USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > The biographical dictionary and portrait gallery of representative men of Chicago, Minnesota cities and the World's Columbian exposition : with illustrations on steel. V. 2 > Part 31
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
In defense of his course, Mr. Walker maintained in his replies that, " The library is a public insti- tution, as such is exempt from taxation, so claimed by the directory and so admitted by the state."
Also, "That the course pursued was in accor- dance with the hearty approval of the great majority of the stockholders of the library. That Dr. Spencer frequently told Mr .. William Garce- lon, who was intimate with him, that 'he inten- ded his property for the benefit of the city in the broadest sense of the word.'" Mr. Walker said further : " I have been trying for several years with the assistance and approval of most of the members of the association to make the institu- tion as free as will be consistent with the charter and with best interests of the library."
Still Mr. Walker was not satisfied, since the funds of the library were so circumscribed by conditions that only certain classes of books could be purchased, and in the rapid growth of the city he saw the call for a library that should meet all the wants of our mixed population and be free to all. At the same time it seemed un- necessary to maintain two separate libraries and duplicate the valuable stock of books now in the Athenæum. Mr. Walker proposed that the city, by taxation, establish a Free Library upon con- dition that the citizens contribute a certain large sum towards the erection of the building, and that the Athenaeum, the Academy of Science, and the Fine Art Society be given space in this building, in consideration of which the books of the Athe- næum library were to circulate upon the same terms as those of the Public Library, and to be drawn in the same manner. This was agreed to, necessary litigation secured, and Mr. Walker was the first to subscribe to the citizens' fund.
When that beautiful design was completed, Mr. Walker saw something of a realization of his de- sire for many years that this commonwealth should have a library of which it should be justly proud. The rapid growth of this institution for the two years which have now passed (1891) since it was first formally opened, and the perfect har- mony of action between the two boards of the Library and Athenæum, and the pride of the citizens in it, are the best possible witnesses to the wisdom and the broad and liberal policy in- augurated by Mr. Walker. As would seem right and proper, though in the face of his protest, Mr. Walker has been continuously elected president of the Library Board from its organization in 1885 to the present time, 1891.
The liberal provision for art in this building is
1
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
813
due also to Mr. Walker's interest in and devotion to it. From its inception he has been a staunch friend and supporter of the Art School, which seems now destined to cut no small figure among the higher educational interests of the city, and is president of the Art Society. While his purse has been at their command, he has not stopped there. The bare walls of the spacious gallery ap- pealed to him so strongly that he has, from his own magnificent private collection, loaned pictures enough to cover one whole side and end. In fact, fully half his collection is there.
Mr. Walker's private gallery has been pro- nounced the choicest collection of art treasures for its size in the United States. It is kept con- stantly open to the public on all days but Sunday, thus furnishing a center of art education which is highly esteemed and appreciated by both citizens and strangers. The fame of this gallery has gone abroad throughout the nation, and even to Europe, and many are the expressions of sur- prise from eastern connoisseurs over the unlooked treasures displayed upon its walls. Among them are some of the finest and most well-known ex- amples extant of the following artists: Jules Breton, Bouguereau, Corot, Rousseau, Kaulbach, Rosa Bonheur, Schreyer, Crochepierre, Inness, Knaus, Leo Herrman, Detaille, Van Marcke, two original life portraits of Napoleon by Robert Lafevre and David, portraits of Josephine and Marie Louise by Robert Lafevre, portraits of Washington by Rembrandt Peale, and many others of equal celebrity.
Mr. Walker's home library consists of a care- fully selected collection of choice books, and manifests a mind well stored with useful knowl- edge, as well as a sentiment of refined culture and literary taste.
The Minnesota Academy of Natural Sciences is another institution much indebted to Mr. Walker's interest and patronage for its past sup- port and present fortunate situation. For almost, or quite as many years as the Athenæum, Mr. Walker has been interested in its work, though spending less time in its meetings and manage- ment than some others. Many years ago, when the Academy was holding its meetings in a small, poor room on the east side, with no place for the display of their collection of specimens, Mr. Walker arranged for their removal to the west
side, and the fitting up of Kelly's Hall for their occupancy. The expenses of this change, which included cabinet cases and many other appliances, were more than half paid by Mr. Walker. This hall continued the home of the Academy for many years. But through Mr. Walker's influence, when the library building was designed, the needs and importance of this association were considered, and spacious and beautiful apartments were assigned them.
For several years Mr. Walker was a member of the board of managers of the State Reform School, where he made his strong practical busi- ness habits felt, and inaugurated many valuable changes, as well as became a great favorite with the inmates of the school. His own early hard- ships well fitted him to understand the peculiar discouragements that depress the friendless boy.
Not the least important of the services ren- dered to the city of Minneapolis has been Mr. Walker's devotion to building up her material in- terests on the line of manufactures, jobbing, etc ; recognizing many years ago that in the rush of immigration and the pressure of work required to build a city, there lay a danger of too much de- pendence upon wheat and too little upon manu- factures and legitimate efforts to attract capital for permanent investment in the lines that would furnish permanent employment at living rates to the masses of the people. This was so impressed upon his mind that many thought him an ex- tremest, believing that all such matters would regulate themselves, and that we enjoyed advan- tages of various kinds which removed from us any necessity for active competition with the less favored regions of the country.
Results proved the correctness of Mr. Walker's views, and two years since, through his inspira- tion, there was organized a Business Men's Union, which has many unique features. This is a vol- untary and gratuitous organization for the pur- pose of encouraging the location of proper and desirable business ventures, either manufactures or jobbing.
Mr. Walker having been elected president of this Union (which was composed of the wealthiest and most representative men of the city) has de- voted a large part of his time and invested many thousands of dollars for the benefit of the city.
The Minnesota Land and Investment Com-
814
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
pany is another institution at the head of which Mr. Walker stands, and into which he has put much time and money. Believing that the beau- tiful country country lying west of the city was the natural and proper home for the manufactur- ing interests of the city, Mr. Walker organized a company, composed of some of the leading men of the city, who purchased a large tract of land consisting of nearly two thousand acres. This Mr. Walker platted and laid into residence and manufacturing districts, and already several flourishing factories are in operation with a steadily increasing population. All this wealth of manufactures and population is directly tribu- tary to Minneapolis, and will, in the course of a very short time, become a part of the city as it lies just beyond its present boundary. An elec- tric railway, built in the early spring, will add to the already very good facilities for rapid transpor- tation, reducing the time between the two busi- ness centers to not more than twenty minutes.
To the influence of the Business Men's Union and this St. Louis Park enterprise, is very largely attributed the fact that this city has escaped the business depression which has been so heavily felt in nearly if not all the other cities of the west.
The Flour City National Bank was organized in 1887, after having waited many months in the vain attempt to induce Mr. Walker to take the presidency. One year later he was elected to this position without his knowledge or con- sent ; and during his absence from the city by unanimous vote of the stockholders. Mr. Walker
still holds the office and devotes such time and attention to the business as is necessary to its success but his resignation has been in the hands of the directors more than a year, which they have refused to accept. Mr. Walker feels that he is over-loaded already with work and care, and ought to lay down rather than take up new enter- prises.
During the past year Mr. Walker has organized a company of which he is president, for the con- struction of a central city market, which will when completed (which will be in June next), be probably the finest market building in the United States. It is built of red brick with sandstone trimmings three stories and basement, nearly seven hundred feet in length.
Thus it will be seen that Mr. Walker stands president of the following organizations : Minne- apolis Business Men's Union ; City Library Board ; Minneapolis Land and Investment Com- pany; Red River Lumber Company ; Flour City National Bank; Society of Fine Arts, as well as a prominent member of the Academy of Science,
Mr. Walker's early mathematical and engineer- ing education and later manufacturing expe- riences rendered him especially well fitted to the , the presidency of which has been repeatedly task of developing such a scheme.
urged upon him.
Mr. Walker stands before us as the perfect type of generous, symmetrical manhood. All his life has been an exemplification of all that is best in the human heart and soul. To the thoughtful student there is much in his career to inspire us with the fire of emulation. You are better and I am better, that Thomas Barlow Walker lived. We trust that the unwritten page in the biography of our honored subject will long remain unwritten, and for him and his noble wife we wish all the blessings that come to lives so worthy of the highest honor and respect.
HON. CHARLES E. FLANDRAU,
ST. PAUL, MINN.
NE of the men most favorably known, on account of his services to the state, his ability and personal qualities, is found in the per- son of Charles E. Flandrau. He was born July 15, 1828, in New York city. His ancestors were Huguenots, driven out of France by persecution ; they came to the New World and founded New
Rochelle, in Westchester county, New York. Mr. Flandrau's father was a lawyer of distinction, and for some years a partner of Aaron Burr. His mather was a half-sister of General Alexander Macomb.
Charles attended private school at Georgetown, District of Columbia, until thirteen years old,
Chas E, Flandraw,
815
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
when he secured a midshipman's warrant in the United States Navy ; but being one year too young he could not take the position. However, his unconquerable desire to go to sea would brook no disappointment, and he accordingly shipped in the revenue cutter Forward where, he remained for one year, and then engaged for an- other year to ship with the cutter Van Buren. His next service was on board merchantmen coasting vessels, where he made several trips. At the age of sixteen he returned to school for a time, and then went to New York and worked three years in mahogany mills, but was not satisfied- he had not found the place for which nature endowed him. Going to Whitesboro, Oneida county, New York, he began the study of law, and three years later, in 1851, he was admitted to the bar and began practice as a partner with his father. Two years later (1853) Mr. Flandrau removed to Minnesota, and in company with Mr. Horace R. Bigelow, another young lawyer, who has since risen to distinction, settled in St. Paul, where the firm of Bigelow and Flandrau began their distinguished career in the west. Some months later Mr. Flandrau was employed to make some explora- tions up the Minnesota River in Minnesota, of a claim located near Traverse des Sioux, which claim is now St. Peter, and was so impressed with the country that he decided to locate there. There he met Stuart B. Garvie, who had recently been ap- pointed United States district clerk, and secured office room with him. He was a stranger and clients were few, and he found abundant need for the exercise of patience and perseverance. There were plenty of opportunities to develop the keen- ness of sight and steadiness of nerve necessary for the "crack shot" of the frontier. It is even said that wolves were invited by dead animals within rifle shot of their office window, and that their pelts, sold at seventy-five cents each, helped swell the purses of the two pioneer representa- tives of the law.
Mr. Flandrau held the position of district attor- ney in 1854, also other offices of minor impor- tance, and in 1856 was elected to the territo- rial legislature, where he served one year, and resigned on account of other duties, he hav- ing been appointed by President Pierce, Uni- ted States Indian agent for the Sioux of the Mississippi.
In 1857 Mr. Flandrau was elected to the con- stitutional convention as a representative of the Democratic party. In July of that year he was appointed by President Buchanan, associate justice of the supreme court of the territory of Minnesota, and filled that office until the terri- torial government was superseded by the state government. After the constitution of Minnesota was adopted, he was nominated by the Demo- cratic party, and elected judge of the Supreme Court, and assumed his official duties imme- diately after the state was admitted. The first court had most arduous duties. There were no precedents, and the construction of the statutes of a new state was a matter of great responsibility.
In 1858, Judge Flandrau was appointed by Governor Sibley judge advocate general of the state, and held that position during the adminis- tration of Governor Sibley. In August, 1862, immediately after the beginning of depredations by the Sioux, Judge Flandrau organized a force of volunteers to rescue the frontier settlers, and proceeded with the utmost dispatch to New Ulm. Their timely arrival saved the people of that village from being massacred. Having driven back the Indians, he recruited a larger number of men, and stationed his forces at the most exposed places. On August 29, Governor Ramsey sent him a general commission, giving him power to take such measures as he deemed best for the protection of the frontier. A few days later he was commissioned colonel, and continued until September 25, when he was relieved by Colonel Montgomery, of the Twenty-fifth Wisconsin. He then returned to his duties on the supreme bench, and contined till 1864, when he resigned to go to Nevada, to resume the practice of law at Carson City. The next year he went to Wash- ington, where he met Colonel Richard Musser, of St. Louis, with whom he entered into part- nership, but did not long continue with him.
Returning to Minnesota in 1866, he opened an office in Minneapolis, in connection with Judge Isaac Atwater. He was soon after elected city attorney, and was chosen president of the first board of trade organized in that city, and repre- sented it in the great commercial convention held in St. Louis in 1868, to promote the improvement of the Mississippi river for navigation. In 1870
816
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
he removed to St. Paul, and entered into partner- ship with Messrs. Bigelow & Clark.
Judge Flandrau has been a life-long Democrat, and has twice been a candidate of the party, in 1867 for governor, and in 1869 for chief justice of the supreme court ; but his party in Minne-
sota being greatly in the minority he could not be elected.
Judge Flandrau has since been a prominent member of the St. Paul bar, and is regarded as an able lawyer, a public-spirited citizen, and a high- minded gentleman.
HON. CHARLES A. PILLSBURY,
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
C HARLES A. PILLSBURY was born at Warner, in Merrimac county, New Hamp- shire, October 3, 1842, the oldest child of George Alfred and Margaret (Carleton) Pillsbury. His father was a son of John Pillsbury, and a brother of ex-Governor John Sargent Pillsbury, whose sketches appear elsewhere in this volume. In no family is the law of heredity more strongly marked than in the Pillsbury family. To his ancestry Mr. Pillsbury owes much for his mental endowments, but his business success has been purely the result of his own efforts. His primary education was obtained in the common schools of Concord, New Hampshire. After one year spent at Colby Academy, at New London, he entered Dartmouth College, and was graduated in the class of 1863. Every winter during his col- lege course he spent in teaching, in order to help pay his way through college. He taught at Sanbarton Bridge, East Concord, at Greenland, and Litchfield, and here first manifested that quality, possessed by very few, which has been one of the elements of his subsequent success, namely, the ability to control and manage men. Immediately upon graduating from college, he went to Montreal, Canada, where he remained until the summer of 1869, clerking most of the · time. His ambition was to do his work thor- oughly, and thus become a necessity to his employers. No task was too difficult; no time was too long, and it was no uncommon thing for him to work all night, although he was only expected to work the usual hours. In later years, when young men have asked his advice, it has been his frequent answer: "Make your services so valuable and necessary to your employer that he cannot afford to do without you."
On September 12, 1866, he was married by
Rev. J. W. Ray, at Dunbarton, New Hampshire, to Miss Mary A. Stinson, daughter of Captain Charles Stinson, who, for many years, was one of the largest and wealthiest farmers in New Hamp- shire. Three years later, 1869, he removed to Minneapolis, where he saw at a glance the possi- bilities which lay in the water-power of the Falls of St. Anthony. He at once purchased an in- terest in a small flouring mill from a man who had taken it in payment of a debt. At that time there were four or five small, old-fashioned mills at the Falls, but the business was practically unde- veloped. The mill in which he purchased an interest had been idle for some months. Mr. Pillsbury was totally unacquainted with the mill- ing business, but made a success from the start. His ambition was to always thoroughly under- stand the details of everything he undertook, in all their relations. And here, we may state, he has always made it a principle to learn something of every person with whom he came in contact, whatever his station or condition. As a result of this habit, and his great industry, he soon became thoroughly versed in all the departments of milling.
After conducting the business successfully for several years, a copartnership was formed between himself and his father, George A. Pillsbury, and his uncle, John S. Pillsbury, under the name of Charles A. Pillsbury and Company, and the property, now known as the Pillsbury " B" mill, was purchased. Soon afterwards, the Empire mill and Excelsior mills were leased, and the Anchor mill purchased. During all these years he had managed these valuable mills, whose products had become known throughout the land. In 1880, the firm determined to build the largest and finest flour mill in the world. Charles A.
Chas. a. Tilbury
817
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
Pillsbury was thoroughly acquainted with all the mills of the country, and had a practical knowl- edge of the milling machinery used in the United States. He then went to Europe to investigate the leading mills there, and went as far east as Buda-Pesth, in Hungary, to study Hungarian methods. At that time Hungarian flour brought the highest prices in the markets of the world. Mr. Pillsbury thoroughly mastered their processes, and after an absence of several months, returned to Minneapolis, to proceed with the construction of the proposed mill. Instead of using the Hungarian system entirely (as did the builders of the Washburne and Christian mills), he only adopted for the new mill, now generally known as the Pillsbury "A" mill, the Hungarian system of disintegrating the wheat by iron rollers instead of by mill-stones, and retained American ma- chinery for the other parts of the mill.
To-day (1892) the Pillsbury "A" mill is run- ning with the same machinery that was originally put in, while the mills of others, which were built with the Hungarian system, have all been remodeled. Without attempting to describe this mill in detail, suffice it to state that the Pillsbury "A" is by far the largest and best equipped mill in the world. It has a capacity of seven thousand barrels per day, and it has at times surpassed this daily output.
The Pillsbury "B" mill has a capacity of twenty-eight hundred barrels of flour per day, and the Anchor mill a daily capacity of fifteen hundred barrels.
To say that Mr. Pillsbury has built up and successfully managed flour mills having a daily capacity of eleven thousand barrels, and that for many years he has been at the head of the largest milling industry of the world, does not ade- quately describe the magnitude of his achieve- ments.
To facilitate the obtaining of wheat, Mr. Pillsbury early organized a system of elevators, extending throughout the best wheat regions of Minnesota and the Dakotas. This system is known as the Minneapolis and Northern Elevator system. To readily obtain the immense quantity of wheat required for the Pillsbury mills, con- vert it into breadstuffs, and then dispose of the output to the best advantage, requires the highest type of business ability. Any one of these vari-
ous branches of the business involves an immense amount of labor in itself, and demands the highest order of business sagacity. But here Mr. Pills- bury shows his great executive power. His thorough knowledge of details, united with his mental grasp and business foresight, has made him master of all departments.
He not only saw the needs of the home trade, but also the foreign markets, and immediately put his products in active competition with those of all the mills of the world. To do this was no easy task, but the successful result is known to all, and as the American traveler walks the docks of the old world, he sees the sacks of Pillsbury's flour unloaded, and is thrilled with pride at the thought of American industry and western enter- prise. Persons of every nationality, who are un- acquainted with the names of American officials and statesmen, are familiar with the name of Pillsbury. To the improvements made in milling in Minneapolis, and the development of the industry there, must, in large measure, be attrib- uted the rapid settlement of Minnesota and the Dakotas. Until these improvements were made, the wheat product of the northwest commanded the lowest market prices ; since then it has brought the highest.
If the old conditions had not been changed, the northwest could never have been a large wheat- producing section, since, with the former low prices, her farmers could not have competed with the wheat-raisers in India, Russia and other parts of the world. Considered in the light of their far-reaching results, the achievements of Mr. Pillsbury and those associated with him, should entitle them to lasting gratitude.
In politics, Mr. Pillsbury has been a Republi- can since he was old enough to vote. His business has claimed his chief attention, but his wisdom in national and state affairs has been sought many times. From January I, 1877, to to January 1, 1887, he was a member of the Min- nesota state senate. During his senatorial career he was an acknowledged authority on finances, and for nine years he was chairman of the finance committee of the senate. This position, with his conceded financial ability, gave him charge of all financial measures before that body, and during his chairmanship of that committee, his recom- mendations were not in a single case overruled
818
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY AND PORTRAIT GALLERY.
by the senate. He also had charge of the bill for the settlement of the repudiated Minnesota railway bonds. With his retirement from the senate, Minnesota lost one of her wisest legisla- tors.
In 1886 he was unanimously nominated for the mayoralty of Minneapolis, but he declined the honor, and, though often importuned to accept political preferment, he has steadfastly declined.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.