Minneapolis City (part 49 of 80)

In 1854 a United States land office was established at Alinneapolis, and Air. Russell was appointed receiver with Al. L. Olds as register. During the three \'ears that he held this position the office was a bus3' place, emplo3fing several clerks, and Air. Russell was called upon to pass judicialh' upon manv contested land cases. His decisions, though not always agreeable to one of the contest¬ ing parties, were respected as the result of conscientious convictions. The land office occupied a frame building on Wash¬ ington avenue at the corner of Ames street (now Eighth avenue south) which had been erected for its accommodation 1)3' Alessrs. Russell and G. E. Huy. It was the best building, which up to that time, had been put up in the town.

In 1850 he was a commissioner ol Ramse3' Count3', and in 1858 chairman of the Board of Supervisors of Hennepin Count3'. In 1853 he was elected to the territorial House of Representatives from St. Anthoin', with Dr. A. E. Ames as his colleague from Alinneapolis.

He became interested with Hon. Rob¬ ert Smith in the Government mill prop¬ erty at the falls, and was one of the first Board of Directors of the Alinneapolis Alill Compan3', chartered in 1856.

In 1849 he was a director of the St. Anthon3' Librar3' Association; in 1853 a director of the Alississippi Bridge Compan3', that built the first suspension bridge. He was also a member of a brick manufacturing compan3', making the yellow brick used in man3^ of the best buildings from 1854. In 1856 he was a director of the Union Board of Trade. In 1858 he purchased the stock of hardware of Spear & Davison, and for some 3'ears conducted the business, on Helen street. In 1860, in connection with Geo. E. Hiu', he built a planing mill at the falls, and operated it for several 3'ears, and then changed it into a flouring mill. In 1870 he was one of a firm that built the Dakota flouring mill at the falls.

Air. Russell was a close and valued friend and co-adjutorof Rev. D. B. Knick¬ erbocker, now bishop of Indiana, who gathered the church of Gethsemane as earh' as 1856. He has interested him- self in the growth of religious, charitable and educational institutions, and in whatever tended to establish society in sobriety, virtue and industry. While en¬ dowed with no brilliant qualities, he has been the friend of all who have lived about him, the helper of the needy, the kind and helpful adviser of all. He has a cheerful disposition, a somewhat en¬ thusiastic temper, and with the ardor of youth subdued and mellowed by the var¬ ied experiences of life, exhibits in declin¬ ing years the ripeness of a genial and kindly life.

Jobbing Trade

Traffic in goods at wholesale must necessarily be one of the later devel¬ opments of the commercial growth of a new town. Depending as it must largely upon transportation facilities and the growth of the surrounding country, new villages in unsettled reg¬ ions ordinarily have no jobbing business. Apart from the sale of the products of her mills, the foregoing was true of Minneapolis in early times. Until the 70's there was practically no whole¬ sale business in the cit\q except in flour and lumber which were mainly sold direct by the manufacturers. Previous to this time the retail grocers, hardware and dry goods dealers and other mer¬ chants sometimes "jobbed" a few goods in a small wajq but there were no dis¬ tinctive jobbing houses. For a longtime no attempt was made to develop the wholesale trade. Alinneapolis was ac¬ quiring a reputation as a manufacturing city, while St. Paul had years before be¬ come a jobbing point. The wholesale trade of the latter city was so well es¬ tablished and the situation was consid¬ ered so favorable that it was freely pre¬ dicted, and bj^ many believed, that Min¬ neapolis could never eompete in this class of business but must content herself with being a manufacturing town. With such ideas freely expressed it is not strange that Eastern merchants seeking new op¬ portunities in the Northwest established themselves at the reputed wholesale cen¬ ter, rather than run the risks of starting where other dealers of their class were not to be fouud. On the other hand, country merchants early became accus¬ tomed to buy in St. Paul and were slow to change to the wholesale establish¬ ments of Minneapolis. Under such con¬ ditions the business of jobbing merchan¬ dise in Minneapolis progressed verj^ slowly. It was quite natural under the circumstances that the pioneer keepers of general stores became later the first jobbers of the Flour City. As small deal¬ ers gradually acquired more and more wholesale trade, his retail business was made a separate department, and finalh", perhaps, dropped altogether. Occasional¬ ly a business would be divided, some of the interested parties continuing the retail trade while others branched out into the wider wholesale fields. Sometimes the retail business was sold outright.

It being manifestly impossible to sketch the rise of all the jobbing eoncerns of the city, onlj" a few - those especialh^ connected with the earlier history of the or the development of new lines of trade - will be mentioned.

To the wholesale hardware house of Janney, Semple & Co. undoubtedly be¬ longs the distinction of being the oldest jobbing concern in the city. This is entii'ely due to prioritv of establishment, it being obviously impossible to deter¬ mine just which one of the earlj^ stores of Minneapolis first sold goods in more than retail quantities. In 1855 John S. Pillsbury ojiened a hardware store in Minneapolis. The business thus founded gradually developed a wholesale depart¬ ment and has remained a distinct and separate business house to the present time. There have been changes in the partnership, but the business is in effect the same that Mr. Pillsbury established in the pioneer days. After Mr. Pillsbury's retirement, the names of Janney, Brooks & Eastman and Janney, Brooks & Company are best known as con¬ nected with the development of the wholesale hardware trade. Mr. Thos. B. Janne3', the present senior partner, has long been identified with the front rank of progressive Minneapolis busi¬ ness men. Mr. Frank B. Semple came to Minneapolis in 1884. For the first thirt\' 3'ears of its existence the busi¬ ness of the firm was conducted on or near Bridge Square. A few j'ears ago the retail department was sold to W. K. Morison & Co. and the jobbing business was removed to the Mutual building at the corner of First Avenue South and Second Street. It is now the largest wholesale hardware house west of Chi¬ cago.

Another example of the development of a village store into a great wholesale concern is found in the grocer3' house of Anthonv Kelly & Co. Mr. Kelly, the head of this firm, began business in Alinneapolis in 1858, at the corner of Wash¬ ington and Second Avenue South. P'or a while the firm was known as Kelh' & Brother, P. H. Kelly, now the head of the large grocery house in St. Paul being associated in the business. In 1864 he withdrew and Anthony Kelly continued alone. Meanwhile the business had in¬ creased so that two moves to larger cjuarters had been necessaiw. In 1866, while occupying a store at Bridge Square and First Street, the concern was burned out, but continued business with little interruption. During the same year H. A. Wagner was admitted to partnership, since which time there has been no change in the personnel of the firm. In 1877 the growth of the business again

Late in the '50's John Dunham en¬ tered the grocer3' business in the village of Alinneapolis. In 1870 the firm of Dunham & Johnson, wholesale grocers, was founded, and has since continued to do business on Hennepin avenue, between Second and Washington.

The firm of George R. Newell & Co., which is now the largest grocer3' house in the Northwest, ma3' be said to have been founded in 1867, when Air. Newell first commenced business in Alinneapolis. In twenty -five 3'ears there have been sev¬ eral changes in name and location - the latter due to the continuous growth of the business. The firm of Stevens, Alorse & Newell was established in 1870. Three 3^ears later it became Newell & Harrison, and in 1879 assumed its present form. For 3'ears the Hon. R. B. Langdon has been a member of the firm. In 1881 the firm still occupied the building 9, 11 and 13 North Washington avenue, but finding the quarters too small, removed to the corner of Wash¬ ington and First avenue north, where it remained for five or six 3'ears. Again the growth of the business demanded better facilities, and the fine warehouse at the corner of First avenue north and Third street was erected. This is one of the most complete and commodious build¬ ings for wholesale trade in the West, and being built especially for the business of the firm it is entii'ely adapted to its needs. Air. Newell is justly counted as one of the brainiest business men in the West.

In 1880, H. G. Harrison and Frank B. Felt organized the wholesale grocer3' firm of H. G. Harrison & Co., which almost from the beginning has occupied the Brackett building at the eorner of First avenue south and Second street.

With the development of trade and finally the retirement of Mr. H. G. Harrison from active participation in thebusiness, changes were made. The firm is now Harrison, Farrington & Co., Mr. Hugh Harrison, son of the founder, being at the head of the concern. The erection of a new and spacious warehouse was com¬ menced during the summer of 1892 at the corner of First avenue north and Third street.

In the dr^' goods business, as in the grocery and hardware lines, Minneapolis has the largest concern in the Northwest. The firm of Wyman, Partridge & Co. is the oldest wholesale drj' goods house in the city, it having originated in 1874 under the caption of W^^man & Mullen. To Mr. O. C. Wyman, then, as now, the head of the concern, is due in s very large degree the pronounced and contin¬ uous success of the enterprise. A shrewd, progressive business man, he has been constant^ abreast of the times and has devoted his best energies to the business for nearly a score of years. For a while the young jobbing house only occupied one floor, but trade increased rapidly and the building at numbers 214 and 216 Hennepin avenue was erected for its use. W. J. VanDyke entered the Arm in 1880, bringing addi tional capital. Mean¬ while the firm of Coykendall Bros. & Co. had grown up in the same line. This concern began retail business in 1873 and abandoned it for jobbing in 1877, occupying at that time the building at 118 and 120 North Washington avenue. Their trade increased so rapidh^ that they were compelled within a few A^ears to remove to the large building at the corner of Second street and First avenue north, now occupied by the Paris-Murton Co. In 1885 the tragic death b^^ drowning of Mr. Coykendall, the resi¬ dent manager, made it necessar^Ho effect some new plan of management, and a consolidation with the firm of Wyman, Mullen &- VanDyke wms decided upon. The firm became Wyman, Mullen & Co. and so continued until 1890, when Mr. Mullen retired on account of ill health and Geo. H. Pai'tridge, for ten years in charge of the department of credits, was admitted to the firm. In the meantime the business had been removed to the more commodious Brackett building at the corner of First Avenue South and Second Street. The dry goods jobbing trade of Minneapolis has been peculiarly unfortunate, though not on account of the conditions surrounding it. In addi¬ tion to the disaster overtaking the firm of Coykendall Bros. & Co. there have have been tw^o heavy failures, that of N. B. Harwood & Co. in 1880, and Shotwell, Clerihew & Lothman in 1888. Both finns had built up a large business but were overcome Iw circumstances not connected wdth the market for their goods.

A city which receives at first hands more wheat than any other city on the globe, naturally has a very large trade in agricultural implements and machin¬ ery. Much of this business is in the hands of branch houses of the great ag¬ ricultural manufacturing concerns of the country, but are ordinarily conducted as distinct jobbing houses and as much be¬ long to Minneapolis as any other line of jobbers. In 1877 W. J. Dean founded the first wholesale implement house in the cit3\ In 1880 he became the resident partner in the firm of Deere & Co., which was established as a branch of C. H. Deere of Moline, Ills. The concern has occupied wmrerooms at 312, 314 and 316 North First Street, since it commenced business. David Bradle\' & Co. began as jobbers in 1879 and three _vears later incorporated with a capital of $100,000 and J. H. Bradley as president, George A. Clark, secretary, and 0. H. Mackroth, treasurer. A large building at 225, 227 and 229 North Fifth Street. aeconiniodates thebusiness of thecom]iany. More recently the Moline, Milburn & Stod¬ dard Co. was organized as the Minne¬ sota selling house for three great manu¬ facturing establishments - The Moline Plow Co., Moline, Ills.; The Milburn Wagon Co., of Toledo, Ohio; and the Stoddard Manufacturing Co., of Dayton, Ohio. In like manner the Parlin, Orendorf Co. of Canton, Ills., and the Emer¬ son & Fisher Co. of Cincinnati, Ohio, formed the Manufacturers Syndicate, and J. I. Case, the famous Racine plow man¬ ufacturer, founded the J. I. Case im]dement Co., which handles the goods of half a dozen or more manufacturers. In this way a number of very strong whole¬ sale houses combining the advantages of local management and incorporation with the backing of wealthy manufac¬ turers, were formed to handle the Imple¬ ment business of Alinneapolis. Local manxifacturers later began to take a ver^' prominent part in the business, their importance is more full3' referred to in the chapter on manufacturing.

W. W. Harrison opened a wholesale fancy grocery house in 1877 at 222 Hen¬ nepin Avenue. In 1880 the firm of W. W. Harrison & Co. was organized and the business was transferred to 19 Washington Avenue North. I). H. Mur¬ ray & Co. soon succeeded to the business and in 1882 the conceni became Murra}', Warner & Co. - the "Co." being T. A. Harrison, a' prominent capitalist and ])resident of the Securit3' bank. F'or sev¬ eral years the firm did a very successful business at 217, 219 and 221 North Third Street, but upon the death of Mr. Harrison wound uj) its affairs and re¬ tired from the trade.

Tucker. Mr. George R. L3'man, the president of the eompan3'^, was the head of the original firm and has been ever since the leading spirit of this most suc¬ cessful of business enterprises. The corl)oration was formed in 1883, and dur¬ ing the following winter the establish¬ ment of the coneern at 423 and 425 Nic¬ ollet Avenue was completeh' destro3'ed by fire. Within an incredibly short space of time the compan3' was doing business at 111 and 113 First Avenue South in much larger quarters, but after a few years these proved insuffieient, and after Geo. R. Newell & Co. vacated the large warehouse at the corner of Washington and First Avenue North, the L3unan- Eliel Drug Co. moved in. Mr. George R. Lyman, the president of the compan3-, has been connected with the drug busi¬ ness for nearh' 25 years; J. C. Eliel, vice president, was for a long time a member of the wholesale drug firm of John A. King & Co. of Chicago, and H. H. Eliel, the secretar3', has also had long experi¬ ence in the business. The Treasurer, Mr. F. W. Lyman, was general manager of the Minneapolis Cotton Mill before he became connected with the drug eomirntu'.

In the wholesale hardware line one of the earliest organized concerns was Har¬ rison & Knight. This firm commenced business at 207 Nicollet avenue, but re¬ moved within three 3'ears to a larger building on First avenue south between Washington avenue and Third street. There have since been several changes in the concern, which is now known as the Minneapolis Iron Store Compan3' and is located at 106 and 108 North Washing¬ ton avenue.

orating line. After two years he formed a partnership with E. J. Phelps, and as Phelps & Bradstreet the business devel¬ oped very rapidly. In 1882 Mr. Phelps \\dthdrew, disposing of his interest to Dexter Thurber of Providence, R. I. Mr. Thurber took charge of the hnances of the new concern which became Bradstreet, Thurber & Compan3^, and with increased capital engaged in an extensive wholesale and retail furniture trade. It has been successful in ever^' wa\' and has worthily won a reputation as the lead¬ ing furniture house in the West. In 1886 the concern was incorporated under the same name, and in 1891 it was re-incorporated as The Bradstreet-Thurber Com¬ pany, with J. S. Bradstreet, president; Dexter Thurber, secretarj' and treasurer, and Charles H. Badger, general manager.

Steele, Forman & Ford opened a wholesale glass house in 1880 at 414 and 416 Third avenue north. Their suc¬ cessors, Forman, Foi'd & Co. now rank as one of the leading concerns in this line in the countr\% and have added the man¬ ufacture of mirrors and stained glass to the business. A large section of the Mutual Building on South Second street is used Iw the firm.

Jas. H. Bishop & Company, whole¬ sale paper dealers, were incorporated in 1885 with a capital stock of $50,000 and large facilities for doing an exten¬ sive jobbing business. Jas. H. Bishop has been president from the beginning. The compaiw occupies a large warehouse at 21 to 25 North Third street.

Joshua Williams, wholesale and retail dealer in hardware, is perhaps the onW business man in Alinneapolis who has re¬ mained in one store for over thirtyyears. In 1861 Mr. IVilliams entered the new hardware store of C. H. Pettit, after¬ wards a leading flour miller, and in a few years became a partner. Upon the with¬ drawal of Mr. Pettit in 1865 or 1866 the firm became Chalmers & Williams and continued in that form until a few 3'ears ago when Mr. Williams bought the senior partner's interest. Since 1861 Air. Williams has done business at 102 Hennepin avenue.

The pioneer in the rubber goods and belting line was the firm of E. B. Preston & Co., now the W. S. Nott Compan3y which commenced business at 240 Hen¬ nepin avenue in the earh^ part of 1880. A removal was soon made to 203 Nicol¬ let avenue and again a few 3'cars ago to the Alei'chants block on Second street near First avenue south. Alr.W. S. Nott has been the resident manager from the beginning.

In 1866 J. C. Oswald engaged in the business of wholesaling wines and liquor at the corner of First street and Henne¬ pin avenue. In 1874 he built the store at 17 North Washington avenue which the firm of J. C. Oswald & Co. still occu¬ pies.

In compiling statistics of the volume of trade, estimates must, in the nature of things, be resorted to as long as priv¬ ate concerns refuse accurate information as to the amount of their business. When the officials of the government in making census reports are sometimes unable to secure the desired information from busi¬ ness houses it is not to be supposed that the statistician of trade organizations would be much more successful. How¬ ever, the information secured confidentialh" from a majority of the concerns do¬ ing business in an3^ one line serves, in connection with careftd incjuiry, as a good basis for estimate of the total vol¬ ume of business in that class.

Commerce made careful estimates and com])ntations of the extent of the sales. His figures which arc given below extend from the early days of jobbing to 18S7. They do not inchide sales of Hour, wheat and lumber, which are ordinarily classed by themselves:

Since 1887 the Chamber of Commerce has not attenijited to keep a record of the volume of jobbing trade. Other sta¬ tisticians have been at work, however, but as the\' figure on a different basis a comparison of the results is not allow¬ able. A careful compiler makes the amounts for the past three 3'ears as fol¬

Hut in the above amounts are included the flour output and the lumber trade. In all sucli computations it is well to re¬ member that the lines lietwecn jobbing and manufacturing are not veiw closel v drawn and that it is often impossible to distinguish legitimate wholesale trade from manufacturing.

Anthony Kelly. In the development of trade in Minneajiolis, from the retail grocer}' store which supiilicd in ])art the wants of a population of fifteen hundred jieople, to the wholesale house that sends its goods over the railroads which

Hut Mr. Kelly has been more than a merchant. He has beeti an im])ortant factor in the general development of the the city's life, not only in business lines, but also in the higher sjjhere of Jiioral and socialgrowth. Energetic, jmblicspirited, intelligent, broad minded and lib¬ eral, he has had his hand in whatever movement has been set on foot to build up the interests and institutions of the city, in whose prosperity he has taken an interest inspired by the highest mo¬ tives of philanthropy and religion. To no one man is it given to become emi¬ nent in ever}' department of public effort. Each has his gifts and adaptations. While others have been more prominent in special lines, few have ])articipated in a greater variety of relations, and still fewer have impressed themselves with greater effect upon the general welfare.

An Irishman by birth, a catholic in religious profession and alliance, a dem¬ ocrat in ])olitical affiliation, a scholar of no meagre literary attainments, and a gentleman in all his relations, - he has come in contact with the active life of the community in a great many asjiects, and has borne his part with unflinching jiei'sistence, in every public service to which he has been called.

Mr. Kelly's birthplace was the bor¬ ough of Swineford, County Mayo, Ire¬ land. The date of his birth was Aug. 25, 1832. At the age of fifteen the fam¬ ily came to America and settled in Can¬ ada east, not far from Montreal. Ten years were spent in ac((uiring the nidaments of a general education, and in clerical employments. Among his scho¬ lastic attainments is a fair knowledge of the German language and literature. Contact with the French people of the province gave him a colloquial use of the language of that people; while some years spent in clerical work at the south among the Spanish po^julation afforded him an op])ortunit3^ to add a speaking knowledge of the smooth C^lstatlin dia¬ lect, to his linguistic attainments.

He came to Minneapolis in the spring of 1858. Patrick H. Kelly came here in 1857. The spring of 1858 the brothers opened a retail grocery store on Wash¬ ington avenue, one door south of Helen street (now Second avenue south). His nearest neighbors in trade were D. Y. Jones, in boots and shoes and clothing. Bibbins & Company, in hardware, and L. C. Elfelt in drygoods. From the start the firm was popular, and drew more than a fair share of trade. The business soon outgrew the narrow quarters in which it was begun, and the firm re¬ moved to a new and larger store in the Woodman block, on the corner of Helen street and Washington avenue. Mean¬ while the trade centre of the town, which had been in dispute between Bridge Street, (as Nicollet and Hennepin were then popularly called,) and lower town, gravitated to the former and the Kelh" Brothers removed their place of business to the west side of Hennepin avenue. .\bout 1861 they added pork packing to their business. In 1863 P. H. Kelh' withdrew from the firm and connected himself with a wholesale grocer}'- house in St. Paul. Anthony continued the Minneapolis store. In 1866 his store was destroyed by fire, but was immedi¬ ately rebuilt, a fine stone structure tak¬ ing the place of the frame building. As the business of the town increased, Mr. Kelly associated with himself Hiram W. Wagner, under the firm name of Anthony Kelly & Company, and be¬ gan to fill wholesale orders for goods in their line, cind b}" gradual degiees this business became more important than the retail trade, and the latter was discontinued. It became necessary to occupy a store better adapted to whole¬ saling, and Mr. Kelly put up the stone building on the corner of Washington and Second avenues north, which is still the headquarters of Anthony Kelly & Co. At times others have been associat¬ ed with him in business, as junior part¬ ners. The only permanent partner whom he has had is Mr. H. W. Wagner, who is a member of the present firm.

Mr. Kelly is the pioneer wholesale merchant in his line in Minneapolis, and, with the exception of the hardware bus¬ iness established b}'- John S. Pillsbury, his house is the oldest in any line. With¬ out going into details of quantities of goods handled, it is safe to say, that the business of Anthou}" Kelly & Co. is among the most important, as it is one of the most responsible and reputable in the Northwest.

While merchandise has been his chief pursuit, Mr. Kelly in the course of his long business career, has been identified with many other business enterprises, sometimes b\' the contribution of capi¬ tal, but qftener from a patriotic desire to aid the city. His name appears in the directorate of boards, financial institu¬ tions, manufactories and various econo¬ mic organizations.

Outside of business engagements his name has been no less prominently con¬ nected with social, benevolent, and phil¬ anthropic movements, especially in the Catholic Church connection. He has been a most attached and devout mem¬ ber of the church of the Immaculate Con¬ ception, and an active co-adjutor of the eminent clergy of that large fellowship, in the promotion of the religious, educa¬ tional and charitable foundations of the church. He has been honored as a rep¬ resentative of the Catholic people in their national and provincial as.semblies.

Mr. Kelh' married April 2G, 1863, Mrs. Annie Willey, widow of W. S. Willey, Esq., an early and gifted law_ver in Minneapolis. Their fainih' consists of five daughters, one of whom is the wife of J. R. Corrigan, probate jiulge of Hen¬ nepin County, and another of James F. Blaine, and the others arc \'et at home. While absent a few years ago he was af¬ flicted by the sudden death of a ]jromising and only son.

While gifted beyond most men in ad¬ ministrative qualities, and often named in connection with political trusts, Mr. Kelly has declined to enter public life. His influence, however, is sought, and wielded with no little power in behalf of good government and wholesome mor¬ als. He has been an intimate friend and confidential companion of the best men who for thirty-five years have moulded the destinies of Minneapolis. He has re¬ markable social qualities, and adds to a fund of general information, the spice of read3'^ wit. He is fluent and animated in conversation, and of invariable cheerful¬ ness and urbanit\'.

When the confinement of business can be released he delights in travel, and adds to the ])leasure of his companions, the zest which comes from accurate observ'ation,and sprightl^Meclination ofscenetw and character. He is familiar with ever}' part of his own countiw, and has made several visits to the "auld sod," as well as to the continent.

A serious accident nearl_v two years since greatly disabled Mr. Kell v, and has been the cause of much painful confine¬ ment to himself, and of solicitude to his friends. It is hojied that he mav be re¬ stored to the cnjox'ments of life, and to the activities in which he has taken so prominent a j)art.

gaged in business in Minneapolis since the spring of 1857, and has been honored with positions of ])ublic trust in the cit\' of his home, and in the higher branch of the state legislature.

He was born in the village of Oberaach. Canton Thurgau, Switzerland, on the 20th of Alav, 1824, on his father';-, homestead, where three generations of the famih' had lived. He was the fifth born in a famih' of ten children.

Enjo^'ing the advantage of the com¬ mon schools of his native Canton, at the age of sixteen he apprenticed himself to Godfre\' Scheitlin, a manufacturer of cot¬ ton goods, and after two 3'ears of aj)- prenticeship he was made overseer of the increasing business of his emplo\'er, which he diligenth' pursued for the next fiv'e \'ears.

In 1847 he joined the tide of emigra¬ tion, which flowed toward the shores of America, and at New York, was offered the agenc\' of a large tract of wild land in West Virginia. Aleeting the sister of his former emplo\'er, who had likewise emigrated to America, Miss Ursula Elizbeth Scheitlin, a former attachment was revived, and the}' were married in New York, and his wife accompanied him to the scene of his labor for the next ten yeai's. They found the land wild and the neighborhood sparsely settled, with few of the comforts, not to say luxuries, of a settled community.

Nevertheless he opened a country store, and cleared and cultivated a farm, and met with fair success. During their residence in the South five children were born to them, of whom' only one sur¬ vived. Meanwhile Mr. Scheitlin had em¬ igrated to the United States, and settled in Minneapolis; and after ten years res¬ idence in the South Mr. Oswald sold his business and settled in Minneapolis. Soon after his arrival he opened a store in connection with his brother Henry in

North Minneapolis, and after a 3'ear bought out his brother's interest, and soon after took another partner, and continued the business at the corner of Hennepin avenue and First street, which was extensive and profitable, for threee ^-ears. The war having broken out deranging business, the mer¬ cantile business was closed. In 1862 he bought a farm of one hundred and sixH' acres, lying across Bassett's creek. West of Minneapolis, and engaged in its culti¬ vation. It was named "Oak Grove'' farm. Here was raised a crop of tobacco. The second trial with this crop was a failure, having been cut off by an earh^ autumn frost. He turned his attention in a limited way to the breeding and raising of horses, for which he had a fondness, and with success. His mare, "Black Hawk Belle,'' brought him nine colts, every one of which was a trotter. One of them, "Flora Belle,'' has a record of 2:2914, and another, "To])sey,'' 2:291/2. Mr. Oswald has alwaj'S been a patron of the turf, and no gentleman's turn out on the boulevards excels his in st3de and speed .

His knowledge of wine making in the valle3's of his native land directed his at¬ tention to the adaptation of the fruits of this country for wine, and after some ex- ])eriments with the wild grape, black¬ berry, raspberrp, cramberr3^ strawberr3", currant and rhubarb, he constructed a wine cellar upon his farm, and engaged in the manufacture of wine upon an ex¬ tensive scale, and J. C. Oswald's Native wines became celebrated, and brought orders from distant places, and the busi¬ ness became quite extensive and profit¬ able.

About 1866 he added to the wine bus¬ iness that of distilled licjuors, and estab¬ lished the first wholesale wine and liquor business in Minneapolis. His place of business was at first the old stand at the corner of First street and Hennepin ave¬ nue. Afterwards it was removed to the Pence Opera House, and in 1874 he erected a four story brick store, at No. 1 7 Washington avenue north, with ever3' convenience for his extensive business. In 1881 he associated Mr. Theophil Basting, who had long been manager of the business, and who had for five years been his son-in-law, and the business still continues under the firm name of J. C. Oswald & Co.

Mr. Oswald was a charter member of the Harmonia Society, a social and mus¬ ical societ3' composed exclusively of Ger¬ mans, organized many years ago, which owns the fine business block at thecorner of Third sti'eet and Second avenue south, with societ3^ rooms, and a theatre on the second floor. He was an incorporator and director of the Minneapolis, Sault Ste. Marie and Atlantic Railroad Com¬ pany and also of the Minneapolis and Pacific Railroad compan3^

At the organization of the Minneapo¬ lis Park Board Mr. Oswald was ap¬ pointed one of the commissioners, and from the first took a deep interest in its success. By the terms of the act, it was required to be submitted for acceptance to a vote of the people of the cit3'. Op¬ position at once was raised, and some of the most influential leaders of his politi¬ cal party determined to defeat it. Mr. (.)swald engaged earnestly in the canvas, and emplo3^ed speakers at his own exl)ense to advocate it, before the voters. It was accepted Iw a respectable major¬ ity, largely through his personal efforts and influence. For man3' years, while a member of the Park Board, he gave much attention to its exacting and un¬ paid work, and the foundation of the magnificent park system of the city was laid, and its plans largely perfected while he remained a member of the board.

He was also appointed as a metnbei' of the commission to build a combined Court House for Hennepin County and City Hall for the cit\' of Minneapolis, for which purpose one million five hundred thousand dollars were ajipropriated. Acting without compensation the Com¬ missioners adopted plans, which are now in the third year of construction, and which will in a 3'ear more, give to the city one of the most unique and commo¬ dious buildings to be found in the coun¬ try.

Mr Oswald has always been attached to the Democratic party, but has never sought its honors, and has often declined solicitations to become a candidate for public office. But in 1886 the ])ersistenc_v of his friends overcame his reluctance, and he was nominated for state senator. His opponent was a popular and influ¬ ential Rei)ublican, who had held the of¬ fice for several successive terms; but Mr. Oswald was elected, and held the office Ibr four years, sitting at two biennial sessions, and discharging the duties with dignity, and fidelity to his constituency.

Meanwhile the "Oak Grove" farm, had been surrounded with the enlarging bounderies of the city, and was in de¬ mand for other uses, than grazing cattle and growing hay. Five acres had been devoted to the, Monitor Plow Works as a site for its manufactory. The line of the Manitoba Railway had been laid through it, and eighteen acres north of the railroad had been platted as Os¬ wald's Addition to Minneapolis. The remainder, one hundred and nineteen acres, was sold in 1887 for nearly half a million dollars, and laid out as "Bryn Mawr." It was underdrained, graded, intersected with irregularly curving streets and planted with trees. Its finely turfed laws are bountifidh' watered from flowing artesian wells, and a number of elegant residences erected upon it. It is

Four daughters survive of the nine children born to Mr. Oswald, of whom one is married to Mr. Basting, and one to Mr. F. Faraway', one to Mr. William O'Brien, Jr., and the other one remaining at home unmarried.

In 1874 Air. Oswald crossed the At¬ lantic, and visited the place of his nativit}', among the mountains of Switzer¬ land. He has traveled extensivehfin the countiw of his adoption, sometimes for pleasure, oftener on business, tind in later years to gain relief from jiainful attacks of asthma. He has visited I'lorida, and other jiarts of the sunnv south, Coloado, California, the National Park of the Yellowstone, the Hot Springs of Arkan¬ sas, and other regions noted for their sanitarv ciualities; but he prefers to re¬ main at his home, cnjo\'ing domestic happiness, and the fruits of an industri¬ ous life, whenever the state of his health does not compel him to leave them. While in business, he is relieved from its constant care, b\' his efficient partner, and son-in-law, and enjo3's the ease and and dignit3' which he has so well earned bv a life of activit3' and labor.

Luthek Gao.e Johnson was born at Concord, New Hampshire, Novend)er 18, 1813. He is descended from Jonathan Johnson, who was born December 31, 1763, and settled on Horse Hill, in Con¬ cord, N. H. He had a familv of twelve children. One of his sons - Reuben - married Judith, daughter of Capt. John Chandler, whom he succeeded as ])ro- ])rietor of the Penacook house. The Chandlers are descended (rom William Chandler, who emigrated from Fhigland and settled in Roxburv, Mass., in 1637. His descendants were Thomas, of And¬ over, Mass.; Cajjt. John, Ensign John, Capt. John, one of the original proprie- tors of Penacook, now Concord; Capt. John, born in 1731, and Capt. John, born 1752, who, by his wife,Naoma Farnam, was the father of Judith, who married Reuben, the father of the subjeet of this sketch. Reuben and Judith Johnson raised a family of eleven children, one of whom was L. G. Johnson, now of Minne¬ apolis.

His pai'ents removed during his in¬ fancy to Boscowan, Merrmiac count3', where he grew up, and where he remained until his removal to the West in 1854. Until his twentj^-third year he remained with his father, assisting in the farm work and in the care of the inn which his father kept. In earl^Mife he enjoyed as good advantages of education as were accessible to the eountiwbo3",not only in the common school in bo\'hoocl, but also in the aeadem3^

In 1836 he went into partnership with Mr. Jeremiah S. Kimball in trade, opening a general countr3" store at Fisherville, now Penaeook, a manufacturingvillage which has grown up on the Merrimac, between Boseowan and Coneord. After ten 3'ears he engaged in inn-keep¬ ing at Fisherville. The inn was one which had been kept on the stage road leading the traveler from Vermont to Boston for three-quarters of a eentur3'. In those times, before the ad¬ vent of the railroad, the countr3' inn was cl ver3^ different affair from those of the present time. The stage coaehes passed in their daih" trips, unloading a dozen hungr3r passengers for a hasty meal ; the heavy freight teams hauling the merehandise from the cit3" and the produee from the countr3', stopped to feed or pass the night. The inn was the gathering place for the conn try neighbor¬ hood for hearing news and exchanging social greetings, and with its glowingwood fires and rows of variousl3^ colored bottles behind the bar, extended hospi¬ tality and good eheer to all comers, and was often a bus3^ and generalh^ an at¬ tractive plaee. As he had been brought up in a country inn, Mr. Johnson had the art of making his housepopular, and continued for fourteen years in the busi¬ ness. Alean while he was appointed vilvage postmaster, making his house the centre of news, as well as hospitality.

Among the newspapers whieh were read around the glowing hearth of the bar room was one whieh gave a deseription of the new country opened to settle¬ ment on the upper Mississippi river, above the Falls of St. Anthon3\ Attraeted bv its deseription, and not un¬ willing to exehangelifein a New England village for the opportunities offered on the frontier of civilization, Mr. Johnson, with his 3'ounger brother, John C., now also a resident of Minneapolis, deter¬ mined to make a trip to the vaunted region and see it for themselves. So satisfactoiw did the3' find the place, then a village of about two thousand popula¬ tion, but full of energ3'' and enthusiasm, that they determined to remain here.

Air. Johnson had already a famil3q having married on the 21st of Januar3\ 1847, Miss Cornelia E. AIorrill,a daugh¬ ter of Hon. Ezekiel Morrill, a prominent citizen of Canterbury, N. H. His eldest son, now a distinguished lawyer and pidDlic man in Alinneapolis, was then a child in arms. Closing his business, he took his family, and by the circuitous and slow route then aecessible, reached St. Anthon3Mn the spring of 1854. Arriv¬ ing- here, the Johnson brothers, with Mr. Hubbard, who had accompanied them, established a furniture manufactor3' and store. The shop was on the east river bank, just below the bridge crossing to Hennepin island, and was furnished with power from the falls. Here for three 3'ears they carried on a quite extensive business for the time, until in 1857 they sold out their business to the Barnard brothers. Johnson Brothers then built a three story stone storeat 411 Main street and on its eoni])letion opened a general supply store, with Mr. W. M. Kimball and Mr. Hnbbard composing the firm. After two 3'ears Messrs. Kimball and Hubbard retired, and the Johnson broth¬ ers continued the business under the style of L. G. & J. C. Johnson until 1862. Mr. J. C. Johnson retiring from the firm and Mr. L. G. Johnson continued in the business till 1880. Since, Mr. Johnson has given his attention to the manage¬ ment of his property-, which has been largely in real estate, and the erection of buildings to improve his propert3'. As early as 1856 and 1857, the brothers had laid ont and platted Johnson's Addition to St. Anthonv and also Johnson's Sec¬ ond Addition. It is a remarkable fact, in this changable country-, that L. G. John¬ son still occu]nes the dwelling at the cor¬ ner of University- and Fourth avenues which he purchased and moved into on his arrival in 1854.

In the early- years Air. Johnson was elected an alderman of the city of St. Anthony (1856), but he did not seek nor enjoy public positions. From his first resi¬ dence he connected himself with the First Congregational church, of which he has been a deacon for more than twenty-years. Neither did he join any of the numerous social organizations, thinking that the best agency for regenerating humanity is the Christian church, and its fellowshij) a tenderer and more helpful relation than that of the lodge or clvd). He has given close attention to his own affairs, lived prudently- and trained up a family- famil¬ iarized with religion and literature who illustrate in lives of usefulness and honor the blessings of Christian nurture and public education. His children are H. M. Johnson, lawyer; Mary-, wife of Lieut. John A. Lundeen of the U.S. army-; Wm.

At the present time, Mr. Johnson, in the eightieth year of his age, about equally- divided between life in New Hampshire and in Minnesota, illustrates the advantage of a life of temperance, serenity- and activity-. Both in person and mind he preserves almost youthful elasticity-. He enjoys the i^resent, and reviews with satisfaction his part in laying the foundation of a town which has grown under his eve from almost a hamlet to a great metropolis.

Thomas Kennedy Gray was born at the town of Jefferson, Lincoln county-, Maine. His father was Peter T. Gray-, and his mother Elizabeth (Kennedy-) Gray-. The family- had come to Alaine from Andover, A'Iass.,and was of Scotch descent. His father was a phy-sieian, but died when the son was four yeaJs old. In 1842 his mother removed with her family- of four sons, one of whom was bya former marriage, to Waldoboro, Ale. The three Gray- sons were Oliver, Thos. K. and John D., all of whom eventuallybecame residents of Alinneapolis. Thom¬ as received his education in the schools of Waldoboro, with three years at the Wiseassett academy-. The medical books left by- his father interested him, and, no doubt, gave him a bias for the occupa¬ tion which he eventually- entered xipon. the age of sev-enteen he left school and went into a dry goods store at Waldo¬ boro as a clerk, where he remained for three years. At the age of twenty- he concluded to seek his fortunein the West, and coming to Toledo, Ohio, found em¬ ployment in a store. .After a year and a half he was joined by- his two brothers and came to Alinneapolis, arriving here in October, 1855. Oliver, who had grad¬ uated at Colby- University, AA'aterville,

Maine, opened a select school in Fletch¬ er's hall, which he tanght during the winter of 1855-6, and then went South, where he became identified with that sec¬ tion of the countiw. John D. foimied a ])artnership with Dr. M. R. Greeley, who was a practicing physician in Minneap¬ olis, and opened a drug stoi'e. Thomas went to St. Paul and engaged as a clerk with D. W. Ingersoll, remaining there for two 3'ears.

In 1857 he returned to Minneapolis, and purchasing Dr. Greele3''s interest in the drug business, formed with his brother, John D., the joartnership of Gra}" Brothers. They dealt in drugs, medicines, paints and oils. Their store was on the west side of Hennepin ave¬ nue, 0])posite the open space then known as Bridge Scjuare, but now occupied b\' the Cit3' Hall. Mr. Gra3' has occupied the same spot since that time, now thirt3^- five years, and is the oldest merchant in Minneapolis, and the oldest druggist iti the State. The store was bxirned with nearl3' the entire block of which it was a part in 1864, but was rebuilt in brick and again occupied as soon as it could be made read3'.

John D. retired from the firm in 1871 and removed to the Pacific coast, since which time Thomas K. has continued the Ijtisiness alone. He enlarged the scope of the business, doing a wholesale trade for man3" 3'ears, until the advent of ex¬ clusive wholesale drug houses rendered it no longer profitable.

During all these 3'ears iVIr. Gra3' has attended stricth' to his business, giving it daih' his personal attention. He has not been allured into speculation, neither has he allowed himself to be drawn into different lines of business. With such close and undivided attention his busi¬ ness has prospered and has brought him the merited results of well directed industrv.

About the time Mr. Gray embarked in the drug trade, he purchased a tract of eight or nine acres fora home in the hazel and aspen thicket at the corner of the present Oak Grove and Spruce streets. Here he built a modest home and with his mother for housekeeper set up a home. It was a retired spot, then thought to be far in the countr3'. But from year to 3'ear cit3' improvements enroached upon the rural retreat until to-da3' it is in the midst of one of the most attrac¬ tive residence cpiarters of the citv. From the observatoiw' of the modernized house one now looks out upon the beautiful villas of Oak Grove street and over the green slopes and s])arkling waters of Loring park, but a few blocks awa3'.

When Mr. Gra3" married, in 1865, his bride found herself installed in a well ap])ointed home. She was Miss Julia, dnughter of Rev. L. B. Allen, at one time ])astor of the First Baptist church. The3' have fourchildren, Horace A. and Burton N., aged twentv-six and twentv, and Grace Elizabeth and Mai'gurite, of six¬ teen and fourteen 3'ears. An interestingson, Edward L., was the victim of a dis¬ tressing accident and died just as he was passing into early manhood.

Mr. Gra3' is a devoted member of the Ibrst Baptist church, having joined it during his earl3' residence in Alinneapolis and having followed its migrations from the brick church on Nicollet and Third streets, to Hennepin avenue, where the Lumber Exchange now stands, and then to its lu'esent location on Tenth street and Harmon Place.

He is slight and spaie in build, thoughtfulin mien and reticent in speech. His reading has given him a wide acciuaintance with the literature of the day, and his judgments of men and affairs are positive and apt to be accur¬ ate. While he is no misanthrope, he has an inveterate habit of attending to his own alTairs and abstaining from inter¬ meddling with those of others. While his family and social relations are cor¬ dial and kindly, his characterin the com¬ munity is that of a just, upright and honorable citizen.

Loren Fletcher. Before this sketch shall have reached the reader's eye, Mr. Fletcher, its subject, will have been elect¬ ed to represent the Fifth Congressional District of Minnesota, composed of the city of Minneapolis and the county of Hennepin, in the Congress of the United States, if a unanimous nomination by the Republican district convention shall be ratified by the poptdar vote - a result to which all indications point with al¬ most unerring certainty. And he will be a fit representative of her energetic citi¬ zens, of her varied and important inter¬ ests, and of her liberal and progressive spirit. His identification with the city dates back to 1856, when, a young man of twenty-three, he brought his newly wedded bride, and made a home in the then rural village, with no endowment, save a respectable and liberal training, a good academic education, and an enter¬ prising spirit. He has literally "grown up with'' the city. From the very out¬ set he connected himself with one of its substantial industries, that of lumber, then with trade for many years, and lastly with the great milling business, in all of which and in many other lines of investment and development he has bold¬ ly invested his means, and with industry, enterprise and good judgment has reaped the rewards, which these qualities have so uniformh" brought to the indomitable pioneers of our city. Not alone in the lines of active business has he been con¬ spicuous. Rightly appreciating the im¬ portant relation which politics bear to public prosperity, he has laid hold of the powerful lever of legislation, and helped in no small measure to shape those pub¬ lic jjolicies which have so largely contri¬ buted to the general prosperity. For ten years he was a member of the House of Representatives of the State Legisla¬ ture, and for three years successively its speaker, chosen the last time by a unan¬ imous vote of his colleagues - an instance unique in the political history of the state. Fidelity to the public interests, efficiency in securing residts, courtesy and suavity, have so marked his public service, that he has been designated by his political friends, with an unwonted unanimity, to represent their interests in the most august legislative body in the nation. It would be a pleasant task for the biographer to anticipate a career which will belie all previous experience, if it does not prove at once honorable to the representative, and useful to the con¬ stituency, but his province is limited to the past.

Mr. Fletcher is a native of Maine - a state that has been facetiously described as a good place to be born in, and a bet¬ ter one to emigrate from.

His father. Captain Levi Fletcher, was an intelligent and prosperous farmer liv¬ ing in the town of Mount Vernon, Ken¬ nebec County, who in the latter part of his life moved to the neighboring village, where he lived in a state of comparative affluence, giving his four sons and two daughters the best educational advant¬ ages which the neighborhood afforded. Loren was the fourth son, born April 10, 1833. His boyhood, though passed in farm life, was not one of drudgery, but rather of healthful and stimulating oc¬ cupation. The usual attendance at the village school was supplemented by two years training at the Kent's Hill Semin¬ ary, a distinguished school of the time, where he acquired a good English edu¬ cation.

enter upon a useful and self-supporting life, he thought to learn a mechanical trade, but a short experience with chisel and mallet, as a stone cutter, satisfied him that a mercantile life was better suited to his taste and talent. So going to Bangor he obtained a situation as clerk in a shoe store, where he remained for three years. Hciving now saved a trifle from his small wages, he turned his face towards the inviting West. A few months spent at Dubuque, did not en¬ courage him to remain there, and he joined the tide of emigration that was at that time pouring in a considerable vol¬ ume into Minnesota.

Arriving in St. Anthony in the sum¬ mer of 1856, he found conditions which satified his rather exacting requirements. He found temporary employment with David Edwards as clerk in the store which he had established the previous year in St. Anthony. The following j^ear he entered the service of D. Morrison, who was carrying on an extensive lum¬ bering business. His occupation was varied, sometimes in charge of lumber yards, at Hastings and St. Peter; again in the woods supervising the winter's cut of logs; and anon on the drive, urg¬ ing the logs from the landings, where they were banked during the winter, through the swoolen brooks, and on the river to the saw mill at the Falls. This kind of life, so natural to a young man brought up on the Kennebec, was fol¬ lowed for about three years.

During the summer of 1860 he pur¬ chased an interest in the drygoods store of E. L. Allen. The next year he associ¬ ated Charles M. Loring in partnership in the mercantile business, under the style of Fletcher & Loring. They had their store on the East side of the open space then known as Bridge Square, but after¬ wards the site of the present City Hall. It was a general store, but especially de¬ signed to supply the lumbermen, with whatever was needed in the conduct of their business in the camps, on the drive, and in the saw mills and lumber yards. The business was carried on for more than fifteen years at the same stand. Gradually it extended to other lines of activity and investment, sometimes in pine lands, at other in lumbering jobs, in farms and farm lands, in contracts, in In¬ dian supplies, in town and city lots, and finally in milling. It is the highest testi¬ mony to the sterling qualities of both its members that a partnership has contin¬ ued for thirty -two years with the completest cordiality. Both gentlemen have long since retired from active business, to administer the fruits of their years of well directed enterprise, but by no means from connection with the far reaching undertakings which constitute the life of this busy city. For many years they have been prominently identified with the flour milling business. At first they were interested with the late W. F. Ca¬ hill, in his extensive mills. Afterwards they were proprietors of the Galaxy mill and of a country mill at Minnetonka on the outlet of the lake.

It would be a tedious and not very profitable detail to enumerate the vari¬ ous entei'prises with which Mr. Fletcher has been identified. Enough have been mentioned to exhibit his energy, his versatilitjq his success, and not least his connection with the lines of business which have contributed in no small de¬ gree to the Indus trial development of our city.

Mr. Fletcher is neither commanding in person, comely in feature, nor mag¬ netic in speech. His power over men has rather been in force of will, keenness of perception and clearness of judgment. He has a peculiar incisiveness in speech, which would rank him as a cynic, were it not counterbalanced by a humerous vein, which disarms enmity, and demon¬ strates that beneath a cold exterior glows a sympathetic heart. It has be¬ come the style for his political friends to address him in no disparaging spirit as "Your Uncle Loren."

The year before coming west Mr. Fletcher married Miss Amerette J. Thomas, daughter of Capt. John Thomas of Bar Harbor. Mrs. Fletcher was a most estimable lady, making a happy home of rare domestic felicity, and grac¬ ing the social circles of the city by the af¬ fability of her manners and the gentle¬ ness and kindliness of her character. Her death during the last year, as also the loss of their only child in the freshness of early girlhood, were afflictions which have greatly saddened his life.

Mr. Fletcher has desired that this nar¬ rative of his personal history should be a simple chronicle of the salient points of his life. Whatever estimate it contains of the character and worth of his career, is an altogether inadequate expression of the appreciation in which he is held by one who has known him long, and with some degree of intimacy. Candor com¬ pels him to add, that a life which has been in contact with so many diverse in¬ terests, and which has moreover entered into the sometimes bitter collisions of political rivalry, has not been without the oppositions and hostilities which competion in business and politics en¬ genders.

James Henry Bishop. Since his set¬ tlement in Minneapolis in December, 1879, Mr. Bishop has been at the head of the wholesale paper house of James H. Bishop & Co., and since 1889 he has been president of the American Savings and Loan Association. The former is among the leading jobbing houses of the cit\', and the latter is a well established and jirosperous financial institution do¬

Mr. Bishop was born and grew to manhood in Rochester, New York. His birth was Oct. 17, 1843. His father was Edward Bishop, engaged in the manu¬ facture of varnish at Rochester, and his mother, Hannah (O'Farrel) Bishop. The mother was born in Ireland, and the Bishops in the third generation were Irish. The young man was sent to the public schools of Rochester, and went through the graded course, entering the high school but not completing the course. At the age of sixteen he com¬ menced his business life as clerk in a grocer3^ and afterwards in a dry goods store. After two 3'earsof clerkship the Rebellion broke out, and though but eighteen years of age, he yielded to the prompting of patriotism, and the fervor which per¬ vaded the community. He enlisted in the 4th New York Heavy Artillery Oct. 23, 1861, as a private. In 1863 he was transferred to the 140th Regiment of New York Infantry, in which he was commissioned as second lieutenant, and subsequently was promoted to first lieu¬ tenant. He served for four years, and until the close of the war in the Army of the Potomac, and participated in many eventful scenes. He was present and liarticipated in the great battles of Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. At the lat¬ ter he commanded his company after the first fire, and on the eventful day of the second battle, Julj'' 3, 1863, his regiment chanced to be posted upon the summit of Little Round Top, whence it was thrown into a breach through which Hood was pushing his victorious troops, and encountering him while sweeping up the ravine, repulsed his attack and restored the Union line. This saved the day. The colonel of the regiment was killed, and of forty -two of his company' who entered the battle, but twenty-two responded at its close. It is remarkable that one so young and unaccustomed to hardship, should go through four years of such hard campaigning without a wound or sickness.

After discharge from the army he joined his father's family, who meantime had removed to Chicago, and assisted in the furniture manufacturing business, in which his father had engaged there. After two years he took a clerkship in the insurance business, having employ¬ ment in and about the Board of Trade, and afterwards went into the business for himself, engaging chiefly in marine insurance.

In Deceiuber, 1879, after fourteen years of business experience in Chicago, Mr. Bishop removed to Minneapolis. Here he established the wholesale paper house of James H. Bishop & Co., at first as a partnership, but soon under a cor¬ porate charter, but with the same name. The business was immediately successful and continues so to the present time. Its goods are sold as far as the Pacific coast, and the annual sales aggregate a half million dollars.

The most important business connec¬ tion which he has madeis with the Amer¬ ican Savings and Loan Association. This corporation was started about 1887, adopting the general scheme of business of the then numerous local Building and Loan associations, but engrafting on it a general agency feature, which made it the head of a great system of confeder¬ ated associations. Its branches multiplied rapidly and spread over many states. The National feature of the Association, which was soon adopted by several other companies, brought out an aetive oppo¬ sition from large banking and insurance interests, whose business and profits it rapidly absorbed. The original man¬ agement of the association, perhaps stimulated by its phenominal success and rapid growth, was subjected, besides the outside attacks, to criticism from its own membership, and under the com¬ bined pressure was forced to retire.

At this juncture, in 1889, Mr. Bishop was elected president of the association, and assumed control of its business. He too met with violent opposition, and his company was fiercely attacked. He in¬ troduced economies of administration, cut off expensive agencies, perfected the business methods, and soon placed the company in a sound position.

At length conservative management exerted its legitimate effect in restored confidence, and the company, having as¬ sumed a name more expressive of its real functions, seems to have entered on a new career of prosperity. It certainly is a most important financial agency. Mr. Bishop is fond of styling it "co-operative banking." It seems to combine the best features of life insurance and savings banks, with greater economy than the former and larger profits than the latter. At the date of the last report the associ¬ ation had assets amounting to $2,570,- 736.20 of which the large sum of $448,- 876.14 was surplus and undivided prof¬ its.

Mr. Bishop married, Nov. 22d, 1867, Miss Emeline Richmond Van Inwagen, of Chicago. They have two children, both grown up and married, James E. Bishop, and Maud B., wife of Hugh R. Loudon, of Minneapolis.

Retail Business

of the men who kept the pioneer stores are to be found in the ranks of the later retail trade - the genuine retail business of a large city. Most of the surviving pioneers became wholesalers or accpured competencies and engaged in more exten¬ sive enterprises. The so-called modern retail business began to develop in the latter part of the '70's, though a few houses date back to the preceding decade. In 1867 the dry goods house of George W. Hale & Co. was established on Wash¬ ington avenue, between Nicollet and First avenue south. The firm removed in 1872 to the corner of Nicollet avenue and Third street, and about twelve years after to the corner of Nicollet avenue and Fifth street. Goodfellow & Eastman, drygoods merchants, wereestablished in 1878. Some years later the firm became R. S. Goodfellow & Co. The firm has occupied a building on Nicollet avenue between Washington and Third street, since its beginning. Wm. S. Donaldson came into control of the " Glass Block" - the first of the Minneapolis depart¬ ment stores - in 1884. Ingram, Olsen & Co., drygoods, were established in 1880, and in 1887, upon Mr. Ingram's retire¬ ment, become S.'E. Olsen & Co. Willis & Dunham, importers of milliner}', were established in 1878. The oldest retail shoe house in the city is that of A. Knoblaugh & Sons, founded in 1857. In 1866 the firm of Walker& Heffelfinger, dealers in boots and shoes, was established. This was the business now conducted b}' C. A. Heffelfinger. The drvig store at 108 Bridge Square was started in 1856 b}' John D. Gray and Dr. M. R. Greely, and since 1870 has been the property of T.K. Gra}', who was a pioneer business man of the city. Jos. R. Hofflin was early asso¬ ciated with Mr. Gray, and established the drug storeatlOl South Washington avenue in 1878. In 1880 the music house of W. J. Dyer & Bro. was opened on Hennepin avenue, opposite the West hotel. The business developed rapidly and now occupies the store at 509 and 511 Nicollet avenue. S. M. Williams be¬ gan the book and stationery business in 1863 at 224 Hennepin avenue. The business now shares the store of W. J. Dyer & Bro., at 509 Nicollet avenue. In 1854, W. W. Wales began bookselling in St. Anthony. After interruptions caused by' election to public office, he again en¬ tered business in 1868, and after his retirement, some y'ears later, his daugh¬ ters continued the business, in a measure, opening an art and picture store under the name of Wales & Co. This is the business now conducted by the Beard Art & Stationery Co. at 423 Nicollet avenue. The present Minneapolis Drygoods Co. is the outgrowth of the busi¬ ness established in 1883 by Dale, Barnes, Morse & Co. A few years ago the carpet firm of Folds, Griffith & Colver was absorbed. The retail dry' goods estab¬ lishment of George S. Beall, at 623 and 625 Nicollet avenue, was opened on April 11th, 1891. Mr. Beall had been in the same line of business at Columbus, Ohio, for about eight years and brought to his Minneapolis enterprise an extended ex¬ perience. He still retains an interest in the Beall Drygoods Company at Colum¬ bus. H. J. Burton entered the wholesale clothing business in Minneapolis in 1 880, but after two years opened a retail dej)artment. This has grown to large dimensions and is widely' known as the Plymouth Clothing House. A more recent but phenominally' successful retail enterprise is that established by Wm. L. Harris under the name of The New England Furniture & Car])ct Com¬ pany'. John Schlcner began business at the age of sixteen with W. W. Wales. As the result of his y'ears of practical ex¬ perience in the stationery' business he has been unusually' successful since establish-

George Washington Hale. The dry goods business of G. W. Hale & Co., established in 1867, was for years the leading house in that line of trade in Minneapolis, and since the death of the senior partner has been continued until the present time. Mr. Hale brought to the business , experience gained by success¬ ful prosecution of trade at the east and a considerable capital. He was a modest and pleasant gentleman, but attentive to business, and possessed rare skill in the selection of goods and in the organ¬ ization and management of a large mer¬ cantile establishment.

George W. Hale was a native of Tun¬ bridge, Orange County, Vermont. The date of his birth was February 8, 1834. His father, John Hale, was a farmer. Of his family of five children George W. was the youngest but one. He was sent to a neighboring academy, and then placed in a store in his native town, where he remained until 1856. His elder brother, Jefferson, had already taken up his resi¬ dence in Minneapolis, and George deter¬ mined to join him, and came west with the intention of taking up a residence here.

His first employment was in teaching, taking a school in North Minneapolis. He was also employed in connection with Captain John Tapper, in taking tolls on the Suspension bridge. In the spring of 1860 he returned to the vicin¬ ity of Boston, where on the 22d of May of that year he was united in marriage with Miss Jennette Webster. She was a native of Cabot, and a daughter of Hon. Alpha Webster, who was a relative of the family of Daniel Webster. Without re¬ linquishing the purpose to establish him¬ self in the west, he opened a dry goods store at Milford, Mass., and continued in that trade for the next seven years, with considerable success. In the spring of 1867 he returned to Minneapolis, and without closing the busines at Milford, established a dry goods business in Min¬ neapolis. His older brother, Jefferson M., was employed in the store. The store was on Washington avenue between Nic¬ ollet avenue and Minnetonka street (now First avenue south). The same year he built a residence at No. 628 Washington avenue north, which at that time was one of the best in the town, and where he continued to live through life. The store was after a few jears removed to a new building at the corner of Nicollet Avenue and Third Street, and upon the erection of a business block on the homestead of H. G. Sidle, was finally located in it, at the corner of Nicollet Avenue and Fifth Street. As the trade of Minneapolis grew, other dry goods stores were intro¬ duced and drew trade from a wide scope of country, but none displayed a better class of goods or had a more substantial custom than the pioneer store of the Hales.

Mr. Hale's death occurred February 22, 1884. His family consisted of five daughters, four of whom survive him. The eldest is the wife of Frank H. Anson, another of F. W. Eastman, another is the wife of Frank Rollo Woodruff. The other daughter and her mother occupy the fine brick homestead at No. 1224 Chestnut Avenue. These lots were pur¬ chased by Mr. Hale at an early day. The plans for the house were perfected and the means provided for completing it, but death came before they were car¬ ried into effect.

The famil3' has ever held a high social position. In domestic relations, in citi¬ zenship, in the diversified activities of a rapidly growing city, Mr. Hale, without courting notoriety, performed every duty with fidelity, and was among the best esteemed of the citizens, but his ambition was to succeed as a merchant. His chief thought was given to his business, realiz¬ ing that inattention and carelessness are sure precursors of ruin in commercial affairs. The steady growth and popu¬ larity of his business is the surest evi¬ dence of his skill in its management, and integritv in dealing with the public.

Jefferson Marshall Hale, senior member of the long established and lead¬ ing dry goods house of Hale, Thomas & Co., is a native of the town of Tun¬ bridge, Orange county, Vermont. He was the oldest of a famil3' of three sons and two daughters born to John Hale, a substantial farmer, long settled in that town, whose ancestors, formerly settled in New Hampshire, belonged to the Eng¬ lish settlers of colonial times. A 3'ounger brother was George W. Hale, who first established the dry goods ' business in Minneapolis as earl^- as the beginning of the year 1868, and with whom J. M. Hale was long associated as Geo W. Hale & Co.

J. M. Hale was born September 5th, 1827. His early life was passed upon the farm, with the usual routine of at¬ tendance at the neighborhood school in his youth and alternate work on the farm during summers, and attendance at school winters, in the later years of boy¬ hood. He remained with his father until his majority. He then took work in bridge building on the Vermont Central railroad. He had never learned the car¬ penter's trade, but having an aptness in the use of tools, and a constructive mind, he soon mastered the trade and was able to frame as close a joint as the regular journejmian.

After pursuing this kind of work for two or three 3'ears he found himself suff¬ ering from malarial influences and was obliged to laydown his tools and devote himself to recuperarion. In 1853 he went to California, and with returning strength was able to resume work at bi'idge building, and spent one and a half 3'ears in that occupation on the coast. Returning home in the fall of 1854, after a visit, he started westward in pursuit of a permanent place of residence. This was fovmd at Minneapolis, which he reached on the 24th day of Ailgust, 1855. For immediate emplo^mient he engaged to work for Francis Morrison, and silent the winter in a logging camp on the Missis¬ sippi river, not far from Crow Wing, and the following season worked in iSIr. Morrison's saw mill, not far from his logging camp. At the close of the season he returned to Minneapolis, and satisfied that he had found asatisfactor^Gocation, went back to Vermont, whei'e in October he mai'ried Miss Emeline R. Barrows, of Stowe, who accompanied him on his return to Minneapolis.

In the spring of 1857 he went into a hotel at Hastings, but sold out his inter¬ est in^the following October. He then took emplojmient with Town & Grimshaw, who were extensive contractors and builders, and worked at the carpen¬ ter's bench for the next six years. On the 17th of August, 1862, tidings came to Minneapolis of the Indian outbreak and massacre. Capt. Strouts' Company of the Ninth regiment happened to be available, and was filled up with citizen recruits for the occasion, and was soon on the march for the scene of the out¬ break. Mr. Hale was one of those who volunteered for the special defence of the frontier. On the third of September, near Acton, the little force of eightv'inen, armed with infeidor guns, were surrouneed by four hundred Indians flushed with the slaughter of settlers, and burn¬ ing with all the wild ferocitv'of savages. They were forced to cut their way through the living cordon of warriors.

which was accomplished with surprising small loss. In the retreat of ten miles to Hutchinson, Mr. Hale occupied a wagon loaded with disabled and wounded men, discharging rifles that were loaded and handed him by the wounded. His hat and clothing were cut with bullets, but providentially none touched his person. At Hutchinson, on the following day, the battle was renewed, but the little band, protected by hastily built fortifi¬ cations, held the enemy at bay until it was relieved by a detachment of the Third regiment that was sent to their aid.

After this startling episode of frontier life, Mr. Hale returned to his work. He soon engaged for Messrs. Foster & Con¬ ner, at millwright work. They were en¬ gaged in erecting saw mills and putting in machinery at the platform of the mill company. He followed this employment until the spring of 1867, when he built a house for his brother George, on upper Washington avenue. When G. W. Hale opened a dry goods store on Washington avenue in February, 1868, J. M. Hale joined him as a clerk, with an interest in the profits. The sales of the first year amounted to $17,000. In 1871 he opened a dry goods store on his own account in the Jacoby building No. 250 Nicollet avenue, and ran it for two years. Then the business of the brothers was consolidated at the corner of Nicol¬ let and Third street, where now is the Plymouth clothing house. After ten years of increasing trade and enlarging business, the store was removed in 1884 to the present location of Hale, Thomas & Co., which was established just before the death of G. W.Hale. The business, of which Mr. Hale is now the senior part¬ ner, has grown to the extent of annual sales of from $475,000 to $500,000, with sixty people employed.

the marriage was a daughter, Jessie Bell, now the wife of Mr. George E. Tuttle, of East Twenty-seventh street, Minneapo¬ lis. In 1869, Mr. Hale was again mai'- ried to Miss Louisa M. Herrick, daugh¬ ter of the late Nathan Herrick, of Min¬ neapolis. Their only son, Chas.S., grad¬ uated at the Minnesota State University with the Class of '92.

For the last year, 1892, Mr. Hale has been laid aside from active business life by a painful affliction, which, however, does not prevent him from going about. He spent the last winter with but little benefit on the Pacific coast. His home is a substantial brick house at the cor¬ ner of Third avenue and Eighteenth street, surrounded by an ample lawn.

In late years other dry goods stores have been established, with fine stocks of goods and many attractions, but none enjoy a better custom than the old house established by the Hales, with a reeord of twenty-four years of prosper¬ ous trade.

Mr. Halehas long been conneeted with Plymouth Congregational chureh, whose fellowship he greatly enjoj^s, and of which he is a devoted and consistent member.

Andrew Talcott Hale. The dry at¬ mosphere and stimulating climate of Min¬ nesota have allured not a few to found homes far away from their ancestral abodes. Not a few, among the most re¬ fined and useful of our people, have sought here conditions which might pro¬ long lives threatened with disease, or re¬ new strength sapped by maladies, which only change of air and scene eould relieve. While yet Minneapolis was a rural set¬ tlement, Dr. Horace Bushnell, of Hart¬ ford, Conn., visited it for the benefit of his health, impaired by serious inroads of pulmonary disease. After summering and wintering here, with excursions throughout the unsettled prairies of Da¬ kota, during which he freeh' eontributed by his pulpit ministrations, as well as enthusiastic advocacy of park improve¬ ments to the improvement of the morals and culture of the community, he re¬ turned to his work in Hartford appar¬ ently restored to health and vigor. Among his acquaintances in the vicin¬ ity of Hartford was Mr. Andrew T. Hale, a gentleman, who, at the age of forty years, seemed to be yielding to the onset of pulmonary disease. His Con¬ necticut home was pleasant and satisfactor^". He still occupied and cared for his ancestral farm, with a well estab¬ lished business in Hartford, but a few miles distant. But "all that a man hath will he give for his life.'' With an experience of several seasons passed around Lake Superior and the testimony of Dr. Bushnell as to the invigorating and restorative qualities of the Minne¬ sota climate. Air. Hale determined to re¬ move here, and, closing his affairs at the East, brought his family and settled in Alinneapolis in the fall of 1860. At first he took the house, then lately vacated by Wm. G. Webster, on lower Sixth street. Four years later, deciding to make the city a permanent home, he built a fine residence on First avenue adjoining the then residence of S. C. Gale, now the site of the Bank of Com¬ merce.

Air. Hale had brought his patrimony, increased by tff? results of careful admin¬ istration, as well as the profits of his business life, sufficient to satisfy the rea¬ sonable needs of a family. He did not engage in business, but occupied his time in active out-door employments, driving about the country, and interesting him¬ self in whatever occurred to his cultivat¬ ed and thovightfid mind as calculated to advance the pidilic welfare. He identi¬ fied himself with Plymouth Congrega¬ tional Church, engaged actively in its Sunday school and mission work, inter¬ ested himself in pidDlic education, and gave no little attention to the beautify¬ ing the city, by tree planting and land¬ scape adornment, as well as to its sani¬ tary improvement. After a few years his name and capital were sought in var¬ ious business undertakings, and were given more with the desire to aid friends in establishing business than with expec¬ tation of pecuniary advantages. Thus he became a member of the firm of A. T. Hale & Co., whose active manager was Air. C. D. Davison, who had married a sister of Mrs. Hale. Their business was at first gentleman's furnishings, but grew into a considerable clothingmanufactur¬ ing concern.

He also became interested in real es¬ tate, especially in Davison's addition to North Minneapolis, the greater part of which he obtained, as well as in adjacent tracts of land, now composing Baker's fourth addition. To the enterprise of this firm is chiefly due the transformation of the cjuagmire, which for many years dis¬ figured the area in front of the Nicollet House, into the Center Block; Messrs Hale& Co. having purchased the ground were joined by others, and the whole area was built up. He was also a direc¬ tor in one of the early National banks.

But his most important engagement was as a member of the School Board, to which he was elected in 1865. For three years, and until the declining state of his health admonished him to lay aside burdens, he devoted a large por¬ tion of his time, and much thought and labor to the interests of the pidjlie schools. During this ])eriod the Wash¬ ington school - the first High School of the city, was re-built, and schools estab¬ lished in the upper and lower parts of the city. In this work of public education he engaged not only with the interest of

Another enterprise which occupied his thought and stimulated his labor, was the erection of a tasteful and com¬ modious house of worship for Plymouth Church. Having procured plans to replace the first edifice, whieh had been burned, he personally solicited funds, and superintended the erection of the ed¬ ifice, which for many years was the home of the ehurch, at the corner .of Fourth street and Nicollet.

Mr. Hale's devotion to public educa¬ tion and his capacity in the administra¬ tion of its interests were recognized in his election as one of the first board of trus¬ tees of Carlton College, at Northfield.

The change of residenee from New England to Minnesota, seemed to have restored him to comparatively good health. He had mueh enjoyment of life, and was able to undergo eonsiderable labor. But the disease with whieh he had suffered had been checked, not eradieated. The spring of 1869 found him again failing, and having arranged his worldy affairs in a way to avoid the publicity of official administration, he re¬ signed himself to approaching death and in the midst a family circle of unusual affection, and with the sorrow¬ ing regard of an appreciative and sym¬ pathetic community, he fell asleep in June, 1869.

Andrew T. Hale was a native of Glas¬ tonbury, Hartford County, Conneetieut. He was born July 8, 1820. His father, Benjamin Hale, was a lineal deseendant of Samuel Hale, who was a member of the eolony which settled at Wethers¬ field, Conn., in 1636, under the leader¬ ship ofRev. Thomas Hooker. His mother was Lavinja Talcott, also deeendedfrom one of the old families of the Connecti¬ cut commonwealth. The maternal name of Talcott is borne by both Mr. A.

T. Hale and H. T. Welles, of Minneapo¬ lis, who were related to the Taleott fam¬ ily through their mothers. Mr. Hale's father occupied a farm on the banks of the beautiful Conneetieut river, whieh had been an inheritance of the family from colonial times. There wei'e two sons, Andrew T., the eldest, and Henry, a resident of Buffalo, N. Y., but well known in Minneapolis. Though raised on a farm, the children had every advantage of refined society, and lib¬ eral aeademic edueation, and were ex¬ empt from the anxieties whieh harass the early lives of so many sons of the soil as to provision for the material support of life. Andrew was delicate in constitu¬ tion, and at an early age joined his ma¬ ternal uncle Col. Andrew Taleott, who was an engineer in the United States army, in various engineering works. He was employed in the surveys for the present New York Central Railway, up¬ on the survey of the Northeastern bound¬ ary between Maine and Canada, and up¬ on the coast survey at the mouth of the Mississippi. These occupations filled the nine j'ears from 1835 to 1844. The next three summers were spent on Lake Su¬ perior, a part of the time in government survey, and a part in the survey of min¬ eral lands. For six years before eoming to Minneapolis he was engaged in the flour and produce business at Hartford. The remaining time was passed upon the home farm, in its care and management. He had a taste for rural life, and enjoyed the cultivation of the soil, the planting of trees, and raising fruits and vegetables. His agricultural life was pursued both as a profitable oceupation and a pleasant diversion, with a constant care for his health, which gave indications of pul¬ monary weakness.

They had foiir davighters. The eldest, Ellen, is the wife of Mr. E. A. Harmon, of Minneapolis. The seeond, Mary, re¬ mains in the household. The third, Cath¬ arine, is the wife of Dr. Jos. P. Cochran, a medical missionary of the Presbyterian Board of Missions at Oroomiah, Persia. The fourth, Luc3^ having passed a course of instruction in medicine and attained the degree of M. D., has lately married Dr. Geo. W. Holmes, also a medical mis¬ sionary of the Presbyterian Board, at Hamadan, Persia.

A liberal share of the estate left to Mrs. Hale, has been devoted, in accord¬ ance with the benevolent wishes of her husband, To the endowment of religious and educational institutions.

Mr. Hale was of a very gentle nature. He moved in an atmosphere of refine¬ ment; and with the consecration of a Christian he passed his years in un¬ ostentatious but effective labors of beneficence. In the bustling throng of ambitious men, so intensely de¬ voted to material interests, among whom he moved, his quiet example of patience, fidelity, and faith in spiritual things, was "like the shadow of a great rock in a weary land."

Seaver E. Olson was born in the parish of Ringsaker, near Hamar, in Norway, on February 2d, 1846. His father was a contractor and builder, and beside himself there were three older sisters and a j^ounger brother in the familjL Both parents were Baptists of very strong religious principles.

The father was aver\' pious man, and the early training of his boj's was strict and in close uniformity with the decrees of the church. The family was an un¬ usually intelligent one, the home advant¬ ages being of a rare intellectual order. An uncle, Tollef Olson, was a seminar^' professor for fifty consecutive 3'ears, and at the expiration of that time he was awarded a gold medallion by the king as being the oldest educator in continued service in that country.

Up to the age of ten years, Seaver obtained, practicall3', all of his education under the tuition of his uncle. That at that early age he had obtained no small elementary knowledge is evident from the fact that between the ages of ten and twelve years he taught a district school.

When he was twelve years old the family emigrated to America. They landed in Quebec and proceeded directl3" to La Crosse, Wis., and at a distance of seventeen miles from that town the father took up land and pursued farming until his death in 1884. Seaver remained at home on the farm fora 3"ear, and then obtained employment in a general mer¬ chandise country store in La Crosse, which was at that time a little village.

Here he sta3'ed for two years, doing all sorts of work about the store. A great ambition had alwa3'S mastered him, and that was to get a college edu¬ cation. His parents could not afford to send him, and he made up his mind if he ever entered college it must be b3^ his own efforts. He was only fourteen 3xars old when he started out for Beloit, Wis., with the intent and purpose of getting a college education.

For nine months he struggled on, going to school and working enough outside of hours to pay his wa3' along. Soon he found it impossible to obtain means to cany out his cherished hope, and having a taste as well for mercantile pursuits he again turned to that, with the sincere determination that, as he could not get a college education himself, he would work ifcrd to obtain means whereby his 3'ounger brother, whom he greatl3' loved, might be able to have that which he could not. It is one of Mr. Olson's hap¬ piest recollections that he was able to realize this cherished hope to its fullest extent. The boy was taken from the farm, and for ten consecutive years Mr. Olson furnished him the means to pursue his studies in this country and Europe, fitting him for the honored position which he afterwards held as president of the State University of South Dakota. This brother was the one whose life came to such an unhappy close in the Tribune fire in November, 1889.

After Seaver had given up his idea of going to college, he obtained a position in a store in Beloit. Soon after the pro¬ prietor started a store in Cambridge, Wis.,and sent young Olson tomanageit.

The nine months' schooling which he had obtained at Beloit was all that he ever received in this country, and it was no easy sacrifice for this boy to give up all his ambitious desire for knowledge in order that he might bestow it upon his brother.

As manager of the store at Cambridge he remained until January 1, 1864, when he was engaged by his former employer in La Crosse as head bookkeeper and general manager of the store which he had first entered as a lad. This respon¬ sible position he held until Jan. 1, 1867.

He now determined to strike out in business for himself, and opened a store in Rushford, under the firm name of S. E. Olson & Co. After three and one-half 3^ears this concern did the largest busi¬ ness of any storei n the State, outside of St. Paul In 1870, Mr. Olson sold out his interest in the firm and for the third time attached himself to his former em¬ ployer in La Crosse, but this time as a full partner in the business.

Always aspiring to greater opportu¬ nities and more extensive fields of opera¬ tion, in 1873 he organized in La Crosse the wholesale and retail drygoods house of Olson, Smith & Co. At the end of three years a part of the firm dissolved and the business was divided. Mr. Olson retained the jobbing interests of the firm for two years, and in 1878 removed the stock to Minneapolis, thereby realiz¬ ing a long desired wish to identify him¬ self with this young and prosperous city.

He attached his interests to the firm of N. B. Harwood & Co. The disastrous failure of this house in the fall of 1880 left Mr. Olson completely stranded, and without a dollar in the world. After the stock had been largely disposed of by a sheriff's sale, in company with M. D. Ingram, Mr. Olson succeeded in borrow¬ ing sufficient money to purchase the re¬ mainder of the stock, and opened up a retail store at the old stand, under the firm name of Ingram, Olson & Co.

This proved a good stroke, and in a short time the business became most prosperous and one of the best dry goods establishments in the city. In 1887, Mr. Olson purchased Mr. Ingram's interest, for which he paid him cash, and as the sole owner has conducted the business up to the present time. During this time he has retained the services of Mr. Ingram, who is now chief buyer for the firm, and resides in New York.

During S. E. Olson's residence in Min¬ neapolis he has been among the foremost in all matters which tended towards the development and welfare of the city. He has occupied numerous honorable posi¬ tions of trust, but has consistently held aloof from politics. For several years he was president of the State bank, and resig-ned only recently.

Mr. Olson, despite his busy life, has given some attention to politics, and is one of the recognized leaders and a rep¬ resentative of his nationality. While he has persistently refused to receive from his party any reward for his services and devotion, he has been mentioned as a possible candidate for congress hy the conservative element, which desires that the business interests of the Northwest be represented at Washington.

Mr. Olson was the first person who ever suggested the idea of an exposition, and it was immediatel3" caught up by the newspapers and enterprising citizens, and, in far less time than could have been expected, materialized. He has been a director of the exposition board almost from the very start.

Personally, Mr. Olson possesses char¬ acteristics which makes him at once a friend to all who are worthy of friend¬ ship. He is a man of even disposition, always kindly, impulsive, generous to a fault, and idolized by his help, to whom he is most kind and considerate. His religion is that of the Baptist church, and his charities, though quiet, are num¬ erous.

William Donaldson. Among the multitudes who engage in mercantile pursuits most meet with failure and dis¬ aster. Many by industry, economy and perseverance reach moderate success; while few rise to commanding positions in the commercial world. Among the latter are chiefl3'- those who engage in wholesale trade. When a retailer rises to the foremost rank, his success is evi¬ dence of rare genius, surmounting the limitations which usually confine this trade to a narrow field. Amongthe few who may be placed in the latter class is the senior jiroprietor of the "Glass Block" in Minneapolis. His career is a signal instance of perseverance in work¬ ing out a plan of life deliberately formed, united to the high qualities of sound judgment and integrity, with courage bordering on audacity, in entering upon and developing favorable opportunities. To such qualities the draper's apprentice owes his present position in the head of