Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 98

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 98

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He is a Republican, and when important matters demand attention of progressive citizens, his services are not with- held. For thirty-six years he has held active membership in the Church of the Redeemer, whose pastor was one of his father's warmest friends. Ever desirous of contact with the soil, he secured a part of the old Gideon homestead on Lake Minnetonka, where the Wealthy apple had its origin, and has found pleasant recreation in various industrial phases of agriculture.

In 1880 he married Clara Getchell, daughter of W. H. Get- ehell mentioned above. She died September, 1907, leaving one son, Hiram Kenneth, a student in Shattuck School, Class of 1914. In 1909 he married Miss C. L. Gaines of Wisconsin. He is identified with the New Athletic Club.

EDWARD CRANE CHATFIELD.

Edward C. Chatfield practiced law in Minneapolis for more than thirty years. The Chatfield family to which he belonged came to this country in 1639, with the colony of Rev. Henry Whitfield, settling at Guilford, Conn. The fam- ily remained in Connecticut for several generations, until David, the great-grandfather of Mr. Chatfield, was given a grant of 800 acres of land in Onandaga Co., N. Y. This was in place of money, as remuneration for his service in the Revolutionary War. Then the family removed thither, to establish a home upon the property, and remained there.

until William, Mr. Chatfield's father, removed as a young man to Ohio, settling at Sharon Centre, Medina Co.

William Chatfield married Ruth Ann. Crane, a member of the Crane family who settled in Dorchester, Mass., in 1658.

Edward C. Chatfield was born in Sharon Centre, October 24, 1849. In 1861, when he was nearly twelve years old, the family undertook, on account of the frail health of his mother, an overland journey by wagon to Minnesota, where relatives had preceded them. They started in the spring and traveled by easy stages, arriving in the autumn in Fill- more County, where the family lived for eight years upon a farm near Spring Valley.

Edward Chatfield attended the district school there, and then went to the academy in the town of Fillmore, to fit for the University of Minnesota, from which he graduated in 1874. This was the second class to graduate from this institution, and consisted, as did the first class, of two members, the other member being the late Dr. George E. Ricker.

Mr. Chatfield then taught school. for two years, after which he read law in the offices of Messrs. Lochren, Gilfillan and McNair.

He then took the law course of the University of Iowa, graduating with the late Judge Edward M. Johnson, with whom, after their return to Minneapolis, he formued a part- nership, which, however, was of short duration, and after its dissolution, Mr. Chatfield practiced alone for the remain- der of his professional career, occupying for many years the same offices with his father-in-law, the late David A. Secombe.

In 1901, Mr. Chatfield was elected an alderman from the second ward, which office he filled for eight years.

He was instrumental in the erection of the statue, by the alumni and personal friends, of Ex-Governor Jolin S. Pillsbury. He proposed the project at an alumuni dinner, and was made chairman of the committee appointed to a'c- complish it. Throughout the entire undertaking, he worked with unusual interest and great satisfaction when his efforts resulted in obtaining the noted sculptor, Daniel Chester French, to design and model the statue.

Mr. Chatfield's great interest in this work led him to make quite a study of municipal art, in which subject he was greatly aided by his intercourse with Mr. French, dur- ing his visits to New York while the work of the statue was going on, and Mr. French's visits to Minneapolis, with the result that he secured the formation of an art commis- sion for Minneapolis, of which he was made chairman, re- maining in the office until his ill-health caused him to resign shortly before his death in 1910.

In 1895, he developed a serious ailment, which made the remaining fifteen years of his life a burden, although he continued to attend to his practice, and his duties in the council, up to the last year of his life. In the fall of 1909, his health was so impaired that he did not dare to remain another winter in the climate of Minnesota, and removed in September, to San Diego, California, hoping that that equable climate might add a few years to his term of life, but the change had been made too late, and he passed away January 26, 1910.

He married in 1884, Carrie Eastman Secombe, the daugh- ter of the late David A. and Charlotte Eastman Secombe, and four children were born to them, three of them surviv- ing their father: William Edward, born Aug. 19, 1890;

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

David Secombe, born Dec. 26, 1891, and Charlotte Eastman, born Dec. 14, 1893. The youngest son, John De Laittre, was born Feb. 21, 1895, and died Aug. 25, 1908.

WILLIAM M. KNIGHT.

Having been one of the county commissioners continuously during the last ciglit years, and having previously filled an- other important office, William M. Knight has had abundant opportunity to demonstrate superior qualifications for ad- ministrative work to become intimately familiar with the public needs, and keep himself fully in touch with the spirit of enterprise and progress. He represents the Fourth dis- trict, which includes the Third and Tenth wards and all of the Fourth ward lying between Hennepin and Franklin avenues.

Mr. Knight was born in East Maehias, Maine, May 29, 1847, and came to St. Anthony with his parents in October, 1854. He is a son of William and Bridget (Hickey) Knight, natives of England and Ireland respectively, although they were married in Maine. The father was a well digger, a stonemason and farmer; and in 1856 settled on a tract of government land half a mile west of where William now lives. He also owned another farm, which lay about three miles northwest of the present city hall, and there he died in 1892, aged seventy-six years. His widow survived him two years, dying in 1894 at the age of seventy-eight. They had a family of six sons and three daughters, eight of whom reached maturity and four of whom are living now. John lives at Thirty-third avenue and Fourth street, and of the two daughters one is a maiden lady and the other a widow.

William M. Knight worked for a time in the lumber woods, and then, in association with his brother John and Horatio and A. A. Day, took lumbering contracts, sometimes for driving logs down to Minneapolis. He was engaged in lumbering in this way fourteen or fifteen years, during seven or eight years of the time being a partner with his brother in cultivation of a large farm in Dakota county and in operating a thresh- ing outfit. About 1876, William started farming independ- ently, renting land in his old home neighborhood. For thirty-three years he has occupied his present farm, which comprises forty acres, lying within the city limits, and bounded by Penn avenue on the east and Yerxes avenue, or Osseo Road, on the west. This farm is devoted to market gardening, its principal crops being potatoes, onions and melons. The average yield is about 9,000 bushels of pota- toes and 4.000 bushels of onions, and frequently twenty acres are devoted to melons.

In 1888 Mr. Knight was elected street commissioner for the Tenth ward, so serving in all for six years, and graded the first streets in the ward. In 1906, and again in 1910, was elected county commissioner. In 1906, running as a Republican and with five other candidates in the field, he received a majority of 2,970 votes, the largest ever given a candidate for this office in the district. In 1910 a strong fight was made against him at both the primaries and the election; but, he was sustained by the people at the polls. He is positive in convictions and thoroughly alive to the best interests of the county. In his zeal in behalf of good roads he has visited Eastern states on tours of inspection,

much of the extension of fine roads in Hennepin county, being secured through his support. In all official business he has stood firnily for what he has believed to be right and most condueive to the best interests of the public, and is not diverted from his course by partisan or personal considera- tions. He belongs to and takes an earnest interest in the Territorial Pioneers Association.

In November, 1872, Mr. Knight was married to Miss Mary A. Fewer, a native of St. Anthony and a daughter of Richard Fewer, who was the first judge of probate in Hennepin county and one of the early merchants in St. Anthony, where he settled in 1849, coming here from New Brunswick. Mr. Fewer also enlisted in the Civil war, Company K, 10th Minnesota, and was mustered out as Captain Richard Fewer. Mr. and Mrs. Knight have had fourteen children, eight sons and six daughters. Six of the sons and two daughters are living. Walter W. is deputy clerk of the district court; Rich- ard E. is chief bookkeeper for the gas company; Clement V. is manager of Barnaby's shoe department; Stephen E. is in the city fire department at Twentieth street; Willis A. operates the home farm; Otis R. is a meter tester for the gas company; Mary I. is deputy county treasurer, and Eleanor I. is living at home. The father has ever been fond of good horses, and has owned many of superior qualities and high value.

JUDGE WILLIAM LOCHREN.

William Lochren was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, on the 3rd day of April, 1832. His father, Michael Lochren, died when William was little more than one year old and his mother, Elizabeth, with her fatherless boy and other kins- men crossed the Atlantic while the lad was not yet two years old to find with him a home on a farm in Franklin County, Vermont. At the age of eighteen, he went to Auburn, Mass., where manual labor alternating with assidu- ous study occupied the next four years and during which time he was able to obtain a fair academic education. In 1854 he returned to Franklin County, Vermont, and com- menced the study of law. He continued his legal studies for two years and in 1856, at the age of twenty-four, was admitted to the bar. Soon afterwards he moved to St. Anthony, Minnesota, where he entered upon his chosen life work, the practice of law, and where for more than half a century he continued to make his home. He continued in the practice of his profession, either in partnership with others or alone until April 29, 1861, when he enlisted in Company "E" of the First Minnesota Volunteers, the first regiment whose services were tendered to President Lin- coln in response to his call for volunteers. Not long after the enlistment, he was made a sergeant in Company "E." As such he served until September 22, 1862, when he was commissioned Second Lieutenant and assigned to Company "K" of the same regiment; July 6th, 1863, he was com- missioned First Lieutenant and re-assigned to Company "E." From July 6th, 1863, to the latter part of October fol- lowing, he acted as Regimental Adjutant. December 30, 1863, on account of illness brought on by his military service he resigned his commission and was honorably discharged on surgeon's certificate of disability. He reluctantly left the service and returned to St. Anthony after his discharge and

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

resumed the practice of law. In 1868, he was elected State Senator from a strong Republican district and served two years. In the following spring he formed a partnership with W. W. McNair, and in 1871, J. B. Gilfillan became a member of the firm of Lochren, McNair & Gilfillan, a firm distinguished in the legal annals of the Northwest. In 1877 and 78, he was elected city attorney of Minneapolis of which the town of St. Anthony had then become a part.

The legal business of the city and county had grown so rapidly that a special act was passed by the Legislature in 1881, giving a third judge to the Fourth Judicial District and on November 19, 1881, he was appointed a district judge of the Fourth Judicial District of Minnesota by Governor John S. Pillsbury of opposite political affiliations. At the election in November, 1882, he was elected to the district bench for a term of six years, and in 1888 was elected for a second term without opposition. His nomination at each election having been made by both the Republican and Demo- cratic parties. Near the close of his second term as district judge, President Cleveland appointed him Commissioner of Pensions which position he held for over three years and on May 26, 1896, he was appointed by President Cleveland, Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota to succeed Judge Nelson who retired at that time. In this office, he served until March 31, 1908, when he resigned, was placed on the retired list of federal judges and retired from active work. He died January 27, 1912.

He was married in 1871 to Mrs. Martha Demmon, who died in 1879, and in April, 1882, he married Mary E. Abbott, who with one son, William Abbott Lochren, born February 26, 1884, survives him.

During his active practice of law he was engaged on one side or the other of all of the important litigations of the Northwest and to review his record as an active practitioner would in a substance amount to a legal history of the North- west. The affairs entrusted to him were always of the weightiest, both corporate and private, incident to the develop- ment of Minnesota during that period and his name was a source of strength to his clients and an ornament to his profession to the last. He possessed a rare combination of ability to quickly perceive principles of law and discern points of precedents with a power to make effective appli- cation of them to the case in hand as well as a natural and legal judgment so sound and clear as to be an exceptionally safe guide in itself.

A careless perusal of the newspapers of the early days of Minnesota will give some conception of the high value placed even then by the citizens on his services, high-standing and integrity both as a citizen, a lawyer and a legislator, and history further shows that his sympathies and interests lay in many directions. He was actively identified with Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, serving for many years as a war- den; he was also active in Masonic affairs until the time he became a judge, being a member of Cataract Lodge and of Zion Commandery, Knights Templar. For this body he served a term as Grand Commander of the State of Minne- sota. He was a charter member of the Minneapolis Club and served actively with that organization in his younger days. One of the business lines that received his attention was banking and he served for a long time as one of the directors of the First National Bank of Minneapolis.

In legislative and political matters he served as alder- man of the old town of St. Anthony, and as already noted,

served one term in the State Senate. He was elected City Attorney in 1877, and 1878. Before his appointment to the district bench in 1881, he actively participated in the poli- tical affairs of the state and the Nation for his party. He was for many years a member of the Democratic National Committee until he retired on his own volition. In 1874, he was the Democratic candidate for judge of the Supreme Court of the State and in 1875, came within two votes of being elected United States Senator from Minnesota al- though at the time the Legislature was strongly Republican.

Of his army record, the fact that he was a member of the famous "First Minnesota" and shared in all the battles of that regiment leaves nothing to be said. He served on battlefields whose names have become 'classics in American history and participated with that regiment in making the historic charge at the battle of Gettysburg of which Gen- eral Hancock said, "there is no more gallant deed recorded in history." Of the two hundred sixty-two heroes who made that charge, he was one, and by the fortunes of war, he was one of the forty-seven returning unhurt, but none the less heroic.

He was a member of George N. Morgan Post, G. A. R., and of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, Minnesota Commandery, of which he served one year as Commander in 1890. He also served one term as Judge Advocate General of the Grand Army of the Republic by appointment of the Commander in Chief Wheelock G. Veazey. In 1889, he was appointed one of a commission under an act of the Legislature to prepare a history of Min- nesota in the Civil and Indian Wars, other members were J. W. Bishop, C. C. Andrews, J. B. Sanborn, L. F. Hubbard, and C. E. Flandreau. Judge Lochren was chairman of this commission and C. C. Andrews, Secretary. The first forty- eight pages of the work are devoted to a narrative of the First Minnesota by Judge Lochren and its descriptions of 'army service and especially of the charge of the First Min- nesota at Gettysburg are frequently quoted.

Early in 1893, he resigned his position as District Judge to accept the office of Commissioner of Pensions under Presi- dent Cleveland. This appointment as well as others came to him unsolicited and public appreciation of the sterling merit of Judge Lochren, independent of party affiliations, was shown by various organizations when it was noised about that he would probably receive this appointment. Both Houses of the Minnesota Legislature passed resolu- tions recommending him for the position in high terms and indicating his exact fitness to assume the duties of that office. His administration of this office was characterized by the same dignity, unswerving honesty and sense of justice that had characterized every act of his life coupled with the largest sympathy for the worthy veteran but with no com- passion for the bounty jumper or deserter. .

Upon the bench, both state and federal, were fully devel- oped and displayed his peculiar fitness for and wonderful adaptation to judicial duties. His patience was proverbial, his self-control masterful, his courtesy uniform, his manner kindly and his personality, wholly impersonal. Clearness of perception, generosity of labor in research, accuracy in detail and statement, strength in diction, an intuitive sense of justice and a comprehensive and thorough knowledge of jurisprudence were the qualities of Judge Lochren pre- dominating in a high degree. Nothing ever tried his equa- nimity or disturbed that serene composure and was natural

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HISTORY OF MINNEAPOLIS AND HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA

to the man, becoming to a judge and most gratefully appre- eiated by those who were called to present their contentions in his court. No lawyer ever left his presence without the pleasant impression that he had had to the fullest extent his day in court and if mistakes were made by counsel, the generous and sympathetic disposition of Judge Lochren seemed to overlook them and the youngest members of the bar came to regard him with paternal respect. His consid- eration of every ease was careful and thorough, but his decision once made was inflexible. No judge in Minnesota was ever more highly esteemed and loved by the bench and bar than William Lochren.

Ilis personal characteristics have been briefly referred to in speaking of his work on the bench. He was kindly cour- teou's, and a loyal friend. He sought and retained the friend- ship of all around him. With but slight opportunities for an early and thorough education he improved every later opportunity. He was a constant student and ever a lover of books. Gifted with a remarkably retentive memory, a clear and analytieal mind and unusual habits of thorough- ness, he aequired a vast knowledge not only of the law but of history. literature and general information, and this was always at his command both in his judicial work and as a genial and entertaining companion.

HENRY WEBSTER.

In a residence of nearly forty years in or near Minneapolis, during all of which time he has been actively connected with the lumber industry, Henry Webster, now president of the Webster Lumber Company, which he founded, has made a highly creditable business career. He has risen from the position of a day laborer to the head of one of the leading lumber corporations of the country and has won commenda- ' tion for his ability and fidelity at every step of his ascent from the bottom to the top of the trade.

Mr. Webster was born in the town of Orono, Penobscot county, Maine, April 4, 1852. His father, Paul Dudley Webster, was a member of the firm of Paul D. & E. Webster, manu- facturers of lumber for more than forty years at Orono. George A. Braekett, now and for many years past a leading citizen of Minneapolis, was in his youth an employe of this firm, and the late Hon. William D. Washburn lived in the family of Mr. Webster's father when he was a law student in Maine, before he came to the Falls of St. Anthony. Mr. Webster was educated in his native State, and in 1874, came to Minneapolis and as a common laborer went to work for Senator Washburn in a retail lumber yard where the Min- neapolis Chamber of Commerce now stands. After two years of faithful service in the yard he was sent to Anoka to take charge of the shipping from Mr. Washburn's mill at that place. He remained at Anoka for two years, then returned to Minneapolis with a view to starting in business for himself.

In 1880 he began business on his own account-at first eontracting in getting out logs on Rum River, and, while his operations were not very profitable, they were steady, and he continued them for fifteen years.

He then became a salesman for the Foley-Beder Lumber Company, which had large mills at Milaea, in Mille Lacs County. He lived in Minneapolis and handled the sales of

the output of these mills for eight years. In 1902 he again started in business for himself as the Webster Lumber Com- pany. Later, when he was joined in the undertaking by V. A. Whipple, of Sanlk Center, the name of the concern became the Webster-Whipple Company, and so remained until Mr. Whipple retired, in January, 1913, since which time it has again been known as the Webster Lumber Company.

The company has a city retail yard at Seventh Avenue Ninth Street Southeast, and a chain of thirteen country yards, the latter carried on as the business of the Rudd Lumber Company, but all located in Minnesota. The Webster Com- pany's wholesale yards are at the Minnesota Transfer, at Midway. The Company has its lumber sawed at different mills and buys in the open market. It also eonducts a hard- wood department and sells extensively at wholesale to fur- niture factories and railroad shops. It is capitalized at $150,000 and has fifty men regularly employed, and at times many more.

Mr. Webster is not wholly absorbed in his lumber business, however, great and exacting as that is. He has a farm of 100 acres at Riehfield, Hennepin County, six miles and a half from the center of Minneapolis and half a mile from the city limits in a southerly direction. This is known as the Burweb Stock Farm, and is Mr. Webster's home. He is an extensive breeder and importer of Jersey cattle, of which he keeps a herd of thirty-five head. He exhibits at State, eounty and other fairs, and the Burweb herd from the Burweb Farm is to be seen in almost every eontest. It is well known far and wide as a superior herd and a dangerous competitor.

Mr. Webster began his live stock industry by purchasing the Frank Peavy herd of 29 head in 1909, and he has won honors for his cattle from the start. He has also worked up a warm interest in this breed, and has made extensive sales at high priees from the produets of his stables.

In the organized social life of the community Mr. Webster has taken an aetive and serviceable interest as a member of the Commercial and Lafayette Clubs, and in fraternal activi- ties as a Freemason, holding membership in Minneapolis Lodge No. 19, for many years. He was married June 24, 1876, to Miss Clare A. Burbank, a native, like himself, of Orono, Maine, but living in Minneapolis at the time of the marriage, having come to this city with her parents, George A. and Caroline (Merrill) Burbank in 1867. Mr. Burbank was a miller in one of the Washburn mills at the time of the great explosion in 1878, and was killed in that disaster. His name is on the monument erected to the memory of its victims in Lakewood Cemetery. He was engaged in the lumu- ber business in Maine for a number of years.

Mr. and Mrs. Webster have two children, George B. and Paul D. Both are associated with their father in the lumber business, and are energetic and highly capable lumbermen. They are also deeply interested in the live stock industry and earnest advocates of its largest and highest development. Paul is a graduate of the Central High School and passed one year at Dartmouth College. While George was at the University of Minnesota he was a member of its football team, was a skillful player, and made a good record. Both brothers are considered good business inen, and potential factors in augmenting the magnitude and importance of their line of trade. The offices of the Webster Lumber Company are in the Lumber Exchange.

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Compendium of history and biography of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota, Part 98

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