Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 96

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 96

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Lowell E. Jepson was reared on the old homestead and his preliminary education was in the public schools. He entered Carleton College at Northfield, in which institution he com- pleted the scientific course. graduating in the class of 1887, with the degree of Bachelor of Science. Later his alma mater conferred the degree of Master of Science.

In 1888 he purchased the Winkley patents on artificial limbs and with these as the base of operations he instituted, on a most modest scale, the enterprise which has been developed into one of the most important industries of Minneapolis. With limited capital he began manufacturing artificial limbs, his original quarters comprising one small room and employing two workmen. He studied anatomy and mechanics, with a view of making limbs that would most nearly supply the place of natural members of the human body, and this investi- gation was carried to a diligent study in meeting the needs of individual cases, and proving a force in bringing the business to its present prominence and success. Improvements have been made and new patents have been secured to supplement the original excellent ones. The reputation of the manufac- tory is of the highest, thousands afflicted by the loss of limbs being drawn to the establishment by the conceded excellence of its product.

In 1906 was erected and equipped the present finc manu- facturing plant at Fourteenth and Washington avenues North, and here employment is given to a corps of fifty highly skilled artisans.

Mr. Jepson is loyal and public-spirited and a zealous cham- pion of the Republican party. In 1898 he was elected from the Forty-fourth district to the state senate, and forthwith became known as an active and effective worker. He took a part in all legislation pertaining to sanitary, medical and general health regulations, working to elevate the professional standard in the various medical institutions of the state. To his efforts was largely due the establishment of the state tuberculosis hospital at Walker, and the legislation providing means for the treatment, under state auspices, of deformed children. Study of anatomy taught him the expediency of treating deformed children while young, his labors in this initial provision for the proper care of such children being acknowledged.

He has been a delegate to several state conventions and has proved himself an able and popular campaign speaker.

Mr. Jepson became one of the organizers of the Minne- apolis Civic and Commerce Association, and was selected a member of its first board of directors. For sixteen years Mr. Jepson has been a member of the board of trustees of Carleton College, and has the distinction of being the first of a younger generation to be called to this position in the college in which he himself was graduated. Both he and wife are members of Pilgrim Congregational church, contributing to its generic work and collateral, benevolences, also to charities and general philanthropic work.

In 1889 occurred the marriage of Mr. Jepson to Miss Ada S. Whiting, and they have three daughters-Katharine, Lydia and Charlotte.

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

WILLIS JASON JENNISON.

The late Willis J. Jennison, who died in Minneapolis, at his home, 2546 Portland avenue, June 11, 1908, was identified with diversified interests and displayed superior capacity and publie spirit.

He was born at Shelburne, Chittenden county, Vermont, May 17, 1852, was reared on a farm and attended Essex Classical School and Barre Academy. His parents had died in his infancy, but a well-to-do and generous unele gave him a pleasant home, reared him with parental care and provided liberally for his education. Through life the recollections of the years passed in that home were among his chief sources of pleasure, cherishing the memory of the uncle with grati- tudo and appreciative affcetion.

At twenty-two Mr. Jennison came to Janesville, Minne- sota, where Warren Jennison, his much older half-brother, was engaged in business. He clerked in a store for a time and then for five years conducted a retail lumber yard at Waseca. In 1882, in partnership with Stokes Bros., he built a flouring mill at Watertown, South Dakota, which he managed for five years. Returning to Waseca he devoted the next six years to looking after his interests in a large mill at Janesville, a few miles distant.

He became a resident of Minneapolis in 1893, and for some three years thereafter gave his attention to mills out- side the city. In 1896 he organized the W. J. Jennison company, which acquired a large mill at Appleton, Minn. Mr. Jennison served as president of this company and head of an extensive wholesale flour business until his death.

For some years he was also interested in Gregory, Jennison & Company, grain dealers in Minneapolis, and in the Powers Elevator company. He was thus interested in several flourish- ing mills, and as long as able gave his personal attention to their direction. He also was a stockholder and director in a bank at Janesville, but his energies were centered prin- cipally in the grain and milling business, and in those lines of industrial and mercantile enterprise he was an important factor.

After a residence of three years at Janesville, Mr. Jennison returned to Hinesburgh, Vermont, and was there married in 1877 to Miss Florence Beecher, a daughter of Dr. Elmer Beecher, and a descendant of an old and distinguished New England family. They have one child, Helen, who is with her mother at the pleasant residence, which was erected in 1900. Mr. Jennison was a great believer in young men, and was ever ready to assist them, not only with encouraging words, but also with sympathetic deeds and, when necessary, with financial aid. He was one of the most highly and generally estcemed men in the community.

GUSTAVUS JOHNSON.

Because no small number of his former pupils have come to be enrolled in the lists of musicians of more than ordinary accomplishment, the name of Gustavus Johnson stands high among the instructors of the West. For more than thirty- five years Mr. Johnson has been one of the foremost musicians of the Northwest. It was early in his youth, in Stockholm, Sweden, that his musical talents pointed the way to an illustrious career, and his realization, in a great measure,

of carly predictions of success have fully borne out the child- hood promise. It was in Stockholm, in conjunction with his education in high school, that he gained his first training, studying the piano and theory of music under the leading masters of the art in that seat of music in Northern Europe. He added to this schooling in the Schartau business college in Stockholm and was graduated from there in 1874. A year later he emigrated to America and after looking about him in the East concluded the West held fine opportunities of which he preferred to take advantage. He came direct to Minneapolis, and here for the most part of the time he has remained. He rapidly attracted a following of appreciative people in musical circles, and soon came into more than ordinary prominence, both as an instructor in music and as a concert pianist. His talents likewise took the direction of original composition, and throughout the long period of his residence in Minneapolis he has from time to time produced not only for the piano but for other instruments as well as for the voice. His most noteworthy works are a trio for piano, violin and cello, and a concerto for piano and orchestra. He has taken a prominent part in musical organizations, and his influence has been more than state-wide, partly through his leadership in the Minnesota Music Teachers' Association, of which he was president 1905-6.

Mr. Johnson is a son of Peter Johnson, a native of Sweden, and Henrietta Hole, a daughter of that Admiral Hole who had so glorious a record in the annals of the English navy. The Holes were an old English family, and the youth who first distinguished himself as a lieutenant under Lord Nelson entered the navy about 1795, served through the battle of Trafalgar and several other notable battles, and won his way to the rank of admiral. At the time of his death in 1870 Admiral Hole was the oldest officer-and admittedly one of the most gallant-in the English navy.

The boy Gustavus Johnson was born in Hull, England, and lived there until he was three years old. It was then that his parents moved to Stockholm, and it was in Stockholm that the son remained until he was nineteen years old, when he came to America. Mr. Johnson was born November 2, 1856. He was married in 1882 to Miss Caroline Frances Winslow, a direct descendant of that Governor Edward Wins- low who was so prominent in the events of colonial times in America. They have a daughter, Laura Louise. Mr. John- son now gives the greater part of his time to conducting the Johnson School of Music, Oratory and Dramatic Art, which he established in 1898-the second large and important school of its kind to be founded in Minneapolis.

. HARRY A. TUTTLE.

Harry A. Tuttle, now president and general manager of the North American Telegraph company, the Northwestern connection of the Postal Telegraphı and Cable system, is a native of Oswego, New York, where his life began on Sep- tember 19, 1846, and a son of John and Mary Elizabeth (Perkins) Tuttle. The father was a pattern maker by trade but became a builder and passed the greater part of his later life in that occupation. The son spent his boyhood and early youth in Oswego, and was graduated from the high school in that eity at the age of fifteen. He then entered the telegraph service at Adams, New York, as an operator on the United

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

States Branch Telegraph company's lines. He has been in this important and exacting service ever since, except during the period between 1876 and 1882.

Mr. Tuttle was manager of the Western Union office at Oswego from 1870 to 1876. But in the meantime he was transferred from Adams to Ilion and was manager for the company there until its consolidation with the Western Union and after that time until he was assigned to duty in Oswego. From 1876 to 1882 he was engaged in merchandising, and in the year last named came to Minneapolis, arriving on February 12, and at once assuming the management of the Western Union office here. He remained in charge of that office until February, 1886, when he resigned to accept the general superintendency of the North American Telegraph company. He superintended the construction of the lines of that company, and was elected its secretary and general manager. Afterward he was elected vice president and general manager, and still later president and general manager, the position in the company which he now holds. He has done excellent work in connection with this company, and his ability and enterprise in performing it have given him an enviable reputation as a telegraph man throughout the North- west.

The club life of his home community has interested Mr. Tuttle and he has long been a potential factor in it. He belongs to the Minneapolis Commercial club, of which he was president in 1909 and 1910, the Minnesota club, of St. Paul,- the Minneapolis Athletic, Rotary and Elks' clubs and the Chicago Athletic Association. He was married on June 15, 1870, at Ilion, New York, to Miss Amanda Carpenter. They had one child, a son, Charles W. Tuttle. Mr. Tuttle is a Republican in his political faith and takes an active and serviceable interest in local public affairs, but only as a good citizen, not as a partisan or seeker of any of the honors or emoluments of public office. He is also earnest in his support of all projects involving the advancement and improvement of the city and the welfare of its residents.

JACOB KUNZ.

Jacob Kunz began his career as a locomotive fireman on the Omaha railroad. This was soon after he was sixteen years of age. He had finished his common school education and the dream of his life was to become a locomotive engineer. To this end he sought the position as fireman. He continued in this work for five years, then he came to Minneapolis in 1878 and entered the employ of the Island Power Company, which was then under the management of W. W. Eastman. Mr. Eastman offered young Kunz the opportunity to work for the company as engineer and millwright. For some years he was connected with this company as an employe, but he finally acquired stock in the concern and became its first general superintendent and later general manager.

Almost from the first Mr. Kunz's business connections have been constantly widening. He became interested in a number of local concerns. Among them the North Star Malt- ing Company and the Minneapolis Brewing Company. At present he is General Manager of the Minneapolis brewing company, also its vice-president and one of its directors. He is also vice-president and director of the North Star Malting Company, and president of the Kunz Oil Company, and a

director in the German-American Bank. He gives personal attention to all of various business interests, and it is to this fact that the credit is due for a large measure of the success which has come to all the great business concerns with which he is identified. He is public spirited and interested in everything that makes for the betterment of the city but he has never sought public office or political honors.

Jacob Kunz is of German parentage, and was himself born in the old country in 1857. He passed his early boyhood in that country although he has been a resident of Minnesota for more than forty years. When he was only eleven years old he came with his parents to America and settled in Chaska, Minnesota. Here his father engaged in farming and the boy worked in the interval of his schooling on the farm. He has come to be one of the most prominent and prosperous of the German-American citizens of Minneapolis.

JAY HUGHES JOHNSTON, D. D. S.

Dr. Jay Hughes Johnston, who died in Minneapolis on April 14, 1913, gave in his manliness and the career he wrought out a forcible illustration of the solid qualities, and their value for sustained, effective and successful warfare in the battle of life.

Dr. Johnston was born in the city of Northumberland, county of the same name, Pennsylvania, on May 11, 1842, the son of Isaac and Elizabeth (Charrington) Johnston. Na- tives of Pennsylvania, they were farmers and both died in Pennsylvania. Early in his boyhood he was taken to Bucks county, in the same state, where he remained until he reached the age of sixteen. He was a poor boy and obliged to make provision for himself while he was still very young. He worked out to educate himself academically and profes- sionally, literally digging his way through the district school and the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery, from which he was graduated in 1870. It was his custom to attend school in the morning and work in a grocery store in the afternoon, and he kept on with this division of time between his studies and the labor for his livelihood until he received his dental degree and was ready to begin practicing his profession.

Directly after receiving his degree in 1870 he took up his residence in Washington, D. C., and there he was actively and successfully engaged in professional work for thirteen years. He was an expert workman in the mechanical department of his profession, and was also Well versed in the technical knowledge belonging to it. He was always studious and made every effort to keep up with the most advanced thought and discovery in connection with his work, and won recogni- tion in Washington as one of the most knowing, skillful and progressive dentists in that city. When failing health forced him to visit Europe for a change of air and surroundings he took with him scores of strong testimonials from the leading men and women of Washington of that period, among them high officials of the government and other persons of renown in this country and foreign lands.

While he was in Europe he visited Rome and all other places of interest, saw a great deal of the country and be- came familiar with the customs of the people in many places. His health was somewhat improved by his trip, but on his return to this country he deemed it unwise to again risk

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

himself in the humid climate of the Atlantic slope, and so came to Minneapolis to live. He began practicing here, but continued for only a few weeks. The climate of California seemed inviting to him, and he moved to San Francisco, where he conducted an active and profitable practice for nine years.

The Pacific coast elimate was a delusion in his case, how- ever, and he found the salt air and excessive moisture there hurtful to him. So he returned to Minneapolis, where he had received benefit before, and again began practicing here, being located in the Masonic building for a number of years and then moving his offices to the Syndicate block, where he remained to the end of his life. His healthi was entirely restored; he had an extensive and remunerative practice, and he became active in all the dental societies in this part of the country.

Dr. Johnston's diligent and reflective study of his profes- sion led him to make many improvements in the tools manu- factured for its work. These have been found advantageous and been adopted generally throughout the domains of dental science.

Fraternal life interested the doctor intensely. He was an enthusiastic Freemason of the thirty-second degree, and an active participant in the doings of all branches of the frater- nity. He stood high in Masonie circles far beyond the boundaries of his state, and when he died his Lodge, of which he had long been a member, piously bestowed his remains in their last resting place with the beautiful and impressive ceremonies of the order.

On June 4, 1889, Dr. Johnston was married in Minneapolis to Miss Anna C. Hang, the daughter of John Hang, a pros- perous farmer of Carver county, Minnesota. She is a native of Milwaukee, but has long been a resident of Minneapolis. Edgar C. Johnston, the one child born in the family, is still living with his mother in her home at 3121 Stevens avenue.

WILLIAM A. KERR.

William A. Kerr, a prominent member of the Minneapolis bar and former municipal judge, was born in New Brunswick, Canada, 1867, the son of William A., and Mary J. (Loggie) Kerr. He received his education in his native city, attending the common schools and later the University of New Bruns- wick where he was graduated in 1887. He then began prep- arations for his professional career and for two years studied law in the offices of Weldon & McLeon, at St. Johns, New · Brunswick. In 1889 he came to Minneapolis and in April of the same year was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law. At first he carried on his legal work alone but soon entered into a partnership with Russell, Calhoun & Reed. An appointment to the bench necessitated the retirement of Judge Russell from the firm and about this time Mr. Calhoun removed to Illinois, leaving the firm, Reed & Kerr, an asso- ciation that continued for about three years. In 1894 Mr. Kerr was elected municipal judge. For six years he gave the city most efficient and honorable service in this position. At the end of his term of office he formed a partnership with Judge Fred V. Brown which was maintained for a number of years, with the exception of a term of four years when Judge Brown served on the bench. In 1909 Mr. Fowler became the third member of the firm and on the appointment

of Judge Brown as western counsel for the Great Northern railroad company, it became Kerr & Fowler. The present professional associations of Mr. Kerr, formed in 1913, are with Kerr, Fowler, Ware & Furber. Mr. Kerr is a member of the order of Elks and affiliated with the Commercial Club, the Minneapolis, the Minikahda, the LaFayette and the Repub- lican Clubs.

GEORGE HENRY WARREN.

George Henry Warren, who for more than forty-two years has been engaged in the land and real estate business in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Minneapolis, was born in Oakfield, New York on January 16, 1845. His parents were James and Sarah March Warren. His grandfather, Henry Warren, who was a descendant of the Varrennes or Warren (ne)s who landed in England with William the Conqueror, migrated from Devonshire and settled in Stafford, New York. He was the inventor of the first grain separator then known in that state or, probably, in America. Mr. Warren's father was a farmer, but also a manufacturer of threshing machines, car- riages, and sleighs. In this factory and in the rich forests of western New York, while assisting his father, Mr. Warren received an early training in the selection of kinds and qual- ities of woods, and of trees that proved invaluable in later years.

He attended the common schools of Oakfield which at that time were very good. Later, he prepared for college at the Cary Collegiate Seminary in Oakfield, and at the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, New York. He entered Genesee College, then at Lima (now Syracuse University at Syracuse) and graduated with the degree of B. S. in 1866. In 1872, after five years of teaching and of study, he received, from the same institution, the degree of M. S.

Immediately after graduation, Mr. Warren came to the West, and, in the school year of 1867-8, became principal of the High School at Hastings, Minnesota. Then for two years he was principal of the High School and superintendent of the publie schools at Faribault, Minnesota. During those years, he was one of the best known educators in the state.

During that period, also, he made several trips to Minne- apolis, and because of his early training under his father's direction in the forests of New York, he was impressed by the thriving timber and lumber interests there. In 1870, an attractive offer to enter the timber land business in the Northwest induced Mr. Warren to leave the teaching pro- fession for one, more congenial and with better prospects of financial success. His work as surveyor and timber land ex- aminer began in 1871 in the pine forests of Wisconsin. He engaged in this work continuously for many years, and ac- quired experience and a knowledge of the resources of Wis- consin and Minnesota which he put to practical use, when, in 1871, he entered the land business and acquired extensive pine and mineral land interests.

Since 1872, Mr. Warren has been a resident and loyal cit- izen of Minneapolis, actively interested in eivic and educa- tional conditions. In 1889, he was elected a member of the city council for the thirteenth ward and was made chairman of the committee on railroads. At that time the. street rail- way was required to change its system of motive power from horse to electric, and, as chairman of the council committee,

Seo. H. Warren

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

Mr. Warren took a prominent part in the framing of ordinances relating to the electrification and to the control of the local traction system.

In the days of the Business Men's Union, the predecessor of the Commercial Club, and of the Athletic Club, Mr. Warren was active in promoting the civic and educational interests of Minneapolis. In 1892, because of an acquaintance with men of affairs in the northern part of the state that gave him inside information regarding a movement to secure the School of Mines for Duluth, he was able to do a most val- uable service both to the city and to the state university. Knowing that the outcome of a fight with Duluth for this school would be uncertain, Mr. Warren urged the Business Men's Union to appoint a committee to raise money for a building for an ore testing plant at the University. As chair- man of the committee which the Business Men's Union ap- pointed, he raised the funds for the building and kept the School of Mines at Minneapolis.

Mr. Warren is a member and supporter of the Civic and Commerce Association and of the Society of Fine Arts. He is also a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, and of the Academy of Natural Sciences, of the Masonic fraternity and of Psi Upsilon. He belongs to the University, Minneapolis, and Minikahda Clubs of Minneapolis.

On November 6, 1872, he married Jennie L. Conkey of Fari- bault, Minnesota. Their children were Aurie Sarah who was born September 13, 1873, and who died March 28, 1876; and Frank Merton who was born December 1, 1875, and who is now associated with his father in his various interests.

THOMAS N. KENYON.

Thomas N. Kenyon, prominent in the manufacturing circles of Minneapolis as proprietor of the Kondon Manufacturing company, one of the leading industries of the city, was born in the Adirondack mountains in New York state. He came to Minneapolis in 1882 and was employed as salesman in a retail store and then accepted a position with an eastern specialty company and for over twelve years represented this firm in the northwest. During his travels he visited Rhine- lander, Wisconsin, where he became acquainted with Mr. J. J. Reardon with whom in 1892 he formed a partnership for the production of Kondon's catarrhal jelly. After three years of this association in Rhinelander, Mr. Kenyon became sole owner of the business and removed to Minneapolis. For some years he worked in the basement of his home, putting all his resources and effort into the enterprise, experiencing much delay in getting the commodity placed on the market through lack of capital but confident in its ultimate success. Through his determination and progressive business methods he won recognition for his remedy and with the help of its intrinsic merit has established a vast trade throughout this and other countries. Thirty-five thousand druggists now handle the article and distributing agencies are maintained in Toronto, London, Havana and Guadalajara in Mexico. When he met with his first successes, Mr. Kenyon moved from his modest quarters in the basement of his home to a double store building on Stevens avenue and in 1911 occupied his own building at 2608 Nicollet avenue where thirty-five work- men are employed, supplying the constantly increasing demand while eight traveling salesman are engaged in extending the

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Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 96

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