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 44
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He remained in Washington, assisting in set- tling the affairs of Jay Cooke and Company, until the fall of 1873, when, having determined to start anew in the west, he removed to Corning, Iowa. He found immediate employment in the banking house of George W. Frank and Darrow, and at the end of two months became a member of the firm, his long experience and extensive knowl- edge of banking methods making him invaluable to his employers. He remained in Corning, Iowa, until the summer of ISSo, when he removed to Minneapolis, and the present firm of Nelson, Ten- ney and Company was organized, comprising B. F. Nelson, W. M. Tenney and H. W. McNair. This firm is one of the most successful lumber
companies in the northwest, operating in Minne- sota and Iowa some thirty branch yards. The firm employs a capital of one million dollars, and in 1891 about sixty million feet of lumber were handled. The company is in possession of large tracts of pine lands in different sections, supply- ing abundant material for its various manufac- turing operations. The firm own and operate three saw mills in Minneapolis, occupying some twenty acres of land, and during 1892 sawed one hundred million feet of logs. Since the organiza- tion of the company Mr. Tenney has actively participated in its management.
Since 1881 he has been a director in the Secu- rity Bank, one of the strongest financial institu- tions of Minneapolis. In 1883 he was elected cashier of the Security Bank, which position he resigned in 1886, his other affairs demanding all his time and attention.
In political sentiment Mr. Tenney is a Repub- lican, but beyond performing his duty as a citizen he has no time to devote to politics, and has never aspired to any public office.
On the 30th of October, 1866, at Washington, he married Miss Julia McNair, daughter of Mr. David A. McNair, who was well-known as the efficient chief of the redemption division in the office of the Treasurer of the United States. Mrs. Tenney is a niece of General O. B. Willcox, of the United States Army. To them have been born four children, two of whom survive. Mr. and Mrs. Tenney are active members of West- minster Presbyterian Church of Minneapolis, and devote much time and money to this and to every worthy charitable and benevolent cause.
OLOF N. OSTROM,
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
O LOF N. OSTROM was born in Christian- stad, Sweden, July 29, 1850. His father was a boot and shoe merchant near Christianstad, Sweden, and was enabled to give his son a fair education, which was obtained in the public schools of his native city, and by private tuition at his home. Olof's first experience in the busi- ness world was as bookkeeper in his native place. At the age of seventeen he came to the United
States and settled in St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1868 he removed to St. Peter, Minnesota, and ac- cepted a position with a contracting and building firm of that place. In 1872 he started on his own account, and continued in the contracting and building business until 1878. While thus en- gaged he superintended the construction of a number of large buildings. Among the most prominent of those he built as contractor was
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Fred . Pilsbury
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the Gustavus Adolphus College of St. Peter. In 1879 he removed to Evansville, Minnesota, and became a dealer in general merchandise and grain. In 1883 he started the Bank of Evansville, and in 1885 disposed of his general merchandise busi- ness and devoted his entire time to the interests of the bank and to his grain trade. In 1888 he sold his banking interests at Evansville and re- moved to Minneapolis, where he organized the Swedish-American Bank. The capital stock upon its organization was one hundred thousand dol- lars, which was afterward increased to two hun- dred and fifty thousand dollars. The institution has been very successful. It has a large line of deposits, amounting to one million dollars, and besides paying dividends of eight per cent. to its stockholders, has accumulated a surplus of eighty- five thousand dollars. The Inter-State Grain Company, of which Mr. Ostrom is president, was organized by him with a capital of five hundred thousand dollars, in connection with Messrs. C. S. Hulbert and Charles M. Amsden, to continue on a larger scale his grain business in Evansville.
The business, upon its organization, controlled twenty-five elevators. It now (1892) operates nearly one hundred elevators located on the Chi- cago Great Western, Minneapolis & St. Louis, and Great Northern Railways, and a large ter- minal elevator in Minneapolis.
Mr. Ostrom is also interested financially in sev- eral enterprises. He is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Alexandria, Minnesota, and Bank of Gibbon, Minnesota, and Washington Bank, Minneapolis.
On October 1, 1870, he married Miss Helen M. Ely at St. Peter, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Ostrom are blessed with two children : Alma, aged eighteen, and Alexander, aged thirteen.
In all his business projects, Mr. Ostrom has been successful. He has accumulated a fortune, entirely through his far-sightedness as a financier, and ranks as an eminent and successful business man, and holds his position entirely through his own efforts. He has always tried to treat every- body justly, and is esteemed as an upright, hon- orable man by those who know him best.
FRED. C. PILLSBURY,
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
F RED. C. PILLSBURY was born in Con- cord, New Hampshire, August 27, 1852, and was the youngest member of an illustrious family, the fame of whose name has spread throughout the American and European conti- nents. New England has been the home of a galaxy of eminent men, and to the west she. has given bountifully of her brain and sinew. Min- nesota has been especially favored, and in sum- ming up the causes which led to her present com- mercial greatness, we find the name of Pillsbury closely identified with her proud prosperity. The Pillsburys came to Minnesota during the days of pioneer hardships, with little capital other than their brains, industrious habits and Christian vir- tues, and began a commercial career that has thrived and grown by honest endeavor. Fred. C. Pillsbury was a brother of Mr. C. A. Pillsbury, and a son of Mr. George A. Pillsbury, whose his- tory, together with the early history of the Pills- bury family, will be found on another page of
this volume. He attended the public schools of Concord, and was graduated from its high school when eighteen years of age.
In 1871 he settled in Minneapolis, which was then a city of thirteen thousand inhabitants, and which gave little promise of its present greatness. He began as a clerk in the hardware store of his uncle, Mr. J. S. Pillsbury, where he remained until 1875. The milling business at that time began to assume large proportions, and Mr. Pills- bury and his enterprising brother, foresaw that Minneapolis was destined to supply breadstuffs for the world. He became a partner in the mill- ing firm of Messrs. C. A. Pillsbury, out of which grew the Pillsbury-Washburn . Flour Mills Com- pany, with a capital of five million dollars, and a capacity of about twelve thousand five hundred barrels of flour daily. Retiring on the formation of the new company, Mr. F. C. Pillsbury became chairman of the Executive Committee of the Northwestern Consolidated Milling Company,.
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having the second largest flouring plant in the world, with a daily capacity of ten thousand five hundred barrels, and comprising the following named mills: the Crown Ore, the Columbia, the Pettit, the Galaxy, the Northwest and the Zenith, all located on the Mississippi river.
Mr. Pillsbury was a Republican, but not a poli- tician ; he was president of the State Agricultural Society and a member of the board of managers of the Minnesota State Reformatory. He was vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce ; chairman of the Executive Committee of the Northwestern Consolidated Milling Company ; vice-president of the Empire and Atlantic Ele- vator Company and a director of the First Na- tional Bank of Minneapolis.
In 1876 he married Miss Alice Goodwin, the refined and accomplished daughter of Dr. D. M.
Goodwin, one of the oldest and most eminent physicians of Minneapolis. Four children are the fruits of this union, the eldest being now twelve years of age.
Mr. Pillsbury was a member of the Minneapolis Club, and one of the governing committee and a member of the board selected to build the new club-house. His personal and social qualities were those that characterize the true gentleman ; and his upright life, his manly deportment and his noble virtues, combined with his splendid abilities and achievements, endeared him to all who knew him, and won for him an enduring name. In his decease, which occurred on May 15, 1892, Minneapolis suffered the loss of one of her best citizens; his family a devoted husband and loving father, and all who held his confidence a true friend.
HORACE WYMAN PRATT,
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
T HE pathway to success is beset by many barriers, and he who attains that coveted goal without sacrifice to his fellow-men is, in truth, the type of man to whose example and life a nation or a city may point with pride. The opportunities of the west have developed a gal- axy of successful business men that challenges the history of all times and nations, and in the commercial history of this country one must ac- cord a bright page to those men who, by their tireless energy and ability, have made this west- ern country a marvelous factor in the financial stability of our government.
On the 8th of August, 1833, in Chautauqua county, New York, Horace W. Pratt was born. His father, Hiram A. Pratt, who was born in Washington county, New York, had been for many years a farmer and merchant of Chautau- qua county, and was universally respected. The American branch of this family was first estab- lished in Connecticut, and its founder was one of the very early settlers of that state. In later years members of the family removed to Massa- chusetts, New York and Pennsylvania, whence its various branches have sprung. Captain Hiram . Pratt, grandfather of Horace, participated in the
war of 1812, serving his country faithfully and with distinction. He died soon after the battle of Plattsburg, from exposure and injuries received at that battle.
Horace attended the public schools in his native place during the winter months and worked on his father's farm summers until his twentieth year. At that time the possibilities of the west claimed the attention of those young men who had the courage to face the hardships and priva- tions of pioneer life and the intelligence to fore- see her wonderful future. In his native place Mr. Pratt saw but little prospect for future advance- ment; desirable places were already crowded and farming was ill-suited to his tastes. Accord- ingly, in 1853, he left his home, and with twenty dollars in his pocket started for Chicago. He remained in Chicago a few days and then jour- neyed to La Porte, Indiana, where he remained for one year, teaching school and studying law. In 1854 he spent six months in Freeport, Illinois, continuing his law studies .. He then removed to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he taught the first regularly conducted public school of that place, and where he remained until 1856.
It was during these three years, while teaching
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school and studying law, that Mr. Pratt obtained his first knowledge of business methods that have led him to honorable and enduring success. In the spring of 1856, with a few hundred dollars which, by rigid economy, he had managed to save, Mr. Pratt removed to Dodge county, Minne- sota, and with others laid out the town site of Mantorville. He remained there eleven years, practicing law and dealing in real estate. He enjoyed a fair measure of success and accumulated considerable money. In 1867 he removed to Owatonna, Minnesota, and engaged in the grain business, which was then in its infancy, and achieved satisfactory success. He remained in Owatonna ten years. In 1877 Mr. Pratt removed to Faribault, Minnesota, and there continued in the grain trade eight years, and was uniformly prosperous. In 1885, realizing that more could be accomplished in his business in Minneapolis, a city peculiarly fitted for the grain trade, he re- moved thither, and immediately began business, with Mr. George W. Porter as a partner, under the firm-name of Pratt and Porter.
Mr. Pratt is the president of the Union Eleva- tor Company, and is also largely interested in the Empire Elevator Company, which he organized. He is also a director in the National Bank of Commerce, and at different times has been prom- inently indentified with numerous business enter- prises. Mr. Pratt is a man of most engaging presence, dignified and courteous in manner, dis- playing that consideration for others which marks the true gentleman. Among his business associ- ates he is recognized as a man of sterling quali- ties, with an unblemished reputation and an unswerving adherence to the principles of hon- orable dealing.
In politics he is a Democrat, but he has never aspired to any public office. He has found but lit- time to devote to social organizations, although he has been a Master Mason for many years.
On the 25th of November, 1862, Mr. Pratt married Miss Imogene A. Thayer, a lady of cul- ture and refinement, and the daughter of Orin Thayer, of Dodge county, New York. They have two children.
HON. CHARLES N. HUNT,
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
C HARLES NORTON HUNT was born at West Point, Lee county, Iowa, July 8, 1855, the son of Virgil Odel Hunt and Mary S., née Norton, his wife. His father, a native of Otis, Massachusetts, went to Ohio at an early day, and removed thence to Iowa in 1853. He was a general dealer in real estate, farms and live stock. Our subject's maternal grandfather, Na- thaniel Norton, of Vermont, served in the colo- nial army in the war of the Revolution.
Charles spent his boyhood on the farm in Iowa, and received the ordinary common-school educa- tion. At an early age he displayed an aptness for study and fondness for books. He attended the graded and high school at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and afterwards Howe's Academy. He entered the Iowa State University, at Iowa City, in 1875, taking a six years' course and was gradu- ated therefrom in 1880. He was awarded the first prize for oratory in his junior year, and in 1889 was sent to Oberlin, Ohio, as the representa-
tive of the Iowa State University, at the inter- state oratorical contest. He had charge of the public schools of Onawa, Iowa, during 1880-81. He was graduated from the law department of the State University of Iowa in 1882, read law in the office of Mr. Joseph A. Edwards, of Iowa City, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1882. He then commenced practice in the city of Minneapolis and went into the office of Hon. Freeman P. Lane in July of that year.
In the fall of 1882, on account of ill-health, he went to Jamestown, Dakota Territory, where he remained one year practicing law and dealing in real estate; he then went to Bismarck and was in that city practicing his profession when the capital was located there. In 1885 he was elected judge of the municipal court of Bismarck and served one year. He was also sent as a dele- gate to the Territorial convention held at Yank- ton that year.
In the spring of 1887 he returned to Minne-
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apolis and resumed his profession there, confining himself to corporation law. For two years he acted as attorney for the Washburn Mill Com- pany. He was in partnership with Mr. C. M. Wilkinson in 1888-9, and in August, 1890, he formed a partnership with Mr. F. H. Morrill, under the firm-name of Hunt and Morrill, which still continues. Their practice is confined largely to corporation law and they are engaged in some of the most important litigation in the state and federal courts.
Mr. Hunt is a lawyer of fine ability, untiring
perseverance and great energy. He is well read in the elementary principles of his profession, and he keeps up with the current decisions of the courts. He is a fluent, easy speaker, with a copious flow of pure English ; is a cogent, logical reasoner, and his addresses on literary or political subjects are often illustrated with similes, meta- phors and antitheses which follow each other in rich and varied profusion. He has great versa- tility of talent and good practical judgment. He ranks high among the successful lawyers of Min- neapolis.
JAMES DODGE RAY,
DULUTH, MINN.
TN Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on April 24, 1821, a son was born to Mrs. Caroline (Dodge) Ray, wife of James Ray. This son was the fifth child of a family of six children, and was christened James, in honor of his uncle, Dr. James Dodge, an eminent physician of Salisbury, Connecticut.
James passed his early life after the manner of New England boys of that day, attending school and assisting his parents, who kept a New Eng- land tavern, known as the "Half-way House," between Hartford, Connecticut, and Albany, New York. In 1832, they determined to remove to the great undeveloped western country, and started for Ohio. On this journey they traveled over the only railroad then constructed in the United States, it being a stretch of about forty miles between Albany and Schenectady. The rails were of flat bar iron, and the rate of speed was eight miles an hour. From Schenectady they journeyed on the Erie Canal packet to Buf- falo, and after waiting in that city four days they obtained passage on a lake vessel for Ashtabula, Ohio. At that time there were but five or six vessels carrying passengers on the lakes. After a short residence in Ashtabula, the family removed to Lenox, a town about fourteen miles south, and became tillers of the soil, cattle-raisers, and saw- mill proprietors.
James' father had brought quite snug sum of money from the cast, and at once became active in all affairs tending to advance the country. He
was one of the promoters of the Ashtabula and Warren turnpike, which provided a good road through Lenox. After it was completed it was principally owing to his efforts that it was thrown open for travel without toll.
James, early in life, displayed great executive abilities. His father becoming disabled, the du- ties of conducting the farm and mill fell upon him when he was but fourteen years old. But he performed his duties nobly, and personally super- intended the clearing of the land and building of saw-mills. He remained in Lenox until 1852, and during the last five years of his residence there he was largely interested in the cattle busi- ness, and frequently drove large bunches of cattle to New York city, that being then the market for cattle. He has occupied as much as forty-five days in making the journey to New York. The cattle now are carried to New York from the same point by rail in as many hours.
In 1852 he removed to St. Louis, and became a wholesale dealer in butter and cheese. His health failing, he was advised to seek a different climate, and in 1855 removed to Superior, Wis- consin. He brought a stock of general merchan- dise with him, and sold anything from shingles to brocaded satins. In 1857 he disposed of his merchandise business, and purchased the first steam mill erected at the head of Lake Superior, and operated it the first season after it was con- structed. This mill he disposed of to Senator Howard, who began his career in this section as a
James D. Ray
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clerk for Mr. Ray. He was elected sheriff of Douglas county, Wisconsin, and at the same time engaged in hotel-keeping, as manager of the Superior hotel for the proprietors, some three years.
As early as 1856 he made investments in what is now the city of Duluth. He and associates laid out what is now called the Portland Division to Duluth, and built the Portland Dock, the con- struction of which he superintended personally, enduring the hardships and exposure of a severe winter, during which he was frequently compelled to be in snow up to his waist.
· From 1860 to 1865 he resided in Ashtabula county, Ohio, and in the latter year he returned to the head of Lake Superior, and settled in Duluth. In the summer of 1867, Mr. Ray made a trip to Milwaukee, and obtained a contract for furnishing the material for the first government improvements made at the head of the Lake. His partners in this enterprise were Sidney Luce, Colonel Culver, William Nettleton and Voss Palmer. Mr. Luce and these other gentlemen worked personally upon this contract, which was for the construction of a pier at the outlet of the St. Louis river. Judge J. R. Carey commanded one fleet of scows during the construction of this pier.
While conducting his merchandise business in Superior, Mr. Ray personally supplied a "north shore man " (as a resident of Duluth was then called) with a complete outfit, from shoes to hat, to be sent to the Minnesota territorial legis- lature, to obtain a charter for a canal across the peninsula known as Minnesota Point, and also to permit a plank road to be constructed along the her welfare than he.
entire length of this peninsula. The charter was obtained, but the work was not finished until many years later.
Mr. Ray has greatly added to the improvements of Duluth, and many large buildings, that would be a credit to the largest cities, are lasting monu- ments to his enterprise. He was one of the prime movers in building the Masonic Temple of Duluth, one of the finest edifices erected in the West, and is one of the largest stockholders. He was created a Master Mason in Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1856, in Rising Sun Lodge. He was a charter member of Tuscan Lodge, Jefferson, Ohio, and also a charter member of Palestine Lodge, No. 79, of Duluth. He has passed through the various chapter and commandery degrees up to the thirtieth degree Scottish Rite. He is now a member of Duluth Commandery, and has been for many years generalissimo of the commandery.
Mr. Ray has been twice married. In Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1850, he wedded Miss Cornelia G. Watous. Four children, of whom Robert C., is the only survivor, were born of this union. In 1865, at Monterey, Massachusetts, he married Miss Caro- line E. King, a highly educated woman, a gradu- ate of Maplewood (Mass.) College. The issue of this marriage was also four children, all of whom, excepting Marion, have passed away. Although named Marion, this daughter is called Daisy, having been given that name by her little nephew when she was but two days old.
Mr. Ray was among the very first to forsee a great future for Duluth. He has the utmost confidence in the future of the city, and no man is more willing to assist any enterprise tending to
FRANK B. KELLOGG,
ST. PAUL, MINN.
F RANK B. KELLOGG is prominent among the younger members of the St. Paul bar. He is a graceful, easy speaker, with a good com- mand of the English language, and is noted for his just conception of the law, his faculty for imparting his ideas, skill in eliciting testimony, tact in the management of his cases and fairness to his adversary.
He was born in Potsdam, New York, December 22, 1856, the son of Asa F. and Abigail (Billings) Kellogg, who removed to Minnesota in 1865.
Young Kellogg was admitted to the bar in 1877, at Rochester, Minnesota, where he com- menced the practice of the law. In October, 1887, he formed a partnership with Hon. Cush- man K. Davis, United States senator, and Mr. C.
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A. Severance, at St. Paul, under the style of Davis, Kellogg and Severance, which still exists (1892). This firm has an extensive practice, and Mr. Kellogg finds ample scope for the exercise of his versatile talents.
He is very industrious, a hard worker and an enthusiastic student. He is a lecturer on the
subject of equity, in the law department of the University of Minnesota, where his easy, graceful manner, and ripe scholarship and ability to awaken the interest of his students, render him deservedly popular. His abilities and achievements give assurance of a useful and brilliant career.
HON. LOREN FLETCHER,
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
T `HE opportunities of the west have developed a galaxy of successful men that challenges the history of all times and nations, and in the commercial history of this country we must accord a bright page to those men who, by their tireless energy and ability, have developed this western country. To the thoughtful student there is a valuable lesson to be gleaned from the lives of those men whose courage and confidence enabled them to build the foundation upon which Minne- apolis now stands-the first city of the northwest. . Closely connected with every step of that devel- opment stands the name of Loren Fletcher. He was born at Mount Vernon, Maine, on the Ioth of April, 1833. His father, Captain Levi Fletcher, an old and highly respected citizen, had been a farmer in that vicinity for many years. Loren's early days were divided between his father's farm and the common schools of his native village. Subsequently he entered Wesleyan Seminary, at Kent's Hill, Maine, where he remained until the age of seventeen. Leaving school then, he found employment in Bangor, Maine, as a clerk in a shoe store. About that time the possibilities and advantages of the great west claimed the atten- tion of young men of enterprise and courage, and seeing little promise of advancement in the east, Mr. Fletcher determined to emigrate.
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