USA > Minnesota > St Louis County > Duluth > Duluth and St. Louis County, Minnesota; their story and people; an authentic narrative of the past, with particular attention to the modern era in the commercial, industrial, educational, civic and social development, Volume II > Part 39
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In 1908 Mr. Mielke married Miss Ella Gearhart. They have one son, Warren, born January 21, 1909.
JAMES S. MATTESON, certified public accountant of Duluth, has been identified for some years with the rapidly changing conditions of large industries, marked by heavy responsibilities and grave issues. In discharging the one and meeting the other, his long and special- ized training has stood him in good stead, and at the present time he maintains intimate relations with a number of leading business houses of the Head of the Lakes.
Mr. Matteson was born January 3, 1869, at DeKalb, Illinois, a son of Dr. James Matteson, a native of Rhode Island. The mother of Mr. Matteson was born in New York, and she and her husband had five children, of whom two are living. The youngest of his parents' children, James S. Matteson received his early education in the public schools of Illinois and New York, and on coming to Superior and Duluth in 1891, secured employment in the office of the Duluth Gas and Water Company. In 1897, when the city took over this public utility, he was retained as assistant secretary of the board of water and light commissioners, C. A. Duncan being president, and C. F. Leland vice president, Giles Gilbert being the other member of that board. Mr. Matteson continued his connection with that body until the fall of 1909, when he embarked in business as a public accountant, being later certified in Minnesota and Wisconsin, with offices at No. 701 Alworth Building. He is a member of the American Institute of Accountants and has a large and constantly growing list of clients, representing some of the chief business interests of Duluth.
Mr. Matteson is prominent in Masonry, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree, and is a life member and past master of Palestine Lodge No. 79, and a member of the Mystic Shrine. He belongs also the Kitchi Gammi, Commercial, and Duluth Rotary clubs, and is widely known and very popular in business and social circles of the city. He was married November 12, 1888, at Akron,
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New York, to Miss Nellie L. Wilkinson, and to this union there have been born two children : A married daughter, Maude E. Wallace, and a son, Harold J., who attended Macalester College and the University of Wisconsin, graduating from the latter institution in the class of 1915, and with the degree of B. A.
CAMILLE POIRIER, who died at his home in the city of Duluth on the 17th of October, 1919, was one of the pioneers and representative business men of that city and left upon the community the gracious impress of a gentle, gracious and benignant personality. He was a resident of Duluth for nearly half a century, and contributed his quota to its civic and material development and progress, the while his unqualified popularity was based upon his sterling character and his kindliness and courtesy in all of the relations of life. Well may this history perpetuate the generous tribute and estimate which appeared as an editorial in the Duluth News-Tribune under date of October 18, 1919:
"Always kindly, scrupulously honest in his dealings and thought, never unjust, never unfair, with a heart that denied itself to no one and to no right cause, Camille Poirier has closed a life lived in an Arcadia of his own making. To know him was to respect and admire him and almost to envy the serene peacefulness that rose above physical ailment or outward misfortune. He was, too, a man of force of character, of decided opinions and independence, and, like so many of his blood, he had a passionate love of the out-of-doors, of the house of nature, and all the people who live in it. He was one of Duluth's genuine pioneers. He had lived here for forty-nine years. In the earlier days he had much to do in public affairs-and always on the side of what was right and fair and progressive. He was the inventor of a number of conveniences, and here his love of the woods showed, as they were all for the woodman, the traveler and the camper. As a business man, as a friend, as a citizen, as one who always helped. he has left everything he touched and everyone he met the better and happier. Such a man can hardly be said to have died."
Camille Poirier, a scion of the fine old French stock that early settled in Eastern Canada, was born near the city of Montreal in 1837, a son of Joseph and Martha Poirier. In his youth he passed much time in the wilds of Canada and the northwestern part of the United States, and in this connection had made numerous trips to Duluth prior to establishing his permanent home there in 1870. The present vigorous and beautiful city was but a village when he became num- bered among its pioneer business men, and here he was for many years engaged in the boot and shoe business, in which he developed a large and substantial enterprise and at one time gave employment to many men. He also gave attention to the real estate business and to contract logging enterprise, and in later years was engaged in the tent and awning business. He was one of the most liberal and pro- gressive business men of Duluth, held the unqualified confidence and esteem of the community in which he so long lived and so worthily wrought, and his influence was wide and beneficent. He was the inventor of the Poirier Pack Sacks, now in general use, and invented also several other valuable devices for the use of travelers, campers and others who were, like himself, devotees of sports afield and afloat.
Mr. Poirier was a staunch supporter of the cause of the Republican party, and in addition to divers other services in behalf of the com- munity he was for several terms a member of the Board of County
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Commissioners of St. Louis county. He and his wife, who is yet living, were earnest and consistent communicants of the Catholic Church, and for many years he was president of the St. John the Baptist Society in the city of Duluth.
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As a young man Mr. Poirier wedded Miss Margaret Lytle, and they became the parents of eight children, all of whom are living.
OTTO A. POIRIER is not only a native son of St. Louis county and a representative of one of the honored pioneer families of this section of the state of Minnesota, but he has also gained secure vantage ground as one of the representative members of the bar of his native county and is established in successful general practice in the thriving city of Virginia, where also he is serving as United States commis- sioner and where he is known and honored as a loyal, progressive and public-spirited citizen.
Mr. Poirier was born in the city of Duluth, Minnesota, on the 12th of December, 1879, and is a son of the late Camille Poirier, to whom a memorial tribute is dedicated on other pages of this work, so that further review of the family history is not here demanded. In the public and parochial schools of his native city Mr. Poirier continued his studies until his graduation in the high school as a member of the class of 1898. That year marked the inception of the Spanish-Ameri- can war, and he forthwith manifested his youthful patriotism by enlist- ing in Company L, Fifteenth Minnesota Volunteer Infantry, with which he continued in service one year, the command having not, however, been called to the stage of active conflict. Soon after receiv- ing his honorable discharge from the army, Mr. Poirier entered the law department of the University of Minnesota, and in this institution was graduated as a member of the class of 1902. His reception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws was practically concomitant with his admission to the bar of his native state, and for the first year after his graduation he was in the law office of Frank W. Sullivan, a repre- sentative member of the bar of the city of Duluth. He then estab- lished himself in the independent practice of his profession at Vir- ginia, where the intervening years have been marked by his associ- ation with important cases in the courts of this section of the state and by his gaining high standing as a vigorous and resourceful trial lawyer and discriminating counsellor. He served two terms as city attorney, and for two terms was assistant attorney of St. Louis county, in each of which positions he added materially to his pro- fessional prestige. He has served since 1904 as United States com- missioner for the district of Minnesota.
During the nation's participation in the World war. Mr. Poirier was a member of the Loyal Advisory Board of St. Louis county, which organization gave effective service in connection with registra- tion of young men for military service, besides which he provided legal aid in connection with local war activities. He was also chair- man of the War Savings Stamp committee for the northern half of St. Louis county. The political allegiance of Mr. Poirier is given to the Republican party, and he is an active member of the local Kiwanis Club and the Virginia Curling Club.
On the 20th of April, 1910, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Poirier to Miss Leslie Mitchell, daughter of William B. Mitchell, of St. Cloud, Minnesota, her father having achieved distinction as one of the representative newspaper editors and publishers of this state and having also been the author of a two-volume history of Stearns
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county, Minnesota. Mr. and Mrs. Poirier have three children- William C., Eleanor and Arthur.
OTTO GAFVERT. A resident of Duluth thirty-five years, Otto Gafvert has been one of the earnest and hard-working citizens of the com- munity, known for ability and adequate performance of his duties in all relations and for a number of years has been employed in posi- tions of trust and responsibility in state, county and national government.
Mr. Gafvert was born in Sweden, November 30, 1865, and was reared and educated in his native land. He came to America alone in 1886 and for a few months was employed in railroad shops. He arrived at Duluth in the spring of 1887, and his practical abilities in mechanical lines made him a useful employe of several of the leading industries of the city. For two years he was with the Clyde Iron Works, another two years with the Iron Works in West Duluth and then for six years was in the machinery department of the Duluth Dredging & Dock Company.
His first public service was an appointment by Governor Sant as dairy and food inspector. He held this post for three years, fol- lowing which he became identified with the Duluth office of the Internal Revenue Department as division deputy. Altogether he was in the internal revenue office ten years. The Head of the Lakes Farm Land Company then secured his services in handling its real estate and lands until he was selected by the auditor of St. Louis county to perform the duties of assistant purchasing agent, but recently became connected with the internal revenue office in Duluth.
Mr. Gafvert is affiliated with Euclid Lodge No. 189, A. F. and A. M., and is also a member of the Elks and Swedish Order of Vasa, and is a Republican in politics. December 8, 1891, he married Miss Bede Anderson, whose father, Gus Anderson, was a native of Sweden.
CHARLES D. ORECKOVSKY, who was reared and educated in Duluth, has for the past ten years made a notable record in life insurance circles. His abilities have been employed with very gratifying results in behalf of the Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Company of St. Paul as manager of its territory in Northeastern Minnesota.
Mr. Oreckovsky was born at Odessa in Southern Russia, Novem- ber 12, 1882. He crossed the ocean with his mother, sisters and brothers and arrived at Duluth May 29, 1889. His father, Israel Oreckovsky, had preceded the rest of the family and came to Duluth, May 18, 1887. A tailor by trade, he has for over thirty years been a clothing merchant and tailor and is still living at the age of sixty- five. He has interested himself in good government in Duluth, and has also taken an active part in the Synagogue. Of eight children born to the parents seven are still living, Charles D. being the fourth in age.
Seven years of age when brought to Duluth, Charles D. Oreckovsky had his first American business training soon after he arrived in sell- ing papers and shining shoes. He acquired his education in the primary grades at Duluth, and after leaving school was employed for about a decade, from 1900 to 1911, by Dr. Horace S. Davis. Mr. Oreckovsky entered the life insurance field in 1911 as sub-agent with the Equitable Life of New York. He showed the abilities of a real insurance man, and in a short time was promoted to associate general agent and in 1916 accepted the difficult and not altogether promising
Otto Saprat
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assignment of manager for the Minnesota Mutual Life Insurance Company. Up to that time this company had never been able to gain a foothold in Northeastern Minnesota, but with Mr. Oreckovsky as manager the company now has approximately $2,000,000 on its books to represent this section of the state. Mr. Oreckovsky is a member and for one year was president of the Duluth Life Underwriters Association.
He has been very prominent in the Independent Order of B'Nai B'Rith, becoming a charter member when the local lodge was organ- ized in 1904. He has been a delegate to the Grand Lodge at annual conventions consecutively since 1908 and on the general committee of the order since 1915. He has held every office in the local lodge and has instituted lodges at Superior, Wisconsin, Hibbing and Vir- ginia, Minnesota. Mr. Oreckovsky is also affiliated with the Order of Elks and is a member of the Duluth Commercial and Curling clubs, while in politics he votes as a Republican. June 29, 1909, he married Miss Elizabeth Helperin. She came with her parents from Russia in 1890. They have two daughters, Rosalie, born September 6, 1915, and Ruth Jeane, born November 11, 1920.
MARTIN M. MELDAHL. It is by no means an easy task to describe within the limits of this review a man who has led an active life and by his own exertions reached a position of honor and trust in the line of work with which his interests are allied. But biography finds justification, nevertheless, in tracing and recording the chief events of such a life, as the public claims a certain property interest in the career of every individual and the time invariably arrives when it becomes advisable to give the right publicity. It is then with a certain degree of satisfaction that the writer essays the task of touch- ing briefly upon such a record as has been that of Martin M. Meldahl, assistant postmaster of Duluth, who has long ranked with the repre- sentative citizens of his community.
Martin M. Meldahl was born December 24, 1878, at Lyle, Minne- sota, and is the third in order of birth of the five children who blessed the union of Andrew J. and Oline (Danielson) Meldahl. The father was a native of Norway, where he was reared and educated. He came to the United States in July, 1870, and located at once in Duluth, entering the employ of Rarlivads & Company, but for a number of years has been engaged in contracting and building, in which he has been successful, and is still active, at the age of sixty-seven years.
Martin M. Meldahl received his educational training in the public schools of Duluth, graduating from the high school in 1898, after which he took a commercial course in the Duluth Business University. Soon after completing his studies he was appointed a clerk in the West Duluth postoffice, where he served until May 10, 1915, when, because of his efficient and faithful service, he was promoted to the position of superintendent of finance at the Duluth postoffice. On December 15, 1918, his splendid service was still further recognized by his appointment as assistant postmaster, which position he is still filling. During all the years he has been connected with the post- office department here he has labored always with the idea of giving the best possible service to the patrons of the office, and this has been the keynote to his success. During the World war Mr. Meldahl in addition to his regular duties took an active part in the sales of War Savings Stamps at the Duluth postoffice, and in that connection had oversight of the sales at all the postoffices in St. Louis county.
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Politically Mr. Meldahl is a Republican, though he is too busy a man to give a great deal of attention to party matters. Fraternally he is a member of Euclid Lodge No. 198, Free and Accepted Masons, which he served as master in 1913, of Duluth Chapter No. 79, Royal Arch Masons, and of the Modern Woodmen of America. His religious faith is that of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which he gives generous support.
On July 7, 1909, Mr. Meldahl was married to Louise D. Remfry, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Remfry, natives of England. She was educated in the Duluth public schools, being a graduate of the high school. Mr. and Mrs. Meldahl are the parents of three chil- dren, Leila R., Martin M. and Mary Louise. Personally Mr. Meldahl is a man of pleasing presence, genial disposition and very approach- able. He has at all times stood ready to give his support to all move- ments for the advancement of the best interests of his community, and is held in the highest esteem by all who know him.
In closing this brief sketch it will be of undoubted interest to give some pertinent facts concerning the activities of the Duluth postoffice. In the money order division from 50 to 100 C. O. D. remittances are handled daily. An average of about 300 orders are issued daily and 500 paid, involving between $4,000 and $5,000 daily. The Duluth post- office is also the depository for money order postoffices in Minnesota and the northern part of Wisconsin, the cash daily handled on this account amounting to about $50,000. Duluth is the central account- ing office for the eighty postoffices in St. Louis county, and from here these offices are supplied with stamps and other supplies. The annual sales here during the past five years have ranged between $400,000 and $650,000. The war savings and postal savings sections are carefully managed, three stamp clerks being constantly employed. The registry, insurance and C. O. D. business at this office has increased over sixty per cent in the last two years. The parcel post business is now increasing at a remarkable rate-in fact, this depart- ment of the office is constantly overcrowded. One Hundred and sev- enty-five men are employed in all departments of the office.
JOHN R. KROGDAHL has served continuously since 1907 as city assessor of Virginia, and he has secure status as one of the leading exponents of the real estate and insurance business in this city, where his offices are maintained in the First National Bank Building.
Mr. Krogdahl was born at Ishpeming, Michigan, on the 29th of April, 1877. His father, Amund A. Krogdahl, was born and reared in Norway and was a young man when he came to the United States and established his residence in the mining district of Northern Michi- gan. He was employed in mines at Ishpeming and Negaunee, that state, for many years, and thereafter developed a prosperous mercan- tile business in the former city. There his death occurred in the year 1903, and he is survived by his widow, whose maiden name was Anna Johansdatter. They became the parents of eight children, of whom three sons and four daughters are living.
The public schools of Ishpeming, Michigan, afforded to John R. Krogdahl his early education, but in the meanwhile he gained practical experience, as he was but twelve years old when he assumed the dignified position of office boy in the service of A. B. Eldredge, who is now the general attorney for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. Later Mr. Krogdahl worked for Horace J. Stevens, a merchant at Ishpeming, and still later he held the position of bookkeper in the
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mercantile establishment of S. Johnson & Company of that city. Within the first term of Grover Cleveland as president of the United States Mr. Krogdahl was appointed clerk in the registered-mail de- partment of the Ishpeming postoffice, and in 1893 he accompanied O. B. Warren to Hibbing, Minnesota, where he gave diversified service as bookkeeper, timekeeper, manager of a general store and as a general utility man in connection with the activities at the Penob- scot Mine. About a year later he came with Mr. Warren to Virginia, and in this locality he continued his association with mining activities about two years. Thereafter he was identified with construction work on the Canadian Northern Railroad about two years, and after his retirement from this service he conducted a general employment office at Virginia for several years, this enterprise finally developing into his present substantial real estate and insurance business.
Mr. Krogdahl is a liberal and progressive citizen and has taken deep interest in the development and progress of his home city. In the Masonic fraternity he has received the thirty-second degree of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite and is affiliated also with the Mystic Shrine.
October 9, 1905, recorded the marriage of Mr. Krogdahl to Miss Katharine Meehan, of Virginia, she having been born at Iron River, Michigan. They have two daughters-June and Marian.
ANDREW DAHL left a definite and benignant impress upon the communal history of the now vital little city of Virginia, and was here one of the honored and influential men of St. Louis county at the time of his death in 1911, at the age of fifty-six years, his widow being still a resident of Virginia. Mr. Dahl long followed the sturdy trade of blacksmith, as a skilled workman, and his character had a robustness and nobility that were on a parity with the staunch voca- tion which he followed during much of his active career.
Mr. Dahl, who was one of the pioneer settlers of Virginia, Minne- sota, was born and reared in Norway, and there he not only served a thorough apprenticeship to the trade of blacksmith but he also emu- lated his Norse ancestors by gaining familiarity with seafaring life, in which connection he made many voyages and visited many of the leading ports of the maritime world. In his native land he mar- ried Miss Ragnhild Swenson, and about the year 1882, in company with his wife and their two children, both daughters, and also with the father and three sisters of Mrs. Dahl, he immigrated to the United States, secure in his conviction that here he would find better opportunities for the winning of independence and prosperity through personal effort. He made his way directly to Menomonie, Wisconsin, and there he found employment at his trade. About two years later he removed with his family to Houghton, Wisconsin, and after having there followed his- trade about three years he transferred the family home to Duluth, Minnesota. Thence, in the spring of 1892, he removed with his family to Virginia, thus becoming one of the early settlers of the city, which was at that time a small and obscure mining village. Here he continued actively in the work of his trade until about 1905, and for many years he conducted the Virginia Hotel, which was maintained at high standard under the management of himself and his wife. He had the distinction of serving as the first street commissioner of Virginia, and in this position he had the su- pervision of the laying out and grading of Chestnut street, the main thoroughfare of the city, besides doing similar development work on other streets.
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A man of inviolable integrity and deep religious convictions, he was a devout communicant of the Lutheran Church, as is also his widow, and in all of the relations of life he commanded the unqualified respect of his fellow men. Of his thirteen children ten are living, and they are well upholding the, honors of the family name.
Sigvert S. Dahl, the third child and oldest son, was born at Me- nomonie, Wisconsin, December 21, 1886,-the first of the children to be born in the United States. He was a boy of about five years at the time of the family removal to Virginia, and here he continued his studies in the public schools until his graduation in the high school as a member of the class of 1906. In the meanwhile he had formu- lated definite plans for his future career, and in consonance therewith he entered the law department of the University of Minnesota, in which he was graduated as a member of the class of 1910. His re- ception of the degree of Bachelor of Laws was virtually coincident with his admission to the Minnesota bar, and since June, 1910, he has been engaged in the practice of his profession at Virginia, with secure status as one of the representative members of the bar of St. Louis county. He served from 1916 to 1918, inclusive, as city attor- ney, but in contradistinction to office-holding he has otherwise pre- ferred to give his entire attention to his private law business, which is now one of broad scope and of representative order. He is a throughgoing advocate of the principles of the Republican party, maintains affiliation with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias. the Modern Woodmen of America, the Sons of Norway, Loyal Order of Moose, and various other social organizations, and is one of the loyal and public-spirited citizens of Virginia.
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