Duluth Township (part 10 of 15)

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 years 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, Vermont, November 26, 1843, and was reared on his father's homestead and educated in a high school of Boston, IMassachusetts, 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 Improvement 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 unt41 his death, February 4. 1915. He was one of the organizers 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 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 benevolence, 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 i\Irs. 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 Virginia, 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 subject of municij^al ownership of water and light privileges at Virginia was brought into public view Mr. Harvey was a stanch advocate of city owncrshiji. He was elected an alderman of Virginia from the Sixth Ward, and was suhsequcntlv twice reelected. In November. 1918. he was chosen a member of the Board of St. Louis Countv Commissioners from the Sixth District, and is 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 Miss 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 district 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 development and upbuilding not only 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 X'irginia. and he and his partner also conducted a substantial adjunct business in the operation of a wed 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 afforded 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 opportunities for the winning of independence through individual effort. He proceeded to Iron Mountain, Michigan, where he found employment at surface work and later as fireman in connection with mining 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 district, in the spring of 1886, and there he was employed two years. In 1888 he came to Ely, St. Louis county, ?*Iinnesota. 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 connection with mining operations in this locality. Here he witnessed the inception and subsequent upbuilding 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 8i McDonald and Brown & Miller. Finally he returned to ]\Iichigan and passed two years as a driller for the Danorra Mining Company, at Negaunee. After the steel corporation took possession of the property he continued 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 Avork.

Duluth And St. Louis County 793

Mr. Osterberg is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Klks. He has achieved marked success in his business activities 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 circles 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 California. 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 ihe 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 W^ashburn corporations engaged in mining and timber enterprises. In June, 1917, while still continuing his association with Mr. Washburn's interests, Mr. Ray formed the partnership 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 prosper 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, belongs 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 oj)portunities, and is now president and acting head of the Range Office Supply Company, one of the leading concerns of its kind in Northern Minnesota.

Mr. Pnirgher, whose home is in Virginia, was born at Minneapolis June 21, 1886, and was seven years of age when the family moved to Duluth. He is a son of George W. and Elizabeth (Krieger) Burgher, still living at Duluth. His father is a cari)enter by trade. The family came from Pennsylvania and are of Swiss ancestry. Mr. Burgher's two grandfathers were Union soldiers in the Civil war.

William I^. Burgher grew up at Duluth, but attended school only to the age of fourteen, after which he depended ui)on himself and made actual work the means of his education and the source of his opportunities. His first task was delivering groceries, later he clerked in stores and also served in a clerical cai)acity in offices. He early became identified with the office supply business, and one of the leading Duluth concerns employed him as a traveling 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 experience in a business of his own.

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 cumbersome the word Mesaba was dropped, leaving it simply the Range Office Supply Company. In January, 1917, the business was incorporated under that title, with Mr. Burgher as president and directing head. The company now has complete stores at Virginia and Ribbing. 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 belief 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 Minnesota 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 parents 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, Wisconsin, which was his home about three years. In 1904 he came to Virginia, which has continued to be his place of residence. Upon his arrival Mr. Staver was made foreman for the Virginia Foundry Company, 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

Mr. Staver married, August 24. 1895, ]\Iiss Margaret Newhardt, of a neighboring county of Ohio, and their only son is Byron E., a graduate 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 northern Minnesota due to his prominent associations with the great lumber industry centering at Duluth. The business which he founded and of which he was president many years, the W. 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 California 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 j^rospered from a modest scale until the William T. Bailey Company became one of the largest operating in northern Minnesota. W'hilc the headquarters of the company were at Duluth, its mills and logging oj)erations were carried on over a large scope of country. Some of the most extensive mills and manufacturing operations of the business have long been maintained at Virginia, where Richard Roberts Bailey, son of W. T. Bailey, has had his business headquarters since 1896.

William 1'homas Bailey at the age of seventy-two, and with many mature achievements to his credit, died on ]\Iarch 31, 1914. He was a Repui)lican in i^olitics. a faithful member of the Presl^vterian Church, was affiliated with the Masonic Order and the Independent Order of Odd l^'ellows and was dee])ly devoted to home and family. Many recall 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 Reliecca Roberts, daughter of Richard and Rebecca (Roberts) Roberts, of C^ttawa county. Michigan. Her father was a prominent lumberman. The three children born to their marriage were William Tlmmas. Jr., Richard Roberts and Reln-cca.

Richard Romkris li.\iLi;s-. a son of the late William T. Bailey, of Duluth. has been a resident of N'irgiir'a since 1896 and in a large and important degree has been the executive successor of his father in the lumber industry of St. Louis Countv.

He was born at Grand Haven, Michigan, February 23. 1875, and his parents moved to Dukith 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. Siaionson is one of the citizens of Duluth whose career has been shaped to some extent by his environment through a period of thirtyfive 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 training 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. \\'ork 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 publishing 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 year assistant postmaster and then became a member of the Washburn Supph^ 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 A\'ashburn, and was president of the Board of Education from 1903 to 1908. While in business at Washburn he took up the study of life insurance, and in 1906 returned to Duluth as an agent of the IVlutual 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 second to none in that Hne in the citv.

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 children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Simonson: Charles T. ; Benjamin, who died in infancy ; Mabel B. and Loyed H. The son, Loyed, was a wireless 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, selfsacrificing 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 candidate 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 community. His well-directed efiforts in the ])ractical affairs 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 commanded the respect and confidence of those with whom he has been brought into contact, and he is well worthy of rc'])resentation 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 German3\ the father havin<x been born June .^0. 1834. and the mother January 22, 1843. .Augustus 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 LTnited .States he took up h\< 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 pursuits. Of the f^^'v children born to Mr. and Mrs. ("irochau. F.dward -X. is the third in order of birth, and four of them are still living- The parents are members of the German Evangelical Church

Edward A. Grochau secured his education in the public and high schools of Duluth. and then entered the I.'niversitv of ^lichigan, where he took the course in pharmacy and was graduated in 1894, with his degree, b'or a time he was then employed as a drug clerk, but in I^^IO engaged in the drug business on his own account, first being located on Fifth avenue. West, but eveiUually removing to his present IcKation at the corner of Fourth avenue. West, and l^rst street. He carries a large and complete stock of high-grade drugs and does a large prescription business, in addition to which he also carries a full line of druggists' suii- 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 religious faith is that of the Congregational Church, of which he is a member and a liberal supporter.

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. Grochau has not only been successful in his own business afifairs, 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 substantial results achieved by Al Blewett seem out of all proportion to the comparatively brief tenure of his career and in no wise remarkable advantages 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 responsibilities 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 8c Hunter, later becoming press operator, and subsequently foreman for Arthur E. Brown, who conducted the Northland Printery. 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 important in its proportions.

About the year 1895 Mr. Blewett organized the Blewett Orchestra, with three members, which grew in popularity, favor and size, he eventually employing as many as twenty-five persons. This organization was employed chieflv in furnishing music for dancing, and Mr. Blewett conducted the orchestra at the Duluth Boat Club for a period of twelve 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 Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Foresters, and in his political belief maintains an independent stand. He is unmarried.

John E. Hanson is prominently identified with the lumber manufacturing industry in the Mesaba Range district as assistant treasurer of the Virginia and Rainy Lake Company, with headquarters in the city of Virginia. He was born at Manistee, Michigan, August 21, 1882, and is a son of Andrew and Matilda (Hanson) 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 Hanson 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 reduction of the timber resources. He was thus actively concerned with 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 tocjk a minor clerical position in the local office of the Manistee and Northeastern 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, Alinnesota, and assumed the position of bookkeeper in the office of the Virginia Lumber Company, which was later succeeded, in a reorganization, i)\- the present Virginia and Rainy Lake Company. With this concern Mr. Hanson has continued his alliance without interruption, and through 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 Rank of Virginia, 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 f)f age. and his Masonic affiliations include also his membership in the Mvstic Shrine. He is likewise a member of the Virginia Lodge of the Rcne- ^-olent and Protective Order of Elks. It may specially be noted that he is a charter member of .And Temple. Ancient .Xrabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, in the city of Duluth.

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 ])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 Ishpeming, 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 previously 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 educational training was received in the public schools of the former city. His boyhood memories of Virginia recall the place as a frontier village chiefly notable for its sixty-eight saloons, its gambling and the other untoward 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 mining 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 enterprise, and he is now one of the chief stockholders and a director of the Virginia Meat & Packing Company, one of the important industrial concerns of St. Louis county.

While working indefatigably in the winning of independence and worthy success, Mr. Staff has been appreciative of civic duties and responsibilities and has shown himself to be a loyal and progressive citizen. His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, and in 1910 he was elected alderman from the Second ward of Virginia, in which office he served two vears, 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 W'hich important office he is making his influence felt in progressive movements and also in wise and efficient administration of all departments of the municipal government. Mr. Staff is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Flks, the Fraternal Order of Eagles and

Duluth And St. Louis County 801

May 4, 1907, recorded the marriage of Mr. Staff to Miss Hilda Strolberg, 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 development 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, w^ho lived and died in the old country. Andrew Grande is one of a family of six children, five of whom are now living. His opportunities for educational 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 prospect of advancement in his native country, decided to venture across the Atlantic to America, whither so many of his countrymen had previously 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 Andrew 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 any kind of honorable employment he could pick up, but after a short period resumed his f)riginal occuj^ation 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 residences 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 success which attended his efforts induced him to engage in the general building 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 fortune. He has no regrets for leaving Norway behind, and is of the type of adoT)ted citizen of whom the community feels justly proud.

In 1890 Mr. Grande was united in marriage to Miss .Anna Ness, also a native of Norway, and they have become the j^arents of six children, as follows: Mamie, ,\gness (who became Mrs. Frank W. Crane). T'^ibn. Gida l^ebecca Cdeceased), Myrtle and .Xrnold. John Grande served as a sergeant in the United .States ;\rmy during tin- World war. He was attached to the machine gun service and spent nine months in France, returning home at the end of hostilities.

Mr. Grande is a warm supporter of the Republican j^arty and a stroncr advocate of its policies and principles, but he has not, however, been .t seeker after public office. He is an earnest member of the Norwegian

Lutheran Church, to the upkeep of which he is a Hberal subscriber. He is atiihated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and holds membership in various clubs existing for civic and social development along all legitimate lines.

William 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 disposition. This has been literally true in his case, judging from the high standing he has maintained among his fellow citizens, whose undivided esteem he has justly won and retained, for his life has been of untiring industry and honorable dealings with his fellow men.

William IMorrison 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 business. 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 addition to his interest in the Burgess Electric Company Mr. Burgess is interested in mining, especially on the Cuyuna Range, being secretary and treasurer of the Chester Harold Mining Company, which was organized about eleven years ago. He is also interested in Kansas 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 member of the Federal Highway Council. He is a member of the Duluth Commercial Club, a charter member of the Duluth Boat Club and a member 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- 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. Harofd 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 pjurgess 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 Wisconsin University, 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, ^Lissachusetts. 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 ofif the honors.

William Morrison Burgess has attained to his present position solely bv virtue of his own character and elYorts, the qualities of keen discrimination, sound judgment and executive ability entering very largely into his make-up and being contributing elements to the material 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 poinilarity throughout the community in which he lives.

EinvARD J. Larsen, who is engaged in the practice of his profession in the city of Virginia, as one of the representative members of the l)ar of St. Louis county, was born on a farm in Kandiyohi county, IMinnesota, 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 parents, 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 America. His equipment comprised largely his sterling attributes of character, his industry, his resolute purpose and his willingness to face obstacles and adverse conditions if such a course be recpiired in his eflforts to win indej^cndcnce and prosperity. In the early '60s this strong and gallant young man of the fair Norseland made his wav to Liver])ool. England, where he embarked on the sailing vessel that thirteen weeks later landed him in the port of the city of Quebec, Canada. Erom that ])lacc he made his way to Wisconsin, where he joined an older brother who had come to this country several years j^reviously. Within a year thereafter he came to Minnesota and initiated his experience as a pioneer in Kandiyohi county. There he took uj) 160 acres of government land, and his financial 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 concerning 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 Minnesota 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 fortytwo 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 governed their lives, both having held the unqualified esteem of all who knew them. They became the parents of eight sons and four daughters, 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 w-as a successful teacher in the district schools. By this medium he acquired the funds that enabled him to continue his studies first in the ]\Iinnesota State Normal School at St. Cloud and later in Minneapolis Academy. 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 ^linneapolis. 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 \'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 Virginia, of which he is a director. The political allegiance of i\Ir. Larsen is given as independent, and he and his wife are communicants of the Lutheran Church in their home city.

Duluth And St. Louis County 805

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 part 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, including the manufacture of motors and dynamos and the installation of electrical equipment. For twelve years he lived in Chicago, then for 3/4 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 Electrical Works, which in 1920 was incorporated. They have wellequipped 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, including four expert machinists. Mr. ^Mielke is president of the company, Mrs. Mielke is vice president, and H. H. Campbell is secretary and treasurer.

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 specialized 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 Su])erior and Duluth in 1891. secured employment 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 bcKird of water and light commissioners. C. A. Duncan being jiresident. and C F. Leland vice i)resident, Giles 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 ])ublic 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 client.*;, representing some of the chief business interests of Duluth.

Mr. Matteson is ])rominent in Masonry, in which he has attained the thirtv-second degree, and is a life member and past master oi Palestine Lodge No. 79, and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs also the Kitchi Gammi. Commercial, and Duluth Rotary clubs, and is widely known and very poi)ular in business anfl social circles of the cit\. lie was married November 12. 1888, at .\kron.

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 affairs - 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 maa 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 numbered among its pioneer business men, and here he was for many years engaged in the boot and shoe business, in which he developed 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 progressive business men of Duluth, held the unqualified confidence and esteem of the community in which he so long lived and so worthily 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 community he was for several terms a member of the Board of County

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 CathoHc Church, and for many years he was president of the St. John the Baptist Society in the city of Duluth.

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 commissioner 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-American war, and he forthwith manifested his youthful patriotism by enlisting 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 receiving his honorable discharge from the army, Mr. Poirier entered the law dejjartment 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 hrst year after his graduation he was in the law office of Frank \V. Sullivan, a representative member of the bar of the city of Duluth. He then established himself in the independent practice of his profession at Virginia, where the intervening years have been marked by his association 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 professional prestige. He has served since 1904 as United States commissioner 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 county, which organization gave effective service in connection with registration of young men for military service, besides which he provided legal aid in connection with local war activities. He was also chairman of the War Savings Stamp committee for the northern half of St. Louis county. The political allegiance of Mr. F^oirier is given to the Republican party, and he is an active member of the local Kiwanis Club and the Virginia Curling Club.

On the 20th of April. 1910. was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Poirier to Miss Leslie Mitchell, daughter of William R. Mitchell, of St. Cloud. Minnesota, her father having achieved distinction as one of the representative news])aper editors and ])ublishcrs of this state and having also been the .luthor of a two-volume history of Stearns

Otto Gafvert. A resident of Duluth thirty-live years, Otto Gafvert has been one of the earnest and hard-working citizens of the community, known for ability and adequate performance of his duties in all relations and for a number of years has been employed in positions 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 employe 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, following 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 Vasa, and is a Republican in politics. December 8, 1891, he married Miss Bede 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, November 12, 1882. He crossed the ocean with his mother, sisters and brothers and arrived «t 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 sixtyfive. 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 selling 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 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 organized 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 Virginia, 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 Republican. June 29. 1909, he married Miss Elizabeth Helperin. She came with her parents from Russia in 1890. They have two daughters, Rosalie, born September 6, 1915, and Ruth 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 touching briefly upon such a record as has been that of Martin M. Meldahl, assistant postmaster of Duluth, who has long ranked with the representative citizens of his community.

Martin M. Meldahl was born December 24, 1878, at Lyle, Minnesota, 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 pul)lic schools of Duluth, graduating from the high school in 1898. after which he tf)ok a commercial course in the Duluth Business University. Soon after completing his studies he was appointed a clerk in the West Duluth j)ostoffice. where he served until May 10. 1915. when, because of his efficient and faithful ser\nce. he was promoted to the j)Osition of sui)erintendent of finance at the Duluth i)ostoffice. On December 15, 1918. his sjilendid service was still further recognized his ap])ointment as assistant j)Ostmaster. which position he is still tilling. During all the years he has been connected with the postoffice dej^artnient here he has labored always with the idea of giving the best possible service to tlu- patrons of the oflice. ;ind this has been tlu' keynote to his success. During the World war Mr. Meldahl in addition to his regular duties took an active ])art in tlie sales of War Savings Stamps at the huluth postofiicc, and in that connection had oversight of the sales at all the pustofiices in St. Louis countv.

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 was educated in the Duluth public schools, being a graduate of the high school. Mr. and Mrs. Meldahl are the parents of three children, Leila R., Martin M. and Mary Louise. Personally Mr. Meldahl is a man of pleasing presence, genial disposition and very approachable. He has at all times stood ready to give his support to all movements 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 postoffice 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 accounting office for the eighty postoffices in St. Louis county, and from here these offices are supplied with stamps and other supplies. The annual sales here during the past live 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 department of the office is constantly overcrowded. One Hundred and seventy-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 Michigan. He was employed in mines at Ishpeming and Negaunee, that state, for many years, and thereafter developed a prosperous mercantile business in the former city. There his death occurred in the year 1903, and he is survived by his wndow, whose maiden name was Anna Johansdatter. They became the parents of eight children, of whom three sons and four daughters are living.

The public schools of Ishpeming, Michigan, aiiforded to John R. Krogdahl his early education, but in the meanwhile he gained practical experience, as he was but twelve years old when 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 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 department 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 Penobscot Mine. Abovit 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 ofifice 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 IMiss 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. ]\lr. 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 vocation which he followed during much of his active career.

Mr. Dahl, who was one of the pioneer settlers of Virginia, Minnesota, was born and reared in Norwa}', and there he not only served a thorough apprenticeship to the trade of blacksmith but he also emulated his Norse ancestors by gaining familiarity with seafaring life, in which connection he made many voyages and visited many of the leading ports of the maritime world. In his native land he married 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 effort. 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 Virginia 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 supervision of the laying out and grading of Chestnut street, the main thoroughfare of tlic city, besides doing similar development work on other streets.

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 famil}- name.

Sigvert S. Dahl, the third child and oldest son, was born at Menomonie, Wisconsin, December 2L 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 famih" removal to Virginia, and here he continued his studies in the public schools until his graduation in the high school as a member of the class of 1906. In the meanwhile he had formulated 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 reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws was virtuall}' coincident with his admission to the ^linnesota 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 attorney, but in contradistinction to ofifice-holding he has otherwise preferred 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 afifiliation 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 Norway, Loyal Order of Moose, and various other social organizations, and is one of the loyal and public-spirited citizens of Virginia.

August 5, 1913, recorded the marriage of Mr. Dahl to Miss Margaret E. Kaus. of Red Lake Falls, ^Minnesota, and they have three children - David, 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 president 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 Norway March 23, 1877. His i)arents, 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 until his death in 1896.

Peter J. \ an Vick is the oldest of a family 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 Minneapolis. As a boy he worked with his father at the cooper business, and followed that trade for three years, until practically 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 w-as continued by Mr. Van Vick for sixteen years, with a shop at 118 West Michigan street.

Duluth And St. Louis County 813

Finally Air. Van Vick changed his business from the manufacture of containers for one line of articles to paper boxes and cartons fabricated to suit every demand and necessity of such standard containers. 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 business 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 Elizabeth 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 develcjped 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 talkingmachine 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 manufacturing 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., w^ho had previously come to the United States. Accordingly, in April, 1896, Mr. Johnson severed home ties, and sailed fr^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 mercantile business. At the time of his arrival Mr. 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 & Northern Railroad, in which connection he received a compensation- of one dollar and five cents a day. The selfreliance 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 pul)lic schools of Virginia, which was at that time a mere mining vilhige. 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 meanwhi'le 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 exj)erience in this connection, and in the summer of 18*^8 formed a partnershij) with Hilnier A. Nelson, now general manager of the (iatley's stores and who had been in the employ of the same house, and engaged in the furniture and house-furnishing business in the city of Duluth. The firm built up a prosperous business, in connection with which it established branch stores at l^veleth and flihbing. .Xfter the dissolution of the partnership in 190.S Mr. Johnson assumed control of the Hibbing and I\veleth stores, the business of which he concentrated at I'A-eleth by closing the store at

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 progressiveness and also with his unqualified personal popularity. From a newspaper 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-machine firm in Minnesota. Nineteen years ago Carl R. Johnson, present manager of the company, and his former associate, H. A. Nelson, of Duiuth, 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 nothing to one of the largest musical industries in the country."

Imbued to the fullest extent with the true American spirit, Mr. Johnson has been a naturalized citizen since June 10, 1902 - or since he was twenty-three years of age. In that year also his parents came to this country, but both are now deceased. While a resident of Eveleth Mr. Johnson 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 aflFectionate 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 Elliott, 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 Clifi^s 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 taking up residence at Negaunee, Michigan, he attended the public schools until he was about fifteen years old, at this time starting out for himself and working as a telegraph messenger for the Western Union Telegraph 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 operator 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 insurance ofBce of J. Q. Adams at Negaunee, after which he began working in a clerical capacity at Ishpeming for the P. & L. A. Iron Mining Company, and continued in this line for three years. He then became chief clerk for the Volunteer Iron Company at Palmer, Michigan, remaining with 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 Cliffs Iron Company.

In 1891 Mr. Elliott was elected a member of the Board of Supervisors 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 affairs 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 to the duties of this extensive field a ripe experience and sound judgment.

In 1890 Mr. Elliott was vniited 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 {)art in the social and cultural affairs of their home city, and the weight of their influence is ever thrown on the side of movements 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, prominent among the early Scandinavians in the state. His first settlement was at Red \\'ing. whence he went uj) tlic river to St. Paul, then to Taylors Falls and homesteaded land in the heavy timber at the preseiU 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 performed he returned to his homestead at Center City, which he then sold and bought a farm in the woods near Rush City. He was industrious and capable, made a good living, provided well fur his family, and responded to all the obligations of good 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 Carlson, 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.

At Duluth Mr. Halstrom married Tina Fredin. They were schoolmates 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 married 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, Woodmen 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 business.