Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 121

Author: Holcombe, R. I. (Return Ira), 1845-1916; Bingham, William H
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Chicago : H. Taylor & Co.
Number of Pages: 1190

USA > Minnesota > Hennepin County > Minneapolis > Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota > Part 121

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Mrs. Guilford is a member of the Minneapolis Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Like her hus- band, she is also descended from Revolutionary forefathers, comprising several of the old, distinguished families of New England. The home contains many interesting souvenirs, each having individual history and valuable as illustrating early conditions of life. The first deed given in St. Anthony is also found liere. Both were early members of the Lowry Hill Congregational church. He took an active part in public affairs, but was not a politician and never sought or desired a public office, though he was ever ready to aid in securing the best attainable government.

NELSON H. REEVES.

One of the most extensive and successful market gardeners, Nelson H. Reeves, 3410 Second street north, was born at Rochester, Wisconsin, January 4, 1858, a son of Vincent and Ida C. (Keller) Reeves, the former a native of Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, and the latter of Columbia county, Penn- sylvania, being born near Bloomsburg about 1835. The father

was born August 12, 1831, and came to the United States in 1850, locating near Hartford, Washington county, Wiscon- sin, where the mother had come with her parents three years before.

Vincent Reeves was a blacksmith and worked at his trade for a time in Chicago and also for J. I. Case in Racine, Wis- consin, at a time when horse power operated his factory. In 1863 he moved to Pierce county, Wisconsin, and in 1864 to Minneapolis. Here he worked for four years in the black- smith shop of what is now the Milwaukee Railroad, then the Minnesota Central. In 1868 he began market gardening on the land now occupied by his widow and son between Second street and the Mississippi and north of Thirty-fourth avenue, and which was at that time all woodland. It is a part of the original Campbell Bell claim, and the oldest farm devoted to market gardening in or about Minneapolis. He worked 10 acres in garden crops, and continued his activity in this line until 1883, when he turned the business over to his son Nel- son. He was a member of the city council from the Tenth ward for ten years, during which period he labored arduously and faithfully for the general good of the city. In politics he was a Republican and active in the service of his party. In religious faith he was a Spiritualist and in fraternal rela- tions a Freemason, holding membership in Minneapolis Lodge, No. 19, and at his death was one of its oldest members. The lodge conducted his funeral obsequies in an imposing manner. He built the house in which he died and in which his widow now lives, in 1874, then being the finest in the northern part of the city. His death occurred on September 19, 1910, in the eightieth year of his age.

In the family four children were born. Three of whom are living, Nelson H., Martha E. and Julia A. Martha is the wife of J. A. Gillard, manager of a large saw mill at La Pas, Manitoba. Julia is the wife of W. J. Glenn, of Tacoma, and who is connected with the Northern Pacific Railroad. His father, Robert Glenn, was one of the early butchers in Min- neapolis. For a time he owned the original Colonel Stevens home where the old union depot now stands, but in later years moved to the vicinity of the Reeves home, where he died. Florence A. Reeves married Charles Roberts, and died at the age of thirty-seven. Her two children, Nellie and Horatio, are being reared by their grandmother.

Nelson H. Reeves has lived in Minneapolis since 1865 and on his present farm since 1868. He worked for and with his father until 1883, when he took upon himself the man- agement of the business, his father retiring. He built his first large greenhouses in 1892, and to these he has made additions until he now has about 38,000 square feet of floor surface under glass. In winter he devotes his efforts to raising lettuce, parsley, radishes and cucumbers. Most of his products are sold to commission men and sent out of this state. He also raises large quantities of rhubard by a forcing process, a large part of his land being given up to the pro- duction of this succulent plant, his annual output ranging from twelve to sixteen tons. His yearly sales of lettuce aggre- gate 12,000 to 15,000 dozen and of cucumbers 3,000 dozen. He also grows bedding flowers and plants, and keeps a stall in the Minneapolis market. His operation's compel him to em- ploy four men the year round.

Mr. Reeves was one of the incorporators and is the vice- president of the Market State Bank of Minneapolis. He was married in December, 1909, to Mrs. Anna O. Nelson, a widow with one son, George Herbert Nelson, who is a graduate of

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

the State Agricultural College, of the class of 1913, and asso- ciated with Mr. Reeves. By his marriage to Mrs. Nelson, Mr. Reeves has become the father of one child, Joseph N. The father is an Odd Fellow and belongs to North Star Lodge, No. 6.

JOHN D. McMILLAN.

John D. McMillan, president of the Osborne-McMillan Elevator company, came to Minneapolis in 1887, and lost no time, soon starting a venture which he has since been busily and successfully occupied in promoting to high development and profitable results.

Mr. McMillan was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1860. Immediately after leaving school he entered the employ of the Cargill Bros. Elevator company in La Crosse, where he remained ten years. Soon after his arrival in Minneapolis he united with Edward N. Osborne in the Osborne-McMillan Elevator company building a large elevator on the line of the Soo Railroad. They also built the Empire elevator on the Milwaukee Railroad; and the Northland at another location on the Soo, the latter operated by the Northland Elevator. They also own extensive holdings in the International Elevator company, which operates in Western Canada.

The aggregate of the interests with which Mr. McMillan is connected are large, the management being with such prudence and enterprise that every factor contributes to progress and prosperity. Mr. McMillan is a director and ex-president of the Chamber of Commerce. He is a member of the Min- neapolis, Minikahda and Lafayette clubs, and other organiza- tions engaged in uplift work, and is ever ready to give prac- tical support to any undertaking for the general good. In political contests he has never taken part as a partisan, and has had no political aspirations. Mr. McMillan is married and maintains a pleasant home at 239 Clifton avenue.

FRANCIS S. McDONALD.

The late Francis S. McDonald, who died in Minneapolis July 18, 1896, at the age of sixty-one, after a residence of forty-two years in the state, proved himself to be a useful citizen, rendering excellent service both in times of peace and in time of war. He was born in Cumberland county, Maine, June 10, 1835, and at the age of seventeen worked in a cotton factory at Saccarappa, and later at Lewiston. After one year in Massachusetts, he in 1854, came to Minnesota and joined his uncle, John McDonald, in operating a saw mill at Otsego, Wright county. The uncle helped to build the first saw mill at St. Anthony, later building the one mentioned.

In 1861 Francis enlisted in the Third Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, being soon afterward promoted orderly sergeant. He had command of his company in Indian campaigns, and for his services and valor was commissioned second lieutenant. He re-enlisted in Hatch's Battalion and was detailed as draft clerk at Fort Snelling, where he remained until mustered out of the service in 1865. In 1866 he was appointed postmaster at Fort Snelling, and in 1868 moved to Minneapolis, still remaining in charge of the postoffice.

While living at Otsego, he served as county commissioner

of Wright county one term and also as tax assessor of Otsego. In 1868 he took up his residence in the block containing the present home of his widow at 1212 South Eighth street. He was appointed deputy by County Auditor Mahlon Black, and when that gentleman retired succeeded him, and by successive re-elections was continued for twelve years. He was a Repub- lican, and active in all undertakings designed to promote the general welfare of the city and county.

November 2, 1857, Mr. McDonald was married at Otsego to Miss Elizabeth Spencer, who was born in Bangor, Maine, February 7, 1838, and came to Minnesota at the age of nineteen with her parents, who located at Otsego. She and her husband were the parents of four children, two of whom are living: Mary, is the wife of Dr. N. P. Austin, and Nellie, is the widow of the late E. L. Fisher, who was a conductor on the Wisconsin Central Railroad for thirty years, and who was killed in a collision. Mrs. Fisher lives with her mother, and has two children, William and Florence. Another daugh- ter of the Fisher household, Frances, died when she was six- teen years of age.

Mrs. McDonald's sons were Frank and Charles. Frank was deputy auditor under his father, and after the father's death, under Harry Minor. He died in California on Easter Sunday, 1891, aged thirty-nine. Charles was a locomotive engineer on the Milwaukee Railroad, and died March 2, 1899, aged thirty- six. The mother is a great lover of her home and lives a retired but useful and commendable life, manifesting a cordial interest in everything that pertains to the good of the city.

Mr. McDonald died July 18, 1896. His death was dne to overexertion in making arrangements for an encampment of the Knights of Pythias, a fraternity to which he was ardently devoted, and was a brigadier general in the military rank of the order. He was also a Knight Templar and the Com- mandery to which he belonged attended his funeral in a body. Each of the other twenty-one fraternities or societies to which he belonged was also represented at the funeral, which was one of the largest and most imposing ever seen in Min- neapolis, the procession being said at the time to have been five miles long. No man in the city ever had a wider circle of acquaintances or was more popular. After leaving the office of auditor he became tax agent of the Milwaukee Rail- road. He was very exact and painstaking in his work, and his superior officer in the tax department of the railroad declared that his only mistake during his connection with the department, was made on the day of his death.

THOMAS KENNEDY GRAY'.

The late Thomas K. Gray was before his death, which occurred on December 24, 1909, the oldest retail merchant in Minneapolis and the oldest dealer in drugs in the state of Minnesota in continuous connection with the trade. His career was quiet and uneventful except for the length of its contin- uance, his constant fidelity to duty, his conservative adherence to the same location for more than half a century and the enterprise with which he kept pace with the flight of time and the progress of events in business and in local and general public affairs. His life flowed on in one continuous current of calm, unostentatious goodness. true to the duties ever at his hand, furnishing a lofty example of undemonstrative.

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

modest, meritorious manhood, and working out results of enduring value to the community, and his record is enshrined in the admiring remembrance of all who knew him.

Mr. Gray was born of Scotch ancestry at Jefferson, Lincoln county, Maine, on June 17, 1833. His parents, Peter T. and Elizabeth (Kennedy) Gray, lived originally in Andover, Massachusetts, and moved from there to Maine. The father was a doctor, and died when his son Thomas was only four years old. In 1842 the mother moved her family to Waldo- boro, also in Lincoln county, Maine, and there the son passed three years at Wescosset Academy, completing his academic education, and in tlie meantime acquiring a general preliminary knowledge of drugs by studiously reading the medical books in his father's library.

The young student was employed as a clerk in a dry goods store for three years, then, at the age of twenty, came west to Toledo, Ohio, where he resumed his clerking, which he continued in that city until 1855, when he came on to Minneapolis in company with his brother Oliver C. They first went to what is now Hutchinson, Minn., and there assisted in platting the town of Hutchinson having walked from St. Paul. John D. Gray, who came on later, became a partner of Dr. M. R. Greeley in the drug business in Minneapolis and Thomas K. clerked in the dry goods store of D. W. Ingersoll in St. Paul for half a year. Oliver C. Gray went to Arkansas, where he became principal of a boys' military academy, and at the beginning of the Civil war enlisted in the Confederate army. He was promoted in the service until he reached the rank of colonel, and after the death of his first wife married the widow of a Confederate general, and some years later died in the South. His second son, Carl R. Gray, became connected with railroading early in his manhood and has risen to distinction in official circles in that great industry. He was president of the Great Northern Railroad and several other corporations embraced in the Hill systems.

Early in 1857 Thomas K. Gray bought the interest of Dr. Greeley in the Minneapolis drug store, and he and his brother John formed a new partnership, under the name of Gray Brothers, to continue the business. It was carried on in the firm name until 1874, when John D. retired from the partnership and moved to the Pacific coast. The Gray Brothers' establishment was first on Bridge Square, but in 1858 it was moved to its present location on Hennepin avenue. The whole block in which it stood was destroyed by fire in 1864, and soon afterward the brick structure in which the business is now housed was erected. Mr. Gray conducted the business until a few years before his death, when he decided to leave the details to the care of his son Horace. But he continued his connection with the trade until the end of his long and useful life.

Not long after his location in Minneapolis Mr. Gray secured a tract of land at the intersection of Nicollet avenue and Oak Grove street, and on this he built a store and an apartment house, the latter being the well known Winthrop flat and stores. Near by, at the corner of Oak Grove and Spruce streets, he had his own home, and this home has been in the family for fifty-eight years, the widow continuing to make her home in the same dwelling since his death that she occu- pied so long with him.

Mr. and Mrs. Gray were married in 1865. She was, before her marriage, Miss Julie Allen, a daughter of Rev. Lorenzo B. Allen, for some years pastor of the First Baptist church of Minneapolis. A brief account of his life will be found

in this work. Six children were born in the Gray household, four of whom are still living. Horace A., the first born, succeeded his father in the drug business and is still engaged in it at the old stand. Edward L., the third son, died in early life as the result of an accident. The two daughters are Grace Elizabeth now Mrs. A. B. Choate of this city, and Marguerite. Mr. Gray was trustee and an active member of First Baptist church for many years.

ALINUS C. MATTHEWS.

For a continuous period of almost forty years the late Alinus C. Matthews was connected with the Washburn-Crosby company of this city, and throughout that long term of service proved himself to be an expert and dependable work- man in the line of his employment as well as an upright, enterprising and public-spirited man in connection with all the duties of citizenship. So valuable did his services to the company prove in his years of activity that when the advance of age rendered him less vigorous and alert the company insisted on his retiring from active work, but continued him on the payroll until death finally ended his labors.

Mr. Matthews was born at Mayfield. Fulton county, New York, on February 1, 1832, and died at his home in Min- neapolis, 1531 East Twenty-fourth street, on February 19, 1914. He was reared in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and learned the trade of mill wright under the instruction of his father. Before the Civil war he moved to Altona, Knox county, Illinois, and during that memorable conflict he served for two years in the Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. While in the service he was promoted from the ranks to the position of first lieutenant for bravery on the field, but his service in the army. was cut short by wounds which he received in battle, being shot through his right arm at Fredericktown, Missouri, and later through a leg at Shiloh.

On September 30, 1863, Mr. Matthews was married in La Crosse, Wisconsin, to Miss Jennie Taylor, of Altona, Illinois. She was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Illinois as a child with her mother. For eleven years after his mar- riage Mr. Matthews lived in Winona, this state, and worked at the carpenter trade. In 1874 he moved to Minneapolis, and after serving for a short time in the mills of George Christian, entered the employ of the Washburn-Crosby com- pany as a millwright, making his engagement with that company his anchorage for the remainder of his life, and winning a high reputation with it for the superior skill and fidelity of his service.

Mr. Matthews was essentially a man of domestic tastes and devoted to his home. When he founded it the location was outside of the city limits and the family had very few neighbors. He witnessed the growth and improvement of the section and did his full share of the work of promoting its advancement. He always kept himself well informed as to current events, and took a helpful part in public affairs as a Republican active in the exercise of his citizenship, but never as a politician. On September 30, 1913, he and his wife celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage. He was a genial and companionable gentleman, always fond of flowers and outdoor life, and with a warm heart and open hand for everything that was sunny and cheerful.

Mrs. Matthews survives and still occupies the old family

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

home. Of the twelve children born of their marriage six are living: Harry S., Frank M., Ernest L., Winnie (Mrs. W. H. Baxter), Adele (Mrs. Thomas M. Garland) and Myrta (Mrs. Fred W. Bursell), and there are sixteen grandchildren. Mr. Matthews was for many years a regular attendant of Grace Episcopal church. Fraternally he belonged to Cataract Lodge, A. F. and A. M., and Minneapolis Lodge No. 12, Ancient Order of United Workmen.

CHARLES MORSE.

Charles Morse, real estate dealer, with offices in the Oneida building, is one of the early citizens of Minneapolis, whose faithful support and successful effort have contributed to the present prosperity of the city. He was born at South Paris, Maine, December 20, 1845, and there received the excellent educational advantages offered by the Oxford Normal Institute. During the Civil war he entered the service of his country, enlisting in the fall of 1864, as a recruit in the Twelfth Maine regiment stationed at that time at Savannah, Georgia, and which participated in the Georgia campaign as part of the army of occupation until it was discharged in August, 1865. Soon after his return from the war, he engaged in the wood and lumber business at points along the Grand Trunk railroad in Maine and continued in this trade until 1875 when he joined his brother, Elisha in Minneapolis. Elisha Morse had located here several years carlier and he is found in the city directory of 1877, indicated as a notary public, located at 120 South Washington avenue. He was a member for some time of the wholesale grocery firm, Stevens, Morse & Newell, but was largely identified with his brother, in the real estate business. Hc died in San Francisco a few years ago. For a number of years the brothers were associated in their business interests, constructing as owners, a number of the buildings that were erected in the early eighties, among them the old Kurnam hall on the corner of First avenue, south, between Washington and Third street, the five story section of the National hotel and business blocks on Second Avenue, south. Charles Morse then continued in this occupa- tion for a few years in partnership with Mr. Charles F. Haglin. The trade of this firin expanded rapidly and they extended their operations to Duluth and other cities one of their contracts being for the erection of the court house at Brainerd, Minnesota. They also constructed the foundation for the municipal building in Minneapolis. Since 1892, Mr. Morse has confined his attentions to the real estate business and through his keen financial mind and careful concentration on these matters to the exclusion of all other interests, he has come to be recognized as one of the best informed men on land values in the city and his opinions are accepted as final. His success, he attributes in part to the confidence with which he has always regarded the future of Minneapolis, never hesitating on investments but relying fully on her great promises of development. He considers the remarkable growth of the city during his residence an ample justification of his faith and there is today no more optimistic and enthusiastie citizen within its borders. Mr. Morse has exten- sive property interests, largely in the resident sections of the city, although he owns valuable trackage property occupied by wholesale warehouses and has erected several prominent buildings. He has been instrumental in the laying out of

various city additions, preferring in these enterprises to be a silent partner, his name having been used in but one instance, that of the Morse & Small addition. In considera- tion of his services as confidential adviser to the late Elder Stewart, he was appointed executor of the Stewart estate, and as such has the detail of the management of this property. His first wife, Ella Townsend Morse, died in 1892, leaving one daughter, Ella T., who is a student in the state university. He later married Adeline R. Barber. Mr. Morse is a trustee of the Universalist church, and a member of Lafayette and Automobile clubs.

OSCAR O. MARTINSON.

Oscar O. Martinson, chief of police since January, 1913, when he was so chosen by Mayor Nye, was born in Stockholm, Sweden, December 12, 1877, and came to Minnesota with his parents in 1881. The family located at Long Lake, and there the son, completed the course of instruction in the public school. He then learned telegraphy, and was employed a's an operator for the Great Northern Railroad for about four years. He then became city salesman for the Crescent Creamery about five years. Mr. Martinson was appointed a member of the police force July 14, 1905, being detailed to do special work. He was soon promoted to sergeant on the plain clothes force, not long thereafter being named a lieuten- ant. His next step was to the rank of plain clothes detective, so continuing until he was chosen chief. Chief Martinson has met all demands in a thorough and satisfactory manner, and has given the city an administration of its police de- partment that is creditable alike to it and to him. He attends to his duties in a quiet and undemonstrative but effective way, and thereby is securing the best results.

The welfare of Minneapolis has ever been an object of practical interest to Mr. Martinson, and he has been diligent in his efforts to promote it through every channel available, his services being recognized and appreciated. He was married December 8, 1899, to Miss Fannie Mousso, daughter of Barney Mousso of a family that was one of the first to settle in St. Anthony.

They are the parents of three children, Uricl, Celestine, and Francis.

WALTER HENRY GOULD.

Although his life and usefulness were cut short at the age of sixty by long continued maladies which steadily sapped his strength, and ended before the ambitions of his aspiring spirit were realized and while they were still potential with him, the late Walter H. Gould of Minneapolis wrought out a very creditable career and made his impress on the body of the times here and in a distant Eastern community before he came to this part of the country, for all his time was well employed on progressive undertakings, and his indomitable will carried him through them all with gratifying and profit- able success.

Mr. Gould was a native of Heath, Franklin county, Massa- chustts, where his life began on July 7. 1850. His ancestry in America runs back to 1650, when the progenitor of the

Altroold

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

American branch of his father's family landed in New England. His mother, whose maiden name was Martha Temple, also belonged to old Colonial families of distinction in times long gone by and prominent in her day, five of her brothers being physicians and surgeons in Boston, and throughout Massa- chusetts and other representatives of the house adorning other lines of servieeable and productive endeavor.

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Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 121

Author: Holcombe, R. I. (Return Ira), 1845-1916; Bingham, William H Publication date: 1914 Publisher: Chicago : H. Taylor & Co. Number of Pages: 1190

Author: Holcombe, R. I. (Return Ira), 1845-1916; Bingham, William H
Publication date: 1914
Publisher: Chicago : H. Taylor & Co.
Number of Pages: 1190