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Duluth and St. Louis County Minnesota
Their Story and People
An Authentic Narrative of the Past, with Particular Attention to the Modern Era in the Commercial, Industrial, Educational, Civic and Social Development
Prepared under the Editorial Supervision of WALTER VAN BRUNT
Assisted by a Board of Advisory Editors
ISSUED IN THREE VOLUMES VOLUME II
ILLUSTRATED
THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY CHICAGO and NEW YORK 1921
41347A
Copyright 1921 THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL SOCIETY Chicago and New York
History of Duluth and St. Louis County
CHAPTER XXII
THE INCORPORATED VILLAGE OF EVELETH
The city of Eveleth, one of the leading and most active incorpo- rated places of the ranges, had its beginning in mining explorations. Therefore, properly, a historical review of its development should begin with data regarding its mining. And no more authoritative information could be obtained than from the man who, above all others, was chiefly responsible for the founding of the village of Eveleth.
David T. Adams, a mining explorer of Duluth, whose first trip over the Mesabi range was in 1883, when he "was attracted to the possibility of the existence of commercial bodies of hematite ore on the southern slope, or in the lowlands of the Mesaba," was one of the most successful of the .early explorers of the Mesabi range. He was the first to discover marketable ore, finding it on the Cin- cinnati in 1891, Captain Kehoe almost simultaneously finding blue ore on the Biwabik workings. In the next year Adams, acting for A. E. Humphreys, George G. Atkins, and others, "had seventeen camps in operation in township 58-17," mainly in the Virginia district. In a narrative written specially for the current historical work Mr. Adams makes the following statements regarding his early opera- tions in the Eveleth district :
"In, or about, the month of July, 1892, I discovered coloring on the south line of section 30, 58-17, by means of a spring pole drill, operated by Hugh McMahon and Noble Beatty-the first operation of the kind undertaken on the range.
"In the month of September of that year an option was acquired by the late Peter L. Kimberly from the late Simon J. Murphy, George O. Robinson, E. M. Fowler and others, on three quarter-sections, which I had previously selected, in sections 31 and 32 of 58-17, and were designated as selections Nos. 1, 2 and 3, and the explorations on these selections were known as Adams Nos. 1, 2 and 3. A little later, George L. Cheeseborough secured an option from these same parties, on the sw. qr. of section 31, which I had previously selected and which was selection No. 4, known as the Cheeseborough explorations. "On or about the first of October, 1892, I started explorations in the northern part of section 31 on the Adams No. 1, and the first ore discovered in what is now known as the Eveleth Group of Mines, or anywhere on the southern slope of the hills running down from Virginia, was discovered there in my first pit. (On this, as on all former and later explorations I always located my own pits.) Thomas Short was in charge of the men, and under him work proceeded rap- idly. It was not long before a very large body of what is now the standard ore of the range was discovered.
"Shortly thereafter, I discovered ore in the Cheeseborough.
"My next discovery was on Selection No. 2 of the Adams explora- tions, but the ore in the discovery pit on this selection was not con-
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THE ORIGINAL ADAMS MINE OFFICE. IN IT "DAVE" ADAMS, NEIL M'INNIS, AND OTHERS, DEBATED THIE PERPLEXING QUESTION WHICH, WHEN DECIDED, USHERED IN TIIE CITY-TO-BE AS "EVELETH"; IN THAT CABIN, TOO, JOHN HI. HEARDING, NOW ONE OF THE CILIEF EXECUTIVES OF THE OLIVER IRON MINING COMPANY AT DULUTH, BUT THEN SUPERINTENDENT AT EVELETII, MADE HIS OFFICE IN THE '90s
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sidered a commercial ore at the time, and as Kimberly Jones and myself wanted the land for townsite purposes, the exploration was abandoned, our option surrendered, and the surface rights finally pur- chased by us.
"A little ore was found on Selection No. 3 of the Adams explora- tions, and was finally consolidated with Selection No. 1 of the Adams.
"On January 9, 1893, the Adams Mining Company was organized by Mr. Kimberly, Mr. Jones and myself, on Selection No. 1, in the northern part of the section.
"Selection No. 4, the Cheeseborough, became known as the Cloquet.
"The next deposit of ore to be discovered by me in the vicinity was on the nw .- nw. of section 5, and the n. half of section 6, township 57-17, in the month of November, 1893, which is now known as the Fayal No. 1. Fifty-one per cent of the capital stock of the Adams Mining Company was sold to John D. Rockefeller, for the Lake Su- perior Consolidated Iron Mines, in the month of July, 1893." (The cash consideration for the transfer was $410,000.)
"The Fayal No. 1 was explored by the McInnis Mining Company, which was organized by me on the 31st of January, 1894, in honor of the late Neil McInnis, who had been my purchasing agent of goods to supply the camps, and paymaster during the latter part of my explora- tions in connection with Humphreys and Atkins, on the Virginia Group of Mines, and who also acted in the same capacity for the Adams Mining Company, during their development of the Adams mine. The late Marvin Van Buskirk was in charge of the men, and under him the work of development was rapid indeed. The McInnis Mining Company finally sold their Icase on the Fayal No. 1 to the Chicago Minnesota Ore Company on September 6, 1894.
"About two and a half years later, I discovered ore on that part of section 5, township 57-17, which was known as the South Fayal."
Winchell's Review (1894) .- Horace V. Winchell, in the winter of 1894-95, wrote of mining development in the "Eveleth Group of Mines" as follows :
Adams Mine .- "This property is being developed by the Consoli- dated Company. The mine is in the north half of section 31, 58-17. It is operated on a lease from Chicago and Michigan lumberman, who own the fee. This deposit of ore is supposed to be one of the largest on the Mesabi range, and to contain ore of more than average valuc, because of its granular and shaly nature *
* It is being stripped at present. Ore was discovered here by Neil McInnis and D. T. Adams, of Duluth, in 1893. The superintendent is Mr. J. H. Hearding.
Vega Mine .- "West of the Adams is the Vega, lying under too great a burden of glacial till to permit of open cut mining. It pro- duced 5,628 tons of ore in 1894, and is under the direction of Mr. Geo. St. Clair.
Fayal Mine .- "This is one of the recent acquisitions of the Min- nesota Iron Company. It *
* was first discovered in 1894. Other properties in this vicinity, and in section 34, 58-17, are known to contain more or less ore, but are not being very rapidly developed at present. This mine is also under the direction of Captain Wallace, assistant general manager of the Minnesota Iron Company."
The Vega, referred to by Mr. Winchell, was "operated for a time as the Cloquet by Joseph Sellwood" stated another writer, adding that Sellwood "finally turned it over to the Minnesota Iron Com- pany." It later became part of the Adams-Spruce mine. It included part of the old townsite of Eveleth. Regarding the Adams Mine,
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the same writer (1906) stated that "Credit for discovery of the first ore in the Eveleth field ** * is due to D. T. Adams and Neil McInnis, who commenced explorations on * *
* the Adams mine on October 1, 1892. A lease on all the land in sections 30 and 31 was taken by D. T. Adams, Neil McInnis, P. L. Kimberly and John T. Jones, from Messrs. Robinson and Flynn, the Detroit lumbermen. Ore was found in the first test-pit put down under the direction of Mr. McInnis. The writer visited the camp in his company soon after the explorations were started."
Neil McInnis. in 1906, put into writing his "Recollections of early mining explorations." After referring to the excitement that followed the discovery of blue ore on the Biwabik in 1891, stated :
"The winter coming on shortly after this discovery, not very much was done until the early spring of 1892, when numerous com- panies were organized, and prospecting commenced in great earnest. March of that year brought the writer from Tower, and associating with A. E. Humphreys (one of the chief promoters of that day), had immediate charge of twelve camps, beginning at the Hale and Kanawha mines, section 1, town 58, range 16, to town 58, range 19, the principal camp, known as headquarters. being in section 9, town 58, range 17, near the present city of Virginia. The results of these explorations amounted to the following: the Kanawha, Cincinnati, Lincoln, Commodore, Franklin, Lone Jack, Moose, and Auburn mines.
"Mention should be made of David T. Adams, of Duluth, as the party selected by Mr. Humphreys to go out into the wilderness dur- ing the severe winter of '91 and '92, and select the land above-stated for exploration, and who, after severing his connection with Mr. Humphreys and associating himself with John T. Jones, of Iron Mountain, Mich., and the late P. L. Kimberly, of Sharon, Pa., secured option and afterwards leases on land now occupied by the great mines -- the Adams, Spruce and a portion of the Fayal.
"This brought the writer down from the Humphreys camp, and on the first of October, 1892, began the exploration of lands in section 31, town 58, range 17, and showing up what is now known as the Adams mine. A camp was established. One or two of the log build- ings can yet be seen. A force of 45 men was used during the winter of 1892-93. Buckets and windlass, picks and shovels were the only tools used to show up the big deposit and in the early summer of 1893 the lease of the Adams mine was turned over to the Consolidated Mining Company, on the recommendation of their chief and capable mining expert at that time, Mr. W. J. Olcott.
"With the summer of 1893 came the depression in the iron busi- ness, and consequently in the prospecting, nothing doing: men we had paid $40, or more, a month, and their board, now could not get a day's work anywhere.
A small start was made to establish the town of Eveleth. Hank Hookwith came in to open a saloon. Archie McComb had a hotel building (afterwards destroyed by fire), and Jerry Sullivan had a boarding house on the site of the future town *
* In September, Mr. Adams, already referred to, and myself, in looking over the pros- pects around the neighborhood, thought of doing a little work on lands now covered by the great Fayal mine. I made known to the population of Eveleth at that time, which consisted of the three named above, that I was going to start a crew test-pitting, and the result was McComb, Tookwith and Sullivan worked six months, sinking pits, at $1.25 a day, during the fall and winter of 1893, resulting in showing to the world the beginning of that great mine on section 5, town 57-17."
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A study of the foregoing gives one an idea of the principal mining operations that were destined to find communal expression in the establishment of Eveleth. And one should not leave the subject of pioneer mining in the Eveleth Group without making reference to one worthy pioneer of mining as well as of Eveleth. Marvin Van Buskirk, first president of the village of Eveleth, was one of the early lieutenants of David T. Adams. He directed the operations that dis- covered ore on several valuable properties, although he apparently did not profit much by his work. David T. Adams, in a letter to his friend, J. C. Poole, another pioneer of Eveleth, stated, on February 7, 1920: "The greater part of the explorations are what is now known as the Adams mine was done by Thomas Short, under my supervision, until I replaced him by the late Marvin Van Buskirk. The late Neil McInnis was paymaster for the company, timekeeper and purchasing agent for the camp."
The subsequent history of these pioneer mines of the Eveleth group is as follows:
, Adams Mine .- The property, combined with others, was for many years under the direction of Capt. John H. Hearding, as superintend- ent, the mining being mostly underground. The mines are now known as the Adams-Spruce. Captain J. H. Hearding became assist- ant general manager of the Oliver Iron Mining Company in 1909, and thereafter had to devote the whole of his time to executive affairs in the head offices of the company at Duluth. The present general super- intendent at Eveleth is Charles Grabowsky. Work has been almost constant since the beginning at the Adams-Spruce, which has been one of the principal mainstays of Eveleth. Up to the end of 1919, the Adams mine had shipped 22,310,351 tons, in some years shipping a million and a half tons. Included in that total are the outputs of the Cloquet, or Vega, mine, the Hull 40, and the Nelson, all adjoining properties and grouped as one. The Spruce gave 11,182,140 tons to end of 1919.
Fayal Mine .- That also is a combination of several, and, as in late years constituted, is classed among the great mines of the Mesabi range. Adams and McInnis were interested in the "forty," nw .- nw. of section 5, 57-17, which "forty" they leased from E. F. Fowler, of Detroit, Mich., forming the McInnis Mining Company to operate it. Their lease they sold to the Minnesota Iron Company. Louis Rouchleau purchased 80 acres adjoining the McInnis for $50,000, eventually transferring to the Minnesota Iron Company for $125,000. The remainder of the Fayal property was leased from Murphy, Dorr and Flynn by the Minnesota Iron Company direct. Eventually, of course, the Fayal mines passed to the Oliver Iron Mining Company, which has since controlled them. Captain Richard R. Trezona was superintendent for many years. Of late years Wm. F. Pellenz, Jr., has been superintendent of the Fayal mines, of sections 5 and 6, 57-17. The mines are designated the Fayal Fee, Fayal No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4; and to the end of 1919 they had yielded an aggregate of 29,908,246 tons, more than a million tons a year since the beginning. At first, the mining was by shaft, but later three different systems were being operated concurrently. There were two large open pits, milling being carried on in one and loading direct into cars with steam shovels in the other, while underground mining was continued.
The Leonidas mine, which may be considered to be within the Eveleth group, is referred to in the Nichols township chapter. And several of the mines reviewed in the Gilbert chapter may be con-
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sidered as within the sphere of Eveleth. Nevertheless, if Eveleth be credited with only the Fayal and Adams mines, the available ore de- posits on these two are sufficient to ensure Eveleth a definite degree of prosperity, probably growth, up to the time when it will have other interests and assets to supplement or take the place of its present dependence upon mining activities. The Adams-Spruce mines have proved deposits of iron ore aggregating to more than fifty-two million tons, and the five Fayal mines have a reserve of about seventeen million tons, enough to keep Eveleth in its present degree of pros- perity for at least a generation. And a generation should see the development in agriculture of all the outlying land, a development which will ensure stable and permanent prosperity to Eveleth, assum- ing it does not in the meantime become a manufacturing city, or that other large ore deposits are not "shown up," which is always possible. Eveleth, therefore, is reasonably sure of prosperous continuance as a city.
AN EVELETH MINE
Platting of Original Townsite .- Again, it is proper to refer to, and quote, the narrative of David T. Adams, who was the founder, or was the most active among the founders, of the village of Eveleth. He writes, under date of December 7, 1920: "I promoted the townsite of Eveleth in the year 1893. The original plat consisted of the w. half of the se. quarter of section 31, township 58-17. It was surveyed by C. E. Bailey, and the plat was filed for record April 22nd of that year. My associates in the original townsite (project) were Peter L. Kimberly, John T. Jones and Fred Robinson, the latter of Detroit, Michigan. Shortly after the plat was filed for record, I bought out Mr. Kimberly and Mr. Jones. Mr. Robinson held a tenth interest, and remained in the townsite throughout.
"In finding a suitable name for the town I had my troubles. I wanted to name it Robinson, that being the name of one of the fee owners of the Adams mine. Elisha A. Flynn, law-partner of Mr. Robinson, however, objected. I never knew why, but I always surmised that he thought that the town would never amount to anything, and did not want his name attached to it. I then asked the name of the cruiser who estimated the timber on the land when they bought it, and they told me his name was Eveleth. I thought
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over the name of Eveleth for some time, comparing it with other names, such as Iron Point, Iron City, etc., and the more I thought the name Eveleth over, the better I liked it; and as it seemed to be an easy name for the Scandinavian element to pronounce, I decided on that name. I then wrote to Mr. Eveleth for permission to use his name. He consented ; hence the name 'Eveleth' was adopted."
Neil McInnis, who evidently was consulted regarding the nam- ing of the city-to-be, wrote, in 1906, upon that point: "Many a name proposed *
** had to be abandoned, because it was already in existence in some other portion of the state. However, we finally settled this matter by naming the town after a woodsman from Michi- gan, sent up here about twenty years ago in the interests of Robinson, Flinn and Fowler, to pick up pine lands. This man's name was Eveleth."
Primitive Living .- For a year or more after the platting of the townsite, life in Eveleth had a spartan aspect and rigor. "On the slope" Dr. More had "a little red shack," which, because he happened to be a physician, and a good one, and in emergency could handle a surgical case in it, was called a hospital ; the company office was a small log cabin ; the men of the camp lived as best they could, some in "boarding houses," and some under canvas, and worked "for grub stakes," some, if not all of them, during the period of extreme financial stringency of 1893, and considered themselves fortunate in having work at all. It is said that at least two of the pioneers lived "for a time" on moose meat. The mail came in from Virginia by dog-team during the winter of 1892-93, and possibly 1893-94; and even well into 1894 there were only four or five buildings on the townsite, according to one account, so that newcomers had to "make-shift" under canvas, until a frame building could be put together. Another account states that "about a dozen buildings were erected in 1894 upon the first site."
Petition to Incorporate .- Seeing that the county commissioners approved the holding of an election, in August, 1893, to decide whether Eveleth should be made an incorporated place, or should not, it is rather surprising that the first election of officials did not take place until October 18, 1894.
A petition, presented to the county commissioners on June 9, 1893, by Neil McInnis, Joseph Elliott and Thomas Short, sought per- mission to proceed with the legal measures whereby the residents "upon the western half of the southeast quarter of section 31, of township 58-17 (which lands had been platted, and the plat duly filed, on April 22, 1893, with the Register of Deeds), might, if the majority favored it, institute corporate government of the com- munity under the provisions of chapter 145, Laws of 1885." The signers of the petition were: Neil McInnis, Joseph Elliott, Thomas Short, Archie McArthur, John Nelson, Rt. Fogarty, Thomas Simpson, Henry Hookwith, Archer McCombs, John White, Fred Whitney, Aaron Johnson, John Gray, L. Jacobson, Fred Nelson, John Johnson, Ole Johnson, John Goodwin, Edward Grayson, John Elfstrom, Peter Elfstrom, John Hill, Martin Webber, John Morrow, Peter Enright, John Mullens, Axel Johnson, Martin .Erickson, John Graham, and Fred Reynolds. The three first-named testified to the accuracy of the statements made in petition, one important statement being that at the time of the circulation of the paper for signatures (June, 1893), a census then taken of the residents within the territory for which incorporation was sought disclosed the fact that there were then living on it two hundred persons.
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Commissioners Approve Petition .- On June 13, 1893, the petition was considered at the session of the Board of County Commissioners, and resolution was passed, approving of the proposed incorporation, as the Village of Eveleth. Consequently, a date was set upon which legal voters should assemble and cast a vote for, or against, the sought incorporation. The commissioners ordered "election to be held on July 25, 1893, at the building of Thomas Short, lot 23, block 8, Eveleth." And they appointed "Neil McInnis, Tom Short and Joe Eliot" to act as inspectors of election at that gathering. Copies of "Notice of Election" were posted "at McComb and Wilson's board- ing house, at H. Hookwith's store, at Thomas Short's building, at Jerry Sullivan's boarding house, and at Edward Simpson's place of business," by Neil McInnis.
The voting, apparently, took place, and, presumably, was in favor of the proposed incorporation, for the county commissioners, on Au- gust 11, 1893, "gave notice to the legal voters to meet and organize and elect officers for the ensuing year," on August 26, 1893. No record of election is on file in the county offices, as is required by law, and, presumably, the election was not held.
SPRUCE NO. 4 MINE, EVELETH
It is possible that the population so dwindled during the depres- sion of 1893 that the few remaining decided not to proceed with the election. Indeed, Neil McInnis, in his narrative, before-quoted, stated that he drew to the Fayal exploratory work in September. 1893, the whole of the man-power of Eveleth, namely, Hank Hookwith, Archie McComb, and Jerry Sullivan ; and these men were too busy digging for their bread, "at $1.25 a day," during that fall and winter, to have much inclination to pursue matters of town-planning and corporate government."
Marvin Van Buskirk either had not yet come into the neigh- borhood, or was subordinate to Thomas Short at the Adams camp. Soon, however, he was in charge of the mining operations, and during the next year seems to have become very popular, and much respected, among his co-workers. So much is evident in the result of the first election.
First Officials .- On October 5, 1894, the county commissioners again "gave notice" to the legal voters of Eveleth "to meet and organize and elect officers for the ensuing year," on October 18th, 1894, "at the corner store of the Adams Block." Accordingly "a meeting of voters. of Eveleth" was held on October 18, 1894, states
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the first entry in the minute book of the trustees of the Village of Eveleth, "at 9:00, a. m., for the purpose of nominating a board of judges of election." Marvin Van Buskirk was "appointed chairman of committee on nominations" and Frank Kempffer, secretary. John Salvo and Frank Kempffer were appointed judges, with Joseph Leach and Annie Burnett acting as clerks. The voting then proceeded, and the result was in due course announced by the judges, who found Marvin Van Buskirk legally elected to the office of president. Ninety-one votes were cast in his favor, his candidacy having been unopposed.
The trustees were Henry Hookwith, John Grey and W. H. Shea, having received 60, 91, and 57 votes respectively, the unsuccessful candidates being Alfred Riff and John Anderson, with 31 and 34 votes respectively. A. S. Erickson was elected recorder, having re- ceived 57 votes; S. S. Childers became treasurer, receiving 91 votes ; John F. Towell and Chas. Wyman were elected justices of the peace, and Jerry Sullivan, constable, having received 90 votes.
First Council Meeting .- The first meeting of trustees was held "in the back room of Stetton's store," on October 25, 1894. Present at the meeting were: M. Van Buskirk, president: John Grey, Hy. Hookwith, and W. H. Shea, trustees ; A. S. Erickson, recorder.
Marvin Van Buskirk was "appointed a committee of one, to se- cure room and furnishing, to be used as a council chamber," which appointment supports the statement that the first meeting of the village council was held "in the townsite company's frame building." Possibly, the "back room of Stetton's store" was the "room and fur- nishing" secured by President Van Buskirk, after that first meeting in the townsite company's building. It is known that council meet- ings in the first year "used to be held" in Stetton's store."
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