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 III > Part 14
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Mr. Northey has made his influence felt as a citizen in several localities where he has lived. He was particularly identified with the early develop- ment of Chisholm, and upon the organization of the village government was honored by election as the first president of the village. He is a Republican in politics, is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and is a Scottish Rite Mason.
On July 26, 1883, Mr. Northey married Miss Carolyn Moore, of Ogdensburg, New York. Five children were born to their marriage: Ethel, wife of Rollin N. Dow, of Minneapolis; Marguerite, who died in infancy ; Melvin T., who had a record of service with the navy during the World war; William C., Jr., who died at the age of seven months ; and Thornton M.
ODIN A. SUNDNESS, chief chemist for the Shenango Furnace Com- pany, is a young man with all the requisite qualifications for filling an important and responsible position, and a citizen of standing in his com- munity. He was born at Fergus Falls, Minnesota, January 12, 1888, a son of Nicholas E. and Sophia (Sehm) Sundness. Nicholas E. Sundness was a native of Norway, where he was reared and educated, and from which he immigrated in the later '70s to the United States. After his arrival in this country he took out naturalization papers, and resided here the remainder of his life, making Minnesota his home and going from Minneapolis to Fergus Falls after a year's residence in the former city.
Reared at Fergus Falls, Odin A. Sundness was graduated from its high school course in 1906, and then entered the School of Mines of the University of Minnesota and there spent three years. Portions of the years 1907 and 1908 were spent in the mines of Montana and Idaho, where he obtained a practical knowledge of underground mining. In the spring of 1909 he came to the Mesaba Range of northern Minnesota and secured a position with the Oliver Iron Mining Company at Eveleth as mining engineer, which position he held for two years, when he severed his connection with the Oliver Iron Mining Company and accepted a position as mining engineer of the Whiteside Mine at Buhl for the Shen- ango Furnace Company. In the fall of that same year, he was trans- ferred to the Shenango Mine at Chisholm, where he continued work as a mining engineer until July, 1912, at which time he was made chief chemist in charge of the laboratory, grading department, and all ore ship- ments, and is still holding this position. In addition to this he was made chief engineer of this company October 1, 1920. Mr. Sundness is a
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member of the Engineers Club of Northern Minnesota, and the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. He is a Mason and a member of the Kiwanis Club of Chisholm. His political convictions make him a Republican. The Lutheran Church has in him a faithful member.
On September 15, 1915, Mr. Sundness was united in marriage with Miss Olive Strand, of Fergus Falls, Minnesota, and they have one daugh- ter, Margaret Josephine. While Mr. Sundness has been too much occupied with his business cares to think of entering the public arena, he takes an intelligent interest in civic matters and is deeply interested in the remarkable expansion of this region, and proud of the fact that he has been associated with this development.
ARCHIE MCDOUGALL has one of the oldest plumbing businesses in northern Minnesota, and for over thirty years has followed that trade and profession and has installed a large share of the plumbing, steam and hot water heating plants in Duluth homes and business buildings.
He was born in Ontario, Canada, a son of Duncan McDougall. His father was a building contractor, and for thirteen years followed his busi- ness in North Dakota. Later he was in the same business in Duluth until 1891, and in that year removed to Chicago, where he remained until his death in 1908.
The fourth child of a family of ten children, Archie McDougall was educated in Canada and Duluth, he having come to this city in 1882. At the age of thirteen was working in a sawmill. He also worked on farms, and in 1888 engaged in the plumbing business at Duluth, a line he has followed ever since. His shop and offices are at 40312 East Superior street. Previous to his entering the plumbing business he was employed by C. F. Johnson in the stationery business.
Mr. McDougall is affiliated with the Clan Stewart of the Scottish Clans, and is a Knight of Pythias and Elk. On August 15, 1894, he married Miss M. D. Curtis .*
Mr. Archie McDougall always took a deep interest in baseball, he having organized the first uniformed baseball club in Duluth, in 1886, the team playing clubs from nearby cities and towns, in which great rivalry existed. The club which Mr. McDougall organized was called The Zenith City Baseball Club. It was a wonderful success from a play- ing standpoint. The team was composed of the following players Hector McDougall, first base; Eddie Connelly, second base; Archie McDougall, short stop and captain; Will Hall, third base; Frank Hall, right field ; Dan McDougall, center field; Frank Druke, left field; Charles Mallison, pitcher; and Jack Neff, catcher. George Hughes, William McGowan and Frank Nathan were reserves. Mr. McDougall is a member of the Old Settlers Association.
ELI S. WOOLFAN went to Hibbing less than a decade after the original townsite was surveyed, and has been continuously in business there as a dry goods merchant for seventeen years, and therefore one of the pioneers in the commercial history of the community.
Mr. Woolfan, whose name has always been associated with public spirited citizenship, was born in Russia September 15, 1864, son of Wil- liam and Mary Woolfan. While he had no opportunity to get the equiv- alent of an American college education, his training was unusually good and thorough in the old country. At the age of eleven he left home to attend school at Vilna, where he studied Hebrew, Russian, German and Polish languages. During his fifteenth year he went to England, and while working acquired a knowledge of the English tongue.
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He was about seventeen when he crossed the Atlantic to Canada, and for the first year made his home at Montreal. He peddled goods in and out of that city, and from his earnings assisted his parents and brothers and sisters to leave Russia and come to Canada. Mr. Woolfan about 1882 removed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and during his residence of five years in that city acquired his papers as a naturalized American. He was in the peddling business at Pittsburgh, and on leaving that city spent five years at St. Paul, at first continuing as a peddler, later as a tailor, and eventually had a disastrous financial experience in the wood and coal business. Leaving St. Paul, he was a resident of Superior, Wisconsin, for about twelve years, and conducted a tailoring and haber- dashery enterprise. Mr. Woolfan came to Hibbing in the fall of 1902, but was unable to procure a building and open a stock of dry goods until February, 1903. His store has been a growing center of trade, and besides his work as a merchant he has had much to do with the ownership and development of local real estate. Among other properties he owns four hundred acres in St. Louis County and is one of the owners of the Mesaba Addition to Hibbing: This addition is advantageously situated with refer- ence to the progressive movement of the village to the south to make way for mining operations.
Mr. Woofan's life has been one of many adversities, but through all his courage has never wavered and by persistence he has achieved fully the substance of prosperity. At Superior he lost his first wife, whose maiden name was Bessie Bloom. She was survived by five children. The maiden name of his present wife was Etta Ziskin. Mr. Woolfan has proved himself an American in every sense of the word, and so far as his ability permitted has contributed to the institutions and the move- ments for the betterment of the community. In 1902 he was a delegate to the state convention in Wisconsin. For three years he served as a member of the Hibbing Board of Health and is now a justice of the peace. He is a Republican, is a past chancellor commander of the Knights of Pythias, a member of the B'nai B'rith, and at St. Paul, Superior and Hibbing helped build churches of his faith. He is now president of the Jewish congregation at Hibbing and also president of the local Zionist movement. Mr. Woolfan's children are N. P .; Belle, wife of Samuel Siegel; Abe B .; Fay, wife of H. L. Nides; and Emanuel B. Emanuel B. Woolfan was the first of the Jewish boys to enlist from Hibbing, serving in the Medical Corps, though his time was all spent in local camps on this side of the ocean. He is a graduate of Rush Medical College of Chicago.
BROR MAGNUSSON. It is a revelation of the possibilities of American life and of individual ambition and enterprise to contrast briefly the begin- ning and the present status of Bror Magnusson's career in this country. He arrived here and did his first work in the east as a coachman and gardener, nearly thirty years ago identified himself with northern Minne- sota, still in a humble capacity as an employe, but his capabilities have expanded with his opportunities and there is probably not a better known business man in the Chisholm district than Bror Magnusson, who is occupied with extensive farming interests and is also president of the Chisholm State Bank.
Mr. Magnusson was born February 4, 1867, on his father's farm about two miles from Jonkoping, State of Smoland, Sweden. His father, A. J. Magnusson, was born January 1, 1832, at Werstergotland, Sweden, and lived in that vicinity all his life, until his death in 1907. Farming and lumbering occupied his time and energies up to the last ten years, during which period he was a commission merchant. About 1856 he
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married Miss Christian Charlotte Stomberg, of the same section of Sweden. She was born February 13, 1836, and died in 1909.
Sixth among eleven children Bror Magnusson acquired a common school education and spent four years in the high school at Jonkoping. At the same time he was performing a share in the duties on his father's farm, and so continued for two years after leaving school, until he was eighteen. At that date he sailed to Quebec and from Quebec went directly to Boston, where he spent two years earning a living and acquiring a knowledge of American language and ways as gardener and coachman for a private family. Even more extended opportunities were offered him during the next two years when he was a street car conductor. On March 29, 1891, Mr. Magnusson left the east for Ely, Minnesota, for the purpose of joining and assisting his brother-in-law, then cashier of the bank at Ely. Soon afterward he served a year as clerk in the hardware store of P. R. Vail, and following that for about a year was grocery clerk with the firm of Anderson and Korb. The panic of 1893 proved a depressing influence over all this section, and Mr. Magnusson in the interval returned to Boston and for three years worked in a vinegar fac- tory. Then, in 1896, he returned to northern Minnesota and for two years was again in the employ of Anderson & Korb, following which he formed a partnership with Globokar & Pehlgren in the retail grocery business at Ely. This establishment was sold in 1902, and at that date Mr. Magnusson identified himself with Chisholm, resuming the retail grocery business. For two years he had an establishment on Lake street, and in the meantime invested some of his accumulations in vacant prop- erty at the corner of Lake and Second avenue, on which he erected a store building. This was in the path of the devouring flames in the great fire of September, 1908. Soon after the fire he rebuilt on the site a fine building, which at the time was one of only two such structures in the town. This building he leased to the firm of Lundall & Sons for five years, and in the meantime he entered the feed and grain busi- ness, which he continued for three years. He had also acquired a farm in Balkan township, and improved it with buildings and other facilities, cleared up the land and put it in cultivation, and after three years as a feed and grain merchant was prepared to give his entire attention to farming.
Mr. Magnusson has been a banker at Chisholm for the past six years. He organized in December, 1914, and became president of the Chisholm State Bank, which opened its doors February 15, 1915. He is still the executive officer of this substantial institution, which has played a notable part in the financial life of Chisholm since it was founded. In the fall of 1915 Mr. Magnusson resumed business as a grocery merchant, but sold his store in February, 1920, and now divides his time between his farm and the bank.
Mr. Magnusson acquired naturalization as an American citizen in 1897, and is thoroughly American in fact as well as in name. Politically he supports the Democratic party and is a member of the Lutheran Church. In November, 1901, he married Miss Ellen K. Lalin, who was born February 10, 1876, at Uleaborg, Finland. Their five children are Magnus, Lellia, Elaine, Arthur and Arline.
WILLIAM MUNRO. In the quiet relation of the leading activities of an eventful life of more than seventy years there is so much to interest that visitors are apt to linger along under the hospitable roof of William Munro, one of Chisholm's well known capitalists and retired business men. For many years he was a prominent figure in mining circles throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota, Wyoming and Nevada, and in some mineral sections was one of the pioneers. In public life he is also well
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known, long having been a man of influence in relation to national politics and the leading questions of the day.
William Munro was born July 25, 1844, seven miles from London, Ontario, Canada. His parents were Neil and Flora (Hair) Munro, the former of whom was born in Argyleshire, Scotland, October 1, 1818, and the latter in 1822. Both emigrated to Canada about 1830 and were married there in 1839. They had nine children, William being the third in order of birth. The father was engaged in farming in Ontario until 1848, when he moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he continued to farm until 1852, moving then to Grand Haven, where he engaged in the lumber business until retiring, his death occurring in 1884. The mother of Mr. Munro died in 1890.
William Munro had school privileges both at Grand Rapids and Grand Haven, but from the age of twelve years largely provided for his own support. His first job was packing shingles in a sawmill, gradually taking on other responsibilities, and by the time he was twenty-one years old was thoroughly familiar with sawmill operations. In 1865, in asso- ciation with a brother, he built a mill seven miles distant from Green Bay, Wisconsin, which they conducted for ten years, in the meanwhile acquir- ing other interests, dealing in real estate and operating a hotel and a general store and additionally had a lease on an iron mine at Ishpeming, Michigan. They had every reason to be satisfied with their prospects until the financial panic of 1873 struck the country, and notwithstanding their strenuous efforts during the next five years of business stringency they lost all their possessions.
In 1880 Mr. Munro went to work as superintendent of a sawmill at Ogontz Bay, later at Laney and still later at Barronett, Wisconsin, remain- ing at the last named point for two years. From there he went to Drum- mond, Wisconsin, where he took a shingle contract for the summer and later took similar contracts at Eau Claire and Haywood. In 1886 Mr. Munro was called to Superior to become superintendent of a sawmill, and resided at Superior for five years, during this time becoming active in civic affairs and interested in realty.
It was about this time that Mr. Munro went into partnership with Frank Hibbing, who had been his valued employe at Green Bay, and they started work in the Garden Lake Iron mine near Ely, Minnesota, but the venture did not succeed. In 1902, with Mr. Hibbing and eight other men, he obtained possession of some land which is the present site of the village of Hibbing and formed an organization known as the Lake Superior Iron Mining Company. This was a large enterprise and took time to develop. When other members of the company dispaired of find- ing workable ore on the tract it was through' Mr. Munro's faith and perseverance that its presence was finally demonstrated, and furthermore he insisted that there was iron also at a certain point not far distant from where the company was operating. Although Mr. Hibbing did not share in Mr. Munro's opinion, he was induced to go with him and make the test which resulted in the discovery of the famous Hull Mine. The company was forced by public financial stringency to sell their inter- est to the Rockefeller people, Mr. Munro receiving the sum of $20,000 for his one-tenth interest, which today would probably be worth $5,000,000.
Following the closing out of this venture Mr. Munro served one year as purchasing agent for the Webster Manufacturing Company of Supe- rior. He then returned to the Range and drilled unsuccessfully for ore on the present site of Nashwauk. He spent six weeks there, and during this time presided as chairman at the organization of the village. From there he went to where the village of old Mesaba stands as a prospector
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for the Niagara Mining Company, but after eight weeks the company allowed their lease to lapse and Mr. Munro took it, and with D. M. Filben made an agreement with Mr. Hill, who was financing the experiment, to receive a two-third interest. He operated the mine for eighteen months and then sold his interest to Mr. Hill. He then went to Wyoming and from there to Goldfield, Nevada, arriving there October 1, 1908. He prospected for gold and silver and with his son, the late Colin Munro, and two other men took up six claims, all of which they worked. Finding, however, that this hard life was dangerously affecting his eyesight, Mr. Munro decided to give up mining and accompanied by his son Colin came to Chisholm, where he has been established ever since. With the assistance of his son Archie he takes care of his investments, including those left him by his son Colin A., who died December 24, 1919.
Mr. Munro was married at Green Bay October 1, 1867, to Miss Eliza- beth Athey, who was born in Brown County, Wisconsin, of an old American family, and the following children were born to them: Colin A., who was a young man widely known and greatly respected and active both in business and politics; William R .; Charles Neil, who died of an illness contracted during the Spanish-American war, in which he was a soldier ; Archie R .; Wallace M .; and Flora J., who is deceased.
During the greater part of his life Mr. Munro has been recognized by his fellow citizens as a leader, his energy and vigor, his foresight and good judgment impressing every community in which he lived for any length of time. He was a member of the first Village Council of Superior and also of the first City Council, of which he was president one year. He was treasurer of the School Board for two years, being the only incumbent of that office that ever served without giving bond. In 1904 he was the candidate of the Populist party for Congress and although defeated made an excellent showing because of his personal popularity. He has been a student of political questions for many years and in 1896 stumped his congressional district in the interest of Hon. William J. Bryan. At present he maintains an independent attitude but is keenly alive to the great questions of the day. Mr. Munro has long been identi- fied with the order of Odd Fellows. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
GONZAGUE L. THOUIN. A pioneer of the early nineties in the North- ern Range District of Minnesota, Gonzague L. Thouin is one of Hibbing's best known and most public spirited citizens, and has had a range of experience that covers nearly every phase of the industrial and commercial development of this region.
Mr. Thouin is of French Canadian ancestry, was born in Canada December 25, 1877, and his parents, Solomon and Elodie Thouin, were natives of the same country. From Canada the family moved to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan about 1879, living first on the site of Marquette and later moving to Crystal Falls. At Crystal Falls Solomon Thouin conducted a hotel until his death.
Gonzague L. Thouin was next to the youngest in a large family of thirteen children, seven of whom are still living. He acquired a public school education and at sixteen was earning his own living as clerk in a store. Not long afterward, in 1893, he came to the Mesaba Range in Northern Minnesota, his first home being at Virginia. Early in 1894 he began as a stripper for the contracting firm of Drake & Stratton, his first employment being as a brakeman on a stripping or dinky engine, then as fireman on a steam shovel, as craneman and finally engineer. He remained with Drake & Stratton in these various grades of responsibilities until 1907, and during that time helped strip the Biwabik, Stevenson.
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Morris and Kenney Mines. Since 1909 Mr. Thouin has had his home at Hibbing. For two years after leaving Drake & Stratton he was steam shovel engineer for the Stevenson Iron Mining Company, but on coming to Hibbing he left mining and engaged in the retail hardware business, and for ten years has been one of the chief merchants of the village.
A successful business man, he has applied his experience and abilities to the service of his community. For three years he was on the Water and Light Board of the village and was one of the men instrumental in the erection of the present splendid municipal power plant. The power plant was first put in operation while he was president of the board. Mr. Thouin is a Republican in politics, and he and his wife are active members of the Catholic Church. April 24, 1908, he married Belle C. Tobin, of Florence, Wisconsin. The eight children born into their home are Lucile, Isabelle, James, Louise, Winnifred, Marjorie, Lawrence and Joseph.
JOHN F. KILLORIN. One of the trail-blazers of St. Louis County, John F. Killorin, of Duluth, is today the personification of a life well lived, of energies well directed, of a mind tuned to the harmony of his surroundings and of a heart which has lost nothing of its warmth and sympathy in its journey from the hardships of pioneer days to the affluence of the twentieth century. This vigorous personality, outlined against the background of the lumber industry since the early days, com- inands the confidence and respect of as large a following as any who have helped to redeem the wilderness of this part of the state. He has built up character as well as fortune, and has supported the substantial and fundamental processes of civilization.
Mr. Killorin was born July 4, 1850, in Canada. His parents, Thomas and Mary (Gallagher) Killorin, were born in Ireland and married in Canada, to which country they came when young, and there rounded out useful and honorable careers. John F. Killorin received his early educa- tion in the country schools of Richmond, Ontario, and his boyhood train- ing was all on the home farm. To the ambitious youth this was not satisfactory, and his idea and bent was to get out in the great world and build for himself. Accordingly, in 1868 he came to the United States, thinking to better his condition, and at Saginaw, Michigan, became a common laborer at lumbering. He continued working in the different branches of lumbering in Michigan and Minnesota until 1906. During this time he also helped to build a logging road in Michigan for the A. W. Wright Lumber Company. In 1892 he came to St. Louis County, Minnesota, and for the same company helped build the Swan River Logging Road from Mississippi to Hibbing, this being the first road to the latter point. Mr. Killorin helped to operate this road until 1906, when he came permanently to reside at Duluth, which had been his home on occasion before that time. In 1899 the Swan River Road was sold to James J. Hill, Mr. Killorin continuing under the new owner- ship until his final removal to Duluth. In the meantime he had acquired interests in timbering with the same connection that originally had brought him to Minnesota, and this interest he has maintained to the present. He is identified with banking and mining, with the Kelley-How-Thomson Company, wholesale hardware dealers, and other important matters. Mr. Killorin has been one of the live men in the development of the institutions and interests of St. Louis County. He is a member of the Kitchi Gammi Club, Country Club, Curling Club and Commercial Club. In religious faith he is a Roman Catholic. His political belief is that of the Republican party, but his business interests have prevented him from
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