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 63
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course at the Eclectic Institute at Hiram, Ohio. At Hastings, Minnesota, he began business as clerk in a drug store, where he remained three years, and then taught school one year.
At the opening of the civil war, Mr. Searles was one of the first to respond to the call for men, enlisting in the First Regiment of Minne sota Volunteers and was for three years in the army of the Potomac. For meritorious service and bravery, Mr. Searles was made successively second lieutenant, first lieutenant and captain. After Mr. Searles was mustered out in 1864, he went with the expedition that located Fort Wads- worth, Dakota, where he remained as post trader three years. But he was not contented, and felt that his sphere was too contracted for his capa- bilities and ambitions, and he accordingly entered the law department of Michigan University, from
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which he was graduated in 1869. Returning to Hastings, Minnesota, he commenced the practice of law and soon became one of the leading lawyers of his county. He was elected county attorney, and to the Minnesota General Assembly from Dakota county.
In 1882 Mr. Searles removed to Stillwater, and soon became a prominent and influential member
of the bar there. In politics he has always been a Republican, and was elected to the state senate in 1891, but lost his seat through an election con- test. Mr. Searles is a Royal Arch Mason, and
stands high in the Masonic order. In 1867 he was married to Miss Sarah L. Tozer, daughter of Isaac B. Tozer. They have had three children.
SAM T. FERGUSON,
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
T O have been a pioneer in the development of the manufacturing interests of the north- west ; to have labored with his hands in raising some of her early tenements; to have brought an important branch of manufacturing industry from a small beginning of handcraft to a great corpor- ation, employing manifold machinery and send- ing its finished product to break the sod, till the soil and sow the seeds on multitudes of farms throughout the northwest, and finally to maintain a complete iron foundry, with its varied products of utility and ornament, constitute the patent of nobility with which the truthful historian would ennoble this useful and industrious life.
Tradition assigns to the ancestor of the family a Scotch origin. Authentic records show that Daniel Ferguson died at Kittery, Maine, in 1676, where he had resided more than ten years upon a farm. After him succeeded in regular genera- tions, James Ferguson, James Ferguson, Jr., Reuben Ferguson and Ivory Ferguson, who was the father of S. T. Ferguson. His mother was Abigail Goodhue. He was born in the town of Dixmont, Penobscot county, Maine, December 29, 1835, being the seventh born of a family of nine sons and daughters. Until his ninth year he attended the district school of the neighbor- hood, and from that time until his seventeenth year aided in the farm work through the sum- mers, continuing at school winters. At this age he entered the academy at Hampden, with the purpose of preparing to enter Bowdoin College. Winters he engaged in teaching school and work- ing as a joiner in the ship yards at Rockland and Belfast. Having completed his preparatory studies in 1857, he was compelled to relinquish
his purpose to enter college by premonitions of pulmonary disease, which forbade a sedentary life. He therefore turned his face westward, following the large tide of emigration which at that time was setting from northern New England to the Northwest, and made a pre-emption claim near Monticello, Wright county, Minnesota. The out- door life through the summer so recruited his health, that he went to Madison, Wisconsin, where a schoolmate had settled, and after work- ing for a few months as a carpenter, he thought his health sufficiently restored to continue his studies.
He entered the State University at Madison in in the second term of the Freshman class, but after a term at study the old symptoms returned, compelling him to give up his plans of study. He now returned to Minnesota, and in the spring of 1857 formed a partnership with Daniel Young at St. Anthony, in the business of contracting and building. For two years the firm was con- stantly employed, putting up several stores and dwellings. In the spring of 1859 he had a severe hemorrhage from the lungs, which so depleted his strength that he was compelled to abandon his prosperous business.
Repairing again to Madison and then to Cin- cinnati and Chicago, he spent the next two years in attempts to regain health, with intervals of labor at his mechanical trade. At Cincinnati he spent some time with J. A. Fay & Co., manufac- turers of wood working machinery.
With strength regained he returned to Minne- apolis and formed a partnership with Charles Brown, a practical carriage maker, for the manu- facture of plows. In the spring of 1861, he
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occupied a small shop on Minnetonka street (First avenue south), between First and Second streets, where the infant business was started. They made wrought steel plows, Mr. Ferguson designing and making his own patterns. Soon after commencing the business his partner volun- teered in the famous First Minnesota Regiment, and Mr. Ferguson bought his interest and con- tinued the business. In the fall he took Mr. C. K. Perrine, who was a blacksmith, into partner- ship, and the new firm built a shop at the corner of Utah street (First avenue north) and First street. In 1863 Mr. Ferguson bought out his partner and continued the business until 1865, when his shop was burned. He now removed to the corner of Itasca street (Second avenue north) and First street, and resumed and continued the business until 1869, when he took as a partner, Mr. John B. Clark, now Professor of Political Economy in Amherst College. Afterwards, E. H. Holbrook acquired Mr. Clark's interest, and when the late W. B. Jackson entered the firm in 1871, the business was incorporated as the Moni- tor Plow Works. The popularity of their plows had steadily increased, the business had greatly enlarged, so that with additional capital and much improved machinery, their products were multi- plied. Mr. Ferguson invented and patented im- provements in the gang plow, the horse rake and corn planter, as well as the old walking plow, which were introduced into their implements and sold throughout the Northwest, the Monitor plow and Monitor breaking plow having great popu- larity. Mr. Ferguson remained as mechanical
manager of the works for ten years. When the business was thoroughly established, occupying a large plant which had been built in the westerly part of the city, he withdrew. He now bought the interest of Mr. L. V. N. Blakeman, in the firm of Menzel and Company, and associating with Mr. Gregor Menzel, formed a partnership in the foundry business, under the style of Menzel and Ferguson, which still exists. For a long time they made a specialty of car wheels, but now are largely occupied with architectural iron and general castings. The works are very com- plete, equipped with all needed machinery, and employ a large capital.
Mr. Ferguson married in 1886 Miss Clara Munch of Redwood City, California. They have three children. They are members of the con- gregation of Park Avenue Congregational Church, Mrs. Ferguson being connected with that church.
Mr. Ferguson in his busy life has not been un- mindful of social obligations. He is a charter member of the Order of Good Templars, and is connected with the Masonic fraternity, having attained the thirty-second degree of Scottish rite.
Other manufacturing interests than the one with which he is personally connected engage his attention. He is a director of the Minneapolis Plow Works, and president of the Coffin Box and Lumber Company. Mr. Ferguson thoroughly understands his business, giving it close attention, while indulging a taste for literature, especially as connected with practical arts.
[The above sketch was prepared for the History of Minneapolis by Munsell & Co.]
CYRUS WELLINGTON,
ST. PAUL, MINN.
T HE subject of this biography is favorably known in the northwest as an able lawyer, well versed in his profession, acute and alert of mind, with a ready command of the English lan- guage. As an advocate, he is in the front rank ; and as a forensic debater, he has no superior. He is noted for his skill in the management of cases, tact in eliciting evidence, and superiority as a trial lawyer. He possesses the power of keen analysis to a high degree and easily detects
false analogies. He grasps the salient points of a question with ease ; and there is a refinement in his methods of thought that enables him to handle delicate questions with great skill and ex- actness. He is suave in his manner, self-poised and dignified in demeanor, thoughtful of the feel- ings and respectful towards the opinions of oth- ers, possessing those instincts that characterize a great lawyer and a true gentleman.
Cyrus Wellington was born at Albany, New
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York, February 22, 1844, the son of Jonas C. Well- ington, who was a prominent politician in his day, and who, when the great rush for the gold fields in California was made in 1849, joined the throng. Cyrus' grandfather, Elisha Wellington, was a lieutenant in the Continental army under General Washington; and his commission is still pre- served in the safe of our subject. He lived at Concord, Massachusetts, died and was buried there.
Mr. Wellington obtained a good education in the public schools in his native county, and he seemed to have a natural bent for the law, for when quite young he borrowed law books and commenced the study of the elementary princi- ples of the law at home. After removing to the west, he served three years in the Union army in the late civil war in the Ninth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He was severely wounded while gallantly fighting before Atlanta, and was
mustered out of service, September 24, 1864, at Marietta, Georgia.
He entered a law office at Decorah, Iowa, in 1870, and was admitted to the bar of that state in 1871. He practiced law at Decorah seventeen years. But his fame as a trial lawyer soon became so wide that his practice extended into several states, as far east as Milwaukee, Wisconsin, whither he has repeatedly been called to try im- portant cases; also throughout Iowa, Minnesota, and the Dakotas. He was elected District Attor- ney of the Tenth Judicial District of Iowa, and also re-elected, serving in all eight years. In June, 1888, Mr. Wellington removed to St. Paul, Minnesota, and formed a partnership with Mr. W. W. Erwin, and has continued to the present time (1892), enjoying an extensive practice.
Mr. Wellington married on December 10, 1873, Miss Gertrude G. Allen, by whom he has three children.
WILLIAM H. DUNWOODY,
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
T HE modest gentleman whose name heads this notice, and who is known upon the flour exchanges of two continents, has a personality so unassuming that it is recognized by comparatively few of his fellow-citizens, among whom he has conducted a large and successful business for more than twenty years. Greatness is often ac- companied by striking physical qualities ; some- times, however, its presence is manifested only by results worked out in seclusion, through the dominant power of a thoughtful and active brain.
Mr. Dunwoody is one of those whose thought, elaborated in the quiet seclusion of his office, sets the machinery of business into ceaseless revolu- tion and achieves results by the unfailing success of his well laid plans. He was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, March 14, 1841. His father was James Dunwoody, whose father, grandfather and great-grandfather lived in the same vicinity in Chester county, and were all engaged in agricultural pursuits. They were of Scotch ancestry, and of the Calvinistic faith and Presbyterian church connection. His moth- er was Hannah Hood, daughter of William
Hood, of Delaware county, Pennsylvania. He was a descendant of John Hood, who came with the companions of William Penn, from Leicestershire, England, in 1684, and settled in Philadelphia. The family belonged to the Society of Friends.
Mr. Dunwoody's early life was passed upon the farm where he was born, after which he was sent to school for a season at Philadelphia. When only eighteen he entered into training for his life- work in the store of an uncle, in Philadelphia, in the grain and flour trade. After a few years he embarked in the same business as senior partner of the firm of Dunwoody & Robertson. Ten years in early manhood devoted to the practical details of the grain business in one of the great markets of the country had given him an excel- lent preparation for embarking in the manufacture of the staple of the food of mankind, when a happy circumstance led him to Minneapolis, where the opportunity existed to build up a great manu- facturing business. It was in 1869 that he took up his residence here. For a year or two his at- tention was given to the purchase of flour for eastern parties, an employment which brought
Am. M. Dm
woody
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him into contact with the millers, and gave him familiarity with qualities of grain and flour, as well as terms and methods of transportation.
This was before the introduction of the mid- dlings purifier, or the methods of the new process in milling. The mills of the period were grinding spring wheat on the old-fashioned buhr stones, and vainly striving to compete with the whiter brands of flour made from fall sown wheat, in the mills of St. Louis and Rochester. It had some superior qualities, especially for bakers' use, which gave it access to the eastern markets. The improved methods of milling, which were destined to give to spring wheat flour a precedence over that made from the soft grain, and to produce the patent flour-the finest quality in the world-out of the stuff rejected in the old style of milling, were yet in embryo. Mr. Dunwoody embarked in milling at this turning point in the business, and was en- abled to adopt each improvement as it was intro- duced, and to keep his product at the highest point of progressive excellence.
In 1871 the firm of Tiffany, Dunwoody & Co., was formed, operating the Arctic mill; and that of H. Darrow & Co., operating the Union mill -both under Mr. Dunwoody's personal manage- ment. As the consumption of wheat for milling in Minneapolis increased, it became evident that co-operation in buying supplies for the mills would be a great economy. It was the practice for each mill to send its buyers to principal shipping points in the wheat producing district, where they not infrequently bid against each other. At the best the system necessitated the employment of a large number of buyers, and was thus burden- some and expensive. Mr. Dunwoody applied himself to devise a better system, and organized with other co-operating millers the once famous Millers' Association, and became manager and general. agent of it. Under it all the private buyers were recalled, and the agents of the asso- ciation bought all the wheat required for the various mills and distributed it according to the capacity and contributions of the several mills. This system was continued until the establish- ment of elevators of adequate capacity, and the building up of a wheat market in Minneapolis, rendered it 'no longer necessary to go into the country for the purchase of wheat, when it was discontinued.
After the new process of milling had been suc- cessfully introduced into Minneapolis, but before it had become widely introduced elsewhere, Mr. Dunwoody accomplished a new departure in the exportation of flour, which completely emanci- pated the mills from the middle-men of the eastern seaports, and freed them from many delays incident to the old system. At the earnest solicitation of Gov. Washburn he made a trip to Europe to arrange for a direct export business. On his arrival in England in November, 1877, he met with the most determined opposition from merchants and millers whose commissions and profits would be curtailed by the success of his plan. He did not for a moment lose confidence in ultimate success and at length secured a foot- hold. His open, upright way of dealing, coupled with the excellence of the product offered, in time overcame all prejudice, and the northwestern miller was soon enjoying a new and important market abroad. The same system was introduced on the continent, and before long became a set- tled and recognized method of distributing the product of the mills. At present the mills of Minneapolis export direct, on through bills of lading, one third of their entire product, and the miller draws his own bills of exchange on his consignee in London, Paris, Hamburg, or wher- ever he may consign it, and the Minneapolis banks negotiate these bills at first hands.
After the great mill explosion in 1878 Gov. Washburn, whose intuitive judgment of men was almost unerring, induced Mr. Dunwoody to join him in the milling partnership with the late John Crosby and Charles J. Martin, and the firm of Washburn, Crosby & Co. was formed to run the Washburn mills, commencing business February Ist, 1879. Since that time Mr. Dunwoody has been uninterruptedly identified with the conduct of these famous mills (with the exception of the year 1888, on account of ill-health), and at present is a large stockholder in the incorporated Wash- burn-Crosby Milling Company, and is its vice- president.
While he had charge of the operation of the Washburn " B" mill, a hint of the use of rollers for crushing the wheat in the process of milling, as being employed in the mills at Buda-Pesth, reached the enterprising proprietors, who took measures to inform themselves on the subject,
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with the result that some of the rollers then in use were imported. An experimental mill of one hundred and twenty-five barrels capacity, with grinding wholly done by rolls, was built in the "C" mill. Their operation was so satisfactory that the whole " C" mill was changed, and when the machinery of the " A " mill was put in it was completely supplied with rolls, but much improved in construction. Mr. Dunwoody and his asso- ciates in the Washburn mills were the first to introduce and apply the use of corrugated rollers for the reduction of wheat-a new departure- which in addition to the middlings purifier, which had already been perfected here, constitutes what is familiarly termed the "new process" in milling.
The intimate connection of milling with the storage of wheat naturally led Mr. Dunwoody to take interests in the building and management of elevators throughout the country, in which enter- prises he has invested largely of his ample fortune. He was one of the organizers of the St. Anthony and Dakota Elevator Company, the St. Anthony Elevator Company, and the Duluth Elevator Company, three of the heaviest concerns in the country. He is president of the first named, and vice-president of the other two companies.
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Besides his large interests in milling and ele- vators Mr. Dunwoody holds other important financial trusts. He is a director of the North- western National Bank, of which another Minne- apolis miller, Geo. A. Pillsbury, is president, and also he is a director of the Minneapolis Trust Company, two of the largest financial institutions of the city.
While the relations of labor towards capital are in so many places strained and hostile, they have always been of the most pacific character between the millers and their employés in Minneapolis. The relations between Mr. Dunwoody and the employés of the Washburn mills are the most cordial and reciprocal.
Mr. Dunwoody married before coming to Minne- apolis Kate L. Patten, of Philadelphia, daughter of John W. Patten, a prominent leather merchant, but is without other family. He has a pleasant and rich, but unostentatious house, on Tenth street, near the new building of the Young Men's Christian Association and the City Library. He is a communicant at Westminster Church.
From this sketch, which deals largely with the business relations of Mr. Dunwoody, one would gain a very false impression, who should regard him as one absorbed in material things. He has literary and artistic tastes, and enjoys refined social intercourse. He spends much time in travel, and delights above all things to escape from the cares of business into the open country, where, with dog and gun, he follows the trail of game-fowls with as great avidity as he experiences in his frequent contests with the bears and bulls of the exchange.
Take him for all in all Mr. Dunwoody is a model citizen, enterprising, methodical, pains- taking in business; he is unassuming, genial, and affable in private life. He has the faculty of ac- cumulation, with no sordid stain of greed. His example is both an inspiration and a model to the youth, who would bring into activity both the practical and the ideal elements of character.
THOMAS LOWRY,
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
A MONG the men who have settled in Minne- apolis since the civil war, few are more prominent at home or more widely known abroad than Thomas Lowry. In his large public spirit and general helpfulness, not less than in the ample wealth, which his enterprise and sagacity have accumulated, he stands among the foremost public men of his city. He was born on the 27th day of February, 1843, in Logan county, Illinois,
and is now in the very prime of life, in perfect health, and in the enjoyment to the fullest of every one of his bodily and mental faculties.
His father was Samuel R, Lowry, born in Lon- donderry, Ireland, in 1808. His mother was Rachel Bullock, a native of Harrisburg, Pennsyl- vania, who died in early womanhood, leaving a family of small children. The father was a farmer, who had located in central Illinois in 1834, when it
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Thomas Pour
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was a comparative wilderness, and young "Tom" grew to manhood surrounded by like influences and atmosphere as Abraham Lincoln. Six chil- dren were born to Samuel Lowry and his wife, three of whom died in infancy. The only sister of Mr. Lowry died in this city a few years since. His brother, William Ross Lowry, enlisted in the war in the Second Illinois Cavalry in 1861, serv- ing until the close of the struggle, and died of consumption on the ever memorable day of the assassination of President Lincoln. Mr. Lowry is therefore the last surviving member of his father's family.
Thomas Lowry received a common school edu- cation in his native county, passing the early years of his life after the manner customary with farmer's lads. At seventeen years of age he entered Lombard University at Galesburg, Ill., where be completed his education. After leaving school he took a trip to the west, spending a year or more on the Missouri river Returning to Illi_ nois he entered the law office of Judge C. Bagly, in Rushville, remaining there until he was ad- mitted to the bar in 1867.
"I had heard of the fame of Minneapolis," said Mr. Lowry to the writer, "and was com- pletely infatuated with the desire to come here and make my home. As soon as my studies were completed and I had been admitted to the bar, I started at once for Minnesota, and have never regretted it."
He arrived in this city in July, 1867, and at once opened a law office in the Harrison Block for the practice of his profession. The first few months was a repetition of the experience of all young attorneys - hard times and few clients. But soon the admirable personal qualities of the young attorney began to manifest themselves, and business came rapidly to him. Within two years he had built up a good business and was doing well financially. In 1869 he entered into partnership with Judge A. H. Young, a business connection which lasted until his partner was appointed on the bench of the Court of Common Pleas of Hennepin county.
On the 14th day of December, 1870, Mr. Lowry was married to Miss Beatrice M. Good- rich, daughter of Dr. C. G. Goodrich, at that time a leading physician of the city. Of this marriage two daughters and a son have been born.
No more sturdy or energetic representative of the class of self-made men can be found than Thomas Lowry. Originally a farmer's boy, he grew to manhood on the prairies of the great west. Seeking the new and growing village of Minneapolis after the close of the war, his keen intelligence early perceived the wonderful possi- bilities of rapid growth centered here. In the municipal development he early became a prime factor. Poor in purse when he arrived in Minne- apolis, he was rich in health and the abounding energy of youth.
The second period of prosperity and activity in the real-estate business had just dawned in the infant metropolis, and Mr. Lowry soon had his hands full of business in supplying the specula- tive demand, Gradually his own realty began to increase. Almost imperceptibly he was with- drawn from the practice of law and forced into another field of more active usefulness. As the village extended its limits and began to take on the character of a city, the courage and faith of this young operator strengthened, and the possi- bilities of metropolitan greatness grew upon his imagination. He bought lots' and acres in every direction, and as his purchases increased values multiplied enormously. At first he was not hand- ling large sums of money. In those days of the city's early growth a few hundred dollars sufficed to obtain possession of large quantities of real estate. Gradually, however, as his circle of acquaintances widened, he began to do a large traffic with eastern investors. His dealings were in all classes of realty-business lots, residence lots, suburban acres, over which the impetus of growth must soon carry the metropolis-these were the possessions sought for and obtained by this daring young adventurer. It is very easy to make a fortune in real estate so long as there is an active demand in the market, and the ten- dency of prices is constantly upward. But when all demand ceases, when purchasers who were eagerly buying and paying enormous prices last week, suddenly become sellers, and the market breaks under the importunate and persistent offers of their holdings at reduced prices, then comes the trial period for the men whose sublime faith in the city's future has prompted them to burden themselves with unproductive realty. This was precisely what happened in Minneapolis
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