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 50
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JAMES C. McGIVERN, president of the First National Bank and mayor of Biwabik, is one of the leading citizens and financiers of St. Louis County, and a man who has played a very important part in the history of Mesaba Range. Since 1916 he has been the chief official of his bank, and is serving his fourth term as mayor. He is a native son of Brainard. where he was born July 21, 1886, a son of Barnard and Mary T. (Ken- nedy) McGivern.
Born in Ireland, Barnard McGivern was twenty years old when he came to the United States, and immediately after landing he made his way to Chelsea, Michigan, and there he and his wife, then eighteen years old, were married. In 1883 they went to Brainerd, Minnesota, where he is now living at the age of sixty-three years. His wife died in April, 1915. Until 1903 Barnard McGivern was employed as a boilermaker in the railroad shops of the Northern Pacific at Brainerd. After that he was engaged until his retirement in operating a farm he had previously homesteaded in the vicinity of Staples, Minnesota. He has always been a shrewd business man and very successful. He and his wife had seven sons, of whom James C. McGivern was the second. During the World war three of these sons served on the battle line overseas.
James C. McGivern was graduated from the Brainerd High School in 1904, after which he obtained employment in a grocery store at Staples, and continued for a year. For the subsequent two years he held a clerk- ship in the mechanical department of the Northern Pacific Railroad Com- pany, but left that corporation in 1908. In that year he came to Biwabik to become timekeeper for the Oliver Iron Company. After a year he left that company to accept a similar position with the Monroe Mine at Chisholm. In 1911 he began his long connection with the First National Bank at Biwabik as cashier, and in 1916 was made its president. A politician by inheritance and inclination, he soon became a dominating force in local affairs, and was elected township clerk before he was hon- ored by his first election to the mayoralty, in which he defeated the Socialist candidate. Since then he has been three times elected to suc- ceed himself, and has done much to make the city what it is today. Practically all of the present improvements have been inaugurated under his several administrations, including the water system and street paving. and this municipality compares favorably with any other of its size in the country.
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On October 21, 1911, Mr. McGivern was united in marriage with Miss Vina O'Hara, of Biwabik, a daughter of William O'Hara. Mr. McGivern belongs to the Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. During the late war he was at the head of the various Red Cross, Young Men's Christian Association and Liberty Bond committees, and was chairman of the War Work Committee and on the local board of the National Council of Defense. Ever since coming to Biwabik he has been very active in community betterment work, and is proud of the fact tha his results have received the stamp of approval of his fellow citizens. Such men as Mr. McGivern are a splendid asset to any locality, and he can be depended upon to give the full force of his influence both as banker and private citizen to carry on the constructive measures he has set on foot as a public official.
EDWARD J. MICKA was born in Carroll County, Iowa, October 27, 1890, one of seven children born to the marriage of Herman Micka and Mary Pross, both of whom were natives of the United States. Herman Micka, early in life, was a blacksmith, but in later years was engaged in the real estate and insurance business at Carroll, Iowa. He died there, September 16, 1906, but his widow survives him and continues to reside at Carroll.
Until he reached the age of twenty years, Edward J. Micka continued to reside at Carroll, where he completed the eighth grade in the public schools, and for four years was employed in a drug store. In 1910 he became anxious to branch out, and came to Hibbing where he felt he would have a future, and subsequent events have proven that his choice was a fortunate one. His two brothers, Louis and Samuel Micka, had already located at Hibbing, being in the employ of the Winston-Dear Company mines, and when he first arrived at Hibbing, Edward J. Micka also worked for this concern, but left it for the Mesaba Telephone Com- pany, and was employed in its different departments. He then went with the Home Electric Company, of which, in 1917 he became, with A. F. Asplund, the owner, changing the name to the Micka-Asplund Com- pany. This firm does a general electrical contracting business, and is recognized as one of the best in its line in St. Louis County.
Mr. Micka is independent in his political views. He belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. In March, 1920; he was elected a member of the council of Hibbing, and is now serving his first term in that body, he having been elected for a period of three years.
On November 25, 1915, Mr. Micka was united in marriage with Anna Polassy of Duluth. They have one daughter, Mary-Lois.
RICHARD GEARY. Closely connected with the development of Hibbing from its very beginnings, Richard Geary has taken a constructive part in securing all of the improvements which make it today one of the finest and wealthiest little cities in the world. He came to this locality August 3. 1893, having walked from Mountain Iron, Minnesota, in company with his brother, James Geary. When the two young men came into the little settlement there were but four houses in the place, three of them being on Pine street, and the remainder of the population found shelter in three tents. From the time of the arrival of the Geary brothers, however, the place began to show rapid growth. The timber had been cut and had fallen promiscuously in every direction. This timber was later collected, taken to the sawmill, and the resultant lumber was used to construct buildings for the constantly augmented population. On November 2,
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1893, the railroad line was completed and the first locomotive whistle was heard, which event furnished an excuse for a jolification.
Mr. Geary erected a building at 132 Pine street, and filled in the crevices with sawdust closely packed, and in spite of the intense cold passed the winter in it very comfortably. He had erected it with the intention of opening a jewelry store and general repair establishment, but was forced to wait until spring, as there was no way to get in his goods except by packing them from Iron Mountain, and that was too expensive. For twenty-four years he has been in his present location and has the leading jewelry establishment of Hibbing.
Richard Geary was born at Concord, Jefferson County, Wisconsin, November 26, 1860. He is one of a family of five children, four of whom survive, born to the marriage of Morris and Rose (Mulligan) Geary, both of whom were natives of Ireland, and there married. They immigrated to the United States and settled on a farm in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, where they passed the remainder of their lives.
Possessing but limited educational opportunities, Richard Geary made the most of his advantages and went four miles to school and back whenever he was able to do so. When he was only eleven years old he began working for a neighboring farmer, for which he received four dollars a month for the first summer, and make himself so useful that the next summer his wages were increased to eight dollars. Later he worked for a cousin, who was also a farmer, and he paid him ten dollars a month for two seasons. Mr. Geary then lived at home for a time. Going into northern Michigan, he became assistant cook in a lumber camp at Norway, and followed cooking for twelve years. Going to Chicago, Illinois, in the early part of 1893, he acquired a working knowledge of the jewelry business, and has carried it on at Hibbing with gratifying success. For nine years he served on the School Board, and as such rendered the com- munity a valuable service in seeing that the educational advantages offered the children of this region are second to none, for like many who have had to struggle along in life without proper schooling he is doubly anxious to give others the opportunities which never came his way.
In August, 1891, Mr. Geary was married to Miss Mary Vetter, of Marathon City, Wisconsin, a daughter of George Vetter. The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Geary : Ethel ; Emma, Mrs. Wal- ter Crawford: Edna. deceased ; Stella, deceased ; and Dorothy, who mar- ried Joseph Gerzine. Mr. Geary is a man who has understood the fundamentals of commercial life, and has realized that business is the very life blood of national and community health and prosperity. Possess- ing that broader sense of responsibility, the will and resourcefulness and the power to stimulate others to the same whole-hearted endeavor which has always actuated him, he has long been recognized as one of the useful and competent men of St. Louis County.
STEVE KOVALL is one of the enterprising young business men of Ely, and has spent nearly all his life in this section of northern Minnesota. He is the active manager of the general merchandise firm of Kovall and Sons, the members of which are John Kovall, Sr., Steve and John, Jr.
John Kovall, Sr., and his wife, Elizabeth, brought their family to the United States in the eighties from Austria. At the opening of the Chandler Mine in northern Minnesota and before there was a single rail- road in this part of the Range country the Kovall family made their way by the difficult process of walking to Ely. John Kovall, Sr., was employed in the Pioneer Mine until 1911.
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Steve Kovall was born in Austria and acquired a very limited educa- tion in the schools of northern Minnesota. He began working in the mines when very young, and his educational equipment was measured by the bare ability to read and write. Realizing that lack of education would prove a permanent bar to his advancement in business, he earned and paid the money which enabled him to enter St. John's College at Collegeville. He remained there a diligent student until he graduated at the age of twenty-six. Thus equipped, he was employed in the collection and insurance department of the First National Bank at Chisholm until 1910, when, securing the co-operation of other members of the family, he organized the firm of Kovall & Sons, and became manager of the business from the start. The first store was in a building adjoining the present commodious structure which the firm erected in 1917. They han- dle a large stock of general merchandise, and have a trade drawn from a large territory around Ely.
Mr. Kovall is an active member of the Commercial Club, is affiliated with the Mystic Workers and is an independent Democrat in politics. He is one of the well-known men of Ely, is a member of the City Council, and on the Board of Trustees of St. Anthony's Catholic Church, of which all the family are communicants. In 1911 Mr. Kovall married Maggie Starcinich, of Chisholm, also a native of Austria. Their family consists of one son and five daughters.
WILLIAM HENRY MAGIE, M. D. Duluth had a population of about ten thousand when Doctor Magie joined the community as a young physician and surgeon something over thirty-five years ago. He was well fitted in every way to become a forceful factor in the life and progress of the city. For years he has been one of the recognized authorities in surgery in the northwest. He is a man of action, with broad views and liberal sympathies, actuated by motives of deep-seated patriotism and civic loyalty, and with admiration for all the wonderful resources and possibilities of the northwest country. Doctor Magie is a lover of the open woods, the hills, the waters, is fond of hunting and fishing, has taken part in expeditions for big game, and has killed deer and bear within what is now the corporate limits of Duluth.
William Henry Magie was born at Madison, New Jersey, September 30, 1854, a son of William Harvey and Eunice (Shawger) Magie. When he was three years of age his parents moved to Henderson County, Illi- nois, and from the time he was about seven until fifteen he lived with the family in Chicago. They then returned to Henderson County. Doctor Magie acquired his early education in the public schools of Chicago, Illinois, and Abingdon College at Abingdon, that state. In the fall of 1873, when he was nineteen, the father returned to New Jersey, but the next year went to southeastern Kansas, then recently freed from Indian occupation. The family settled on a ranch, and the father became an extensive rancher and a man of prominence in Kansas affairs during the seventies and eighties, being elected to the State Legislature.
Doctor Magie had the experience of a Kansas farm and ranch for several years. Preparatory to his medical training he spent a year in a drug store at Pittsburg, Kansas, and in 1882 entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons at St. Louis. He was graduated in 1884, and after a brief practice at Pittsburg, Kansas, arrived in Duluth September 10, 1884. In the comparatively small city of that time there was little opportunity afforded for specialization, and for fifteen years or more he devoted himself to the arduous work of the general practitioner. How- ever, for the past twenty-two years his work has been confined exclu-
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sively to surgery, in which his talents have been widely praised by other members of the profession and the general public. Doctor Magie was for twenty-eight years official surgeon of St. Mary's Hospital .: He is surgeon for the Morgan Hospital, the welfare institution maintained by the Minnesota Steel Company.
His professional rank is indicated by his former service as president of the Minnesota State Medical Association. He is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a Fellow of the American Medical Asso- ciation, and Fellow of the Western Surgical Association. Doctor Magie is a convert to the Catholic religion.
If what has been said is in any way suggestive of his character and activities it would seem the most natural thing in the world that Doctor Magie should have been an ardent admirer of that strenuous and virile American Theodore Roosevelt. He was a follower of Roosevelt in politics as well as in other departments of his strenuous life. In the campaign of 1912 he had a place on the Minnesota Progressive ticket as presidential elector. In the regular Republican party he has been a delegate to state and other conventions, but has never sought any office for himself. Doctor Magie in many ways has worked for the improve- ment of schools and good government in Duluth and improved hospital standards.
In 1876 he married Josephine Shawger. She died in 1898, the mother of two children, Woodbury and Ida. The daughter is the wife of Frank Stauduhar, and has five children. In 1899 Doctor Magie married Anna Isabel Henry. Three children were born to their union: William Henry, John Corbett and Elizabeth Eunice. The daughter died in 1914, at the age of eight years.
FRANK S. COLVIN. While only to those who have actively participated in the wonderful development of the Mesaba Range does the change make its strongest appeal, anyone at all conversant with conditions a few years ago and those of today must realize the remarkable work of the pioneers of this region. They came into this part of the northwest when all was a wilderness and naturally, had to endure many hardships and work under difficulties never encountered today. Theirs was the vision, and because of their broad outlook and faith in the natural resources they were enabled to persevere and to them belongs the credit for all of the subsequent expansion. One of these men who has labored long and hard to attain to his present commanding position in the lumber trade of the Iron Range of St. Louis County is Frank S. Colvin, who has been a resident of this part of Minnesota since 1890, and, with his partner, a pioneer in the lumber business.
Frank S. Colvin was born at Silver Creek, Wright County, Minne- sota, April 14, 1866, a son of Jacob J. and Ann Eliza (Griswold) Colvin. natives of Ohio and Wisconsin, respectively, who were married at a time antedating the outbreak of the war between the states. By trade Jacob J. Colvin was a carpenter, and he lost his life through an accident which occurred while he was working at it. in 1887. He had homesteaded land in Minnesota on which the hardwood timber was very heavy, and in 1874 the family moved to Anoka, Minnesota, where his death occurred. His widow survives him and now makes her home at Los Angeles, California. They had a family of seven children, of whom Frank S. Colvin was the third child and eldest son, and after the death of his father the burden of being the family provider fell upon his shoulders, and he cheerfully and capably discharged the responsibilities pertaining thereto for a nimm-
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ber of years. One of his brothers, Norris J. Colvin, lives at Gilbert, St. Louis County, and is also a well-known man in this region.
Frank S. Colvin attended the schools of Anoka, and then for seven years worked at making pressed brick in that place. Later he was employed in lumber manufacturing at Anoka, where he remainded until 1890. In that year he came into the Iron Range as bookkeeper and man- ager of the Mesaba Lumber Company of Mesaba, and had charge of the company's store at that point for two years. He then came to Biwabik and went into partnership with J. A. Robb, organizing their present busi- ness. The young men had a very limited capital, but they were excellent business men and knew how to develop with the Range, and today have five lumber yards on the Range, one in Superior, Wisconsin, and another at Duluth. From 1894 until 1905 they operated mills at Fairbanks, but then distincontinued that branch of their business. This firm ranks exceedingly high among the reliable lumber concerns of the Mesaba Range, and the present prosperity is entirely due to the energy, foresight and fair dealing of the partners.
In 1902 Frank S. Colvin was married to Janet Carmichael, a daughter of William Carmichael, and she was born at Negaunee, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Colvin became the parents of the following children : Doro- thy, Jean, William and George. Mr. Colvin has always been very active in politics, operating as a Republican, and has been the delegate of his party to county and state conventions upon many occasions. Locally he has served in several offices, including that of treasurer and mayor of Biwabik, and while serving in the latter gave the city a business-like administration that resulted in a rapid growth, and much of the present improved condition here is due to his efforts. Having spent the best years of his life in this region, he is naturally interested in it and the remark- able advance made here within the past few years, and he is proud of the fact that he has borne so constructive a part in all of this work.
RALPH NORRIS MARBLE. An officer in the United States Navy during the period of the Spanish-American and Philippine wars, later in the World war, Ralph Norris Marble in the intervals of his service graduated as a mining engineer and for the past ten years has been active in his profession in the Minnesota Iron Range. He is general superintendent at Hibbing for the Mahoning Ore & Steel Company.
Mr. Marble was born at Harrisville, Alcona County, Michigan, March 7, 1879, son of Ralph N. and Belle L. (Mead) Marble. His mother is still living at Duluth. Ralph N. Marble, Sr., who died July 18, 1919, was for many years prominent in St. Louis County. In 1882 he came to Duluth to look after some titles to large tracts of lumber lands for Sagi- naw and Detroit syndicates. He had previously served as registrar of deeds in Alcona County, Michigan. On coming to Duluth he formed a partnership with M. H. Alsworth in the abstract business, and became thoroughly versed in the land titles of St. Louis County. It was that work which led him to engage in law practice, and in 1886 he was appointed registrar of the United States Land Office at Duluth by Grover Cleveland. During his administration of this office occurred the big run on the office following the rumors of discovery of ores. He left the land office in 1890 and thereafter was chiefly engaged in the practice of law until his death. The village of Marble, Minnesota, was named in his honor.
Ralph N. Marble, Jr., grew up at Duluth, acquired a public school education, and in 1894 was appointed a cadet in the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis. He graduated with the rank of Midshipman
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in 1898, just about the time the Spanish-American war broke out. He was on board the flagship Brooklyn during the great naval battle off Santiago, which ended that war. Altogether he was in service five years, being ordered to the Philippines when the insurrection broke out in those islands, and later was in China during the Boxer rebellion. While at Taku he received his commission at ensign. He was in Hong Kong six months and visited various other places in the Orient. In 1901 he returned to the United States to act as a witness before the Board of Inquiry in the famous Schley-Sampson controversy. Following that he was ordered to duty on the Pacific Coast, and in the course of duty made a trip to Panama to protect American interests and had some part in the creation of the Republic of Panama. He was next ordered to Samoa, and was there during the time the authority of the United States was estab- lished over that island. Then returning to the United States and after a short period on a torpedo boat he resigned with the rank of junior lieutenant.
After leaving the navy Mr. Marble entered the School of Mines of Columbia University, graduated in 1905, and entered the service of the Oliver Iron Mining Company as assistant engineer as Ishpeming, Michi- gan. In 1907 he became chief engineer at Tyrone, New Mexico, for the Chemung Copper Company, remaining in the southwest until 1910, when he returned to Duluth and was appointed assistant engineer for the Oliver Iron Mining Company. In the spring of 1911 he became chief engineer of the Mahoning Mine at Hibbing, and gave his full time to the duties of this office until America entered the war with Germany.
In December, 1916, he tendered his service to the Government and was enrolled in the Naval Reserve and was called to active duty May 1, 1917, being assigned with the rank of lieutenant to the former German raider Prinz Eitel Friedrich, later renamed the DeKalb. He had charge of the Construction Department and later the Ordnance Department, and altogether made ten trips across the Atlantic in transport service to St. Nazaire and Brest. October 1, 1918, he was detached and assigned to duty in the Personnel Division of the Navy Department at Wash- ington.
December 12, 1918, Mr. Marble was released from service with the rank of lieutenant commander and at once resumed his civil duties at Hibbing, with the new title of general superintendent of the Mahoning Mine.
October 24, 1906, Mr. Marble married Miss Julia L. Duncan, of Duluth. Their family consists of two children, Elva and Helen.
LEWIS JAMES WHITE, cashier of the First National Bank of Ely, has been a resident of that mining community since early boyhood, and has given the energies of his mature manhood most effectively to business affairs and the substantial interests of the town.
Mr. White was born at Parish, New York, July 11, 1877, son of James H. and Elda (Jennings) White, of the State of New York. His grandfather White came to this country from Scotland. James H. White took his family to Ely in 1888, and he and his wife still live there, he at the age of sixty-eight and she at sixty. He has been identified with dif- ferent business concerns and has served as an alderman of Fly. The mother is an active Presbyterian.
Lewis J. White acquired a good education in the public schools of Ely, following which he clerked in Lewis Stetten's store and in Miller's store, and in 1898 was appointed assistant postmaster. He performed the duties of this position until 1903, and for the following seven years
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was city clerk. Since 1910 he has been identified with the First National Bank as cashier. He knows the business of the bank thoroughly, is a keen financier, and has made a great many friends for the institution.
Mr. White served as a member of the Ely School Board six years. He is a Republican, and is a member of the various Masonic bodies, including the Shrine.
He married Miss Edith Baughman on June 8, 1913. Mrs. White was born in Kansas and taught school both in that state and at Ely. Mr. and Mrs. White are interested students of Christian Science. They have one daughter, Mary Louise.
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