Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 83

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 83

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

From his entry into industrial and mercautile life Mr. Waite had made rapid and continuous progress, working his way up, step by step, from a small beginning to his present eminence in the business which has engaged his attention. The H. B. Waite Lumber company has its headquarters in Minneapolis, and for some years confined its operations to country tributary to this city. But of late it has extended its scope to the Pacific Coast and has correspondingly in- creased its activities and productiveness.

Within the last few years Mr. Waite has also become con- nected with a number of business organizations outside of this city and state. He is president of the Waite Mill and 'Timber company, which is one of a number of organizations in the Puget Sound region in which he has extensive interests and to which he is giving a considerable part of his time. He has interests also in other parts of the Farther West and in some business institutions nearer home.

Mr. Waite has always taken a sincere interest in the public affairs of his home community, and given his support to all agencies at work for its good and the welfare of its residents. For some years he was a member of the Minnesota National Guard as a private in Company I, and while in no degree a politician or aggressive partisan, he has never neglected the duties of citizenship, but has always done all he could to aid in securing the best attainable government and administra- tion of affairs for his city and state.

Mr. Waite's social activities include membership in the Minneapolis, Minikahda, and Lafayette clubs, and his religious affiliation is with the Episcopal church, of which he and his family are regular attendants. In 1891, he was united in marriage with Miss Luella Lichty, of Waterloo, Iowa. They are both highly esteemed in social life and active aids in all good works undertaken in the city.

JOHN T. McGOWAN.

John T. McGowan, president of the McGowan Mahoney In- vestment Company, engaged in his present business in 1889 when he purchased the insurance business of R. W. Cummings, which was established in 1852. He was formerly associated with Henry C. Schultz, who was succeeded after his death by John Mahoney, who has also since died, a sketch of whom

MB Nait:

335

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

is in this work, together having built up a business in real estate, loans and insurance which places their company among the local leaders in this line. In 1912 they incorporated under the above name and took their two sons, Thomas J. McGowan and James W. Mahoney into business with them.

Mr. McGowan's business capacity, public spirit and ele- vated citizenship has won for him universal esteem.

He was born in Minneapolis April 6, 1864, and is the son of Thomas and Catherine (Murphy) McGowan, natives re- spectively of Leitrim and Fermanagh Counties, Ireland. They were married in Minneapolis in 1860, the father landing in New York in 1850, and having become a resident of this city in 1852. He was a stonemason and helped to build many of the earlier houses in St. Anthony and the newer town on the west side of the river. He became a building contractor and owner erecting a number of stores and dwelling houses in St. Anthony. He died in February, 1894, aged seventy-nine, surviving his wife seventeen years, she having died in 1879.

They were among the original members of the old Catholic church of St. Anthony de Padua and devout and serviceable to the parish in their loyalty and conservation. He was a staunch Democrat and an active and effective worker for the success of his party, seeing in its principles the best security for the rights and welfare of the whole people. They were the parents of three children, Michael, who died in child- hood. Peter P. has been connected with the police depart- ment for fourteen years. They were educated in local parochial schools and at the Eastern High School and the . Minneapolis Academy. John T. also devoted one year to study in the law department of the University.

Mr. McGowan has been in his present line of business since 1889, the present firm being the successor to the R. W. Cummings insurance agency, one of the oldest in the city, formerly operating chiefly on the East Side. The business has grown steadily from year to year until it has become one of the leaders in its line. It handles its own properties, including both business, residences and farm lands.

Mr. McGowan has long been an active participant in public affairs. He served from 1888 to 1892, as alderman from the First ward, being elected when but twenty-four years of age. During his service the street car system was electrified, the tracks of the Great Northern Railroad were bridged, the first work of this kind done, and other important projects of improvement were carried into effect. He served on all the committees which had these matters in charge, although of 39 aldermen there were but four Democrats in the council. He was instrumental in securing the introduction of sewers in the First ward, which began at that time, and it was chiefly through his persistent efforts that the eight-hour workday for city employes was adopted. In 1896 he was elected to the state senate from a district composed of the First and a part of the Third Wards. He served three terms in the senate, during eight years of which he was the only Democratic member from Hennepin county. At his first election he received a handsome plurality, at his second his plurality was three times as large, and the third time he was chosen without opposition, the Republicans declining to put up a candidate, thus paying a high tribute to his legis- lative ability.

He ever stood for better conditions for the working people, becoming known everywhere as the laboring man's senator and advocate. During his first term in the senate he intro- duced a bill providing for an eight-hour day in all state

work, which was fought very hard by the country members and only became a law after two sessions of hard work on the part of Mr. McGowan and other advocates of the eight- hour movement. He also introduced a resolution embodying the principle of compensation for workmen injured in the course of their employment, his prevision and perception being sustained when in 1913 the same ideas became a law. He has served as a delegate to numerous conventions and has taken an active part in party councils and campaign work.

Mr. McGowan is a member of St. Anthony de Padua Catho- lic church, in which he was baptized, and the one in which he was married in 1886 to Miss Julia Crosby, a native of Minneapolis and daughter of Michael Crosby, another one of the oldest families. She died in 1901, leaving one son, Thomas, who is now a member of the McGowan, Mahoney Investment company. In 1909 Mr. McGowan married Miss May Healey, a daughter of James and Julia Healey, also old residents of St. Anthony.

They have a son Edison James Bryan. Mr. McGowan is connected in fraternal relations with the Knights of Colum- bus, the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He also belongs to the New Athletic and the Minneapolis Boat clubs, the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Loyal Order of Moose and the Real Estate Board and has always been considered a leading and very popular representative of the Irish-American race in the State of Minnesota. Mr. McGowan retired from active poli- tics in 1910, and while he has been urged many times since to become a candidate for some important state or city office, he declares that he has no more desire to hold a public office and could not be induced to accept a nomination or election.

SYLVESTER SMITH CARGILL.

Late president of the Victoria Elevator Co., and one of the most successful and best known grain men of the north- west, was born at Port Jefferson, Long Island, Dec. 18, 1848, and died Dec. 20, 1913, just entering his 66th year.

His father was Captain Wm. D. Cargill, a native of the Orkney Islands, Scotland, and his mother Edna Davis of Long Island. Captain Cargill was a vessel owner and master, engaged for several years in the coast-wise trade. The mother, desirous that her sons should not follow in the father's career, wished to get away from the attractions of the ocean, and in 1855 they moved to a farm near Janesville, Wisconsin, where Sylvester grew to manhood. He attended the public schools in Janesville and finished his studies in Milton College at Milton Junction. His entire business life was devoted to dealing in grain; he was connected with his- brother, W. W. Cargill, at Delavan, Minnesota, for four years, when he began independently, securing an elevator at North- wood, Iowa, extending his operations until he had elevators at various points on the M. & St. L. and Central Iowa railroads.

In August, 1882, he moved to Albert Lea, still extending his business until, in 1885, he decided to become. more closely identified with grain men at Minneapolis, the center of the grain trade. In company with G. C. Bagley, he organized the Bagley & Cargill Grain Co., incorporating his own eleva- tors as a part of the business. They erected elevators on the line of the Hastings and Dakota railroad, having terminal

336

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

facilities in Minneapolis, and thenceforth he became an im- portant factor in the Chamber of Commerce. Four years later he sold his interests to his partner, intending to retire from the trade, but impelled by his thorough knowledge of the business, and its attraction for him, he was in the har- ness again within a few months, and there remained until the summons came for final rest. In Oct., 1889, he organized the Victoria Elevator Company, of which he was the presi- dent, with A. E. Benedict as treasurer and W. T. Spencer, secretary. Terminal Elevator "R" was erected, with a 300,000 bushel capacity, which was later increased to half a million bushels.

A line of 32 elevators were finally acquired on the Great Northern, Soo, Northern Pacific, and Milwaukee railroads in the Dakotas and Montana, the Victoria Elevator Company becoming widely and favorably known among grain. growers, shippers, millers, and dealers. For more than twenty-four years Mr. Cargill continued at the licad of this organization, giving to every extension and expansion his personal atten- tion, and witnessing at the last, one of the most successful years, the grain handled at this time, exceeding three million bushels. With thought and energy concentrated upon the one line. Mr. Cargill knew the grain trade as few men know any one business, his success being commensurate with the devotion and attention bestowed.

For a time he was a director in the Minnesota Loan and Trust Company, but his preference was in the line in which he had so many years of successful training and experience. Politics did not attract him, and though a Mason, he was not an ardent fraternity man, choosing rather the comforts and enjoyments of domestic life. If not in his office, it was safe to say he could be found at his home. He had traveled considerably. spending one summer in Alaska and one abroad, but his fondness for out-of-door life led him to spend much of his leisure enjoying the recreation afforded by our numer- ous lakes, prairies and woods, enticing the finny inhabitants of the one or hunting the fowl or small game of the other.

For many years he was a trustee of the First Presbyterian Church, where he was a regular attendant, seldom a Sunday passing when he was not in his accustomed place.

He leaves a wife and three children. His wife was for- merly Miss Elizabeth Murphy, of Osage, Iowa; the children are Robert G., Samuel S., and Helen Louise.

While few men in Minneapolis enjoyed a wider acquaint- ance, the circle of really warm, close personal friends was small, but for those few the warmest attachment existed, and many of his most enjoyable hours were passed with those friends at his own billiard table.

It was while awaiting the coming of some of those friends to participate in such a game that the summons came to him, without premonition, to leave all he had heretofore known and loved and to enter upon another sphere of action in closer relation to "Him who doeth all things well."

LOUIS GLUEK.

Louis Gluek is the son of Gottlieb and Caroline (Foell) Gluek, who brought to the West from their home in Germany the thrift and industry which did so much, through example and by their enterprise. to build for the state and for the city. They eame to St. Anthony in the early days and their son

Louis was born there on September 21, 1858. Gottlieb Gluek, the father, early established himself in the brewing business in the part of the city which is now known as North East Minneapolis, and three of his sons, including Louis, have 'continued in the business established by their father. When the father died, in 1881, the Gluek Brewing company was firmly established on a thriving and satisfying basis. It has since been developed by the sons of Gottlieb Gluek as the Gluek Brewing Company into one of the largest and most successful concerns in the Northwest.

Louis Gluek, like his brothers, was educated in the Minne- apolis public schools and was early apprenticed to the brew- ing business. Through a close association with his father, who was an expert chemist in his line, and who knew the brewing business on a thoroughly scientific basis, his son soon became head of the manufacturing department. When his father died he took his place at the head of the company, and when the company was later incorporated into the Gluek Brewing Company he became the president of the concern, which position he has held ever since.

The historical significance of this great brewing company is something of which to take into account. Being established as early as 1857, it is the oldest of its kind in the city and one of the oldest business concerns of any kind in the state of Minnesota. For fifty-five years it has been owned and operated by the same family and has been continuously pros- perous and successful. The industry and conservatism which made Gottlieb Gluek one of the most trustworthy and reliable Minneapolis business men are dominant characteristics in his sous, and they, too, have the respect and trust of their fellow business men.

Louis Gluek is democratic and social in his tastes. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., the B. P. O. E., and the Knights of Honor. He takes an active part in civic affairs, and is ex- tremely gencrous with his time and with his money in anything that makes for the betterment of the state or the city. He has never taken any active part in politics and has never aspired to any political honor. He is a Democrat and earnest in his convictions.

Mr. Gluck finds but little time for recreation. His fad is his beautiful farm located near Minneapolis. Here he finds in the management of this his pleasure. In fishing and hunting he finds his real rest from work.

Mr. Gluck was married in 1893 to Miss Laura Giesmann. Miss Giesmann was a St. Paul girl.

HOWARD M. DeLAITTRE.

The president of the Bovey-DeLaittre Lumber Company and of the Chinook Timber Company is known and honored as one of the substantial and representative business men of Minne- apolis and as a citizen whose civic loyalty and progressive- ness have made him an influential figure in furthering the general advancement and prestige of the Minnesota metrop- olis. Mr. DeLaittre became vice-president of the Bovey- DeLaittre Lumber Company at the time of its organization, nearly thirty years ago, and he retained this executive posi- tion until January 1, 1913, when he succeeded his cousin, John DeLaittre, in the presidency of the corporation. He has thus been most prominently and closely identified with the lumber industry in Minnesota and he is one of the representative men

AN DE faite

337

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

of affairs in the state that has long been his home. He is president of the Chinook Timber Company, which holds ex- tensive and valuable tracts of timber land in Oregon; and is a director of the Merchants & Mechanics Bank of Minneapolis. The Chinook Timber Company has its headquarters in Minne- apolis, and is holding large tracts of Oregon timber for future use. Mr. DeLaittre is a practical lumberman, with broad and varied experience in connection with all details of the in- dustry, and through his well ordered endeavors he has achieved success. He is one of the well known citizens of Minneapolis and here his circle of friends is coincident with that of his acquaintances, so that there are many points which render specially consonant his recognition in this his- tory of his home city. Aside from the connections already noted, Mr. DeLaittre is a director of the Diamond Iron Works, of North Indianapolis, where he is also a stockholder of the Camden Park State Bank.

He claims the old Pine Tree state as the place of his na- tivity and is a representative of staunch New England stock, the lineage being traced back to French origin and the family having been founded in America many generations ago. He was born at Ellsworth, the judicial center of Hancock county, Maine, on the 6th of September, 1845, and was reared and educated in his native state, where he gained his initial ex- perience in the lumbering industry, his father having been identified with lumber operations in Maine and the son hav- ing been virtually reared in the lumber woods on Union river, that state.

In 1869, when twenty-four years of age, Mr. DeLaittre came to Minnesota, and Minneapolis his destination. He en- tered the employ of the lumber firm of Eastman, Bovey & Company, the interested principals of which were William W. Eastman, John DeLaittre and Charles A. Bovey. He as- .sisted in the company's logging and mill work and when the concern was reorganized, under the title of Bovey, DeLaittre & Company, he became vice-president of the corporation, the title of which was later changed to the present form. This has been one of the most important of the lumbering con- cerns of Minnesota, and its operations were conducted upon a most extensive scale at the height of the lumber business in this state, as shown by the fact that in a single season the company cut and manufactured forty million feet of lum- ber, all of the logs having been brought to the mills in Minne- apolis. In the lumber camps of the company employment was afforded to an average of about one hundred and fifty men during the winter seasons, and much timber cutting was done by contract also, a large force of workmen being likewise employed in the saw mills of the company. For more than forty years Mr. DeLaittre was closely and graciously asso- ciated with his cousin, John DeLaittre, in lumbering opera- tions, and the two families are still associated in the Chinook Timber Company.

Mr. DeLaittre has met with ability all the exactions and demands placed upon him in his peculiarly long and successful business career and has at all times stood exemplar of broad- minded and loyal citizenship. He is well fortified in his opinions concerning public policies and has been unswerving in his allegiance to the Republican party, as candidate of which he was a member of the Minnesota state legislature for the term of 1894-5, and six years on the park board of Minneapolis. He proved a strong and independent worker in the legislature and did all in his power to oppose the free- silver policy then advocated by the Democratic party. Mr.

DeLaittre is not formally identified with any religious body but is liberal in his support of the various denominations, especially the Baptist church, He is a member of the Minne- apolis Athletic Club, is a thorough and unassuming business man, and he has measured fully up to the demands of popular approbation, as is shown by the unqualified confidence and esteem reposed in him by all who know him.

In 1873 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. DeLaittre to Miss Dora Coggins, of Lamoine, Hancock county, Maine, and they have five children, concerning whom the following brief record is entered: Miss Grace N. remains at the parental home and is a stockholder in the DeLaittre-Dixon Lumber Company; Joseph A. is president of the DeLaittre-Dixon Lumber Company, of Minneapolis; Sarah O. is the wife of Roy A. Dixon, secretary and treasurer of the DeLaittre-Dixon Lumber Company; Evelyn R. remains at the parental home and she likewise is a stockholder of the DeLaittre-Dixon Lum- ber Company; and Horace. who is vice-president of the De- Laittre-Dixon Lumber Company, is attending the Colorado School of Mines, at Golden, where he is a muember of the class of 1914.

SAMUEL C. GALE.

Samuel Chester Gale, a resident of Minneapolis for over half a century and always one of its prominent, most public- spirited citizens, came here from Massachusetts, where he was born at Royalston in that commonwealth September 15, 1827. His grandfather, Jonathan Gale was a soldier in the War of the Revolution. His father, Isaac Gale, died in 1838, leaving a fam- ily of ten children. This made difficult the support of the family, and while still a boy Mr. Gale was apprenticed to an uncle, Salmon Goddard of West Royalston, as a tanner. His desire for an education was so keen, however, that at seventeen he began to prepare for college. After a hard struggle he was able to enter Yale College in 1850, graduating four years later, a member of Phi Beta Kappa and chosen clas's orator at grad- uation in a class of 100 members. Mr. Gale spent one year in Harvard law school, and then read law with a firm 'at Worcester. In 1857 he came to Minneapolis, where he con- tinued his law studies in the office of Cornell & Vanderburgh, and was admitted to practice in 1858. The practice of law not being in much demand here in those days, Mr. Gale opened a real estate and loan office in 1860 in partnership with his brother, Harlow, the firm name being Gale & Co. This rapidly grew into a most prosperous business, adding much to the development of the growing young city.

Mr. Gale has been an active participant all his life in almost every movement looking toward the improvement of the city, materially, intellectually and morally. He was for some time the president of the Minneapolis Athenaeum, which was founded in 1860; he was one of the original pro- moters of the Public Library, and long a member of the board. He was on the Board of Education from 1871 to 1880. He was president of the City Council, chairman of the Build- ing Committee of the Minneapolis Industrial Exposition, and later on its president. He was also actively connected with the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts, the Board of Trade, and virtually every organ- ized effort toward the improvement and upbuilding of this city in its earlier days.

338

HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

Religiously he has been identified with the Unitarian Church and was the chief contributor in the cost of the church edifice.

Mr. Gale was married in 1861 to Miss Susan A. Damon of Holden, Mass. They have five children, Edward C. and Charles S., and Mrs. David P. Jones, Mrs. Clarkson Lindley and Miss Marion Gale, all of this city.

JAMES B. GILMAN.

Mr. Gilman, Chief Engineer of the Minneapolis Steel and Machinery Company, was born January 28, 1872, in Rose- mount, Dakota county, Minnesota. He is a son of James B. and Laura C. (Foster) Gilman, of New York and Massachu- setts, respectively. His mother came to Minnesota in the pioneer days. The father operated a foundry at Dansville, N. Y., until 1848, when he came to Minnesota and engaged in farming in Dakota county. He served three years in the First Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, returning to his farm, until 1880, when he removed to Minneapolis. James B. Gil- man completed an academic education in the high school, and entering the University of Minnesota for a special course in civil engineering, graduated in the class of 1894. While a student in the University, he spent part of his vacations on the survey of the right of way for the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad as far as Portal, North Dakota, thus acquiring valuable experience. Upon graduation he became a draughtsman with the Gillette-Herzog Manufactur- ing company, and in 1897 was made chief draughtsman, so remaining until the company was absorbed by the American Bridge company. He continued in the employ of the Ameri- can Bridge company as an engineer until 1907, when he became chief engineer of the Minneapolis Steel and Machinery company, the largest structural steel concern in the West. Mr. Gilman's work covers a large field, as the company operates throughout a wide territory, giving ample scope for the exercise of the highest technical knowledge and practical skill. He maintains active membership in and is ex-president of' the Minneapolis Engineers' club, and is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. He also belongs to the Minneapolis Civic and Commerce association, the East Side Commercial club and the Auto club. Fraternally he is con- nected with the Masonic order. Although a Republican he is not active in political affairs, but takes a serviceable interest in general welfare, and is ardent in support of every com- mendable undertaking. June 14, 1899, Mr. Gilman was united in marriage with Miss Alice A. Hayward of Minneapolis. They have one daughter, Dorothy.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 83

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