridiculing speech in 1870, as referred to "cold enough,
for at least nine months of the year, to freeze the smokestack off a
locomotive."
Review of the history of the organized townships of .*^t. Louis
County follow, in alphabetical order.
Alango. — The township of Alango was organized February 8.
1910, under section 451 of the Revised Laws of Minnesota. 1905. Its
662 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
extent is one congressional township, that of township sixty-one
north, range nineteen west.
Elias Matson was the man most active in prosecuting the matter
of organization. He took oath, when presenting petition to county
officials that the legal voters in the township at the time petition was
signed did not exceed thirty-five.
Commissioners at their February, 1910, session granted the peti-
tion, and to bring the new township into organization and operation,
election was held at No. 3 schoolhouse, in the township on Saturday,
February 26, 1910.
In 1910 the assessed valuation of Alango was $16,709. Total
tax levy was $800.36. In 1919, the township valuation was $25,081,
and the total tax levy $2,021.53.
The population of the township in 1910 was 335 persons, accord-
ing to federal statistics; and in 1920 the census showed 511 residents.
The township is gradually becoming a well developed agricultural
section.
Alango and Angora townships were served by School District
No. 42. -
The township officials are : E. Mattson, chairman ; F. Leinonen
and J. Kustor, supervisors; F. Saari, clerk; R. F. Saari, assessor; Nels
Nukala, treasurer.
Alborn. — On August 1. 1900, S. G. Johnson and twenty-six others
signed a petition, praying the county commissioners to organize con-
gressional township 52 north, range 18 west, under chapter 10,
Statutes of Minnesota, 1894, as a township to be known as Burg.
This was a shortening of the name first written into the petition,
Gothenburg having been first proposed.
The commissioners, in session at Duluth on August 10, 1900, con-
sidered the petition, and granted same ordering election to be held
at the schoolhouse situated in section 12 of township 52-18, on Friday,
August 30, 1900.
Election was accordingly held, and the first officers elected to
serve the township were : F. A. Trolander, chairman ; Matt Perry
and Alfred Nordling, supervisors; G. W. Mell, clerk; L. B. Ash-
jornson, treasurer; S. G. Johnson, assessor; John Mell and Gust
Benson, justices; Otto Dahl, constable.
At the first township meeting it was decided to plan the levy
for the first year :
Road and Bridge Fund • $200.00
General Fund 150.00
It was also resolved to seek to change the name of the town-
ship to "Alborn," such being the name of the postoffice within the
township. Authority to change name was given by county commis-
sioners on September 5, 1900.
The assessed valuation of real and personal property of Alborn
Township in 1919 was $75,614. Tax levy, $6,593.54. The popula-
tion of the township in 1900 was 62 persons ; in 1910, 266 ; in 1920. 257.
The township officers in 1920 were : H. Blom, chairman ; A.
Hoiem and Sivert Holten, supervisors; G. A. Truman, clerk;
S. Holten, assessor; F. A. Trolander, treasurer.
Alborn township is served by School District No. 33, which em-
braces townships 52, 18 and 19. There are three frame schoolhouses
in the district, the three valued at $10,000. The enrollment for the
school year 1919-20 was 98, and staff of four female teachers, who
received an average pay of $77.00 monthly. School Board: L. B.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 663
Marvin, chairman; Peter Fooness, J. M. Andrews and G. A. Truman,
directors; Roy A. Wiles, clerk; B. L. Hill, treasurer.
Alden. — The Township of Alden is of very recent establishment.
It was organized on September 8, 1920, and consists of two congres-
sional townships formerly part of the Township of Duluth, town-
ships 53 and 54 north, range 12 west.
The first officials were: Don D. Driscoll, chairman; A. J. Nappa
and Henry Kontola, supervisors; E. A. Driscoll, clerk; F. X. Span-
felner, assessor; Mike Hakkila, treasurer; Louis Rossini, justice;
Henry Lampala, constable.
With the exception of the Duluth and Iron Range Railway,
which passes through the extreme northeastern corner of township
54-12, Alden has no railway facilities. Neither are the roads good.
However, proximity to Duluth should bring it good development,
eventually.
Allen. — The Township of Allen was erected in 1899. A petition
which bears date of September 23, 1899, seeking the organization of
congressional township 61 north, range 14 west, was signed by W. P.
Jockam, J. P. Brown, L. Pennington, S. J. P. Lackie, H. Eno,
L. Kniers, Julius Dahl, Alec Cameron, John Hickey, M. Lawlor,
R. E. Heath, James Villars, John Mirandy, K. Nilsen, Peter Mustad,
J. Antuli, August Buboltz, George Donohue, and Levi S. Wilson.
Election was held at the office of the Tower Logging Company,
at Bear Head Lake, on Saturday, December 23, 1899, following the
granting of petition by County Commissioners E. Morcom, J. Wil-
liams, Fred W. Kugler, Charles Kauppi and Ole A. Berg. At the
election, or first town meeting, William Allen was elected "moder-
ator" by the assembled electors, and Charles Underbill clerk of the
meeting. Albert Graetz and Charles Lund were appointed judges of
election, and they eventually declared the balloting to have resulted
in the election of the following: William Allen, chairman; D. Willen-
berg and Martin Lawler, supervisors; Charles Underbill, clerk; J.
Cuculi, treasurer; L. A. Johnson, assessor; August Buboltz, justice;
Patrick Murphy and Elijah Pennington, constables; and William
Gustafson, overseer. Each man elected received twenty-seven votes.
In 1900, the population of Allen Township was 179 persons; no
report was made to the Federal Census Bureau in 1910, and in the
1920 census only one person was found to be resident in it.
The land is apparently held by people who do not live in the
township as the 1919 tax levy « upon property in that township
totalled to $2,856.46.
Allen Township, for educational purposes, is in School District
No. 9, which centers at Tower.
Angora. — The Township of Angora was organized in 1905. its
boundaries being the congressional township 61 north, and range
eighteen west, formerly unorganized and undeveloped territory.
Petition bears date September 9, 1905 ; first signature, Carl L.
Nord ; total signatures, twenty-five. Carl L. Nord took oath on
September 9th that when petition was circulated there not less than
forty or more than fifty voters in the township proposed.
Commissioners granted prayer of petitioners, and on September
12, 1905, ordered election to be held, at the residence of Carl L. Nord,
in the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 9, town-
ship 61-18. on September 30. 1905.
An interesting paper is that dated March 15. 1909, upon which
W. H. Bristol, clerk of the township of Angora, certified that at the
664 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
annual town meeting held on the 15th of that month the question
of granting a license for the sale of intoxicating liquors within the
township was put to the public vote, and, of twenty-one votes cast,
nineteen were against and two in favor of the granting of the said
license.
The assessed valuation of real and personal property in the
township in 1905 was $63,375. Taxes levied in that year, $1,438.61.
In 1919 the total valuation was $54,819; and the taxes levied $4,511.60
in that year.
The township officers in 1920 were : L. M. Burghardt, chair-
man ; John Metser and Henry Rombeck, supervisors; C. H. Sherman,
clerk; James Sherman, assessor; Walter Olson, treasurer.
Angora Township had a population of 255 persons in 1910; in
1920 its population had become 392.
Argo. — The Township of Argo was organized on December 7,
1920, and consists mainly of congressional townships 60-12, 59-13 and
60-13, the northern boundary of the organized township extending a
little into township 61-12 — to the southern border of Birch Lake.
The men primarily and chiefly active in the developments which
led to the organization of the Township of Argo were D. C. Jackling,
of San Francisco, a mining engineer and executive of international
reputation, and his associates of the banking firm of Hayden, Stone
& Co., of New York and Boston ; and Messrs. W. G. Swart and
Dwight E. Woodbridge, mining engineers of Duluth. Mr. Jackling's
force, far-sightedness, enthusiasm and high standing carried the new
and questioned enterprise past the many obstacles that it naturally
encountered, and the whole souled support of his eastern associates
solved the financial problems upon which so many untried and costly
experiments are wrecked.
The first township election was held, on December 22, 1920, and
the original administration is constituted as follows: W. G. Swart,
chairman; Wm. Mudge and O. C. Burrell, supervisors; Mrs. Jas. R.
Mitten, clerk; Clyde M. Pearce, assessor; Dr. P. D. McCarty, treas-
urer; T. B. Counselman and Wm. J. Baumgrass, justices; Oscar
Birkness and Al Johnson, constables.
The township organization is the natural outcome of the growth
of the population of that region, which, prior to the forming of Argo
was unorganized territory. The important mining enterprise begun
at Babbitt in the spring of 1920 made it certain that organized
municipal and town administration would soon follow.
Treating the Low-Grade Ore of Eastern Mesabi. — On the eastern
part of the Mesabi range lies an immense deposit of magnetic iron
ore, or taconite. Early explorers were well aware of it, but had to
pass it by because of the low grade of the ore, which seemed to have
no commercial value. Dwight E. Woodbridge, however, gave the
matter of treating the ore considerable thought, study, and experi-
mentation, carrying his research even to Europe. In 1909, he visited
northern Europe where there were somewhat similar deposits, and
where plants for the magnetic separation of ore had been established.
He visited Sweden, Norway, and Lapland, and spent much time at
the Actieselskabet Sydvaranger plant, at Sydvaranger, Lapland. And
he pursued the matter until he had succeeded in interesting the men
— perhaps the only men in America — likely to carry the experiment
through to success, that is Mr. Jackling and Hayden, Stone & Co.
When organized for an intensive trial of the project, W. G. Swart,
an accomplished metallurgist and skillful executive was made general
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 665
manager, and on the organization of the Mesabi Iron Co. and the
beginning of construction of its works at Babbitt, in Argo Township,
Mr. Swart became its vice president, Mr. Jackling being president.
Village of Babbitt. — The village of Babbitt is situated in the
northeast part of section 18-60-12, with its mills in section 7. It is
about sixteen miles from the village of Mesaba. There was a time
when Mesaba grew from nothing to a centre of trading and outfitting.
In 1890-91, after the discovery of marketable ore on the Mesabi
range to the westward, Mesaba, the nearest point on the Duluth
and Iron Range Railway, grew, it seemed, to a place of fifteen
"hotels" and many stores "in a few days." Most of the expeditions
to the westward outfitted at Mesaba, and for a year or so returned to
that station for supplies. Now, with the new mining developments
to the estward it would seem that Mesaba is again coming into a
degree of temporary importance. It was necessary to build a wagon
road from Mesaba to Babbitt, and in that work the mining company
employed a number of men. For some part of the distance of six-
teen miles the route lay over the trail cut by George R. Stuntz in
the '60s, after the "gold rush" first brought the Vermilion Lake into
public notice. And it was probably over this trail that George R.
Stuntz led Professor Chester in 1875, for the latter avers that his un-
favorable report on Mesabi ore was of "only the lean magnetic belt
of the Mesabi range, in towns 59-14 and 60-13," which is the grade
of ore now being treated by the Mesabi Iron Company. The village
of Babbitt began to take shape in the spring of 1920, when the Mesabi
Iron Company began to erect its ore-treating plant in the vicinity.
The village rapidly grew in population to approximately 400 persons,
and while Babbitt will probably never become one of the large villages
of the Range, it is expected to at least maintain its present importance
for many years — indefinitely, one might say. The reason why the
village will not expand as have other villages of the Mesabi range
is that it is dependent upon enterprises such as that of the Mesabi
Iron Company, and although the plant now being brought into opera-
tion is but the first of the mills the Mesabi Iron Company plans to
build near Babbitt, if conditions are favorable, the chances of benefit
coming to that village from similar, but independent, mining enter-
prises is remote, as the Mesabi Iron Company owns outright, or has
leased, or has the option of much of the mineral land within a radius
of ten miles of Babbitt, which for long is likely to maintain the
status of "a one-company town." Corporate powers for it may not
be sought for some time, but its afifairs appear to be well adminis-
tered, and the town-planning has been good. The townsite was
platted ofT the ore body, so that the heavy ultimate removal expense
incurred by other mining villages will be avoided at Babbitt. The
buildings erected by the mining company for the housing of the
population are models of utility, the large barrack-like buildings
being of what is known as "the unit plan," an arrangement whereby,
when necessary, the long buildings may be divided, section by section,
and with very little additional expense converted into detached one-
family cottages. A hospital has been built, and is under the direction
of Dr. P. J. McCarthy. There are also many individual dwellings.
There has been no independent building in the village; indeed, there
is no outside enterprise. Neither is there likely to be for some time,
the policy of the company being to discourage speculation in real
estate. And as almost every man in the village is in the employ of
the company, the accommodation provided and the general mode of
666 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
living bears to that of the communal order, most of the employees
relying mainly upon the company for eating and sleeping quarters.
In course of time, as more married men come in with their families,
the general plan of domiciliation will probably change.
Babbitt takes its name from Judge K. R. Babbitt, who for many
years has been chief legal advisor for the firm of Hayden, Stone
& Co., and who died at the time a name was under consideration.
Judge Babbitt was formerly a resident of Denver, and his wife was
a sister of Thos. Cullyford, who for many years operated the St.
Louis Hotel, at Duluth.
It is not proper here to enter to any extent into a technical
description of the Mesabi Iron Company's plant, but it may be
stated that there is every probability that St. Louis County will
benefit largely from the exploitation of its deposits of low-grade ore
by the Mesabi Iron Company. That company entered upon its
present venture very carefully. It spent $750,000 in experiments
before deciding to embark upon the heavy outlay the Babbitt plant
represents. It has cost the company more than $3,000,000 to establish
the plant there and bring it into operation. Yet its capacity is only
3,000 tons a day, which fact gives one an indication of how enormous
will be the enterprise if the plans of the directors are carried through
to the full. It has been stated that eventually the company expects
to treat 100,000 tons of ore daily at mills in the vicinity of Babbitt.
The construction of the present plant, the first mill unit, was
begun early in August, 1920, and within a fortnight the steel super-
structure was being erected upon the concrete foundations. The mill
is 1,350 feet long, by 130 feet wide, and the plant is in five sections,
planned so as to give continuous process. The process, in brief, is
to mine, crush, pulverize the substance mined, and then separate
ore from rock by magnetic attraction, the concentrate then being
formed into a clinker of high-grade ore. The process, if commercially
successful, will bring within marketable possibility billions of tons of
low-grade Mesabi ore. The treatment of low-grade ore of the Eastern
Mesabi is by no means a new endeavor. David T. Adams, who
made several exploring trips along the Mesabi range between 1883
and 1890, when ore was discovered at Mountain Iron by the Merritts,
writes :
In, or about, the f^H of 18S8 I gathered about 500 pounds of banded
n-arrnet'c ore and slates from cropp'nes in townsh'p 5'^-14, in the interest of
Judge Ensign. Colonel Gagy, Major Hoover, and a Mr. Peatry, and 1 took
the ore to New Jersey (the name of the place I have forgotten) and had a
concentrating test made, on a magnetic concentrator invented by one George
Finney — possibly the first of its kind in existence. The separation was suc-
cessful. The ore after treatment analysed well over 60 per cent in metal, but
on account of the high cost of treating the ore at the time, and the low prices
of ore, nothing further was done by us in try'ng to commercialize the mag-
netic ores of the eastern Mesaba. In the winter of 1888 and 1889, I did some
work, in section 11-59-14, on the magnetic formation, with no success.
However, the experiments made b}- the Jackling interests have
satisfied them that their process is financially possible, and in view
of the reputation of the projector, the average person expects that
success will attend the operations at Babbitt, thus giving St. Louis
County, literally, a new industry. The immense deposits of the
Eastern Mesabi are so placed that it is possible, in most places, to
mine the ore without much difficulty, there being no deep overburden
— in some places not any. and at the deepest point in the Babbitt
neighborhood not more than nine feet. Quarrying, therefore, is
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 667
possible without heavy initial outlay for striping. It is planned to
load the ore by steam shovels, although of course the quarrying will
be done with explosives. From the crushers, the ore will pass, by
conveyor belt, to the roll plant, thence to the ball mill plant, thence
to the magnetic separating plant. It reaches the sintering plant
comminuted to 100 mesh, and there takes the form of a clinker of
high-grade ore with so little phosphorus as to be negligible and with-
out moisture, a radical conversion certainly, from the original low-
grade state of only 27 to 30 per cent iron. There is also a by-product
of crushed rock, which the company hopes to market, believing it to
be well suited for the making of concrete.
If successful, the Mesabi Iron Company certainly has an im-
mense field in which to operate. Drilling has discovered magnetic
ore to a depth of 500 feet, in places.
The three congressional townships that constitute the Township
of Argo were recorded as having no inhabitants in 1900. The 1910
census discovered a population of 102, and the 1920 federal census,
showed that ninety-eight persons were then living in the three
townships, 59-13, 60-13, and 60-12. The present population of Argo
is probably about 500.
Ault. — Residents in congressional townships 55 north, ranges 12
and 13 west, and townships 56 north and ranges 12 and 13 west,
sought; in 1906, to obtain the consent of the county commissioners
to the organization of that territory into one township, to be known
by the name of Ault. The man most active in circulating the petition
was George L. Ault. His name heads the petition, and when same
was filed with the county auditor on August 31, 1906, George L. Ault
swore to the accuracy of the statements made in said petition.
At the September, 1906, session, the County Board of Commis-
sioners granted the petition, and ordered election to be held at the
schoolhouse situated on section 4 of township 55-12. Election was
held on September 22d, and the township organization then com-
pleted, in accordance with chapter 143, Laws of 1905.
The population of Ault Township when organized in 1906 was
stated to Fiave been not in excess of fifty. In 1900, according to
Federal Census Bureau statistics the population was 76; in 1910
it was 474 ; and in 1920, owing to the detaching of the two northern
townships; the population was found to be only 111.
Townships 56-12 and 56-13 were detached from Ault in 1918, to
form the Township of Fairbanks (sfee Fairbanks, this chapter).
Ault has only one schoolhouse, a frame building, valued at
$5,000, situated at Brimson, in township 55-12. It is classified as
School District No. 51. the officers of which are: Minnie Bodey.
Brimson. clerk; Charles Swanson, treasurer; Mrs. B. M. Highland,
chairman of directors. Enrollment in 1919-20 was 22, one male
teacher conducting the school at a salary of $100 monthly.
Before the erection of the Township of Fairbanks, there were
three school districts in the Township of Ault, numbers 51, 60, and 61.
School District No. 61 has been abandoned.
The township officers in 1920 were : Casper Soderlund, chair-
man ; Albin Hassel and George Berry, supervisors; F. C. Highland,
clerk; T. C. Peterson, treasurer; W. B. Bodey. -assessor.
Balkan. — The Township of Balkan, as now constituted, includes
all of township 59 north, range 20 west, and all of township 58 north,
range 20 west, excepting one tier of sections on the south. W'ithin
its borders is the important mining district centering in Chisholm.
668 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Organization. — It was not until 1912 that Balkan was erected,
the county commissioners on March 6, 1912, acting upon the prayer
of William Cooper and other signers of a petition circulated on or
about March 2, 1912, among the inhabitants of township 59-20, said
petition praying for the organization of that congressional township
into a township to be known as "Balkan." At that time there were
not more than seventy-live legal freeholders resident within the
territory concerned.
First Town Meeting. — The first election and town meeting was
held in the schoolhouse situated in the northwest quarter of the
northeast quarter of section 33, on Saturday, March 30, 1912.
Annexation of Chisholm and Part of Stuntz. — In May of the
next year, a petition was presented to the county officials, asking
that the bounds of the Township of Balkan be altered and changed
so as to include within said town all of sections 1 to 30, inclusive,
of township 58-20, then part of the Township of Stuntz, thus bring-
ing into the township jurisdiction all of the then Village of Chisholm,
stated to be in sections 21, 22, and 28, the south one-half of northwest
quarter of section 23, the southwest quarter of northwest quarter
of section 27, and the eastern half of the southeast quarter of sec-
tion 29, of that township. The petition asked that the township be
henceforward known as "New Balkan."
The petition met with the approval of the county commissioners
on August 6, 1913, and notice of their action was given to the town-
ships of Balkan and Stuntz, and Village of Hibbing. Apparently,
however, the name was not changed, and the township' is still
ofificially designated "Balkan."
Population. — The population of township 59-20 in 1910 was found
to be 48; in 1920, Balkan Township, as now constituted, had a popu-
lation of 670, exclusive of the population of the Village of Chisholm,
which in 1920 was 9,039.
Valuation. — Balkan Township in 1912, when first organized, had
an assessed valuation of $83,287. The tax levy in that year was
$2,207.11. The assessed valuation of real and personal property
within the enlarged township in 1919, including the Village of Chis-
holm, totalled to $35,092,197, and the taxes levied in that year
$1,786,089.76, more than one-half of which revenue came from the
Village of Chisholm.
Township Officials. — The township officials in 1920 were : W. E.
Bates, chairman; W. A. Wright and John Thomas Holmes, super-
visors; Victor Beck, clerk; Jacob Hakala, assessor; and John Perry,
treasurer.
School System. — Balkan Township is served by two school dis-
tricts, by Independent School Districts 27 and 40. Review of the
history of School District No. 27 will be found in the chapter de-
voted to Hibbing and school history of district No. 40 is given in .
Chisholm chapter.
Bassett. — The Township of Bassett now embraces four con-
gressional townships, 58 north, range 12 and 13, and 57 north, range
12 and 13.
Organization. — The township was erected in May. 1913, follow-
ing petition of Victor, Beck and twenty-four other residents of town-
ships 57-12, 57-13, and 58-12, in which three townships it was then
stated that not, more than thirty male freeholders lived. Said peti-
tion which bore date of April 14, 1913, sought the granting of
township jurisdiction over these three congressional townships.
First Election. — At session of May, 1913, the county commis-
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 669
sioners approved petition, and ordered election to be held at the resi-
dence of the Rev. A. J. Lehner, in section 28 of township 57-12, on
May 24, 1913.
Annexation of St. Louis Township. — A movement was started
in August, 1917, to attach to the Township of Bassett, as an integral
part of it, the adjoining Township of St. Louis, 58-13. Petition signed
by a sufficient number of the freeholders of that territory w^as pre-
sented to the county commissioners on August 31, 1917, J. M. Palinsky
taking oath to its accuracy and legality. Only five signatures were
appended to the petition, signers being G. E. Wolfe, Berndt Peterson,
R. E. Jefferson, J. M. Palinsky and Adolph G. Peterson, but a foot-
note certified that these five men constituted "all the legal voters and
freeholders in the Township of St. Louis." Petitioners stated, as a
reason for consolidation with Bassett: "That the territory may be
better developed by the construction of roads." On December 7,
1917, the county commissioners agreed to the consoHdation, and on
December 20th the clerks and treasurers of both townships were
requested to deliver to the new township of Bassett the records and
funds of the old organizations.
Valuation. — Real and personal property in the Township of
Bassett, when organized in 1913, was assessed at $198,348, and taxes
levied in the amount of $4,530.12. The addition of St. Louis Town-
ship to its boundaries has not materially increased its value, which
in 1919 was assessed at $223,150, for the four congressional town-
ships of Bassett. Tax levy in that year was $16,556.74.
Population. — The population of Bassett Township in 1910 was
314, but in 1920 only 235. St. Louis Township, according to federal
census report, had a population of 218 in 1910.
Township Officers. — The township officers of Bassett in 1920
were : John A. Beckman, chairman ; Alex Nisula and Thomas Holmes,
supervisors; Victor Beck, clerk; Jacob Hakala, assessor ;• and John
Perry, treasurer.
School System. — The township is in two school districts, Nos.
36 and 70. School District No. 36 covers townships 57 and 58 north,
range 13 west. There is only one schoolhouse, a frame one, valued
at $3,600, and situated at Skibo. The enrollment in the 1919-20
school year was only five. The teacher was paid $100 a month, for
a school year of nine months. The school tax, in 1919, was $2,008.50,
for a school to which went only five pupils. The school board
officials of that district, in 1920, were: Mrs. Albert Erickson, chair-
man of directors ; Charles Monstroth, Skibo, Minn., clerk ; Mrs. Frank
Gravelle, treasurer.
School District No. 70 covers townships 57 and 58, of range 12.
There is only one schoolhouse, a frame one, valued at $5,000. The
enrollment in 1919-20 year was forty-eight. There were four female
teachers, who received an average salary of $72.50 a month. The
school levy, in 1919, was $4,448.80. School board officials : John
Gustafson, chairman of directors; William Ahola, Toimi, Minn., clerk;
Mrs. Catherine Martin, treasurer.
Beatty. — The Township of Beatty takes the name of one of the
pioneer mining men of the Mcsabi Range. Noble A. Beatty was the
first signer of a petition, dated at Tower. February 20, 1906, praying
for the organization of a township under chapter 143, of the General
Laws of the State of Minnesota, 1905, said township to have juris-
Voi. ir— 11
670 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
diction over sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 of congressional township
62-18. and the whole of townships 63-18 and 64-18, the erected town-
ship to take the name of "Vermilion."
The petition met the approval of the commissioners, at session
of April, 1906, and election was ordered to be held at the schoolhouse
situated in the southwest quarter of the southeast quarter of section
34, township 63-18. on April 21st.
On May 8, 1906, at the request of the state auditor, the county
commissioners changed the name of the new town to Beatty, with
the sanction of the petitioners, there being another township of the
name of "Vermilion" in the state.
The boundaries of Beatty Township have remained unchanged
since organization. In 1906, the assessed valuation was $69,207, and
the taxes levied $2,020.84. The valuation in 1919 was $68,567. and
the tax levy $5,725.34 for all purposes.
The township at one time was in School District No. 41, but
that district has apparently been abandoned, it perhaps being more
economical to let the township be served by what is known as the
unorganized school district, which comes directly under the super-
vision of the county superintendent. The tax levy, for school pur-
poses in Beatty Township, for the school year 1919-20 was 47.1 mills.
Beatty had a population of twelve, in 1900; in 1910, it claimed
53 residents ; and in 1920 the census-taking showed that 139 persons
lived in the township.
The township is in process of development, much of it now being
cut-over land.
Township officials. 1920: Thos. Wikely, chairman; Chas. Lappi
and Albert Larson, supervisors; J. G. Larson, clerk; A. L. Whiteside,
assessor; Robert Beatty, treasurer.
Bmabik. — The township of Biwabik, which is limited to the
congressional township 58 north, range 16 west, and includes the
villages of Biwabik, McKinley and Merritt. and is the center of a
rich mining field, w^as organized in 1892. Petition to organize was
circulated in April, 1892, and was signed by thirty-four men resident
in the area for which township powers, under the provisions of
chapter 10, General .Statutes of 1878, were sought. The first signa-
ture put on the petition was that of John B. Weimer. The petition
was presented to the countv officials, and sworn to bv A. P. Dodge,
on April 28. 1892.
First Election. — At the May, 1892, meeting of the county com-
missioners, the petition was granted, and election ordered to be held
in the store of A. P. Dodge, that being situated in the northeast
quarter of section three, township 58-16. Election was accordingly
held on May 25. 1892, the following men casting votes: Thomas
Seadden, J. R. Beringer, Colin Mclver, C. W. Leninger, L. Lewis,
John Goldsworthy, John Critzer, George Klobutcher, Thomas Mur-
ray, Martin Moiren, J. G. Cohoe. W. A. Housel, John Sullivan. Archie
McComb, Dudley W. Freeman, W. P. Johnson, Pat Carney, T. Antin,
J. G. Hansen. Mike Tanner, William Quist, John Pogorde, Nick
Bodovintz, Martin Thomas, Steven Brosnitz, Edward G. Linquist,
and Carrol Corson.
First Township Officials. — The voting brought the following
named men into office as township officers: J. G. Cohoe. A. P.
Dodge, and H. Duggan, supervisors ; W. A. Housel, clerk ; D. W.
Freeman, treasurer; A. J, Carlon and Harry Spence, assessors;
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 671
Robert Fausett and Carrol Corson, justices; Archie McComb and
L. Lewis, constables.
Population. — The boundaries of the township have remained the
same since the first organization. The census statistics do not credit
congressional township 58-16 with any population in 1890. In 1900.
Biwabik Township had a population of 574; in 1910 it had 778; and
in the 1920 census-taking shows only 304 in the township, exclusive
of the population of the villages of Biwabik and McKinley. Biwabik
village had 1.299 residents in 1900, 1.690 in 1910, and 2.024 in the
present year, 1920. The figures for McKinley are : 1900, 262 ; 1910,
411; 1920, 395.
Valuation. — The assessed valuation of Biwabik Township, ex-
clusive of the villages of Biwabik and McKinley, for the year 1919,
was $3,057,081, and the taxes collected in that year $191,937.43.
There are two school districts, independent district No. 18 and dis-
trict No. 24.
Present Officials. — The township offtcers for 1920 are K. S. John-
son, chairman; Edward Kinney and Grover Helsel, supervisors;
Wm. J. Lundgren, clerk; Wm. Dopp, assessor; Oscar Strom,
treasurer.
Breitung. — The Township of Breitung was the first of the central
townships of St. Louis County to come into prominence. It has
historic interest, in that it is the center of the mining on the Ver-
milion Range, the first iron range to be discovered in Northern
Minnesota.
The "Proceedings of the Lake Superior Mining Institute," for
1895, in which year its meetings were held on the Vermilion and
Mesabi ranges, gives the following summary of mining conditions
on the Vermilion Range :
"On the Vermilion Range is quite a dififerent set of conditions
than those on the Mesabi. Instead of nearly flat deposits of ore
we find them nearly vertical. Instead of a layer of ore of limited
thickness all over a 40-acre tract, with no hanging wall to work under,
we find steeply inclined lenses of ore confined between walls of schist
and extending in a series downward to an indefinite depth. In the
place of ore so fine and powdery that it is objected to by the furnace
operators, we have here ore so solid and massive that it must be
artificially crushed by powerful machines before it can be sold (at
the Chandler mine, the ore has been crushed by nature). In the
place of covered deposits, which must be sought for by drill holes
and test pits, there were originally bold bare knobs of hard jasper
and hematite projecting in polished peaks and domes a hundred feet
above the surrounding, more easily eroded, schist. It must be ad-
mitted, however, that there is more regularity in the occurrence of
the Mesabi ore beds than those of the Vermilion ; and more can be
told of the probable occurrence of ore in a given locality by a study
of the surrounding geology and typography than can be predicted in
any way on the Vermilion."
A historical review of mining on the Vermilion Range will have
place in the chapter regarding Tower and Soudan, which places,
chartered city and unincorporated village respectively, owe their
existence to the mining operations begun on the Vermilion in the
early '80s.
The Township of Breitung was organized in 1883, to have juris-
diction over unorganized townships 62 north, ranges 14 and 15 west.
It takes its name from that of one of the pioneers of mining on the
672
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Vermilion. Vermilion Lake covers more than half of township 62-15,
and apart from the ceaseless mining operations at Soudan, there is
very little activity in the township. Or at least there was until
quite recently when negotiations were completed to work valuable
beds of peat in the township, which in places is very marshy.
The roads of the township are moderately good, and the dis-
trict is well served by the Duluth and Iron Range Railway, which
passes through to Ely. Breitung Township is famed for most beau-
tiful lake and most majestic mountain scenery. In parts the town-
ship is absolutely in the wild state.
In 1883 the Township of Breitung had an assessed valuation of
$20,133; in 1919 its assessment was on $543,069. The total taxes in
1883 were $251.62; in 1919 the total was $46,944.67, exclusive of
Tower, which city had a tax-levy of $18,109.78 in that year.
SOUDAN SHAFT AND POWERHOUSE
Breitung Township is in School District No. 9, which centres
in Tower. A review of the school history will be part of the Tower
chapter, and therefore school matters need not be further referred
to here.
The present township officials are : Walter Wellander, chair-
man; Nels Bodine and Matt Karvala, supervisors; J. Nyberg, clerk;
Ben P. Johnson, assessor; John Helstrom, treasurer.
The population of Breitung Township has shown a decline since
the opening of this century, although the decline has not been pro-
portionate with the decline in mining operations, which thirty years
ago totalled to 500,000 tons a year, and now is not much more than
one-fifth of that yearly output. The population of the township in
1900 was 2,034; in 1910 it was 1,214; and in 1920 it was 1,227. The
population of the City of Tower is now only 706; in 1900 it was 1,366.
Canosia. — The township of Canosia was organized in 1888, and
formerly was part of Rice Lake Township. Its organization was
the outcome of a petition of Leonard Reamer and thirty-six other
freeholders of that part of Rice Lake Township, the petitioners pray-
ing that congressional townships 51 and 52 north, ranges 15 and 16,
four townships in all, be set apart from Rice Lake Township, and
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 673
organized as a separate township, which it was originally proposed
be named "Camasia," that name having been first written into the
petition, but eventually ruled out, and the name "Canosia" written
above it on the instrument.
The petition came before the county commissioners at their board
meeting of December 6, 1887, and they then took exception to the
granting of it. The matter was referred by them to a committee,
which, on February 3, 1888, reported favorably, and "recommended
that the prayer of the petitioners be granted."
Therefore, the board of commissioners set apart the township on
that day, and ordered the first town meeting to be held at the
schoolhouse in School District No. 10, in the Township of Canosia,
on Thursday, February 23, 1888.
The four congressional townships which constituted the town-
ship of Canosia had an assessed value of $225,274 in 1888, and the
taxes levied for all purposes in that year totalled to $4,353.65.
Three other townships have since been created (see townships
of Dinham, Grand Lake and Fredenburg, this chapter) out of terri-
tory originally in Canosia, and the boundaries of the last named
township now embrace only the congressional township 51 north,
range 15 west. The assessed valuation of that reduced area of
Canosia in 1919 was $144,437; and the tax levy, $7,726.92.
Population of Canosia Township in 1900 was 221 ; in 1910, it
was 287; and in the last census, 1920, the population was found to
be 311.
Township officers in 1920 were : Peter E. Michels, chairman ;
Chas. A. Sundell and J. Kolodzeski, supervisors; John W. Johnson,
clerk; W. C. McCummon, assessor; E. B. Emgren, treasurer.
Canosia township is served by two school districts, Nos. 10 and
55. There are three schoolhouses in the township, one each in sec-
tions 12, 30 and 35. In School District No. 10 which covers part of
township 51-15, there is one frame schoolhouse, to which went twenty-
three scholars for the school year 1919-20. Its one teacher (female)
received a salary of $90.00 monthly. The school board officials were :
Jacob C. Clark, clerk; Joe Kolodzeski, treasurer; John W. Johnson,
chairman of directors. Its school levy, in 1919, was $1,883.18. School
District No. 55 embraced part of townships 51-15 (Canosia) and
51-14 (Rice Lake). Its two frame schoolhouses were valued at $2,000
in 1919, when the enrollment was 37. One school was conducted by
a male teacher, and the other by a female. The average salary was
$77.50 a month. School levy, in 1919, was $1,809.89, Canosia paying
a school tax of 25.3 mills. Officials of School District No. 55. in
1920, were: P. E. Michele, R. F. D. 4, Box 66. Duluth, Minn.,
clerk; Chas. Sundell, treasurer; P. A. Paulson, chairman of directors.
Cedar Valley. — A petition, signed by Mike Snyder and twenty-
five others, dated October 22, 1908, was duly presented at the St.
Louis County Court House. The instrument sought to secure the
organization as a township, under section 451, chapter 7, Revised
Laws of Minnesota, 1905, to be known by the name of "Rosemount."
all of congressional township 53 north, range 21 west.
At the February, 1909, session of the Board of County Commis-
sioners, the petition was approved, and the first town meeting or-
dered to be held at School House No. 2, on Saturday, February 26,
1910. After the election, the county commissioners were advised by
the state auditor that there was another township in the state named
"Rosemount." They therefore resolved that the name of the newly
674 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
organized territory be "Cedar Valley," their action being eventually
confirmed by the residents of that township.
In 1912. a petition was circulated among the freeholders of town-
ship 54-21, and signed by a majority of them, the petition seeking to
include that unorganized township in the boundaries of Cedar Valley.
Mike Snyder, chairman of the supervisors of Cedar Valley at that
time discussed the matter with the county commissioners at session
of the county board on February 6, 1913; and the matter was fur-
ther discussed by the commissioners at meeting of June 6, and August
6, of 1913. At the August session, the commissioners resolved to add
township 54-21 to Cedar Valley. So, the Township of Cedar Valley
is at present constituted.
Assessed valuation of real and personal property in Cedar Valley
Township in 1910 amounted to $66,555. Tax levy, for all purposes,
was $1,590.66. In 1919 the assessed valuation was $141,136, and
the tax levy for all purposes, $8,919.79.
Population in 1900 was 98 persons; in 1910 it had increased to
234; and in 1920 to 323 persons.
The Cedar Valley school district is No. 23 of the county system.
There are four frame schoolhouses, valued at $8,000 in the district,
which covers the whole of townships 53 and 54, range 21. Total
enumeration in 1919-20 school year was 99. The school term was
eight months, and the four teachers received an average salary of
$82.50 a month. The school levy, in 1919, amounted to $4,730.63.
The school board ofificials were : Wm. Gustafson, clerk ; Jalmer Perk-
kijo, treasurer; Erick Hill, chairman of directors.
The township ofificials in 1920 were Matt Maki, chairman ; Peter
Myllykangas, and Jonas Hietala, supervisors ; Mike Siermala, Jr.,
clerk; J. Perkkijo, assessor; Andrew Tuola, treasurer.
Clinton. — The Township of Clinton, which borders onto the rich
mining territory of the Mesabi Range, embraces the township 57
north, range 18 west.
Organization came in 1892, following the presenting of petition,
dated October 13, 1892, to the county commissioners, said petition
being signed by Frank M. Zeller and twenty-three other voters within
the territory, praying for the organization of township 57-18, as the
Township of Clinton, under the General Laws of the State of Minne-
sota, 1878.
The petition came before the county commissioners at their
October. 1892. session. It was then resolved to grant the prayer,
and public notices were posted calling upon the electors to assemble
for the first town meeting, at the Section Car House, situated on
the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 15 of town-
ship 57-18, on Friday, the 28th day of October. Election was duly
held, and organization of Clinton Township duly perfected. Since
that time, its boundaries have remained the same, and it is some-
what surprising to note that its valuation is now less than it was
in 1892. In that year, the real and personal property of Clinton was
assessed on the basis of a value of $107,184, the tax levy then being
$2,599.21. In 1919, the assessed valuation, exclusive of Iron Junc-
tion, was only $105,979, although the tax levy had materially in-
creased being in that year, $7,227.77. Also, the valuation of Iron
Junction, which is only $11,575, adds very little to the wealth of the
township.
Clinton Township population, including Iron Junction Village, in
1900 was 221 ; in 1910, the census showed 316 residents; and the 1920
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 675
census tabulated 752 persons, then resident in the township. The
township is developing agriculturally. It is in school district No. 25.
The township officials in 1920 were : J. S. Soine, chairman ;
Edward Berg and J. P. Johnson, supervisors ; Jens Jenson, clerk ;
Eli Hautala, assessor; P. W. Thompson, treasurer.
Iron Junction. — The incorporated village of Iron Junction has
had such powers since 1893, when it seemed that a much more
important municipal history would be its destiny. There were 142
legal voters in 1893, and the total population would feasibly have been
more than that. In 1920, the population was only 92, and the place
is little more than its name indicates — a railway junction.
Petition to incorporate was circulated in May, 1893, John Camp-
bell, Frank Ansley, Stephen Ryan, and others, seeking corporate
village powers over 480 acres, describing as: "the west half of
southwest quarter, section 14; the southwest quarter of northern half,
and the southeast quarter and south half of southeast quarter of
section 15 ; and the north half of the northeast quarter of section 22,
township 57-18." The petition stated that census taken of inhabi-
tants on April 1, 1893, showed that 365 persons were then living in
the area.
The petition was deemed regular by the county commissioners,
who ordered election to be held on July 25, 1893, "at the store build-
ing of P. J. Clure." One hundred and forty-two votes were then
cast, and all were in favor ; therefore the commissioners ordered elec-
tion for officers to be held on August 10th, "in the vacant store
building, rear of P. J. Clure's store."
The value of taxable property in Iron Junction in 1895 was
$21,158; in 1919 the assessed valuation was only $1,575.
The present village officials are: E. M. Moline. president; Thos.
Wood, Albert Fischer, and Wm. Molander, trustees ; C. F. Zacher,
clerk ; Chas. Peterson, treasurer.
Colvin. — The Township of Colvin came into being in 1910. Its
boundaries are those of congressional township 56 north, range 15
w^est, and was organized by the covmty commissioners in answer to
the request of inhabitants within the territory, as set forth in petition,
dated April 14, 1910, of John J. Ljung and twenty-four others.
The projectors at first thought of naming the new township
"Markham," but the name of "Colvin" was decided upon before the
petition was presented to the county commissioners. The document
was filed in the St. Louis County Court House on April 27, 1910.
It was considered by the commissioners on May 6th, and adopted
by them on that day, they ordering election to be held on Monday,
May 23, 1910, at the schoolhouse situated on section 27, of thf town-
ship concerned.
In 1910, the assessed valuation of Colvin Township real and
personal propertv was $87,437, and the tax lew $4,503.01. The
1919 valuation was $72,986. and tlu- tax levy $5,700.21.
The population of Colvin in 1**10 was 252; in 1920, it was 370.
The growth is gradual, and will be stabU- with increase of agri-
cultural development.
The townsiiip officials, in 1Q20. were: Anders .Anderson, cliair-
man ; Manu I'^kola and Emi! Waltenen, supervisors; John Carlson,
clerk; John J. T>jung, assessor; and lukki Xieminen. treasurer.
Cotton. — The Township of Cotton was erected in 1003. The
congressional township (54-17). it then constituted was formerly part
of the township of Kelsey, and the separation came as the result of
676 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
a petition circulated among the residents of that region. The petition
was dated May 7, 1903, and signed by C. J. Keenan and others. Its
object was to bring about the division of the then township of Kelsey
into three, as follows: congressional townships 53-18 and 53-19 to
form the Township of Meadowlands; township 54-17 to form the
Township of Cotton; and townships 54-18 and 54-19 to remain as,
and to constitute the Township of Kelsey.
The petition came before the county commissioners for consider-
ation at the board meeting of June 8, 1903. Hearing of remon-
strances were set for the next monthly meeting of commissioners, and
no opposition of consequence then arising the commissioners re-
solved to divide the live congressional townships as asked by peti-
tioners, and ofdered notices of election to be posted.
Election was held on July 31, 1903, at the Miller Trunk School-
house, Jacob Weingast being elected "moderator" of that first town
meeting of Cotton. The balloting brought the following named resi-
dents into office, to constitute the original administrative officials of
the new Town of Cotton : Jacob Weingast, chairman ; N. Salin and
N. M. Nelson, supervisors; Ole Mark, treasurer; W. T. Jenkins,
clerk; P. A. Johnson, justice; Hy Moberg, constable.
On November 5th of that year the boundaries of the township
were enlarged, to include the adjoining township, 54-16, which up
to that time had been unorganized territory. The action of the county
commissioners followed petition of residents of township 54-16, said
petition being filed in the County Court House on September 17, 1903.
Cotton Township assessed valuation in 1903 was $88,734, and the
tax levy, for all purposes, $971.29. In 1919, the valuation for the
two congressional townships of Cotton totalled to $124,436, and the
tax levy $7,702.12.
In 1910, the population of Cotton Township was 325 and there
has only been a slight increase in ten years, the 1920 census re-
cording only 376.
The township officials in 1920 were : William Soderlund, chair-
man; O. A. Hoag and L. J. Larson, supervisors; W. T. Jenkins,
clerk; W. Wickstrom, assessor; and E. A. Nelson, treasurer.
Part of Cotton Township is, for educational purposes, in School
District No. 49. That district has two schoolhouses, of frame, valued
at $2,100. The enrollment in the year 1919-20 was 25 scholars. Each
school is directed by one teacher, female, and the average monthly
salary is $82.00.
The school board and officials are : Chauncey White, Cotton,
clerk; Olaus Lorentzsen, treasurer; M. E. Nordstrand, chairman of
directors.
Culver. — The Township of Culver, which borders on the Fond
du Lac Indian Reservation, was established from unorganized terri-
tory in 1893, following the presenting of petition by Edward J.
Featherstone and twenty-six other freeholders of the thirty legal
voters of congressional township 51 north, range 18 west.
The petition was filed with the county auditor in 1893, and was
considered by the county commissioners at their September meeting
of that year. They ordered notices to be posted, calling upon voters
of that township to gather at the house of Isaac Reano, east half,
northeast quarter of section 12, on October 3d in order to elect
township officers. That was done, and the township has since held
the territory then brought under its jurisdiction.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 677
In 1893, the assessed valuation of the Township of Culver was
$19,828. Taxes, for all purposes, in that year amounted to $361.86.
In 1919, the assessed valuation was $50,753, and the tax levy $3,800.91.
Population of Culver Township, including Brookston Village,
in 1900 was 185 persons; in 1910, it had increased to 331 ; and in 1920
the population was 371.
The township does not appear to have a separate school dis-
trict, probably being directly under the county school administra-
tion, which is able to economize for sparsely inhabitated townships
by handling its school affairs as part of the immense unorganized
school district directed by the county superintendent. The school
levy for 1919 was 37.1 mills.
Township officials, 1920, were : C. T. Larson, chairman ; Chas.
Carlson and H. O. Knudson, supervisors; Wm. Carlson, clerk; C. O.
Eklund, assessor; C. O. Eklund, treasurer.
Brookston, Village of. — The incorporated village of Brookston
is the principal community centre of Culver Township. It was in-
corporated in 1907, following circulation of petition in March of that
year.
The petition sought village powers, under section 702 of the re-
vised state laws of 1905, and was signed by a majority of the legal
voters of Brookston, the first signer being H. C. Shur. It stated that
the number of residents within the area for which corporate powers
were sought was then two hundred. That would represent the bulk
of the population of the township. (In 1910 the total for the town-
ship of Culver was 331.) The statement, and others made in petition,
were vouched for by J. F. Ryan, and H. C. Shur, who presented the
petition to the commissioners of the county. The last named county
board met on March 7, 1907, and approved the petition, and ordered
the matter to be put to the public vote, polling to take place on
Tuesday, April 2d, "at the general store of J. F. Ryan, situated on
the west half, ne qr., section 34, t. 51, n. r. 18 w." The vote was
unanimously in favor of the incorporation, forty-one votes cast being
all in favor. The subsequent election brought in the following village
officers: J. F. Ryan, president; H. C. Shur, Ed Donley, and Wm. R.
Miles, trustees; Rowe McCamus, recorder.
There can have been very little to the village in 1907, for the
county records show the total assessed valuation then to be $873,
on which basis a levy of $44.78 was made. In 1919 the valuation
was $14,683, with a tax levy of 137.0 mills, this unusually high taxa-
tion being made so by a 63 mill tax on state loan to the village.
(The township levy is only 76.0 mills.)
An important special election in Brookston was that held on
September 22, 1918, when the c[ucstion : "Shall the Village of Brooks-
ton be separated from the Township of Culver for election and
assessment purposes?" brought fifteen voters to the polling booth,
all voting in favor of the separation.
The village officials, in 1920 were: Arthur Hutchins. president;
John Couture, Thos. Flin and Ed. Kernaski, trustees; Oliver Olson,
clerk ; Leo Michaud, assessor and treasurer.
The village was at one time in School District No. 67, but it is
now, for school purposes, under county jurisdiction.
The 1910 census taking by federal authorities recorded Brookston
as with 160 inhal)itants ; in 1920 the number living within the village
limits was only 135.
Dinham. — The Township of Dinham was erected in 1896 by
678 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
detaching part of the Township of Canosia. It is not now in exist-
ence, part of its territory reverting to Canosia, but the greater part
going to constitute the Township of Fredenburg.
Petition was presented to the county commissioners on Septem-
ber 4, 1896, signed by Peter E. Michaels and other freeholders of
township 52 north, range 15 west, and sections 1, 2, 11, 12, 13 and 14
of township 51 north, range 15 west, all then under jurisdiction of
the township of Canosia, praying that the designated territory be set
apart to form a separate township under the name of Dinham.
The commissioners made known that at the next monthly meet-
ing of their board, hearing of any objections to the proposed separa-
'tion of land from the Township of Canosia would be held. No
opposition showed at the October meeting, and the commissioners
consequently approved the petition, and set apart the land asked for,
and designated October 26, 1896, as the day upon which voters
should gather at the house of Peter Michael, in the northwest quarter
of section 12 of township 51-15, for the purpose of holding the first
township meeting of the township erected.
Fourteen votes w^ere cast at that meeting, and the following
named residents were elected as township officers : W. McComber,
chairman; T. Maleska and E. Kehtel, supervisors; L. Ostrovitzki,
treasurer; P. E. Michaels, clerk; M. Navitzki, assessor; P. Michaels
and F. Kehtel, justices; T. Novitzki and M. Langan, constables.
Petition to reinstate the Township of Canosia to its original
dimensions was filed on February 5, 1897, but the petition was denied
at the February meeting of commissioners. The agitation was, how-
ever, persisted in, and eventually the Township of Dinham passed
out of existence, the land reverting to Canosia. ' Eventually, how-
ever, congressional township 52-15 was taken from Canosia to form
the Township of Fredenburg. (See Canosia and Fredenburg parts
of this chapter.)
Duluth,— The Township of Duluth was one of the first to be
organized. It is not necessary here to more than briefly touch upon
its history, as that will be found in appropriate place in the pioneer
Duluth chapters of this work.
In 1873, the Township of Duluth was one of the five included on
"Tax Notice of St. Louis County" for that year, the township being
divided into two districts, Nos. 3 and 4. Its taxable property was
then valued at $571,016. The tax levy was 28 mills.
At that time there was only one incorporated place, the City of
Duluth, and five townships, Duluth, Oneota, Fond du Lac, Rice Lake,
and Herman. In 1920, St. Louis County had twenty-five incorporated
places, and at least sixty-nine organized townships. The degree of
development and prosperity is even more strikingly shown in tax
levy. In 1877. the total tax lew was $29,034.41 for the whole of
St. Louis County; in 1919 the tax levy was $20,797,144.95.
The present bounds of the Township of Duluth are those of
congressional township 52-12. and fractional township 51-12. Con-
gressional township 51-13 was taken from Duluth in January, 1902,
to form the present Township of Lakewood ; and congressional town-
ships 53 and 54 north, range 12 west, were detached on September 8,
1920, to form the Township of Alden (see Lakewood and Alden
articles, this chapter).
Duluth Township, even with the two congressional townships
taken to form Alden, had only 841 inhabitants in 1920. In 1910 the
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 679
population was 358 and in 1900 only 194. For school purposes it is
in the unorganized district.
The townships recently detached to form Alden came within
the boundaries of Duluth in 1897. The two congressional towns
under reference, townships 53 north and 54 north, range 12 west,
were formerly unorganized territory, and the few settlers therein
had made two attempts to be brought within the jurisdiction of the
Township of Duluth. The petition upon which action was taken
was that signed in 1895 by W. H. Smallwood and fifty-three others,
and sworn to on December 3, 1897, by Matt Smith and W. H. Small-
wood. Action was taken favorably by the county commissioners
at their session of December, 1897.
The officers of Duluth Township in 1920 were: F. W. Shilhon,
chairman; Don D. Driscoll, supervisor; F. L. Damman, clerk; D.
Sammoni, assessor; E. E. Reynolds, treasurer.
Ellsburg. — The Township of Ellsburg, situated in congressional
townships 55 north, and ranges 16 and 17 west, was established, or
organized, in 1914.
Archie Smith was the first signer of petition circulated in those
townships among freeholders in June of that year, and A. P. Smith
appears to have been the most active projector of the township peti-
tion. He delivered it to the County Court House for filing with the
county auditor, and he took oath to its accuracy of statement, and
regularity of preparation.
At the next meeting of the county commissioners, held on July
7, 1914, the petition was considered and resolution of approval passed.
The c6mmissioners therefore ordered the first town meeting to be
held at the Cameron Hotel, situated in the southeast quarter of the
southeast quarter of section 18, township 55 north, range 16 west, on
the 25th day of that month. On that day the township organization
was completed, in accordance with the state law.
The assessed valuation of the township, as constituted in 1914,
was $187,083. The total tax levy was $8,087.09. In 1919. the valua-
tion was $186,140, but the tax levy had increased to $14,704.77.
The population of the territory in 1910 was recorded as Z7 \
in 1920, Ellsburg is credited with 145 inhabitants. There are several
small lakes within its boundaries, and its development has not passed
far beyond the pioneer stage.
The township clerk is John J. Hruska ; and the treasurer is
Louis Cameron.
The school system is divided. Part is under the county super-
intendent directly, being included in the unorganized school district,
elsewhere described, but township 55-17 is under the jurisdiction of
School District No. 31, which covers townships 55-17 and 18, and
part of 56-18. In that area, and under the direction of that school
district, there are four schoolhouses, all of frame construction, the
four valued at $8,000, in 1919. There were in that year 104 scholars
enrolled. Four teachers were engaged, at average salary of $84.00.
The school levy upon Ellsburg tax payers, in 1919, amounted to 36
mills on $39,035. for school district No. 31, and 37.1 mills on $147,105
valuation for school facilities as part of the county unorganized
school district.
The school board and officials of district No. 31, in 1920. were:
Mrs. Harold Teed, Zim, Minn., clerk; Ole Olson, treasurer; Mrs.
S. W. Levin, chairman of directors.
Elmer. — The Townshi]) of Elmer was organized in 1920. and
680 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
resulted from the presenting- of a petition, signed by John Rohnu and
twenty-seven other residents in unorganized congressional township
fifty-three north, range twenty west, and that part of township 53-19
lying west of St. Louis River, at that time included in the Township
of Meadowlands. The petitioners filed application with the county
commissioners on March 10, 1920, and the commissioners set May 11,
1920, as the date upon which hearing of objections to the granting
of the petition would be held. On that day, the petition was granted
and the boundaries fixed as asked.
First election w^as held on May 29, 1920, at the Town Hall Build-
ing, in township 53-20. Those elected were : Max Bernsdorf (chair-
man), Emil Beldo, Martin Warlick, supervisers ; W. H. Bailey, clerk;
John Greiten, treasurer; Henry Helmet, justice; Albert Horvath,
constable ; Matt Finnila, road master ; John Horvath, pound master.
The assessed valuation of township 53-20, in 1919, w^as $48,089,
and the taxes levied $2,813.21, for all purposes.
Population of township 53-20 in 1900 was three ; in 1910 it was
forty-three; in 1920 that congressional township is shown as having
sixty-seven residents. That the population of that part of township
53-19 now in Elmer Township cannot be stated, as the census figures
include it in those of the Township of Meadowlands.
Elmer is a separate school district, being known as School Dis-
trict No. 82. The present school board officials are : Henry Helmet,
Box 255, Meadowlands, clerk ; Nick Guth, treasurer ; Paul Kamper,
chairman of directors.
Embarrass. — Two unorganized congressional townships, sixty
north and ranges fourteen and fifteen west, was set apart in 1905 by
the county commissioners, to organize the Township of Embarrass,
as prayed for by signers to a petition filed w'ith the county auditor
on May 5th of that year. Twenty-eight freeholders in that territory
signed the petition, which was considered by the county commis-
sioners at meeting held on May 6, 1905, when the instrument w^as
approved in form. The commissioners did not, however, grant the
petition until July 10, 1905.
The first town meeting was held in the schoolhouse situated in
the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section 25, of town-
ship 60-15, on July 29, 1905.
In April, 1911, the inhabitants of township 60-14 petitioned the
county commissioners to separate that township from Embarrass,
alleging failure of the Town of Embarrass to construct roads in town-
ship 60-14. The separation asked for was bitterly opposed by the
people of Embarrass, but on February 6, 1912, the county commis-
sioners decided to detach the eastern congressional township from
the Town of Embarrass and found the Township of Waasa. This
was effected by election held on February 27th (for further infor-
mation, see Waasa, this chapter).
The Township of Embarrass in 1905 had an assessed valuation
of $115,800. The tax levy then was $2,304.42, for all purposes. With
the reduction of area, its valuation is now reduced to $50,753 for
assessment, but the taxes in 1919 totaled to $4,182.05.
The school levy is 37.1 mills. Embarrass Township, for school
purposes, being included in the unorganized school district directed
from the county superintendent's ofiice. Such an arrangement effects
an economy to some townships of small population.
Embarrass Township had a population of forty-nine in 1900. Its
population in 1910 was 648. And in 1920, the population was found
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 681
to have increased to 712. It is the center of a good agricultural section
of St. Louis County.
The present township officials are : Erick Lehto, chairman ;
Nick Lehto and Matt Hill, supervisers ; John Waisanen, clerk ; John
Kangas, assessor; John Koski, treasurer; A. Waisanen and Charles
Reinstrom, justices.
Fairbanks. — The Township of Fairbanks embraces two congres-
sional townships, fifty-six north, and ranges 12 and 13. This area
formed part of the Township of Ault until 1918.
The first attempt to separate townships 56-12 and 56-13 from
Ault was made in 1912, a petition being filed with the county officials
on June 11th of that year, the petitioners praying for the erection
of the Township of Fairbanks, averring that for five years the officers
of the Town of Ault had neglected to build roads through the part
of the township in which they lived. No action was then taken,
apparently, by the county commissioners.
In August, 1918, another attempt was made to detach the two
northern townships from the four that then constituted the Town-
ship of Ault, the petition signed by J. O. Clapperton and others being
presented on August 5th. The commissioners did not act until Octo-
ber 8th, when they resolved to detach townships 56-12 and 56-13
from Ault to form the Town of Fairbanks, and election was ordered
to be held at the schoolhouse of district 60, Fairbanks, on October
23, 1918.
On November 2, 1918. Isaac Pust, who was one of the founders
of Ault, appealed against the action of the county commissioners,
representing that the petition was not signed by a majority of the
resident male freeholders of townships 56-12 and 56-13; also, that the
separation left only eleven freeholders in the Town of Ault. His
remonstrance recommended that, in order to properly remedy mat-
ters, sections 13 to 36, inclusive, of town 56-12 be taken from Fair-
banks and added to Ault. The matter remained undecided until
August 6, 1919, when the county commissioners decided to deny the
petition of Isaac Pust and others. Therefore, Fairbanks remains as
originally organized.
The 1920 census shows the population of Fairbanks Township
to be 324. The assessed valuation in 1919 was $132,749, and the total
taxes levied in that year $8,089.39.
The township officers in 1920 were: J. Luvina (chairman), Con-
rad Johnson and Matt Antes, supervisers ; Jacob Wesala, clerk, and
Nick Kylen, treasurer and assessor.
Part of the township is without school facilities, there being no
need for such provision, but the populous part of the township is
served by school district No. 60. That district has one frame school
house, valued at $1,500. For the school year 1919-20 there were twen-
ty-seven pupils enrolled. One female teacher was engaged at a
salary of $95 a month. The school officials were John Stoeger, Fair-
banks, Minnesota, clerk; W. R. Depew, treasurer, and G. S. Durham,
chairman of directors.
Fayal. — The organization of the Township of Fayal in 1896 fol-
lowed the beginning of important mining operations and explora-
tions in congressional township 57-17, which is and since its erection
always has been the boundaries of the Town of Fayal.
The important mines are the Fayal Fee, the Fayal No. 1, No. 2.
No. 3 and No. 4, all of which are now operated by the Oliver Iron
682 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Mining Company. From these mines have been shipped more than
thirty milHons of tons of ore.
Pioneer of Mining. — David T. Adams was responsible for the
discovery of merchantable ore in Fayal. In his "Memories of the
early discovery and development of the Mesaba Iron Range in St.
Louis and Itasca counties, Minnesota," he states, regarding Fayal
explorations: "The next deposit of ore to be discovered by me in
the vicinity was on the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter
of section 5, and the north half of the northwest quarter of section 6,
township 57-17, in the month of November, 1893, which is now known
as the Fayal No. 1. * * '* The Fayal No. 1 was explored by
the Mclnnis Mining Company, which was organized by me on the
thirty-first day of January, 1894, in honor of the late Neil Mclnnis,
who had been my purchasing agent of goods to supply the camps
and paymaster during the latter part of my explorations in connec-
tion with Humphreys and Atkins, on the Virginia group of mines,
and who also acted in the same capacity for the Adams Mining Com-
pany. The late Marvin VanBuskirk was in charge of the men, and
under him the work of development was rapid, indeed. The Mclnnis
Mining Company finally sold their lease on the Fayal No. 1 to the
Chicago Minnesota Ore Company, on September 6, 1894. About
two and a half years later I discovered ore on that part of section 5,
township 57-17, which was known as the South Fayal."
Township Organization. — Mining operations were therefore well
advanced when early in 1896 a petition was circulated among the
residents of congressional township 57-17, praying the commissioners
of the county to organize that township, under chapter ten of the
General Statutes of Minnesota, 1878. The petition was dated Febru-
ary 4, 1896, and was filed with the county auditor on the sixth day
of that month, but it apparently had been circulated in the spring of
1895. The petition bore the signatures of one hundred and sixty-five
voters of the township, the first to sign being L. McNiel, G. A. Burns,
W. H. Shea, A. J. Shea, John Shea and- J. P. Welsh.
First Election. — On February 6, 1896, the county commissioners
approved the movement and passed resolution granting the petition,
and ordering election to be held at the "Carpenter Shop by the Fayal
Iron Company, located on the northeast quarter- of northwest quarter
of section 5, township 57-17 on February 25th, 1896." Notices to
that efYect were posted "on the front of Jackson's Store and one on
a tree near Talboy's Boarding Camp," also one on the carpenter shop
which was to be the polling place. Notices were posted by W. J.
Bates, deputy sheriff.
The election was duly held, and the township organization legally
brought to completion.
Since that time, the township has been peopled mainly by men
employed in the Fayal mines. There has been some agricultural
development, but mining is the first consideration.
Population. — The population was 1,016 in 1900; in 1910 it was
1,141 ; and in 1920, the census takers credited Fayal Township with
1,360 inhabitants.
Valuation. — The assessed valuation of real and personal prop-
erty in the township in 1896 totaled to $313,087, and the taxes in
that year amounted to $7,858.18. The 1919 figures give some idea of
the development during the period. The assessed valuation of Fayal
Township in 1919 was $4,177,738. The tax levy in that year was
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 683
$190,504.85, the bulk of which fell upon the mining companies, real
property being valued at $3,800,691 for assessment.
Schools, — Fayal has good schools, being in Independent School
District No. 39 (see Eveleth). The school tax in 1919 was 21.7 mills.
Present Township Officials. — The township officers in 1920 were :
A. G. Anderson (chairman), E. A. Trenholm and Arsen Corbin, super-
visors ; E. M. Dormer, clerk; Louis A. O. Marzer, assessor; Philip
Jacobson, treasurer.
Fern. — The Tow-n of Fern was organized at the November, 1905,
session of the Board of County Commissioners, Commissioner Ryan
presenting resolution to grant petition of A. H. Farr and twenty other
freeholders of congressional township sixty north, range twenty west
and Commissioner Patterson moving adoption.
The petition, which was undated, state that there were at that
time only twenty-five legal voters in the township and the signers
sought to have township powers, in accordance with the General
Statutes of the State of Minnesota, said organized township to be
given the name of "Fern."
The commissioners ordered election to be held for township
officers on November 25, 1905. Place of election was the residence
of A. H. Farr, situated in the northeast quarter of section thirty of
township 60-20.
In 1905 the assessed valuation of the township was $73,611.
Taxes levied were $1,545.83 for all purposes. In 1919, the assessed
valuation was $58,866, and the tax levy in that year, $4,379.63.
The population in 1910 was 144 and the 1920 census records a
population of only fifty-seven.
The township is not well developed, but eventually will be good
agricultural land. The Sturgeon River passed through the township.
The 1920 township officials were: August Wegener (chairman),
John Magnuson and August Forseland, supervisors ; John R. Eins-
weiler, clerk; Gust. Larson, assessor and treasurer.
Educationally, the township is served by School District No. 81.
There is one frame schoolhouse, valued in 1919 at $3,000. The school
board officials are: John R. Einsweiler, clerk; Gust Larsen, treas-
urer; August W. Wegener, chairman of directors. The school levy
in 1919 was $1,383.35.
Field. — The Township of Field, the boundaries of which are
those of congressional township sixty-two north, range nineteen west,
was organized in 1906. It then included within its limits the pres-
ent Township of Owens, which adjoins it on the east. On the north-
east, the Town of Fields borders on the Township of Beatty, for the
length of one section ; on the north it adjoins Leiding Township ;
on the west. Linden Grove ; and south of it is Alango Township. The
Little Fork River runs through it and through sections 11 and 12 on
the extreme northeast is laid the road of the Duluth and Winnipeg
Railway, the nearest railway station being Cook, in Owens Township.
A petition, dated at Ashawa (now known as Cook), Minnesota,
April 5, 1906, and signed by fifty-two freeholders resident in con-
gressional townships sixty-two north, ranges eighteen and nineteen
west, the first two signers being August Buboltz and James A. Field,
prayed for the organization of that territory under the township laws
of the State of Minnesota, and that when organized it be known by
the name of "Field." The petition testified or asserted that the total
number of legal voters then resident in the territory for which town-
ship jurisdiction was sought did not exceed one hundred, and a rider
684 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
to said petition left to the option of the county commissioners the
question of detaching the northernmost tier of sections of township
62-18 from the Township of Beatty, which the county commissioners
had erected only a short while earlier, or of reducing- the territory
granted to the projectors of the proposed new Township of Field by
that extent.
The petition was filed on April 6, 1906, and appears to had at
the consideration of the county commissioners at their monthly ses-
sion held on that day. And the record shows that the commis-
sioners granted the petition, setting off the Township of Field as all
of township 62-19 and thirty sections of township 62-18, sections
one, two, three, four, five and six of that township having been
mcluded in the territory set apart as that to constitute the Township
of Beatty.
The first election in the Township of Field was held at the school-
house situated in the northwest quarter of section seventeen, town-
ship 62-18, on Saturday, April 21, 1906.
On August 6, 1912, the Township of Owens was organized,
which proceeding reduced the acreage of the Township of Field
to the one congressional township 62-19, (See Owens, this chapter.)
That is its present extent.
In 1906, the Township of Field (62-19 and sections 7 to 36 of
62-18) had an assessed valuation of $51,089. The tax levy was
$1,410.53. The land is now in a good state of development, agricul-
turally, the assessed valuation of township 62-19 (Field) being in
1919, $81,424, and of the thirty sections of township 62-18 (Owens),
$102,332. The increase is represented in the settler development,
Owens and Field townships having now many rich farms. The tax
levy of Field, in 1919, was $5,434.98 and of Owens $7,597.11.
The township officials of Field, in 1920, were : Andrew Scott
(chairman), A. B. Tonheim and Louis Swanson, supervisors; Peter
Burtness, clerk; Theo. Burtness, assessor; John F. Buboltz, treasurer.
The township of Field is, for school purposes, part of the unor-
ganized school district directly supervised by the county superin-
tendent. There are three schoolhouses in the township, on sections
12, 23 and 28, but whether all are in use is not known to compiler of
this record. The levy for school purposes in 1919 was 37.1 mills,
probably less than the cost of providing education by the county staff.
Fine Lakes. — The Township of Fine Lakes originally formed
part of Prairie Lake Township, which was organized in 1906 from
unorganized territory.
Upon the action of Adolf Ylen and nineteen other residents
of township 50-20 in 1909 depended the erection of that congressional
township into a separate organized township of the name of Fine
Lakes. These twenty men petitioned the county commissioners to
separate township 50-20 from Prairie Lakes, alleging that the officials
of the latter township refused to make improvements in that part of
it, the officials having "spent practically all the moneys of the said
Town of Prairie Lake in township 50-21, with the exception ot
approximately $240.00 towards helping build a county road near
the western boundary line of township 50-20," and that the officials
"wrongfully and intentionally discriminate against the residents of
township 50-20."
It seems that the petitioners originally thought to call the new
township by the name of "Blackwood," but finally the name "Fine
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 685
Lakes" was written into the petition, which was filed December 15,
1909.
No action was taken by the county commissioners until the
March session of 1910. They then ordered hearing of objections to
the granting of petition at their board meeting at the Court House,
Duluth, on Friday, May 6th. On that day, no objections to such a
course having been made, they decided to grant the petition of the
residents of township 50-20. Accordingly that township was detached
from the Township of Prairie Lakes, which by that action was lim-
ited to township 50-21, the extreme southwesterly township of St.
Louis County.
The first election in the new Township of Fine Lakes was ordered
to be held on the twenty-third day of May, 1910, at the Schoolhouse
No. 19, situated on section thirty of township 50-20.
There are several sheets of water in Fine Lakes Township, the
largest being Prairie Lake, which has an area of approximately two
square miles. The township is bounded on the east by Fond du Lac
Indian Reservation, on the north by the Township of Floodwood,
and on the west by Prairie Lake Township. Its southern boundary
is the county line between St. Louis and Carlton counties.
The assessed valuation of Fine Lakes Township in 1910 was
$67,017. Tax levy in that year, $2,781.21. It was $4,607.76 in 1919,
the assessed valuation then being only $62,776.
Prairie Lake Township (the two congressional townships) had
a population of forty-one in 1900, in 1910, the same territory was
inhabited by 199 persons. The 1920 census gives the following figures:
Fine Lakes Township, 189; Prairie Lakes Township, 136.
Originally, Fine Lakes Township was served by School District
No. 74. That district, however, now covers more than the one town-
ship, extending into township 50-19. There are four schoolhouses
in the district, the four frame buildings being in 1919 valued at $3,000.
Apparently only two are used, as the district only employs two
teachers (female), who are paid an average of $75 a month. The
total enrollment in 1919-20 year was thirty-two. The school board
officials in that year w^ere : O. R. Bolstad, Floodwood, Minnesota,
clerk; N. O. Stageberg, treasurer; Adolph Ylen, chairman of direc-
tors. The school levy in 1919 was $2,421.73.
The officials of Fine Lakes Township in 1920 were: Ole H.
Gjora (chairman), E. Nordness and E. S. Smith, supervisors; N. O.
Stageberg, clerk, also assessor, and Hans O. Gjora, treasurer.
Floodwood. Organization. — The township of Floodwood is
one of the comparatively old townships of St. Louis County. Its
organization dates back to 1893, and when township organization
was first projected, it was thought to endeavor to secure the sanc-
tion of the county commissioners to embrace within the porposed
new township eight congressional townships, extending from the
county line, two townships deep, to and including fifty-three north,
ranges 21 and 20 west. Petition to that efifect was circulated within
the territory during February of 1893. And the paper was signed
by Dauvet (David) Flill and twenty-five other legal voters resident
in the region. However, before the petition was presented to the
county commissioners it was amended to pray for the organization
of congressional township 51-20 as the Township of Floodwood
under the laws of the State of Minnesota. 1878. chapter 10. The
petition was filed with the county auditor on March 2nd, and sworn
to on that day by George C. Blackwood, one of the signers.
Vol. II — 12
686 DULUTH AND ST. T.OUIS COUNTY
First Election. — On March 30, 1893, John McKay, another signer
wrote to the county auditor acqainting him that the schoolhouse
designated in the petition as the place where the first election in the
proposed township could be held "is on Lot No. 8, Block 25, as shown
by Plat of Floodwood," further stating that: "We have two lots
for the school, viz : Lots 8 and 9, block 25, but the schoolhouse is
built on Lot No. 8. This place has been platted out of south half
of southeast quarter and also northeast quarter of southeast quarter
of section 6, township 51, range 20."
The committee appointed by the county commissioners to con-
sider the matter brought forward by the petition resolved at an
April, 1893, meeting that the petition be granted, and that election
be held at the designated schoolhouse on the twentieth of that month.
The county commissioners therefore on April 4th made an order
accordingly.
Boundaries. — The boundaries of the Township of Floodwood
have since remained unchanged, although organized townships have
since surrounded it, Fine Lakes on the south, Halden on the west.
Van Buren on the north, and the Indian Reservation on the east.
The St. Louis River passes through the township, from the north-
west to the southeast, and the territory is excellent farming acreage.
The prosperous farming community has developed the village of
Floodwood.
Valuation. — In 1893, the assessed valuation of the Township of
Floodwood was $18,595. The tax levy was $527.17. In 1919, the
assessed valuation was $80,790. The taxes, for all purposes, in 1919
were $7,796.24.
Population. — The population of the township in 1900 was_310;
in 1910 it was 745, and in 1920 the census stood at 722. These
figures include those of the Village of Floodwood. which in 1900
had a population of 224 ; in 1910 a population of 481 ; but in 1920
only 277.
Present Township Officials. — The township officials in 1920
were: Simon Reylik (chairman), John Stenback, Sr., and Charles
Nissi, supervisors; H. A. Shumaker, clerk; John H. Stenback, Jr.,
assessor, and M. W. John-son, treasurer.
School History. — The Township of Floodwood is part of the
area embraced in Independent School District No. 19. which centers
in the Village of Floodwood and serves the three congressional town-
ships 52-20, 52-21 and 51-20. The School District has three frame
schoolhouses and one of brick construction, the whole property being
valued at $55,000. The enrollment in 1919-20 year was 310, the main
school being at Floodwood. The teaching staff consists of twelve
female teachers, in addition to one male, who receives $150 a month
salary. The other teachers receive an average salary of $90 monthly.
The school board officials in 1920 were: Frank W. Hutchinson,
clerk; A. O. Molden, treasurer; Fred Wain, James Girvan, R. W.
Wilson and John Stenback, Jr., directors; A. J. Meldahl, superintend-
ent.
Floodwood Village. — A petition, dated March 18, 1899, was cir-
culated among the residents of the village, seeking to secure the
incorporation, under the laws approved March 10. 1885. as the Village
of Floodwood. twelve hundred and eighty acres including and con-
tiguous to the one hundred and twenty acres shown on Plat of Flood-
wood, township 51-20.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 687
The petition was signed by thirty-four voters, the first three to
sign being Jean W. News, John McKay, and A. A. Hall. These three
residents took oath to the accuracy of statements made in petition.
The county commissioners approved the petition, and ordered
an election to be held "at Town Hall location," section 6, 51-20, on
May 10, 1899, the commissioners appointing the same three men to
act as inspectors of election.
The election was duly held and forty-one votes were cast forty
being, in favor of the incorporation. Hence, the community then
took corporate powers.
On November 4, 1914, an election was held "for the purpose of
voting on the proposition of detaching and taking out of the incor-
porated Village of Floodwood" the unplatted lands, and "separating
the village from the Town of Floodwood for all purposes whatso-
ever." The election showed that thirty-eight of thirty-nine votes
cast were in favor of the detaching, consequently the area embraced
in the incorporated village was reduced, and to an extent this explains
the difiference in 1910 and 1920 census returns.
The assessed valuation of the incorporated Village of Flood-
wood in 1919 was $52,506; tax levy, $4,725.54. In 1899 the figures
were: $46,075 valuation; $815.53 tax. The school tax in 1919 was
42.2 mills.
The village officials in 1920, were : Garfield Blackwood, presi-
dent ; J. C. Arnold, Chas. Williams, A. O. Molden, councilmen ; M. R
Adams, clerk; James Girvan, assessor; J. L. Lalin, treasurer.
Floodwood Township is eminently agricultural. Some of the
lower lands are peaty and the high lands are sandy, with a clay sub-
soil. Grasses average from two to four tons an acre, and potatoes
from 200 to 500 bushels an acre.
The Village of Floodwood is a typical agricultural community ;
it has good general stores, each doing more than a $50,000, yearly
business, a good banking institution, the Floodwood State Bank,
which has a yearly deposit of about $45,000 and there is a strong*
agricultural co-operative society and a thriving creamery. It also
has a newspaper, an excellent brick schoolhouse and a hotel. The
Floodwood Farmers' Co-operative Society has a membership of about
eighty producers, who pool their agricultural products shipped to
other markets, and what they need to buy from outside markets they
buy collectively, at wholesale prices, through the society. The cream-
ery was organized by the farmers in May, 1911. It has about 100
stockholders and practically all the dairy farmers of the neighbor-
hood use the creamery.
Fredenberg, — The Township of Fredenberg was erected in 1904
out of part of the Township of Canosia, residents in that part of the
last-named township (52-15), praying the county commissioners, in
petition presented on July 6, 1906, to set apart as the Township of
Fredenberg congressional township fifty-two north, range fifteen west,
declaring that "said Township of Canosia is so divided by lakes, rivers,
marshes and other natural impediments that it is inconvenient for
all the citizens * * * to transact town business."
The county commissioners decided to hear objections to the peti-
tion on August 4th. On that day they set apart township 52-15 as the
Township of Fredenberg. and ordered the first township meeting to
be held at the schoolhouse on the southeast c|uarter of section 24 of
that township on August 2?i, 1904.
688 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
In that year the assessed valuation of Fredenberg Township
was $145,818. It has since scarcely changed, being a few hundred
dollars less in 1919. Taxes in 1904 totaled to $2,945.52; in 1919 the
levy was $5,784.98.
Township officials in 1920: R. T. Williams (chairman), J. A.
Roy and Chas. M. Johnson, supervisors; F. W. Johnson, clerk;
O. H. Stuberud, assessor; also treasurer.
Population of the township in 1910 was 115; in 1920 it stood
at only eighty-seven. It is, therefore, only sparcely inhabited, yet
it is a separate school district, being in School District No. 38, which
covers two townships, 52-15 (Fredenberg), and 53-15 (unorganized
territory). Township 53-15 had only twenty-seven inhabitants in
1910 and no population was reported to the 1920 census. There are
four schoolhouses in Fredenberg Township, or there were four a
few years ago, but the school report for 1919-20 school year shows
that in District No. 38 there were two frame schoolhouses, valued
at $5,000, but as only one teacher was employed during that year,
it is presumed that only one schoolhouse was used. The enrollment
was twenty-two; the teacher was paid $86.00 a month and the tax
levy for that year was $4,897.64. School board officials were : R. T.
Williams, clerk; F. W. Johnson, treasurer; H. P. Stuberud, chair-
man of directors.
French. — On Saturday, August 26, 1905, "in that certain two-
story log building known as the French House, situate on south-
west quarter of southeast quarter, section twenty-three of town-
ship sixty north, range twenty-one west" was held, by order of the
county commissioners the first town meeting of the newly-erected
Township of French, which the county commissioners were influenced
to form by a petition signed by William French, and a majority of
the freeholders of township 60-21.
The petition, which was presented by and sworn to by William
French, stated that at the time it was circulated among the residents
of the township, there were not in excess of forty voters resident in
the territory for which township powers were sought, under chapter
10, of the Laws of the State of Minnesota, 1894.
The petition was considered and approved by the county com-
missioners at their session of August 10, 1905.
French Township assessed valuation in 1905 was $192,774 ; in
1919, it was $64,676. Tax-levy in 1905 was $5,627.74; in 1919 it was
$3,350.62. In 1910, the population was 167; in 1920 it was only
thirty-one.
School District No. 54 embraces only French Township. There
is a schoolhouse, valued at $2,400, and a female teacher is employed at
a salary of $95.00 a month, notwithstanding that the enrollment for
the year 1919-20 was two. The school levy in that year was $905.46,
seemingly an expensive method of teaching two pupils. The school
board officials in that year were : Hattie Fritcher, clerk ; Sarah Por-
tugue, treasurer; W. H. French, chairman of directors.
The officials of French Township in 1920 were : Veder Fritcher.
chairman of supervisors ; O. H. Moon, clerk ; Wm. H. French,
assessor; A. W. Klofauda, treasurer.
Gnesen. — The Township of Gnesen was organized in 1879. Its
proximity to Duluth will eventually make its land valuable, although
up to the present, it cannot be said that its advance has been rapid.
In 1879 its assessed valuation was $32,086, which figure by forty
years of development was increased to $183,218, the valuation of the
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 689
township in 1919. Taxes certainly have increased more rapidly, the
twenty-two mill levy of 1879 becoming 81.7 in 1919 including a school
tax of 36.2 mills.
Gnesen has advanced slowly mainly, perhaps, because of lack of
railway facilities. The Northeastern Railway is the nearest, passing
within a few miles of the northwestern part of Gnesen Township.
Otherwise, there is only roadway means of transportation and the roads
are not very good, excepting the Vermilion Road, which passes
through the eastern half of Gnesen, entering in section 35 of township
52-14, and passing out in section 2 of 53-14. There are several small
lakes in Gnesen, which is bounded by Fredenberg and an unorgan-
ized township on the west, by unorganized territory on the north, by
the Township of Normanna on the east and by Rice Lake Township
on the south.
The present township officers are: Jos. Trudel, chairman; Peter
Trader and John Krezewski, supervisors; S. C. Machnikowski, clerk;
John Jakubek, assessor; Jacob Mosiniak, treasurer.
Its educational district is known as School District No. 8. Three
frame schoolhouses are in use in the township, the value of the three
being estimated in 1919 to be $6,900. The school in that year had
an enrollment of 101 scholars. There are five female teachers ; the
average salary was $91.00 a month; and the school term was eight
months. The school board is constituted as follows: Frank Labud,
clerk; Ignace Karalus, treasurer; John Jakubek, chairman of direc-
tors.
Grand Lake. — The Township of Grand Lake was organized in
1895, out of territory formerly part of the Township of Canosia. It
resulted from the circulation of a petition signed by residents in
townships 51-16 and 52-16 in March, 1895, asking that the two con-
gressional townships be separated from the Township of Canosia,
and given the township name of Grand Lake. William Keir was the
first signer of the petition, which was referred by the county commis-
sioners to the county attorney on May 7th. No further action was
taken until October 8th, when the instrument was found to be in
regular legal form. It was then filed by County Auditor Halden,
and considered by the county comissioners on the same day. Hear-
ing of remonstrances was set for November 5th, when the commis-
sioners organized the Township of Grand Lake, embracing the two
congressional townships named in petition, with township powers
as provided by Chapter 10, General Statutes, 1878.
The first election was held at the schoolhouse situated in the
northeast quarter of section 22, township 51-16, November 23, 1895.
There has since been no change in the boundaries of Grand Lake
Township.
The Cloquet River runs through township 52-16 and two rail-
ways pass through, the Duluth, Missabe and Northern and the
Duluth and Winnipeg, and there are several good roads.
The assessed valuation of Grand Lake Township in 1896 was
$150,979; in 1919 it was $322,210. The tax levy in 1896 was $4,474.69;
in 1919 it was $14,241.68.
Population in 1900 was 104; in 1910 it was 283, and in 1920 it
was 329.
The township is in school district No. IS, which servos the full
area of Grand Lake, i. e., township 51 and 52, range 16. There are
three frame schoolhouses, valued in 1919 at $15,000. The teaching
staff (four female teachers) get an average pay of $80.50 a month.
690 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
The enrollment in 1919-20 school year was sixty-five. The school
levy in 1919 was $3,061.00. The school board officials in that year
were : S. N. Peterson, Twig, clerk ; Arvid Anderson, treasurer ; Ed
Anderson, director.
The township officials in 1919 were: Ben Clauson (chairman),
Ed Nelson and Martin Bolland, supervisors; A. W. Kroll, clerk;
Carl A. Anderson, assessor; S. N. Peterson, treasurer.
Great Scott. — The Township of Great Scott, which embraces
three congressional townships, and one tier of sections of another,
all of range nineteen west, has administration of rich mineral terri-
tory. Within its bounds are some of the substantial mining prop-
erties of the Mesabi Range, properties which have developed the
prosperous villages of Buhl and Kinney. The jurisdiction of the
Township of Great Scott is over townships fifty-seven, fifty-eight
and fifty-nine north, and the southernmost tier of township sixty
north, all of range nineteen west.
Great Scott Township was so named under somewhat singular
circumstances. The principal petitioners called upon the county
commissioners, presenting their petition, which prayed for the organ-
ization of the territory, but left to the commissioners the task of
naming the township, when organized. This the commissioners did
not want to do, and requested the petitioners to decide upon a name.
Much pondering and discussion among the projectors followed, but
without result. At last one of the commissioners impatiently ejacu-
lated : "Great Scott I" Still thinking of a name?" "That will do,"
replied one of the promoters of the township. And under that cog-
nomination the township has since been recorded in county records.
The villages of Buhl and Kinney will be separately dealt with,
as they need a more detailed description than does Spina, the other
incorporated place of the township.
Spina (Village of). — The Village of Spina secured corporate
powers only after a long struggle against opposing interests, and
by dint of persistent effort. Twice the attempt to incorporate was
defeated at the polls and the third attempt was successful probably
because of another movement then being prosecuted to attach Spina
location to the incorporated Village of Kinney.
The first petition bears date of September 14, 1909. The paper
was signed by a sufficient number of the 222 people then resident in
the location and asked for the incorporation of about 450 acres of
land, the acreage including and adjoining the platted townsite of
Spina, the whole being in sections fourteen and fifteen of township
58-19. The first signers of the petition were Alex. Renlund, Louis
Cordileone and Fred Erickson, and it came before the county com-
missioners at their November, 1909, session. It received their
approval and they ordered election to be held on December 12, 1909,
"at the restaurant of Louis Cordileone, lot 8, block 5, townsite of
Spina." Before election could be held, however, the county commis-
sioners reconsidered their resolution, ordering election to decide the
matter of incorporation and withdrew their approval of the petition.
Why, is not recorded in the papers available to compiler of this.
On December 21, 1909, another petition was in circulation, this
petition reducing the acreage for which incorporation was sought
to 360 acres of section 14, including twenty acres platted as the town-
site of Spina. The petition was filed with the county auditor on
January 4, 1910, and on January 18th considered favorably by the
commissioners. Election was to be held on February 9th, but the
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 691
order was withdrawn by the commissioners. The petition remained
without action until October 7, 1910, when the commissioners decided
that election should be held on. November 1st.
Of fifty-one voters at that election, thirty-three voted against
the incorporation. The "Report of the Inspectors of Election" stated
that they found the place selected as the place of election was "in
a room adjoining a saloon." They considered it "an improper place
and, therefore, held the election in Johnson's Boarding House, imme-
diately west of the designated poling place."
No further attempt to secure the incorporation of Spina was
made until 1913. A petition signed by Luigi Cordileone and others
and filed with the county auditor on August 26, 1913, sought to bring
about the incorporation of only twenty acres, that is all of the land
platted as the townsite of Spina, the twenty acres being the western
half of the southwest quarter of the northwest quarter of section
fourteen, township 58-19, upon which townsite there were then resi-
dent 237 persons. The petition was signed by twenty-seven per-
sons, who were all sworn to be legal voters of that place.
At about the same time the county commissioners were advised
that a petition had been presented to the village council of Kinney
by certain residents of Spina location, asking that Spina be annexed
by the incorporated Village of Kinney. The petition had even been
adopted by the Kinney Village council, and a date fixed for election,
when the county commissioners, on September 6th, granted the peti-
tion of Luigi Cordileone and ordered notices to be posted in the
townsite of Spina calling upon voters to ballot, on October 10,
1913, and designating the "vacant store building, lot 17, block 3,
townsite of Spina" as the place of election. The voting was in favor
of incorporation.
The assessed valuation of the village of Spina in 1913, was $11,069.
In 1919, it was $15,582. Its place in the township is therefore not
a very important one, when one considers that Kinney's valuation
runs near to two millions and Buhl's to almost ten million dollars.
However, possibilities of growth in visible wealth as well as popula-
tion are ever present on the Mesabi Range, and the present Spina
may be the nucleus of a much greater Spina a decade or so hence.
Mining. — The mines of Great Scott Township are all in town-
ship 58-19. and a full review will be found in the Buhl-Kinney chap-
ter. The principal mines are, or have been, the Grant. Thorne,
Sharon, Shiras, Woodbridge, Itasca (Dean), Cavour, Yates, Kinney,
Dean, Wade, Deacon, Wanless, Seville, Whiteside and Frantz. The
ore shipped from Buhl and Kinney in 1919 season totaled to almost
one and a half million tons and immense stripping operations are
under way in one mine, where an electric 300-ton shovel has been
introduced. The available reserve of ore in the Buhl group of mines
runs into eight figures.
Schools. — The schools of Great Scott Township are excellent,
some of them being models of architectural excellence, and practical
utilitv. The high school at Buhl and the Wilson School at Kinney
are schools of which tiie township might well be proud. The school
district is known as Independent School District No. 35. wliich cen-
ters at Buhl, and has direction of education throughout townships
fiftv-eight and fifty-nine north, range nineteen west. (See Buhl-
Kinney Chapter.)
Taxes. — The assessed valuation of Great Scott Township in 1919
totaled to $586,386, exclusive of the about twelve million dollars
692 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
valuation of the incorporated places. The total taxes amount to 83.8
mills, with a school tax of 41.5 mills. The school levy in 1919 for
Independent School District No. 35 amounted to $484,464.08, that to
provide education to 1,166 children, the majority of whom are of
foreign-born parents, natives of seventeen different countries, chiefly
European. Many of the children are unable to speak in, or under-
stand, the English language when they first attend school. Ameri-
canization is soon achieved, however.
Population. — There were 108 people in the township when the
1900 census was taken. In 1910, the population was 2,322, and in
1920 there were 3,963. The bulk of the inhabitants are resident in
Kinney or Buhl village. Kinney's 1920 population was 1,200, while
Buhl had 1,005 in 1910 and 2,007 in 1920.
Township Officials, 1920. — John McGrath (chairman), Nestor
Peltonen and M. E. Anderson, supervisors; Chas. Linihan, clerk;
Geo. R. Barrett, assessor; John W. Pasich, treasurer.
Halden. — The Township of Halden, the bounds of which are
township 51-21 was organized in 1903.
On May 13th of that year a petition was signed by Joseph B.
Todd and other freeholders of the territory for which township
powers were sought, and in due course presented to the board of
county commissioners, with the request that if granted, the new
township be named "Savanna."
The petition was approved "in form and execution" by the
county attorney on June 18, 1903, but was not passed by the Board
of County Commissioners until September 3rd. The commissioners
then ordered the first town meeting of the township of Savanna to
be held at the schoolhouse situated on the northeast quarter of north-
east quarter of section 14, township 51-20, on Wednesday, September
23, 1903.
Election was accordingly held and the first officers of the town-
ship of Savanna were: Nels Wuotila (chairman), Henry Peterson
and Aug. Wuotila, supervisors ; L. Randall, clerk ; Aug. Anderson,
treasurer; Jacob Jurvelin, assessor; Henry Peterson and Aug. Wuo-
tila, justices ; Joseph Kangas and Aug. Anderson, constables.
Shortly afterwards, the county auditor was advised by the state
auditor that another name for the newly organized township must
be chosen, as "Savanna" was the name of another township in the
state. "Roosevelt" could not be secured, for the same reason. The
county commissioners, therefore, on October 6, 1903, decided to name
the township "Halden," the patronymic of the then county auditor.
Their naming was subsequently confirmed by the voters.
Halden Township in 1903 had an assessed valuation of $55,642 ;
in 1919 its valuation was $83,532. The tax levy, for all purposes, in
1903 was $2,025.37; in 1919, the levy amounted to $6,248.19. The
population in 1900 was seventy-five ; in 1910 it was 265 ; in 1920 it
was 365.
The township officials in 1920 were: Waldemar Alho (chair-
man), Glenn F. Chapin and Nathan Nelson, supervisors; S. Magnuson,
clerk ; John Hannula, assessor and treasurer.
Halden has no separate school district. It is part of the immense
unorganized school district which is directly supervised by the
county school superintendent. The school levy, in 1919, was 37.1
mills. At one time, the township of Halden was in School District
No. 19. Apparently, the county unorganized district is more economi-
cal for the taxpayers.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 693
Hermann. — Prior to May, 1897, the Township of Hermann com-
prised two congressional townships, 50-15 and 50-16. In 1873, the
valuation of the township was $18,757.00 for assessment. The total
tax levy in that year was forty mills, and as distributed, the revenue
was :
Special School Fund $150.06
General Fund 93.78
Road Fund • 93.79
Total ^337.63
In 1897, the assessed valuation of the township was $222,484.
The total tax levy was $5,651.09. In May of that year, congressional
township 50-16 was detached from Hermann Township, to form the
Township of Solway. With the necessary settling of accounts, the
statement of Otto Zebott, clerk of Hermann, showed that, on that
date, the township had no outstanding bonds ; that outstanding orders
totaled to about $20; and that there was $77.11 in the treasury.
Hermann Township since 1897 has been limited to the one con-
gressional township, 50-15. Its assessed valuation in 1919 was $206,-
638, with taxes amounting to $17,068.30 levied.
The population is not given prior to 1900, but the statistics since
that year are: 1900, 625 persons; 1910, 925; and 1920, 842 persons
resident in the township.
The Hermann Township officials in 1920 were : C. R. Olson
(chairman), Ernest Zebott and Otto A. Witte, supervisors; James
R. Grady, clerk ; Wm. Janzig, assessor, and H. Halvorson, treasurer.
School District No. 6 covers the one township 50-15 only, and
therefore comes directly into the levy of Hermann. There are four
frame schoolhouses in the district, the four valued at $35,000. The
school year is of eight months' duration and with an enrollment of
184 scholars in 1919-20, fourteen female teachers were regularly
employed, at an average salary of $81. The school levy amounted to
$7,232.33. The school board officials, 1919, were: Rudolph Martin,
clerk; Emil Johnson, treasurer; Chas. Avery, director.
Industrial. — A petition circulated in November, 1890, and signed
by John Johnson Holm and other freeholders of township 51-17
appealed to the county commissioners to grant them township powers
and privileges. The petition asked that the proposed town, if or-
ganized, be named "Industrial," and designated the house owned by
James Erickson, and situated on the southeast quarter of section 2,
of township 51-17, as the place at which the first town meeting could
conveniently be held.
The county commissioners, on February 7, 1891, granted the
petition, and ordered election to be held "at the saw-mill on the
southwest c|uarter of the southwest quarter of section 22, township
51-17." on February 26. 1891.
The election was accordingly held, and township officers chosen.
In the next year, on October 25, 1892, a majority of the white
residents of township 50-17 sought, by petition of D. F. Lemire
and fourteen other voters, to prevail upon the county commissioners
to annex to the township of Industrial all of fractional township
50-17 not included in the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation. The
petition was disapproved by the commissioners, and nothing further
was done to affect the boundaries of the Township of Industrial until
April 7, 1911, when Nick Lyngstad and others presented another
petition, making a like request, and on June 7th of that year "all
694 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
that part of township 50 north, of range 17 west, lying south and
east of the St. Louis River in St. Louis County" was attached to and
made part of the Township of Industrial.
In 1891. the assessed valuation of the Township of Industrial
was $19,749; in 1919, it was $156,531. The tax totalled to $347.58
in 1891; it amounted to $11,040.60 in 1919.
The population in 1900 was 158; in 1910 it was 362; and in 1920
a material increase was shown, the census tabulation crediting the
enlarged township with 789 residents.
The township officials in 1920 were: H. Pichelmann, chairman;
M. Bloom, supervisor; M. Galvert, clerk; F. A. Balcom, assessor;
and W. Longton, treasurer.
The school system is under the direct supervision of the county
school superintendent, there being no separate school district in
Industrial. Its territory is embraced in the huge unorganized school
district directed from the county offices at Duluth. The school levy,
in 1919, consequently amounted to 37.1 mills.
Kelsey. — The Township of Kelsey has been in existence for
more than twenty-five years. It was organized in 1895, out of unor-
ganized territory, its limits being congressional township 54-18
originally. Later, the township was enlarged to include townships
53-19 and 18 (now Meadowlands), 54-17 (now part of Cotton), 54-18
(the present bounds of Kelsey), and 54-19 (now part of Toivola).
Organization. — The organization of Kelsey Township in 1895
was the outcome of petition of F. C. W. Zacher and other legal voters
of township 54-18. The petition was dated July 9, 1895, and sought
township powers for that territory, under authority of chapter 10,
General Statutes of 1878, requesting that the new township, if or-
ganized, be named "Kelsey."
The petition came before the county attorney, for examination
on July 9th and on that day he reported to the county commissioners
that the document was correct in form and execution. On motion
of Commissioner Swenson, township 54-18 was set off as the Town-
ship of Kelsey, in accordance with petitioners' wishes.
First Election. — The first election was held "at the Pump House
of the Duluth, Missabe and Northern Railway Company," situated
on the NE quarter of section 22, of that township, on July 29, 1895."
Area Increased. — At about that time, the inhabitants of adjoin-
ing and contiguous territory manifested a desire to be included in
the organized Township of Kelsey. A petition was presented to
the county officials on August 6, 1895, asking that four other unor-
ganized congressional townships, 53-13, 53-19, 54-17, and 54-19, be
annexed to the Township of Kelsey. The petition was signed by a
majority of the legal voters of those townships, and the county com-
missioners acted quickly, granting the petition on August 6, 1895.
Organization of Meadowlands and Cotton. — So, the area of
Kelsey Township remained until 1903. On May 6, 1903, a petition
was prepared, in the hope of bringing about the separation of three
congressional townships from Kelsey. The document was signed by
C. J. Keenan and others, and asked that townships 53-18 and 53-19
be detached from Kelsey to form a new township, to be known as
"Meadowlands" and township 54-17 to form a separate township
under the name of Cotton, leaving townships 54-18 and 54-19 as the
territory of the Township of Kelsey. Hearing of remonstrances was
held by the county commissioners, and on the 13th day of July,
1903, they reorganized Kelsey, and erected the townships of Cotton
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 695
and Meadowlands, in accordance with petition (see Cotton and Mea-
dowlands articles, this chapter). The organization came under
authority of Chapter 152, General Laws of Minnesota, 1901.
Reorganization of Kelsey. — A special election was held on July
31, 1903, at Kelsey School House, to regularize the new organiza-
tion of the Township of Kelsey, and the following named residents
then took office : John E. Grandy, (chairman) ; William Conners and
H. A. Mickelson, supervisors; J. D. Post, clerk; J. McKay, treasurer.
At the first town meeting it was resolved that township officers be
paid a remuneration of $1.50 a day and expenses, on the day of
town meetings, or when upon the business of the township.
Taxes. — The Township of Kelsey had an assessed valuation of
$34,144 in 1895. Presumably this embraced the five congressional
townships. In 1919, the assessed valuation of Kelsey (54-18), was
$82,071. Taxes in 1895 amounted to $1,024.32; in 1919, the tax levy
was $5,203.30.
Erection of Toivola. — The area of Kelsey was reduced to the
one township in 1911, when the Township of Toivola was formed
from townships 54-19, which was part of Kelsey, and unorganized
township 54-20. The separation was affected on July 29th. (See
Toivola.)
Population of Kelsey. — The population of Kelsey Township was
291 in 1900, 194 in 1910, and 188 in 1920.
Transportation. — Two railways, the Great Northern and the
Duluth Missabe and Northern, pass through the township, and the
White Face River winds through Kelsey from east to southwest.
Present Officials. — The township officials, in 1920, were : G. J.
Kingsley, chairman; J. H. Schrader and J. O. Scott, supervisors;
Fred E. Watson, clerk; J. W. Erickson, assessor; J. Wm. Erickson,
treasurer.
School Systems. — Its school district is designated No. 75. There
are two schoolhouses, both of frame construction, the two valued at
$1,200 in 1919. The school term in that year was of eight months
duration. The enrollment was 43 scholars. Four female teachers
constituted the teaching staff, they receiving an average salary of
$80 a month during the school year. The school levy amounted to
$2,470.34. The school board officials were : E. L. Channer, Kelsey,
clerk; H. Person, treasurer; H. D. Makinster, chairman of directors.
Korpi. — A petition signed by fourteen legal voters of unorganized
township 60 north, range 19 west, the first signer being Charles
Kolander, sought permission of county commissioners to organize
that territory into a township to be known as '"Korpi." Petition
stated that at the time of signing, there were not more than twenty-
five male freeholders, "not less or more," in the territory.
The commissioners considered the petition, but disapproved it.
A second petition was filed on July 20, 1916, but was not fa-
vorably received by the commissioners.
The southernmost tier of sections of township 60-19 now belongs
to Great Scott Township. Federal census statistics show that town-
ship 60-19 had a population of 122 in 1910, and 92 in 1920.
Kugler. — The Township of Kugler, 61-15, was organized in 1904.
Petition was filed on August 24th of that year, signed by Martin
Nelson and others of congressional township 61-15, which the peti-
tioners sought to have organized, under chapter 10 of the Statutes
of Minnesota, 1894, as a township designated "Nelson."
696 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
At session of Board of County Commissioners September 6,
1904, the Township of Nelson was organized, and the first town
meeting was held at the schoolhouse situated on section 8, of town-
ship 61-15, on September 26th.
Later, it became known that another name must be selected for
the new township, as there was already a Nelson Township in
another part of the state. The commissioners therefore, with the
consent of the freeholders of the territory, named the township
"Kugler," that being the name of one of the county commissioners.
In 1904, the assessed valuation of the Township of Kugler was
$109,894; in 1919, it was $54,956. Taxes, in 1904, totalled to $2,285.80;
in 1919 the lew, for all purposes, was $3,984.31. The township had
a population 0^82 in 1900; 136 in 1910; and 168 in 1920.
Kugler Township borders on the Vermilion Range, and possibly
has mineral deposits of value, although no mining operations have
been undertaken within its boundaries. The township is marshy
and peaty in places, and several streams pass through it. The Duluth
and Iron Range Railway passes through the township, with two
communities, Athens and Rivers, served by the railroad. Rivers is
the larger community, although both in reality are little more than
stopping places.
The township offtcials in 1920 were : Albert Hoppa, (chairman) ;
R. Johnson and Peter Pearson, supervisors ; C. E. Wahlston, clerk ;
John Fredrickson, assessor; Gust Lee, treasurer; A. D. Fuller, justice.
Kugler, for school purposes, is in the unorganized school dis-
trict directly supervised by the county school administration. The
school levy in 1919 was 37.1 mills.
Lakewood. — The Township of Lakewood, which embraces almost
all of congressional township 51-13, was formerly part of the Town-
ship of Duluth.
Petition to set apart, from that township, congressional town-
ship 51-13 was circulated in November, 1901, and signed by D. J.
McDonnell and twenty-one other residents and legal voters of that
territory. The petition argued that it was convenient to the citizens
of township 51-13 to attend to township afifairs of the Town of
Duluth, which at that time embraced more than forty square miles.
A hearing was set for January 7,- 1902, before the county com-
missioners at Duluth Court House. No material remonstrances then
developing, the commissioners approved the petition, and notices were
prepared, calling the first town meeting of the newly organized Town
of Lakewood, January 25, 1902, at the schoolhouse situated on the
northeast quarter of section 14, township 51-13. For some reason,
the town meeting adjourned until February 15, 1902, to meet then
at the house of Z. Perault, on the south half of northeast quarter,
section 21, of that township. At that adjourned meeting, the town-
ship organization was completed by the election of the following
named residents as first township officers : David Jamieson, (chair-
man) ; Z. Perault and S. Wakelin, supervisors ; Wm. M. Jameson,
clerk; D. J. McDonnell, treasurer; Jas. Mohan, assessor; Worth
Axford, justice; Frank Erickson, constable.
The valuation of Lakewood has scarcely increased since 1902.
It then stood at $199,557 (assessed valuation) ; in 1919, the figures
were $215,313. Taxes in 1902 totaled to $4,090.92. In 1919. they were
$10,571.87. The population was 224 in 1910; in 1920 it was 294.
The present township officials are: John Hendrickson, chairman;
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 697
Ed Schau and F. P. Johnson, supervisors; James Mohan, clerk;
D. J. McDonnell, assessor; Chris Hendrickson, treasurer.
At one time Lakewood Township was in School District No. 20.
District No. 62 now serves part of township 51-13. There are three
frame schoolhouses in use, the three valued at $5,000, in 1919. The
enrollment in that year was 62, for a school year of nine months.
Four female teachers were apportioned to the district, and they
averaged a salary of $85 a month. The school levy was $3,854.10.
The school board officials were: F. J. Monkhouse, clerk; Joseph
Pommerville, treasurer; D. J. McDonnell, chairman of directors.
Lavell. — Lavell Township, which now embraces three congres-
sional townships, was first organized to have jurisdiction over un-
organized townships 55-19, in 1904.
A petition, signed by Richard Carrigan, Martin Lavell, and others
who were legal voters of congressional township 55-19, was pre-
pared during the winter of 1903-04, asking the county officials to
organize that territory, and name the township so organized "Lavell."
Martin Lavell presented the petition at the county offices for filing
on August 4, 1904, and then took oath that statements made in
petition were correct.
The matter came before the county commissioners at their meet-
ing on that day, and met with their approval. They ordered an
election to be held at the house of Martin Lavell, sw qr. ne qr., sec.
18, twp. 55-19, on August 23, 1904. Martin Lavell, acting as deputy
sherift", posted notices to that effect.
The election completed the organization of the township, and
within ten days another petition was in course of preparation, the
residents of congressional townships 56-19, 56-20, and 55-20, seeking
to have that territory annexed to the new Township of Lavell. The
petition was signed by P. E. Meehan and others, in sufficient number,
to influence the county commissioners to act upon the request. They
placed these three unorganized townships into the Township of
Lavell, taking that action at their monthly meeting of October,
1904, having considered the petition at their September meeting and
called for the hearing of remonstrances at the October session.
The boundaries remained so until November, 1913, when con-
gressional township 56-20 was separated from Lavell, and added to
the Stuntz territory (see Township of Stuntz, this chapter).
In 1904, the assessed valuation of the township of Lavell was
$267,323; in 1919, the valuation, excluding township 56-20, was
$153,343. The tax levy in 1904 was $3,795.95; in 1919, the levy was
$10,875.78 for the three townships. ^
Lavell Township is content to let its school system be part of
the unorganized school district administered by the county school
superintendent. Such an arrangement is probably less expensive for
the township, the population being scattered. Lavell Township had
a population of 548 in 1910, and 632 in 1920.
The township officials, 1920, were: John Turkula, chairman;
Jacob Hellman and Fred Rekkala, supervisors; Alex Narva, clerk;
Matt Korpi, assessor; and Herman Lammi, treasurer.
Leiding. — The Township of Leiding was organized in 1907. and
now embraces four congressional townships 64 and 65, ranges 19 and
20. The Duluth, Rainy Lake and Winnipeg Railway passes through
the township, which is the administrative centre of big logging in-
terests. Glend^ale, Orr, and Cusson are the railway stopping places,
communities having developed at each place, Orr being a trading
698 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
centre, and Cusson the largest village, being the logging headquarters
village. Pelican Lake, probably more than half a congressional town-
ship in area, is situated in townships 64 and 65, range 20, a fraction
of it breaking into range 2L There are several other smaller lakes,
and the township is rapidly becoming cleared of timber, and promises
to eventually be good agricultural land.
Organization. — A petition, dated August 27, 1907, signed by
Frank Korpi (or Karpi) and thirty-four other freeholders of con-
gressional townships 64 and 65, range 19, and of township 64-20,
sought to obtain the permission of the county commissioners to the
organization of the territory into one township, under section 451, of
the Laws of Minnesota, 1905, said organized township to take the
name of Leiding, who was the main projector. It stated that the
residence of Charles Leiding would be a convenient place at which
the voters might assemble for the holding of the first town meeting.
The petition was sworn to by Carl Laitenen, of Pelican Lake (Gheen
P. O.), on August 27, 1907, and was filed with the county auditor,
at Duluth, on September 10th.
First Election. — The county commissioners met, in monthly ses-
sion, on that day, and the petition came before them for considera-
tion. They approved it, and set apart the three townships at that
meeting, and designated the territory "Leiding" township. They also
ordered election to be held on September 28, 1907.
In April, of 1909, Charles Oakman, Nils Johnson. William Orr
and seventeen other residents of township 65-20 sought to attach that
congressional unorganized township to the township of Leiding.
Petition to that effect was filed with the county officials on April 12,
1909, was approved by the county attorney May 4th, and considered
by the board of county commissioners at their sessions of May, July,
August, and October. 1909. They finally fixed a date, December 3d
of that year, upon which they would hear remonstrances against the
projected annexation. On December 3d they granted the petition.
Township of Pelican. — An attempt was made in 1914 to detach
from Leiding, the two townships of range 20, so that they might be
organized as the Township of Pelican. Petition was circulated in
those two townships toward the end of the year. It was signed by
Nils Nilson, William Orr, and others, and sworn to on January 6,
1915. by Fred Swartz, who testified to the accuracy of the statement
that the legal voters in the territory at the time of the circulation
of the petition did not exceed fifty.. Thirty-three signed, asking for
organization under section 452, General Statutes, 1913, and indicating
that election place could conveniently be the Town Hall at Orr, in
the southeast quarter of the southeast quarter of section 1 of town-
ship 64-20. '
Movement Defeated. — The petition was considered by the com-
missioners at their January, 1915, session, and they set a hearing of
objections for February 15th next. Nine days before that date, how-
ever, the petitioners requested the commissioners to withdraw the
petition ; consequently, the petition was dismissed.
Valuation of Leiding. — The Township of Leiding had an as-
sessed valuation of $613,397 in 1907 ; in 1919, the valuation was only
$422,400, notwithstanding the increased acreage. The tax levy in
1907 was $10,024.93; in 1919 it was $28,773.94.
Population. — There were only 22 people living in Leiding Town-
ship territory in 1900; in 1910 there were 610; and in 1920. it had
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 699
increased to 892. The establishment of the Village of Ciisson is
probably the principal reason for the increase.
Cusson (village) was platted in 1909, and so named in honor of
S. J. Cusson, who at that time was the general manager of the
lumber and logging company. The village has always remained a
"company town," all the real estate and buildings belonging to the
Virginia and Rainy Lake Lumber Company. Cusson is the adminis-
trative headquarters of the company's logging operations, which are
of magnitude. It is a self-contained community, having good water,
electric lighting plant, movie, school, and other community con-
veniences. Everybody living in the village is in the employ of the.
logging company. There are an average of 125 skilled workmen
resident in Cusson, chiefly belonging to the railroad and machine
shops of the company, which owns and operates 130 miles of railway
to their many logging camps. At Cusson there are boarding houses
for single men, and twenty-five dwellings for married men, who are
able to rent a six-room house, with electric light and steam heat for
about $10 a month, with free light and water. Cusson, in reality is
a pretty village, certainly not a place such as one is apt to imagine
a community identified with the logging camps would be. It is well
administered, F. H. Gillmor, who laid out the place in 1909, and
who has been general superintendent of logging operations for the
company for many years, makes his home in it, and he, together
with his assistant, Mr. Erickson, looks well after the comfort and
well being of the people in general and sees to it that the village is
held to a sane standard of orderliness. Mr. Gillmor is one of the
pioneers of the northern part of St. Louis County. He has been
directly responsible for the clearing of timber from at least 200.000
acres of the northern part of St. Louis County, and has been in charge
of the logging operations of the two principal lumber companies that
have operated in that region, the Weyerhauser interests and the \'ir-
ginia and Rainy Lake Company. He was with the former for eight
years, and with the latter for twelve years, all spent in St. Louis
County, north of Virginia. For nineteen years he has been superin-
tendent of logging, and has caused to be cleared from the land of
Northern St. Louis County from one and one-half to two billions of
feet of timber. That in itself, in the turning of standing timber into
cash was an appreciable service to the county, which of course
directly benefitted in taxation ; but when it is realized that the clear-
ing of timber means that the way is clear for the permanent settler,
the part Mr. Gillmor has had in the pioneer work of the county has
certainly been substantial, and worthy of record. Some of the cut-
over land north of Virginia has proved to be as good agricultural
land as there is in the county.
The Village of Orr was laid out by William Orr when the
railway was built tlirtnigh the township. He owns a store which is
stated to have done a business of more than $50,000 a year. He does
much trading with the Indians of the Boise Fort Indian Reservation,
bordering Pelican Lake. At Orr is a state bank, of whicli Win. Orr
is president.
Township Officials. — The township officials of Leiding in 1^20
were: Nils Johnson, chairman; John Gabrielson and I. A. I'isiier.
supervisors; George Marette, clerk; G. H. Wirkkula, assessor; Frank
Warrlas, treasurrr.
School System. — Part of Leiding Township is served l)y School
District No. 66. and the remainder cared for. educationally, by the
700 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
county school administration. The townships of range 20 are in
what is called the unorganized school district of the county, a school
district in which there are 139 frame schoolhouses, to which go almost
4,000 children, and which district employs 162 teachers, and spends
about $15,000 a year for transportation of pupils. The school levy,
in that part of Leiding Township served by the Unorganized School
District in 1919 was 37.1 mills, on a valuation of $263,035. Town-
ships 64 and 65, north of range 19 west, are the limits of School Dis-
trict No. 66, in which are two frame schoolhouses valued at $5,000
in 1919. The enrollment was sixty-two, and three female teachers
were employed, in the year 1919-20, at an average salary of $100.00
a month. The school levy was $4,493.11. The school board officials
were: Frank Wardas, Orr, Minnesota, clerk; Peter Marion, treasurer;
Nils Johnson, chairman of directors.
Linden Grove. — The township of Linden Grove was organized in
1907. A petition filed with the county auditor in December of that
year, and signed by C. J. Everson and others, sought to induce the
county commissioners to organize congressional townships 62 and
63-20 as one township under chapter 143 of the state laws of 1905, the
town organized in accordance therewith to take the name of "Linden
Grove." The petition asked that the first town meeting be held at
the residence of Norman Linsey, situated in the northwest quarter of
section 9, of township 62-20.
C. J. Everson took oath to the accuracy of statements made in
petition, and that in the territory at that time were resident not more
than sixty legal voters.
The county commissioners met at Duluth on December 10, 1907,
and on that day formed the township of Linden Grove, with boun-
daries as asked for in petition. And they ordered the election to be
held on December 28, 1907.
Linden Grove had jurisdiction over the two congressional town-
ships until 1916, when township 63-20 was set apart to form the
township of Willow Valley (see Willow Valley, this chapter).
In 1908, the assessed valuation of Linden Grove Township was
$19,264; in 1919 it was $47,682. The tax levy was $857.25 in the
former year, and $3,323.44 in 1919.
Linden Grove, with two congressional townships, was found to
have a population of 223 in 1910; in 1920, the census showed that 225
persons were then resident in its reduced area, township 62-20.
The township had no railway connection nearer than Cook, about
seven miles from its eastern boundary, but it has some prosperous
farmers. The township is watered, as well as drained, mainly by the
Little Fork.
Linden Grove was at one time in School District No. 53, but that
school district has been dissolved, and the territory is now part of the
Unorganized School District directly supervised by the county admin-
istration. The tax levy for school purposes in 1919 was 37.1 mills.
The township officials, in 1920, were: Ben Wilkins (chairman), L.
W. Simmons, supervisor; C. J. Everson, clerk; J. B. Wien, assessor;
John Frandson, treasurer.
McDavitt— The township of McDavitt was erected in 1894, such
action by the county commissioners following the presenting of a
petition by the voters of township 56 north, range 18 west. The
petition was signed by Dagobert Mayer and twenty-four other resi-
dents of the township named, which they sought to have organized
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 701
under the provisions of chapter 10, General Statutes of 1878, as the
township of McDavitt.
The request was granted by the commissioners on March 7, 1894,
the commissioners then ordering notices to be posted in conspicuous
places throughout the township calling the voters to the first town
meeting, to be held at the residence of Ole Thorpe, situated in the
southeast quarter of northeast quarter of section 10, on March 26th.
The election was duly held, and the township has since remained
as originally constituted, as to boundaries. It is now well-developed
agricultural land in parts of the township, through which pass two
railways, a third its northeastern corner. There are several small
sheets of water, and the St. Louis river winds its way tortuously
through the township from northeast to southwest.
In 1895, the year following its erection, the township of McDavitt
had an assessed valuation of $37,178; in 1919 its valuation was $87,287.
The taxes in 1895 totalled to $721.25 ; in 1919 they were $5,805.04.
The population of the township in 1900 was 156; in 1910 it was
357 ; and 398 in 1920. Zim is the principal community within the
township.
The township officials in 1920 were: Jest Mobrcten (chairman),
Charles Newberg and Emil Johnson, supervisors; H. P. Teed, clerk;
Ole Olson, assessor; Chas. Stenlund, treasurer.
McDavitt township is served by two school districts. No. 31 (see
ElLsburg township, this chapter), and No. 80. There is only one
schoolhouse in district No. 80. It is valued at $1,000. There was an
enrollment of 28 scholars in 1919-20 year. The one teacher (female)
received $75.00 a month salary, for a term of eight months. The
school board officials, in 1919-20, were : John Mobrotin, Forbes,
Minnesota, clerk; S. M. Anderson, treasurer; Severin Johnson, chair-
man of directors. The school levy amounted to $1,046.30. The
school levy (on $45,435) for School District No. 31 was 36.1 mills.
Meadowlands. — The township of Meadowlands was erected in
1903,, out of part of the township of Kelsey. A petition was prepared
by the inhabitants of congressional townships 53 north, ranges 18 and
19 west, asking that those townships be detached from the township
of Kelsey and organized.' said new township to take the name of
Meadowlands.
Organization. — The petition came before the county commis-
sio'ners at their session of Jul}- 13, 1903. They approved the petition,
having a month earlier called for remonstrances.
First Election. — The election was accordingly held at the house
of L. J. Jochem, situated on section 23, of township 53-19, on July 31st,
and the following were elected: Andrew Nelson (chairman), Nels J.
Matson and L. Miller, supervisors; Dan O. Anderson, clerk; Gust.
Anderson, treasurer; John M. Olson and J. H. Miller, justices;
Joseph Miller and Chas. E. Lowe, constables.
Valuation. — In that year the township had an assessed valuation
of $4r).058. The land has been much improved since, the valuation
standing in 1919 at $253,035. Taxes in 1903 amounted to $1,381.74;
in 1919 the township was called upon to pay $20.1U).28. $12,000 of
which was the school levy.
School System. — Meadowlands school system is designated Inde-
pendent School District Xo. 50, which serves all of township 53-18
and ])art of township 53-19. The district has three schoolhouses, all
frame, the three valued at $15.0(X), in 1919. There is an excellent and
large consolidated school at Meadowlands (\illageL The district
Vol. 11—13
702 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
employs a staff of eight teachers, one male, whose salary was $177 a
month. The seven female teachers had an average salary of $139 a
month for the school-year of nine months. Professor E. R. Hephner
is the superintendent, and the school board officials are: A. F. John-
son, Meadowlands, clerk; Andrew Nelson, treasurer; D. O. Anderson,
Charles Palmer, John Sontra and H. A. Heldt, directors. The district
has a good reputation, its standard of education being excellent.
General. — The population of Meadowlands in 1910 was 451 ; in
1920 it stood at 7Tb. It is the center of fine agricultural land, and
there are some excellent farming properties in the township. The
Duluth and Iron Range Railway Company has a large demonstration
farm at Meadowlands. The White Face river passes through the
township, and to the west, dividing Elmer township from Meadow-
lands, the St. Louis river runs. Its course through township 53-19
places about six sections of that township within the limits of Elmer
(see Elmer township,- this chapter). Two branches of the Duluth,
Missabe and Northern railway passes through Meadowlands town-
ship, one branch having a station at Meadowlands, and the other at
Birch and Payne. The Great Northern railway also passes through,
so that in railway facilities Meadowlands is favorably situated.
Present Officials. — The township officials in 1920 were : Chas. F.
Palmer (chairman). Max Bernsdorf and Roy Speece, supervisors;
Max Schleinitz, clerk; Ralph E. Armstrong, assessor; Herman A.
Heldt, treasurer.
Mesaba. — The township of Mesaba, the boundary of which is
that of congressional township fifty-nine north, range 14 west, seemed
at one time to be of much more importance to St. Louis County than
it appears to be today. In it were undertaken some of the first explor-
ations for iron ore of the Mesabi range.
A Pioneer's Story of the Mesabi. — David T. Adams, now of Chi-
cago and Duluth, but in the eighties and nineties of the nineteenth
century one of the most successful and capable mining pioneer ex-
plorers of the Mesabi Iron Range, writes, under date of December
7, 1920:
"The actual Mesabi range in which iron ore of commercial grade
was found is that part lying horizontally in the low lands along the
easterly foot of the height of land in Minnesota known as the Mesabi
Heights, from a point in township 59, range 14, southwesterly through
St. Louis County and into Itasca County, comprising a total distance
of approximately 110 miles. It is a hematite formation, and is cov-
ered in the main by glacial drifts and erosion from the high lands to
the north. A change in the formation takes place in about the center
of township 59-14, and from there on, northeasterly to its terminus
on the east side of Birch Lake, in the Vermilion range basin, is a
magnetic formation, projecting above the surface and surrounding
country, and in some places pitching sharply to the south under the
gabbro, which is found in that locality. It was not known that the
magnetic formation, comprising the eastern end of the Mesabi range,
changed in character and had any connection with the hematite for-
mation to the west of a point in township 59-14, until some time dur-
ing the years 1883 and 1889. Fragments of rock from the formation
and clean pieces of hematite ore were strewn over the surface along
its entire length, from about the center of township 59-14, St. Louis
County, and extending for several miles to the south of the range, and
in some places to the north, covering a large area in width, as well as
in length. And until the years between 1883 and 1889 no one seemed
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 703
to know anything about the western part of the range, or its trend,
excepting to advance the theory that a blanket formation existed
somewhere inside of the borders of the drift area, and that commercial
deposits of ore could not exist in the formation on account of its
nature and horizontal position which was a complete change, and
unlike any other iron range in the Lake Superior region, or anywhere
known at that time.
"There have been many conflicting stories written by outsiders
on the discovery of the Mesabi range, some contending that the range
was known to the Indians for generations, and by the earliest white
inhabitants of northern Minnesota. Their contentions were true in
certain respects. What is known as the eastern end of the Mesabi
range, which outcrops boldly and is magnetic in character, was
known to exist years before the Mesabi Range proper was dis-
covered. * * *
"My attention was attracted to the possibility of the existence of
commercial bodies of hematite ore in the southeastern slope, or in
the low lands of the Mesabi Heights, in the year 1883. In the fall of
that year, I made a trip from Agate Bay (where now is the city of
Two Harbors, Lake county, Minn.), accompanied by one James Lane.
Our route was across country, following as nearly as possible the
survey of the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad, which was then being
constructed from Agate Bay to Tower. The purpose of the trip was
to inspect the country, along the survey, for its mineral possibilities.
At a point about one mile southeasterly of what is known as the
Mesabi Gap, and south of the Tamarack swamp which lies at the foot
of the gap, my attention was attracted by fragments of quartz and
clean pieces of hematite ore strewn over the surface, at a point which
I learned after to be in section 20, township 59-14. I spent a few
days in that vicinity, exploring the country as far east as the magnetic
cropping, and southwest over the hematite formation in the footlands
along the slope of the Mesabi Heights for some distance. In this
latter direction I found numerous indications of drift ore and quartz,
as far as I went. I ascended the hills to the north of the places where
I found the drift in the bottom lands to be the thickest, and in each
ascent I made I found that the drift ore of the character found in the
low lands at the foot of the heights disappeared completely, which
was conclusive evidence that the numerous pieces of clean drift ore
found in the low lands to the south of the Heights did not come from
its summit, nor from the Vermilion range to the north, but must have
come from an iron formation under the surface of the low lands, im-
mediately south of the Heights. The drift ore did not show any great
glacial wear, indicating plainly that the fragments of the ore were
pressed up from the formation by frost, or broken from the ledge and
washed to the surface by floods or torrents descending from the high
lands through ancient water courses. The theory I formed at that
time on the possible occurrence of merchantable deposits of ore in the
low lands along the southeasterly slope of the Mesabi Heights (only
more in detail) was never changed, and was always followed by me
during all of my explorations in after years on the Mesabi range. I
returned from this trip the same way I went in, and did not return
to the range again for three years. * * *
"Some time during the spring of 1887, I made another trip to the
west end of the range, accompanied by A. J. Harding, then of Duluth.
On this trip, I traced the range to the southwest, from the ledge in
Prairie River to the Mississippi River. * * ^k j then travelled
704 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
northerly from Prairie River for a considerable distance, examining
the drift ore as i went, and tracmg it to the north boundaries of its
source. After live or six days to the east, I returned to Prairie River,
and pitched camp on the south side, between the upper and lower
rapids. That same night, Captain LeDuc, then of Duluth, ]>ut a
veteran explorer and mining man of the Michigan ranges, and his
son, Ernest, who had come through the country from 59-14, on the
eastern end of the range, pitched their tent alongside mine, and we all
spent a delightful evening around the camp fire, talking of former
exploring trips, * * * and of the possibilities of the new range.
In the course of our conversation, the captain told me of many places
where he had found drift ore and quartz on the surface, also that in
his opinion some of the largest bodies of hematite ore in the world
would be found in the future somewhere between township 59-14 and
where we were camped. I heartily agreed with him, as he was the
only man I had heard, up to that time, express that view. * "^^ *
"In, about, the winter of 1887, and during the spring and summer
of 1888, Captain John Mailman of Duluth did some exploring on the
east end, in section 11, of 59-14. He was the first to start actual
explorations on the east end; and in the exact place, section 20-59-14,
where I found my first drift ore in the fall of 1883. Captain Frank
Hibbing did some work, .* * * but none of these explorations
proved a success.
"In, or about, the fall of 1888, I gathered about 500 pounds of
banded magnetic ore and slates from croppings in township 59-14, in
the interest of Judge Ensign, Colonel Gagy, Major Hover, and a Mr.
Peatre. I took the ore to New Jersey (the name of the place I have
forgotten), and had a concentrating test made on a magnetic con-
centrator invented by one George Finney — possibly the first of its
kind in existence. The separation was successful ; the ore after treat-
ment analysed well over 60 per cent in metal, but on account of the
high cost of treating the ore at the time, nothing further was done
by us, in trying to commercialize the magnetic ores of the eastern
Mesabi. In the winter of 1888 and 1889, I did some work in section
11-59-14 on the magnetic formation, with no success."
Mesaba Village Township Organization. — From the foregoing
extracts from the narrative of Mr. David T. Adams, it will be realized
that the thoughts of mining men of St. Louis county were, as regards
the Mesabi range, first centered on township 59-14, which now is the
township of Mesaba. In the early '90s, lumbering operations, and
mining explorations were active in that township, and a community
formed in section 21, it being ascertained that 201 people were resi-
dent there on May 25, 1891, when a census was taken for the purposes
of prosecuting an endeavor to get corporate powers for the com-
munity. A petition, bearing date May 29, 1891, was circulated in
that part of congressional township 59-14, and signed by E. P. Lowe,
F. C. Colvin, and thirty-eight others, praying the county commis-
sioners to grant the inhabitants corporate powers, under chapter 145,
General Laws of Minnesota, 1885, as a village called "Mesaba," with
boundaries as follows: eighty acres situated in section 21, being the
southern half of the northw'est quarter of that section of township
59-14, said eighty acres having already been platted, and the plat
recorded at the office of the Register of Deeds, on May 13, 1891, and
designated the "Mesaba Central Division."
First Election.— The petition came before the county commis-
sioners at their June, 1891, session, and meeting with their approval,
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 705
an election was ordered to be held at the schoolhouse, lot 32, block 1,
of townsite of Mesaba Central Division, on July 7th. It was duly-
held, and resulted in seventy-seven of the eighty-two votes cast being
in favor of the incorporation.
First Officers. — Election for officers was held at the same place
on July 25, 1891, when the following named residents were elected:
E. P. Lowe, president; F. S. Colvin, recorder; A. G. McKinley, treas-
urer; John L. Olson, James Caza and E. A. Taylor, trustees; D. B.
Clark and J. H. Woodman, justices; Fred Nelson and A. H. Allen,
constables.
Petition to annex land in the south part of the north-eastern
quarter of north-western quarter of section 21 was presented to the
county officials early in March, 1893. Election was held in the vil-
lage on May 16th, and, of 31 votes cast, 28 favored the addition to
the village.
Village and Township Assessment. — The village of Mesaba has
almost passed away. Its population, never big, has dwindled to an
insignificant number. In 1910 there were 84 people living in it, and
in 1920 only 54. It had had two or three spurts of activity in its
history, but they have not been of long duration or much consequence.
It is rather remarkable that, in 1914, a Town Hall of brick and stone
was built at a cost of $9,000, and a water and lighting system installed.
While there are several mines in the township, the assessed valuation
of both village and township does not exceed $440,000. And the
population of both township and village has dropped from 697 in 1910
to 115 in 1920.
The village officials in 1920 were: John Wallace, president; Geo.
H. Saliday, Jack Reed, and A. D. McRae, councilmen ; A. P. McRae,
clerk; Chas. Wallberg, treasurer.
Not many of the old pioneers of the village and township still
reside in it. Judge A. D. McRae is probably the oldest resident, and
he dates back, in residence, only to 1899.
There is a fine school building at Mesaba, but the village and
township school system is under the direction of the Aurora district
(No. 13).
Organization of Township.— The incorporation of the village of
Mesal)a preceded the organization of the township of that name. The
township was not formed until September, 1892, fifteen months after
the village took corporate power. It was then brought about in
response to a petition signed by A. M. McKinley, E. P. Lowe, D. B.
Clark, F. S. Colvin, and others, the commissioners granting the peti-
tion on .September 6th.
First Township Officials. — Election was held, "at the Mesaba
Lumber Companv's store building in the village of Mesaba." on Sep-
tember 24. 1892, and brought the"" following into office: N. B. Shank
(chairman), Thos. McDonald and Frank Schue, supervisors; G. J.
Hardy, clerk; F. S. Colvin, treasurer; Jas. A. Robb, assessor; D. B.
Clark and John L. Olson, justices; Fred Nelson and Fred Clark, con-
stables. According to custom, the clerk notified the county auditor
of result of election. After listing names of olficers he added: "all
good Republicans but one."
Mining in Township. — Mining has not been appreciable in the
township. John Mailman's work of test-pitting and shaft-sinking did
not create or hold interest after the great discoveries further west on
the Mesabi range in 1890 and later." John Mailman had leased land
from Lazarus Silverman, of Chicago, and in association with Trimble
706 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
had gone well forward with his work when the rush westward oc-
curred. The Alallman property passed through many hands during
the next decade or so. In, about, 1905, it came into the control of
Capt. M. L. Fay. Later, the lease was sold to Capt. G. A. St. Clair,
and the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad Company built a five-mile
spur to connect the property with their system, in 1907. It became
known as the Spring mine, and in 1907, 15,000 tons of ore was shipped
from it, 20,000 tons in 1909, and 30,000 tons in 1910, since which year
it has not been worked.
The Mayas mine, Northeast quarter southwest section 15, town-
ship 59-14, also belonged to the St. Clair interest. It was explored in
1905, and began shipping in 1906, in that year shipping 107,244 tons,
and slightly more in the next year. Nothing further came from it
until 1918 when (as from the Vega mine) came 4,382 tons, and in 1919
8,799 tons.
From the Knox mine, explored by Hartley, Congdon and others
in 1903, shipments began in 1909. Only about 350,000 tons has, how-
ever, been won from this mine, which is situated in southeast quarter
southwest section 19-59-14. It is now owned by the Graham Iron
Company, which company also operates the Graham mine, 2-59-14.
That started shipping in 1913, and in the next four years produced
more than eleven hundred thousand tons. The Vivian mine, 20-59-14,
owned by the Northern Pacific Railway Company, was operated for
three years, 1913-15, and yielded about 73,000 tons. The only other
mine in 59-14 is the Adriatic, west quarter northeast section 30-59-14,
operated by the Adriatic Mining Company. The mine was explored
by O. D. Kinney, E. B. Hawkins, and others in 1901-02, and is one
of the Pickands Mather and Company properties. The first shipment
from it was in 1906, and only 1,100,000 tons have been mined there
altogether.
Taxes. — That is the extent of the mining operations in Mesaba
Township, and there is not much more ore in sight. Still, even yet the
township pays a substantial sum in taxes. In 1892, the tax levy in
township and village of Mesaba totalled to $806.99; in 1919 the levy
was $32,246.61.
Township Officials, 1920.— The township officials, in 1920, were:
John Wallace (chairman), Chas. Wallberg and Even Froen, super-
visors; C. M. Ford, clerk; A. P. McRae, assessor; J. C. Schmid,
treasurer.
Midway. — The township of Midway is a continuation of the old
township of Fond du Lac, which was one of the oldest townships of
the county.
St. Louis County, Minnesota, was erected in 1856, and in the same
year the village of Fond-du-Lac was surveyed by Richard Ralf, and
platted into village lots. The plats were signed by James A. Mark-
land, attorney for the proprietors.
The townships of St. Louis County in 1873 were Duluth, Oneota,
Fond-du-Lac, Rice Lake, and Hermann. All else was classed as
"outside lands."
The township of Fond-du-Lac in that year had a taxable value of
$35,408.00. The total levy was forty-two mills.
A census of Fond-du-Lac was taken on January 30, 1893, and
showed that there were then 190 residents in the area.
At about that time a petition was circulated, with the object of
"incorporating as the village of Fond-du-Lac all of sections 5. 6, 7
and 8 of township 48-15," a portion of the territory "duly platted into
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
707
lots and blocks, as the town of Fond-du-Lac," and duly recorded in
the office of the Register of Deeds ; and sections 6 and 8 "platted as
East Fond-du-Lac"; the balance unplatted, it being asserted that no
part was in any incorporated village or city.
The petition was signed by W. H. Hollenbeck, and thirty-one
other freeholders, and was dated February 28, 1893.
The petition was approved and granted on March 3, 1893. Ac-
cordingly, election was held, on April 11th, W. H. Hollenbeck, B. F.
Bishop, and C. A. Krause acting as inspectors of election. They
certified that at the School House of District No. 2, of St. Louis
county on April 11. 1893. the election was held, and that, of forty
ballots cast, thirty-one votes were in favor of incorporation, and nine
against.
HISTORIC FOXD DU LAC
On July 7, 1896, a petition, signed by Olaf Gulbrandson and
thirty-five others, sought to change the name of the township of
Fond-du-Lac to "Midway." The county commissioners granted the
I)etition on that (la\'. The townshi]) then had an assessed valuation of
$96,596; in 1919 it' was onlv $123,277. The taxes in 1896 amounted
to $2,023.31. In 1919 they totalled to $7,024.45.
I"(in(l-du-Lac is in two school districts: Independent School Dis-
trict No. 1 (see Proctor), and district No. 7. District No. 7 embraces
most of township 49-15, and has three schoolhouses. all of frame con-
struction, the three \alued at $2,500. The enrollment at these rural
schools in 1919 totalled to 112 scholars. They were instructed by
three female teachers, who received an a\ erage salary of $80 a month,
for the school year of eight months, 'i'he school levy was $1,906.10.
The school board ofiicials in l*>l*'-20 were: H. Norman, clerk: Mrs.
Anna B. hOrsell, treasurer; 1'. I'".. Nortlin,. chairman of directors.
School District No. 1 made a school levy of 62 mills, Midway's share
being on an assessed valuation of $U),588.
The township officials in 1''20 were: ;\aron Stark (chairman),
Eric Johnson and John .\. .-Xnderson. supervisors; Henry Xorman,
clerk; Emil L. Nolin, assessor; John I". Anderson, treasurer.
708 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
The foregoing is only a brief, but necessary, review of Midway
township for this chapter. Many other references will be found else-
where in this volume to Fond-du-Lac, one of the most historic places
of St. Louis County; in fact, of Minnesota.
Missabe Mountain. — The Township of Missabe Mountain, which
is one of the wealthiest of the county, was organized in 1892. In
1892, its assessed valuation was $315,400, but mining discoveries and
developments, and the rapid growth of the cities and villages within
its borders — Virginia. Eveleth, Franklin and Gilbert — has increased
its valuation to more than $64,000,000, and taxes amounting to almost
$4,500,000 were levied on property of Missabe Mountain Township
and incorporated places in 1919. In 1892, the total tax levy of Missabe
Township was $5,152.87. Truly, a noteworthy development within
a period of not much more than a generation.
Township Organization. — In June, 1892, a petition was circulated
among the residents of congressional township 58-17. The petition,
addressed to the county commissioners asked that petitioners, legal
voters of the territory concerned, be granted township powers, pro-
vided by chapter 10, of the General Statutes of Minnesota, 1878. over
township 58-17. J. D. Middleton swore to the accuracy of the state-
ments made in petition, on June 3, 1892, on which da}^ it came before
the county commissioners for their consideration. They approved
the petition, and set ofif township 58-17 as the Township of Missabe
Mountain, and ordered election to be held at the Missabe Mountain
Camp, situated in the western half of section 8, on June 22d.
First Officers. — Election was. then held, eighteen votes being cast.
with the following result: Charles Davis, Emile Burnett and Thomas
Short were elected supervisors, the last named being chairman ; A. L.
Culbertson, treasurer; Noble Beatty, assessor; Greenway and C. D.
Hanson, justices; John ]McLeod and James Gallagher, constables;
Joseph Elliott, clerk.
Mining. — The mining operations within the boundaries of Mis-
sabe Mountain Township are of such extent that even the briefest
review could not be made in this chapter. But in other parts of
this work ample reference to that phase of the township affairs will
be made. And the establishment and growth of the cities of Vir-
ginia and Eveleth, and of the village of Gilbert will be the subjects
of special chapters.
Population. — The population of the township in 1890 was so
small that it has not been recorded. In 1900 the population was
2,246; in 1910 it had increased to 5,410; and in 1920, to 5.502. These
figures are exclusive of the two cities Virginia and Eveleth, but in-
clusive of the two villages of Gilbert and Franklin. Franklin's
population, in 1920, was 807. (It was not incorporated until 1915.)
Gilbert, which was incorporated in 1908, had a population of 1,700
in 1910 and 3,510 in 1920. Add Virginia 1920 population, 14,022, and
that of Eveleth, 7,205, to the figures for the township, and it will be
seen that Missabe Mountain Township is the most populous of the
Range townships.
Education. — Missabe Mountain is in three school districts. Nos.
18, 22, and 39, Gilbert, Virginia, and Eveleth, respectively. Gilbert
Independent School District No. 18 has direction and responsibility
for education in part of townships 57, 58, and 59-16, and part of 58-17;
Virginia Independent School District No. 22 has the administration
of school affairs in township 59-17 and part of 58-17; and Eveleth
Independent School District No. 39 covers 57-17 and part of 58-17.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
709
The history of these school districts will be found in the city and
village chapters.
Franklin, The Incorporated Village of. — A petition, signed by
George L. Noyes, G. H. Lohneis, and Joseph Hendy and others
resident in the mining location known as Franklin, was circulated
in January, 1915, the petition seeking to obtain consent of the county
officials to the incorporation, as a village to be named "Franklin,"
of the "westerly 518 feet SE qr., NW qr., sec. 9, of township 58-17,
platted into lots and blocks, as the Plat of Franklin" and certain
adjoining territory, embracing in all about 1,320 acres. A census
carefully taken, of the people living on the land for which corporate
powers were sought disclosed that, between January 26th and Feb-
ruary 2d of that year, 1915, there were 908 residents. This and
other statements made in petition were sworn to, as to accuracy,
by the petitioners above named. The petition was filed with the
MISSABE MOUNTAIN TOWNSHIP HALL (.NOW IMF.
KVELETH masons)
IIONLK OF
county auditor on February 5, 1915, and considered by the county
commissioners on the day next following. They adopted the peti-
tion at that meeting, and ordered election to be held on March 6.
1915, at the Franklin Mine Office.
The election was held, and of seventy votes cast, sixty-five were
in favor, and five against.
It is a well administered mining village, with many of the con-
veniences of larger communities. On December 17. 1917, an election
was held to decide whether ordinance "providing for the erection
of a waterworks for public purposes, and for private use, in the Vil-
lage of Franklin * * * to cost not to exceed sixty thousand
dollars" shall be ratified. Twenty voted, all in favor.
The Franklin Mine, which belongs to the Republic Iron and
Steel Company has been worked steadily for a generation, and has
yielded about 2,400,000 tons of ore. Apparently, very little is now
available.
Old Town Hall. — It is of interest to note that the Missabe
Mountain Town Hall, which was built at a cost of $10,000 in 1906,
710 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
at the north end of Adams Avenue, Eveleth, was sold in 1919, or
1920, to the Masonic fraternity of Eveleth. The historic building,
after considerable alteration, both to interior and exterior was opened,
with appropriate ceremonies, as the Masonic Temple, in October,
1920.
Present Officials. — The officials of Missabe Mountain Township
in 1920 were: Ed Coombe, chairman; T. A. Flannigan, and J. W.
Williams, supervisors; D. D. Rutherford, clerk; Roy Edmunds, as-
sessor; Floyd F. Murray, treasurer.
Morcom. — The Township of Morcom, the area of which is one
congressional township, that of township 61 north, range 21 west,
was erected in 1903. It is far from railroads, but is good agricultural
territory, being bounded by French Township on the south, by Stur-
geon Township on the east, by unorganized territory on the north,
and by Itasca County on the west.
F. A. Thompson and fourteen other freeholders of township 61-21
signed a petition on June 1, 1903, asking the county commissioners
to organize their territory as the Township of Sturgeon. (Sturgeon
Lake is within a couple of miles of the southern boundary line of
Morcom Township, and Sturgeon Townships, 61-20. had not then
been formed.) However, the township name was altered before the
petition was presented to the county officials, the second name chosen
for the township being "Roosevelt."
As the Township of Roosevelt, the commissioners erected town-
ship 61-21 into organized territory, on September 3, 1903. They
caused notices to be placed in public places throughout that territory
notifying the legal voters of it that an election would be held on
September 23, 1903. The election was held and the township came
into actual administration as an organized area. The state auditor
found, however, that there was another Township of Rodsevelt in
the state, and consequently requested the county commissioners to
cause to be selected another name for the organized township 61-21..
The commissioners appear to have then themselves selected a name,
that of Morcom. probal:)ly to honor the long service to the county of
Commissioner Elisha Morcom, of Soudan. The name was confirmed
by the residents of the township.
In 1904, Morcom Township had an assessed valuation of $48,732;
in 1919 its valuation was $66,657. Its taxes increased in the same
period from $1,481.45 to $3,912.76.
The federal census showed only one person as having residence
in township 61-21 in 1900; in 1910, the population was stated to be
76; and in 1920, 125. They are legitimate settlers — agricultural pio-
neers, who are clearing wild or cut-over lands, and bringing them
gradually into good farming acreages.
The present township officers are: Ole H. Johnorud, chairman;
Theo. Helm and Gullik Fosso, supervisors; Ole J. Eid. clerk; L. E.
Sellberg, assessor; A. A. Olson, treasurer.
The township is the area covered by School District No. 48.
There are two schoolhouses, both of frame, valued in 1919 at $3,000.
Apparently, however, only one schoolhouse is in use, as during the
school year 1919, when the enrollment of scholars in the tov/nship
was 26, only one teacher was engaged, she being paid a salary of
$95 a month, for the school year of nine months. The school levy in
that year was $1,486.45. The school board is at present constituted
as follows: Herman Thompson Cook, clerk; A. A. Olson, treasurer;
Mrs. E. E. Pixley, chairman of directors.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 711
Morse. — The Township of Morse, which embraces four congres-
sional townships, is particularly historic. Its organization dates back
to 1887, and its history to the pioneer mining days of Northern Min-
nesota. The City of Ely, and Village of Winton are within its bor-
ders, and some of the richest mines of the Vermilion Range. Its
valuation (assessed) has increased from $41,693, in 1887, to $6,768,738
in 1919, the last figure including the City of Ely, the assessed valua-
tion of which in 1919 was $4,767,996. The Township of Morse
contributed to the taxes of St. Louis County in 1887 only $366.90. In
1919, the tax levy (including Ely and Winton) of Morse Township
was $522,148.77. It will therefore be seen that Morse Township is a
factor of importance to and in St. Louis County.
The township was organized by the county commissioners at
their session of July 9, 1887, such action being taken in response to a
petition dated June 16, 1887, said petition having the signatures of
H. R. Harvey, J. H. Hopperton and others, and seeking the organiza-
tion as the "Town of Morse," of congressional townships 62 and 63
north, range 12 west, "and such portions of townships 63-11 and 62-11
as are in St. Louis County."
The election, or first town meeting, was ordered by the commis-
sioners to be held on July 28th of that year, "at the Post Office
Building in the Town of Ely."
Thus, the Township of Morse came into being. There had been
an earlier attempt to organize township 63-12, as the township of
"Odanau," a petition to that effect having been prepared in May. 1887,
signed by Thomas Ross, D. A. Ross, and others, and dated May 31st,
but whether this petition came before the commissioners earlier than
that dated June 16th, upon which they acted, is not clear, the record
stating that the petition of Thomas Ross and others was referred
back to the commissioners without recommendation by the com-
mittee appointed to examine and consider it. It came back to the
commissioners at the session of July 9, 1887, and was "laid on the
table," the commissioners on same day granting the Harvey-Hop-
perton petition.
Ely, Village of. — Ely became a village in 1888, and a city in 1891,
as will be elsewhere reviewed in this work, and now has a popula-
tion of 4,902.
Winton, Village of. — The Village of Winton was' incorporated
in 1901, a petition, dated May 22d, of that year, and signed by C. O.
Bystrom and John L. Olson and others then resident in the territory
concerned, sought to have incorporated all "that portion of the SE
qr. of NE qr., and the NE qr. of SE qr. of section 24 of township
63-12," as the village of "Fall Lake," under authority of chapter 145
of the General Laws of Minnesota, 1885, said land having been
platted, and the plat filed with the Register of Deeds, at the countv
offices. Duluth, on October 5, 1899. and marked : "Plat of Fall Lake."
The petition was filed in the office of the county auditor on June
1, 1901, and came before the county commissioners for their con-
sideration and action on June 10th. They ordered a special election
to be held to ascertain the will of the voters of that territory, desig-
nating the "lower room of building on lot 4, block 5, of plat of Fall
Lake" as the place of assembly for voting, and setting Jul}' 23d as
the day of election.
The election having confirmed the petition, the commissioners
ordered election to be held at same place on August 10, 1901. to
bring the incorporation into operation by the election of village
712
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
officers for that year, and in clue course the village administration
became: L. B. Hagcn. i)resident; N. M. Buffer, recorder; Hy Meyer,
J. P. Westlund and Andrew Hansen, trustees; Henry Dastula, treas-
urer; Frank Carlson and Oscar Olson, justices; J. W. Wilkins and
John Meyer, constables.
The Village of Fall Lake became a separate election and assess-
ment district in 1906, and continued as "Fall Lake" until 1914. Ordi-
nance No. 21, passed and approved May 12, 1914. was authority for
the change of the village name from "Fall Lake" to "Winton.*'
Winton (as Fall Lake) had an assessed valuation of $19,126 in
1902, and the tax levy was $638.81. for all purposes. In 1919 its
valuation was $36,034, and levy $2,637.43.
It is part of School District No. 12 (Ely), and the school levy
in 1919 was 26.7 mills. Its population on May 22, 1901, when census
was taken for the purposes of petition for incorporation, was stated
PIONEER SHAFT AND POWERHOUSE, ELY
in that instrument to have been 227 persons ; the federal census of
1910 showed 423 residents ; and the 1920 census credited Winton
Village with 499 inhabitants, so that its growth has been healthy.
The village officials in 1920 were: Andrew Hanson, president;
George Hendrickson, John Maki, Gust Kuskila, trustees; Oscar Lar-
son, clerk ; John A. Hurtiey, assessor ; Gust Johnson, treasurer.
The important mining within Morse Township will be the sub-
ject of a special chapter of this work, and need not be further written
of here. The lakes of the township will also be referred to elsewhere ;
they make the township one of the most beautiful in St. Louis County.
The township officials in 1920 were: Alex Whitten, chairman;
H. J. Fatlalid, supervisors; I. J. Walker, clerk; H. C. Hurning,
assessor ; Matt Knutte, treasurer.
New Independence. — The Township of New Independence is
one of the well-established farming townships of St. Louis County.
It was set off in 1890, following a petition b}^ Peter E. Schelin and
others.
They wished to have township 52-17 organized as the Town of
"Independence." The petitioners were represented by P. E. Schelin
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 713
and E. S. Erickson. who filed the paper with the county authorities
on February 25, 1890, and then took oath to the accuracy of the
statements made in the petition, also to the regularity of its signing.
The question of organization came before the county commis-
sioners at probably one or more meetings before that during which
they granted the request, and organized the township, which they
did on June 5th of that year. They named it "Independence," and
the first township meeting, which was held in the log house on the
northeast quarter of section 34 of that township, on June 24th, was
conducted in the name of the town of "Independence. " When it
became "New Independence" has not been discovered by present com-
piler.
The Township of New Independence is bounded by the Town-
ship of Industrial on the south, by that of Grand Lake on the east,
by Northland, on the north, and by Alborn on the west. It has
two small communities. Independence being the larger. There are
a couple of lakes in the township, and the Cloquet River passes
through a few sections in the southeast. It has no railway con-
nection, but three systems pass within easy reach.
The township had an assessed valuation of $24,587 in 1890; in
1919 its valuation was $65,517. It pays about $5,000 a year in taxes.
The population of the township in 1900 was 77 \ in 1910 it was
241 ; and in 1920 there were 233 residents.
The school system is mainly under the county school superin-
tendent, as part of the Unorganized School District, which takes over
the direction of education in sparsely populated townships. Part
of the township comes into School District No. 33 (Alborn).
The present township ofificials are : S. T. Haakenson, (chair-
man) ; Charles Schelin and Walter Schwartz, supervisors; Erik J.
Erikson, clerk; John Fjerem, assessor; Emil Windmiller, treasurer.
Nichols. — The Township of Nichols, the boundaries of which
ai'e township 58 north, range 18 west, and the southern half of town-
ship 59 north, range 8 west, might appropriately have been named
the Township of Merritt, for its most important history has been that
which has reference to the mining explorations and operations of the
brothers Merritt, who were the first to bring Mesabi iron ore onto
. the market by railroad. The brothers Merritt, of Duluth, were the
most active of the interests that sought in the early '90s to prove
and market the ore that explorers were convinced was to be found
on the Mesabi Range; their operations were on a larger scale than
th6se of any other interest on the Mesabi in the first few years of
the last decade of the Nineteenth Century ; and although, in the main,
the financial benefits of their initial operations passed to other capi-
talists, the brothers Merritt probably arc entitled to the first place
among the pioneer explorers and mine operators of the Mesabi
Iron Range of Minnesota. They had many experienced mining men
test-pitting for them in 1890-92, and their most spectacular opera-
tions were in township 58-18, where they developed the Mountain
Iron Mine, from which the first trainload of ore shipped from the
Mesabi Range left Mountain Iron in October. 1892. the enterprise
of the Merritt companies also being responsible for the tapping of
the district bv a railway.
Early Explorations.— The U. S. Cieological Survey. XLllI,
records the follt)uing of the Merritts, and their operations:
"The most important of the explorers were the Merritts, and
tluir faith in the Range was the first to be rew.irded. One of their
714 DULUTH AXD ST. LOUIS COUNTY
test pit crews, in charge of Capt. J. A. Nichols, of Duluth, struck
ore on November 16, 1890, in NW qr., sec. 3, T. 58 N., R.18 W.,
just north of what is now known as the Mountain Iron Mine. Ore
was next discovered by John McCaskill, an explorer, who observed
ore cHnging to the roots of an upturned tree on what is now the
Biwabik mine. This led to the discovery of that mine, in August,
1891. Ore was quickly discovered in other places, and the rush of
explorers followed."
However, as the organized township 58-18 w^as not named Mer-
ritt. it is fitting that it should take the name of their mine captain,
J. A. Nichols.
Discovery of Ore. — Regarding the discovery of the first mer-
chantable deposits of iron ore on the Mesabi Range, David T. Adams,
in an article specially written for this historical compilation, in
December, 1920, states :
"In, or about, the winter of 1889 and 1890. Captain Nichols
started explorations for the Merritt Brothers, of Duluth, on the
Mountain Iron, in the northern part of the N. half of the NW qr.
of section 3, township 58, range 18, on the northerly feather edge of
the deposit. The matter encountered in his first series of test pits
was a red ocherous ore. About the same time. Captain Kehoe
started explorations for the Merritt Brothers on the Biwabik, in the
northwest corner of the NE qr. of the NE qr. of section 3, township
58. range 16, in a spot where Jack McCaskell had previously dis-
covered yellow ocher on the roots of an upturned tree. His first
work was also on the northerly feather edge of the deposit, and the
material encountered in his first few pits was a brownish and a yellow
ocherous ore. About the same time, I started explorations for A. E.
Humphreys, George G. Atkins, and others, on the Cincinnati, in the
NW corner of the SW qr. of the NW qr. of section 2, township 58,
range 16, and I encountered a blue ore in my first pit, after passing
through about thirty feet of surface. That was the first commercial
blue ore discovered on the Mesabi Range. Captain Kehoe then moved
his works to the south and started a pit almost due west of my
No. 1 pit on the Cincinnati, and after passing through about thirty-
five feet of surface and brown ore, he encountered blue ore on the
Biwabik. John T. Jones happened to be there at the time, and saw.
the first bucket of ore hoisted out of the pit, and he rushed to Duluth
and secured a sub-lease on the Biwabik, in favor of the late Peter L.
Kimberly, before Kehoe had a chance to report the find to the
Merritt brothers. Thereafter, Captain Nichols moved his works on
the Mountain Iron further to the south, where he .eventually struck
the main body of ore on that property."
Alfred Merritt's Story. — Alfred Merritt. in his autobiography
written at the request of, and treasured by. the Old Settlers Society
of the Head of Lake Superior, wrote, under date January 1, 1917:
"The year 1889 the first work was done on what is now the
Mountain Iron Mine. I took a crew of six men in by way of Tower,
on March 17. Started from Tower with three dog trains, and we
were the dogs. We went in by way of Pike River, and then by way
of Rice Lake, then to Mountain Iron. We dug test pits, and finally
drilled. All work was done on the S. half of S. half of section 34,
township 59 north of range 18 west. We found that we were too
far north for ore, and on going south found the ore on section 4,
directly south of our first work, the summer of 1890.
"No one who has not gone through the hardships and the dis-
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 715
couragements of keeping a camp going, out so far from the base of
supplies, can realize what one has to contend with. The raising of
money alone was no small job, and worst of all the task of endeav-
oring to keep up the courage of one's partners.
"After the ore was found we then had to look for transportation.
We went to the Northern Pacific Railroad, and also to the St. Paul
and Duluth Railroad, they being separate at that time. Neither
would do anything. Their officials did not realize the value of the
Mesabi Range, and of the great traffic which was to originate from
the many mines. We hardly knew what to do. We were almost
discouraged. Finally, we got hold of the Duluth and Winnipeg
Railroad, and they said that if we would build out to Stony Brook,
they would make a traffic contract with us. We scratched around and
built a line from Mountain Iron to Stony Brook, a distance of
forty-five miles, with a branch off our line, from the station called
Iron Junction, to Biwabik, a distance of sixteen miles. This line
was completed in 1892. The year of 1893 we built into Duluth,
because the Duluth and Winnipeg Railroad did not build any. St.
Louis County offered us $250,000 worth of bonds if we would build
into Duluth. We accepted this offer, and built into Duluth, and
also built into Hibbing from our main line, from Wolf Station."
So came about the possibility of marketing the immense deposits
of iron ore of the Mesabi Range. The shipments that began in
township 58-18 in 1892 now have reached a yearly total of more
than 30,000,000 tons. The historic Mountain Iron Mine has not
been worked since 1908, but it yielded to the world prior to that
more than 17,000,000 tons of ore, and still has available more than
28,000,000 tons, which, as needed, will presumably be worked by the
Oliver Iron Mining Company, to which subsidiary of the United
States Steel Corporation the property now belongs.
Township Organization. — The Township of Nichols was erected
on May 6, 1892, the county commissioners being petitioned by R. H.
Fagan and thirty-eight other residents of 58-18 township. Peti-
tioners sought township powers, under authority of chapter 10. of the
General Statutes of 1878 of the State of Minnesota.
John Helmer presented the petition to the county officials, and
took oath, to the accuracy of statements made in petition, on April
30, 1892. On May 6th, the document was certified to be correct, in
form and execution, by the county attorney, and the same day the
territory was laid off by the commissioner, they ordering first town
meeting of the new township of Nichols to be held "at Grant's office,"
NW. qr. of section 3, township 58-18, on May 25th. Notices to that
effect were posted "at the Saw Mill, at Grant's office, and at Hotel
Grant," on May 12th.
First OfBcials. — The first township officers were : A. P. Wood,
(chairman); William Buckley and G. O. Bccde, supervisors; Fred
Colby, clerk; W. Stephens, treasurer; J. E. Shear, assessor; G. R.
Sutherland and Charles H. Erickson, justices; W. F. Cyr and Alex
Murray, constables.
On May 17, 1893, Alfred Mcrritt, on oath, deposed that officers
of the Town of Nichols had failed to hold the annual election in
1893. He prayed the commissioners to appoint officers, recommend-
ing the following: Robert Purcell, (chairman); Captain John Gill
and Chas. F. Joyce, supervisors; L. R. Clark, treasurer; C. C. Jcnnis
(or Jenius), clerk ; D. J. Mead, assessor.
Mining. — In addition to the historic Mountain Iron Mine, the
716 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
mining operations in the Township of Nichols have developed other
important mines.. The Iroquois, the fee owners of which are the
Roswell Palmer estate, is situated in section 10, and shipments from
it began in 1903, continuing until 1914, the years yielding a total of
1,358,412 tons of ore. It is an underground mine. The Wacoutah
mine, which is operated by the Pitt Iron Mining Company, SE-SW
and SW-SE, sec. 3, SE-SE of same section, and NW-NW, sec. 11.
shipped its first ore in 1906. In 1919, the total yield from its hrst
year was 972,251 tons. The Brunt mine, NE-NE and NW-NE and
SW-NE and NW-SE, sec. 10, owned by the Hanna Ore Mining
Co., is on the shipping list, with a total shipment of almost 1,500,000
tons between the years 1906 and 1919, and with more than twice as
great a quantity available yet. The Pilot Mine, NW-SE, sec. 2. is
a state mine, as is the Wacoutah in part, leased to the Hanna Ore
Mining Company. The first shipment, 80,815 tons, from the Pilot
was in 1919. It is not a large property. Then another state property
is the Leonidas, situated in the extreme southeasterly section of the
township. That is an important holding, leased to the Oliver Iron
Mining Co. Almost 4,000,000 tons have come from it, to end of
1919; and there is still available about 13.000.000 tons. The Hanna
Mine, (state), W. half of SW, sec. 2, and W. half of SE, sec. 3.
has yielded practically 1,500,000 tons, to end. of 1919, first coming
into the shipping list in 1919. Prindle Reserve, a state mine, leased
to Oliver Company, situated in E. half, sec. 36, of township 59-18.
has only yielded 47,487 tons, in the three years 1914-16, since which
time it has been inactive, with 2,590,871 tons available.
Transportation. — Nichols Township has some good roadways,
and all the land is not given over to mining. There are some good
agricultural acreages being developed.
There is an electric trolley system passing through the townshij)
hourly to the other centres of the Range. The Duluth Missabe and
Northern Railway Company is the ore carrier.
Valuation. — The assessed valuation of Nichols Township in 1892
was $310,944. The assessed valuation of the township in 1919 was
$14,727,911, including the villages of Mountain Iron and Leonidas,
which villages in reality represent more than $14,000,000 of that total.
The tax levy in 1892 in Nichols Township was $3,793.51. In 1919.
the taxes amounted to $791,931.66, including those of the villages.
Population. — The township was practically without an inhabitant
in the '80s. In the early '90s, the population had scarcely reached
three figures. In 1900, the population was 930; in 1910, 1983; and in
1920, the federal census showed the township, including Mountain
Iron and Leonidas villages, to have a population of 2,923. Of this
number 1,546 persons were resident in Mountain Iron.
Education. — Part of Nichols Township is included in the Unor-
ganized School District, which comes under the direct supervision
of the county school administration ; but the greater part of the
township is in w'hat is known as Independent School District No.
21, which centers from Mountain Iron. The history of that school
district wnll be reviewed in the chapter regarding Mountain Iron.
Administration. — The present officials of the township are :
E. J. Kane, chairman; John Harwood and E. D. Rudd, supervisors;
Ben Ericson, clerk; Oscar Castren, assessor; A. B. Carmen, treasurer.
Village of Costin. — John Costin, Jr., one of the pioneers of Vir-
ginia, to which city he came in 1893, and where he developed a sub-
stantial real estate and insurance business during the following twelve
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 717
or thirteen years, had acquired, among his other realty investments,
a tract of seventy-one acres of land in township 58-18, adjacent to
Mountain Iron. Upon it, he platted the townsite of Costin, and.
probably was one of the prime movers in the endeavor, prosecuted
in 1907, to secure corporate powers for the village. A petition was
circulated in June, 1907, among the residents of about 360 acres of
sections 4 and 9 of township 58-18, and signed by J. A. Beck and 26
others, praying for the incorporation of the territory under the powers
of section 702 of the state Laws of 1905. as the Village of Costin.
The petition represented that there were at that time resident in the
territory 261 persons, and David Tonsignant, John A. Beck and John
Lamminen took oath to the accuracy of census and of the petition
in general.
The paper was filed with the county auditor on June 7, 1907, and
came before the county commissioners at their June meeting. They
granted the petition, and ordered election to be held at the residence
of David Tonsignant, on July 2d. The election was held, but of the
261 inhabitants only eleven voted, all voting in favor of the incor-
poration.
An attempt was made in 1913 to bring about the dissolution of
the village, but without success. A special election was held on
September 2d, and twelve of twenty-one votes cast were against the
dissolution.
However, a further attempt was made in January 18, 1915, with
different result, the voting being in favor of dissolution.
Village of Leonidas. — The incorporated Village of Leonidas was
formerly known as Leonidas location. As a location, it was estab-
lished about eight or ten years ago. The Leonidas Mine belongs
to the state, and shipments first began in 1914. It is leased by the
Oliver Iron Mining Co., and operations are regular, and substantial.
The townsite was owned by the mining company, and it was
thought that an attempt would be made to bring the location into the
city limits of Evelcth. Probably that was the main reason why on
September 5, 1917, a petition, signed by H. E. Mitchell. R. II.
Stephens, W. J. Matters, and twenty-nine other residents of Leonidas
location, was presented at the county offices for the consideration of
the county commissioners, said petition seeking incorporation, as
the Village of Leonidas. of the SE qr. of section 25. all of section 36.
of township 58-18, and the east half of NE cir. of section 1, town-
ship 57-18, the whole embracing 880 acres, part of the acreage hav-
ing been platted as "Leonidas" and part as "Gross." The peti-
tion stated that a census taken at the time of signing of petition
showed that there were then 275 persons living in the territory for
which corporate powers were asked.
On motion of Commissioner I'entilla, the petition was adopted
on September 7, 1917, the count}- c(jniniissioners ordering election to
be held at the town hall of the Township of Nichols, situated in the
SW qr. i)\ S\i (|r. of section 36. township 58-18. on ( )ctol>er 8. 1"17.
At the election forty-six votes were cast, all in favor.
At the subse(|uent first election for officers, the following became
the original council of Li-onidas : R. Trevarthen. president; K. I.
Kane, W. J. Matters. H. E. Mitclu-ll. and W. Holder, trustees; 11. 1-:.
Mitchell, clerk.
The village is growing rapidly on the south side, near the school,
but in reality the coninuniity is almost as it was when a location.
There is no store in the \illage, and it is peopled almost wholly 1>\'
Vol. 11 — 11
718 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
employees of Leonidas Mine. The school is under the administra-
tion of the Mountain Iron School District.
The village officials in 1920 were : R. Trevarthen, president ;
E. J. Kane, P. A. Anstess, W. J. Matters, trustees; R. G. Trevarthen,
clerk; Wm. Cox, treasurer; O. Castren, assessor.
Normanna. — On April 30, 1904, a petition was circulated among
the inhabitants and voters of the township 52-13, then unorganized,
for the purpose of securing township powers under the General
Statutes, of the State of Minnesota. 1878 compilation, as amended
by the General Laws of 1895. Anton Hjelm appears to have been
the prime mover in the matter, and he was the first to sign. The
petition bears date of April 30, 1904, and was filed with the county
auditor of St. Louis County on May 2d. It came before the county
commissioners for their consideration on May 5th, and met with
their approval at that meeting. Consequently a town meeting to
organize soon followed.
The first township officers, who were elected at the meeting
held at the schoolhouse situated in the northwest corner of the
northeast quarter of section 21, township 52-13, on May 24, 1904.
were: Anton Hjelm, chairman; Martin Moen and J. B. Johnson,
supervisors; F. B. Schumann, clerk; J. A. Bonning and Peter Flaaden,
justices; Hy Kruse, treasurer; A. Olson and C. Hagen, constables;
Albert Anderson, assessor.
Within a few days after the organization of township 52-13, as
the Town of Normanna, the unorganized township next north of it,
53-13, was the subject of a petition by its inhabitants, who wished
to have it attached to the Township of Normanna. A petition to
that effect was presented to the county officials on May 28, 1904. It
was signed by William Carlin and others, in sufficient numbers to
influence the commissioners at their next meeting, June 7. 1904, to
act upon it, and call for a hearing of remonstrances on July 11, 1904,
against the petition to attach the northern congressional township to
that which constituted the Township of Normanna. The matter
was completed on July 11th, by the commissioners, who then added
township 53-13 to the boundaries of the organized township.
The Township of Normanna has since been bounded on the
south by the Township of Lakewood, on the east by Duluth Town-
ship, on the north by unorganized territory, 54-13, and on the west
by Gnesen Township, which was founded in 1879. The Cloquet
River passes through the western part of township 53-13, but Nor-
manna has no railway facilities.
In 1905, its assessed valuation was $335,742; today its valuation
is one-eighth less, although" it has increased more than 100 per cent
in tax-levy in the fifteen years.
It has always been in School District No. 32, which school dis-
trict is confined to the two townships of Normanna (52 and 53-13).
There are two frame schoolhouses in the district, valued in 1919
at $10,500. The enrollment in 1919 was nineteen ; two female teachers
were employed at average salary of $82.50 a month, for the eight
months of school. School board officials: Mrs. Mary Solem, Lake-
wood, R. F. D. No. 1. clerk; Mrs. Evelyn Cooke, treasurer; A. H.
Carlson, chairman of directors. School levy in 1919 was $5,006.88.
The township officials are: John Bonnah, (chairman); M. H.
Woldhagen and William Gray, supervisors; Adolph Solem, clerk;
Albin Kanen. assessor; George H. Cooke, treasurer.
Northland. — The Township of Northland, 53-17, was organized,
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 719
as the Township of Tronther, in 1904. Peter (or Peder) Ericksson,
and other residents in congressional township 53 north, of range 17
west, petitioned the county commissioners in November, 1904, to
have that township organized as the "Town of Tronther." The docu-
ment was filed with the county auditor on January 3, 1905, and it
seems that the petition was altered during, or before, consideration
by the commissioners. At all events, when the petition w^as acted
upon by the county commissioners, at their meeting of February 9,
1905, they organized the territory as the Township of Kauppi, pre-
sumably in recognition of service to the county by Commissioner
Kauppi. The commissioners ordered election to be held at the
schoolhouse on March 1, 1905.
It was at that first tow^n meeting, apparently, that the voters
requested the commissioners to change the name of the township
from "Kauppi" to "Northland." Such action was taken at the March
session of the county board, and the township has since been known
as "Northland."
Boundaries are still as when first organized. There is unor-
ganized territory bordering Northland on the east; on the north is
the Township of Cotton; on the west is Meadowlands; and on the
south the Township of New^ Independence bordered it. Northland
has no railway facilities, although three railway systems pass through
bordering townships.
The assessed valuation of Northland in 1905 was $43,578; in
1919 it was $36,403. Taxes in 1905 amounted to $763.47; in 1919 they
were $1,681.82, so that there does not appear to have been much
advance in the township, excepting in expenditure.
Northlands is still in School District No. 34, as it was in 1905
when first organized. The school district also covers congressional
township 53-16, in which there are 240 inhabitants. There are four
frame schoolhouses included in the property of that school district, but
seemingly only three are used, as the school board only employed
three teachers during the 1919-20 school year. They were paid an
average monthly salary of $75. The enrollment was thirty-two schol-
ars. School tax, in 1919, was $2,675.49. School Board officials: Jesse
F. Keeney, clerk, Canyon, Minnesota; John Swanson, treasurer;
Frank Anderson, chairman of directors. School propertv valued at
$4,500.
Township officials, 1920, were: Ole Berg (chairman), Alfred
Peterson, supervisor; Jesse F. Keeney, clerk; E. M. Austed, assessor;
Peder Ericksson, treasurer.
Owens.- — John Owens, a pioneer of the ranges of St. Louis
County, first president of the villages of Tower and V^irginia, and
now resident of Duluth, was one of the pioneers of agriculture north
of Virginia and the Mesabi Range. He was the first to take up resi-
dence in the township which now bears his name.
Organization. — 1'he Townshij) of Owens, which embraces thirty
sections of congressional township sixty-two north of range eighteen
west, was organized in 1912, and for six years prior to that was part
of the Township of Field. The setting apart of Owens on August 6,
1912, resulted from the petition of residents of sections seven to thir-
ty-six of township 62-18. who wished that territory separated from
V\e\(\. The petition was sworn to before f). J. [,eding. justice, on
May 30. 1912, and early in June was filed at Duluth Court House.
The matter came before the county commissioners at the session
of June 6th, and possibly at the July meeting. Hearing of remon-
720 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
t
strances against the separation from Field, and the erection of Owens
Township, was announced by the commissioners, who set August 6th
as the day upon which they would hear objections to the petition.
Apparently, there were no objections, for on August 6th the Town-
ship of Owens was organized, the commissioners then ordering the
notices to be posted in conspicuous places throughout the township
calling residents who were legal voters to gather at the Cook School-
house on section 17 of township 62-18 on Saturday, August 24, 1912,
to elect officers for the Township of Owens.
Valuation. — In 1912. the assessed valuation of the township was
$68,516. In 1919 it became $102,332. the increase representing agri-
cultural development. It is one of the richest agricultural townships
north of the Mesabi Range, and in 1919 paid $7,597.11 in taxes,
including a school tax of 37.1 mills.
Education. — For school purposes, the township is part of the
Unorganized School District directed by the county school superin-
tendent. The principal community is at Cook, a growing village, and
a station on the Canadian Pacific Railway, which connects Duluth
and Winnipeg. Leander, on the border line of Owens and Angora
townships, is also a station on that system.
Present Township Officials. — The officials of the Township of
Owens in 1920 were: Fred Anderson (chairman). Oscar Magnuson
and John A. Pearson, supervisors ; ,Chas. Fogelberg, clerk ; D. G.
Winchel, assessor; G. J. Francis, treasurer; August Buboltz and
L. F. Luthey, justices.
Village of Cook. — The Village of Cook, when August Buboltz,
who now is its principal storekeeper, came to it in 1904 consisted of
not much more than a tent, in which was a printing plant, upon
which the "Northland Farmer" was printed, published and circulated
almost to the Bear River, by its editor-owner, James A. Field. The
paper plant was hauled into Cook on a sleigh, over the Vermilion
Lake.
With the clearing of timber, the land in the Township of 62-18
w-as seen to be good for agricultural purposes, and with the Duluth.
Rainy Lake and Winnipeg Railway possibilities, the. possibilities of
a farming center developing somewhere in the vicinity, attracted some
who were interested in town planning. The Goodhue Investment
Company of Duluth. acquired land in section 18 and a townsite was
surveyed and platted for them by the Duluth Engineering Company.
The first lot was sold to John Nelson, of Taylor Falls, a lumber-
man, now deceased. Upon his lot now stands the Farmers and Mer-
chants Bank.
The first building in Cook was that erected for August Buboltz
by John B. Shaver, of Virginia. When completed, it was opened as
the Little Fork Hotel, and conducted as such by Mr. Buboltz until
1909, when he went out of that business, and later took up merchan-
dizing and other enterprises in Cook and the vicinity. He built many
houses in the place.
The first store building in Cook was that occupied as a general
store by Lee and Hanson of Tower.
The first church was the Swedish Mission, which was built in
about 1906. The first minister in Cook was the Rev. 'â– â– â– 'â– â– * Lantz.
The first school was that erected about one and a half miles east
of Cook. It was built in 1905, and the first teacher is stated to have
been Miss Payne.
The first physician was Doctor Kurtz.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 721
There are two state banking institutions at Cook. The First State
Bank of Cook, was estabhshecl in 1912, by L. F. Luthey and others.
L. F. Luthey was elected president; C. H. Alcock, cashier; L. M.
Burghardt, vice-president; J. L. Owens and J. Whiteman, directors.
The capital was $10,000 and is still the same. The institution opened
for business in the building it still occupies. Present directors are :
L. F. Luthey, president; L. M. Burghardt, vice; A. H. Erickson,
cashier; R. C. Pickering and J. Whiteman. directors. The other
bank, the Farmers and Merchants State Bank, of Cook, was estab-
lished September 20, 1917. The capital was $10,000. There is now
a surplus of $2,000. W. H. Benton, of Minneapolis, was the first
president and Peter Burtness and August Buboltz were prominently
identified with the organization of the bank. Present officials are :
Peter Burtness, president; August Buboltz, vice-president; G. J.
Francis, cashier ; Fred Anderson and Austin Lind, directors.
Cook has two newspapers, the Cook Newsboy and the Cook
journal. The "Newsboy" was established in 1915, by C. A. Knapp,
who still owns and edits it. The "Journal" is a continuation of the
Bear River Journal, which was established in 1906, by J. P. Hayden.
It was purchased in 1911 by G. F. Peterson, of Hibbing, who moved
the plant and paper to Cook in 1918. Thereafter the pulilication
became the Cook Journal.
There are four churches, the Swedish Baptist, Swedish Mission,
Catholic and Congregational. The members are drawn from among
the people of Cook, and residents of Owens Township.
Cook was originally known as "Ashawa." It was platted as
such and the village first became known as "Cook."
At least two attempts have been made to secure corporate powers
for the village. A petition dated February 26, 1915, and signed by
E. W. Carey and twenty-five other residents on land "originally
platted as 'Ashawa,' and later known as 'Cook,' " sought the approval
of the county authorities to their wish for incorporation of the vil-
lage. Included in the boundaries of the inct)rporatcd village, the
projectors sought to get blocks one to sixteen, inclusive, and out-
lots one to five, inclusive, as platted in the southeast {|uarter of north-
west quarter and northeast quarter of southwest quarter of section
18, township 62-18, as well as what was known as Balliet's addition
to Cook, and certain other adjoining tracts. Petition asserted that
census taken on February 26, 1915, showed that on that day there
were resident in the district for which corporate powers were sought
220 persons.
Later, it developed that a clause calling for the inclusion of abi)Ut
one thousand acres, additional, had been inserted in the petition after
it had been signed. At all events, such was the allegation made by
certain of the freeholders, who filed remonstrance with the county
c(jmmissioners, that paj^er also stating the fears of objectors "that
incorporation would re-introduce saloons, which had been eliminated
some years earlier." The remonstrance was signed by twenty-two
of the signers oi the original ])etition, and was dated March 17, 1*^15.
It delayed action by the county conimissiimers.
However, on March 29th of that year another petition. fa\-or-
ing incorporation, was prepared by L. T. Luthey, and signed by
nianv residents, eventually reaching the office of the county auditor.
( )n April 28, 1915, Chas. IC. .Adams, special coimsel for the County
of St. Louis, advised the county commissioners that this petition was
"legally sufficient in all respects." ( hi May .^rd. howe\er. it came
722 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
to the knowledge of the commissioners that twelve of the signers of
the second petition wished to withdraw their signatures. The with-
drawal of these signatures made the petition "insufficient to require
any action" by the commissioners. Hence, the village is still with-
out corporate powers.
Pike. — A petition dated January 2, 1904, and signed by the major-
ity of the inhabitants and legal voters of unorganized township sixty
north of range sixteen west, asked the county commissioners to con-
sider their wish that the township be organized under the state laws
and named "Pike."
The document was filed with the county auditor on January 5,
1904, and considered by the county commissioners on the next follow-
ing day. Charles Kangas took oath on January 5, 1904, to the accu-
racy of statements made in petition and on the sixth the commis-
sioners decided to order election to be held in the township on Janu-
ary 23rd, at the schoolhouse situated on section 29. On that day
township organization was perfected.
Pike has no railway facilities, but is within comparatively easy
distance of two railways. There is only one community center, the
small village, or hamlet, of Pike, but the increase in population shows
that the township is being developed satisfactorily. Federal census
statistics do not record any figures for township 60-16 in 1900; in
1910 the population was 340, while in 1920 the population of Pike
Towmship was shown to have increased to 564. Nevertheless, the
township may be stated to be yet in its initial stage of agricultural
development.
In 1904, when Pike Township was formed, the assessed valua-
tion of the territory (real and personal property) totaled to $37,490;
in 1919, the figure was $48,045. Tax levy increased in the fifteen
years from $1,154.69 in 1904 to $3,483.26 in' 1919.
At one time Pike was in School District No. o7 , but that school
district appears to have been merged in the Unorganized School Dis-
trict conducted direct from the county school superintendent's office.
The school levy is 37.1 mills.
Township officials in 1920 were: Leander Lundstrom (chairman),
John Bukkila and Jacob Anttila, supervisors; Gust Kivela, clerk;
W. Matts, assessor; Arvid Jokinen, treasurer.
Portage. — The Township of Portage was until recently known
as "Buyck," the name being changed in 1919, as noted hereunder.
Organization of Buyck Township. — The few inhabitants of con-
gressional townships 65 and 66, range 17 west, and townships 65 and
66, range 18 west, and township 66-19, sought in 1906, in which year
the territory was practically wild land, to secure township powers
and benefits for that territory. The petition dated September 5, 1906,
was signed by Charles Buyck and fifteen other settlers, the instru-
ment declaring that not more than fifty people lived in the five con-
gressional townships at that time.
Petitioners asked that the proposed township be named Moose,
or Deer, and the county commissioners at their September session
granted the petition, on September 7, 1906, deciding that it be named
"Moose," and ordering first meeting of voters to be held at the school-
house in township 65-17 on Saturday, September 22, 1906. It was,
however, found that another township of that name pre-empted the
designation, therefore, before the first meeting it was decided that
the township about to be organized be called "Buyck."
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 723
Name Changed. — The boundaries have since 1906 remained
unchanged and the territory is still in great part undeveloped. In
1919, twenty-five residents of the Township of Buyck, and repre-
senting fifty-five per cent of the votes cast at the 1918 general elec-
tion, prayed the county commissioners to adopt the name of Portage
in place of Buyck. The commissioners thereupon posted notices in
public places throughout the territory stating that they would hear
objectors to the proposed change at the Court House, Duluth, on
October 6, 1919. No opposition developed and on that day the com-
missioners ordered the change of name.
Taxes. — In 1906. when Township of Buyck first organized, the
assessed valuation was $267,315. Total taxes levied, $4,651.28. In
1919, the total valuation for the Town of Portage was $286,895, and
the total taxes levied for all purposes in that year $22,747.37.
Population. — The population was stated to have been fifteen in
1900. It was 287 in 1910, and the 1920 census shows 307 residents
in Buyck, which is now Portage Township.
School Statistics. — Part of the township has no school, but town-
ships 65-18, 66-17 and one-half of 65-17 are embraced in school dis-
trict 47. In that district there are four frame schoolhouses, valued
at $10,000. There was an enrollment of sixty-six scholars in 1919-20,
and the teaching staff consisted of one male and two female teachers,
the average salary being $96 a month.
The officers of school district forty-seven are: John G. Handberg,
Buyck, clerk; Ed Mankus, treasurer; Wm. Lippanen, director.
Present Township Officials. — The township officers in 1919-20
were: William Lipponen (chairman). Perry Fransk, Valentine
Sinsta, supervisors; Carl M. Harrison, clerk; Louis Gruska, assessor;
John H. Laine, treasurer.
Prairie Lake. — A petition, dated at Flopdwood, Minnesota, April
13, 1906, and signed by Andrew Korhanen and others, all legal voters
of townships fifty north of ranges twenty and twenty-one west, sought
the approval of the county commissioners of their wish to have those
congressional townships organized and named "Prairie Lake," under
the provisions of section 451, and others, of the Laws of Minnesota,
1905.
The document was filed with the county auditor on April 16th,
and came before the board of commissioners on May 8, 1906, on
which day they granted the petition, ordering first town meeting to
be held at the schoolhouse on section 30, of township 50-20, on Sat-
urday, May 26, 1906, when officers were elected and the township
organization became effective.
Three years later, on November 27, 1909. a petition by residents
in the eastern congressional township (50-20) of Prairie Lake, prose-
cuted an inclination on the part of voters therein to separate from
Prairie Lake Township, and orgaiiizc another, to be known as "Fine
.Lakes." The division eventually was effected. (See Fine Lakes, this
chapter.)
In 1906, the assessed valuation of Prairie Lake Township was
$66,542, for the two congressional townships; in 1919, the assessed
valuation of the one township (50-21) was $68,160. Fine Lakes Town-
ship being almost as valuable.
Prairie Lake at one time was in .School District Xo. 19, but now
belongs to no district, or, to be more correct, is part of the immense
Unorsranized School District directed bv the countv school adminis-
tration, that being appaixMitly more economical.
724 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
In 1900, townships 50-21 and 50-20 had a population of forty-
one; in 1910, the two townships had 199 inhabitants; and in 1920
the census-taking showed 136 in Prairie Lake, and Fine Lakes Town-
ship was credited with 189 residents.
The officials of Prairie Lake Township, in 1920. were: C. H.
Johnson (chairman), Frank Lahti and John Rostvelt, supervisors;
Carl T. Johnson, clerk; R. B. Jones, assessor; Anton Heikkila,
treasurer.
Rice Lake. — The Township of Rice Lake was one of the first
to be established. The name appears on the county tax sheet for
1873, when the townships of St. Louis County were Duluth, Oneota,
Fond du Lac, Rice Lake and Hermann. All are shown as town-
ships, the City of Duluth and "outside lands" being the only two
other divisions shown on the tax sheet of that year.
Rice Lake Township borders the limits of the Cit}^ of Duluth
on the south; on the east, it adjoins Lakewood Township; on the
north is Gnesen, and on the west Canosia Township. The limits of
Rice Lake are those of congressional township 51-14, the two most
southeasterly sections, Nos. 35 and 36 being within the city limits.
The Vermilion road passes through the township, l)ut there are no
railway facilities.
In 1873, the assessed valuation of the township was $62,254, and
the tax-levy thirty-one mills. In 1919, the assessed valuation of real
and personal property in the township was $331,597. The develop-
ment has, therefore, not been substantial, although during the last
two decades the population has been steadily increasing. In 1900
showed 231 persons to be resident in the township; in 1910 the popu-
lation was 580; and in 1920 the census-taking recorded 916 inhabitants.
The present officials of Rice Lake Township are : Thos. Wright,
chairman; Emil G. Beyer and Michael Dulinski. supervisors; T. A.
Rogers, clerk; Wm. B. Doig, assessor; Ed Ball, treasurer.
For educational purposes. Rice Lake Township has been divided,
part of it being in School District No. 30, part in School District 55.
part of the township pays a school levy to School District No. 5, and
part to School District No. 71. All these school districts are referred
to elsewhere, excepting No. 30. School District No. 30 has adminis-
tration over the bulk of the township, however, and for its pvirpose
has a good brick schoolhouse, valued in 1919 at $20,000. Seven
female teachers constitute the school stafif, the average salary being
$80.00 a month, for a school year of nine months. The enrollment in
1919 was ninety-six. School Board : B. W. K. Lindau, clerk ; L. N.
Young, treasurer; T. J. Bowyer, chairman of directors.
St. Louis. — The Township of St. Louis (now part of the Town-
ship of Bassett) w^as organized in 1900, that action being taken by
the county commissioners after petition of Henry Conners and other
residents, of township fifty-eight north of range thirteen west, had
been presented to them, praying for the organization of that congres-
sional township, under the name of "St. Louis."
The township was formed on December 4, 1900, and the first
town meeting held, "in the office of Nolan Brothers and Laird." on
December 22, 1900.
The first officers of the township were: Peter Norman (chair-
man), Frank Alger and Hugh Ermetinger, supervisors; Chris. O.
Gavic, clerk; Mike Smith, treasurer; William Gavin, assessor; B.
Airhoit and Amos Ramsey, justices; Geo. Bennison, constable. Reso-
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 725
lution was passed at the first town meeting: "That no saloon license
be granted in this town."
A resolution was adopted by the covmty commissioners, on
December 7, 1917, legalizing the consolidation of the townships of
Bassett and St. Louis, under the name of the former (see Bassett,
this chapter).
Sandy. — The Township of Sandy, 60-17, was set off as such on
September 8. 1916, the county commissioners then approving a peti-
tion, signed by twenty-nine of the freeholders of unorganized town-
ship sixty north of range seventeen west. The petition was sworn to
on July 12th of that year, and asserted that census taken at time of
circulation of petition showed that there were then forty-seven free-
holders living in the township. The petitioners wished to have town-
ship organization and privileges, under the name of "Sandy," but
suggested alternative names of "Britt" and "Perho."
The first town meeting was held "at the Christian Association
Hall," situated in the northeast quarter of southwest quarter of sec-
tion twenty-two, on September 23, 1916, as ordered by the county
commissioners.
Big Rice Lake is in Sandy Township, and Lake Junction is a
stopping place for trains of the Canadian Pacific Railway, which
passes through the western end of the township. Unorganized ter-
ritory is to the north and west, and Sandy is bounded by Pike Town-
ship on the east, and Wouri on the south. It is becoming good farm-
ing territory, although its assessed valuation is now about one-fourth
less than in 1916. The township is in what is termed the Unorgan-
ized School District, an adequate system of rural schools directly
supervised by the county school administration.
The present township officials are: Alex. Pursi (chairman").
Nestor Wolun and Wni. Jacobson, supervisors; Otmar Jarvinen.
clerk; Lars Koski, assessor; Ed Janhola, treasurer.
Congressional township 60-17, which now is Sandy, is shown
in federal statistics to have had a population of sixteen in 1900, one
hundred and ninety-nine in 1910, and one hundred and thirty-six
in 1920.
Solway. — The Township of Solway, which is one of those of
the southernmost tier of St. Louis County, was organized in 1897,
prior to which it was part of the Township of Hermann.
A petition, sworn to by George J. Guerson, on April 6, 1897,
and signed by twenty-eight freeholders of congressional township
fifty north of range sixteen west, was presented to the county com-
missioners on that day. Petitioners sought separation of their town-
ship from the Township of Hermann, stating, as a justifiable reason,
"the lack of roads and other facilities for traveling." which condition
made it almost impossible for residents in township 50-16 to attend
town meetings.
The petition was ccjnsidcrcd by the commissioners on Ajiril 6.
1897, and they set a date upon which they would hear (il)jectiuns to
the proposed separation. The date set was May 4th. but the hear-
ing was postponed until May 7th, and on that day the conunissioners
granted the petition, and organized the 'l\)\vnsliip ot Solway. call-
ing upon voters in that district to assemble for the first town meet-
ing on Wednesday, May 26th of that year, designating the school-
house which stood upon the northeast (|uarter of northwest (|uarter
of section 22, of townshi]) 50-16, ;is the poling place.
726
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
There has been no change in the territorial limits of the Town-
ship of Solway since its organization in 1897. Carlton County lies
to the south of it, Hermann Township to the east, Grand Lake Town-
ship to the north and Industrial to the west. Solway has excellent
railway facilities, with stations at Munger, Simar, and Carrol and it
is comparatively well advanced, agriculturally. The population,
which was 115 in 1900 and 332 in 1910, was shown by the 1920 cen-
sus to be 522, a gratifying increase. Its assessed valuation has
increased from $76,603 in'l897 to $161,297 in 1919; and of course taxes
have materially increased— from $1,838.47 in 1897 to $10,468.17 in
1919.
The present township officials are: John Johnson (chairman),
C. Carlson and C. Gustafson, supervisors; J. F. Gans, clerk; W. W.
Watson, assessor ; Albert C. C. Miller, treasurer.
It is served by School District No. 43, a comparatively strong
school district. There are four schoolhouses in use in the township,
WHEN HIBBING WAS A LUMBER CAMP. (tHE FIRST POSTOFFICE
WAS IN CANVAS TENt)
all of frame construction and valued at $15,429 in 1919. when for
the school year of eight months five female teachers constituted the
teaching staff. The enrollment in that year was one hundred and
four scholars. Teachers were paid an average salary of $85.00 a
month. School Board: A. J. Lundquist, Munger, Minnesota, clerk;
Knute Gustafson, treasurer; A. Bang, chairman of directors.
Stuntz. — The Township of Stuntz, which is the richest township
of St. Louis County and contributes more than one-third of the taxes
collected in the county, perpetuates the name of one of the pioneers
of the county.
George R. Stuntz. — George R. Stuntz, a surveyor for the United
States Government, came to the head of Lake Superior in July, 1852,
"to run the land lines and subdivide certain townships." He sur-
veyed the state road from Duluth to Vermilion Lake in 1869, and
afterwards built the road. He was one of the first surveyors on
either of the ranges, and knew of the presence of mineral wealth in
one or both of them long before any of the pioneer explorers for
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 727
iron began seriously to prospect. He was in the country at the time
of the "gold rush" to Vermilion in the '60s ; accompanied Chester in
the '70s, and was then on both ranges with that surveyor, who was
sent to investigate mineral possibilities. George R. Stuntz undoubt-
edly was the best-informed of Duluth pioneers as to what was then
termed "outside lands" of St. Louis County, and it is but right that
his name should have important place in its history.
Early Explorers. — David T. Adams explored and mapped the
Mesabi Range in the '80s ; Captain LeDuc was in the neighborhood
of what later was Stuntz in 1887 ; but probably the first of the early
explorers of the Mesabi Range to take up successful work in the dis-
trict known as the Township of Stuntz was E. J. Longyear, of Min-
neapolis. Soon afterwards came R. M. Bennett, Frank Hibbing and
John Mailman. Longyear in 1891 cut a road through from Mountain
Iron West, as far as Nashwauk, in range 23.
Lumbering. — The lumber interests were the first to undertake
active logging operations in the township, Wright, Davis and Com-
pany owning many thousands of acres of heavily timbered lands.
Explorers discovered ore on the Wright, Davis and Company lands,
and on April 19, 1893, the last-named company granted leases to
the Mahoning Ore Companv, supplements of October 4, 1893, March
1, 1894, March 15, 1895, March 28, 1895, and April 1. 1895, bring-
ing up the total acreage of the lumber company's lands leased to the
Mahoning Ore Company, in township 57-21, more than a thousand
acres, on a royalty basis, the greater part at 27^ cents a ton. The
leases were for a term of ninety-seven years.
It is not the intention here, in this chapter, to extensively review
the lumbering, mining, or agricultural developments of the Town of
Stuntz ; all will have extensive review in other chapters. Suffice it
here to state that Wright, Davis and Company, the principals of
which were Ammi A. Wright, of Alma, Michigan; Charles H. Davis
and W. T. Knowlton, of Saginaw, Michigan, sold to the' Pine Tree
Lumber Company for $1,300,000 on July 14, 1892. four billion feet on
Swan River, that sale clearing all of their holdings in that district.
But they still possessed the land and more timber further north, and
were gradually drifting into a state of affluent importance to the men
interested in the exploitation of the vast mineral wealth of the Town-
ship of Stuntz.
Mining Development in 1895. — The "Proceedings of the Lake
Superior Mining Institute," for 1895, in Alarch of which year the
members of that association met on the Mesabi Range, reviews the
mining situation on the two ranges at that time. First, regarding
the railway facilities in the new mining field, the review states:
"Railroads \yere not constructed to these mines (Mesabi) until
the fall of 1892. There are not three roads running to the iron mines
on the Mesabi. Only two of them, the Duluth and Iron Range and
Duluth, Missabe and Northern, have hauled any ore. The Duluth,
Mississippi and Northern in conjunction with the Duluth and Win-
nipeg, will haul its first ore the coming season.
"The D. & I. R. R. * * * extended from its main line to
the Mesabi mines in 1892 and 1893. * * * The D.. M. c^ N. Ry.
was constructed from Stony Brook Junction, on the D. t1- W. R. R.
to the mines of the Mesabi in 1892 and 1893. Built through the
efiforts of the Merritt Brothers. Chnse Brothers and Donald Grant,
it passed in 1893 into the hands of the Lake Superior Const)lidated
Iron Mines, in which company the chief stockholder is John D.
728 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Rockefeller. This corporation also owns a numl^er of mines on the
Mesabi, and its own docks at Duluth. Its output in 1894 was nearly
600,000 tons of ore. from its own mines. In this season, the D., M.
& N. Ry. carried more than 1,300,000 tons of ore to Lake Superior.
The ore rate to the lake from all Mesabi mines is eighty cents per
gross ton.
"The D.', AL, & N. was primarily intended to be a logging
road, built by Michigan lumbermen ; but the discovery of iron ore
on lands belonging to these same parties (Wright. Davis and Com-
pany) and on adjacent tracts induced them to construct it standard
gauge and of heavy rails, suitable for ore transportation. It is tribu-
tary to the D. & W. R. R., which has ore docks at Superior. The
Mahoning mine at Hibbing will ship over this road, as will other
mines further west when more fully developed.
"Begining at the westernmost developed properties, we shall
describe the mines of the Mesabi in order of occurrence eastward."
Describing the "Hibbing Group of Mines." the review continues:
"Hibbing is located in the northwest quarter section 6, township 57,
range 20 west. * * * Surrounded by a large amount of pine tim-
ber, and adjacent to large deposits of iron ore, it is a towai of great
promise.
"Lake Superior Mine, situated on the southwest quarter of south-
west quarter, section 31, township 58. range 20 west * * * ^v^s
discovered in 1892 by Capt. T. W. Nelson, working under the direc-
tion of Mr. Frank Hibbing. of Duluth. No ore has been produced
from this mine as yet. It is being developed for underground min-
ing, under the direction of Mr. W. J. Olcott. for the Lake Superior
Consolidated Company, who are operating it at present. The super-
intendent is Mr. P. Mitchell. It will probably be on the list of
shippers for 1895. It is operated on a thirty-cent lease, and the profits
are divided between the Consolidated and the Lake Superior com-
panies.
"Mahoning Mine. After the discoverv of ore in the northeast
quarter, section 3. 57-21. the Mahoning Company, last year, devel-
oped one of the largest ore bodies on the range, in the north half
of sections 1 and 2, 57-21. This ore is now being uncovered, or
'stripped" to prepare for shipments in 1895. The work is under the
direction of Mr. W. C. Agnew. The fee to this land belongs to
Saginaw lumbermen, the Mahoning Company holding a lease.
"Sellers Mine. This mine is situated just north and northeast
of Hibbing. Shafts are being sunk and development work done as
rapidly as possible. It is understood that this mine, like others in
the Hibbing group, has an unpleasant amount of water to contend
with. Mr. Chas. Munger is in charge of operations here."
The operation of the Sellers mine was on leases January 17 and
April 5, 1893, from M. B. Hull to John M. Sellers, a'lso of Chicago,
calling for royalty of thirty-five cents, with a minimum of $7,000.
On October 20, 1893. John M. Sellers sold his lease of January 17,
1893. to the Sellers Ore Company.
Organization of Township. — Although Hibbing was incorpo-
rated as a village in 1893. it was not until 1894 that the movement
which ended in the erection of the Township of Stuntz l:)egan.
On January 3, 1894, a petition praying for the organization.
under the General Statutes of Minnesota Compilation. 1878. of con-
gressional township fifty-seven north of range twent}- west, "as
the Town of Stuntz," was filed with the Board of Commissioners of
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 729
St. Louis County. The paper was signed by Burton Hurd, Eugene
Brown, George L. Robinson, T. W. Nelson, J. F. Twitchell and other
residents of that township, and was before the county commissioners
for their consideration in February.
They then set off township 57-20 as the Township of Stuntz
and ordered first election to be held at the office of Hibbing and
Trimble, south half of northwest quarter of section six on Febru-
ary 27th.
The township remained with jurisdiction only over township
57-20 until 1896, when three other congressional townships were
added to it, the result of a petition, to "annex to the Township of
Stuntz townships fifty-seven and fifty-eight north of range twenty-
one west, and fifty-eight north of range twenty," which was filed on
April 7th. The paper was signed by J. D. Campbell, John Mun-
ter, W.. H. Day, Jas. Geary and others, and after consideration by
the commissioners at the April session of that board a hearing was
ordered for May 5, 1896.
Protest by Mahoning Ore Co. — It became known eventually that
W. C. Agnew, general manager of the Mahoning Ore Company,
wrote to the county commissioners, under date of April 6, 1896,
protesting against the granting of petition to annex the three addi-
tional townships and in particular regarding township 57-21. assert-
ing that the petition "was not presented in our vicinity." and that
"township 57-21 is very rich, if not the richest in mineral and tim-
i)er lands in the country." He further stated that township 57-21
"has already been included in a school district with the other town-
ships mentioned," and expressed a belief that "an injustice had
been done us (presumably the Mahoning Ore Company) thereby,"
seeing that "a large amount of money has been collected for school
purposes," which apparently was a regrettable circumstance. Regard-
ing the school fund, Mr. Agnew stated: "The manner in which it
was expended and the fight over it is a matter of record and do»s
not reflect credit upon those having the matter in charge." He
explained that "the Town of Hibbing is entirely in 57-20, and that
the children in and around our location must walk from one to two
miles to reach the schoolhouse." Therefore, he asked the commis-
sioners "to ignore the request of the petition" and "allow us to make
a separate township organization and receive and expend any money
that we are entitled to within our own limits."
However, the protest was withdrawn by the attorney for the
ore company, at the hearing before the commissioners on May 5th,
aild on that day the commissioners ordered the annexation of town-
shii)s fifty-eight north of twenty and twenty-one range, and fifty-se\en
north of range twenty-one west, to the Townsiiip of Stuntz. Whether
such action by the commissioners was taken because of the reinforce-
Tnent of the original i)etition by another, filed May 5. 1896. cannot
be determined, alth«jugh the circulation and filing of the support-
ing petition may exi)Iain the withdrawal of the i)rotest by the Mahon-
ing Ore Comjiany. 'i'he second of the petitions of 1896 referred only
to townshij) 57-21, and i)rayed that it be annexed to the Township
of .Stuntz. .'\nton I'j-iksson was the first signer of that petition.
Enlargement of Stuntz. in 1^>1.^ then- wc-re some imjiortant
changes. Petition of ( )scar Mahn<|uist and others tlun (March. l'J13)
resident in the unorganized township lifty-six north tif range twenty-
one west rccpiested annexation of that township to StuJitz ; and jieti-
tion of |une .^0, I'M.^, signed by I'eter Mel lardy and others of town-
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DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 731
ship 56-20, which was at that time part of the Township of Lavell,
appealed to the commissioners to detach that congressional township
from Lavell and add to Stuntz. Action was not taken until Novem-
ber 6th of that year; the commissioners then increased the limits of
Stuntz by those two townships (see Lavell, this chapter).
Erection of Balkan. — In 1913 came the first and only reduction
of territory placed within the jurisdiction of the Town of Stuntz.
In June section one to thirty, inclusive, of township 58-20 was added
to the Township of Balkan, as described under that classification in
this chapter. Today, the Township of Stuntz consists of townships
fifty-six, fifty-seven and fifty-eight north of range twenty-one west,
fifty-six and fifty-seven north of range twenty and one tier of sections
(one to six, inclusive) of township fifty-eight north of range twenty
west.
Valuation. — In 1894, the assessed valuation of the Township of
Stuntz was only $129,625. Add the valuation of Hibbing. the only
incorporated place in the township in 1893, $31,318, and the total
is only $160,943. In 1919, the total assessed valuation of Stuntz,
including that of Hibbing, was $117,029,409, on the realty alone. Thus,
one may get an idea of the extraordinary development that has
come to the township in less than thirty years. An even stronger
indication of the place and importance of Stuntz in and to the County
of St. Louis is conveyed in the tax figures. In 1894, the tax levy
in the Township of Stuntz was $2,644.35, that covering the budget
for all purposes. Add the 1893 figures for the Village of Hibbing,
$963.03 and the total would be only $3,607.38. In 1919. the Township
of Stuntz, including the Village of Hibbing, was called upon to con-
tribute to the tax-levy in St. Louis County the enormous sum of
$6,240,634.06, out of a total tax levy, for the whole count}-, of $20,705.-
448.24. The Township of Stuntz contributes almost twice as much
to the revenue of St. Louis County as does the City of Duluth, and
in wealth it dwarfs every other township of the county, probal)ly
of the state. The total taxes paid by Stuntz are even greater than
the figures quoted above, although the addition of Kitzville levy is
insignificant by comparison.
Population. — -The whole territory was practically uninhabited
until the late '80s or early '90s of last century; in 1900 the popula-
tion was 3,564; in 1910 it had increased to 14,409. and in the last
census, 1920, the federal tabulation showed that 19,010 peoj)le then
lived in the Township of Stuntz, including 15,089 in the \'illage of
Hibbing (which now takes second place among the incorporated
places of the county), and 480 in the Village of Kitzville.
Hibbing. — Hibbing will be the subject of a special chapter, as
befits its place in the history of the county. Kitzville is referred to
later herein.
Schools. — For school purposes, the Township of Stuntz is
included in the excellently-directed school administration known as
Independent School District Xo. 27. Its history will be reviewed as
part of that of Hibbing. in which village it centers. So there is no
need to make further reference to school matters hero.
Township Officials. — The township officials in I'UO were: 1. B.
Messner (chairman), W. G. Brown and John C. Eastman, super-
visors; Ben McDonald, cU-rk; Iose])h Moran, assessor; Jerry Sulli-
van, treasurer. Josej)!! Moran. a \eteran of the Civil War. has been
assessor for very many years. He was a cruiser for Wright, Davis
732 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
and Company, and came to what became Hibbing in 1891, in 1893
taking a homestead at Moran (Kelly) Lake, section 7-58-21.
Mining. — For the next hundred years, probably, the Township
of Stuntz will be prominent, as the center of important iron mining.
The ore not yet mined but known to be available totaling to an
immense figure, the Mahoning Mines alone having more than seventv-
five million tons available, notwithstanding that thirty million tons
have been won from it since first opened. And there are many other
mines in the township with an immense reserve of ore and probably
much yet to be proved.
The prominent mines still in operation in the township, and
to which references will be made elsewhere herein, are the Mahon-
ing. Hull-Rust. Sellers, Bufifalo-Susquehanna, Scranton, Laura, Lee-
tonia. Agnew. Morris, Kerr, Stevenson, Nassau, Philbin. Longyear
and Albany.
Kitzville. — The incorporated Village of Kitzville came into exist-
ence in 1912 after two previous attempts to incorporate the village
had been made. The first attempt was made in January, 1911, when
a petition which bears the date of January 26, 1911, sought to incor-
porate as a village the northeast quarter of section 5, township 57-20,
represented as wholly platted into lots. The papers were deemed to
be irregular by the county attorney. The second attempt was in
May of that year. A petition w^as filed with the county auditor on
May 4th, and two days later the county commissioners acted upon
it, ordering election to be held "at the store of John Dimatteo, lot 4.
block 3, townsite of Kitzville, on May 29, 1911. The election resulted
in twenty-six voting for incorporation and twenty-nine against.
A petition, dated May 29, 1912, came before the commissioners
on July 9th. Election was ordered to be held August 12. 1912. at
same place. Thirty-one voted, all in favor of incorporation. There-
fore, the corporate existence of Kitzville then began, with village
bounds as follows: Northeast quarter, northwest quarter section
4, 57-20; northeast quarter, northeast quarter, section 5, 57-20; south-
west quarter, southwest quarter, section 33, 58-20; southeast quar-
ter, southeast quarter, section 32, 58-20.
The village is in School District No. 27. Present village officials
are: Matt Kochevar, president; John Meadows, Louis Marolt, James
Chiodi, councilmen ; Alfred Dimatteo, clerk ; Marko. Marolt. treas-
urer.
Assessed valuation of village is $57,376. Population, 480.
Mahoning (Village of).— A petition was prepared in Decem-
ber, 1915, and dated December 31st. seeking to bring about the incor-
poration, as the Village of Mahoning, of 998.51 acres of land situ-
ated in section two and three of township 57-21, and sections 35 and
34 of township 58-21. Part of the territory had already been platted
and the plat filed as the "Plat of Mahoning."
The petition was signed by W. F. Pellenz. Jr., W. C. Northey.
R. N. Marble, Jr., J. C. Agnew and thirty-six other residents of the
493 stated to have been the total number of inhabitants on Decem-
ber 28, 1915, and it was adopted by the commissioners at their Janu-
ary, 1916, session, on motion of Commissioner Swanstrom. Election
was ordered to take place "at the G. N. R. Depot, section 2, town-
ship 57-21," on Saturday, January 29, 1916.
No report of election was filed with the county auditor and the
village has, therefore, no place among the incorporated places of the
county. It is not known to present compiler whether election was
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 7^3
duly held and the motion defeated, or whether the attempt to incor-
porate was abandoned.
Sturgeon. — A petition, dated February 2, 1907, of Charles West
and others, freeholders of township sixty-one north of range twenty
west, was responsible for the organization soon afterwards of that
congressional township, as the Township of Sturgeon.
The petition was filed with the county officials on February 9th.
was adopted by the county commissioners on March 7th, and soon
after in that year, 1907, the first town meeting was held, the voting
place being the schoolhouse designated "No. 2" of School District
No. 45.
The township has remained unchanged, as to boundaries, ever
since. On the north, it borders on Linden Grove Township, on the
east Alango, on the south Fern, and on the west Morcom Township.
It is an agricultural township, with no railway facilities nearer than
Angora, about ten miles to the east. The Sturgeon River passes
through the township.
In 1907, its assessed valuation was $21,574. In 1919, its valua-
tion was $39,772. In its first year as an organized township its total
tax levy was $524.25 ; in 1919, it was $2,835.74. Originally, it was
part of School District No. 45, but now it is served by the Unorgan-
ized School District directed by the county school superintendent.
The township pays a school tax of 37.1 mills.
Sturgeon Township had a population of two in 1900; in 1910
there were 135 inhabitants ; and in the last census-taking the tabula-
tion was 184. Its development is gradual and permanent.
The township officers in 1920 were : Frank Johnson (chair-
man), Nestor Vianio and John Ketola, supervisors; Fred Goodell.
clerk; Andrew Roine, assessor; Ed. Neimi, treasurer.
Toivola, — The prosperous Township of Toivola was formed in
1911. It was formerly part of the Township of Kelsey, or rather the
eastern half was.
A petition was filed with the county auditor on May 4, 1911, b\-
freeholders of the congressional township fifty-four north of range
nineteen west, at that time part of the Town of Kelsey, the petition
praying that, with township 54-20, it be organized, "as the Township
of Toivola," under the state laws of 1905. A reason stated for the
separation of township 54-19 from Kelsey was that the roads were
bad, mainly because of an unjust distribution of public funds by the
officials of the Town of Kelsey, which at that time had jurisdiction
over townships 54-19 and 18.
After some investigation, the commissioners formed the Town-
ship of Toivola as asked by petitioners, placing township 54-20 under
its administration on July 10, 1911, subject to confirmation at first
election, which was ordered to be held on July 29, 1911, at the school-
house No. 3, situated on the northeast quarter of section 11. of
township 54-20.
They also favorably considered the rc(iucst for the separation
of township 54-19 from the Township of Kelsey. and after hearing
remonstrances, detached it from Kelsey and attached the Township
to Toivola.
It appears that the first townshij) meeting in tlu- 1\)wn of Toivola
was held on July 17, 1911. at the residence of Tom .'\rkkola, town-
ship 54-19; but that meeting was declared to be illegal.
The settlers in Toivola Township are mostly of Finnish origin.
They are people of thrifty life, industrious and frugal. They are.
Vol. 11—15
734 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
therefore, laying the agricultural prosperity of the township upon
a firm and permanent basis. Many of the homesteaders of ten years
ago are now comparatively independent, having well-developed and
very productive farms, the log houses giving way to modern resi-
dences of up-to-date standard and large, well-built farm buildings.
There were apparently no inhabitants in the township in 1900;
in 1910 there were only eighty-five ; but in 1920 the population of
the two congressional townships which constitute the limits of Toi-
vola was found to be 427.
Toivola is part of the Unorganized School District, directed by
the county school superintendent. The school tax. therefore, is 37.1
mills, probably much less than if Toivola had a separate school
district.
The township is well watered ; the St. Louis River passes through,
as well as tributaries that help to drain the land. The Duluth, Mis-
sabe and Northern Railway passes through, with a station at Toivola,
in township 54-20, and other railways pass through adjoining town-
ships of Meadowlands, Kelsey and Lavell, which are situated south,
east, and north, respectively. Cedar Township borders Toivola on
the west.
The township officials in 1920 were: Erick Pistala (chairman),
Jacob Rajawouri and Alfred Taipale, supervisors; Jacob Kero, clerk;
Henry Saari, assessor; Victor Lahti, treasurer.
Van Buren. — Unorganized township fifty-two north of range
twenty west, was organized on March 5, 1909, as the TownshJp of
Van Buren, by the county commissioners.
The petition, which was signed by J. D. Moore and twenty-three
others, was filed with the county auditor on the previous day and the
territory having been laid ofi^ as "Van Buren," the first election of
township officers was set for March 20th, the place of poling being
"the schoolhouse situated on section 29, of township 52-20."
The valuation of the township has increased about one-fourth
during the last decade, having now an assessed rating of $86,176.
The increase in taxes levied has, however, been very much greater,
being in 1919 $7,204.31, whereas in 1910 the total levy amounted
to $2,732.28. The increasing cost of providing public education per-
haps is the main reason for increase in taxation, but, of course, that
is a necessary and well-returned expenditure. Van Buren is included
in the Floodwood school district, which is known as Independent
District No. 19 (see Floodwood Township, this chapter). Van
Buren pays a school tax of 42.2 mills.
The township had a population of seventy-three in 1900; in 1910
there were 196 inhabitants and in 1920 the population was recorded
as 305. It is a steady increase, and represents permanent agricul-
tural development of the territory, which in that respect is compara-
tively good land. The White Face River passes through the town-
ship and several small streams or creeks help to drain the land. The
Great Northern Railway almost touches the southwestern corner of
Van Buren and the D., M. & N. system is in the next township to
the northeast (Meadowlands), so that its products will be able to
find ready access to good markets.
The township o'fficials in 1920 were: Fred Wain (chairman),
Matt Luoma and John Simi, supervisors; F. W. Hutchinson, clerk;
J. Kivisto, assessor; John Mustonen, treasurer.
Vermilion Lake. — The Township of Vermilion Lake was formed
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 735
of township sixty-one north of range sixteen west, in 1913, follow-
ing the filing (on November 4, 1912) of a petition signed by forty-
two voters of that township.
The petition asked that the congressional township in which
they lived be organized and known as the Town of "Salmi," 'and the
paper was given the consideration of the county commissioners at
their November, 1912, session. Action was, however, deferred until
the January session of the board of commissioners. Then the town-
ship was set off as an organized area, to be known as "Vermilion,"
the commissioners ordering that notices be posted in prominent places
throughout the township calling freeholders to the first town meet-
ing of the "Town of Vermilion," the meeting to take place "at the
Town Hall, section 26," on Tuesday, January 28, 1913. Before elec-
tion, however, the commissioners advised the townspeople that the
town could not be called "Vermilion," there being (in Dakota County)
another township of the same name in the state. It was thereupon
decided to call the newly organized township "Vermilion Lake,"
although only two sections border that beautiful water. The change
of name was made by the commissioners at their February, 1913,
session and confirmed by the freeholders;
The township is in its initial stage of settlement, although parts
of it have been well-developed during the last few years. How-
ever, its valuation has decreased one-fifth since it was organized in
1913. In natural beauty the region is particularly attractive, and the
roads are comparatively good. The Duluth and Iron Range Railway
passes within a mile or two of its eastern boundary and some of the
settlers are making good farming homes.
The township may have mineral wealth, but it is just outside
the area in which mining on the Vermilion Range has been under-
taken.
There were fourteen people living in the township in 1900; in
1910 the number was 207; in 1920 it had increased to 299. It is too
sparsely inhabitated to profitably, or economically, maintain a sep-
arate school district; therefore it is included in what is called the
Unorganized School District, directed by the county school admin-
istration.
The township officials in 1920 were : Henry Simonson (chair-
man), Sam Holappa and Matt Laitinen, supervisors; Peter Peyla,
clerk; Ernest Simonson, assessor; John Johnson, treasurer.
Waasa. — Alleging failure of the Township of Embarrass to con-
struct roads in township 60, north of range 14 west, a majority of
the freeholders of that congressional township petitioned the county
commissioners, in 1911, to detach that township (60-14) from the
Township of Embarrass, and organize it separately as the township
of "River." The petition was sworn to by August Aukrein on April
15, 1911, and filed with the county auditor on the twentieth of that
month.
The petition eventually came before the board of commissioners,
and was the subject of protracted discussion. Ultimately, the com-
missioners announced that hearing of remonstrances would be set
for November 7, 1911, when they hoped to dispose of the matter.
Either earlier, or on that date, bitter opposition by the residents of
township 60-15, the western half of the Township of Embarrass,
developed, thev being much averse to the movement to detach town-
ship 60-14.
The commissioners were unable to decide until February 6. 1912.
736 • DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Then they decided in favor of the petitioners, and passed a resolution
that township 60-14 be detached from the Town of Embarrass, to
form another organized township, to be known as "River"; and
they ordered election to be held, on February 27, 1912, "at the school-
house, No. 5, Dist. 11. sec. 20," of township 60-14.
On February 8, 1912, the county auditor was advised by the
state auditor the name "River" was that of a township in Red Lake
County, and that therefore another name must be chosen. The
freeholders of the newly organized town asked the commissioners
to select one of three names suitable to them : Joki, Waasa, or Oulu ;
therefore, on March 6th the county board selected the name of
"Waasa." As that the township has since been recorded.
An attempt was made in December, 1916, to annex unorganized
township 60-13 to the Township of Waasa, a petition tu that eifect
being prepared by Jack Kero and others. The motion to annex was
lost at the meeting of the board of commissioners on June 7, 1917.
and it was unorganized territory until 1920.
Waasa is settled principally by agriculturists of Finnish origin,
who perhaps are the pioneers best fitted to develop such territory.
The population, according to the 1920 census, is 318, and the assessed
valuation of the township is $34,870. It is in what is known as the
Unorganized School District, that directed by the county adminis-
tration, a system economical yet adequate for sparsely populated
regions. There are two schoolhouses in the township, one on section
20, and the other on section 11.
The township officials are: Sam Heikkila (chairman), Emanuel
Isaacson and Nikolai Kari, supervisors; August Anderson, clerk;
J. Rautia, assessor; Thom Koskela, treasurer^
White. — The Township of White embraces three congressional
townships, 57, 58, and 59 north, of range 15 west, and it comes into
history as one of the important mining townships of the county.
Aurora, its chief incorporated place will be given a separate chapter,
and its mining history will be reviewed elsewhere, this chapter deal-
ing mainly with township organization records.
The Township of White was organized in 1906, a petition dated
September 20, 1906, and signed by Charles R. Hill and others living
in townships 57, 58, and 59 north, range 15 west, appealing to the
county commissioners to set oft" that, then imorganized. territory as
the organized Township of White.
The matter came before the county commissioners at their
October, 1906, session, and met with their approval. They ordered
the first town meeting to be held "at the Village Hall. Aurora." on
October 27th, the election date being later changed to November 7,
1906. then the organization of the township was completed.
The township then had an assessed valuation of $1,120,457. , In
1919, the assessed valuation had increased to $9,797,502. And the
taxes increased from $21,784.66 in 1906 to $557,908.88. in 1919. These
figures are exclusive of those of the incorporated village of Aurora,
the assessed valuation of which in 1919 was almost $3,000,000, upon
which the tax levy was $234,845.04 in 1919. It will therefore be
seen that White is one of the important townships of the county.
The federal census showed that in 1900 only seven people were
resident in the township; in 1910 there were 1.036 inhabitants; and
in 1920 slightly less, the census showing only 862. However, these
figures are exclusive of those for the Village of Aurora, which
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 737
maintains an increase in population for the township. Aurora's
population in 1910 was 1,919; in 1920 it had increased to 2,809, with
prospects of steady continuance in growth.
Aurora was incorporated in 1903, and is the only incorporated
place in the township. However, an attempt was made, in 1913,
to secure corporate powers for another place in the township. A
petition was circulated among the residents of Pineville, section 6,
of township 58-15, in February of that year, and was signed by many
people. The document ultimately reached the county offices, but
was declared to be irregular by the county attorney, who found
that the unplatted part of the land petitioners sought to include
in the limits of the incorporated village did not adjoin the platted
portion. The county commissioners considered the petition at their
March session, but took no action, and before they next met, certain
signers of the petition notified the commissioners of their wish to
withdraw their signatures. The commissioners ^therefore rejected
the petition at the next meeting.
Among the important mining properties of the township are
the St. James, Miller. Mohawk, Meadow, Fowler, Bangor, Stephens,
and Perkins mines. More is written elsewhere regarding them, and
mining is, of course, the chief industry of the township and will be
for many years.
The officials of the Township of White in 1920 were : Erick
Erickson, (chairman) ; Anton Skubic and E. T. Sandberg, super-
visors; O. F. Halstrom. clerk; Victor Rebrovich, assessor; Aug. Matt-
son, treasurer.
Willow Valley. — Township 63 north, range 20 west, was detached
from the Township of Linden Grove, in February, 1916. to form the
Township of Willow Valley, which had been erected by the county
commissioners on February 4th of that year, in response to petition
of John Ostlund, A. P. Olson, M. Peterson, and others of that town-
ship.
The petition was filed at the county auditor's office on December
30. 1915, and was discussed by the commissioners at their January
meeting. They favored the detaching of township 63-20 from Linden
Grove, and called for a stating of any objections by interested per-
sons to such action by them, fixing February 4th for a hearing of
such. On that day they granted the petition, and ordered the first
town meeting of the townshij) of Willow Valley to be held on h^eb-
ruary 19, 1916, "at Schoolhouse No. 20, situated in section 15. of
township 63-20."
Election was apparently held on that date, and organization has
since been maintained, with the same boundaries and powers. Duritig
the last few years there has been a slight increase in the valuation of
the township, and in all probability it will steadily go forward to
full agricultural development. No population was reported in 1910.
and in 1920 there were 180 people living in the township, the families
being those of legitimate homesteaders.
Its school affairs are directed by the county school statY. the
township paying a school tax of 37.1 mills, and a total levy of 71.2
mills for all purposes.
'i\)wnship officials, 1920: .\ug. (iruud (cluiirnian ). l'".sa Tep{)o
and Wm. Carlson, supervisors; Oscar Hanson, clerk; .\. \\ Olson,
assessor; Magnus Peterson, treasurer.
Wuori. — The Towiishii" of Wuori, the limits of which are those
738 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
of congressional township 59-17, was organized in 1908, and seems
to have just missed being one of the important mining townships.
The township is, apparently, just on the fringe of the rich mining
area of the Mesabi Range, and had a couple of good mining prop-
erties in the extreme southern tier of sections, but its southern border
adjoins what is known as the "Sliver," which name well describes the
strip of unorganized territory that lies between the townships of
Wuori and Missabe Mountain. One writer thus refers to the Sliver:
"Some of the early surveys were formal enough. There was
the Virginia Sliver, for example, so called because whoever sur-
veyed 58-17 neglected to hook up his lines with the boundaries of
59-17, which had been previously run on the north. It left a gap of
no-man's land, five miles long east and west, and nearly a quarter of
a mile wide at the western end, tapering to nothing on the east.
And as that happened to contain some millions of tons of fron ore,
it gave rise to one of the prettiest bits of litigation this country
has seen."
The addition of the "Sliver" to Wuori would have materially in-
creased its importance, from a mining point of view. Still, the Ordean
Mine has yielded a million tons of ore, and possibly other good
mines will develop when there is need of the ore.
The township was formed in 1908, following the presenting of
a petition, which bears date of April 29, 1908. to the county com-
missioners, who considered the document at their session of May of
that year. They approved the petition at that meeting, and passed
resolution to organize township 59-17 as the Township of "Hill,"
that being the wish of the petitioners. The first town meeting was
ordered to be held "at thellomestead School House on section 10,
township 59-17," on May 25th, and presumably was held.
Later, it became necessary to find another name for the new
township, there being another "Hill" towmship in the state (in Kitt-
son County) ; and when this became known to the commissioners
they fell back upon the name first written into the petition, and named
the township "Wuori," although they had earlier been of the opinion
that such a name would be too unusual to be advisable.
When the towmship was organized in 1908, Wuori had an as-
sessed valuation of $242,244, and in that year the taxes totalled to
$3,052.27. In 1919, the valuation had become reduced to $90,362.
The Ordean Mine shows practically no more ore available, and the
Allan Mine has not been worked since 1914.
Nevertheless, in some respects. Wuori Township is advancing.
It is gradually being settled, and there are some good farms in the
township, which in 1920 was shown to have a population of 296, an
increase of 74 over the 1910 census.
The Virginia school district, known as Independent School Dis-
trict No. 22, has jurisdiction throughout Wuori Township, which
is debited a school tax of only 16.4 mills. Some rural school districts
pay as high as 37 mills. The history of the Virginia school district
will be reviewed with the general history of that city.
The officials of Wuori Township in 1920 were : Ed. Arvola
(chairman). Emil Wittanen and Wm. Rekonen, supervisors; Antti
Heikkila, clerk; Alex Niemi, assessor; Sam Lampi, treasurer.
CHAPTER XXVIII
Trevanion W. Hugo. The studious interest he takes in the history
of the Head of the Lakes country and the reputation he has gained as
an authority on many phases of Duluth and the Range atfairs is a by-
product and incident of Mr. Hugo's long and active participation in the
very practical at^airs of this section. In a business and professional way
he has been identified as an engineer with activities both afloat and ashore.
Mr. Hugo was born July 29, 1848, at Bodinnoc, Cornwall, England,
where the family had lived for many generations of the old Cornish
stock. The motto on the coat of arms of the family is "Ubi Hbertas ibi
patria," suggesting the independence, enterprise and daring that have
inspired the different generations to exploits by sea and by land. His
father, Nicholas K. Hugo, served an apprenticeship as a .ship builder with
John Marks and married his employer's oldest daughter, Mary Rundle
Marks.
Trevanion W. Hugo as a young boy was brought to America and was
reared at Kingston, Ontario, attending public schools. For his record in
his studies he received a scholarship called the Chairman's prize by the
Chairman of Queens College and the Chairman of the Grammar School.
After completing his college career he took up his profession as a
mechanical engineer, serving five 3'ears of practical apprenticeship in
Kingston in the foundry and engineering works of that city. While em-
ployed as a marine engineer on lake steamers he first became identified
with Duluth in 1878, and subsequently was a stationary engineer with
shore duties and is still practicing his profession as a consulting mechan-
ical engineer in Duluth and throughout the state of Minnesota. He was
one of the first members of the American .Society of Mechanical
Engineers, being elected in 1882, the second member from Canada then
and the oldest now from there in point of membership, and he has recently
been elected a life member.
As a very young man in Canada Mr. Hugo was a member of the
Fourteenth Battalion Princess of Wales Own Rifles, and had a period
of real military discipline and duty during the Fenian raid while stationed
at Cornwall, Ontario. His public record at Duluth has been one of well
deserved honor. He was for four years an alderman of the city, four
years a director of the Board of Education, and then in 1900 served as
mayor four years, and sixteen years after his first term was again called
to the same office, which office he held until the spring election 1921.
He was the first chairman of the Public AtYnirs Committee of the C<im-
mercial Club ; is a stanch Republican in i)olitical affiliation, and for half
a century has been a member of the Masons and Odd Fellows. In Odd
Fellowship he has held every Grand and Subordinate ofiicc and the same
has been true of his Masonic affiliation except in the Bhic Lodge. He
is a Past Grand Sovereign. Grand Cross of Constantine ; Senior Sub-
stitute Magus, High Council Societas Rosjcrucinae. I'. S. .V.. and Hon-
orary Magus, IX° of the Rosicrucians in Tuigland. and holds several other
foreign honorary affiliations. He is the .Active I^oven•ign Grand Inspec-
tor General, thirly-tliird degree in Minnesot.-i and is the ( I rand Minister
of State of the .Su|)reme Council. .A. and .\. S. Rite. .So. Jur. He is
editor and writer of the Duhith Masonic C"alendar ; director of the Scot-
tish Rite infant welfare work in Duluth: iiu-mber of the Charter Com-
mission of Duluth from H^08 to the present time ; originator of the Duluth
Masonic Free Sunday Concerts; for fen years j^resident of the I. O. O. F.
7.^9
740 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Home Board of Minnesota and at present is vice president of the Masonic
Home Board of the state, wrote the 1920 Duluth Pageant and is the
author of a monograph on the French gentleman after whom Duluth is
named. His writings on Masonic subjects are many, including a "Digest-
Index" of Albert Pike's "Morals and Dogma."
Mr. Hugo married Miss Jane Lanigan in Kingston, who died a num-
ber of years ago. The eldest son, Victor, died in St. Louis, Missouri,
and his widow makes her home at the family residence in Duluth with
her two daughters. Rene T. Hugo, the younger son, is married and lives
in Duluth. He is president of the Hugo IManufacturing Company.
Henry F. Salvards, who has been a resident of Dukith for nearly
three decades, is connected with some of the most important enterprises
of the city. At present he is president of the Duluth Board of Trade and
is one of the heavy grain operators of this region. He was born at Lib-
erty, Missouri, July 10, 1869, a son of Richard G. Salyards. The latter
was a resident of Missouri during the reconstruction period following the
close of the war between the North and the South, but later was a news-
paper man of southern Illinois. He was married to Miss Helen Baker,
and they became the parents of four children. For several generations
the Salyards have been connected with the newspaper business in Ohio
and Kentucky, and from the latter state Richard G. Salyards went into
Missouri and Illinois.
Henry F. Salyards completed his educational training at a high school.
Going to Chicago, he obtained a clerical position with a pig lead firm, and
later went into northern Dakota and Montana and engaged in cattle and
sheep ranching, but terminated those connections in 1893 and, coming to
Duluth, embarked in a grain commission business with Governor Fli C.
D. Shortridge. the first Republican governor of North Dakota. This as-
sociation continued until the death of Governor Shortridge, after w^hich
Mr. Salyards continued alone. In 1920 he was honored by his associates
on the Board of Trade by election to the office of its chief executive, and
he is still serving as such. He is also a director of the First National
Bank, and is otherwise prominent in public matters. The Baptist Church
has in him an earnest and generous member. In politics he has always
been a strong Democrat. Prominent as a Mason, he has been raised to
the Commandery, and also belongs to the Mystic Shrine.
On October 10, 1890, Mr. Salyards was married to Miss Mary Ely.
of Center, Missouri, and they have three children, Ely, Myra and Pa-
tricia. Ely Salyards was a first lieutenant of Battery A, Three Hundred
and Seventh Division, Field Artillery, and served for twenty months in
the late war in France. He was honorably di.scharged after the signing
of the Armistice, returned to Duluth, and is now in the grain commission
business with his father. Many of the present improvements of Duluth
have been advocated by Mr. Salyards, and stands as the result of the wise
and indefatigable zeal of him and his associates for bettering their com-
munity. The years he has spent at Duluth have been of incalculable im-
portance in the city, and he has kept abreast of the advancement, and at
the same time has widened his own knowledge and developed his capa-
bilities.
Henry Turrish, for nearly a score of vears a resident of Duluth and
now engaged in lumbering, operating at the present time in Idaho, Wash-
ington and Oregon, was born on a farm in Portage county, Wisconsin,
October 16, 1864-, a son of James and Catherine (Campbell) Turrish,
both of whom were natives of Ireland.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 741
James Turrish was reared in his native country, but when still a young
man, in December, 1850, took passage on a sailing vessel bound from
Glasgow, Scotland, to the United States. His vessel sprung a leak, and
it was not until March, 1851, that he arrived in New York city. He lived
at Wilmington, Delaware, for a time, and was married at New York city.
In 1862 he came to the west, locating in Buena Vista, Portage county,
Wisconsin, which locality was his home for practically the remainder of
his days, although in his later years he moved to Stevens Point, Wis-
consin, where he died in 1907.
One of a family of ten children, of whom seven grew to maturity,
Henry Turrish worked on the home farm in Portage county, Wisconsin,
while a boy, and attended the district schools, supplementing this with
an academic and business course at Madison. He began his business
career in the logging camps of the pine woods of northern Wisconsin, fol-
lowing which he worked at nearly every branch of lumbering, including
cruising, cutting, rafting and office work. About 1890 he began lumber-
ing in Wisconsin for himself, buying stumpage rights, logging and sell-
ing, and later, about 1898, moved to Superior, W^isconsin, and there began
manufacturing, at the same time purchasing timber in Wisconsin and
Minnesota with associates, which was aside from his regularly-established
business. About 1901 Mr. Turrish moved to Duluth, having disposed of
his Superior holdings. At Duluth he had previously maintained an office
for several years with W. H. Cook. On coming to this city he at once
became secretary and general manager of the Minnesota Log and Tim-
ber Company, and for several years was engaged in manufacturing lum-
ber. Upon the completion of the work thus mapped out he became as- \
sociated with others in the acquisition of large timber holdings in Florida.
Idaho, Oregon and Washington, giving to the western holdings his per-
sonal attention.
Mr. Turrish is a director of the City National Bank of Duluth ; a di-
rector of the Elk River (Idaho) Bank; vice president and director of the
Pollatch Lumber Company of Idaho ; director of the Boise Payette Lum-
ber Company, Boise, Idaho ; president of the Western Land Company,
Ltd.. of Idaho ; vice president of the W^estern Timber Company. ])resi-
dent of the Mehalen Timber and Logging Company, president of the
Portland Southwestern Railway Company. ])resident of the Beaver Lum-
ber Company, president of the Appledale Land Company, director of the
Fir Tree Lumber Company and of the Drew Timber Company, all of
Portland. Oregon, where the general offices are located ; president of the
O'Connell Lumber Company ; director of the Curran Timber Comjiany
of Washington ; and director of several land and exploration companies
of Minnesota. Mr. Turrish is a member of practically all the clubs of
Duluth. He is a Republican in politics, but has not aspired to political
official honors.
On June 17. 1891. he married Margaret V. Keating, of Antigo. Wis-
consin, who died December 26. 1912, leaving four daughters: Marie,
the wife of C. K. Hazen ; Nannie, who died September 7. 1920. as Mrs.
Philip L. Ray; Vivian, the wife of Miron Bunnell; .ind Frances. Mr.
Turrish's second marriage occurred February 21. 1914. when he was
united with Miss Minnie B. Lander. Mr. and Mrs. Turrish are com-
municants of the Roman Catholic Church.
M.ARTIN L. Jknks. For the past twenty years Mr. Tenks has been
one of the prominent grain men of Duluth. and his individual enterprise
and the capital he represents have given a decided imj)etus to the com-
mercial power now wielded by the Zenith City.
742 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Mr. Jenks was born at Forrester, Michigan, July 15, 1861, son of
Benjamin L. and Amanda (Messer; Jenks. His father for many years
was identified with farming in St. Clair county, Michigan, but m later
years was active in the lumber and timber industries of Michigan. At
Woods jMill in Sanilac county he was manager for the J. L. Woods
interests, and was also interested in the wholesale firm of Pack, Woods
& Company of Cleveland, wholesale lumber dealers. Besides acting as
manager of the saw mill and general store his services were valuable
in locating timber, and a considerable part of his time was spent as a
cruiser. Throughout his Ufe he was known as a man of strict com-
mercial integrity, ability and honesty, and was frequently called upon
to act as arbitrator on account of his faculty of seeing both sides of the
question. In politics he was a Republican.
Martin L. Jenks, the youngest in a family of five children, was edu-
cated in the public schools of Michigan and spent one winter in a col-
lege at Kalamazoo and another winter at Mount Morris, Illinois. W'hen
twelve years of age he earned his first money and beginning at the age
of sixteen was regularly working in general stores and on farms. At the
age of twenty-four he entered the service of a wholesale dry goods store
at Kansas City, but about three years later returned east and became
identified with a rolling mill at Findlay, Ohio, and during the five years
there became superintendent of the Findlay Rolling Mill Company.
Since then his chief, interests have been in the grain business. When
he came to Minnesota he first located at Washburn, spending two months
with Nye Jenks & Company, when he was transferred to the Nye Jenks
& Company office at Minneapolis as cashier, where he remained two and
a half years. He was then sent to the Milwaukee office of the Rialto
Elevator Company, a subsidiary of Nye Jenks & Company, and remained
in Milwaukee until the spring of 1900. The firm did a profitable busi-
ness in that city, and while Mr. Jenks was there and since has operated
the Angus-Smith Elevator. In the spring of 1900 he came to Duluth to
organize the business of the Itasca Elevator Company, bviyers and ship-
pers of grain, buying it on exchange and shipping east. The first year
they handled not quite three million bushels, and their business has in-
creased until the total aggregate of one season has reached as high as
twenty million bushels. I\Ir. Jenks now gives his special attention to the
Itasca Elevator Company as secretary and manager.
He has been prominent on the Duluth Board of Trade, serving as
director eight years, vice president two years and president two years,
and now rej^resents the Duluth Board as counsellor of the United States
Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Jenks is a member of the Commercial Club,
Kitchi Gammi Club. Curling Club and Boat Club, and is a Republican
in politics.
December 7, 1892. while living at Findlay, Ohio, he married Miss Lin-
nie Edgar, of Sidney, Ohio. Her father at the outbreak of the Civil war,
being unable to enlist in his home county on account of his age, went to
another county and became the youngest member of his regiment and
served throughout the period of hostilities. Mr. and Mrs. Jenks have
two daughters, Hester Anna, born in 1894. and Edna Messer. born in
1898. Both are graduates of the Duluth Central High School and spent
two years finishing their educations at the National Park Seminary at
Washington, D. C.
W'lLLiAM Albert McGonagle. The work of William Albert Mc-
Gonagle as a railroad builder and engineer and operating official has con-
stituted a real and vital service to the upbuilding of one of the chief re-
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 743
sources of Duluth, its transportation system. It is doubtful if any man
now living has a broader or more authoritative technical knowledge of
the problems of railroad transportation in the Duluth district.
Mr. McGonagle, who for the past ten years has been president of the
Duluth, Missabe & Northern Railway Company, was born at Consho-
hocken, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, March 28, 1861, a son of
Joseph and Agnes (McKeeman) McGonagle. His father was born at
Pottsville, and his mother at Norristown, Pennsylvania. His father was
for many years a merchant at Conshohocken, where he died. William A.
McGonagle was one of a family of two sons and four daughters. Three
of the daughters are now deceased. He was educated in the public schools
of Conshohocken, graduating from high school in 1876. The following
year he entered the University of Pennsylvania and graduated in 1881
with the degree Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. For a few
months he was a draftsman in private engineering work at Atlantic City,
New Jersey, but in July, 1881, he arrived in Minnesota, the state destined
to be his permanent field and the scene of his best achievements not only
as an engineer but as a citizen. His first employment in this state was
as draftsman at Brainerd with the Northern Pacific Railway Company,
and shortly afterward as a transit man with the party engaged in locat-
ing the Little Falls and Dakota branch of that railway. In the fall of
1882 Mr. McGonagle entered the service of the Duluth & Iron Range
Railroad Company as assistant engineer. He was successively promoted
to resident engineer, superintendent of bridges and buildings, and as-
sistant chief engineer, an office he held until 1902. In the latter year
he became assistant to the president of the Duluth. Missabe & Northern
Railway Company, was made vice president in 1903. and since March,
1909. has been president. While with the Duluth & Iron Range road he
had charge of the maintenance of way and especially of ore dock con-
struction and the construction of the terminals at Two Harbors. Min-
nesota, and the relocation of the line between Two Harbors and Cloquet
River.
While his best years have been devoted to the problems of railroad-
ing and transportation, Mr. McGonagle was also a factor in the organ-
ization of the Duluth Crushed Stone Company, one of the important local
industries of Duluth. He has given his influence, studv and time to many
public movements. He is a former president of the Duluth Commercial
Club, a former chairman of its Public Afifairs Committee, and was chair-
man of the Relief Committee in the forest fires at Beaudette and Spooner.
Minnesota, in October. 1910. while by appointment of the Governor he
again became chairman of the Minnesota Forest Fires Relief Commis-
sion and took active charge of the relief work during the forest fires of
October. 1918. In the late war he was first chairman of the Duluth Chap-
ter of the American Red Cross, and held that office until the close of the
war. when he resigned on account of ill health. He is a Republican, but
has never sought nor held political offices. Mr. McGonagle is also a
former president of the Kitchi Gammi Club, is a life member of the Du-
luth Boat Club, a member of the Northland Countrv Club, the Minnesota
Club of St. Paul, the New York Railroad Club of New York, and the
Gitchi Nadii Club of .Superior. Wisconsin, llis favorite recreation i>^ ijolf.
and he is also a great traveler, having lived in practically every section
of the United States.
Mr. McGonagle i^ on(> of tlic most prominent Masons of northern
Minnesota, having attained the supreme thirtv-third desTrec in the .Scot-
tish Rite. He is a past master of Palestine Lodre No. 79. A. F. and A.
M.. past high priest of Keystone Chapter No. 20. R. .A. M.. pa^^t com-
744 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
mander of Duluth Commandery No. 18, K. T., is a past grand master of
the Grand Lodge, A. F. and A. M. of Minnesota, a past sovereign of St.
George's Conclave. Knights of the Red Cross of Constantine, and a mem-
ber o*f all the Scottish Rite bodies in Duluth and the Aad Temple of the
Mystic Shrine. •
October 5, 1887, Mr. McGonagle married Miss Sarah L. Sargent,
daughter of Samuel G. and Sarah E. Sargent, of Methuen, Massachusetts.
Mr. and Mrs. McGonagle have had three sons and one daughter: Joseph
Sargent, Robert Emerson, Mary and William Albert, Jr. Their oldest
son attended the Duluth High School. Dartmouth College, took the short
course in agriculture at the University of Wisconsin, and is now man-
aging a large farm at Hamilton, Montana, and is president of the Cham-
ber of Commerce of that town. The son, Robert, also attended the Du-
luth High School and the University of Pennsylvania, and during the
World War volunteered with the forces of Canada and served two years
in France and Belgium, where he was wounded and gassed. He is now
in business in Duluth. president of the Duluth Double Wall Construc-
tion Company. The daughter, Mary, is a graduate of the Duluth High
School and graduated with the class of 1919 from ]Mount Holyoke Col-
lege at South Hadley. Massachusetts. The youngest son graduated from
High School, class of 1920, attended Dartmouth College and died Sep-
tember 13, 1920.
Walter M. Evered is president of the National Iron Company of
Duluth, one of the largest industries in the city and one that furnishes
a large volume of the iron and steel finished products that are shipped
out of Duluth every year.
The Evereds as a family have been distinguished for mechanical skill
through several generations. The grandfather of Walter Evered was
Joseph Evered, who came from England and settled at Rochester, New
York, where for a number of years he owned and operated a flour mill
and feed shop. His son was the late Joshua D. Evered, a pioneer in the
iron industry of Duluth and long one of that city's most substantial citi-
zens. He was born at Rochester, New York. July 16, 1845, and at the
age of ten years was left an orphan and had to make his own way in the
world. He inherited a taste for mechanics, and all his life was a student
of machinery, an inventor of many devices and improvements, including
some changes that perfected the threshing machine. He was also a good
business manager. For a number of years he had his home at Dayton.
Ohio, and in 1882 brought his family to Duluth. He became one of the
organizers of the Northwestern Iron Company, which is 1884 was merged
into the National Iron Works. In 1896 this business was taken over by
the firm of J. Evered & Son. and in May, 1897. the National Iron Com-
pany was incorporated by Joshua D. l^.vered, Walter M. Evered and
Harry R. Armstrong. Joshua Evered remained as president of the com-
pany until his death, on May 29, 1903. and was then succeeded by his
son. Walter, as president. Harry R. Armstrong continues as secretary
of the company. Joshua Evered was completelv devoted to his business
and family. He was a member of the Episcopal Church, belonged to the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and was a Republican. In 1866. at
Detroit, Michigan, he married Anna Rose, a native of Ontario. Canada,
and daughter of John and Mary Ann (Allen) Rose, her father having
been a shipowner.
W'alter M. Evered, only son of his father, was born at Dayton. Ohio,
attended the grammar and high schools of his native citv and of Duluth.
and was fifteen years of age when he came to the Zenith City. Even as
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DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 745
a boy he worked in his father's manufacturing plant, and mastered all
the technical details of iron and steel working. For over thirty years
therefore he has been closely identified with the growth and develop-
ment of the National Iron Company.
This industry involves a krge plant in West Duluth, and its facilities
have been especially adapted for the manufacture of machinery and
structural iron. It was originally started in a small way, chiefly for re-
pairing of marine and saw mill machinery. As the timber began to dis-
appear and the smaller boats were replaced by larger ones a readaptation
had to be made in the growing business. The owners at that time deter-
mined to make the plant especially equipped for the manufacture of
special machinery. The shop located during the first few years at the
head of Garfield avenue became too small to take care of the growing
burdens placed upon it, and in 1902 the company sought larger quarters
and took over the works formerly built by the Iron Bay Company. The
present plant occupies nearly six acres of ground and is fully equipped
with modern machinery and appliances for all the work. A large and
prominent feature of the business today is the building of hoisting ma-
chinery for builders and contractors and for mines, also machinery for
underground mining, tvmneling and prospecting. The company manu-
factures machinery to be driven with steam, electric, motor, or internal
combustion engines. The company are also jobbers as well as manu-
facturers, using large quantities of structural steel, merchant bars and
billets, and a large part of the factory force is busy the year around,
fabricating steel for bridges, buildings and steel construction work. As
foundrymen the National Iron Company has facilities for making all
kinds of grey iron castings, some of them weighing as high as thirty
tons apiece. It is an industry obviously contributing a great deal of
prosperity to Duluth since between 175 and 200 men are employed the
year around, and many of them are experts in their line. The output
of the plant is shipped all over the northwest and portions of Canada.
Walter M. Evered has the distinction of having been the first member of
the school board who was a former pupil of the Duluth schools. He
is active in the Duluth Commercial Club, is affiliated with Palestine Lodge
No. 79, A. F. and A. M., Keystone Chapter No. 20. R. A. M., Duluth
Commandery No. 18, K. T., is a Scottish Rite Mason and Mystic Shriner.
He also belongs to the Elks and is a member of the Episcopal Church.
In 1892 he married Miss Eleanor Keene. They have one daughter,
Helen.
A. L. Henricksen, the oldest firm of manufacturing jewelers in
Northern Minnesota is A. L. and N. J. Henricksen, who have been ac-
tively associated for many years, while the name Henricksen has been
established in Duluth for over thirty years.
N. J. Henricksen came to Duluth in 1887. .\. L. Henricksen was born
in Norway, July 30, 1866. and came to this country in 1904, joining his
brother and establishing the partnership of A. L. and N. J. Henricksen
in the manufacture of fine jewelry and as dealers in diamonds and other
precious stones. For many years the location of the Henricksen jewelry
house was 332 West Superior street, but the firm is now located on
W^est First street. This was the first establishment to install machinery
for the cutting and polishing of the ]')recious and semi-precious stones
found in the northern comUry, particularly on the banks of Lake Su-
perior, including the Ix.iutiful agates, amethysts and other stones that
arc given the full value of their attractiveness in handsome settings
made by the Henrick-^en brothers. Tlie cutting and polishing and set-
746 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
ting of these stones is a large business in itself, and has brought a large
trade to Henricksen Brothers from the tourist population that throngs
Duluth in the summer. A large section of their store is also devoted to
dealing in the curios found in Northern Minnesota.
A. L. Henricksen has always taken a great pride in his home city.
He is a member of the Commercial Club, the American Sons of Nor-
way, and he and his brother promoted a company for the manufacture
of puncture proof tires for automobiles. This company now operates
a large factory at Newcastle, Indiana.
A. L. Henricksen has always taken a great pride in his home city,
has five children, all living, namely: Sigurd, John, Erling, Signy and
Herald.
Thomas Kileen. The great lumber industry so long centered at
Duluth has recruited to this city and to the work some of the choicest
spirits of the great northern woods. One of them is Thomas Kileen,
who practically grew up in the atmosphere of logging camps in Wiscon-
sin, and who is now head of the firm, Thomas Kileen & Company, log-
gers and contractors, operating a large organization of men and facilities
in the lumber woods of the northwest, while Mr. Kileen personally is
owner of and associated with the ownership of great tracts of cut-over
timberland in the northern district.
He was born in Wisconsin October 14, 1861. His parents are now
deceased. His father who died in 1907, at the age of seventy-four, was
a substantial Wisconsin farmer, a good citizen, enjoying the confidence
of the entire community, and had a family of ten children, five of whom
are still living.
Third among these children, Thomas Kileen acquired his early
education in the country schools of the Badger state. At the age of
eighteen he left home and went to work in the pine woods and logging
camps and soon developed special skill and proficiency in all phases of
work, including the dangerous art of driving logs down the rivers. At
the age of twenty-three he had advanced so far as to begin taking con-
tracts for getting out logs and operating drives, and soon afterward he
established his headquarters at Duluth. Recognized as an expert logger
and timber man, he has commanded the confidence of woodmen, and
has kept together one of the most efficient organizations for work in
this line. His employes have at times aggregated as many as five hun-
dred, and in different years he has got out and sent to the mills between
twenty-five and thirty-five million feet of logs. Incidental to his business
as a logger he has handled the sale of cut-over timber lands. He has
owned and still owns large sections of former timber land both in Wis-
consin and Minnesota, and some of his principal holdings were in Doug-
las county, Wisconsin, land that has been sold and developed largely
through his organizations, and much of it now constitutes valuable farms.
Mr. Kileen is also extensively interested in mining operations on the
Mesaba Range.
He is an independent voter and a member of the Knights of Columbus.
In 1896 he married Miss Katie Finnigan. They have two children,
Edward, born October 10, 1899, and Morine. born May 1. 1901. The
son Edward finished his education in the University of \\^isconsin. and
since leaving university has been associated with his father in the logging
and farm business.
W. H. Cook. The Cook family have been residents of Duluth thirty
years, and during that time W. H. Cook and in former years his father
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 747
had a prominent work and service to perform as engineers and as lumber
operators, and W. H. Cook in recent years has been a lumberman with
interests extending from the Pacific northwest to the Atlantic southeast.
\\. H. Cook was born in Kent county, Michigan, September 8, 1867,
son of Merritt S. and Ella M. (Reynolds)- Cook, the former a native of
New York state. The father died in 1911 and the mother in 1914.
Merritt Cook spent the greater part of his life as a civil engineer and
surveyor. Coming to Duluth in 1892, he followed his profession until
his death. He possessed a decided mathematical turn of mind, and while
employed in a very practical profession he found his chief delight in
the theoretical side of mathematics. For a number of years he was
professor of mathematics in Albion College in Michigan. In his family
were six children, four still living, \V. H. Cook being the second in age.
As a boy he attended the common schools of Michigan, and acquired
an expert knowledge of the timber and lumber industry, still an important
line of business in his native state during his youth. He became a skillful
timber cruiser, and was employed in that capacity in several states of
the Union. He first came to Duluth in 1891, and was interested as a
timber dealer and lumber operator in a number of sections in north
Minnesota. He also extended his operations to the Paciiic Coast. Mr.
Cook and associates built a line of railway from Virginia, Minnesota,
to Fort Francis in Ontario. He began manufacturing lumber in Virginia,
Minnesota, in 1903. also w^as one of the organizers of the Virginia and
Rainy Lake Company, with mills at Duluth and Virginia, and in 1911
organized the Trout Lake Lumber Company, manufacturing lumber at
Tower, Minnesota. This industry he continued until 1918. About 1912
he extended his interests as a lumberman and timber owner to South
Carolina, where his business was carried on with headquarters at Green-
ville. He is still interested in the lumber operations of that state. Mr.
Cook is a Republican in politics.
December 31. 1888. in Michigan, he married Miss Martha L. Walsh.
Mrs. Cook for a number of years has taken a very prominent part in
charitable and social affairs in Duluth. and was one of the leaders in
local Red Cross work during the war. They have one son, Ellis R.,
who attended the Duluth High School and Dartmouth College and is
now engaged in the lumber business.
Ernest A. Schulze has a business experience that has been con-
tinuously identified with Duluth for thirty years or more. His original
trade was that of a tanner, and he has been in the leather business
continuously and is now president and manager of the Schulze Leather
& Findings Company, one of the leading wholesale houses of the kind
in the northwest.
Mr. Schulze was born at Hancock. IMichigan, April 6. 1866, a son of
Gustav A. and W'ilhelmina (Hohle) Schulze. His father was a native
of Prussia and his mother of southern Germany. On coming to America
Gustav A. Schulze, who was a carpenter and shipwright by trade, located
at Chicago, later moved to Hancock. Michigan, and from there went to
old .Superior, where he engaged in the furniture business. .-Xs a mill-
wright in the employ of Wieland Brothers he left Superior and went
to Reaver Bay, Minnesota, to look after the saw mill of the firm at that
point. Later he was elected to the office of auditor of Lake county, and
when the countv seat was moved to Two Harbors he and his family
went along. While there he was county auditor and later county treas-
urer, subsequently was ai:)pointed postmaster of Two Harbors, and at the
conclusion of his term in the postoffice moved with his family to Duluth,
748 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
where he lived a retired life until his death. He wa^ the father of ten
children, eight of whom reached mature years and seven are living.
Ernest A. Schulze, next to the oldest of the living children, acquired
his early education in the public schools of northern Wisconsin and
Minnesota and left school to become an apprentice to the tanner's trade
at the age of sixteen. He was an apprentice three years, and gained
a thorough knowledge of all that constitutes the tanning industry. Fol-
lowing that for one year he was employed as a clerk in the Wieland
shoe store, and then after a course in business college at St. Paul returned
to Duluth in 1888 and with his brother Charles, engaged in the leather
business under the firm name of Schulze Brothers. Later they incor-
porated as the Schulze Brothers Company, and the business was con-
tinued under this title until 1915. Since then Mr. Schulze has been the
active head of the Schulze Leather & Findings Company, a wholesale
establishment at 10 West First street.
Mr. Schulze has been devoted to business, has never sought the honors
of politics nor its cares and responsibilities, is a Republican voter and
an active member of the Pilgrim Congregational Church. In June, 1896.
he married Miss Emma Kohagen, daughter of Frederick Kohagen, of
Duluth and of German ancestry. Mrs. Schulze was educated in the
public schools of Pennsylvania and of Duluth. They have three children :
Dorothy, born in 1903 ; Clarence, born in 1907 ; and Eleanor, born in 1911.
Marsh ALL- Wells Company. The history of the Marshall- Wells
Company has a place of importance in this publication because it fre-
quently throws significant light upon the history of Duluth itself and
involves in a peculiarl}- interesting manner the fortunes and careers of
a number of prominent local business men, chief among them being
the veteran founder of the business, Albert Morley Marshall.
In 1882. when Duluth had less than 5,000 population and was only
a small and unimproved town around a lake port, with the lumbering
industry behind, a retail hardware business under the name G. C.
Greenwood & Company was established in the depot corner of Supe-
rior street. About tw^o years later the first iron ore was shipped from
the Vermillion Range, and with the completion of the Northern Pacific
Railroad Duluth grew so rapidly that it became a city of 18,000 popu-
lation. Needing larger capital for his business, Mr. Greenwood inter-
ested his uncle, A. B. Chapin. a Saginaw lumberman, and in 1886 the
firm was changed to A. B. Chapin & Com])any, wMth Mr. Chapin in
personal charge. A three-story frame building was erected on South
Lake avenue that year. Another important firm of Duluth at that
time was Wells-Stone & Company, wholesale grocers and hardware
men, who soon afterward merged the hardware department with that
of A. B. Chapin & Company, resulting in the Chapin-Wells Hardw^are
Company. In 1891 this firm moved into a new six-story and base-
ment brick building on lower Fifth avenue. West, which was the
home of the company for nine years. In 1892, when it became appar-
ent that large additions of capital were necessary, there occurred the
great crisis in the business. This was due partly to the industrial
depression which culminated the following year, and also to the fact
that some of those interested in the Chapin-Wclls organization were
desirous of withdrawing. At that time negotiations were entered
with Albert M. Marshall of Saginaw, Michigan.
Albert Morley Marshall was born December 25. 1851. His father,
Seth Marshall, was born near Hartford in Colebrook. Connecticut,
but spent his active life at Painesville, Ohio, where he was a hardware
, /h /%/ytMyi<U^
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 749
merchant, president of the First National Bank and otherwise exten-
sively interested in northern Ohio business. His fifth child was
Albert M. Alarshall, who grew up and was educated in the schools of
Painesville. At the age of nineteen he went to Saginaw and entered
the shipping room of Morley Brothers, hardware merchants. For
twenty-two years he remained with that firm, and when he left was
vice president and general manager and had demonstrated the faculty
of gathering about him and infusing his personal influence through
a splendid organization. He was also president of the U. S. Graphite
Compan}- and the Lufkin Rule Company, which he had started at
Cleveland and later moved to Saginaw.
In the face of conditions that prevailed in 1893 it is possible to
credit Mr. ^Marshall with nothing less than extraordinary vision and
courage in surrendering his attractive and promising interests in
^Michigan and elsewhere and taking hold of a proposition at Duluth
that promised a constant battle as a precedent for growth and success.
In the spring of 1893 he acquired the controllmg interest in the
Chapin-Wells Hardware Company, the name being changed to the
Marshall-Wells Hardware Company. The chief owner of the Wells
interests, C. W. Wells, was drowned the same fall while duck hunting,
and his partner, F. C. Stone, died three months later. Their estates were
represented in the Marshall-Wells directorate for some years. Mr.
^Marshall in the meantime was left to fight out the battle almost alone.
With the beginning of the panic of 1893 there was a general shut
down of mines, lumber operations, railway extension, but he per-
sisted in maintaining his business organization and even added to
his force of salesmen, soliciting business all over the northwestern
country. The wisdom of this step was proved several years later,
when with the gradual lifting of panic conditions it was found that the
Marshall-Wells Company had become securely entrenched in all the
northern and northwestern states and even in Canada and Alaska.
In the midst of trying conditions in 1894 Mr. Marshall began the
preparation of a complete catalogue that would represent every article
carried in stock, and at that time the "Zenith" trade mark was
adopted, which for a quarter of a century has been the guarantee of
(luality on all goods distril)uted by this firm.
One of the chief sources oi success to the [Nlarshall-W'ells organi-
zation has been Mr. Marshall's faculty of picking and retaining the
right sort of men in his organization. He entrusted a young Cana-
dian with first o])ening up an international business for the firm in
Canada, and with the Klondike gold discoveries of 1898 the emis-
saries of the .Marshall-Wells ComiKiny were soon within the Arctic
Circle. Out of this venture develojjed the great business handled by
the firm in the Canadian northwest through \Vinni|)eg, where the
first warehouse of the com])anv was established in 1^01. In 1901 the
conipau}- also rented a barn in Portland, Oregon. ;is the first ware-
house of the Portland branch, and within less than ten years several
successive buildings were erected l)y the firm in that city, until the
Portland l)ranch now handles business from the Pacific northwest to
Los .Angeles and the Imperial V\'illey of California. Through the
Portland house was also done a large export business to the Hawaiian
Islands, and more recently to Russia and China. The Spokane branch
of the firm was o])ened in January. P>09. to serve the great trade of
the inland empire, hi July. 1''12. was incorporated the Marshall-
Wells .Alberta Company, which took over previous connections of the
firm and an old established business at Fdmonton. .\lberta. and this
Vol. 11— 16
750 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
house now controls the trade of that northwestern province and north
to the Arctic Circle.
In the meantime, in spite of developments and extensions to these
far-tiung- fields, addition after addition has been made to the Duluth
headquarters. Besides the enormous material facilities the personnel
of the Duluth organization has increased from forty-four employes of
1893 to a small army of upwards of 1,000 in the wholesale hardware
business.
One of the individuals in this great organization, writing from
personal knowledge and facts known to the personnel of the Marshall-
W'ells Company, has given this interesting tribute: "It is not in
anything but the leadership of its founder, its captain-general, Mr.
A.M. ^Marshall, who better realized and appreciated the resources of
this great northwest, and had the courage, the confidence, and the
ability to invade the far west and develop that business at a time
when' other jobbers were deserting the territory — that accounts for
the real secret of ]\Iarshall-Wells success.
"His counsel and guidance have pervaded every department — the
lines of goods, the contracts made, the catalogue, the advertising, the
extension of territory and of credit ; the selection of his stafif. their
training, the principles inculcated in them, and the constant personal
watchfulness over the activities of every factor in the business — his
broad knowledge of finance, manufacturing and merchandising; in
general ; his deep insight into human nature and his happy methods of
treating each, have been the fundamentals — his technique.
"As to his business tactics and broader strategy, they might easily
be compared with the successful campaigning of a military organiza-
tion, for surelv merchandising is warfare; peaceful battles are trade
gains, trade victories, won by the training, the co-ordination, the
resources, reserves, the initiative, the attack, the consolidation, and the
follow-up."
A great business from ordinary commercial standards, it is also
great as an exemplification of the human element in business. The
company provides many forms of profit-sharing, insurance, pension
funds, and other advanced programs of welfare.
It was after he had seen his business reach the full tide of success
and influence that Mr. Marshall in 1918 took the chairmanship of the
Board of Directors and named his older son, Seth ^Marshall, as presi-
dent and general manager. At that time one of his old associates
said: "In my opinion no other merchant in the great northwest has
been the equal of ]\Ir. ^larshall in the vision and the optimism which
so benefited this great area of expansion, or has the ability, energy,
courage and devotion to a great work which he has had, and no other
has accomplished so much as he."
P. G. Phillips, who is commissioner of the city government, being in
charge of public utilities, is one of the best qualified men that might
be found for that responsible post. Mr. Phillips has lived for many
years in Duluth, was an alderman before the commission form of
government was ado])ted. is a thorough business man, and has a vast
and intricate knowledge of city affairs.
He was born in Swansea, Wales. September 24, 1870, and was only
an infant when brought to America by his parents in 1871. His
father, William Phillips, lived for a time at Connelsville, Pennsyl-
vania, where he followed his trade as a brass moulder. He continued
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 751
in the same line of business at Marshalltown, Iowa, where he lived
until his death in 1896.
P. G. Phillips was the third in a family of six children. He acquired
his early education in the public schools of Marshalltown, Iowa, and
as a youth served an apprenticeship at the blacksmith's trade. That
trade was his regular occupation from 1890 to 1910. In the latter
year he became manager of a general co-operative store at West
Duluth, and handled the affairs of that business very successfully
until February, 1917.
Mr. Phillips was first elected an alderman, representing the Eighth
Ward in the city of Duluth in 1912. He was in that office a year and
a half before the commission form of government was adopted. In
1917 he was chosen commissioner of the Board of Public Utilities,
and since then has spent practically all his time with the affairs of
his office. Mr. Phillips is an able speaker, has a great amount of
information on everything connected with the government of Duluth,
and- is well qualified in a literary way and has frequently discussed
subjects of current interest in the local press, especially through the
columns of the Duluth Herald.
Mr. Phillips is a member of several of the leading fraternal orders.
He is unmarried.
N. A. Young is a wholesome type of the modern educator, and was
keenly alive to the great responsibilities he carried as county superin-
tendent of schools of St. Louis county.
Teaching and school administration has constituted his life work.
He was born on a farm at Bismarck, Illinois, on August 2, 1874, son
of James L. and Nancy A. (Silvey) Young, being of Scotch ancestry
in the paternal line and English and Irish through his mother. He
is the oldest of four living children. His father was also a native of
Illinois, and spent his active life as a general farmer and died at Dan-
ville, that state. He strenuously objected to holding any office,
though he endeavored to exercise an intelligent interest in jniblic
affairs. He was a member of the Christian Church.
N. A. Young attended the rural schools of his home community
to the eighth grade, and then had his first experience as a teacher in
a country school. He continued his higher education in the Illinois
State Normal L^niversity, spending four years in that institution and
graduating in 1901. For one year he was principal of a ward school
in Hoopeston. Illinois, for two and a half years was principal of the
high school at Bement. leaving there in the middle of the year to
become superintendent of a small system of schools at Deland. Illi-
nois, early in 1902.
Mr. Young came to Minnesota in the fall of 1902 and for five years
was ])rinci])al of the schools at Soudan and for two and a half years
superintendent at Aurora. He has been connected with the general
school work of St. Louis county since February. 1910. when he was
made assistant superintendent. In the fall of that year he was elected
county sujierintendent, and held that office until .August 1. 1920, when
he resigned in order to give all his time to the Duluth School of Busi-
ness, of which institution he is president aiid jiart owner.
Many important changes and improvements were made imder his
administration. The outstanding feature was the gradual centraliza-
tion in control of schools in the County I'oard of Education. This
is now the vital center and heart of the county system of education,
though in 1911. when Mr. >'(nnii; Itecame suprrintendent, the office
752 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
was comparatively a nominal one and his entire force consisted of
himself, one assistant and a stenographer. At the time of his resig-
nation about twenty people were at work in the county superinten-
dent's office all the' time. Through the county office the schools of
St. Louis county are now in a measure grouped as a single big district,
with a central organization in control. It is possible to review only
briefly the larger results and the influences which emanated from the
office of County Superintendent Young. One feature was the con-
stant endeavor to improve the health of the school children and the
patrons of the schools in rural territories. Mr. Young has been a
staunch advocate of homes for teachers in connection with the schools,
and this idea has' been developed in a number of cases with gratify-
ing results. The plan for Boys' and Girls' Clubs was fostered, until
there are now between 125 and 130 such organizations in the county.
The chief object of the club organization, as Mr. Young views it, is to
develop a spirit of self government in the children early in life.
The increase in the activities of the superintendent's office is
partly accounted for through Mr. Young's advocacy and practice of a
closer supervision of rural school work. He contended that good
schools are possible in the country as in the city, provided certain
factors are present, the same quality of teacher, the same generous
supplies of books and papers, and the same kind of supervision.
School patrons and school directors have never been allowed to forget
since Mr. Young was made superintendent that an important essential
in good rural schools is better buildings, better ventilation, better
light and more comfortai)le quarters in every way.
The rural schools in St. Louis county, as in nearly every other
part of the country were seriously handicapped during the war by
an insufficient supply of teachers. In order to overcome that difficulty
I\Ir. Young endeavored to prevail upon the county high schools to
conduct normal training departments, and at the present time nearly
all of the rural teachers are home-trained products.
He adopted in his school administration an idea long practiced
by i)rogressive business organizations in getting the teachers together
in a good summer school just before the opening of the regular term,
not so much for the purpose of instruction and acquainting them
with pedagogic theories, but in arousing their enthusiasm and general
morale so as to put them in readiness for the actual ])roblems they
will encounter in their school work. Each summer for a number of
years such a school has been conducted in St. Louis county.
For eight years i\Ir. Young was publisher of the Rural School
Bulletin, a local magazine devoted to the interests of the schools of
St. Louis county. He was a regular contributor to the Bulletin, the
files of which contain most of his literary productions. About four
years ago he also edited one division of the encyclopedia known as
"School Methods." In 1919 he and an associate opened a commercial
school at Twenty-first avenue. West, and Superior street in Duluth.
the first session beginning September 2nd. Mr. Young is devoting his
entire time to that institution now.
The majority of the people living in the rural districts of St. Louis
county are of foreign birth. In order that they might become
acquainted with the English language and learn something of Ameri-
can ideals and form of government Mr. Young instituted whal is
known as the Speak-English Movement. Through this movement
the children are encouraged to teach the English language to their
parents and to their little brothers and sisters. They take pride in
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 753
telling their parents stories of American heroes and in giving them
facts concerning the geography and government of United States.
Each school entering upon the Speak-English work is provided
with an attractive, framed certificate, and each Speak-English worker
wears a button bearing the inscription : "We Speak English."
The Speak-English Movement was started in the fall of 1918, and
when Mr. Young's resignation took effect in August, 1920. 2,250 boys
and girls were enrolled in the movement. The English language is
spoken in many families where it was never heard before, many
fathers and mothers are delighted over having learned to read English,
and whereas in former years the little folks entering school were
unable to speak English, the majority of the beginners in 1920 were
acquainted with the English language.
During the war Mr. Young was manager of the Junior Red Cross.
He is not a member of any literary or educational organization, has
no secret affiliation, was reared a Methodist and is an independent
voter. July 31, 1901, he married ]\Iiss May E. Walls, daughter of
I. C. Walls. Both their children are now deceased.
G. A. E. FiNLAYSON. In no profession is there a career more open to
talent than in that of the law, and in no field of endeavor is there
demanded a more careful ])reparation, a more thorough appreciation
of the absolute ethics of life or of the underlying principles which
form the basis of all human rights and privileges. It is a profession
into which none should enter without a recognition of the obstacles
to be encountered and overcome and the battles to be won, for success
does not perch on the banner of every one who enters the competitive
fray, but comes only as the legitimate result of capability.
G. A. E. Finlayson was born May 2. 1873. in Montreal, Canada,
and is a son of Alexander and Agnes (McLennan) Finlayson. His
father, who was born and reared in Canada, came to the United States
on October 31, 1880, and located in South Angus, Polk county, Min-
nesota, where for about a year and a half he was engaged in the
mercantile business. At the end of that time he turned his attention
to farming, in which he met with splendid success, becoming the
owner of 800 acres of excellent and productive land in Polk county.
In 1883 he removed his family to Crookston, Minnesota, tliat his
children might have the benefit of the schools of that city.
G. A. K. Finlayson received his elementary educati(m in the public
schools of Crookston, being a member of the t'lrst class of four who
were graduated from the high school there in 1891. Having deter-
mined to devote his life to the legal profession, he then entered the
University of Minnesota, where he was graduated from the academic
department with the degree of H. A. in 1896. He then entered the
law department and was admitted to the bar in 189Q. entering ui)on
the active j)ractice of his profession at Crookston. In 1913 he came U>
the citv of Duluth. where he has since resided and jiracticed his
profession.
Politically Mr. Finlayson is affiliated with the Repuhliean partv.
having cast his first presidential vote tor William McKinley. His
religious membership is with the Pilgrim Congregational Church of
Duluth. Fraternally he is a member of the I'enevolent and Protective
Order of F.Iks. Clan Stewart, Curling Club and other organizations.
On September 2*). 1915. he was married to h'va Husselman, a
daughter of William Husselman. and they are the parents of a son,
C. W. .\.. b.irn on ( )ct(.l)er 17. P)16.
754 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Frederick A. Richardson. It is generally considered by those in
the habit of superficial thinking that the history of so-called great
men only is worthy of preservation and that little merit exists among
the masses to call forth the praises of the historian or the appreci-
ation of mankind. A greater mistake was never made. No man is
great in all things and very few are great in many things. It is not a
history of the lucky stroke which benefits humanity most, but the
long study and effort which eventually result in a sure and permanent
success. Among those in St. Louis county who have achieved suc-
cess along steady lines of action is the subject of this sketch.
Frederick A. Richardson was born on January 11, 1893, in Stevens
Point, Wisconsin, and is the first in the order of birth of the nine
children who blessed the union of \V. J. and Josephine (Perrin) Rich-
ardson, the former of whom was a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Frederick A. Richardson was educated in the country schools of
Wisconsin and the public schools of Duluth, the family having moved
to this city while he was still a lad. His first employment was as a
water carrier at nine years of age. Shortly afterwards he went to
work on his father's farm and spent three years there. He grew to
manhood surrounded by those conditions which tend to develop indus-
try, integrity and frugality. How well he has retained those lessons
of his early training has been shown by his later life.
On leaving the home farm Mr. Richardson obtained employment
as a messenger boy for the Western Union Telegraph Company, but
two years later became a clerk in a railroad ofifice in this city, where
he remained for a time. Then for a year he worked as a clerk in
the W'estern Union office in this city, being then transferred to the
American District Telegraph Company, where for a year he served
as night operator. From June, 1916, until 1918, he had charge of the
day offfce for that company and in the latter year was appointed
general manager of the American District Telegraph Company's
office in Duluth. He severed his connection with the American Dis-
trict Telegraph Company and is now associated with the Langdahl
Tailoring Company, 18 North Twenty-first avenue, West, Duluth.
Energy, good judgment and executive ability are the elements which
have contributed to his success, and among his associates he is held
in the sincerest regard, while he stands high in the esteem of the
public who have had dealings with him.
On January 23, 1911, Mr. Richardson was married to Marie A.
Fleckenstein, and they are the parents of a son, Frederick A., Jr. In
his political views Mr. Richardson is independent, but he stands
staunchly for all movements or enterprises having for their objects the
advancement of the city along material, civic or moral lines.
Marshall H. Alworth, with two of the greatest industries of north-
ern Minnesota, lumbering and mining, Marshall H. Alworth has been inti-
mately associated for a period of nearly half a century. For the greater
part of that time he has been a resident of Duluth and one of the men of
enterprise who have liberally bestowed their public spirit and also a share
of their business influence in the development of the community.
Mr. Alworth was born at Florence, Oneida county, New York, Octo-
ber 26, 1846, a son of Nathan S. and Deborah (Wickwire) Alworth.
His father, who died about 1856, was a railroad man and was engaged
in construction work for the Erie Railroad at the time of his death.
Marshall H. Alworth had four sisters, but is now the only survivor of
his generation of the family. Beginning life with a district school educa-
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 755
tion acquired in western New York, he left home between the age of thir-
teen and fourteen, and for many years had some of the "rough and tum-
ble" experiences of Hfe. For a time he worked on the Great Lakes, but
eventually became a land and timber explorer, a work in which he
achieved a high degree of expertness and skill, and which he followed for
over twenty years.
About 186/ he began exploring in the timber lands of Michigan, \\'is-
consin, Mississippi and Minnesota, and after looking for timbers for others
interested in investments finally secured a working interest and op-
erated on capital of his own. It was about 1880 that he became financially
interested in this industry, and during the past forty years he has held
and developed large tracts of timber land, especially in the northern states.
Mr. Ahvorth first came to the city of Duluth in 1873. For several
years he was employed under contract in exploring and locating Govern-
ment land in Minnesota, Wisconsin and upper Michigan. Soon after he
came to Duluth there occurred the memorable failure of Jay Cooke, ini-
tiating the tremendous financial depression of 1873. There was no dis-
position on the part of moneyed interests to continue the contracts in
which Mr. Ahvorth was interested. With what money he personally com-
manded he looked over some in St. Louis county, but soon found his oc-
cupation practically gone. That financial depression was a serious blow
to the development of Duluth, which did not recover for several years.
Mr. Ahvorth returned to northern Minnesota in 1882, again as a land
looker, but he was a purchaser of lands at the Government land sale, and
later, in the 1893 sale at St. Cloud, he acquired further land holdings.
Some of these lands were on the Mesaba Range. They had already shown
indications of ore. and these indications led Mr. Ahvorth to believe that
if the underground resources were properly explored a satisfactory com-
mercial basis could be established. Thus he and his associates agreed not
to sell the fee of the lands when the timber was removed, and that pre-
caution was fully justified by the later outcome.
At first he gave options to explore, but found the work was not prop-
erly done, and he and his associates then took the matter directly under
their own supervision. Much of the land had been "test-pitted" and
worked over from one to three times, but the Yiew and thorough investi-
gations proved good deposits of ore. On that basis was formed the Al-
worth Alining and Development Company, an organization jhat was suc-
cessfully continued for several years, as long as ore was found in paying
quantities. The members of this companv were J. L. Washburn, \\'. C.
Agnew, \\'. H. Cole and Mr. Alworth. Finally they leased the lands and
did not get more than two and a half cents a ton above what the option
called for.
A number of otiier business enterprises have commanded the time and
resources of Mr. .Ahvorth. He became owner of considerable real estate
in Duluth and took an interest in various industries to build up the town.
Among properties which he owns is the Alworth Building, construction
of which was begun September 12, 1909, and the building, completed, was
tinned over by the contractors May 1, 1910. ?Te also owns the .St. Regis
A[)artments and a few buildings in other parts of the city. During his
career at Duluth he is said to have invested about half a million dollars
in local manufacturing industries.
Mr. Alworth lias no church membership but is a supporter of many
charitable enterprises and organizations. ITe is a Republican in politics.
He was married at Saginaw, Michigan, hme 13, 1878. and of the seven
children born to him and Mrs. Ahvorth two are now living, Marshall W.
756 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
and Royal JJ. Alworth. The sons are actively associated with their father,
Marshall looking after the mining properties and Royal after the real
estate holdings.
John R. McGiffert. While he came to Duluth in 1892 to practice
law, and made a name in that profession, John R. AlcGiffert is best known
in the Northwest as one of the executive officials of the Clyde Iron Works,
as an inventor and mechanical engineer and as patentee of a large list
of devices, most of them used in the lumber industry and which have
in some respects almost revolutionized certain logging and lumbering
operations.
Mr. McGiffert was born at Hudson, New York, March 19, 1869, a
son of John N. and Sarah (Carnahan) McGiffert, the former, a native
of New York and the latter of Pennsylvania. His grandfather, James
McGiffert, was born near Belfast, Ireland, in 1800 and came to New
York in 1819. In the maternal line Mr. McGiffert represents some dis-
tinguished American names. His maternal great-great-grandfather,
John Carnahan, was commander of a Pennsylvania company in the
Revolutionarv war. The Carnahans were Scotch-Irish and settled in
Pennsylvania during the eighteenth century. One of the Carnahans,
James, was an early president of Princeton College. The grandfather,
James McGiffert, was a grandson in the maternal line of Colonel Wil-
liam Dinwiddie, whose brother was the Robert Dinwiddie, known to
every American schoolboy as the Colonial Governor of V'irginia.
John R. McGiffert was liberally educated, attending public schools
and an academy in his native town, taking two years in Hamilton College,
graduating in 1890 from Williams College in New York, and in 1892
receiving his law degree from the University of New York. Admitted to
the bar the same }ear. he came to Duluth and opened his office and soon
had a comfortable clientele as a lawyer.
W'hile in school and during his law practice Mr. ^McGiffert found
time to encourage his inventive genius and allowed it more or less full
scope, though the first invention patented and turned to commercial use
was the McGiffert Log Loader, which he first patented in 1901. During
subsequent years he obtamed more than twenty other patents covering
different types of logging machinery.
About the time he obtained his patent on the McGiffert Log Loader
the Clyde Iron Works was established as the reorganization of another
iron working plant at Duluth. The Clyde Iron Works has long been the
most complete iron working plant in the North\vest, and has specialized
in the manufacture of logging and other heavy machinery. The Mc-
Giffert Log Loader has been manufactured by the Clyde Iron W'orks
from the beginning, as well as other of Mr. McGiffert's patents. In
1902 Mr. McGiffert became superintendent of the logging machinery
department, and subsequently became treasurer and secretary and later
vice president of the corporation in general charge of the design and
construction of all the machinerv manufactured in the immense plant
at Duluth.
Mr. McGiffert is a member of the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers, the American Society for the Advancement of Science, the
New York Machinery Club, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts,
belongs to the Duluth Commercial Club. Kitchi Gammi Club, Duluth
Boat Club. Northland Country Club, and has allied himself with every
progres.sive civic business and patriotic organization since he took up
his residence at Duluth. Air. McGiffert has served as a member of the
Board of Education and in other capacities.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 757
In 1896 he married Miss Gertrude Yates Magoun, who was also
born in Hudson, New York. Her ancestry involves many prominent
names, particularly in the Yates line. Colonel Christopher Yates was
an officer in the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars. Another
member of this family was Joseph Yates, who helped frame the Con-
stitution of the United States and later was governor of New York.
Mr. and Mrs. McGiffert have five children, Stephen Y., Mary Y., Ger-
trude R., Ruthersford N. and Andrew C.
•
E. H. Falgren has lived in and around Duluth for nearly forty years,
has long been a successful business man, and is secretary and assistant
treasurer and the chief executive manager of the East End Ice Company.
He was born in Sweden, December 6, 1873, and was eight years of
age when he came to America with his parents in 1881. His father,
E. A. Falgren, located at Duluth in the spring of 1882, and his chief
business through all the succeeding years has been that of gardening.
He is now seventy-two years of age. and of his four children. E. H. is
the only survivor.
The latter was educated in the public schools of Duluth and at the
age of thirteen was clerking in the drapery department of a department
store. In 1895 he became associated with the East End Ice Company,
which was then owned by Fred Sahlberg, who died in 1904. It was in-
corporated in 1905, and there was a reorganization of the company's
affairs. Mrs. Sahlberg, wife of Fred Sahlberg. was made president and
E. H. Falgren became secretary and assistant treasurer. The company
does a large wholesale and retail business direct with consumers in both
natural and manufactured ice, and operates a large ice storage and
warehouse at Duluth. The city office is at 9 South Fifth avenue. West.
Mr. Falgren is a member of the Commercial and Kiwanis Clubs, is a
Republican in politics, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and
the Knights of the Maccabees. July 18, 1900, in Duluth, he married
Miss Anna S. E. Northstrum. She was also born in Sweden, and her
people came to Duluth in 1882, and she acquired her education in the
public schools of that city. They have two children. Marion, born
September 2, 1901, and Vernon, born Novcml)cr 24. 1904.
Edwin F. Johnson while growing to manhood chose the profession
and career of undertaking and embalming and has practiced that vocation
continuously since he graduated from university twelve years ago. He
is now the head of F. A. Johnson and Son. undertakers and funeral
directors at Duluth.
He was born at Evansville. Minnesota. August 4. 1888. His father.
F. A. Johnson, was born in Sweden and came to America at the age of
nineteen and joined a brother in Minneapolis. This brother had located
at Minneapolis some lime previouslv and was engaged in the lumber
business there, and V. A. Johnson found employment in the lumber varcl
for two or three vears and then moved to I'lvansville, Minnesota, where
he was engaged in the retail hnnbcr business on his own account until
about 1896. His next location was at Elbow Eake, Minnesota, where
he carried on an extensive business as a hardware inerchant and lum-
berman until 1918. In that year he moved (o Duluth and joined his
.son as the business head of F. .\. jdlmson and Son. funeral directors.
Edwin F. Johnson was eight years of age when the family removed
to Elbow Take, and he acquired most of his jiublic school education there,
including the high school course. For two vears he attended Minnesota
College in Minneapolis and took the embalmers' course at University
758 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
of Minnesota in 1908. As a licensed embalmer he was employed by
several undertakers in Duluth and elsewhere for several years, and for
five years was traveling salesman for the firm of Janney, Semple, Hill
& Company of Minneapolis. Then, on May 1, 1918, associated with his
father, he established the present business of F. A. Johnson and Son.
For the first two years the firm was located at 319 East Superior street,
and having outgrown the quarters there moved to a specially equipped
funeral home at 514 East Third street. The firm maintains its own
funeral equipment, and Mr. Edwin F. Johnson gives his personal super-
vision to all cases. The firm has a splendid location convenient to trans-
portation, and its business and service are highly appreciated.
Otto J. Wendlandt. Of Duluth's industry represented in the print-
ing and typographical trade one of the leading establishments is the
Wendlandt Printing & Binding Company, comprising a complete estab-
lishment at 114-116 West First street for doing all classes of printing,
binding and the manufacture of stationery supplies. The president and
manager and practically the founder of the business is Otto J. Wend-
landt. Other officials of the concern are Louis G. Wendlandt, secre-
tary, and William H. Wendlandt, treasurer.
Otto J. Wendlandt was born at Bloomer, Wisconsin, April 3, 1877.
His father, John M. Wendlandt, was a native of Germany and came to
America in 1866. For a number of years he followed his trade and
business as a brewer at Bloomer, Wisconsin, but in 1891 removed to
\\'est Superior, where he continued business as a general merchant until
his death in 1899. Of his eleven children seven are still living, Otto
J. being the second in age.
Otto J. Wendlandt was educated in the public schools of Bloomer,
and first went to work for R. C. Mast, a bookbinder of Superior. He
learned and followed that trade at Superior, and in June, 1902, came to
Duluth and set up a modest shop of his own in th^ basement of the
Providence Building. From bookbinding he gradually expanded his
business, organizing the Wendlandt Printing & Binding Company and
increasing the facilities vmtil it is now one of the chief organizations of
its kind in Northern Minnesota. From time to time Mr. W'endlandt has
also given his enterprise to other business affairs and is vice president
of the Cuyuna-Duluth and the Cuyuna Mille Lacs Mines at fronton,
Minnesota.
He is affiliated with the Elks, Good Samaritans, Sons of Hermann and
Order of Moose, is a member of the Commercial and Lions Clubs and
in politics is independent. June 13, 1900, at Superior, W^isconsin, Mr.
Wendlandt married Miss Christina Yeska, whose people also came from
Germany. They first settled at Milwaukee and afterward moved to
Long Prairie in Minnesota, where Mrs. Wendlandt finished her educa-
tion. Mr. and Mrs. W^endlandt have five children : Pearl, born in 1902 ;
Vernon, born in 1904; George, born in 1907; Violet, born in 1910; and
Marion, born in 1913.
George N. Holland came to Duluth nearly forty years ago. It would
not be possible in a brief article to indicate or suggest the wide range
of his enterprises, his experiences and his close associations with the
fundamental industries and resources of this northern country.
He was born at Saginaw, Michigan, October 8, 1860. and as a youth
he grew up familiar with many phases of the great lumber industry, in
which his father was vigorously engaged. Mr. Holland came to Duluth
in 1882 and was employed as a lumber and timber estimator, and for
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 759
several years syndicates worked at the task of selecting Government
lands. In 1884 he entered the lumber and timber business for himself.
His work in prospecting and developing timber tracts brought him
naturally a knowledge of the mineral resources of the various iron ranges.
He did much exploration work on both the Mesaba and VermiUion
ranges, and in 1892, in connection with W. G. LaRue and H. Jarchow,
found what is now the Waucouta, Hanna and Brunt mines. These
properties they promptly lost in the panic of 1893. Subsequently he dis-
covered the Holland Mine near Biwabik, and this property was later
operated by Swallow & Hopkins, Mr. Holland retaining an interest.
As long ago as 1886 Mr. Holland bought from the C. N. Nelson
Lumber Company for W. R. Burt of Saginaw a tract of land on the
Mesaba that later was found to contain the Burt Mine and six or seven
others now fully explored, though not opened, since they are under a
blanket lease to the United States Steel Corporation. Mr. Holland has
expressed his relations to the lumber and mming industries in the fol-
lowing way : "When I want to have some fun I explore for iron, and
when it is necessary to make money I buy timber." His timber dealings
are now exclusively confined to the southern territory.
Mr. Holland calls attention to the more or less familiar experiences
of owners and operators in the mining ranges when he mentions that
Mr. Burt tried hard to dispose of his holdings on the Mesaba for a
very nominal sum, and being unable to do so was forced to keep, against
his will, a pretty large fortune in iron ore that subsequently for years
paid him large royalties. The same has been true of many other large
holders of iron in fee. They bought the land for the pine, after the
lumber was cut were unable to sell the lands, and others explored and
found the mines for them.
Mr. Holland represents some old and substantial American ancestry.
His father was born at Belgertown, Massachusetts, moved out to Erie
county, New York, and still later to Saginaw, Michigan, where he turned
his career from farming to lumbering. He died in 1908, at the age
of seventy. The mother of George N. Holland is still living, at the age
of eighty-six, at Saginaw. Her father was a physician and her grand-
father was Rev. D. D. Nash of Cooperstown, New York, a prominent
pioneer minister whose church is still in use and in which every year is
held a memorial service in his honor. George N. Holland is the first
of four children, two sons and two daughters, all still living. During
his boyhood in Saginaw he attended the public schools, graduating from
high school, and completed his education with two years in a military
academy at Worcester, Massachusetts, and two years at the University
of Michigan. I'>aternally he is affiiliated with the Elks.
Phillip Sher. One of the largest wholesale and jobbing concerns
handling meat and animal products in the Duluth territorv is that
of I^hiilip Sher. .'Xn interesting fact in this connection is that Phillip
Sher some twenty-five or thirty years ago had to borrow a hundred
dollars to open a modest meat market, and his own energies, good
judgment and persistence have been the forces behind the growth
and prf)gress of his business.
Phillip Sher was born in Russia. July .\ 1858. ;ui(i came alone to
America in 18^1. After securing from a friend the modest loan above
mentioned he used it to secure equij>mcnt and install a modest stock
of retail meats in a small room on Superior street. Duluth. He
remained in that location three years, and in that time his trade and
business had outgrown the room and he then moved to larger quarters
760 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
at 25 East First street. Eventually he built up a large retail business
and gradually transformed his enterprise into wholesale and jobbing,
and the annual volume of his sales now aggregate half a million
dollars. Mr. Sher has long made it a rule and practice to invest his
surplus proceeds from business in Duluth real estate, and is the owner
of a number of residences and business blocks which constitute a
substantial form of real wealth.
He is the father of four sons and two daughters, all living, and
the sons are actively associated with him in the wholesale meat and
livestock business. Mr. Sher was married in Russia forty-two years
ago and after coming to this country and getting established sent for
his wife and family, who joined him. Air. Sher is an Orthodox in
religious belief and is a Republican in politics.
J. E. Davis, a resident of Duluth for the past fourteen years, has
built up and is i)roprietor of a large and prosperous business known
as the West End Scrap Iron and Metal Company, which buys and
sells material over a district including most of the Northwestern States
and Canada.
Mr. Davis was born in Russia. June 2, 1886, and \\ as twenty years
of age when he came to this country in 1906. He had a fair education,
and on coming to Duluth found work as a laborer in a scrap iron yard.
At the end of a year and a half he had made considerable progress
in the acquisition of the American language and customs, and then
engaged in business for himself under the name of the West End
Scrap Iron and ]\Ietal Company. From 1908 to 1918 his associate
in this business was W. Ginsberg, and since then he has been the
individual proprietor. His first location was at Twenty-first avenue.
West, and ^Michigan street; a year and a half later he removed to
1910-1912 West Michigan street, and the office and yard of the plant
have been in that locality ever since. The West End Scrap Iron
and Metal Company are wholesale dealers in scrap iron and metal,
rags and woolens, second-hand machinery, and 60 per cent of the
business is jobbing. The business connections extend over eight or
ten states and Canada. ]\Ir. Davis has also been in the hide and
fur business in Duluth. and was interested in the Marine Iron & Ship-
building Company.
He is a member of the ^Masonic Order, the Duluth Commercial
Club, and Covenant Lodge No. 569. I. O. B. B. His church connec-
tions are with Kofereth of Israel Temple of Immanuel. ]\Ir. Davis
was married in Duluth in 1914 to ]\Iiss Florence Levin.
Peter L. ]\Iorterud. The senior partner of the Morterud-Koneczny
Company, one of the large and prosperous retail stores on West Supe-
rior street, began his career with onh- a common school education
and with the incentive su])plied by himself in the way of earnestness,
ambition and perseverance, and has found his way over obstacles to
independent and influential position in his home city.
Mr. Morterud was born in Norway, September 11, 1866. His
father, Peter ^Morterud, brought the family to America in 1873 and
for the first two years lived in Dane county, Wisconsin, then two
years in Trempealeau county and fifteen years in Jackson county in
the same state. He was a blacksmith by trade. On coming to Duluth
he located in what is now known as the West End. where he lived
retired until his death in 1901. Of his seven children, five are still
living.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 761
Peter L. Morterud, the youngest of the family, had only the
advantages of the common schools and as a boy worked on farms at
small wages. He also clerked in a general store at Whitehall, Wis-
consin. On coming to Duluth he became a clerk for his brother in
the clothing business, and for twenty years was actively associated
with his brother, eventually acquiring a third interest in the store.
In 1908 he organized the present firm of the Morterud-Koneczny
Company, which was incorporated the same year. He has given all
his time to the management of this enterprise, and does an extensive
Inisiness as a retail merchant in clothing, shoes and furnishing goods.
The store is at 2101-2103 West Superior street and draws a large
trade not only from the West End, but from many other sections of
Duluth and surrounding territory.
]\Ir. Morterud is a member of the Norwegian Methodist Church.
He has always stood as a stanch advocate of prohibition. May 27,
1891, he married ]\Iiss Mary Peterson. They have had four children,
Hazel v., Ernest (deceased), Leslie M. and Olive M.
A. A. Kerr, represents at Duluth one of the largest firms of food
])roduct makers in America, the Loose-Wiles Biscuit Company. This
lias been his line of business for thirty or forty years, and to a large
degree he is personally responsible for the great volume of business
that flows to his corporation from the Duluth district.
Mr. Kerr was born at Berlin, Wisconsin, August 18, 1860. son of
Robert and Elizabeth (Ray) Kerr. His parents were both natives
of Scotland. His father came to America in 1854, first located at
Milwaukee, where he followed his trade as a carriage trimmer; from
there moved to Berlin, Wisconsin, and during the period of the Civil
war lived in Chicago. His next home was at Peoria, Illinois, and he
spent his last years at Monmouth in that state. Of his familv of
nine children A. A. was the third in age.
He acquired his early education in the i)ublic schools and at the
age of twelve was clerking in a grocery store. After considerable
training in merchandising he entered the service of the F. A. Kennedy
Biscuit Company as a traveling salesman and continued with that
concern until the National P)iscuit Conipan\- absorbed the Kennedy
Coni])any. He eventually was made local manager for that noted
concern. In 1906 he joined the Loose-W'iles Biscuit Comjianv as
local manager at Duluth, and has been in charge of the local offices
and wareliouses at .^08 West Michigan street since that time. The
Loose-Wiles products are now sold and distributed in great quantities
all .ver Duluth. the Head of the Lakes district and the iron ranges,
ano" the business for this entire district goes througji Mr. Kerr's office.
Mr. Kerr became a charter member of the L'nited C'ommercial
Travelers in 1892. .^since coming to Duluth he has been generous
of his elYorls and influence in behalf of good citizensiiip. He is a
member of the Commercial ( lub. Rotary Club. Curling Club, and a
Republican in politics. \\v married at Washington, Iowa, Sei)tem-
ber 7, 18*^2, and has two children. X'ivienne and Robert.
IvOMKRT B. W'iiiTi:siiM-.. Popular reputation accords to Robert B
Whiteside of Duluth the titli- of capitalist. When iie first came to
the district <tf Northern Miiuiesota his capital aggregated only $.^.500.
lie has in truth been a capitalist in more than one sense. i'he great
resources of his career iiave been represented not so much bv money
as b\' physical power and endurance, indginent. deterjuination, and a
762 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
faculty of fighting to victory without regard to obstacles interposed.
His record is that of a highly successful man and his activities have
made him widely known not only in the Duluth country but in other
states as well.
Mr. Whiteside was born in Ontario, Canada, March 13, 1856. He
had a public school education, but his real training came not from
books but through experiences that developed every physical and
mental faculty in his character, including self-reliance. Only a boy,
he worked in the lumber camps of the South Branch of the Muskoka
River. His first venture was of itself an illustration of independence
and courage. He contracted for the purchase of a tract of stumpage,
and personally labored and engineered the campaign for logging the
tract. It was his first case of real profits from the products of the
forest.
Mr. Whiteside's association with the Duluth countr}^ began forty
years ago, in 1881. The old logging firm of Hall & Norton secured
his services as log and river foreman on the Black River in Wisconsin
on January 10, 1882. In later years Mr. W'hiteside has made a large
part of his fortune through his mining interests. At the beginning,
however, he was a practical timber man, and as a timber cruiser he
explored many of the ranges without a thought of the treasures
underground. Some of his early explorations deserve permanent
record in the history of the iron ranges. In 1883 he went on a trip
over the Vermillion Range, cruising for timber, taking along five men
and building homes and locating homestead claims. He is said to
have been the first timber cruiser to examine the localities where are
now numerous ore mines. At one time he had sixty timber claims
located. His plan was to place homesteaders on these claims, and
while he was searching out the most valuable timber tracts there
was another historic character. Captain Harvey, who was exploring
the same district in search' of metals and minerals. Captain Harvey
is known in history as the man who made the first discovery of iron
ore in the Ely district, having located what was known as the
Pioneer Mine. This mine was on land comprised in one of Mr. White-
side's timber claim locations.
In early years Mr. Whiteside realized very little from the min-
eral resources underlying his properties on the ranges. He owned
the superficial rights of the Chandler Mine property, and sold that
claim for $2,000, and received only $1,500 for the Sibley Mine. Dur-
ing his homesteading explorations Mr. Whiteside and his party
walked all the distance of more than a hundred miles from Duluth to
what is now Ely, carrying packs on their backs. He enjoyed to the
full the rugged experience^ of such work, and in endurance and
capacity for physical toil he had few equals.
During all these years he was engaged in logging operations. He
and his brother John in 1893 were associated with W. C. W^inton and
S. G. Knox in the organization of the Knox Lumber Company, with
headquarters at W^inton. Minnesota. Mr. Whiteside was superin-
tendent of the logging department of this company until 1898, when
he sold out to H. F. David of Duluth. While he owned some of the
choicest tracts of stumpage in Northern ^Minnesota, Mr. Whiteside
graduallv extended his interests to other timber districts. In 1899 he
acquired 13,000 acres of the big timber lands of Calaveras county,
California, and he still owns that immense tract. The purchase
included the Calaveras Grove and the Tuolumne Grove, containing
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 763
the largest trees in the world. Several trees on that tract contained
more than half a million feet of lumber.
A few years ago Mr. Whiteside was credited with operating more
drilling outfits for the uncovering of ore deposits in the Lake Supe-
rior region than any other individual operator. His prospecting for
ore was always part of his individual operations, carried on at his
own expense. He owns a quarter interest in the fee of. the Zenith
Mine and a sixth interest in the fee of the Pioneer Mine, both at
Ely, and has been vice president of the Rouchleau-Ray Iron Land
Company and president of the Presquele Iron Mining Company.
In recent years his operations have taken still another direction.
These have brought him the distinction of being the largest investor
and most successful operator from Duluth in oil properties of the
Southwest.
Mr. Whiteside, for all his success, remains a man of quiet, demo-
cratic tastes, and his pleasures and recreations are largely furnished
by his diversity of business affairs. Some years ago he bought Big
Island, in Spirit Lake, an enlargement of the St. Louis River, opposite
the steel plant, and has improved and made this valuable as a farm
as well as a country retreat. He regards all the old-timers of Duluth
and the Range country as his friends, and is also well known socially
at Duluth. He is a member of the Commercial Club, the Kitchi
Gammi Club, the Northland Country Club, a life member of the
Duluth Boat Club and the Curling Club. He is a Scottish Rite ^lason
and Shriner. Mr. Whiteside has reared a fine family. He married at
Duluth in 1888 Miss Sophia Kimberg. The seven children born to
their marriage are James E.. Roger \., Robert Walton, Frances
Burton, Gordon Douglass, Walker Lee and Clarion Calaveras.
A. H. Donald continuously for nearly thirty years has been in busi-
ness at Duluth as a grocery merchant and has one of the oldest
establishments in the West End of the city. He has become well and
favorably known on account of his public spirit and his generous par-
ticipation in every movement undertaken for the benefit and general
welfare of the citizens.
Mr. Donald was born in Scotland, November 8, 1858, son of David
and Henrietta (Henderson) Donald. In 1872, when he was fourteen
years of age, the family came to America and located in ^^lichigan.
David Donald was a farmer by occupation and followed that vocation
in Michigan for many years, living near the city of Alpena. He died
at the age of seventy-nine.
A. H. Donald was the second in a family of eleven children. He
acquired all his education in the schools of Glasgow, Scotland, i)efore
coming to this country. He lived at home with his parents for sev-
eral }-ears and at the age of nineteen found occupation for one winter
in Springfield, Massachusetts, as driver of a street car drawn l)y a
mule. He then returned to Michigan and entered the lumber woods,
helping get out logs and also rafting on the river, and every season
for eight years S])ent his time as a jn'actical lumberman. In Onto-
nagon county. Michigan, he took up a homestead of eighty acres,
proved up his claim, developed a farm from the land and eventually
sold out fr)r $2,200, this rejircsenting a rather promising capital for
that day.
On Mav 12, 1891, following his farming and lumbering experi-
ence in Michigan. Mr. Donald came to Duluth and employed his
capital to establish and oi)en a stock of groceries and retail meats,
764 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
a business that he has continued as an important service to the com-
munity of West Duluth ever since. His store, a landmark in the
commercial district of the West Side, is at 128 Sixty-third avenue.
Mr. Donald is a Republican in politics, and is affiliated with the Mod-
ern Woodmen of America and the Woodmen of the World. He is
also a banker, being vice president of the Western State Bank of
West Duluth, an institution that was organized in 1904.
February 28, 1891, a few weeks before he came to Duluth, Mr.
Donald married Miss Elizabeth Nyman, a native of Sweden, who
came to this countr}- in 1888. They have six children, Roy, Alexan-
der, Esther, James, Robert and Bruce.
E. G. Wallinder. In the business history of Duluth an enterprise
that has the distinction of being the oldest in its line in the city is
the sash and door factory of E. G. Wallinder. During the thirty years
of its existence it has developed and prospered materially under the
well-directed management of its proprietor, and with the enterprise
has grown also the man, who is now justly accounted one of his com-
munity's reliable and public-spirited citizens.
Mr. Wallinder was born in Sweden, November 16, 1864, and as a
youth attended the public schools. The engineering profession had
been decided upon for him by his parents, but their early deaths put
an end to these plans, and after their deaths, on May 1, 1880, when he
was not yet sixteen years of age, he came to the United States alone
and located first at Burlington, Iowa, where he secured employment
in the master mechanic's offices of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Railroad. After one year he became a designer for Wolf & Company
of Burlington, and in 1882 went to Minneapolis, where he remained
six months, during which time he was foreman for the Saint Louis
Hotel. During the next year and a half he made his headquarters
at Brandon, Manitoba, employed in the work for the engineering
department of the C. P. R. R. Leaving there, he went to Fargo,
where he superintended the construction of the Fargo High School
and the court house and jail in Traill county, North Dakota, which
he completed in two years. On July 10, 1886, ]\Ir. Wallinder came to
Duluth, and here continued to be engaged in construction work until
March 1, 1890, when he founded his present business.
At that time his capital amounted to $400, and his first rough
roof sheltered a little group of wood-working machines, operated by
four men and driven by a 15-horsepower engine and crowded into
a space of 36x40 feet. Today the E. G. Wallinder Sash and Door
Factory represents an investment of $85,000, and the main factory,
two stories and basement, 70x100 feet, houses two conijilete machine
sets for turning out sash, doors and moulding, about fifty skilled
workmen being employed and the plant being driven by an 150-horse-
power electric motor and steam plant. The plant occupies two solid
blocks, facing on Fifty-ninth and Sixtieth avenues. West, between
Nicollet and Main street. The first floor of the main building em-
braces in its equipment planers, ripsaws, cut-off saws, jigsaws, tenon-
ing and mortising machines, moulders, turning lathes, polishers and
other machines common to such a plant. The second floor is taken up
by the glueing and veneering rooms and store rooms for finished
products, while the glazing room and shafting for the power plant
take up the basement. The dry lumber shed, covered by galvanized
iron, is 70x180 feet in size, and a shed 18x150 feet on the oi-jjiosite
side of the building covers a complete stock of moulding in both
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 765
hard and soft woods. A fireproof dry kiln, 38x70 feet, is equipped
with the hitest moist-air drying system, and a fireproof engine room
contains a 150-horsepower Atlas engine and two boilers of 170 horse-
power combined capacity. Not only is all equipment strictly up to
date, but so far as possible it is labor-saving and provided with
modern safety devices. A barn and garage, 18x24 feet, shelters the
teams and automobile trucks used in transfer and delivery .of local
business. A spur of the Northern Pacific Railroad runs between the
main building and the dry lumber shed, and raw material is brought
in and manufactured products are shipped out in carload lots. The
local trade is heavy and a goodly percentage of business is drawn
from Upper Michigan, Wisconsin, Southern Minnesota, North and
South Dakota and Montana. Of the raw material used to make the
finished products which have gained such distinction for this pioneer
plant the oak comes from Saint Louis, the yellow pine from Mis-
souri, the Douglas fir from Washington, the birch from the same state,
and the white pine from Northern Minnesota.
Mr. Wallinder is one who has been the architect of his own for-
tune and he has builded wisely and well. Toda}- he is not only at the
head of a large, profitable and substantial enterprise, but is highly
regarded in the business world as a man of sound integrity, one
whose plant has been shut down only eighteen days during the entire
period of its existence, and an enterprise that has never missed a
l)ayroll. He has always had faith in West Duluth and has manifested
his confidence by giving his sound support to its institutions and
civic enterprise and by investing his means in its realty. He is a
valued member of the local lodges of the Masons, Odd Fellows, Loyal
League and Modern Samaritans. Primarily a business man, he is
interested in civic matters, in which he is inclined to lean toward
progressiveness rather than to passiveness and conservatism. Mr.
Wallinder belongs to the Duluth and Commercial clubs, and since
1910 has been ]:)resident of the Kamloojis Co])per Comi)any.
Mrs. Wallinder died in 1912, having been the mother of six chil-
dren : W^illiam, Arthur, Dan, Esther, Ruth and Vera, of whom Ruth
is deceased. William and Dan are associated with their father and
Arthur is suj^erintendent of the Kamloops Coj)per CompauN- in I'rit-
ish Columbia. Esther and \'era are at home.
J. P. Meisner, president of the Mesaba Boiler and Manufacturinii^
Company of Duluth. has made Evident in his career the value of a
useful trade, of making one's energy count toward one thing and of
forging steadily ahead regardless of obstacles and discouragements.
During the fifteen years that this concern has been in business it has
grown steadilv under Mr. Meisner's capable direction from a modest
enterjjrise into one of the leading enter])rises ui its kind at Duluth.
Mr. Meisner was born at Portland, Michigan, April 21, 188.^. mid
received his education in his native localit}-. When he was sixteen
years of age he started to learn the boiler maker's trade, and after
he had mastered it worked for a number of years as a journeyman.
Tn 1905 he came to Minnesot;i and for a short time was engaged in
the machinery business, but subse(|uently tvuiied his attention to
the manufacture of all kinds of steam boilers, and in UX)5 became tlie
head of the Mesaba ISoiler and ManufactvuMug Company, of which In-
became president: K. !'. Peterson, secretary, and J. H. C^piierman.
treasurer. Mr. Meisner brought to his business an extensive experi-
ence in the tnanufactnrc of stiel boilers and in :ill kinck of structural
Vol. 11—17
766 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
steel work, and his firm now does an extensive business all over the
Northwest. The shops and boiler works are located at 212-218 Gar-
field avenue, where there is maintained a large force of experts in
boiler manufacturing and structural steel work.
Mr. ]\Ieisner has a number of civic and social connections and
ntinierous friends in these as well as business circles, where he is
known for his integrity, fair-mindedness and sense of justice. He was
married at Duluth in 1910 to ]\Iiss Smith of Superior, Wisconsin.
H. M. Blackmarr, president of the F. I. Salter Company of Duluth,
is a voung business man of wide and varied financial and commer-
cial experience, whose associations with Duluth afifairs run back over
a period of a quarter of a century.
He was born August 4, 1878, and has been a resident of Duluth
since 1887. He finished his education in local schools, and as a boy
went to work for the National Bank of Commerce as an errand boy.
After three years he went with the Commercial Bank of Duluth as
assistant cashier, and three years later, at the death of his father,
became manager of the ]\Iesaba Bank at Proctor. He later disposed
of his interests in that institution and for the eight years following was
assistant manager of the insurance rating office, leaving that position
to become identified with the F. L Salter Company. He is a member
of Kitchi Gammi Club and the Ridgeview Golf Club.
David J. Erickson. His duties as a lawyer, real estate man and
legislator have given Mr. Erickson a very busy program of usefulness
since coming to Duluth eight years ago. His name has become w-idely
known throughout the state as an able public leader of that type
which merits public confidence and esteem.
Mr. Erickson was born at Warren, Pennsylvania, December 3,
1888, son of L. P. and Christine (Anderson) Erickson. His parents
were natives of Sweden, and his father came to this country about
1870. locating in Warren county, Pennsylvania. He is still living, at
the age of seventy-seven. For many vears he was an active farmer
and was one of the pioneer settlers of Elk township of Warren county,
where many years ago he bought 120 acres of land covered with dense
timber. He has developed this farm and for many years his specialty
has been dairying, and he made his own example a powerful influence
in bringing into the county a good line of cattle and horses. He is
a Republican and a member of the Swedish Mission Church. Of his
nine children, eight are living, David J- being the youngest.
He attended a country school in Pennsylvania, also the Corydon
Grammar School, graduated from the Warren High School in 1908,
and in the fall of the same entered Pennsylvania State College, where
he was a student in 1908-09. following that with the regular law
course of the Universitv of Michigan, where he graduated with the
degree LL. B. in 1912.
In November, 1912, a few months after graduating in law, Mr.
Erick'son came to Duluth and was employed by the law firm of Abbot,
Merril & Lewis until August, 1913. i He was' admitted to the Michi-
gan bar in June, 1912, and in June, 1913, took the Minnesota bar
examination and was admitted as a practicing attorney in this state
in July. On September 1. 1913. he formed a law partnership with
William A. Pittenger, which continued until March 1, 1914, under the
firm name Erickson & Pittenger. Since then Mr. Erickson has
handled a large general practice alone, with offices in the West End,
near Twentv-first avenue. West.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 767
September 21, 1914, Air. Erickson was one of the incorporators of
the Consolidated Realty Company, and has been president from the
beginning. This company has been successfully engaged in a general
real estate business in the city, to its special credit being assigned
the handling of the sale of the Merrit Park Division and the platting
of Grant Park Addition to Duluth, which was put on sale Septem-
ber 1, 1919. The directors of the company are David J. Erickson,
president; C. A. Carlson, vice president and secretary, and H. T.
Lundgren, treasurer.
Well established in his profession and in business, Mr. Erickson
first became a candidate for an important office when he was elected
to the Minnesota Legislature from the Fifty-ninth District in Novem-
ber, 1917. He was re-elected for his second term in November, 1919.
During the 1917 session he served as a member of the committee on
banks and banking, general legislation, military afifairs, state normal
schools, workmen's compensation, towns and counties. During that
session he was interested in increasing the workmen's compensation
from fifty to sixty per cent. Another subject that received a large
share of his attention was promoting the marketing of farm products
in the larger cities and states, and with that in view he was author of
the bill providing for a State Department of Foods and Markets.
During the 1919 session Mr. Erickson was instrumental in enacting
a law providing for a State Department of Agriculture, and also
sponsored an amendment of this law authorizing the commissioner
of agriculture to establish local markets in municipalities through-
out the state. In the session of 1919 he was chairman of the commit-
tee on corporations and a member of the committees on education,
reconstruction and relief, judiciary, and appropriations. With his col-
league, Mr. Bernard, he sponsored the fire relief appropriation in the
appropriations committee for the relief of the fire-stricken districts in
Northern Minnesota. He was also an influential member during the
special session of the legislature called by the governor. September
8, 1919. In that he was also a member of the appropriations com-
mittee, which looked after the soldiers' bonus bill, and the bill pro-
viding for fire prevention in Northern Minnesota. He was also on
the committee on markets and marketing, which drafted the cold
storage legislation enacted during the special session. This com-
mittee also had charge of carrying out the program of legislation
called for in the governor's message in reference to the high cost
of living. In the special session Mr. Erickson opposed the enactment
of tonnage tax on iron ore, thereby exj^ressing the sentiment of his
constituency and also his personal convictions that such a tax is
unfair to the iron industry of Northern Minnesota and to the people
in general. During this special session Mr. Erickson was author of
the bill providing a City Market in the city of Duluth, a l)ill that
passed the house without a dissenting vote, but failed to pass the
senate. He was also a memlier of Mayor Maguey's committee to
investigate the high cost of living in Duluth.
Fraternallv he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America,
and is a member of the West End Commercial Club. June 2. 1*^17,
he married Miss Frances Sykes. Her father was an Englishman,
while her mother was born in Minnesota.
M. M. KoHH. superintendent of the .Alworth Hnilding, learned the
machinist's trade in early life and for the past thirty-five or forty years
has enjoyed many responsibilities and has exemplified to a high degree
his skillful and responsible service.
768 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Mr. Robb was born in Monroe county, New York, January 1, 1861.
His father, George Robb, was a native of the same state, and died in
Amsterdam county, June 13, 1867. The youngest of four children, M.
M. Robb was six years of age when his father died, and he had only
limited advantages in the public schools of Amsterdam. As soon as
jjossible he began service as an apprentice at the machinist's trade, and
after three years became a journeyman and steadily followed his work
for a quarter of a century. During that time he was machinist for the
Inman Manufacturing Company of Amsterdam. March 8, 1902, he came
to Duluth and not long afterward entered the service of M. H. Alworth.
He remained until the completion of the Alworth Building, and since then
has been superintendent of that notable structure in the business district.
Mr. Robb is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows
and the First Methodist Episcopal Church. He married, December 21,
1882, at Amsterdam, New York, Miss Matie Lepper.
Thomas Considine is Duluth's postmaster. He has been in the
routine of service in the local postoffice for a number of years, and by
experience is eminently qualified for the responsibilities involved in his
present official post.
He was born December 12, 1868, at Bay City, Michigan. His father,
John A. Considine, was a native of Ireland and came to the United States
in 1866, locating at Bay City. Some years later he returned to Ireland,
and lived out his life in that country. Thomas Considine was the oldest
of six children and was reared and educated in Ireland. In 1890, at
the age of twenty-two, he returned to America, lived for a time in New
York city, but soon came to Duluth, in 1891, and has thus been identified
with Duluth for about thirty years. For three years he was bookkeeper
for a street contractor, E. J. Amory, and for about two years w^as local
.salesman of the Singer Sewing Machine Company. Mr. Considine en-
tered the Duluth Postoffice as a clerk in 1895. and has been practically
through all the grades of the service. President \\'ilson appointed him
postmaster in May, 1920.
July 31, 18^8, at Duluth, he married Miss May Gilbert. They have
two children, Aileen and Clare.
Charle.s Decker is a successful Duluth citizen whose business is a
distinctive service to the artistic tastes and refined judgment of the com-
munity. He has been in Duluth for a quarter of a century or more,
and his art shop is known to every patron of the fine arts in Northern
Minnesota.
Mr. Decker was born in Germany, August 10. 1866. He was reared
and educated in his native land, and was eighteen years of age when
he came to this country in 1884. For five years he worked as a laborer
at Detroit, and then started West with a view to finding a suitable location
in which to establish himself permanently. He visited all the leading
\\'estern cities as far as Seattle. He then returned East to Minneapolis,
where he remained a year or so, and in 1895 came to Duluth and began
the manufacture of picture frames. He has ever since maintained a
shop and organization for the highest class of work in that line, and
has also expanded his business to include the dealing in fine art work
of all kinds. Mr. Decker takes a great pride in the city of his residence,
and is one of the men ever ready wnth their personal resources and en-;
thusiasm to advance the welfare of the community. He is a member
of the Commercial Club, the Boat Club, the Knights of Columbus, and
in politics is independent. January 26, 1885, Mr. Decker married Miss
Agnes Frerker, whose people also came from Germany. They are the
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 769
parents of three children. The older son, Theodore L., was educated
in the parochial schools of Duluth, in Notre Dame University in Indiana
and a business college, and is now associated with his father in the
picture frame business. The daughter, Margaret, is a teacher in the
public schools. The youngest of the family, Charles, is a student in
the public schools.
J. D. MoLiTOR is a building contractor of more than thirty years ex-
perience in Duluth, being a member of the firm T. D. Molitor & Brother,
whose offices and shops are at 617 West First street.
Mr. Molitor was born in the state of Iowa, June 30, 1858. His
father, Francis Molitor, was born in Germany and was also a carpenter
and contractor during his lifetime. He came to America very early and
enlisted and served in the Mexican war and when he died in Iowa in
1918 it was claimed that he was the last surviving Mexican war veteran.
He was a man of thorough education, and his life was lived to good pur-
pose and with results not altogether to be measured by financial success.
He had a family of eleven children, J. D. Molitor being the fifth in age.
J. D. Molitor attended the public schools of his native state and was
only ten years of age when he began assisting his father and learning
the trades at the basis of building construction. In 1879, on reaching
his majority, he moved to Southern Minnesota and was employed as a
journeyman carpenter until 1887, in which year he came to Duluth, and
the following year he and his brother engaged in the contracting and
building business. His firm has maintained special facilities for jobbing
work in store and office fixtures, but has also constructed outright many
of the conspicuous buildings along Superior street and other thorough-
fares. Several of these buildings are owned by Mr. Molitor.
On April 23, 1887, he married Miss Mary E. Page, who grew up and
was educated in Iowa. Of the three children born to their marriage
two are now living, Ethel H.. married, and Clitiford F., now in the
United States Army. He was trained at the Presidio in San Fran-
cisco four months, and then assigned to duty with the IMedical Corps
at Fort Snelling, Minnesota. Air. Molitor is a Republican in politics
and a member of the First Methodist Episcopal Ciiurch.
Gust Carlson. Closely connected with the wonderful development
of the drilling business from crude pioneer business to the present mod-
ern system, and always an im])ortant factor in the civic life of the com-
munities in which he has lived and worked. Gust Carlson, of Duluth, is
easily one of the mo.st important figures of the Mcsaba Range, and one
to whose energy, practical knowledge and executive ability much credit
is due. He is a native of Sweden, where he was born September 17,
1869, a son of Louis Carlson.
In 1879 Louis Carlson came to the United States alone, and at first
worked in the mines of Menominee, Marquette and the Gogebic Ranges,
and was also in charge of several exploring camj^s, and when ore was
struck on the Big Norah Mines he was among the first there. In 1891
he came to the Mesaba Range as an ex])1orer and was emj^loyed by the
Long)'ear interests, and ever afterward lived on this range. Later he
worked for Barnes & U|)ton. and discm-ered the Clark mine at Chisholm.
This was long before the towns on the Mesaba Range were established,
and he and his men had to live in camps. .'\s soon as Hibbing was laid
out Mr. Carlson moved there, and continued his connection with mining
work until his death, which occurred in 18<^7. He was a quiet, unassum-
ing man who was recognized as being a miner of nnioh more than aver-
770 DULUTH AND ST. LOUJS COUNTY
age ability. In 1880 his son Charles came to this country and obtained
employment on the Mesaba, largely as a mechanic with boilers and en-
gines. A daughter, Bridget, came over in 1892, and she later became
the wife of J. H. Carlson of Hibbing.
In February, 1888, Gust Carlson joined the family in this country,
being at that time nineteen years of age, with a practical experience of
five years as a machinist. While at that time he could not speak a word
of English, he found compatriots at Hurley, Wisconsin, and being very
intelligent and anxious to learn it was not long before he had an ex-
cellent working knowledge of the new language. At the time he was
a resident of Hurley that city was in its "wild and wooly" days, and
he remembers those frontier experiences very well. Leaving Hurley
Mr. Carlson worked in various mines, and in the fall of 1890 went to
Seattle, Washington, thence to California, and on April 1, 1893, landed
on the Mesaba Range, coming by rail as far as Mountain Iron, from
whence he went to the present site of the Pillsbury Mine, as an ex-
plorer in the employ of Barnes & Upton of Duluth, who had an option
on what is now the Clark Mine. While making his explorations Mr.
Carlson lived principally at Hibbing. While he followed mining and ex-
ploring, he gradually drifted into other avenues of endeavor. He worked
as a test digger, mined in the Sellers Mine for a time, and then embarked
in business as a driller contractor. For five years he continued in this
line, and then organized the Carlson Exploration Company at Hibbing,
of which he is yet president, although G. A. Wellner is now the active
head. For years he was vice president of the Miners & Merchants
State Bank of Hibbing, and for the past two years has been its presi-
dent. Mr. Carlson is also president of the First National Bank of
Chisholm. He is a part owner of the Morton Mine, and is financially
interested in the concentrating plant at Old Mesaba, which is for the
purpose of utilizing the low grade magnetic ores of the Eastern Mesaba
Range. This bids fair to become one of the great industries of the
ore business. In 1911, Mr. Carlson moved to Duluth, which has since
been his home. He belongs to the Duluth Commercial Club and the
Northland Country Club. At present he is activelv interested in the
development of the Cuyuna Range, and owns a one-third interest of the
ore body which has been under lease located on the southwest quarter
of the northwest quarter, and the northwest quarter of the southwest
quarter of section 17-46-29 on the Cuyuna Range, containing about
1.500.000 tons of good average grade of Cuyuna Range ore. This has
admirable conditions for open pit working. Mr. Carlson also owns a
third interest of the northwest quarter of the northwest quarter of sec-
tion 17-46-29, consisting of large deposits, some 3.000.000 tons, of mer-
chantable ore. Another holding of his is the Brainerd-Cuyuna mine fee
of that range, which is equipped and developed to shio.
In 1896 Mr. Carlson was married to Hannah Forsman. and they
have five children, namely : Oregon Catherine, Lars M., Virginia, Gustav,
and William. Lars M. at the age of nineteen years was a student at
the Minnesota State University, to which he had gone after being- grad-
uated from Culver Military Academy, and was in the Students Reserve
Corps, prepared to go abroad for service during the World war, when
the signing of the Armistice made such action unnecessary.
Mr. Carlson is one of the interesting figures of Duluth, and his in-
fluence in the development of the great ore industries cannot be over-
estimated. His knowledge of drilling and mining is practical and
thoroug-h. and combined with it has been a firm and abiding faith in the
possibilities of the Mesaba Range, which has enabled him to undertake
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 771
large enterprises and carry them through to successful completion. His
connection with an undertaking today means its ultimate success, and
his name gives added strength to any concern, for it is admittedly a fact
that he will not go into anything until he is certain that it and the people
backing it are thoroughly dependable. Having played so important a
part in the progress of the Northwest, he naturally takes great pride in
it and the results which have come through his practical application of
his knowledge and abilities.
Edwin D. Field. It is not an easy task to describe adequately a man
who led an eminently active and useful life and attained a position of
relative distinction in the community with which his interests were allied.
But biography finds its most perfect justification, nevertheless, in the
tracing and recording of such a life history. It is, then, with a full ap-
preciation of all that is demanded and of the painstaking scrutiny that
must be accorded each statement, and yet with a feeling of satisfaction,
that the writer essays the task of touching briefly upon the details of such
a record as was that of Edwin D. Field, who passed from this life on
the 16th of February, 1921.
Edwin D. Field was born June 25, 1858, at Montpelier, \'ermont,
a son of Cornelius A. and Maria (Dewey) Field, both of whom were also
natives of Vermont. Cornelius A. Field was born February 4, 1825,
and died on May 21, 1907. He was the scion of an old New England
family, the progenitors of which settled in that locality about 1730. Mr.
Field became a man of considerable prominence in his native community,
and as early as 1859 he was the organizer and the first president of a
local organization known as the Young Men's Christian Association of
Montpelier. In 1865 he removed with his family to Hanover, New
Hampshire, where also he took a leading part in public afifairs, having
served as postmaster for twenty years and also as a member of the
school board. In the fall of 1886, Mr. Field came to Duluth and engaged
in the real estate and insurance business with his son, Edwin D. He
and his wife were members of the Pilgrim Congregational Church of
Duluth, of which he served as deacon from 1890 to 1897. INIrs. Field
also was descended from an old New England family, the Deweys having
settled in Connecticut in 1630. She was a first cousin of Dr. Julius
Dewey, of Montpelier, Vermont, the father of Admiral Dewey. By her
union with C. A. Field she became the mother of six children, five
daughters and a .son. Two of the daughters are deceased and the son
was the second in order of birth..
Edwin D. Field after completing the common school course entered
Dartmouth college, where he was graduated with the class of 1880.
w ith the degree of Bachelor of Science. In 1881 he entered the employ
of John Morrill & Company, Ltd., packers, at Ottumwa, Iowa, and Can-
ton, Illinois, but the following year he removed to Rock ford. Ilb'nois,
where he was employed as bookkeeper and teller in the Rock ford National
Bank. In 1885 he came to Duluth and engaged in the real estate and
insurance business, first as the E. D. Field Companv and later under the
style of Field-Frey Company. Incorporated, which was organized in
1913. Of the latter company Mr. I'^ieUl became and continued as presi-
dent, and August J. Frey became vice president and secretarv. !Mr. Frey
and his wife were among the ill-fated ])ersons who lost thi'ir lives in the
great fore>^t fire of October 12, l'^18. In the real estate and insurance
field Mr. h'ield attained a high |)lace, handling a large and constantly
increasing volume of business and gained an enviable reputation as an
able and reliable business man. lie wa-^ mie i^f the organizers and for
772 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
many years treasurer and director of the Board of Fire Underwriters
of Duluth, which incorporated and is operating the Salvage Corps of
this city. He was also a director and during 1918 was president of the
Duluth Board of Realtors, in addition to which he was connected with
a number of other business enterprises of this city.
Mr. Field was a member of the Duluth Commercial Club, the Kitchi
Gammi Club, the Duluth Curling Club, the Duluth Boat Club, and was
also a member of the Beta Theta Pi college fraternity. Politically he
was an independent Republican, while his religious affiiliation was with
the Pilgrim Congregational Church of Duluth. On April 30, 1907, Mr.
Field was married to Henrietta Barnes. They had a daughter, Elizabeth
Barnes Field. In all life's relations Mr. P'ield was true to every obliga-
tion and thereby he won and retained the unqualified confidence and re-
spect of his fellow men.
William D. Williams has had an active business career of more
than half a century, and for nearly thirty years has been a contractor,
broker and general operator in lumber and forest products at Duluth.
Mr. Williams was born in Wales in April, 1844, and twelve years
later, in 1856. was brought by his parents across the ocean. The family
joined a notable Welsh colony in Columbia county, Wisconsin, where
some of the first and most prominent settlers came out of Wales dur-
ing the forties and fifties. Mr. Williams' father was identified with
farming in that part of Wisconsin until his death in 1890.
William D. Williams, oldest of six children, acquired only a limited
education so far as schools were concerned. Perhaps the chief source
of his education and means of opening up to him a wide communication
with life and affairs w^as the New York Tribune, a copy of which came
regularly into the Williams home in Wisconsin. That paper was then
at the height of its fame and power under the editorial management of
Horace Greelev, and IVIr. Williams attributes to the studious reading
of its columns most of the early education he acquired, and a knowledge
that has been sufficient for his business career. At the age of sixteen
he went to Milwaukee and for five years was employed in a commision
house. After that he was engaged in the produce business on his own
account at Berlin, Wisconsin, for twenty-two years, and on May 22.
1891, came to Duluth and took up the line of work in which he has ever
since been engaged, handling lumber, railroad ties, telegraph and tele-
phone posts, and similar materials. The past quarter of a century he has
furnished many railroad companies with a large part of their wood
equipment. Mr. Williams is a Republican voter. He married many
years ago Jennie H. Howell, a native of Ohio, now deceased. He has
three children, namely : Walter D. Williams, W'estern Agent for the
Security Fire Insurance Company, with headquarters in Rockford,
Illinois ; Florence, living at home, and Juanita, also at home. Mr. Wil-
liams built a home on Twelfth avenue, East, in 1892, and is still living
there.
Coleman F. Naughton. A native son of Duluth, and now one of
the Board of County Commissioners for St. Louis county, Coleman F.
Naughton is well known in several cities and over a large part of the
Central West for his work as a newspaper cartoonist. He began sketch-
ing while a schoolboy in Duluth, and after deciding to make use of his
talent as a profession he studied art in Chicago, at the same time earn-
ing his living by office work, and after gaining recognition his cartoons
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY nz
became a feature of several metropolitan journals and were syndicated
and published from one end of the country to the other.
Mr. Naughton was born in Duluth, May 24, 1877, his birthplace being
the home on First street near First avenue, West. He is a son of Cole-
man F. and Margaret (Connelly) Naughton. His father, a native of
Ireland, came to America in 1855. was a railroad worker in Pennsylvania,
and in 1875 moved to Duluth and was superintendent for the Northwest-
ern Fuel Company of this city until his death. The family of six chil-
dren, two sons and four daughters, are all living.
Coleman F. Naughton, Jr., youngest of the children, was educated in
the grammar and high schools of Duluth. While working as a book-
keeper and in general office work in Chicago he attended the Art In-
stitute, where he perfected himself for his profession. As a cartoonist
his work appeared for several seasons in the ^Minneapolis Tribune, later
he was on the art staff of the Louisville Times, then with the Boston
American, and finally with the Duluth Herald in his home city. Mr.
Naughton was elected a member of the Board of County Commissioners
in November, 1917. and began his term of four years. January 1. 1918.
He is a Republican and a member of the Kiwanis Club and Elks Club.
Augu.st 12, 1905, he married Sarah J. Buskirk. They were married
at Minneapolis, but Mrs. Naughton was born in Indiana, a mem.ber of
an old family of that state. Her ancestors were Holland Dutch pioneers
of New Amsterdam, and through the military service of other ancestors
she is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
" F. .S. Mills. During the three years that it has been in existence,
the Mills Transfer Storage Company has enjoyed a wholesome and con-
sistent growth, its success evidencing the value of its business policy as
outlined in its slogan, "The acme in service at the most reasonable rates."
The founder of this Duluth industry. F. ,S. Mills, has enterprisingly
forged his way to a position of recognized substantiality in his field of
endeavor. He was born July 8. 1874, in Big.stone county. Minnesota, a
son of Albert Mills, a native of New York.
F. S. Mills, the eldest in a familv of four children, was educated
in the public schools of Ortonville, Minnesota, and spent the early part
of his life in agricultural pursuits, becoming the owner of a valuable
farm, which he later .sold. He had varied experiences in commercial
enterprises prior to coming to Duluth in 1917, at which time he became
identified with the Bridgman-Russell Company. Not long after his ar-
rival he founded the Mills Transfer .Storage Company, associating with
him his son, E. C. Mills, who graduated in the class of 1917 from the
University of Minnesota. Since that time another son. A. W. Mills,
has been admitted to ])artnership. At this time the company's transfer
headquarters are located at 213 Fourth avenue. West. This concern
does all kinds of draying, moving, freight baggage packing and shipping,
and makes a specialty of moving furniture, for which purpose it has
three of the largest van motor cars in the city. The company receives its
full share of patronage and its customers are daily growing in volume.
It has been the aim and i>olicy of the comi)any to serve each and everyone
of its customers to the best of its ability, believing that a satisfied patron
IS Its best advertisement. The furniture e{|uipment of the Mills concern
is of the best, and its furniture craters and packers are among the most
efficient to be found at the Head of the Lakes. In the transfer line daily
deliveries are made t<> and from Duluth. .Superior. West Duluth, River-
side. Smithville. Morgan Park, (lary and .\ew Duluth.
774 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Mr. Mills has built up this business solely through his ability pro-
gressiveness and foresight, and in rearing his structure of business suc-
cess has gained and held the confidence of those with whom he has been
associated and those with whom he has come into contact. He has several
important civic and club connections and takes an interested part in the
active city life going on about him. In 1895 Mr. Mills married, and
he and Mrs. Mills are the parents of six children.
Edward J. Filiatrault. Fealty to facts in the analyzation of the
character of a citizen of the type of Edward J. Filiatrault, of Duluth, is
all that is required to make a biographical sketch interesting to those
who have at heart the good name of the community, because it is the
honorable reputation of the man of standing and affairs more than any
other consideration that gives character and stability to the body politic
and makes the true glory of a city or state revered at home and re-
spected in other localities. In the broad light which things of good re-
port ever invite the name and character of Mr. Filiatrault stand re-
vealed and secure and, though of modest demeanor, with no ambition to
distinguish himself in public position or as a leader of men, his career
has been signally honorable and patriotic and it may be studied with
profit by the youth just entering upon his life work.
Edward J. Filiatrault was born June 11, 1876, at Faribault, Minne-^
sota, and is the son of Edward and Rose (Payant) Filiatrault, both of
whom are now deceased, the father dying in 1914, and his wife passing
away the following year. Edward Filiatrault was born in Canada, where
he lived until about 1855, when he came alone to Minnesota, locating
first in the city of St. Paul, where he obtained employment as a tool-
maker, which vocation he followed during all his active years. A year
afterward he moved to Faribault, where he lived a number of years,
but finally, in 1886, moved to Duluth, where he spent the remainder of
his life. He bore a most excellent reputation as a man among men,
observing the closest ethics of correct living, and by the strength of his
own character he gave stability to the communities in which he lived.
In 1856, about eighteen months after he came to Minnesota, he married
Rose Payant, and they became the parents of eleven children, of which
number the subject of this sketch is the fifth in order of birth, he being
a twin brother of Albert, who also is living.
Edward J. Filiatrault received his educational training in the public
schools of Faribault and Duluth, attending the high school in the latter
city for three years and graduating with the class of 1894. After com-
pleting his education he went to Buffalo, New York, and took a two-
year course in electric engineering. He then entered the employ of the
Northern .Steamship Company and sailed as chief electrician on the
steamer "Northland" in 1896, 1897 and a part of 1898. In the summer
of the latter year he came to Duluth and took charge of electrical con-
struction work and engineering for the Burgess Electric Company, with
whom he remained in that capacity until 1901. In the latter vear he
entered business on his own account, forming a partnership with Emil A.
Nelson, under the firm name of the Mutual Electric and Auto Companv.
engaging in electrical contracting and engineering and in the automobile
business. This partner^ship was continued until Julv, 1908, when the
partnership was severed, Mr. Nelson taking the electrical business under
the name of the Mutual Electric Companv and Mr. Filiatrault continuing
the automobile business as the Mutual Auto Company.
In 1901 the Mutual Electric and Auto Companv was the first auto-
mobile firm and the pioneers in that industry in Duluth. B. E. Baker
a-^hf^tm'AyCJ^
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 775
at that time brought the first car to Duluth, a single-cyHnder Oldsmobile
runabout. Following him, Ward Ames bought a tw.o-cylinder Winton,
which was then capable of making a speed of twenty-eight miles an hour,
and at that period the Winton held the world's record, twenty-eight miles
per hour. W. E. Brown then came out with a third car, a single-cylinder,
five-passenger Thomas Flyer, of ten-horse power. Then the Rambler
became known here. In 1903 Mr. Filiatrault and Victor Huot each pur-
chased a two-cylinder, eighty-five-inch wheel base Model K Rambler, five
passenger, which in their day were wonderful cars. Following the advent
of these cars Lou Martin and D. G. Cutler purchased White Steamer
cars. From that day to this the automobile industry has developed to
such a point that in the city of Duluth alone it supports five thousand
cars. It has made this city a big distributing center, the aggregate vol-
ume of business handled through this city amounting to over twenty mil-
lion dollars annually, Duluth today being recognized as one of the most
important distributing centers for motor vehicles in the United States.
Until the year 1911 Duluth held but little importance as a distributing
center, but through the untiring efiforts of Mr. Filiatrault arrangements
were made for the distribution of the Ford cars from this point. Then
in 1915 the Willys-Overland Company recognized the value of Duluth
as a distributing center and arrangements were made with Mr. Filiatrault
for the distribution of Overland cars in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin
and a part of Michigan. Previous to these events the Twin Cities (Saint
Paul and Minneapolis) had enjoyed the distinction of distributing most
all commodities at the Head of the Lakes, but today Duluth is holding
its own with these cities as a large jobbing and distributing center. In
all of this development Mr. Filiatrault has had a large share, and to him
more than to any other man is due the credit for the wonderful advance
made along these lines here, which has proven such an asset to Duluth.
Intensely public spirit and generous in his attitude toward young men
starting in life and who show a disposition to apply themselves honestly
and faithfully to their object, Mr. Filiatrault has given substantial assis-
tance to several young men who are now numbered among Duluth's suc-
cessful business men. He has also taken a keen interest in all matters
affecting the civic welfare and has been active in promoting the material,
educational and moral interests of the community.
He has been so intensely interested in the welfare of young men about
to enter into business life that he is frequently called upon to lecture in
our public schools on the essentials in life that constitutes business suc-
cess.
Like all successful men in a live, thriving community, he has had his
hobbies in a civic way. The promotion of good highways and farm roads,
perhaps there is no better qualified man in the city of Duluth other than
Mr. Filiatrault on road development, particularly in Saint Louis county
and generally throughout the state. He has been most active in Legisla-
tive matters j)articular]y pertaining to highway and farm road improve-
ments. In 1919, mainly through his untiring efforts and ability to organ-
ize at a referendum election, St. Louis countv voted, through its citizens,
a seven and a half million dollar Ixnid issue for tlie building of hard sur-
faced highways on its 270 mile highwav svstem.
During the last few years little has been known to the general public
of his afTiliation with several of Duluth's industries. He has refrained
from accepting any appointments on boards of directors, but neverthe-
less as a stockhf)ldcr he is identified with, and his judgment in business
matters with the companies in which he is interested is sought on numiT-
ous occasions. He is a holder of considerable real estate represented by
776 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
business and residence properties, and his success is due mainly to his
keen judgment in business matters in general.
Just prior to the entry of the United States into the great World War
Mr. FiUatrault was appealed to by the Department of Justice to organize
a secret service division of volunteer Duluth citizens to assist the depart-
ment in investigating pro-Germanism and all organizations or individuals
who were working against our Government. Mr. Filiatrault replied by
wire, accepting the responsibility, and in less than thirty days the Ameri-
can Protective League (commonly known as the A. P. L.), the secret
service volunteer division of the Department of Justice, was organized
in seven divisions, as follows : Industrial, railroad, transportation, com-
mercial, telephone, telegraph, steamboat and docks and a flying squadron.
Mr. Filiatrault was appointed chief of the Duluth district division. Each
of the sub-divisions enumerated above had from twenty-five to forty
members., the entire organization being made up of 208 prominent busi-
ness men who volunteered their services for the cause. The activities of
the Duluth Division of the American Protective League has gone down
in history as being the premier organization as regards efficiency of any
district in the United States. This division has the record of clearing
up more cases of pro-Germanism and sedition by thorough investigation;
of causing the greatest number of arrests, and detentions in a great many
cases ; of deportations of guilty parties to the various Federal prisons ;
of the rounding up of a number of army deserters, and the ferreting
out in a thorough and business like manner of more obstinate cases detri-
mental to the welfare of the Government and the winning of the great
war than any city of like population in the United States. One notable
example of their work were the activities of some of the members on
snow-shoe cruises in the northern wilds of Minnesota, Wisconsin and
Michigan and the rounding up of violaters of the war laws. The Duluth
Division has also to its credit the discovery of seventeen wireless stations,
located in the wilds of northern Minnesota, capable of receiving and
delivering messages to either coast. These stations, all of which were
demolished, had been operated by German ex-officers or under German
supervision. The Flying Squadron, which consisted of fifteen prominent
Duluth citizens owning automobiles at the disposal of the Duluth Division,
covered in excess of fifty thousand miles in the performance of their
duties.
One of the peculiar features of the organization in carrving out this
secret work of investigation for the Government was that each division
had a captain and lieutenant, and these were the only persons in each
division who knew who the Chief was. he being known as C-1. The
captains and lieutenants also were operating under symbol letters and
each operative of each division were also assigned svmbol letters and
mmibers and they, in turn, did not know who the other operatives in
their respective divisions were, outside of the captains and lieutenants.
All communications pertaining to the work of the Duluth division of the
American Protective League was in written form, addressed in symbol
letter and number to the proper officer and signed in symbol letter and
number by the operative. The Department of Justice today has a com-
plete record of every person living in the Duluth district' who uttered
words against the Government from April 1, 1917. until the Duluth divi-
sion was disbanded under Federal instructions on February 1, 1919. This
was a contribution made by Mr. Filiatrault to the winning of the great
war which has never been made public, as the work of this division and
the personnel of its membership has been maintained a closed secret until
now. It may be said in this connection that Washington recognizes that
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 777
the work of the Duluth division was of such a high character that undoubt-
edly it was the reason that this important industrial center, with its mines
and other interests that meant so much to the winning of the great war,
was kept free and clear of any depredations or losses during the great
struggle.
During the World War period in addition to the responsibilities,
which he assumed, just enumerated above Mr. Filiatrault was an active
member of Local Draft Board Number Four, and he held the title of
secretary of the board, and only those who know can fully appreciate
just the amount of time and sacrifice that was made by the Local Boards
in the fulfillment of their duties during this trying period. Almost 5,000
drafties were entered into the service through this Local Board. It can
be readily seen at a glance that he, like all other extremely patriotic Ameri-
cans, more than contributed his part in this self sacrificing work, with-
out remuneration, to assist in winning the war.
Politically Mr. Filiatrault until 1910 has been a Democrat. He is a
great admirer of President Wilson, but since that time a Republican.
Though taking a deep interest in public afifairs, he has steadfastly refused
to stand for election to any public office, preferring to give his entire time
to the development of his own business. He is a member of the Com-
mercial Club, the Rotary Club, the Elks Club, the Boat Club, the Curl-
ing Club, the Sportsman's Club and various other organizations. In 1910
he was one of the organizers of the Rotary Club, and in 1911 was elected
its president. In 1919 he was again elected president, this being the first
time in the history of the International Rotary that a president of any
club has been chosen to that office a second time. The Rotary Club, one
of the best known organizations in Duluth, represents an organization
of 200 prominent business men, each member representing a different
line of business. Mr. Filiatrault is a member of the Benevolent and
Protective Order of Elks and in 1912 was elected exalted ruler of the
local lodge, and in 1919 was again honored with the same office. The
Duluth Lodge of Elks has a total membership of 1,150 and is distinctively
American in character. During the W^orld war the Elks took a promi-
nent part in raising the finances necessary to carry on the great struggle
and in building uj) and stimulating a spirit of Americanism. They raised
a fund of $45,000 for the Salvation Army. For service in the great war
the Elks furnished 110 of its members, some of whom will never return.
During the entire war period the Elks Lodge maintained all of these boys
in good standing, fathered them on the other side in a great many ways
and won the thanks and respect of all for its splendid record. Religious-
ly Mr. Inliatrault is a member of the Catholic Church, and he is also presi-
dent of the French Naturalization Club. His ciiief diversions from the
cares and routine of business is in his fondness for hunting and fishing,
in the interests of which he devotes more time to living in the wilds of
Northern Minnesota than any other man in Duluth. He has a summer
home and hunting lodge about forty miles north of l^uluth. and there he
.and his family have spent their summers for the jiast ten years.
On January 26. 1902. Mr. Filiatrault was married to .Andrea Chaput,
who was born in Marquette, Michigan, the daughter of George Chajnit.
.She was educated in the Duluth schools to the age of ten years, when she
went to Montreal and took a convent and seminarv course. She has been
active in church work and ;ilso took a large part in the Red Cross and
other war work. .She lias borne her husband the following children :
Victor, aged nineteen years; Lorcn E.. deceased; Loretta, aged sixteen;
I^o.se, aged fourteen, and Doris, six vears of age. Mr. I'iliatrault has been
one of the leading nun nf affairs of tbis city in the most important period
778 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
of its development, and he has played well his part in the progress of the
same in every way possible. Possessing a genial personality, he has
gained a host of warm personal friends, who accord to him the utmost
confidence and esteem.
Clement Kruse Quinn was educated as a mining engineer, and that
is the profession he has followed while building up very extensive rela-
tions with the mining industry of Northern Minnesota, Michigan, Wiscon-
sin and Ontario, Canada. He is now president of Clement K. Quinn &
Company, an expert organization for handling every phase of mining
operations, both production and marketing,
A native of Wisconsin, Clement K. Quinn was born at Oshkosh June
18, 1885, a son of M. C. and Emma (Krusej Quinn. His father at the
age of sixty-one is still living, a resident of Negaunee, Michigan, and has
spent most of his active years in general business, being now partly
retired.
Oldest in a family of three children, Clement K. Quinn attended the'
grade schools of Negaunee, took a literary course at Notre Dame Univer-
sity and graduated from the Michigan College of Mines with the degrees
B. S. and M. E. His first professional experience was in the lead and
zinc country in Wisconsin, and for about a year he was connected with
the development of the Baraboo iron district in Wisconsin. He came to
the Mesaba Range in the capacity of engineer for the great steel corpora-
tion of Jones & Laughlin in 1907, and at the conclusion of that service
in 1914 was chief engineer for that company. Since then he has been
in the iron mining industry for himself, with offices at Virginia, Min-
nesota, but since 1915 has been a resident of Duluth with offices at Duluth
and Cleveland.
His business, operated under the corporation of Clement K. Quinn &
Company, consists in exploring, mining, operating mines, selling and
shipping iron ores. His organization operates two mines on the Cuyuna
Range, four mines on the Mesaba and one mine on the Marquette Range
in Michigan, these properties having an output of about a million tons
a year. Mr. Quinn is a member of the Kitchi Gammi Club, the North-
land Country Club, the Boat Club, the Commercial Club and the Tette-
gouchee Club.
Paul F. Chamberlain, mutuality chairman at Virginia for the OHver
Iron Mining Company, is another of the efficient and popular executives
actively identified with important mining interests in the Mesaba Range,
and his childish memories touch the mining country, for he was born on
the Marquette Range of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the date of
his nativity having been November 17, 1875. He is a son of Oscar H.
and Kittie (Fairfield) Chamberlain, but the mother died in 1898. The
father is engaged in the insurance business, he previously having given
many years of effective service as a teacher in the public schools. As a
child Paul F. Chamberlain was taken from his native district to Iron
Mountain, on the Menominee Range in northern Michigan, and there he
was reared to the age of fourteen years with public-school advantages.
At that age he gained his first practical experience in business by assum-
ing the position of office boy in the offices of the Chapin Mine. While
thus applying himself he continued his educational work by attending
night school, and that he made substantial progress as a student is shown
by the fact that later he was for two years a teacher in the public schools
of Northern Michigan. His well fortified ambition then lead him to enter
the University of Wisconsin, in which admirable institution he continued
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 779
his studies three years, specializing in civil engineering and in the mean-
while depending upon his own exertions and resources in defraying his
incidental and college expenses.
In the spring of 1900 Mr. Chamberlain came to St. Louis county, Min-
nesota, and after remaining a few weeks at Eveleth he became in 1901
engineer of the Soudan Mine at Soudan, this county. In 1905 he was
advanced to the position of assistant superintendent of this mine, and he
retained this incumbency until 1910, when he resigned. Thereafter he
passed about three years in the west, principally in mining districts, and
in 1914 returned to St. Louis county and at Virginia became underground
foreman in the Alpena Mine, owned and operated by the Oliver Iron Min-
ing Company. Thereafter he held the position of night mining-captain,
and in the spring of 1917 began to give special attention to the develop-
ing of the mutuality plan or system in mining enterprise, a plan which
was finally adopted by the Oliver Iron IMining Company and in connec-
tion with which he has since served most effectively as mutuality chair-
man. This department was established for the purpose and as a medium
of adjusting all labor troubles arising between the company and its
employes, and has proved a most effective agent in maintaining harmon-
ious and mutually satisfactory relations. Mr. Chamberlain is a mem-
ber of the Engineers Club of Northern Minnesota and is affiliated with
the Virginia lodge of the Benevolent and I'rotective Order of Elks. His
political allegiance is given to the Republican party, he is a loyal and
progressive citizen who has secure place in ])opular esteem in his home
community, and during the nation's participation in the World war he
was active and influential in the local drives and campaigns in support
of the various Governmental loans. Red Cross work, etc.
In 1901 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Chamberlain to Miss
Marguerite Harbaugh. of Virginia, and they have two children — Pauline
and Ross.
Fred Lercii is a member of Lerch Brothers, chemists, pioneers in
their profession in the Iron Range district, head of what is said to be
the largest inde])cndent organization of industrial chemists in the world,
h'red Lerch has for many years been an honored citizen of Virginia, while
George Lerch, his brother, lives at Hibbing. Concerning the latter a
special sketch is written elsewhere.
Fred Lerch was born at Easton. Pennsylvania. November 10, 1869, son
of David and .Sarah (Young) Lerch. His father was a contractor in
business. He died in 1910, at the age of eighty-eight.
Fred Lerch grew up in his native town, attended public schools, and.
graduated in 1891 from Lafayette College, just two years after his
brother. He received the degree of mining engineer, and for si.x months
after graduation filled the post of instructor in inorganic chemistry at
Lafayette College. He then went to Cuba and for ten months was a
chemist and mining captain. Returning to the Ignited .States in Novem-
ber, 1892, he and his brother, George, in December, started for the Mesaba
Range in Northern Minnesota to make their professional skill available
to that newly discovered mining district. I^'roni I^uluth they took cars to
Mountain Iron, which was the raihvav terminus, and the stage driven bv
H. J. I^aton brought them to X'irginia. then a hamlet of two or three hun-
dred people. The Lerch Brothers upon their arrival opened a small
laboratory as chemists. Their first customer was the Oliver Mining Com-
panv. With the exception of one year thev have maintained an office in
Virginia ever since. .At the opening of the Mahoning Mine at Ilihbing,
and .soon after the first shipping was started, in 18*^.=^ I'>ed Lerch, who
780 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
had been over the district on foot in 1892, estabHshed a laboratory there,
and Hibbing has for a quarter of a century been one of the most impor-
tant centers of their extensive business. Their business has grown and
developed with the development of the Range country, and their opera-
tions at the present time are handled through thirteen separate labora-
tories. Both as citizens as well as technical men in the iron industry the
Lerch brothers know the history of the Mesaba Range practically com-
plete. Their first laboratory at Virginia was in a two-story frame build-
ing on Chestnut street, where Casey & Pastermaki's drug store is now
located. The lower floor of this building was occupied by the Presbyte-
rian Church, the City Hall and a real estate office, the upper floor being
used by the Lerch Brothers Laboratory. The Lerch Brothers came to
Northern Minnesota about the beginning of the tremendous financial
depression known as the panic of 1893. It required persistence and
determination on their part as well as on other industrial organizations
to maintain a precarious foothold in the face of hardship and adversity.
There was practically no money in the district at that time. The Lerch
Brothers did some professional work for Frank Rockefeller, who paid
them with his personal note for two hundred dollars. The Oliver Min-
ing Company at one time, despite the fact that its resources have for
many years been almost unlimited, were unable to pay them cash for
services to the amount of only five hundred dollars. These were some
of the embarrassments that aflford a suggestive view of some of the early
days in Range histdry.
For ten years Fred Lerch lived at Biwabik, but with that exception
his home has been in Virginia continuously. He owns an interest in valu-
able iron ore property in southwest LTtah, and has some fruit orchards
in New Jersey, forty-five miles from New. York City. He was one of the
three incorporators of the American Exchange National Bank of Vir-
ginia, Minnesota, on March 9, 1904, and is a member of the Board of
Directors. He is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner.
November 10, 1900, Mr. Lerch married Miss Eleanor IVIiller. Her father,
W. R. Miller, located at Merritt, now practically Biwabik, in December,
1902. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Lerch are Glen B. and
Muriel M.
Oscar A. Berglund. In the great material growth and expansion of
Duluth during the past twenty years an important service has been ren-
dered by Oscar A. Berglund and his organization of contractors and
builders. He is senior partner of Berglund, Peterson & Person, who have
rather made a specialty of fine residence construction, and have a per-
sonnel and mechanical equipment in their plant at 1,31 A\'est Second street
for the very finest work in their line.
Mr. Berglund was born in Sweden December 2. 1876, and grew up
and received a careful training in carpentry and cabinet making in his
native country. In 1902 he came to America and located at Duluth, and
followed his trade as a journeyman until 1908. Since then he has been
a contractor, for the first year in partnership with Martin Olsen under
the name Berglund & Olsen. After that he conducted an individual
organization as a contractor and builder until 1914, when Joseph Peterson
joined him as the firm of Berglund & Peterson, contractors and build-
ers, and two years later they took in A. E. Person, making the firm as at
present, Berglund, Peterson & Person. Examples of their fine work-
manship can be found in handsome residences all over the city, one or
two examples selected at random being the Keechi. the Newell, the Par-
sons and Westbrook residences. The firm maintains a complete factory
^^^^Z^j^-^
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 781
at 131 West Second street for the manufacture of office and store furni-
ture, and have an organization of some sixteen or eighteen experienced
workmen in this branch of their business.
Mr. Berglund is independent in pohtics, and is an active member of
the Bethany Lutheran Church, in the rebuilding of which his firm had
an important part. June 12, 1909, Mr. Berglund married Miss Elvera
Horngren, of Duluth, but a native of Sweden. They have three children,
Phoebe, William and John.
Edward A. Dahl, who was a resident of Uuluth nearly a quarter of a
century, and whose sturdy character and splendid efforts brought him
from modest beginnings to a position of comfort and influence in the com-
munity, was the type of citizen who could not well be spared and whose
death on October 14, 1920, was a great loss to the business and civic
interests and ideals which he had so faithfully served. His life was one
of unceasing industry and perseverance, and the systematic and honor-
able methods he followed won for him the unbounded confidence of his
fellow citizens of Duluth.
Edward A. Dahl was born in Norway on the 1st day of August, 1860.
He was reared and educated in his native land, where he remained until
twenty-three years of age, coming in 1883 to the United States. He first
located in Eau Claire. Wisconsin, where he obtained employment for one
year with the Northwestern Lumber Company. He then moved to
Chippewa Falls. \\'isconsin, where he worked at the carpenter trade for
abotit three years. Lie came to Duluth in April, 1887, and engaged for
a time in work at his trade, and then went to Superior. Wisconsin, and
was employed in a sash and door factory up to 1889. He then engaged
in the contracting business in that city, in which he met with splendid
success, erecting the John Brickson School, one of the fine school houses
in that city, besides a number of bridges and docks. Mr. Dahl engaged
in the contracting business in partnership with Martin O. Haugner. under
the firm name of Haugner & Dahl. I'his association after being con-
tinued about three years dissolved. Afterwards Mr. Dahl took up the
street paving business in Superior. Duluth and the Ranges, and up to
his death was active in that line, including the construction of water-
works and drainage ditches, the latter class of work demanding his spe-
cial attention. He operated alone until March 31, 1913. when his busi-
ness was incorporated under the name of E. A. Dahl & Company. The
officials of the company were at the time E. A. Dahl. president ; J. A.
Robertson, secretary ; R. M. Hughes, treasurer. This firm has done
considerable street paving in Duluth and Brainerd. Minnesota, and in
Michigan and Wisconsin. Prior to Mr. Dahl's death the company was
handling extensive drainage contracts in T'eltrami county. Minnesota,
comprising two hundred and forty miles of drainage and two hundred
and twenty miles of road leveling, an enterprise involving nearly half a
million dollars. Prior to that the comj^any had built state rural high-
ways across Beltrami county for a distance of about fortv miles, and
also had two drainage contracts in Koochiching countv. Mr. Dahl was
a widely recognized expert in this class of work, and his reputation was
based not only on his practical ability but the tliorovigh honest wav in
which he handled his undcrtakintrs, there being no "come back" on anv
contracts performed by him. This undoubtedlv was the secret of the
splendid success whicli came to him and which won him the confidence
of all who knew him.
In Superior. Wisconsin, in 1887, Mr. Dahl married Miss Ella .\ng-
vick, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ole Angvick. now deceased, who lived
Vol. rr— 18
782 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
in Norway. To Mr. and Mrs. Dahl were born eight children, five of
whom are living, named Geneva, Esther, Ruth, Harold and Alice.
Mr. Dahl was one of the organizers of the Norwegian Lutheran
Church at Superior, but for a number of years before his death was a
member of the First Norwegian Lutheran Church of Duluth, of which he
was an elder. He was a strong advocate of Sunday schools and served for
about fifteen years as superintendent of the Sunday school of the Nor-
wegian Lutheran Church at Superior. He was a member of the Board
of Trustees of the Aftenro Society and a thirty-second degree Scottish
Rite Mason.
The late Mr. Dahl was generous in his attitude toward others and
while successfully conducting his own business at Superior was instru-
mental in materially aiding other parties in doing a profitable business
along the same fine. While he carried on a special fine of business in such
a manner as to gain a comfortable competency for himself, he also belong-
ed to that class of representative citizens who promoted the public wel-
fare while advancing individual success. He possessed sterling traits that
commanded uniform confidence and regard, and even this brief record
reveals some of the fine qualities which gained him perfect esteem in the
community.
Jay O. Bergeson. The lives of a number of the energetic young men
of the country prove that a man does not need strong financial backmg
or the influence of interested parties in order to advance. Some of those
who are today holding the most responsible of positions with large cor-
porations are those who have steadily risen because of their natural
ability and their sincere interest in their work. One of these excellent
representatives of the class referred to is Jay O. Bergeson, auditor and
assistant treasurer of the Mesaba Railway Company at Virginia.
Jay O. Bergeson was born at Cumberland, Barron county, Wisconsin,
April 10. 1889. a son of Mostow G. and Isabelle (Stene) Bergeson, both
of whom are now deceased. Jay O. Bergeson is one of the seven chil-
dren born to them. For the first fifteen years of his life he lived at Cum-
berland, where he was a student in the public schools, and he later took
a commercial course at the Duluth Business College at Duluth. Minnesota.
At the age of fifteen he left home and for two years worked as a
common laborer at Cloquet. Minnesota, being connected with the saw-
mills at that place. He then went to Duluth and became switch operator
in the Duluth fire department. In September. 1909. he came to the
Mesaba Range, and was first employed as timekeeper, warehouse man
and clerk, spending the greater portion of his time at Virginia as an
employe of the Oliver Iron Mining Company, but on June "10, 1912,
he entered the service of the Western Construction Company, which was
then engaged in building the present Mesaba Railroad, first as head time-
keeper. His merits won him promotion and he was made cashier, and
soon after the property was taken over by the Mesaba Railroad Com-
pany Mr. Bergeson was made assistant treasurer and auditor and has
continued as such ever since, and is an active factor in his company.
During the great war he took an active part in supporting the various
measures of the administration, and held official positions with the local
organizations.
On June 13. 1912. Mr. Bergeson was married to Miss Esther Reese,
and they have one daughter. Katherine. Mr. Bergeson is a member of the
Lutheran Church, and active in the local congregation. His political
convictions make him a Renublican. WeW known in Masonry, he has
risen in his fraternitv and is now a Knight Templar. Mr. Bergeson is
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 783
an enthusiast with reference to the great Mesaba Range and is proud
of the fact that he is connected with so important a factor in its develop-
ment. His energy and abihty are unquestioned and he is destined to travel
much farther on the road to success along which he has already made
considerable progress.
. )
Andrew Hawkinson. The record of every worthy life bears its
measure of lesson and incentive, and in America there has ever been paid
special honor to the man who has achieved success through his own eliforts
and so ordered his life in all its relations as to merit the confidence and
good will of his fellow men. The sterling citizen whose name initiates
this review came to America as a young man of twenty-two years, poor
in purse but rich in ambition and in determination to achieve prosperity
through earnest and honest endeavor. That his ambition has not been
denied tangible realization is shown by the fact that he is now one of the
prosperous merchants and representative citizens of Virginia and holds
prestige as one of the loyal and public-spirited men of St. Louis county.
He was born in Sweden November 23, 1857, a son of Hawkin Anderson,
who was in his earlier career a miller by occupation and who later was
employed as custodian of timbered tracts owned by large landholders in
his native land, his position in this connection having been locally design-
ated as "bush watcher." He and his wife remained in Sweden until their
deaths.
The schools of his native land afforded to Andrew Hawkinson his
early education, and he waxed strong in mind and physique with the
passing years, with the result that he was a sturdy yotmg man of fine
principles and determined purpose when, in 1880, he severed the home
ties and gallantly set forth to seek his fortunes in the United States,
where he felt asstired of better opportunities of winning success through
individual effort. He made his way to Elk Rapids, Michigan, where his
first employment was in the loading of cordwood for the burning of
charcoal. His alert mentality soon enabled him to make good progress,
in command of the English language, and thus he overcame a definite
handicap, as did he also in connection with other adverse conditions that
confronted him from time to time. In 1884 he came to St. Louis county,
Minnesota, and found employment in the mines at Tower, which was then
a mere mining hamlet of about four houses. Later he took a position as
clerk in a mercantile store at that place, and after gaining a fortifying
knowledge of the various details of this line of enterprise he engaged!
independently in the general merchandise business, on a very modest
scale. He continued his residence at Tower until 1894, when he marked
another decisive step of progress by removing to Virginia, which then
had a population of about 4.000, and here engaged in the same line of
business upon a more extended scale and with greater incidental facili-
ties. His civic loyaltv has been unstinted and has denoted his deep
appreciation of and allegiance to his adopted country. His ability and
sterling character marked him as eligible for positions of public trust,
and he served seven years as citv treasurer of Virginia, besides which,
in 1906, he was further honored in being elected mayor of the citv. The
estimate placed upon his administration was significantiv manifest in his
re-election in 1908, and his record as mayor has passed into the records
of the mimcipnlitv and the commimitv as one of the soundest and best
in the annals of Virginia. Within his refjiine was initiated the paving
of the streets of the citv, six miles of paving having been completed with-
in the period of his administration as mavor. He wa"^ a member of the
Board of Trustees of the \^irginia Puhlir Librarv at the time when the
784 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
present fine library building was erected, and for nine years he gave
characteristically earnest and efficient service as a member of the Board
of Education. For years his helpful influence has been given through his
membership in the St. Louis county poor commission, and it may well be
understood that he has lived up to the best ideals of American citizenship
in all of the relations of his busy and useful life. He is a staunch advo-
cate and supporter of the principles of the Republican party, has re-
ceived the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite
of Masonry, besides holding membership in the Mystic Shrine, and his
name is found also on the roll of members of the local lodges of the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks. He and his family are communicants of the Swedish
Lutheran Church.
In the year 1885 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Hawkinson to
Miss Mary Sokness, who was born in Norway, and of this union were
born eight children, namely: Ever (deceased), Harry, Carl, Arnold,
Mabel, John, Effie and Alice. Both Carl and Arnold were afforded the
advantages of the University of Minnesota, the former specializing in
forestry and the latter in agriculture, and both gave loyal military serv-
ice during the nation's participation in the great World war. Prior to
this Carl had been in the service of the Government as a forester, sur-
veyor and engineer, and in connection with the war he passed eighteen
months in France as a member' of the Engineers Corps. Arnold's serv-
ice did not involve his crossing the Atlantic to the stage of active con-
flict.
Ernest B. Dunning. One of the leading business men and repre-
.sentatiye citizens of Duluth is Ernest B. Dunning, of Dunning & Dun-
ning. Inc., which conduct one of the largest insurance agencies in the
northwest. He is a man of influence in local affairs and is thoroughly
in sympathy with any movement looking toward the betterment or
advancement of his community, being worthy of the confidence and
respect which his fellow citizens have freely accorded to him.
Ernest B. Dunning was born July 29, 1881. in DuBois, Pennsylvania.
and is a son of Frank A. and Myra Dunning, the eldest of the four chil-
dren born to them. Frank A. Dunning, who died in the year 1918, was
a retail shoe merchant for many years, but retired from active business
some time before his death. Ernest B. Dunning attended the common
schools, completing his studies in the State Normal School at Fredonia.
New York, also taking a commercial course in a business college in that
city. His first initiation into business, however, was at the early age of
seven years, when he began selling newspapers. After completing his
education he entered the employ of the Jewell Nursery Companv at Lake
City, Minnesota, with whom he remained three vears. In 1904 Mr. Dun-
ning went to Hibbing. Minnesota, and for the following five years served
as cashier for the Itasca Mercantile Company. In 1909 he became assis-
tant secretary of the Union Mutual Insurance Company of Duluth, with
whom he remained two years. At the end of that time he became associa-
ted with C. H. Dunning, and they formed the firm of Dunning & Dunning,
which has had a splendid record of continuous success. This companv,
which is incorporated, has the following officers : C. H. Dunning, presi-
dent ; Ernest B. Dunning, vice president and treasurer; and M. I. Staf-
ford, secretary. Their greatest success has been in the development of
the business of the Aetna Life Insurance Company and affiliated com-
panies over the northern half of Minnesota and northern Wisconsin, an
evidence of this being the fact that they are now conducting the largest
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 785
general agency the Aetna Company has in the entire northwest. This suc-
cess has not come to them unsoHcited, but is the result solely of their
earnest, determined and unremitting efforts. Mr. Dunning is recognized
as a man of forceful personality, of strong interest in the welfare of his
community and with broad and well defined ideas of life. Because of
his success and his excellent personal qualities he enjoys to a marked
degree the esteem and regard of all with whom he comes in contact.
Byron J. Kelsey. Opportunities for the development of business
enterprise or for laying the foundations of a new undertaking in Vir-
ginia are amply demonstrated in the case of Byron J. Kelsey, who moved
from Pine county, Minnesota, to Virginia in 1916. Contrary to the
advice of the "knowing" ones, he embarked in the implement business,
founding in 1917 the Kelsey Mercantile Company, of which he became
president. In the intervening period he has built up a large retail imple-
ment business, and of this undertaking H. C. Kelsey is the present man-
ager. Byron J. Kelsey was one of the chief organizers of the Farmers
and jMerchants State Bank, of which he is vice president, and to the inter-
ests of this institution he now devotes the greater part of his attention.
Mr. Kelsey was born on a farm in Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin,
IMarch 10, 1855, a son of Wilson and Jane Ann (Chittendon) Kelsey,
natives of New York state. In 1856 the parents moved to Minnesota, and
Wilson Kelsey pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land in Cherry
(irove township, Goodhue county. They were pioneers in that part of
the state, and in that early day experienced all the vicissitudes and hard-
ships of the pioneer stage. \Vith but a sparse population in the district,
few neighbors, distant markets, and slow means of transportation the
Kelsey family found life an uphill task for several years. Not dis-
couraged, however, the elder Kelsev stuck to his task, and bv wav of
sujjplementing his earnings he worked on the building" of the railroad
into St. Paul, this being the first railroad constrvicted in Minnesota.
It was amid those surroundings and in checkered circumstances that
Byron J. Kelsey grew up. He attended the district schools, and as he
advanced in vears he worked out at such labor as his hands could find
to do. Thrifty by habit, he managed to save enougli money from his
scant earnings to enable him to enter Wasiaja Seminary, and it is worthy
of note that he managed to make ends meet for an average expense of
eighty-seven cents a week. He had a free-rent room and did chores about
the neighborhood.
When he had reached the age of twenty-one years Mr. Kelsey engaged
in mercantile pursuits at Fairpoint, having a brother for a partner. The
success which attended their initial efforts induced them some time later
to open a branch store at .Xurora, Brookins countv. .South Dakota, and
of the new enterprise Byron J. became manager. In 1876 he returned
to Minnesota and founded a bank at New Brighton, acting in the capac-
ity of president of tiie institution. For a period of twentv-threc vears,
or from 1893 to 1916, he was identified with mercantile pursuits at Brook
Park. Pine county, and in the latter year moved to \'irginia, where he
has since Ix'en living, a prominent factor in the commercial life of the
city.
On March 20, 1876. Mr. Kelsey was united in marriage to Miss Mary
1). Taft, a relative of former President Taft, and to this marriage fi\-^
children were born, namely: Cecil B. ; Grace, who died in 1917, being
then twenty-.sevcn years old ; Harold C\ : l^etta. who became Mrs. Fdward
Shaske : .and Paul Taft. l\inl '!". Kelsev enlisted in tin- United States
786 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
army for service in the World war, but before he was needed abroad the
Armistice was signed.
Mr. Kelsey has been a very ardent Republican all of his life, and is
especially active in the cause of prohibition. He has never been a seeker
after office, preferring to devote his time to the development of his com-
mercial undertakings. He is an earnest member of the Presbyterian
Church, and in this connection is chairman of the committee of local mis-
sion work. He is a member of the Masonic Order, in the afifairs of which
he takes a warm interest. Notwithstanding the comparatively brief period
of his residence in Virginia, Mr. Kelsey has from the beginning proved
himself an excellent citizen who has the friendship and esteem of all who
know him.
Otto Swanstrom. Twenty years ago Otto Swanstrom was putting
in busy days between anvil and forge and performing all the work of a
blacksmith in a shop at Duluth. Today he is president and active head
of a half million dollar corporation, known as the Diamond Calk and
Horseshoe Company, founded and developed primarily to manufacture
some special articles invented by !Mr. Swanstrom as a result of his experi-
ence as a blacksmith and horseshoer, but now expanded into a large fac-
tory and industry manufacturing a varied line of machinery and drop
forge products.
Mr. Swanstrom w^as born in Sweden July 11, 1874, and acquired his
early education in the common schools of his native land, later attending
night school after coming to America. He came to this country in 1889,
at the age of fifteen, accompanying his brother, Xels Swanstrom. His
brother soon located in Duluth, where he learned and followed the har-
nessmaking trade.
Mr. Swanstrom continued blacksmithing until 1900, when he began
the manufacture of horseshoes and horseshoe calks, according to special
designs perfected by himself. For this manufacture he incorporated the
Giant Grip Horse Shoe Company of Duluth. He served as president of
the corporation until 1906, his factory having in the meantime, in 1903,
been removed from Duluth to Little Falls. Minnesota. After selling his
interests in the Giant Grip Horse Shoe Companv in 1906 Mr. Swan-
strom engaged in a new enterprise, for the manufacture of his invented
and patented horseshoes and calks, and in 1908 incorporated the Diamond
Calk Horseshoe Company, now known as the Diamond Calk and Horse-
shoe Company. Associated with him in the organization were E. C.
Peterson, who became vice president, and Al De Vohn, secretary and
treasurer, Mr. Swanstrom being president. The business was incorpora-
ted for ten thousand dollars, and the first factory was at 501 Lake
Avenue, South. The men at the head of the business were practical, had
a .special purpose and knew what they were going to do, and were not
concerned so much about activities and operations that would constitute a
big display. In fact, they started business as small as it was possible
to begin, and the first year onlv two men were employed. Then, in 1910.
they built a new factory at 4630 West Third street, a one-story building
equipped with modern machinery. Since then from year to year there
has been almost a continuous record of expansion and growth. Now the
Diamond Calk and Horseshoe Company employs about one hundred fiftv
people, has a pay roll of nearly two hundred thousand dollars a vear. and
the business is incorporated for 'five hundred thousand dollars. The fac-
tory is on ground covering a little more than a square city block. Besides
the Diamond calks and horseshoes the company has added other lines of
manufacture, including drop-forged railroad supplies, a full line of
ITTU:
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 787
wrenches, and do much other work possible in a modern and well equipped
drop forging plant.
Of this prosperous and promising Duluth industry Mr. Swanstrom
is still president ; L. T. Peterson is vice president, Al De Vohn, secretary
and treasurer; E. C. Peterson is second vice president and Frank Swan-
strom, third vice president. Mr. Swanstrom is a member of the Lutheran
Church and a Republican voter.
June 24, 1899, he married Miss Sarah Amelia Lindberg. She was
born in Minnesota of Swedish parentage, who came to America as chil-
dren. She was educated in the public schools of Duluth. They have two
children, a daughter, Gladys Irene Swanstrom, born July 24, 1900, and
a son, Arthur Raymond Swanstrom, born August 2, 1901. Both chil-
dren are now students in the Duluth High School.
Andrew Bergquist. A highly respected citizen of Duluth who, al-
though an American by adoption only, has had the interests of this com-
munity at heart for many years is Andrew Bergquist, a man who has
won success in life because he has been persistent and never permitted
obstacles to thwart him in a course when once he knew he was right.
He came here practically without capital, but by earnest efforts, honest
work and good management has during the subsequent years forged ahead
and is now numbered among the leading contractors and builders in his
community.
Andrew Bergquist is a Scandinavian by nativity, having been born in
Sweden on the 14th day of September, 1862. He was reared to man-
hood in his native land and received his education in the schools of his
home locality. In 1887, when twenty-five years of age, he came to the
United States and located at once in Duluth, where he obtained employ-
ment at the carpenter trade, the vocation which he had followed in his
native land. After working at his trade as an employe for about four
and a half years he. in 1891, began contracting on his own account. In
the following years he took in his brother, Louis M. Bergquist, as a part-
ner, and the same firm, under the name of Bergquist Brother, is still in
active and successful operation after an eminently prosperous career.
They have constructed many of the most important business blocks and
finest residences and apartment houses in Duluth, among which was the
Commercial Club Building, and through all these years they have enjoyed
a most excellent reputation in business and commercial circles because
of the high character of their work and the splendid business methods
which they have ever followed. Their office is located in the Exchange
Bank Building.
On December 28, 1892, Mr. Bergquist was married to Selma M. Per-
son, of Duluth, and to them have been born four children, namely : Mel-
vin D., Harold A.. Milton N. (deceased), and Laura S. Mr. and Mrs.
Bergquist are members of the Baptist Church, to which they give gen-
erous support, and polticially Mr. Bergquist is affiliated with the Repub-
lican partv. By a straightforward and commendable course he has made
his wav from a somewhat liumhle beginning to a respectable jiosition in
the business world, winning the hearty admiration of the people of his
adopted city and earning a reputation as an enterprising, progressive man
of affairs and a broad-minded and upright citizen which the public has
not been slow to recognize anrl ai>preciate.
JoTix TT. MrlNNi.<^. a well-known citizen of X'irginia. assistant gen-
eral superintendent of the Interstate Iron CnmTianv. i-^ .a native of the
state of Michigan, Imrn at Ishpeming, Mav 11. 188.V His parents. Neil
788 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
and Marcella (Macdonald) Mclnnis, were brought up in Nova Scotia
in the Dominion of Canada, and were of Scottish Highland ancestry.
They were married in Nova Scotia, where Neil Mclnnis was employed
in his father's flouring mill and mercantile establishment. The family
crossed the border in the '60s, locating first at Boston, later moved to
Chicago, and went then to Ishpeming, Michigan, where the father car-
ried out railroad contract work in the Upper Peninsula, and was en-
gaged in iron mining.
In 1884 Neil Mclnnis and his family moved to Tower, Minnesota, and
established a general store. In 1892 he moved on to Eveleth, and was
connected with the early explorations on the East Mesaba, where he
died in 1916. His widow still survives. These worthy people had all
the sturdv characteristics of their Scottish ancestry and reared their
family to the habits of thrift and prudence.
John H. INIcInnis is one of three living children born to his parents.
He lived at Tower, Minnesota, until he was fourteen years old, and
there attended the public schools. Later he went to school at St. Cloud
and at Duluth and Minneajjolis. From early boyhood he has been con-
nected with iron ore mining, and has worked in all the variovis depart-
ments incidental to iron ore mining, gradually and by merit reaching
the position he now occupies. Since 1905 he has been connected with
the Interstate Iron Company, and since January 1. 1917. he has been
assistant general superintendent for the comj^any at Virginia, enjoying
alike the confidence of the employers and the em])loyes. His training
and continued experience along the line of iron ore mining were the
chief factors responsible for his attaining his present position.
In 1912 Mr. Mclnnis was united in marriage to Miss Koyla Ketcham.
and they have become the parents of five children : Marceli, John H.,
Jr., George Neil, Jane Koyla and Donald Alan.
William J. Schulze. Among the well-known figures of the Range
country of St. Louis county, one who has been variously identified
with the mining interests of this locality for a score or more of years
is William J. Schulze, now connected with the estate of the late W. H.
Yawkey at Virginia. Mr. Schulze is an experienced mining man and
one who in his career has made the most of his opportunities and has
worked himself thereby to substantial success. He was born at
Decorah. Iowa, December 29. 1875. a son of Henry Schulze.
Henry Schulze was born in Germany and became the founder of
his branch of the family in the United States, to which country he
came as a young man of about twenty years. After being variously
employed he established himself in the contracting business at Dec-
orah, Iowa, where he rounded out a long, useful and honorable
career, and where his death occurred. He Avas highly thought of in
his community, and his business standing was that of a man of
upright character and absolute integrity. J\Ir. Schulze. the elder,
married Miss Mary Rastetter. a native of this country but of German
parentage, and they became the parents of five children, of whom
William J. was the second born.
William J. Schulze was reared at Decorah. Iowa, where he re-
ceived his primary educational training in the public schools and
subsequently attended the Iowa State University at Iowa City, from
which he was duly graduated with the class of 1900. receiving the
degree of Bachelor of Arts. When he embarked upon his career he
drifted into northern Minnesota, where he secured a position as
chemist with the Oliver Iron Mining Company at Mount Iron. He
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 789
later entered the operating department of the Mount Iron Mine, but
in 1902 left that position to open up the Stephens Mine for the Oliver
Company and was made superintendent of that property. Mr. Schulze
was married in 1905, and in the same year became general manager
of the Tesora Mining Company, with headquarters at Virginia. In
1906 he accepted an offer from W. H. Yawkey and was put in charge
of Mr. Yawkey's mining operations. He continued his association
with that gentleman until the lattcr's death. March 5, 1918, since
which time he has been retained in the same capacity by the estate.
Mr. Schulze has been interested for a long time in civic affairs at
Virginia and has rendered valuable service in public capacities, having
been a member of the Virginia i'ark Board for seven years and a
supporter of all movements making for progress and civic betterment.
He is prominent in Masonry, being a member of both the York and
Scottish Rites and holds membership in the Mystic Shrine, the Ben-
evolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Kiwanis Club.
In 1905 Mr. Schulze was united in marriage with Miss Clara E.
Fay, and to this union there have been born three children : Fay
William, Ralph Henry and Sally Virginia, all of whom are attending
school.
Henry M. Bradley with several of his sons had an important part in
the historical development of the business and industry of Duluth and
this section of the middle northwest. He was a pioneer lumberman
both in northern Michigan and northern Minnesota. Successful in
business, his career was one of strictest integrity and honor, and his
death a few years ago marked the j^assing of one of the notable figures
in Duluth history.
He was a native of Massachusetts, but as a youth accompanied
his parents to Licking county, Ohio, where he became the owner of
a small saw mill. Shortly after his marriage to IMary E. Cook he
moved to Bay City, ^lichigan. There he built and operated one of
the first saw mills and was a pioneer in making Bay City a center of
lumber manufacture, a rejiutation it still bears. He gave up his
lumber business at Bay City in 1879, though he kept his home there
for several years. In 1880 Mr. Bradley came to Duluth and for two
years was engaged in locating vacant Government timber and mineral
lands under the old cash entry laws. Soon after January 1. 1882, the
Bradley-Hanford Lumber Company was formed at Duluth. its mem-
bers being llenry M. Bradley, Heber H. Ilanford, and Alva \V. and
Edward L. Bradley, the latter being sons of Henry M. Bradley.
Alva \V. Bradley had come to Duluth in March. 1882. while Edward
L. followed him in April of the same year, and both brought their
families with them, llenry M. Bradley retired irom the firm about
1885 and Edward L. about 1887, but the business was continued for
several years by the other two members.
Henry M. Bradley was a resident of Duluth for about thirty years.
He was prominently identified with the Methodist I-lpiscopal Church,
served for several years as ])resident of tin- T.oard of l\ducation. and
gave his time and means generously to tlu' promotion of Duluth's
]:)rogress. lie was a fee owner in two of the iron ore mines at Ely.
The death of this honored business man occurred March 21. 1^18.
He survived his wife several years. Of their eight children two died
in infancv. One daughter, ]\Tay. is Mrs. Carl Xorpell. of Newark,
Ohio, and a son. I-'rank, died about 1880. .\11 the t)thers came to
Duluth: Alva \V., Charles 11., lulward L.. and .Mice A., now deceased,
who was the widow of Cardis I). Edwards.
790 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Leonard Young. A service of more than ten years as principal of the
Duluth Central High School has placed the entire community of
Duluth in a relation of obligation to Leonard Young, who is one of
the city's most esteemed citizens and whose career for over twenty
years has been an earnest devotion to education.
He was born March 8, 1871, in Wabash county, Indiana, son of
John D. and Christiana (Stacey) Young. His parents were natives of
Clark county, Indiana. His father throughout a long and active career
followed farming, and is still living in Wabash county at the age of
seventy-six.
The oldest of three children, all living, Leonard Young spent most
of the years of his early life in the Wabash Valley, attending common
and township high schools in Wabash county, for two years was a
student in the Indiana State Normal School at Terre Haute, and in
1898 graduated from the Indiana State University.
His career as an educator began immediately after he left the
university and has been uninterrupted since then. During 1898-99
he was teacher of science in the high school at Wichita, Kansas.
Returning to his native state, he was science teacher in the Evansville
High School from 1899 to 1907 and from 1907 to 1910 was principal
of the Evansville High School. From Indiana he was called to his
work as principal of Duluth Central High School in 1910.
Mr. Young is affiliated with Ionic Lodge, F. and A. M., and has
attained thirty-two degrees of the Scottish Rite. He is a member
of the First Presbyterian Church, the Kiwanis Club and Duluth
Curling Club.
George Spencer. The great natural resources of the northwest have
been developed through the vision, initiative and vigor of men of
unusual caliber, some of whom have passed away, although the results
of their unceasing zeal in behalf of their communities remain to benefit
generations yet unborn. One of the men who was responsible for
the organization of the Duluth Board of Trade, and for many vears
extremely active in the grain and elevator business of this city, was
the late George Spencer, whose name stands for reliability and sterling
uprightness of character. He was born at Westminster, \'ermont,
November 26, 1843, and was reared on his father's homestead and
educated in a high school of Boston, Massachusetts, from which he
was graduated. His first business experience was gained in a clerical
position in a store owned by his brother, where he remained until
1870, but in that year he left his eastern home and came west to
Duluth to become manager of the newly organized Union Improve-
ment Elevator Company. It was not long before his resourcefulness
enabled him to go into business for himself in partnership with M.
J. Forbes, and he subsequently formed connections with the firm of
Spencer, ]Moore & Company, which he assisted in organizing. He
continued the head of this firm until November 3. 1907. when he
became president of the Consolidated Elevator Company, succeeding
his former partner. M. J. Forbes, deceased, and continued to serve
as such until his death, February 4, 1915. He was one of the organ-
izers of the Duluth Board of Trade in 1881, became its first vice
president, and its second president, and in 1894 and in 1906 was made
its president again. It is but just to him to say that he was one of
the most successful business men of Duluth. For a number of years
he was a director of the American Exchange Bank, and had many
other interests, being beyond question one of the ablest pioneer grain
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 791
and elevator men in the northwest. His activities were not confined
to the business world, for he was one of the organizers of the Duluth
Congregational Church, although he later became affiliated with the
Presbyterian Church. He was a man of considerable practical benev-
olence, but his charity was of the unostentatious kind.
Mr. Spencer was exceedingly happy in his married life, which was
inaugurated February 26, 1874, when he was united in marriage with
Miss Helen Mattocks, at Saint Paul, Minnesota. She was a daughter
of Rev. John Mattocks of the First Presbyterian Church. Mr. and
Mrs. Spencer became the parents of three children, namely: Elizabeth,
who is Mrs. H. L. Hartley; Helen, who is Mrs. Ward Ames, Jr., and
George Herbert, who is mentioned below. During the war between
the North and the South George Spencer enlisted in defense of his
country, August 27, 1862, in Company A, Thirteenth Massachusetts
Volunteer Infantry, and was honorably discharged at the close of the
war,
George Herbert Spencer, whose adult business life has been passed
with the Consolidated Elevator Company, was born at Duluth,
August 7, 1876, and he was educated at the Duluth Central High
School. On September 16, 1914, he was married to Miss Jessica
Marshall, and they have three sons : Marshall, George Herbert and
Thomas.
George Harvey, a prominent logging contractor of the village of Vir-
ginia, first came to the Mesaba Range in 1897, and with the exception
of a short period has made this his home ever since. For a number of
years he has been interested in public affairs, both as a constructive
and progressive citizen and a capable and energetic official, and at
the present time is a member of the Board of Commissioners of St.
Louis county.
Born at Calumet, Michigan, January 2, 1878, Mr. Harvey is a son
of Edward and Mary (Simmons) Harvey, natives of England, where
they were reared and married. The family came to the United States
some fifty years ago and for a time lived in New York city. During
pioneer times Edward Harvey came west to Michigan and helped
sink the first shaft at Calumet, in the copper regions, and subsequently
went to Iron Mountain. Michigan, where he followed iron mining.
Later he engaged in the logging business, also handled fuel and
farmed, and became one of the prominent and influential men of his
community. He took out his naturalization papers and was active
as a citizen, serving as mayor of Iron Mountain two terms. Mr.
Harvey died in March, 1916, having survived his worthy wife for
some years.
One of a family of ten children. George Harvey grew to man's
estate at Iron Mountain, where he received his education in the public
schools. When about twenty-six years of age he began his business
career on the Mesaba Range of northern Minnesota as a steam shovel
operator in the Mountain Iron pit at Mountain Iron. Later on he engaged
in the logging business as a contractor, and in this vocation his
business interests have been centered to the present.
When the sul)ject of municii)al ownership of water and light
privileges at Virginia was brought into public view Mr. Harvey was
a stanch advocate of city ownership. He was elected an alderman
of Virginia frf)m the Sixth Ward, and was suhsequcntlv twice re-
elected. In November, 1918. he was chosen a memlier of the Board
of St. Louis Countv Commissioners from the Sixth District, and is
792 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
now filling that responsible position with ability and energy. Socially
he is identified with the local Kiwanis Club, and is a Knight Templar
of the Masonic fraternity and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He
was married in May, 1903, to ]\Iiss Lillie Crago, of Iron Mountain,
and they have four children living: John, Howard, Joseph and Ralph.
Two other children, Dorothy and Raymond, are deceased. Mr. and
Mrs. Harvey are consistent members and liberal supporters of the
Methodist Episcopal Church.
Carl H. Osterberg has been identified with mining operations since
his early youth, and in this connection he came to the Virginia dis-
trict of the Mesaba Range nearly thirty years ago, before the village
of Virginia had been laid out and when its site was known only by
the title of Section 8. He has been closely associated with the devel-
opment and upbuilding not onl}- of the now thriving little city of
X'irginia but also with the advancement of the great mining interests
of this section of the state. An expert in mine drilling, he now gives
his attention to contract work along this line as a member of the
firm of Osterberg & Johnson, of \'irginia. and he and his partner
also conducted a substantial adjunct business in the operation of a weil
equipped machine shop.
Carl Harry Osterberg was born in Sweden. March 11. 1863. His
father was identified with mining operations in Sweden and later
turned his attention to the gardening business there. The schools of
his native land alTorded Carl H. Osterberg his early education, and
as a boy and youth he was employed in the iron mines — first as a
wiper and oiler and later as a fireman. At the age of seventeen years,
with a full measure of ambition and self reliance, he left his native land
and came to the United States, where he felt assured of better oppor-
tunities for the winning of independence through individual efifort.
He proceeded to Iron Alountain, Michigan, where he found emplov-
ment at surface work and later as fireman in connection with mininer
operations. In 1883 he took the position of driller's helper, and with
increasing experience became a skilled workman at the trade of driller.
When the great Gogebic Iron Range was opened he went to that dis-
trict, in the spring of 1886, and there he was employed two years. In
1888 he came to Ely, St. Louis county, Minnesota, and found work on
the Vermillion Range. After remaining there a year he engaged in
drilling work in the mines near Tower, this county, and in 1892 came
to the Virginia district, where he gained pioneer distinction in connec-
tion with mining operations in this locality. Here he witnessed the
inception and subsequent u])building of the town of Virginia, and here
he did a large amount of important work in connection with mining
operations — first in the employ of the firm of Humphrey, Moore &
Foley, and later in the service of the firms of Cole & McDonald and
Brown & Miller. Finally he returned to Michigan and passed two
years as a driller for the Danorra Mining Company, at Negaunee.
After the steel corporation took possession of the propertv he con-
tinued in its service at Sudbury, Ishpeming. Negaunee and other
points, and he continued his residence in Michigan imtil 1905. when
he returned to Minnesota and became a driller for Corrigan & Mc-
Kinney in what is now the St. Paul Mine at Keewatin, Itasca county.
In 1906 he formed a partnership with H. O. Johnson at Virginia, and
under the firm name of Osterberg & Johnson they have since been
associated in the control of a prosperous contracting business as
drillers in connection, with general machine-shop work.
AS -
^T^Cuti^ CTiL^
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 793
Mr. Osterberg is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Klks. He has achieved marked success in his business ac-
tivities and is a citizen who has secure place in popular confidence and
good will.
In 1893 Mr. Osterberg wedded Miss Matilda Sederberg, and of
this union have been born five children — Ernest, Ruth, Florence,
Harriet and Merrel. The eldest son, Ernest, was in the nation's
aviation service in the World war, was on active duty in France for
several months and received his honorable discharge after the war
came to a close through the signing of the historic armistice.
Philip L. Ray is one of the prominent younger men in financial cir-
cles at Duluth, active head of Philip L. Ray & Co., financial agents
and factors and dealers in investment securities, with offices in the
Alworth Building.
Mr. Ray belongs to a family of bankers and was born at Mankato,
Minnesota, July 10, 1890. His father is John H. Ray, for many years
a well known banker at Mankato, but now retired and living in Cali-
fornia. He was born in Michigan eighty-three years ago.
Philip L. Ray is the younger of two children, and was educated in
the public schools of his native state and in 1912 graduated with
the A. B. degree from the University of Minnesota. June 10, 1912,
with no loss of time, he entered upon his business career as private
secretary to Hon. J. L. Washburn of Duluth. He became secretary
to several of the Washburn corporations engaged in mining and
timber enterprises. In June, 1917, while still continuing his associa-
tion with Mr. Washburn's interests, Mr. Ray formed the j)artnership
of Philip L. Ray & Co. to engage in the business of investment bonds.
In three or four years he has seen this enterprise grow and j)rosper
and achieve a highly creditable and distinctive place among the
financial firms of the city.
Mr. Ray is a member of the Beta Theta Pi college fraternity, be-
longs to the Kitchi Gammi Club, Northland Country Club, Duluth
Boat Club, Duluth Commercial Club and Kiwanis Club, and is a
Republican voter.
William E. Burgher has spent most of his life at Duluth and in the
Range country, has achieved his own oi)portunities. and is now presi-
dent and acting head of the Range Office Supply Company, one of
the leading concerns of its kind in Northern Minnesota.
Mr. Burgher, whose home is in Virginia, was born at Minneapolis
June 21, 1886, and was seven years of age when the family moved to
13uluth. He is a son of George W. and Elizabeth (Krieger) Burgher,
still living at Duluth. His father is a carpenter by trade. The family
came from Pennsylvania and are of Swiss ancestry. Mr. Burgher's
two grandfathers were Union soldiers in the Civil war.
W illiam K. Burgher grew up at Duluth, but attended school only
to ihe age of fourteen, after which he depended upon himself and
made actual work the means of his education and the source of his
o|)j)ortunities. His first task was delivering groceries, later he clerked
in stores and also served in a clerical capacity in offices, lii- early
became identified with the office supply business, and one of the
leading Duluth concerns employed him as a tra\eling salesman
through the Range district. This experience gave him a familiarity
with trade conditions in the Range towns, and eventually he made up
his mind to embark his capital, skill and expcrienci- in a business of
his own.
794 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
In 1914 he organized the Mesaba Range Office Supply Company.
It was started on a modest scale, with only two rooms in the First
National Bank Building at Virginia. The name proving too cum-
bersome the word Mesaba was dropped, leaving it simply the Range
Office Supply Company. In January, 1917, the business was incor-
porated under that title, with Mr. Burgher as president and directing
head. The company now has complete stores at Virginia and Rib-
bing. The energy Mr. Burgher has put into his business has been
rewarded with most substantial results.
His home has been at Virginia since 1912, and he is a member of
several civic and social organizations. In October, 1909, Mr. Burgher
married Miss Lydia Rozon. Their two children are, William E., Jr.,
and Edward.
John F. Staver. Nineteen years of residence in the Range country
of northern Minnesota and a connection of that length with the
foundry business have combined to establish for John F. Staver,
proprietor of the Virginia Foundry Company of Virginia, a reputation
for ability, resource and unflagging industry. He is one of the
captains of success who has piloted his own craft to harbor, has
worked his way from the bottom, and out of his labors has evolved
the beHef that industry and straightforward dealing are prime factors
in the gaining of position and success.
Mr. Staver was born near Dayton, Montgomery county, Ohio, July
7, 1876, and was five years old when his father, Edward Staver, a
farmer, was called by death. His mother, whose maiden name was
Mary Ellen Bliss, married for her second husband H. A. Deger, a
moulder by trade, and the family moved in the fall of 1900 to Minne-
sota and lived for about a year in the town of Mississippi, then going
to their present home at Superior, Wisconsin.
John F. Staver was but an infant when he was taken by his par-
ents to Douglas county, Illinois, where his father had purchased a
small farm, and where that parent died. Mrs. Staver then went back
to Montgomery county, Ohio, and John F. Staver grew up there and
acquired a common school education. At Dayton he learned the
moulder's trade in the plant of the Dayton Malleable Iron Works,
a concern with which he remained about seven years, following which
he was employed by other firms of a like character for three years.
In 1901 he came to the Range country of northern Minnesota, seeking
a climate that would better his wife's health, and for a short time
resided at Mississippi, following which he went to Superior, Wiscon-
sin, which was his home about three years. In 1904 he came to Vir-
ginia, which has continued to be his place of residence. Upon his
arrival Mr. Staver was made foreman for the Virginia Foundry Com-
pany, operated by A. C. Osborn, and continued in that capacity until
June, 1920, when he leased the property and has since conducted it.
He carries on a general foundry business, and associated with him is
his son, Byron E. Mr. Staver is one of the best known foundrymen in
this part of the state and few have a more comprehensive knowledge
of the business. Through industry, fair representation and good
workmanship he has won the confidence of the community, a valuable
asset indeed, and one which assures a continuation of his present
prosperity. He is affiliated fraternally with the local lodges of the
Modern Woodmen of America and the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks, in both of which he has numerous friends. He has
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 795
discharged faithfully all the duties of citizenship and is always found
backing worthy measures.
Mr. Staver married, August 24, 1895, Miss Margaret Newhardt, of
a neighboring county of Ohio, and their only son is Byron E., a grad-
uate of the Virginia High School, who was a student at the University
of Cincinnati three years, and had been in the Officers' Training
Camp at Camp Zachary Taylor for two weeks when the war ended.
William Thomas Bailey was one of the makers of history in north-
ern Minnesota due to his prominent associations with the great lum-
ber industry centering at Duluth. The business w^hich he founded
and of which he w^as president many years, the \V. T. Bailey Lumber
Company, is still in existence, and for many years comprised great
holdings of timber land and a complete organization of mills and all
other facilities for production from the stump to the final market.
The late Mr. Bailey was of English ancestry, and the family in
England spelled the name Bayley. His parents were James Joseph
and Catherine C. Bailey, the former a native of England and the latter
of Canada. James Joseph Bailey came when a young man to Canada,
and located at Baylysboro in Ontario, where his son, William Thomas,
was born September 22, 1842. After the discovery of gold in Cali-
fornia James J. Bailey started for the Pacific Coast, and probably met
a violent death, since he was never heard from again. At the age of
ten William Thomas Bailey was an orphan. He had to support
himself by his own industry and resourcefulness, but in spite of early
limited advantages in school he kept his mental horizon broadening
with successive years through reading and intimate contact with men
and affairs. He eventually took up railroad work, and for a number
of years was purchasing agent for the Northwestern Railroad with
headquarters in Chicago.
In 1880 he came to Duluth, but it was his resourcefulness as an
organizer, as an executive and a shrewd business man that enabled
him to achieve prominence 'in the lumber industry rather than the
possession of extensive capital. His operations grew and prospered
from a modest scale until the William T. Bailey Company became one
of the largest operating in northern Minnesota. \\'hile the head-
quarters of the com|)any were at Duluth, its mills and logging opera-
tions were carried on over a large scope of country. Some of the
most extensive mills and manufacturing ojierations of the business
have long been maintained at \'irginia, where Richard Roberts IJailey,
son of W. T. Bailey, has had his business headquarters since 1896.
William Thomas Bailey at the age of seventy-two, and with many
mature achievements to his credit, died on March 31, 1914. He was
a Republican in i)olitics. a faithful member of the Presbyterian
Church, was affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Independent
Order of C)cld l^'ellows and was deeply devoted to home and family.
Manv rec;ill him for his deep interest in blooded horses, and he had
one of the finest stables around Duluth. June 25, 1873. he married
in Michigan Miss Rel^ecca RoI)erts, daughter of Richard and Rebecca
(Roberts) Roberts, of Ottawa county. Michigan. Her father was a
I)rominent lumberman. The three childri'n born to their tnarriage
were William Thomas. Jr.. Richard Rol)erts and Rebecca.
Richard Rohhrts Bailey, a son of the late W illiam T. Bailey, of
Duluth. has been a resident of X'irgiu'a since 18% and in a lar<:;e and
important degree has been the executive successor of his father in the
lumber industrv of St. Louis Countv.
796 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
He was born at Grand Haven, Michigan, February 23. 1875, and his
parents moved to Duluth in 1880. He attended the grammar and high
schools of that city, and served his apprenticeship in practical business
under his father. He removed to Virginia to look after his father's
lumber milling interests, and for a number of years has been secretary
and treasurer of the W. T. Bailey Lumber Company.
The welfare of his home city he has always regarded as a personal
responsibility. He is a member of the Kitchi Gammi Club of Duluth,
a Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner and Elk. In 1906 he married Miss
Berniece Lee, of Lakota, North Dakota. Their three children are
Rebecca Lee, Richard Roberts Bailey, Jr., and Berniece.
Lewis A. Simonson is one of the citizens of Duluth whose career has
been shaped to some extent by his environment through a period of thirty-
five years, and many who know and esteem his splendid qualities will
assert that he also has been a factor in moulding the destiny of the
community.
Mr. Simonson, who is manager of the Head of the Lake Agency of
the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, has been out in the
world of action doing for himself and others since early boyhood. He
v.'as born at Booneville. Dallas county, Iowa, January 28, 1869, son of
Claus and Bertha Simonson. His parents were natives of Norway and
came to the United States in 1866, locating in Reedsburg, Iowa. Lewis
A. Simonson was left an orphan at the age of four years, being one of
three children. After the death of his parents he was adopted into the
family of Eric Erickson, and lived with them at Yankton. South Dakota,
until he was thirteen. His earliest recollections are of the great prairie
country of the Dakota territory, and all his education during that time
aggregated only seven months attendance at school. He had ample train-
ing in the work and duties of a Dakota farm. During his fourteenth
year he started out to see the world and carve his fortune therein, his
possessions being the clothes he wore and seventy-five cents in money.
Work as a farm hand for three years preceded his entrance to Duluth.
Mr. Simonson reached Duluth in 1886. His first employment was on
the Ohio coal docks unloading coal from boats. From there he went into
a small village in the woods, Washburn. Wisconsin, and subsequently for
several years before reaching his majority he represented a Chicago pub-
lishing house as a canvasser, an experience that many eminent men have
pronounced as invaluable to them in their road to success, and which Mr.
Simonson also found valuable in supplementing his meager schooling.
He also traveled in many districts in northern Wisconsin. Michigan and
Minnesota.
After his return to Washburn he was for a vear assistant postmaster
and then became a member of the Washburn Supply Company, selling
goods on the installment plan. He grew into controlling responsibilities
with this business subsequently became its sole proprietor, prospered,
and greatly enlarged the scope of his business. After selling out in 1901
he became a member of a retail grocery concern at \\'ashburn. and was
president of the Board of Education from 1903 to 1908. While in busi-
ness at Washburn he took up the study of life insurance, and in 1906
returned to Duluth as an agent of the Mutual Life under Waite H. Squire,
manager of the Head of the Lake Agency. Since then Mr. Simonson has
become one of Duluth's foremost insurance men. and in 1911 succeeded
to the management of the Duluth Agency and has built up a business sec-
ond to none in that Hne in the city.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 797
December 26, 1888, Mr. Simonson married Hannah Olson, who was
born in Norway, a daughter of Terber and Martha Olson. Four chil-
dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. Simonson: Charles T. ; Benjamin, who
died in infancy ; Mabel B. and Loyed H. The son, Loyed, was a wire-
less operator at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station, also on the
transport Puritan and was at Boston when the Armistice was signed.
Outside of his business Mr. Simonson is distinguished by long, self-
sacrificing and able efforts to promote the cause of temperance and not
less his efforts in behalf of good citizenship in general. His genial and
courteous manner has been a factor in his business success and has also
brought him the good will of every individual in Duluth. He helped
organize several Good Templar Lodges in Minnesota, and has been a
lecturer on temperance subjects over the state. He was elected grand
chief templar of Minnesota in 1915, and again similarly honored in 1920.
On the Prohibition ticket in 1912 Mr. Simonson was a candidate for
state railroad and warehouse commissioner, and polled the largest vote
ever given a candidate of his party in the state. He was again a candi-
date on the Prohibition ticket in 1916 for lieutenant governor. Mr.
Simonson has been active in Odd Fellowship, has filled various chairs
in his home lodge, also in the Grand Lodge and is the present grand
warden of the Grand Lodge. For five years he was president of the
West End Commercial Club and is a member of the Commercial Club of
Duluth.
Edward A. Grociiau is widely known as one of the honored citizens
and successful business men of Duluth, having for a number of years
been prominently identified with the commercial interests of this com-
munity. His well-directed efiforts in the i)ractical aflfairs of life, his
capable management of his own business interests and his sound judgment
have brought to him prosperity. In all the relations of life he has com-
manded the respect and confidence of those with whom he has been
brought into contact, and he is well worthy of rc']M-esentation in a work
of this character.
Edward A. Grochau was born in Duluth, Minnesota, on the 4th day of
February, 1872, a son of Augustus and Justina (Guth) Grochau, both
of whom are natives of Germany, the father havinj::^ been born June .^0,
1834, and the mother January 22, 1843. .\ugustus Grochau, who became
a sailor, remained in his native land until twenty-one years of age. when,
in 1855, he came to the United States. He took out citizen.ship papers
in 1867 and soon afterward returned to the Fatherland, where he was
married in 1868. On his return to the United States he took uji hi^
residence in Chicago and engaged in business. In 1870 he came to Duluth
and engaged in contracting and building, in which he was so successful
that after a few years he was enabled to retire from active business pur-
suits. Of the i\yr children born to Mr. and Mrs. Grochau, I'.dward .V. is
the third in order of birth, and four of them are still living. The parents
,'ire members of the German Evangelical Church.
Edward .A. Grochau secured his education in the public and high
schools of Dululli, and then entered the University of Miciiigan, where
he took the course in pharmacy and was graduated in 1894. with his
degree. For a time he was then employed as a drug clerk, but in 1*^10
engaged in the drug business on his own accoimt, first being located on
Fifth avenue. West, but eventually removing to his j)ri'sent location at the
corner of I'durili a\cnue, WCst. and b'irst street. lie carries a large and
complete stock of high-gradi- drugs and does a large prescri]>tion busi-
ness, in addition to which he also carries a full line of drviggists' sun-
\.,i. II -111
798 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
dries and such side lines as are usually carried in an up-to-date drug
store. By strict attention to business and courteous treatment of his
customers he has built up a large and representative business, being one
of the leaders in his line in this city.
Politically Mr. Grochau is a Republican. He is president of the
Retail Druggists Association of the Head of the Lakes and president of
the Minnesota State Pharmaceutical Association. Fraternally he is a
member of the Masonic Order, and has been honored by passing through
the degrees of all the bodies of the York and Scottish Rites and belongs
to the Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is also
a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Modern
Samaritans and the Camels of the World. His reHgious faith is that of
the Congregational Church, of which he is a member and a liberal sup-
porter.
On June 20, 1900, Mr. Grochau was married to Bessie Jones, who
was born at Neilsville, Wisconsin, and was reared and educated in Duluth.
To them have been born two children, Dorothy, born August 6, 1905,
and Maurice, born July 14. 1907. The family moves in the best social
circles of the city and are well liked by all who know them. Mr. Gro-
chau has not only been successful in his own business affairs, but has •
given earnest support to all movements for the betterment of the city
along all lines.
Al Blewett. To the man of average success the varied and sub-
stantial results achieved by Al Blewett seem out of all proportion to the
comparatively brief tenure of his career and in no wise remarkable advan-
tages or opportunities. Richly endowed with the qualities of initative
and resource, concentration and enthusiasm, and with the city of Duluth
as the setting for the working out of his ambitions, his varied responsi-
bilities at the present time include his position as head of a job printing
concern, leader of the Blewett Orchestra and a partner in the Duluth
Burnall Company.
Mr. Blewett was born October 15. 1876. in Ontario, Canada, and was
four years of age when he came to the United States with his parents^
Mr. and Mrs. Wellington Blewett. His father, a native of Pennsylvania,
went to Canada in young manhood, but returned to the United States
in 1880 and engaged in farming in the vicinity of Crookston, Minnesota,
where he died in 1887. He had ten children^ of whom eight are living,
Al being the seventh in order of birth.
The public schools of Crookston and Duluth furnished Al Blewett
with his early educational training, he having come to the latter city in
1889. Here he began to learn the printing business as errand boy with
Seipel, Miller &: Hunter, later becoming press operator, and subsequently
foreman for Arthur E. Brown, who conducted the Northland Print-
ery. After leaving that firm he associated himself with the Boston Music
Company for a period of four years, and then became a partner in that
concern, this association continuing until 1915. In that year he embarked
in business on his own account at No. 18 Lake avenue. North, which is
his present location. Here he does all kinds of first-class job printing and
has built up his enterprise from a modest beginning to one that is impor-
tant in its proportions.
About the year 1895 Mr. Blewett organized the Blewett Orchestra,
with three members, which grew in popularity, favor and size, he event-
ually employing as many as twenty-five persons. This organization was
employed chieflv in furnishing music for dancing, and Mr. Blewett con-
ducted the orchestra at the Duluth Boat Club for a period of twelve
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 799
years and the orchestra at the Lester Park Dancing PaviUon for about
the same number of years. Of recent years his musical work has been
necessarily neglected to some extent, as he is now a partner in the Duluth
Burnall Company, a business organized for the instaUing of fuel savers
on heating plants, which takes the greater part of his time that is not
devoted to his printing business.
Mf. Blewett, as his various activities would indicate, is enterprising,
progressive and ambitious. He is a popular member of the Masonic
Blue Lodge and Chapter, the Modern Samaritans, the Modern Wood-
men of America and the Independent Order of Foresters, and in his
poHtical belief maintains an independent stand. He is unmarried.
John E. Hanson is prominently identified with the lumber manufac-
turing industry in the Mesaba Range district as assistant treasurer of the
Virginia and Rainy Lake Company, with headquarters in the city of Vir-
ginia. He was born at Manistee, Michigan, August 21, 1882, and is a
son of Andrew and Matilda (Hanson J Hanson, both of the same family
name but not of kinship. The parents were born and reared in Norway,
but their marriage was solemnized at Manistee, Michigan, Andrew Han-
son having been a young man when he immigrated to America from his
native land and having made his way to Manistee, Michigan, in which
locality he found employment in connection with lumbering operations.
He continued his alliance with this industry not only during the period
in which it was one of maximum importance in that section of Michigan
but also after operations became greatly circumscribed with the reduc-
tion of the timber resources. He was thus actively concerned w^'th the
lumber business until his death in 1918, and his sterling character gained
to him unqualified popular esteem in the land of his adoption. His widow
maintains her home at Manistee.
John E. Hanson continued to attend the public school of his native
city until he had attained to the age of seventeen years, when he Wok
a minor clerical position in the local office of the Manistee and North-
eastern Railroad at Manistee. He continued his service until he had won
promotion to the position of assistant chief clerk, and later he was
employed about six months in the Chicago offices of the Chicago & Alton
Railroad.
In April, 1903, Mr. Hanson came to Virginia, Minnesota, and
assumed the position of bookkeeper in the office of the Virginia Lum-
ber Company, which was later succeeded, in a reorganization, by the
present Virginia and Rainy Lake Company. With this concern Mr.
Hanson has continued his alliance without interruption, and tlirough
faithful and effective service to the corporation has won advancement
to his present executive position.
Mr. Hanson served two years as a member of the police and tire
commission of Virginia, in which connection he showed his distinct civic
loyalty, but he has had no desire for political office. He is a Republican
in politics, is an active member of the Kiwanis Club of Virginia, and
takes vital interest in all that concerns the welfare and advancement of
his home city. He is a director of the State Bank of \''irginia, has
received the thirty-second degree in the Scottish Rite of Masonry, this
distinction having come to him when he was but twenty-two years of
age. and his Masonic affiliations include also his membership in the Mvstic
Shrine. He is likewise a member of the Virginia Lodge of the Bone-
\olent and Protective Order of Elks. It mav speciallv be noted that he
is a charter member of Aad Temple, .Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the
Mystic .Shrine, in the city of Duluth.
800 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
September 14, 1910, recorded the marriage of Mr. Hanson to Miss
Blanche Forbes, of Duluth, and they have four children— John E., Jr.,
Richard H., Mary and Harriett.
Alfred Staff was a lad of fifteen years when he came to Virginia,
St. Louis county, where his father had previously settled and where the
latter's family joined him in the year 1893, and within the intervening
j)eriod of more than a quarter of a century Alfred Staff has advanced to
well established place as one of the representative business men and
influential citizens of the progressive little city that was a mere mining
hamlet at the time when he here made his initial appearance.
Mr. Staff was born in Sweden on the 18th of January, 1878, and
about two years later his parents, Severin and Pauline Staff', immigrated
to the United States and first established their residence in the city of
St. Paul, Minnesota, where the father found employment at his trade,
that of a blacksmith. Later the family home was established at Ishpem-
ing, Michigan, and from that place removal was made to Palmer, that
state, where Mrs. Staff' and the children remained until the winter of
1893, when removal was made to Tower, St. Louis county, Minnesota.
There they remained until the spring of the following year, when they
joined the husband and father at Virginia, Severin Staff' having previous-
ly engaged in the work of his trade at this place and having been here
at the time when the village was practically destroyed by fire, in 1893.
He followed his trade here for many years as one of the substantial and
honored citizens of the village and city, and here his death occurred in
the year 1902, his widow being still a resident of Virginia.
Alfred Staff passed the period of his boyhood and early youth at
Ishpeming. Michigan, and Virginia, Minnesota, and his limited educa-
tional training was received in the public schools of the former city. His
boyhood memories of Virginia recall the place as a frontier village chief-
ly notable for its sixty-eight saloons, its gambling and the other unto-
ward activities of a new mining camp. Here he became a cook in the
J. C. Weimer mining camp, where was then in progress the work of
stripping the Ohio property. Later he worked as water boy for the min-
ing firm of Drake & Stratton. by which he was later advanced to the
position of night watchman, and thereafter he was for a time employed
by John H. Harding in the Adams mine at Eveleth. In 1895 he began
delivering meat from the butcher shop of Frederick Ingalls of Virginia,
and here he has been continuously identified with the meat business since
that early period in his career. Ambitious, self-reliant and progressive,
he has won advancement through his own well directed efforts and enter-
prise, and he is now one of the chief stockholders and a director of the
Virginia Meat & Packing Company, one of the important industrial con-
cerns of St. Louis county.
While working indefatigably in the winning of independence and
worthy success. Mr. Staff has been appreciative of civic duties and respon-
sibilities and has shown himself to be a loyal and progressive citizen.
His political allegiance is given to the Republican })arty. and in 1910 he
was elected alderman from the Second ward of Virginia, in which office
he served two years, with characteristic loyalty and efficiency. In 1918
he was again elected a representative of this ward, for a term of four
years, and in April. 1920, he was elected president of the City Council,
in which important office he is making his influence felt in progressive
movements and also in wise and efficient administration of all depart-
ments of the municipal government. Mr. Staff is affiliated with the Bene-
volent and Protective Order of Elks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 801
the Loyal Order of Moose, and he and his wife are active members of
the Presbyterian Church in their home city.
May 4, 1907, recorded the marriage of Mr. Staff to Miss Hilda Strol-
berg, of New York Mills, Ottertail county, Minnesota, and they have
three children — Clarence, Lyle A. and Kenneth.
Andrew Grande. The hardy Norwegians who come to these shores
in quest of a livelihood and more extended opportunities for the develop-
ment of their latent ability are seldom disappointed. It is not necessary
to go beyond Virginia for a substantial illustration of these facts, the
immediate case alluded to being that of Andrew Grande, who has been
a resident of Virginia since 1900.
Mr. Grande' was born in Norway June 19, 1858, a son of Jacob and
Rangnel (Munstatter) Grande, people in humble circumstances, who lived
and died in the old country. Andrew Grande is one of a family of six
children, five of whom are now living. His opi^ortunities for educa-
tional advantages were very limited in his boyhood, and with a view to
assisting his parents to help keep their family he started out to work at
an early age, at a time when most boys are attending school. His chief
occupations during those years were carpentering, sailing and fishing in
deep sea waters. In the early '80s considerable immigration drifted from
European countries to the United States, and Mr. Grande, seeing no bright
I)rospect of advancement in his native country, decided to venture across
the Atlantic to America, whither so many of his countrymen had pre-
viously come. He was further induced by the circumstances of having
a brother who had been here for some years, and his favorable reports
left no doubt in the mind of .\ndrew as to where his lot should be cast.
Accordingly, he set out in 1882 and in the same year arrived in Duluth,
having, however, at that time no knowledge of the English language or
of the customs of this country.
For a time after his arrival Mr. Grande worked at anv kind of honor-
able employment he could i)ick up, but after a short period resumed his
original occupation of a carpenter. He embarked in the grocery business
in Duluth, remaining in that line until the panic of 1893, when he went
under. His mainstay, however, was carpentering, and he thus continued
until 1900, when he moved to Virginia, which has been his home ever.
since. Desiring to spread out. he began to take contracts and did much
work for the Oliver Mining Company. He built many of the better resi-
dences and business blocks now to be seen in Virginia, and in fact, it is
conceded he has done more along this line than any other man. The suc-
cess which attended his efforts induced him to engage in the general build-
ing supply business, and he has four separate concerns, covering about
twenty thousand square feet of floor space. From small beginnings he
has steadily progressed and is now in possession of a substantial for-
tune. He has no regrets for leaving Norway behind, and is of the type
of adopted citizen of whom the community feels iustly proud.
In 1890 Mr Grande was united in marriage to Miss .Anna Ness, also
a native of Norway, and they liave become the parents of six children,
as follows: Mamie, Agness (who became Mrs. Frank W. Crane). T'^hn.
Gida Rebecca (deceased). Myrtle and .Arnold. John Grande served as a
sergeant in the United .States .\rmv during the World war. He was
attached to the niachinc gun 'Service and spent nine months in France,
returning home at tlic end of hostilities.
Mr. Grande is a warm supporter of the Republican party and a strone
advocate of its policies and principles, but he has not, however, been .i
seeker after public office. He is an earnest member of the Xorwegiati
802 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Lutheran Church, to the upkeep of which he is a hberal subscriber. He
is affihated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and holds
membership in various clubs existing for civic and social development
along all legitimate lines.
Wtlliam Morrison Burgess needs no introduction to the people of
Duluth and vicinity, where he has lived for nearly forty years, and
for many years has been engaged in business, his success being the
result of rightly applied principles, which never fail in their ultimate
effect when coupled with integrity, uprightness and a genial disposi-
tion. This has been literally true in his case, judging from the high
standing he has maintained among his fellow citizens, whose un-
divided esteem he has justly won and retained, for his life has been
of untiring industry and honorable dealings with his fellow men.
William INIorrison Burgess is a native of Canada and is the eldest
of the two children born to his parents. His father, George Burgess,
was born and reared in New York state, moved to Canada, where his
marriage occurred, and finally located in Michigan, where he lived for
forty years, following the vocation of blacksmithing. Eventually
he came to Duluth and here spent his last days. William M. Burgess
received his educational training in the public schools of Michigan,
graduating from the high school at Ionia. He then was put to learn
the blacksmith trade, but after the expiration of his apprenticeship
period, three years, he did no further work at that vocation. During
the following five years he engaged in teaching school during the
winter months and in summers was connected with the lumber busi-
ness. In 1883 Mr. Burgess came to Duluth and accepted the position
of superintendent of the Duluth Electric Light and Power Company,
a position which he held for eleven years. In 1894 he and a brother
engaged in the electrical business, under the firm name of the Burgess
Electric Company, in which enterprise they have met with a very
gratifying degree of success. They first started their business in a
small way at No. 109 West Michigan street, but increase in business
compelled them to seek larger quarters and they moved to No. 24
Third avenue, West, where they were located about five years. About
1908 they moved to their present location. No. 310 West First street.
They carry a full line of electric supplies of all kinds, are contract
manufacturers of electric fixtures, switch boards, panels and panel
boxes and also do a wholesale business in electric supplies. In addi-
tion to his interest in the Burgess Electric Company Mr. Burgess
is interested in. mining, especially on the Cuyuna Range, being sec-
retary and treasurer of the Chester Harold Mining Company, which
was organized about eleven years ago. He is also interested in Kan-
sas oil properties.
Politically Mr. Burgess gives his support to the Republican party, in
which he has been reasonably active. He served for three years as a
member of the Board of Fire Commissioners, and also served as a mem-
ber of the Federal Highway Council. He is a member of the Duluth
Commercial Club, a charter member of the Duluth Boat Club and a mem-
ber of the Elks Club. His religious faith is that of the Unitarian Church,
which he attends.
On May 6, 1889, Mr. Burgess was married to Elizabeth Rackle, of
Cleveland. Ohio, the daughter of George and Mary Rackle, who were
born in Germany and in their early youth came to this country, lived in
Columbus. Ohio, for four or five years, and then located in Cleveland,
Ohio. George Rackle, who is now deceased, was a sculptor of consid-
v}^ A3>aWvv^ \^\A)-V/yj^4_^^^ VV^AA.'h
y^
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 803
erable note and held a high position in art circles. Mrs. Burgess is a
lady of culture and attractive qualities, and is an active member of a
number of societies in Duluth.
Two sons have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Burgess, George Harold
and William Carlyle. both of whom graduated from the high school
in Duluth. Harold then went to the Case School of Applied Science,
graduating in the Electrical Engineering Department and is now
associated with his father in the Burgess Electrical Company. He
married Eve McDonough, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and one
daughter has been born to them, Elizabeth Mary. George Harold
Burgess during the World war was connected with the government
in the naval department.
William Carlyle. after graduating from the Duluth High School,
attended the Case School of Applied Science, taking up mechanical
engineering, and then going to Wisconsin University at Madison,
where his studies were interrupted by the great war. He enlisted in
the navy, entering the Great Lakes Naval Station, was later sent to
Pelham Bay, thence to Columbia College to complete his training,
and after the signing of the armistice returned to W^isconsin Uni-
versity, graduating therefrom in June, 1920. He always took great
interest in athletics, winning a gold medal in a four-oared crew in
Northwest Regatta, also in the National Regatta the same four-oared
crew won a gold medal at Springfield, Massachusetts. He is now in
training with the senior eight-oared crew for the Regatta of 192L
While attending Wisconsin University the eight-oared crew of which
he was a member also carried off the honors.
William Morrison Burgess has attained to his present position
solely by virtue of his own character and efforts, the qualities of keen
discrimination, sound judgment and executive ability entering very
largely into his make-up and being contributing elements to the mate-
rial success which has come to him. He is essentially public spirited
and gives his earnest support to all movements or enterprises for the
advancement of the public welfare, and he enjoys a well-deserved
popularity throughout the communit}- in which he lives.
Edward J. Larsen, who is engaged in the practice of his profession
in the city of Virginia, as one of the representative members of the
bar of St. Louis county, was born on a farm in Kandiyohi county,
Minnesota, on the 30th of October, 1877. a date that indicates that he
is a scion of one of the pioneer families of that section of the state.
His jiarents, Edward C. and Johanna (Christiansen) Larsen, were
born and reared in Norway. Realizing in his young manhood the
success limitations of his native land. Edward C. Larsen manifested
alike his ambition and self-reliance by severing the home ties and
setting forth for .'\merica. His equipment comprised largely his ster-
ling attributes of character, his industry, his resolute purpose and his
willingness to face obstacles and adverse conditions if such a course
be rc(|uired in his efforts to win inde]^endcnce and prosperity. In
the early '60s this strong and gallant young man of the fair Xorse-
land made his wav to Liverpool, England, where lie embarked on the
sailing vessel that thirteen weeks later landed him in the port of the
city of Quebec, Canada. Erom that place he made his way to Wis-
consin, where he joined an older brother who had come to this country
several years j^reviously. Within a year tlicreafter he came to Min-
nesota and initiated his experience as a pioneer in Kandiyohi county.
There he took up 160 acres of government land, and his tinancial
804 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
resources were so limited that in furthering the reclamation and
development of his farm he had recourse to work at his trade, that of
blacksmith, besides which he found employment in connection with
early railroad construction in Minnesota and also worked in lumber
camps. With the passing years he developed one of the valuable
farm properties of Kandiyohi county, and in his achievement along
this important line of industrial enterprise, as well as through his
loyal and appreciative citizenship, he did well his part as an empire
builder in the great Northwest. In view of the insistent clamor con-
cerning the high cost of living in the present post-war period, it is
interesting to record that in the earl}- days of his residence in Minne-
sota Mr. Larsen was compelled to pay $18.00 a barrel, in gold, for
flour, besides which he transported salt to his farm by carrying the
same on his back over an old Indian trail from St. Cloud — fully forty-
two miles distant. He and his noble wife lived up to the full tension
of hardships and trials incidental to the pioneer era and their names
merit a place on the roll of the sterling pioneers whose earnest and
unostentatious efiforts aided in the development of Minnesota along
both civic and industrial lines. Their marriage was solemnized at
St. Cloud, this state, and they passed the closing years of their lives
on the fine old homestead farm in Kandiyohi county, where Mrs.
Larsen died in 1897 and where his death occurred in 1906, when he
was venerable in years. Both were devout communicants of the
Lutheran Church, and their abiding Christian faith guided and gov-
erned their lives, both having held the unqualified esteem of all who
knew them. They became the parents of eight sons and four daugh-
ters, and of the number six are living, the subject of this review
having been the fifth in order of birth.
Edward John Larsen passed the period of his childhood and
early youth upon the old homestead farm which was the place of his
birth, and there he gained enduring appreciation of the dignity and
value of honest toil and endeavor. He profited by the advantages of
the public schools of his native county, and as a youth was a suc-
cessful teacher in the district schools. By this medium he acquired
the funds that enabled him to continue his studies first in the ]\Iinne-
sota State Normal School at St. Cloud and later in ^linneapolis Acad-
emy. In consonance with well formulated plans he then entered the
law department of the University of Minnesota, and in this institution
he was graduated as a member of the class of 1913. He largely
defrayed his expenses at the university b}' clerking in a law office in
the city of Minneapolis. His reception of the degree of Bachelor of
Laws was practically coincident with his admission to the bar of his
native state, and in 1914 he opened an office at X'^irginia. where he
served his professional novitiate and where he has since continued in
the successful general practice of law. He is serving at the time of
this writing as village attorney of Mountain Iron. He was one of the
organizers of the Farmers and Merchants State Bank of \*irginia. of
which he is a director. The political allegiance of ]\Ir. Larsen is given
as independent, and he and his wife are communicants of the Lutheran
Church in their home city.
In January. 1914, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Larsen to
Miss Emilie Eggen. and they have two daughters— Gunhild and
Elizabeth.
Frank M. Mielke is an expert electrician, being president and ac-
tive head of the Mielke Electrical Works in Duluth, a business
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 805
that performs a large and important service in the handHng, preparing
and remodeling of electrical equipment.
Mr. Mielke was born in Chicago, April 6, 1880. His father, Frank
Mielke,- was born in Germany, but has lived in America for sixty
years. The greater j^art of his active career was spent as a bookkeeper
with a large mercantile house at Chicago.
The oldest of six children, Frank M. Mielke attended the public
schools of his native city and at the age of eighteen began a practical
apprenticeship, learning every phase of the electrical industry, includ-
ing the manufacture of motors and dynamos and the installation of
electrical equipment. For twelve years he lived in Chicago, then for
33/2 years was in Appleton, Wisconsin, and in 1906 came to Duluth
and was in the service of the Burgess Electrical Company until he
went into business for himself. In 1912 he organized Mielke Elec-
trical Works, which in 1920 was incorporated. They have well-
equipped offices and shops at 922-924 East Superior street, and have
all the facilities for rebuilding and repairing of electric motors and
dynamos and other electrical machinery. They do a large business
on all the iron ranges and also in North and South Dakota and Upper
Michigan. The company maintains a working force of twelve, includ-
ing four expert machinists. Mr. Mielke is president of the company,
Mrs. Mielke is vice president, and H. H. Campbell is secretary and
treasurer.
In 1908 Mr. Mielke married Miss Ella Gearhart. They have one
son. Warren, born January 21, 1909.
James S. Matteson, certified public accountant of Duluth, has been
identified for some years with the rapidly changing conditions of
large industries, marked by heavy responsibilities and grave issues.
In discharging the one and meeting the other, his long and special-
ized training has stood him in good stead, and at the present time
he maintains intimate relations with a number of leading business
houses of the Head of the Lakes.
Mr. Matteson was born January 3, 1869, at DeKalb, Illinois, a son
of Dr. James Matteson, a native of Rhode Island. The mother of
Mr. Matteson was born in New York, and she and her husband had
five children, of whom two are living. The youngest of his parents'
children, James S. Matteson received his early education in the public
schools of Illinois and New York, and on coming to Superior and
Duluth in 1891. secured em])loymcnt in the office of the Duluth Gas
and Water Company. In 1897, when the city took over this public
utility, he was retained as assistant secretary of the board of water
and light commissioners. C. A. Duncan being president, and C. I'".
Leland vice ])resident. (iiles Gilbert being the other member of that
board. Mr. Matteson continued his connection with that body until
the fall of 1909. when he embarked in business as a public accountant,
being later certified in Minnesota and Wisconsin, with offices at No.
701 Ahvorth P.uilding. He is a member of the American Institute of
Accountants and has a large and constantly growing list of clients,
representing some of the chief business interests oi Duluth.
Mr. Matteson is prominent in Masonry, in which he has attained
the thirtv-second degree, and is a life memln'r Aud past master of
Palestine Lodge No. 7*). and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He
belongs also the Kitchi (uamini. Commercial, and Duluth Rotary
clubs, and is widcK known and \ery poi)ular in business and social
circles of the citv. lie was inarricfl No\'ember 12. 1888. at .\kron.
806 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
New York, to Miss Nellie L. Wilkinson, and to this union there have
been born two children : A married daughter, Maude E. Wallace, and
a son, Harold J., who attended Macalester College and the University
of Wisconsin, graduating from the latter institution in the class of
1915, and with the degree of B. A.
Camille Poirier, who died at his home in the city of Duluth on the
17th of October, 1919, was one of the pioneers and representative
business men of that city and left upon the community the gracious
impress of a gentle, gracious and benignant personality. He was a
resident of Duluth for nearly half a century, and contributed his
quota to its civic and material development and progress, the while
his unqualified popularity was based upon his sterling character and
his kindliness and courtesy in all of the relations of life. Well may
this history perpetuate the generous tribute and estimate which
appeared as an editorial in the Duluth News-Tribune under date of
October 18, 1919:
"Always kindly, scrupulously honest in his dealings and thought,
never unjust, never unfair, with a heart that denied itself to no one
and to no right cause, Camille Poirier has closed a life lived in an
Arcadia of his own making. To know him was to respect and admire
him and almost to envy the serene peacefulness that rose above
physical ailment or outward misfortune. He was, too, a man of force
of character, of decided opinions and independence, and, like so many
of his blood, he had a passionate love of the out-of-doors, of the house
of nature, and all the people who live in it. He was one of Duluth's
genuine pioneers. He had lived here for forty-nine years. In the
earlier days he had much to do in public alTairs — and always on the
side of what was right and fair and progressive. He was the inventor
of a number of conveniences, and here his love of the woods showed,
as they were all for the woodman, the traveler and the camper. As
a business man, as a friend, as a citizen, as one who always helped,
he has left everything he touched and everyone he met the better and
happier. Such a man can hardly be said to have died."
Camille Poirier, a scion of the fine old French stock that early
settled in Eastern Canada, was born near the city of Montreal in 1837,
a son of Joseph and Martha Poirier. In his youth he passed much
time in the wilds of Canada and the northwestern part of the United
States, and in this connection had made numerous trips to Duluth
prior to establishing his permanent home there in 1870. The present
vigorous and beautiful city was but a village when he became num-
bered among its pioneer business men, and here he was for many
years engaged in the boot and shoe business, in which he develoj:)ed a
large and substantial enterprise and at one time gave employment to
many men. He also gave attention to the real estate business and to
contract logging enterprise, and in later years was engaged in the
tent and awning business. He was one of the most liberal and pro-
gressive business men of Duluth, held the unqualified confidence and
esteem of the communitv in which he so lone: lived and so worthilv
wrought, and his influence was wide and beneficent. He was the
inventor of the Poirier Pack Sacks, now in general use, and invented
also several other valuable devices for the use of travelers, campers
and others who were, like himself, devotees of sports afield and afloat.
Mr. Poirier was a staunch supporter of the cause of the Republican
party, and in addition to divers other services in behalf of the com-
munitv he was for several terms a member of the Board of Countv
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 807
Commissioners of St. Louis county. He and his wife, who is yet
Hving, were earnest and consistent communicants of the Catholic
Church, and for many years he was president of the St. John the
Baptist Society in the city of Duluth.
As a young man Air. Poirier wedded Miss Margaret Lytle, and
they became the parents of eight children, all of whom are living.
Otto A. Poirier is not only a native son of St. Louis county and a
representative of one of the honored pioneer families of this section
of the state of Minnesota, but he has also gained secure vantage
ground as one of the representative members of the bar of his native
county and is established in successful general practice in the thriving
city of Virginia, where also he is serving as United States commis-
sioner and where he is known and honored as a loyal, progressive and
public-spirited citizen.
]Mr. Poirier was born in the city of Duluth. Minnesota, on the 12th
of December, 1879, and is a son of the late Camille Poirier, to whom
a memorial tribute is dedicated on other pages of this work, so that
further review of the family history is not here demanded. In the
public and parochial schools of his native city Mr. Poirier continued
his studies until his graduation in the high school as a member of the
class of 1898. That year marked the inception of the Spanish-Ameri-
can war, and he forthwith manifested his youthful patriotism by enlist-
ing in Company L, Fifteenth Minnesota \'olunteer Infantry, with
which he continued in service one year, the command having not,
however, been called to the stage of active conflict. Soon after receiv-
ing his honorable discharge from the army. Mr. Poirier entered the
law department of the University of Minnesota, and in this institution
was graduated as a member of the class of 1902. His reception of
the degree of Bachelor of Laws was practically concomitant with his
admission to the bar of his native state, and for the first year after
his graduation he was in the law office of Frank \V. Sullivan, a repre-
sentative member of the bar of the city of Duluth. He then estab-
lished himself in the independent practice of his profession at Vir-
ginia, where the intervening years have been marked by his associ-
ation with important cases in the courts of this section of the state
and by his gaining high standing as a vigorous and resourceful trial
lawyer and discriminating counsellor. He served two terms as city
attorney, and for two terms was assistant attorney of St. Louis
county, in each of which positions he added materially to his pro-
fessional prestige. He has served since 1904 as United States com-
missioner for the district of Minnesota.
During the nation's participation in the World war. Mr. Poirier
was a member of the Loyal Advisory Board of St. Louis CDunty,
which organization gave effective service in connection with registra-
tion of young men for military service, besides which he provided
legal aid in connection with local war activities. He was also chair-
man of the War Savings Stamp committee for the northern half of
St. L(niis county. The political allegiance of Mr. Poirier is given to
the Republican party, and he is an active member of the local Kiwanis
Club and the \'irginia Curling Club.
On the 20th of April. I'HO. was solenuii/.ed the marriage of Mr.
Poirier to Miss Leslie Mitchell, daughter of William B. Mitchell, of
St. Cloud. Minnesota, her father having achieved distinction as one
of the representative newspaper editors and jniblishcrs of this state
and having also been the author of a two-volume history of Stearns
808 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
county, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Poirier have three children —
William C, Eleanor and Arthur.
Otto Gafvert. A resident of Duluth thirty-five years, Otto Gafvert
has been one of the earnest and hard-working citizens of the com-
munity, known for ability and adequate performance of his duties in
all relations and for a number of years has been employed in posi-
tions of trust and responsibility in state, county and national
government.
Mr. Gafvert was born in Sweden, November 30. 1865, and was
reared and educated in his native land. He came to America alone in
1886 and for a few months was employed in railroad shops. He
arrived at Duluth in the spring of 1887, and his practical abilities in
mechanical lines made him a useful emplo3'e of several of the leading
industries of the city. For two years he was with the Clyde Iron
Works, another two years with the Iron Works in West Duluth and
then for six years was in the machinery department of the Duluth
Dredging & Dock Company.
His first public service was an appointment by Governor Sant
as dairy and food inspector. He held this post for three years, fol-
lowing which he became identified with the Duluth office of the
Internal Revenue Department as division deputy. Altogether he
was in the internal revenue office ten years. The Head of the Lakes
Farm Land Company then secured his services in handling its real
estate and lands until he was selected by the auditor of St. Louis
county to perform the duties of assistant purchasing agent, but
recently became connected with the internal revenue office in Duluth.
Mr. Gafvert is affiliated with Euclid Lodge No. 189. A. F. and
A. M., and is also a member of the Elks and Swedish Order of V^asa,
and is a Republican in politics. December 8, 1891, he married Miss
Rede Anderson, whose father, Gus Anderson, was a native of Sweden.
Charles D. Oreckovsky, who was reared and educated in Duluth,
has for the past ten years made a notable record in life insurance
circles. His abilities have been employed with very gratifying results
in behalf of the Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Company of St.
Paul as manager of its territory in Northeastern Minnesota.
Mr. Oreckovsky was born at Odessa in Southern Russia, Novem-
ber 12, 1882. He crossed the ocean with his mother, sisters and
brothers and arrived at Duluth May 29, 1889. His father. Israel
Oreckovsky, had preceded the rest of the family and came to Duluth,
May 18, 1887. A tailor by trade, he has for over thirty years been
a clothing merchant and tailor and is still living at the age of sixty-
five. He has interested himself in good government in Duluth. and
has also taken an active part in the Synagogue. Of eight children
born to the parents seven are still living, Charles D. being the fourth
in age.
Seven years of age when brought to Duluth, Charles D. Oreckovsky
had his first American business training soon after he arrived in sell-
ing papers and shining shoes. He acquired his education in the
primary grades at Duluth, and after leaving school was employed
for about a decade, from 1900 to 1911. by Dr. Horace S. Davis. Mr.
Oreckovsky entered the life insurance field in 1911 as sub-agent with
the Equitable Life of New York. He showed the abilities of a real
insurance man, and in a short time was promoted to associate general
agent and in 1916 accepted the difficult and not altogether promising
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 809
assignment of manager for the Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance
Company. Up to that time this company had never been able to gain
a foothold in Northeastern Minnesota, but with Mr. Oreckovsky as
manager the company now has approximately $2,000,000 on its books
to represent this section of the state. Mr. Oreckovsky is a member
and for one year was president of the Duluth Life Underwriters
Association.
He has been very prominent in the Independent Order of B'Nai
B'Rith, becoming a charter member when the local lodge was organ-
ized in 1904. He has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge at annual
conventions consecutively since 1908 and on the general committee
of the order since 1915. He has held every office in the local lodge
and has instituted lodges at Superior, Wisconsin, Hibbing and Vir-
ginia, Minnesota. Mr. Oreckovsky is also affiliated with the Order
of Elks and is a member of the Duluth Commercial and Curling clubs,
while in politics he votes as a Repul^lican. June 29. 1909, he married
Miss Elizabeth Helperin. She came wath her parents from Russia
in 1890. They have two daughters, Rosalie, born September 6, 1915,
and Jvuth Jeane, born November 11, 1920.
Martin M. Meldahl. It is by no means an easy task to describe
within the limits of this review^ a man who has led an active life and
by his own exertions reached a position of honor and trust in the
line of work with which his interests are allied. But biography finds
justification, nevertheless, in tracing and recording the chief events
of such a life, as the public claims a certain property interest in the
career of every individual and the time invariably arrives when it
becomes advisable to give the right publicity. It is then with a
certain degree of satisfaction that the writer essays the task of touch-
ing briefly upon such a record as has been that of Martin M. Meldahl,
assistant postmaster of Duluth, who has long ranked with the repre-
sentative citizens of his community.
Martin M. Meldahl was born December 24, 1878, at Lyle, Minne-
sota, and is the third in order of birth of the five children who blessed
the union of Andrew J. and Oline (Danielson) Meldahl. The father
was a native of Norway, where he was reared and educated. He came
to the United States in July, 1870. and located at once in Duluth,
entering the employ of Rarlivads & Company, but for a number of years
has been engaged in contracting and building, in which he has been
successful, and is still active, at the age of sixty-seven years.
Martin M. Meldahl received his educational training in the public
schools of Duluth, graduating from the high school in 1898, after
which he took ;i commercial course in the Duluth Business University.
Soon after completing his studies he was api)ointed a clerk in the
West Duluth postoffice. where he served until May 10. 1915. when,
because of his efficient and faithful serxnce. he was promoted to the
position of superintendent of finance at the Dulutli postoffice. On
December 15, I'^IS, lii.s splendid service was still further recognized
l)y his appointment as assistant ])ostmaster, which position he is still
filling. ])uring all the years he has been connected with tlie post-
office department here he has labored always with the idea of giving
the best possible ser\'ice to the patrons of the office, and this has been
tile keynote to his success. During the World war Mr. Meldahl in
addition to his regular duties took an active part in the sales of War
Sa\'ings Stamps at tin- Duluth postoffice. and in that connection had
oversight of the sales at all the jiostoffices in l^t. Louis countv.
810 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Politically Mr. Meldahl is a Republican, though he is too busy a
man to give a great deal of attention to party matters. Fraternally
he is a member of Euclid Lodge No. 198, Free and Accepted Masons,
which he served as master in 1913, of Duluth Chapter No. 79, Royal
Arch Masons, and of the Modern Woodmen of America. His religious
faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which he gives
generous support.
On July 7, 1909, Mr. Meldahl was married to Louise D. Remfry,
the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Remfry, natives of England.
She w^as educated in the Duluth public schools, being a graduate of
the high school. Mr. and Mrs. Meldahl are the parents of three chil-
dren, Leila R., Martin M. and Mary Louise. Personally Mr. Meldahl
is a man of pleasing presence, genial disposition and very approach-
able. He has at all times stood ready to give his support to all move-
ments for the advancement of the best interests of his community,
and is held in the highest esteem by all who know him.
In closing this brief sketch it will be of undoubted interest to give
some pertinent facts concerning the activities of the Duluth postoffice.
In the money order division from 50 to 100 C. O. D. remittances are
handled daily. An average of about 300 orders are issued daily and
500 paid, involving between $4,000 and $5,000 daily. The Duluth post-
office is also the depository for money order postoffices in Minnesota
and the northern part of Wisconsin, the cash daily handled on this
account amounting to about $50,000. Duluth is the, central account-
ing office for the eighty postofifices in St. Louis county, and from
here these offices are supplied wath stamps and other supplies. The
annual sales here during the past five years have ranged between
$400,000 and $650,000. The war savings and postal savings sections
are carefully managed, three stamp clerks being constantly employed.
The registry, insurance and C. O. D. business at this office has
increased over sixty per cent in the last two years. The parcel post
business is now increasing at a remarkable rate — in fact, this depart-
ment of the office is constantly overcrowded. One Hundred and sev-
enty-five men are employed in all departments of the office.
John R. Krogdahl has served continuously since 1907 as city
assessor of Virginia, and he has secure status as one of the leading
exponents of the real estate and insurance business in this city, where
his offices are maintained in the First National Bank Building.
Mr. Krogdahl was born at Ishpeming, Michigan, on the 29th of
April, 1877. His father, Amund A. Krogdahl, was born and reared
in Norway and was a young man when he came to the United States
and established his residence in the mining district of Northern Michi-
gan. He was employed in mines at Ishpeming and Negaunee, that
state, for many years, and thereafter developed a prosperous mercan-
tile business in the former city. There his death occurred in the year
1903, and he is survived by his wndow', whose maiden name w^as Anna
Johansdatter. They became the parents of eight children, of whom
three sons and four daughters are living.
The public schools of Ishpeming, Michigan, afforded to John R.
Krogdahl his early education, iDut in the meanwhile he gained practical
experience, as he was but tw^elve years old w^hen he assumed the
dignified position of office boy in the service of A. B. Eldredge. who
is now the general attorney for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad.
Later Mr. Krogdahl worked for Horace J. Stevens, a merchant at
Ishpeming, and still later he held the position of bookkeper in the
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 811
mercantile establishment of S. Johnson & Company of that city.
Within the first term of Grover Cleveland as president of the United
States Mr. Krogdahl was appointed clerk in the registered-mail de-
partment of the Ishpeming postoffice. and in 1893 he accompanied
O. B. Warren to Hibbing, Minnesota, where he gave diversified
service as bookkeeper, timekeeper, manager of a general store and as
a general utility man in connection with the activities at the Penob-
scot Mine. About a year later he came with Mr. Warren to Virginia,
and in this locality he continued his association with mining activities
about two years. Thereafter he was identified with construction
work on the Canadian Northern Railroad about two years, and after
his retirement from this service he conducted a general employment
office at Virginia for several years, this enterprise finally developing
into his present substantial real estate and insurance business.
Mr. Krogdahl is a liberal and progressive citizen and has taken
deep interest in the development and progress of his home city. In
the Masonic fraternity he has received the thirty-second degree of
the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite and is affiliated also with the
Mystic Shrine.
October 9, 1905, recorded the marriage of Mr. Krogdahl to Miss
Katharine Meehan, of Virginia, she having been born at Iron River,
Michigan. They have two daughters — June and Marian.
Andrew Dahl left a definite and benignant impress upon the
communal history of the now vital little city of Virginia, and was
here one of the honored and influential men of St. Louis county at
the time of his death in 1911, at the age of fifty-six years, his widow
being still a resident of Virginia. Mr. Dahl long followed the sturdy
trade of blacksmith, as a skilled workman, and his character had a
robustness and nobility that were on a parity with the staunch voca-
tion which he followed during much of his active career.
Mr. Dahl, who was one of the pioneer settlers of Virginia, Minne-
sota, was born and reared in Norway, and there he not only served a
thorough apprenticeship to the trade of blacksmith but he also emu-
lated his Norse ancestors by gaining familiarity with seafaring life,
in which connection he made man\- voyages and visited many of
the leading ports of the maritime world. In his native land he mar-
ried Miss Ragnhild Swenson, and about the year 1882, in company
with his wife and their two children, both daughters, and also with
the father and three sisters of Mrs. Dahl, he immigrated to the
United States, secure in his conviction that here he would find better
opportunities for the winning of independence and prosperity through
personal efifort. He made his way directly to Menomonie, Wisconsin,
and there he found employment at his trade. About two years later
he removed with his family to Houghton, Wisconsin, and after
having there followed his- trade about three years he transferred the
family home to Duluth, ^Minnesota. Thence, in the spring of 1892,
he removed with his family to \'irginia, thus becoming one of the
early settlers of the city, which was at that time a small and obscure
mining village. Here he continued actively in the work of his trade
until about 1905. and for many years he conducted the \^irginia Hotel,
which was maintained at high standard under the management of
himself and his wife. He had the distinction of serving as the first
street commissioner of Virginia, and in this position he had the su-
pervision of the laying out and grading of Chestnut street, the main
thoroughfare of the city, besides doing similar development work on
other streets.
812 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
A man of inviolable integrity and deep religious convictions, he
was a devout communicant of the Lutheran Church, as is also his
widow, and in all of the relations of life he commanded the unqualified
respect of his fellow men. Of his thirteen children ten are living, and
they are well upholding the, honors of the family name.
Sigvert S. Dahl, the third child and oldest son, was born at Me-
nomonie, Wisconsin, December 21, 1886, — the first of the children to
be born in the United States. He was a boy of about five years at
the time of the family removal to Virginia, and here he continued his
studies in the jniblic schools until his graduation in the high school
as a member of the class of 1906. In the meanwhile he had formu-
lated definite plans for his future career, and in consonance therewith
he entered the law department of the University of Minnesota, in
which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1910. His re-
ception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws was virtually coincident
with his admission to the Minnesota bar, and since June, 1910, he
has been engaged in the practice of his profession at Virginia, with
secure status as one of the representative members of the bar of St.
Louis county. He served from 1916 to 1918, inclusive, as city attor-
ney, but in contradistinction to office-holding he has otherwise pre-
ferred to give his entire attention to his private law business, which
is now one of broad scope and of representative order. He is a
throughgoing advocate of the principles of the Republican party,
maintains affiliation with the Benevolent and Protective Order of
Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias,
the Modern Woodmen of America, the Sons of Norw^ay, Loyal Order
of Moose, and various other social organizations, and is one of the
loyal and public-spirited citizens of V^irginia.
August 5, 1913, recorded the marriage of I\Ir. Dahl to Miss
Margaret E. Kaus. of Red Lake Falls, Minnesota, and they have
three children — I^avid, Deborah and Mary.
Peter J. Van Vick in early life was a cooper, later a cigar maker,
then a manufacturer of cigar boxes, and through progressive stages
has gradually extended and broadened his business and is now presi-
dent of the Duluth Paper Box Company, manufacturing essential
products in great demand and distributed throughout Duluth and
the Northwestern territory.
Mr. Van Vick was born in Norwav March 23, 1877. His parents,
John and Cornelia Van Vick, brought their family to America in
1886, first settled in Minneapolis and later moved to Duluth. His
father was a cooper by trade and followed that line in Minneapolis
and also in Duluth initil his death in 1896.
Peter J. \'an Vick is the oldest of a famil}- of two sons and two
daughters, three of whom are still living. He was nine years of age
when brought to America and finished his education in the public
schools of Minneai)olis. As a boy he worked with his father at the
cooper business, and followed that trade for three years, until prac-
tically mastering it. He then determined to find another vocation,
and at Duluth established a cigar factory in the Manhattan Building
and made some popular brands of cigars that enjoyed a steady demand.
In 1896 he turned his attention to another line, though kindred to
cigar making, the manufacture of cigar boxes. This business was
known as the Minnesota Cigar Box Company, and was continued by
Mr. Van Vick for sixteen years, with a shop at 118 West Michigan
street.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 813
Finally Mr. Van Vick changed his business from the manufacture
of containers for one line of articles to paper boxes and cartons
fal)ricated to suit every demand and necessity of such standard con-
tainers. The Duluth Paper Box Company has complete equipment
for the manufacture of paper and cardboard and fiber containers,
including fancy candy boxes. It is an important Duluth industry and
located at 122 West Second street. Mr. Van Vick is a popular busi-
ness man, is a member of the Masonic Order, also of the Order of
Elks, the Rotary Club, and of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. He was
married to EHzabeth Thennis, of Duluth, and their three children, all
living, are Russell T., Cornelia R., and Roger F. Mrs. Van Vick
passed away in 1914.
Carl R. Johnson, who under the title of the Johnson Supply
Company, and as its president, has developed a remarkably large and
prosperous business in the handling of furniture, household goods
and talking-machines at Virginia, and over the Range, is still a
young man but has the distinction of being the pioneer in the talking-
machine business in Minnesota.
Mr. Johnson was born in Sweden on the 23d of May, 1879, and
is a son of John L. and Maria (Anderson) Johnson, of whose five
children all but one are living. The father was engaged in the man-
ufacturing of flour in his native land. Carl R. Johnson acquired his
early education in the schools of his native land, and he was a youth
of seventeen years when he determined to join an older brother,
Anton E., who had previously come to the United States. Accord-
ingly, in April, 1896, Mr. Johnson severed home ties, and sailed f^-r
America. After landing in the port of New York city he forthwith
continued his journey to Biwabik, St. Louis county, ^Minnesota,
where he joined his brother, who was there engaged in the mercan-
tile business. At the time of his arrival ^Ir. Johnson could not speak
a word of the English language, and his initial knowledge of English
was gained during a service of seven months as a section hand on
the Duluth, Missabe 8i Northern Railroad, in which connection he re-
ceived a compensation; of one dollar and five cents a day. The self-
reliance and ambitious purpose that thus marked his early period of
residence in the land of his adoption have continued dominating
characteristics and have been important forces in his advancement
to the goal of substantial and worthy success. In the autumn of
1896 Mr. Johnson became a student in the public schools of Virginia,
which was at that time a mere mining village, and in the three months
of study here he greatly fortified himself in the knowledge of English,
which he began to speak with comparative fluency. In the mean-
whfle his brother had removed to Tower, this county, and after
leaving school he clerked in his brother's store and about a year
later clerked a few months in a store at Mountain Iron. Still later he
became a traveling salesman in the selling of furniture and household
goods. He gained diversified and valuable experience in this con-
nection, and in the summer of 18*^>8 formed a partnershij) with Hilmer
A. Nelson, now general manager (jf the Catley's stores and who had
been in the emi)loy of the same house, and engaged in tlie furniture
and house-furnishing business in the city of Duluth. The firm built
up a prosperous business, in connection with which it I'stahli^hed branch
stores at I'.veleth and Flibbing. .Vfter the dissoUuion of the partnership
in 1905 Mr. Johnson as.sumed control of the Hil)l)ing and Eveleth stores.
the business of which he concentrated at I'Aelcth by closing the store at
Vol. 11—20
814 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
Hibbing. In 1909 he centralized his business at Virginia, where he has
since maintained his residence and headquarters and where he has
achieved a success that is on a parity with his energy and progressive-
ness and also with his unqualified personal popularity. From a news-
paper article published in 1915 have been taken the following interesting
statements :
"In a canvass of the state talking-machine authorities have discovered
that the Johnson Supply Company of Virginia is the oldest talking-ma-
chine firm in Minnesota. Nineteen years ago Carl R. Johnson, present
manager of the company, and his former associate, H. A. Nelson, of
Duluth, began selling talking-machines, and the company has continuously
sold talking-machines ever since. Another remarkable incident is that
hey have during all this time handled the Columbia line exclusively. Mr,
Johnson can undoubtedly relate many experiences from the early history
of the talking-machine business. He has seen it grow from almost noth-
ing to one of the largest musical industries in the country."
Imbued to the fullest extent with the true American spirit, Mr. John-
son has been a naturaHzed citizen since June 10, 1902 — or since he was
twenty-three years of age. In that year also his parents came to this coun-
try, but both are now deceased. While a resident of Eveleth Mr. John-
son served as a member of the city Board of Aldermen, and at Virginia
he is now serving efficiently as chairman of the Board of Education,
besides which he is a director on the Board of Trustees of the Virginia
Public Library and is serving as secretary of this board. He is a charter
member of the local Kiwanis Club, is a Republican in politics, and he is
a communicant and officer of the Swedish Lutheran Church. During the
nation's participation in the World war Mr. Johnson took an active part
in support of the various Governmental loans and other Governmental
agencies, and was an officer of the Virginia Motor Corps.
On the 9th of May, 1909, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Johnson
to Miss Gertrude B. Baker, of Kiron, Iowa, and they became the parents
of three children — William Norris, Norman and Robert Stanley. Mrs.
Johnson passed to the life eternal on the 16th of June, 1920, secure in the
affectionate regard of all who had come within the sphere of her gracious
influence, and of the three sons the second, Norman, is likewise deceased.
Mark Elliott. The varied phases of the industrial life of Mark El-
liott, a prominent and successful citizen of Virginia, are deserving of
more than passing notice, inasmuch as he has created for himself a more
than ordinarily active position in this part of the state of Minnesota,
being general superintendent of the Interstate Iron Company at Virginia.
Mr. Elliott was born at Galena, Illinois, April 1, 1865, a son of Thomas
and Dorothy (Grindy) Elliott, native of England. While yet a lad
Thomas Elliott came to the United States, was married in this country,
and for several years followed farming as a means of livelihood. In
the fall of 1873 he and his family moved to Michigan, and he became
engaged at mining in Negaunee, working for the Iron Clififs Company,
and in that place he spent the remainder of his life.
Mark Elliott is the second of five sons born to his parents, but two of
whom are now living, and his early years were passed on his father s
farm, where he assisted in agricultural operations. On his parents tak-
ing up residence at Negaunee, Michigan, he attended the public schools
until he was about fifteen years old, at this time starting out for him-
self and working as a telegraph messenger for the Western Union Tele-
graph Company. Later he learned telegraphy, and after he had become
proficient along that line of activity he was located for a time at Cascade
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 815
Junction. At the termination of that engagement Mr. EUiott attended
Lake Forest Academy of Chicago, remaining in that institution for one
year, at the end of that period taking over the duties of telegraph opera-
tor and ticket agent at Negaunee, Michigan, for the Marquette, Houghton
and Ontonagon Railroad Company.
The next three years were spent by Mr. Elliott in the law and insur-
ance office of J. Q. Adams at Negaunee, after which he began working
in a clerical capacity at Ishpeming for the P. & L. A. Iron Mining Com-
pany, and continued in this line for three years. He then became chief
clerk for the Volunteer Iron Company at Palmer, Michigan, remaining
witli this concern and its successors until 1904. For part of this time
he looked after the fee interests of General R. A. Alger, and for fifteen
months was superintendent for the Cleveland Clitifs Iron Company.
In 1891 Mr. Elliott was elected a member of the Board of Super-
visors of Marquette county, serving in this capacity for thirteen years
without a break. In 1904 he was elected clerk of Marquette county,
and as a tribute to his efficiency and popularity he was re-elected in 1906.
He resigned the office after a few months of his second term had elapsed,
and in March of the latter year moved to the Mesaba Range, taking over
the duties of general superintendent of the Leetonia Mining Company and
of the Interstate Iron Company. He is still engaged in administering
the afifairs of these companies, with headquarters at Virginia, and the
.scope of his work covers the following mines : Lincoln, Columbia, Grant,
Nassau, Longyear. Leetonia, South Agnew, Mississippi, Hill Annex and
Lind, bringing lo the duties of this extensive field a ripe experience and
sound judgment.
In 1890 Mr. Elliott was united in marriage to Miss Tillie Sporley, of
Negaunee, Michigan, and they have become the parents of five children,
namely : Warren, who died at the age of eighteen, Mark, Jr., Carolyn,
Charles S. and Matilda. Mark, Jr., served in the naval department of the
United States Government during the World war, but did not go abroad,
his services being confined to various home stations.
Mr. Elliott is active in Masonic circles and is a member of the Ancient
Accepted Scottish Rite, the Knights Templar, and the Nobles of the
Mystic Shrine. In his political affiliation he gives unstinted support to
the Republican party and warmly espouses its policies. He and his wife
take an active part in the social and cultural affairs of their home city,
and the weight of their influence is ever thrown on the side of move-
ments calculated to advance the best interests of Virginia.
Otto F. Halstrom, who in a business way has been associated with
the Iron Range district for many years, is also prominent in civic affairs,
and is president of the Aurora School Board and township clerk of
White township. His home is at Aurora.
He was born near Rush City, on a farm in Chisago county, Minnesota,
January 1. 1876, son of Carl and Brita (Lind) Halstrom. both natives of
Sweden. His father, who was born in 1826. came to the United States
in 1854 and was a Minnesota pioneer, j)roniinent among the early Scan-
dinavians in the state. His first settlement was at Red \\ ing, whence
he went up the river to St. Paul, then to Taylors Falls and homesteaded
land in the heavy timber at the present site of Center City. He lived there
until the Civil war. when he enlisted and served a year in the Union army.
After his military duty was jjcrformed he returned to his homestead at
Center City, which he then sold and bought a farm in tlie woods near
Rush City. He was industrious and callable, made a good living, pro-
vided well for his family, and responded to all the obligations of good
816 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
citizenship. He served many times as a member of local juries and was
affiliated with the Grand Army of the Republic and a member of the
Swedish Lutheran Church. His first wife was Eva Johanson, and of her
three children, one is Frank, an employe at the St. James Mine at Aurora.
Brita Lind, the second wife of Carl Halstrom, is still living at the old
homestead near Rush City, now past seventy years of age. She became
the mother of ten children, and one of her daughters is Mrs. Minna Carl-
son, a resident of Aurora.
Otto F. Halstrom secured his early education in a typical "old red
schoolhouse" in the rural locality where he was reared. At school he
excelled in mathematics, which stimulated his ambition to become a clerk.
At the age of twenty he started his business career in a rural store.
Later he worked in a clothing store at Duluth, and then in another farm
store at Isanti, Minnesota. With this experience he came to the Range
country and for five years was with the Carlson Mercantile Company
at Hibbing, and then came to Aurora to take charge of the dry goods^
department of the Aurora Mercantile Company. He continued with the
same establishment after it was taken over by Mr. Talboys until 1918.
Mr. Halstrom has been township clerk since 1917 with the exception
of the year 1919. He has been a member of the School Board for a
similar length of time and is now chairman of the board and devotes
much time and study to the improvement of the schools.
xA.t Duluth Mr. Halstrom married Tina Fredin. They were school-
mates at Rush City. Mrs. Halstrom died leaving two daughters, Gladys
and Grace. Gladys is a graduate of the high school at Aurora and is
now attending the State Normal School at Winona. Mr. Halstrom mar-
ried for his present wife, Theresa Johnson, of Two Harbors, Minnesota.
Fraternally he is affiliated with Biwabik Lodge of Masons, and with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, W^oodmen of the World, Elks and
Moose. Politically he casts an independent vote.
P. George Hanson is one of Duluth's older busmess men. Between
thirty and forty years he has been identified with the city, formerly in
banking, and for the most part with the real estate and insurance busi-
ness.
Mr. Hanson was born in Norway March 23, 1858, and came to Amer-
ica and located at Duluth in 1882. His first employment was as clerk in
a general store. Later for five years he was on duty with the St. Louis
County Bank, beginning as messenger boy, was promoted to bookkeeper,
and on severing his connections from this bank engaged in the real estate
and insurance business and for several years one of his sons, now deceas-
ed, was associated with him under the name P. George Hanson & Son.
That title is still retained, but another son, Frederick C. is now with him.
The firm maintains offices at 1915 West Superior street, and does an
extensive business in loans and insurance, in building management and
in the handling of bonds and other secvirities. Mr. Hanson has been closely
identified with the development of the West End of Duluth, and the citi-
zens of that portion of the city regard him as one of their ablest and
most substantial leaders and co-workers.
Mr. Hanson served as a city alderman from 1892 to 1899. He is a
Republican in politics. November 25, 1882, at Duluth, he married Miss
Johanne Erickson. They reared a family of seven children; namely:
Hartwick O. and Anna M., both deceased; Joseph R., a building con-
tractor of Duluth ; Oscar, an electrical contractor of Duluth ; Frederick
C, an attorney and associated with his father ; Ruby B., bookkeeper for
her father, and Muriel A., attending High School.
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 817
Mr. Hanson is a member of the Commercial Club of Duluth and a
member of the Methodist Church. He was one of the secretarys and is
now vice president and director of the Duluth State Bank and one of
its largest stockholders.
E. J. W. Donahue. Duluth and Saint Louis county enjoy a high rep-
utation because of the high order of their citizenship, and none of their
citizens occupies a more enviable position in the esteem of his fellows
than the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch. A
residence in this locality of many years has given his fellows a full oppor-
tunity to observe him in the various lines of activity in which he has
engaged, and his present high standing is due solely to the honorable
and upright course he has pursued. As a leading citizen of his com-
munity he is eminently entitled to representation in a work of this charac-
ter.
E. J. W. Donahue was born in Bismarck, North Dakota, on January
27, 1875, and is the only child born to his parents. His father, Edward
Donahue, was a native of Illinois, who moved to North Dakota, where
he made his home for a number of years. In 1910 he came to Duluth,
but a short time later returned to Bismarck, where he spent the remain-
der of his life, his death occurring in 1918. E. J. W. Donahue was
educated in the public schools of Saint Cloud, Minnesota, and at the
age of eighteen years became a stenographer in the offices of the North-
ern P'acific Railroad, where he remained about three years. He after-
ward was employed as chief clerk to the general manager and superinten-
dent of the Montana Railroad, but about a year later resigned that posi-
tion and became bookkeeper for a wholesale grocery house, where he
was employed several years.
In 1909 Mr. Donahue, in association with others, began exploring in
the Cuyuna Range, their investigations resulting in the opening of the
Cuyuna. J\lille Lacs Mine, the Cuyuna Duluth Ironton Mine, the Duluth
Brainerd Mine, the Sultana Mine and others. Mr. Donahue served as
president of the three first named corporations. On July 1, 1914, the
Cuyuna Mille Lacs and Cuyuna Duluth Companies were consolidated
with the Dunbar Furnace at Dunbar, Penn.sylvania, under the name of
the American Manganese Manufacturing Company, of which Mr. Dona-
hue was secretary and manager of the western end imtil he resigned in
May. 1915, in order to enter into other business on his own account. In
1916 he became associated with Alexander McKenzie and A. B. Cook in
the purchase of the east half of the southeast quarter of section 28, town
ship 47, of range 29, Crow \\'ing county, ^linnesota, which was later
im])r()ve(l as the Gloria Mining Company and the ])roperty opened for
shipment. In addition to his ore interests Mr. Donahue has also devoted
considerable attention to the oil business, operating properties in the
shallow fields of Kentucky with success. He maintains offices in the
.Mworth P>uilding, Duluth. A man of keen discernment and mature
judgment, he has been an important factor in the development of the
country contiguous to the Head of the Lakes, and because of his ener,g\'
and ]X'rseverance he has gained a satisfactorv measure of success.
On .Sei)tember 25, 1902. Mr. Donahue was married to Marv E. Burns,
and to them was born two sons. James and Emmet, but the former died
at the age of seven and one-half years. Emmet Donahue was born Dec-
ember 5, 1906, and is now a student of the Cathedral High School.
Politically Mr. Donahue gives his support to the Republican party,
while his religious faith is that of the Roman Catholic Church. l'>a-
ternally he is a member of tin- P)enevolent and Protective Order of Elks,
818 DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY
the Knights of Columbus, the Royal Arcanum and of other organizations
and clubs. He is also a member of the American Mining Congress and
the Mining Institute. Although modest and unassuming, Mr. Donahue
possesses a strong and vigorous personality, and in the best sense of the
term is fitted as a leader of men and well fitted to manage important
enterprises.
Edward C. A. Johnson, former mayor of Virginia and for many
years practically engaged in many phases of civic development, of which
the citizens feel justly proud, is a native of the kingdom of Norway, born
there February 1, 1880, but has been a resident of this part of Minnesota
for more than thirty years.
Mr. Johnson is a son of Johan O. and Christina M. (Sather) John-
son, who immigrated to this country in 1891, among other reasons to
give their children better opportunities than were available in the old
country. Some few years prior to 1891 the father came on a tour of
inspection to the United States, to look over the situation generally before
bringing his family. Johan O. Johnson had been operating a bakery and
confectionery store in Norway. He returned to that country in 1891,
and on again coming to the United States, brought the entire family
back with him to the United States, on arrival here going on out to
Minnesota and locating at Duluth. He was employed for a time at the
Scandinavian Bakery in the West End, but in 1892 moved to West Su-
perior. Later on he lived and proved up on a homestead at Iron Junc-
tion, but eventually moved to Virginia, where he now resides. The elder
Mr. Johnson has never had any reason to look backward, having been
successful in his undertakings from the very beginning.
Edward C. A. Johnson, when twelve years old, accompanied his
parents from Norway. He learned the baker's trade while working with
nis father and continued thus engaged until the premises were burned
out in the great fire of 1900. After that disaster had been overcome he
started a bakery on his own account in Virginia, and has continued in
the bakery business ever since, extending the scope of his trade with the
passing years and now enjoying a large connection.
W^hen a young man Mr. Johnson became interested in the work of
the Virginia volunteer fire department and served as a volunteer through-
out the disastrous fire of 1900, and at the age of twenty-two had become
the chief of the Virginia fire department. He realized that after the
serious losses involved by the general fires of 1900 Virginia was sorely
in need of fire protection. This view created two factions. Mr. John-
son, in view of his public worth as a citizen, was induced to run for the
office of alderman in 1912. He had the singular experience of being
nominated by one faction, endorsed by the opposing faction, and elected
without opposition. He was subsequently re-elected to the same office
for two succeeding terms. During his first term he was an earnest advo-
cate of public paving, and he has never ceased being keenly interested in
and an active supporter of all civic improvements. He was appointed
on the commission that adopted the first charter, and upon its adoption
was appointed a member of the first police and fire commission.
In 1918 the citizens of Virginia further honored Mr. Johnson by
electing him mayor of the city, and he served the public in this repre-
sentative capacity for two years — the period covered by the participation
of the United States in the World war. During his administration the
maintenance of order in a community largely composed of cosmopoli-
tans occupied much of his time. A market place, which had been under
consideration for many years, was established, enabling the producers
DULUTH AND ST. LOUIS COUNTY 819
and consumers to come into direct contact. Mayor Johnson took a very
active and patriotic part in supporting all movements promoting war acti-
vities, and he was vice president of the Virginia Defense League.
On January 15, 1904, Mr. Johnson was married to Cora Johnson, and
they have five living children : Charles Edward, Janice Christina, Olivia
Josephine, John Albert and George William. Two children died : Edward
Robert and one unnamed. Mr. Johnson is an earnest member of the
Lutheran Church and of the Masonic Order, the Odd Fellows and the
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. As an Odd Fellow he has
achieved distinction and served in 1913-14 as grand patriarch of the
Grand Encampment of the state of Minnesota. In 1915 he was elected
a representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge at San Francisco. Mr.
Johnson enjoys the confidence of all classes of his fellow citizens, and
he and his wife give of their time and abilities to the furtherance of all
projects intended to advance the community welfare.
Joseph Christopherson. a well-known citizen of Virginia, descended
on both sides of the house from Swedish families, has been a resident of
the Range country for more than a decade and for ten years his home
has been in \'irginia. where he practices his profession of optometry.
Mr. Christopherson was born at Mi 
