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 55
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ALBERT E. DYER. A long list of activities and associations make the name of Albert E. Dyer one of consequence and significance in the life and history of Hibbing. Mr. Dyer, who is a member of the firm Dyer & Lindberg, real estate and insurance, was on the ground in this part of the Iron Range and as a surveyor's helper ran some of the lines that marked the original townsite of Hibbing. From that time to the present, nearly thirty years, he has kept in touch with the local situation, and has a host of friends all over the iron district.
Mr. Dyer is of English and Irish parentage, being a son of Samuel G. and Letitia (Wright) Dyer. His father was brought from England and his mother from Ireland when they were children, grew up and were married at Toronto, Canada, and in early life Samuel G. Dver followed the sea as a sailor. About 1877 he moved to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, homesteaded a hundred and sixty acres, and was profitably engaged in farming there until his death in 1917. He acquired American citizenship by naturalization, and held a number of local offices in northern Mich- igan. He is a member of the Episcopal Church.
Albert E. Dyer was born in Canada October 31, 1872, being one of nine children, seven of whom are still living. He was five years of age when his parents moved to northern Michigan, and he grew up on the homestead farm there and acquired a public school education. In 1891, at the age of nineteen, he left the farm and came to Duluth, where he was
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employed as a helper in a civil engineering firm. About a year later, in 1892, he assisted R. W. Nichols in running the lines and surveying the ground for the first townsite of Hibbing. As a civil engineer Mr. Dyer had varied professional employment for a number of years. He was an engineer for the Great Northern Railroad Company until he became one of the resident engineers in the construction of the Alborn branch of the Duluth, Mesaba & Northern Railroad Company. Upon the completion of that road in 1906 he removed to Hibbing and entered earnestly into the practice of civil engineering and surveying as a profession. In 1910 he was elected surveyor of St. Louis County and was reelected in 1912, alto- gether filling the office for four years. In 1915 he was appointed county road engineer for the northern half of the county and looked after the farming and the laying out and supervision of the construction of county highways for two years.
In April, 1918, Mr. Dyer formed his present partnership with Oscar G. Lindberg in the real estate and general insurance business, and has since given that his principal time and energies. He was elected a mem- ber of the Village Council in 1917 and was reelected in 1918, 1919 and 1920. He is a Republican, a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason, Shriner, Elk and Red Man, and is a member of the Hibbing Commer- cial Club. July 26, 1909, Mr. Dyer married Miss Helen Crary, of Mar- quette, Michigan. They are the parents of one son, Jack Crary Dyer.
E. EUGENE ESTERLY. The people of Duluth are too familiar with the career of E. Eugene Esterly for the biographer to call special attention to his record other than to give the salient facts in the same, for here he has spent many years and has gained a prominent place in the esteem of the people, being universally respected in the business world, for fair dealing has been his watchward in all transactions. Mr. Esterly is a native of Germany, where he was born in August, 1872, and he is the sixth in order of birth of the fourteen children who blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. William Esterly. In his native land the subject's father was engaged in railroading, and saw considerable military duty, having served in the Franco-Prussian war. In 1879 he brought his family to the United States, first locating in Minneapolis, where he engaged in painting and decorating. In 1907 the family came to Duluth, where he spent the remainder of his life. While living in Minneapolis, the subject of this sketch spent five years in the employ of W. C. Leber, a prominent jewelry firm, and there he became an expert workman in the repairing of watches, and this one thing more than anything else has brought him many of his best customers, for his work has always stood the test. Mr. Esterly came to Duluth in 1892 and his first venture in business on his own account was on a modest scale, his first shop being in an up-stairs room, twelve by fourteen feet in size, located at No. 5 West Superior street, but every cus- tomer who came to him was a satisfied customer, and thus his business grew from year to year until he was compelled to move into larger and more convenient quarters, moving to the Spalding Hotel block, where he remained sixteen years. Recently he has moved into and now occupies a fine salesroom at No. 421 West Superior street, where he carries a large and well selected stock of jewelry. Mr. Esterly has met with several financial losses and reverses during his business career, but has refused to be defeated and has won his way to the front rank of business men in his adopted city. His sales now aggregate about sixty-five thousand dollars annually.
On March 27, 1911, Mr. Esterly was married to Lola Pfautz, and they have one daughter, Maxine Gertrude, born on April 30, 1912, and one son, E. Eugene, Jr., born August 12, 1920. Fraternally, Mr. Esterly is a member of the Modern Samaritans and the Knights of Pythias.
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He is also an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. By a straightforward and commendable course he has made his way from a somewhat humble beginning to a respectable position in the business world, and has earned a reputation as a broad-minded and public-spirited citizen, which the public has not been slow to recognize and appreciate.
KENNETH DUNCAN. Through his profession as mining engineer Ken- neth Duncan has been identified with the Range district of northern Minnesota for over ten years. He now lives at Ely and is superintendent of the Zenith Mine for the Vermillion Mining Company.
A native Minnesotan, Mr. Duncan was born at Fergus Falls Novem- ber 13, 1887, son of Dr. William and Eva G. ( Herrick) Duncan. He graduated from the Fergus Falls High School at the age of eighteen, and soon afterward entered the School of Mines of Minnesota University and completed his technical course in 1910. Almost immediately he came to the Vermillion Range as an engineer with the Oliver Mining Company. In 1912 he was associated with R. B. Whiteside on the Mesaba and Ver- million Ranges, with headquarters at Hibbing, and his experience covers much of the mining district of both Ranges. He has been superintendent of the Zenith Mine at Ely since 1919. Mr. Duncan is not only a master of the technique of mining engineering, but is a capable executive, and his hobby is the study of men and their adaptability to the tasks assigned them.
He is a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, is a member and a past director of the Engineers' Club of Northern Minne- sota and is a member of the Masonic Lodge. In 1913 he married Frances Collier, daughter of O. F. Collier, of Fergus Falls, and they are the par- ents of one son, Robert.
HOWARD R. WEIRICK, M. D. His long professional service easily identifies Dr. Weirick among the live and progressive citizenship of Hib- bing. He has carried the heavy burdens of a large private practice, has also done much hospital work, and has given much of his time to the duties of village president and other affairs.
Dr. Weirick, who is therefore one of the best known citizens of St. Louis County, was born at Washington, Pennsylvania, August 12, 1869. His parents were Israel and Sarah (Thompson) Weirick, the former of German ancestry and the latter of Scotch-Irish stock. Dr. Weirick grew np on his father's farm in southwestern Pennsylvania, and gained his early advantages in a district school. His college education was acquired in Washington and Jefferson College, where he graduated with the A. B. degree in 1893. By subsequent work he was awarded the Master of Arts degree by his alma mater. In the fall of 1893 he enrolled in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at New York city, now the medical depart- ment of Columbia University, and was graduated in June, 1896. During his senior year and for several months after his graduation he was an interne in Roosevelt Hospital.
Dr. Weirick has given nearly all of his professional service in Minne- sota. Hle located at St. Paul in January, 1897, practiced four years in that city, and two years of the time was assistant city physician. In 1901 he moved to Virginia, and a year later to Hibbing. In addition to a general practice he is the oldest physician on the staff of Roosevelt Hospital. and is a member of the State, County, Range and American Medical Asso- ciations.
Dr. Weirick served one term as a member of the Village Council and in 1906 was elected village president, performing his duties with such satisfaction to the citizens that he was reelected for five consecutive terms.
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He sat as a delegate from Minnesota in the National Republican Conven- tion of 1920 at Chicago, where Harding and Coolidge were nominated. He holds the title of colonel from the service on the staff of three gov- ernors of Minnesota, Governors Eberhart, Hammond and Burnquist. Dr. Weirick is a Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner, and a member of the Elks. On June 6, 1914, he married Marilla Beatty, of Ellensburg, Washington. They have an adopted daughter, Margaret E. Beatty.
B. J. Cook began his business career in Minnesota on an exceedingly humble scale, for many years was a merchant in Duluth, but is most widely known as the promoter and upbuilder of theatrical and amusement enter- prises in Duluth, being secretary-treasurer of the New Grand Theater Company and the Cook Amusement Company, other members of which are Julius Cook and M. S. Cook.
B. J. Cook was born in Russian Poland in July, 1866, and came to America alone in 1884, at the age of eighteen. For a time he sold matches at St. Paul, Minnesota, also did railroad work at 75 cents a day, and on moving to Duluth invested a very modest capital in a retail clothing business. His business headquarters were on Lake avenue for ten years, and the following eight years he did business on an enlarged scale at 321 Superior street.
He entered the moving picture field in 1914, and in 1916 the New Grand Theater Company and Cook Amusement Company were formed. In 1920 there occurred a consolidation of these two Duluth concerns under the name Duluth Theater Company, which owns four of the best moving picture theaters in the city and much other business property besides. Mr. Cook is a public spirited citizen, and has given freely of his time and resources to the upbuilding of the city. He served one term as fire commissioner. He is a Republican in politics. On October 12, 1916, he married Miss Lillian Coehn, of Minneapolis. They have two children, Isaac L. and Georgia Cook.
CLIFFORD H. OPPEL represents the third generation of a pioneer family of Duluth. His grandfather was one of the very first merchants on the site of the modern city. Clifford H. Oppel is a member of the firm of Hale & Oppel, mechanics, who have developed a highly efficient service chiefly for the benefit of automobile repair and reconstruction, the head- quarters of the firm being at 217 East Superior street.
His grandfather, Christian Oppel, who deserves a permanent record in Duluth as one of the first settlers, came here from Michigan when the country at the Head of the Lakes was wild and inhospitable, with only a few settlements here and there and without wagon roads. Most of the settlers living on the site of Duluth at that time made trips for supplies to Two Harbors, going on foot and carrying provisions on their backs. This trip required two days. Christian Oppel is said to have been proprietor of the first grocery store at Duluth. Later he took in his son Frank as a partner, and they continued a general mercantile business under the name Oppel & Son until the death of the grandfather.
Frank Oppel, father of Clifford Oppel, was born in Michigan and was a youth when he came to Duluth. He was active in the grocery business until his death, at a comparatively early age. The Oppel grocery store was first located on Superior street and Lake avenue and later at 115-117 Superior street. This firm was the first to ship goods into Duluth over the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad.
Clifford H. Oppel was born at Duluth January 18, 1889, a son of Frank and Frances (Mannheim) Oppel, and was only twelve years of age when his father died. He acquired a public school education, and at the
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age of fourteen began earning his own way. For a time he was em- ployed at surveying, and afterward followed other lines of employment. He acquired a thorough mechanical knowledge not only in mechanical lines but as an electrician, and finally set up a small business for himself repairing automobiles. After four years he became associated with George T. Hale in the firm of Hale & Oppel, and they have conducted a very flourishing business.
Mr. Oppel is affiliated with the Elks, the Duluth Gun Club, and is well known in social and public affairs. On May 9, 1912, he married Miss Gertrude Mueller. They have one daughter, Mary Frances, born June 28, 1919.
ALFRED J. LINDSLEY is a contractor, a business he has followed for more than four decades. He has lived at Hibbing since 1908, and here has found many special and heavy demands upon his business experience and equipment as a contractor, particularly as an experienced man in the house moving business.
Mr. Lindsley was born at Neenah, Wisconsin, August 13, 1856, son of Elijah J. and Jane (Hendricks) Lindsley. His father was a building con- tractor by occupation. When he removed from Neenah to De Soto, Iowa, he engaged in farming. From Iowa he went to Concordia, Kansas, and then to Ashland, Wisconsin, where he and his wife spent their last years.
Alfred J. Lindsley acquired a public school education and was about sixteen years of age when he took up all responsibilities for his own destiny. Following different occupations he traveled over many of the states of the west. While at Concordia, Kansas, he married Clara E. Grimm. Soon afterward he removed to Calhoun County, Iowa, where he had his chief experience as a farmer. At Lake City in that county he also took up the work of contracting and house moving, and that has been his big business ever since.
In 1887 Mr. Lindslev moved to Ashland, Wisconsin, and from there came to Hibbing in 1908. He has handled many contracts all over this section of the northwest. During the winter seasons while living at Ash- land, Wisconsin, he was in the logging camps, employing his personal facilities and organization in the logging industry.
Mr. Lindsley has been the right man to perform a highly important and essential service at Hibbing. This village, as everyone knows, is being gradually moved from its original site in order to make way for active mining operations The process of moving has been turned over almost wholesale to Mr. Lindsley and his organization. He has had 90 per cent of the contracts for moving the town in separate units. For this purpose he has provided himself with every conceivable equipment, and has accomplished some remarkable results in moving large public and private buildings over rough ground and putting them on new locations, in most instances without a crack or damage to the structures. Few men have a more intimate knowledge of Hibbing's past and present than Mr. Lindsley, and he is one of the very public spirited and useful citizens of the community.
Of the three children born to him and his wife one died in infancy. Nellie, the older living daughter, is the widow of Charles Keenan, and has a daughter named Edith. Verna Belle, the other daughter, is the wife of Thorlief Johnson, and they have two children, Lorraine and Clin- ton Gale.
OLE C. SOVDE. Twenty-eight years in business at Tower gives Ole C. Sovde a distinction as one of the pioneer merchants and citizens of that locality. His associates have found much to admire in his integrity, his
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industry, and in his steady progress toward the goal of independence and the public spirit which has animated all his relations with the community.
Mr. Sovde was born in Norway January 14, 1869, son of a Norway farmer, Christopher Sovde. Ole C. grew up on his father's farm and his early advantages were limited to the country schools. He was twenty-two years of age when he came to America with a brother, and he never re- turned to his native land.
The business at Tower of which he is now proprietor was established many years ago by J. C. and C. C. Sovde, later a cousin, J. M. Sovde, being associated with the firm. Ole C. Sovde and Andrew Talle bought the business, and in 1904 Mr. Sovde became sole proprietor. In 1918 he bought the building in which his large and well selected stock is now housed, and the improvements he has made from time to time in facilities and service give him an immense patronage in this section of the Range country.
Mr. Sovde is a former alderman of Tower. He is an enthusiastic Republican and for years was one of the staunch admirers of Theodore Roosevelt. He is affiliated with the Masonic Order, the Woodmen of the World and is a member of the Episcopal Church. In 1898 he married Lottie Enquist, a native of Sweden. They have seven children, Ester, Waldemar, who was anxiously awaiting the call to service when the armistice was signed ; Elsie, Adelaide, Gertrude, Emily and Kermit R.
PETER SCHAEFER is a veteran editor and publisher in the Iron Range country, having established more than a quarter of a century ago the Ely Miner, of which he is still editor and proprietor.
Mr. Schaefer was born in Germany June 27, 1867, son of Nicholas and Mary (Schaf) Schaefer. His father was a German soldier in the Franco- Prussian war in 1870-71. Military duty was extremely distasteful to him, and after that war he left Germany with his family and from New York came west, first to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, and then to Medford. While in the German military he had something to do with supplying shoes for the army, and that experience led him to engage in the shoe business at Medford, where he was a merchant for many years. He died in 1913, at the age of seventy-three, and his wife died in 1890, at the age of forty-six.
Peter Schaefer was one of four children and he was reared and edu- cated at Medford. When only twelve years of age he went to work as a "devil" in the offices of the Taylor County Star and News, and while there acquired a practical training as a printer and newspaper man. He first came to the Iron Range in 1888 and was employed on the Vermillion Iron Journal at Tower for Dr. Barrett, and in 1890 came to Ely to take charge of Dr. Barrett's publication interests there. He returned to the Journal at Tower in 1891, and in 1895 established the Ely Miner, one of the oldest and most influential journals in the Range district.
Mr. Schaefer in 1890 married Lillian M. Childers, of Soudan. They are the parents of three sons and one daughter. The oldest of the sons is Leroy Paul, who now has charge of the Manual Training Department at Glenwood, and during the World war was in the Ambulance Service Medical Corps. Alvin C., the second son, was trained at Camp Cody, New Mexico, with the 125th Field Artillery. The youngest son is Stuart P.
During all the years of his residence Mr. Schaefer has shown a very active interest in everything affecting the welfare of Ely and the surround- ing district. He was city clerk, for nine years was postmaster under Roosevelt and Taft, and is now president of the Ely Commercial Club.
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He is a member of the Elks, Knights of Pythias, Odd Fellows, Woodmen, Samaritans and the Rotary Club.
THEODORE LAINE. In a brief account of the career of Theodore Laine it is possible to see a constant struggle and effort of self advancement and self improvement, and his active association with one of the leading real estate firms of Duluth is a sound measure of what he has accomplished since coming to this country only ten years ago.
Mr. Laine was born in Finland March 11, 1887. He acquired his education largely in the school of experience, and was about twenty-two years of age when he came to this country in 1909. The first three years he spent at hard labor in efforts to assimilate himself with America and acquire a working knowledge of the language and institutions. Those three years he spent in a logging camp at Loussbur, Michigan. Following that for three years he was traveling salesman for a tailoring agency, and in 1914, while on the road, located at Duluth. In 1916 he entered the real estate business, and during that year the Fairmount Sales Company was incorporated by Thomas Clark, Charles Marshall, Axel Youngstrand and Mr. Laine. The principal capital and assets of the firm comprised the energy and abilities of the partners at the beginning. They took over Norton's Fairmount Park Division, consisting of about eight hundred lots, and since then have disposed of nearly the entire division and have accumulated a growing business in the handling and selling of residence and business property all over the city. Mr. Laine is now vice president of this well known firm. He gives all his time to the business. In politics he votes independently.
G. LEE FLEMING is school superintendent of Tower, which is district No. 9 in St. Louis County. He is a man of thorough university training, and has given exceptional talents besides to his profession, is an able executive, and his administrative skill has proved a great boon to the schools at Tower.
Mr. Fleming comes of a family of educators. He was born at Downs- ville in Dunn County, Wisconsin, June 7, 1891, son of William H. and Grace E. (Fisher) Fleming. He was only an infant when his mother died. Both parents had been teachers. His father, who is now living at Billings, Montana, was identified with schools at various places in Wiscon- sin and also at Winnipeg, Canada, and was both principal and super- intendent.
G. Lee Fleming's sister Sybil has won many scholastic honors, and while in the University of Minnesota won a prize amounting to $500. She was a teacher at the State University and was married June 18, 1921, to Professor Alex Graham, instructor at the University of Minne- sota, Ph. B.
G. Lee Fleming soon after his mother's death was taken to the home of his grandmother Fisher, who lived in a log house on a farm near Downsville. As soon as he was old enough he went to school, walking three miles from her home to the schoolhouse. He has never allowed any obstacles to interfere with his ambition to secure the best advantages and give himself the greatest possible proficiency for his chosen career. Mr. Fleming later graduated from the Dunn County Teachers Training School at Menomonie, Wisconsin. For nearly three years he taught district schools, and was one of the first graduates of the Wisconsin State Normal at LaCrosse. Then for a year he was superintendent of schools at Down- ing, Wisconsin, and about that time occurred his marriage to Gertrude C.
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Vander Hiden, daughter of Albert J. Vander Hiden, of Glenwood City, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Fleming have two children, Margaret Dorothy and Robert Lee.
After his marriage Mr. Fleming entered the University of Minnesota, from which he received his A. B. degree in 1914. Later, after a period of residence of study, he was given the Master of Arts degree by the Univer- sity of Chicago. From the time he left grade school he earned his two degrees with less than four and a half years of residence in normal col- leges and universities.
Mr. Fleming has been superintendent of schools at Tower since 1917. He has proved not only an able executive in the routine of educational affairs, but has made a special study of financial subjects in connection with school administration, and the handsome new school building at Tower was built under his supervision. Also due to his close application and energy the school districts under his supervision have been increased from nine townships to thirty-two.
CHARLES HALLOCK. It has been truly said that it matters but little where a man was born, he is a citizen of the land in which his heart dwells, and recent events have proven the truth of this statement beyond any reasonable doubt. When the United States went into the great war some of its most patriotic citizens, the ones who sacrificed the most and exerted themselves to prove their love for the land they called their own, were of foreign birth. Their action in choosing the United States for their country seemed to have awakened a love of its institutions and an appreciation of its liberty and advantages, not always shown by some who had a long line of American-born ancestors back of them. Such is the case with Charles Hallock, for twenty years a dependable merchant of Hibbing. He was born in Poland April 15, 1875, but is one of the best Americans in St. Louis County, or the state of Minnesota for that matter.
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