Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 128

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 128

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Mr. Sullivan was born on November 4, 1868, in the house in which he died. He was a son of Cornelius and Johanna (O'Neill) Sullivan, natives of County Cork, Ireland, where they were reared, educated and married, and whence they came to the United States in 1855. The father worked as a laborer in New York and Massachusetts until 1867, when he moved to Minneapolis, founded the home lately occupied by his son Michael, and engaged in plastering in association with Michael Lyons, who is still living. When the home was built it was in the business center of St. Anthony, near the hotels and other conveniences of the town, and there the father lived until his

death some twenty years ago. For a time he was in partner- ship with S. G. Cook in the lumber trade at First avenue north and Third street. He was a member of St. Anthony de Padua Catholic church and one of the builders of the present church edifices and priest's residence, having been to the end of his life one of the active workers in the parish and among its main supporters.

The mother, who still belongs to that church, is one of its oldest members, being one of the half dozen of those who founded it, who are yet among its communicants. Her dwell- ing place is still the old family residence, whose domestic shrine she consecrated by wifely devotion and motherly care. There are two sons and two daughters of the household living. Cornelius is a horse dealer and James P. is general manager of the Diamond Boiler Works. Their sisters are Johana, wife of John O'Brien, a Minneapolis stone mason, and Mary, wife of Christian Neary, engineer at the Consolidated Mills.

Michael J. Sullivan's public service was creditable to him and beneficial to the state, and his business career is also worthy of notice as indicative of stalwart and self-reliant manhood. He obtained a common school education, which was amplified through a business course conducted in a corre- spondence school. In 1884 he started learning the trade of a stone cutter, at which he first worked as a journeyman on the old McNair residence. During the last ten years of his life he was a cut stone contractor, employing at times fifty men, and supplying building contractors with whatever stone they demanded. His principal stone yard, at First street and Twenty-second street north, is still in operation, as is also his plant at Bedford, Indiana. From these two centers of in- dustry he conducted a business which covered the whole North- west, including Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Montana, the Dakotas and Southern Canada.

Mr. Sullivan was a member of the Minneapolis Builders' Exchange. In religious affiliation he adhered to the mother church of his parents, St. Anthony de Padua, near which his home is located. He was married in 1891 to Miss Millie Pratt, daughter of William Pratt, of the Pence Auto company. One son was born of their union, William F. Sullivan, who is a student in the dental department of the University of Min- nesota.

JOHN P. SHUMWAY.

John P. Shumway, a pioneer citizen of Robbinsdale, a suburb of Minneapolis is a native of Connecticut, born in Mansfield, Tolland county, June 22, 1830. He was reared on a farm and received his early education in the public schools, later attending an academy. In 1855 he came to Minneapolis where Judge E. S. Jones and Dr. William H. Leonard, whom he had known in his old home, had located. He spent a few months in the employ of Judge Jones and then took a claim in Wright county, about thirty miles from the city. He cleared five acres and erected a small bark covered shanty. Farming without a team he put in small crops and made what improvements he could on the claim and then sold it and went back to Connecticut where he remained for a short time. On his return to Minneapolis he purchased of Mr. John Pembroke the forty-five acres where his home now stands, paying twenty-five dollars per acre. It was then wild land and as a protection against the winds it was necessary to reinforce

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

the little shanty, which was his home for several years, with props. He bought a yoke of oxen, adding to his debt, finding himself at the end of the first year with a financial deficit of $1,100. But he worked amid all the hardships and difficulties of the new country with sturdy perseverance, set- ting out posts and building fences by moonlight and soon had twenty-five or thirty acres of the land ready for cultivation; and, with oxen and a few farming tools raised good crops of grain and corn, receiving sixty cents a bushel for wheat and twenty-two cents for corn. In October, 1858 he was married at Mishawaka, Indiana to Miss Louisa A. Russ, daughter of Dan and Mary A. (Brown) Russ, natives of Connecticut, for whom Mr. Shumway had formerly worked. Mr. Russ had visited Minnesota in 1854, and invested in land. The follow- ing year, with his family, he again started west with the intention of making that their home; but, on reaching Misha- waka, Indiana, he was persuaded by a brother to locate at that place. After his death, his wife and children came to Minnesota, settling near Robbinsdale and here the death of the former occurred. The son, Mr. N. F. Russ is a resident of Robbinsdale and the daughter, Mrs. Ellen M. Bisbee has made her home with her sister, Mrs. Shumway for a number of years. During the Civil war when the demand for men in the service was so urgent, the citizens of Minneapolis of- fered a bounty of $300 to men who would enlist. Mr. Shum- way and several of his neighbors enlisted at this time and received this sumn. He was assigned to the Eleventh Minne- sota regiment which was stationed until the close of the war as guard at Tunnek Hill on the Louisville & Nashville rail- road. After receiving his honorable discharge he returned home and soon after began to buy adjoining property, ex- tending his purchases until his farm included seventy acres where the village of Robbinsdale now stands. About twenty years ago he sold this land to Mr. Robbins and it was platted into the town site of Robbinsdale, which has grown into a prosperous and attractive suburb of Minneapolis. Mr. Shum- way donated the land for the Congregational 'church of which he is a member, and for its parsonage. He retained a part of his farm. which is a very desirable tract of land extending into the village, and his home is beautifully situated on a knoll overlooking the lake. Mr. Shumway is a Republican; and, though he has never taken an active part in political affairs, served for twenty years as township treasurer. Mr. Shumway and his wife had two sons, Ernest J. and Royal, both graduates of the state university. Ernest J. Shumway is an electrical engineer, residing in Robbinsdale. He married Miss Alice Preston and they had four children, Clyde, Caroline Louise, Evelyn Russ and Esther Ross. Royal Shumway, who married Miss Susan Pitblado, is assistant professor of mathe- matic's in the University of Minnesota. The wife and mother passed away in the spring of 1914.

JACOB STOFT.

Jacob Stoft, a well known hardware merchant and eminent citizen of Minneapolis, is a native of Germany, born in Hesse Darmstadt, May 8. 1855. As a lad he was apprenticed to the trade of locksmith and served three years. He came to this country in 1871 locating at LaCrosse, Wisconsin, where an uncle resided. There he engaged as a tinsmith which occu- pation later proved such a successful branch of his business

enterprise. In 1878 he came to Minneapolis and opened the first hardware and tin shop south of Tenth avenue south. This business venture was made with $1,000 capital and developed rapidly to its present proportions as one of the leading hardware stores of the city. For several years he employed a number of men in the tin shop making a specialty of this branch of the business, but lately he has discontinued this department and has devoted his entire attention to the hardware trade. His present manager, Mr. Peter Beentsen, has been identified with the concern for thirty-five years. He has been associated with the civic interests, ever exerting his influence and effort in behalf of the general welfare and progress of the city. He served as a member of the first Charter Commission. In 1884 he was elected alderman from the Sixth Ward and owing to a division of the Ward, during his term, he had the unique distinction of representing a Ward in which he was not a resident. During the nine years of his membership on the Board of Park Commissioners he bent every effort to secure the large acquisitions of park property, which were largely made during this period.

As president of the Minneapolis Savings and Loan Associa- tion Mr. Stoft has taken a great interest in the purpose of the institution, which provides an opportunity for the invest- ment of small savings, thus enabling many wage earners to obtain homes. He has been a director of the Metropolitan National Bank and of the Flour City Ornamental Iron Works since their organization. He is a director of the Northwestern Marble & Tile Company and director and treasurer of the Simonson Brothers Manufacturing Company.

He was married in LaCrosse, Wisconsin to Miss Elizabeth Gast. They have two daughters, Frieda B., wife of Mr. L. C. Robinson, of the lumber firm of Bardwell & Robinson, and Esther A., who married Mr. G. A. Heinrich, manager of the business interests of his father, Mr. Julius J. Heinrich. Mr. Stoft has ever retained an affectionate regard for his father- land and its literature, an interest which is shared by his wife and daughters who are prominent in the German literary societies of the city. , Finding great enjoyment in travel, Mr. Stoft and wife have toured extensively in this country and elsewhere and he has the fullest appreciation of the wonder- ful resources and scenic pleasures of his adopted country. He is a Knight Templar and a Shriner and with the others of his family, is an active member of the Universalist Church.

JAMES H. MILLER.

The late James H. Miller was for many years one of the foremost flour mill men of his time. The details of his work, and of all other work that was allied with it, were set out in his mind as if on the pages of an open book, and his knowledge of them was complete, accurate and at all times ready for immediate use.

Mr. Miller was born in the city of Fulton, Oswego county, New York, on December 10, 1854, and at the age of thirteen began his life work in a flour mill in his native place. He was orphaned at the age of nine by the violent death of his father, whom he saw run over by a team in the streets of New York city. Yet, notwithstanding this disaster, the son had some educational advantages, having been able to attend for a time the excellent school known as Fowler Seminary in his home city. But his opportunity was cut short by the circum-

Das NWiller

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

stances of the family, which compelled him to begin making his own way in the world as soon as he was strong enough.

After three years of studious industry and conscientious fidelity in the mill in Fulton, where he first found employment, Mr. Miller left that city and went to Oswego, New York, where there were larger mills and more active milling enter- prises, and where he remained until 1873, all the while making a close study of his work and acquiring thorough knowledge of its every feature, detail and requirement. In the year last mentioned he was nineteen years old, of an ambitious and daring spirit, and with his eyes wide open to the trend of industry and the outlook for progress in his occupation. Great things were told of the milling business in Minneapolis in all parts of the country at the time, and this alert and inquiring man heard much that set him thinking and intensified his longing for the West.

Accordingly, about this time he came to Minneapolis, and soon after his arrival in the city he was appointed night miller in the old Taylor mill, which stood on the site of the present Pillsbury B, which was then one of the mills belonging to Charles A. Pillsbury. Its capacity was 175 barrels of flour a day. Its successor of the present time turns out 6,400 barrels in the same period. In 1878, when Mr. Pillsbury secured control of the Excelsior mill, he placed Mr. Miller in charge of it as head miller; and when, during the next year, it was equipped with the roller process and its capacity was raised to 800 barrels a day, he found his responsibilities vastly increased, and himself and the mill objects of intense curiosity, wide- spread and insistent, because of the innovation, and the enlarged output it made possible. The new process proved successful from the start, and it has been so generally adopted in this country that it has wholly revolutionized the industry of manufacturing flour in the United States, making it far more prolific than it was under the old burr process, and also laying under tribute to its advantage elements of profit unknown to milling prior to the introduction of the rolls.

Mr. Miller remained in charge of the Excelsior mill until it was destroyed in the explosion and fire of December 4, 1881. The Pillsbury B mill was destroyed at the same time, but was immediately rebuilt, and Mr. Miller had charge of the work of reconstruction. During the next three years he was a salesman of mill machinery for the firm of Edward P. Allis & Company of Milwaukee, and when he quit its service he went into the employ of the firm of Jones & Company of New York as head miller. But the West and the Minneapolis milling industry needed him and called him back into service here. In 1885 C. A. Pillsbury decided to equip and put in operation his B mill, which had stood idle three years, and he asked Mr. Miller to again take the place of head miller in it.

In 1888 he was made manager of the Anchor mill also, and in 1889 the Pillsbury A mill, the largest in the world, was placed under his supervision. This rendered his position the most responsible held by any man in the whole milling industry, but he met all its requirements with great ability, readiness and fidelity. Still, the duties were very burden- some, exacting and wearing on him. About 1909 he began to feel the pressure severely and asked to be relieved of the B and Anchor mills, but retained the management of the A mill until his death on February 28, 1910.

While Mr. Miller established a high standard for the work and fidelity of his men, he demanded more of himself than

of any of them. In emergencies or the presence of serious problems in his work the best that was in him came into service. He threw his whole soul into his business, and never stopped in his pursuit of a purpose until he accomplished it, and spared himself neither day nor night in his efforts. In 1891 the Northwestern Miller offered prizes to head millers who would receive the greatest number of votes. One was a trip to Europe, the first prize, which was won by Mr. Miller, who received over 100,000 votes, 22,606 more than any of his competitors, although some of them were men of the highest standing in their employment as to skill, knowledge, aptitude and general ability.

On July 5th, 1901, Mr. Miller was married in the Church of the Redeemer, Minneapolis, to Miss Lucy May Green, who had come to Minneapolis as a child and lived here with a sister. No children were born of the union. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Miller has built a handsome home overlooking the Lake of the Isles, at which she now resides.

GOTTLIEB SCHOBER.

Gottlieb Schober, president of the Phoenix Mill company, Third avenue and Main street, southeast, has been prominently associated with the milling interests of Minneapolis since 1865 when he established the Phoenix Mill company in partnership with Carl Stamwitz. This company has become one of the leading milling enterprises of the northwest, con- ducting a large wholesale business throughout the country. Gottlieb Schober was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, Nov. 27, 1834, and came to St. Anthony Falls in 1855 after spend- ing several months in Philadelphia with his brother, John Schober, who later removed to a farm in Hennepin county, Gottlieb Schober also taking a claim near Maple Grove. He was employed for a time in the Prescott mills in St. Anthony and then operated a small steam mill at Waconia. In 1861 he removed to Sparta, Wisconsin, where he remained until 1865 when he returned to Minneapolis, becoming a partner with Carl Stamnitz. Mr. Stamnitz is a native of Alsace, France, now Germany, and like his partner had become a miller before emigrating. They opened their first plant on the river bank near Barnard's Furniture factory, where a two run mill was erected by Noble & Walker. In 1870 under the name of Noble, Schober & Company they acquired a half interest in the People's mill and the following year bought Mr. Noble's interest. For a year they operated the two mills under one management and then sold their original plant which was destroyed by fire shortly afterwards. In 1875 near this site, they erected a five run mill with capacity for a daily output of 150 barrels, the building being a part of the present plant. In March, 1876, this mill was opened under the old name of Phoenix mill and the People's mill was dismantled. The capacity was doubled through the in- stallation of the roller system in 1881 and the estimated investment at this time of $100,000 compared with the original capital of $2,000 marks the rapid growth and success of the enterprise. The Phoenix Mill company was incorporated in 1893 with a capital of $200,000, with Gottlieb Schober as president, Carl G. Schober, vice president, Carl Stamwitz, treasurer and E. T. Schneider, secretary. Soon after the plant was remodeled and equipped with new machinery and in 1899 the company further increased their facilities by the

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

purchase of a mill at Herman, Minnesota, making a total daily production of 875 barrels, and employing a force of forty-five men. Mr. Stamwitz retired in 1899 after thirty- four years of partnership and the entire stock of the company became the property of Mr. Schober and his sons, with Gottlieb Schober as president, Carl G. Schober, vice president, William F. Schober, second vice president and Ed E. Schober, secretary and treasurer. For several years Mr. Schober has resided in Sawtelle, California, and although he retains an active interest in the business, the details of its management have been successfully placed in the hands of his sons. Throughout the years of his long and active career, Mr. Schober has won esteem and merited popularity in the busi- ness and civic circles of the city, and for over fifty years he has been a prominent member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He was married in Minneapolis in 1866 to Miss Mary Goehringer, sister of Christ Goehringer, a well known liquor dealer. They have five children, Carl G., vice president of the Phoenix Mill company; John E., secretary of the Standard Furniture company at Seattle, Washington; Mary, the widow of Dr. T. L. Laliberte; William F., second vice president of the Phoenix Mill company and local man- ager of the Herman Mill, where he resides, and where he is an active Elk and Mason, being Worshipful Master of the local lodge, and Ed. E., secretary and treasurer of the mill company and director of the Metropolitan National Bank. Ed. S. is a member of the New Athletic and Interlacken clubs as of the B. P. O. E. Mr. Carl Schober received a thorough practical training in the trade of his father and has the superintendency of the manufacturing branch of the business. He was married to Miss Jennie Gluek, a sister of Mr. Charles Gluek of Minneapolis, and has two children, Jennie and Edmund. Mr. Schober is prominent in the social and fraternal organizations of the city and holds membership in the St. Anthony Commercial club, the Auto club, Teutonia Bowling club, the Turn Verein, is a.,member of the Elks and in the Masonic order is a Knight Templar and Shriner.

LEWIS H. SELDEN.

Lewis H. Selden, president of the S lden Roofing & Mfg. Co., was born in this city in 1862, and was educated in the public schools, including the high school. He at once entered the business of manufacturing fireproof roofing, windows and doors, and all kinds of sheet metal work. The Selden Roofing and Manufacturing company, of which he has been the presi- dent and treasurer, since its organization, was incorporated in 1910. W. C. Clark is vice-president and E. T. Stensett, secretary. The business was established in 1878 by Frank Grygla and Henry E. Selden, father of Lewis H., at 114 Third street north, the present location being at 76 Western avenue. Henry Selden, a native of New Haven, Connecticut, was form- erly a building contractor. He came to Minneapolis in 1860 and died here in 1903. The business of this company is ex- tensive, operating about 75 employes, and all its products and work are approved and labeled by the National Board of Underwriters. The excellence of the work is proven by the many monuments to its skill and industry which are to be found in all parts of the business section of the city. It made and installed all the work in its line in the Syndicate, the Public Library, the Hartman Furniture, the State Uni-

versity buildings, the Dayton Department Store, the new Central High School, New Union Station, New Art Museum, New Gates Residence, the New State Prison at Stillwater, and many other important and imposing structures. Mr. Selden has not only given the business close and careful at- tention, but has also been a potential factor in the general life of the community and an intelligent, and energetic supporter of every worthy undertaking. He is no politician, and has no inclination to hold public office. He is widely known in busines's circles and in the city is recognized as an enterpris- ing and highly useful citizen.

He is a prominent Mason and a member of the Athletic and Automobile clubs.

HIRAM A. SCRIVER.

Hiram A. Scriver, the president of the St. Anthony Falls Bank from its organization, was born in the province of Quebec, Canada, in 1860. He is a son of John A. and Kate (Rich) Scriver. The father founded the old First National Bank of Northfield, Minnesota, one of the famous fiscal in- stitutions of this part of the country, and died in that city. His ancestors came to this country from Germany and first located in the state of New York. Afterward some of them moved to Canada, and it was this branch that gave direct descent to John A., the father of Hiram. He brought his family to Minnesota in 1870, and located at Northfield, where he died. He also founded the Exchange Bank in that city, and had control of it for a number of years.

His son Hiram began his career in banking in the Citizens' Bank of Northfield. In 1887 he bought the bank at Cannon Falls, this state, and managed it nearly seven years. In the summer of 1893 he moved to Minneapolis and aided in the organization of the St. Anthony Falls Bank. He is also president of the Citizens State Bank of Cannon Falls and vice president of the Northfield National Bank. In politics he is a Republican, in church connection a Congregationalist, and in social relations a prominent member of the St. An- thony Commercial club. Mr. Scriver was married in 1887 to Miss Mary V. Tupper, a native of Ohio. They have five children, Albert, Helen, Arthur, Eugene and Hiram T. Albert is employed in the St. Anthony Falls Bank and Arthur in the Northfield National.

JONATHAN H. POND.

The late Jonathan H. Pond was one of the pioneers of this city and for nearly half a century one of its leading business inen and most influential citizen. Although he lived to the advanced age of ninety-three years, he retained his mental faculties and much of his physical power to the last, and throughout his long life conducted all his business and personal affairs according to the requirements of the strictest integrity and rectitudc. In all his business transactions he exacted everything he was entitled to, but at the same time insisted on giving to others the last cent die from him to them accord- ing to the strictest accountability.

Mr. Pond was born in the town of Harwinton. Litchfield county, Connecticut, on December 1st, 1809, and died in

Jonathan. H. Pond

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

Minneapolis in Oct. 16, 1902. He came to this city in the later fifties and passed the remainder of his days here. And that his interest in the expansion, improvement, and general welfare of the community remained with him to the last and was potential when all other ordinary claims were ignored is proven by the fact that in 1900, when he was ninety years old, he had platted the Pond and Pettibone Addition to Minneap- olis, which is now one of the choice residence sections of the city and fast filling up with imposing dwelling houses.

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Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 128

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