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 43
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Mr. Welles was born at Hortonville, Michigan, July 17, 1872, and had a public school education, coming to Duluth shortly before his twentieth birthday. He is a son of Nelson and Achsah (Graves) Welles, the former a native of New York and the latter of Connecticut. George W. Welles was left an orphan at the age of five, and from that time until he was seventeen lived with his mother's sister, Mrs. Edward Sleeger. His opportunities have been largely of his own making, and good natural abilities, combined with continuous hard work, have been responsible for the gratifying measure of success he has achieved.
Through many years Mr. Welles has had a part in the civic develop- ment of modern Duluth. He is a member of a number of local clubs and organizations and is a Republican in politics. During the World war he was chief of metals and heavy hardware procurement, Branch No. 1, General Supplies Division of the Purchase, Storage and Traffic Depart- ment of the War Department. As an expert in his line he rendered valu- able service in this work from June, 1918, until February, 1919.
September 4, 1901, Mr. Welles married Jane M. McLennan, a native of Duluth, where her parents, W. L. and Julia ( McLeod) McLennan, were pioneers. The two sons of Mr. and Mrs. Welles are George W., Jr., and Donald R.
JOHN COSTIN. The name of John Costin requires but little introduc- tion to the people of Virginia, where he has been residing for about twenty-eight years, and throughout that period has been prominently identified with the industrial development of the city and surrounding district. He is the largest stockholder of the Chandler Mining Company, Virginia, the Chandler Mine being located at Ely.
Mr. Costin was born at Hancock, Michigan, December 25, 1866. His parents, John and Catherine (Ronan) Costin, were natives of Ireland and each came to the United States in early childhood, grew up in this country and here married. The father was an iron ore miner and was one of the early miners on the Marquette, Menominee, Gogebic and other ranges in Michigan, and in this occupation he spent all his active life. Mrs. Costin died about 1874, and her husband survived her for many years, his death taking place in 1918, he having then reached a good round age.
Some time after the death of his mother John Costin, the subject of this sketch, began working on his own account. He completed his school course at the Northern Indiana Normal School, Valparaiso, Indiana, from which he emerged well equipped with all the requirements of a first-class training. In January, 1893, Mr. Costin moved to Virginia and established himself in the fire insurance and real estate business, finally building up a splendid connection along that line, and here he has been residing ever since. In 1897-98, along with his insurance business, he began exploring for iron ore, and gradually this enterprise began to absorb the greater part of his attention. During this period, in conjunction with others, he discovered the Holman Mine near Colerain; the Hobert Mine near Gil- bert, and other smaller properties. In November, 1909, he took an option
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for lease on the Chandler Mine at Ely, which had been abandoned by the original operators, and after an exploration he secured a mining lease in 1910, and has since been operating it as the Chandler Mining Company, success attending his efforts from the very beginning.
September 10, 1901, Mr. Costin was married to Miss Della Austin, a native of Minnesota and a teacher in the Virginia schools. They have become the parents of three children : Corynne, Virginia and John Hart. Early in his career in Virginia Mr. Costin took a keen interest in local development and in local politics. He served as city assessor and later as city clerk, bringing intelligence and ability to bear on the duties of these offices. He takes an active part in Masonic affairs; is a member of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, a Knight Templar, a York Rite Mason, and a member of the Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. Mr. and Mrs. Costin are prominent in the social life of Virginia, where their friends are numerous, and where they give their support to all projects calculated to advance the public welfare.
LUDWIG A. LARSEN. The examples such men as Ludwig A. Larsen furnish of patient purpose and steadfast integrity, illustrate what is in the power of each to accomplish, and there is always a full measure of satisfaction in adverting in even a casual way to their achievements in advancing the interests of their fellow men and in giving strength and solidity to the institutions which make so much for the prosperity of the community, for all will agree it is the progressive, broad-minded, alert, wide-awake men of affairs who make the real history of a community, and Mr. Larsen's influence as a potential factor of the body politic is difficult to estimate.
Ludwig A. Larsen was born August 11, 1868, at Gaarden Tarud, Skedsmoe, Norway, the son of Julius Larsen and Bertha Tarud born near Kristiania. He was reared to the age of nineteen in his native land, receiving his education in the schools of his home community. On April 24, 1887, he came alone to the United States, locating first at Castle Rock, Minnesota, where he was employed for four summers on farms, attending public school in winter. In 1890 and 1891 he attended the State Normal School at Mankato, and in the latter year he came to Duluth and engaged in bookkeeping and as assistant to the manager of the Minne- apolis Stockyards and Packing Company, with whom he remained about three years. He next entered the law office of Draper, Davis & Hollister at Duluth as bookkeeper and cashier, and read law with them for upwards of three years. During the following year he took a much-needed rest on a homestead and then entered the University of Minnesota, where he remained during 1897-8, covering all legal studies excepting the criminal branch of law. He then followed a wholesale business in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for a time, but later returned to Duluth and engaged in the real estate, investment and mortgage loan business, his offices being located in the Providence Building. His business has grad- ually and steadily increased in volume and importance, giving him con- nections with some of the largest corporations and individuals in the United States controlling and owning real estate in Duluth and the northwest. The early organization was under the name of L. A. Larsen & Company, and as the business grew, in 1906 a Minnesota corporation was formed under the name of L. A. Larsen Company, which has remained practically a close corporation.
On January 1, 1900, at Pine Island, Minnesota, Mr. Larsen was mar- ried to Lillian Augusta Miller, the daughter of Charles R. and Caroline Buck Miller, natives of the state of New York, though of Swiss ancestry.
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She was reared near Pine Island, Minnesota, where her parents were early settlers of Goodhue County. Her education was completed at the Winona Normal School, and she was engaged in teaching up to the time of her marriage. To Mr. and Mrs. Larsen have been born two children, Raymond Miller and Mary Elizabeth.
Politically Mr. Larsen is a Republican, though with some Democratic tendencies. Fraternally he is a Knight Templar and Shrine Mason, a member of the Modern Samaritans, the Modern Woodmen of America, and the American Fraternity ; he is a charter member of the Duluth Commercial Club and the Duluth Real Estate Exchange and National Building Managers' and Owners' Association, and a member of the Duluth Young Men's Christian Association and local organizations. Mr. Larsen enjoys a large acquaintance among the people. Being public spirited and identified with the common interests in various capacities and by proving himself competent and trustworthy, he has become one of the leading citizens of his community and enjoys to a notable degree the good will and esteem of all who know him. The family are all members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church.
ANTON NELSON. While grain, lumber and iron are considered the three primary features of Duluth's industries, there are other enterprises that serve to broaden and diversify the industrial program, and one of the most important of these is the Nelson Knitting Mills Company, a manufacturing organization that has had a prosperous existence of many years and manufactures a line of knitted goods that are sold and dis- tributed all over the northwestern country.
This business for many years was known as Nelson Brothers Knitting Mills. The two brothers associated in the business from the beginning were Anton and N. Edward Nelson. Anton Nelson, who was born September 16, 1865, came to America with his brother in 1892, and in that year they established their business at St. Paul, Minnesota, under the firm name of Nelson Brothers. A year later they moved their modest plant to Northfield, Minnesota, and were in business there until 1898.
The Nelson Brothers came to Duluth the first of April, 1898, and their business has enjoyed a constant growth here for over twenty years. Their first location was at 1804 West Superior street, whence they removed in 1902 to 2101-03 West Superior, and in 1911 to their present extensive and well equipped factory at 2105-07 West Superior street.
The original title of Nelson Brothers Knitting Mills was continued until December, 1914, when the business was incorporated as the Nelson Knitting Mills Company. The company has facilities for the manufacture of a great variety of knitted goods, and its equipment is specially designed for the manufacture of sweaters, underwear and hosiery. An ample force of salesmen place the full output of the factory with retail merchants all the way from Michigan to the Pacific Coast. The products are appre- ciated at home as well, and a large local trade has grown up in Duluth.
Mr. Nelson is one of Duluth's most public spirited citizens and busi- ness men. He is a member of the Danish Brotherhood of America and the Norwegian Lutheran Church. On March 27. 1893, at Northfield, Minnesota, he married Miss Anna Thorsen, a daughter of Hans Thorsen, who came from Denmark. Of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Nelson six are still living, named Mathilda, Edward K., Einar, Henry, Roy A. and Helen. Mathilda was educated in the public schools of Duluth and the Stout Institute at Menomonie, Wisconsin, and is now a teacher in the Middle River Consolidated School at Jackson, Minnesota. Edward K. also attended the public schools of Duluth, was in the U. C. T.
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four months and is now a student in the University of Minnesota. Einar is now in his third year at the Denfield High School, while Henry is a freshman in the same high school. Roy A. and Helen are both students in the Duluth grammar schools.
LEONARD MCNAMARA. The name Leonard McNamara has won important significance among automobile owners in the Duluth district, its association being with Studebaker cars. He is the man who has done most to develop a business for the Studebaker corporation in northern Minnesota, and most of the Studebaker cars over this territory were bought from Mr. McNamara at the Duluth agency at 318 East Superior street.
Mr. McNamara came to Duluth in 1894. For a number of years he was a fireman and engineer on lake vessels, beginning with the B. B. Inman Company, and later continued with other lines of lake steamships. He was held in high regard as a marine engineer, and continued that vocation until 1910, when he resigned to become a Studebaker representa- tive. His first office and salesroom was at 918 East Superior street. He has developed a business from an average of six cars per month to an annual distribution of two hundred cars in the Duluth district. Mr. McNamara is one of the most highly esteemed automobile men in northern Minnesota. He is affiliated with the Elks lodge of Duluth.
GEORGE I. WILLIAMS, another of the prominent and progressive citizens of Virginia, at present postmaster of the city and otherwise identified with its commercial life, is a native of England, born in Corwall, that country, March 4, 1879. When he was eight years old he accompanied his parents, George W. and Elizabeth (Irwin) Williams, to the United States, and on arrival in this country the family went on to Ishpeming, Michigan. The father had been a farmer in the old country, but on settling in Michigan he found employment in the iron mines of the Marquette Range.
George I. Williams was educated in the public schools of Ishpeming and there grew to manhood. When he was fourteen years old he began working in the Lake Angeline Mine-first as a skip tender and later as a miner. It was during this period he became warmly interested in athletic sports, in which for several years he was a prominent figure. The Sons of St. George, an organization composed of Englishmen in Michigan, held regular athletic meetings. It was while competing at these events that Mr. Williams attained wide renown as a bicycle rider and won many hard- fought contests over his competitors. He rode a mile bicycle race in 2:15, and covered five miles in 12:20, up to that period establishing a world's record for the distances named.
In 1901 the parents of Mr. Williams moved to Jackson, Mississippi, and in June of the following year he went to Hibbing, Minnesota, where he became supply clerk at the Utica Mine of the Crete Mining Company, and some time later he took over the duties of bookkeeper at the Albany Mine for the same company, Mr. William H. Downing being superin- tendent of the mine at that period. On May 7, 1903, Mr. Williams was married to Miss Lillian Downing. a daughter of the superintendent just named, and December 1, 1906, he moved to Virginia, where he assumed the duties of chief clerk and cashier for the New York State Steel Com- pany. He remained in this position until 1909, when he became superin- tendent of the corporation, which covered the Kellogg. Knox, Larkin and Roberts Mines, and Virginia has ever since been his home city.
In May, 1913, Mr. Williams embarked in the real estate and insurance business in Virginia, on his own responsibility, and in 1914 the Williams
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Addition to Virgina was inaugurated. In 1917 he organized the Atlas Mining Company to operate the Roberts Mine at Mckinley, which had been abandoned, and of this undertaking he was secretary-treasurer and superintendent. Along all these lines, as well as in his former activities, he was successful to a degree.
In April, 1918, there was organized at Virginia what was known as "War Headquarters," which was the center of gravity for Liberty Loans, War Savings Stamps, and other war activities, and of which Mr. Williams served as secretary. In conjunction with Mr. Edward C. A. Johnson, he helped organize the United States Defense League in the various range communities, and also acted as secretary of the different Liberty Loan committees, also serving as a member of the fuel committee of St. Louis County. Few residents on the range devoted more time freely in the directions mentioned than did Mr. Williams.
On January 1, 1919, he became postmaster of Virginia by appoint- ment of President Wilson, and has since been filling that position with fidelity and efficiency. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has for years been a singer in the church choir. He is a member of the Masonic Order, affiliated with Virginia Lodge No. 264, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons ; Virginia Chapter No. 77, Royal Arch Masons, of which he is past high priest, and is an officer of the Commandery, Knights Templar. Mr. and Mrs. Williams are the parents of two daughters, Muriel Crete and Dorothy Gertrude, and he and his wife take a prominent part in the social and cultural activities of the city of their adoption, where they have numerous and warm friends.
JAMES W. CARGILL, president and treasurer of the Cargill-Guibord Motor Company, distributors of the Marmon, Hudson and Essex cars in Duluth and adjacent territory, has a wide acquaintance and experience in Duluth commercial affairs, and for many years was a traveling repre- sentative of Duluth's great wholesale hardware house, the Kelley-How- Thomson Company.
Mr. Cargill was born at Wingham, Ontario, Canada, August 19, 1878. His father was born in the north of Ireland and his mother in Scotland. His father died in Canada in 1894, and the following year, when James W. was seventeen years of age, he came to Duluth with his mother and sisters. Already at the age of twelve he had begun gaining expe- rience and earning wages as a sawmill worker in Canada. During subse- quent years in addition to a common school education he acquired a knowledge of the cabinet-making trade. Soon after he came to Duluth he entered the service of the Kelley Hardware Company, driving one of their delivery teams. After a year and a half he was transferred to the sheds, handling the iron for shipment, and a year and a half after that was put in the order department as shipping clerk, where he remained three years. Mr. Cargill first went on the road as a traveling salesman for the Glaskin Comstock Mill and Mining Company, but after two years joined the Kelley-How-Thomson Hardware Company as traveling sales- man, and helped cover the immense territory of this Duluth firm for thirteen years.
On leaving the road Mr. Cargill entered the automobile business, at first under his own name, but after a year as the Cargill Motor Car Com- pany to handle the famous Marmon car manufactured at Indianapolis. In 1921 a partnership was formed with F. H. Guibord. The company is located at 316 East Superior street and in connection with the salesrooms a complete service system is maintained for the Marmon, Hudson and Essex cars.
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Mr. Cargill is a member of the Masonic Order, being a Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, belongs to the United Commercial Travelers, and is a Republican in politics. He is a member of the Rotary Club, the Commer- cial Club, the Ridgewood Golf Club and the Auto Club. He also belongs to the Duluth Boat Club and was one of the club's famous oarsmen.
On June 23, 1910, at Superior, Wisconsin, he married Miss C. R. LeBlanc, daughter of Captain LeBlanc. She was educated in the public schools and in the Grand Rapids Kindergarten Institute and for five years before her marriage was a kindergarten teacher in the schools of Superior. They have one son, Jaines W. Cargill, Jr., born June 10, 1916.
THOMAS GILL. There have been no reservations in the loyalty and completeness with which Mr. Gill has identified himself with the business and civic life of the vigorous little city of Virginia, and here he has developed a prosperous and representative general insurance business as secretary and manager of the McDonald-Gill Insurance Agency, which is the local representative for a goodly number of fire, life, accident and other insurance companies of the highest standard.
Mr. Gill was born on a pioneer farm near the city of Yankton, South Dakota, and the date of his nativity was March 26, 1875. He is a son of Michael S. and Sabina (Shields) Gill, both of whom were born in Wisconsin, within twenty miles of the city of Milwaukee, their respective parents having been pioneer settlers in the Badger state. There Andrew Gill and James Shields, grandfathers of the subject of this review, settled upon immigration to America from their native Ireland, and became sterling founders of families that now have numerous representatives in the United States. Both of these ancestors became pioneer farmers in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, and there they passed the remainder of their lives.
After his marriage Michael S. Gill continued his residence in Wiscon- sin until about 1870, when he and his wife became pioneer settlers in what is now the state of South Dakota, where he and one of his brothers took up homesteads and instituted the development of productive farms. He perfected his title to his land and there continued his activities as an agriculturist for a period of seven years, when, accompanied by his wife and their two children who had been born within this period, returned to Wisconsin and established their home at Chippewa Falls, where Mr. Gill became actively identified with lumbering operations, at the time when this industry was one of major importance in that section of the state. Later he turned his attention to farm enterprise in that vicinity, and he and his wife are now venerable and highly esteemed citizens of Chippewa Falls, both being earnest communicants of the Catholic Church. Of their seven children six are living.
In the public schools of Chippewa Falls Thomas Gill continued his studies until his graduation in the high school as a member of the class of 1894. Thereafter he continued his studies in the Wisconsin State Normal School at Superior, and in the meantime gave intermittent and effective service as a teacher in the public schools. In 1901 he came to Virginia, Minnesota, and took a position in the insurance offices of Camp- bell & Robb. After the business passed into the hands of D. B. McDon- ald he continued his association with the latter until 1907, when he became allied with Mr. McDonald in the incorporation of the McDonald- Gill Insurance Agency, of which he has since been secretary and general manager. This agency, known for its reliability and effective service, has developed a large and substantial business, and Mr. Gill is known as one of the representative insurance men in this section of the state.
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His political allegiance is given to the Republican party, he is a com- municant of the Catholic Church, is a valued member of the Kiwanis Club of Virginia, and is affiliated with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.
On October 15, 1909, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Gill to Miss Anna Hansen, who was born in the city of Minneapolis, of Nor- wegian ancestry. They have no children.
WALTER BACON BROWN. It is by no means unusual to discover in the newspaper profession a man of enlightened understanding, vigorous policy and sound judgment, but not always, in addition, may be found such a wealth of personal experience to draw upon as belongs to Walter Bacon Brown, owner and able editor of the Tribune-Herald of Chisholm, Minnesota, of which city he is a foremost citizen. The story of an ambi- tious, adventurous youth who had the courage to take his own life in his hands far from home protection, and with determination pursue unusual paths is of absorbing interest and offers, perhaps, one explanation of Mr. Brown's thorough knowledge of public questions, his broad and liberal views on many matters, and his deep sympathies in relation to conditions that the public, in a general way, cannot so fully understand.
Walter Bacon Brown was born October 29, 1886, at Duluth, Minne- sota. His parents were Charles C. and Bertha L. (Hall) Brown. Charles C. Brown was of English parentage and was born at sea. under the Amer- ican flag, in 1853. He became one of the best known newspaper men in Minnesota. served on the staffs of the Duluth Herald and Tribune for many years and was the founder of the Independent Press Bureau in Duluth. His death occurred in 1899. In 1885 he married Bertha L. Hall, who was born in 1867, at Stillwater, Minnesota, a member of an old New England family. They had but one child, Walter Bacon Brown. In 1900 Mrs. Brown was married to Charles J. Jacobs, who was secre- tary and western manager of the Knickerbocker Silver Company.
As a schoolboy Mr. Brown passed through the first seven grades in the Jackson School, Duluth, completed the eighth grade at Stillwater, in which city he attended the high school for one year, and then entered St. Viator's College at Bourbonnais, Illinois. A year of confinement as office boy for his step-father, and another year with the Benjamin Allen Company, wholesale jewelers, Chicago, followed, but this line of work did not appeal to the youth, and when sixteen years old he ran away from home. It was his ambition to go out to Australia that made him shape his course toward San Francisco. He soon found his small store of money exhausted, but through the leniency of railroad employes he managed to get as far on his western way as Trinidad, Colorado, and from that point across the mountains to Albuquerque he paid his way by acting as coal passer on a locomotive. There he worked on a ranch for a month and thereby managed to save enough money to take him to San Francisco, where he immediately tried to secure a passage on a sea-going vessel toward the land of gold and diamonds that his imagination had pictured as Australia.
His small stock of money soon disappearing from the necessary demands made upon it, Mr. Brown went to a sailors' boarding house, and there, as had many older in years than himself, was induced to sign up with the keeper, presumably for a working passage on an ocean liner, but in reality he was "shanghied" on board a whaler bound for Behring Sea. On this boat he was greatly abused, repeatedly being beaten and condemned to work at menial tasks. When off Dutch Harbor, Alaska, the whaler ran on a shoal and her bow was so severely damaged that it
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