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 22
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In addition to his creditable career in one of the most exacting of pro- fessions Mr. Samuelson also proved an honorable member of the body politic, and was essentially a man among men. He grew to manhood surrounded by those conditions which tend to develop industry, integrity and frugality. How well he retained these lessons of his early training was shown by his later life. He enjoyed 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 became one of the leading citizens of our community. In all his dealings with his fellowmen, whether of a public or private nature, he always rec- ognized the fact that the rights and privileges of others were of equal importance with his own, and governed himself accordingly, because of which he enjoyed the confidence and good will of the entire community.
JOHN MCDOWELL, superintendent of the Morris, Burt, Sellers, Pool, Philbin and Winnifred Mines of the Oliver Iron Mining Company, has been identified with the iron ore operations on the Mesaba Range for as long a period perhaps as any man still in the active service. He came here about the time the village of Hibbing was located, and his work has made him one of the invaluable men in the great organization of the Oliver Iron Mining Company.
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Mr. McDowell was born in Ontonagon County, Michigan, December 27, 1861, son of James and Jane (Johnston) McDowell. His mother was born in Canada and his father came from Ireland at the age of fifteen with his grandmother. James McDowell spent his active career as a machinist in the copper region of Ontonagon and other counties of northern Michigan.
John McDowell was one of a large family of thirteen children, nine of whom are still living. He had to be satisfied with a common school education acquired in his native state, and since the age of fifteen has been doing for himself, and has achieved his wide range of knowledge and expert skill largely by practical contact with life. The first regular work he did was "tending jigs" in a copper mine. He had a tendency toward mechanical lines, and for seven or eight years was employed as a machinist in the shops of the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Company at Ishpeming, Michigan.
Mr. McDowell came to the Mesaba Range in 1892. His first service rendered here was as master mechanic for the Minnesota Iron Company at the Canton Mine at Biwabik. Leaving that employment in 1896 he moved to Hibbing, where he was master mechanic for the Sellers Ore Company, later in a similar capacity for the Lake Superior Consolidated Company, then became foreman in the Burt Pit and superintendent of the Morris Mine. With the expansion of the Oliver Iron Mining Com- pany's interests his own range of duties and reponsibilities were increased until he became superintendent of the various mines noted at the begin- ning of this article. These offices in themselves are an evidence of his efficiency.
Mr. McDowell has also been identified in a public spirited way with municipal and other developments in the village of Hibbing. He is a Republican, is affiliated with the Scottish Rite Masonic bodies and the Mystic Shrine, and is one of the real men of affairs in the Range country.
August 10, 1884, Mr. McDowell married Margaret Daley, of Eagle River, Michigan. Their four children are : Russell J., William Melville, Llewellyn J. and Helen. The oldest son, Russell, is superintendent of the washing plant at the Hill-Annex Mine of the Interstate Mining Company. Llewellyn performed his share of patriotic duty during the World war in the United States Navy, at first as a wireless operator and later in the electrical department. For a time he was on duty on the New Jersey and later on the Dolphin, patrolling in the South Seas.
ALPHONSE L. BERGERON, inspector of public buildings at Chisholm, is one of the best known men of St. Louis County, and a dependable and efficient official of wide and varied experience. He was born in Quebec, Canada, December 18, 1860, a son of Modest Bergeron, also born in Quebec, of French ancestry, although the family was established in Canada 300 years ago. By occupation he was a farmer. The mother of Alphonse L. Bergeron was Victoire Drehcher before her marriage, and she, too, came of French ancestry. Of the ten children in the family, Alphonse L. Bergeron was the sixth in order of birth.
When he was eleven years old he began doing farm work in the summer, while in the winters he continued his studies in the common schools, and he kept this up until he was twenty years old. At that time he came to the United States, arriving here March 4, 1881, and locating at Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he found employment in the mills, and he also worked at the carpenter trade. He was employed at Saint Paul and Stillwater, Minnesota, keeping in these localities for about seven years. In 1888 he went to Tower, Minnesota, and continued to work as a
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carpenter until 1894, and then went to Rainy Lake prospecting for gold. After spending fourteen months in this search he located at Eveleth, Minnesota, and carried on contracting and building until 1901, which year saw his advent in Chisholm. Here he continued his contracting and building business until the fall of 1919, when he was appointed inspector of public buildings. Mr. Bergeron built the first bank at Chisholm, the Miners State Bank, and a number of other business blocks and private residences. During 1919 he served as village trustee, and has been re-elected for another term of three years. Since 1913 he has been on the School Board, and he organized the fire department, of which he was the first chief, which office he held until the early part of 1908. In the spring of 1909 he was re-appointed fire chief and served until 1910, when the department was placed on a full time paid basis. In 1894 Mr. Bergeron was naturalized, and since then has given the Democratic party his support. Fraternally he belongs to Chisholm Lodge No. 1334, Benev- olent and Protective Order of Elks, Loyal Order of Moose No. 226 of Chisholm; Chisholm Aerie No. 462, F. O. E .; Chisholm Camp, Modern Woodmen of America, and the Knights and Ladies of Security. He is a Catholic.
During the late war Mr. Bergeron was a member of a sub-committee to solicit for the Liberty Loans, and rendered valuable service in that respect, as well as contributing very liberally on his personal account to all of the drives.
In September, 1896, Mr. Bergeron was married to Miss Alma Graton, of New York state, whose ancestry is French, but dates back in American to a period prior to the Revolution. Mr. and Mrs. Bergeron have two children, Alice V. and Arthur L. Mr. Bergeron is one of the leading citizens of Chisholm, and has done much to advance its interests and develop its natural resources. His long connection with the building trade makes him particularly well fitted to discharge his present duties, and the people of the region have made an excellent selection in placing him in charge of their public buildings.
E. W. R. BUTCHER. The office of biography is not to give voice to a man's modest estimate of himself and his accomplishments, but rather to leave upon the record the verdict establishing his character by the con- sensus of opinion on the part of his fellow citizens. In touching upon the life history of the subject of this sketch the writer aims to avoid fulsome encomium and extravagant praise ; yet he desires to hold up for consideration those facts which have shown the distinction of a true, useful and honorable life-a life characterized by perseverance, energy and well-defined purpose. To do this will be but to reiterate the dictum pronounced upon the man by the people who have known him long and well.
E. W. R. Butcher, who holds the responsible position of chief engi- neer at the Northern Ore Mines for the Republic Iron and Steel Com- pany, was born in Troy, New York, July 25, 1885, and is the fourth in order of birth of the five children who were born to his parents. His father, James Butcher, was a native of England and came to the United States about 1870 and located in New York state. Later he removed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and engaged in the hotel business, in which business he is still successfully employed. E. W. R. Butcher received his educational training in the public schools of Pittsburgh, also attending the Pittsburgh Academy. He completed his studies in Western Uni- versity, now called the University of Pittsburgh, where he was gradu- `ated with the class of 1906, with the degree of Mining Engineer. Soon
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afterward he went to Nevada and engaged in engineering work for about a year in the Bull Frog and Tonapah field. Following this he went to Nicaraugua, Central America, where he served for about nine months as a mining engineer in the gold fields. From there he went to California, where for a time he was engaged in engineering work for one of the large hydro-electric companies operating there. His next employment was with the Westinghouse Electric Manufacturing Company at Pitts- burgh as a draftsman, remaining with that company until August 23, 1909, when he entered the employ of the Republic Iron and Steel Com- pany, being appointed chief engineer of their Northern Ore Mines at Duluth in 1918, which position he still fills. Thoroughly qualified for his work by both training and experience, Mr. Butcher has performed his duties in this connection with an ability and success that has won for him the approval of the officials of his company and the admiration of his fellows. He has been a director on two committees of the Duluth Engineers' Club and a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. He possesses to a marked degree those sterling traits of character which command public confidence and regard, and he also belongs to that class of representative men of affairs who promote the public welfare while advancing individual success.
WILLIAM I. PRINCE, for many years a banker in Duluth, had the distinction of serving as first mayor of the city under the commission form of government, and during the past two or three years has served as secretary of the Commercial Club of Duluth, supplying the place and service of younger men who went to war.
Mr. Prince was born at Camden, Ohio, October 11, 1867, son of George C. and Lucy A. (Hill) Prince. He is of old New England ancestry. His first American ancestor, Daniel Prince, was born in Eng- land about 1655 and came to the Colonies as a soldier in the British army, and after his discharge remained in New England, where he died in 1728. His grandson, Abel, was born in Connecticut in 1763 and lived out his life in that state. William Prince, grandfather of William I. Prince; was born in Connecticut in 1791 and died in 1842, having spent his active life as a merchant, for many years near Buffalo, New York. George C. Prince was born in Erie County, New York, December 10, 1830, and after the death of his father came with his widowed mother to Ohio, where he spent most of his life and where he died at the age of eighty- seven in the college city of Oberlin. He began his career with a limited education as a farmer, but laid the foundation of a substantial fortune as a sawmill and lumber man, at one time operating half a dozen mills. He was also identified with banking and finally retired. He was a Republican, interested in the welfare of his community, and held some township and village offices and was also entrusted with the manage- ment of estates. He was a member of the Congregational Church. He married Lucy A. Hill in 1861, and their six children are all living, William I. being the second.
William I. Prince attended public schools, the Oberlin Business Col- lege, and spent several terms in Oberlin College. Though reared in a good home of well-to-do parents, he showed his initiative and began earning money when about fourteen years of age, working out on farms during the summer seasons both for his father and other farmers. He received much valuable business training during two years as an employe of the Oberlin postoffice, and in 1889 began his banking career as clerk and collector in the Citizens National Bank of Oberlin, where he remained six months.
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For the past thirty years his activities have identified him with north- ern Michigan and northern Minnesota. Leaving Ohio, he became book- keeper in the First National Bank of Escanaba, where he remained two years, for ten years was cashier of the First National Bank of Bessemer, Michigan, and was then elected president of that institution, an office he still occupies. While a resident of Bessemer he served three successive terms as mayor.
Mr. Prince came to Duluth in December, 1902, and, associated with others, organized the City National Bank, becoming its cashier and a director, offices he occupied nine years, when he sold his interests. About that time he was the choice of the citizens as the first mayor under the commission charter and ably administered the municipal government four years. When America entered the war the secretary and assistant secre- tary of the Duluth Commercial Club went into the army, and Mr. Prince was drafted for the duties of secretary, an office he still holds. He was president of the Commercial Club in 1909.
Other important business interests are as a director in the Gogebic Powder Company, Brotherton Iron Mining Company, Sunday Lake Iron Mining Company, vice president of the Midland Trust & Savings Bank of St. Paul, and president of the Otsego Land Corporation. He is a member of the Duluth Boat Club, the Congregational Church, and is a Republican voter, but his only public office in Duluth has been that of mayor.
October 7, 1897, at Waupaca, Wisconsin, he married Mary A. Bald- win, whose people came from New Hampshire and New York state. They are the parents of four sons: George B., Gerald C., W. I. Prince, Jr., and Milton H. The oldest son was born November 12, 1898.
J. O. LENNING. With the enormous prestige of Duluth as a distribut- ing and wholesale center for the northwestern country the wholesale grocery house of Gowan-Lenning-Brown Company has been intimately and vitally connected for many years. The present great company, with its model plant in close proximity to the unrivalled rail and water trans- portation facilities, is the result of consolidation of two older organi- zations.
The older of the constituent houses in the Gowan-Lenning-Brown Company was the Wright-Clarkson Mercantile Company, three of whose members are part of the modern organization, W. S. Brown, president, R. H. Redman, treasurer, and J. O. Lenning, vice president and general manager. . The other factor in the combination was the Gowan-Peyton- Twohy Company, which on the death of Andrew Gowan, a prominent lumberman, who was succeeded by Chester A. Congdon as president, became the Gowan-Peyton-Congdon Company. These two companies were consolidated in 1913 and at that time additional warehouses were acquired for the increased stocks, and in the past seven years immense strides have been made in the manufacturing end of the business. The new and modern building occupies a site of 320 by 260 feet, the main portion being four stories in height.
J. O. Lenning is a busniess man of wide and varied experience, and well qualified for his responsibilities in the Gowan-Lenning-Brown Com- pany. He was born in Lee County, Illinois, August 22, 1859, a son of O. O. and Christie (Maakstad) Lenning. His father, a native of Nor- way, brought his wife and oldest child to America during the '50s and became an Illinois farmer in Lee County, but in 1883 removed to Iowa and lived on a farm in that state until his death.
ISTO TY X
J. Robillard
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J. O. Lenning, the second oldest of four children, acquired his educa- tion in the public schools of Illinois, attended Mt. Morris Academy in that state, and subsequently the Bryant & Stratton Business College of Chicago. At the age of seventeen he was buying grain and subsequently was manager for a co-operative company. Leaving those business asso- ciates, he entered a commercial college at Chicago, and had a varied metropolitan employment in that city.
In the spring of 1882, then a young man of twenty-three, Mr. Lenning went to Hamilton County, Iowa, near the town of Radcliffe, to improve and develop a farm previously purchased by his father. That was a year of strenuous labor in the preparation of a home and other improve- ments for the family. At the end of this year he located at Ellsworth, Iowa, where he engaged in the real estate business and for a time con- ducted the postoffice in connection. Later the real estate business expanded as a bank, known as the State Bank of Ellsworth, of which he was cashier. In 1889 Mr. Lenning entered upon his duties as county treasurer of Hamilton County, Iowa, and served four years. In 1894 he became assistant chief clerk of the Lower House of the Iowa State Legislature, and following that was cashier of the Hamilton County State Bank at Webster City, Iowa. His duties with that institution continued until he came to Minnesota. During his management this bank increased its deposits from a hundred thousand to a million dollars.
Leaving Iowa, Mr. Lenning on coming to Minnesota engaged in the wholesale grocery business at Crookston as president of the Lenning- Brown-Wright Company. With the sale of his interests he removed to Duluth in 1906 and became vice president and general manager of the Wright-Clarkson Mercantile Company, mentioned above, and subse- quently was an influential factor in the consolidation of 1913 as described.
Mr. Lenning is a thirty-second degree Scottish Rite Mason and Shriner and is a past high priest of the Royal Arch Chapter and past commander of the Knights Templars. He has always been a strong Republican in politics. He married Miss Carrie Cragwick, of Norwegian parentage. Six children were born to their marriage and four are still living.
A. J. ROBILLARD, though little past thirty years of age, is a veteran in experience on the mechanical side of automobile construction and operation, and is proprietor of the well-known R. & R. Garage at 315- 317 East Superior street. This garage is a Willard storage battery serv- ice station, is the authorized local agency in Duluth for the Detroit Elec- tric and Milburn Electric cars, and the service conducted by Mr. Robillard has achieved a widely appreciated reputation over Duluth for the specially fine quality of electrical work done there.
Mr. Robillard was born in Minneapolis November 1, 1888, son of Mr. and Mrs. Emidy J. Robillard, natives of Canada. His father came to this country at the age of twenty-one and is now living in Montana, at the age of sixty-two.
Third in a family of five children, A. J. Robillard acquired his early education in the schools of Minneapolis, came to Duluth at the age of fourteen, and for three years attended school. His practical business experience has been nearly altogether in mechanical lines. For one year he worked in the Rein Boiler Shop, for a year and a half was employed by Mr. E. J. Filiatrault as a mechanic, then worked for Mr. Russell two years, and in 1910 started in business for himself. His associate was Ed Romoieaux, and they established the R. & R. Garage. Mr. Romoieaux withdrew in 1911 and since then Mr. Robillard has been in business
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alone. He continued in business at his first location until 1912, and since then has been at 315-317 East Superior street. He sells and maintains the Willard storage battery service for gasoline and electric cars, and has built up and transacted a large volume of business in Duluth as a dealer in both the Detroit and Millburn electric cars. He covers a large section of territory for the Willard Battery Service, including a mail order business.
Mr. Robillard is an expert in nearly all phases of automobile opera- tion and particularly in electrical installation. He has invented a certain type of electric door which has stood the test of hard usage in his own garage and office. He has also assembled an electrical truck made out of old cars that had been scrapped, and that truck is a big labor saver and permits Mr. Robillard to give increased service to his customers. He has also patented an automatic cutout used by the electric car owners which effects a considerable saving in worry and money in electricity.
Mr. Robillard is a member of the Duluth Automobile Association, belongs to the Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club, the Boy Scouts' Association, also one of the clubs in the West End and is a member of the Elks Lodge and the Cathedral Church. On June 24, 1913, he married in West Duluth Albertina Gilson, who was reared and educated in this city. They have one son, Arthur Dale Robillard, born February 12, 1919.
ALBERT E. BICKFORD has served for more than a score of years as city clerk of Virginia, and no citizen has taken more vital and earnest interest in the development and progress of this fine little municipality of the great Mesaba Range. He arrived in this section of Minnesota on the 9th of February, 1893, when the site of the present thriving little city of Virginia was marked only by a railway station, eight or ten saloons, a hotel, a meat market, two grocery stores and two boarding houses. The barren and desolate little mining town offered few attrac- tions to any person save one of vision, and Mr. Bickford in here estab- fishing his home as a pioneer had faith and prescience in regard to the future. He has been closely associated with the development and upbuild- ing of the city and the surrounding districts, and the years have fully justified his confidence in the obscure mining town of the earlier days.
Upon his arrival in Virginia Mr. Bickford proceeded to find quarters in which to install the equipment which he had obtained from two old printing offices and which he brought into requisition in establishing, for Hand & Hannaford, the newspaper now known as the Virginia Enter- prise. He continued as foreman of this pioneer paper until 1900, save for the year 1897, during which he published the Hibbing News at Hibbing, this county. He made the paper a potent force in furthering the civic and material development and advancement of the community, and has long been a popular leader in community sentiment and action. After having three times been elected clerk of the village of Virginia he became the first incumbent of the office after the village was incor- porated as a city in 1900, and thus his service has been consecutive for a period of twenty-two years. In the village days he was able to carry the official records in his pocket, but since 1906 he has found it necessary to give his undivided time and attention to the handling of the large volume of official duties that devolve upon him. Mr. Bickford met with virtually total loss of all his possessions in the two disastrous fires that have visited Virginia, but his loyalty and faith never faltered and he has taken pride in the splendid progress that has been made by his home city. Here he is now the only resident member of the old volunteer fire department, the existence of which terminated in 1908, upon the estab-
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lishing of the present paid department. He has been for several years secretary of the Virginia Commercial Club, of which he is a charter mem- ber, as is he also of the local Kiwanis Club; of Virginia Lodge No. 1003, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; Northern Light Lodge No. 127, Knights of Pythias; Virginia Aerie No. 107, Fraternal Order of Eagles ; . Iron Range Lodge No. 1117, Loyal Order of Moose; and Virginia Camp No. 2955, Modern Woodmen of America. In politics Mr. Bickford is a stalwart advocate of the principles of the Republican party, and he has been active and influential in its local councils and campaign work. At the time of the nation's participation in the World war he was a vigorous worker in the furtherance of the various Governmental loan drives in this section of the state, and had charge of the local drive for the second Liberty Loan as did he also of the alien registration. He was a first sergeant in the Minnesota Motor Corps, and he has a complete record of every man who enlisted from District No. 4 (Virginia), from the time of induction into the service until the present.
.Mr. Bickford has made a careful and exhaustive study of city man- agement and municipal government, and is a firm advocate of centralized control for a city as well as for a private business enterprise. He has ·maintained a careful and punctilious supervision of the fiscal affairs of Virginia, and by his counsel in behalf of wise economy in appropriations and the general administration of city affairs he has done much to place Virginia upon its present stable and effective financial basis.
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