Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 87

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 87

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On October 1, 1873, Mr. Barber was united in marriage with Miss Hattie S. Sidle, a daughter of Henry G. and Catherine (Kurtz) Sidle, natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. Sidle was for many years president of the First National Bank of Min- neapolis. Four children have been born in the Barber house- hold, and three of them are living: Henry S., who is secretary of the Barber Milling company; Katharine S., and Edwin Roswell, Jr., who is cashier of the Barber Milling company. A daughter named Nellie L. was born in 1882 and died on December 28, 1888.

Mr. Barber is modest about what he has done to aid in building up and improving the city of his home. But it is only just to him to record that he was one of the liberal contributors for the purchase of the site of the old Chamber of Commerce building and the postoffice site, and one of the most effective promoters of the Minneapolis Industrial Exposi- tion and the erection of the Young Men's Christian Association building, Westminster Presbyterian church and the Lake Street bridge. In connection with the enterprise last named he joined with others in paying the interest on the bonds issued for the construction of the bridge for three years in advance, Hennepin county at the time having insufficient resources to assume any more interest bearing obligations. His public spirit in these undertakings is expressive of his real character and clearly indicates the value of his citizenship.

THEODORE L. HAYS. .

Mr. Hays is a native of Minneapolis, where his life began on March 29, 1867. He is a son of the late Lambert Hays, one of the early German settlers of this city, who came here with his parents in 1854. He was very active and energetic in promoting the early growth and development of the city, and to the end of his life pursued the same course with bene- fit to the municipality and profit to himself. The son re- ceived a public school education and afterward pursued a course of special instruction for mercantile life at the Curtiss; Business College.

Mr. Hays' first employment was with the Minnesota Title Insurance and Trust company in work connected with the abstracting of titles. In 1887 he began an active career in the theatrical business in association with W. E. Sterling, they being lessees and managers of the Dramatic Stock com- pany of the People's Theater. This theater was built by his father, Lambert Hays, and its erection was directed and super-

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

intended personally by himself. In 1890 the house passed under the control of Jacob Litt of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and its name was changed to the Bijou Opera House. At that time Mr. Hays was engaged by Mr. Litt as treasurer for the house, but his services in this capacity were of short duration, as the theater was destroyed by fire before the end of the year.

Lambert Hays immediately rebuilt the house and his son Theodore again superintended its erection. It was reopened on April 13, 1891, with Jacob Litt still in control, and for many years thereafter it was conducted by him with great success, offering combination attractions at popular prices. It is still a popular and well patronized house of entertain- ment, always in touch with the prevailing taste and present- ing for the enjoyment of the public the best attainable per- formances in its class. The property still belongs to the heirs of Lambert Hays.

Soon after Mr. Hays became associated with Mr. Litt he was advanced to the position of resident manager of the Bijou, and in 1896 he was selected also to direct the business of the Grand Opera House in St. Paul. Afterward he became and remained for years Mr. Litt's general representative in the Northwest. After Mr. Litt's death he continued to serve in the same capacity for the firm of Litt & Dingwall, and he is now, and has been for a long time the secretary and treasurer of the Jacob Litt Realty company, the corporation that controls the Grand Opera House property in St. Paul.

Through his connection with the two well known theaters mentioned Mr. Hays has become prominent in amusement circles in the Northwest. He is united with J. A. Van Wie in the ownership and management of the Grand Opera House in Crookston, Minnesota, the most modern "one night stand" theater in this part of the country, and has interests also in other enterprises of a similar character. He is president of the Twin City Scenie company, incorporated, one of the largest and most successful secne painting institutions in the United States. He was one of the organizers of this company, which started in a small way, and it has been largely through his energy and progressiveness that the undertaking has reached its present magnitude and prom- inence.

In the civic affairs of both Minneapolis and St. Paul, Mr. Hays has long taken a very active and serviceable part. He belongs to the Commercial clubs in both cities, and the Association of Commerce in St. Paul as well as the Civic and Commerce Association in Minneapolis. The fraternal life of his community has interested him too. He is a member of the Minneapolis Lodge of Elks, which he has served as Exalted Ruler, and which presented him with a life mem- bership in recognition of the value of his services in that office. He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias, the Royal Arcanum and the Order of Odd Fellows. For a time he was a member of the Minnesota National Guard and is a member of the Company A. M. N. G. Veterans Association. In 1905 Governor Van Sant appointed him a member of the Minnesota Board of Managers of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis, and he served as secretary of that Board with universal acceptability and approval. Mr. Hays is married and has one child, his son Theodore Edward. The family residence is at No. 2323 Irving avenue south.

SPENCER S. HARDEN.

Mr. Harden was born in Gardiner, Kennebec county, Maine, on March 12, 1832. He grew to manhood, obtained a common school education and learned the carpenter trade in his native płacc. When he was twenty-two he came to Minnesota in 1854 to look the country over. After returning to his old New England home and remaining there two years, he came back here in 1856 to live, and here he passed the rest of his days. After his arrival here to stay, Mr. Harden was a partner with Mr. Goodale, as building contractors, and also became associated in business with Mr. Connor, another early con- tractor. Mr. Harden's mother, who was a widow at the time, came with him and secured half a block of land on University avenue between Fifteenth and Sixteenth avenues S. E., and built a dwelling for herself and son's on the corner of University avenue and Fifteenth Ave. Her house was destroyed by fire, and a new one she built to replace it suffered the same fate. She then moved to the West Side, and for a few years lived on Sixth avenue south. But in the eighties she put up the present residence near the old location. Two years later she died in this house at the age of seventy-six. She was a devout and consistent Christian and an active member of the First Congregational church in St. Anthony.

Spencer S. Harden, after working at his trade for some years as a building contractor, accepted an offer from the Milwaukee Railroad and took entire charge of the wood work done on engines in its Minneapolis shops. He employed the men who worked under him without interference from the railroad authorities and continued his engagement with the company for a period of twenty years, at the end of which failing health induced him to return to his farm. This was a tract of 266 acres of superior land located on the Minnesota river eighteen miles southwest of Minneapolis and six miles northeast of Shakopee.

Besides this farm Mr. Harden owned a number of tenant properties in Minneapolis, including the old Hennepin block, and twice a week he was in the habit of coming into the city to look after his interests here. He looked after his own affairs with sedulous industry and good judgment, and took an active part in local publie affairs as a good citizen but not as a political partisan, although he was a firm and faith- ful member of the Republican party. He had no inclination to fraternal orders or social clubs, and did not belong to any. One of his strong likings was for fine trees. He planted a large number and great variety on his farm, and took every precaution to preserve them all from destruction or injury.

Mr. Harden was married in this county on his birthday. March 12, 1862, to Miss Lucy M. Carleton, a sister of Frank Carleton, of Hennepin county, and Danicl Carleton, who is now living in California. Their parents were Robert and Nancy (White) Carleton, who came to St. Anthony in 1854 from near Bath, Maine. The father returned that fall, and in 1856 moved the family to St. Anthony; sometime afterward moved to Jordan, Scott county, Minnesota, and engaged in farming there. Mr. Harden's death occurred April 28, 1910. Mrs. Harden still resides on the farm in Bloomington town- ship.

Four children were born in the Harden household: Walter S., who lives with his mother; Nellie M., the wife of Grant A. Knott, who occupies the old family homestead on Uni- versity avenue southeast, in this city; Kate C., a physician,

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

who is the wife of Frank C. Helmuth and has her home at Wyoming, Minnesota, and Elizabeth C., who married Dr. Naboth O. Pearce and resides at Cloverton in this state. The other old home of the family on University avenue is now occupied by the Scandinavian Christian Union Bible College, as it has been for a number of years.

The estate of Mr. Harden (Spencer S.), amounting to $60,000, according to the probate record, is incorporated as the Harden Realty and Investment company. Of this com- pany Mrs. Harden is the president; Mrs. Nellie M. Knott is the vice-president, and Walter S. Harden is the secretary and treasurer. Its resources are kept active in an enterprising and profitable business which receives careful attention from its officers and the other persons interested in its useful operations.

HON. ALEXANDER HUGHES.

The late Hon. Alexander Hughes, who passed the last years of his life in this city, where he died November 24, 1907, had a record of public service in peace and war that rendered him distinguished, many admirable traits of character cementing the warm friendships formed through years of companionship. He was born at Brandford, Ontario, September 30, 1846, and came as a lad with his parents to Wisconsin. May 22, 1861, while yet in his fifteenth year, he enlisted at Fall River, Wisconsin, in Company B, Seventh Wisconsin Infantry, one of the thirty-seven fighting regiments specially mentioned in the War Records for valiant service and losses in battle, and a part of the celebrated "Iron Brigade."

He was taken prisoner at Gainesville, Georgia, when slightly wounded and caring for his brother, who was seriously wounded, but made his escape next morning and assisting his brother reached the Union lines. He received a severe wound in the right shoulder at South Mountain; and, at Gettysburg a musket ball passed through his cartridge box causing a painful injury. At Laurel Hill he received a bullet in his right knee and which he carried until 1870, and also two slight wounds in a charge on entrenchments at Spottsylvania. At Jericho ford of the North Anna he was again wounded, more than a year elapsing before recovery. At Gettysburg his gallant conduct on the field won a commission, which he declined to accept on account of youth. He was discharged in October, 1864, and from earliest organization was active and prominent in the Grand Army of the Republic, serving as the first Senior Vice Commander of the Department of Dakota.

He was graduated from Spencer Commercial College in Milwaukee in 1867, and for a short time was bookkeeper for a milling firm at Watertown, Wisconsin. In 1868 he studied law at Beaverdam, soon locating at Monticello, Iowa, where he was admitted to the bar in 1869. That year he was also elected county superintendent of schools and was married to one of the county's teachers. In 1871 he moved to Elk Point, Dakota territory, and ten years later to Yankton. He was an able lawyer, a graceful and forceful speaker and, with perhaps one exception, had a larger practice than any other lawyer in the territory. In 1872 and 1873 he served as a member of the Territorial Council, being its president, from 1875 to 1877 was deputy treasurer of the territory, and from 1877 to 1881 was a member and the secretary of the board of trustees of the hospital for the insane at Jamestown.

Mr. Hughes' ability and influence were recognized in federal as well as territorial official relations. He was United States court commissioner from 1872 to 1881 and was a delegate to the national Republican conventions of 1872, 1876, 1880 and 1896. In the convention of 1876 he was a Blaine enthusiast and looked after his interests in the committee on credentials. In 1896 he placed Mckinley in nomination and was a member of the platform committee. Locally he was chairman of the Territorial Republican committee in 1878 and 1879. He was also disbursing agent of the United States land office at Yankton from 1881 to 1883, resigning to take the office of attorney general, which he held until 1886, and he served as adjutant general from 1881 to 1885.

When the question of the removal of the capital came up Mr. Hughes was strongly in favor of the selection of Bismarck as the permanent seat of government. He was opposed to the division of the territory, and as Bismarck was central he believed it would prevent the division. It was largely through his influence that Bismarck was selected, was active in the long litigation that followed the removal, and is still accorded the credit for the retention of that city as the capital. He was made chairman of the legislative committee to select a site for new public buildings and have them erected, serving from 1883 to 1887. To facilitate the work he removed to Bismarck, and, being the resident commissioner, was in direct oversight of the erection of such buildings.

He was elected to the Territorial Senate in 1887 and re- elected in 1889, during which was chairman of its judiciary committee. He was president of the board of education from 1885 to 1887, city attorney of Bismarck in 1886 and 1887, and assistant counsel of the Northern Pacific Railroad from 1887 to 1901. In politics he was always a staunch Republican and a quiet but effective worker for his party, and had cast his first vote at the age of sixteen in the army trenches facing the enemy. For twenty-six years no other man was so potential as he in shaping the public affairs and civic develop- ment of Dakota.

In reference to and commendation of the enterprise and public spirit displayed by Mr. Hughes, the Bismarck Tribune of November 26, 1907, said: "Several years ago he and his' sons organized a corporation to furnish electric light and power, and for this purpose took over plants at Bismarck and Dickin- son, North Dakota, and Glendive, Montana, and erected one at Fargo. They were also interested in telephone and other constructive enterprises." One of his last activities was obtaining a park for the residents of Kenwood, in this city. For his services in this connection his neighbors gave him an expressive testimonial of appreciation. At his death the district court at Bismarck passed resolutions full of feeling and strong in eulogy, and his neighbors spoke of him in the following language:

"We sincerely sympathize with his mourning and grief- stricken family, and assure them that we share with them a sense of great and irreparable loss. While we would not persuade them from their deep sorrow, we remind them and ourselves that to have known Alexander Hughes was to have loved him; and that no matter how great may be our present bereavement, our loss would have been immeasureably greater had we never been privileged to call him friend."

Mr. Hughes was married at Monticello, Iowa, in 1870, to Miss Mary Higinbotham, a native of Greencastle, Indiana, whose father was from Virginia and mother from Kentucky. The father was a graduate of Asbury College (now De Pauw

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

University), and died at his post while serving as an army surgeon. Mrs. Hughes was educated at the Northern Indiana College, South Bend, and was a teacher in Iowa until marriage. Her children are: George A., an inventor and manufacturer in Chicago; Edmond A., at present State Senator from Bismarck, and operator of the electric light and power plants there and at Dickinson; Frank C., who is in the same line at Glendive, Montana, and William V., who is proprietor of oil plants at Beach, North Dakota, and Glendive, Montana.

BENJAMIN B. SHEFFIELD.

Extensively engaged in the milling business and as a banker, and connected actively in an official way with a number of educational institutions of high value, Benjamin B. Sheffield has been and is of pronounced service to the people of Minnesota in a double capacity directly, as well as generally through his interest and activity in connection with the affairs of the state in other lines. There is scarcely a public interest which does not enlist his attention and secure his aid, and there is none to which he gives attention that is not the better for it.

Mr. Sheffield was born at Aylesford in the provmce of Nova Scotia, Dominion of Canada, in 1860. a son of Miledge B. and Rachel (Tupper) Sheffield, the former a native of Aylesford, Nova Scotia, and the latter of Burwick, N. C. When he was four years of age he was brought to Faribault, Minnesota, where his father was engaged in manufacturing flour. He was graduated from the Shattuck school in 1880. and at once entered the milling industry, soon afterward becoming the manager of an extensive business already esta! . lished.

In 1896 the Sheffield mill, with when he was connected was destroyed by fire, and a 2,500 barrell mill was at once erected. This Mr. Sheffield operated until 1905, when he sold it. In the meantime he had become interested in the Sheffield Elevator company at the Minneapolis Terminal, and for fifteen years he has had his office in Minneapolis. In 1909, in association with W. D. Gregory and W. D. Gooding, he organized the Big Diamond Milling company, the Commander Milling company and the Commander Elevator company, of each of which he is the vice president.

In addition he is president of the Sheffield Elevator com- pany at the Terminal, and he operates a number of grain elevators in Southern Minnesota along the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, the Chicago Great Western and the Minneapolis & St. Louis railroads. His office in this city is in Room 922 Flour Exchange, where he carries on a very active and extensive business, to which he gives his close personal attention. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and a dealer on Change, and has also been connected with the banking business as president of the Security National banks at Faribault and Owatonna.

As has been intimated, Mr. Sheffield is deeply and service- ably interested in the cause of education, general and technical, and in two special lines of its usefulness. For six years he has been president of the board of directors of the State School for the Deaf and Dumb, and also of the board of directors of the State School for the Blind, both located at Faribault. The same board controls both schools, but the schools themselves are kept separate. He was a member of

this board some years before he became its president, and has given the institutions over which it has charge a large amount of his time and energy, and rendered them, and through them, the state very valuable service, to say nothing of their unfortunate inmates, in whom he has long felt the liveliest and most sympathetie interest.

Since 1897 Mr. Sheffield has also been a life member of the board of trustees of the Bishop Seabury Divinity School at Faribault and one of the trustees of the Shattuck school, of which Bishop Edsall is president. The late Walter D. Douglas, who gave up his life so heroically on the Titantic, was one of Mr. Sheffield's associates on the board last men- tioned, and was one of its most useful and esteemed members.

Of the fraternal and benevolent societies so numerous among men Mr. Sheffield has membership in but one. That is the Masonie order, in which he has taken the rank of the thirty-second degree in the Ancient and Accepted Socttish rite. In this fraternity he is also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine with membership in Zura Temple at Minneapolis. He has been twice married, his first union in this department of life having been with Miss Carrie A. Crossett of Faribault. They had three children, their daughters Blanche and Amy. The former is a member of the class of 1913 at Smith College, and the latter is a student at Stanley Hall. and one deceased. After the death of their mother Mr. Sheffield con- tracted a second marriage which united him with Miss Flora M. Matteson, of Minneapolis, who is still living and presiding over his domestie shrine.

Mr. Sheffield served as mayor of Faribault while a resident of that city, and was chosen presidential elector on the Progressive ticket in 1912.

EARLE RUSSELL HARE, M. D.

Devoted always to his profession to the exclusion of all other interests, Dr. Earle Russell Hare has won for himself a prominent place in medical associations of the city.

He was born in Summerfield, Ohio, May 26, 1872, and is the son of John W. and Mary Cornelia (Taylor) Hare.

Dr. Hare received his common school education in the schools of Summerfield, Ohio, and those of Kansas City, Missouri, graduating from the High school of the latter in June, 1890. He next attended the Iowa Wesleyan College from which he graduated in June, 1894, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts.

In 1896 he entered the medical Department of the State University of Minnesota and from there he received the degree of M. D. in June, 1900, he also served as instructor in the departments of Anatomy and Surgery for a period of 14 years.

Since receiving his degre of M. D. Dr. Hare has devoted himself to the general practice of his profession in Minneapolis, and has met with flattering success, enjoying a large and steadily growing practice throughout the city. Of late years, the greater portion of his time has been given to surgery.

The Dr. is a member of the Hennepin County Medical Association, the Minnesota State Medical Society, the American Medical Association, the Minnesota Pathological Society, the Minnesota Academy of Medicine and the Association of American Anatomists.

. Sheffield

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

CHARLES M. HOOPER.

Charles Mather Hooper was born in the state of New York, on the 13th of December, 1845, and died Jan. 30th, 1894. He was a scion of honored pioneer families of the old Empire commonwealth, within whose borders were born his parents, Sanford A. and Mary (Harris) Hooper, with whom he came to St. Paul, Minnesota, as a boy, though he returned to his native state thereafter for the gaining of educational advant- ages. Sanford A. Hooper became one of the interested prin- cipals in the development of the townsite of Belleplaine, Scott county, and was there a leader in civic and business affairs. He became prominently coneerned in the development of salt works at that place, where he also erected a large hotel and a flour mill, and he was one of the foremost and most honored citizens of Belleplaine at the time of his death, which occurred after he had passed the psalmist's span of three score years and ten, his wife having preceded him to the life eternal. He was also a successful bridge contractor after his removal to Minnesota and assisted in the construction of one of the first bridges across the Mississippi river at St. Paul, besides doing a considerable amount of other important bridge work on this great river, as a government contractor.

Charles M. Hooper acquired the major part of his early educational discipline at Geneseo, New York, where resided at the time two sisters of his mother, one having been the wife of Governor Young and the other the wife of General Wood, and both having been intimate friends of the family of the distinguished General M. C. Wadsworth. Besides his academic training Mr. Hooper completed a thorough course of study in a business college, and as a youth he became associated with his father's contracting business, as did also his brother, Campbell Harris Hooper. After severing his connection with this field of enterprise, with which he was concerned only a short time, he established himself in the drug business at Belleplaine.

About the year 1885, Mr. Hooper exchanged his holdings at Belleplaine for property in Minneapolis, he engaged in the real-estate business, in which his operations as a general agent attained to wide scope and much importance. His father-in-law, John C. Stoever, one of the pioneers of St. Peter and Henderson, Minn., and a representative man of affairs in Minneapolis, had for several years given attention to the extending of financial loans on real-estate security, and Mr. Hooper gradually assumed the management of Mr. Stoever's large business interests, in addition to supervising his own.

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Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 87

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