Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 69

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 69

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Immediately after his arrival in this city Mr. Wyman formed a partnership with Z. T. Mullin, now a resident of Washington, D. C., with whom he had previously been associ- ated in business, and under the firm name of Wyman & Mullin they founded a wholesale dry goods house with which Mr. Wy- man has ever since been connected. Mr. Mullin left the firm in 1890, and at that time George H. Partridge, who had been in charge of the eredit department of the establishment, was taken in as a member and Samuel D. Coykendall as a special partner, the firm name being changed to Wyman, Partridge & Company. When the present corporation was formed some years afterward Mr. Wyman was made president of the new ' organization and Mr. Partridge at first secretary, and later vice president. These offices the gentlemen named are still holding. The firm has its principal business location, which it owns, at the corner of Fourth street and First avenue north. In addition to its commodious and splendidly appointed build- ing at that location, which it. uses for salesrooms, it occupies another for warehouse purposes, and also operates a large manufacturing plant. The business is very active and exten- sive, its sales territory reaching from the Great Lakes to the Pacific coast.

In 1880 W. J. Van Dyke was admitted to partnership in the first named firm, which then became Wyman. Mullin & Van Dyke; and when Mr. Coykendall became interested in the house the name was changed to Wyman, Mullin & Company, Mr. Van Dyke retiring. But through all the elianges in its name Mr. Wyman has been at the head of the firm, and his

has been the directing and controlling spirit in it. He is also interested in the Minnesota Loan and Trust company, a director of the Northwestern National Bank and a trustee and the vice president of the Farmers and Mechanics Savings Bank.

While deeply interested in the welfare of his home eity and state, Mr. Wyman has never taken an active part in political eontentions. He gives his allegiance to the Democratic party, but has never desired to hold a public office. He has, however, been active to some extent in the social life of the city as a member of the Athletic, Minneapolis, Minikahda and Lafayette clubs. He also belongs to the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts, and takes an active and helpful interest in it.

Mr. Wyman's first marriage was with Miss Charlotte E. Mullin and took place at Lowden, Iowa, in 1858. Four chil- dren were born of this union, two of whom are living: Sarah A., who is the wife of George H. Partridge, and Prudence M., who is the wife of C. C. Ladd. Their mother died in 1880, and eight years later Mr. Wyman was married at Cedar Rapids, lowa, to Miss Bella M. Ristine. They have one child, their daughter, Katherine R. The only son of the household, Henry M. Wyman, died in Spokane, Washington, in 1901. He was a physician and surgeon, a graduate of the University of Mich- igan, Detroit College of Medicine and the University of Ber- lin, Germany. For some years he was engaged in hospital work in London, England, and held a high rank in his pro- fession there, as he did in all other places in which he was engaged in practice.

The progenitors of the American branch of the Wyman family emigrated from England to this country in 1636. Mr. Wyman's grandparents on his mother's side were John and Sarah Berry. His mother's father, Captain John Berry, served under General William Henry Harrison in his brilliant eam- paigns in what was then the Northwest Territory of this country, taking part in the battle of Tippecanoe and other de- cisive engagements won by General Harrison's army. Captain Berry made an excellent record in his military service, and other members of the Berry and Wyman families have, in various parts of the country, dignified and adorned many elevated walks of life and shown high and serviceable attri- butes of patriotic American citizenship of the most admirable quality.

JOHN F. DAHL.

Was born in Bergen, Norway, January 22, 1870, and was brought by his parents to Minneapolis when he was a child in arms. His father was Andrew Dahl and his mother Wil- helmina (Cedergren) Dahl. They are of the intellectual type of Norwegians who were dissatisfied with the opportunities in their native land, and had the courage and aggressive spirit which has brought so many valuable citizens to Minne- apolis. The boy eaught from the spirit and progress of the fast growing city, the impulse for self development, and in the public schools his mind received its first impetus to effi- cient attainment. The only outside credit which must be given for his all-round development is to Gustavus Adolphus College at St. Peter, where he took a full course and graduated with honors.

He then entered the University and taking the academie and, later, the law course, graduated in 1892. He immediately began the practice of his profession and developing a taste

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

for politics his forensic ability became conspicuous. He has always been an ardent Republican, local politics first engaging his attention and stirring his activities. He was elected to the legislature in 1894, and although the youngest member in the House, his gift of eloquence soon made him a prominent figure. In 1896 he was re-elected, being a colleague of such men as Judge Henry G. Hicks, Judge Willard R. Gray and Hans Simonson.

In 1905, when Al J. Smith was first elected County Attorney, Mr. Dahl was appointed assistant, being his own successor in 1907. As assistant attorney he has displayed sterling quali- ties and unswerving fidelity to the public interest. He has conducted many important prosecutions, among them being the proceedings against the officers of the Northwestern National Life Insurance Company. He has ever been capable, efficient and trustworthy and has won for himself an enviable reputation.

Mr. Dahl is of a congenial temperament and those who are closest to him are the most enthusiastic in attesting to the splendid qualities of his personality. He is a member of a number of the principal clubs including the Odin and the Apollo. His musical talents find outlet in the last named club, and besides this he is director of music in St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church. Miss Sophia Skjerdingstad became the wife of Mr. Dahl and they have one child, Theodore.

CHARLES ALBERT DAVIS.

Mr. Davis was born in the state of New York on March 24, 1853. and was rearea and educated in that state. After attaining manhood he was employed for a number of years by the New York State Forest commission in looking after the Adirondack park region. In 1888 he came to Northfield, Minnesota, to visit an uncle from Holland Patent, New York. In the fall of the year mentioned he located in Minneapolis and here he secured employment as a bookkeeper and col- lector for J. W. Day. He remained in the employ of Mr. Day until the latter wished to retire from business, and then bought the entire outfit, including a plant at 212 Fourth street northeast, one at Tenth and Como avenues southeast and a third at 25 Jackson street, all of which were operated under the name of the East Side Ice company, and were doing a large and active business.

Mr. Davis devoted all his time and attention to this busi- ness for five years, then sold it to the Cedar Lake Ice company, which now owns it and carries it on.

After disposing of his ice business Mr. Davis became interested in zinc and lead mines at Webb City, Missouri. He acquired the ownership of producing mines there, and, while returning from them to Minneapolis on a Rock Island train running over the track of the Great Western road, was so seriously injured in a railroad accident at Green Mountain, near Marshalltown, Iowa, that he died two days later in a hospital in Marshalltown, March 23, 1910.

During his attendance as a student at Whitesboro Academy, where he prepared for Hamilton College, he made a high and widespread reputation for his oratorical ability. As a zealous and energetic working Democrat, however, he did make numerous political addresses both in New York and this state, and at one time was the nominee of his party for the office of county commissioner of Hennepin county, as he was in

1908 for that of representative from his district in the state legislature. The adverse majority was heavy and he was defeated in both campaigns, but he made an excellent impres- sion by his effective and captivating oratory in each.

Mr. Davis was reared a Presbyterian and remained loyal to that church through life. He belonged to all branches of the Masonic fraternity, but was never an active working member of any. He took a cordial interest in the welfare of the fraternity and did what he could in a quiet way to promote its advancement, but he never became an enthusiast in refer- ence to it. He was married at Northfield, Minnesota, on January 16, 1891, to Miss Elizabeth Lockerby, a native of that city. Two children were born of the union, Gennette C. and Charles H. Both are still living with their inother at 410 University avenue southeast, and both are high school grad- uates. The daughter is now a junior at Carleton College and the son is a sophomore at the University of Minnesota.

FREDERICK A. DICKEY.

Born and reared in Minneapolis, and whose parents were pioneers, Frederick A. Dickey, state manager of the Security Mutual Life Insurance company of Binghamton, New York, has an intense interest in the progress, expansion, improve- ment and general welfare, and has helped to augment its industrial and commercial importance.

Mr. Dickey was born in East Minneapolis October 8, 1872, his parents being Benjamin T. and Margaret A. (Creelman) Dickey, the former a native of Maine and the latter of Nova Scotia. July 4, 1850, the father accompanied by his sister Hannah and her husband, Luther Munson, reached St. An- thony from Maine, after a varied trip overland and over the Great Lakes. One.of the incidents of the voyage was that their vessel towed to shore near Cleveland, Ohio, the burning ship "Griffith," whose fate was one of the historic disasters of the Lakes, and in which some 300 persons lost their lives.

Mrs. Munson is still living in East Minneapolis, and recalls many interesting facts and incidents of the early days, having a scrap book which furnished many valuable incidents of pioneer history. Benjamin T. Dickey went to work in a saw- mill at St. Anthony in 1857, and in which line of effort he engaged, either as employe or operator, for many years. He soon formed a partnership with James McMullen, which lasted until their mill was destroyed by fire in 1878.

Mr. Dickey then operated a flour mill at Redwood, which was also burned, incurring heavy loss. He was afterwards connected with a number of enterprises. He died as the result of a fall March 19, 1913. He was early made a Mason in Cataract Lodge, and was therefore one of the oldest men in the fraternity in this state. A short time after becoming established here he returned to the East, was married and then brought his young bride, who survives, to his Western home. They have two sons living, Frederick A. and Dr. Robert Dickey, of South Minneapolis. Minnie, their only daughter, married Charles H. Cross, and died in Chicago in 1910, aged thirty-six.

Frederick A. Dickey was educated at Bishop Whipple Col- lege in Moorhead, began as a solicitor of life insurance, repre- senting the National Life Insurance company at St. Louis, Mo. June 1, 1908, he returned to Minneapolis as state man-

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND. HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

ager for the Security Mutual Life of Binghamton, New York, his success being such that his company now carries risks in Minnesota amounting to over three million dollars. He has organized an efficient corps of agents, and the business done from year to year furnishes an increasing evidence of intelligent administration. ›

Mr. Dickey became a Mason in Missouri, having now received the thirty-second degree, and is also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He was married August 15, 1894, to Miss Elizabetlı Gorham, a daughter of David and Marion Gorham. Her father came to St. Anthony in 1847 in company with the venerable Caleb D. Dorr, and died in Minneapolis some twenty-two years ago. Mr. and Mrs. Dickey have one child, Margaret A., a student at St. Margaret's convent.

HENRY HILL.

Henry Hill was born in Devonshire, England, on May 19, 1828, and when he was but four "years old was brought to the United States by his father, John Hill, who was an architect and master mechanic. On his arrival"in this country the father first located at Philadelphia; from there he went to St. Louis and later to a farm near Warsaw, Ill ..

· The elder Mr. Hill took up his residence on a farm near Warsaw, Illinois, and later built a large saw mill there. His son, Henry, managed the farm work, and the father operated the mill. When he was fifteen Henry also took part in' running the mill. and the next year he was 'placed in charge . of the machinery' in the flour mill, the saw mill having been converted into a flour mill. In 1846 he started to learn the blacksmith trade under the direction of J. H. Wood, a mechanic of extensive local renown, but soon after- ward joined two of his brothers on the "Prairie Bird," a pas- senger steamboat built on the Illinois river.

About this time Henry Hill was united in marriage with Miss Ann Eliza Smith, a daughter of Dr. William Smith of Laharpe, Ill. He continued to operate saw and flour mills from 1850 to 1856 in Illinois, but in 1852 visited St. Anthony's Falls in company with Judge Orendorf of Baltimore, Mary- land, and in 1854 united with his brothers and some other persons in organizing the Northern Line Packet company and putting on the Mississippi a number of boats to ply between St. Louis and St. Paul. One of his brothers was a captain on one of the boats.

In 1855 or 1856 Mr. Hill, as a member of the firm of Hill, Knox & Company, started a distillery at Warsaw, Ill. This met with disaster in the financial panic of 1857, but through his personal efforts and well known probity, the company secured indulgences, and in the end was able to meet all its financial obligations in full. It continued in operation steadily and built up a very large and profitable business, its internal revenue tax paid to the government during the Civil war amounting to an average of some $96,000 a month. Many of its employes, however, enlisted in the service of the Union, thereby crippling its force, and in 1864 the plant was destroyed and a large woolen mill was erected in its place.

In 1866 Mr. Hill turned his attention to railroad building as president of the construction company for. the Toledo, Peoria & Western road, and after the line was completed he was made president of the railroad company. Afterward he was superintendent of construction on a railroad from the

Mississippi to the Missouri across Northern Missouri and Southern Iowa, and still later vice president of that road. About this time, or a little later, he was also the prin- cipal factor in building the Midland Pacific Railroad in Ne- braska and other parts of its route.

By 1878 the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad required a readjustment of its affairs, and that year Mr. Hill was one of a committee of threc selected by the bondholders to sell and reorganize it. While the transactions were in prog- ress he became intimately acquainted with Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll. attorney for the bondholders, then at the height af his fame, and a very cordial and mutually appreciative friendship grew up between them.

Mr. Hill was associated in building railroads with General Drake of Centerville, Iowa, and other enterprising men, and he continued his operations in this line, principally in Iowa, until 1881, when the Wabash system secured the properties in which he was interested. He then transferred his activities to Minneapolis and gave his attention to other business. For thirty years he was a partner in the banking firm of Hill, Dodge & Company at Warsaw, Illinois, and for some years was one of the directors of the Flour City Bank of Minneapolis. In 1891 he and his sons, with Wallace Campbell, founded tlie bank of Hill Sons & Company in this city, and of this insti- tution he was president until his death, on April 2, 1902. His widow survived him eleven years, passing away on February 5, 1913.

Through life Mr. Hill was a man of very unusual business capacity and enterprise. He had great breadth of view. a strong will, decisive promptness in action and remarkable executive ability. He was also a very genial, obliging and courtly gentleman, who always looked for the best traits of the men he had dealings with and treated them on that basis, while he undoubtedly possessed the noblest attributes of manhood himself. His wife was a companion meet for him and of a spirit and demeanor kindred with his own.

HON. PORTIUS C. DEMING.

Portins Calvin Deming was born in Milton, Chittenden county. Vermont. on December 12. 1854, and in 1882 became a resident of Minneapolis, where he has since been busily and successfully engaged in the real estate, loan and insurance business. He began his education in the country schools, and entered Essex Classical Institute, a college in his native state. But his father died while the son was yet in his boyhood. He started learning the printing trade, but his health was delicate and he found the work and surroundings at the trade hurtful to him. He was also employed in Ver- mont as a bookkeeper and salesman after leaving school by one of the large printing companies of that state until his removal to Minneapolis. Since his location in this city he has been almost continuously connected with his present business, his dealings in real estate being the largest part of his work. and the most important branch of it. He has been a poten- tial factor in the development and improvement of Northeast Minneapolis, but has also borne a heavy hand in the advance- ment of other parts of the city, having served as a member of the city park board for many years and been very diligent in his work as such.

: In 1899, 1901 and 1903 Mr. Deming represented the Thirty-

Henry Hill

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

ninth legislative district in the state house of representatives. In his first session he was a member of the committee on appropriations and served on some of its most important subcommittees. In that session also he began to take a very deep and practical interest in Itasca State Park. At that time eighteen years had passed since the government had given the state one-half of the land in the park, and no appro- priation had been made for the purchase of the private lands within its limits. Mr. Deming secured an appropriation for the purchase of some of these lands on which a valuation had been placed, and he has continued to work for a permanent arrangement with a large standing appropriation, by which all the land desired in the park could be bought. By his personal efforts on the floor of the house he secured an appro- priation of $20,000 in 1899, and in 1901 there was a standing appropriation of $5,000 annually created for purchase of timber land, which remained in force until 1913, when all were abolished. In 1903 he was chairman of the Hennepin county delegation in the house and of the committee on public lands. In that session he secured, as a member of the subcommittee on finance, an appropriation of $20,000 in the omnibus bill for the same purpose.

Returning to his work in the matter with renewed energy in 1911, but not as a member, Mr. Deming had a bill proposed appropriating $20,000 a year until all the pine land in the park should be bought and paid for. While this failed of passage it resulted in the legislature adding $1,000 to the regular allowance of $5,000 a year, making it $6,000. Early in the session of 1913 he asked the state forester to back up, with his influence and aid, a similar bill for $25,000 a year. He urged the passage of his bill before the house committee on public lands, which favored it. But a successful movement to abolish all stand- ing appropriation's limited the provision made to two years, but it resulted in the passage of the bill which provided for a tax levy and issuance of certificates of indebtedness to the amount of $250,000, which is ample for all its needs.

Mr. Deming succeeded in interesting the leading papers of Minneapolis and St. Paul in a campaign of education which resulted in making each member and the people in general familiar with the great results to be obtained by the passage of the bill.

In the great work which he has undertaken and pushed with such relentless industry, Mr. Deming has been assisted by many public men of great weight and influence. Among the number was Hon. J. V. Brower and Senator Knute Nelson, who wrote on one occasion: "Itacka Park and its preservation are sacred and dear to every American heart. The lake and its beautiful environment should, as far as possible, be kept intact in their primitive and normal condition." The efforts made for such preservation are well placed, although there has been some dispute as to the real source of the Mississippi. In 1889 J. V. Brower, also deeply interested in this subject and well posted on it, claimed that Glazier lake was the source. But his claim has been disproved. At his instance the State Historical Society made a careful survey, which established Lake Itacka as the real source of the renowned river. Mr. Brower was the father of the park movement and a tireless worker for its success until his death in 1905.

Mr. Deming was a member of the Minneapolis park board from 1894 until he resigned in 1899, when he was elected to the legislature. In 1909 he was again elected a member of the board to fill a vacancy. The term expired January 1,

1913, but at the election in November, 1912, he was chosen for another full term of six years. He is a member of the committee on improvements and chairman of the committee on forestry.

In the last four years a great deal has been done in the extension of boulevards, the establishment of small play- grounds and parks in various neighborhoods and the connec- tion of the lakes near the city by canals. In 1909, 1911 and 1913 he assisted in securing allowances of nearly two millions of dollars for park improvements by his efforts before the legislature and elsewhere.

Mr. Deming also takes an interest and an active part in the business life of his community as a member of the St. Anthony and New Boston Commercial clubs, also the Com- mercial club of Minneapolis. He is also a member of the State Historical Society and the Minneapolis Real Estate Board. . His interest in Northeast Minneapolis began in 1888, when he arrived in the city and opened a real estate office. He handled much of the property in that part of the city that was platted that year, and several additions since made have borne his name.

In fraternal relations Mr. Deming is connected with the Masonic Order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Royal Arcanum. He was first married early in life to Miss Mary Crown of Milton, Vermont, who died in Minneapolis, leaving four children: Helen Venorma, who is a teacher in the Minneapolis schools; Harriet Mary, the wife of Mr. A. Schermerhorn, of Seattle, Washington; Portia D., the wife of Dr. Dunbar F. Lippitt, of Duluth, and Calvin, who is a student at St. Thomas College, Midway. On August 8, 1911, Mr. Deming was married a second time, uniting himself with Miss Jeanette Geiser, of Monticello, Minnesota. They have one child, their daughter, Dorothy Jeanette.

JOHN WESLEY DAY.

The oldest son of Leonard Day, a leading business man and citizen in the early history of Minneapolis, and himself the head of large business enterprises, the late John Wesley Day, was a man of importance in the progress and development of the city during a continuous period of fifty-six years.

He was born in Wesley, Washington county, Maine, October 23, 1831, and died at Riverside, California, July 26, 1910. He came to the northwest on a prospecting tour for his father in 1854, and his report of the resources, possibilities and prospects was so favorable that it induced his father to make it the future home. The family were four sons and two daughters, John W., Lorenzo Dow, William Henry Harrison and Augustin A., and Emeline and Lois. Emeline married Baldwin Brown and died in Minneapolis a number of years. ago. Lois married Caleb Philbrick, and survives him.

The father began flour milling and operating in lumber, soon afterward organizing the' lumber manufacturing firm of Leonard Day & Sons, which lasted until his death in 1886. The business was thus reorganized as J. W. Day & Company. The first firm included the father and all the sons except Augustin. The second was composed of John W., Lorenzo and William Henry Day, Leonard D. Day, a son of Lorenzo, and David Willard, a son-in-law of John W.

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Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 69

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